Salvation
Chapter 16: Memories
Sasuke arrived at the Hokage tower a little before he was scheduled. He knocked on the Hokage's office, in which he heard a mumbled "come in" from behind the closed door.
Sasuke pushed open the door and found Tsunade looking out the window. Sasuke didn't greet Tsunade in any way.
"Sit down, Uchiha," Tsunade said and Sasuke didn't comply. He wasn't in the mood to sit and who was she to order him around.
Tsunade turned to look at him, clearly annoyed. "I said sit down," she said, menacingly, and Sasuke could feel the anger radiating off of him. As much as he didn't want to sit, he knew that if he didn't Tsunade could easily send him to the hospital with quite a few nasty bruises.
He turned and took the chair closest to him and waited patiently for his sentencing.
Tsunade looked back out the window. She didn't say anything for a few moments and Sasuke felt the tension in the air.
"Do you know where I was when I was tracked down by Jiraya and Naruto?" Tsunade suddenly said. It was more of a rhetorical question, as Sasuke knew that Tsunade would not expect him to know such a thing. "I was in a village, quite a ways from here, gambling and drinking my life away. I don't really remember the day I left Konoha, but I remember how I got to that point. I had just lost my fiance, my teammate who I loved and respected dearly, was found experimenting on humans and plotting against this very village, and my other teammate was so consumed with finding Orochimaru that he wasn't ever around. I had no one. My whole family was dead, and my teammates had abandoned me."
Tsunade stopped for a moment and Sasuke watched her. Even though she tried hard to conceal her real appearence, Sasuke could clearly see the worry and stress lines across her forehead as she looked out the window. Sasuke didn't know why Tsunade was telling him this, but for the sake of arguement, he decided it was best not to interrupt.
Tsunade sighed, as if thinking whether or not she actually wanting to divulge such information. She crossed her arms across her chest and continued. "I traveled everywhere I could, trying so hard to put my past behind me and forget everything that I was, everything that had happened, I tried hard to forget Konoha." Tsunade turned to look at Sasuke. "And that's one thing we have in common, Uchiha. No matter how much we tried to run away from this place, it kept tracking us down; in the form of our teammates."
Sasuke looked at Tsunade, thinking about what she was talking about. He couldn't deny that she was right. Even though he had done everything he could, he just couldn't get away from this place, especially from his two insistent teammates.
Tsunade sat down at her desk, shuffled some papers, and looked back up at Sasuke. "When Naruto and Jiraya found me, I was at my lowest, and I just couldn't understand why they wanted me to be Hokage. I mean, I had abandoned my village, abanonded my teammates, and abandoned my duties as a ninja, yet they still wanted me, but I think I've finally figured it out. It's because this place doesn't let it's own escape, and as long as the person who left it still has something decent left in their heart, they can always be saved and will always have a chance to redeem themselves."
Sasuke shifted a bit, knowing that Tsunade was about to inform him of his punishment.
"That's why, Uchiha, I have decided to give you a second chance. From this point on your slate is clean. You will no longer be referred to as someone who betrayed this village. There will be no references to you serving under Orochimaru or about any of your past deeds. Today, you start anew. But that also means you have to start from the ground up. You will be sentenced to serve on D-Rank missions and work your way up. However, I do know that your ability level is advanced, so it shall take you no time to reach the jounin level."
Sasuke didn't say anything and he didn't let his emotions falter either, but inside, he couldn't believe it. How was it possible that he could start over, try everything again. Even though he was not at all happy about having to start back over at the genin level, he was not about to complain, because what Tsunade had given him was something he couldn't have ever dreamed of getting. Tsunade's voice broke him from his thoughts.
"I will treat you like any other ninja, and as such, you have my respect and my trust. But, if you should ever betray this village or try to hurt one of your comrades again, I will personally see to your execution. Understood?" Tsunade said and Sasuke just nodded his head.
"When I think about you three, team 7 that is, I can't help but compare you to my old team. The only difference is that me and Jiraya gave up on Orochimaru and Naruto and Sakura never even thought about giving up on you. That just shows me that you three are truly remarkable and stronger than any of us ever were," Tsunade expressed. "Is there anything you would like to say?"
"What team will I be on?" Sasuke asked. He was curious if Tsunade would keep him with Sakura and Naruto or not.
Tsunade laughed a little. "Well, of course I can't take you away from those two, so Team 7 is still intact. Sakura is currently on probation, and she can only go on D-Ranked missions for now also, but I may have to steal Naruto every once and awhile to head out on a more qualified mission. Other than that, you three will be together."
Sasuke nodded his head. "You will meet with your team tomorrow at 7am. You may leave," Tsunade said, not looking at Sasuke.
Sasuke got up from his chair and moved to the door. He stopped for a moment, before turning around. "Just so you know," he began and Tsunade looked up at him. "There was no saving Orochimaru. He was gone long before anyone could have saved him."
Tsunade didn't say anything, she just sat quiet for a moment. Sasuke could see the look of shock and he wondered whether it was over the truth of Orochimaru or the fact that Sasuke had just said a semi-comforting comment.
Tsunade's small chuckle broke the silence. "Well, you sure are full of surprises," she said, shaking her head a bit. "I look forward to seeing how well you do, Sasuke."
Sasuke didn't move, as this was the first time that Tsunade said his first name, rather than his last. It was clearly her way of showing that things had changed and that she was going to hold up her end of the bargain.
Sasuke made little sound as he left the room, closing the door behind him. He really did have a clean slate. He felt like the weight of the world lifted off his shoulders, at least half-way anyway. Even though he did feel guilty about all of his past deeds, it was a relief to know that now four people, one of them being the Hokage, had completely forgiven him and he only hoped the rest of the village would do the same. He knew it would take a while to gain any respect from the villagers, but who knew, maybe he could give Naruto a challenge for the Hokage title. That thought made him smile as he headed off to his new apartment.
******************************
Sakura had just finished some rounds at the hospital when she decided to take a walk around. Before she knew it, she had ended up in front of the Uchiha district.
She felt so weird being here. It was a place no one ever came to, and it just gave her goosebumps standing in front of the entrance. She rubbed her arms a few times as she tried to rid herself of the tension.
Looking up, she noticed the Uchiha symbol, the red and blue fan, hanging above the entrance. The sign was clearly worn. The paint was chipping off and some of the edges were broken off. She felt a wave of sadness run over her at the moment. The Uchihas had been one of the most prominent clans in all of Konoha; they protected this village and its inhabitants and they had been cruely slaughtered by one of their own, leaving only one lone survivor who made it his sole mission in life to find the culprit and bring him to justice because no one else would. They had endured all of that, and yet no one could even bother to keep the sign in nice condition.
It was something that made her question Konoha and whether or not it was as good as people said it was. She loved her village and its villagers, but it wasn't without faults. The people of Konoha really had no right to condemn Sasuke or treat him as though he was a criminal.
This made her think of Sasuke's punishment and what Tsunade had decided to do with him. She knew it was about three in the afternoon, and Sasuke had his appointment this morning. She had not seen him yet, so she didn't have the chance to ask him about it.
"Hey," a voice said, and Sakura turned around to see the person of her thoughts standing a few feet behind her.
"Oh, Sasuke-kun, how are you?" Sakura said.
"Fine, what are you doing here?" Sasuke asked and Sakura wondered if he was mad that she had come this way.
"I was taking a walk and something caught my attention. How did the meeting go?" Sakura questioned.
Sasuke shrugged a bit before walking closer to Sakura. "She said I have a clean slate," Sasuke told her and Sakura looked at him.
"What do you mean by that?"
"She said she won't ever bring up my past deeds again. From this day on, I start fresh," Sasuke told her without emotion. Sakura listened and there were two thoughts running through her mind. One was how could Sasuke have no emotion at all. He had just been giving his sentence, which turned out to be incredible and he had no feelings on it, or at least any that he showed. The second thought was on Tsunade and what could have motivated her to do such a thing.
"Tsunade-sama is just so full of surprises," Sakura commented and Sasuke gave off a grunt.
"Hm, well I guess we have two things in common," Sasuke commented, looking out at the district, thinking about the fact that Tsunade just said the same thing about him this morning.
Sakura was about to ask him what he meant when a loud voice interrupted. "Teme! Sakura-chan! What are you two doing?" Naruto shouted and Sakura and Sasuke looked at him as he ran over. Naruto looked up to where they were standing and he looked at Sasuke. "Are you staying back at your old place, teme?"
"No, I'm just here to collect some furniture. I bought a new apartment yesterday, and I thought it would be pointless to waste money buying stuff I already own," Sasuke said.
"You bought a new place and you weren't going to tell us?" Naruto said and Sasuke shook his head. Sakura looked at Sasuke. She was also curious as to why he hadn't mentioned it yet.
"Well, I wanted to get some furniture in it first. What's the point of people coming by to an empty apartment. If they wanted to do that, they could go to your house," Sasuke said to Naruto.
"Hey!" Naruto shouted back and Sasuke smirked.
"Well, how about me and Sakura-chan help grab some things, then we can all go see this apartment of yours," Naruto said and Sakura smiled.
"Yeah, sounds like a plan," Sakura said and her and Naruto looked up at Sasuke, waiting for his reply.
"Whatever," he said with a shrug, before heading into the district.
"Wait up, teme!" Naruto shouted, before running after him.
Sakura watched the two, and she was suddenly thrown back to her genin days, back to the beginning of Team 7. Watching Sasuke walk in front, Naruto chasing after him, and her watching their backs, gave her such a nostalgic feeling. Even though things had definitely changed since then; they had all grown tremendously and been through so much with and without each other, they were back where they started. Sakura had to admit, that even though she was watching their backs then and even now, she knew that they each had their strong points, and it just so happened that they complimented each other perfectly. Naruto with resilience and courage, Sasuke with speed and determination, and herself with intelligence and levelheadedness, they each made up for what the other was lacking. They were a tripod, they were in a sense, perfect. That didn't mean that team 7 was without flaws, it had quite a few, probably more than any of the other genin teams. The one thing she could say about her team though that she knew was completely true, was that they would never give up on each other. Naruto and herself proved that time and time again with Sasuke, and Sasuke had also proved it, even though his was rather small. He didn't loose himself when he was with Orochimaru. He could have easily succumbed to the darkness, letting himself fully submerge within its temptation, but he had resisted, and he had come back to them.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted and Sakura looked up to see both Naruto and Sasuke looking at her, waiting for her to come along. She couldn't hold back the smile that formed on her lips. Even though her two teammates were stubborn, ill-fated, and downright bastards at times, she wouldn't trade them for anything. They were Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. They were Team 7. They were one.
"Coming," she said, before heading into the Uchiha district. She would give anything for everything to stay like it was at that very moment, but for some reason she felt like something was coming. Why do I feel like this is the calm before the storm?
Little did she know that Sasuke and even Naruto were thinking the very same thing at that moment.
[Reviews - 80]Chapter or Story
Table of Contents
- Text Size +
Chapter end notes: Sorry that the last two chapters have been fairly slow, but they were necessary. Even the best stories have to have filler chapters. I just didn't want to forget about plot holes and some of this stuff was pretty important. But, I can guarantee that the next chapter will have action and it will also be the beginning of the big arc of the story.