Outside Konoha Hospital
"...That direction..." Sasuke snapped back to reality, looking hesitantly at the direction of the towering white bones.
Perhaps because he had just emerged from a state of suspended animation, his mind was a little foggy, and he hadn't immediately recognized the direction.
"Don't worry about that, Sasuke! It should be sealed off now," Sakura said quickly, pulling Sasuke along with her.
"Ugh..." Sasuke followed Sakura along the early morning road, frowning in thought.
"Here we are!" Sakura announced, tugging Sasuke to a stop in front of Aunt Misa's eatery.
"Wait, that direction just now seemed to be the Uchiha compound..." Sasuke suddenly realized, now that they were near Sakura's home.
Ignoring Sakura's protests, he ran off. Sakura, realizing the situation was beyond repair, followed after him.
That house wasn't just a place to live for Sasuke. It was a place filled with memories. For him, its sentimental value far outweighed its functional purpose.
When Sasuke and Sakura reached the Uchiha compound, they found it cordoned off with warning tape.
The last time it had been roped off like this was after the Uchiha clan massacre. Seeing the black and yellow tape, Sasuke felt a pang of sorrow.
But when he saw the towering bones up close, Sasuke was struck speechless with awe.
"You fought that kind of monster?" Sasuke asked, dumbfounded.
"It wasn't that terrifying. The bones are his kekkei genkai. He died right after using that jutsu. If you're fast enough, it can't even hit you," Sakura replied, also somewhat awestruck by the bone forest in the sunlight, though she didn't lie to Sasuke.
Sasuke shook his head and pulled aside the warning tape, stepping inside.
"Hey, you can't go in there right now."
As Sakura and Sasuke reached the gap Tsunade had made, a ninja stopped them.
"I live here," Sasuke said.
"Hm? Live here? You're Uchiha Sasuke, aren't you?" the ninja said.
If the Uchiha clan were still around, even as the clan head's second son, Sasuke wouldn't be so recognizable. But now, he was the only one left of the entire Uchiha clan. Everyone in the village knew him.
This was something that allowed Sasuke to empathize with Naruto. Walking through the village, being pointed at and whispered about, it was an unpleasant feeling.
"Yes," Sasuke replied, seemingly accustomed to being instantly recognized, his voice devoid of emotion.
"Then you still can't enter. The situation inside is still unknown, so for your safety, please don't go in for now," the ninja said, trying to dissuade him out of a sense of duty.
"Sasuke, let's go for now. We can come back after they've cleaned it up," Sakura added, also trying to dissuade him with a smile.
"Sigh~~~~~~ No, I need to go in now." Sasuke could probably imagine what his house looked like now. He sighed and said.
"I'm doing this for your own good. Please don't make this difficult," the ninja said, his tone becoming firmer.
Ninjas were ninjas, after all. They might patiently dissuade civilians, but that didn't apply to other ninjas. Sasuke was only a genin, while the ninja was a chunin. The ninja hierarchy was very strict.
"Move," Sasuke said coldly to the chunin, his patience running thin because of his anxiety about his house.
"What's going on here?"
A familiar voice came from inside. As the person emerged, Sakura recognized him as Kakashi-sensei.
"Kakashi-sensei! Sasuke and I want to go in, but he won't let us, and he was about to use force against us," Sakura immediately tattled, pouting when she saw Kakashi.
The ninja, seeing it was Kakashi-senpai, immediately explained, "That's not true, Kakashi-senpai. I was concerned for their safety, so I wouldn't let them in. I didn't use force against them."
This was typical for ninjas who didn't have much interaction with jonin. The superior-subordinate relationship was this strict. Ninjas also had their own circles, and those outside the circle were only connected by rank. However, because there weren't many jonin on the surface, most ninjas rarely interacted with them, and most ninjas in Konoha were of equal rank.
"It's alright now. It's safe inside. You don't need to guard here anymore," Kakashi said, glancing at the chunin. "This is Haruno Sakura. She's the one who fought the enemy here last night. Ugh~~~~ She's a chunin now."
"What, she's Haruno Sakura?" The chunin's face turned somewhat awkward. If he had known she was Haruno Sakura, he wouldn't have stopped her. Not only because Haruno Sakura had single-handedly fought and defeated the enemy last night, but also because she was a chunin. This wasn't a classified area anyway; it was just to protect the safety of unknowing people. But now he had offended her, and she was also Lady Tsunade's apprentice...
"Oh, I almost forgot. I'm a chunin now," Sakura suddenly remembered, prompted by Kakashi's reminder. "Kakashi-sensei, did you find the enemy's body?"
"Yes, we found it. This area will be unsealed soon," Kakashi replied, looking listlessly at Sasuke. "Sasuke, if you need any help, you can tell me. You probably don't have a place to stay now, do you?"
"So it's true," Sasuke's expression faltered upon hearing this "bad news." He slowly walked towards the bone forest.
"Sigh..." Kakashi sighed helplessly, watching Sasuke. "Sakura, I'm leaving. Sasuke's in your hands."
"Wait, Kakashi-sensei, where's the enemy's body?" Sakura quickly asked.
"The body has been transported to the autopsy department. Why?" Kakashi asked, glancing at Sakura.
"Nothing, goodbye Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said, a little disappointed.
Sakura wanted to extract a couple of bones from Kimimaro to make kunai. Kimimaro's bones were incredibly sturdy; they would make excellent kunai. Although Sakura primarily used ninjutsu, her fight with Kimimaro had made her realize the necessity of having a handy weapon.
If Kimimaro knew that Sakura wanted to use his bones to make kunai, he might have been so enraged that he'd come back to life and give Sakura another taste of his Dance of the Seedling Fern.
Sasuke entered the bone forest and could no longer see the streets he remembered. All that met his eyes were bones everywhere and... a swamp.
Sakura caught up to Sasuke, seeing him staring blankly at the expanse of bone forest, his expression filled with grief and indignation. She felt a pang of guilt.
"Um, Sasuke, it's okay. It's just a house. I'll build you an even better one," Sakura consoled him.
"........"
"It wasn't just a house," Sasuke finally said slowly. "It was my home. It was my past."
Sasuke's voice was low, neither happy nor sad, as he accused Sakura of her crime.
Sakura roughly understood what Sasuke meant. Seeing Sasuke, a proud and stoic boy, transformed into a melancholic state because of a house, Sakura felt even more guilty.
If she had just lured Kimimaro away, none of this would have happened. She had to go and demolish Sasuke's house.
"Alright then, I'll help you look. Maybe we can still find something. Your house was first swallowed by the Swamp of the Underworld, so it should be undamaged," Sakura said, forming hand seals.
"Earth Style: Underground Submarine Voyage!"
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