Chapter 37: Chapter Thirty Seven
Hinata walked through the leaf village as she fiddled with her hands in front of her. She was searching for Naruto and was running out of time until she had to meet at the front gates of the village. Lady Tsunade had pulled Hinata's team as well as multiple others to escort her on a mission to go meet Onoki of the Stone Village outside Leaf territory. Naruto was one of the teams to go as well as Hinata, after packing up her gear and saying goodbye to her reluctant parents who were not comfortable with Hinata being back in the field so soon after returning from being dead for a year, Hinata wanted to walk with Naruto to the front gates.
Hinata smiled to herself as she blushed, even though she couldn't remember starting her relationship with him she felt so happy. Naruto has been around her every day; he called her every morning and night. Hinata's heart was being so fast she thought it might burst when she remembered to her waking up in the hospital and Naruto sitting beside her. He appeared so happy when she opened her eyes, he engulfed her sore body in a hug and wouldn't let go even for Dr. Yu to check her vitals.
Giggling could be heard around the corner; Hinata opened her eyes as she rounded the tall wooden fence. The long-haired shinobi stopped in her tracks as her heart squeezed, she found Naruto, surrounded by a group of women their age all blushing at his handsome face and touching his muscular arms. Hinata quickly turning on her heel as she clinched her eyes shut feeling extremely foolish! Hinata ran forward, how could a man like Naruto ever look at someone so shy like—Hinata ran face first into a wall, she opened her eyes and looked up. Naruto looked down at his girlfriend with a smile, he leaned down placing a warm kiss on her lips. Hinata was stunned as her feet remained rooted in place.
"There you are!" Naruto laughed, wrapping his arm around her as he moved them towards the direction of the gates.
"H-Huh?" Hinata's face was bright red as she was still replaying his kiss in her mind.
"I was looking for you." Naruto flashed a smile, "I picked up some extra instant ichiraku ramen-" Naruto went on to explain, "-I might have gotten hungry in the middle of the night and ate most of my supply for our mission today." He laughed.
"O-Oh..." Hinata breathed staring up at his face.
"Yeah, so...are you ok?"
"Y-Yes!" Hinata quickly looked forward making Naruto grin.
"Are you ready for our mission!?" Naruto was excited to get out of the village, even if it was a boring escort missing for Granny Tsunade he had Hinata and he could protect her if needed. Naruto frowned as a dark cloud filled his chest, Hinata's dead body lying on the sidewalk was forever burnt into his memory. He got a rare second chance and he was going to make sure he didn't waste it; Naruto was determined to do everything in his power to keep Hinata safe!
"Hey Naruto!" Raiden waved as the front gates came into view.
"Hey!" Naruto waved seeing Raiden, Carver and Sasuke waiting with a large collection of people around them. The closer Naruto walked, the more he saw all his childhood friends were here today.
"This is a lot of people." Hinata muttered blushing under Carver's heavy gaze.
"Yeah..." Carver agreed, he was annoyed with Hinata's shyness. Before she died, she had gotten use to him and Raiden and now they had to start all over again. Carver looked at Hinata as a good friend was, he smiled at her he was willingly to try to be patient as she warmed up to them again.
"What this is all for anyway?" Naruto wondered looking around.
"We are renewing our treaty with them Naruto." Kakashi's voice spun Naruto around,
"Hey Kakashi Sensei!" Naruto saw Tsunade walking beside the masked man. "You're coming too!?"
"Of course." Kakashi smiled with his eye.
"Yes!" Naruto laughed, "This is going to be fun!" Naruto jumped.
"This is not fun Naruto." Minato said in a fatherly voice behind him.
"Huh?" Naruto turned. "Dad?"
"This is a serious matter." Minato stood in his shinobi gear with Kushina standing beside him. Kushina couldn't help the smile on her lips as she stared at her son dressed in his shinobi gear, she felt so proud of him!
"You guys are coming too?" Naruto questioned.
"Yes." Tsunade said, "Everyone who returned from being under the Reaper's control wishes to return to the field at some point and I figured this would be a good starting point." The blonde Hokage smiled.
"Yeah!" Naruto agreed, there were so many people if something was to happen everyone could have each other's backs.
"Is everyone here?" Iruka called looking around.
"Yes!" People cheered.
"Very well-" Tsunade nodded, "-let's be on our way."
The leaf shinobi walked out of the gates as villagers waved goodbye, Tsunade had not been looking forward to this. Truth be told, she couldn't stand Onoki of the Stone. Something else bothered her as well, he was very persistent that she meets him today and not in three months like they normally did every year. Tsunade sighed with the shake of her head, she didn't care. She just wanted to get this over with so she could get back and spend the evening with Dan.
Naruto yawned after a few hours of nonstop walking he was kind of bored. He was happy his parents and girlfriend were by his side and the conversation helped pass the time, but he could be doing this at ichiraku ramen.
"What is that?" TenTen's voice opened Naruto's eyes, he looked over in the bunned shinobi's direction.
"That's-" Neji cut himself off quickly pulling a kunai out of his pouch, "-That's a Stone shinobi!" Naruto as well as everyone else looked around arming themselves. Minato and Kakashi quickly flanked to Tsunade's side as they slowly moved through the forest. The more they walked, the more bodies the leaf shinobi came across.
"What happened?" Kiba breathed,
"I don't like this." Guy bit down with sharp eyes.
"We should get Lady Tsunade out of here." Iruka suggested.
"I am not going anywhere." Tsunade turned, "Stay on guard and keep an eye out for Onoki."
"If you want to survive this, then get on your knees and beg!" A dark voice laughed out.
"What-" Carver shook his head quickly moving forward pass Tsunade and the others.
"Carver-" Tsunade whispered not liking this.
"Trust us." Raiden said following Carver. Raiden ducked out peeking through thick vegetation to see a large field breaking the forest apart, bodies littered the ground.
"No..." Carver breathed. Hinata bent down touching the neck of a stone shinobi and gasped quickly standing.
"He is alive." Hinata said.
"What?" Carver turned,
"So is this one." TenTen confirmed.
"This is one too." Lee called.
"They are all alive." Raiden turned to Carver feeling very confused, but before their brains could try to come up with any reasoning to this situation two bodies dropped to the ground beside Tsunade. Kakashi and Minato reacted but Diem and Hazel reflected the whipped kunais with their own.
"What-!?" Raiden breathed.
"Who-?" Minato frowned,
"What are you doing here?" Hazel demanded to know.
"Fuck that." Diem said, "You all need to go."
"Go?" Minato shook his head, "Who are you? Are you the ones who did this to these innocent people?!"
"Innocent?" Hazel smirked, "They were striking to kill us."
"And?" Minato narrowed his eyes as Naruto moved forward to stand beside his father as thick tension begun to fill the nearby air.
"We were simply hitting to knock out." Diem crossed his arms over his chest.
"What-"
"Dad." Naruto said touching Minato's arm. "It's ok, they are our ally."
"Ally? How are they-"
"Where is she?" Naruto asked turning to Diem,
"Who?" Minato and Kakashi asked at the same time,
"He wants to know where our boss is." Diem rolled his eyes. Minato glanced over at Kakashi who held the same sharp expression as the waterfall village's third commander and highest ranked captain walked through the thick brush into the large field. Naruto followed without question and Minato did not like this.
Tsunade gasped at the sight before her; live bodies laid on the ground in defeat. Kuani and other assorted weapons punctured their bodies, but no vital organs were hit. Sakura held Onoki by the front of his jacket, beads of red blood trickled down his neck from her sharp blade resting against the soft skin.
"Sakura!" Tsunade's voice called out, begging her not to kill the village leader. Kakashi's muscles tightened seeing their village ally being attacked and threatened, Minato gripped his kunai feeling a fight forming in the cooling air.
"What are you doing here?" Dawn breathed shocked taking in Carver and Raiden.
"What?" Carver looked around with a light laughed, "What the fuck-" He was feeling extremely confused.
"You have picked a side?" Sakura said letting Onoki fall backwards, she used the handle of her blade to knock Onoki out. His blood shined on her blade as she faced the leaf village. Sakura's shoulders were tense as she looked from Carver to Raiden and then grazed Kakashi's masked face. Would they really volunteer to stand against her? Had living inside a village after only a simple year washed away all their loyalty to her?
"What is going-" Raiden looked around. "No-No!" He laughed, "We are not here to fight you!"
"That isn't how it looks." Hazel said raising her blade in their direction.
"Hold the fuck up!" Carver yelled holding his arms up, "What are you doing here?" Carver directed towards Sakura, "We are here for a treaty signing."
"Is that what he told you?" Diem laughed,
"Huh?" Naruto tilted his head.
"You my friend-" Diem smiled in Carver's direction, "-stumbled into a war between villages."
"W-War?" Tsunade breathed searching for Kaguya. "Where is your village leader?"
"I am here." Sakura stated.
"Your-"
"Kaguya is a little..." Sakura thought for a second, thinking back to how she sealed Kaguya inside a dome as punishment for stealing her memories as well as for other things. "...tied up at the moment, I am acting as the Waterfalls leader."
"Commander Haruno." Tsunade cleared her throat. "We are not here to stand against you."
"Really?" Hazel glared into the hokage's face. "Because that isn't how it seems-"
"Hazel." Sakura stated, shutting her captain up. Hazel huffed but looked away keeping her mouth shut.
"I was under the assumption this would be a treaty signing between the Leaf and Stone, imagine my surprise seeing the Waterfall here fighting them." Tsunade said crossed her arms over her chest.
"Imagine mine-" Sakura spoke, "-seeing the village I saved walk into my battleground." Naruto looked from Tsunade and then to Sakura who she still looked like herself...she wore a mask over her face covering half it, Naruto noticed Sakura wore her familiar uniform he had grown used to seeing; black pants with leather strips wrapping around her long legs. Her pants were tucked into knee length boots, Sakura had on a black long sleeve with her combat gear, Naruto noticed something new though, on her left leg there was a harness with a dangerous looking handgun. Naruto had so many questions he wanted to sputter out, but he knew now wasn't the best time.
Tsunade's eye twitched as she felt a need to wrap her hands around Onoki's throat. How dare he lie to her and put her and her shinobi in harm's way! Onoki knew he and his village was going to war with the waterfall village today, no village wanted any part of stepping against Sakura and her army so in order to get the leaf village in the right place at the wrong time Onoki lied to Tsunade. If Sakura didn't kill him Tsunade would!
"Is he-" Naruto asked seeing Onoki laying on the ground.
"Knocked out." Raiden breathed seeing Onoki's chest slowly rise and fall showing signs of breathing which sadly meant the annoying little man was still alive. Tsunade sighed in relief feeling a shinobi war and people picking sides fade away into the distance. Tsunade snapped her eyes open and looked at her feet, Sakura's seal was reflecting beneath them.
"Commander?" Hazel called seeing Sakura's seal was under the waterfall soldier's feet as well. Sakura didn't respond to them; she just sent her soldiers as well as her commanders' home since they were no longer needed here.
"We need to talk." Sakura glared towards Tsunade, the amber eyed hokage gulped feeling like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar before dinner. Sakura vanished from sight; Minato search the grounds for pink hair. Sakura meant to reappear beside Tsunade dropping inside their seal so she will be transferred to the leaf village with them.
Sakura quickly grabbed a kunai from her leg and clashed blades, the clank of metal rang inside Naruto's ears as he flipped around. His mouth dropped watching his sensei lock blades with Sakura,
"Ka-Kakashi!?" Naruto breathed as wind pulled around them, "What are you doing!?"
"You do not randomly appear next to our Hokage!" Minato answered as neither Kakashi nor Sakura backed down, in Sakura's defense she was too busy using her seal to give the leaf shinobi and herself a free ride.
"Dad, Sakura is-" Naruto went to defend Sakura as the wind broke around revealing the front of the leaf village.
"She is the Commander of a different village." Minato lectured his son, looking into his large blue eyes. "She may be your friend, but-" Kakashi watched Sakura's eyes shifted into her emerald orbs as her mind was pulled into the situation around her. He narrowed his eyes onto her, had she not even been paying attention to what had been going on around her? She lowered her kunai and looked around, Sakura used a great deal of chakra today, but she wasn't going to show it to these people, she wasn't feeling very safe and at home here.
Sakura's face crunched tasting iron in her mouth. Sakura ignored Naruto bickering with his father as she collected it together, pulling the mask down her face letting it rest around her neck she turned her head spitting bright blood into the grass, running her tongue over her teeth as Sakura turned to look at Tsunade who appeared concerned.
"A word." Sakura stated.
"Lady Tsunade-" Minato stated, he didn't trust Sakura. Something about her made him feel uneasy. Sakura looked at Naruto's father, it wasn't like she was the one who freed him from being used as a human puppet or anything. Killing Minato and his wife would have made going after malachite so much easier, she may have even been able to catch him this time but instead Sakura took Naruto's feeling into account and this was the thanks she got.
Fanfuckingtastic.
"If you want to cry you can come." Sakura's voice was flat as she turned to Naruto's father. Sakura was tired from having to hold back once again, it would have been easier to just kill the stone shinobi, but she didn't. She fought them and now she was here being stared at as if she was standing on trial. Tsunade nodded at Sakura,
"Let's go." Tsunade said noticing the bags under Sakura's eyes, Tsunade wondered what she had been up to while not here. When she was with Kakashi Sakura would stop by frequently and at least then Tsunade knew Sakura was resting and eating well but now not even Carver and Raiden knew what she was doing, and that upset Tsunade deeply.
"No." Sakura said looking at Sasuke who started to follow.
"But-" Sasuke said watching his team follow Tsunade and Sakura to the Hokage Tower with Minato, Kushina and Kakashi behind them.
"Sorry man." Carver shrugged patting the raven-haired shinobi's forearm.
"But-" Sasuke repeated.
"She said no." Raiden whispered.
----
Tsunade sat behind her desk, Raiden closed the office door as Sakura rubbed her shoulder sitting in a chair feeling her body ache. Kakashi stood beside Minato and Kushina against the wall. Naruto looked between his parents and Sakura not knowing who to sit beside.
"So-" Tsunade started the conversation, "-you said you needed to speak to me Sakura?"
"Yeah." Sakura breathed looking up from the floor as her back throbbed.
"And?" Minato sounded annoyed; Sakura's lips curved seeing how she got under Minato's skin without even trying; it amused her.
"You're looking for a way to seal Kaguya away." Sakura broke the ice looking at Tsunade, who looked like someone just dumped a bucket of ice water over her head.
"Wh-What?" Tsunade laughed.
"Granny?" Naruto slowly muttered,
"I am not-"
"I'm not in the mood-" Sakura raised her voice leaning back in the chair. "-I know you're looking for a way Tsunade-"
"Watch it Commander." Kakashi spoke hearing the missing title from Tsunade's name causing shock to spread through the room, Sakura slowly turn her head to look at the masked shinobi.
"Something you care to share with the class Kakashi?" Sakura questioned.
"Sensei." Kakashi added his title.
"Ha." Sakura laughed, "Yeah no." She shook her head. "Not a fucking chance."
"Watch your mouth!" Minato snapped, he hated disrespectful language in front of his beloved wife and child.
"The only damn thing I need to watch is how far I am going to throw you out that window if you speak to me like that one more fucking time." Sakura flashed a smile.
"Sakura-" Naruto stepped forward with a deep frown on his face as his heart fluttered, he didn't like his parent who he just got back fighting with his best friend.
"It seems you still need to learn how to control your temper." Kakashi sighed with a shake of his head, Sakura narrowed her eyes onto his masked face as Kakashi held a disappointed look in his exposed eye.
"That was not me losing my temper." Sakura glared into him. "Trust me, when I do, you'll know."
"Sakura-"
"Commander." Sakura corrected Kakashi. "Unlike you I earned my title."
"We are getting off track!" Carver stepped in the middle of Minato, Kakashi and Sakura.
"Your right." Sakura nodded standing from the chair, "Tsunade stop the fucking search for a way to seal Kaguya."
"She isn't searching for a-!"
"I am." Tsunade sighed cutting Minato off.
"What!?" Minato breathed turning to Tsunade.
"After team seven returned without Carver and after what Kaguya did to Sakura I was...I was worried for the leaf village so a small group I handpicked began researching."
"End it." Sakura demanded.
"You can't come in here-" Kushina stepped forward. "-demanding things like you live here."
"I can." Sakura said, Minato opened his mouth to interject. "-And I'll tell you why." Sakura didn't give him a chance to speak. "Your searching for a way to reseal the leader of my village of which I am the Commander of, when this gets out and please trust me when I tell you shit always finds a way to hit the fan this will be the ammunition Kaguya needs to start the next shinobi world war."
"That is a bit dramatic!" Kushina laughed.
"Is it?" Sakura asked,
"Um...yes?" Kushina turned from looking at Sakura to her husband with a questionable look plastered on her face.
"Why wasn't Kaguya on that battleground?" Tsunade wondered out of the blue,
"Because-" Sakura sighed moving to sit back down feeling the lack of chakra starting to hit her.
"Are you ok!?" Naruto moved to sit beside the friend he hasn't seen in weeks.
"-I locked her inside a dome." Sakura answered ignoring Naruto's concern.
"Why?" Minato frowned, the entitlement on this woman! It almost sickened Minato! A Commander having the audacity to take it upon herself to lock her own village leader away!? "Why on earth would you-"
"Because Kaguya wanted to burn the Stone Village to the ground." Sakura snapped turning to the blond man. "She wanted me to march on the field today and slaughter all of those people."
"Why didn't you?" Kushina questioned.
Sakura looked at Minato in the eye as she spoke, "I am not a mindless machine that only follows orders, I wouldn't be much of a Commander if I did. Even though it would have made my life ten times easier, those Stone shinobi didn't deserve to die because they had a moron as a leader."
"You ordered your soldiers to not strike to kill." Carver mimicked Kakashi by shoving his hands in his pockets. "Why?"
"I understand you wanting to protect your village." Sakura countered turning to Tsunade. "But stop this research, I don't care how small the group you handpicked is, disband it. People talk, no matter how much they promise they won't shit always gets out and this is one thing I cannot risk getting out and getting to Kaguya."
"You think she will go nuts and try to find the answer first?" Raiden asked,
"I know she will." Sakura said, "She will track it down and eliminate it too."
"Sakura-" Tsunade sighed.
"So, there is a way...?" Carver muttered.
"I am the seal." Sakura cut Tsunade off, Naruto blinked as Carver tilted his head as he relayed this information.
"Wha-Huh?" Raiden blinked.
"I know your smarter than that." Sakura half teased turning to look at him.
"Well I know what you fucking said!" Raiden shouted. "What do you mean!?"
"I am the-"
"We heard that!" Naruto joined in.
"We mean...what!?" Raiden moved to sit beside Naruto in the same chair as he stared at Sakura who sighed feeling annoyed.
"I am Kaguya's seal. I don't know what else you guys need to know, just shut up about it and-"
"Whoa-Whoa-Whoa." Carver waved his hands. "We have been teammates for years."
"Yeah?" Sakura nodded.
"We have been through hell together!"
"Yes." Sakura nodded.
"What the fuck?"
"Huh?" Sakura tilted her head, Kakashi smirked under his mask thinking the way she did that was oddly adorable.
"What the fuck Haruno!?" Carver belched, "We have been on hundreds of missions, walked thousands of miles together, sat around millions of campfires and you never thought once, it never sputtered across your mind to look up and go 'by the way I'm Kaguya's seal' not fucking once!?"
"Nope." Sakura said.
"I hate you." Carver pointed at her.
"How does that work?" Tsunade wondered, "From when you just returned to the leaf village, you almost died like twice what would then happen...?"
"Well..." Sakura sighed. "If Kaguya steps out of line again then I will seal her away and yes it will kill me." Team seven looked around at each other not liking this new information. "If I die in battle, then my soul is tethered to Kaguya until she needs to be sealed away. But as all things in this world there is a loophole, if Kaguya is the one to kill me and I died by her hand then the seal is broken and there's no chance to lock her away." Sakura fought back a yawn, "So the importance that this does not get out and into the grape vine is important."
"I don't even care about that!" Raiden yelled, "I am still mad you didn't tell us about being the fucking seal!"
"It's not a big deal." Sakura rolled her eyes.
"It is so!"
"Not really."
"How isn't it?!"
"I never told you I was a jinchuriki and you have been perfectly fine-"
"Um-" Carver stepped in. "What." He stated.
"You're a jinchuriki?!" Naruto jumped up.
"Yup." Sakura popped the 'P' as she turned to Minato.
"What-How-Why-" Naruto ranted off as Sakura glanced at her phone seeing she was running low on time.
"When the tailed beasts being created, the uh nine-tails was still to strong and so it was split in half creating sort of like a sister which is why you-" Sakura pointed to Minato, "-is why you don't like me very much." This is also the reason Sakura believed she felt so attached and protective over Naruto.
"Why haven't you told any of this!?" Raiden shouted, Tsunade held the side of her head as her eardrums rang like a church bell at high noon.
"It wasn't important-" Sakura went to say,
"The fuck it isn't!" Naruto and Raiden were ganged up on her glaring at her, she had to admit she had missed their annoying faces. Sakura sighed as she looked around the room.
"I thought she was your comrade?" Minato asked Carver and Raiden with a shake of his head.
"She was..." Raiden muttered.
"It seems like you know nothing about her."
"Why don't you mind your own damn business?" Sakura snapped, "What do you know about your son?"
"My wife and I died in order to protect this village and him, what is your excuse for your terrible leadership?" Minato shot back.
"Minato is right." Tsuande agreed, "You are very within drawn Sakura."
"In case you have forgotten-" Sakura turned towards Tsunade maybe it was the lack of sleep or lack of chakra, or maybe it was the simple fact her dead boyfriend was staring at her but couldn't remember her, Sakura snapped. "-I have been here defending your village and not inside my own for free. I placed my best trainers here to retrain your shinobi while the other villages had to pay for those services. Perhaps Carver-" Sakura said turning to glanced at his shocked face. "-you were right, I have been shielding this village too much."
"Uh..." Carver trailed off not wanting to step in the middle of this.
"And-" Sakura turned to Minato. "- as rough as my village is, I still don't make it a habit of throwing my fifteen-year old shinobi out on the streets to fend for themselves."
"What does that-?" Minato rolled his eyes as Sakura moved to leave the office, tired of dealing with the overly emotional leaf shinobi.
"Granny Tsunade-" Naruto sighed. "-she...she kicked Sakura out of the village when Sakura unlocked her seal."
"Huh?" Minato looked at his son filling with disbelief.
"Lady Tsunade?" Kakashi asked never removing his eye from Sakura's painted face as he stepped in front of her, stopping her from leaving. "Is everything Naruto telling us true?"
"Yes." Tsunade felt ashamed of herself feeling the eyes of everyone inside the room.
Kakashi's eye widened as he stared at the blonde Hokage he scrambled through his memories, but they were still a little blurry and it hurt his head to try and recall to far back. He remembers the blurry day Sakura went missing, he recalled all the search teams that were sent out for her. Kakashi remembered the day Tsunade declared her fallen and how devastated Naruto was.
"Did I know?" Kakashi asked stepping forward, he couldn't remember if he knew about this.
"No." Tsunade answered coated in salt. "I stopped Sakura the night I banished her, before she could tell you anything."
Kakashi understood now, the distant anger that filled her eyes as she looked around the leaf village and all its people, he understood her a little better. Sakura's eyes widened as he stepped into her personal bubble, wrapping his strong arms around her tight muscles and pulled her against him. Even though this wasn't her version of Kakashi it was still his body, against his grasp her eyes slowly closed feeling the familiar warmth and smell of him.
"How could you Tsunade!?" Kushina shook her head, "Where is Kizashi and Mebuki?"
"Who?" Raiden muttered,
"Sakura's parents died mom..." Naruto muttered, Raiden's mouthed formed an 'O' as he turned to Sakura, she was too busy enjoying Kakashi's embrace to care about what was going on around her. Sakura so rarely talked about her parents; Raiden didn't even know their names.
"They..." Kushina breathed remembering the brightly couple.
"They left the village a year after Sakura." Naruto went on, "They moved to the Grass Village and died in a raid led by the Reapers..."
"Oh..." Kushina breathed covering her mouth as she looked over at Sakura, her eyes filled with tears as she couldn't believe how much heartache that young girl as had to endure in her short life span.
"Tsunade." Minato shook his head. "How disgraceful, how could you ever do that to one of our own!? If this ever gets out into the village-"
"It already did." Tsunade cut in. "And I will answer for my sins when it is my time."
Sakura was oblivious to the words being shared all around her as Kakashi's arms held her. It has been a long time since she felt him hold her like this, she had forgotten how good his hugs were. It almost felt like she molded against him, a perfect fit. Sakura looked up from laying her head on his shoulder to gaze upon his masked face, an outline of a smile could be seen.
Kakashi reached over, brushing over her soft juicy bottom lip with his thumb. Thinking about all the pain she was dragged through over the years without him to guide her; it felt like needles inside his chest. But as he stood with her here now, inside this loud room he was here. He felt an overwhelming urge pushing him to protect her, keep her well fed and warm...Kakashi didn't understand where these thoughts were coming from and what confused him more was the question if he wanted to fight these demanding impulses to lean down and feel those full pink lips against his.
Raiden and Carver corner of the room in silence; Carver felt a headache forming as he watched Tsunade fighting with Naruto and his parents. Raiden was sipping on a fruit punch flavored juice box tuning into the latest episode of the Haruno love trials.
"Look at her!" Minato's voice broke through the thin bubble wrapped around Kakashi and Sakura, the pinkette blinked hearing the voices behind her. "She is a freaking shell of a person!"
"Huh?" Sakura turned around,
"We can fix her." Tsunade waved off looking bored.
"What are you-" Sakura started.
"They are talking about you." Carver informed her, kicking himself off the wall and moved towards her.
"Me?" Sakura said.
"Yup." Carver said uncrossing his arms. "Minato believes you belong inside the leaf village since you were born here and Kushina agrees since she was friends with your mother and doesn't agree with what Tsaunde did to you."
"They are just talking like I am not here?" Sakura wondered.
"Pretty much." Carver nodded.
"Ah." Sakura shook her head turning over to watch Naruto's father. So, he wanted her to remain inside the leaf village...why? Minato was a smart man, the leaf village already had Sakura's protection, so it couldn't be for that reason. Could it be for the village's legacy? Did they want Sakura's powerful name to be added to the mix?
"Tsunade-" Minato started.
"Kind of rude to speak about someone when they are standing right behind you." Sakura turned her body to face the two-leaf village Hokages but remained standing close to Kakashi by habit.
"Sakura-"
"No." Sakura cut in. "I don't like being talked about like I am not here."
"Your right, we should have included you." Kushina said.
"What exactly are you all muttering about in your little corner?" Sakura questioned.
"Well..." Tsunade muttered,
"We..." Kushina stepped up, "...thought it would be nice if you invited you back into the village properly."
"Huh?" Sakura and Raiden together, Kakashi chuckled behind her. Sakura's heart fluttered she could feel his check on her back. Kakashi liked the thought of Sakura being home.
"Well Sakura when you returned to the village after Tsunade so direfully banished you, she never properly invited you home." Kushina smiled, Naruto looked from his mother and then to Sakura, he didn't have a good feeling about how this was going to end. Sakura looked from the three adults standing in front of her. Carver took a step back knowing shit was about to hit the fan, he was probably going to need an umbrella from the glowing look forming in her eyes.
"What the fuck are you saying to me?" Sakura laughed.
"We want you to stay here!" Kushina beamed, Sakura turned to look at Carver and Raiden who quickly avoided her gaze.
"Are you...have you..." Sakura was dumbfounded. "Are you fucking stupid?" She laughed again.
"Sakura." Naruto stepped in.
"I'm sorry-" Sakura waved to Naruto, "-but that was the stupidest thing I have heard in a long time."
"What?" Kushina slowly asked.
"We are inviting you back home-"
"Yeah I got that." Sakura cut Minato off. "I don't need an invitation."
"Really?" Naruto perked up at the thought of Sakura moving back home.
"Yeah..." Sakura said, "I am the Commander of another village, I am not moving here."
"Sakura." Kakashi touched her arm she closed her eyes for a moment, that wasn't fair. "Please, consider this."
"I have." Sakura answered honestly.
"Wait-" Raiden turned, "-are you—what else haven't you told us!?"
"I made vows to the Waterfall Village when I accepted their Commander title." Sakura looked into Kakashi's eye.
"Those people are monsters!" Tsunade chipped in, "They are killers! They attack you every chance they get for your job-!"
"What are you?" Sakura cut her off. "You threw me into the dark and slammed the door shut, you turned your back on me, not the other way around. If you don't like what crawled out of the dark then that is your problem, don't look at me to apologize for what I have become. I like who I am and as for my soldiers they are no better than I am. I trained them; I broke them apart if I turned my back on them after turning them into what they are and lived here then what kind of person would that make me?"
"Sakura you are-" Tsunade shook her head.
"If you want to look at me like I am broken than fine." Sakura said. "Go for it but don't underestimate me, look at me like a used-up bullet casing as in the aftermath of something lethal." A spark ignited inside Kakashi; he took in a few deep breaths trying to steady himself as he watched Sakura pull up her mask.
"Where are you going?" Carver asked, "Even Naruto can tell you have used up way too much chakra, you need rest and you can't do that inside the Waterfall Village." Naruto glanced over, having not realized this but decided to play along anyway.
"Why don't you stay here tonight and get some rest?" Naruto smiled at her,
"Yeah!" Raiden agreed, he missed hanging out with Sakura. Kakashi reached out, his hands trailed along her arms sending shiver through her body as he stopped at her wrists.
"Your still recovering correct?" Kakashi questioned as his eye trailed down her chest onto her toned stomach where he knew she was stabbed by the leader of the reapers, he was questioning how he could get her to stay home.
"Can't." Was all Sakura said before taking a step back "There's no rest for the wicked." Sakura smirked at Raiden and Naruto's annoyed faces.
"Sakura! You need to rest!"
"You need to get a few extra laps in." Sakura said nodding down towards Raiden's body, even though she was joking he quickly jumped covering as much as he could with his arms.
"It-It's just water weight!"
"Where are you going!?" Tsunade called over the growing wind that spun around Sakura, she turned to look into the Hokages wide eyes.
"To raise hell." Sakura vanished into a cold dome of wind, leaving papers all over Tsunade's office floor. Carver sighed, knowing Sakura was tired and running herself into the ground, she needed a break before she burnt herself out and she needed one soon...he turned to Raiden who looked just as concerned.
----
Karui yawned walking into the café finally getting back from traveling between towns. In the past year Karui had set up shop inside the leaf village and started to date Choji. Karui had been gone for a few weeks and was excited to be home and ready to have a nice relaxing—everyone inside the café looked pissed off.
"Hey." Karui waved moving to the couch where Naruto and everyone else sat, "Did the treaty signing go over well?"
"Well..." Neji sighed shaking his head.
"No!" TenTen shot. "It did not!"
"Oh?" Karui laughed, "Why am I not surprised, you guys always-"
"Oh, it wasn't us!" TenTen crossed her arms over her chest.
"Huh?" Karui tilted her head, scanning over the room seeing most of her friends looked annoyed. Most of the well-known sensei's such as Kakashi, Iruka, Asuma, and Guy were all talking about something in a hushed tone while sitting up at the bar rail. "What happened-?"
"Commander Haruno!" TenTen spat out the name. "That is what happened!"
"Erm...I am confused."
"She was there when we got there! She was attacking those poor people and-"
"In her defense, she wasn't killing them." Lee spoke up. "And the Stone Village started it-"
"I don't care Lee!" TenTen snapped.
"What?" Karui laughed as she gazed around seeing all the upset faces. "Your joking, right?"
"No! Commander Haruno is a monster!"
"First off-" Karui scoffed, "-we call her Sakura. Second, she is not a monster!"
"She is! If you were there, then you would know what I am talking about!" TenTen sighed. Karui turned to Naruto who remained silent spacing off, with an annoying growl she got up.
"Karui?" Choji called watching Karui fly to her feet in anger, she growled the entire way as she walked to the projector sitting at the corner of the café and started playing with the wires. Choji watched her feeling confused. Once Karui hooked her cell phone up to it she turned the lights off cutting most of the conversations off in the room and pulled down the old white screen against the wall.
"Everyone shut up!" Karui snapped clicking play on her phone, a video opened first nothing, but soft dirt could be seen.
"Oh yay..." Sasuke muttered. "Gardening." Earning a light chuckle from Ino.
"I said shut up!" Karui snapped again
A flash of Kauri's face popped onto the wall, Choji smiled seeing her pretty face. Karui quickly dove as an explosion went off in the background. Everyone inside the building frowned not understanding until voice played through the speakers of the café.
"You always have to be the hero." Carver tensed knowing the sinister voice to belong to Malachite, the video showed Sakura fighting the leader of the Reapers.
"I'm not the hero in this story." Sakura said kicking him in the chest, sending malachite flying backward, Kakashi turned hearing her voice.
"Yes-" Malachite chuckled quickly recovering from the blow, "-something as broken and twisted as you could never be cherished and beloved by a village such as this one. The Leaf are too perky and colorful; they could never accept you for what you truly are." Naruto looked to his lap, feeling guilty for expecting an apology, Naruto realized he didn't want her to apologize for her attacking team seven while they were inside her village, he wanted Sakura to apologize for being who she was...how could he have looked her in the eye and ask her to be ashamed of what she had become after being banished into the dark?
"You talk like I am ashamed of what I am." Sakura said as the two circled each other like two starved wild animals, both staring at their next meal.
"Are you not?" Malachite wondered with the tilt of his head, "Think about it, you have been here during all my attacks on this village. Clearly you have been trying to playhouse with these leaf shinobi."
"Or I have been waiting for you." Naruto watched Sakura counter.
"No, you don't have the patients to wait around like that."
"But I do for playhouse?" Sakura questioned with a dark smirk on her face.
"Hm." Malachite hummed feeling the defeat inside the conversation. "Why have you been here?"
"It's so simple." Sakura taunted, "You're overthinking it."
"Oh?"
"Yup."
"Then put me out of my misery Reaper and tell me."
"Oh-" Sakura laughed; "-You won't be that lucky."
"Is that so?" Malachite hummed.
"When I get my hands on you, and yes I say the word when..." Sakura breathed looking so pleased for a moment as she smiled at Malachite. "...I am going to slice your flesh nice and slow off your bones and let you feel every cell cry in agony as your blood drains from your body and you feel nauseous as your stomach rolls in your torso because this is a sign of blood loss."
"Is that so?" Malachite muttered.
"It is I know it very well." Sakura smiled, "But I won't be stopping there."
"Oh, I hope not that would just be a tease then." Malachite said as he ran forward at Sakura.
"No, as I slice open your sciatic nerve and play twister with it, I am going to open your chest and remove your breathing lungs-" TenTen tossed her pizza on the coffee table officially done with eating for the day. "-I am going to hold your still beating heart as I shred it to pieces. I hope you find your peace and your God gives you mercy because I sure as hell won't."
"Damn." Raiden breathed shifting in his seat feeling goosebumps on his arms.
"Tell me something Reaper before we get to the foreplay, who is the copy ninja to you? You had the most aesthetically pleasing face I had ever seen when I bought out my newest new." Malachite wondered.
"He was my fiancé." Sakura's voice shocked Kakashi even though he knew about their relationship, hearing the words in her voice still sent shivers through him as he stared at the video. "Your fourth in command killed him before I killed her."
"That must have pained you..." A sickly smile crossed his face, "...to watch the man you love die right before your eyes." Malachite appeared as if he was getting pleasure from Sakura's pain.
"Losing him-" Sakura's smile sent deadly chills through the leaf shinobi, "-will be nothing compared to what I'm going to do to you."
"Do you have any last words before I end your life here today?" Malachite called tired of conversation, he wanted to feel his blade slicing her soft looking skin and paint her beloved village with her blood!
"Oh really?" Sakura laughed, "You really think that's how I am going to let this end?"
"You won't have a choice."
"Well alright then." Sakura chuckled looking amused,
"Well Reaper?" Malachite wondered, "Anything to say?"
"Yeah." Sakura smiled looking up, "By some thin chance you get away today, spread the word, this village is off limits-" Everyone sitting into the room of the café was taken back and didn't know what to feel, no one was expecting to hear these words from this person. "I don't give a fuck if you attack any other village and slaughter everyone inside it, no one touches this village."
The video ended leaving the room dark as everyone remained silent. Karui stood from sitting next to Choji and went to get her phone.
"Sakura may not hold the Leaf Villages symbol, but she still fights for this village as well as every other village that needs her help. That is one of the things that makes her so special, she risks her life for people she doesn't even know. The video ended because I jumped out into the open after Sakura was stabbed by the leader of the Reapers, that was who she was fighting. There is no doubt in my mind she allowed that man to hurt her in order to free the shinobi who were under his control."
"So..." Raiden looked up from eating TenTen's discarded pizza. "You hid in a bush and just recorded the whole thing without helping?"
"Shut up!"
"I am just trying to get the full picture here!" Raiden defended himself.
"Sakura is not a monster-" Karui said looking directly at TenTen, "-Sakura is many things, but a monster or evil do not match her in the slightest. Sakura is cold and a little crass at times but under her commander title she is the best person I know, and I thought you all were starting to see that. Hinata and TenTen you two were the closest to her-"
"What-Huh?!" TenTen sat up.
"It's true." Raiden muttered.
"No way!"
"Yeah." Naruto yawned.
"Since when?!" TenTen blushed as two blaring emerald eyes filled TenTen's mind, she shivered as a result leaving her feeling emotionally confused.
"Since before you died!" Raiden laughed, "Duh."
"We-Well when will she be back!?" TenTen blushed, Kakashi turned around to face the beer placed in front of him by Tamaki.
"Don't know." Carver shrugged off TenTen's question.
"What do you mean you don't know?" TenTen whined making Neji smile at that sound, he found himself missing in the past year.
"We don't work for her anymore." Raiden reminded,
"But your still like friends...right?"
"Well yeah." Raiden sighed, "But Sakura is a busy person and doesn't have a lot of free time."
"So...you have no idea when she will be back." TenTen pouted, looking adorable to Neji but annoying to Carver. "What is her number!? I will call and text her until-"
"Good luck." Naruto muttered, "We do that all the time and it doesn't work."
"I can still try!" TenTen said coping the number off Naruto's phone.
"What are you saying to her?" Naruto wondered.
"I am inviting her to the big bonfire this weekend." TenTen informed.
"Yeah..." Carver laughed, "I wouldn't hold my breath for her to respond to something like that."
"And why not?" TenTen asked putting her hand on her hip.
"Well...bonfires are not really her thing." Raiden muttered.
"What is her thing?" TenTen questioned.
"Mmm...war?" Raiden scrunched his face. "Or training..."
"Really." TenTen glared,
"She is the Commander of a large village, and she has taken it upon herself to take lead in going after the Reapers she doesn't really get the luxury of getting to have a thing." Carver explained to the group around him.
"That sounds like a terrible life." TenTen frowned.
"It is." Raiden agreed. "Carver and I did it with her for years." Kakashi looked into the tall glass before him as a sting entered his heart. He didn't want to know that now all he could think about were ways to rescue her from this life she had been thrown into but, the thing was she wasn't thrown into it.
From the stories he was told about the Reaper of Reapers, she built the waterfall village into what it is. He got the feeling as well Sakura wasn't the type to allow herself to be rescued either. He got up after tossing cash on the bar beside his untouched beer. Kakashi waved at Guy who called out confused, where was he going so early?
What confused Kakashi even more was why did he care so deeply? When Sasuke took off yes it annoyed him, but he still lived his life. The fact Sakura was outside the village leading the army and wearing another villages symbol sickened him. He wanted her home; these things he felt, were these the emotions he possessed before he was killed?
Was Kakashi beginning to remember the missing time gap after returning from the dead and being under the reapers control? Would he would remember dating his own student and if so...did he even want too?
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone