Sasuke rested in another one of Madara's caverns, his eyes bandaged and his head throbbing. Nevertheless, he could feel the power surging through his body. The implantation of Itachi's eyes had resulted in a heavy but somehow comforting pressure in his head, as if this was where Itachi's eyes belonged.
With Sasuke, the last Uchiha.
The title almost made Sasuke smile. He was the last surviving member of the greatest clan to ever walk the face of the earth. Konoha had massacred the Uchiha clan. Now, with these eyes of his, the last Uchiha would annihilate Konoha.
The fact that Sasuke had lost his entire team did not perturb him. Karin was dead or captured, and Juugo and Suigetsu were nowhere nearby. But Sasuke had no need for teammates. Not when one was too scared of death to even die properly. Miho was such a coward. All that talk about dying because Itachi was no longer alive…only to beg Sasuke to stop at the last second. Why had his brother chosen such a spineless woman to live with him for the last three years?
Miho had been so still after she'd begged him to stop. Sasuke was right about to go ahead and slice her jugular when more familiar faces appeared. Kakashi, weaker than Sasuke was now…the sight of Kakashi's Mangekyou had infuriated him. Kakashi was not a true Uchiha—he did not deserve to reap the rewards of the Sharingan. But Sasuke had not gotten the chance to rip that eye out of its socket. Naruto had interfered…and he had the gall to say that the next time they clashed, both would die. What nonsense. Madara would not let Sasuke retaliate, and Sasuke's blindness forced him to comply. Now, though, he was restless. Naruto would be his next victim. Sasuke would not die—he was the last Uchiha, and he had a goal to fulfill. Naruto's threat that they would both die was pathetically empty.
Sasuke was not frightened of death or power. He had his eyes and he had his hatred.
They were the only weapons the last Uchiha needed.
"We'll stop here for tonight."
The rest of the team looked relieved with the order. They had been traveling nonstop since Madara had disappeared with Sasuke. Kakashi had sent Kiba and Rock Lee ahead of them to alert the rest of the Konoha council about what had happened, along with the report that they had captured one of Sasuke's old teammates and Chiaki Miho.
Miho sat down against a tree, gingerly lifting her handcuffed wrists and placing them on her knees. The unfriendly steel was heavy and cut into her skin, but what bothered her the most was that they prevented any exertion of her chakra. Not only was she blind to her surroundings, she could also no longer feel the comforting beat inside her stomach. Now that she could not sense it, she could not tell if she had imagined it or not. Maybe she had, and she had just passed on a glorious opportunity for Sasuke to kill her.
But she knew she was deluding herself—she had forced Sasuke to stay still for over thirty seconds as she made sure that she wasn't imagining things. In that time, Kakashi had arrived, followed swiftly by Naruto. There had been an exchange of blows and declarations, but Miho could only focus on herself. She was fairly certain.
The decision to go with the Konoha shinobi had been an easy one. There was no way in hell she would have entrusted herself to Madara.
She did not tell anyone why she had suddenly changed her mind. Sasuke thought she was a coward—he had minced no words with his final parting. Kakashi seemed bemused, but oddly enough was glad to see that she was not raging to kill them or herself. Instead, he had put her in chains quite apologetically and had ordered Naruto to guard her.
Miho stared off into space, unwilling to talk to anyone. Kakashi had been carrying Karin, and after Sakura's emergency treatment, the girl had been sullen and quiet the entire journey. Miho did not blame her; being stabbed always left some kind of shock. She knew from personal experience.
"Fish?"
Naruto handed her a lightly roasted fish on a stick. Miho took it wordlessly and wafted its scent toward her nose. She did not feel nauseous. Did she not have morning sickness, or had she made a mistake? There had been no sign of pregnancy over the last month: no nausea, no bump in her belly, and her menstrual cycle had always been irregular. She had not seen this coming.
Itachi and his stupid sperm. Swimming too hard at the wrong time.
"Are you okay?" said Naruto anxiously.
Miho looked at him suspiciously. This was very different treatment from what she'd received in that cabin several weeks ago. Kakashi had always been kind to her, but when she thought about it, the last time they'd seen each other, she'd left with Madara on her own volition. Not to mention that she'd "abandoned" Konoha before that. The last thing Kakashi should have been treating her with was kindness. She knew him better than that. Duty was his honor. Even Naruto treated her very differently from before—something about his manner bordered sympathetic.
It clicked.
"You know," she said with conviction.
Naruto looked startled.
"K-Know what?" he asked nervously. He was a terrible liar. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You know the truth about Itachi. How did—"
"Kakashi-sensei!" howled Naruto in aggravation. "I swear I didn't say anything—all I asked was if she was okay and she guessed! I swear I didn't do anything!"
"Shut up, Naruto," said Sakura crossly. "You'll wake up every bear in this damn forest! What are you screeching about?"
"Kakashi-sensei!"
"Be quiet, Naruto," said Kakashi as he ambled over. "I told you to act normally."
"I just asked if she was okay!"
"Sensei, what's going on?" demanded Sakura.
Kakashi heaved a sigh.
"Naruto, go explain things to Sakura and then keep quiet. Make sure Sai is on the lookout. I'll talk with Miho."
His students obeyed and left them. Kakashi glanced at Karin, who was leaning against a tree several feet away, but she seemed to have fallen asleep.
"Eat," said Kakashi. "You look starved."
"How do you know about Itachi?" Miho asked. "Did the councilors tell you?"
"No," said Kakashi heavily. "Madara did."
"…Why?"
"I don't know. I suppose to explain why Sasuke wasn't going to come back to Konoha…and why he declared war on it instead." Kakashi sat across from her, looking wearier than she had ever seen him. His former student had just tried to kill him, after all. Miho could not help but feel somewhat sorry for Kakashi. "Did Madara tell you as well? When you two disappeared that time?"
Miho nodded her head jerkily.
"I've asked Naruto to keep it quiet for now," he said. "There is not enough proof…and telling everyone now would throw Konoha into more chaos than it is in already."
"It's true," said Miho in a steely tone.
"It does appear to be that way," said Kakashi tiredly. "All your research points in that direction as well."
Miho noticed that Kakashi was not only speaking in a very clipped manner, but that he also did not seem as taken aback as Naruto clearly was.
"You're not surprised," she said.
"I've been involved with ANBU long enough to know how these things work," he admitted.
"This wasn't one or two assassinations, Kakashi—it was the massacre of an entire clan!" she hissed. "And they ordered Itachi to slaughter his own family!"
"Would it have been better if Konoha had been engulfed in war instead?" countered Kakashi.
"They could've worked it out!" she retorted.
"You don't understand," he said evenly. "You saw how irrational Sasuke has become—he just tried to kill Sakura without a second thought. Hatred affects Uchiha members differently than it does others. Ordering Itachi to kill the clan was very clearly the last resort."
"More like the easiest resort," she snarled. "Konoha took advantage of Itachi's pacifism—they knew that he could never betray the village, could never abandon it—"
"Every true Konoha shinobi would have done the same thing," said Kakashi quietly. "Myself included."
"But you didn't!" she shouted at him. Naruto and Sakura jumped at the sound and looked back. "You didn't have to, you didn't have to kill your own friends and family because the village wanted you to—don't act like you understand him, Kakashi, you don't!"
"I understand Uchiha Itachi more than you could ever could, Miho," he responded calmly.
"You weren't there," she said, enraged that Kakashi could even suggest that he knew Itachi in the slightest. "You weren't there when he struggled, when he was in pain or full of guilt—only I was, and you have no right—"
"You are blinded by what you've lost, Miho. You fail to see that Itachi's sacrifice—"
"Was in vain," she spat.
"Saved Konoha," Kakashi said loudly, drowning out her scathing statement. "You think he regretted it, Miho, but I can safely say that if he loved Konoha half the amount I believe he truly does, he regretted nothing. If he had the chance to do it all over again, he would."
Miho let out a weary scoff and looked away. She knew what Kakashi was thinking—that she was selfish, that she could not see the big picture, that Itachi had saved the village of her family and generations of ancestors. She knew Kakashi was right, but she did not care.
"You think you know him because you're just the same," she said, her voice now tempered. "Duty is your honor, and justice the flag you wave when you wield your blade for the greater good. You think your sacrifices are never in vain and your own will is worth nothing because something is always bigger and more important than you."
Kakashi's eye flickered. She had hit the nail on the head.
"But I'm not like you," she continued. "I have no honor. But I know what justice is. And no matter what you say…what happened to Itachi was not just. Just because that village meant the world to him, Kakashi, didn't mean his own will meant nothing. Just because Itachi didn't regret what he did doesn't mean it was right. And just because Itachi thought he had to die…doesn't ever mean he ever wanted to. You may believe that self-sacrifice makes the perfect shinobi…but not a single perfect shinobi would look back on his life and genuinely think that his life was worth living when he had no will at all."
She looked at him now, her gaze unwavering but her eyes slightly wet. When she continued to speak, though, her voice was steady.
"Do you know why someone as self-sacrificial as Itachi was attracted to someone as selfish as I am?" she asked him.
Kakashi hesitated, and then shook his head.
"Because he was jealous," she answered softly. "Because he wanted to not care, just like I did not. Because I was his complete opposite, and I could abandon my duty as a Konoha nin for something I loved more. And because that something was him."
Konoha was in a sorry state when Miho returned to her old home. The damage from Pein's invasion had been vast and would take time to repair; several buildings had been haphazardly erected and would serve as strongholds for the civilians, but on the whole, the only structure that seemed to be mildly presentable was the Hokage's Tower, which seemed uninhabited.
With the rest of Konoha's medical team either dead or tending to the multitudes still injured, Shizune was the only one treating the Godaime in her comatose state. Upon news of their arrival, Shizune asked for Kakashi to bring both Sakura and Miho to see the Godaime for a purely medical discussion. Miho was obviously not allowed to touch the Hokage, but one look at Tsunade's old and wrinkled body had been sufficient. She handed over a vial of her blood and Shizune did the rest; Miho was immediately escorted out of sight and quarantined in a small cell. She was told hours later that Tsunade had woken up and was swiftly regaining her chakra. Miho, on the other hand, would have to remain in isolation as she waited for a hearing.
She was locked up for several days in a small, barely furnished room no bigger than five-and-a-half tatami mats in length and width. Adequate amounts of food and water were delivered to her once a day, which meant that she had not been forgotten, but Miho was in no rush. She spent the time without much struggle, instead mentally going away to some deep, dark place inside of her where her emotions toward Itachi rolled like waves. They were never consistent, coming and going in phases: sometimes an intense, aching sorrow, other times a frightening and all-consuming hatred. She thought of Danzou and the councilors, thought of Kakashi who believed he understood Itachi; she thought of Itachi and all the ironies he'd left her with, and she hated him all the more for them.
Her journals served as tangible forms of transportation down memory lane. Miho read only her own entries from her personal journals, barely touching the one she shared with Itachi. She could not bring herself to read her last letter for him, the one that had begged and pleaded for him to take what she offered him. She did not know if Itachi had ever read it, but some part of her knew that he had; yet, in the end, he'd still ignored her. This only fueled her anger, followed by that hollow feeling in her chest whenever she remembered that she had effectively been abandoned.
Other times, though, when she was not reading those journals and instead was trapped mulling between reality and dreams, she was seized with an odd kind of tranquility. The image of Danzou's dead body soothed her, and when Miho imagined what it would be like to see the councilors' corpses as well, she felt something quite close to elation.
She had to be more controlled than that. There were only two options in front of her: kill the councilors, and her child would surely die; save her child, and forgo all hopes of revenge.
Two truly shitty choices, especially when Miho sometimes was not certain she even wanted to keep this child. What was the point? They would grow up in Konoha, the village that had taken everything away from her. Konoha knew nothing about Itachi's true actions and even if Kakashi reported the truth, the council would never allow the public to know it. Her child would grow up hated and scorned. Itachi was not here, and that pathetic dream of hers would never come true. Miho would raise the child alone, when she herself wanted nothing better to die.
Would it be so selfish if she did not want to keep this life?
Five days later, when Miho still had not made any concrete decisions, Kakashi came to her cell to announce that he would be making his report to the Hokage about the recent revelations regarding Itachi. He had been quite nonchalant with her the entire journey back. Miho knew she had struck a nerve with their last conversation, as Kakashi was another one of those true shinobi who would never understand her selfish streaks completely. Her motive to return peacefully to Konoha was also murky.
"Who else will be present?" she inquired as she was led toward the tower.
"The councilors. Some of my team," he answered shortly. He spoke with the tone of a soldier, not a friend. "I'll be making the report. Try your best not to react violently."
"Best keep me cuffed then," Miho said dryly as they stopped in front of the door. She could not help but be irritated with him.
"As an act of good faith," he said, unlocking the cuffs, "I won't."
She looked at him appraisingly.
"Careful, Kakashi," she said coolly. "Don't trick me into thinking you're on my side. That would be too cruel."
He paused, his hand on the doorknob.
"I do what I believe is right, Miho."
"And sometimes," she said, "that means absolutely nothing to me."
They entered the room, where everyone else had already gathered. One glance at the councilors caused a heated acidity to fill her from her stomach to her throat; she knew her murderous intent spiked, for Kakashi placed a hand on her shoulder in warning. Miho complied and forced her gaze elsewhere.
Tsunade looked well, perhaps as healthy as she had been before the invasion. She looked at Miho severely, her lips pursed, as she tapped a pen on the oaken desk she sat behind.
"I suppose thanks are in order," said Tsunade, nodding at Miho. "For your blood."
"I told you before that I'd make an exception for you," she said nonchalantly. "I'm glad to see you well. The news that Danzou had replaced you was…alarming."
"Clearly, it alarmed Sasuke quite a bit," said Tsunade, an edge in her voice. She was clearly not taken with the news that Sasuke had tried to kill her student and his ex-teammate.
"For good reason," returned Miho in the same tone.
"Watch your tongue," said Koharu warningly.
Miho gave a smile that failed to impress anyone. Tsunade narrowed her eyes and waved for Kakashi to approach.
"Kakashi told me he has news involving everyone in this room," she said. "He says you, Naruto, Sakura, as well as Yamato from ANBU all know information regarding Uchiha Itachi."
Miho did not miss the look exchanged between the two councilors. She swallowed her anger and kept her voice even when she replied.
"I think Kakashi will present it better than I would," she managed.
Tsunade nodded and gestured for Kakashi to begin. Before he did, he gave Miho a long, lingering look, as if he were making a significant decision.
Lie, thought Miho, and I will kill you where you stand.
She was a fool to ever think that Kakashi would lie. With every truthful word, Kakashi gave absolutely no indication of siding with any side as he told everything; even his chakra was unreadable. His gaze did not waver from the Hokage's, and even though every syllable coming out of his mouth was blasphemous, he told the tale so boringly that any casual listener might have yawned.
Of course, no one in the room was a casual listener. Miho found Tsunade's chakra rising with each second, as all color seemed to drain away from the councilors' faces.
"…Is this true?" said Tsunade when Kakashi finally finished his report in that painfully neutral tone of his. Tsunade's voice, on the other hand, was steadied only by a latent and unspeakable anger.
Neither of the councilors said anything.
"Answer me!" roared Tsunade, slamming her palm down on her desk and snapping it in two.
"It is true," said Koharu stiffly.
"The entire clan?!"
"We had no choice," said Mitokado gravely. "Itachi told us that the coup was going to happen within the month—there was not enough time."
"And did no one think about sitting the Uchiha leaders down and talking things through?!"
"Of course we did. Multiple times. They did not listen to us. Their demands were too great."
Tsunade sank down into her chair, her chakra rippling through her body violently.
"Did you know this?" she said, rounding on Miho now. "That time we were talking about Itachi—did you know the truth?"
"No," she replied. "I was doing some research in the historical archives and everything seemed to point at suspicions of the Uchiha clan. When I finally left Konoha, it was because there was no more information I could get here. The answers had to lie with Itachi."
"We didn't think he would tell anyone," said Koharu sullenly.
The temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees as Miho stared at her, eyes ablaze.
"He didn't," she said icily.
"Tsunade-sama," said Mitokado respectfully, "please understand that we truly had no choice. The Uchiha clan has historically been one full of hatred and rage—your own grandfather fought tooth and nail to protect Konoha from Uchiha Madara. After the Kyuubi attack, we could not afford to let the clan operate freely. It was to protect the citizens of Konoha."
"They were citizens of Konoha," snapped Tsunade.
"They were enemies from within," returned Koharu. "As Hokage, you must understand that this was for the greater good, and it left a bitter taste in everyone's mouths—"
"I'm sure it left the worst taste in Itachi's mouth," said Miho coldly. "The taste of his parents' blood and all."
"It was a necessary sacrifice!" the old woman insisted. "They were dangers to Konoha, they wanted to overthrow the government—"
"Including her?!" demanded Tsunade, pointing a finger at Miho. "She was a child! Fifteen! She knew nothing!"
It had not quite occurred to Miho that she had been lumped together with the rest of the Uchiha clan as a target of the massacre. At this point, though, she doubted she could be angrier than she was already.
"She was a necessary precaution…a loose end that needed to be cut," muttered Mitokado, refusing to look Miho in the eye.
She was always a loose end…though at least Madara had been considerate enough to alert her of her status.
"A child!" bellowed the Hokage.
"They were not children!" shouted Koharu. "They are shinobi—shinobi of Konoha! And their duty is to live and die for their village, just as we had when we were young—"
"Except," said Miho, her voice cutting through the tension like a knife, "you seem to be quite alive to me."
All heads turned to her, and Mitokado seemed to note nervously that Miho was not handcuffed.
"Is that a threat, Chiaki Miho?" said the councilman. "You will already be tried as a traitor and missing-nin. Do not make your situation worse than it is. Five years with Orochimaru and aiding in the murder of the Sandaime, then three years of collaboration with Akatsuki—how many deaths are on your head, woman?"
"Precisely one-hundred and thirty six," she answered, even though she knew it was a rhetorical question. "One-hundred and twenty-four that Orochimaru made me kill. Twelve I killed on the operating table for Itachi."
Technically, Kisame had killed the rest, but that was a minor detail.
"How many of Konoha?" said Koharu forcefully. "All those deaths from Orochimaru's invasion, including the Sandaime Hokage's! All that blood is on your hands!"
"If you were in my shoes, you'd understand that it's very hard to tell Orochimaru 'no' when he doesn't want to hear it," said Miho.
"Excuses!" screeched the old woman. "Your duty is to protect your village! By allowing him in, you nearly brought this village to the brink of destruction!"
Miho knew she had no defenses for the crimes she'd done, no matter how she'd been coerced into them. Tsunade could not help her in the slightest. After all, Miho was an indirect cause of the Sandaime's death. Sakura and Naruto were not even jounin—they had no political voice whatsoever, even though both of them looked severely uncomfortable with the exchange.
Kakashi, on the other hand, was as impassive as ever. Miho did not expect him to say a word—his loyalty remained with Konoha, and more than once had he already urged her to stay with the village. She had refused, defecting on two separate accounts. That was as much of a betrayal as any. Kakashi had already told the truth as neutrally as he could, without any added notes that he would have done the same as Itachi. It was all Miho could expect from him, especially when Kakashi's fundamentals clashed so much with her own.
"Many more of your jounin would be dead if I'd followed through with what Orochimaru wanted," was all Miho could manage.
"Such insolence!"
"She's telling the truth, actually." Miho nearly jumped at the sound of Kakashi's voice. "If Miho had done what Orochimaru had ordered her to do, I would be dead."
Miho would have never claimed that, considering she could not kill Kakashi in a thousand lifetimes. She stared at him, somewhat wary that he was speaking for her.
"Additionally," the Copy Nin continued, "after the attack, Miho remained in Konoha specifically to heal victims of the attack. Myself included."
"You were not injured—"
"Ah, yes, it was Itachi who tortured me with his genjutsu for seventy-two hours," said Kakashi with a smile, his one visible eye crinkled in a wink. "Miho kindly relieved me from its ramifications."
Both the councilors looked somewhat dismayed at Kakashi's intervention. "It does not pardon her crimes."
"No, but it shows that Chiaki Miho was in no way intending to bring harm to Konoha," returned Kakashi politely. "I believe that takes the charge of treason off the table."
"She defected from this village on her own volition," snapped Mitokado.
"The first time Chiaki Miho left this village, her unconscious body was dragged off by Orochimaru," Kakashi said. "Konoha did not pursue the reason behind her missing body because the amount of blood at the scene of the crime indicated that she could only be dead." His eye flickered to meet hers. "This was my fault. I was the one who gave that report…and if I had been more careful, perhaps we could have saved her. When Chiaki Miho returned five years later, she did not harm a single Konoha nin, even during Orochimaru's invasion. After the Sandaime's death, Chiaki Miho left Konoha to find information about Itachi. I believe we can all agree that Konoha's government would not have received her warmly at the time, and that pursuing Itachi for revenge was, though not ideal, at least reasonable. Finally, when she returned three years later after nearly being killed Akatsuki, Tsunade-sama gave her pardon after interrogation. Miho did not leave the village on her own will. According to Sai, one of my students and a member of Root, Danzou kidnapped her and traded her to Orochimaru. From these separate incidents, it is fair to conclude that Chiaki Miho did not abandon this village. This village abandoned her."
Miho stared at him, stunned. She had never told Kakashi that Danzou had kidnapped her; she had been on her way out the front gate of Konoha to begin with. The words that Miho had repeated so often to herself—that Konoha had abandoned her—seemed sacrilegious coming out of Kakashi's mouth.
"Watch what you say, Hatake Kakashi!" spat Mitodako. "You are a shinobi of Konoha, the village you are sworn to protect!"
"It is my duty to protect this village," he agreed, "and I will continue to do so with every breath left in me. Yet this village has its own duty as well: to protect the shinobi who live and die for it. Mitokado-sama, Koharu-sama, we are long past the day and age when shinobi were merely seen as tools. When my father fell to disgrace, it was because he chose the lives of his teammates above the completion of the mission. Konoha learned a significant lesson from my father and has become a better village because of it. The bonds between Konoha's shinobi make the shinobi loyal. Uchiha Itachi died for this village because he loved this village. Even though this village abandoned her, Chiaki Miho has not raised a single hand against this village because she loves it just as much."
You are so wrong. I hate this village just as much as Itachi loved it.
But she did not say any of this aloud; Kakashi had presented her case and as long as Miho kept her mouth shut, he had won it.
Tsunade, who had closed her eyes throughout Kakashi's speech, finally opened them. Some of the anger in her had diminished, and in the time, she had brought her chakra back under control.
"Shizune, escort the councilors out," commanded the Godaime. "Keep them in their quarters—I will speak to both of you later. Sakura, contact Ibiki and Inoichi. Schedule Chiaki Miho for another interrogation and scan. Naruto, go find Sai and bring him to me later—I want to hear everything about what Danzou has been doing with Orochimaru behind my back. Kakashi, Chiaki Miho, you two will remain."
For a second, no one made a move. Tsunade's jade eyes flashed.
"Go!"
There was a sudden flurry of movement as they all scrambled to follow her orders. Tsunade waited until the doors shut behind Naruto, who had been straggling behind to mutter something to Kakashi, before she spoke again.
"Sit, both of you," she said, indicating to two plush chairs that were pushed along the walls. "Bring those in front of me."
She lifted her own chair with one hand over the splintered wood that used to be her desk and brought it in front of the rubble. She sat in it and heaved a sigh, her green eyes piercing as she surveyed both of them.
"Well done, Kakashi," she said. "You are fit to be Hokage. No one could even tell you were angry."
"Thank you," he said mildly.
"I believe you owe Kakashi some thanks," said Tsunade to Miho.
"No need," said Kakashi immediately. "I merely did what I believed was right. I only hope it meant more than nothing to you this time."
Miho's cheeks burned in shame.
"I apologize," she said, her throat tight. "You didn't need to do that for me."
Kakashi's eye crinkled into that crescent shape it made whenever he smiled. "I am always on your side, Miho."
Hearing the truth finally spoken aloud, in front of those who had caused it in the first place, made her incredibly emotional—her anger had exited with the councilors and she was now left with an odd ache of gratefulness for Kakashi's constant kindness. Tears stung the corners of her eyes, but she blinked them back before looking up at Tsunade.
"…Thank you, Kakashi," she said, looking down at her hands, twisted in her lap. She felt like a child. "Hokage-sama, what do you intend to do?"
Tsunade looked at Miho levelly.
"I'm not sure," she answered honestly. "I mean no offense, Miho, but I have more pressing issues than sentencing you to death or whatever punishment you deserve by law. Nevertheless, even though Kakashi has argued for you so eloquently, the fact of the matter remains that you pursued a man you believed to be an S-Class criminal and lived with him for three years doing God knows what…the council will call for your execution. Of course, if the truth is released to the public, you could not possibly be harmed, but Konoha is on the brink of war and if the citizens can't trust their government, then…"
Tsunade let the sentence trail off. Miho knew what she was implying and gave no indication of her approval. She did not want the truth to be buried with Itachi. If Miho could not kill the councilors, then at least Itachi had to be posthumously pardoned.
Tsunade saw that Miho was not yielding any ground.
"Very well," said the Hokage heavily. "I will think about what to do with the information. In the meantime, I want to know exactly what kind of relationship you and Itachi had, from the beginning to the end. I want to know why you have chosen to return to Konoha rather than stay by Sasuke, seeing as your goals should be the same if they are motivated by hatred."
Miho did not want to say everything. There were things between Itachi and her that needed to remain unspoken, because they were special, but most of all, because no one else would understand. No matter if Tsunade and Kakashi knew the truth—they still did not know Itachi. They saw him as the true and perfect shinobi now…they praised him and they pitied him. They did not love him.
But Tsunade needed to know whether she could trust Miho, and there was no way she could unless Miho conveyed just what Itachi meant to her—that absolutely everything good and bad, she had done for him.
So when Miho spoke, she tried adopting the same method of speaking that Kakashi had employed. Neutral and plain, she told them of how Deidara and Sasori had freed her from Orochimaru's dungeon, of how both she and Itachi had struggled so hard initially to hate each other before both their resolves had crumbled on the mission to the Land of the Mist. She spoke briefly of Kusagakure, never admitting aloud that were the happiest days of her life. She spoke of Itachi's disease, of their marriage, of Miho's true motive in returning to Konoha. She spoke of the beginning of the end, when Itachi's heart had nearly collapsed and she had experimented on prisoners to save him.
She spoke of Itachi's resolve to die, the one resolve she could only shake but never break.
Tsunade listened raptly, her face only betraying surprise when she learned that Miho and Itachi's marriage had been legal. When Miho finally finished, this realization seemed to annoy Tsunade considerably.
"Married," she scoffed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Legally. And no one in Kusagakure thought to alert us when Uchiha Itachi—worth three million ryou—got married. We could've found Akatsuki ages ago…che." She looked back at Miho, her expression not unkind. "So you two were married. And you…loved him? Genuinely?"
Tsunade said the words uncertainly, though Miho had no idea why. Was that not clear enough?
She merely nodded.
"Even when you came back?" clarified Tsunade. "When you told me that you wanted to kill him?"
"…Why is this so hard to believe?" asked Miho.
"Because you…you spoke of him with such hatred at the time," said Tsunade. "I could read it in your chakra…see it in your face. I could tell some part of you cared deeply for him, but when you said you wanted to kill him…I was sure you did."
Miho looked down at her hands as she thought. She had wanted to kill Itachi at multiple times in her life. When she hated him, she had hated him almost as much as she loved him. Everything she felt for Itachi came in deep, crashing waves with no middle ground.
"…When I was little," said Miho, "I hated Itachi because I thought he was perfect. Smart, good-looking, loyal and filial…he was perfect to the point of being disgusting. But I was wrong. No one is perfect, least of all Itachi. He was the perfect shinobi, but that meant nothing. I learned that the hard way…and I learned that I hated that side of him. He never relied on anyone else because he believed he was perfect. He only did what was right."
"He always knew how to make me hate him," she said, lost in thought. "When Kakashi found us in Kusagakure, Itachi tortured me in front of him because he did not want Kakashi to think I was with Akatsuki voluntarily. I only had to think about how Itachi could hurt me without hesitation and I was overcome with a great hatred and desire to harm him as well. You're not entirely wrong, Tsunade-sama. I did want to kill him at times. But I never could. What would be the point in me living if I did?" She leaned back in her chair and looked past Tsunade, at the blue sky and green treetops outside the window. "Itachi knew. With the weight of every selfless thing he did for Konoha, for Sasuke…Itachi had to be selfish about something. So he chose me. It's why he kept me around…it's why my presence sometimes made him feel like the lowest piece of shit…but it's why he could leave me."
Something in Tsunade's face was twisted, and Miho knew what she was thinking.
"…Miho," said Tsunade gently, "what do you want from us?"
Us? Us being Kakashi and her, or us being Konoha? Miho wanted nothing they could give her. She wanted Itachi back. She wanted the last ten years of her life back, she wanted to go back and shake the fifteen-year-old Itachi by the shoulders and scream at him, "Choose me! Choose me, I understand you, you're not perfect, you're just a kid, you don't have to do this, we can work it out, choose me!" She wanted to talk to Itachi now, to slap him and yell that he had left her with a child that she didn't want because she only wanted him, that the family she'd dreamed of was only worth it because he had been there, that he'd been the only thing she'd ever wanted in her life.
The only person who had seen Miho cry since Itachi's death was Kisame. Now, even though Miho sat in front of Tsunade and Kakashi and knew that they would do her no harm, the tears could only well up in her eyes but could never fall.
When Miho looked at Tsunade, the image was blurry.
"I want amnesty," she said. "I want a home, safety, and protection from anyone that could harm me or the unborn child inside of me."
There was a silence as both Kakashi and Tsunade looked at her, then at her stomach, and then back up at her, speechless.
See, Itachi. I choose to live, even when I do not want to.
When he opened his eyes, he was not sure what to expect. He had not expected to open his eyes in the first place.
His body seemed devoid of any feeling. Experimentally, he tested each finger and then each limb. Everything felt weightless, as if he were made of paper and was walking on clouds.
The Sharingan came to him as naturally as breathing. Every object in his environment sharpened; he was somewhere underground. There was a tunnel leading from outside to the open space he was resting. He seemed to be in a snake hole of sorts.
He sat up, suddenly aware that there was a tugging sensation on his body, as if he were a puppet connected by strings. He did not have free reign over his body. He took in a deep breath but felt no air fill his lungs. That should have been obvious. The dead had no need for air.
A torrent of memories flashed before his eyes. He was cornering Sasuke, could see the fear in his little brother's eyes, but he was not going to hurt him; he merely tapped him on the forehead, just like he had when they were younger, and then his heart had finally given out and he had fallen at last. There was no mistaking it—he had died, just as he had intended.
He stood up and formed a simple seal. The ground above him exploded and he leapt easily out of his prison. It was daylight outside. The sky was clear and blue, the trees as verdant as he remembered them to be. The sun shone brightly, but he felt no warmth. A gentle wind blew and tousled the leaves, but he did not feel the zephyr's kiss.
He only remembered the feeling of cool rainfall on his face, as gentle as tears.
"For the last time," bellowed Sakura, "we are in the middle of a fucking war! Don't bother us for a fucking scratch!"
In front of the pink-haired kunoichi was a stammering chuunin with a freshly bleeding cut on his left arm. "B-but Sakura-chan—"
"Don't fucking 'Sakura-chan' me!" she shouted, enraged. "There is a reason we teach basic medical jutsu to all units regardless of occupation—so you can treat your own fucking scratches! I don't have the time or chakra for your incompetence!"
Annoyed by the chuunin and a splitting headache, Miho tossed him a pack of antiseptic wipes and plaster that they could barely afford to give away.
"Wipe down your arm and bandage it so it doesn't get infected," she ordered. "Now get out of hell out of here."
The chuunin gave a nervous bow and left immediately, muttering something along the lines of "Heartless bitches" under his breath as he left.
"Might not want to call us 'heartless bitches' when you come back on a stretcher!" Sakura hollered after him. "I'll show you what's heartless then!" She dropped the tent flap in disgust. "What is wrong with all of them?! Kakashi-sensei is out fighting the world's most dangerous shinobi—dead or alive—but you practically have to drag him back for treatment! And these kids have the gall to come in with scratches from friendly fire? To think he's the same rank as me!"
"Not really," said Miho as she took inventory of their supplies. "Ranks are worth nothing, Sakura. You're the Hokage's apprentice. Everyone knows your brain is worth ten of the average chuunin's."
Sakura blushed prettily at Miho's compliment.
"Sorry for losing it," she said, somewhat abashed. "That was very unprofessional."
"You didn't say anything I disagreed with," said Miho mildly.
Sakura grinned and began taking inventory of the medications. The two of them were in charge of the largest medical base out in the field, where the fighting was densest. They had too many patients, too little supplies, and truthfully only two competent medics. Miho had heard Sakura's favorite rant more than three times now—that the medical field was unrightfully considered less glorious than the combat field; that the hospital administrators were all corrupt and used funds for personal use rather than to train more medics; "And look where we are now! Half of the medical force wiped out instantly by Pein and the rest of them shivering in their boots! For shame! Our Hokage is the best medic in the world and half of the team can't even remove an appendix without throwing up!" Even though Sakura was a smidgen too passionate for Miho's taste, she could understand why the younger kunoichi was so incensed. Two months of working amidst Konoha's doctors had been more than enough time for Miho to conclude that Konoha only had three adept physicians: Tsunade, Shizune, and Sakura.
For shame, indeed. Sakura was only fifteen.
The lamentable amount of quality healthcare in Konoha was the least of Tsunade's concerns at the moment, though, especially when she and the other four Kages were engaged in the middle of direct combat. The fighting had only begun last week, but Miho had seen more blood in that time than she ever had. Tsunade had anticipated this, which was why she had appointed Miho as one of the leading medics alongside Sakura.
"Are you sure?" Miho had said uncertainly. "Surely your council is against this…"
"I don't give a rat's ass for what the council wants right now," Tsunade had snapped. "I need a medical force I can actually rely on, and God knows that the hospital system is completely defunct. If it'll make the council feel better, I'll station you with Sakura at all times to make sure you don't do anything funny, but in reality, I want you two to protect each other. Shizune will be working between the medical unit and the strategy analysis team, so she won't be there the entire time. I'll be in the middle of the fighting but will my best to minimize damage as well. If things become drastic, I'll use Katsuyuu."
"Careful," she'd warned. "You've only recently accumulated enough chakra to be considered healthy—don't waste it."
"If push comes to shove, I won't have a choice."
Wordlessly, Miho had placed two vials of blood in front Tsunade. It was clearly a gift Tsunade had not been expecting.
"To use at your discretion," Miho had said. "Consider it thanks for everything you have done for me so far. I won't do anything to make your life more difficult than it is already."
"Miho, you are pregnant—you don't have the capacity to give this much life force up."
"If you die," she'd said calmly, "then the chances of me surviving are infinitely lower. And if you die, no one will tell Konoha the truth after the war. I need you alive to uphold our agreement. It's an investment."
Tsunade had accepted graciously, leaving Miho to test her boundaries with her new partner. She shouldn't have been worried. Now that all of Team Kakashi knew the truth, Sakura was infinitely warmer to Miho than she'd ever been. She was better company than Miho could have hoped for. After saving each other's lives a few times, it did not take long for them to rely on each other. Once, when Miho was elbow-deep in a patient's gut for an emergency surgery, a resurrected shinobi from the Land of Stone showed up at their tent. Even though Miho could not sense dead people, she barely batted an eyelash at the intrusion. Sakura took him out in one blow. Another time, when Sakura was sleeping, a deserter from the Land of Mist snuck into their tent for supplies. Perhaps he had been only expecting Sakura asleep, for he looked incredibly shocked to find Miho there. She brought a finger to her lips and slit his throat without waking Sakura up all the while.
"Here, Miho, I'll get the rest," said Sakura as she took Miho's clipboard from her. "You should sit down, being the pregnant lady and all."
"I'm finished," sighed Miho as she sat down on a rickety little stool. Her hand methodically rubbed the small bulge at her stomach. "We're really running out of basic supplies: disinfectant, syringes, chakra replenishers. I'll send a crow later tonight…I don't even want to look at the blood bank…"
"The nurses said they've been crowded to carrying capacity too," said Sakura, frustrated. "I might have to make nightly rounds—"
"Don't," said Miho wearily. "You're going to collapse."
"But there's too many patients who are in critical condition—"
"Then think about who's more important right now," said Miho sharply. "Them, or you. You are one of the best medics in this camp; you can get the other doctors to deal with the terminal patients. If we lose you to simply chakra depletion, we'll lose countless others. You have to pick and choose your battles, Sakura."
Sakura looked conflicted. Miho let out another breath.
"I know it's hard to hear," she said, "but you can't save them all, Sakura. We're doctors, not gods. We need to care about ourselves too."
Kisame had been right about that. Doctors were not gods—they were just the closest to playing them.
The news of Kisame's death by suicide had been hard to take, for some reason. She had wormed the details out of Kakashi and they had only bolstered what she thought of Kisame already: that he was a more honorable shinobi than half of Konoha's fighting force. She could not help but be depressed about it, though there was no one else to share her sentiment.
"I understand," Sakura consented. "I'll rest."
"Good girl," murmured Miho.
The night was wearing on and Miho was incredibly fatigued. She and Sakura had amputated more limbs in the last twenty-four hours than they would have liked. Occasionally, Pakkun would appear with updates from Kakashi, but they had heard nothing for several hours now. Miho had urged Kakashi to check in with them as often as he could, but she knew better than to think that he would obey. Kakashi was the highest-ranking Konoha official below the Hokage and was at the front of the fighting. She only hoped that he was not using his chakra recklessly.
"Miho, are you feeling okay?" Sakura ventured to ask. "You shouldn't overdo it…"
"I'm fine," said Miho with a casual wave of her hand. "If I wasn't in perpetual discomfort, I would be letting the councilors down." Miho had the slightest suspicion that they had only agreed to her position because there was a high chance of her getting killed.
Sakura looked uncomfortable at this suggestion.
"They're just…worried," she offered halfheartedly.
"It's fine," said Miho airily. "I don't intend to die quite yet."
The methodical beating in her stomach had become a comfort to her these last few months. As long as Miho focused on it and did not let her mind wander, she could attain the barest sense of peace, and it would lull her to sleep. Other times, if she thought about Itachi, she wouldn't be able to sleep no matter how tired she was.
"Sakura?" she said suddenly.
"What?" the younger girl said, sitting straight up in alarm. "Is something wrong? Are you hurting?"
"No, sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."
Sakura relaxed visibly and leaned back in her chair. "What is it?"
"I wanted to ask you a…personal question. You don't have to answer if you don't want to." Sakura nodded, indicating for Miho to continue. "When Sasuke left this village, did you ever want to go with him? Follow him? Not bring him back—just be with him?"
Sakura stared at her. Miho could tell from her chakra that she was wary and hesitant; this was not a topic she was not supposed to breach. Right when Miho was about to tell her that she didn't have to answer, though, Sakura shook her head.
"I thought about it," she admitted. "There were times when I wanted to chase after him myself…but why would I? I have my family here. I still have Naruto and Kakashi-sensei. I became the Hokage's apprentice. I love Sasuke and I want him to come back, but when he left three years ago, he did it because he had a goal. No matter how much I disapproved of that goal, I knew he wanted to get stronger. If I chased after him, what would that say about me? So I made myself a promise." Sakura looked at Miho fiercely, her eyes bright and resolved. "I promised myself that I would never feel like my life was ending because of one person. I promised myself that I would grow stronger and be able to fight by myself so that I would never need anyone else's protection. And I promised myself that I would do everything I could to bring Sasuke back, but if…if at the end of the day he can't, then…then I made the right choice not to leave with him."
Sakura's voice had grown smaller at the end of her sentence, but Miho knew she was telling the truth.
She smiled demurely. "Good girl."
Sakura looked embarrassed suddenly.
"I-I didn't mean anything offensive, I swear," she stammered. "I know you and I-Itachi-san had a more significant bond than Sasuke and I ever did—"
"Don't say that," said Miho. "We were children, just like you and Sasuke. You were just smarter than I was."
Guiltily, Sakura opened her mouth to say something else but Miho stopped her.
"Kakashi's back," she said, standing up.
Sakura's expression changed immediately and she stood up as well.
"Is he injured?" she demanded.
"Not severely," responded Miho after a pause. "His chakra seems fine…we should patch him up just in case though."
Kakashi entered the tent minutes later, covered in rain, grime, and blood. He looked tired but alert, though something about his expression seemed off.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura greeted as she handed him a bottle of water.
"Are you okay?" Miho asked. "Sit down—"
"Later," said Kakashi. "I don't have much time. I brought someone here to see you."
"If it's a patient, you could've just called us to meet you—"
"You know I wouldn't let you do that," he said severely. "Sakura, come outside with me."
"Eh?" Sakura looked bewildered. "Why—"
"You can treat me outside." Kakashi lifted up the tent flap behind him, where a cloaked figure stood, drenched in the rain. "Come in."
Miho felt an icy chill sweep through her. She had not sensed the visitor at all.
She knew the moment the stranger entered the tent, the moment her heart seemed to stop beating. She could not sense those resurrected by the Edo-Tensei. She did not need him to pull back his hood, did not need to see his full face, pale but with the deep-set wrinkles, did not need to see the three tomoe set against brilliant crimson to know who it was.
But she saw, she felt, and she knew.
Uchiha Itachi had returned from the dead.