When Sasuke returned to the village, he was treated about as well as a traitor would.
He was placed in jail not a minute after he appeared at the gate. When he was examined by medical personnel, there was an ANBU guard at his door to keep him from running away. Said ANBU did nothing, however, to prevent unauthorized persons from coming in his room and spitting slurs in his face while they waited for the doctor to arrive. Seeing this, Tsunade decided to intervene and perform the examination herself to make sure everyone else behaved.
The harassment didn't stop in public spaces. The front door of the underground complex that he was being held at – which was supposed to be secret- was frequented by protesters and street artists with a fascination with dismemberment. The Hokage tower's mail room was filled with passionate pleas to have him publicly humiliated, or worse. And the media did nothing to dissuade the populace from their outbursts, instead focusing nearly 24/7 on every gruesome detail of his life.
And through it all Sasuke was quiet, doing as he was told without a word.
"Exclusive tonight on Konoha at 8! Traitor and international criminal Sasuke Uchiha to be released from jail. What can you do to protect yourself!" the TV announcer chirped, her flawlessly sculpted face scrunching in disapproval. "Now we go to Kaoru live in front of the Hokage tower, who has the latest for us."
"Thank you. The council held a meeting this afternoon to decide if Sasuke is fit to be released from captivity. After arguing for over 5 hours, and with several character witnesses including prominent Konoha citizens, they decided in a narrow 2-1 vote to allow him back into the population."
"How are the citizens responding?"
"The academy and schools have reported that a record number of students have been temporarily removed from school. People are also anxious to know where the Uchiha will be housed, and many expect real estate value in the area to drop dramatically."
"There has also been talk of favoritism and corruption in the Konoha government, especially with the Hokage who is close to both the traitor's former teammates. We have now an interview with someone who can bring more light to those accusations... Welcome Mr…"
The television shut off before the announcer could introduce him.
"Wha!? Why did you do-" one of the nurses said, getting up from her seat to yell at whoever had turned it off.
"Get back to work." Bit Sakura, unhappy with her coworkers for watching the program. She had made a point to avoid all television recently. She no longer held on to the crush she had had when she was younger, but that didn't mean she enjoyed watching her ex-teammate get dragged through coals on live TV day in and out.
As she walked back to her office to rake over a particularly complicated patient's file, she could see and hear people looking at her weird and whispering. She'd had almost no part in any of the proceedings regarding Sasuke, but that didn't stop rumors.
In her office, Naruto was splayed on her couch, drained. He was taking the whole thing much harder than anyone. He had always believed that the village would accept Sasuke back with open arms and they'd be a team again in no time. His enthusiasm and optimism were gone, and he spent most of his days in meetings and interrogations trying to advance his case. At the same time he had to dodge accusations of favoritism, and even a bribery case that had been fabricated by a particularly anxious mother afraid of having a 'ticking time bomb' close to her children.
"How'd it go?" Sakura asked, sitting down at her desk.
"Terrible. But we got what we wanted. So I guess its ok in the end. He's going to be under constant ANBU watch for a minimum of nine months, and we can't have him in the Uchiha compound. Too many rich, pretentious people live in that area and we'd go broke if we angered them. Fuck, this is not what I wanted" He said, raking his hand over his face.
"That's not that bad..." Sakura started.
"Oh, I almost forgot. He gets chakra cuffs. All day, every day. For half a year."
Sakura looked up, shocked. "Do they know the effects of that much long term draining? I mean it could cause irreversible-"
"They know, Tsunade-baba yelled at them that it was practically a human rights violation. But it was the only way to get him out of that tiny cell." Sakura could feel something hard in the pit of her stomach that was a mix of pity and nausea. "The only thing that shows up on TV or in the newspaper is more hate speech. Tsunade says the guards that are supposed to be protecting the Uchiha compound from angry rioters are 'frequently asleep on the job'. Imagine how much worse it's going to be when they know where he will be living. He's going to be defenseless."
Sakura had nothing to say.
"I can't even be around him. It would fall right into their favoritism allegations. Fuck, this isn't what I wanted at all."
She could only look at the ground, the ball in her stomach tightening. They sat in silence for ten minutes, before Naruto got up and somberly walked out the door.
Sakura tried to read the file again, but the knot in the stomach only tightened, threatening to send her running for the bathroom. She decided she need to do something active and went back to doing rounds.
It was four in the morning when she heard screaming down the hall. She had fallen asleep in her office after wandering the hospital until she could stand no longer. Someone banged violently on her door.
"We need you, he's unstable!"
Awake instantly, she ran out the door. "What's happening?!"
Tenten was outside her door, "Sasuke. Lots of bleeding. Critical condition." She said between pants as she pointed towards the ICU. Sakura bolted in that direction, realizing she forgot shoes as she skidded the corner on her socks. By the time she saw the swinging doors and saw Tsunade screaming at a cluster of ANBU while Kiba restrained a distraught Naruto, she had slipped completely into her meditative doctor state.
She strode through the doors, shoe-less and in yesterday's clothes, and immediately the prep-nurse slid an apron over her shoulders as another held out gloves. As someone cried out "CODE BLUE! CODE BLUE!" Sakura jumped onto the gurney, yelling for a transfusion as she started chest compressions.
An hour later, Sakura walked out, barely hanging on to consciousness despite the steady regiment of chakra enhancers a nurse had fed her during the procedure. Immediately Naruto jumped up and asked a dozen questions almost simultaneously. When she swayed on her feet, he stopped.
"He's stable." She said as she dragged a hand through her messy hair. "What happened?"
"The ANBU guarding his SECRET location was bribed. All sorts of media and several of the angriest people in town showed up and dragged him out into the street. Practically gutted him. It's all on the news, they filmed it all." Tsunade said, "I thought they were trustworthy too. There's maybe a dozen people that I can use to guard him now, and that's not enough for a constant watch. We can't even let him stay in a hospital room while he recovers, he'd have to be on the registry and that's open-access."
"He'll have to stay in the ICU for 24 hours at least, then we can consider moving him." Sakura said before slumping in a seat.
"Naruto, carry her home. I'll have Neji and Tenten set up watch tonight." She heard Tsunade say as the world slowly dimmed around her.
When she woke up, everything hurt. Chakra depletion was practically common now, but it never got comfortable. Rolling out of her bed because sitting up was entirely out of the question, she slumped into the kitchen and ate the first thing she saw. And then 3 more portions.
Half an hour later, she was showered and changed and walked back to the hospital.
Lee and Shikamaru were guarding the ICU now. It was weird seeing their extreme personalities erased by the events of the past few weeks, and instead they were both alert, professional and quiet. Instead of dramatic exclamations, Lee simply nodded at her when she approached the doors and returned to staring down the hall.
"It's so creepy out there." Ino said in greeting as Sakura walked towards Sasuke's heart monitor. "Never seen Lee so quiet before. I thought nothing could ever make him this serious." Ino inserted a syringe into the IV line before continuing. "Though this is certainly nothing any of us could have expected. Shika said he expected some backlash to his return, but never this much. It's so… vicious. Did you see the attack? They filmed it all, it's been running on the news all morning."
Sakura shook her head, she avoided all news these days.
"He didn't even fight back. They pulled him from his bed and tore him apart and he didn't even lift a finger. One news anchor said it was because he feels superior to them all, that simple civilians can't possibly hurt him. It sounds so wrong."
"Naruto said that he used to talk, in the beginning. But he stopped. He doesn't respond to anything anymore. They've broken him." Sakura said as she looked at his face sadly. She pushed his arm from his chest slightly, removing the bandages to look at the lacerations below.
For the next two days, Sasuke was kept in an isolated wing of the ICU under constant guard from loyal ANBU, primarily ones he had grown up with.
"They're grasping at straws on TV. Everyone saw how violent people were, and how he didn't fight back. They were too greedy for ratings, making that video run nonstop. People are finally realizing what they were doing." Naruto said, lounging on Sakura's couch. "How's the recovery going?"
"He responds occasionally. He was awake for half an hour yesterday. But you can tell he doesn't have the will to live long. He's just present." Sakura said sadly as she wrote something at her desk. "We need the ICU vacated soon too, there's already too much strain on the other wing."
Naruto sat up quickly, disappearing out the door. A couple minutes later, he came back, arguing with Ino as he shoved the door open.
"What are you... He can't be moved yet!" Sakura said as she watched Naruto wheel Sasuke into the room on a wheelchair, Ino trailing behind with his IV.
"That's what I told him, but he just started moving him anyways." Ino complained,
"This office always makes me feel better! I thought it would be good for him too. Trust me!" Naruto said, parking Sasuke by the bay window in the back. He looked so proud of his idea, happy for probably the first time in months. Sakura didn't have the courage to send him back.
"Ino, can you get me his charts and painkillers, please?" Sakura said with a sigh.
"Yes! You'll see, he'll totally make a speedy recovery!" Naruto exclaimed, before turning to Sasuke to talk to him about something that involved a lot of exclamation points. It was then that Sakura noticed that he was actually awake. Staring out the window and completely ignoring Naruto's gesticulations, but awake.
With a small smile she sat back down to continue her report.
Later that day, a nurse came to drop off some files. She walked right in, accustomed to barging in. She froze, however, when she saw the Uchiha in the far corner.
"So that's where they've been hiding him." She announced, dropping the files on Sakura's desk. "You're not nearly the ticking time bomb they said you'd be. You're just a pathetic little man, hiding behind the protection of those much stronger than you. I can't even remember why we ever looked up to you!"
Sasuke had no reaction.
Sakura however, wasn't not pleased. She stood up from her seat violently, the chair clattering to the floor behind her.
"You came here to drop off your reports, not talk. Leave before I fire you." She hissed.
"Like you're any better. You loved him and he broke your heart. The whole village knows it. You're just keeping him here like a trophy, broken like you once were. You're enjoying this, and you can't wait to come to work every day just to see him like this. You probably go home and masturbate to his broken corpse." The girl said, crossing her arms with smug satisfaction.
There was no sound for several seconds, and Sasuke hesitated to even look up. When he did however, he saw Sakura with both fists on her desk, looking directly at the nurse.
"Leave now or you will never walk upright the rest of your miserable life." She hissed in the most vicious tone he had ever heard. The nurse bolted out of the room, her face pale as a snow. For a minute, Sakura held her position, practically shaking in anger. When finally she finally moved, Sasuke quickly looked back out the window.
He did however hear her angry muttering about 'fucking idiots, who know nothing and should go die violently in a snake pit'.
When Naruto came to visit them later, she didn't mention the incident. Naruto did however, say that the public perception towards him had changed. They no longer found him to be a threat, instead he was now a pathetic excuse for a ninja, and a shame on the entire Uchiha line. "Which is a complete lie", comforted Naruto, "cuz we all know you're a badass super ninja."
It's wasn't much, but at least they weren't at his throat anymore.
She was very glad now that she had fought for a large office.
With her live-in patient, Naruto showing up every day ("It's not favoritism, I'm just coming to say hello to Sakura like normal!") and the ANBU guard, it was starting to be cramped.
Sasuke had moved in two weeks ago, and was no longer wheelchair bound, instead sitting on the window seat and staring blankly at the world outside. When Naruto wasn't visiting and making as much noise as he could, Sakura and Sasuke said in comfortable silence, both respecting each other's need for quiet.
Once, Sasuke had collapsed on his way to the bathroom, the chakra cuffs and his recovery combining and exhausting him. He had woken up on the couch, indignant but still silent, glaring at Sakura and urging her to keep quiet about it.
She had simply smiled and nodded. That had been the first time she had seen him interact with anyone.
Progress was being made.
One day, she had brought him a book. She assumed that he was horribly bored, staring at the alley below her office all day. He hadn't touched it.
The next morning however, the book was in a new location. She smiled softly and started looking through her charts for the day.
Two days later, he openly read in front of her, and the day after that she found the book on her desk with a note on top.
More.
So during her lunch period, she went to a bookstore and bought a mostly random selection, having no idea what he actually liked. She guessed he wasn't much for romance, though. Inside one of the books she slipped her own note: Tell me what you like and I'll get more.
For another week, they communicated through succinct notes. Typically Sasuke's were no more elaborate than a 'This' slipped between the pages of a book.
As the week came to a close, Sakura was assigned a mission outside the city. She told him via note inserted into the top book of a particularly large stack. He looked at her when he read the note, and she saw something akin to fear flash in his eyes.
It's only for 2 weeks. Naruto will be here. She wrote, placing the note in front of him.
He didn't respond. She had never seen him write anything, the notes just appeared in the morning.
That day when Naruto came and told them of his exploits in training with Lee, Sasuke was back to staring out the window.
She day she arrived back in Konoha, she stopped by her office. The books were stacked neatly in two piles, one approved and one rejected. Sasuke was curled up on the couch, sound asleep.
Satisfied, she went home for the night.
The next morning, she walked into the office with a smile. Sasuke was back on the windowsill, looking out the alley. She handed him a note.
Get dressed, you get to pick your own books now.
He looked at her after reading it, hesitant. He knew people still didn't trust him. And he didn't want to face the outside world in case they attacked him again.
But she was insistent. Eventually she had him walking out of the office door, with his ANBU escort, to the book store around the corner. The other patrons of the small shop vacated the area once he entered, but the store owner did not seem bothered in the least.
He picked a couple books, and hesitantly brought them to the counter.
"Oh ho! That is one of my favorites. Take good care of it boy!" The owner said waving one of the books in the air as Sakura paid for the selection.
Once they got back to the office, he walked back to his window sill and immediately started reading the one the owner had praised.
When Sakura returned from her lunch break, extra portion in hand, she found a note on her desk that simply said thank you. She smiled and slipped it in her drawer for safe keeping.
From that point on they started taking more trips. Every couple days they went to the bookstore, and they now frequently ate lunch on the roof of the hospital. Once a week, Naruto would take him to the training fields and spar, but the chakra cuffs drained him quicker than he could bear and half the time he came back in a bad mood.
Lee offered his services to help him overcome the cuffs, but the council gave an order that specifically stated he could not be trained beyond a specific point. He was sullen for two days after that and refused to go to the roof to eat.
Time moved quickly. The populace had by now completely forgotten that he was ever an issue, and ignored him as much as he ignored them. He followed Naruto to the training fields, watching him train. He went out to eat several times a week with the rookie nine, and even went to the spring festival one night.
He did not, however, speak. The only mode of communication he had with any of them were the notes he passed Sakura. And only her.
Naruto was miffed when he learned about them, but it didn't discourage him for long. He still rattled on endlessly, and got his conversational cues from the various frowns Sasuke now exhibited.
Today was the day the chakra cuffs came off. The council had determined that he was not a threat, and he had been made to sign multiple contracts and agreements disclosing the various punishments for anything and everything they could dream of. They had also fought for a blood oath, but on account of his current muteness, it was removed from the table.
So now Tsunade and Ino stood in the office, as Sakura sat next to him on the windowsill. The first cuff came off, and he lurched forward, waves of charkra rocking back and forth through his body destroying muscle along the way. Sakura tried syphoning off as much as she could, while sending in her healing chakra to fix anything she could reach.
By the time the pain was tolerable, Sasuke was shaking and sweating through his shirt. Ino was standing next to Sakura, stabilizing her chakra as well.
Tsunade stepped forward to release the second cuff, when Sasuke turned and buried himself in Sakura's shoulder.
"No… no." He whispered hoarsely, into her chest. With a shaky hand, he wrote the characters for 'rest' into her leg.
"Wait a moment. I can't handle the second one quite yet." Said Sakura to her teacher as Sasuke pulled himself back towards the window. The coolness of the glass helped his overheated skin.
"Very well, I can come back in a couple hours. Is that ok?" Tsunade said.
Sakura looked at Sasuke for a second. Seeing a tiny tilt of his head forward and back, she responded with "I think I can handle that." Once Tsunade had left, she spoke again. "I'm going to get water. I'll get you some too."
"I'll come along to make sure you're fine." Ino added quickly, following her out the door.
Once they were at the vending machine down the hall, she spoke up again. "Was that his first word…"
"Yeah." Sakura said, leaning in exhaustion against the vending machine.
"Well, I guess its progress."
"I didn't want it to come because of pain."
Sakura returned to the office alone, with two water bottles and a cold compress. Sasuke had stopped shaking, but he was still dangerously hot. She hoped that the chakra would stop burning through his system by the time Tsunade returned.
The second cuff was no easier, but they were prepared for it. By the next morning he was used to the chakra fluctuations, and Naruto dragged a blushing Hinata into the room to help release the irritation on his chakra valves. The two left forty minutes later, Naruto promising to treat her to the best ramen ever in return for the favor.
Two days later, his hand started to overheat. He ignored it, hoping it would go away on its own. When it started sparking, he could no longer hide it.
"Saah.. Sakur-ah." He mumbled, holding his hand out. She looked up shocked, and held his gaze for a second before noticing the visible bursts of electricity coming from his palm.
"Fuck. Quick." She said, grapping his other hand and running out the door to the elevator. Pulling chakra from him as they ran to the elevator, she pressed her emergency pass into the scanner before slamming the roof button down. They went straight up, with only one of the ANBU making it to the elevator before the doors closed. Bursting out into the roof, she ran them around the corner and yelled "Grab the lighting rod!"
Releasing him, she discharged and impressive fireball with the excess chakra she had pulled from him.
The second ANBU arrived then, panicked and ready to fight, only to find Sakura bent over and panting and Sasuke gripping the lighting rod looking like a kid who had peed his pants.
After a visit from Tsunade, Sasuke was given mandatory daily training with Naruto so he could release the extra chakra he hadn't needed to control for the past several months. He was under orders to expel as much as possible until he either started producing less or learned to control it.
Sasuke spent much less time in the hospital now, so Sakura started having lunch out in the training yards with him and Naruto. Though the cuffs had been a nightmare, they had been such a drain on his system that without them he had a chakra production rate that rivaled Naruto's. The council was not pleased.
He took time to get back into the physical side of training though. Having been nearly stationary and eating almost nothing for more than six months hadn't benefited him at all. He was frequently angry at himself, and Naruto beat him every single spar.
He had gloated in the beginning, but now he was trying out positive reinforcement. Sasuke appeared not to be pleased by either.
He did enjoy lunch though. Sakura would come, and she would heal him as he ate. Naruto typically protested and claimed that she was playing favorites. Sasuke liked this.
"Saaaakuraaaaa! I'm hurt tooo! He's getting stronger and he can hit me now, LOOK!" Naurto said, waving an 'injured' arm in her direction.
"If you can move it like that, its fine." She muttered back, slowly dragging her hand over a cut on Sasuke's side.
"Hn. Dobe."
Both froze.
"TEME'S BAAAAACKKKKK!" Naruto yelled as he punched the sky. "YESYESYESYESYES" he continued, running around the field.
Sakura's reaction was more subdued. She simply looked up at this face and smiled. He grunted at her, looking pointedly at the half healed cut before looking away. The smile spread on her face as she went back to work, and couldn't help but notice a faint smirk on his.