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Covenant
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Synopsis: Everyone is dead or hunted. The Allies lost. The war is over.
Treacherous seal marring her neck as a collar, Madara parades her like a victory trophy.
And though he gave her to his patriarch—betrayed her in the worst of ways—
Here, in The End, Sasuke Uchiha is all Sakura has left.
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2:21. Prison
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EXCRUCIATING. THERE was no other word to describe it.
The 10,000 parts of Katsuyu drained Sakura like an open wound. Cracked apart her brain as if pounding on her skull with a sledgehammer.
She'd given up trying to sit in the cross-legged meditation pose for better concentration. Hunched over on her knees, she pressed her forehead against the earth, eyes squeezed shut as tears wet the hot stone underneath. Her fingers dug into the ground so hard they'd bleed if Hundred Healings didn't keep sealing them shut—so hard she was sure rock had wedged itself under some of her nails.
Immense Network Healing required an assiduous handle on Katsuyu's pieces. Otherwise, the chakra consumption was too overwhelming. The vastness of the summon's colossal psyche and power was too dominating to manage.
In her state—
She couldn't do it efficiently. Physically and mentally, she simply wasn't well enough to do it. She was barely hanging onto consciousness by a thread. Was certain her sanity hung on something even thinner.
That she was managing at all was a miracle.
Lady Katsuyu's drain fried through her mind like an electrical surge. Her thoughts ripped in thousands of directions all at once. With what little control Sakura wielded over it, the jutsu would've killed her if she and Katsuyu were any less familiar.
Before, she could've saved her chakra and fed only those slugs attached to shinobi with wounds—even at 10,000. Remote healing, Healing Ground, tending to those ported to field medical. Last year, she could've done all these things simultaneously.
All she could manage now was funneling indiscriminately into all of Katsuyu's parts at once. Per Command's orders, she released Hundred Healings for five seconds every minute, nearly blacking out from the pain of it each time.
The awful noises emanating from her had to make the owl-masked ANBU uneasy as he called out the minutes.
After eight months under suppression, and calmative, and torture—this thrust into battle wasn't jumping into the deep end. This was falling into the middle of an ocean with no life raft during a hurricane, when she'd only just learned to swim.
She was dying. This pain and wild chakra drain—she had to be dying.
…Jaw clenched until her teeth might split, Sakura held on.
If it were anything but the final stand, she would've let herself succumb to the darkness. But Naruto was alive. Ino was alive, and Shikamaru, and her guard. They were all alive, and they were all here, and all of them needed her. The army that came here needed her—
So she wouldn't die... Not yet.
Thinking of anything beyond the searing pain and staying conscious through it was impossible, however.
Ino shouted information on the coordinate and Madara's position. About the movement of troops and Command's evolving orders. The words were just ringing against the pounding for Sakura. Meaningless noise.
The concept of time vanished. Sasuke could've left her beside this rock half an hour ago. It could've been half a day ago, for all she knew. Her life reduced to the earth under her nails, the explosion in her skull, and the savage pull of Katsuyu's 10,000 parts.
"Minute," called owl-mask.
As she released Hundred Healings into the connection once more, her intuition begged her to stop. Her body trembled from unfelt exhaustion.
The jutsu collapsed a second earlier than she'd meant it to.
...She couldn't do it.
"I need help, Lady Katsuyu," she whimpered, praying the ANBU couldn't hear.
"Bear with it just a bit longer, child. Your teammates are battling Madara as we speak… The fight is going favorably. Madara moves like he's ailed by internal injuries, and Naruto's released the Nine Tails."
The news went in and out. "I can't—do this."
"Haruno, if you need to take a break, then—"
"No!" she shouted at the guard. "I just need a little help!"
"Our casualties are extremely low, and your summon says the fight's going favorably. So why not—"
"The casualties are low because of Hundred Healings. She knows her limits. Let Sakura concentrate," the slug on his shoulder admonished. "She can handle it."
But Katsuyu was wrong: She couldn't handle this. She was past her limit—well past it. How she hadn't yet passed out or had any chakra left to give was beyond her. Something like a scream clawed up her throat when owl-mask called out the next minute mark.
Just when Sakura was sure she was really going to die—
We've done it. He's down.
She heard Sasuke.
And not a moment later, Katsuyu exclaimed, "They've immobilized Madara!"
The statements and their content were too sudden for Sakura to absorb. She kept her head drilled against the earth, panting and crying in a pained daze. Owl-mask gave an uncharacteristic WHOOP! into the air.
You did very well, Sakura. Thank you. Seal blooming to life on her neck, warmth shot across her chest and up into her mind. …Are you injured?
She tried, but she didn't have enough control over herself or her chakra to respond over the distance between them. Everything within her felt frayed at the edges.
Sakura?
"Uchiha-san is asking about you," said her summon quietly. "What should I tell him?"
"Tell—him—I'm fine," she breathed out.
The ANBU knelt down beside her. "If they've taken down Madara, why isn't there any announcement from Command?"
"Command is waiting for the Special Unit to confirm it," Katsuyu explained.
If you're fine… Come here, if you want. Can you sense me?
"Do you know—where Sasuke is, Lady Katsuyu?"
"Yes. He's with Naruto, about ten miles east."
Ten miles was too far. So long as Immense Healing Network and Hundred Healings were needed, she couldn't afford to leave Katsuyu's summoning circle in her current condition. Feeding the connection was easier while inside its boundaries.
"Please ask Command if—I can end the—healing."
It took Katsuyu less than a minute to confirm. "You can. Currently, the Allies have overwhelming numbers."
Before Katsuyu finished the sentence, Sakura had cut the link to all parts but the one on her shoulder. The pressure in her head vanished instantly; the aching, unraveled feeling to the rest of her remained. Taking a gulp of air, she pushed off the ground and stood on shaky legs.
The guard didn't reach out to help steady her. Sakura was grateful for it.
It's strange, she thought distantly, peering around at the bare, flat landscape. They said Madara was immobilized…
But nothing felt any different.
Earth Country was still grey and brown and all manners of dreary in-between. The sun was still scorching overhead. The air still smelled of hot stone and dust. The sky was still blue, and the clouds were still white, and all of the people she'd lost were still dead.
There was no shift in the universe. No halting of time or slowing of the world's turning. No fireworks, no grand party, no applause from the Gods above that brought all the mortals to their knees.
Overcoming Madara was supposed to alter reality. Bringing him down should've caused a soundwave, or an explosion, or an earthquake... It should've been something more than standing quietly beside a rock in the middle of nowhere, with an ANBU guard she didn't know the name of and the summon she hadn't seen in eight months, dirty and sweaty and only half-sane.
...Sakura didn't feel any different. She didn't feel any better. She didn't feel anything.
Inside was still just an empty, exhausted husk.
Madara's defeat should've changed something; yet, everything was as it had been.
From the angle of their shadows, it hadn't even been more than seven or eight hours. Could it truly be over—just like that? After five and a half years of struggle?
Her head was swimming again. She could barely process it.
"We'll go to Team Seven. And you," she pivoted to her guard, "can call in your squad. Take them to help with the main fight."
"I should escort you to your teammates, Haruno."
"Uchiha-san says you're not to come. Only Sakura," Katsuyu relayed.
"I don't take directives from the Uchiha. I take orders from the medical commander."
Even though his tone towards Sasuke made her hackles rise, Sakura smiled anyway, tilting her head down.
To this shinobi, and to everyone in the Allied army: Sasuke had been an enemy the whole war. He'd been a nukenin for almost ten years. Such underhanded comments and distrust would take time to fade away. Those sentiments wouldn't vanish in a single battle, and she didn't have the energy to clash with them, today.
"Thank you for always being my guard. I'm sure if we'd been together in Lightning, things wouldn't have turned out like they did. But I'll go find my teammates on my own, as they've requested. I may be out of practice, but I can still hold my own if I'm attacked."
"I don't doubt your abilities at all." Her guard bowed low, as one would to their superior. "If those are your orders, commander, I'll do as you say. It's been an honor." Straightening, he swiftly turned on his heel before pausing and glancing back at her over his shoulder. "Oh, right. Almost forgot. See you at the next battle, Haruno."
In that moment, she might've hugged him if he weren't an ANBU.
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A male Naruto was sprinting towards her as soon as she was within eyeshot. "Sakura! You're safe! And wow, your Hundred Healings is amazing!" Wrapping her up like he had when they met earlier, he twirled her around, laughing. Sakura was limp in his arms, still struggling with the bafflement that'd bombarded her after learning he wasn't dead. "He hit me so many times but I didn't sustain any damage! I was like… Like a… Something unstoppable!"
"Be careful, Naruto."
The familiar voice had Sakura scanning the area for him, suddenly needing to confirm that he was, in fact, alive and well—even though the other side of the seal felt warm and healthy.
"Oh—I'm sorry." Naruto plopped her back down on her feet, nervously brushing invisible dust off her shoulders and arms. "Are you hurt?"
"No, just drained..." she answered. An understatement—it'd taken her double the time it should've to get here, and she was as near to passing out from chakra depletion as one still standing could be.
Her sights finally landed on Sasuke, cross-armed beside his kneeled patriarch. Sighing in relief, she visually scanned him in the short distance. His clothes were tattered, and crimson splayed over most of him, but there appeared to be no pressing external injuries except the blood leaking from his closed left eye.
She pointed at the man on his knees. "So is he…?"
Sasuke nodded. "He's trapped in Izanami."
Bidding farewell to Katsuyu, she released the summon and approached the two Uchiha with Naruto.
They were on the outskirts of the newly-built, now-demolished town, surrounded by debris and rubble. Madara's stiff body was tucked between two iron bars that once held up a whole building only hours ago. A sizable population of civilians lived here now, from what she'd seen this morning. If the rest of the town looked like the small portion they stood in, then it was completely destroyed.
No different in its scenery than Uzushiogakure.
But—such were the consequences of war. Now wasn't the time to lose herself in the small, unimportant parts—in creating something out of nothing. She shouldn't get distracted from the reality of what needed to be done.
"You used Izanami, Sasuke?"
His brow rose. "Who else could?"
Remembering how Orochimaru said something about only Itachi knowing Izanami, she offered, "I was under the impression you didn't know it."
"What's Izanami?"
"I didn't until you made that rubbing for me from the compound," Sasuke explained, ignoring Naruto. "I wanted to learn it before I went against Madara. It's one of the only genjutsu that can affect a powerful Uchiha for more than a few seconds, but the only record of its signage and steps were in the shrine. Madara would've gotten suspicious if he knew, so I couldn't access it on my own."
"Guys, what's Izanami?"
"So other genjutsu don't work on him?"
"Most don't. At least, none of mine ever did. Regardless, these are family secrets, so—"
"What the hell! Stop ignoring me! What're you two talking about, and what's Izanami?"
Rubbing his temple, Sasuke regarded Naruto with annoyance. "I told you he's frozen like this because of a genjutsu I used, didn't I? We're talking about that genjutsu."
"Oh! Okay. Why didn't you say so in the first place? Sakura!" Wide-eyed Naruto clapped her on the back excitedly. "Sasuke says this genjutsu will make Madara wake up with a whole different fate! Isn't that crazy? I've never heard of anything like that before, have you?"
This was definitely Naruto, through and through. Only someone like him could find the silver lining for their worst enemy.
But how was he even alive? And how did he seem so…unchanged?
If she was a small pebble in water, constantly molded and moved by the tides, then Naruto was a large boulder in the wind, forever steady and firm. Standing beside him—beaming and optimistic and happy—the changes she felt within her were so much more pronounced.
Reaching out to take his hand, Sakura smiled through unnoticed tears. "No. I haven't heard anything like it, Naruto. That's amazing."
"Hey! Why are you crying?" He used the filthy sleeve of his free arm to wipe her cheeks dry. "Are you sure you aren't hurt? Let's go to medical."
"She's fine. Leave her be until we finish here. You're overwhelming her."
"Ehh? Am I?"
"Enough chatting. Let's end this." Pulling out a kunai, Sasuke held it toward Naruto. "It's true that Izanami should change Madara if he can escape it. But I only used it to immobilize him."
Naruto gawked down at the weapon. "So?"
"So, you should kill him now that he's trapped."
"Kill him? He's totally incapacitated and can't do anything. Let's just suppress him and take him into custody."
"That isn't enough." Sasuke pushed the kunai flat onto Naruto's chest. "He needs to die for the world to move on."
Flinching away, Naruto shook his head. "Then you do it."
"It must be you," Sasuke declared, irritated.
"Why? I don't want to. I don't like killing people and I don't think we should kill him when he's like this. And you said he'll come back changed..."
"Changed? How many people do you think Madara's killed by now? Ordered to be killed? How many of your friends died in this war, Naruto? Your thinking is naive and ignorant. Thousands of Allied shinobi are still alive, and they've all lost someone to Madara. It's true—Izanami might change him. But no matter the person he might become, he'll always be nothing more than Madara Uchiha to everyone else."
Naruto scowled. "So, what? You're saying it's better to kill him just so other people feel better about it? I don't think that's a good reason for someone to die. Yeah, he's done terrible things. But if he really changes, then he deserves a chance to atone for his actions. He won't be a threat either way since he'll have his chakra suppressed. The others will come around if they see a genuine difference in him."
"No one besides you thinks that way!" Sasuke rebutted, voice raised and seething.
"It's not just me! Sakura agrees, I bet." Looking to her, Naruto asked, "Right? Shouldn't we take him into custody instead?"
Sasuke stepped between them as a wall, angry chakra radiating off him. "Unbelievable. Has no one briefed you on the last eight months or are you really that simpleminded?"
But in the minute she'd spent silent, Sakura was having an increasingly difficult time following their conversation. She stared at Sasuke's back, suddenly too aware of the dull drumming in her skull.
The adrenaline of battle was fast fading. Her mind slowed as if trudging through drying mud; her chakra channels were throbbing with severe overuse. The itch in her throat had matured into an insufferable thirst—a twitch in her bones she'd been ignoring had become an intermittent, full-body quake.
As a medic, she knew: She didn't have long left in coherence.
This matter needed to be settled quickly, before she passed out or before these two devolved into a fight.
Nudging Sasuke aside, Sakura held Naruto's gaze. "We shouldn't take him into custody. I agree with Sasuke. Madara needs to die for this war to end, and it can't be Sasuke who kills him."
Naruto frowned. "Why not?"
"It might look like I'm vying for my patriarch's power if I kill him. That could lead to destabilization within your command and distrust among the ranks. They'll grow fearful and suspicious, and the war will drag on unnecessarily," Sasuke explained in her stead. "This is the Allies defeating their enemy. An Ally your army can trust should be the one who ends it."
"C'mon, no one's gonna think you're vying for power," Naruto disputed.
Glancing at her, Sasuke sent a soft tilt of his mouth. "Yes, they will."
"He's right, Naruto. It needs to be you. You and B are half the reason this army fought so hard. One of you should do it, and B isn't here."
"Does he really need to die, though?"
She nodded. "The war must end. We've lost too many people to leave this unfinished."
After a moment, Naruto's nose scrunched in disappointment before he peeked back at Madara's immobile body. "Ugh! Why are you two teaming up on me? It's not fair. Fine. I'll do it. But just so everyone knows, I'm doing it only 'cause I love you guys, and you're forcing me against my will. Give me the kunai then, bastard. Fuck."
Sasuke tossed the weapon into Naruto's waiting palms. Then he pivoted and moved back to Madara's side. Shifting as he bent over his patriarch, his back blocked her from seeing whatever his hands were doing. A strange squelching noise bounced around the rubble.
A second later, Sasuke completely turned away from her and Naruto, fiddling near his face with both hands. There was another, followed closely by a third squelch—before he spun back around, left eye open. Rinnegan spinning. He blinked hard a few times, tossing a bloody glob of something at his feet.
"What'd you do?" Approaching him, Naruto inspected the thing on the ground.
"My eye went blind from Izanami. I replaced it."
"Gross, dude."
"Just do your job."
"Yeah, yeah. At least take Sakura and go behind one of these walls or something. It's weird if you all watch me. Ugh...I hate this."
Sasuke rolled his eyes but strolled away nonetheless. "Come with me. Let's give him some space," he murmured as he passed her.
She followed him 20 steps away, vision on his heels. Her headache was growing into a monster. The shudder in her muscles was making it hard to walk straight. She desperately wanted calmative—wanted something to take away all this...feeling welling up within her.
When they rounded the corner behind a large piece of ruins, Sasuke faced her. "We're almost done. Keep it together a bit longer." His hand found her shuddering shoulder, offering support. "...You should start weening off the draughts."
"Y-yes," she stuttered, teeth beginning to chatter. Now that Naruto couldn't see her, she didn't feel the need to control it. "But do you—have some? With you?"
"No, but I'm sure your medical does."
Sakura closed her eyes and leaned into his hand, letting the small warmth he offered ground her.
MADARA IS DEAD!
Ino's shout startled her out of the daze she'd fallen in just as Naruto skirted around the wreckage to find them.
"You told them already?" Sasuke asked. "I thought we agreed to wait until you meet with Shikamaru."
Naruto shrugged. "You two said to finish this, right? So I did."
"You really killed him?" pressed Sasuke, dubious.
"I said I did! Go check if you think I'm lying!"
"Fine. Good. Then you should go meet with Shikamaru now. He'll be with the rest of your Command."
"Yeah, I'll go. Ino's there, too, Sakura! She's super anxious to see you."
Something felt strange as Sasuke transferred her gently into Naruto's waiting arms and repositioned himself away from the both of them. As the seal on her neck cooled into a slumber. As he opened the satchel on his waistband, pulled out something that looked an awful lot like her soldier pills, and downed it.
"Sasuke?"
He didn't meet her gaze. "Hm?"
"A-aren't you coming with us?"
"...No."
Panic shot through her veins. "Then where are you going?!" The words spilled out so fast they sounded like one.
"To clean out Madara's bases."
"But there's so many, that'll take..." Her throat closed before she could push out the sentence.
"There's still many shinobi loyal to Madara at his other bases. I need to weed them out quickly before someone consolidates power."
"Come back first," she whispered. "At least today... Come back and we can send a team out tomorrow, or—"
"I won't be welcome with the Allies."
Naruto scoffed, affronted. "Come off it. You will be welcome. I'll make sure of it."
"I'll go with you," she proposed, prying Naruto's fingers off her arms. "If you won't come with us, I'll go with you. I can—help."
"No, Sakura. Go back to where you belong."
Where she belonged?
Where did she belong, anymore? Even the thought of being away from him felt like a nightmare.
"You shouldn't take on all his bases by yourself!" she argued, trying to give him a reason not to leave her behind.
"I won't be alone."
"Who else is going?" asked Naruto, grasping her arm tighter.
"You don't need to know."
"Don't be a jerk. We're just worried about you."
"You play your role and I'll play mine."
"Hey, asshole—"
"Sasuke—come back with us. Let someone else take care of Madara's army. Or let me and Naruto come with you. Please." She heard the trembling in her voice like it belonged to someone else. They were losing him again. She was losing him again. "If we stay together, I know things can go back to how they used to be. We'll protect you, so please don't leave. After all we've gone through together, you can't just—"
"This was the agreement we made, Sakura. You made it to Hidan's base... Now I'm letting you go."
"What!?" she cried. "You know this isn't what I meant!"
Silence followed her words as he stared at her. And then, like a curtain closing over a window, his expression flattened into passive apathy.
"But it's what I meant when I agreed."
Suddenly, he was so austere. So distant in front of her, only an arm's reach away. Nothing like the man who'd kept her safe in Madara's bases or the one who'd held her the night before. The change stole her words and burned the back of her eyes.
"If you're really leaving, for how long this time? 'Cause if you think you can leave forever, think again! I'll come find your ass if you try, and I won't be nice about dragging you back," Naruto threatened.
Shrugging, Sasuke massaged the top of his arm. "Can't say. Don't know how long it'll take to clear out Madara's followers."
"Please stay, Sasuke," she murmured once more, tears thick in her sights, uncaring about the side conversation they were having.
When he might return didn't matter. How long it might take him was meaningless. He shouldn't leave at all—he needed to stay.
This time he needed to stay…!
Please don't go. Please. How else was she supposed to beg this man? I'll make you happy if you stay, Sasuke. Nothing has to change. Or if you want it to, we can change everything! Just please don't leave again.
Smirking softly, Sasuke stepped forward and poked her forehead. Naruto made a bewildered noise above her.
I told you not to be sad when we got here.
No! Without you, I… Just, please—
Go home with Naruto and Ino where you should be, and I'll go where I need to. You'll be fine.
Sasuke! If you're not—
"Naruto, she'll need medical attention soon. Take her to a medic you trust after you check in with Command. She's—going to withdraw." He moved back, further from them than he'd been before. "And she'll probably fall into shock within the next few hours from such heavy chakra usage...she's been suppressed for months."
"Withdraw?"
"Stop!" she yelled, hysteria boiling in her gut, uncaring that Naruto was here to hear everything. Sasuke wasn't listening, but she had so much to say that it all came out jumbled and confused. "I can't—without you—I love—please, Sasuke. Stay with us—with me—don't leave—"
"I'll finish what my clan started, Sakura. That was always the plan." And you can't recover if you travel with me.
"Hey, I got you." Naruto's arms wrapped around her shoulders. She hadn't realized how badly she was quivering until his tight hold stilled it. "It's okay. Don't worry. Once he's finished with that, he'll come back. Right, Sasuke?"
"...Aa. I'll come back."
"When?" she asked, black stars dotting her vision.
As soon as I can. "I'm not sure."
Promise? He didn't answer. Sasuke—promise me!
...I promise.
Closing her eyes, she limped into Naruto's embrace. Sasuke was right—she needed medical attention.
"You promise, bastard?" Naruto nagged. "No running off and abandoning Konoha again, okay?"
"I don't make promises. But I have loose ends to tie up in Konoha as well, so I'll return when I can. Take her to medical before you go to Command, she needs to be seen quickly."
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"Do you need more funds?"
"No, we're running below projected costs right now. We should finish only slightly behind schedule."
"Let me know if that changes. I'm happy to squeeze more out of the Council."
"Yes, sensei. I'll come to you the second we run out of cash."
"Good." Kakashi grinned at her from behind the Hokage's desk, papers stacked on either side of him.
Seeing him sit there still hurt in a place so deep inside that Sakura was sure it was part of her now. She was still learning to train her eyes down when she walked the streets—to avoid catching a glimpse of Hokage Rock.
Since Tsunade listed Sakura and Shizune as next of kin, her mentor's apartment remained locked and untouched. Neither student was ready to brave opening that door and clearing out those memories.
There were many apartments like that in the city. Sealed shut but not truly abandoned. Owned but never visited. Full of items belonging to a person who'd never return to claim them.
Somehow, she'd thought that after the war, things would be…better. But this was life now.
After many long, hard years: They were back in Konoha.
And even though not everyone made it back home, their presence was felt like an ever-present fog over the city. A sickness one never recovered from.
She saw Tsunade's ghost sitting in Kakashi's seat every time she entered this room. Shino and Kiba tailed Hinata in the streets. Team Guy was laughing together in the corner of every food stall. Ino and Shikamaru left a space between them for Choji in meetings, like a habit they couldn't kick.
Sai was in the ink on her scrolls. He was smiling at her when she visited the war memorial. He was the shadow on Naruto's face when she caught him staring out into the sunset, expression drawn and fingers tight.
It still didn't feel real. Five months since Madara's death and she still woke up in a panic most mornings, certain he'd come back from the dead again.
His second resurrection had yet to happen, but that didn't mean it never would. At least, that's the excuse she used when others had to soothe her out of an attack, and they wanted to know what she was so afraid of.
Shizune said that kind of thinking was paranoia. Kakashi said it was something she'd simply learn to live with… Eventually.
She'd been in the hospital until the day after Kakashi's birthday. The withdrawal lasted four weeks. To monitor her recovery, Shizune kept her an additional three once the symptoms subsided. What Sakura hadn't known was how strong the needy thoughts remained, even after the symptoms were gone.
Her previous patients hadn't ever disclosed it. Maybe she'd never asked.
No one talked about what happened to her in the eight months she was gone. No one asked anything except what was medically necessary. No one commented on the deep tallies in her arm or how she came back missing a finger. Some days she supposed it was out of kindness—others she was convinced it was only pity.
Not even Ino said a word about it in the two months she spent by Sakura's hospital bed. So Sakura did the same, and never brought it up.
It wasn't like she wanted to talk about it, anyway. Most of the memories she boxed up and shelved away, deep in her mind where she wouldn't stumble upon them by accident. The torture, the assaults, the atrocities she'd seen Madara and his soldiers commit. The faces of the Allies she'd watched cut down in chains.
Sasuke.
Everything was pushed behind an invisible wall that held the line between lucidity and insanity. She was always a single too-deep breath away from falling apart. One too-quick turn from falling into the battlefield.
So when Shizune let her leave the hospital mid-September, she'd returned the following day in her medic vest, ready to work. She couldn't sit at home doing nothing. Couldn't be left alone too long. Couldn't fall asleep unless she was absolutely exhausted.
Sakura filled her days with running the hospital.
Everyone had a way of dealing with the trauma. Some drank, some slept around, and some obsessed over the sharpness and placement of their weapons.
Her way, as it always had been, was to pour herself into work and those around her until there wasn't any room to think of anything else. There were patients who needed her, staff that relied on her, and rebuilding that only the Head of Medical could accomplish. She volunteered for anything that even vaguely fit her wheelhouse.
The more duties she amassed, the less time she had to spend with herself.
And as she reentered society, she realized it wasn't that people weren't talking about the war with her.
People weren't talking about the war with anyone.
It was irony without the amusement. The war was over and everyone refused to touch it, but she often wondered what was left of anyone who survived.
Was there healing from this sort of perpetual pain? From losing so much that a stranger looked back in the mirror? That it hurt just to leave the house? That certain buildings were so haunted she avoided whole blocks? That the trauma of it all left the whole world mute?
"Stay a bit longer, Sakura. How are you feeling lately?" Kakashi motioned for her to sit in the chair opposite him. "Why don't you take a break from the hospital? I'm sure Shizune can manage it on her own for a few days."
She flopped into the seat with a sigh. "That's okay. I like working. And I'm feeling better since the New Year."
"Yes. The cold season has its own appeal, I suppose. It's been a mild winter so far, hasn't it?"
"Aa." The sound slipped out before she could catch it. Swallowing hard, she tried not to let her thoughts careen to him. "I mean—yes."
Kakashi plainly noticed but pretended not to. "The monthly Hokage Summit is in two weeks. The first week of February. I was thinking of asking you to join me, this time. As my second guard."
"I'll think about it, sensei," she answered quietly, staring out the large, darkening windows behind him. While still early in the evening, the mountains already cut the sun in half.
He'd asked her to join for the past three months; she'd declined each invitation. All the previous times she'd visited the other four Kage, she'd accompanied Tsunade… And Sakura didn't know if she was ready to handle that change, yet.
"I know Gaara would like to see you. And with Naruto as the other guard, it'll be like a Team Seven mission!" The moment the words left his mouth, the Hokage realized his mistake. "Ah, well—don't mind that. You know what I mean."
Shutting her eyes, she let her head fall back to rest on the chair. Those close to her tiptoed around any mention of him, but navigating such a packed minefield was hard for anyone.
Sakura hadn't just withdrawn from the calmative—she'd also withdrawn from the sudden loss of constant dopamine and endorphins the seal secreted when he was near. Her disposition had yet to recover. Five months later, the sudden mood swings were still challenging for her and everyone around her to deal with. They were particularly sour when he came up.
It rarely made any noise at all since he'd left—thoughts of him must've stirred something in their seal, however, as it was suddenly humming gently on her neck. But even when it felt alive, she couldn't know if it was real or imagined.
Shoving down the tumultuous feelings rising up, she tried her best to keep the atmosphere pleasant and the scowl off her face. Kakashi hadn't meant any harm with his offhand remark. She knew that.
So she changed the subject. "Is Naruto still on that scouting mission? I haven't seen him in a few days."
"Yes, he's set to return the day after tomorrow. Want to send him a letter? I'll be writing him this evening, I could send them together."
"Sure. Is it okay if I write it here? Could I borrow some paper?"
"Yes! I'd love for you to stay longer. Here, let me—"
An ANBU popped into existence beside Kakashi, leaning down to whisper something in his ear. The Hokage's visible eye widened and shot to her.
"Understood. Report to the gates. Take three squads with you. I'll be there shortly."
The ANBU bowed. "Yes, Hokage." And vanished.
"Something wrong?" she ventured as Kakashi stood, wiping his hands on his pants.
"Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps you should come see for yourself."
"Ooh, cryptic. See what?"
"I think it's best seen rather than told."
Sakura pushed out of the chair; of course, if she was permitted, she'd go see what had the Hokage's palms sweaty. Who wouldn't?
"Geez, are you trying to be mysterious on purpose? Why are you acting so strange, sensei?"
"Am I? Well, it's alright. We're headed to the front gates. Shall we race?"
"A test?" Smirking, Sakura shook out her legs. "Let's do it." Before Kakashi could answer, she flash-stepped to the nearest roof outside and sprinted for the city's entrance.
In moments like these, she was reminded that not everything had been killed in the war. There still remained friendship and love. Loyalty and bonds. Not everyone she cared about was dead… It was just that the dead seemed to take up so much more of her time.
She won the race, but it was close. Somehow Kakashi caught up to her, despite the slight headstart she'd taken. Sakura teased him anyway as they walked through the green gates.
Nine ANBU awaited them outside the city, faces turned down the path leading into the forest. She and the Hokage came to a halt behind the guards, exhales frosty in the evening, winter air.
The ambiance was strangely tense. Even the birds in the trees had gone silent.
"So? What's going on?" she queried softly.
"Wait a bit longer," Kakashi whispered back.
"Are we under—"
The covenant seal suddenly burst into an inferno, so strong that Sakura had to take a step back to find her feet.
And before she could catch her breath—his chakra signature picked up only meters out.
Her mind went blank. The world slowed. Reality faded away until it was just her and the dirt path that led to him. Heart pounding in her ears, her nerves jittered with a longing she'd bludgeoned down a hundred times since that hot day in July.
Could it be…? Truly?
…Sasuke?
Then he was there on the path, dark clothes swaying in the wind. Footfalls unhurried in unbridled confidence.
Seeing nothing but his figure, she drank in his silhouette like a shriveled plant escaping a drought. There were no sounds, no thoughts, no one else but the two of them and the heat he'd sent coursing through her pathways.
She released the air stuck in her lungs—
And he stood beside her.
He'd slipped past all the ANBU guards faster than she could clock it; so fast that the wind of his movement fluttered the ends of her hair seconds later.
Their eyes melted into each other's, one of his red as battlefield gore. His gaze held a promise. It traced her body with a heat that didn't match his clinical regard.
She quivered under the attention, that helplessly captured feeling sinking into her soul. The seal thrummed on her neck in tune with her quickening heartbeat. He may betray her, but he was her safety. Her comfort. As his stare traveled down her hips, hers slid to—
Kusanagi pushed to its hilt through Kakashi's stomach.
Kakashi held a hand up to stop anyone from advancing. The air around them and within her froze. Her muscles locked as he coughed wetly.
Oppressive presence calling her eyes back to his, the crimson and lavender promise within them darkened into an oath. Then his expression turned murderous, and his full attention settled on their former teacher.
"I told you I'd kill you," he growled, shoving the sword deeper into the Hokage's body. Like he wished to push the whole thing clean through. "You deserve to die."
Blood trickled from the side of Kakashi's mouth. "You're right. I accept your punishment, Sasuke."
"Stop!" she shouted, gaping in stunned horror. "What the hell—"
"He knew what was coming for him. You heard him, Sakura." Sasuke glared at their sensei, anger rolling off his body in waves.
One of the ANBU squads shifted.
"Hold!" Kakashi yelled. "Don't do anything."
As if approaching a wounded animal, Sakura reached out slowly and laid a hand on Sasuke's sword arm. "Please stop, Sasuke. I don't know why you're mad, but you don't have to handle it this way..."
Kakashi coughed again. Releasing Sasuke, Sakura grabbed Kakashi's shoulder and cast Hundred Healings. The black marks snaked across his uncovered cheek as the wound in his stomach closed around the sword.
She'd wanted Sasuke to stop this madness on his own, but—"And you must know I won't let you kill Kakashi."
Studying him, she tried to glean his motivation for this reckless attack. Beyond the rage, however, Sasuke was locked tight as he'd always been. He and Kakashi appeared to be having a silent conversation between them, gazes flashing at one another with unreadable sentiments.
A beat later, an indifferent mask fell over Sasuke's face. One she'd seen him wear thousands of times.
"Hmph." And then—he yanked out his sword and sheathed it, blood and all. "Thank her, Kakashi. You'd be a dead man if not for the student you abandoned."
Kakashi patted her head. "Yes. Thank you, Sakura. You're better than the both of us."
"Someone explain to me what's going on," she demanded, vision narrowed on Sasuke, unsure how to handle all the emotions and chaos he'd brought with him.
This wasn't how she wanted their reunion to go. He promised he'd return—she'd never doubted that he would. But she hadn't expected it to take only five months, and she assuredly hadn't expected him to attempt murder within seconds of seeing his hometown.
Attempted murder of the Hokage—in front of nine ANBU.
"Sasuke came to honor his word, as he swore he would." Kakashi lifted his hand once more, this time in a summoning motion. "But he should've stayed away and lived quietly like I advised him to."
Six of the nine ANBU tackled Sasuke to the ground. Sasuke let them—didn't struggle as they pinned him and held kunai on his back. One shinobi smashed his head down into the earth, the others held him at various joints.
"HEY! Don't! Stop them, sensei!" She jerked forward to free him.
Kakashi yanked her back. "He's being taken into custody."
"Into custody for what?! For this? I healed you—you're fine! Let him go!" She pointed at the motionless body pressed into the dirt path. "Look, he isn't even fighting back!"
"He chose to come here when he was warned what would happen. I did what I could and he disregarded it."
"What's he being taken into custody for?!"
"His crimes, of course."
Sakura scoffed; the callous way Kakashi said it only served to incense her further. "Crimes? All his crimes were pardoned," she seethed. "He's protected under the agreement the Kage accepted two years ago. You were in the same Konoha debrief on it that I was, so what crimes are you even talking about?"
"...I can't intervene any more than I already have. It's out of my hands."
"Bullshit! Kakashi, please—"
"Sakura, stop it." His dark voice spun her head back to him in an instant. "It's as Kakashi said. Don't make more problems for me...or for yourself."
"More problems? You're being arrested, I'm trying to help!" Explain all of this, Sasuke!
But the seal was shut tight on his end, and if he thought anything in response, she never heard it.
"Do you have any intentions to escape?" Kakashi asked, calmer than this situation ought to call for.
Sasuke mumbled under his breath; one of the ANBU above him snapped something nasty back.
Then audibly, he intoned, "Why would I come back if I planned to escape?"
"Hmm. Fair point. Take him to the prison—"
"PRISON?!"
"—and suppress only half his chakra, since he's agreeing to cooperate. Make sure to seal his eyes."
"Sensei—"
"Yes, Hokage."
"—for what?! He's a war hero! He's your student!"
"Yes, he's my student. I'm not doing this because I want to. It was decided by the Konoha Council and received majority support in the last Kage Summit. Even if I disagree with it, at this point, I can't stop. He's been formally charged by both bodies. Until he stands trial—"
Sakura body-flickered to the pile of guards holding Sasuke down, intent on liberating him. "Formally charged my ass!"
Channeling chakra into her arm, she pulled the first ANBU off like plucking a petal from a flower and tossed him into the forest lining the path. His body thwacked into the trunk of a tree and split it as the other five guards postured nervously, hesitant about attacking Konoha's medical commander in front of her sensei.
Kakashi was beside her again before she could grab the next one, placing himself between her and the ANBU. "I don't want to reprimand you for this. But you're disrupting a matter that's now between Sasuke, the Council, and the Kage. If you do anything more to interfere... I'll have to issue some sort of discipline. Please stand down before you go too far."
"Stand down," Sasuke growled, as if in agreement with his own detainment.
She ignored him. "I don't give a shit who it's between. He doesn't deserve to be taken into custody! You know—if Naruto were here—ugh! Sensei! This is against the code of conduct! What is he supposedly formally charged with, then?"
"Trust me, and leave it alone for now. There's nothing either of us can do today. Let's go back to my office and I'll explain it to—"
"Answer me," she barked.
Kakashi sighed, gaze troubled. "...Civilian murder, treason, terrorism, torture, summary executions, regicide, attempted regicide… And sexual slavery."
"Sexual—no. That's all political bullshit! All of it, and you know it! Release him, and we'll—"
"I told you to stop, Sakura. Don't get involved, and stop causing a scene." When Sakura peered down at him, aghast with how he expected her to just allow him to go to prison—Sasuke wasn't even looking at her. "I don't want or need your help."
This wasn't how it was supposed to go.
Why wouldn't he meet her eye? Why wasn't he fighting?
Why did he sound exactly like he did almost two years ago, when she'd ventured into his base and unknowingly taken the covenant?
Her chest felt tight, suddenly overcome with nostalgia she wished to forget. "Sasuke, this isn't—"
"Take him now," Kakashi commanded.
And before she could finish her sentence, Sasuke and the ANBU disappeared.
End Part Two
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Author's Note:
Ahhh, so we've come to the END OF PART TWO!
I'm a bit worried about how this chapter is gonna land, as from reading the many comments of readers, I think this is a huge departure from where most people were expecting this final battle to go :) All I can say is that this part was always supposed to end this way, and I hope people are not too disappointed with it~!
Over the next couple months, as I did during the break after Part One, I hope to go back through Part Two chapters and edit them up a bit...and of course, I have to thank Leech as I always do. I'm sure I've said it in a few comment responses, but because I'm an insane person, I write these chapters over the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of the week I plan to post! I usually hand over an entire chapter to Leech on Sunday afternoon, mere hours before I want to post the chapter, and she still gets the beta done. Thanks Leech for putting up with that :D
And...with that said... Covenant will go on a brief hiatus! Part Three will begin later THIS YEAR...hopefully, by or in November. Part Three is also the conclusion to this fanfic.
320k words later, and we've finally reached the last arc of this story! WOOOO! What am I going to do with my weekends and free time when I don't have this story to write weekly, anymore? haha. Reading everyone's always-wonderful comments, hearing about the awesome discussions happening in the discord, seeing the positive responses about this story on other platform-it's an honor to have people receive this story in such a meaningful way. It's seriously a highlight of my life, at the moment :P
So thank you for reading Covenant [Part Two], see you at the end of the year for the start of the finale: [Part Three] :)
P.S...go read this story on AO3 :) and join the discord :)