This chapter's longer than the other two by a decent margin.

Unbeta'd. If you want to be my beta, feel free to PM me.

I Am Aware Now

Chapter III

She finds it hard to focus on this mission with him in the back of her mind, his screams, the vacant look in his eyes.

But focus she does, because she has to, because Jiraiya implores on her how important it is. And because he reminds her that it's the only way they can fix him, whatever happened to him.

Learning the Rasengan is tough, but she manages it. She manages it because she has something to prove, because she knows that she can stick it to that blonde hag, because she knows that if he wakes up… when he wakes up… he'll have to be impressed by the fact that she can use a jutsu the Yondaime Hokage used.

The fight against Orochimaru… it sends chills down her spine.

Because this is the man who'd attacked them in the Forest. This is the man who had killed the Sandaime Hokage. This is the man who had single handedly brought the Leaf Village to its knees.

She thought she had seen power in Jiraiya, she'd thought she had seen power in Sasuke's brother, and yet, the power she sees in this man is breathtaking. With the use of his hands restricted, he's still capable of fending off people as powerful as Jiraiya and Tsunade.

They drive him away eventually; eventually.

"Tell me exactly what happened to him," Tsunade asks, as they settle in an inn for dinner one night.

She's heard Naruko go on and on about how she needs to 'heal' Sasuke, but she hasn't actually heard out what happened. Now that she's agreed to become Hokage though...

Jiraiya looks at Naruko, who looks at him. Her lip wobbles slightly.

"It was Uchiha Itachi," Jiraiya says, and Tsunade stills at the words that come out of Jiraiya's mouth.

"The boy who killed his entire clan, eh?" Tsunade shakes her head. "A monster if I've ever heard of one. Continue, Jiraiya," she says.

"It wasn't an ordinary genjutsu, Tsunade," Jiraiya implores; the way he puts it makes Tsunade still and that in itself makes Naruko want to puke. "It was something malevolent, evil. He looked Sasuke in the eyes and the boy just started screaming, screaming like he was being tortured. When Itachi was done with him, he was unconscious."

"Powerful," Tsunade admits, begrudgingly. "But that's not uncommon for a genjutsu made by the Sharingan. Were the medical shinobi in the village unable to revive him?"

"I've received reports on our journey and the news doesn't look good," Jiraiya murmurs. "As far as I can tell, he's…" He glances at Naruko, swallows, then looks back at Tsunade. "He's still unconscious; totally unresponsive. He hasn't moved a muscle in over a month."

"You're leaving something out," Tsunade says and Jiraiya sighs.

He leans across the table and the blonde cocks her ear, listening carefully.

"Good God," she says in a hushed tone, and Naruko's blood seems to freeze.

"Ero-sennin," Naruko hisses. "Have you been keeping something from me?" she demands of him.

"It's nothing you need to hear," Jiraiya says.

"It's my teammate!" Naruko says. "If you can tell baa-chan than you can tell me!"

Tsunade makes eye contact with Jiraiya and solemnly shakes her head.

"I'll tell you," Jiraiya murmurs. "Just not now."

Naruko's fingers curl into balls in her lap. She glares daggers at Jiraiya.

Tsunade sighs.

"I can fix it," she decides after a moment.

Her face is flooded with joy. "You can?" Naruko says, and she's smiling from ear to ear now.

"I can wake him up," Tsunade amends after a moment.

Naruko doesn't seem to be fazed. "Yes! Yes!" she cheers, and she crawls over the table, hugging Tsunade tightly. She misses the significant look that the two old teammates share.

"Why didn't you interfere?"

They think she's asleep.

Maybe she would be. Maybe she would be if she didn't hear Sasuke's torturous screams in her ears.

Jiraiya was silent in response to Shizune's question.

She hears him shift slightly.

"I decided to let him fight his own battle," Jiraiya says after a moment.

"What battle is that? What did the boy want?" Shizune asks.

"He was there the night it happened," Jiraiya murmured, and Shizune gasps slightly. "He saw the boy kill his parents. And… that wasn't the first time he was put under that genjutsu." Jiraiya sighed. "From the reports I've received, the condition he's in is similar to how he was after the massacre, only much more severe."

"This Uchiha Itachi…" Shizune's voice sounds strained.

Naruko's heart thuds as she listens.

"... what kind of a monster forces his own flesh and blood to watch the murder of his kin?" Shizune grounds out. Naruko freezes.

"That's the nature of the genjutsu," Jiraiya says in a somber tone. "When he used it against Kakashi, it was designed to inflict physical pain and incapicitate him." The crackling of the firepit could be heard as he spoke. "With Sasuke, however, it seems that Itachi was trying to spur on his desire for revenge…"

"But to go that far?" Shizune says. "Do we know the details of the genjutsu from Kakashi?"

"Yes," Jiraiya murmurs. "From what Kakashi says, he was locked in a world totally under the control of Itachi—he was able to control space and time. He made a single second feel like an hour, and from what Kakashi said, the genjutsu lasted for there days."

"Three days…" Shizune breathed.

"Three days of watching his clan be slaughtered, again and again," Jiraiya says bitterly. "I should have intervened. I should have intervened." He sighs. "Even if Tsunade-hime can revive him, I doubt that his state of mind will ever be the same."

"It must have felt like years to the poor boy," Shizune whispers. "If every second felt like an hour."

Naruko can feel the tears leaking down her face. She rolls over inside of her tent and the sound makes the two of them fall silent.

Sasuke, she thinks.

When they arrive home, there's no welcoming ceremony. Every hand is still being used to help repair the village after Orochimaru's attack—much has been repaired in the month since they left, but there's still plenty of work to be done.

Their small party of four walks through the streets, drawing more than a few looks owing to Jiraiya's reputation. It's been so long since Tsunade has been in Konoha, however, that she isn't as recognized as he is.

It would be proper for their destination to be the Hokage tower, where the elders resided, that way they could have Tsunade inaugurated as soon as possible.

However, Tsunade was anything but proper. And she would never forgive herself if she didn't heal Naruko's friend as soon as possible, not after all the blonde had done for her.

They make their way to the hospital. It's easy to figure out which room Sasuke is in—when they get there, Sakura is sitting in a chair beside his bed.

"Naruko?" she whispers, rubbing dark circles underneath her eyes. "You're back?" The pink haired girl blinks. "Who's that?"

Naruko pays her no mind, her attention focused solely on…

Sasuke.

He's so still it's scary—his face blank, expressionless, his eyes wide open. They've cleaned him up, healed his wounds. He looks like a blank doll, utterly vacant, and that terrifies her.

Sasuke isn't vacant… he always has something, whether it's irritation or cockiness bristling off of him, it's always something. He isn't supposed to be empty like this.

Tsunade steps forward and Naruko follows her; Jiraiya and Shizune hover in the doorway.

Naruko stands beside Sakura as Tsunade goes to work.

The future Hokage's hands glow green—she gently places her palms on Sasuke's head.

It takes a minute, and Tsunade's face looks strained, but eventually, she retracts. Sasuke's eyes flutter closed.

"Did… did it work…?" Naruko asks quietly.

Slowly, Sasuke's eyes open; he looks at Naruko.

"Sasuke!" Sakura cries, and she throws her arounds around the young Uchiha.

He doesn't move a muscle, he just continues to stare at Naruko.

"Naruko…" Sasuke whispers.

She's the one to break eye contact, because there's an uncomfortable realization in her gut.

The vacant look in his eyes was still there.

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This went unbetaed. If you want to become my beta, feel free to PM me.