a/n: This is a salt fic, I'm really sorry guys. I am a fandom Old. And there was a time when ownership/slave fics were like… a thing? And I was reading an old fic recently and it was driving me literally insane because it had so much potential? And it's execution was... Questionable? The sexual politics of it were really icky and yet, I finished it. So. Dunno what that says about me.

Anyway: Have a shippy, fluffy feminist(me)-approved fic about love and the questionable ethics of ownership. And also what the hell you're supposed to do when you've ruined things with the love of your life.

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There are two men left in the world with the knowledge to bind one person to another, in service for eternity. Sasuke stands over one of them, with a sword in his hand.

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It's a shackle. It's beautiful, but deadly things can be beautiful too. He clenches the band in his fist, the metal bites into his palm and he feels a little better. Self flagellation is what he knows best, he supposes.

He has a key to her apartment. Because she trusts him.

It took him a long time to earn that trust. It was hard work and he did it with the knowledge that it may never bear fruit. But incredibly, it did. She's fierce soul, but a gentle one. All she ever asked of him was that he be happy and that he stay. Both of those things were inextricably entwined and linked to her. He wanted to stay, to be a part of this family, this village. He wanted things to change.

After Sasuke had served his sentence, he was released into a world he could see with new eyes. He came out the other side humble, grateful and more alive and whole than he'd been since childhood. His first priority was taking care of the council and restoring his family honour. His second priority was making things right with everyone he had hurt.

Starting with Team 7.

Sasuke promised that he would never betray them again.

Naruto was easy to win over. It took so little to make him happy. They fell back into their old rythmes as easy as an old habit.

Kakashi was harder to budge, but there was less distance to travel with someone who understood him so intimately.

When Sakura welcomed him back it was with an open palm offering friendship. Trust came later.

They salvaged their team the same way they built it the first time: by working together towards a common goal, putting each their lives in each others hands and sharing meals together.

Sakura's friendship is as precious to him as anything in the world. He fought for the right to be back in her life and after all that… It's about to end.

He places the bracelet on her pillow and adjusts the white ribbon wound around it. The cuff is stainless steel and patterned with intricate designs: vines, leaves and buds. He traces one vine with his fingernail before snatching his hand away.

His stomach roils and lurches.

He remembers what being forgiven feels like.

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"I will never forgive you, as long as I live," Sakura groaned and delicately held a napkin in front of her mouth. "Stop ordering more, I can't do it any-" belch, "-more. Ughh…"

Naruto cackled and tucked into his third helping of barbecue ribs.

Sakura was having an amazing week.

She made a breakthrough with her stem cell research, the new Icha Icha just came out and it's amazing and Naruto treated her to lunch with definitely-not-my-royalties-from-the-publisher-I-don't-write-those-whaaaaat?

Tsunade was in town so they'd be meeting for drinks tomorrow and in three weeks she's due in Suna, where she'll be participating in a meeting on duties and tariffs for agricultural goods.

And a few days ago, after a spar, Sasuke invited (demanded) she come over for dinner and eat a real meal, with vegetables (as opposed to ramen, or soggy hospital pizza). She wasn't 100% sure, but it felt sort of date-like at the time. She wasn't getting her hopes up, per se, but it was something.

They were approaching a curve in their relationship. They've spent the better part of the six months dancing around each other, getting to know one another again. She liked what they were now. By some unspoken agreement, they were taking it slow. Real slow. She preferred that.

Of all the potential romantic relationships she'd had, this one far and away mattered the most. She didn't want to pull a Jun.

An internal shudder at the thought.

Jun was a Suna nin who, over the course of an extended stay in the village, had kind of fallen for her. Too quickly for Sakura and she'd felt awful; for her it was just a fling.

Now that she knew what being on the other side of it felt like, she could only think on her childhood crush and feel a lance of shame through the heart. The last thing she wanted was to make Sasuke uncomfortable. She'd let him set the pace. It should be him that came to her.

(There is a small part of her- very little, completely squashable-that knows this is self preservation, not selflessness. She can't put herself out there again, not when it comes to him.

And hey, if every romantic partnership she's had in the past three years has been shallow, fleeting and mostly physical, then it's nobody's business but hers. No matter what Naruto, Ino or Karin have to say about it.)

She told herself that she wasn't waiting, even as she planted herself on a bench outside Hokage Tower. Nope, this is just the perfect place to read. She was about halfway through Icha Icha Trials. She might as well get some fresh air. Yep, that was it. And hey, if she just happened to know that Sasuke was due back today and would need to debrief the Hokage then that was just pure coincidence.

She did a poor job convincing herself. She was mapping out their conversation in her head. "Hey Sasuke-kun, fancy seeing you! You up for a spar?" She shook her head, she was being ridiculous.

It was just-

His sentence lasted a year. House arrest, a little less. He'd only been free and clear for six short months. She still felt like she only just got him back and she treasured this time together.

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Sasuke locked the door behind him and headed toward Hokage Tower. That should have been his first stop, but he felt ill at ease with the bracelet still in his possession. He almost wanted to get it all over with. It would be cleaner that way.

His gait was slow and leisurely, but he felt like he was careening towards something.

It felt like hours before he looked up to find himself at the center of the village. And there was she was, the last, yet only person he wanted to see, right out front.

She was wearing civilian clothes. A swishy, baby blue skirt gathered like seafoam in her lap, a denim blouse was buttoned up to her throat and creased at her elbows where they bent to hold a book up in front of her face. She bit her lip in concentration, or excitement at the prose; he couldn't be sure. Her eyes scanned the page quickly, darting back and forth.

As he drew closer, he could discern a slight blush on her cheeks. Noting the title, he rolled his eyes.

Then she let the book fall open in her lap and kept reading as she took an elastic off her wrist, combed her fingers through her hair and tied it up in a messy ponytail.

Her hair was still so short, some of the strands escaped. Her concentration remained unbroken as she continuously pushed her bangs back off her forehead, unmindful that they kept falling back. It was incredibly endearing.

For a moment, watching his teammate so absorbed in her smut, he forgot everything else and snorted.

Though there were crowds of people around, shouting and going about their lives, this little noise drew her considerable focus his way.

Her smile was like dawn breaking.

"Welcome home!" she called with a wave.

Despite knowing better, he took the empty seat beside her.

"I can't believe you're reading that in public."

"You know, a wise person can admit when they're wrong and we were. All those years, Kakashi-sensei was right. These books are literature-"

"Oh my god," Sasuke hid his face in blushing shame.

"No really, you can also totally tell that Naruto wrote these last two, the style of prose completely changed."

"Stop it."

"I'm actually really impressed-"

"I don't want to picture the dobe coming up with any of that."

"UGH," she exclaimed in disgust, "Gross. Why do you have to put it in that context? That ruins it!"

"It was always gross," he laughed while fending off repeated blows to his shoulder, the vile novel in question, doing the bludgeoning.

"You are no fun at all. In case you were wondering."

Sarcastic and flatly: "I am the most fun."

An unladylike snort. "The life of every party you've ever been to."

"I've never attended a party," he took great offense to the idea that he might.

"Exactly."

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For one brief hour, Sasuke pretended that everything was fine.

This was just a regular day with his friend.

Nothing was about to be ruined irreparably.

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Sakura's great day came to a close after Sasuke walked her home.

He told her that he just needed to give Kakashi a quick update on the mission details, then he'd be back, so she should stay put.

She was so absorbed in her book that she didn't realize he'd taken over an hour until he'd nudged her back to reality.

Curiosity compelled her to comment, but he shrugged and nodded in the direction of home.

They strolled in comfortable silence, just enjoying each other's company.

Sakura lived in a third floor walkup and he trekked the stairs at her side, taking her right to her door. It was oddly chivalrous, but not completely out of character for him.

She invited him in and he politely declined. That was okay though.

Everything was okay. It was a really really good week.

"Goodbye Sasuke-kun," she told him sweetly. He raised his hand and after one last, shared look, departed.

When he was gone, she slumped against her closed door, practically giddy.

Nothing could sour her mood.

She sang to herself as she washed up and changed for bed. She practically launched herself onto her mattress and bounced in time with her own giggles. A sudden clack startled her.

Peering over the side of the bed, she spotted the source. It was a bracelet; a steel cuff, wrapped in a white ribbon.

"What the-?"

She plucked it off the floor and turned it around in her hands, confused. She had never seen it before. Sakura looked around the room as if she'd find an explanation. Had she bought it and forgotten about it? It was tied up in a ribbon, like a gift. For her?

Lips pressed together grimly, Sakura made a list of the people who could get into her apartment. It was a short one, but she supposed a shinobi of high enough caliber could get in unimpeded.

It really is beautiful.

With a tug, she untied the ribbon and dropped it in her lap. She ran her fingers over the etchings, then brought it up to her nose to sniff it. Was it lined with poison? She was immune to most, but you never knew.

Nothing.

A thought occurred to her that was too good not to try and quash.

The piece was clearly foreign, not in the style of Konoha artisans. It seemed expensive. There was one person who just returned from a mission. Who had the funds to afford a piece like this. Who had a key to her apartment. Who… well, she didn't know how to define their relationship and couldn't divine how he felt, but she thought they'd been growing closer?

She shoved this theory deep down. It was too good to be true. And so unlikely.

Sasuke wasn't the type to give gifts. And they weren't quite there yet.

But Sakura was made to hope.

She smiled to herself and slid on the cuff. It fit beautifully, like it was made for her. She swung her arm around, testing the limits of her movement. It didn't hinder her one bit. It was almost like the steel bent with her.

Outside, the sun was setting. Her stomach growled, pulling her from her giddy excitement at the mysterious gift.

A knock interrupted her fervent search for sustenance through her empty cupboards. The only thing she could find was a bag of barbecue chips and a can of beans.

A genin stood on her welcome mat. She was short, shorter than Sakura could believe she had ever been. Her frizzy brown hair was tied up in tight twin tails behind her head and braces were revealed when she grinned politely up at the jounin.

"Hi, Haruno-san," she said, shifting impatiently from one foot to the other. "Hokage-sama sent me to fetch you for a meeting."

Sakura smiled kindly at the girl. In a post-war world, there were fewer dangerous missions. Children were usually restricted to simpler tasks like carrying messages, transports and petty theft.

"Hi Suki, am I your last task of the night?"

Suki's smile turned sheepish, "Yeah, the guys are waiting for me at Yuusuke's. We're gonna try and beat this new game."

"So I should hurry over."

"If you're not busy… He did say it was urgent though."

Sakura snorted, "No, I wouldn't want to keep him waiting." She tossed the bag at Suki. "Here, take this with you. I should try and eat some real food for dinner anyway."

"Get Hokage-sama to treat you," the girl suggested, cheekily.

"Not a bad idea."

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"Hi Kakashi-sensei," Sakura grandly swept into the Hokage's office like she owned the place. Considering that she spent years assisting his predecessor, before the idea of him taking the job was even a malicious gleam in Tsunade's eyes, she was entitled.

"Sakura." At first, she didn't even notice his weird tone. She went right to his shelf by the window. He borrowed a book ages ago and she'd been meaning to double check a conversion chart she knew was in the index.

"It's been an entire eight hours since we met about the budget for this quarter. Did you miss me already?" Finally, she found what she was looking for, catalogued the number in her head and snapped the book shut.

When she looked up, she was stunned to find him looking at her with pity.

"Oh god. What?"

He didn't say anything and if he kept looking at her like that then she was going to freak the fuck out.

"What is it? Is it Naruto? Sai? It can't be Sasuke, I just saw him. Is someone hurt? I swear to god Kakashi-"

He must have realized that the longer he let her wind herself up, the worse it was going to get.

"Sakura, have a seat."