Needs To Be Precise With Their Rage
Kushiro was a beautiful town, though it would soon be scarred by war.
Sitting on the coast of the Dark Sea on the Land of Frost's northern coast and bisected by a mountain-born river that flowed right through it, the town had been a center of trade before the war. It was thanks to that critical location, with access to the sea, the river, and multiple roads that made their way both south and west towards the center of the Land of Frost, that Kushiro had been selected by Kumogakure and the Land of Lightning as an important distribution center and supply depot out of which all the necessities for making war constantly flowed. Its lovely port markets had been torn down, and hasty stockhouses erected in their place.
On the first of May, Kushiro was hosting precisely four-hundred and seventy-eight ninja, as well as just over two-thousand of the Land of Lightning's professional soldiers. By the end of the day, the number of ninja would shrink to ninety-three. It was a similar culling to what the original population of nearly twenty-five thousand civilians had endured, more than fifteen-thousand of which had been driven out of the town over the course of April, leaving behind critical labor for the docks and daily running of the town that had been press-ganged by soldiers from the Land of Lightning.
Nearly ten thousand non-combatants was an uncomfortably large number for the Nation of Rain, who had come to the Land of Frost both to punish the Hidden Cloud's arrogance and to assist in building their reputation among the minor nations. Completely leveling Kushiro was well within the capabilities of the Rain forces, but went against their strategic objectives; it was the threat of collateral damage that forced Konan and her lieutenants to settle on the assault plan that they did.
It was a battle plan not unknown among ninja; a low altitude airdrop, intended to compensate for Rain's inferior numbers, since their ninja were outnumbered more than three to one. The difference was in its scale. Ninja that could fly were a rarity, but Rain had brought three of them, and both Konan and Deidara had the capability to carry a good number of ninja themselves. As such, the attack on the heart of Kushiro would deposit fifty ninja directly into the center of town, a sudden and violent assault that would rely on shock and awe to drive the Cloud defenders to the outskirts, where they would be sandwiched between the other ninety-five assaulting Rain ninja to break, surrender, flee, or die.
Because of their skills, both Team Seven and Jiraiya were made a part of the drop force despite their abrupt arrival. So to prove their sincerity to Rain's cause, at six-forty seven in the morning they were immediately thrown into the heat of battle.
###
If Sasuke had been a little bit more prideful, he would have been embarrassed by his undignified delivery to the town.
The air assault consisted of three flights. The largest contingent of Rain ninja were with Deidara, who had conjured a tremendous clay dragon large enough to seat thirty of them. It soared through the air with an ungainly grace, Deidara commanding it from the front with a delighted grin as they all broke from the cover of the low clouds and dived on the town of Kushiro as one. The dragon led the way, and shouts of alarm and commands could be very faintly heard from the buildings far below.
The second contingent were ninja who had been gifted paper wings by Konan. They included Jiraiya and Sakura, and they were more gliders than anything, though they occasionally flapped with wills of their own as they controlled the fall of Rain's ninja into Kushiro. It was a surreal and surely terrifying sight, and Sasuke was sure that stories of winged ninja would spread far and wide after this battle.
The last group was himself and Naruto. Fuu had her arms wrapped about both their waists, holding them into a death grip as her wings beat faster and faster, escalating to a deafening tempo as they dove on the city and the ninja below began to respond. Thanks to his Sharingan, he could see the defenders scrambling into place, leaping up to rooftops and preparing jutsu and weapons; several began to charge the Iron Wrists he had been warned about, channeling chakra to the metal gauntlets as they prepared to fire.
"Get ready!" Fuu yelled. Sasuke could picture her wide grin. Another second passed, and then they were only fifty feet above the highest buildings; most in Kushiro were two or three stories, classically constructed of stone and wood to evoke a more peaceful time. He glanced over at Naruto, who was wearing a grin that certainly matched Fuu's. Despite being catapulted into a war zone, his friend was having the time of his life.
"Go!" Fuu released them, pushing them out as her wings stopped beating and she transitioned into a free fall herself. Ninja fell from the sky all across Kushiro, and Sasuke caught Sakura landing on a rooftop nearby out of the corner of his eye. Her Akatsuki uniform fluttered in the wind, pushing her hood back, and her paper wings crumbled away as she landed with a flying kick that sent a Cloud ninja tumbling off the roof. Jiraiya was right at her side, tossing out a fireball that warded off the other enemies as Sakura threw herself towards them. The Toad Sage was already running through the hand-signs for a summoning jutsu, and as he struck the roof, there was an explosion of smoke and blood.
Sasuke landed in a courtyard alongside Naruto, tumbled, and started running. There were screams everywhere, chaos reigning as the battle suddenly kicked off. Desperate shouts, ninjutsu declarations, and the high pitched whine and crash of Iron Wrists filled the air, and he set himself south, intent on their objective. They'd been told to push into the center of Kushiro and take out any Cloud ninja they came across; it was a hunt and kill mission, simple as that.
From the roof Sakura had landed on came a flood of toads, hundreds of the things of every color. Most of them were only the size of Sasuke's hand, but as he leapt down into the streets they began charging forward. This close to the docks there were many workers in the streets who had been heading towards their shifts at the warehouses, and all of them were fleeing or freezing up as ninja landed around or on top of them.
The toads weren't targeting the defending ninja; rather, they went after the panicking civilians. Whenever one drew close their mouths swelled beyond physical possibility, and they swallowed them whole.
It probably wasn't helping the panic, Sasuke thought, but sealing the Frost's citizens away was definitely better than leaving them out in the middle of a warzone. They'd be returned unharmed after the battle, probably in better shape than their home; Jiraiya had taken pains to convince the Rain ninja not to unleash their more destructive techniques until at least part of the town had been cleared. Sasuke had no idea if it would work, but he had to pray that it would.
There was no time for much thought or much prayer though; Kushiro exploded into activity, Cloud ninja and Lightning's soldiers filling the streets, attacking from the rooftops and trying to repulse the sudden assault. A beam of energy fired by an Iron Wrist missed him by inches, and Sasuke's conscious thoughts shut down as he devoted himself entirely to the battle. The ninja that had fired at him cursed as Sasuke burst through the roof, seizing his arm and ripping the metal apparatus off it. He started to counterattack, but compared to Sasuke, he was painfully slow; before his Lightning Clone could manifest, Sasuke had already driven a kunai through the man's hand.
His other hand came up holding a knife of his own and a paper bird slammed into it, driving it back and wrapping around it to bind his fingers together. Konan was everywhere in the battle, making small moves like that to protect her shinobi. It was the most ridiculous force multiplier Sasuke had ever seen.
As the Cloud ninja screamed and cursed, trying to kick Sasuke off the roof, he swept the man's legs and caught him with a stomp to the skull. The ninja broke through the wood paneling, smashed face-first down to the first floor. After pausing to make sure he wasn't moving, Sasuke moved on.
He found Naruto down on the street, sending Shadow Clones off to where other Rain ninja seemed to be struggling. A dozen soldiers attacked him, perhaps mistaking him for an easy target by his age, and Naruto knocked three of them out with a single attack each; the rest turned and ran. He looked up at Sasuke and gave a thumbs-up, and Sasuke returned it, scanning the town. Explosions blossomed across nearby streets; Deidara's dragon had returned to the sky and rained down small clay creatures that went off with the force of massive bombs, leveling whole buildings and flattening some of the trees that lined the streets with pressure waves.
"Sasuke!" Sakura was behind him now, Fuu at her side, her fists stained with blood. Two long sparkling blades of sinuous water and ice flowed from Sakura's hands like an extension of her body, and she jerked her head towards the explosions as Jiraiya raced past them all, pushing south and kicking a Cloud ninja that leapt to intercept him clean through a nearby wall. "Let's go!"
It was information overload as they pushed south. So much was happening that Sasuke was sure if he hadn't been born to his Sharingan all the information it was capturing would have knocked him out. The Rain strike force spread out, their initial drop almost a complete success. Mayhem reigned in Kushiro; Cloud ninja were retreating, letting off constant suppressive fire from their Iron Wrists. The blasts weren't deterring their pursuers, especially when most of them were clumsily telegraphing their shots and the ones that weren't had their aim thrown off by swarms of paper birds that blocked their vision and jostled their arms. Sasuke realized in the span of a mere minute that the more experienced Cloud ninja were not relying on the technology; it was a potent weapon, but not reliable enough to replace ninjutsu, which the older ninja universally fought with.
In the sky above, he saw something bizarre. Deidara was being chased by a woman: a Cloud ninja that wore a long black cloak and ran on the air like it was solid ground. Deidara was peppering her with explosives, but she was firing darts back, small bursts of Lightning chakra that neutralized his bombs and kept them from going off. It seemed like a nearly even battle, especially when she managed to leap onto his dragon and spear its head with a lightning blade with one hand while she fought Deidara off with the other.
That immediately changed when Konan arrived.
The Amekage swooped to Deidara's rescue like a paper angel: the Cloud ninja was tackled off the dragon, but Konan melted away into loose sheets just seconds later and Deidara was able to attack. The Cloud ninja survived a barrage of explosives, shielded by a wall of chakra-infused dust, the same material that she had been walking on to enable her impossible flight. But with Konan there, Sasuke knew the ninja was out of the fight. He shifted his attention as she was surrounded by gleaming sharp paper birds, torn back to the brutal street to street fighting as they stabbed, punched, blasted, and stomped their way through the Cloud ninja, their enemy desperately trying to reorganize.
It was effortless to him. Even without using his Mangekyo, these ninja from Cloud could not stand against him. He was faster, stronger, more decisive.
Was this how Itachi felt? Was this where he had gotten the confidence to turn on the clan, or had that come from Madara's shadow? Sasuke knew he wasn't invincible, but this was the first battle he'd participated in where he felt the delusion drift by. The gulf between him and Itachi might not be a cliff anymore, merely a hill.
But would Itachi even think about this sort of thing? Was that what separated them: a self-awareness that would always hold him back? Drawn into his inner world with his body moving on its own, Sasuke's assault continued for another two minutes before he was rudely yanked back to reality.
A torrent of tan liquid suddenly burst from a nearby building, pouring out over the street. Two nearby Rain ninja were sucked down into the muck and suffocated in an instant, struggling beneath the thick goop; Sasuke and his team were quick enough to get out of the way, leaping up onto nearby walls and roofs as they scanned for the threat.
Stupid. Itachi never would have been distracted like that. He would have been able to warn his comrades that the attack was coming. Sasuke's Sharingan was already analyzing the jutsu; a mix of Fire and Earth, almost surely a Kekkei Genkai. As more Cloud ninja arrived from every direction, his eyes were drawn to the one leading them: a tall man with spiky black hair, sporting an eyepatch to match Jiraiya's own.
"Toad Sage," the Cloud ninja, an obvious leader, maybe
the leader of the Kushiro contingent, called out. "You and your ninja have one chance to surrender. This isn't Konoha's war."
"We're not ninja of Konoha," Jiraiya called back without hesitation. For a second, both sides froze, waiting for orders as the buildings that had been submerged in the bizarre rubbery liquid the Cloud commander had created began to sink and melt, heated by the boiling tar they were suddenly surrounded by.
"Very well," the commander decided, throwing out two quick hand signs at his subordinates: hidden commands. "Then die."
Sasuke charged forward, set on assassinating the man, and the battlefield was thrown into chaos once more.
###
When things got going in earnest, Naruto was surprised at how well he was handling himself.
He'd already taken out a bunch of soldiers and several Cloud ninja, all older than him. He'd known from experience that he was good at being ninja, but something about an open warzone had been more intimidating. When Konoha had been invaded, he'd been almost helpless against the Akatsuki team sent after his mother, despite all his growth. He had expected that the ninja here would be on another level, and that he'd be fighting for his life.
And he was: as he dodged a lightning bolt that blew a hole in the wall behind him and slammed a Rasengan into a Cloud ninja's side, sending him spinning down the street with a scream, it wasn't like he wasn't having to try his best. But he wasn't panicking, and no one who'd attacked him yet felt like they were moving too fast or too skillfully for him to handle. It hadn't been that long ago, really, that he couldn't see his dad move, but that wasn't the case anymore. He was old enough, experienced enough, to be a real ninja in a real battle.
It helped that the Cloud ninja were obviously freaking out. They clearly hadn't expected a bunch of enemies to basically appear in the middle of the town, or for the Rain ninja to be as skilled as they were. Naruto's shadow clones had spread out throughout the town, and through their returned memories he could tell that Rain's casualties so far hadn't been bad, with very few fatalities. Here, with his team and Jiraiya plus a couple others against what seemed to be Cloud's leadership corp, that could change.
Sasuke and Jiraiya charged the leader, trying to bury him in the rubber goop he'd sprayed everywhere, but he was doing a good job of holding them off with his subordinate's help. Seeing that, Naruto decided to focus on the other Cloud ninja. The less enemies, the better. Sakura had made the same decision, and now they were fighting across the street from one another, beating back squads of Cloud ninja that called down elemental jutsu and threw blasts of energy from their Iron Wrists with abandon.
Naruto saw how the Iron Wrists could be an issue, but so long as he stayed close to Cloud ninja, they couldn't shoot him without risking their friends. He leapt from roof to roof, smashing aside anyone who got in his way. One older ninja with a bushy mustache charged directly at him and Naruto met him head-on; the man had some kind of Earth jutsu that he led with like a battering ram, creating a shield of stone in front of him that transformed him into a juggernaut. Naruto felt sure from the man's confidence the shield could shrug off most ninjutsu, and at the speed he was moving even a ninja would be pasted by a direct hit. Just a couple weeks ago, he would have had to run away, or overwhelm the man with clones.
But today, he just sucked in a deep breath, chakra burning up and down his arm like the most intense lactic acid in existence, and pushed it all out in a single punch with a roar of effort.
The punch shattered the stone ram and the arm behind it. The Cloud ninja flew back, skipping across the roof like a stone over water and vanishing over the edge, still coordinated enough to catch the ledge with his intact hand and swing out of sight. Naruto saw his eyes before he vanished; the man was in shock, mentally and medically. Out of the fight, at least for now.
He glanced around, trying to take in the situation. Most of the other Cloud ninja were gone, but so were many of the Rain ninja, some buried in the tar and others bleeding out across the rooftops. Naruto started rushing from body to body, applying triage where he could. One woman grasped at him, and he caught her arm and settled it down by her side, barely sparing a word as he closed the hole that exposed her ribs.
"Stay still," was all he told her. By this point, he barely noticed how gruesome his job was. At least he'd gotten really good at it. He lost track of Sakura in the chaos, but he wasn't worried about her. Since they'd dropped, she'd been fighting so quickly and cleanly that it had surprised even him. Sakura had been the one to want to come here in the first place, and she was clearly prepared for it.
Jiraiya and Sasuke were still fighting. One of Sasuke's arms was coated in rubber, stuck to his side like a weird tan cast, but he wasn't moving like he was in pain; it wasn't boiling like the stuff on the ground. Maybe it couldn't be hot and sticky at the same time. He and Jiraiya chased after the Cloud commander, who slid across the rooftops on rapidly forming paths created by his Bloodline as he hurled ninja tools and barked orders into his radio. Naruto started heading in that direction, looking to cut him off, but Jiraiya gestured him away. He wasn't sure why.
"Now it's your turn to surrender!" Ah, that was why. Jiraiya delivered the ultimatum with so much confidence, but the Cloud commander just looked bemused. "Before more of your men die."
"That's impossible," the man said with a shake of his head. "Sorry. I can't hold a grudge against you all when we fired the first shot, but the Raikage himself gave me this assignment. I couldn't betray him or Lightning." Another torrent of tar emerged, submerging an entire building as Sasuke and Jiraiya leapt away. "Maybe in another-"
Naruto felt a flash of deja vu as Sakura appeared behind the man, leaping silently to flank him. Nonetheless, the ninja had great instincts. He drew a rubber wall behind him before he'd finished turning, and as Sakura's blade flashed out like a spear, the wall caught the attack. It distended and pushed towards the ninja's heart before he counterattacked, the wall leaping forward and wrapping around Sakura. Naruto couldn't see if she made it out or not before it closed.
"Hey!" Naruto shouted. They were all charging now; even a ninja as skilled as this man couldn't fight them all at once. He threw a kunai, adding a touch of super strength; the knife let out a sonic boom, but once more the commander drew his hand across the air, leaving behind a rubber barrier.
The knife slammed into the wall and, to Naruto's shock, bounced back with twice as much force. He didn't have time to dodge; it smashed into his shoulder and sent him spinning to the ground with a grunt of pain, piercing clean through his vest and scraping off the bone. A nasty hit, but nothing he couldn't fix.
Sasuke arrived, and the commander moved like a man possessed, blocking a flurry of attacks and a fireball before locking Sasuke's other arm to his side with more rubber as they leapt from building to building like violent pinballs. Sasuke ducked and weaved, continuing to fight with just his legs until the commander threw him off balance; he used a normal Earth jutsu, raising a wall between the two of them, and kicked right through it. At close range even the Sharingan couldn't keep Sasuke untouched, and he took a rock to the face and was driven back.
But then Jiraiya arrived and the Cloud commander was finally overwhelmed, barely dodging a Rasengan the size of his body and taking a razor sharp strand of hair clean through the arm. He stumbled off the roof and drew a dome of rubber over him, keeping Jiraiya from following for a brief second. By this point, Naruto was finally back on his feet and trying to pull the knife from his shoulder: it was so deep that he could barely grab the hilt. The commander looked over at him, calculating; Naruto could tell he was weighing his chances of going after the most injured target, and he grimaced.
"I wouldn't-" he said, before the man launched at him, throwing himself over the alley separating the two buildings.
At that moment, three things happened.
First, Naruto pulled the knife out with a surge of adrenaline, preparing to defend himself but feeling slower than he needed to be.
Second, the commander created a rubber whip between his hands and threw it out to snare Naruto. Most likely, he was going to take him hostage to try and negotiate with Jiraiya. Not a bad idea, though Naruto wouldn't make it easy for him.
Last, Sakura appeared like an angry black and crimson ghost. She leapt up from the alley, having silently retreated and relocated. She was at the commander's side in less than a heartbeat, and he jerked, having just enough time to look over at her with obvious shock.
She placed her hand to his chest, and a blade of water and ice burst forth. It punched directly through his heart, and then vanished in welter of red and white.
There were no last words or surprised declarations. The Cloud commander hit the roof, rolled, and lay still at Naruto's feet, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to take a final breath. When he looked up, there was no malice in his eyes as Naruto had seen in many other ninja's. Rather, there was only a look of resignation and, after a second, acceptance.
The Cloud ninja closed his eyes for good, and Sakura landed beside the body, looking it over before glancing up at Naruto. "You okay?" she asked, and he mutely nodded, laying a hand over his pierced shoulder and starting to mend the wound. The arm would be out of commission for the day at least, but the bleeding was easy enough to manage.
"Yeah," he said, grimacing at how hoarse his voice was. "Didn't think he could bounce it back like that. Thanks."
His eyes were drawn to the body once more, and despite all his senses buzzing and pain throbbing through his shoulder Naruto found himself staring at it instead of getting a move on.
It hadn't been the wrong thing to do. The man had been trying to kill them, and had killed a couple of the Rain ninja they'd been fighting alongside, people whose names Naruto hadn't even a chance to learn. He'd been leading an invading force that had taken over this town, taken over the country really, and despite being matter of fact about his job, that didn't excuse doing something so obviously wrong. So why did he feel like this? Where was the hesitation coming from?
It wasn't the dead man, Naruto realized. It was Sakura. Even if it had been justified, there'd been something about the way she'd done it that rubbed him wrong. She'd killed him so quickly, so easily. It had almost been dismissive. That was the ninja ideal for a lot of people, but it had never really been Sakura's. She wasn't the kind of person to kill a man without thinking about it before and after.
But now, she suddenly was. Was that why she had wanted to come to Frost? Had she realized she could kill like that now? Plenty had changed and they'd been through so much. Killing Haku especially had changed her. But was this part of that, or was it another thing about her that had been fundamentally altered without Naruto noticing?
He was still missing something, and he needed to find out what.
"Naruto." He looked up, finding her still there. "Are you hurt?"
He shook his head. "Well, a little," he amended, pulling his hand away from his shoulder. "But I'll be fine." He cocked an ear, looking and listening. "It's gotten quiet."
"Yeah." Sakura looked up, where Deidara, Fuu, and Konan were sweeping through the sky and descending on pockets of resistance. "I think that was their main force. We should start clearing buildings; they'll have left behind some traps and assassins. You're good?"
"I'm good," he lied, looking for Sasuke. Jiraiya was fussing over him, and Naruto called over. "Need help?"
"Do you have any Lightning jutsu?" Sasuke called out, sounding frustrated, and Naruto couldn't help but snigger at the image of him standing there looking pissed with his arms glued to his sides. "Cause that's all that's going to get this off."
"Well now hold on," Jiraiya said thoughtfully. "What if-"
He pressed a hand glowing with elemental chakra to the rubber, and it convulsed and doubled in size. Sasuke wheezed, his upper body being crushed.
"Ah shit," Jiraiya muttered, looking embarrassed. He waved at the two of them, pasting on a carefree grin. "You two go on! I'll get him to someone that can help."
Jiraiya was doing his best to keep them all safe, but he understood the reality that Sasuke was more vulnerable than the rest of them now: Naruto could see that instantly. He threw a two finger salute as the Toad Sage picked Sasuke up like a piece of ungainly luggage and leapt away across the rooftops. Sakura was watching with a small grin when Naruto turned to her. His heart skipped a beat.
It was fine. If she could still smile like that, everything was fine.
"Alright," he said, catching himself before he said something stupid. "Let's go, and take it slow. They're probably pissed after getting blitzed like this."
"I'll take the lead," she said, leaping down off the roof, and Naruto followed, determined to watch her back.
###
House, door, entryway, kitchen, dining room, back porch, clear.
Repeat.
Sakura's mind had been like this for a couple weeks, mechanical and straightforward. She'd embraced it. In her opinion, she'd always thought too much anyway. What was important right now was the mission, taking peace in her own two hands.
But something had changed. Maybe it had been Fuu. Seeing her had been a shock.
'
Another Jinchuriki. You're close to so many Tailed Beasts: the necessary tools of peace.'
And that was true. The Tailed Beasts were the ultimate violence, and it was useful knowing so many of their hosts. Fuu, Kushina, even Gaara, if he was still alive.
But Fuu was such a bubble of light that Sakura couldn't help but feel guilty thinking of her in such a utilitarian way. Maybe that guilt was what had broken her machine mind, at least for now. Fuu and the Beast she held, Chomei. They were cooperating. Did that mean the Kyuubi, Kurama, could do the same with Kushina? A person and a Tailed Beast working together were probably stronger than just one or the other. That was how cooperation went. Maybe that would be an even better deterrent than massing the Tailed Beasts?
She felt a hand on her shoulder, and stopped. Everything in her stopped. Naruto was touching her; the feelings that inspired couldn't be neatly categorized. When she'd seen that knife go into his shoulder, she'd wanted to burn down the world. Any world that let him get hurt wasn't the right kind.
She could not lose anyone else. If she did, it would be her fault.
'
All your fault, because you were too weak. Strength is everything; peace is the quiet created by destruction.'
She looked back at him and his earnest blue eyes, feeling words behind her lips but not sure what they would be if she ended up spitting them out. He looked concerned.
"I heard something in the next room," he whispered, and all at once she understood they were in another building surrounded by handsome wooden paneling and fine furniture. A home, and an expensive one.
She'd heard it too. She just hadn't consciously registered it. She knew because chakra was circulating throughout her body, and her steps were silent. She had already been ready to respond.
Sakura nodded, eyeing the door, and she and Naruto took up positions on either side of it. She reached out, feeling the handle, and slowly turned it.
Someone burst through, and once more Sakura reacted before she consciously registered it. It was a young man, a Cloud ninja with their headband wrapped around their arm and a desperate look in his eyes. He was holding a fizzling explosive tag, and Naruto let out a curse as he realized the danger.
'
But you're a great ninja now, aren't you?'
She was already acting. Her Flowing Hail Blade flickered out, cutting the tag in half and destroying it before it could detonate. The Cloud ninja started a hand-sign, but Sakura didn't care to find out what jutsu it would be. Her other hand lashed out, and the man fell, cut from hip to shoulder as blood gushed out across the hardwood.
She heard a scuffle in the room beyond, and once more her body moved before her mind did. She whirled through the door, spinning and preparing to unleash a volley of slashes that would shred anything in the room. She'd made this jutsu for fighting Jinchuriki; normal ninja stood no chance. There hadn't been someone she couldn't cut down with her bare hands yet, not since she'd had her epiphany after Waves.
Even Haku-
"Sakura!"
Naruto caught her arm, and Sakura froze; her blade was thrown off, cutting clean through the ceiling and bisecting the room above. For a second, she had the insane urge to whirl on him, to unleash the Hyouryusuiken on him for getting in her way. But the urge was so alien, so absurd, that it vanished instantly, and Sakura was left confused, feeling like the world was moving in jerks and starts.
"Naruto, what-?!" she demanded, pulling away and looking into the room. She expected there to be an attack coming at any moment; the sound had obviously been a ninja preparing to follow his fellow, and now they were exposed.
Instead, she found three people cowering against the back wall. A man and a woman and a young girl, all staring at her in abject terror, too fearful to move.
Sakura's brain short-circuited, and her body locked down. She stared at them, trying to understand where the enemy ninja must have gone. Was it an illusion? No, and if Naruto hadn't stopped her, she would have torn them all to shreds. Bothering with an illusion or disguise in that case would be pointless, since they'd still be dead. Why were they here? Was this their home?
Had she almost just killed this family as they cowered in their home, held hostage by a Cloud ninja?
"Sorry," Naruto said, taking the door and slowly closing it. "Stay put, alright? It's dangerous out there."
The woman nodded, eyes full of horror. Sakura couldn't look away until the door was fully closed and she couldn't see them anymore.
"It's okay," Naruto said. He was seeing through her. "They're fine. You didn't touch them."
"I…" The bubble of reality that Fuu had created was expanding. For the first time in weeks, Sakura felt fully in control of her body, her mind racing without redirection. The Tailed Beasts, Haku's death, her plan to create the ultimate weapon, every long term consideration she'd made her entire existence since the attack on Konoha melted away. All that was left was regret and fear, relief and forgiveness. "Naruto, if you hadn't been here…"
"Don't think about it," Naruto said quietly, leading her away from the door. They stepped over the body of the Cloud ninja and out into the street, looking around. Kushiro was getting quieter; the battle was almost over. "There's a lot of stuff that coulda happened. But it didn't."
Her heart moved her without permission; Sakura threw her arms around him, pressing her body against his and taking a shuddering breath. She felt Naruto stiffen up before his arms came up and wrapped around her as well, the two of them crushing against each other for several long seconds.
"Thank you," she whispered to him. She pulled back, not caring how red his face was, and kissed him.
It didn't have any thought put into it. There was no calculation; it was just the only way she could possibly express her gratitude, the feelings that had been bubbling beneath her skin for years. She didn't know how to kiss someone and probably wasn't very good at it, but to her delight Naruto didn't freeze up; after a second he kissed her back, and they drew away a moment later, both as red as tomatoes.
"Uh…" he stuttered, at a loss for words. They disentangled, and Sakura took a deep breath, feeling alive and whole for the moment. "Sakura, I'm…"
"It's okay," she said, feeling flush and somehow enjoying it. "Naruto, I don't know what I'd do without you. I'm sorry I've been so out of it lately. I just… everything seems so important, every second of every day. Like I'm the only one who can fix this. But if it weren't for you, I'd just be a murderer now. I almost made a horrible mistake; maybe not the first." It felt so beautiful, so freeing to speak so matter of factly, that Sakura thought she might get addicted to it. "You saved me from myself. I'll never be able to make that up to you."
"You don't…" Naruto rubbed the back of his head, obviously embarrassed and probably having some extremely hormonal thoughts. "You don't have to make it up to me. And that wasn't you. You're not… Sakura, you're not a murderer. You never will be."
'
What did you do to Haku, then?'
The poisonous inner voice, blacker than midnight, tried to drag her down, but for once Sakura was able to stomp it down. Standing here in the midst of war, luxuriating in Naruto's light and the faint aftershocks of the kiss rippling through her body, she felt both empty and free. She had doubts, but they were the petty doubts of a teenage girl; she had forgotten her mission, her troubles, and her pain.
"Thanks, Naruto," she said, and his smile was a second sun. "Let's go; we should meet back up with everyone else. It sounds like things are wrapping up."
They moved cautiously down the street, falling in side by side as they looked around for enemies or allies. Naruto's hand bumped hers, but before Sakura could move it away he reached out with more purpose, taking her hand in his.
They walked hand in hand, quietly scanning while their hearts beat out of their chests, until they were reunited with the rest.
###
That evening, there was a celebration in the town of Kushiro. While much of the town had suffered, Rain's strategy had worked to keep casualties to a minimum, and the citizens of Frost, for the most part, saw the newly arrived Rain ninja as liberators. Sakura wasn't there to see it, but she could hear the distant sounds and see the light of the town through the trees. They had departed the town as swiftly as they'd arrived, stealing a substantial amount of Cloud's supplies in the process: the rest had been destroyed. Staying in a liberated town would be inviting a counterattack, though several Rain ninja had stayed behind to assassinate any Cloud ninja that tried to return to salvage the depot.
It was easy for her to picture things going the other way, and for the citizens of Kushiro to have fallen into an even deeper despair. But riding high from the thrill of victory and her first kiss, the morbid thoughts were kept at bay. The Rain contingent had a celebration of their own hidden away in the thick mountain woods, feasting on stolen supplies, drinking, laughing, and telling stories.
"God was with us today," Nonō said emphatically, and Sakura felt compelled to nod along. Her, Naruto, Sasuke, Nonō, and several other ninja had gathered around an impromptu table on a tree stump, passing around chocolate and discussing the battle. Every once and a while, she and Naruto were sharing awkward glances, and she was sure Sasuke noticed. Thankfully, he wasn't saying anything, but Sakura could picture his infuriating smirk nonetheless. "He delivered a great victory, and-" she gestured at Sakura and her teammates, "have returned some great ninja to the fold."
They were toasted; on another day, it would have made Sakura uncomfortable, but today it was easy to smile and return it, clinking her canteen against Nonō's. They and the other ninja spoke, recounting what they had seen and Rain's successes, and gradually people drifted away and joined other groups, leaving Nonō and Team Seven alone.
"I wish Kabuto could have been here for this," she said quite suddenly, and Sakura saw Naruto's heart drop out of his stomach. She reached for his hand to comfort him on instinct, and Nonō observed it with a wry smile. "He would have enjoyed seeing you all again."
"Nonō," Naruto said, steadying himself. Sakura could see that touching him had helped, and that realization made her feel more certain and powerful than any amount of chakra could. "I never got to apologize to you. Everything happened so fast-"
"It's okay," Nonō said quietly, leaning back in the grass. "I've accepted it, Naruto. Kabuto's life was his to spend; I can't begrudge him deciding to save you." She sighed. "I taught him everything I could about being both a man and a ninja, but there were some lessons he just couldn't learn. He always put others over himself, ever since he was a child. I'm proud of him, and I'm proud of you."
Naruto didn't seem to know what to say, but to Sakura's surprise, Sasuke did. "We all owe the Nation a debt," he said seriously. "Suigetsu, Kabuto, Karin…" He glanced at Sakura, and she was even more shocked to find herself nodding. "Haku. Without them, Cloud would have killed us. Even if Rain made a mistake in attacking Konoha, that doesn't void that debt. It's why we all came here."
"Not for revenge?" Nonō said. "That's why most of us are here, after all. I certainly am."
"There's a bit of that," Sasuke admitted. "I can't speak for us all; I think we all made the decision for our own reasons, even if some were shared. But things have gotten too complicated to be solved by just revenge. You lost your son; that makes it simpler for you, maybe." He took a sip of water, looking off into the darkness. Sakura wondered if his vision had gotten worse, and just how much he could see at night now. "But it's not for me. Suigetsu told me not to die, so that's all I have to worry about for now."
Nonō stayed with them for a while longer, quietly speaking with Naruto about his medical jutsu and his discovery of his Yang Release, before the conversation shifted again. Three people approached, breaking their circle: Konan, Fuu, and Jiraiya.
"Hey!" Fuu seemed drunk on the atmosphere, smiling so widely her cheeks were threatening to split. "You all did awesome!"
"You did too, Fuu," Sakura said, getting met with a brilliant grin. "I saw you fighting; you've gotten even faster."
"Ah, thanks! I've been training my butt off since I woke up!" she said, looking like she was about to settle in next to them before she remembered she wasn't alone. "Oh, sorry!" She stepped aside, letting Konan move past her with a small bow. "Lady Konan wanted to speak to you guys!"
Sakura took them all in, noticing Jiraiya's mild expression and Konan's focus. They'd proven themselves again, she thought. Maybe this really would work out.
"Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke," Konan said, and Sakura almost gasped when she gave them a small bow. "Congratulations on your work. You all performed superbly." She singled Sakura out in particular, her gaze intense but not intimidating. "I was told you finished off Dodai, Sakura?"
"Cloud's commander?" she asked. She barely remembered it; everything had gone so fast that somehow the man's death had left almost no impression on her. She couldn't even picture his face. "Yes. I had everyone's help though."
"It's still impressive," Konan said frankly. "He'd been stymying our efforts in Frost for weeks: one of the Raikage's direct subordinates. Even Deidara and I hadn't been able to finish him off on two occasions. You've killed one of Cloud's most valuable ninja."
Sakura didn't know how to feel about that, and was fundamentally uncomfortable with people being categorized by value, but recognized that this wasn't the time or place to have such doubts. She bowed her head, accepting the recognition. "I'm glad I could help," she said. "Even if I'm not a member of the Nation anymore-" she plucked at her hoodie, pinching one of the red clouds. "I'm still a ninja of the Akatsuki."
Konan gave her a lingering look, one that Sakura couldn't read. "It seems so," she eventually said, turning to the rest of them. "We'll be moving east tomorrow; Jiraiya's informed us that Kumo is preparing an attack from Hakoda, which likely means they'll be assaulting the Hidden Mist directly. We cannot allow them to be knocked out of the war, so we'll do everything we can to assist with their inevitable counterattack." She straightened up. "Fuu, you're free for the evening."
"Awesome! I'll hang out with these guys then!" she said, immediately plopping down next to Naruto. Sakura wondered for a second if she should be jealous, but then shook it off; Naruto was still watching her, a faint grin on his face, and for a second she got lost in his look.
"Sakura," Konan said, knocking her out of her trance. "I'd like to speak to you privately."
"Of course," she said, looking back at everyone to make sure they didn't have anything to say. Naruto gave her a thumbs up, Sasuke nodded, and Fuu was barely paying attention, chattering about how exciting the battle had been. She glanced at Jiraiya, and he shrugged; he wasn't privy to whatever Konan wanted to discuss.
Leaving her friends behind, Sakura followed Konan through the woods as the Amekage checked in with different groups of ninja, acting a silent retainer as Konan informed other groups of their plans, consoled the injured, and took stock of their supplies. Konan didn't say a word to her until about twenty minutes into the process, when they stopped between two groups; she had just chastised a young ninja (though still older than Sakura) for lighting a fire and potentially giving away their position, putting it out with a wave of her hands.
"Sakura," she said, taking a seat on a pile of stones and gesturing for Sakura to do the same. "I truly can't believe that you're here."
"Because of what Yahiko did?" she asked, and Konan mutely nodded. "I can understand that. But I already told you why I came."
"And I believe you," Konan said, leaning forward and cupping her chin in her palm. "I'll be frank with you; the war has gone well, but I have lost hope." She sighed, looking tired for the first time Sakura had ever seen. "The dream of the Akatsuki is in a shallow grave: Yahiko ensured that. He's being held prisoner back in Amegakure, but Nagato cannot be fully rid of him, and neither can I."
Sakura sat there, an uncomfortable feeling worming its way through her body. The shadows here seemed deeper, Konan's eyes devoid of light.
'
She is just as lost as you.'
"What would you do," she asked, "if Naruto betrayed you?"
"He wouldn't," was Sakura's knee-jerk reaction, but Konan didn't stir at it. "But… that's not helpful, is it."
"No."
"Are you really asking me? Is there no one else?"
"You've proven yourself insightful," Konan said, and Sakura realized just how hopeless the Amekage's voice was. Here, alone, she had revealed herself to her, and sympathy for the woman bubbled up like a warm spring inside her. Konan had been the one to take her to Rain; Konan had been the one to recognize her potential. And now here she was alone and betrayed, leading a war host for a cause that she believed already doomed, fighting the most dangerous nation in the world to try and avenge one-hundred thousand deaths.
"I don't know what I'd do," she said, the question making her feel sicker the more she considered it. "But I had to…" She choked, and Konan gave her a worried look.
"Haku," Sakura grunted, her eyes burning. The lightness she'd felt at Naruto's side seemed like a distant, half-remembered dream. Konan's eyes widened in understanding, and her head fell.
"I'm sorry," she said, her fists clenching in her lap. "That's… horrific."
"Yeah." The darkness swallowed up the word, but Sakura struggled to push forward. "But I kept going. I'm here. If I… if that could happen… even if Yahiko stabbed you in the back, you can keep going too, Konan." She stood up, driven by her inner flame. "Cloud can't get away with this, and that's what you're here for. The Akatsuki isn't dead, and even if it was, it could be reborn. So long as people want an end to war, the Akatsuki can still exist."
'
You would make it real.'
She took a deep breath of mountain air, so cold it hurt her lungs. "The Yondaime always told us that a shinobi is one who sacrifices. Jiraiya said it's one that endures. Naruto thinks it's someone who protects people. They're all right. You know that. I won't let the Hidden Leaf destroy the Nation of Rain; it's too important to the world. No matter what I have to sacrifice or endure to protect it, I won't stop, and neither should you."
Konan looked up at her, and while Sakura had hoped her words would inspire the Amekage, she was surprised to see Konan's sorrowful expression. "You shouldn't say that," she said, and Sakura rocked back. "You've already endured too much, Sakura."
"That makes me the best choice," Sakura argued, suddenly feeling the gap in age and experience between them. Konan stood up.
'
She doesn't understand you.'
"What would you sacrifice for peace, Sakura?" she asked, not as a demand but as a plea. "Your parents? Your honor? Your friends? Your village?"
"If it would prevent another war, absolutely," Sakura shot back. "Something needs to be created to keep this from ever happening again; the world just can't keep having these wars. Haku said the very same thing, back when I first met him, that every shinobi war was getting more and more destructive. He even knew that Frost would be where the next war was fought!" She gestured around them, feeling her furnace stoke.
"Your own life?" Konan said, looking heartbroken, and Sakura gave her a determined nod.
"If I had to fall on my sword to prevent another war, I'd do it without hesitation. After everything I've seen, everything I've done, I
can't picture it any other way," she said, and Konan sighed, wiping her hand across her face.
"What about Naruto?" she said quietly, and Sakura froze.
"What?"
"Would you sacrifice Naruto?" Konan said clearly. "If you had to make your ideals real, if that was the only way; if Naruto had to die."
She couldn't move forward; she had stopped as if inertia didn't exist.
"That's what it's like for me," Konan eventually said, when Sakura hadn't spoken for about ten seconds. "Yahiko was everything to me; I built the Akatsuki with him and Nagato. I thought we had built it for each other." She started moving again. "But now, if we want to move forward, I'll probably have to be rid of him. Think about that, Sakura, before you continue down this path."
She was mute.
"We'll welcome your help here in Frost. But I think you should go home when we're done, Sakura." Konan looked back with so much sympathy that it hurt. "You should go back to Konoha, and try to not ever sacrifice anything in your life ever again. Even if that means giving up on being a ninja, it would be better than the alternative."
She departed without another word, and Sakura was left confused and hurt and alone.
'
She doesn't understand what needs to be done. She's not as strong as you. Has she even had to kill anyone important to her? She just couldn't endure what you could.'
It was true, Sakura thought. She couldn't say why, but Konan had disappointed her. She should have been stronger; she should have seen that getting rid of Yahiko and Naruto weren't the same thing at all. Naruto would never betray her like Yahiko had them, like Haku had, so there was no point in thinking about it. She was on the right path: she just had to keep moving forward until she had the ultimate weapon that could protect him.
Sakura silently slipped into the darkness of the night.
###
When Sakura had been gone for about ten minutes, Sasuke decided it was time to take a walk.
"Oh, that sounds awesome," Fuu decided, leaping to her feet with so much energy that it made him feel like an old man. "I love taking walks."
He looked down at Naruto, bemused at how out of it his friend was. "Coming?"
"Yeah, sure," Naruto said, pushing himself to his feet. "Jiraiya?"
"I've got some stuff to catch up on," Jiraiya said, which was so comically vague that Sasuke couldn't help but wonder if he was lying. "Go on ahead, I'll find you tomorrow."
They set off into the night with no particular destination in mind, enjoying the soft crunch of grass and stones under their feet and navigating a dry creek. The night was cool, the murmur of other Rain ninja everywhere, and Sasuke found that walking through the dark brought him a measure of peace.
"It was kinda fun to fight with you guys," Fuu said. "I didn't really get a chance in Waterfall, so it was really cool."
"Same," Naruto agreed. "Thanks for flying us in. That was awesome."
"We can fly more if you want," Fuu said with a mischievous grin. "No one here to tell me not to."
"We should keep to the ground for now," Sasuke noted. "There probably are Cloud ninja out and about. They won't take Kushiro's liberation lying down."
"Yeah, okay," Fuu said, sulking. "Chomei's been talking more to me, by the way."
"Really?" Sasuke asked, wondering if he was going through the motions or actually curious. He was exhausted; it had taken hours for both his arms to be freed from the rubber, and he'd barely been able to breathe the whole time. It wasn't the worst day he'd had, not by a long shot, but it had definitely been uncomfortable. "What about?"
"You guys," Fuu said, and Sasuke almost missed a step. "She thinks you're cool. I told her what happened with Ame and Konoha and everything and she says you're exceptional humans."
"Well, tell her thanks for us," Naruto said, filling in for Sasuke, who wasn't quite sure how to respond to being called an 'exceptional human.' It wasn't a familiar label.
"I will," Fuu promised, and they chattered about meaningless things for a while longer before Sasuke asked what had been lingering on his mind.
"Is Sakura okay, Naruto?" he said, and felt a spike of mean amusement when Naruto blushed. "You two kept looking at each other."
"She's okay," Naruto declared. "Something… bad almost happened after she killed Dodai, but it turned out alright."
"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked, Fuu looking back and forth between them like a curious child. Naruto sighed.
"There was a family, hiding in one of the houses. A Cloud ninja had taken them hostage, I think. But he panicked and ran for it. Sakura took him down, no problem, but…" He hesitated. "She almost went after them all too. I think she would have, if I hadn't been there. I had to grab her."
Sasuke came to a stop, looking back. Fuu looked a little perturbed as well. "She didn't realize they weren't ninja?"
"I guess," Naruto said, shuffling his feet. "I'm not sure how though. They weren't letting off any chakra, just hiding there. I realized what was going on right away, but she didn't seem to. It was like she was just moving automatically. But that seemed to snap her out of it. After that, she… seemed a lot better." The blush was back, and brighter than ever.
"Did something else happen?" Sasuke asked, feeling an impish urge to push, and Naruto's eyes went wide. He was basically a picture book, even without the Sharingan. What had happened with Sakura was concerning, but it hadn't
happened, so Sasuke did his best to put it out of mind and focus on what was in front of him for now.
"N-no," Naruto muttered, averting his eyes.
"Huh?" Fuu said innocently. "That makes it sound like something totally happened, though."
"A little," Sasuke said with a mean grin. "You sure, Naruto?"
"I mean…" Naruto said, a little grin of his own slipping out. "Maybe… we might have… kissed… a little."
"Whoa!" Fuu exclaimed. Sasuke couldn't help but let a chuckle slip. "You guys kissed?! Who started it?"
"She did!" Naruto admitted, looking equally embarrassed and relieved, like he couldn't have believed it until he told someone. "I was surprised, but it was nice! I wanna do it again!"
"You should probably tell her that, not us," Sasuke said wryly, and Naruto stuck out his tongue at him.
"Shut up. You don't think it's weird, though?" he asked, and Sasuke shrugged.
"You said that you loved her, right? All the way back before Waves," he said, and Naruto nodded hesitantly. Fuu's eyes were as wide as dinner plates. "So if she kissed you, maybe she feels the same way. That's good, right?"
"I guess. Yes? I don't know." Naruto sat down. "It's confusing. I'm worried that it'll mess things up, so I haven't talked to her about it."
"Naruto, you guys love each other? That's so cool!" Fuu said, once again bringing a grin to Sasuke's face. "I knew she liked you, it was obvious, but you must have brought her out of her funk!"
"It was obvious? Wait, her funk?" Naruto asked, and Fuu nodded enthusiastically.
"You know what I'm talking about. She was all moody and quiet when you showed up yesterday. But you said she was better afterwards; I bet you pulled her out of it." She clapped her hands on Naruto's shoulders, staring earnestly at him. "You should stick by her; she needs your help. Did she tell you anything like that?"
"Something like that, yeah," Naruto said quietly, and Fuu kept nodding so vigorously that Sasuke thought her head might wobble off.
"It's not that she's weak or anything, it's just that what you all are going through is hard," she said brightly. "But I've heard that love is, like, all you need for that! I mean, I've never loved anyone, I think, but that's how it goes in all the stories. You should go find her! I bet she's bummed out with just Konan for company; she probably misses you!"
Naruto looked shocked at the concept, and glanced over at Sasuke, who sighed. "She's right," he said. "You don't have to tell her everything, not right now. But Sakura needs you, more than she does anyone else. If you love her, you should be there for her."
"Umm." Naruto blinked, and came to his decision as visibly as a light switch flipping on. "Okay! I'll see you both later!"
He ran off leaving them in the dark, and Sasuke laughed. Fuu looked over at him mischievously.
"Has it been a while?" she said, and Sasuke shook his head, glad to find a grin that wasn't fading like a fuelless fire.
"It's been a while," he confirmed, and Fuu laughed.
"That's so cool," she said, looking off towards where Naruto had run. "It really seemed to make him happy. Do you wanna kiss?"
Sasuke blinked, remembering the kind of life Fuu had lived, and smiled. "No, thanks. I've got a girlfriend." He wondered how Hinata was doing. She'd been recovering well when he'd left, but he'd gotten the sense she was disappointed not to be going with him. He couldn't blame her. It might have been terrifying, but the feeling of side by side with her during the invasion had been like nothing else in his life. If she'd been here, maybe he wouldn't have been surprised by Dodai.
"Ah, makes sense," Fuu said, not sounding disappointed. She pondered for a second, looking down. "Should I get a boyfriend?"
"If you think it would make you happy," Sasuke said with a shrug. "But considering how things have gone, I wouldn't worry about that right now. You should probably make more friends before you decide whether you like any of them that way."
"You give really good advice, Sasuke," Fuu said thoughtfully. "I dunno. I never thought about it until just now, to be honest. I guess I'll think more about it, even if it's kinda gross-"
She paused, suddenly cocking her head. Sasuke did the same, following her instinct. The woods were quiet but for distant murmurs and the occasional scuttle of wildlife, a soft breeze ruffling the trees.
But he suddenly felt the same way Fuu did. Even if there was no sign, no sound, not even any feeling of chakra, they both felt like they were being watched. They silently shifted, putting themselves back to back and rotating, scanning the forest.
"Please don't shout." The voice came from directly above them, a conversational whisper that only they could hear drifting down from a tree branch. "It would be pretty problematic."
Sasuke and Fuu slowly looked up, and found Itachi Uchiha staring down at them.
Sasuke reached up and grabbed Fuu's shoulder; the girl had frozen solid, whether from fear or hatred he couldn't immediately tell. "Wait," he whispered, and thankfully she nodded. If Itachi was there to hurt him, Sasuke knew he was fast enough to do it before they could raise the alarm.
But Sasuke didn't think that was why he was there. He hadn't seen the summoned crow all day; it must have led his brother to him.
"Itachi," he said, keeping his voice a whisper. "You should leave."
"Yeah, sorry. I was trying to wait until you were alone, but I got impatient," Itachi said, perched in the tree like a giant black bird. "Fuu, do you mind if I speak with my brother alone?"
"Uh, no?" Fuu said, matching their volume. "That's definitely not happening."
Itachi sighed. "Fine. Well, let me start off by apologizing to you. I'm very sorry for the kidnapping and brainwashing. And the murders."
"Thanks, I guess?" Fuu clearly had no idea what to do, and Sasuke barely did either. "But I still hate you."
"Understandable," Itachi noted. "Anyway, Sasuke, congratulations on getting a girlfriend, that's great."
"You didn't come here to say that," Sasuke said flatly, and Itachi smiled.
"True. I'm just here to let you know you can call it off. What I told you last time, I mean."
Ah, so Itachi was still insane then. Sasuke didn't know why he was disappointed. It belatedly occurred to him that if his brother was here, Madara's Will was as well. In the darkness, it was impossible to see Itachi's shadow; Black Zetsu was probably lingering on both him and Fuu, ready to trip or strangle them if things went the wrong way. They weren't the only participants in the conversation.
But maybe he could turn that to his advantage; Sasuke decided to go for the decisive blow. "Itachi, I learned more about that. I think I can help you."
Itachi raised an eyebrow. "Really? What do you mean exactly?"
"What you described, what's happened in the past, I talked to someone that helped it all make sense," Sasuke said, trying not to let his voice falter. Would Black Zetsu attack if it was revealed? Could they fight a living shadow? Madara had said only the Rinnegan could destroy it, and the Rinnegan was far away. It didn't matter: Itachi had to know the truth. "Madara Uchiha."
"You spoke with Madara?" Itachi said, genuinely surprised. "How?"
"He had been brought back by the Edo Tensei technique," Sasuke said, not surprised to see that Itachi clearly knew of it. "By Orochimaru, in the Nation of Rain. He told mother and Obito and I about his plans, about what he'd done after the first Hokage defeated him. He wasn't killed; he lingered for decades, trying to make things go his way. And before he died, his shadow came alive and left him. He said it was his Will; it acted on its own, trying to guide people to undertake his plans for him." His hands curled into fists. "Itachi, the way he talked… we're certain that his Will went to you. That it helped you kill Father and Shisui and the rest. You're not crazy; you have some of Madara's chakra attached to you."
Itachi didn't speak for nearly a minute, and Sasuke and Fuu waited with bated breath for him to act.
"That doesn't make sense," Itachi finally said. "I would have noticed something like that."
"It does. Your shadow's helped you before, even," Sasuke said, a bit of desperation leaking into his voice. "Remember? It tripped Obito that night. It held me down in the Forest of Death, and when you kidnapped Fuu. You don't know any Nara jutsu, do you? Did you even notice that had happened, back then? We think it must be able to alter your perception, at least a little. You weren't aware for a whole year, weren't you?"
Itachi was silent once more, staring down at them with a Sharingan that seemed painted on.
"You said your eyes recovered during that year," Sasuke said, just now realizing the connection. "If anyone would know how to cause that, it would be Madara Uchiha. His shadow knew everything he did; he called it Black Zetsu."
Itachi started to speak, and then stopped. Fuu was fidgeting, obviously fighting the urge to fight or flee; it was anathema to any ninja to just stand there with a potential enemy right above them.
"If that is what happened," Itachi eventually decided, "then Black Zetsu is gone. I came here to tell you I'm cured, Sasuke." He leaned back on the tree, shifting into a more relaxed position. "I couldn't tell until it happened, but my head is clear. My mind is my own. It's like a curtain got pulled back; everything is much clearer than it's ever been."
That, Sasuke decided, was exactly what someone who had been possessed by Black Zetsu would say. The thought came like a bolt of lightning: that was why Itachi had come here. The shadow had realized Sasuke was onto it, and had directed Itachi to try and dissuade him. Maybe Black Zetsu was still connected to Madara in some way, and had understood that someone had caught onto it somehow. Sasuke couldn't claim to understand how living shadows perceived the world, or what they could or could not be capable of.
But right now, what mattered is that he wasn't talking to Itachi; he was talking to Black Zetsu, and he had no idea how to rip him off Itachi's soul.
"That's great," he said. "But you can understand if I don't believe you right away."
"I'd be disappointed if you did," Itachi said with a small laugh that perfectly mimicked his true laugh. "But I know I put a burden on you, and I didn't want you carrying it without cause. Maybe Madara's Will understood I had noticed it, and so fled. Shadows abhor the light, right? We'll have to track it down once this is over; it sounds dangerous."
"Makes perfect sense," Sasuke said. "So, is that it?"
"I'm here to help with the war," Itachi said, and Sasuke grunted. "You can tell Konan that, though obviously I'm going to stay out of her way. Our last conversation made it clear she doesn't enjoy my company."
"I thought you hated war, Itachi," Sasuke said, and Itachi shrugged.
"I do. But there are good wars and bad wars, and defending Frost from Cloud's insanity is a good war, as far as I see it. Maybe we'll see each other around."
That was rich coming from him, but Sasuke let it go without comment. "Stay safe, then," he said instead. "Thanks for letting me know."
"Anytime. Love you, Sasuke," Itachi said, and then he was gone like smoke in the wind.
Fuu finally let out the breath she'd been holding. "What the fuck?" she muttered, the 'fuck' much louder than the rest of her words, and Sasuke started nervously giggling.
"Sorry. He's insane," he said, wondering why he felt the need to apologize on Itachi's behalf. "But believe it or not, this is good. He's strong; Cloud's in even more trouble."
And more than that, Sasuke thought, they were making progress now. They could free Itachi from Madara's Will. Even if he couldn't picture how they would pin down a shadow, there had to be a way. If Itachi thought Black Zetsu was gone, they would have an opportunity.
So long as they played it perfectly, he could still save his brother.
###
AN: I got put in a good mood, so I'm updating early, lol. Hope you enjoyed it. 
. It's going to be a while so I have time to work it out. Still this is a weird idea even if it's just a theory here and I love it. Much better than soulless alien husks.
