I do not ownNaruto. That would be Masashi Kishimoto.
The only thing that I own is the story line. Thanks.

"Hokage-sama, he is dangerous," warned her escort, eyeing the heavy metal door beside them.

"I am very much aware, however, it would be in his best interest to not attack the woman who could easily pardon him from all crimes," she replied coolly.

"Good evening, Hokage-sama."

Glancing over her shoulder, she nodded her greeting at the pair joining them. Ibiki Morino, Head of the Konoha Torture and Interrogation Force, and Inoichi Yamanaka, Captain of the Intelligence Division of the Allied Shinobi Forces.

"Thank you for coming, Inoichi. I know how difficult this situation must be for you," she meant it too, she truly was grateful for his cooperation in what was happening.

He merely nodded.

"Shall we begin?" suggested Ibiki, hand already grasping the heavy door.

Following behind him, Tsunade took the seat across from the unconscious Uchiha, her escort remaining at his post by the door. Setting down her folder she waited a few more minutes before slamming her hands hard on the table, jolting him awake.

"Where's everyone else?" he asked groggily, trying to regain his focus.

He was aware that he was strapped down to a cool metal chair in a dimly lit room, he could briefly recall being injected with something before everything was dark.

"Wait, where is Naruto?"

"He's safe," answered Tsunade.

Sasuke snorted in disagreement, "You drugged us and strapped us down. Why should I believe a word you say?"

"Because it is her word that will be your ticket out of here, scumbag," growled Inoichi, glaring at Sasuke.

Tsunade silence him with a single look before turning back to Sasuke, "You are aware of your situation then?"

"Hn."

"Sasuke Uchiha, as of right now you are listed as one of the most dangerous shinobi in the world right now with a high price on your head; because of you, all those who followed you are also in the Bingo book now. You are accused with high treason for many accounts, attempted to kill Konoha-nin on countless endeavors – including Sakura – and you manipulated the entire Rookie nine to leave behind your former teammate," she said, before her calm demeanor turned dark and deadly, "With what you have done to Sakura, I can never forgive you. But I will give you a chance to explain yourself for the others accusations, starting with when you left Konoha, the first time."

She leaned against the granite, letting her mind wonder in the quietness of her surroundings. It was here she thought about them, here she cried about them, here she could never forgive them.

In all honesty she knew that holding a grudge against some of them was pointless, she had never been very close with Kiba or Chōji, but with Ino or Hinata it was a different story. Sakura also knew that for anyone to simply pack up and leave was never easy, but to do it and not even say goodbye? Did Sasuke really have that much control over them that they would cater to his every whim?

But worst of all, the one who hurt more than ever was Naruto, her best friend. Teammates since they were children, they had so many memories together, had gone to hell and back for their black sheep of a teammate, and instead of staying together he left her behind. He broke his biggest promise of a life time – for Sasuke.

"It's always been about him, hasn't it Naruto?"

"You know, talking to yourself is a sign of insanity."

Looking over her shoulder, she couldn't help but smile a little at the slow approaching man, hand shoved deep into his pockets.

"Finally get freed?" she asked, knowing he was requested as part of the interrogation team.

Kakashi shook his head, "I slipped out, decided you were better company."

At that Sakura smiled. She knew that he enjoyed her company, it was a mutual agreed between the two that nothing was ever going to happen between them. They were friends and nothing more, if someone else thought differently of their close friendship, well then they could fuck off.

"Have you seen them since we arrived?" he suddenly asked.

Sakura shook her head, "No, but I'm the 'On-Duty' medic until tomorrow evening for all those in interrogation."

Kakashi frowned.

"Maybe I'll get lucky and I won't have to heal them, if they interrogations run on long."

He patted her back apologetically, "Sorry, I don't think you're going to get that lucky, doesn't seem like you've caught a break at all when it comes to them."

They were quiet and for a second, Kakashi thought he saw purple marks appear on cheeks and a pang of guilt ran through him as he remembered his team.

"Stop blaming yourself, none of this is your fault," Kakashi looked back at her with and unreadable expression, "It's merely coincidence that you're team and my teams were the same name."

"What? You're saying anyone who is put on Team Seven is cursed?" he teased, sitting down beside her.

Sakura laughed softly, "But of course, it would make total sense. I would bet money that before Jiraiya and Tsunade were called Team Seven before they were Team Hiruzen."

He frowned at the way she was connecting the dots, "Yes, Jiraiya and I have discussed that to extreme lengths."

"He was wrong about one thing though…"

"What was that?"

Sakura looked up at him, eyes brimming with unshed tears, "I didn't want them to come back, not now."

Kakashi knew that look so well and pulled her tightly against his chest. Sakura had no control of the situation at hand and her personal thoughts were at conflict with professional ones. For the village it would be good to have more strength amongst its ranks, but she still didn't want it to be them. She wasn't ready for it to be them.

"Naruto had been apologizing for everything, but Sasuke didn't say a single word. He didn't regret leaving me behind, not the first or the second time."

Kakashi remained silent, just tightened his hold on the pinkette, "Deep down, he did miss you Sakura. In this life time he will probably never admit to it, but you were frequently on his thoughts."

Glassy jade eyes looked up and she gave him a small smile, "Thanks, senpai."

Again he patted her on her back, "Don't worry about it."

The two tensed, sensing a set of fast approaching chakra signatures but quickly relaxed, realizing it was Sakura's ninken.

"I found her," claimed the black one, though they arrived at the same time.

"No you didn't, I did," scoffed the white one.

"I did!"

"No, I did!"

"Guys!" exclaimed Sakura, looking more amused than annoyed, "What did you come to find me for? Aren't you supposed to be posted outside of their interrogation rooms?"

"Hokage-sama sent us to find you," said the white one before glaring at the other, "Shadow thought you had gone home and it took us twice as long."

Shadow stuck his nose in the air, "I have no idea what you're talking about, Soul."

"Guys!" They immediately stopped bickering, "Why did she want me?"

"Because you're medical skills are needed."

Nodding, she turned back to Kakashi, "You can come by if you'd like, to talk more."

"Thank you, I'll see you later."

Kakashi watched with a mixture of amusement and concern as the trio hurried off. None of this was easy for her, everyone knew this with a single look, but what he didn't understand was why she was kept at the heart and center of everything. Shizune was more than capable of healing the duo, as was Tsunade, but instead she assigned Sakura to do so.

"It's a test," Jiraiya nodded his greeting, "Tsunade wants to know if Sakura can handle being around them at all. This is as much a test for the returned as it is for her."

He frowned behind his mask, "That's a pretty big risk, don't you think?"

"Yes," agreed Jiraiya, "I don't like it either, but Tsunade needs to know if Sakura can handle this."

"She's handled much worse before; I think it's time she gets a break now too."

"Sakura?"

Her eyes remained on the heavy door before her.

"Sakura?" asked Shadow again.

"Yeah?"

"We'll stay out here," he said softly, nuzzling against her leg.

Soul did the same, "Whistle if you need us."

Nodding she pushed the door open and silently entered the room, seeing that the table had been split in two and the chair twisted beyond repair, Sakura leaned against the far wall. Jade eyes scanned over the unconscious Uchiha, inspecting the handiwork that had been done to him by her shishou.

His left eye was almost completely swollen shut, his nose broken, and almost all his fingers looked like they were broken. To her surprise it seemed as if Tsunade had actually held back, something that didn't seem to sit well in her gut. Though, in all honesty, Sakura wasn't exactly sure how she was supposed to be handling this. These people had been her friends, they had shared many laughs and cries together, and they fought beside one another. Deep down she secretly felt a little bad for whatever was coming their way, at least for everyone except Sasuke and Naruto.

A low pained groan pulled her from her thoughts. Sasuke was finally beginning to regain some consciousness and slowly he rose his head.

He stared right at her, "Why are you –"

She remained leaning against the wall, "I've been assigned to healing you.

"Hn."

Finally she crossed the room, and began to steadily work. He winced slightly as soft fingers moved across broken skin, focuses completely on her work. He continued staring into the depths of those jade eyes. They seemed so different from how he remembered them years before, filled with the naïveté and innocence of a child, but now they seemingly held nothing. In the vast ocean of jade he could only see pain and sorrow, something that should never have reached this blossoms soul.

Twenty minutes or so had passed when he broke the silence, "I thought you were dead."

She hesitated, holding his hand in hers while mending the broken fingers, "For a while, I was."

That single statement spoke tones to Sasuke and proved his previous thoughts. Another silence fell over them, like a thick blanket, suffocating them slowly.

"I never stopped thinking about you…" he said groggily, eyes beginning to droop, "I missed you… Sakura…"

She bit her lip but said nothing, he continued on, "We heard of you being spotted with Akatsuki… we searched everywhere for you… when there was nothing, we assumed you were captured. We thought they were torturing you… and then we found your cloak amongst a bloody battlefield."

"That is enough," the sudden voice startled Sakura, she hadn't even heard anyone enter the room, "Sakura, please proceed to room 219."

"Hai, Shishou."

Quickly Sakura exited the room, avoiding the gaze of her teacher.

"I see we feel like talking again," observed Tsunade, who slowly shifted into an entirely different person, "Let's hear about this search for Sakura."

Kakashi glared hard at Sasuke.

"Why would you care? No one from Konoha appeared while we searched for her, it was as if no one cared that she was taken by Akatsuki."

Kakashi's hit him, hard, "You have no leg to stand on when it comes to caring for her. Now tell me about your search."

Uncomfortable with the legendary copy ninja Sasuke attempted to free his hands from the metal restraints, "It was when Kiba's scouting team stopped for drinks at a local pub, they over-heard of an Akatsuki sighting with a pink-haired female," Sasuke then gave him a pointed look, "How many pink-haired woman do you know?"

Kakashi crossed his arms at the obvious sarcasm.

"When he reported back to us, a small team went in search of Akatsuki in hopes of rescuing her. We had traveled farther north, following their snowy tracks. There was a lot that hadn't made much sense, such as why she was moving freely with them."

It took everything inside of him to not punch, Sasuke again.

"A full platoon had been sent to attack them; much of the snow was stained with blood. Naruto found a man who was still alive – we believed him to belong to Iwagakure – and immediately we began questioning him while Ino tried her best to keep him alive. He confirmed that a woman fitting Sakura's description was with them but he also said she had been badly wounded and poisoned," Kakashi saw his expression twist with pain at the memory, "He laughed and said she only had about two hours of agonizing pain before she would suffocate and die."

Kakashi frowned and walked towards Sasuke, pulling a small syringe from his pocket, "Very good, why don't we take a small break."

He flinched slightly as the serum was injected inside his neck, "Why was she with Akatsuki?" he slurred.

"She wasn't."

Everything went black for Sasuke and the door opened again, Sakura re-entering.

"He was wrong about one thing," she said, "The ones who attacked us, they weren't Stone-nin."

Kakashi watched as she checked his pulse and where he'd recently been hit, "Does the Hokage know this?"

"Yes," she said irritated, "Which is why she's letting them back inside. More muscle for our ranks, as it were."

Kakashi scoffed at that, "We can find better help."

Sakura nodded in agreement as they walked for the door, "I agree, but the shinobi world is a little understaffed," she commented while walking down the hallway towards Naruto.

"So it's like one big hospital?" he chuckled, stopping before a different door.

"Well, not really… I don't know! Wait out here until I'm done," she ordered, slamming the door behind her.

Startled awake by the sudden nose Naruto sniffed the air, unable to raise his head he spoke, "Oh heeeeyyy Sakura-chan."

She rose a fine pink eyebrow at him, "I think you were hit over the head one too many times."

He laughed outright, "Cooolll, Baachan was sooo mad."

Immediately she sent her chakra into him, checking for any signs of a concussion.

"I made this deal with baachan, it'saa good one too," he slurred, causing her to stop for a second, "Wanna hear?"

"Yes, what kind of deal?" she demanded.

"If that teme an I beat you in a fight…"

She shook him awake, "What did she say!"

Her grinned his goofy grin, "You're so pretty, teme thinks so too, did you know that? He missed you soo much, wasn't a single day you weren't in our conversations – until you died –" he choked back a sob, "We thought you were dead for years, but here you are. Standing here healing me, it's not an illusion."

Sakura stopped healing him all together, "What did Tsunade say."

The door flew open as Naruto spoke, "We will be reinstated if we can beat you in a fight."

Sakura ran from the room, Kakashi standing in the doorway looking a mix of annoyed and frustration.

"Do you ever know when to stop?"

The door to her office practically fell off the hinges, barely phasing the blonde sannin. Shizune on the other hand was greatly startled by the sudden intrusion.

"Hello, Sakura," greeted Tsunade, not even bothering to look up from her desk, "I was wondering when you would show up."

Sakura stormed angrily to the desk and slammed her hands down, "You made a deal with them?!"

"What deal?" asked a confused Shizune.

Sakura now turned her rage on the brunette, "The deal that allows Sasuke and Naruto to be reinstated."

"What?!" exclaimed Shizune, "I think you've had too much sake today, you're not thinking clearly."

"Are you two done?" asked Tsunade, lacing her finger together while leaning forward on her desk.

Taken aback by her casualness the two females snapped their mouths shut.

"Good, now listen carefully because I will only be saying this once."

Shizune glanced at Sakura nervously, but the pinkette held her head high and shoulders square against the legendary medical kunoichi.

"There is another organization forming in the shinobi world, one much more deadly than the Akatsuki has been the past few years. In order to protect our home we need more strength. You both know how much our numbers have dwindled over the years, them wanting to return will be good for Konoha," she then looked at Sakura, "I understand what this means for you, but I need you to look past this. You took an oath as Captain of an ANBU squad, you are to follow my lead regardless of what you believe. When you fight your former teammates, you will prove to them you are no longer the weak child you were, but a strong woman. You will make your Hokage proud, as well as all your teachers. Both of you are dismissed."

Shizune watched as Sakura quietly left the room, leaving the hanging door wide.

"Shishou?"

"I know Shizune, in the end, all of this will be good for her."

She turned her attention to where Sakura was previously standing, "I really hope you're right about this."

"Where the hell is she?!" growled Tsunade, glaring at those around her while taping her foot impatiently.

"Hey, Kakashi," whispered Shizune, "Do you know where she is?"

"You!" roared Tsunade, now turning her wrath on Kakashi now, "She learned this crap from you!"

Sasuke and Naruto sweat-dropped.

"Shishou, sorry I'm late!" called Sakura while she ran up.

Tsunade starred down her student, "You better have a good excuse."

"I was walking here when this black cat crossed my path, I couldn't continue across where the black cat had walked, so I went the long way around."

"That's why you're late?" asked a bewildered Naruto.

"Oh, okay," said Tsunade, "Let's get to business."

Naruto looked at Tsunade like she grew a tail, "That's an acceptable excuse?"

"Now during this spar, I do not want any of you dead, is that understandable?" Tsunade then gave Sakura a pointed look, as if reading her mind, "You can injure, but not to the point where they are beyond saving."

Sakura blinked innocently at her sensei before taking the two bells from her, "Just like the first time, if you can get the bells from me, then you'll win."

It was a sobering feeling, standing there on Training Grounds Three, the place where everything began for Team Seven.

Sasuke shifted his weight, sizing her up before activating his sharingan, "I won't hold back."

"I wouldn't want it any other way," smirked Sakura.

"So we just have to get the bells?" confirmed Naruto.

"That is correct," answered Tsunade, before adding, "And nobody dies."

Turning towards Sakura, he took a laidback fighting stance, "I'm sorry, but we're going to take you down."

"You sound so sure of yourself, underestimation is a kunoichi's best weapon," she replied coldly.

"Begin!"

Caught completely off guard, Naruto lay on his back and blinked a few times before quickly rolling aside and narrowly avoiding the heel of her boot. Craters erupted from the earth, sending a cloud of dust throughout the area and allowing her to escape.

"Damn-"

"Come on!" growled Sasuke, his sharingan eyes searching for the vanished pinkette, "Before she gets too far."

Sakura was much faster than they had originally anticipated, but it wasn't like she was trying to disappear and blend with her surroundings. She left many trails and made it extremely hard for them to pin point exactly which she had chosen.

Halting , Naruto created four shadow clones, "Find her," he ordered.

"Nice," muttered Sasuke, hearing a strange noise up ahead.

They reached the spot as she disappeared in a flutter of feathers, crows flying every direction – A trademark of the infamous Itachi Uchiha.

"Damn, I thought I had her…"

"You're clones are useless, Uzumaki," she called to them, "How are you ever going to beat me if you can't even get close to me."

Sasuke groaned in annoyance as her chakra signature disappeared completely. It was obvious that the pinkette was enjoying this little game of cat and mouse.

"Teme?"

"Yeah?"

"If we lose, you're buying me ramen."

"Sasuke smirked, "Deal."

Smiling to herself Sasuke watched as she melted into the shadows and was gone, even her chakra signature disappeared. Continuing on their search they concluded that she couldn't have been very far, she was greatly enjoying this game of cat and mouse.

Her little game had gone on for about forty-five minutes now and Naruto was getting more impatient as the minutes ticked by. Curious if his partner felt the same way, he sideways glanced at the stoic Uchiha, his question answered almost immediately as he felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise. Sasuke had finally cast a genjutsu.

"Now we wait," instructed Sasuke, both melting into their surroundings and disappearing completely.

"I hate this part," breathed Naruto, "It's so boring."

Sasuke said nothing, inwardly agreeing with the hyperactive man beside him.

"Is it still boring now?" came a third voice from behind, surprising the two.

Kusanagi sang through the air on reflex, only stopped by a pair of kunai and a grinning pinkette, "Interesting, a genjutsu specialist beat the sharingon."

"Finally done hiding?" goaded Sasuke, "Finally found the courage to face us?"

Sakura smirked, "I didn't need to work up the courage, I've been ready to take you down for a long time."

Her foot slammed hard into his abdomen and sent him flying backwards in to a tree. Naruto, not being one to miss out on the action, he charged her with rasengan ready in his hand.

Sasuke watched in amazement as her body twisted and easily evaded the attack, she was much faster than she'd used to be.

"As long as she doesn't start swinging," said Naruto to Sasuke, "We should be okay."

"Oh yeah?" laughed Sakura, tapping her foot a single time and creating a large crack, "That was years ago, I was a chunin then. I can do a lot more damage now, with much less effort."

"Still sounds like you're a useless bitch to me."

Naruto and Sasuke rushed Sakura, forcing her to run again, only this time they were in control.

"Got you!"

Sakura slammed hard to the ground, one of Naruto's summoned toads having wrapped its long tongue around her ankle, sufficiently tripping her. In a flash Sasuke straddled Sakura, keeping her pinned to the ground. She didn't fight back as she starred into the depths of those spinning pinwheels, trapped inside his genjutsu.

"Take the-"

"Ryokugan!"

Her voice echoed throughout the forest, no longer trapped in the genjutsu, Sakura slammed her head into Sasuke and sent him flying backwards. Her eyes gleamed a brilliant aquamarine, her own kekki genkai. Blood slowly dripped down from her hair where she'd head-butted Sasuke.

"What the hell?" growled Sasuke, holding his head and trying to regain his barrings, "She has an eye technique too?"

Her fist slammed hard into the tree behind him, shattering it as if it were nothing more than glass. Their little game of getting the bells taking a deadly turn, Sakura Haruno was about to unleash the full wrath of a pissed off kunoichi.

She flew through hand signs.

"Fuck!"

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

"Crap!"

Jumping out of the way, the pair found themselves being chased by a large ball off fire and it was catching up quick.

"Come on Teme! You eat fire! Eat it!"

Sasuke deadpanned, "I DON'T EAT FIRE! YOU IDIOT!"

Diving into the river, the fire disappeared as it hit the water. Letting out a sigh of relief Naruto tapped his finger to his lip.

"You know, if you and her teamed up we could own a nice little spa."

Sasuke gave Naruto a look of utter disbelief, "You really are and idiot."

"Actually, I think you both are."

Grasping them by the collars of their shirts, Sakura lifted them out of the water and threw them in different directions with her super-human strength.

"Oh and by the way, I win."

He winced at the sudden intrusion of chakra and blinked, realization slowly coming to him.

"Congratulations Sakura, you won," said an unimpressed Hokage, "What am I supposed to do now?"

"What the hell is going on?" asked Sasuke, licking his bleeding lip, "What's happened?"

Sakura glanced over at him, looking smug as ever, "Simple. My genjutsu trumps your sharingon."

Kakashi patted her on the back, "I guess all that training finally paid off."

"Guess so, later losers."

Sasuke glared at the pinkettes retreating form before shifting his gaze to Naruto, who was still trapped in the genjutsu.

"That was a little pathetic," commented Shizune, as she released Naruto from the genjutsu, "On both of your behaves."

"Yeah," agreed Shizune, "I was under the impression you were strong men. You couldn't even beat a girl with the odds in your favor."

"In our favor," snorted Naruto, "It's like you've never met Sakura before. The odds are never in your favor if she's pissed off."

"And don't you forget it!" she shouted back to them.

"Mmm…"

"Ah, I see you have awoken," observed a young guard, "I will alert the Hokage immediately."

Blinking a few times, Sasuke tried to remember what exactly had happened the past week. So much had gone by in a blur, some of it he couldn't remember, like how he had arrived in this hospital bed and strapped down. Looking around the room onyx eyes stared at the small plate of cut up apples sitting on the nightstand beside him.

"She was here…"

He recalled the only other time someone had done this for him, it was her, it was sure of it. The soft click of the door brought him back and – being unable to move – was forced to take the thrown bundle straight to the face.

"What is this?"

Just as the words left his mouth the bundle shifted and his expression tightened, his old forehead protector, from the first time he left Konoha.

"I have filled you as a special circumstances case, thanks to Sakura's testimony and some of your comrades, they were able to take you off of the death sentence," Tsunade rose her hand to silence him and let her finish, "You are not allowed to leave perimeter of your safehouse, unless escorted by an ANBU Captain or Kakashi Hatake. I will discuss the probationary measures that are going to be taken when that time comes – which will be after a year of good behavior. Someone will be present with you at all times, most likely it will be Kakashi Hatake or Sakura Haruno."

Sasuke's eyes fell to his lap.

"Do I make myself clear?"

He nodded.

Figuring he had nothing more to say, she turned for the door.

"Hokage-sama?"

"Yes, Sasuke?"

She stopped and looked him square in the eye.

"I wanted to thank you, for keeping my charges separate from the others. They don't deserve the same fate as I do."

"It wasn't me who persuaded the jury or the Elders," she opened the door, "It was Sakura."

Onyx eyes stared at the closed door with disbelief. From how sore his body felt he knew he had been in this bed for at least three days; which meant that the trial they had did not allow him to speak on his own behalf – probably for the best since Tsunade wanted them alive – and Sakura had spoken on his behalf. That surprised him most of all. She despised him, she wanted him to leave and never come back.

"Why would she do that for me?"

The young guard re-entered the room and returned to their post beside the door, "Probably because – no matter how much a fucking bastard you've been – she doesn't want to die."

Sasuke glared at the guard, despite the mask he could tell she was a female, but she looked familiar.

"What would you know about anything? You're just a faceless sheep," shot Sasuke.

In a flash she held a kunai to his throat, he struggled against the restraints, unable to defend himself. Slowly she brought up her other hand and slid the mask to one side, it was then that he noticed the Ying-Yang symbol on the forehead, a Hyūga.

"Don't you dare say I know nothing, because I know everything," opal eyes stared straight into onyx, "You took my sister away, for many years, and I've been waiting for this moment for a long time."

"Who are you?" he hissed, unable to kick her off.

She rolled her eyes, "Of course you don't know me, and you never cared about anything other than your own selfish needs. You destroyed so many people here because of your actions, do you ever think about that? Do you!"

He only glared at her, she was right – not that he would admit to someone like her – because he knew she wouldn't seriously harm him, not if she had any pride.

"My name is Hanabi Hyūga, don't you ever forget it."

She hit much harder than he had expected, but he didn't give her the satisfaction of flinching, Sasuke stared her straight in the eyes, "That the best you got?"

A sinister smirk spread across her lips, "No, but I'm not stupid enough to continue."

"I wouldn't push her buttons either," came a cool voice from beside him, inwardly Sasuke jumped out of his skin, "Because I trained her."

He stared at Sakura, with what she could only assume was fear.

"Shall we go to lunch?" she asked cheerfully a second later, smiling at Hanabi, "My treat?"

"Sounds lovely."

The two females exited the room and Sasuke was slowly beginning to wonder if he should have wished for a death sentence after all.

(1) - Cover Photo – Created ByStray Ink 92, title "Never Alone"

(2) – Created by Theos-Kengen, titled "Ryokugan"