The Monster in the Gray Overcoat

Chapter 5

Kakashi holds a meeting with Sasuke and Naruto. "Well, Sasuke, your suspicion turned out to be correct. A mind probe showed that Mr. Fujioka was apparently a former Leaf Shinobi and a love interest of Sakura's mother. Apparently, he had violent tendancies and she broke it off with him, and soon after met and eventually married Mr. Haruno. Fujioka took that at as a betrayal, denounced his position as a shinobi, and as far as anyone knew, left the village for good. Apparently, he simmered about the betrayal for all these years, and when he recently saw Mrs. Haruno when she was in the same town he was working in, he decided to finally strike. Apparently, he had originally planned for Sakura's mother to be his victim, but she proved too difficult to get alone. So he considered Sakura as a second choice. Once he realized that attacking Mrs. Haruno's daughter would hurt Mrs. Haruno worse than attacking the woman directly, he decided on it and targeted Sakura. The Haruno's remember him, and confirmed the story, though Mr. Fujioka went by another name then and looked considerable different. This was 22 years ago, after all. That's why they didn't recognize him from the sketch, much less anyone else in town. But he was alone, there was no look-out or other accomplice."

"So that's what he was talking about..." mumbles Sasuke, remembering the strange things Fujioko had said at his recent ass-kicking, suddenly making sense of it all now.

"Hn? You got a question, Sasuke?" asks the Sixth.

"Yes...what will be done with him now?"

"He will be kept in our highest-security prison on the southern border with chakra-blocking technology built into the structure itself. It's pretty much escape-proof. We have enough evidence to keep him there for the rest of his natural life. He will never harm another woman—or those who love her—ever again."

"Thanks," Sasuke replies, forgetting formalities and niceties to race to the hospital.

Naruto sets out to follow. "Thanks, Hokage-sensei," Naruto responds with gratitude on his way out the Hokage's door.

"Hokage-sensei? Well that's a new one..."

Naruto stops momentarily. "Oh, sorry, I mean Hokage-Kakashi. No wait, it's Sensei-Hokage. Kakashi-sensokage?"

Kakashi laughs for the first time since this whole thing started.

"Hokage-sensei is perfect, Naruto. I like it. But nobody else gets to call me that, got that?"

"Mmh!" Naruto grunts in agreement, a smile on his face—the first real one since the tragedy occurred—then catches up to Sasuke.

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"Hey there, sleepy-head!" Sasuke says gently to a barely-awake Sakura. It's not late, like usual this time, but she gets groggy from the pain medication they give her. He figures she just had a dose.

"Sasssukkee..." she draws out groggily, a smile on her face.

"Naruto is here too. But don't worry, nobody will let him in unless you ask for him. So...how are you feeling?"

"Well...I guess I'm still pp-rretty doped up. I don't feel any p-pain or anything, though. But it's ok, you can let Naruto come in too."

Naruto enthusiastically tells Sakura how Sasuke single-handedly caught and beat up the bad guy. A silent Sasuke really doesn't mind being Sakura's hero, truth be told, and allows Naruto's help in the matter to be sidelined. Then they all talk about other things until visiting hours are over. Finally, the two "deposed leaders," now having to obey the rules here, reluctantly leave.

All three faces wear light-hearted smiles on their faces—unabashedly. Even Sasuke.

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Sasuke gets to Fujioka's cell. "I already know your insane reasons for attacking Sakura. What I want to know—out of sheer curiosity—is why didn't you fight me back?"

Fujioka laughs, now looking worse than Sakura, with swelling, bruises, bandages, and missing teeth. Then he says, through a wired jaw, "Because I know the need for vengeance. I had to have mine. I knew you had to have yours. Who am I to disobey such a cardinal rule of the universe by denying any man's inborn right to vengeance?"

"You have a deranged sense of justice! Trust me, I know something about that, but even at my worst I was never as twisted as you. If it was up to me, and I wish it was, I would kill you."

Sasuke begins to walk away.

"It would still be worth it!" Fujioka yells to his back.

Sasuke spins around. He grabs the already-injured man through the bars and slams his face into it hard, re-breaking his just-set nose. Fujioka chokes out, "She won't keep loving you. She might say it but it isn't true. You'll find out."

Sasuke slams Fujioka's face into the bars again. "You don't know anything about Sakura! She loved me even when I was unlovable! You're wrong!"

With that, Sasuke drops Fujioka and heads down the hallway, with no further commentary from the bleeding inmate.

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"Sakura," begins Tsunade. "Now that you're more stable, I have something to tell you that you're not going to like."

Sakura's heart drops.

"Some of your knife wounds...their location...despite your surgery and healing sessions, it may not be enough. Sakura, I'm sorry to tell you this...but you may not be able to bear children. We just have to wait and see how well you heal."

Sakura's face falls. Tears begin to well up in her eyes.

If I can't bear him children with his Uchiha blood...he can't restore his clan. That means more to him than anything else. So after all of this, even after what he told me....he could still reject me in the end because of this. I cannot guarantee him heirs to his bloodline!

She starts sobbing into her hands.

Tsunade pats her back. "Don't give up, Sakura. There's still a good chance. We just can't say how much at this point. We could get you back to 100%! Only time will tell."