Chapter Text
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It started as any other day, but after a particularly brutal double shift at the hospital, Sakura clocked out with her muscles screaming from chakra exhaustion. Double shifts weren’t unusual for her considering how the hospital was always short staffed. Unfortunately, Tsunade-shishou was especially preoccupied with the news that Orochimaru, her former teammate, had finally met his demise at the hands of Sakura’s former teammate, Sasuke Uchiha.
The last time Sakura saw Sasuke, it had been possible only due to the intel that Sasori had given her at the end of their battle. Kakashi-sensei had been hospitalized and unable to join them after his run-in with Itachi Uchiha, but Sakura, Naruto, Captain Yamato and Sai had seen Sasuke standing high above them. She still could hear the sound of his voice saying her name for the first time in years — his face unreadable and his voice an octave lower than when he’d thanked her before leaving the village.
It was a relief that Orochimaru hadn’t taken over Sasuke’s body, but that cursed mark was likely still poisoning him. Gone was the boy she knew that risked his life to protect and defend his teammates. The way he’d moved so fast and held Naruto as the deadly edge of his blade was evidence enough that his feelings for them were buried deep, if he’d not burned them to ash completely at this point. His hand was stayed only at the request of Orochimaru. Or, had it been an act? Had it been necessary to seem that his bonds with his old teammates were rent asunder in order for him to survive and actually protect them because he was deep under cover?
Was that simply wishful thinking on both her and Naruto’s part? Everyone else in the rookie eleven had given up on Sasuke and considered him a dirty traitor. Had her close friendship with Naruto infused her with unrealistic optimism?
Was Sasuke strong enough now to satisfy his endless quest for power? Would he look for his brother? Sakura had crossed paths with Itachi Uchiha once in battle on their way to save Gaara. He’d been efficient and brutal. Sasuke defeating the man responsible for the Sound Invasion was one thing, but facing off against his brother — no one could be declared a winner of such a thing.
Sakura was tempted to ask Ino to join her at one of the local bars, but she couldn’t afford to drown her worries. She needed to be sober in case ANBU needed to track her down for another hospital emergency. With the Akatsuki becoming more and more desperate as their numbers dwindled with three of their ten members down — Sasori at Lady Chiyo an Sakura’s hands, Hidan and Kakuzu because of Kakashi, Naruto and Team Ten. The missions Leaf shinobi took were becoming more and more dangerous.
The amount of booze that found its way inside the Hokage’s office over the past two days meant that neither Master Tsunade nor Shizune would be available to help at the hospital. It meant that Sakura and Yugao had picked up the slack for the more complicated surgeries.
So, completely sober, yet physically drained, Sakura wound up at the shore of the Naka River. It wasn’t intentional. She just happened to notice Lee sitting on the bench outside her apartment complex and really didn’t want to deal with him. Was he planning to proclaim his undying devotion and adoration of her again?
And honestly, was she that persistent and annoying to Sasuke? No wonder he left the village her. She cringed just thinking about her desperate thirteen year old self.
Realizing she’d taken a detour close to the abandoned Uchiha distract, she was too tired to circle back to her apartment to see if the coast was clear. Sakura fell to her knees and stared at the gently moving water, eyes focused on the night sky reflecting onto the surface. A shooting star careened across the sky.
“I wish I knew what they were thinking,” she mumbled.
“Which they?” A youthful voice asked.
Sakura jarred to attention, adrenaline rousing her into an alert mind. She could sense no chakra.
Then there was a cool puff of air across her cheek. Her eyes widened and she spun in a circle, yet found she was completely alone.
“Where are you?”
“That's two wishes. You might want to keep the third one to yourself for now,” the voice continued. The space in front of her simmered and then an incorporeal body appeared. He was about her age, half a foot taller than her. His wiry frame was dense with compact muscles, raven-black curly hair, dark and mischievous eyes, with a smirk curling his full lips. “Hello, Sakura.”
She is stared at him, a vague childhood memory springing into the forefront of her mind. She’d been in her second year at the Academy and attended a festival with Ino and her parents when Sakura became separated from the Yamanakas. This man, in an Uchiha Police uniform, had found her and comforted her, using his soft handkerchief to wipe the tears from her face. He bought her a stick of dango, before escorting her back to the Yamanka family.
“Officer Shisui?” Sakura whispered. He'd died a few months before the massacre. He was Sasuke's older cousin.
Shisui reached over, hand mussing her hair. Sakura tried to catch his wrist, but her hand went right through him.
“You died,” Sakura stated.
Shisui nodded. “Poisoned by Danzo’s thug, had my eye stollen, and then threw myself off this cliff because I didn't want to suffer for hours.”
“They never found your body,” Sakura whispered back. Shisui had always been such a kind man whenever she saw him around the village. She hated to think that his spirit was lost in the afterlife, instead of enjoyed peace in the Purelands. Had someone stolen his body for a money? He had many enemies, because shinobi that did their job well, made enemies.
Shisui laughed. “Not many would consider me kind.” He held his hands up and they were suddenly stained red with blood. “I had a pretty high bounty in the Bingo Book.”
“What happened to your body?” Sakura asked. Had he read her mind? How did he know she thought he was kind?
Shisui sighed. “Is that your third wish?”
“I'm asking questions, not crafting wishes,” Sakura snapped, sleep deprived and irritated and worried she was losing her mind since she was conversing with a ghost. “You're not my fairy godmother or a genie.”
“I'm not,” Shisui admitted with a dramatic sigh. “Though, I’ve been watching over you for a while. I’ve never been able to interact before. Which was especially hard that time with the bench when Sasuke left you?” He grimaced and then his dark eyes softened. “I wish I could have been here for you and for him.”
Sakura didn’t want to think about that morning years ago, waking up cold with her body stiff from the night’s elements and the hard unforgiving stone bench. It was obvious that Sasuke had carried her and hadn’t let her fall to the ground. He’d shown her a small mercy while at the same time rejecting her heart. “How are you here now, Shisui?”
Shisui gestured between the river and the sky. “Ancient Uchiha lore. When the clan matriarch finds a shooting star while at the Naka River, the goddess Amaterasu and God Susanoo shall grant her wishes.”
“My surname is Haruno,” Sakura countered.
Shisui shrugged, his playful smile once more curling the corners of his mouth, but his eyes were serious. “Maybe it is now. I remember my baby cousin was quite sweet on you.”
“Sasuke-kun?” Sakura scoffed. “An unrequited crush on my end. He soundly rejected me.” She rubbed at her forehead absently, aware of the gathering of chakra she’d been working on for the last couple of years. “You said you remembered the bench?"
Shisui tilted his head to the side curiously. “I suppose you are more Itachi's type.” He chuckled. “I can only imagine what would have happened if…,” he trailed off. “If he hadn’t been forced to do what he did.”
“They never found your body,” Sakura murmured. “When I became Lady Tsunade’s apprentice, I asked to look through the archives. What happened? Did someone collect on your remains in the Bingo Book?”
“Wish I knew,” Shisui answered with a grimace. He glanced at the river behind them. “Probably eaten by some wild animal.”
Sakura didn’t like that answer. She didn’t know Shisui well, but she remembered he was a good person. He certainly didn’t deserve to be eaten by a wild animal. She also wasn’t sure how she felt to be told she was more the type of Sasuke’s psychopath older brother. Though, when they’d been en route to save Gaara and Kankuro, she had to admit Itachi was rather good looking. “Maybe Orochimaru took you. He was obsessed with the Uchiha and your Sharingan. Maybe he took your body for research purposes. But, he's gone. Sasuke-kun killed him a week or so ago.”
Shisui stepped close, his hand settled upon her left hip and his thumb traced over the old scar from Sasori's poisoned blade. The coldness of his touch caused goosebumps to erupt over her flesh. It was her only scar, one she’d been unable to heal, but it also told the story of her greatest kill.
“His body is in my hideout,” a deep baritone rumbled behind her.
Sakura whirled, finding a slight man, a mop of crimson hair, and sleepy amber eyes staring back at her. She knew his voice (as he often visited her nightmares) and recognized him immediately. Sasori looked older than his puppet body, closer to Kakashi-sensei’s age. He was a little taller than her too, but not nearly as tall as Shisui.
Shisui 's grip tightened, practically tangible. “He's been hovering around you for a while.”
“You were already hovering,” Sasori countered.
Sakura cradled her head between her hands. Was she simply delirious from extremely long shifts at the hospital? There was no way she was haunted by not one, but two ghosts?
“Since you’re now aware of my presence, I need you to help keep Itachi alive,” Shisui added. “With Orochimaru dead, Sasuke is going to be looking for Itachi and that boy has a death wish.”
“It’s a shame,” Sasori mused. “Itachi is by far the least annoying of the Akatsuki members.” A wry smile crossed his thin lips. “I especially enjoyed when he defeated Orochimaru so easily back when he was only a teen.” He sniffed and his bored gaze locked on Sakura. “The moment Itachi is dead, Lord Pain will raze your little village to the ground. Three, four if you count Orochimaru, of the members of Akatsuki are now dead at the hands of Leaf shinobi.”
“What?” Sakura ran her palms over her face. She remembered Sasuke’s determination to kill a certain man. He was set on killing his brother. She’d only met Itachi twice. The first time he was using a Sand shinobi as an avatar to channel his chakra into when they’d been on their way to save Gaara. The second time was in a parallel world that the masked man had sent her and Naruto into. Both encounters had been brief and she’d only really interacted with the parallel world Itachi when he saved her. She could feel her cheeks heat at the memory of the handsome, confident man. Though most everyone had personalities completely different than their counterparts here. So, she couldn’t count that. “Well, how do I save him? I won’t let Konoha be destroyed.”
Shisui waved his hand and a trio of crows appeared, two landed on his shoulders and the third landed on Sakura’s shoulder. She could feel the crow’s claws digging into her flesh, but the skin remained intact as it balanced carefully.
“I know where he is,” Shisui answered. “You’re not the only one I’ve been watching over. He’s at the Uchiha fortress. One of our clan’s former strong-holds. It’s several hundred years old. It’s about a week’s journey from here by foot.” He frowned. “Sasuke has Garuda by now though, – a giant hawk that can carry four to six human passengers. We’d be too late on foot.”
Sakura could run for a long time at a decent speed, – she had perfect chakra control and spent a good amount of time endurance training with Team Gai. Even so, she couldn’t beat someone flying when she had to run.
“The boy with the ink birds would be useful,” Sasori suggested.
“Sai?” Sakura turned towards him. He looked like he was either extremely bored or about to fall asleep.
Sasori nodded. “The strange boy that calls you Hag.” He sniffed. “I cannot believe he calls himself an artist, if that’s his impression."
Shisui grimaced. “You’re definitely, not a Hag, Sakura. But you certainly can be rather scary when your temper flares.” He released Sakura’s waist and stepped back, hands running through his unruly hair. “If we fly, it will take two days. That should give us enough time to reason with Itachi.”
“Why would he talk to me?” Sakura asked. “He doesn’t know me.”
Shisui narrowed his eyes. “Because you’ll have me and I know things that no one else does. He’ll listen, trust me.” He smiled sadly. “Itachi is the best person I know. He won’t attack first. He’ll listen. Things would have been different, but I died and we weren’t able to stop our clan’s planning uprising against the village. So Itachi had to take drastic measures.” Shisui leaned close. “The Third was a coward, letting a couple of teenagers be the only defense against civil war.”
“I never bought the whole ‘I killed my clan to test my strength’ excuse,” Sasori added. “He’s always been a pacifist, preferring to avoid confrontation and never prone to senseless slaughter.”
“And now Itachi planning to die at Sasuke’s hands so that Sasuke can unlock the Mangekyou Sharingan.” Shisui ran his fingers through this curly hair. “That one is my fault. I implied killing your best friend unlocked the power, but really its the guilt of your closest friend dying that does it.”
“Well, that’s short-sighted,” Sasori mused. “As soon as Itachi dies, Pain is going to raze Konoha to the ground.”
“Then I have to save him!” Sakura vowed. Though, to be honest, she still cared much more about saving Sasuke. Was there a way to save him from the rage and hatred that had been festering for the past ten years? He had been starting to calm down and accept his bonds with Team Seven, but then he was poisoned by Orochimaru. And later, according to Naruto, — because Kakashi and Sasuke never told her anything, — whenever Sasuke tried to kill Naruto on the hospital rooftop, it was because Itachi had mentally traumatized him, sending him into a coma where he relived his family’s assassination. She still remembered the panic in both her teammates’ eyes when they almost killed her instead of each other and the anger in Kakashi’s face when he threw them into the water towers, saving her.
“You’d have to fix his lung condition too,” Sasori added. “Autoimmune. I used to make an herbal remedy, but somebody killed me.” He narrowed his amber eyes at Sakura accusingly.
“After all the trauma Itachi has been through, he’s not only depressed, but I’ve seen how he is both ready and eager to die. He has only survived this long trying to protect his brother and the clan’s legacy,” Shisui continued.
She turned back to Sasori. “You may be a chemist, but you’re not a medic. I’ll not ignore a patient in distress. I am curious about why are you here? Why would you haunt me? We were opponents.”
Sasori sniffed and lazily blinked his half-lidded eyes. “Opponents, not enemies? Curious choice of words. I’m not ready to retire to the oblivion of the Purelands. Part of my grandmother’s spirit lives on in you. We’re practically family.” He leaned close and she could feel the ghost-like pressure of chakra strings shifting her closer towards his form. “Besides, your wayward teammate did me a favor and killed Orochimaru.”
“And what about Sasuke?” Sakura turned back towards Shisui. He listened without expression. “I couldn’t reason with him when we were friends. Why would he listen to me now?”
“There’s a scroll back in the clan archives.” Shisui raked his fingers through his hair again, it had started to fall into his eyes. “It contains a jutsu used through the generations for whenever an Uchiha succumbed to madness. It contains the power without harming them, allowing time for the anger to ebb.”
“What does it do?” Sakura demanded, not foolish enough to try a jutsu without understanding it.
Another playful smile lit up Shisui’s face. “As you so succulently pointed out, your surname is Haruno, not Uchiha. I’m afraid I cannot tell you as of yet."
