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Covenant
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Synopsis: Four years into the Fourth Shinobi War, Orochimaru offers to turn.
He all but requests Sakura by name to be the contact.
It is, quite clearly, a trap—least of all because he's supposed to be dead.
But what is a losing side to do except take the hand that's offered?
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11. The Order
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AFTER SAKURA left Shizune's tent, she quickly showered and changed into a clean jonin uniform.
Then she sprinted straight for Suna Division's base.
No direct teleport tags were maintained between the five major bases, being too risky to keep functional all the time. So Sakura traveled the standard way—by foot. The distance would typically take a team about three days to cover, but she was alone, and she was excited.
She hadn't seen Naruto in almost two years.
She ran without stopping except for a few hours of sleep. Her dreams were listless or raging. In some, she was thrown into a ditch dug as a mass grave. The corpses piled on top of her and all around her, growing heavier by the second. No one seemed to hear her screaming that she was still alive underneath them all.
Sometimes she was in a slightly damp room, in a cave, deep in a country that she didn't claim. It was dark and quiet, and a sleeping man was near enough to touch. She lay there, barely breathing, barely moving, scared at how he grew further away every time she reached to close the gap. Terrified that she might push him right out of the room and be left alone.
In other dreams, she watched Lee stab himself through the stomach again and again, over and over, so many times that he bled out enough to drain a hundred bodies. His blood pooled and rose around her and Tenten until they were swimming in it, and Tenten screamed at her so loud it shocked her awake.
Sometimes, she saw the way Kiba's eyes hardened in resolve when Tobi turned to him. Saw Choji move towards Kiba with a competing resolve; saw both of them fall as one in an instant. She ran to them, but her feet were sunk in quicksand. She shouted at them to dodge, but her voice wouldn't carry over the distance. She stood there stuck and useless, front stage to their deaths, all the skill and ability to heal them wasted with her inability to just do it.
And in others, she witnessed Neji sacrifice himself for the future head of his clan. Watched him willingly give his life so his little cousin could live on. The spikes slammed into his back one after another, so many it shouldn't be possible. So many that Neji's body was just a mass of spikes. He died slowly, feeling every hit, even as Hinata begged that he'd just slip away so it would end. He died for everything, to him; for nothing, in the end.
And sometimes, she simply dreamed of an endless abyss.
It was this last dream she minded the least.
The long journey alone left Sakura's mind to the edging darkness. There was no one to banter away the thoughts with and no task to bury herself in except speed. The battlefield hovered in the trees around her, glided on the sand behind her—was always right there waiting to swallow her whole should her foot slip.
As a doctor, she was well aware that her mental condition was worsening. She'd read theory and experimental books on trauma treatment, but the few works were merely pet projects of wandering scientific minds. The issue wasn't something the shinobi world had ever devoted resources to. Even if something could be done to heal it, it certainly couldn't happen while the cause of her deterioration continued to rage on. Until the war ended, her only solution was to repress it as much as possible and press through.
But what if the war kept on and on and it became too much to suppress?
What if she broke?
The only thing that staved off the shadow hunting her heels was a thought she didn't want to think about, either. Sasuke Uchiha. His long, shiny hair. His sharp chin. The calm way his lips and brow sat, lacking that haunted shade she'd grown worried about when they were genin. His analyzing onyx gaze. The thickness of the tendons running down the sides of his neck. How his Adam's apple barely moved as he spoke, voice low and filled with an unmistakable confidence.
It was the sort of thought she'd trained herself to leave when she thought he'd died. It was impossible to do that now.
Because, unfailingly, these thoughts led to something more—like a dark bedroom and a hard sleeping mat. The feel of his hips straddling hers. The way he hovered over her, quietly ordering her eyes closed, a hint of hot breath on her earlobe. Her wrists pinned in a single hand.
Or a lab—that same hand hot across her neck, his sights on hers behind a mask, their faces only inches apart.
In a forest, his silhouette bathed in moonlight. In a tree in the middle of nowhere, waiting for her to wake up, the only witnesses of what might happen between them the crickets all around.
Her seal grew balmy and pounding when her mind turned down this path. But they weren't thoughts she should entertain, weren't thoughts she was allowed to have. Though she and Sasuke weren't nothing, they certainly weren't that. If he ever learned she thought of him in such a manner so frequently, he'd probably order Tsunade to send a new contact.
At 21, she knew it was futile to harbor such deep devotion for a man who'd never shown the same in return, but Sakura had long given up trying to make these feelings make sense. There was no reason for love nor point in trying to fit reasoning on it.
Sakura made it to Suna in two and a half days. She flew through the base without stopping her breakneck speed, billowing tents and clothing in her wake. Chakra fanned out under her feet, searching for the unmistakable signature of the Kazekage. She homed towards his location when she found it.
Gaara was waiting outside the Kage Tent when she arrived. Sakura stopped abruptly before him, bowing with the customary deference.
"Thank you for inviting me, Kazekage. It's nice to see you again, well and healthy."
Her back straightened as Gaara regarded her with a warm smile.
"Welcome, Sakura. Come for a quick chat if you would, then you can be off to assist with medical." He turned and opened the tent for her to enter first.
Kage Tent on Suna base looked like all the other Kage Tents: a desk, a meeting table, and piles of paper occupying anywhere with space. Although, unlike other camps, the ground here was all sand everywhere. The room smelled of it, and her heels sunk slightly into it. Any movement had to be controlled to keep balance.
"Would you like a scan, Kazekage?"
He stepped to her with a nod, and she felt the deep insomnia in his bones when her green fingers touched his chest. The Kazekage was physically unhurt otherwise.
"You don't need to address me by my title," he said. "Especially not in private. You know that."
Sakura chuckled. "Just a habit. Sorry."
She took a seat at the central table. Gaara sat down across from her, leaning back in his chair with a sigh. A white sculpture adorned the middle of the square table between them, twisted and branched like dead coral. The result of lightning on sand, Sakura knew.
It was beautiful. She pulled it to her to examine more closely.
"I won't take too much of your time, but I want an off-the-record conversation with you that isn't muddied by the Hokage's presence or my advisor's opinions." Gaara watched her with interest.
Sakura shrugged, confused. "Sure...about?"
"Sasuke Uchiha."
Her breath caught, hands tightening on the sculpture—and she knew there was no way he didn't see it. She fought the heat rising up her neck, seal humming like a question beneath it. Could Gaara read minds? Had he seen the nature of her thoughts on the man? Did he know her thinking was plagued by Sasuke for the past 60 hours?
"I don't harbor the same anger my sister does," Gaara assured. "I understand that a double agent has to play certain roles for each side. Still, it's natural to have doubts. I'm sure you understand."
"It's natural, yes. I have doubts, too," Sakura admitted with a release of breath. Of course the Kazekage couldn't read minds. It was a normal conversation—only Sakura was having abnormal thoughts.
He motioned at her with a sweeping hand. "Tell me about them. I want to know your honest opinion. You're the only one in our army who's had any interaction with him outside of battle now for years, so you'd know best whether or not he's committed to the agreement." He paused. "And I'd like to know any guesses you've made about his intentions."
Sakura mulled over the request. She shouldn't be sharing this information with the Kazekage when it wasn't information she'd shared yet with the Hokage, but the Hokage never asked her these kinds of things. It wasn't like she was keeping this from her mentor intentionally. Tsunade cared about the intelligence Sasuke provided and matters related to his usefulness to the Allies. She had no interest in Sakura's personal opinion or feelings.
Maybe because the Hokage was too worried about what those opinions and feelings might be.
Gaara wasn't like the other Kage, though. He wasn't like Tsunade at all.
Gaara understood the importance of bonds and of believing in the good of others, even when they seemed lost. Gaara still had hope.
Gaara didn't mind that Sakura loved Sasuke.
"Will you share the contents of this conversation with anyone else?"
"I won't," he promised. "I'm only using it to inform my own decisions."
She rolled the sculpture over her palms as she thought. Such a beautiful thing it was, created by two opposing forces. There was probably some significant, hidden meaning to be found in it if she had any mental energy to waste on philosophy. Setting it down on the table, she pushed it back into place.
"Alright," she decided. Now that someone was interested in hearing them, she could admit that she was eager to release these reflections. "Unfortunately, I have no clue about Sasuke's intentions. His behavior is just as contradictory in private as it is to outside observation. I've tried finding answers in those around him and it's only confused me more...but I swear to you, Gaara." Her eyes found the Kazekage's. "Something is different. He's not like he was when he left Konoha. I can't place it exactly, and I can't describe it beyond that. But the Sasuke now is very different from the one who joined the war."
"Do you have an example?"
Her brows knitted as she sorted through her interactions with the nukenin. "He talks more." As the words left her mouth, she realized that that wouldn't mean much to Gaara. "He—he seems a bit more trusting, I guess, and he takes into account the wishes of others. Sometimes. Like he used to when we were genin...sort of."
The explanation garnered the Kazekage's incredulous stare; even Sakura's own mind thought the words sounded forced.
She frowned—"You'll just have to take my word for it."
"Regardless, do you think he's a true ally?"
"Yes. He is. There's no other way to see it. What benefit would he gain from this if Madara found out? Going off the past four years, Madara isn't the type to plant spies and leak information." Sakura pressed her hands down onto the table like a gavel laying judgment. "Sasuke is definitely doing this because he wants Madara to fall. I just don't know why."
Eyeing his desk, Gaara rubbed his chin. "I'm of the same thought. I think he's trying to help us, but his strength is staggering. Have you seen him in battle since he's returned?"
She'd seen him knock out two squads, but she'd yet to see him fight. "Not yet."
"Pray you never have to. It's like seeing a new Madara. A Madara in the making—he's overwhelming on the battlefield. Even before, he was always a nasty opponent to face, but his aptitude seems to have increased tenfold in his absence. The danger he poses to our army and the ease with which he kills us makes him a hard ally to accept."
Despite not seeing that, she had seen the injured. Every shinobi's wounds on that battlefield were felt through Katsuyu when Sakura micromanaged her chakra. She saw the consequences of his fighting—she knew how calamitous he was.
"Do you know any counters to his fighting style?" Gaara asked.
Sakura racked her brain. "Not really. I'll see if I can get any information on it, though. The only person I've ever seen handle Sasuke at all was Naruto, but those two would just kill each other." She shuddered at the thought. "And we shouldn't aim to kill Sasuke."
"We don't want to kill him," he agreed. "But we need to incapacitate him, at least. Just waiting for his chakra to run out like we're doing now is an eventual death sentence."
"I'll see what I can find. I'll have Kakashi report it to you if I learn anything." Speaking of death sentences, she thought—"I do know that Madara's entire army trains nearly every day, sometimes to the point of significant bodily injury. From my understanding, our armies rarely train outside of battle anymore, and our training has never been to such an extent. Sasuke is a problem, but even Madara's main army is a problem when our troops can barely match theirs."
Gaara nodded along to her words. "An extremely keen observation. Have you informed the Hokage yet?"
"Not yet. I mentioned it to Kakashi just before I left for this base."
"Well...you're right, we should start more intensive training. Maybe that will partially solve the Sasuke issue, as well. I'll get Temari on organizing daily training in our base."
"We should also talk more seriously about integrating our troops." This was an issue that grew more apparent to Sakura with every battle. She numbered off her thoughts on her fingers. "Konoha can't utilize its most dangerous fighters, Kiri has no battle command capabilities, Iwa can't field a medical team." She peeked at Gaara. "And no offense, but Suna's always been so heavily reliant on the Kazekage's defensive abilities that your troops aren't well-prepared for battle without you."
There was no recent report on Kumo's current combat power. Though, within the next few days, they'd face their first battle in almost two years as the rest of the divisions had.
"Mmm. You bring up good points, Sakura." He scrutinized her like he was re-evaluating something. "I've not heard these concerns in any meetings before. Have you expressed any of this to the Hokage directly?"
"No." Leg bouncing under her with muted anxiety, she couldn't meet his eye. "You're probably the only Kage who'd be even remotely receptive to the idea of integration. It only came to me recently, anyway."
It felt good to be praised for something other than healing. Sakura was rarely asked about strategy outside of medical, although she thought she'd be good at it. With so many strategical masterminds in Konoha Division already, however, and so few medical masters throughout the army, it was natural that she'd be pigeonholed out of necessity.
Still, this was her forte: solving problems, thinking through issues, and providing answers. It'd always been what she was most skilled at, it just so happened to apply particularly well to healing jutsu.
"Both of these issues have merit. I'll bring them up with the other Kage. Integration, and training regimens."
"If possible, Kazekage, could you bring them as your own ideas? Don't mention that I said anything." Gaara gave her a quizzical look, so she explained—"If the suggestions come from you, they're sure to be met with more enthusiasm than if they came from me."
Sakura glared down at the table. Suddenly, she was back in that dingy room with gaudy green drapes. The silent stare of every Kage and their guard bore down upon her. Words stuck in her throat. If not for her teacher being Kakashi, and her mentor being the Hokage, Sakura may have been marked compromised that day.
"Every Kage respects you," said Gaara, pulling her from memory.
"They might have, but things change." Sakura wasn't only Sakura the Medic anymore. She was Sakura the Contact, and that persona was quickly overshadowing all other roles she once fulfilled.
The Kazekage ran a hand through his hair. "Though I disagree, I won't argue. Whatever happens, you'll always have my respect, I hope you know. Don't forget that."
She forgot they were the same age sometimes. But sitting there now, mussing his hair and slightly scowling, the Kazekage looked every bit the young 20-something man he was. He might even be boyish if the war didn't hang about his person like a mourning shawl.
"I don't always respect myself, though. I grow tired of sitting here doing nothing," he muttered after a beat under her examination. "Seeing the casualty numbers makes me sick. I know I could probably fight Sasuke and maybe even best him in a large-scale battle. Instead, I'm confined to this base, useless and without any power to save my people."
Sakura wondered if he'd ever admitted that to anyone outside of his siblings. "If you feel that way, you should try to change the policy. The Tsuchikage would clearly support it. And—well, you didn't hear it from me, but if you both vote to allow the Kage to fight, Tsunade will likely vote with you."
Gaara seemed to consider the idea. His thoughts swirled just under his gaze. Then he waved it away.
"Enough with strategy talks. You've given me more than I asked and better than most of my advisors. If we continue down this route, I'll end up requesting your transfer here from the Hokage. Now, there's a small medical squad I'd like you to train with for a bit. Consider it a Classed 8 assignment." Gaara sent her a smile like the two of them shared a secret. "The team is about four miles west. Once you're close, you can't miss them."
Sakura's face lit up. "Thank you, Kazekage."
"Gaara," he reminded her. He stood and walked to his desk, picking up several papers at once.
Before he could evade her, she jumped up and wrapped her arms around him lightly, standing on her toes to plant a chaste kiss on his cheek.
"Thank you, Gaara. You don't know how much this means to me. If you ever need anything from me, just ask. I'll come no matter what. I owe you."
Gaara fidgeted in her embrace, and she stepped back with a smile. His cheeks were dusted pink.
Boyish, indeed.
"It's nothing to thank me for. They tried to enforce separation on Temari and me, you know. After..." The Kazekage never spoke of Kankuro's death. Everyone knew that. "Well, Temari's still permitted on this base, and that's only because there are some undeniable perks to being Kage. I think it's a worthless policy. As soon as I have the votes, I'll do away with it." He turned to his desk, a smile in his voice. "Now go on. I sent word hours ago that you were on the way. I'm sure that medical team is waiting anxiously for you."
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She felt his chakra a mile away.
She'd know it anywhere. Its feel, its warmth, the way it moved.
Then she felt it move toward her faster than she moved toward him, and a body slammed into her a minute later.
His arms were big—bigger than she remembered them. He was taller than she remembered too, and he bent toward her to lift her up in an embrace so tight it hurt. Then they were falling to the ground, laughing in the sand that pillowed around them, arms still around each other like one might disappear if they let go.
Tears were in his bright blue eyes, a smile on his lips. Sakura hadn't seen Naruto in so long. But he was here. He was alive. He was still Naruto.
And he'd grown so much. It shouldn't even be possible for someone to look so different in under two years.
They lay on their sides and faced one another in the sand. The evening sun cast long shadows between them, and the sand smelled of hot earth. Naruto's hand moved to her hair; let it slip through his fingers.
"You're so pretty, Sakura. I can't believe how much older you look," he said quietly.
Sakura pinched his arm. "I don't look old!"
"I said older, not old!"
His laugh went longer than the joke called for, and Sakura's own laugh bubbled up to join his. Soon they were laughing for no other reason but that they were together, and that tears would surely follow if they stopped too soon.
"I missed you. My God, I miss you so much. I can't believe you're here." He pulled her into another hug right there on the ground. If anyone were to see it, they'd no doubt think the scene romantic.
"I missed you too, Naruto. I thought about you every day. I've been so worried," she spoke into his chest.
They stayed there like that for what felt like an hour. His frame was larger and body slightly more firm, but he smelled like Naruto, and he breathed like him, and it was him—but it still didn't feel real. She was afraid to close her eyes too long and wake up back in her bed, on base, alone and afraid and in the throes of a panic attack.
Naruto was always just out of reach in the best of her dreams... He was red and limp and shredded in the worst of them. If she let go of him here, she might never get him back.
Their relationship had become something so unhealthy. The aching happiness his presence brought—the guarded love she couldn't fully express anymore. The knowledge that she wasn't allowed to get too close. Couldn't stay too long. Couldn't say too much.
She would leave tomorrow morning, maybe even tonight. She probably wouldn't see him again until the final battle. She may never see him again, ever.
Death held more certainty than life in war.
She squeezed him once more, then drew out of his hug. Pushed herself into a sitting position and sat cross-legged in front of him. His brow creased slightly but he followed her lead, sitting only inches before her, yanking her hand into his lap.
He gazed into her as they silently parried questions and answers off one another. Are you okay? Are you hurt? I missed you, did you miss me? When will we see each other again? Their fingers pressed into each other's palms. Time stilled until there was only Naruto and Sakura, the vast, empty desert around them, and the unbreakable bond between them. No space could distance it, no time could end it, no policy could break it.
Then Naruto's smile turned bitter, and the moment was gone.
"I think I hate the Kage."
It was something Sakura was sure she'd never hear come from Naruto's mouth.
Sighing with a nod, she agreed. "Me too."
"I...I can't keep this up," he confessed.
She looked down at their joined hands. This wasn't how she wanted their conversation to start. It didn't sound like Naruto at all.
"You can, Naruto. You can." You must.
"I don't know. Hiding like this is driving me crazy... It's been years..."
"You have to stay hidden. It'd be worse to risk Madara."
"I know that." Naruto scowled. "Except I'm here doing nothing while everyone else is out there dying for me."
He sounded like Gaara—but where Gaara's tone held resignation, Naruto's held grievance.
"They'd be dying whether you're here or there. At least here, you're safe. If Madara gets you and B, it's really over."
"It feels like it's already over for me." His voice was low and lifeless. Completely unlike the Naruto she knew.
"Don't say that." Grip tightening, she implored him, "Don't ever say that."
What's happened to him? She inspected his face, his shoulders, his posture. Chakra boiled under his skin as bright and energetic as always. Pulsing her own chakra into him, she searched deeper—
There.
Deep in the center of his chakra channels, invisible to anyone who didn't know this man like she did, something dark and slow churned against his natural flow.
Her eyes darted back to his, worry seeping through her. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"
He avoided her stare. "I've—been having dreams. The same one," he answered, not bothering to hide from her.
"Tell me," urged Sakura, moving closer to him.
"I'm...I'm next to a battle. I'm stuck in a cage and it's locked, and all I can do is watch everyone get killed in front of me. The cage won't break no matter what I do. Sometimes I can't even move..."
"Naruto..."
"I've watched you die a hundred times. Watched Kakashi die, Tsunade die, Hinata... Everyone—even people who've already died. Sometimes I'm screaming when I wake up. I'll really go crazy if I stay here, Sakura. I'm serious. I can't take this."
She didn't know what to say to him. It was a dream not much different from her own. She had yet to square this trauma within herself—how could she tell him he was wrong? How could she tell him it would be okay?
They weren't okay. They were never getting out of this.
"You just have to push through," she said, barely believing her own advice. "That's all we can do until we end this."
"I know that... I know." But his voice was dejected like he'd expected her to make him feel better; he'd hoped that she would reassure him things were fine and everyone was alright.
"It's—it's not any better for those fighting. Being there in the battle, it's—" She'd forgotten how long Naruto had been hidden away from active combat. Years—almost not at all since that first battle. "It isn't what you think it will be."
"At least I'd be doing something."
She shook her head. "Killing on the battlefield is just following orders. Dying is following orders. Following orders is the only something anyone left alive is doing anymore, and your orders are to stay away and keep safe. You're doing exactly the same thing that everyone else is, which is whatever the Kage tell us to do."
"Everyone else is fighting to beat Madara."
"No, Naruto. They're just fighting to survive. There's no glory left in this war. Everyone's already lost."
Something in her voice must've caught Naruto's ear because his hand tightened on hers when she snapped her mouth shut.
"Are you okay, Sakura?"
No one is okay, she thought.
But she said, "Yes, I'm okay," and faked a smile, blocking out the battlefield threatening to fall upon her consciousness at any moment now.
The smell was suffocating. Her legs sunk into the sand that was now mud that was really just trampled, decomposed bits of body and blood. Everyone left alive was actually dead; the dead were alive all around her; a commander was calling for the count, ordering people to search for familiar faces in the piles that spread for miles in every direction like the shadows in the medical tomb, and—
"Honestly, I've felt a little crazy, too, without you," she murmured, interrupting her own spiral.
This answer seemed to pacify Naruto, who moved away from the topic that had settled too heavily upon them.
He wanted to know everything. Who was stationed at Konoha base now? What was Kakashi up to? Did Tsunade give up her position yet? How were all of their friends? Was Sai finished with his mission? Had she visited anywhere else besides Suna recently?
He didn't ask about the battles, and he didn't ask about Sasuke. That could only mean that he didn't know about Sasuke yet—and she didn't tell him, either. It'd only encourage Naruto to rejoin the fight if he knew Sasuke was back and helping the Allies.
Eventually, Naruto would find out. But she didn't feel like it was the right time, nor did she want to share her part in Sasuke's return. Something churned in her belly at the thought. The agreement was something Sakura had to herself; the covenant gave her a connection to Sasuke that Naruto had no place in.
She touched the seal tentatively with her chakra. It warmed immediately in response. That was hers to keep—hers alone.
Then Naruto was sharing everything. Lightning Country was a beautiful place, but rainy like Water Country. It was mountainous and rocky, with thick rainforests in the valleys. They'd spent almost six months moving through the country to various safe houses. He'd met many people, made new friends, and learned new jutsu.
He finished with, "I have something to tell you... But you have to promise not to tell anyone."
Her brows creased at the change in pace. "I promise."
"...You swear?"
"Yes, Naruto, I swear. What's this about?"
He lowered his voice and leaned in. "Hinata and I are dating."
Slapping a hand across his mouth, she shushed him, surveying the surrounding area for any presence—finding only endless sand and dunes. She felt elated and nauseous at the same time.
"Don't say that out loud again," Sakura warned, pulling her hand away. "You know the rules."
You'll be separated, said the bitter twitch at the edge of her mouth.
Naruto frowned, reading the message on her face. "My guards don't care. Everyone on my team knows. They've known for a while and haven't told. No one below the Kage agrees with that stupid policy."
"That may be, but no one below the Kage has any authority on the matter." She held the caution for a second more before smiling. "But Naruto, I'm so happy for you! I can't believe it! No, seriously, I can't believe you have a girlfriend... What's Hinata thinking?!"
"I know, I couldn't believe it either! She's so wonderful, and smart, and beautiful, and kind." His expression was kitten-soft, wide-eyed adulation. "She's the only reason I haven't lost it yet. She's perfect."
Sakura hauled him into another hug. "Congratulations. You two deserve all the happiness in the world."
Standing suddenly with a grin, he dragged her up with him. "Okay, let's go back to base. Hinata and B are waiting. Captain Yamato is there, too. Ugh, and remember I told you about Tango? He traveled with us from Kumo 'cause he heard me say how you might visit when we moved to Suna. Just shut him down, okay? I don't wanna hear him talk about you all the time anymore. It's seriously creepy. Oh! And you've gotta listen to B's new—"
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Their temporary base was just six small tents pitched near a rock formation. Hinata, B, and Captain Yamato welcomed her happily. She met the rest of their security detail, who all showed her the customary respect most within the army gave any commander. She didn't recognize anyone besides the two Konoha shinobi and the jinchuriki. Tango had mumbled through his introduction, barely keeping his eyes off the ground.
It was shockingly apparent that Naruto and Hinata were together once in the same space. Their interactions hid nothing, Hinata was a blushing heap of smiles and Naruto a doting fool. Sakura made a mental note to keep Tsunade away from the two of them at any cost. It took but one look to see that neither Naruto nor Hinata would ever place a mission over the other.
The visit was enjoyable. Peaceful.
For a moment, she was just a young woman appreciating the company of her friends. For an instant, there was no war, no battlefield, no enemies. Breathing didn't feel like suffocating, and relaxation didn't feel like sin. The jinchuriki base was purposefully removed from the conflict such that even the atmosphere of this place felt withdrawn from what she'd experienced just last week.
What would it be like to stay? To remain here, away from the fighting—away from all her enemies? Even when she was stationed on Naruto's guard in the early days, the Hokage had routinely ordered her into battle.
But Naruto, who'd been here all along, still had that dark, lingering bitterness inside him. Even Naruto—ever-optimistic Naruto—dreamed of the battlefield. Maybe she was fantasizing about an escape that didn't exist.
The war touched everywhere. Even here, where the Kage hid their most prized possessions.
She left that night, and it felt like no sooner than she'd arrived.
A message arrived by bird. Return to your assigned base immediately. You have three days before you're court-martialed.
Tsunade's writing.
Sakura felt the warning in the jagged letters. The room went silent as they all read it in her aura. Glaring down at the piece of paper, she crumpled it in a fist, Hinata's warm hand on her shoulder. She'd traveled all this way and spent less than five hours with Naruto.
It was worth the five hours, but she wanted so much more.
"I've got to go," she forced out.
"Okay," Naruto whispered back.
"I'll see you soon. Write to me when you can," she told him when they hugged goodbye. "Stay safe. I love you."
"Love you... You stay safe, Sakura. Please."
His words rattled around in her mind on her way back. You stay safe, Sakura. You stay safe, Sakura. What if they never saw each other again? What if those were the last words she ever heard Naruto say? Please.
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Returning to Konoha Division base took exactly three days. She hadn't moved with the same urgency in her travel back, and nothing had changed here in the six days she'd been gone.
Clearly no immediate threat had forced Sakura's recall.
The base held the same quiet anticipation—or capitulation, depending on the way of the breeze. The grass was still a deep spring-green, the trees stood tall and ripe with leaves. Her comrades were still drowning themselves in whatever vice they'd taken up to ignore anything beyond the base's edge.
The Hokage was still a nasty drunk.
She entered the Kage tent and braced herself. The lights were bright and the room was empty, save for the Hokage herself. Liquor nipped the air with its peppery aroma, slouching her mentor in a tall chair behind her desk. The drink meant Tsunade was angry, sad, or preparing herself for bad news.
None of those options were good for Sakura.
Tsunade's eyes narrowed on her. "Look who it is."
"I'm reporting, Hokage. Was I needed?"
"Where have you been?"
A meaningless question. Both women knew Tsunade already had the answer.
"Suna's base."
Tsunade scoffed loudly. "For what purpose?"
The Hokage had to know that answer, too—but Sakura evenly replied, "The Kazekage requested that I go meet with a medical team on his base, so I—"
"Stop." Tsunade's expression was glinty and irritated. "You'll speak the truth or you won't speak at all."
Pressing her lips into a thin line, Sakura raised her chin and met her shishou's eyes. In nearly any other situation, she'd kowtow to the Hokage's tone. In this situation, however: She felt vindicated in her actions.
The separation policy was callous and crude. She was glad that she'd seen Naruto.
She wasn't sorry.
And given the opportunity, she'd do it again.
Her wordless insurgence was easily read by Tsunade—a glass liquor bottle slammed down on the table, a manicured hand still wrapped around its neck.
"You've disobeyed direct orders!" the Hokage yelled. "You signed a binding contract and you violated it!"
"I did not vio—"
"I said don't speak."
Anger and shame flushed through her as she watched her mentor rub her forehead. She wasn't sorry...but Tsunade had never spoken to her like that. As the minutes stretched out, Sakura stood straight-spined and mute by the tent entrance, staring at an empty space on the tent's wall and clearing her mind of all thoughts.
The seal on her neck hummed like it was trying to say, Relax.
Finally—"You've put me in a difficult position, Sakura. Do you understand that?"
She nodded. "I understand, Hokage."
Tsunade rested her chin on her hands. "I don't think you fully understand. You've disregarded a contracted policy. A policy enforced by all five Kage. By agreement, all breaches of that contract call for a court martial."
"Kakashi gave me permission while acting as Hokage. I didn't breach the contract."
"Kakashi will be here shortly to answer for that. And listen carefully, I said that you disregarded it." The Hokage's voice was emotionless now. Level. The tone sounded far more patronizing than yelling. "I don't enjoy doing this to you and Naruto. You both act like I could've done differently—my hands were tied. You two made it too difficult to justify not enacting separation. It's the same for anyone I've enforced it on."
There was a long enough pause that Sakura thought Tsunade might be waiting for an answer.
"Yes, Hokage. I know that you didn't do it with malice." And that was the truth.
It didn't make it hurt any less, though.
"Well, good, then." Tsunade dropped her gaze, and the action dropped Sakura's stomach along with it. "Just know I'm not doing this with malice, either."
The atmosphere shifted into something that made Sakura's hair stand on edge.
"What do you mean?" The Hokage's face was a stone mask, but the honey in her eyes shone syrupy contrition. When Tsunade didn't answer, Sakura repeated, "What do you mean, shishou?"
"We'll circle back to it. Kakashi will be here shortly. Fill me in on your last meeting with the Uchiha while we wait." Laying a fresh piece of parchment on the desk, she pulled out a quill. "Any new intelligence?"
Kakashi had probably already passed the debrief information along, but Sakura restated it anyway. The white blob, Madara and Suigetsu's words, Sasuke's injuries.
But she didn't mention her thoughts on increased training. And like always, Tsunade never asked for any of Sakura's personal opinions.
The Hokage wrote nothing as Sakura reported, studying her student with perplexion once she finished.
"What happened the first day you were there?"
"Nothing. We had a short discussion, then I went to sleep."
"They didn't provide any new intelligence in that discussion?"
Sakura thought through the short time she'd spent with Sasuke and Suigetsu this past visit. There'd been a dumb move on her part, a brief strategy discussion, a slightly longer disagreement, and then she fell asleep.
"No, Hokage."
"And no new information when you went to the lab or returned to the bed chamber?" Tsunade asked, placing the quill back into its ink jar.
"None," she confirmed. "No formal information was given to me this time."
"Then what was the point in summoning you there?"
Sakura hadn't thought about it like that. Still, she was wary of showing Tsunade too much doubt lest the Hokage start questioning whether Sakura should be taken off the mission.
"Both Suigetsu and Sasuke required healing. Being their medic is part of the agreement, along with the intelligence aspect."
Tsunade's sights narrowed. "I suppose..."
Some sort of opinion was forming behind the Hokage's look—one Sakura didn't want to find out, regardless of what it would be. Tsunade never cared for Sasuke, and any fondness she once held for Orochimaru had long disappeared. Whatever her mentor thought about the situation, it couldn't be good. It was best to derail her mind before a coherent idea could form.
"Hokage, actually, I do have something new to report." Sakura hesitated, realizing she couldn't come right out with it or she'd be in trouble for not mentioning it sooner. "I was...pacted to silence before this last meeting, so I couldn't report when it happened."
"Go on."
And then, so fast it sounded like one continuous word, "I made a covenant with Sasuke Uchiha to secure my position as the contact."
Tsunade choked on her drink. "Sorry?"
Gathering courage, Sakura steadied her breathing. She needed this, or Sasuke wouldn't train her. She needed this or they'd never figure out how to undo it.
"I made a covenant. With Sasuke." With her right hand, she pulled down her turtleneck to reveal the thin, black circle. "I took a seal."
The air stilled around the women. Tsunade stared at Sakura's neck. Focus never departing from the seal, she moved out from behind her desk, reaching for Sakura's throat without hesitation.
The Hokage was shocked with lightning when her fingertips brushed the ring.
Honey-colored eyes flooded with disbelief. "Do you know what this is?"
"I was hoping you would." A look that she'd never seen flashed across her mentor's expression. She inspected the small circle, face so close to Sakura's neck that a blush threatened to bloom on the younger woman's cheeks. "Orochimaru said to tell you, There was someone to cast and someone to witness."
"You're a foolish girl," the Hokage whispered.
Sakura blinked. This entire conversation was novel for her. Tsunade never yelled at her, never reprimanded her so forcefully, and had never criticized her intelligence before. It was highly unsettling.
After some time of Tsunade not moving and not looking away, Sakura asked, "Do you know what it is?"
Tsunade scoffed, finally returning to her seat. "Yes."
Sakura waited a minute for an elaboration that never came. "...Well, I'm hoping to find a way to remove it. Sasuke and I agree it'd be best to proceed without it, but neither of us knows what it is or how to go about that."
Tsunade's finger tapped against the wood, calculating. "The Uchiha's also sealed?"
"He is."
"What pacts did you make?"
"Loyalty, silence, cooperation, expeditiousness, and veracity." She was surprised she could speak them out loud.
Perhaps because Orochimaru had directed her to ask Tsunade, or Sasuke had requested that she find a way to break it. Maybe because Sasuke removed the jutsu that concealed him. Regardless, something now overrode the silence pact, for better or worse.
"What about commitment?"
"No."
"Faithfulness?"
This line of questioning was strangely and particularly familiar. "No. Only those five."
"Did the Uchiha take either of those that I just asked?"
"Sasuke took a pact of devotion."
Fingers freezing on the table, the right side of her lip curled up slowly. "That snake..." Tsunade chuckled.
Sakura tried again: "Do you know how to remove it, Hokage?"
"I do. But for now, it will remain. The seal itself isn't harmful and may prove useful to the Allies and you if the Uchiha stays sealed. In fact, I want you to start using that seal every time you go to gather."
"Use it? How would I use it?"
Rubbing her temple, Tsunade hid a battle in her gaze. Then she took a long chug of liquor and defeatedly sighed.
"It's a seal that gives you considerable control over the other party's emotions. The effects can be heightened with chakra. For example, if you wanted," Tsunade feigned a nonchalant shrug, "you could wind the Uchiha up into a fighting state by pushing anger into your seal. You could put him to sleep by pushing in exhaustion. You could even seduce him—which I'm suggesting you do. Or rather, it's an order."
She was sure her face had turned tomato-red. "S-seduce him? Hokage, that's—that's ridiculous. Respectfully, Hokage."
"Don't act like a blushing teenager. Women have been seducing men all throughout history to gain leverage over them. It'll make him more loyal to you and, in turn, the Allies." The Hokage said it casually, flicking her hand like she was batting away a fly. Like it was obvious.
Like this was a frequent and normal kind of order.
Sakura's mouth gaped like a fish on a line, hovering over the water.
This was far beyond her capabilities. She'd never so much as gone on a date or kissed a man. Her childhood was spent pining over a boy focused on anything but romance; she spent the next four years training to become strong enough to help bring that very boy back; and the past four years she'd simply survived. Outside her young, naive fantasies of true love that culminated in sweet pecks and stolen hugs—and embarrassing encounters on base when she stumbled unwelcome into other people's business—she knew nothing of...sexual relationships.
Now she was expected to seduce someone? Seduce Sasuke Uchiha, no less?
"Impossible," she said the thought aloud. "I can't do it."
"You can. Just use the seal. It will make things much easier than you think. And anyway..." Tsunade gave her a pointed once-over. "You likely wouldn't need the seal to seduce any man in the first place. Have some self-awareness, now and then."
Doubtfully, Sakura shook her head, fingers grazing her neck.
A seal that could seduce someone? That controlled someone's emotions? Why would Orochimaru have placed this kind of seal on her and Sasuke?
None of this makes any sense, she thought for the thousandth time.
"What kind of seal is this, shishou?"
Snorting, the Hokage sounded amused and furious at the same time. "You two morons took a—"
The tent opened behind them.
Arms were wrapped around her the moment Sakura looked over her shoulder, lilac coating her lungs in a single, surprised inhale. Behind a plume of blond hair, Kakashi's lean frame stood rigid near the tent's opening, hands fisted in his pockets as if steeling for a beating.
"You're safe," Ino whispered into her ear. "I was so worried when you weren't here when my team came back. I was so worried."
Why is Ino here? She locked her sights on Kakashi, sending the question at him mentally as she returned her friend's hug.
Kakashi's visible eye gleamed with sympathy and regret, meeting her gaze as if it were painful for him to do so.
Something was wrong. Her mind processed the new situation faster than she was ready for—faster than she wanted it to. Kakashi's expression. The Hokage's earlier words. Ino's presence. The air left Sakura's lungs as the pieces fell into place.
"What's wrong, Sakura?" asked Ino, stepping away from her and rubbing Sakura's arms.
Sakura's entire body was shaking.
Her vision slid away from Kakashi and returned to the Hokage's desk. A new piece of paper lay there in front of Tsunade. The official Allied seal stamped on the top right corner. There was a paragraph of text Sakura didn't need to read to know what it said, followed by three lines for three different signatures.
Her blood ran cold.
Tsunade wouldn't do this to her. Tsunade couldn't do this. Tsunade could be upset with her for going to Naruto, but this was too heavy a punishment for her actions. This was further than it needed to go.
Tsunade wouldn't do this to them.
Right?
"No, shishou. Please," Sakura begged. "Please." The Hokage regarded her with quiet pity. The air about her mentor's shoulders was decided, summoning hot tears against Sakura's lower lid. Her voice quivered, "I'm sorry that I went to Suna, Hokage. I'm sorry. Please, please, don't—"
"This has nothing to do with Suna," Tsunade stated calmly.
Ino looked from her friend to her Kage, then landed on the official document. Sakura heard the air catch in her throat.
"...What's going on?"
"Please. I'm sorry," Sakura repeated.
"Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka, I've called you both here today because it's been decided by the Kage that you two are a liability to the army when stationed together." Tsunade stared stiffly at the space between the two women before her.
Hands tightening on her arms, Ino's nails dug into Sakura's skin so hard it drew blood. Sakura was speechless.
"What?" Ino's eyes were wide and wild.
The Hokage addressed Sakura. "When Ino returned from her mission, she tried to disobey my direct orders. She attempted to go to Suna because she heard you traveled alone without backup. I told her she was forbidden to do so, yet we were still forced to knock her out to keep her on base. She fought the two Konoha shinobi who eventually brought her back."
"Hokage! I didn't harm them, and I was only worried—"
"Your behavior's crossed the line more than once in the past few weeks," Tsunade continued over Ino's raising voice. "This problem was going to come up eventually, and the decision has nothing to do with the Suna visit violation," she repeated. "It's simply clear that at least one of you cannot properly choose orders over an individual."
"Ino would follow orders when it matters, Tsunade. You know that—she always follows orders in battle. She's never disobeyed you during the most dangerous times when I'm at the most risk. Please," Sakura implored, finding her voice.
Ignoring her plea, Tsunade closed her eyes. "Starting today, you two will abide by our forces' separation policy."
Sakura's heart bottomed out of her body. The seal throbbed with increased heat, but the comfort it usually provided never came. There was a ringing sound in her ears and not a single coherent thought in her head.
"I won't sign it!"
"Refusal to sign will result in a court-martial, Yamanaka."
"Fuck your court-martial!" Ino erupted. "Fuck your policy, and fuck you, Tsunade!"
Ino was pinned on the ground in seconds, Tsunade on top of her. Ino let out an infuriated shriek. Without any hands to hold her up, Sakura felt her knees thud on the grass. The struggle happening mere inches in front of her was blurred through tears. The two women screamed at each other, thrashing around on the ground like academy kids.
"I've given you ample leeway, but that's it!" Tsunade shouted at Ino's struggle. "Ino Yamanaka, you're hereby charged with treason! You'll be held in the temporary cells pending your trial!"
"Hokage, this situation calls for patience," Kakashi said, his calm tone completely out of place. He set a wary hand on the Hokage's back, but didn't make to pry the women apart. "Give Ino some slack, especially now. Surely you can understand."
"Fuck you, Tsunade!" Ino flailed in the woman's grip. "Put me in a cell, I don't care! I won't sign it! I WON'T SIGN IT!" Then Ino was sobbing, her body seizing so hard her chin slammed into the ground. "I won't sign it!" she howled, over and over, her words jumbling into incoherence.
Tsunade blinked at the trembling woman and abruptly removed herself. Now freed, Ino curled into the ground, weeping and muttering. Kakashi kneeled to lift her up, draping one of her arms around his shoulders as he bent down to her height. Leaning into him, Ino convulsed with sobs.
Sakura stared at where Ino had been, still on her knees.
"You're right, Kakashi," said Tsunade gruffly. "I acted inappropriately as well, so I'll let this go. It's a difficult situation for everyone. But you two must sign. It's already been agreed upon by the Kage. Failure to sign will result in a court-martial, and I have no say over that."
Sakura's tears fell silently. "...When was the vote?"
"Yesterday."
"Did the Kazekage vote?"
The Hokage sighed deeply as she fell into her chair again, chugging from her flask. "Gaara voted against it."
Sakura couldn't even look at her. "You can't do this. It'll break her." It might break me. "The army needs her." I need her. "I need her. If you separate us..." The only sound in the tent was Ino's sobs. "...If you separate us, Hokage, I won't follow your orders any longer."
Kakashi's head whipped in her direction.
"Are you threatening insubordination?" Tsunade sounded stunned.
Sakura didn't reply. She sat in the grass, unmoving and unseeing, her mind on the verge of shock.
"I thought you understood I'm not doing this with malice, Sakura. This was a decision all of the Kage agreed on, and Ino's needed on Iwa base. She was getting stationed there either way, and you'd be staying here, even without this contract."
"Who brought the vote before the other Kage?"
Tsunade's mouth pursed. The Sannin didn't need to answer—Sakura already knew. What other Kage could possibly bring a vote on two Konoha shinobi's separation?
"The war is changing." Her mentor's voice took on a soothing tone that didn't match her. "The Kage have agreed to start integrating our armies. Although you can't station together on home bases, you'll both be necessary commanders in nearly all of the Allied battles moving forward. You'll still see each other often. Nothing stops you from stationing together on battle bases."
"So we're only allowed to see each other in war," Sakura whispered.
"We're always in war! We're in war right now, in this room!" Tsunade's hand slapped the table. "Don't make this harder than it needs to be, Sakura. I get no pleasure from doing this. I never asked to be Hokage during war—I never asked to be Hokage in the first place, and I certainly never asked to be responsible for this."
Ino had cried herself out. She stared down at Sakura with desperation; Sakura gazed up at her, resignation threading her lips thin.
Ino wouldn't survive this war alone. She'd lost as much as she could handle. She wasn't resilient enough to lose anything more and wasn't made to live without companionship.
So Sakura wasn't going to let Ino go it alone. She couldn't.
"You better order me to every battle Ino's in, Tsunade. Every single one." Sakura's voice was low as she turned to glare at the Hokage. "You better make sure I'm there. Every single battle she's at, I will be at too. All of them. Because if Ino dies in Iwa and I'm not there, I will leave this fight. I promise you. I will leave Konoha and the army if she dies. Even if it's in the middle of the war."
Shoving herself up, Sakura stalked to the table, grabbed the quill, and signed her signature so forcefully the parchment tore.
She was so sick of this war, so sick of these sacrifices, so sick of what her loyalties asked of her. How much more was she expected to give without receiving anything in return? What else would she be forced to give up before this ended?
"Be careful," warned Tsunade. "I understand this is difficult, but such a blatant threat of insubordination... As Hokage, I shouldn't ignore such statements. I'm going to today, but I'm telling you that I shouldn't."
"I'm not threatening insubordination, Hokage." Sakura met the Hokage's eyes. She would never forgive Tsunade. Naruto had hurt, but Naruto was safe. She could live with Naruto being taken from her in this way—but Ino... Ino wasn't going somewhere safe, and Ino didn't have an entire detail to keep her company. She couldn't forgive Tsunade for this in a hundred years. How could her mentor do this to her? "I'm swearing desertion if Ino dies and I'm not there."
.
I had a PM ask if this story was going to stay depressing...probably! :p
In fact, I think it's going to get even more depressing!
Again, thanks to every single person who takes the time to review my work!
You guys are amazing.
Have a wonderful week!
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Thanks to my beta-reader Leech