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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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22. The Betrayal
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SASUKE DIDN'T tell her what the rubbing was.
She hadn't expected him to. It'd be a lie to say that she hadn't hoped for it, though. When Naruto bent down to scribble out the port tag with coordinates Lady Katsuyu rattled off, Sakura discretely unsealed the scroll and passed it to Sasuke.
Their eyes met as his fingers slid over the opposite end of the parchment. Was it worth it? she wanted to ask. Was this information worth that risk? I was their medical commander and I left them for you. Kakashi almost died. Naruto was nearly caught. I did this for you. Do you get it? Do you get it, Sasuke?
If he heard her think it, he gave no indication. He tapped the rubbing against the sealing paper wrapped around his own wrist and then it was gone. And if there was something he wanted to say when his lips pursed a moment later, she'd never know.
"Alright. Let's go, Sakura." Naruto's hand was out to help her stand.
Accepting the offer, she grabbed Naruto's wrist and let him pull her from the ground. He bent to pat away sand that clung to her arms and back. Sasuke stood and stepped away, gazing east. The silence of the moment suddenly felt overwhelming—there were both years to talk about and nothing to say.
Naruto straightened and scratched the back of his head. "Not that it matters now, Sasuke, but next time we see each other in battle, don't come at me so hard, yeah? It really felt like you still wanted to kill me."
"...Aa."
"'Aa' as in okay or 'Aa' as in you want to kill me...?!"
Sighing, Sasuke rubbed the bridge of his nose. "With every word out of your mouth it moves further towards the latter."
Sakura held in a chuckle when she felt Naruto's chakra prickle beside her. These two were still the same with each other. It made her want to smile and cry at the same time. Why was it so easy for them to fall back together but so difficult for her and Sasuke?
She laid a hand on his shoulder. "Ready, Naruto?"
"Yeah." Glaring once more, he added, "We'll finish this later, bastard."
Sasuke faced them, dipping his head in acknowledgment, veiled gaze sliding to her. Shivers branched from the seal through her chakra pathways under his study.
She wanted to tell him that he looked so much better in this plain cloak than in that awful Akatsuki uniform—that she and Naruto would protect him from anyone as soon as he cast away those red clouds. Even the Kage. The whole damn Allied army, if he came back.
Thank you, spread across her thoughts, soft as a breeze. So quiet it was impossible to know if it was her sentiment or his.
"Thank you, Sasuke," Sakura spoke, watching him closely for any response. "For coming to help us."
He shrugged. "You're the contact. I have to come if the Allies won't, or all the trouble and hassle will be—"
"Ugh, drop the act already!" Naruto's hand, big and warm as she remembered, wrapped around hers. "God, you've only gotten more emotionally constipated in your twenties! Let's go, Sakura. I'm too tired to listen to this guy right now. I'll cover the teleport for you."
"Wait—"
Naruto tugged her against him before she could finish. The jutsu yanked her navel the next second. Bemused purple and onyx were the last things she saw before Naruto's chakra swept over her and the desert swirled into a small, dusty room.
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Team Seven collapsed as soon as they crossed the threshold of the Allied base. Ino and Shikamaru were there within minutes, shoving away the strangers who were trying their best to help. Standing behind Team Ten, Tsunade was a mixture of worry and relief, eyes watery with emotion—or maybe only from the bite of winter wind. She ordered they both be taken to her tent to recover.
Sakura made to argue, bristling at the thought of accepting anything from the Hokage, but Ino shushed her. "It's where Kakashi's recovering, too."
"Where's Hinata?" Naruto asked, propped up by Shikamaru.
"In Shizune's tent. Rest first then you can go see her," answered Ino, who shouldered most of Sakura's weight.
The four of them stumbled across the base. Only a week ago the place had been alive with strategizing and anticipation. Every Allied base on the map converged on this spot, swarming to finally end the war. They'd been preparing for the largest Allied offensive in the history of the war—a two-pronged attack to bring Madara to his knees. It'd been an anxious yet impatient atmosphere that only years of war could breed.
Even in the tension, or perhaps because of it, the Allied army was lively as ever seven days ago. Those who preferred to drink their worries away still hosted nightly campfires, singing and dancing until sunrise. Others spent the nights praying to whatever God they thought most benevolent, or training, or meditating. Many found comfort in each other, whether in company or in bed. Everyone had a different way of dealing with a war that still felt winnable.
The base she'd left a week ago was in complete juxtaposition with the one she returned to.
Shinobi sat hollow-eyed and motionless by their tents. Soft touches and muted words permeated every interaction. Even Shikamaru, always the last pillar of strength, kept his head bowed and gaze inward.
There were enough tents for 40,000 people on this base, but there was a nauseating quiet in the air.
It was too empty.
She didn't want to ask, but not knowing didn't make it any less real.
"What's the count?" she whispered.
Ino's arm tightened on her waist. "It starts tonight."
It was the middle of winter, yet they hadn't passed a single campfire in the ten minutes they'd trekked from the entrance. It was the middle of the day, yet no one was training or sharpening their weapons. They were four of the highest-ranking, most well-known shinobi in the whole army—and not a single person they passed said a greeting. Most never looked up from the ground.
Hope had always clung to Allied bases, tangible enough to taste. Even when it barely touched the shoulders of the shinobi within. Even when they'd lost those battles in Wind and Earth. Even after counts in the thousands and the loss of the Mizukage. Week after week, month after month, year after year, it hovered over the burlap tents like a moth to a flame.
But nothing seemed to burn within this place anymore.
Was this it, then? Was five years truly how long it took to beat the hope out of an army?
"...What's the estimate?"
Shikamaru's voice was cold as the wind that pressed against them. "It's not good, Sakura."
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She thought it was another nightmare when the ground shuddered and rattled her medical cot.
Howls of Inuzuka ninken rose from all directions, Konoha Division's signal that the base was under attack. But she wasn't based with Konoha anymore, so she turned over and willed her mind back into peaceful rest. There was a rush of footfalls on the ground outside and on the roof of Tsunade's tent that she pretended not to hear.
From experience: If she ignored it, it'd eventually disapparate.
Sakura wasn't sure how long she'd been asleep, but she knew it wasn't long enough. The shakes and sounds drifted away as she fell back into unconsciousness.
Then someone was shouting her name and tugging her from the cot. "Wake up, Sakura! Get up! We need you!"
Sakura blinked and stumbled from the bed, letting the person pulling her carry her weight as her mind kicked and stalled.
"Summon Lady Katsuyu! Hurry! Madara's—"
Whatever the person meant to say was cut short as they both tripped through the tent's opening.
The ground quaked again as sunlight slammed against her eyes. Sakura blinked, dizzy from disorientation. White flakes floated in the air, melting as they landed on her bare arms and legs. She was in bindings, the elastic shorts she wore under her uniform, with no shoes.
And it was snowing. A nightmare?
With squinted eyes she peered around, trying to grasp the situation. A trickling of shinobi were flying past them towards the main gate to the west. Flashes of battle were on the southern skyline. Hakui was next to her, grasping her arm like death.
"We're under attack!" yelled Hakui, panic in her voice.
"...Attack? On our base? Who—how long have I—"
"Four days," the woman breathed, seeming to reign in the fear on her next inhale, practiced. As she spoke, she untied her medical coat and draped it over Sakura's shoulders. "Madara's brought his army here. Please, Sakura, hurry and summon Lady Katsuyu." Hakui tied the cover in the front as she met Sakura's bewildered stare.
Still half-deciding between reality or dream, Sakura asked, "Summon for how many?"
"I...I don't know, the bigger the better, maybe..."
Her feet were freezing. She pushed chakra into them, rolling it from her toes to her heel to warm them up.
Bending to the ground, nipping her thumb between teeth, she pressed it into the snow. A black summoning circle spread around her hand—then Lady Katsuyu popped into the base, only the size of an infant.
No point in summoning a large portion without any intel on the army. Sakura didn't know if Katsuyu was already deployed, where the Kage needed her, or if troops were close enough for Katsuyu to even attach to anyone.
"Has Tsunade summoned you already, Lady Katsuyu?"
"No, what's going on?"
"The base is under attack. Can you feel where she is?"
The slug was silent for a moment. "To the south."
Sakura picked the summon up and laid it on her shoulder. Katsuyu split in half so Sakura could place a portion on the medic standing at attention, waiting for orders. The ground shook again; sounds of fighting from the front gate seemed to grow closer.
Sakura decided in that moment it was real.
She let her chakra balloon out into the earth, pushing it south and west. This technique was better suited for structures, and she wasn't a sensor, but with gritted teeth she strained it as far as she could manage. The battle to the south was happening off the coast, in the Mist Sea. To the west, troops were fighting inside base parameters.
The chakra snapped back into her. Over such a distance, she couldn't deduce anything more than that.
"How long since the attack started?"
"Not long. Less than thirty minutes. I was doing rounds with Shizune when it started and she sent me to see if anyone had woken you up. That's all I know."
"Where's linking? Where's Naruto?"
There should've been a Yamanaka mindlink going if there was a battle. It should've been what woke her: Ino's voice shouting command's orders. And Naruto should've been in the cot next to her, resting.
"Naruto was in Shizune's tent last night but... I—I don't know..." Hakui looked down. "I'm sorry."
Sakura swallowed, unwilling to absorb that admission. Not here. Not now. No news didn't automatically make it bad news.
"It's okay. It's okay. Okay. Let me think." Pressing a palm into her forehead, she forced her thoughts away from loved ones and into battle mode like trying to thread a camel through the eye of a needle. It felt almost impossible to focus on anything but the safety of her friends. "Let's go to the Hokage. Actually, no—you report to base medical with Lady Katsuyu so we have some communication. I'll find command and pass any information back."
"Got it." Hakui turned, then hesitated.
She glanced over her shoulder like she wanted to say something more. Snowflakes landed in the woman's brunette hair, piling atop one another. Hakui appeared much younger than her 30 years. Despite being older, Hakui had always deferred to Sakura's rank. She'd always trusted Sakura's skill and leadership. Was the first to lend a hand to anyone. Easily the kindest medic in Konoha.
The ground rocked again and the moment was gone.
"Go on," urged Sakura. "I'm going to find Tsunade."
Hakui nodded and disappeared down the path back to medical. Sakura hopped onto the top of the nearest tent to begin her sprint south, asking Katsuyu to guide her.
As she drew closer to the coast, it was easier to feel the stronger signatures. The Hokage and Raikage were out in the ocean. The Kazekage was southwest between the two battles. There were other chakras ahead of her that she'd grown to recognize during the war, too: Temari, Kitsuchi, Killer B, Darui, Chojuro—it's the Mizukage now, she reminded herself.
But less than a mile from the coast, as she neared the edge of the forest that separated the ocean from the base, Naruto's chakra spiked to the left.
It took no thought at all. Sakura immediately diverted and moved to him instead.
She found herself on the edge of a third skirmish within minutes. Shinobi dashed through the trees, catching one another with weapons and jutsu. It'd been snowing long enough that flakes had broken through the treetops and were beginning to dust the branches and ground.
Scanning for her teammate, Sakura masked herself and ducked behind a trunk on the edge of the fighting. His chakra was bright and potent on the opposite side of the jungle, moving further away by the second.
The enemies' plan was easy enough to read. They'd split Naruto from the main forces on the coast by pulling him into the forest, and were currently trying to separate him from the guard detail that followed.
As a battle medic, her duty was to help the fighters here. She could try to deploy Katsuyu and join the brawl.
It'd be difficult; few looked to be in uniform since the ambush was so sudden. Katsuyu wouldn't know who was friend or foe and the enemies would attack her parts as soon as they were spotted. Even so, she couldn't feel a single medic in the trees. Any fighter that got knocked down would be good as dead—though if she joined the skirmish, most of these guards would probably survive.
But as an Allied commander, her mission was to make sure the jinchuriki was safe. And as a member of Team Seven, Naruto mattered more to her than the whole army combined.
Sakura swung wide, avoiding the fight, keeping to the tops of the trees. Circling around to Naruto.
Terror was boiling up, pressing against her throat and demanding its release; a panic that had seeded itself on that hopeless Wind Country battleground blossomed. One that she'd been desperately compartmentalizing since the war resumed. Something only searching through a mass grave could birth—only a reaper could understand. A hysteria she'd detached herself from in the cold Lightning winter and hidden in the back of her mind.
They were losing.
They were losing this war.
Ever since the Kage rejoined. Ever since they shifted their strategy and went on the attack. As soon as the commanders decided that the coordinates were worth more than numbers—more than the lives of their people—Madara had won. The Kage got too desperate. Too impatient. Too entitled.
Maybe they'd never been winning. Maybe this was Madara's war to lose from the start.
Although Madara hadn't attacked a major base since the first year of war, had the Kage really just assumed he wouldn't attack this one, too? Had they honestly believed he wouldn't move against a single, centralized camp conveniently housing all his enemies? How had the enemy snuck up on them to such an extent? Why was there no plan—no defense?
Where was linking? Where was Ino? Where was command?
...Where was Sasuke? Why hadn't he warned her?
Something wasn't right.
Sasuke...! Where are you?! What's happening? Sakura flared the seal and increased her speed towards Naruto's chakra.
They'd have to run again, she decided.
This battle was too dangerous without any direction. There was no coordinated movement in the troops battling nearby. Hadn't been any collective deployment in the rushing footfalls she'd heard in Tsunade's tent. Except for her, it seemed no commander was this far from the main battles on the coast and at the gates.
It was a hunch bred from being the one responsible for the consequences of a battle. A sixth sense only a medic with the burden of necessary choice could hone. She could feel it in the air, taste it in the metallic twinge of the wind: The Allies would have to abandon this location.
They could retreat further into Lightning Country or cross the Lightning Bay and try to long-route west, but the Kage couldn't hold this base.
Tsunade's chakra suddenly flooded the summoning connection.
"Tsunade-sama summoned me," Lady Katsuyu confirmed. "The Raikage, Killer B, and a squad of ANBU are being sent to Naruto. The jinchuriki will evacuate further into Lightning. Heal the evacuation team fully, then report to the fight at the gates when they depart."
"Got it."
She was less than a minute from Naruto. Glints of orange laced through the openings of the dense jungle, but she was too far to see how many enemies were on him or how well he was faring.
The trees in the thicker parts of Lightning forests never lost all their foliage, no matter how freezing the temperatures dropped. Particularly the flora closer to the ground, beneath the canopy of the treetops. It was a type of environment Konoha shinobi were proficient at fighting in, luckily.
Depending on the enemy, she and Naruto might have the advantage on this landscape.
"How far are they?"
"They left the coast before Tsunade-sama summoned me so I'm not with them." After a brief pause, the summon added, "Tsunade-sama says they should arrive soon."
She felt neither the Raikage's nor the Hachibi's chakra nearby. Either they were further away than Tsunade guessed or concealing their chakra beyond her sensing abilities.
Those two knew this country's terrain better than anyone. They'd know the fastest routes, the best hiding spots. And if anyone could make Naruto retreat a second time in a row, it'd be B—so she was relieved they, of anyone, were coming.
Flaring the covenant seal once more—Sasuke?!—she vaulted over three more branches before Naruto came into vision in the distance.
Wild, tailed chakra thrashed around him, knocking enemies to the ground as they ran at him. There weren't many left, and Naruto looked unharmed. He swatted another enemy into the trunk of a tree. The shinobi broke against it, sliding unmoving onto the bloodied white layered on the ground.
"Lady Katsuyu, I'll pass you to Naruto when we—"
Naruto jumped onto a low-hanging branch to dodge a wave of ice and time stopped. Her body staggered—she dropped to the ground, lungs frozen. Bare feet sunk into the wet bite of melting snow on soggy earth.
Madara seemed to materialize from nothing behind Naruto.
Eyes wide as saucers, her hand shot out as if she meant to grab and pull him to safety from 30 yards away.
It couldn't be real.
Her mind had finally succumbed to the war. This was a hallucination from too much trauma and not enough sleep. Madara couldn't appear out of nowhere. He couldn't be here without any warning—without a teleport tag. Only Obito had that ability.
This wasn't real.
The hand punched through Naruto's stomach wasn't real. That wasn't a bloody fist sticking out of her best friend's belly. It couldn't be.
It couldn't.
She stumbled forward as Naruto's body convulsed. His toes barely touched the branch—his head tilted down to peer at the thing spearing out of him. Her eyes followed, stunned mind falling back on impartial medical knowledge.
From the placement, it surely punctured the stomach and left kidney. The impact area was large, so probably part of the intestines too. It wasn't a center hit; his spine was safe, though his lower ribs were likely destroyed.
If it was real. But this couldn't be real.
It wasn't real, so—
Naruto shallowly coughed; even from this distance, she could see how his body struggled with the action. Thick Kyuubi chakra fizzled and faded from the air around him. Then he gagged—blood spewing from his mouth, flowing down his chin, marring the orange of his sweaty shirt.
A hand shoved against her shoulder blades. Hurry, Ugly! Go!
A horrible laugh tinkled through the trees as Madara stepped away from Naruto, leaving nothing but a gaping hole in the middle of him.
Naruto fell.
His body smacking against the snowy ground snapped her back into reality.
Someone was screaming as she released Hundred Healings and sprinted forward, aiming a fist at the tree Madara still stood on for distraction and reaching for Naruto in the same second. This couldn't be happening—
"No you don't!"
Something punched into her shoulder, knocking her down into the snow, one arm reached out to Naruto's unnaturally still body and the other pinned under her. Her grasp on the summoning connection snipped as if cut by scissors, and Katsuyu popped away.
She tried to lift herself up to crawl before something else pierced through her other shoulder, staking her to the ground. She realized she was screaming as it changed from crazed to wounded. A third stake sunk clear through her right hip, shattering her whole pelvis, then a fourth through her left calf before she could breathe.
Shrieking against the pain, she tried hopelessly to move, head turning to diagnose—a black rod, two inches thick, drove through her shoulder. Pinning her on her stomach like a hide hung to dry.
Black Receivers.
As soon as the realization sunk in, the four rods vibrated. Nauseatingly cold chakra leaked into her and Sakura screamed again as her pathways were slowly blocked off, one by one. Hundred Healings vanished across her body where she could no longer access her channels. It faded from her arms. She felt it disappear up her legs.
She dragged her head back until her chin dug into the snow to look at Naruto. He wasn't moving. He wasn't moving.
"I'll kill two birds with one stone," came a voice from above. Madara.
A fifth rod pierced her, smaller than the others, right through the arch of her foot. Digging deep into the earth. Another ear-splintering scream rang through the forest. She was sobbing.
Kill me, she thought. Just end it. It's over.
A sudden, unnatural anger flushed through her. It leached out just as fast.
Naruto was going to die. Naruto was going to die, and she was going to die, too. She deserved to die. She'd been right there and couldn't do anything. Her fingertips were only an inch away from one of Naruto's hands and she couldn't reach him!
Apparitions hazed into form around Naruto, their ghostly bodies visible by the falling snow they displaced. After so long, they'd come back. For Naruto, of course they would.
Team Guy was there with Might Guy. Lee stood with their teacher a ways back, their shoulders tense and nervous. Neji hovered to the side while Tenten knelt by Naruto's body.
She looked up at her, tears in her worried cocoa-colored eyes. Is he going to be okay?
Akamaru sniffed Naruto's wound, whining. It doesn't look good, Kiba whispered. Choji collapsed into tears.
Shino stepped into place beside her. Don't panic. Sakura can heal that. He moved to kneel across from Tenten, glancing at her over his shoulder. Something deep cracked inside her as she stared up at his visor. Right? I've watched you fix much worse.
"I'm sorry," she wailed, tears and snot soaking the snow under her. "I'm—"
"Gods, you Konoha shinobi always meet death so pathetically." Madara landed in the space Shino had just emptied. "How shameful—"
She heard lightning moving at them with impossible speed, then Madara shifted his weight and a tree beside them burst into bark and debris. It rained down on her, smacking against her back, knocking painfully on the rods rammed through her. Hachibi chakra swamped the area in the next breath.
Madara laughed. She felt his gaze leave her; heard him step forward to meet his new opponents.
They were behind her. She couldn't move to see how many had arrived, but at least Killer B and the Raikage. The last inkling of rationality left in her whispered, B shouldn't fight, not when Naruto's already down. Another sob raked over her at the thought.
Sakura glared at her best friend's unmoving body.
"Get up!" she screamed. "GET UP, NARUTO! GET UP! Get out of here!" It hadn't been more than a minute since he was impaled. He couldn't be dead yet. It wasn't enough time for someone to bleed out. "Get up, Naruto, please..."
There was a fight happening somewhere close, but Sakura's attention zeroed in on the centimeters between her and Naruto's hands. She shoved her body forward, trying to close it, biting her tongue as her tendons pulled against the rods penetrating her.
Sai knelt by their hands, tilting his head to gaze at her with a smile. You can do it, Ugly. It's only a bit of pain. Push through it.
Blood filled her mouth as she bit down harder and pushed forward again, unsuccessfully.
She held in a shriek and squeezed her eyes shut. Focused on the pathways in her outstretched arm, manually unblocking them with her chakra. It took her 15 seconds to reclaim it.
She dug her fingers into the ground and yanked her body forward with enhanced strength. There was no stopping the animal-like sound that crawled from her throat as her body split around the stakes in five different places. Fingertips brushing his, she let her body sag against the ground, tears so thick she couldn't see. In so much pain she was about to pass out.
It was nothing compared to the feeling that overtook her the next moment.
She could tell with just the slightest touch of their fingers. She didn't even need to scan him.
Naruto was dead.
With a roar, she released the byakugou, thrusting Hundred Healings down her already resealing pathways. She focused on keeping them open, unblocking them again and again as her technique crisscrossed up her arm. If she could heal the wound—she could close it, then restart his heart with a shock—fix the internal damage once he woke up—she'd brought people back from this state before. She could do this. She could—do this, just fucking DO IT! FOCUS!
The pain in her body was unbearable. She wasn't healing herself; had no control of any chakra pathways anymore except the ones in her head and the ones she was maintaining in her arm. But she could—Am...I dying...? Let me save him first. Please God, you worthless fucking bastard, I don't care if you take me…but not him…You can have me, don't take Naruto—barely keep those channels open well enough to plow her technique into Naruto's fingertips.
Weeping, she watched as it slowly slunk up his arm. Hurry, hurry, go FASTER—
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"NARUTO!" ripped out of her as soon as she blinked awake. Sakura lurched forward and almost threw up at the wave of pain that rocked over her.
"It'll be better if you stay still and stay quiet," someone mumbled from above.
The world came into focus with a grimace. It was snowing harder now. Trees moved past slowly. An arm was under her knees, another around her back; a warm, solid chest pressed into one side of her.
She was being carried through the jungle. She tilted her head back—
Suigetsu was carrying her through the jungle. Every step he took rattled through her battered body, her broken bones scraping against themselves.
Had she passed out?
"Where's Naruto," she hissed.
Suigetsu gave her a shake and her vision flickered black for a few seconds. "Shut the fuck up, kunoichi." His voice carried through the trees. Her eyes widened at the hostility in the words as he smirked down at her. "We'll be the ones asking questions, not you."
Brows raised in shock, she squeeked out a, "What...?"
"Do I really have to carry her?" His sights moved back to the path before him, face blanked. "You're young now, why don't you carry her?"
"Madara wouldn't like me carrying a hostage."
It was Orochimaru's voice.
Sakura craned her neck back to see him, slow to realize her shock was at such a level that she hadn't noticed the second presence in the first place. He was in a medic coat, long hair tied at the base of his neck, walking beside Suigetsu. The killer's smile he sent her way crawled over her skin like a bug. So similar to the look that used to haunt her dreams after Sasuke left.
At his name in her thoughts, she directed, Where are you...? into the seal, soft with fear and a growing certainty she tried to argue against.
She'd decided to believe in him like Naruto believed in him...she trusted him. He wouldn't...
...Right?
Her eyes welled up against her wishes. "What's going on, Oro—"
"Shut the fuck up, I said. Gods!" Suigetsu's lip turned.
"Where's Sa—!"
"Shut. Up! Or I'll knock you back out."
Sakura gaped. Suigetsu had never snapped at her like that. These two felt nothing like the men she'd come to know over the past ten months.
Where was Sasuke? She flared the seal—What's happening?
Where was Naruto? Did she save him? Where were they going? Who pulled the Black Receivers out of her? Where was Madara? When did Suigetsu and Orochimaru arrive?
What is going on...?!
It was clear the two men had no intention of shedding light on the situation, so she opted to stay quiet and think. She'd been partially healed, enough that she wouldn't die, but not enough that she could walk. Two chakra suppressors locked around her wrists, a long chain between them. Handcuffs.
The forest was quiet. It'd snowed so much that a fresh blanket of it coated the world around them, muffling their words and steps. Rays of sun broke through the treeline, casting long shadows—it was probably the same day, an hour or two past. Maybe three.
They were in the forest where she'd found Naruto, but Naruto wasn't here.
No one was here.
She took a deep breath and ignored how her stomach turned with growing unease.
No one spoke for the next half-hour. Suigetsu eventually increased their pace; it took everything in her not to pass out from the shocks of pain. The trees started to look more familiar. Sakura was sure they were headed toward the Allies' base.
Were they taking her back to her army?
...If so, why would they suppress her?
Where is Naruto?!
Sakura glanced up at Suigetsu for the ninth time, frantic to glimpse some hint. He was scowling.
Just before breaking the dense treeline, they came to an abrupt halt. A quiet lull of sound drifted from what was definitely the southern edge of the Allies' base. Suigetsu turned to Orochimaru.
"Go tell him," he intoned.
Orochimaru pursed his lips. "It'd be better if you did."
Suigetsu's scowl deepened. "Just do it, snake!"
The two men glared at one another. She'd never seen Orochimaru follow anyone's orders but Sasuke's and Madara's. Nothing since she woke up in Suigetsu's arms made any sense.
"Tch." To her complete disbelief, Orochimaru stepped forward, disappearing from view. His voice carried back to them a moment later. "We found the medic."
"Where is she, then?" came Madara's toneless response.
The puncture wounds throbbed across her body, remembering his chakra weapons stabbed through her, as her heart sunk at the implication of the enemy being here.
"Come out, Suigetsu," Orochimaru called.
Chest throbbing painfully with an emotion she rarely felt off the battlefield, she blinked up at the man carrying her. She would ask again what was happening, but her throat was dry as a desert. He obviously wasn't going to tell her now if he hadn't already, anyway.
Something wasn't right. Something was on the other side of these trees that she didn't want to see. She was sure of it when Suigetsu peeked down at her with a clenched jaw.
She was going to throw up.
Suigetsu looked like he might say something, but didn't. Staring at her for a second more before turning away, he followed Orochimaru's path with a steady pace. They pushed through the last of the trees—the afternoon winter sun tickled her skin.
She met a sea of people on their knees, arms chained behind them. Some in Allied uniforms, some in camp clothes. At least a hundred. A couple hundred. Probably far more—a thousand, even. They kneeled quietly, heads bowed. Some were caged in rock bars, others had cloth wrapped around their eyes.
A section of sleeping tents had been removed, making a clearing they were squeezed into. They stretched back tens of yards, expanded over a hundred.
Prisoners of war.
And the Hokage was right in front, not ten feet away.
Tsunade's ankles were chained with chakra suppressors, her hands staked to the ground with two Black Receivers right through her palms in front of her. She gazed at her student with an unreadable expression.
The Hokage looked old…and broken.
Sakura finally retched, stomach acid burning up her throat and spilling onto herself. Rivering down and leaking onto Suigetsu's uniform.
She stared at Tsunade, not believing her own eyes.
Madara scoffed beside her. "You couldn't stop anyone else?"
"No. But they're sure to come back for her," answered Orochimaru.
"Mm. Just kill her," Madara ordered with a dismissive wave of his hand. "We already have the Hokage. They're more likely to come back for her than the medic. That kunoichi annoyed me enough earlier."
"This medic is Hatake's student, the jinchuriki was—"
"Kill her. If I have to say it a third time, you'll take her place, Orochimaru."
Orochimaru didn't miss a beat. "Very well. Place her on the ground and bind her, Suigetsu."
Suigetsu knelt, laying her into the snow. She bit back a cry as her weight rested on her shattered pelvis. The snow around her feet and hands warmed and melted, forming bubbles around her appendages before solidifying into ice, freezing her to the earth.
Her gaze was still on Tsunade. She'd never seen her mentor on her knees.
Never imagined she'd see the woman bowed over like that. Didn't think it was possible that the Fifth Hokage could ever be beaten. Sakura had always thought herself likely to die in this war—but not Tsunade.
Tsunade Senju was invincible. Unshakeable. Damn near immortal.
She'd been so angry with the Hokage...for months. When was their last decent conversation? When was the last time she'd smiled at her mentor or thought fondly of her? What was the last thing she'd said to Tsunade?
Was it that argument on retreat in Wind?
Her eyes watered and spilled over.
If Sakura lived past this field, she would apologize. She didn't want to leave this earth without thanking Tsunade. Didn't want her mentor to visit her grave and have to reflect on her student's last words to her being, I'm not taking your orders anymore.
A savage flare of chakra rose from the treeline on her back—Sasuke's.
Sakura didn't bother turning to look. All the anger once directed at her mentor shifted and multiplied and settled on him. Why hadn't he warned them—warned her? Why didn't he come for her and Naruto?
WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!? she cried into the seal.
She was met with silence. The seal was cold and lifeless on her neck.
Madara tutted. "No luck then, Sasuke? The rest of your squad had similar—"
It happened faster than her eyes could follow, faster than her brain could process. One second she was holding Tsunade's glazed-honey stare. The next, the air behind her shifted, and she was staring at the innards of a chopped neck.
Her mouth fell open on a silent scream as the Hokage's head plopped face-first into the snow. The now-headless body thumped onto the ground after, blood splurting onto the snowy white and the back of Tsunade's head like a water spout.
"Death to Konoha," Sasuke sneered in front of her, glaring down at the dead Hokage. Alight with chidori, Kusanagi dripped drops of red into the growing crimson puddle.
Then Sasuke reared his head back and spat onto the kake kanji sewn in Tsunade's green robe.
He was impaled in the chest with a Black Receiver before the saliva hit its target. Palm wrapped around the end of the rod, Sasuke dropped to a knee in Tsunade's blood. Madara swore, stalking toward his gasping clansman.
The glade was all shocked silence for a breath before screams and cries overtook the crowd. The once-quiet sea swelled and clamored as one. Sakura wasn't even breathing, couldn't form any coherent thought. Couldn't understand what was happening.
"EVERYONE BE QUIET!" Madara roared.
The screams died down, but the sobs still crowded the air.
Madara enfolded Sasuke's neck with a single hand, lifted, then tossed him backward. He landed in a heap beside her.
Sakura's horrified gaze slid from the grisly lake under her mentor's corpse to her killer.
Body-flickering back to Sasuke's side, Madara kicked him so he landed on his back. Sasuke didn't fight it as he gasped for air he couldn't inhale. His patriarch's foot was on the Black Receiver's protruding tip, pressing it down into the earth under the younger Uchiha, sinking it through Sasuke's body. Staking him to the ground as she'd been.
"That's the last time your inability to control yourself ruins my plans, boy." Madara bent over, pushing his weight onto the rod until his heel touched Sasuke's chest. "You don't deserve the Uchiha name."
Madara lifted an open hand, aiming it at Sasuke's forehead. A second Black Receiver slid out of his palm like bone exiting his body.
He was going to kill Sasuke.
Good. The thought stabbed into her. FINALLY. DO IT.
"Wait." Orochimaru stepped forward. The rod stilled an inch from Sasuke's brow. "We've still got Sakura Haruno. She's almost as good as having the Hokage, so the plan can move forward. And he's still got the Rinnegan. With only a single cultivation left and Obito dead, we need all the data we can get to study Hashirama's cells. We can't test ways to stabilize you without him...unless another Uchiha exists somewhere you don't know about?"
Sasuke wheezed, the wetness of it pointing to a collapsed lung.
Madara seemed to consider the Sannin's words, posture uncoiling with a sigh. "Someone blessed this child's idiocy with unending luck." He straightened, re-aimed his hand, and shot the rod through Sasuke's left knee. Sasuke slammed his head against the ground as it crunched through him, jaw clenched on the pain. "Heal his chest," Madara commanded to no one in particular.
A shinobi rushed forward and bent to obey. The medic grasped Sasuke's shoulders and yanked him up in a quick burst of strength. Sasuke barely held back a muffled cry, the stake ripping through his chest and out his back. Green hands covered the entry and exit wound, holding him up in a sitting position.
Sakura watched it numbly—processed the events happening around her by their individual parts:
She was in the Allied base in Lightning.
It was cold.
It was snowing.
She had no shoes on.
Her legs were uncovered.
Shattered bones bulged beneath her skin, both shoulders a bag of loose marbles.
Madara was running his sights across a sea of chained prisoners. Orochimaru had his head bowed beside her. Sasuke huffed in pained pants. A medic kept him upright.
The Hokage was headless in front of her.
The Hokage was dead.
Tsunade is dead... She's—dead? TSUNADE...?!
Sasuke killed—
"This is your final warning. Don't ever step out of place again." Madara's voice was deep and baleful. "Understood?"
Sasuke glowered. "You...promised. When I joined, you—promised to help me kill every Konoha shinobi. It's the right your words gave me, Madara." He hissed; the medic whispered an apology. "That means the Hokage, the next Hokage, the Nine Tails. I'm going to kill them all. You gave me your word that I could. So kill me now if you plan on going back on that pledge because I assure you, I'm going to kill any Konoha shinobi I find."
"Silence, you insolent little—"
"That includes this medic you've iced to the ground." Sasuke glared at her, and it rattled her to the bone.
There was no warmth or recognition. No hidden message in his expression. No indication that he was the same man who'd saved her, Naruto, and Kakashi only a few days ago.
He'd been on their side only a few days ago... He'd come for her—he was the only one who came—so why...?!
Sakura desperately searched his gaze for something to explain what he was doing; anything that would make this make sense. One thing to prove this wasn't real. That this was a genjutsu, or a dream, or a joke. Whatever it was, it couldn't be real.
This couldn't be real. Couldn't be—
But his glare held only a bitter fury.
With that realization, her mind completely shut down. What are you saying? Why are you—
"No Konoha shinobi deserves to live," he avowed, turning away from her.
...Sasuke?
The certainty she'd batted down earlier burgeoned back up, and there was nothing left to counter it. Sakura looked to the ground and gagged up air.
Madara took two steps and backhanded him to the ground. "One more word. Go on. Speak another word."
Sasuke opened his mouth—
"Excuse my forwardness again, but I know a way to leash the boy," Orochimaru cut in. "It'll keep him from killing this medic until we lure out her comrades. As a secondary effect, it'll alert him to her location in the event she escapes...though with the seal in effect, over time, she'll not want to leave his side."
"...What seal do you speak of?"
"The old marriage covenants they once performed in Konoha. In your time, I believe."
"Hm. I remember it." Madara glanced down at Sasuke. "You know how to perform it?"
"I do," Orochimaru affirmed.
Kneeling, Madara yanked the rod out of Sasuke's knee before dragging him to her side. "Do it now then." He tossed Sasuke nearly on top of her.
A wave of sickness washed over Sakura as she shrank away from him. Tsunade, Sasuke? Tsunade? TSUNADE?
Without so much as a glance, Sasuke leaned back with a pained frown so they were no longer touching.
"She'll need use of one hand," said Orochimaru.
The ice locking her right hand down melted. Madara flicked his fingers and the stone chain that linked her chakra suppressors broke apart.
"Now Sasuke, grab hold of—"
Sasuke's hand shot out, fitting around her neck, and squeezed. A surprised yelp flew from her throat, free hand reaching up reactively to seize his wrist, trying and failing to free herself. His sight was focused somewhere over her shoulder.
A kunai tapped against Sasuke's temple, loosening his grip.
"Don't you dare," Madara seethed. "You can kill her once we have the Tailed Beasts."
"You've already promised me such a thing once and punished me twice now for fulfilling it." His clutch tightened again and Sakura squeezed her eyes shut. "How can I trust your word again?"
"I've tolerated your insubordination because you look like my brother, and you share my blood. But you've tested my patience far too long. There are no promises between a superior and his subordinate—you can obey my orders or you can die. Complete the seal now, Orochimaru."
"Channel to the center of your palms and release."
She peered up at Sasuke, eyes watery and mind broken. Not understanding what was happening. His grip was too tight. His words were too sincere. He smelled of too-familiar blood.
"Say release, medic," Madara growled.
"...R-release," she whispered.
"Now you, boy."
Sasuke finally met her eyes. He gazed into her, right eye red and chakra boiling over him, furious as a storm.
Did you betray me, Sasuke-kun? she thought quietly, begging he could hear her. The seal had been unnaturally silent all day. Even now as he touched her she felt no response from the concealed chakra on her neck. I—I thought...I believed in you. I trusted you...are you really doing this to the Allies? To…You're doing this to me? You'll help Madara win after everything? That was Tsunade, Sasuke…
"I'll kill her once we have the jinchuriki," Sasuke bit out.
Her hand stiffened on his wrist, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes.
Madara tapped the kunai against Sasuke's head again in warning. "Once we have them all I couldn't care less what you do. But for now, release."
Sasuke stared at her, nothing but anger in his birthright. "...Release."
A sharp pain shot through the pin of her neck, where the clavicles met. A rushing sensation slid through her chakra flow, a familiar mass interlocking with the pool of chakra already sealed at the spot. It felt just like Sasuke's signature, this time unmasked. It was hot as the sun—mad as a meat axe.
A sob shuddered through her. It'd been a marriage seal all along…and now it was doubled. This was how Orochimaru had trapped her from the beginning.
Strings of thoughts, not her own, buzzed in her mind in such rapid succession it was impossible to know what any of it meant. In there was Fucking Kakashi, and Keep your head down, and Worthless fucking army.
But she didn't want to hear him anymore. Didn't want to feel his volatile chakra within her. Not after this.
Never again.
With the small amount she had access to through the suppressors and the still-blocked pathways, Sakura molded her chakra around the marriage seal's pool, walling it off as best as she could. Closing herself off from Sasuke for good.
She'd let him slip under her defenses—she had let him break her.
This was his plan all along, after all. The past ten months were a lie.
The hand across her neck vanished. Her head fell back into the snow as she stopped fighting the surrender. Tears flowed in a steady trail down her temples. Her heart condensed into a single cell before exploding like a dying star.
It was clear now that Naruto was probably dead. The Hokage was dead. The Allies were chained and defeated.
She'd been betrayed. They'd broken the agreement.
Sasuke had given her to Madara.
I believed in you. I—Sasuke, how could you...? How?
The war was over…
They'd lost.
"Take this boy to the medics then lock him away for a bit, Hidan."
Hidan stepped out of the trees. "Alright. I'll head back to Earth after that."
"Very well." Madara nodded. "Go on."
Sakura didn't watch as Hidan grabbed Sasuke's elbow and ported them away. She stared up into the gray sky, snowflakes landing in her eyes. This was how the earth greeted the ending of an endless battle. Frozen tears.
What was the point of the last five years? All that loss and pain and for what? To still lose? She'd given up her parents, her childhood friends, her teammates, her teachers. Uselessly prayed to any God she could name countless times. She'd chosen people to live and let others die—run when she should've fought and fought when she should've run—listened to every order and let herself be sealed—lost her mind, and still…? Still?
STILL?
Only days ago she was staring at a different sky, thinking Team Seven was finally together again. Only weeks ago she was staring at another sky, thinking it might be easier to die. Only months ago she was staring at yet another sky, shunning her fantasy of running away from it all with Sasuke. Just years ago, Tenten was pulling her from duties to enjoy a strange purple sunset.
This was it. All those times before hadn't been honest, but this was truly it. She was done—well and truly done.
She was ready to be with all the loved ones she'd lost to this hollow, horrid, hopeless war.
"Execute everyone here. We've no use for them."
The order hit her like a guillotine blade.
Sakura lifted her body up as if rising from the grave, head whipping to Madara. "You can't—"
He smirked. "Make sure she watches, Suigetsu." Bending to face her, he tilted her chin up with rough fingers. "Interrogation begins later, little kunoichi. This part's just for fun. Remember that."
Madara shoved her face away a second before she thought of pulling away on her own. He jumped into the trees and disappeared, his oppressive chakra fading toward the border.
"You heard him!" someone shouted from behind. "Start executing!"
A dozen enemies leaped into the sea of chained Allies and started slashing. There was no mercy in their cuts, no thought behind the slaying. They sliced open chakra-suppressed, defenseless shinobi without care. Some were gutted. Some had their throats slit. Some were stabbed wherever the kunai happened to land. In the skull. In an eye. In the heart. In the groin.
Grabbing a fistful of her hair, Suigetsu yanked it up, forcing her to face the performance.
Sakura made no noise, her lungs heavy as mountains. Her mind was already blacking the scene out. All the faces were blurry. The screams were just muffled noises in her ears. Not capable of handling anything happening only meters away, her brain shut down completely. The white of the scenery soaked redder by the second.
After a few minutes—or maybe an hour, or a second—a body was thrown into Tsunade's blood. Sakura squinted, eyes swimming, unable to focus on whoever it was.
"This one's the head of intelligence in one of the Divisions! They're friends, aren't they? From Konoha." A kunoichi in an Akatsuki robe yanked the body up by a platinum ponytail. "Ino Yamanaka, right?"
Sakura's mind sharpened with awareness at her name. Ino was here. How did she get caught? Where had she been all this time?
No.
Ino was alive. Alive, and chained. Alive, right in front of her, under orders of execution.
NO—
And Sakura couldn't do anything. Ino had a black eye, blood crusted on her temple. Her skin was tinged blue as if she'd been in the snow far too long. Her eyes rolled back like she was barely conscious.
Sakura jerked forward, only for Suigetsu to wrench her back forcefully. Crying out, she reached her still-free hand back to claw at Suigetsu's fingers in her tresses.
"Not her!" Sakura pleaded. Suigetsu clasped her attacking appendage in an iron hold that, without chakra, she couldn't fend off. She twisted to face him, tugging her hair against her scalp. "Not her. I'll do anything, anything! She can't die, she can't! Don't—if you kill her, I'll kill myself. I swear it. I'll never—"
A sickeningly familiar shriek snapped Sakura back around instantly. It was a sound that filled her nightly nightmares, one that cursed her panic attacks; one she'd begged every God ever rumored to exist to never hear.
Blood dripped off the protruding tip of a sword pierced down into Ino's shoulder, exiting through her armpit. The enemy kunoichi slid the blade out slowly, rotten smile pinned on Sakura. A thick, crimson waterfall poured from the wound the next second.
God, please, PLEASE, this time you MUST hear me—
"Orochimaru!" Sakura hollered, trying someone new—someone real—someone who might do something other than laugh at her invocation. "Save her! SAVE HER OR ELSE!"
The pain seemed to shock Ino back into reality. She gaped down at her shoulder, hands chained behind her back, unable to staunch the bleeding on her own. Madara's shinobi were still executing the Allies en masse in the backdrop. Blood flooded down her side, mixing with Tsunade's at her knees. Ino's eyes were huge, her body lurching into a tremble.
"OROCHIMARU—PLEASE—"
Then Ino was looking at her, confused. Scared.
Dying. "Sakura, I'm—"
It was too much. Sakura's vision swam, dimmed, and she was lost to the world.
End Part One
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Author's Note:
If you can believe it, I wrote this 170k word fic in five (5!) months. I can't even believe it. It's been a little passion project of mine for the past half year and I'm relieved and excited to have finished Part One.
Over the next few weeks I hope to go back through the beginning chapters and edit them up a bit...and of course, I have to thank Leech, who started beta-reading in chapter 8! I posted these chapters weekly, and they didn't complain about the insane time crunch I arbitrarily placed on myself and thus, on them. They put a lot of time into editing, for no benefit except my gratitude, and likely taking time away from their own work, so !Thank you! for the many-eth time.
With that, this story will go on a brief hiatus over the holidays. Part Two will begin early next year...hopefully, by or in February. There won't be a new story, it'll post as new chapters on this work.
It's been so very wonderful seeing people enjoy the work I've spent a lot of time and care on over the past five months. It brought me tons of joy bringing you all lots of pain! (Just kidding!) It's been extremely motivating and all the kind words made me smile lots.
I hope everyone has a great holiday season and starts the New Year off well. I'll be busy plotting out more angst! Please fav/alert so you can see when it comes off hiatus. And of course, if you're so inclined to comment, I love reading 'em. Lastly, any translation is fine...but please message me first and link the original story if you plan on translating (I can link the translation on my profile, too!). Fair warning, if you translated anything pre-chapter 8 before January 2023, it's highly likely that you're missing the edited [incoming, better] versions!
Thanks for reading Covenant [Part One], see you next year for [Part Two]:)