"You look like hell."

Sometimes Sakura forgot how very blunt her mentor was. It was refreshing sometimes – particularly in her younger years, when she was so used to stifling her real thoughts and feelings – but Tsunade already had a sharp tongue. When she was dead on her feet, soaked to the skin and still recovering from a near-death coma, she rather thought a little tact would be nice.

"Kakashi looks like hell too," she grumbled, dripping water on the floor of Tsunade's office. "You just can't tell when he has that stupid mask on."

Kakashi sent her a baleful look, though how he managed to convey these expressions when the only thing you could see of his face was a lone, dark eye was still beyond her. She wondered if he practised in front of a mirror.

"That wasn't very kind of you Sakura-chan," he began, but his voice was drowned out by the sound of chair legs scraping across the floor as Tsunade got to her feet and seized Sakura by the shoulders.

"You!" She growled, embracing her tightly. "You practically gave me a heart attack, you know that?"

Tentatively, she hugged the blonde woman back, hearing the deafening roar of the rain outside pick up. The sky was dark beyond the windows and Sakura allowed herself this small moment to be comforted and to give comfort in return.

"Blood everywhere, pale as a ghost and then in a coma for three days-" Tsunade pulled back for a moment and scrutinised her with narrowed amber eyes. "You did well, Sakura."

That was not what she was expecting.

"What?"

The Hokage gestured for them to sit and she obeyed in a daze, barely aware of her sensei taking a seat to her left. After all she had been through- all the blood and pain and eternities stuck in the Tsukuyomi…Tsunade was the first to acknowledge what it had been in aid of.

The blonde woman's gaze was unflinching. "I am proud of you," she said, sitting behind the desk of the Hokage. "What you did, eliminating Kabuto, ending the Edo Tensei, holding off Madara...I don't think anyone could expect any more of you."

Perhaps it was the exhaustion setting in, but her eyes began that familiar burn that preceded tears. There was a strange weightlessness in her chest, as though some burden she had not known she was carrying had just been relieved from her shoulders.

"Shishou…" For some reason she could not find the words to convey how very grateful she was for Tsunade's acknowledgement, how much it had always meant to her that such a magnificent, talented, powerful woman seemed to see something in her that was worthwhile.

The Hokage smiled as if she knew all this and turned to the silent man at Sakura's side. "Kakashi?"

"I have enlightened Sakura as to the circumstances of Sasuke's return to the Village, Hokage-sama."

The smile became markedly grimmer. "Of course. Then I imagine you are curious as to why I have summoned you home."

Fingernails tapping irritably at the worn, wooden surface of the desk before her, it was clear Tsunade was not thrilled about the turn of events that had transpired. Or perhaps she just really didn't like Sasuke and the mention of his name alone had endeavoured to irritate her. Knowing her Shishou as she did, Sakura supposed it was more than likely.

"I cannot have a council orchestrating the murder of its own citizens where diplomacy is still a viable course of action – not while I am Hokage! But neither can I have them…eliminated. You understand I'm sure."

"More deals in the dark," Sakura murmured, feeling cold rain water trickle down the back of her neck from the ends of her wet hair. "It's not good for stability."

She thought again of Uchiha Itachi's passive expression and added, "They need to be punished for what they did. By law."

Where despair had threatened to swallow her whole, anger had reared its persistent head and smothered all other thought away. It frightened her a little. It was a patient, simmering, bone deep fury that lived quietly inside her now – the kind of rage that could wait years to be appeased.

Her teachers both looked at her in surprise hearing something in her voice that had not been there before, but chose not to comment.

"That is the general idea," Tsunade replied dryly. "I'm gathering evidence tying the Uchiha massacre to Konoha's elders so that I can put them on trial. But there are complications of course. This is going to be a very turbulent time for Konoha."

Sakura had an idea of what those complications entailed. The moment the Elders got wind of what was going down in Tsunade's administration, they would be sure to do anything they could to cover their tracks. They had already ordered the murder of an entire clan. Who else would they willingly silence to keep the truth from coming out?

They will kill Sasuke, she thought before she could stop herself, feeling a sudden and unwanted spasm somewhere beneath her ribcage. Logically she knew he was more than capable of dealing with any untoward assassins the Elders might send his way, but the very idea made her feel chilled in a way that had nothing to do with her drenched clothing.

More upsetting (if that was possible) than the fact that she resolutely did not want to feel that way, was the knowledge that as of two months ago she had lost the right to feel that way in the first place.

Squashing this awareness down, Sakura asked, "What do you want me to do?"

Tsunade's smile widened. Over her intertwined fingers she looked at her with such confidence in her eyes that she almost had to look away.

"I want you to lead my investigation into the Council of Elders."

There was a strange beat of silence. "Me?" She repeated incredulously. "You want me to do this?"

Sakura half expected Kakashi to voice his agreement, to suggest that she was too young and inexperienced to handle such a task, but he said nothing. Instead there was a pensive air of consideration around him.

"Why not?" Tsunade asked. "I'm a very busy woman, Sakura. I need someone clever and resourceful to handle things on my behalf while I'm occupied with getting the village back on its feet. I need someone I trust to run this investigation. You've been my apprentice for three years now- you know the politics, you know the system. Who better to do this than you?"

She remembered her earlier vow; I don't want to be a part of this. But what was 'this'?

A Konoha where its elders sacrificed its children for 'the greater good' was not one she wanted to be a part of. Wasn't this the chance to change all that? A chance to break the cycle of hatred that had lived in the heart of the village for generations and ruined the lives of the boys she loved the most.

She had fought a war for Naruto and all his dreams of a better future but this-

Maybe this was the one thing she could do that would bring that future a little closer; the most significant thing she would ever be able to do for the world, even if it would never be known.

Maybe this was the one thing she could do for Sasuke that would ever mean anything.

"Okay," Sakura found herself agreeing. "I'll do it."

As the door closed behind her pink haired apprentice, Tsunade leaned back in her chair with her face titled towards the ceiling. A strip of pale moonlight fell across the desk.

"That girl," she sighed, rubbing at her eyes absently. "One day she needs to stop undervaluing herself."

Opposite her, Kakashi straightened in his chair. She sometimes wondered if he felt regret for the way that Sakura had developed in her abilities; until a few weeks ago, he had never really taught her anything other than the value of teamwork. It was understandable, she supposed. Sasuke was a boy who had always been in dire need of guidance and Naruto was enough to keep anyone's attention occupied. Still, Tsunade had never missed the signs that his apparent favouritism, though unintentional, had bothered her. It had always been clear in Sakura's downcast eyes and hunched shoulders.

"About that," he said, tone suddenly serious. "I know that I never had much of a hand in her training before now, but I'd like to continue teaching Sakura."

Tsunade surveyed him with a pleased eye. "Her apprenticeship is drawing to a close," she admitted. "There isn't a lot left that I can teach her myself."

He nodded. "Sakura's chakra control is probably the best I have ever seen. She has remarkable potential – potential I did nothing about in most of the time I have known her."

"If you are doing this out of guilt, Kakashi, don't bother."

As they stared at each other across the dark room, a low rumble of thunder echoed in the distance.

"I regret the neglect she suffered," he answered after a long moment. "But it is not the reason I wish to continue training her."

"Good."

There was another short pause, almost as though he was hesitant to say what came next.

"She has shown tremendous growth recently – her decision making and strategy are on par with a jounin's, but with everything that has happened I fear she is also a train crash waiting to happen."

She felt a frown pulling down the corners of her mouth. "What exactly happened in the Land of Iron?"

Kakashi shook his head, water flinging out from his hair at every angle. He's like those damn dogs of his, she thought, raising a hand to wipe the water from her face. He put his hands up sheepishly.

"You'll have to ask her," he said. "But you are perceptive as always, Hokage-sama."

She gave him a sardonic look. "Don't be such a suck up," she muttered out the corner of her mouth, her eyes itching with tiredness. "It doesn't suit you."

Despite the mask, Tsunade could sense his wry smile as he stood to take leave of the room.

"When the time comes," he said, coming to a stop by the window, his figure illuminated by moonlight and the shadows of falling rain. "When the village is ready for its next round, I'd like to recommend Sakura for promotion to Jounin." That's why I want to continue her training, went unsaid in the space between them.

It wouldn't be for a while yet, she thought grumpily. Not with all the havoc the Uchiha and the war had caused. But she could not deny that she herself would have put Sakura's name in for consideration- it pleased her that Kakashi had beaten her to it.

"Done," she replied promptly, as the copy-nin disappeared through the window too fast for her eyes to follow.

Surprisingly it wasn't the quietening rainfall that woke him. Naruto, sprawled across his bed with his mouth open was lost in a very pleasant dream involving ramen, Hinata and a bath house when he was rudely awoken by an orange and blonde blur.

"Hey!" His clone yelled at him, "Wake up! Sakura-chan's back!"

"Huh?" He rather thought there was a bit of drool on his chin, but paid it no mind. His brain, never at its best first thing in the morning was slow to respond; what was his clone trying to tell him? Why was it so important that he see Sakura?

Immediately the clone poofed out of existence and its memories came rushing into Naruto's head as though a pile of bricks had just been dropped unceremoniously on it. He bolted upright in bed and scrambled for the nearest pile of clothes.

"Crap!" He stubbed his toe pulling his pants on and almost fell over an empty ramen cup. "That was a close one!"

It was only once he'd made the mad dash across the village's rooftops that he realised where he was going and stopped abruptly, unsure whether or not this was something to laugh at or not. Fate? Or was old lady Tsunade much sneakier than she would have everyone believe?

I knew I recognised that view, he thought, running up the side of the building to enter through the window. Sakura lives in the apartment directly above Sasuke's.

Inside he noticed there was a slight stale quality to the air that indicated the apartment had been uninhabited for a while. It was also startlingly empty; there were no pictures on the walls, no furniture in the living room. A katana lay propped against the far wall by the window, the bedraggled red ribbon tied to the handle the only flash of colour amid the white walls and dull, wooden floor.

"Sakura-chan?"

There was no answer. The only sound in the apartment was of his quiet footsteps crossing the room to the bedroom, where she had left the door slightly ajar.

"Sakura?"

She was curled up on a futon in the darkest corner of the room, clearly having fallen asleep in her clothes. He bent down and gently shook her shoulder, mindful that it was probably still mending.

It was then that he noticed the fine trembling of her body under his palm and the restless expression of someone who was not having good dreams.

"Hey – wake up."

As he moved his hand to prod her side her eyes snapped open, wild and afraid. She caught his wrist and twisted viciously. He felt a bone snap beneath her fingers.
"OW!"

Sakura blinked as though he was only just coming into focus, her breathing harsh and uneven.

"….Naruto?" Catching the pained look on his face, her eyes darted to the wrist she had ensnared in her unforgiving fist. Whatever colour she had in her face drained out of it.

"Oh god," immediately green chakra worked its way through her fingers, repairing the break she'd caused only seconds ago. "Naruto – I'm so sorry."

"Meh," he shrugged, trying to hide his worry behind a blasé attitude. "It's just a break right? No harm done! It'll take more than that to take me out!"

She sat up, still pale. "What are you doing here?"

Their last meeting was still vivid in his mind; it made him feel as though there was a sharp piece of glass stuck in his throat around which it was difficult to speak. But he had to. Naruto wasn't sure when it had happened – if it was one secret too many or a combination of grievances that had caused it- but something had broken between them. Between all of them.

Even when Sasuke was gone, the three of them – he, Sakura and Kakashi- had been united in their goal of bringing him back. There might have been a Sasuke-shaped hole in their lives, but what had been the alternative? To give up? To move on and pretend that the dark haired boy they loved so much had never been a part of them?

The point, he supposed, was that even if a small piece of themselves was lost, the foundation remained unchanged. They were still Team 7. At least they had been – now it felt like they were all splintering apart in different directions even as they were reunited.

"I had to talk to you," he answered. "I had to see you – to explain."

"Kakashi already did."

His eyes pleaded with her to come back to him. "Then you understand, right? Please tell me you understand."

She let out a humourless laugh. "Yeah. I understand."

"So you didn't mean it right? What you said about being done with us?"

Sakura was silent for a long moment, her green eyes lowered to the ground. He watched the dull early morning light from the window hit her face and thought that Hinata had been right. Something had changed in Sakura and he couldn't honestly say he thought it was for the better.

"I'm not saying I don't resent it," she admitted quietly. "But it's not all about me, is it? The truth is bigger than that. Bigger than us."

It wasn't exactly the answer he wanted to hear. He wanted her to be the Sakura he knew; the girl who didn't hold a grudge or give up on her dreams. Where was the Sakura who would stay by Sasuke's side, feeling nothing but joy that he was finally home?

"Are you ever going to forgive him, Sakura-chan?" He asked instead.

Her impassive expression wavered. "I – I hope so," she murmured. "But I can't ever forget, Naruto."

He took her hand as it made its way to her neck – an unconscious action on her part.

"He's still Sasuke," he told her earnestly. "He always was! And he's back and he cares about us, so why can't everything go back to the way it was?"

Sakura took her hand back to wrap her arms around her knees. Her hair was getting long again, he noticed. It was already past her shoulders.

"I tried to kill him. It doesn't matter that I couldn't do it in the end. I still tried."

Naruto remembered that cold, strange day when the snow lay thick and heavy upon the ground and Sakura stood in front of him with remote green eyes. Even then, he had seen that something was wrong.

"Why?" he asked now, feeling the coolness of the floor seeping through his clothes. "Why did you do it Sakura? Why did you give up on him?"

You chose the worst possible time, he thought, when Sasuke's madness was at its deepest. What made you lose faith in him before that meeting? What happened that made you turn your back?

Her lip was torn where she had been biting it, but her eyes were dry even if they were miserable.

"Because three and a half years ago I made you make a promise to bring Sasuke back to Konoha," she said, her voice cracking. "And I knew that only death would stop you from trying to keep it. Your death or his."

Your death or his.

Naruto rocked back on his heels, her words leaving him reeling. "Sakura…"

He heard what she had not said, the words that were left unspoken. She loved Sasuke. She would probably always love Sasuke, but for the first time she had tried to lay that love aside.

It was you or him, was what she really meant – and he hugged her so tightly, tears in his eyes. He felt her shaking in his arms, whether a left over effect of her dreams or suppressed sobs, he wasn't sure.

Faced with a choice, he realised, she had chosen him over Sasuke. Clinging to each other in the darkened room, Naruto thought about how this was one of several moments he had dreamed of as a child and it was nothing like he had imagined. He had never known before that coming first in someone's heart could hurt.

The patter of rain against the windows was a sound that quietly soothed him.

Being in Konoha after being gone for so long was an adjustment that Sasuke found…difficult to say the least. Watching the shadows cast by the falling rain outside splay across the ceiling, he found it easier to imagine he was somewhere- anywhere- else. In the strangest of ways, he found Konoha both was and wasn't home. He was haunted by whispers of memory and the absence of their physical representatives; every minute of every day he had been back, Sasuke had been reminded of the Uchiha district and all that it meant. He would see it in his minds eye, but he could not go back. He would never walk those still, silent halls again, never sit in his mother's kitchen and recall the sound of her soft singing. The very thing that made him who he was no longer had a physical anchor in the world.

Sleep, he thought half-heartedly, even as he kept his eyes open. For many months now sleep had been a reluctant visitor. His bones ached with such weariness that sometimes, in the moments when he was left alone, he felt like he had aged a hundred years. And on this dark, early morning, confined between thin white walls while the streets outside were paved with rain water, Sasuke craved the blank oblivion of a dreamless sleep.

He must have drifted off at some point because when he woke, it was to a lightened room. The rain had finally stopped, but he sensed that wasn't what had woken him.

In the living room he discovered a paper bag propped on the windowsill, full of ripe, round tomatoes. There was no note, but he caught the faintest of scents on the air by the window- light and feminine.

And though he was determined not to read into the gesture, not to see something where there was nothing – even as he bit into the first, perfect red fruit, he knew that there were only two people in the entire world who knew him well enough to give him tomatoes.

He also knew there was only one who would bother.

A/n: YES. I have finally written a version of this chapter that I like! Truthfully, this is like, the sixth attempt. Bleh.

1. I totally view it as Sakura choosing Naruto over Sasuke. Choosing EVERYONE over Sasuke, or trying to. I mean come on. Her entire village just got pulverised by Akatsuki and then the boy she loves joins up. And she knows her friend the jinchuriki (is that even how you spell it?) is still chasing after said boy. That promise between them is kind of a recipe for his early grave -and everyone else for that matter, if aforementioned crimminal organisation gets the 9-tails. Poor Sakura.

2. The SasuSaku starts :) It may be starting small, but THE POINT IS IT IS STARTING.

3. GOD. Reading the manga and WHERE IS THE SAUCE? It's been like a year since he was last in it and I'm only reading it for his epic redemption! FFS! SO IMPATIENT.

4. Is anyone else addicted to the current Shippuden Opening? It's titled 'Lovers' and I cannot stop listening to it. Seriously. The replay button is being raped so badly. It's Sasuke's manic grin behind his hand. Gives me chills.

Yeah. Epic dork. Totally sunburnt. I KNOW.

If you review, I will send you a cupcake :)