Chapter Fourteen
P.O.V. Sakura Haruno
"You have to go to the Waterfall Village?" Tsunade's confused voice reflected around my head as I stepped onto the old wooden porch of my house; we stood standing outside Kakashi's hospital room when he finally awoke. "But why?" I placed my hand on the doorknob of the only place that has offered me any type of comfort in the years I had been banished from the leaf village.
I shook my head willing the wayward thoughts to crawl far from within my reach just for a few hours, but I knew they would bootlessly remain pressed against my thoughts.
"There are a few things I have to do there before I can walk away." I gave Tsunade an answer before leaving to return to the village I raised from the chard ashes of Purgatory.
I took in a cooling deep breath as I pushed open the oak door, leading me right into my living room. There I saw the people I had called and requested to be home when I returned.
"Sakura!" Annistyn smiled seeing me standing in the doorway watching the large group that consisted of Dawn, Diem, Annistyn and the six returned members of the Nine who was my former team before they all were thought to be supposedly killed by the hands of reapers.
"Close the door!" Finn called waving his hands filled with sugary snacks, "Your letting all the bugs in!" A simple smile cracked along my lips as I did as requested.
"Where have you been?" Dawn immediately went to questioning my whereabouts.
"Yeah." Diem agreed, looking just as curious to know where I have been lurking the past day and a half.
"Screw that-" Piper said over the mixture of hyper voices, "-why did you call us all here?" She asked with an annoyed shake of her bright red hair. "I have a date in a couple hours, and I would like to be ready for it."
"You-?" I scoffed moving into the house, "-on a date?"
"Right!?" Lance belted out a hearty laughed, "Who in their right fucking mind would willingly-?!" Piper snapped her eyes onto Lance as she threw her hairbrush, striking him against the right side of his skull. "-Ow!? What the hell is your-?!"
"I am a charming, smart and beautiful woman!" Piper glared into him, "I am a catch! I am a snack, no, fuck that I am the whole damn entrée!"
"Yeah if by entrée you mean a frozen TV dinner." Diem muttered to himself with a quick eye roll.
"Did you say something!?" Piper snapped her wild fueled glare onto him, but Diem being well...Diem he sat upright and locked eyes with her.
"I said-" He clucked his tongue, "-your more of a TV dinner than a fucking entrée."
"What the hell does that mean!?" Piper screeched ringing my eardrums.
"It means you never look anything like your damn picture, your done in about five minutes and your just barely satisfying enough to be wanted again if desperate-"
"Alright-!" I called stepping in between the two as they jumped from the couch, claws at the ready. "-this is not why I called everyone here."
"Then why did you call this jackass here?!" Piper snapped never prying her eyes from Diem's tight face.
"Excuse me?!" Diem laughed, "Who the hell are you to say shit to me?! While I have been here helping Dawn keep this village running you have been whoring around fucking every guy that looks your way!"
"I'm going to kill you!" Piper growled moving to strike him, but I caught her arm.
"No-" I said, "-you are not." I finished as I pushed her back against the couch, "And you-" I turned to Diem, "-stop instigating her."
"I was not-!" Diem went to defend himself.
"Sit." I ordered, Diem puffed but did as told and went back to sitting in his worn in place on the couch.
"Thank you." Dawn breathed rubbing her temple, "They have been at each other's throats for hours."
"So-!" Lance called slouching back in his chair, "-don't get me wrong, I love watching the show every time we all come together but why are we all here again?"
"Yeah-" Finn agreed, "-and why isn't Carver and Raiden here?"
"Because they have nothing to do with this conversation." I answered, "They don't even know yet-"
"Know what?" Diem asked, "Are you pregnant?"
"Why is that your go to for everything?" Dawn sighed shaking her head.
"What?" Diem raised his hands up, "It could happen!"
"How?" Octavia laughed, "Sakura doesn't like people-"
"But she is a grown woman-" Diem waved at me, "-and have you seen her?! If she wanted that itch scratched, she wouldn't need to go far-"
"I am sure she wouldn't-" Piper muttered, "-Itachi would be here in five seconds if he-"
"Alright!" I growled out annoyed, questioning my life choices. "Everyone shut up or I will tie you all together again!"
"No!" Finn cried, "That was horrible!"
"What did you do to them?" Annistyn wondered looking around at all the panic-stricken expressions.
"No one could get along when we all got placed on a team together-" Amethyst filled Annistyn in, "-so Sakura tied us all together with her chakra ropes until we could get along."
"That's funny!" Annistyn giggled,
"It was not!" Amethyst shuttered at her memory of the event. "It was a dreadful time."
"Tell us why we are all here already!" Percy snapped looking up from his phone, "I have shit to do!"
"Yeah!" Annistyn and others agreed, I took in a deep breath as everyone settled down, I looked at all the faces that stared at me.
"The last day or so-" I started not really knowing how to say what needed to be said, "-I have been inside the Leaf Village-"
"Surprise-Surprise." Dawn looked at me with vexation as she crossed her arms over her chest, leaning against the couches back rest.
I chose to ignore her.
"-a spy from the Lock Village had been living inside their village collecting Intel on them, they needed me to break her." I completed my sentence.
"The Lock Village?" Dawn turned her interest peaked, "What the hell?"
"Yeah." I breathed, running my tongue over my lips. "Turns out they are not so meek like we were led to believe."
"So, what does this mean?" Diem questioned, "Are we going after them or...?"
"Uh-" I sighed; "-I haven't decided yet."
"Really?" Diem blinked astonished, "Why is that?"
"Because..."
"Has Tsunade been bugging you about taking over their Hokage position?" Dawn snapped reading my hesitated face. "That bitch-! She knows you just returned, and you need more time to-"
"She didn't hound me about the Hokage position-" I cut Dawn off, "-but I did-" It felt like all the air was being sucked out from the room, why did I feel so uneasy? "-offer to take over as their Commander."
"Wha..." Diem's lip's parted as his mind flat-lined.
"You did-" Dawn slightly chuckled, "-you did what now?" Her tone was incensed as she rose to her feet.
"You accepted a title inside the Leaf Village!?" Diem bounced back quickly as he pounced to his feet. "What the fuck Haruno!? We have been after you to take over as Commander here, you don't need to relocate-"
"I know." I said.
"You know?" Diem repeated my words, "You know what!?"
"That Dawn wishes to step down for me to take her place, but I don't want her to-"
"Who the fuck are you to tell me what to do!?" Dawn spat, "I am a grown woman; I can make my own decisions and I told you I wanted to step down for-"
"If you'll stop cutting me off and let me finish a sentence-" My tone began to seethe.
"Let you finish a sentence!?" Dawn laughed throwing her arms up, "What else do you have to say!? Why the fuck would you do this!?"
"I am so confused." Finn blinked.
"I understood-" Dawn breathed, "-that you were tired, you died and came back. The fact you didn't want to step back into being Commander I sucked it up and let you do your own thing-"
"This is your village-" Diem cut Dawn off, "-your home, you built this place and your standing there telling me you'd rather go over to that two-star village instead of retake leadership here-!?"
"Ok-" I snapped feeling an apoplectic flush sputter along my chest, breaking my white skin out into red patches as I normally did when I became incensed. "-I may no longer be the Commander of this village but don't forget who your fucking talking to, I will put you through that damn wall!"
"Why!?" Diem didn't back down, "Because I insulted that half-baked village-"
"Diem." I warned,
"Wow!" He laughed, "How the mighty have fallen."
"You can't do this!" Dawn shouted over our voices,
"First of all, I can do whatever the hell I want-" I replied, "-and it isn't like I am going to fall off the face of the earth, I will still be around-"
"Wait, you'll be living inside that village!?"
"Uh...yeah?" I said tilting my head, "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Sakura-" Annistyn got up from sitting on the floor, "Are you really going to leave and live in another village?" I turned to Annistyn, the look of sorrowful hurt inside her eyes made my heart clinch.
"I want you to come with me-" I began to say to her,
"Oh, hell no!" Dawn stepped in between Annistyn and I. "You're not taking Annistyn out of this village!"
"You don't get to speak for her, you're not her mother-" I snapped,
"Neither are you." Dawn cracked, dead silence filled the air around us as Dawn and I stared at each other.
"I know I'm not." I replied, "But I promised her mother I would do everything in my power to protect her-"
"So, running off towards another village and leaving Annistyn alone is what Isadora had in mind!?"
"I didn't want to die!" I shouted at Dawn, trying to pry my way into her head, "I didn't plan on losing my life and being used as a fucking chew toy for two years. But I did and I am not going to stand here and say I died solely bringing down the Reapers because I didn't, I wanted to save Tsunade and Naruto-"
"They abandoned you-!" Dawn breathed, "-how could you want-"
"Because I do-!" I snapped, "-I don't know why, and I don't care but I would die for them again."
"Do you really love them more than-"
"This isn't some contest!" I yelled at her, "Where I live isn't some trophy for you to flaunt. I did my job, I raised you to be the solider you are, and I shouldn't have to apologize for doing what I want after returning from being killed. I did what I set out to do, the Reapers are gone, and the Waterfall Village is still standing strong and can still stand without me-"
"I don't want to lead this fucking village!" Dawn snapped, "Why the hell would I want to willingly live inside this hell-"
"What the fuck does that mean?" I snapped feeling offended.
"It means this village is a fucking horrible place-"
"Then change it!" I said, "I handed you an already assembled village, all you had to do was not break it. If you don't like it than get off your ass and do something about it, I'm not going to always be around to hold your fucking hand and I thought you knew that since I was already killed!"
"I don't want to be here if you're not the Commander." Diem said, "You're the entire reason I put up with this shit."
"Then leave." I said, "I'm not forcing you to stay here. I trained you all, if you want to flap out of the nest than go ahead. I will find someone to lead this village but don't look at me as if I am the reason you're here because it shouldn't be. This is your life not mine; you do what you need to, and I'll do the same-"
"But-" Finn muttered; "-I wanted us all to be together."
"I know for a fact that you won't be happy in a village like the Leaf-" I said looking into his large color filled eyes. "-you want fast pace, up all night with a party around every corner and that isn't this village."
"Then why are you going there?"
"Because it's my home." I shrugged, the answer was so simple.
"They turned their back on you once-" Dawn said, "-what's to say they won't do it again?"
"I don't." I said honestly, "I won't know unless I give it a shot, but I know I am not happy here and I led this village for years and I trained inside the training grounds for so long. I did everything this village needed even if that meant doing everything I didn't want to. I am tired and now it's my turn to do what I want."
"But..."
"It's not like I am going to be gone." I smiled at Finn, "I'm only one call away, I can use my seals and be with you in a second."
"It won't be the same." Finn sighed, I weakly smiled at him.
"Change is hard." I found words to use but the truth was...I didn't love these people like I used too. I buried the Nine, pieces of my mind still didn't accept the fact they were alive and standing beside me. Dawn and Diem...I know now they would be ok without me. "I am proud of you all." I said, "We have come a long way." I laughed as tears filled my eyes.
"Yeah." Finn nodded getting up from his seat and pulled me into a hug. "We really have."
"Annistyn-" I breathed looking past Dawn, "-I'm not expecting you to uplift your life right here and now, think it over and give me a call. If you want to stay here inside the waterfall, I will understand." Annistyn slowly nodded her head but still looked so unsure of what to do. "But I have to go-"
"If you leave-" Dawn said, her face hard like concrete as she looked into my eyes. "-don't come back."
"That's how you want to play this?" I questioned her. "You would rather I forcefully stay inside a village-"
"You made this village!" Dawn snapped.
"I am not the person I was when I built this village." I said,
"I'll say." Dawn darkly laughed looking at me up and down.
"Careful which bridges you burn." I warned her.
"I know." Dawn nodded, "You taught me that, didn't you say you have to rush off and playhouse?"
"Dawn-" Diem and I said,
"I mean it." Dawn announced to the room, "If you leave Sakura, you will not be welcomed back, my soldiers will shoot to kill if your spotted anywhere near here."
"Careful what you wish for." I warned as wind collected around my body, I glanced over to Annistyn and smiled before shooting her a wink as I was completely engulfed inside a dome of refreshing wind and whipped away from the waterfall village.
----
P.O.V. Change: Naruto Uzumaki
I yawned, sitting up on my bed as I stretched my arms over my head. I groaned, falling back onto the mattress as another yawn placed itself on my lips. I blinked my heavy eyes trying to stir my sludgy brain awake.
"Good morning." Hinata smiled, lying beside me.
"Morning." I replied, moving onto my side as I pulled her into my arms. "How long have you been awake?"
"Not long, I just woke up." Hinata giggled as I kissed her neck.
"Mm..." I hummed feeling myself began to fall back asleep feeling her warm body against mine.
"We have to get up-" Hinata reminded me, "-we are going to be late for Lady Tsunade's meeting."
"Ugh!" I groaned rolling onto my back, "She is so old and pregnant, how can she even get up this early!?"
"She is the Hokage-"
"I know!" I sighed as I scratched my chest.
"I'm going to take a shower." Hinata rubbing her eyes, "We can't be late, you know how mad she gets when shinobi stroll in tarty."
"Yeah..." I sighed slowly sitting up, "...she is a monster. Do you even know why she is so adamant on everyone being at this meeting?" I wondered.
"No one knows." Hinata shrugged getting up from our bed, "I asked around and not one person I talked to has a clue why she called this village wide meeting. She even pulled guard duty from the gates; the black ops will be taking it over today while we are all there."
"I wonder what drama will unfold today." I sighed as Hinata nodded in agreement before headed to the bathroom. My stomach grumbled giving me all the reasons to get up, I stumbled into the kitchen still half asleep.
"Ugh!" I gagged as a fowl smelling odor hit my nose, I looked around holding my breath. What in the hell is that!? "Oh, the trash..." I muttered to myself, I was supposed to take it out last night, but I forgot too.
I sheepishly smiled remembering why I had gotten distracted, Hinata was changing clothes and well one thing led to another and the trash was never taken out. I sighed loudly annoyed with early morning chores as I pulled my trash out of the plastic can, I started the stupid long process of taking out the trash.
I walked out of the apartment, down the hallway and rode the elevator down, once outside the sun felt like it hounded in on me and eminently began to beat down on me, making me sweat. I quickly ditched the trash in the dumpster and moved back into the air-conditioned building.
"Hey!" I looked over my shoulder before opening my door. "Surprised to see your awake this early!" Raiden laughed.
"Yeah." I agreed with a sigh, "What are you doing up?"
"I am actually just getting home."
"Oh, that's right you had to stand watch last night."
"Yeah." Raiden sighed throwing his head back being his dramatic self. "Now I have to stay up for this damn meeting."
"Do you know what it's about?"
"Not a clue." Raiden shrugged, "I tried asking around and got babkas. You?"
"Same." I said, "Hinata tried too."
"Have you tried talking to Kakashi?" Raiden asked crossing his arms over his chest, glancing at his apartment door. "I heard he woke up?"
"Yeah." I nodded, "He did."
"Is he..." Raiden trailed off.
"From what Granny said-" I shifted feet; "-he is good."
"Just...good?"
"Yeah." I nodded, "Kakashi's memory is intact, he was confused at first when he first woke up, but it all came back to him. I think we got lucky and the jutsu on him didn't mess him up to bad."
"What did he say about Hanare?"
"Not much..." I recalled Kakashi confused stare as her name was mentioned. "...he knew of her, but he didn't seem to really know who she was...it was weird, and when he was told he was in a relationship with her that seemed to upset him. Then his blood pressure spiked and Tsunade made me leave as she tried to calm him down."
"Sakura did say Hanare's jutsu altered his perception of reality." Raiden shrugged, "Does Kakashi even know Sakura is alive?"
"Yes." I answered, "I might have said something to him and that is why he got so worked up..."
"I have a feeling shit it going to get weird." Raiden said, I nodded in agreement. "Well-!" He clapped his hands, "-I am going to take a shower and inhale some food before this damn thing, meet up before the meeting? We can all walk and sit together?"
"Sure." I smiled as we went into our separate homes.
----
"Wow!" I laughed as I took an open seat in the second to first row. "It looks like the entire village is here!" I gushed seeing how packed the arena was, Kiba had saved us seats.
"Thanks man!" Carver said plopping down beside him as I took a seat beside Sasuke with Hinata to my right.
"No problem!" Kiba blushed as he laughed, Raiden sat a large plastic bag in his lap filled with snacks and drinks.
"Damn." Sasuke breathed, pulling on his shirt. "It's really hot."
"At least we don't have to be on guard duty tonight in this heat!" I smiled making Hinata giggle, I looked past Hinata seeing TenTen and Neji who were holding hands! I tapped Hinata on the shoulder, leaned in and whispered: "When did that happen?"
"A couple days ago." Hinata grinned, "TenTen has been over the moon all week!" I glanced back at Neji, in my eyes Neji was in a lot of different ways like Sakura. He never expressed his emotions and when he did it felt like magic, my eyes pooled into my lap feeling a wave of sadness.
I missed Sakura...
"Woo!" I looked over and laughed, seeing Guy and Lee in the first row jumping up and down looking so excited. I wondered if Guy knew why we were all collected like this. I glanced around at the loaded seats, Kakashi was nowhere to be seen. Maybe Tsunade allowed him to skip this meeting since he just got out of the hospital today.
"There's Lady Tsunade!" Voice cheered making me turn my focus from my racing brain towards the ground floor of the arena where a stage had been assembled. In front of that stage were rows of metal chairs, there sat the senseis who held the most seniority along with members of the council. I brushed over the group; my eyes slammed to a halt seeing the familiar silver hair. I grinned wide seeing Kakashi was here!
"Hello-!" Tsunade spoke on stage through a microphone through the cheering and applause. "-I am sure most of you want this meeting to get over with so you can go and enjoy your night off!" I laughed because she was right! "So, I won't delay you any longer. As most of you are aware of, I have decided to begin the process of stepping down from Hokage of this village-" Sad cries and 'boos' echoed through the arena. "-yes, I know, how will you all go on?"
"This taste funny." Raiden muffled looking at the half-unwrapped cupcake in his hand.
"Then don't eat it." Carver said beside him.
"But-" Raiden blinked, "-that's a waste of food."
"It might be expired."
"So?"
"It could make you sick."
"But I don't want to throw it away." Raiden muttered glaring at the baked sweet in his hand. "That's a waste of food."
"It will make you sick-" Carver said trying to take the goodie from Raiden, but he successfully kept it away.
"No!" Raiden whined, "It's mine!"
"It will kill you!"
"You don't know that!"
"Neither do you! Now give it to me-"
"No! What doesn't kill me makes me stronger!" Raiden sang.
"Fine!" Carver huffed after getting a round of hushed tones telling them to quiet down. "When your shitting your brains out tonight, do not call me-"
"Why would I call you for that?" Raiden wondered.
"I don't know-!" Carver snapped, "-for toilet paper, I hope you run out mid wipe."
"Your being ugly and that doesn't look good on you-"
"Shut up!" TenTen hushed towards the two shinobi beside me, I smiled watching them puff air from their lungs but settled down as Raiden continued to eat the cupcake.
"When I took over Hokage for this beautiful village, I won't lie...I had no clue what to do and I didn't have any guidance. So, to give the next Hokage an upper hand in leading this village into the future I have decided to start a new tradition. An apprentice will be chosen to shadow me for one year, that person will learn how to manage and lead this village until the time I see fit for them to take over as Hokage."
"I think this is smart." Kiba said kicking his feet up on the chair in front of him.
"Yeah." TenTen agreed, "Randomly throwing in a person and expecting them to just know how to be the leader of our village is kind of dumb, this could be really good for our village."
"Yeah." Hinata nodded.
"Without further ado-" Tsunade smiled, "-I give you the next in line for Hokage of the Leaf Village, Kakashi Hatake!" I don't know what happened first, my mouth dropping to the floor or my legs pulling me to my feet.
"What!?" I gasped.
"Well-" Raiden said, "-that was unexpected."
"I thought Kakashi didn't want to be a Hokage." Kiba said with a hard piece of candy rolling around inside his mouth.
"He-He didn't!" I breathed, my heart having sunken into the bottom stomach.
I was hoping to hear my name be called out...
"Maybe Hanare's jutsu did mess with him?" Carver shrugged.
"I think he will be fantastic leader of this village." Raiden grinned.
"Yeah-" I sighed, turning back to the stage as Kakashi rose against the waves of applause and cheering. "-of course, he will be." Kakashi stood beside Tsunade on her right as she continued to speak. I couldn't deny the pride I felt for my sensei, I knew Kakashi would be a great Hokage but underneath the joy I felt for him I still felt a gritty disappointment settling in.
"There is one more announcement I must make before you all are excused-" Tsunade quickly said, "-I don't want Kakashi's thunder here to be stolen but this cannot wait-"
"Hm?" Raiden hummed,
"What else is there to say?" Guy wondered from below,
"I'm not sure Sensei." Lee responded.
"During the last attack on our village-" Tsunade closed her eyes for a split moment, "-we lost two great shinobi. Kaito Fujima, head of our regular forces and Aoi Aiuchi the head of our black op's division. These were two of our best ninjas, since we lost them many of our departments have been scrambling to stay afloat and so, I have decided to not replace their roles. But instead their jobs will be combined into a Commander title-"
"Well damn." Shikamaru sat up, "Who the hell would want to take over a job like that?"
"What do you mean?" I asked,
"A Commander title-" Carver filled in, "-is a lot of work. That person will oversee every shinobi of our village."
"Oh."
"That was Sakura's job-" Raiden added, "-you remember how busy she was?"
"Yeah." I recalled her always being on the move. "She always had a lot of work to do."
"Correct." Raiden nodded, "Whoever gets stuck into that job, I feel sorry for that poor bastard."
"Yeah." Kiba and Shikamaru nodded in agreement.
"-which is why this announcement could not wait." Tsunade said, "-she needed to be sworn into the village as soon as possible so she can take over as our Commander and get things back into working order."
"She?" TenTen blinked,
"Please-" A large smile blossomed along Tsunade's face, "-help me introduce and welcome back Sakura Haruno-" My heart fluttered as it rolled inside my throat, wind pulled through my hair as I felt the air on my arms stand up. I watched as wind collected onto the stage beside Tsunade's left side. "-Commander of the Leaf Village!" My body moved faster than my mind could. I was on my feet and standing in front of the first row, my hands gripped the rails as my eyes were wide almost feeling like they were going to pop out of my skull.
"What!?" My voice called out as I stared at Sakura. "Did-Did I just hear that right!?" I turned to Hinata who jumped down to my side.
"You did." She breathed; tears pooled into her eyes as she looked at me. "Sakura is..."
"She is our Commander?" Raiden asked as Carver leaned against the railing. "What-?"
"That was a short retirement." Carver commented as Tsunade swore Sakura into the leaf village.
"How-When-Did you know!?" I breathed turning to Raiden and Carver.
"No!" Raiden quickly shook his head, his mouth still hanging open as my head spun. "I-I had no idea she was...I thought she has been inside the Waterfall Village!"
"She has been." Carver said,
"You-You knew!?" I gasped seeing his relaxed expression.
"Calm down-" Carver chuckled, "-I have only known for a couple hours."
"But why-"
"I don't know." Carver shrugged, "Tsunade told me."
"Why is Sakura here?" TenTen breathed shaking her head.
"Tsunade didn't give much detail-" Carver answered, "-all she said was Sakura offered to become Commander here."
"She offered?" Raiden asked, "But that doesn't...what!? Sakura turned down the fucking Hokage title! Why would she offer to simply be a Commander here?" I turned to Sakura as she held her hand up agreeing to protect and serve in the name of his village.
Sakura didn't wear her normal outfit that I was used to. Sakura's long hair was pulled up and out of the way. She wore black boots with matching pants tucked into them, a long sleeve shirt with the sleeves pulled up to her elbows due to the heat, the armor on her chest molded against her body perfectly.
"I'm built for war-" Her words breathed through me, "-not much else."
I understood why she would agree to being a commander and not the hokage, the only question I didn't understand is why wasn't she inside the waterfall village taking over as their commander again?
What had happened that pushed Sakura in our direction?
"Welcome home-" Tsunade announced never removing her eyes from Sakura, "-Commander Haruno." I felt my ear to ear smile flourish as I watched Tsunade and Sakura hug, was this finally it? Had Sakura finally come home to us?
Tsunade whispered something into Sakura's ear before turning to the microphone and excusing us all to go enjoy our day off. I watched as everyone gave one last round of clapping before getting up and began to march their way to sweet brisk freedom.
I searched the area but blinked confused, Sakura and Tsunade where gone.