An awakening
The masked man made a mistake. Sasuke knew he made a mistake.
The way Madara had told him of the Uchiha’s past led Sasuke towards hating Konoha, to the path of hatred and revenge. Sasuke… only knew revenge. But he was tired. Sasuke was so tired, and he wanted it to end. Madara made a mistake when he had left Sasuke alone with his thoughts and without any supervision.
Sasuke would have gladly taken revenge. He would have gladly opposed and destroyed Konoha, gladly do what he does best… had Naruto not been there for some strange coincidence. The dead last found him at his most vulnerable, and they fought. Naruto reasoned, and Sasuke deflected. They fought and fought until their skin became covered in arrays of colors from bruises, their hair red from their blood, and their hands burning from their ninjutsu. Their fight continued until sunrise until they were where right atop the Valley of the End. Where everything started and where everything will end.
The hurt was still so new. It was still too tender and too raw, and Naruto was his usual self in battle. Sasuke had released his anger in a haze of fury and adrenaline, screaming the injustice that his clan had suffered. Naruto had been silent as he listened and evaded his attacks. And finally, between his curses and his vow of vengeance, Sasuke had screamed for his older brother. His older brother that had loved him so dearly, who had killed their clan, save him, in the name of peace.
Itachi... you suffered.
Sasuke felt sick. His older brother bled for a village that had no care for him. His older brother loved him.
He loved him. He loved him. He loved him. He loved him. He loved him. He loved him.—and Sasuke killed him.
(Sorry Sasuke, this is the last time.)
Sasuke screamed. What had he done?! He killed the one person who loved him!
Naruto had him pinned down, and Sasuke’s sight blurred as they filled with tears. No, he can’t lose! Not to Naruto!
“Then we’ll avenge him!”
Sasuke’s breath hitched. Revenge? Naruto… will take revenge?
“…What…?”
“We’ll avenge your brother, and your clan, and give Itachi his dream! We’ll give Itachi the village he wished of! A village with peace, a village where your clan is respected! Let’s make Itachi’s dream come true!”
Sasuke punched him in the face and sent him flying. As the two lay on the broken ground to witness the rise of a new dawn, Sasuke reflected. It would be so easy to take revenge, it would relieve him of his pain—
“Don’t take the easy way out, you bastard.”
Madara made a mistake when he left him alone. He made a mistake when he allowed Naruto near him when he was still in turmoil. And now, instead of walking the path that would lead to more heartbreak, Sasuke resolved not to let his brother’s death be in vain. He didn’t take the easy way out. He will bring Itachi’s dream to fruition.
Naruto dragged themselves home.
Home. That word felt so foreign, it’s sad.
They stumbled into the village gate, bloodied and bruised and broken in more ways than one. Sakura had found them. Dressed in a casual red shirt and black skirt, she sat at the bench Sasuke had left her in when they were still a genin, waiting for Naruto to return from his mission. Heart in her mouth and sight hazy from tears, she ran towards them, her arms outstretched for an embrace. Naruto’s smile covered half of his face, all tooth and his eyes squinted so badly that it might as well have been closed. He was boisterous and loud when he proclaimed, “I fulfilled our promise, Sakura-chan!”
Then their life moved forward. Sasuke immediately set to work in creating a name for himself, becoming the pride of the Uchiha. Words of praises, fear, and awe followed the boy. The Uchiha clan’s betrayal and hatred, Sasuke’s accomplishments will act as a smokescreen. Konoha will have no need to suspect him, his clan will be renewed and remembered as one of the most prestigious clans. His clan’s mistake will die with him.
Naruto renewed his vigor in becoming the Hokage. Often, he can be found shadowing Tsunade or escorting important envoys of the neighboring countries and establishing friendships between villages. He will lead the village to prosper, to the peace Itachi dreamed of. Naruto has absorbed Itachi’s dream into his own. He will be a Hokage, one that will be remembered as the man who brought peace into the village.
Sakura suspected a change in Naruto but remained ignorant of what exactly changed until she found them huddled together, which was a strange sight. The two were plotting in Ichiraku of all places. Now that Sakura knew, they dragged her into their plan of creating a peaceful village in the name of Itachi. And she was more than happy to assist in their cause. But not before she yelled at them for leaving her behind.
Soon, through her connections and her research, (which consisted of reading documents and Ino’s gossips, gossips have to be established on something after all), the team gathered enough information about Danzo and quickly made easy work of him. Sakura was a trusted medic, student of the Hokage, and a proud kunoichi of Konoha. They would never even consider her to be a suspect of Danzo’s poisoned cup of tea.
A year passed, and Sasuke finally have his team back at his side, living at their shared home and ready to fight the world for him. He had finally tasted what peace felt like, what Itachi had wanted, and he finally understood his brother’s desire for it. And to Sasuke, peace meant Team 7 together. The mission will take at least a year as they will be infiltrating as students. They can’t leave halfway. And leaving Sakura is not even entertained one bit.
“Why can’t we make our own portal?”
“…because creating the portal takes delicate chakra control…”
Naruto should be able to convince Tsunade with this as a backbone for his reason, Sasuke leaned on the wall, pleased. Naruto’s plan of accidentally dragging Sakura with them is now moot. Technically, what Naruto was planning is called kidnapping and going against the Hokage, it would brand Naruto less than a trouble maker and more of a renegade. How is he going to be Hokage if he had that title?
“See?! We do need Sakura-chan, y’know! Just relent already baa-chan!”
“No!” she pointed at Naruto and Sasuke, “You rely on Sakura too much! She’s not exclusively yours, you trouble-making misfits!”
Sasuke tilted his head and snorted. Tsunade’s glare centered on him, but Sasuke remained impassive.
Sakura was theirs the very day they were formed as a team, just as he was theirs and they were his. Sasuke had gotten used to having the two nearby at all times after a year of being together. And the two caries the certainty that he has someone to rely on, and that he need not fight alone. He does not want to return to the drowning silence and the darkness that follows. He will do what needs to be done for Team 7 to remain together. Like hell they’re leaving Sakura behind. Then Sasuke, away from the eyes of everyone, unconsciously swirled his Sharingan to life. Should he put Tsunade in a genjutsu? Then he realized where his thoughts were headed and shook his head. No. Sakura will kill him.
Sasuke’s eyes returned to black as his brows furrowed. Why in the world am I acting irrationally?
While Sasuke pondered his moment of irrationality, the argument between the blonds came to a standstill. That is until Naruto opened his mouth once more.
“Hokage-sama,” Tsunade’s shackles raised in alarm. Naruto never calls her Hokage-sama, and as such, Naruto using her title in their argument is enough to raise her suspicions and wariness. Naruto had adapted that same voice he uses to convince Gaara to stay in the village longer than necessary, the same tone to convince an angry mob to calm, and he had adapted the same air he uses to appease a rampaging Sakura. Naruto had learned to talk quite well, charming those that were foolish enough to lend him an ear. Tsunade wishes she was deaf.
“Konoha encourages people with good chemistry to become a unit, so that we may be able to perform our missions optimally. It is not gasconading when I say that Team 7 is immaculate. In my team, I am the front-line combatant, I act as the team tank because of my definitive chakra reserve and strength, so I protect the two behind me. Sasuke is our scout and background legionnaire because of his speed and bloodline limit. He can easily cut through the enemy lines because of it. Sakura is our medic in addition to being the person to deliver the first blow. Together, the three of us are unbeatable. Losing even one of us is like a gaping wound, it would be disadvantageous and may become a source of weakness.”
Away from Tsunade’s eyes, Sasuke smirked. It seems the idiot has learned to use his words and mind, and not just scream empty promises. But… Sasuke looked at Naruto weirdly, “where in the world did the idiot learn the word gasconade?”
“And, if I may Hokage-sama,” Tsunade looked increasingly pissed, “you’re sending us to an unknown hostile territory. Although I am confident of the skills Sasuke, Hinata, and I possess, it would cause great relief if there was a skilled medic in our team. Just in case.”
Naruto’s grin reminded Tsunade of a sly fox. “And isn’t it convenient that one of my teammates is a skilled medic with delicate chakra control? In addition to being our medic, she may even be able to open a portal in our convenience, y’know.”
Tsunade’s mind raced to find a reason they can’t bring Sakura. Indeed, it would do well for Sakura to go with her team, but Tsunade can’t be the Hokage and head medic at once, damn it! She won’t have time to drink! Not to mention the paperwork—no! Tsunade refuses to go back to the past when Sakura was merely 12. Senju Tsunade, proud Head of the Hospital and Head of Konoha, respected Hokage who has a room full of paperwork to sign and has no time for drinking or sleeping. Think Tsunade, think!
The Sannin frowned, displeased at the solid argument Naruto gave her. Hell, she can’t even reason that they might get threatened to open a portal, loyal as they are. Sakura and Naruto are loyal to the leaf, and she knows that they would rather die than cause or bring harm to the village. Sasuke, although not entirely loyal to the leaf, is at least loyal to Team 7. If his teammates die, he will find a way to exact revenge before following the two. However…
“It also needs immense chakra,” Tsunade leaned back on her seat, smug, “the portal. It needs immense chakra output for it to work.”
“Geh,”
Tsunade almost grinned in triumph. Almost.
“I agree that it would do well for your team to have a medic, but we don't have anyone to spare. Sakura would be a good addition, yes."
Tsunade offered Naruto a tiny nod of acknowledgment. Even though the boy wanted Sakura for a cause entirely not beneficial for Konoha, she could not disregard his complaint that holds reason.
"She could be your medic and provide your team an effective way to return here on your own should you find it hard to come to the portal on time, however,” she took a chug of her sake, “Sakura would need an awful lot of chakra to open the portal."
Naruto, who was listening intently, frowned at where the conversation was heading, "So, not only will she need her immaculate chakra control, but she would also need a huge chakra reserve. But Sakura doesn't have that."
Tsunade waved her bottle around, "Currently, the only one in the world who can open this portal is me alone.”
The silence was deafening, and the self-satisfied expression on Tsunade's face infuriated both Naruto and Sasuke. Tsunade, riding off the high of her superiority, slipped. Days later, she would regret it. She fell for her hubris, and the consequences that would fall on her in the form of mountains of papers every second of the day is no one's fault but her own.
“Now, if Sakura had a huge chakra reserve, I would have allowed her to go.”
“…Do you mean that Shishou?”
Tsunade turned to her student and adjusted her position on her seat. She just remembered her existence in the room, too focused on Naruto and her win. Sakura looked serious and wondering. Before Tsunade could backtrack, however, Sasuke had already sprung a trap that would lead to her downfall.
“Of course she means it,” Sasuke looked bored as he reasoned, “After all, the great and honorable Hokage wouldn't dare go back on her words.”
A challenge. Sasuke threw the gauntlet at Tsunade’s feet, should she turn away from the challenge, it would hurt not only her pride but also her reputation. As Tsunade, she could happily do so. The woman lacks shame, and she had lied her way into gambling debts. Screw her pride, her sake and sleep are on the line! Denying his challenge means nothing to her. But as Hokage, Tsunade can’t. Her reputation as a Hokage has been put at stake by Sasuke mentioning her title. Damn him, Sasuke might as well have the Kusanagi strapped on his back pointed at her throat, Tsunade thought as she gritted her teeth. But she relaxed. It was too early for Sakura to release her Byakogou. Tsunade does not need to worry. Carelessly, Tsunade shrugged her shoulders as she took another swig of her drink.
“Sure, why not?”
“Then excuse me.”
And with those ominous words, the ground vibrated in sync to the hum in the air as Sakura released her chakra, dark ink painting her forehead a diamond mark. The Byakogou on Sakura’s forehead was proud and very noticeable. Sakura has achieved what only three women in the world have ever attained, and while Tsunade was proud, she was also upset.
Amid her student's proud smile and Naruto’s whoop of excitement, Tsunade’s irritation rolled in waves. She was happy, she was proud, and she was pissed.
“Sakura!”
Her disciple merely smiled, “aren’t you proud Shishou?”
Tsunade blinked. Why this cheeky—
“Get out! All of you! Ready your belongings for the year and report to the gate by sunrise! Sakura,” the woman gritted her teeth, "don't let your team die. Naruto, make a good impression, this mission will be good practice for you in diplomacy so I appoint you as the leader. Lead your team wisely, understand?! Sasuke, don't cause trouble. Dismiss!"
The three grinned, as much as Sasuke could grin, and disappeared in a flash. Hinata bowed to her, stuttering, “Good, Goodbye, Hokage-sama.”
“Hinata,” the tired woman groaned, “please return as you are.”
“…yes?”