11. Enough Rope

There were no patients on Sakura's schedule: that had just been Tsunade-sama's way of saying 'go away'. Still, there was one person Sakura wanted to see, and she headed further into the secure floor with as brisk a step as she could manage while feeling so lost.

The rooms here were windowless, the corridors sectioned for containment, and the doors heavy with seals. They were rarely used, and most were inactive. Sakura placed her hand in the centre of the seal covering the very end room's door and released it.

Despite the level of security, the room inside was as light and airy as possible, with high ceilings and homey decorations. No windows, true, and the light was all artificial, but the place was designed to feel like neither hospital nor prison.

"Sakura-san." The tall man had been sitting cross-legged in the very centre of the room, but scrambled immediately to his feet and came toward her.

"Juugo-san." Sakura smiled at him, finding his evident and straightforward pleasure at seeing her heartening. "Still no change?"

"None." The word was full of a sense of peace. "None at all."

"I'm sorry that we don't have any way to give you a more open room." Sakura glanced at the line of dense black writing which followed the threshold of the door, making sure she was in no risk of crossing it. "We're working on a more portable solution, but it takes time to prepare that level of chakra-draining equipment."

"There's no rush. It's very comfortable here."

"Can I bring you anything? More books? A portable television?"

"I'm fine, Sakura-san." He spoke with a quiet certainty, apparently truly happy to just be alone in his head for a while. "But you are still grieving. Has he not woken yet?"

It was extraordinary how transparent this relative stranger found her. Sakura had been making such an effort not to walk around with her heart on her sleeve.

"Physically, he has. He's still...caught up in the past, just looking for a broader picture of it." She lifted her hands, feeling helpless, but pushed back the tide of hurt which had been washing ever higher all afternoon. "We will continue to look for a cure to your curse no matter what happens, Juugo-san. I wish I could promise you more than that, but my results with Anko-san have not been encouraging."

"This is more than I have hoped for in a long time." Juugo glanced at the floor, at the line he was not permitted to cross. "I never would have believed there was such a simple solution."

"At least we can continue treating the symptom, until we can find the cause," Sakura said. It had been an obvious possibility: the curse seal had increased Sasuke's power, but it also used up his chakra. By draining all of Juugo's chakra, they'd found that his curse, and the violent urges which came with it, didn't activate. "I'll bring you some books tomorrow."

She felt awful closing him back inside, but there was little choice. Mild as he was when the curse was inactive, until they found an absolutely certain way to keep him drained of chakra at all times, he was too much of a potential risk to Konoha to not keep locked up.

The days were getting shorter. It seemed like Autumn was rushing by, like time was slipping through her fingers. Realising that she'd not eaten since breakfast, Sakura mechanically forced down an early dinner while watching the sun sink, then reported dutifully to Tsunade-sama.

The fifth Hokage was sipping sake and shuffling the piles of paper on her desk. Chin propped on one fist, she glanced up as Sakura entered, then jerked her head to one side, signalling for Shizune to leave.

"I have rarely met a boy more deserving to be slapped," Tsunade-sama said, when they were alone.

"He's never been...very polite. Sometimes I'm not sure he even realises."

"Bah. He's arrogant as sin. It always was a failing of the Uchihas."

"Did he accept the wristlet?"

"Oh yes. He wants information. He'll play along until he gets it. Then-" She shrugged, and gulped back the rest of her sake. "I'm following your lead in this, Sakura, and I'll concede that you've been right so far. But you should not trust that boy. He's extremely unstable."

Sakura didn't argue with this, relieved that Tsunade-sama was willing to continue giving Sasuke a long leash. Pushing him only ever seemed to make him go in the wrong direction. Just like pleading, begging and trying to beat him unconscious. She wondered if the fact that he'd only had a single guard had made him suspicious, or if the shock and indecision left in the wake of his battle with Itachi would keep that out of focus.

"He hasn't decided against returning, yet," she pointed out. "And he listed not wanting to kill Naruto as a reason."

"That read to me more not wanting to follow his brother's orders. His focus is still vengeance. Don't let yourself be sacrificed to it."

Sakura bowed her head, hoping her teacher would read that as agreement. But one of the Legendary Three was not easily fooled, and Tsunade-sama's palm slapped the desk.

"Look at me!" The golden eyes were molten hot when Sakura raised her own. "Whatever he may have meant to you in the past, Uchiha Sasuke turned his back on this village. And you. Only because we can find no sign that he has been actively working against Konoha is there any possibility that his desertion can be forgiven. But valuable as the Uchiha bloodline is, I'll not risk the safety of Konoha to any further possibility of having another Uchiha turned against us. And I see little sign that he considers anyone more than possible tools in his obsession. Has he even thanked you for saving his life?"

"It's not thanks I want from him," Sakura said, unsteadily, then pushed on to a subject she could at least bear to speak about. "Tsunade-sama, did the Sandaime Hokage place Naruto and Sasuke-kun in the same team on purpose? Is there some relationship between the Kyuubi and the sharingan?"

"Sarutobi did not record his reasoning," Tsunade-sama replied, a non-answer if Sakura had ever heard one. "Go home, Sakura. And remember, while your loyalty to Uchiha Sasuke is admirable, you cannot let it conflict with your loyalty to the village. I will not forgive you if you place him above Konoha."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama."

Sakura escaped, remembering all too well what she'd said to Sasuke when he'd first chosen to leave Konoha. She had changed a great deal since then.

Yet not at all.