Chapter 14: Dawn

Sasuke watched as horror washed over him. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion and the sounds had an echo to them. Naruto collapsed hard on top of Akuma. His limped form bounced slightly and then rolled over Akuma's body, finally coming to a rest beside the elderly man. The woman who was holding the bloodied kunai stared down at the two bodies with glazed eyes. She was in shock. If Sasuke had took a moment to think about it, he would have understood. Here she was, now the leader of a terrorist organization and she, by her own hands, had killed Uzumaki Naruto. Whatever life she might have had was gone; either dead or in prison.

He took a deep breath to calm himself, but the others around him were looked at what he was staring at and the fighting around him was subsiding. A scream finally tore him out of his thoughts and Sasuke spun to see Hinata rushing towards the scene. Sasuke shook his head and grabbed her arm as she raced passed him. The realization was sinking in for him now. He was in charge. He was now Hokage; at least for this very moment. "Get Sakura," he snapped at Hinata. If Naruto wasn't dead, they probably didn't have much time. Hinata looked like she was going to argue, but instead, she shook her head and took off towards the ink birds.

Sasuke sighed and stepped forward. "Enough!" he shouted, his chakra flaring. He didn't stop moving until he grabbed the woman's hand in a death grip, threatening to snap her wrist. He didn't even look down at Naruto and Akuma's bodies. "You haven't had time to initiate yourself in running a terrorist organization. I'm not going to give you that time." He twisted her arm and heard it snap. The weapon clattered to the ground, but to her credit, she didn't scream.

"I surrender," the woman said.

"Louder," Sasuke snapped. He released her now broken arm and spun her to face her crowd.

"We surrender!" she shouted. A ripple of panic passed through the gathered members. Sasuke sighed. Yes, they would panic, but there was no real need. Eventually they would sort out things and most of the people would be written off as misguided. There were too many in the group to all be criminals.

Sasuke nodded. It would take months to sort it out. Finally, he turned his eyes to Naruto just as Sakura came kneeling beside him. "Is he dead?" he asked without emotion. Sakura didn't answer him, and he knew she was still checking. He dragged the woman away through the crowd without looking up.

"He wanted me to," she whispered.

"I know he did. You drove him to it."

"It wasn't suicide," the woman snapped.

Sasuke turned to her, annoyed. "What?"

"The only way to heal this is to listen to these people!" she said, gesturing to the gathered crowd. "We weren't just a group of crazy people who had nothing better to do! These people thought there was no other way! They lost their families and homes!"

"He had two children," Sasuke snapped.

"I didn't come here to kill anyone," she said.

Sasuke wanted to break her other arm, but he held himself back. That wouldn't fix anything. "We all leave the house willing to kill," he said. "Why did you surrender?"

"Because Naruto made a point. He said that we could discuss things."

"And then you killed him." He looked up as thunder rumbled in the distance and sighed. The weather always seemed to know their moods.

"To bring peace," she said.

"I've heard it all before." He watched as Boruto and Himawari sped passed him and he closed his eyes as their screams rose up. "I hope you're as willing to die for your peace as he was," Sasuke hissed. He shoved her onto the bird and kicked it into the air.

Sasuke looked up from the desk as Shikamaru walked into the office. "Good morning, Sasuke," he said. "You feeling okay?"

"I'm fine," Sasuke muttered. He turned to the Hokage cloak hanging on the wall. It still said seventh. No 8th had been made yet. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and felt a lump in his throat. "It's been months," he said.

"It has," Shikamaru agreed. "I'm sure we'll see signs of improvement soon." Sasuke nodded. They had been processing the members of the Tsuchi. So far, about half of the ones that had been processed were released. People fell on hard times. It was just something that happened. The other villages were dealing with their own ninja and people. It would take a few more months to sort it out the rest of it. Sasuke was letting Shion rot in the catacombs for the time being.

"Have you gone yet?"

"I've been avoiding it," Sasuke admitted.

"I'm sure he'd like to see you," Shikamaru said.

"Yeah, I'll go tomorrow."

"I think you said that yesterday… and the day before." Shikamaru leaned against the wall. "Go on. I'll deal with the rest of the paperwork today. Go see your friend, Sasuke."

Sasuke stood and looked at Shikamaru. "I can't," he snapped. "I did this to them, and I don't want this stupid job!"

"He trusted you with it. We'll see something, Sasuke."

Sasuke scoffed and left the office. If he had just done something differently, then none of this would be happening. If he had just trusted Naruto six years ago, they wouldn't be here. He shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked down the streets of the village. No one looked at him as he did. They actively looked away from him. They all knew the role he had played in all of this and he was ready to hand the Hokage-ship to Konohamaru when this whole thing blew over.

Sasuke found himself at the graveyard and closed his eyes. He didn't know why he was here, but he walked into the yard and found himself at the collective Uchiha monument. He looked down the list of names, reading each one out loud; innocent people that didn't have to die. Not every Uchiha was compliant in the coup; not even all of them knew. There were kids his age and some younger that night.

He turned to the individual gravestones and suddenly he felt angry that they had a collective monument; a mass grave. He knew why the village had done it. It would have been unpractical to give them all individual graves, but he felt angry that his family members had been reduced to a single line on a black stone. He spun and threw his fist into the stone. A single crack appeared. Sasuke cursed and put his head on the stone, feeling guilty that he had defiled the marker.

"Sasuke?"

He turned to look at Sakura. "How is he?"

"No change," Sakura said. Sasuke sighed. "He'll get better. These things take time, Sasuke."

"It's been almost four months," Sasuke said, "and he hasn't shown any signs of improvement!"

"He woke up this morning for a few minutes," Sakura assured him. "That's something."

"It's not something!" Sasuke snapped. "Don't act like it's something! Don't treat me like I'm a child!"

"It is something," Sakura retorted. "He's lucky to be alive, Sasuke!"

"He won't think that if he never walks again!" Sasuke shouted. His voice echoed in the empty graveyard. Sakura looked away with tears in her eyes and he felt his stomach churn. "Look… I'm sorry… I just… This is my fault. It should have been me."

"Don't think like that. They don't blame you, Sasuke."

"They should," Sasuke muttered.

Sakura put her hand on his shoulder. "You should go see him. He needs to see you, and you need to see him. This… won't be easy."

Sasuke looked away. "I can't face them."

"I'm sure Boruto will hit you," Sakura said. "But, you need to see him."

Sasuke sighed and pulled her into a hug, resting his chin on her head. "I love you, Sakura, but I can't… forgive myself."

Sakura nodded slowly. "Yes, you can," she whispered. "Maybe not today… or tomorrow, or a few weeks from now or even next year, but one day you will forgive yourself. But, you know what?"

"Hm?"

"Naruto will forgive you long before you forgive yourself."

Sasuke offered her a slight smile. "Okay," he said. "I will go see him." He pulled away from her and started back into the village, but he didn't go to the hospital. Instead, he went to the prison where they were keeping Shion. He checked in and then went to the cell, seating himself in front of the bars.

She looked up at him and offered him a smile. "Good evening, Hokage-sama," she said.

"Do you have a family?" Sasuke asked, skipping the formalities.

"What's this about?"

"What drives people like you to do what you did?"

"Surely you interrogated Akuma enough to know why the Tsuchi exists," Shion said.

"Akuma was a very unstable old man," Sasuke said. "You don't seem like that type to do this."

Shion leaned forward to look at Sasuke. "And what kind of people do what I did, Sasuke?" she asked.

"I don't know… crazy people?" Sasuke said.

Shion laughed. "What drove you to kill Itachi?" she asked.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. He hated how people knew about that. "I don't know," he said. "Anger, revenge… The world wasn't fair."

"It's still not fair, Sasuke," Shion said. "It'll never be fair, but we were trying to make it a little less unfair, and yes, we went about it the wrong way, but when there are people who need hope, telling them that there will be conversations that may one day lead to their grandchildren having a better life while their children starved in the streets, they don't want to hear about conversations, they want to hear about action!" She shook her head. "And sometimes that action is to hurt people, and I know what we did was wrong. What we did was beyond the realm of wrong, but people… people need to believe that life will get better, Sasuke. They need to believe that things won't always be terrible."

"And the Tsuchi gave them hope?" Sasuke asked.

Shion nodded. "Unfortunately, yes," she said. "Hope… it comes in too many forms, and sometimes those forms are awful to others. I won't defend myself for my actions. I don't… feel like that is something I deserve to do. I deserve everything that you will do to me, but the others… they don't. They just wanted something to believe in. I'm sorry that it was the Tsuchi."

Sasuke bowed his head. "So am I."

"They are good people," Shion said. "Good people do bad things."

"I know."

"Sasuke… I don't expect you to feel pity on us. I don't expect you to feel anything towards us except hatred. But, what I want you to try to do is forgive them."

"Not you?"

"I don't deserve your forgiveness," Shion said. "So, I won't ask for it." She leaned back against the wall. "How's Naruto?" It wasn't a question out of malice. It was genuine concern.

"I don't know," Sasuke answered truthfully. "I haven't gone to see him."

"I see." She closed her eyes. "Will you?"

"Yeah, I'm about to go," he said. "How do I face him?"

"I can't tell you that. Whatever guilt you may be feeling over what happened, you will have to deal with it," Shion said.

"You did this to him."

She shrugged. "I know, but I didn't kill him," she clarified. "I didn't want him to die, Sasuke."

"Do you think he'll want to die because of this?" Sasuke asked.

"I don't know him well enough to answer that question," she said with a shrug. "I know you want some sort of indication that this will be okay, but the truth, Sasuke, is that it won't. None of what happened… what we did, will ever be okay. You have to understand that life will never make sense."

Sasuke shook his head. "I didn't need you to tell me that," he snapped.

"Then why did you come to me when you have a family to talk about this with?" Sasuke didn't answer and Shion studied him. "You want to blame me, don't you?" Sasuke nodded slowly.

"I wanted you to be like Akuma… someone I could just hate without thinking about it or losing sleep over it…"

Shion leaned forward to look Sasuke; to study his face. She smiled. "You see, that's the thing, isn't it?"

"What?"

"Villains aren't always bad people," she said. "Sometimes… normal people are the biggest threats." Sasuke stood and walked away from the cell. "I won't apologize for what I did, Sasuke," she called, "but that doesn't mean I'm not sorry about it."

Sasuke waved back to acknowledge her words and then he finally started to the hospital. He went down a list of things he could say to Naruto, but he figured that Naruto wouldn't even be awake, so it didn't matter. He walked into the hospital and ran up the stairs and stopped short. Hinata was coming down the steps. He looked away.

"You've finally come," Hinata said. "I was wondering when you'd show up."

Sasuke laughed. "You know… being the Hokage is quite time consuming." Hinata narrowed her eyes. Sasuke sighed. "How are you doing?" he asked.

Hinata shrugged. "I'm not sure," she said. "Some days… I feel like I'm okay… other days, not so much."

"I know that feeling," he said.

Hinata leaned against the wall. "What about you? How are you feeling?"

"I guess I could be worse," Sasuke said. "How are the kids?"

"Scared," Hinata said. "What are you going to do?"

"Right now, I'm going to go visit my friend… If that's okay with you."

"I can't stop you," Hinata said with a shrug.

Sasuke nodded and continued up the stairs, but as he passed her, he stopped. "Hinata…"

"Don't say it," Hinata snapped.

"I'm sorry. I never meant for anyone to get hurt like this."

Hinata sighed. "I wanted to blame you," she said. "I spent so many nights staring at him thinking of how many ways I could just blame all of this on you, but the truth is that I can't. Like you said, you didn't ask for any of this. You only did what you thought had to be done. The one person we can blame for this is dead. There's no reason to torture yourself for this."

Sasuke wasn't sure how to answer that. "I'm… sorry," he said again. "I don't know what else to say, Hinata."

She smiled at him. "I'm going to go get some coffee. If Boruto gives you a hard time, tell him I already punched you."

Sasuke laughed. "Will he?"

"Probably."

He watched her go and then walked down the hall to the extended stay ward. He stopped at Naruto's door and went to open it, only to find himself face to face with Boruto. Sasuke sighed. "I don't have anything to say to you," he said.

"Neither do I," Boruto snapped and then punched Sasuke hard in the stomach. "Watch out for him, uncle," he said and then left, leaving Sasuke to step into the room. There was the steady sound of the heart monitor and he moved his eyes around to avoid looking at the bed. Himawari was sleeping on a cot and Sasuke smiled down at her. Maybe, just maybe, life would go back to normal for them.

He finally turned to the bed and his breath caught in his throat. Naruto was lying in the bed with tubes, IVs and a mask all hooked up to one machine or another. He forced himself to study Naruto's face. He had lost weight. The road to recovery would not be an easy one, but Sakura had given Naruto the best odds.

The kunai had nearly broken his neck, and had caused severe nerve damage, but during bouts of lucidity, Sakura had learned that he had not lost all feeling in his limbs. She said that was a good sign and with therapy, he would, most likely, walk again. Sasuke bowed his head and stepped up to the bed. He laughed. "Look at you," he muttered. "You're an idiot…"

"Shut… up…"

Sasuke gasped and turned. "Naruto?"

"'Bout time… Sasuke…"

"Same to you," Sasuke muttered.

They sat in silence long enough for Sasuke to think that maybe Naruto had slipped back into unconsciousness, but then; "It… really is a mess, isn't it?"

"Not the biggest mess we've been in," Sasuke said.

"Right?" Naruto muttered. "This… didn't end the way I wanted."

"At least it ended."

Naruto laughed and turned to Sasuke with his dull, blue eyes. "I don't know… maybe."

"It is," Sasuke said. "And don't worry, you'll be up and taking your rightful place as Hokage soon. I'm not really cut out for the job."

Naruto looked back up at the ceiling and sighed. "I think you're doing fine," he said. Sasuke wasn't sure if Naruto was serious or not, so he didn't laugh. "How'd this happen?"

"I went and did something stupid."

"You still beatin' yourself up about that?" Naruto asked. Sasuke could tell he wanted to wave an arm, but the man couldn't. "Forget it, Sasuke. That was a few years ago. There's nothing to be ashamed about."

Sasuke sighed and leaned against the seat. "Naruto… I mean it. How'd we get here?"

"I don't know, Sasuke. We just did. It just happened…"

"You'll be okay," Sasuke said. Naruto laughed and closed his eyes. "I mean it, Naruto. Sakura said that she can operate soon and then therapy will start. It'll take a while, but you're going to be okay."

"Hey… Remember when we were kids," Naruto asked, "back before the Uchiha thing?"

Sasuke nodded. "What about it?"

"Back then… I didn't think we could be friends, you know. You didn't seem to like me much, even before Itachi did what he did. You didn't see me back then…"

Sasuke sighed. "That's not true. I knew who you were. My dad would tell me to stay away from you, but I guess that was because they didn't want me befriending you since they had plans or something," he said. "But I did notice you from time to time."

"You never said hello."

"I wasn't supposed to," Sasuke said. "But that time, on the playground…"

Naruto laughed and nodded. "Those kids were jerks."

"I wonder if they still are," Sasuke said.

"Probably not. At least, I hope not."

"You always saw the best in people, didn't you?" Naruto nodded. "Guess that's why you'll get through this. That attitude of yours will get you through just about anything."

Naruto laughed again and closed his eyes. "I suppose. Is the Tsuchi taken care of?"

"Almost," Sasuke said. "We're working on it."

"Good..." He sighed. "I think… we could have handled all this better, but, it worked out in the end, right?" Sasuke nodded. "And… we're okay now… The village, my family, you and your family…"

"And you," Sasuke said.

"Yeah," Naruto laughed. "I'm okay, and given time, I will be fine."

END

Author's note: Geez, this story went off the rails! XD But it is DONE! After quite a long hiatus! Thanks for reading!