Chapter Eleven: Kissing Babies and Shaking Hands
As Madara had said, he was here to remind people whose control they were under. He began immediately the next morning by summoning the entire city to the center square. An anthem blasted from the speakers spread throughout the city, waking anyone who had not yet woken. It was derived from an old Uchiha tune that Sasuke remembered his mother always humming.
There was a time when the tune made him feel warm and safe. After the massacre the tune became more of a eulogy than a lullaby. It became a sacred hymn that preserved the memory of what happiness felt like.
He hated the tune now.
And he hated this.
He was standing on the platform in the city center along with several others. They were a mixture of heads of departments from the city and a few members of Madara's entourage.
Lined up near the edge of the stage kneeled four figures. The deserters from the day before.
Bound at the hands and feet with hoods pulled over their heads, they were on display for the entire city to see and wonder who was beneath the hooded shrouds. Sasuke could see numerous people looking around the crowd, seeking out their loved ones as they desperately attempted to assure themselves that no one they knew was one of the shrouded figures.
Sasuke himself searched the masses but for a different reason. He didn't care about any of the prisoners, they had brought this upon themselves. Fools. All the same, he knew he was going to suffer for what was to happen today. Just like yesterday, and only the gods knew what else was to come during Madara's stay. Sasuke wasn't a religious one, but he did pray to whomever would listen that Madara's visit would be short.
In a shadowed corner at the edge of the square, Sasuke's searching eyes finally found her. Sakura, along with what remained of the Konoha 11.
The morning sun was right behind the building they stood near, casting them into a cold shadow as they all stiffly stood and spoke quickly together. If he were anyone else, he might consider them conspiring something with the way their gazes shifted along the crowd and glanced towards the soldiers stationed along the rooftops perimetered around the city square. But Sasuke knew better.
Shikamaru was lazily leaning against the brick building busy casting a haze of cigarette smoke around his friends as he stared up at the sky. Occasionally he lifted the lit cigarette in his hands to take in a lung full before letting his hand drop down to flick the ashes away. If they were planning something, he would be involved. And so would Sakura.
Like Shikamaru, Sakura was not huddled together with the rest of the group. Instead she stood off alone, leaning against the wall a short distance from Shikamaru with her arms crossed tightly against her chest and her eyes fixated on the stage. Sasuke watched as Ino approached her, a concerned look on the blonde's face evident even from the long distance in which Sasuke watched them. Sakura did not even look towards her blonde friend. Her only acknowledgement was some mumbled words Sasuke could not read on her lips and a shake of her head as she continued to stare blankly at the stage. Ino seemed to hesitate for a moment, then retreated back to the huddled group, occasionally sparing a concerned look in Sakura's direction.
There was an irritating low buzz of whispers that hummed from the crowd. But it all fell silent the moment Madara made his appearance causing a still in the crowd. Strutting up the stairs of the raised platform, Madara came to a halt at the podium set up at center stage.
"Citizens of Konoha and members of our new regime," Madara began in address. "The return to my most beloved city is always one that I will never forsake…"
His voice thundered out of the speakers that circled the city center, his voice blasting out past the surrounding buildings and echoing across the city so anyone who was not present could still hear his speech. In combination with his opening words, it gave the effect that they were standing in an arena, about to witness a grand spectacle instead of the town square for a public execution.
"But it seems I have been gone too long." Any warmth or fondness in Madara's voice that was found in his opening statement disappeared. Instead it was replaced with a dark and menacing tone of reprimand. "Disloyalty and betrayal is what I was greeted with…"
He signaled to his men that had accompanied him. Four of them stepped forward, each of them approaching a kneeling figure and pulling a hood off to reveal the faces of the four deserters. There was a short, drawn out silence then a few cries began to sound from the crowd as people registered and recognized their faces. Towards the front, an elderly woman began to cry out irrationally as she attempted to approach the stage only to be stopped by a guard.
"Silence!," Madara commanded, silencing any plea from the elderly woman and any other murmurs in the crowd. Immediately the woman froze, her eyes wide and fearful as Madara sneered down at her. He gestured to the prisoners. "These traitors were caught on the borders of Suna, attempting to defect. They do not deserve your tears or pleas," his gaze moved from the woman and swept across the crowd. "Enemies of the state do not deserve mercy." He turned his head to look at the leaders standing on the podium, his eyes settling on Sasuke. "We do not give mercy."
Sasuke did not let his face show anything. He held Madara's gaze for the fraction that Madara's cold stare settled on him before the Uchiha patriarch swiveled around to face the four defectors.
"Treachery only ends in death."
Stepping away from the podium, Madara pulled his gunbai from beneath the black coat he had draped over his shoulders. Like a reaper of death, he approached the captain of the group.
"Ren Kaneko , as a traitor of the new regime, I hereby sentence you to death without trial. That right being forsaken when you rebelled against your nation."
There was no blessing of the gods taking mercy on his soul or an invitation to utter any last words. Even if an invitation had been uttered, there was no opportunity for Ren to utter even a syllable. For the moment Madara concluded his verdict, his gunbai was already set in motion.
Despite Mardara's strength and lethalness. The weapon was not designed for a clean execution and the sharp edge sliced halfway into the flesh of Ren's neck with a wet thud.
Madara pulled the blade free of Ren's neck, sending a short spray of blood across the edge of the stage. Ren let out a gurgled cough as he fell forward into the quickly forming pool of blood on the wooden stage.
For a moment, Sasuke thought Madara would just let the man slowly drown in his own blood as his body flopped around helplessly, having lost control of his body's movement. Then Madara raised his gunbai and swung it down again, and again. Each swing sent out a sickening sound as flesh separated and bone broke.
Finally, Ren's head fully separated and rolled away from the still twitching body.
Sasuke had seen and witnessed a lot of horrific things in his lifespan. Things that were certainly more gruesome than the scene before him. But the sight still made his stomach twist and churn. But any signs of queasiness Sasuke hid away when Madara, straightening up from the final blow, looked back at the group of figures of authority lined up at the back of the stage. His wild long hair had come loose from its binding and in combination to the wild look in his eyes, Madara looked deranged.
Madara gestured to Jiro Shoji, the appointed head of Konoha's shinobi training and conditioning. Jiro stepped forward, he came to a stop next to the next prisoner and withdrew his sword. Once positioned, he looked to Madara and the Uchiha tyrant repeated the same words as before. When he finished, he motioned to Jiro whose execution was slightly more humane but still sloppy.
When Madara turned and pointed his gunbai at Suigetsu in invitation. The shark nin gave out a sigh only audible to Sasuke, propped his large sword on his shoulders, and approached the next condemned.
The massive blade that Suigetsu wielded lived up to its reputation flawlessly. The moment Madara gave the ex-Kiri ninja the signal, Suigetsu took action. The sharp blade cut cleanly through. Quick and instant. No hacking, no suffering. No hesitation.
Suigetsu gave his heavy sword a quick flick to rid his prized blade of the blood now dirting its otherwise flawless blade then immediately fell back into line next to Sasuke. And it was only after a subtle nudge of Suigetsu's arm as he fastened the Executioner's sword onto his back that Sasuke realized Madara was now looking at him expectantly.
"Sasuke," Madara said, voice sickeningly warm with invitation.
Sasuke kept his face blank, taking a step forward as his hand moved back to grab Kusanagi's handle. The moment his fingers were wrapped around it, he began to withdraw the blade with a motion that felt just as natural as breathing. The blade caught the sunlight and flashed brightly as he came to a stop in front of the youngest of the group.
He looked even younger than he did yesterday morning and Sasuke heard a woman's cry carry out over the nearly silent crowd. It was drowned out by Madara's booming voice as he began to repeat the same words as he did the other three executions.
The boy's frantic eyes moved up to him. "P-please," he begged.
Sasuke's hand grasped tighter at the handle of his sword. This was necessary. He had to do this.
"You brought this upon yourself," Sasuke intoned.
"I-I didn't-" The boy seemed to know his case would not be plead with him, and his eyes moved out to the crowd.
As if anyone could help him, Sasuke thought.
But the boy seemed to believe he had a savior as he continued to search frantically around the crowd. Suddenly, he froze, his eyes locked on someone and a near look of deliverance came to his eyes.
The moment Sasuke acknowledged the direction he was looking, he knew exactly who the boy had found. And when he saw the boy's chest inflate and his mouth begin to open to shout out to her, Sasuke moved.
Sasuke's blade sliced cleanly, silencing open the boy's throat and muting the name he was about to cry out. Instead a wet gurgle escaped as the boy grabbed at his throat as if just applying pressure would stop the wound like a mere cut.
Sasuke's ground down on his teeth, not daring to look away from the boy as he fell forward in a fit of wet breaths, his body squirming as he slowly drowned in his own blood. Quickly Sasuke brought his sword down one more time, this time putting strength behind to cut through the corded muscle and solid bone to fully sever his head and put an end to the boy's suffering.
"Let this be a lesson to anyone who is even hosting thoughts of rebellion. Go now, go on with your day, go to your jobs, go on your missions, go to your homes. Remind anyone not here, your comrades, your neighbors, your coworkers, and most importantly your families. Treachery only leads to death."
There was the smallest of pauses before a chant began to rise. Starting with Madara's entourage, then a few of the on duty guards, and with their promptings the civilians followed their lead until soon the entire square was filled with the chanting of the crowd.
As the words, Treachery is death, echoed over the city square and moved out to the city as the crowd began to disperse, Sasuke could not resist. He had to know. Casting a glance over his shoulder, his eyes immediately found Sakura still standing in the same place. She was already looking at him. And despite her words from the previous night, her expression was heavy with disappointment.
I had to do it. He thought to himself, as if he could speak to her through his mind. The sooner Madara is satisfied, the sooner he will leave and it will be safe. You will be safe.
Sasuke did his best to convey his thoughts through his gaze, his eyes searching hers to see if she could grasp any understanding. But she was turning away from him before he could find any reply in her face.
Sasuke looked back to the four lifeless bodies. He would say the four lives were worth the sacrifice if it meant the city was safe from Madara. But deep down in his bones, Sasuke wondered just how many more sacrifices would be required. This was never what he had envisioned for the future when he sided with Madara.
Then again, he had never really envisioned anything. He couldn't back then. He had been too blinded with revenge, he hadn't been able to foresee any consequences to his actions.
It was a common superstition, amongst those within the medical field, that full moons brought about some rather unusual events. Mostly an influx in patients, many with odd behaviors or strange injuries. Sakura was not much of a believer in superstition. And with it being a new moon and as far as possible from a past or future full moon, Sakura knew there was only one explanation for the chaos that was suddenly plaguing the hospital.
Madara.
Only Madara didn't have an effect on just the hospital. He had an effect on the entire city. His arrival to Konoha had brought with him a tide of disruption. Everywhere he went in the city there was upheaval as Madara observed, restructured, and reinstated. And one step behind him had been Sasuke. Seeing to it that his command was relayed and worked out as swiftly as possible.
It had not even been a week since Madara's unexpected arrival and on the first day he visited the prison, and within he found a lack of security and occupants. So he ordered for routine cell searches and guard protocol, along with extending sentences for certain crimes. On the second day he visited the academy, and within it he found a lack of discipline and students. So he ordered a more rigorous curriculum and set an incentive for any families who supplied more than one child to be trained. The fourth day he visited the barracks and upon seeing it full to capacity with able bodied recruits, he found fault in it and sent out thirty teams on missions. By the fifth day he had visited the intelligence unit and Sakura heard from Ino that he had implemented several new tactics that had recently been developed in the capital. Obviously those methods were of the highest secrecy, but by the disturbed look in Ino's expression when she shared the update, Sakura could tell these new methods were highly unethical.
Why she thought the hospital would be safe was beyond her. Yet on the fifth day when Madara arrived at what was supposed to be a sanctuary for the ill and injured, Sakura found herself being once again thrown into the anxieties of fight or flight. It began when eighteen of the thirty teams Madara had sent out on missions came back severely injured. Sakura should have known he would be making an appearance with so many teams returning unsuccessfully. But her mind had not thought to conjure the thought so she could at least prepare.
With such a high influx of patients in such little time, no rooms had been assigned. Instead the ER had been turned into a massive triage. Curtains and beds had been shoved aside giving no one privacy or comfort. They were laid out on the stretchers they were brought in on and operated on right then and there.
For a brief moment it was as if the war had never ended. Sakura was brought back to the outskirts of the battlefield, mending what was life threatening then moving on, skipping over those who could not be saved. Wave after wave of casualties came in as each team that had been sent out came struggling back. Over half with severe wounds and a quarter with life threatening. All were hit with a surprise attack along the borders by what was reported as Suna shinobi.
It had been chaos the entire night and by dawn, all was still and silent. Mostly due to the majority of the room being sedated and morphine numbed. Sakura was wearily making her rounds in the dim morning light, checking on bandages and beginning to stitch up the wounds that had not been tagged as serious enough to need immediate medical attention four hours ago.
Had her own chakra not been so depleted, she might have sensed the heavy presence of Madara's and Sasuke's combined chakras when they first entered the building. In fact it went to show just how weary she was because she didn't realize anyone had even entered the room until she heard Karin let out an exploitive exclamation from the bed next to her and glanced up from stitching a large gash in a man's side.
Sakura looked up just in time to see Karin rush to the entrance where both Madara and Sasuke stood at the entryway along with one of Sasuke's aids. Their heavy gazes swept over the room as they ignored Karin's bow and nervous greeting. Sakura could not help her gaze from naturally taking in Sasuke but the moment his own gaze fell on her she moved her attention to Madara. Only to find that he too seemed to find interest in the corner that she was working in.
Quickly Sakura dropped her gaze down and focused on her work. She had stitched enough lacerations of this size and shape she could do it blind folded if she needed to. But focusing on her work gave her an excuse to ignore the two Uchiha. She wasn't the head of the hospital, she didn't have to report to them, that was Karin's job. Despite the smaller responsibilities as Karin, Sakura kept her senses heightened and ears strained as she listened into the conversation.
"I want intelligence to start questioning those in charge of distributing mission orders," Sakura heard Madara say to the aid who had accompanied them. "They can start practicing the new methods they were trained on the other day to do it. I want to know how Suna managed to catch wind of their positions so quickly and how they managed to get organized to strike so heavily."
"Yes, Lord Uchiha," Sakura heard the aid respond, followed by the sounds of his arm saluting to his chest before his swift footsteps echoed away from the ER as he ran off to set Madara's command into action.
There was a short pause before Madara began to address Karin.
"How are our men?" Madara asked, his tone of concern sounding strange, which Sakura concluded was a result of insincerity.
Karin was surprisingly well versed when speaking to Madara. There was no hesitation or intimidation. But Sakura figured that came with working under Orochimaru for so long. She was used to speaking to monsters and working alongside them.
Karin was going over the casualties and statuses of those in critical or minor care as she toured Madara and Sasuke around the room. Occasionally their footsteps would pause as Madara spoke, almost gently to those who were conscious. Some soldiers seemed reserved in their responses, most likely out of intimidation. But as Madara continued to move around and coax out conversations, Sakura found the responses of the injured shinobi more open and in some cases seemed almost awed that they were being spoken to. Madara would sympathize with those who bemoaned the loss of a comrade and gave promises of justice. For those with severe injuries he instructed Karin in front of them that they were to receive full benefits of rehabilitation. And when he approached those who were less wounded, he expressed gratitude for their bravery and skill for defending and bringing back their comrades. To those he made promises of glory in the form of promotions and advancement of skills.
It was then that Sakura realized what Madara was doing here. Unlike his previous visitations such as the prison or academy where he was looking for flaws, now, he was looking for opportunity. He didn't actually care about the casualty report Karin was giving him. He could have gotten that on a piece of paper. He wasn't here for statistics, he was here to campaign and build rapport. But instead of kissing babies and shaking hands to gain the support of the public as most politicians, he was building comradeship and loyalty with the militant. He was strengthening and building his army.
Sakura tied off the last suture on the gash that ran along the hairline of the sandy haired shinobi she was tending to. With the help of another shinobi who had been in his unit, they helped the blonde lay back on the makeshift pillow his comrade had made out of his flake jacket. As the injured man gingerly lay back, Sakura let what little of her chakra was left seep into his side where he had a cracked rib. The man gave her a nod of gratitude as he was able to expand his lungs fully for the first time without any pain. Giving his shoulder a gentle touch, she gave him a simple smile then looked at the man's comrade.
"You should get some rest as well," Sakura instructed as she quickly picked up her instruments and bloody gauze. The man gave a nod and once he shifted himself to lean against the wall and closed his eyes to follow her advice, Sakura moved to the disposal.
Carefully removing her gloves, Sakura gathered a new tray with fresh gloves and bandages. She set up next to a patient who was unconscious and went to work checking the IV drip and busying herself with menial tasks in an attempt to look busy as she did her best to blend in and not draw the attention of the visiting Uchihas. Despite the fact that she was more than aware that at least one of the Uchiha's focuses was heavily fixated on her.
Ignoring the heavy sense of being watched, Sakura pulled on a fresh pair of gloves and pulled up the man's shirt. Carefully pulling back the large bandage covering his stomach, she examined the wound. A flashing image of her hands inside the man's abdomen as she repaired his insides flared through her mind. It always did. Every wound, every patient, she never forgot.
"Your chakra is low."
The sudden proximity of Sasuke's voice made Sakura break free of the bloody vision she was lost in. Startling slightly, she looked up to see Sasuke squatting down on the other side of the patient she was kneeling beside. Quickly she looked back down to the patient and began to occupy herself with redressing the wound.
"I wouldn't be doing my job if it wasn't," she responded.
"You should rest."
"I have patients who—"
"Who are stable," Sasuke interrupted. "And you're wasting chakra on them to help them with comfort, not survival."
Sakura gave him a sharp look. "I am sorry. I realize that you were a prodigy among our genin class, and mastered things faster and more easily than the rest of us. But some people do actually choose not to learn certain skills such as ignoring other people's suffering. You would be surprised how much a little sympathy can go a long way." She looked back down at the wound she was treating and began to fasten the fresh bandage to the unconscious man with adhesive. "Despite your backwards thinking, having sympathy doesn't make you weak." Then, "Just ask your uncle. He seems to be taking advantage of it," she muttered sarcastically under her breath.
It was obvious her words had been heard at least by Sasuke when he snapped, "Watch your words, Sakura." Sasuke's warning was sharp, causing her to look back up at him.
His dark eyes held the usual dangerous glint when he gave his rebuke. But there was also a shadowed tiredness within his face. Dark circles beneath his eyes and a strain expression at the tense veins in his forehead.
Sakura opened her mouth to say something in retort but the sudden gasp followed by a pained groan beneath them ended all arguments. The patient had suddenly woken from his morphine induced rest, his eyes darting around in obvious confusion and his face contorting in obvious pain as he began to move around in his now conscious state.
Immediately Sakura reached a hand to stroke the man's brow, trying to calm him. Toniri," Sakura called, recollecting his name from his chart she had reviewed when checking his IV. "It's all right, you were severely wounded when your unit was attacked by Suna shinobi, you are back in Konoha now. Remember? You managed to get back with one of your teammates. You're in the hospital now."
The man began to shake his head. "No."
"No, you don't remember?" Sakura asked.
"No, we were not attacked." Toniri's voice was adamant and his face was determined as he began to push himself up into a sitting position.
Sakura looked at him gently. "Toniri, lie still," she started, her tone gentle but informative as she began to push him back down. She looked to Sasuke and gave him a look that told him to help her. "You're in the hospital because of the injuries you sustained in the ambush. You need to avoid moving as much as—"
Toniri shook his head again as both Sakura and Sasuke pushed him back down. "It wasn't Suna," he said, clinging to Sakura's hand as he gave in to her efforts to lie him back down. Instead he focused on drawing her full attention, his face desperate as he spoke. "Kiri…Kiri attacked—"
Toniri's eyes flickered to Sasuke, and his mouth immediately clamped shut. His paler skin turned even whiter as fear seemed to course through his mind. Worriedly the man looked back to Sakura as his other hand reached out to hers and he squeezed it as if his life depended on never letting go.
"Shhhh," Sakura hushed, trying to calm the man as she attempted to pull her hand free. "Sasuke, hand me the vial on the tray next to you."
"What is wrong with him? What is he talking about? Kiri attacked him?" Sasuke asked as he handed the small vial of sedative to her. His fingers grazed hers before he reached down to pull her other hand free of Toniri's vice like grip.
"He's severely disoriented," Sakura explained as he tried to ignore the tingling in her hand where Sasuke had touched her and focused on administering the sedative. "It wasn't uncommon for wounded to get confused back during the war," she explained. "But it is certainly not normal to get an entire war mixed up. And he didn't sustain any head trauma. Unless—"
"Doctor Haruno."
Sakura's body went frigid. From the corner of her eyes she watched Toniri's eyes flutter shut as she stared down at the cannula she was injecting into. Carefully, she pulled the syringe free when her body managed to recover. Capping the needle she reached out to drop it in the dispenser next to her before she slowly turned to face Madara who was standing at Toniri's feet. Cautiously she managed to bend her back, giving a short bow and mumbling a quick 'Uchiha-Sama' as she stiffly straightened.
Madara gave her an unnerving smile that made her stomach churn and taste bile. "From what Karin has reported you are the one to thank that our casualty numbers are not more." He looked down at Toniri. "Good men like… Toniri was it?"—Sakura managed to dip her chin slightly in what Madara seemed to register as affirmation—"well, good men like him survived."
There was something in the way he said it that made Sakura not believe his words. Perhaps it was the tone he had been using to impersonate consolation that was wearing off or maybe she was just being paranoid.
"Again, you have proven your skilled hands marvelously."
A shiver ran down her spine and Sakura's left hand flexed. Her fingers twitched one by one to touch her thumb as if checking in and reassuring her that they were still intact. Next to her she sensed Sasuke shift but she did not dare look away from Madara.
"I was just doing my job."
Madara smirked. "So modest." There was a pause as Madara looked her over from head to foot, a thoughtful glimmer in his eye. "Even so, your skills are nonpareil in comparison to others. Just as your predecessor as I have heard from the mouths of many today and throughout the week." The fact that Madara had been speaking with others about her did not bring about the honor that some may feel. Instead a heavy dread weighed down on her. Madara continued, "Someday I will have to find you greater challenges to truly see where your skills lie. But for now, you look tired." He looked at Sasuke. "Sasuke, why don't you escort the good doctor home. "
"I don't think that is necessary, I should stay here with the—"
Madara raised his hand to silence her. "I think your level of skills is no longer needed. There are other medics that can continue to keep our warriors like our dear Toniri stable." He looked at Sasuke. "See to it that our dear Sakura gets back home safely, would you? And have her take some time off with pay as a reward for her service to our great nation's shinobi."
Sasuke gave a stiff nod, then moved quickly to her side and gave her a prodding nudge. Sakura made no protest in departing from Madara's presence, her mind not even registering Sasuke's urging hand resting on her lower back as he silently ushered her out of the hospital.
Sasuke escorted Sakura through the halls of the hospital towards the front of the building. With each wing they passed through, he found their pace accelerating as Sakura's strides became quicker. Assuming that she was attempting to separate herself from him, Sasuke merely kept stride with her, despite the fact that his hand was still hovering at her back to guide her and she was making no effort to sever the connection. No side stepping, no pushing him away. She just walked onward and briskly. At least not until Sakura made a sudden turn into a narrow hallway that contained janitorial closets and a bathroom. It was then she separated herself from him, breaking into a sudden sprint as she dashed out of the emergency exit at the end of the hall.
Sasuke dashed after her. Expecting to chase her through the back allies of the city, he pushed chakra into his feet to flash step and cut her off. But instead of hunting after her, he found himself nearly running over her when he burst through the door and she had halted herself just outside the doorway.
She was bent over, one hand grasping at the brickwork of the alleyway they were standing in and one hand clenched at her chest as a ragged sound of strained breathing sounded from her lips. Sasuke grasped onto her waist to stop himself from bouldering over her and knocking her to the ground. She hardly responded to their collision until a few moments after, when she looked up.
There was a wild panic in her face as she struggled to breath. And he recognized what was happening.
Panic attack.
Her breaths came in quick shallow breaths and her eyes began to have a glazed look to them as she seemed unable to focus on his face as she looked up at him.
"Sit down," he more commanded than advised.
She did not listen. Instead she attempted to pull herself free from his grip and leaned herself against the brick wall. Both hands shook as she tried to steady herself beneath weak legs. Sasuke moved forward to grasp them but, either out of startlement or despite, she retracted her arms and pressed them against the wall. Sauske noticed her knuckles turn white as she dug her nails into the cracks of the mortar between the brickwork of the wall she leaned against.
Sasuke could hear the strain of her breath as it moved in and out of her lungs. "Sakura." She did not listen.
Sasuke closed his eyes in frustration. He didn't know how to handle this kind of thing. Comfort was not something that came naturally to him. He tried to think, tried to remember what his mother did when he was young, back when he allowed the gentleness of his mother to touch him when his father wasn't around to tell her to 'stop babying the boy'. But her hysterical gasps for breath were too distracting. However, as the wheezing filled his ears inspiration struck and his eyes snapped back open.
Coaxingly, Sasuke reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. Putting pressure against her shoulder, he spoke, "Sit," his tone, less commanding and more entreating. When she responded, he helped her down. Sitting her on the cement ground he leaned her against the wall of the building with her knees bent up against her chest. Automatically her arms wrapped around her legs. "Breath," he mentored. "Slow and deep."
He watched as she attempted but she was still trembling, he could feel it in her arms as her hands moved frantically across her knees. Gripping with her fingers then rubbing aggressively with her palms.
"Look at me." He nudged her chin up to look him in the eye as his other hand moved over her hands, clasping them both into his much larger hand. "Breath with me. In," he exaggerated a breath in and held it until she followed suit. Then he let it out. "Slowly," he coached as she tried to take in another breath too quickly.
It took time but eventually Sakura began to breathe in sync with him. He watched the rise and fall of her chest from his peripheral, making sure it matched his, all the while keeping his eyes locked with her. For a moment Sasuke felt as if it was just them in the world. All other sounds and movement blocked but the sounds of their breathing and the flick of her lashes as she stared back at him.
"Madara will be leaving soon."
His words seemed to chase away what alternate dimension they had drifted into as the sounds of the city began to echo down the alley. Whatever remained of Sakura's panic attack was also chased away and she was soon looking at him warily.
"Why are you telling me this?"
It was not something he should have been sharing. But with each passing day of upholding the facade of Madara's empire, Sasuke found himself growing weary and tired. So he found himself admitting, "I thought you would want to know. To give you peace of mind."
Sakura shifted and adjusted. First she extracted herself from him, leaning her head back against the brick and then pulling her hands free from his. She stared at him for a long moment then let one of her legs drop and straighten as she looked down at her hands. Sasuke watched as she traced an invisible line across her left hand with her right index finger. He could not help but notice it was the exact path that…He shut his eyes and looked back at her face when she spoke.
"What difference does it make if he is gone?" Her own eyes flashed up from her hands to meet his gaze. "Even when he is not here he will still be here vicariously ruling through you." Sasuke frowned. "You can't deny it, Sasuke. You say you are doing all this for the good of the people, to keep us safe, to keep me safe. But what are you really doing? You abandoned this city for the sake of power but look at you," her hands lifted in the air as she gestured at him. "You're nothing more than a puppet- '' Sasuke opened his mouth to refute her accusation but Sakura continued- "and if you argue that you're not then you're a liar. If you're not a pupper then that means the deaths of the soldiers this week, the children that families are practically selling into military service, the prisoners that just got denied their freedom for a few more years; that is all you. "She paused and let silence breath between them before she questioned, "So which is it Sasuke? Are you Madara's puppet or a liar?"
Her words brought about a muteness within him. He wanted to deny, he wanted to explain that it was not as simple as she thought. But he knew there would be no arguing with her. Gone were the days when Sakura sided with him without any thought. Gone were the days when she trusted him blindly. Now it was only ever opposition.
"Then what would you have me do?," he finally asked when he managed to unlock his voice. "Challenge Madara, the man with the power of the kami? And if I did manage to kill the man who rose from the dead then what? Should I take his throne? Replace him and become the ruler of these lands and make your wants and wishes law? Will that make you happy?"
She let out a twisted laugh and leaned forward. "Stop worrying about my happiness and do something that actually matters. Do something that helps mankind and not just yourself. That is what I want Sasuke." Her green eyes caught a glimmer of something that Sasuke could not quite place. "It's not the generation that wins the war that gets the happy endings. It's their prosperity that does," she said sagely. Then she leaned ever closer to him. So close that her breath mingled with his own as her gaze intensified. "Forget about us, forget about me. Look to the future. There are many things I think lowly about you Sasuke, but there is one thing I will not stop admiring. When you have a dream, when you set your mind to it, you make it come true."
No words passed between them as they walked through the city towards Sakura's home. It was a short distance but the silence made the journey drag on. Sasuke walked alongside her a measure distance, staying between them. Unable to know what was going through her mind as her blank face gave no insight to her thoughts, his mind reflected on her words just before they departed the hospital alley.
When they reached her home Sakura did not even make an acknowledgement of him as she walked up her stairs and entered her home, not even looking back at him as he watched her disappear behind the door. From the side window his eye caught the gentle sway of the curtain but found her father not so subtly peeking out the window.
He gave an uncharacteristic nod of acknowledgement to the man before turning to begin to make his way home. By the time he was reaching the Uchiha compound he found his mind still preoccupied with Sakura's words.
'When you have a dream, when you set your mind to it, you make it come true'.
Only she was wrong.
When Sasuke was young he had a dream. He had set out to fulfill that dream. He had abandoned his village to grow strong enough to kill Itachi, and it worked. But there was a second part to that dream. Restore his clan. As a twelve year old boy he hadn't envisioned this part much. In fact he would call his younger self rather naive in what that exactly entailed. And the older he got, the less he focused on this part of the dream as he grew closer to defeating Itachi. And even now, he found he had difficulty seeing himself living that dream anymore.
Sasuke paused at the gates of the compound. His dark eyes took in the still and silent buildings. He tilted his head to the side, letting his mind begin to wander and mold an image. It took a moment, pulling from memories and musings, but he thought he could start to see it. Inhabitants were moving about the homes and up and down the streets. Children chased each other while mothers called after them. His eyes fell on his home. Usually lonely and silent when returning, he imagined a warmth emanating from it. He imagined what it would be like to have someone inside, waiting for his return, waiting to greet him. It was almost there, he could almost see her standing on the engawa as a child jumped from the slatted porch and began running to him, arms outstretched, untamable jet black hair and eyes bright and eager, eyes the brilliant color of─
The sudden blare of a speaker echoed across the city as the dreaded Uchiha anthem played for all to hear. And the image was lost to him. Sasuke stared out again at the empty compound. Such a reality could never be molded in the world they lived in. Even if he tried to do what Sakura wished for.
Because the truth was, when Sasuke's dreams become reality, they turned into nightmares.
Finally posting! I actually have another ten pages worth that was going to be in this chapter and have a significant amount already written before deciding to separate it into two chapters and just post since I said I was going to post this like two weeks ago...sorry tumblr for giving false hopes. But on a better note that means I should have something out again soon...maybe...no promises but hopeful dreams and wishes...Any ways I hope you guys like what I have planned for this story. And a reminder this is a SasuSaku end game story. So for those who don't want that I am sorry my goal is to convince you otherwise and for those who are reading this for that then next chapter you will have a little mercy for this angst fest of a story.
Until next time...be amazing!