Chapter 10

It was only a day later when Sasuke's trial began.

Apparently the elders were eager to get it over and done with, to rid themselves of the Uchiha as soon as possible. He was nothing but a thorn in their sides and a nuisance that was an extreme danger to their village. His need for revenge, his obvious mental instability, was too risky. No matter how loudly Naruto exclaimed that Sasuke wasn't insane, no matter how many times Kakashi drawled that Sasuke had his reasons for making the choices he had (and while they weren't the best of choices, they were choices he'd been pushed into making), they refused to listen. They refused to open their minds.

At not only Gaara's insistence, but also Tsunade's, Shizune's and Ino's, Sakura did not sit in during the trial. It would be too much stress for her to handle in her current condition. Not only that, but they all knew that Sakura wouldn't be able to simply sit around and listen to the elders find more and more reasons as to why Sasuke should be executed. Losing her temper wouldn't only be stressful for herself and the baby, but it could also cause trouble and damage Sasuke's case.

So that was why, as Sakura dressed in her most formal clothes and entered the courtroom, she silently promised her former teammate that she would do her best to get him out of the trouble he'd landed himself into.

He was sat further away from everybody else, looking tired and weak, but still managing to appear aloof and arrogant as always. Those chakra suppressors were most likely the cause of his appearance as they weren't supposed to be used for such a prolonged period of time. However, Uchiha Sasuke was too powerful not to wear them.

"Haruno Sakura."

"Yes."

"Wife of the Godaime Kazekage, former apprentice of the Godaime Hokage and former member of Team Seven."

"Yes."

They were asking, without warning or without questions, that she confirmed her identity. Already, on the way in, they had checked in their own ways to see if she was using a henge jutsu or any other kind of jutsu. They had to be absolutely certain that she was Haruno Sakura.

The elder who was speaking, who she recognised as Homura, nodded once to the other elder, Koharu. They were stood in front of the Hokage, who was sat in a larger stand that towered over everybody else and to the left side of the room sat the heads of every clan in Konoha. On the other side of the room sat Konoha Eleven, along with Hatake Kakashi, Temari, Sai and even Yamato.

Standing in her own stand, Sakura's eyes swept to the one near Tsunade's, silently grateful when she finally spotted Gaara. He was emotionless and appeared to be uncaring, but his mere presence was enough to take away everybody else and their watchful eyes.

"As a former member of Team Seven, you obviously knew Uchiha Sasuke."

The question had her frowning softly. "Nobody really knew Sasuke other than Naruto, who could understand the pain he–"

"That is not what we are asking. Do you know Uchiha Sasuke?"

Cold, dark eyes languidly met hers and Sakura found herself remembering everything about the original Team Seven. She remembered all the times Sasuke jumped in front of her to protect her and the times she'd done the same for him. She remembered holding him as he writhed in pain because of that damned curse mark. A few hours later and he was waking up and was so very angry for the pain he could see in her eyes. She remembered Naruto telling her how Sasuke ordered him to take her away from Gaara (who had been attacking them at the time) and that he would hold him off, even though it meant certain death.

He told Naruto that he couldn't let anything happen to her.

He told him that he'd seen his precious people die before his eyes before and that it couldn't happen again.

"Yes," she whispered before clearing her throat and standing tall. "Yes, I knew the Sasuke who had been a part of Team Seven."

"But not anymore?" Koharu questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Sakura's frown deepened. "It's been many years and we have all changed since we were thirteen years old. That includes myself and the other members of Team Seven."

Well, maybe not Kakashi, but still.

Homura turned his head in Sasuke's direction, watching him with cold eyes. "And what do you think of the current Uchiha Sasuke?"

"In my personal opinion?"

Many watched her with wary gazes when the two elders nodded.

She sighed, looking at him once more. "I think the current Uchiha Sasuke is tired. He's exhausted because of all the mind games that has been played on him. He's tired of losing the people he cares for and being unable to save them. He's tired of feeling nothing but hate and anger. Most of all?" Sasuke's eyes narrowed a fraction on hers. "I think Uchiha Sasuke is lonely and lost in a world of darkness. He needs help to find the way out of that darkness, though has never been strong enough to ask for help."

For a long time now Sakura had wanted to say those words out loud, had wanted to say them in front of Sasuke. And his response?

No reaction. He simply stared.

"Even though it was offered to him many times."

Up in her stand, Tsunade watched the saddened look in Sakura's eyes grow by the minute and she couldn't help but feel sorry for her. It could have been the other way around – well, it could have been herself in that stand, defending and trying to save her own wayward teammate. Before he had been corrupted by power, Orochimaru, surprisingly, had been a good person and a great shinobi. He'd been her friend.

"He was being weighed down by grief." Sakura shook her head, glancing over at the two elders. "Sasuke went from having an entire clan and a family, to having nothing but pain and loneliness and hatred. Everybody reacts differently to grief–"

"But not everybody becomes a murderer–"

"But how the hell was he supposed to react?" she snapped angrily, cutting off Homura. Ignoring the looks of shock she received from everyone, Sakura continued, "I remember watching a happy eight year old boy go from running towards his older brother at the end of the day, to walking away slowly and alone. I watched him go from having friends to completely isolating himself. There were no more smiles or warm eyes. There were only blank looks and coldness. Emptiness, because surely that's better than the agony he was in. He lost his entire family. None of us knows how that truly feels."

Koharu narrowed her eyes on Sakura. "Are you saying that it excuses all the crimes he has committed?"

She shook her head again. "Not at all. Some of things Uchiha Sasuke has done can never be forgiven or forgotten. But…" Sakura looked over at him, noticing how the coldness had left his eyes, how the tiredness had once more returned. There were lines of stress marring his face and dark circles under his eyes. "Don't you think he knows that? Sasuke has to live with what he's lost and what he's done for the rest of his life. I think that's punishment enough."

The other members of Team Seven watched Sasuke with hidden sadness. They could see what Sakura saw and it pained them all. They'd seen him go from a boy who had created bonds with the team and fought with his life to protect them, to a cold and emotionless teenager hell bent on getting his revenge, to a man who was now exhausted and alone with nothing else to live for.

It was a vote that all clan heads were a part of, so Sakura immediately looked to them with a pained expression. "Please… I know that Sasuke has made a lot of bad choices and he's caused a lot of trouble for Konoha, but please think of the eight year old boy who was once running around the streets of Konoha, chasing after and looking up to his older brother. Think about how utterly devastated he must have been to go home one day and find that everyone was gone and that he was never given a true explanation as to what happened. Think–"

"You're wrong."

Sakura's head snapped in Sasuke's direction, her eyes widening. "What?"

Ignoring the elders as they snapped at him to be silent, Sasuke met her gaze without a flicker of emotion. "Itachi… There was a reason as to why he killed everyone."

Her eyes widened further, as did many others'.

Dark eyes shifted over to the elders. "You're looking at that reason."

"That is a lie told by a man who–"

It was Sakura who cut them off, her voice breathless and broken, "A man who has nothing left to lose." Her wide eyes shifted up to the woman sat in her tall stand, who was just as stunned. "Tsunade-sama…"

Both Kakashi and Naruto stood up, ignoring the courtroom rules and ignoring the angered warnings of the elders. "We can confirm that what Sasuke is saying is true. Danzo was the one to give Uchiha Itachi the order."

"He could have refused," one of the other clan heads stated.

Kakashi's face was devoid of emotion as he stared Hyuuga Hiashi down. "It was either die with his entire clan, or give his younger brother a chance to live his life and create a new clan, one that will be greater than the previous one."

"We know everything," Naruto snarled at the elders, leaning forward and resting his shaking hands on the wooden half-wall that separated him from them. "We were told everything."

"Silence," Tsunade finally snapped when everyone began talking over one another, slamming her fist down onto her stand. "This is Sakura's chance to speak, so everyone else will be quiet or leave. As for the order Uchiha Itachi was given, at this moment in time, I can neither confirm nor deny such a barbaric thing. However, I will definitely be looking further into it. Until it has been confirmed, what you have all heard here today does not leave this courtroom. It could cause severe problems for Konoha, such as riots or even a civil war. That is the last thing we need right now."

Sakura's hands were shaking when Tsunade looked to her. "Sakura. You want Uchiha Sasuke to be pardoned." She nodded. "Even though he tried to kill you." Again, another nod. "Explain why."

For a moment, there was silence as she tried to control her breathing and erratic heartbeat. She was still shaken by Sasuke's words. Konoha had… The elders had ordered one of their own to slaughter their entire clan. How was that to be accepted? How could they do that to someone? To one of their own, more specifically?

"Like I said: Sasuke's made many mistakes." Sakura's voice was thick and her features were pale. "But who hasn't? It was partly my own fault why he turned on me. I should have known better than to confront him while I was alone. It was obvious Sasuke wasn't in the right frame of mind. He needed help and guidance, not violence and tears. He needed somebody to understand him… not harm him." Tears were filling her eyes and Sakura quickly wiped at them. "Sorry."

Tsunade shook her head. "Take your time." Just as the elders were about to interrupt, the blonde cut them off with a vicious look. "Until the accusations have been proven true or false, you will remain in custody." Only a second later and a group of ANBU were escorting the two out of there, the pair of them trying to hold onto what was left of their dignity. Noticing her former apprentice had calmed somewhat, she once again began her questions. "You tried to kill him yourself. Explain your reasons."

"So many bad things were happening at the time and all I kept hearing was how Sasuke had joined Akatsuki, how he was falling even further into the darkness. I truly believed that if we couldn't help him out of it, then the next thing to do would be to put him out of his misery. I was an emotional wreck back then and my heart had been broken once more by the things I was hearing. Like the impulsive child I was, I lashed out and did what I thought was the right thing to do."

"But it wasn't?"

Sakura shook her head. "Seeing him… Seeing Sasuke brought back all the memories of Team Seven. I remembered all the times he saved me and protected me. I remembered little characteristics. The thing that struck me the most was the memory of the first smile. The first true smile he smiled since the death of his clan members. And… I froze. I couldn't kill him. I didn't want to."

"Now?"

"I still don't want to and despite all the pain he's caused," Her eyes met Sasuke's and she gave him a genuine expression, "I will defend Uchiha Sasuke until my dying breath. He's a member of Team Seven, which makes him family. We protect our family no matter the cost."

There were many murmurs but Sakura didn't look at them. All she could focus on was Sasuke's confusion and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Naruto nodding in agreement, smiling ear from ear and by his side, Kakashi's single eye creased with a smile. They understood. Sasuke was their family, too, no matter how strongly the Uchiha denied such bonds.

Tsunade held back her urge to sigh. "One last thing before you are dismissed, Sakura." She nodded. "What do you propose we do with Uchiha Sasuke, should the council not choose to execute him for his crimes?"

Her heart ached at just the thought of Sasuke being executed. "First, we should update those chakra suppressors so that they don't take too much chakra, but still enough to make him harmless. Then, you give Sasuke a trial period, of sorts. If he proves that he no longer has wishes to harm Konoha, then…" She shook her head and sighed. "Give him just one final chance. He can have chakra restraints, watchers, guards. Anything. Just don't throw his life away like it means nothing. If what he said is true, then Uchiha Itachi did what he did, to save his younger brother. He did it to make sure Sasuke got to live. If what was said is true, then you're throwing away everything Uchiha Itachi did and making his sacrifice be in vain."

"And if it's all lies?"

Sakura met Tsunade's eyes with a determined expression, her eyes serious. "Do you really believe it's all lies, Tsunade-sama? It's big – huge – and could completely destroy the trust within the village, but do you really think that Sasuke would make something like that up? And that Kakashi-sensei would back him up on it? I never knew Uchiha Itachi, but others who are here probably did. Remember him before the Uchiha Clan Massacre. What kind of person was he? Did he fight with his life to protect our home?"

Again, more murmurs from the heads of the clans.

Sasuke's head raised ever so slightly, his eyebrows knitting together.

She looked at the clan members, once more pleading. "Please take your time to consider everything carefully. Don't just remember the man Sasuke has become or has been for the past few years. Remember what he was like before the massacre of his clan, when he adored his older brother. Remember what he was like as a member of Team Seven, when he protected us all with his life. He just needs help to find his way out of the darkness once more, so please, give him that chance."

Tsunade glanced around the courtroom, watching them all with guarded eyes before she nodded once to Sakura. "You may leave now, Sakura."

Reluctantly, so very reluctantly, she did as she was told, sparing Sasuke one final glance when Ino stood to join her, since she was Sakura's carer.

Something flickered in his eyes, something that made her words seem like the truth.

Gratefulness and tired, wary hope.

It was hours later when Gaara was finally excused to share the news with her. For hours, the clan heads had been debating on whether or not Sasuke was to be pardoned and near to the end, they had been stuck in a tie. Some believed he was too dangerous whereas the other half believed he deserved a chance to try and find himself again. In the end, Hatake Kakashi, despite being the only member of the Hatake Clan, had to step in and take part in the vote.

And now he had to share the news with his wife.

"Sakura…"

When all Gaara did was stare at her, his features blank, she felt her heart breaking, felt a sob threatening to claw its way up her throat and as though feeling her pain, Ino took her hand comfortingly, trying to soothe her, despite feeling the same way. That was it, then. Even after all of their attempts to save him, Sasuke was never going to return to them. He was never going to be free to live a normal, happy life. They–

"Uchiha Sasuke has been pardoned."

Inside of the courtroom, the others all heard Sakura's happy cries, her joyous yell.

They had finally done it.

Uchiha Sasuke was finally free.

They had finally, finally saved Sasuke.