Leaves of Konoha

Leaves of Konoha
Sakura Haruno

The return of the Uchiha brothers was an impact felt by more than just the two young men themselves. Many didn’t know what to make of Itachi. They’d believed for years that the eldest Uchiha brother was an evil, corrupted soul. Even the letter written long ago by the Third Hokage did little to ease their fear at his return. However, Itachi soon vanished from public view, and when neither hide nor hair was seen of him, they quickly forgot about him. Especially in light of the Uchiha brother that remained in view.

Sasuke found that the universal acceptance he’d so hated before was a sore loss. It was one thing to have something and scorn it, but something altogether different to have it completely taken away. If they feared Itachi, they despised Sasuke. It didn’t help matters at all that the brother he’d forsaken and betrayed everyone and everything for was not a villain after all, but a hero on an impossible, yet somehow achieved mission.

To be sure, there were still plenty of girls around willing to live and breathe the youngest Uchiha’s air, but they were as vapid, empty headed, and annoying as ever. And though Sakura was as in love with him as ever before, her girlish crush had been tempered by reality, and in truth, she distrusted Sasuke greatly. She knew, that despite his almost warm words at his defection, he cared not at all for her as she could desire. And if the day should come that Sasuke would finally take a bride, and repopulate the bloodline once more, she was unsure if she would be willing to be his wife. Given, of course, that she was even asked. But the was the only female even remotely close to him, and she was a strong shinobi and a viable woman. She was the most likely choice.

It was more than unlikely that Itachi would ever take a wife, ever sire children. He had been too deeply scarred by his adolescence and young adulthood. To him, the Uchiha name was anathema, even if it was his own. Hence it would fall to Sasuke to bring more of the Sharingan to life. Sasuke and whomever he might choose to wed, or breed with.

As for Sakura, there was love, oh yes, and plenty of desire. Sasuke had only grown more handsome in the passing of time. But he was still cold to a fault, and arrogant beyond belief. Though Sasuke had permitted her to grow closer to him since his return, and she knew it was mostly a façade to bulwark himself against the low voltage hostility that surrounded him, a once missing nin and member of Sound, she was hesitant to accept what could possibly, now at least, be offered. She knew now that he would never love her, not even one tenth as much as she loved him. And in her growing wisdom, she knew there would never, ever be a woman alive that would catch Sasuke’s interest, and his heart. Unbeknownst to himself and a particular other, Sasuke had already given his heart. It was no longer his to reclaim, even if he was of such a mind.

Sakura knew Sasuke would never love her as a husband should. And that one day, there would be heartbreak and infidelity in the future of whatever woman was rash enough to become Lady Uchiha. Though from the looks of things, Sasuke might never find his hearts desire, unknown or not, the day would come when Sasuke would seek to assuage the natural desires of his young body. If Sasuke couldn’t have Naruto, he would find another. Oh, Sasuke would never invite anyone else into his home, his life, his bed, but he would, more than likely, fuck them.

And Sakura knew she deserved better. They all did. All three of them. Should Sakura take Sasuke up on a possible proposal, it would terribly wound all of them. And there had been more than enough of that.

If truth be known, before Sasuke returned, Sakura had been very tempted to take matrimony’s path. Oh, Naruto hadn’t asked her, but he was likely to, and she had been more than tempted to accept. But she had decided against it, for the very reasons she decided to refuse Sasuke’s suit, should he ever offer.

She didn’t love Naruto enough. Not like she did Sasuke, not like she should, were she to be his wife. While it was intoxicating to know Naruto would love her deeply, and would remain faithful all his life to her, he deserved better. And Naruto, as ignorant of his own heart as Sasuke, could find happiness elsewhere.

Sakura knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Naruto was bisexual. Having lost his virginity at the tender age of thirteen, thanks to Jiraiya patronage, and had further honed his lovemaking skills with other women, including Sakura herself, and a variety of men. She suspected that Sasuke was completely gay. There wasn’t a single woman or girl, that Sakura was aware of, that interested Sasuke sexually. She knew, as did all of Konoha, that the youngest Uchiha had spent considerable time in Orochimaru’s bed, as well as other men of Sound, and that Sasuke found women, enmass to be a bore. She would even go so far as to believe that the female of the species revolted him.

No, Sasuke bedded only men. And while the only one he wanted in his bed now, no matter what he told himself, was Naruto himself, one day, Sasuke would find another partner. And Sakura did not want to be his wife when that day occurred. Especially should it finally be the blonde shinobi that fell victim to his charms.

No, both her teammates meant far too much to her for her to risk the devastating repercussions of that possible day.

So when Lee asked her out for the nth time, she finally smiled weakly, and said yes.

And never looked back again.

She did however, discover an odd and satisfying friendship with Itachi Uchiha. Though he’d been cleared of all charges, someone had to check up on him in an official capacity, and Naruto did not count. It started out as a weekly thing, a mission really, or rather, a charge. Itachi’s mission had been taxing, on his body as well as his soul. Worst of all, his eyes were failing.

As a member of the Akatsuki, he’d had to rely heavily on them. He’d used the Mangekyou Sharingan almost every day. After all, he’d had to keep up appearances, and as a villain in an evil organization, he’d had to make his ‘compatriots’ believe he killed freely. The fact of the matter was that Itachi had taken very few lives after his mother had died by his hand. The act of killing revolted him. Torture, murder, and random mayhem, while being the bread and butter of the Akatsuki, were not at all to his tastes, to his ethics. Hence, by the time he reached Konoha, he was almost completely blind. And his body hadn’t fared much better. He’d been sorely wounded during the battles with Orochimaru and Madara, and his chakra pathways were fragile and prone to failure.

In all fairness, though Itachi had resigned from the shinobi world because he couldn’t bear to be one, the fact of the matter remained that he was quickly becoming incapable of being one.

However, Tsunade wasn’t a master healer for nothing, and Sakura was well on her way in surpassing her mentor. Tsunade, for all her artificial youth, was growing older, and Sakura was in her prime. The young woman had been in on all of Itachi’s procedures from the onset.

They were able to reverse some of his ocular damage, but Itachi’s days of the Mangekyou were severely limited. Not that he planned to ever use it again. As for his body, he didn’t care. As long as he was healthy enough to tend his gardens, play his mother’s piano, and paint his sometimes horrific paintings, all was well.

Another unpleasant surprise had been the state of the Uchihan coffers. By the time the old, corrupt council had been replaced, they were just about depleted. Of course, those imprisoned council members properties were seized, by the time Itachi was done, there was little left for reimbursement for the stolen Uchihan monies.

The family members of said councillors, innocent and unknowing of their patriarch’s crimes, would be out on the streets. Thus, most of the money from the auction proceeds went to the new housing of women and children.

Money was scarce for the Uchiha’s.

Sasuke was going to be alright. Once his sentence was done, he would return to missions, and be able to pay for his keep. But Itachi was another story. Even if he were publicly accepted enough to perform, he would rather die. If he never saw another citizen, outside the very few he allowed into his life now, it would be too soon. His music was too sacred to him. Being too blind to read sheet music anymore, all he had in his repertoire were the songs he remembered his mother teaching him. And the idea of sharing those with others was repugnant. Likewise, his paintings were too strange, often too grotesque, to appeal to the masses. Itachi’s art was simply a vent, an outlet for the torments of his scarred soul.

Sakura had been going to see Itachi with Naruto for over two months before she discovered that Itachi was already being taken care of. He’d been given a generous stipend upon his return. After all, it was in the line of duty that his body and his mind had become so fragile. Itachi was well aware of this, but did nothing. He had no desire to haggle with shopkeepers, deal with a landlord, and all the others life entailed. He just wanted to live quiet and alone.

Naruto had bought his house, during the auctions. At first, the blonde had wanted to refuse any payments out of Itachi’s stipend. But generous as it was, it truly would only cover the basics. All the rent went into a fund that supplied the finest art supplies, upkeep on the house and piano, and little things that meant so much to many, but so little to Itachi. But it made Naruto feel better about everything.

Not long after Sakura learned the true state of Itachi’s estate, she took over the ordering of his kitchen. Only the freshest vegetables and meats were to be bought, and a lad from the village was paid to bring them to the front door and leave them there. Itachi would get them only after the boy was long out of sight. Once a week a girl would come to clean.

At first Itachi was outraged. It was the only time Naruto and Sakura saw him passionate about anything. But Sakura was inflexible. Feathers ruffled, on the days that the cleaning girl arrived, Itachi betook himself to the garden, and refused to come in until she was done and gone.

But days passed, and things fell into place, and little habits and traditions were born. And over time, Sakura began to see in Itachi the things that Naruto apparently did. But it made her curious.

Naruto had been Itachi’s strongest advocate, not that this particular Uchiha had needed one, from the beginning. As far as the kunoichi knew, before Itachi returned to Konoha, Naruto too was a believer in his atrocities. But apparently, that was not the case. Though Naruto refused to explain, citing it being Itachi’s business, she was forced to accept it.

However, Sundays, the day she went to check up on him, quickly became a favorite day. Itachi, for all his reticence, could be witty and engaging when he chose to be. And he found Sakura refreshing enough to be so with her often.

And so Sakura’s growing up was shaping up to be pleasant, interesting and quite fulfilling. She had her work at the hospital, her now infrequent lessons with Tsunade, her friendships, her family, and now her weekly visits with Itachi.

But as pleasant as she found her life becoming, she knew all was not well in her little world. Naruto, for all his skill and maturity, was not as he should be, of that she was convinced. Since the return of the Uchiha’s, he’d become somewhat distant, and subtly discontent. She discounted it being Itachi, as a very close association had sprung between the two men. She knew Naruto visited the eldest Uchiha far more often than she did. No. Sakura was convinced it was because of Sasuke. And the raven himself was of vital concern to her as well. His reintegration into Konohan society had not been smooth. She found great irony in the fact that Sasuke had always hated the attention and unilateral acceptance in his life before. But now that it was gone, she knew the youngest Uchiha was sorely pressed to be glad. Especially since the one person closest to Sasuke had virtually taken himself out of the equation.

Convinced as she was of what things should be between Sasuke and Naruto, it was obvious that a balance was missing. And though both men were her ex teammates, in Shinobi society, ex teammates were like family.

Something would have to be done, if only she knew what, and how.