iii.
It was in the middle of the night (two months after they'd brought Sasuke back), when the realization dawned on Sakura that she would never stop loving Sasuke. Admitting it to herself was hard—so hard that the inner conflict was almost laughable.
The war had torn many lives apart, and Sasuke was so central to it all that it felt like the vilest betrayal to even think she could still carry a brightly burning torch for him. Loving someone who had tried to hurt her—kill her—was no easy feat, and she was no closer to forgiving him for that than she was to forgiving herself for allowing her own feelings to meddle in her duty towards Konoha. But despite all her logic, despite the voice in the back of her telling her it was only going to hurt her in the end, she found herself lying awake in the middle of the night, holding Team 7's picture to her chest like she had for hundreds of nights before, and admitted that there was a piece of her that would never stop believing she could help ease his loneliness.
Someone had to believe they could.
And if not her, then who?
Tears filled her eyes as quickly as they always did when it regarded her precious people suffering, and Sakura sobbed quietly into her hands.
iv.
"Yes, he's a war criminal... yes, he's a defector. But he came home. He came home, because he knew he had to atone for what he's done. And that might not be enough for the council, that might not be enough for the citizens who have lost so much... but it's not right. He came home knowing this would await him—he came back. You can't keep him locked up forever. It's not right."
The Godaime reflected upon her apprentice's plea, her gaze trained out the window of her office. It was a sloppy case, unrehearsed, and spoken out of passion, not reason. The speech was something Tsunade expected of Naruto, not the pink-haired kunoichi she had mentored for years.
The allegiance Tsunade had to the Uchiha boy were severed the day he'd carved a line through his headband, and she trusted him only as far as Ton-Ton could throw him. But Tsunade was nothing if not a forward-thinking woman, and she saw the intentions of the elders as clearly as ever: the Sharingan was to remain in Konoha, and heads would roll if it did not. At the end of the day, they couldn't care less if the denizens were up in arms because a war criminal walked amongst them. Convincing them that the last Uchiha heir would stay, and stay loyal, was the ultimate battle.
But what more did she owe Uchiha Sasuke? He showed a lack of repentance during questioning, refused to cooperate in full, and was generally a massive thorn in Tsunade's side throughout the entire ordeal. She had a village to rebuild from the ground up and the little boy had wanted to play games. Tsunade understood pride, but she also embraced humility when the time called for it, and she found herself rather impatient with those who did not. She'd permitted him to live out his life, though it was a life now severely limited, and he should have been damn grateful.
It was a complex issue, and Tsunade found that she was much too sober to process it all.
"Shishou," pleaded Sakura.
"Go to him," said Tsunade finally. She locked eyes with her young apprentice. "Go to Uchiha Sasuke and convince me that he is willing and able to make amends. Convince me, Sakura, that he will never betray the Leaf again, and maybe then we can discuss what is fair and what isn't."
Sakura bowed quickly and exited the office, her heart pounding wildly in her chest. A cold chill had run up her spine when Tsunade had ordered her to visit Sasuke and it was still lingering at the nape of her neck. Despite her impassioned speech, the last thing Sakura wanted to do was actually visit him. As far as her nerves were concerned, her job was done the moment she'd handed Sasuke over to the two ANBU squads that had been ready to receive him at the secret Konoha side gates.
Sakura flew down the steps of the Hokage Tower and out into the crowded streets of her village, feeling like more of a coward than she had her entire life.
What had she expected, really? She would say a few lines, Sasuke would be released, everyone would apologize for everything wrong in the world, and the picture would fade out in a dazzling sunset. Of course not. They lived in a world where hundreds of people were slaughtered by a brother under orders, an innocent child was ostracized for reasons out of his own control, and a little pink-haired girl was ignored by all until she finally had the courage to stand up and fight for her place in the world. Nothing wrapped up neatly, ever, and Sakura knew her happy ending was still miles down the road.