Name : Team 7 - what lies beneath
Genre : adventure
Main characters : Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno
Summary :Being in team 7 is like being in a tug of war : when one pulls, the others get dragged forward. AU canon divergence beginning at the end of part one.
Story tags :Strong Uzumaki Naruto, Strong Uchiha Sasuke, Strong Haruno Sakura, Political Intrigue, Dai-nana-han Team 7 as Family (Naruto), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dai-nana-han Team 7-centric (Naruto), balanced power scale, begins at the end of part one, Important side characters, Fix-It, Canon Rewrite
Story song : What lies beneath by Breaking Benjamin
Posted on October 10th 2024
- Chapter 1 -
Our Team 7
On this day, Konoha found out how it was to be weak, overwhelmed and in shock. It was being in the thunderstorm, in the dark, wet and cold, praying and waiting for the flash. That imagine carried on uninterrupted in the hearts of every person in the village every single day for thirteen years exactly.
Today, that record would end.
Naruto couldn't bring himself to celebrate the Forth Hokage and the defeat of the Nine Tailed Beast. How could he? This time he knew it came at the cost of his own life.
And there were more pressing issues at hand. The fire inside him had burned out.
Maybe it was the three weeks he spent in the hospital with his body aching, or maybe it was the ten days he spent locked in his appartement on doctor's orders, but each second chipped at the conviction that he could bring Sasuke back until there was none.
Orochimaru had taken him from him. But he wasn't here, unlike the man who had taken something just as precious from him, his face visible from the kitchen window.
It wasn't all bad.
This was the first time people celebrated his birthday. For this he had cracked an honest smile, the first one in a long time. Every person important to him had passed by his appartement, bringing well-wishes, gifts and warmth.
Unbeknown to them, a thistle came attached to everything they did, picking up on his body with each hug, joke and game. Its spikes grew longer and sharper as the day went on, until they were the only thing on his mind. Even before his cake, he couldn't make a wish, blowing the candles mechanically all the while fixated on the thistle.
Hisabsence.
It was harder as people started leaving. At night, when Sakura left after hugging him tightly and he found himself alone with the damned thistle, his heart was so heavy he felt it at his knees.
Tsunade said it was still too dangerous for his recovery to leave the house, but he had no choice. He couldn't breathe anymore.
He threw on a grey cloak and snuck out his bedroom window, sliding down the side of the building using chakra. On this day, tradition said there would be no lights on. The streetlamps were turned off automatically and the rest was done by the people. He had never seen a window light up at night, no matter how much he had searched for one.
Tonight was no exception. On top of it, a thick layer of clouds covered the sky making everything pitch black. No one could see him.
At first Naruto roamed, passing by his favorite places all deserted at that hour, but it had the opposite effect of what he had trapped animals roam in circles. Had his battle with Sasuke beenit? Was it akin to the Forth Hokage's fight with the Nine Tails, one that was either won or lost?
He had to know, and he knew where to find out.
In the ninja cemetery, they had dedicated a section to the heros from the Nine Tails attack. It was at the very back, enclosed by a solid stone wall three meters in height, accessible through a metal bar gate. Close to midnight, there was no one else there. Despite the dark, the plain low platform in the middle still commanded his attention over the trees boarding the wall or all the other gravestones.
The Forth Hokage's grave.
As Naruto came closer, he saw it was adorned with flowers, branches of different trees, leaves and unwrapped gifts. On this day, everyone left an offering of a personal objet that the Forth Hokage would like.
Standing on the platform, empty handed, he thoughtI gave you the most precious gift I had, my body.
A cold breeze shoved against his skin. The clouds parted and a soft white light came down on the grave like lightening.
Someone was next to him. Covered in a black cloak that covered its face, two times his size, it was shoulder to shoulder with him, looking onward at the grave.
"What makes us miss the things that are right in front of us?" it mumbled, in a low voice.
Another breeze whipped against his body, making him unable to make out what he said next.
"Can the one you love be what makes you come undone?" it whispered.
A thick cloud passed over the opening, making everything dark again for a few moments. When light came back, the figure had dispeared, almost as if it had never been there to begin with.
The lights, the praise, the gifts… no one was treated better than the Forth Hokage. For this glory, Naruto had to pay for with all the years he had spent in the shadow of contempt.
He dug his arm into the pile.
One thing to call his own, it would be enough. His hand wrapped against something soft, and he snatched it out. It was a long wooden brush with a thick hairy end.
He looked at it, mesmerized. With each speckle of light falling upon it, his heart grew warmer and warmer.
Here it was, the spark he had lost.
-O-
Nothing moved on the gray gravel road, illuminated by streetlamps spaced too far apart. The one by his appartement building flashed in and out, straining to stay on. Its light captured not even on speck of dust.
Nobody usually received late visits on a Sunday.
Sakura lingered at the bottom, somehow petrified before the stairwell, when the light seemed to have died for good. It wasn't easy to believe they could get their friend back despite Naruto cheering her on. But ever since his birthday, it was impossible.
The memory flashed in her mind, bringing with it an emptiness that no matter how much it gnawed at her, must had been a dozen times worse for him. She had seen it in the way the corners of his mouth failed to rise and how much his cheeks strained when he tried to act as if everything was fine.
Becausethisdaywas meant to enjoyed. It was the first time when he had people who cared for him to celebrate it with. Buthewasn't there and it-…
Sakura shook herself. This time she had to be strong, for him.
She dreaded each step, but she still took it until she was in front of his door, knocking on it. His steps had weight to them, she heard, not the effortless ninja stealth.
"Hey, Sakura-chan," he said as she came in.
She took off her shoes as she said, "I hope you're hungry because I brought your favourite." Smiling, she lifted the package.
"Yeah…"
He was wearing a light blue pijama —not in a way that made her think he got ready to sleep, but that he wore it all day, spent his whole day in bed. Had his injuries come back?
As he led her into the kitchen, she paid extra attention to his heavy walk, ready to catch him if he wobbled. But he hadn't stirred, not as he sat down at the kitchen table and not even as he ate the ramen. The arms were the last ones he regained mobility control off, the last part of his body to get rid of the bandages. As Sakura watched his firm grip on the chopsticks and listenedjustto their slurps —Naruto not making any move to say something—, she understood this problem wasn't physical.
He spoke once he was finished. "It was good. Thank you, Sakura-chan."
She played with the remaining food in her bowl, searching for something she'd never find in it: the right words. Eventually, she said, "It's not…your last…" 'birthday'she wanted to say, like that could ease the real problem.
"I'm sorry," Sakura breathed out all at once. And even though she had promised not to cry, her voice broke and teardrops gathered at her eyes. "I'm sorry I let him go."
His body slumped as he whispered, "Me too." He longingly looked out the kitchen window, towards the glowing moon who was missing a part of itself.
"I've been thinking…" He got out of his chair and with hurried steps went towards his bedroom. "Come, I want to show you something."
Wiping her tears, she followed and watched from the doorframe as he rummaged through a box with scrolls, some of them toppling over and rolling on the parquet.
"I've been thinking…"
She got closer to him and stopped as he stopped moving, gathering an object from the box in the palm of his hand. He went over to his desk, arms hanging at his sides, one hand in a fist. He recovered something from a drawer, then turned around.
"About the beginning."
Clutching a brush over his chest with his right hand, Naruto looked at her with a weak pensive smile on his face. His shoulders dropped, gripping hands with white knuckles, his elbows digging into his sides —this wasn't the same boy from before the fight.
"The beginning," she mumbled back, then his chin dipped slightly, and sheunderstood. She sat down on his bed, her forearms wrapped together and resting on her knees —just like the first time.
His smile grew stronger, and he skidded to sit next to her.
"Our team was formed because of our scores, remember?" He twirled the brush in his hand. "You were amazing and Sas'ke was amazing and I…" He gave a hollow laugh and scratched the back of his head.
"I remember," she echoed. "They put us together to balance out the scores."
"But when we were in the academy, we had no idea it would happen this way. We had no idea we would find each other. I can't imagine being on a team with anyone else."
"Me neither."
He let go of his fist, letting a small black container sit on the bed. "Everything we did, all are actions led us to our Team 7. And we had no idea. We didn't do it with intent, we didn't plan…"
He shook his head and showed Sakura his left palm. "Tell me what you see when you look at this."
Her eyes searched for what he wanted her to find. He wasn't hurt, he had no cuts, his hand wasn't shaking like it did in the first two weeks of recovery. It was a normal hand.
"I see," she said, lingering. "Your hand."
It seemed to be the right answer, because he quickly pulled off the cap of the container and doused the brush in the black substance. He pulled his hand close to his chest and touched brush to palm.
He had a warm smile on his face as he looked at his left palm. "Now, tell me what you see," he said with a warm voice and gave him his hand again.
It was a black dot in the center, a little swirl more exactly. She tried to make sense of this, of what she had missed from before. Could it be that the chakra pressure point in the center of his palm was damaged? Either or, the black ink was all she could see.
"A black swirl," she replied, and he perked up.
"Did you see anything else?" he followed up and she shook her head. "Exactly! The black is all you could see because before your eyes were moving all over the place." He drew a chaotic pattern in the air between them, going left to right and up and down and diagonally. "But once it's there, it's the only thing you can see, your eyes are stuck on it. One point, focus all your attention there and you'll succeed."
She nodded with a half-smile.
"If we focus on bringing Sasuke back…" His name sent shivers through them. "We can do it." Words tumbled out of his mouth. "All those years in the academy, we weren't focusing on team 7, we weren't focusing on anything, but we succeeded in getting into team 7, in getting together."
"Now we're different, we know… I know… I'm sure that if we focus on getting Sasuke back, we can do it. We did it before. If we focus our attention and our efforts on getting him back, we're going to succeed, it's certain. We have done it once before without even trying."
He swallowed visibly, his painted hand reached out to her —in a way that she was sure was inadvertently— and his cheeks were straining to keep his smile.
Sakura blinked her glassy eyes and, for the first time that night, said the right words, "You're right."
He nodded, letting out a huge breath and she nodded back at him.
Cold white light slipped through his window, covering her body and stopping short of his hand.
"Naruto, you're right, we can do this, we'll save him."
Then he lifted both his hands behind his head. "I'll go on my trip with Jiraiya, and I'll do everything to get strong enough to save Sasuke. I'll come back and we're going to find him together and get him back home. Then we'll be together again, and I'll become Hokage."
An honest laughter filled the room, and she nodded along to everything he said. It was a true Naruto laugh, one he couldn't manage to make at his birthday party. And for a moment everything was good.
Thump.
The brush fell from his hand onto his pillow. She jumped to his side and checked his hand. It wasn't shaking like in the weeks before, but it did lose its grip on the brush.
Naruto was still smiling.
"You'll get better. Tsunade-sama is an amazing medic-"
"Yeah, I just need to get on my feet, that's all. She kept me in the hospital for weeks and now I'm on house arrest." He crossed his arms over his chest. "I need to enjoy the outdoors and a good night's sleep to feel better. For a lady as old as her, she should kn-"
"Do you wanna play the board game Shikamaru got you?" she asked.
"Only if I can snack on the chips Choji gave me every time I move a piece," he said, and she got up to get the things.
Meanwhile behind Naruto, the brush was still on the pillow, its black pigment seeping deep inside.
-O-
Twenty miles west from the gates of Konoha making a turn north, traversing through the thick woods of the middle of the Fire country into some terrain significantly less woody but rockier, not yet passing the boarder towards the country of the Hidden Sound village, was the gully of the snake.
It ran from the bottom of a lake towards the higher hills further away, adorned on its edges by dirt, massive stones, protruding tree roots and dried shrubbery. Behind one of the boulders was a set of stairs accessed by a few hand signs.
Orochimaru's hideout.
Inside the meandering dimly lit corridors was a room that he called his own since he abandoned the Hidden Leaf village.
As part of his training, Sasuke jogged alone in the grassy hills during the late evenings to build his endurance. Calming it was, to be away from the hideout with the reassuring song of grasshoppers and birds, despite the occasional hissing and ruffling of a snake scurrying away that he chose to ignore.
Sasuke finished his run and returned to the hideout short of breath, with his feet dragging to the ground and with clamy skin.
Before he could reach his bedroom, he was stopped by a boy with ruggedy brown clothes, a servant, saying, "Good evening, Sasuke-sama. Orochimaru wants you to-"
There it was, the phrase that he had quickly learned to loathe. His stomach turned every time someone told him Orochimaru wanted him to do something.
I want to kill Itachi,he repeated to himself. Listening to what came next was suddenly much easier.
"-come to his office immediately," he finished and bowed his head.
Sasuke thanked him and traversed the long main hallway, illuminated by the rare candle placed in carved out notches in the grey walls.
The empty cold stone bounced sounds unsettling well and tonight three things participated to the choir: fire cracking, his footsteps, and the muffled whimpering of prisoners.
Their presence was something he avoided as much as he could, having never visited the part of the hideout where they were located but which Orochimaru was kindly fond of.
Every time Sasuke heard that phrase, he apprehended what would follow because he could never tell if he would be asked to do something inhumane. An act that once committed, would make him more like his brother.
Staying behind the door to the office, he was once again a moment away from finding out what dirty duties the snake wanted, and if he could fulfill them to keep being in his good favor.
I want to kill Itachi, he repeated and opened the door.
The office was one of the most furnished rooms of the hideout, with a set of bookshelves filled sparsely by various books lining two of its walls, a dusty couch in the back and a wooden desk propped up against the wall close to the entrance.
Orochimaru perked up from his couch and with a long grin said, "You didn't ask to come in."
"You were expecting me."
Advancing into the room, he came to notice the two books propped up open on the coffee table. From what he could tell, they were about sealing.
"It's been six weeks since you're here. You progressed but it's slower than what I expected. It seems that the fight with Naruto required more recovery from your body than we expected. Using Lee's speed still consumes a lot of chakra." He dropped his chin and eyed him, "There's something I want to show you, but I need your endurance to be better before I can."
Sasuke nodded. "It'll be done by the end of the month."
"We'll see. You know, you would have been better off if you hadn't fought him," he said sipping on his tea. "You should have found a way to escape without a confrontation."
The muscles in his spine tensed up and had he not consciously stopped it, his hand would have drawn into a fist. For he didn't have the patience or the intention to explain how the confrontation was inevitable, how he wouldn't stop following him if he wasn't incapacitated, how he went into the fight with the intention to kill him so he could improve his eyes but changed his mind right at the very end.
"It will be done by the end of the month."
The conversation ended and he was dismissed. He returned to his bedroom, where he immediately rested on the first thing near the entrance: a stone bench illuminated by soft white light from the crescent moon peering through a small window at the top of the opposite wall.
He stretched on it, but the cold the seeped from it was anything but cooling. It squeezed his muscles and sent shivers down his spine.
In a halt, he got up and went to the adjacent bathroom to shower. Before it could get fogged up, he took a long look in the unframed rectangular mirror sitting above his sink.
He had eye bags, his hair was ruffled and sticking to his forehead. Most importantly, once he flashed his Sharingan in a gesture that had become a reflex ever since he came to Orochimaru, his red eyes were the same.
Once in the shower, he let the hot water wash away the grime, relax his muscles and he exhaled.
I want to kill Itachi, he repeated, once again.
-O-
Every night she had the same dream in a loop.
They were in one of the trees in the Forest of Death, but unlike a memory, where the characters remained the ones from the past, it was the current them who played in it. Sasuke who dejected and Sakura who got left behind. And yet, they hugged exactly like they did back then.
How cruel was her mind to make her feel, smell and touch the boy she loved, who for all counts was gone forever, every single night since he had left?
Sakura usually woke up from his warmth into a cold bed at the crook of dawn, her heavy lids coming up with one long swipe as tears slid from her eyes. Usually, she would whimper while she replayed their last discussion for the dozenth time. Usually, she'd lay there petrified under a weight that didn't even have a name until her parents came to check in on her.
Today she came about early into the same cold, but her eyes weren't watery, her chest was light, and a wind pushed her upright for the day, the faitest of smiles at the corners of her mouth.
Because Naruto was right, they had the power to decide how the story would unfold.
When she came down, her father was tinkering in the kitchen. They sat down at the counter to have breakfast and play their silent part: he'd act as if he worked less because he was tired, and she'd pretend to not know that it was because they were worried about her.
This time it was easier, because it was only him. After what her mother did, it was difficult to be around her and to pretend that there was no problem between them.
"It must be pretty busy at the shop," she prompted.
He bit his toast. "Huh?"
"It's Monday morning."
"Ah," he said. "The shop's closed."
Where could my mother be if not at the family's shop?she thought but didn't pry out loud.
Sakura sipped her tea. "I got Iruka's answer. He said he can't help me find a tutor and that I should see this stuff with Kakashi."
"That's a bummer."
"Maybe… I'll ask him when I see him again. It's been a while…" she said, trailing off. Because the truth was, she hadn't seen her sensei since Sasuke left.
"I can talk with him," he hurried and continued despite her protests. "I know where he lives, Mebuki and I have been there once."
Sakura smiled and shook her head. "I think it's better to wait… Besides, the Hokage still hasn't given meheranswer."
"She'll surely say yes!"
After they finished breakfast, Sakura went back to her room where she studied fundamentals until early afternoon, when three taps on the window interrupted her. Opening it revealed a brown bird with a carrier bag hoisted across its body and inside it, a scroll.
After she took it, the bird flew back into the sky. It was a light scroll, green in color, signed on the margin just before its opening: The Fifth Hokage. It felt more like she held her whole future in her hand.
Sakura opened it. A bit discouraging, it was simply summoning her immediately to the Hokage tower. While it wasn't an outright confirmation, it was promising. Why go through all the hassle to summon her if it was just to say no? Why else would the Fifth want to talk with her?
With a light heart and that same wind at her back, Sakura hurried to the Hokage's office, holding the scroll tight just like Naruto did the black dot.
When she was allowed in, she pried the door open slowly.
First, through the initial crack, she saw Jiraiya. He must have been there for something else, and he was on his way out.
Second, as she swang it more open, there was Tsunade at her desk, wearing the Hokage cloak but not the hat, arms crossed over her chest. Why was she so serious?
Third, when the door touched the wall, there was her mother on the other side of Jiraiya, facing away from him. Her hands were meekly gathered at her hip and her slender shoulders slightly arched, but her eyes were sharp and cold.
Her civilian mother who hated ninja business was in the Hokage office with her.
Her heart sank. After they exchanged pleasantries, the door clacked shut behind her and her mother still hadn't been asked to leave, it outright fell out of her chest.
I'm not here for my new sensei.
"Why…" she started, mouth dry. "… did you summon me?"
"A mission," the Hokage replied, then squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, before she continued. "And every detail necessary to complete it, must not be shared out loud outside this office. Or you will pay for it."
"Never…"
"Naruto is the Jinchuriki of the Nine Tailed Beast. The fox that attacked the village is locked inside him and has been there …"
It was as if a gong had been hit just behind her head, the vibrations shaking her body and her brain through her eardrums. All this time… what did… how was it… who else…is this why… but why would they… no, he's not… how come…
"SAKURA!"
She came out of her thoughts in a cold sweat. "Yes," she tried to say but only mumbled.
"I understand you and I know that you need time, but we don't have it."
She grabbed her hands together at her hip akin her mother but tapped her fingers into her palm. "Of course. How can I help?"
"I didn't finish," she said and placed her hands flat on the desk. "I think you can already understand how unique Naruto's situation is and that the village had left none of it to chance…"
For a moment, Sakura closed her eyes and gulped.
"Team 7 was created in order to respond to this uniqueness. Everything was analyzed, and chosen to maximize our chances."
Four days, fourteen hours and fifteen minutes. This was how long she had been allowed to have hope.
"Every one had a purpose," the Hokage continued. "The Sharingan has been said to be capable to control the Beast. For this, and his talent in sealing, Kakashi was chosen. Given the lifelong bonds created by the three-man squad, we had decided it would be advantageous to have another sharingan in that position, one that came from a real Uchiha. That's why Sasuke was chosen."
Before the Hokage's long stare, the giantess of Jirayia's body and her mother's slender figure, she felt like child no older than five. "But-" she tried and pushed forward. "But… our scores. It was our scores, our work in the academy," she tired, punctuating every point with her hand. "Naruto failed every class, he had to repeat class three times before he passed the final exam. Then Sasuke and I were top students… there had to be us to balance him… and-"
"Sakura," Tsunade picked up over her meandering thoughts, in a weirdly sweet voice. "Do you really think you and Sasuke would have been allowed to be genin, if Naruto hadn't graduated?" A flicker left her eyes. "Every one had a purpose…"
"Purpose?" Sakura breathed out, not daring to look up anymore. "What was my purpose?"
"If Naruto lost control, if the Beast tricked him, if the seal broke, we needed someone to seal the Nine Tailed Beast inside of…"
Watching the hardwood floor before her, she mumbled, "But why… why me?"
"Because being able to keep a Tailed Beast's chakra inside oneself is a special ability. It's something those called sairo are able to do…"
"Sai-iro?" She rubbed her lips, but they stuck together. "Why do I… have this sairo thing?"
"Simply put, it's in your blood…"
"Is Naruto… ?"
"No, Naruto's an Uzumaki. Some of them can be compatible with the Tailed Beast, but their seal is more unstable…"
When Sakura finally managed to lift her eyes off the floor, they darted to her mother despite everything that had happened between them.
"I am a sairo," her mother declared. "I brought it here when I… came to the village fourteen years ago. You and I are the only ones here."
"Where are the others?"
"Somewhere far away," she said, drifting off and leaning against the Hokage's desk. "A long time ago, it was decided to keep sairo away from others and those tasked with making sure it stays this way are called Guardians…"
Mebuki grabbed the edge of the desk, digging her fingers into the wood. "The Forth Hokage allowed me to stay by making a contract with the Guardians, one that imposed me as the next Tailed Beast host, if need ever be and that forbid me from using or learning jutsu."
She placed one foot against the desk. "Sakura, the same contract is valid for you," she said, and the resonance of her voice sent chills down her spine. "Because that role wasn't fulfilled by either of us when the Kyuubi attacked, the Third Hokage added supplementary clauses to yours."
"The most important one is that never will you and Naruto be apart from each other," the Hokage completed.
Finally, Jiraiya spoke, "Naruto's in danger. He's hunted for the Tailed Beast he carries, by a dangerous organisation called Akatsuki. I want to train him, to prepare him for everything. But not here…"
Tsuande intertwined her fingers. "We want to change the clause in your contract so Naruto can train away from the village. And to do that, we have contacted the Guardian who's responsible for you. He's coming in a few days."
Jiraiya continued, "We have a meeting with him, but it's sure he won't give his answer unless he interogates you on your own…"
Her eyes were capture by Tsuande's as she said, "Your mission is to convince him… If you fail, Naruto won't be able to leave. If you fail badly, the Guardian can take you away."
Then, as everyone held their breath waiting for her answer, she said, "I'll do it. I'll convince him."
And just like that, a craving paradoxical to Sakura sparked, for the arrival of the night and the feel of Sasuke's arms around her, the warmth of their hug comforting her instead of him this time.
A/N : This story has been with me for a very long time. I'm happy to be able to finally share it. Tell me what you think, I'm open to all, constructive criticism included!