Chapter 9: Kazekage Rescue
When they arrived at Suna, Sakura jumped straight into action as a medic nin. The Kazekage's brother, Konkuro, had been poisoned by an Akatsuki member. While Sakura tended to the man, her teammates watched on with awe at her professionalism and expertise.
"Sasuke-kun, get me two buckets, one with hot water. Naruto, hold Konkuru down," she instructed.
She took a small vile and extracted a vile of blood and handed it to one of the Suna medics. "Take this to your lab and test it for poison. I'll make an antidote once I'm done extracting the poison."
Sasuke reappeared with the two buckets and placed them on either side of the sand nin while Naruto held him down. Pulling her hair up into a ponytail, Sakura braced herself for the procedure. She felt around the left side of her patient's chest and detected the poison. She reached for the water filled bucket and used her chakra to mold a ball. Then she pushed the ball inside Kankuro and pulled it out with her other hand. The contaminated water was placed in the previously empty bucket. She repeated the process several times while Naruto held her writhing patient down.
The Uchiha couldn't help but admire the precision and finesse of Sakura's medical ninjutsu. She was in constant control of her actions as she manipulated the water and sifted out the poison. That type of chakra control took years of precision and mastery to refine in order to complete such a procedure.
"Just a little longer, Kankuro-san," she spoke pushing as she extracted more poison. He hit a particularly sensitive muscle, so the sand nin tried to push her and Naruto off. Thankfully, Sasuke held him down before he could move much.
With the extraction complete, Sakura left to go to the lab with an old woman named Chiyo to create an antidote. The men of Team Seven were briefed by a sand jonin and the now stable Kankuro on the current situation. Apparently, the Akatsuki, a ragtag team of elite missing nin, had captured Gaara for an unknown purpose. Two nin called Deidara and Sasori had attacked Kankuro and Gaara while patrolling the village borders. The red headed nin, Sasori used poisonous puppets rendering Kankuro imobile, and Deidara had some sort of clay bomb jutsu which he used to knock out Gaara and drag him away.
Once Sakura returned with several vials of antidotes, she demonstrated how to use it when she administered the medicine to Kankuro.
"All of you, take one." She handed each Team Seven member plus Chiyo a vial. The old woman volunteered to join them in their conquest since she was familiar with Sasori's fighting style.
Kakashi surveyed the remnants of Kankuro's puppets in the corner of the room and was able to find a piece of fabric. He deduced that it belonged to his opponent Sasori since it was black and red, the colors of the Akatsuki uniform. Needing someone to sniff the foe out, he summoned his trusty dog.
"Pakun. I need you to track this person down." He held out the tattered fabric for the canine to sniff. The rest of the team corralled around the copy nin and dog waiting for more instruction.
"He went east," the dog observed.
"Alright, we'll follow you," Kakashi replied. They made it an hour out of the village and were intercepted by two members of the Akatsuki.
"Sakura, Chiyo-sama, go ahead with Pakun. We'll take care of this," the jonin ordered. Sakura nodded and leapt away with Chiyo and Pakun.
After what seemed like an endless stretch of desert, they came across a canyon.
"He's in there," Pakun declared with his paw raised towards the cave at the top of the rock formation. Briefly thankful for Tsunade's rigorous chakra refining training, Sakura scaled the mountain with Chiyo. Pakun had disappeared back to the summoning world upon completing his task.
From the darkness of the cave, a figure cloaked in black and red clouds emerged. The man removed his hood to reveal a young looking face and shock red hair.
"It's been a while Baa baa," he spoke quietly. Sakura grit her teeth and wasted no time attacking him. She needed to eliminate him before he hurt Naruto recalling his earlier admission.
Flashback
"I'm the host of the Nine-Tailed Fox demon," the blond spoke. Sakura stilled as she paused from sipping her tea. She looked around the group to see the other's reactions. Sasuke looked blank as usual, and Temari looked upset.
"That's why they've got Gaara. He's also a jinchuriki. They want to take it out of him," he explained.
"What happens if they succeed?" Sasuke asked.
"He'll die," Temari answered softly.
"We'll get to him before they have a chance," Naruto proclaimed. He stood up from the log he occupied and dusted off his pants. He ambled over to Kakashi on the other side of their camp.
"They'll probably come after Naruto too," the Uchiha stated.
"If they do, they'll have to go through us before they take him. We won't let them take Naruto," Sakura declared boldly. She sipped her tea with a steely resolve. Her father along with her mother's heart had been taken from her. No one would take anyone else away from her.
Sakura and Chiyo spent several moments trying to attack Sasori . His puppeteer fighting style was too fast allowing him to quickly evade Sakura's punches. He moved in a blur even over long ranges of distance. It felt futile to Sakura since she couldn't catch him.
"Sakura," Chiyo called out. "Get over here." Sakra bound back into a small alcove with Chiyo.
"You have the monstrous strength necessary to destroy Sasori's puppets, and I can give you the reach and speed to do so," the older woman explained. Sakura nodded catching on to what she had in mind.
Sakura rushed forward while Chiyo wrapped her chakra strings around Sakura. Together, they were able to destroy most of Sasori's puppets. However, each attack came right after the other. They figured that they had destroyed most of them until the foe pulled out a scroll summoning an entire army of puppets.
Pulling Sakura back, Lady Chiyo put an object in her back pouch.
"Throw this at him. It will stop him from using his chakra." She flung Sakura back into the center of the battle and summoned her own forces of puppet soldiers.
With her task given, Sakura pummelled puppet after puppet with her chakra enhanced kicks and punches. There were several close calls, but she was able to get the back of the space and fling the seal at Sasori. The sticky object expanded in an explosion. When the smoke cleared, Sasori was pinned to the rock wall and his remaining puppets collapsed on the ground lifeless.
Sakura sat on the ground, catching her breath. "We did it. We got him," she said between panting.
"He can't use his chakra anymore," Lady Chiyo affirmed. "It's over Sasori," She shouted at her grandson across the ground of broken blades and wooden puppet parts. The old woman groaned.
"Lady Chiyo! Hold on. I've got an antidote." In all of the fighting, she must have gotten pierced with a poisoned weapon. She weaved through the rocks and gasped seeing a puppet resembling Sasori rise from behind Lady Chiyo. It was prepared to strike even though it looked worse for wear with a tattered cloak and blades jutting out of its chest.
His blade swung down and pierced a body. Chiyo turned to see Sakura behind her, impaled on the sword with blood dribbling down her lip. Sakura's glowing green hands held the sword pushing back.
Looking at the puppet, Chiyo saw the container with Sasori's heart within the otherwise lifeless object. He had reassembled himself right before he was sealed. So that was his secret to success. When his current pupper host was defeated he moved his heart to another host.
Sakura groaned, trying to fight the pain.
"Lady Chiyo, are you alright?" Sakura asked. Sasori wiggled the sword around causing Sakura to moan.
"You're worried about the old woman when you've got a sword in your gut," the man spoke callously as he pushed the metal farther into her. Sakura grit her teeth and tried to slow her breathing.
"Take the antidote," Sakura instructed. "I'll be alright."
"No you won't," the old woman responded as she pierced Sakura's thigh with the yellow vial.
"Lady Chiyo no…" Sakura struggled to get out. Lady Chiyo retrached the syringe and tumbled onto the ground.
Sakura felt Sasori pushing harder with the sword, but she held steady and kept the blade from further movement. She hadn't come this far to give up. If she could end this quickly, she could possibly save Lady Chiyo.
Seeing as Sakura was not giving up, Sasori let the arm impaling her pop off from his body. He skidded backwards a few meters and charged at her.
"Now, you'll die!" the deranged puppeteer exclaimed with his sword poised to end the leaf nin. Despite the antidote and her healing jutsu, she didn't have the speed to dodge. With a flick of Lady Chiyo's fingers, two puppets intercepted Sasori and thrust their swords in him. Stuck in place, he realized that Chiyo had trapped him. He was unable to move out of the reach of the black seal pattern on the ground.
With hardly any strength left, Sakura tumbled down with the sword in her stomach. Lady Chiyo crawled over to her and was able to gradually pull the sword out as she healed Sakura.
"Stay with me Sakura," Chiyo commanded. The girl moaned and gasped. Soon, the sword was removed and Sakura's wound closed. However, she kept her hands over Sakura, and her palms began to emanate a blue chakra.
"She's as good as gone. I aimed for somewhere that even a highly skilled medical nin like you couldn't heal," Sasori spoke.
"I've already finished using my medical ninjutsu. Now I'm doing something completely different, a reanimation ninjutsu," she explained.
Sakura started fading in and out of consciousness. There was a pair of light footsteps and more conversation exchanged. She was able to make out something about a rendezvous in Kusagakure. Soon, she felt Chiyo's healing hands become replaced by strong calloused hands. Upon recognizing a deep familiar voice, she blacked out.
X
A gentle breeze caressed her cheek. The cool sensation startled her, and she bolted upright. Sakura looked around and saw that she was back in the Suna hospital. Remembering her wound, she pulled up her shirt and saw a small pink scar across her abdomen. Lady Chiyo saved her.
Moments later, Naruto bounded through the doors with Sasuke and Kakashi trailing behind. Seeing that Sakura was awake, the blond's face lit up with joy.
"Sakura-chan! You're finally awake!" he exclaimed as he captured her in a bone crushing hug. Sakura began to cough from the pressure. A firm hand pulled Naruto back.
"Are you trying to kill her dobe?" Sasuke questioned with a stern glare.
"No. Course not!" Sasuke shook his head and turned to Sakura.
"You've been unconscious for five days," he informed her. Her jade eyes widened.
"What happened?" From the life saving jutsu that Lady Chiyo performed, she didn't think she would have been out for that long.
"We found you unconscious, but Granny Chiyo told us you'd be ok after resting," Naruto answered. "She had to use her reanimation jutsu to revive Gaara because he had Shukaku extracted. I lent her my chakra, but she passed away right after," he explained in a soft voice.
Her breath caught in her throat, and tears welled up in her eyes. "If only I had been awake, I could have helped. She wouldn't have had to use that jutsu."
Sitting by her side, Sasuke admonished her. "Don't blame yourself. There was nothing you could have done. Besides, it was Lady Chiyo's decision." He was right, but Sakura still felt like she could have done something.
Kakashi leaned against the wall with his organe book open. "If you'd like to join us, we're going to visit Lady Chiyo's burial site. We're leaving Suna later tonight as well."
"I will. Could I have a moment to freshen up?"
"Certainly. Meet us in the lobby when you're ready," Kakashi spoke. "Come along boys." Naruto and Sasuke filed out of the door.
Sakura changed into her ninja gear and packed up her things. Then, she found the rest of her team along with Team Gai. When Sakura discretely asked Sasuke about their presence, he told her that the Godaime sent them as back-up. Apparently, they aided Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke in a battle with two other Akatsuki members. Both members were eliminated, but from what Sakura observed, she saw the toll it took on her fellow nin. Kakashi was sluggish and limping. Sasuke had a number of scratches, and everyone else, including Neji, looked exhausted. It must have been a hell of a battle.
When they arrived at the grave, they paid their respects. Gaara and the sand siblings arrived soon after to send them off to Kohona.
"Thank you for your aid. We'll be sure to repay the favor soon," Temari remarked with a diplomatic tone.
"Really though," Kankuro added. He looked at Sakura. "I'd be six feet under if you hadn't healed me. I'm forever indebted to you Sakura Haruno." He placed a hand over his chest and gave her a friendly smile.
"You're very welcome." She appreciated his thanks, but her Uchiha teammate did not appreciate the delivery. The over dramatic delivery made him paranoid that the sand nin had a more than friendly admiration for his teammate. However, he bit his tongue.
"I know this is kind of a weird situation, but I'm glad we could work together." Naruto extended his hand to Gaara who was taken aback by the gracious gesture. A small trail of sand formed from Gaara's hand and connected to the other jinchuriki's hand.
Parting in peace, the leaf shinobi went home. On the week-long journey, Sakura was gradually informed of what she missed during her battle against Sasori and also got to share her experiences.
"When I saw the battlefield, it was totally decimated! I bet you used your monstrous strength," Naruto complimented as he bit into the piece of meat he roasted.
"Yes. It seems that you're putting the Godaime's teachings to use," Kakashi commented from behind his ever present orange reading material.
"I can't really remember much after the battle, but I heard someone talking to Sasori about meeting Orochimaru." Across the campfire, she saw Sasuke stiffen.
"We asked him if he knew anything about Orochimaru's whereabouts. He informed us that he had a spy working undercover for Orochimaru and had a meeting with him, ten days from then."
Her eyes narrowed. "That's two days from now." Her sensei nodded.
"I already sent word to the Leaf, and they're sending a team to check it out." That was relieving to hear. She prayed that they found something useful. The snake sannin had slipped from their hands too many times.
"Enough serious talk. Let's chill. I'm so tired!" the blond proclaimed. The whole group laughed, even including Sasuke and Neji, who couldn't help but snicker.
X
As soon as he stepped foot in Konoha, he made a beeline for his brother's house. The guards informed him that his brother recently returned from a mission, so he would be home. He had a sinking suspicion that Itachi followed up on their tip about Orochimaru and went to Kusa to meet the spy. While he was very interested in the outcome of that mission, it was Anbu business, so Itachi couldn't talk about it. However, he was equally interested in what Shisui said at the wedding. What had changed so much since he left?
He knocked on the door, and his sister-in-law greeted him and beckoned him inside. Immediately, he noticed how cheerful Izumi was. Normally, she was polite and kind, but she seemed excited, almost giddy. He dismissed the thought. She told him to wait in the dining room while she fetched her husband.
Moments later, Itachi appeared in the dining room with a smile, looking equally as happy as Izumi, who did not return. She probably figured that Sasuke wanted to speak with his brother alone.
"It's good to see you otouto." He sat down next to Sasuke and poured them each a cup of tea. "I assume you aren't visiting to ask about my honeymoon," he remarked wryly.
"No, but I hope you enjoyed it." He had no interest in knowing any details about his brother's honeymoon.
"I did. It was wonderful to spend so much one on one time with Izumi. Perhaps you should look into taking a vacation."
"I'll think about it," Sasuke responded, taking a sip of tea. "I came here for answers. What happened after I left? Shisui said that things in the clan have changed. How?"
Unfazed by the interrogation, Itachi blinked. "It's not about what happened after you left, it's what happened before."
"Explain it then. I'm tired of people tiptoeing around me. I am not a child anymore. I'm just as much a member of this family as you, so I deserve to know what's going on."
His older brother nodded in agreement and quickly performed a sound proofing jutsu. "You're correct, but understand that what I tell you does not leave this room."
"Fine."
Itachi sighed and took a long sip of his drink. "Up until Orochimaru attempted to kidnap you, the first time, the Uchiha were planning to overthrow the village leadership and claim it themselves." At this reveal, Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "However, Orochimaru's stunt caused the clan to lose significant numbers and reconsider. Tou-san decided to put off the coup until they found and killed Orochimaru. He didn't want to make an enemy of the village while trying to capture a sannin."
"Why were we planning a coup in the first place? Is it still going to happen?" Itachi looked thoughtfully at his brother, who adored their family. As much as he didn't want to shatter his view of their esteemed clan, it was necessary. He was 16 and a full fledged shinobi.
"As you know, the Uchiha are a founding clan of the village. We've spent years building up and protecting the village. One of our most notable contributions is the police force. Unfortunately, after the Third Shinobi War, the village was in ruins due to the Nine Tails attack. Many in the village became suspicious that someone in our clan used the sharingan to prompt its release. This fear manifested when the village council relocated us to the outskirts of town, far away from the police station."
The younger Uchiha was puzzled. "I still don't understand how this led to a potential government upheaval."
"That's only part of it. There were also complaints about police abusing their power and mistreating citizens. Part of this is true because many of the Uchiha resented the other villagers for mistrusting us. Our clan elders were also furious when Tou-san was not selected to be Hokage when the Fourth Hokage passed."
"That's ridiculous. Tou-san has never wanted to be Hokage."
"While that is true, it didn't stop the clan elders from getting upset about it. Anyways, we tried to negotiate with the village council. I acted as a mediator between the village leaders and our clan being a servant of both."
Suddenly, the stern looks from the village elders and hushed tones of his older clansmen made sense.
"How did you feel about it?" Sasuke was curious to see whose side his brother was on. He expected him to support their family, but he was an equally devoted Konoha nin.
"I was not and will not support a coup. I was recruited by the village and the clan leaders to spy on one another. It became obvious to some in our clan that I wasn't supportive of a revolution, so they recruited Shisui to spy on me." He paused to smile. "Shisui was also not in favor of a coup, so we tried to figure something out on our own, but nothing works. Peace talks broke down, and the clan was ready to strike until Orochimaru."
It didn't surprise Sasuke too much that his brother opposed the coup. He had expressed his deep seated hatred for unnecessary war and violence which stemmed from his experience living through a war.
"I had hoped that the time it took to catch Orochimaru would be enough time for relations between our clan and the village to improve, but they haven't. There was some momentary improvement, but ever since the Sandaime passed, the village leaders have been less understanding. The clan elders are upset that another Senju is Hokage now that she won't acquiesce to their every demand. They're also upset that we had to rebuild again and are blaming it on the village for locating the compound so close to the border."
In a low voice, Itachi continued, "the bridge to peace would have been through the Sandaime, but now I'm not sure if that is possible. I fear that another coup is in the works/"
Previously, Itachi revealed that he obtained the mangekyo sharingan from witnessing the deaths of the Hokage and his comrades, but it made much more sense now. A deep seated emotion was needed to unlock the mangekyo. The loss of a beloved mentor and hope of peace was enough to trigger it for his brother.
"I love our clan, but I also love our village. I want my child to be able to grow up with both."
Sasuke's eyes widened. "Izumi is…."
"Hai. You're going to be an uncle, and I'm going to be a father." Itachi smiled sadly. He had planned to have children once things were fixed between his family and the village.
"Nii-san, that's great news. Have you told anyone else?"
He shook his head. "We only found out this morning. I think I might send Izumi away for a while until all of this is settled."
"What if you miss the baby being born? You have no idea how long bringing peace could take. Besides, Izumi will need you. If you're that concerned about her safety, I'll stay here for a while. If I'm gone on a mission, I'm sure Shisui could watch over her. I could even get one of my teammates to do it too."
Itachi touched his fingers lightly to Sasuke's forehead. "I suppose I'm getting a new roommate then."