Someday You Will be Loved

A/N: Repost. First, I owe all those who read this story an apology. I had promised that I would have a chapter out by the beginning of August, but real life tends to intrude upon the best-laid plans. There were family problems, a death in my family, a vacation to finally see my mom who is half a continent away, and I graduated university, which meant tons of prep to finish graduate school. So I’ve been a busy bee, and just got time the past few days to even sit still for a while.

Anyway, only this and the epilogue to go. Chapter 7 might have to be broken into two due to its length, but we’re there! Almost done! So, thanks to all those who have reviewed, faved, alerted, or messaged me. It makes me giddy while reminding me that I have people waiting on an update.

Also, I have left out all the fighting that should be in the attempted takeover of Konoha. My fighting scenes are…well…they suck. I tried. I failed. So, the battle will be alluded to, but I’m skipping it. If I hadn’t written myself into that corner, this chapter probably would have been out a few days ago.

Blanket disclaimer in the first chapter.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Someday You Will Be Loved: Chapter 7”


"But I can't spell it out for you..."

“So what you’re telling me is that we played right into their hands.”

“Yes’m.”

Tsunade glared at the rude redhead in her office, comparing him more and more to Naruto every time he opened his big mouth. No wonder Sakura seemed to like him so much. He was Naruto with a different body—fierce, loyal, friendly and joking.

“I have no idea where to go from here, though,” she muttered to herself, sinking further into her chair. Shikamaru shook his head from his place near the doors as well.

Sounds of the end of the battle outside were filtering into the office, making each of the ANBU surrounding the Hokage jumpy. Some of the best of the village were centered in this room, and had been for days now. Once the full scope of Danzou’s plans had been figured out, they had reacted as quickly as possible, heading off the main attack on the village. But not every traitor was able to be caught in that first sweep, leaving around one hundred ninja still trying to infiltrate the village and kill off those who still held power.

The fighting had been fierce, as they had expected. After all, Danzou had trained many of the ROOT members himself for this occasion, and he had the remainder of Sound’s forces to back his own. They hadn’t stopped when confronted with the fact that Kabuto and Danzou were dead, the puppets of the shadow organization all jailed or executed.

But in the end, Konoha had won. A few were still running around, trying to escape or create some trouble for the Konoha nin that were attempting to take them down, but civilians were already moving around, milling about town and trying to get any damage taken care of so that life could continue on. Almost a week of fighting for the sovereignty of the village would be erased soon, as if the coup had never even happened.

Bouncing back was easier than normal for civilians in a ninja village.

Shikamaru still couldn’t believe they had even attempted it, or even believed it might have worked. The entire thing seemed utterly stupid, now that he really thought about it. As did the idea that Danzou and Sasami maintained that the order had come from the Sandaime. Tsunade had searched out the order herself, and found that, upon reading the scroll, that no such order was ever presented. Sure, it explained a lot about the council’s own secret subterfuge, but… never did the Sandaime give Danzou such power.

But he had always been closer to Orochimaru than Tsunade and Jiraiya, and the Godaime was sure that Kabuto’s presence in Fire meant that the Snake Sannin had to have had a hand in the early planning of the coup. Which left them wondering about support of the Akatsuki organization early on, something that no longer mattered considering that the organization had been dead for years, falling when Sasuke and Naruto took out Pein and Madara.

Madara. Someone else whose involvement had not been fully understood. He had the motive, the means, everything to give the reason, but…this would be way too many people used to power having to share the decision-making authority. In Shikamaru’s opinion, this never worked out very well. Too many alphas in a group tended to lead to disaster.

So, there had to have been someone leading it all, and his money was on Orochimaru or Madara. But the documents weren’t there to explain their involvement; the evidence was wiped out throughout the years by very paranoid men. While there were dates and places of meetings, known associations between many of them, no clear line of authority could be found. Which left Danzou taking the brunt of the blame.

ROOT had been disbanded, but they scattered quickly. Most of them were apprehended early on, due to Sasami’s information on the locations of their fall-back positions. The council, Danzou’s ranks, and even some ANBU had been cleared out of the ranks, everyone being separated into the categories of ‘loyal to the Hokage’ and ‘loyal to Danzou.’ The battle, now, was over, the information in their hands, and everything seemed to be closing up rather nicely.

Except, Shikamaru still hadn’t figured out who funded the operation.

And Sakura was still gone.

Which was why they were in the Hokage’s office at this ungodly hour, discussing Yamato’s recent information and how they could get her back into Konoha safely. He was sure, like the Godaime, that Sakura knew who had financed the operation, and that that information would lead them into another conflict. But they didn’t know for sure yet, as Sakura wasn’t here to tell them.

The revelation of Sakura’s whereabouts and her real reason for being gone had made a lot of people incredibly happy. Knowing that one of your good friends wasn’t really a missing nin could do that, he presumed. He had always had his suspicions, of course. Not much got past him.

That didn’t mean he got it, though. Why was she still there? What was going on in her head, keeping the last piece of vital information in her hand? Why do it?

Who did it?

The question and all the information swirled in his head, and he knew that only one person held the key to complete the puzzle. He hoped she hurried home, or that a team hurried to get her, because unsolved puzzles were troublesome. They brought worry and anxiety.

Something he didn’t need, seeing as he really needed to be with his wife right now.

“-did you even hear me?”

Shikamaru shook himself out of his reverie, opening his eyes to see Ino hovering above him, worried blue searching his face.

“Yeah, woman, I heard you. Shouldn’t you be home?”

She grinned.

“Nah. Chouji’s mom has the baby under control, I’m sure. Besides, if I can’t be with them when they go to get Forehead, I’ll at least help plan for it.”

Shikamaru grinned back.

“You don’t even know anything about the area, Ino.”

There was a loud crack, and everyone’s eyes sped to the Hokage. She had Naruto’s head down on the desk, most likely put there using her super-strength. A huge fissure spread throughout the wood, radiating from the shocks of blonde hair atop the desk.

“Moron!”

“But baa-chan—“

“No buts, baka! You don’t have my title yet! Listen to me, for all that’s holy! You’ll get yourself killed if you just charge in there. Gaara has done plenty of reconnaissance on the Kazedama, since they are on the edge of Kaze no Kuni. These people might not be shinobi, but they’re dangerous!”

The office went quiet. It was another reminder of what she had put herself into, who she had willingly joined to save them from extra trouble.

“But if they’re not shinobi, then—“

“Naruto…” Kakashi’s voice was stilted, almost silent in the droning ringing of everyone’s ears, “they are dangerous. Before Haruno Rika died, she gave us quite a bit of information on her family.”

“And she was a fighter herself. Sakura’s mom trained both of us girls when we were younger, teaching us some…less than orthodox moves to use in combat.”

Naruto just gaped, blood running from the cut on his head down by the O his mouth made. His face continued to contort, forming caricatures that would have been comical in any other situation, ending in a scrunched-up mess.

“But Sakura-chan’s kaa-chan wasn’t a shinobi, Ino. She couldn’t have trained you.”

Tsunade and Ino both sighed, the Hokage rubbing her forehead.

“No, she wasn’t, baka.” Tsunade left herself fall back into her chair, abandoning her hold on Naruto. “She was a trained assassin for her family. How else would she have died helping protect Konoha from Akatsuki? And Haruno-san gave us plenty of information on her family, stating that they were responsible for her husband’s unexplained death and many of the weird things that had happened in her and Sakura’s life.”

His face scrunched again, and he started to ask another question but was beaten to it by Sai.

“Like what, Hokage-sama?”

“Different things.”

Everyone was quiet, but Sasuke stepped a little away from the window, turning to face the rest of the shinobi assembled in the office.

“You mean the piano. The jewelry. The money that would mysteriously appear in their bank accounts. The new equipment Sakura would get, not knowing who had given it to her. Those things, right?”

Everyone stared at the sharingan user.

“What? I did listen when she talked, you know,” he muttered, cursing. “She was my teammate, too.”

“Yes, Sasuke. The Kazedama family never got over the betrayal they felt. Especially since they hated ninjas. They made their presence known.”

“Tha’ would mean they knew she was in Aisen, too. Got packages all th’ time, always complainin’ that someone knew ‘er better then she knew herself. As a matter o’ fact, that katana she carries everywhere was a gift from ‘er benefactor, as she called ‘im.”

They all stared at Reno, who had been forgotten in the ensuing discussion. They hadn’t been able to track her, but these people had?

“Why, though, baa-chan? Who sends stuff to someone they hate? And who hates ninjas?”

Everyone was quiet, until Shikamaru suddenly sat straight up, his face etched into a portrait of surprise and disgust.

“Who would hate ninjas, unless…”

Awareness began to show on all of their faces, as the true reason for the Kazedama family’s interference became clear.

“Oh, God,” Tsunade muttered, her hands clenching on the table. Her face blanched, all color leaving it. She had never heard the name before, but that didn’t mean anything. After all, she didn’t know half of the Akatsuki member’s names before they began to give the village trouble over Naruto.

She stood, gaining her strength to shout out orders. “Sasuke, Naruto, Kakashi, Sai—all of you are to leave immediately. Yamato is already in the area, and I believe you know how to contact him. I would suggest you hurry. Shikamaru, you start looking through the archives. I’m sure Ino and some of the others can help you. Look through everything that hasn’t been opened in a while. It won’t have been a recent entry, I’m sure.”

“Baa-chan, am I missing something—“

“Baka! Get packed, go! Before they leave the damn city and go somewhere we can’t follow!”

The four men hurried, with one blonde lagging a bit behind as he tried to figure out what everyone was so surprised about.

“Ne, Ne, Sasuke-teme, where can they take her that we can’t get her?”

He shot Naruto a look.

“Where do you think, dobe? Cloud. The only country we don’t have some sort of agreement with.”

“I still don’t get it.” Naruto rubbed his head.

Kakashi stopped, turning to face the only moron on his team. His one eye was gleaming, adrenaline pumping through his veins.

“Think, Naruto. Who hates ninja from a nin village?”

His face was blank, the little hamster no longer trying to turn the cogs. They had gone beyond his point of understanding, or it had been too much information for him to handle. He was more the action type, not the sit-around-and-talk type. Sakura was in trouble. They should go save her. Who cared about all this extra bull?

And then Sasuke added, “Who do we ANBU hunt, moron?”

And Naruto’s face cleared as if his brain had finally caught up to everyone else’s.

“Then why are we standing here! Let’s go get Sakura-chan!”


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Take time to realize that I'm on your side..."

Sakura’s sleep was interrupted by the rustling of clothing as people ran down the hallway, shouts and curses coming from her uncle’s study far down the hall, and a clicking sound.

She woke to two faces, scared and teary in their innocence.

“Akira? Misaki? What’s wrong? Where’s your mother?”

Two adolescent lumps jumped into her bed, huddling close to her, even as the shadows near her bedroom window shifted and changed, allowing her to see Nanao-san by the window. Her hair was matted and tousled, her robe barely covering her sleepwear.

“I am sorry, Rika-chan. I needed to get the children further from the noise, and I felt your room to be the best choice.”

Sakura just nodded, watching as her aunt approached the large western-style bed. The little light from the night outside let Sakura see the bruising on her aunt’s face, right around her left eye. Rage welled in the ninja, but she tapped it down, hoping to use it later.

“He did that?”

Nanao merely fluttered a hand, sitting near her daughter’s lump under the blankets and rubbing Misaki’s back.

“I am not sure what he and Jin were planning, but it has turned sour. He is in a foul mood tonight.” She turned away, just for a second. “We are now locked in here. He followed me, unfortunately. I will try to assure that you are not punished for my transgression, Rika-chan.”

Sakura shook her head, not knowing what to say.

The sounds continued on outside, and Sakura activated a small jutsu that would amplify it so that she could hear what her uncle was shouting. He was obviously upset, and they were…she still couldn’t hear it all. Something about a failure, and Jin’s own life being in danger.

Her uncle was threatening Jin. What was going on?

She could easily pick the lock and make her way down to her uncle’s office, or at least closer to it, but she was afraid to leave them alone. This small bit of family had become precious to her so quickly, and if she left the room they might share in her uncle’s displeasure. It wasn’t a matter of her not being able to fight him, but whether or not he would take his anger out on them. She had to protect them.

Sniffling distracted her from her eavesdropping, and she rubbed her own hand on Misaki’s head, trying to comfort the girl. Akira was scared, but he was behaving admirably, putting on a brave front like most boys his age would. He has thrown off the covers already, sitting up by her and merely fiddling with his pajama top’s buttons. Sakura had no doubt that he would jump up and try to protect the females if someone barged into the room.

He reminded her of a young Sasuke, so innocent yet tortured by life.

“Rika-chan, I…”

“Nanao-san?”

Her aunt stumbled over her words, her mouth opening and closing several times. This was the first time Sakura had ever seen her elegance, her calm demeanor falter, and it only added to the feeling of wrongness bubbling in her stomach.

“I…do you remember our conversation last week? At the antique shop?”

Sakura nodded, not trusting her voice.

Nanao’s eyes looked haunted, as if the decision she was about to make was too big for her tiny body. Fear and acceptance, weariness, was written on her face and in the lines about her eyes. She looked ten times older than her age at that moment, and Sakura wondered just what type of life the woman must have led to have such emotion bottled up inside her.

“I…yes, Sakura. Yes.”

Sakura’s own green eyes widened, her breath whooshing out of her open mouth in one large exhalation. A feeling of lightness grew inside her, fighting with the doom she felt in her stomach. The two feelings were colliding, fighting to win over her spirit.

Freedom.

Nanao-san, her aunt, had just granted her the wish for freedom. She could now try to take it herself instead of waiting for a rescue team, but…it wasn’t all so good, either. She had three people now to protect, even if Nanao-san could fight a little. And both her uncle and Jin were skilled fighters, whom she would have to take on while protecting them. Because they were the type of men who would not even flinch at using an innocent child, even one of their own, to protect themselves.

“Are you sure?” was her whisper.

Her aunt nodded, her eyes and face draining of fear, replacing it with a fierce determination that Sakura had seen in herself…and her mother.

“Rika was right, all those years ago. Nothing is worth this, not anymore. I’m tired of fear, tired of hatred.”

Sakura nodded, looking at Akira. His attention was on his mother, this person he had never seen before. Misaki had also risen out of the mound of blankets, listening closely to her mother and cousin converse.

“Mommy? What do you mean?”

Nanao was silent, staring at her daughter.

“Mommy?”

“Misaki-chan?” Sakura started, drawing the girl’s attention. “You’re going to come live with me, ok? Somewhere far from here, where there is no yelling, no strange men in the house. It’s not as grand, or as pretty as you’re house, but…”

The silence was cut by Akira’s slight yelp and the shifting of the blankets as he threw himself at Sakura, hugging her tightly. Misaki’s eyes teared up, glassy and reflecting the little moonlight in the room back at Sakura. Her small head bobbed up and down as she claimed she didn’t care about the dolls, about the clothes, about the horses, about her father.

They sat huddled, hugging each other.

“I can take my violin?”

Nanao-san and Sakura giggled quietly, nodding.

The room was silent in the darkness, and soon the children had drifted off, whispering of what Konoha would be like, what living away from Niigata would be like. Their fantasies were nothing near the truth, but Sakura let them be. Nanao just watched over them, calmly smiling and letting them think up absurd ideas of quiet, and children playing in the neighborhood they would live in, hoping that their sleep would be unmolested for one night.

She soon drifted off, too, slumping into an uncomfortable position near the foot of the bed, snoring quietly. Her hand stayed on Misaki, though, moving from her back down to her leg, almost as if she had to stay in contact with them during her sleep to know they had not gone anywhere.

Sakura, herself, started slipping in and out of consciousness, her life of relative leisure not giving her a chance to exercise her shinobi arts. She had grown used to sleeping a good amount each night, and the drowsiness was catching up to her. She could hear noises, could hear people running about the estate, but she continued to rest against the headboard, not even thinking about it.

Until she heard a loud boom.

She sat up straight, eyes flitting about the room. She could hear Jin and her uncle yelling at each other, and what sounded like…

Was it?

She sniffed the air, and knew she was correct. She smelled blood, a lot of it. But she didn’t move, hoping that business in the office would continue on without disturbing them. She should already see a little light from the approaching dawn outside, and daytime would make everything so much easier, she thought—

Until her door burst open.

The light was flicked on as Nanao jumped up, literally leaping off of the bed in her fright at the loud noise. The children were slower to wake, only registering the light that flooded the room and the sudden movement that had them behind their cousin. Sakura’s reflexes weren’t terribly out of practice, especially when woken up like that.

In the light she could see her aunt’s face and realized the situation was much worse than she had thought. She heard Misaki gasp, Akira emit some sort of inhuman growl, and she herself gasped. The entire left side of Nanao’s head was covered in blood and bruises, making her look like some ghostly apparition come to haunt the trio on the bed.

“What are you doing in here?”

Jin’s growl startled the woman, who backed up to the wall near the large bed. Sakura stiffened, reflexively moving away from the threat before stopping herself. The children were behind her, and if she moved away, well, there was no telling what he would do. She held her ground, staring at her fiancé.

Her uncle moved into the room soon after, his mouth gaping uncharacteristically as he took in the sight before him.

“What the hell is going on here?! I don’t have this huge house so that you can all sleep in the same room like country peasants!”

He moved forward to grab Nanao about the same time Jin moved forward to jerk Sakura off of the bed, and all hell broke loose.

Sakura leaned forward, balancing precariously on the bed and swung at Jin, catching him on the chin and knocking him across the room. He slumped against the wall, bringing his hand up to his mouth to rub the bruise. Jin’s eyes were huge, as if he had never really realized what ‘kunoichi’ meant. Her uncle stopped in his tracks, staring at her as if she’d grown a second head. But he recovered quickly. Matsu was quick for his age and size, jumping over to her and pinning her down on the bed underneath his much heavier weight. The children screamed and dove for their mother as he pinned her, arms above her head and his breath right next to her ear.

“Do not move,” he growled, menace seeping from his voice, “do not forget that I trained your mother, little girl, and I could beat her any time we sparred. You cannot beat me, bitch.”

“Touch them and the deal is off. I’ll fucking kill you,” she spat, glaring at him.

He chuckled, a deep and grizzly sound, before squeezing his right hand hard enough to snap her one of her wrists in two. Sakura grimaced, but didn’t let a sound slip.

“I’m not left-handed, asshole.”

She wrestled her right hand free and charged it with chakra, moving to slap him hard. He caught her first, though, by slamming his head into her own, leaving her a little sightless and dizzy. Her hand fell before it ever made it to his head, lifeless and wobbly.

“The deal,” he grinned, “is already over. You were never going to stay here, Sakura-chan. You’re my insurance. You’re his, to take back to secure my freedom. It takes quite a bit to keep a country happy after you desert them. But a shinobi of your caliber? Trained by a sannin! That means quite a lot these days, and your name is high in their bingo book, I’m sure.”

Her face went blank, as if she couldn’t really understand him. Her body went slack. Jin was ninja before, Cloud shinobi stock. So, if she was his, and he was supposed to—

Oh, hell no!

The fight literally leapt back into her, and she began squirming and kicking underneath the heavier bulk of her uncle. He continued to laugh at her futility, pushing at one of her legs as she tried to bring it up to knee him in the stomach. One of his elbows landed heavily in her neck, giving her a tremendous, shooting pain and making her see stars at the same time.

Still, she brought her right hand up again, this time with a literal sword of chakra pointing from her fingers, and she was able to spear him in the shoulder before his head crashed against her again. He was no longer laughing due to the pain, but he still had the upper hand—she was tired, she was hurt, he had overpowered her, and she hadn’t been allowed to practice her ninja arts at all since she had been here. She lay there, trapped under her uncle, hearing the children scream and Nanao crying. Jin’s face appeared in her line of sight, right above her uncle, and she could see the nasty bruise forming where she had broken his jaw.

“Don’t you see, niece? We all owe our fate to the family, and yours is to be the martyr. If a Kazedama has to die to win the rest of our freedom, then it will be you, the daughter of the traitor. Or perhaps they won’t kill you. I don’t really care anymore.”

She wanted to struggle, so badly, even if just to get one hit in. She had promised them freedom, and she would win it, damn it! But her sight was fading due to the lack of oxygen, and her wrist and neck were both killing her. This isn’t over! It can’t be! Her thoughts ran in circles. She felt her uncle shift, his weight moving away as her vision blurred, the room went fuzzy, and she passed out.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So there’s Chapter 7 Part I. I hope everyone’s happy, and yes, it’s a little bit of a cliffhanger. But the next part is already done, just being edited, so it should be up within the next day or so. I won’t leave you with only part of chapter, I promise. So look for Part II, and enjoy this one. And for a heads up, Part II is going to take care of just about everything with Matsu, leaving the epilogue to clear everything up in Konoha.

A/N: Due to the recent hurricane activity and some family problems, then an issue with the site, I haven't updated like I said I would. Sorry, very much. I'm now updating the last part of Chapter 7, then I will get what will be Chapter 8 and the Epilogue up. 8 is an addition I was more than happy to make, as it seemed rushed without it.