So I might've lied last chapter saying that there were only like two chapters left after it, got a bit carried away with some bits of this chapter so I had to split it between this and the next one.
Guess it's good news though since it means there will be more to read though. Anyway here's the next chapter, hope you guys enjoy and thanks again for the follows/favorite and the review, it means a lot.
Chapter 5
Reintegration
He couldn't help the breath that escaped him when the seal on his eyes was finally released. wincing at the lights of the room he was sitting in he brought his hand up to rub his eyes, blinking a couple more times as he adjusted to the bright room.
Obsidian and lavender scanning his surroundings through cracked eyelids, moving his hand to his temples as the priorly permanent headache began to subside. He was glad that his release would be happening at night to avoid dealing with the bright sun that was sure to strain his eyes after so much time in the shadows.
He was wearing the same black black pants and dark blue short sleeve shirt that he had the day he first arrived, the Uchiha crest emblazoned on his back. Even after everything he was still rather proud about his heritage and clan but at this precise moment in time he didn't know if having the crest on his back was a blessing or a curse.
Walking down the hallways he reached the reception area where he signed a couple forms, Ibiki himself explained to him the restrictions and conditions of his release which mainly consisted of no jutsu, no leaving the village and pretty much staying out of trouble in general.
He thanked him before heading for the door, closing his eyes once he stepped outside where a cool autumn breeze greeted him.
He took a deep breath before opening his eyes again to see Sakura standing up from the bench she had been sitting on waiting for his release. For the first time in months he was able to get a proper look at her form.
She was wearing civilian clothes that consisted of an emerald green sweater and ankle-length black leggings, her hair had gotten a small bit longer to where it reached her shoulders and her build was ever so slightly leaner than what he remembered.
He was dragged out of his musings by her greeting then, the pink haired kunoichi stopping a good few steps before him to leave a comfortable space between the two.
"Good evening Sasuke-kun, how are you feeling?"
He thought about just saying 'fine' but instead opted to simply be honest with her, knowing that she might be able to pick up on his facade anyway "Tired"
she rubbed the back of her hand in an attempt to burn the anxious energy that had appeared the second she saw Sasuke exit the building "It must've been hard just being there all this time I guess"
They stayed enveloped in a rather awkward silence for a few seconds, neither of them knowing how to move from here.
Internally cursing his lacking social skills he wracked his brain for something to say to end the silence, nothing was coming to mind. his stoic facade covering up the turmoil in his head until finally "Thanks for coming to pick me up"
She gave him a slight smile "It's no problem at all. You know I'm always happy to help" she turned on her heels, a signal that she was going to start to walk away. Sasuke took the hint and followed her, both walking side by side.
Little shops and stands began appearing around them as they finally entered the more commonly walked streets, the streetlights providing a comforting warm glow on the pair.
"So, do you have a place to stay?"
he thought about this for a few seconds "My old apartment probably"
racking her head for the address Sakura suddenly realized something "I uhh...I don't think that's going to really work" Sasuke looked down at her, a raised eyebrow in question
"why?"
"Well... a while ago the village was attacked by who at the time we believed was the Akatsuki leader, Pain. He pretty much levelled the place and we had to rebuild everything from scratch so I don't think your apartment even still exists"
He nodded at her in understanding, thinking back to when he returned with Orochimaru and the rest of Taka and thought things looked different even back then. Guess this was the real reason.
This placed another conundrum in his already long list. Where was he going to stay? Then he remembered "Yesterday Kakashi came to visit, he said he was going to take care of things, maybe he also meant this"
"He said something similar last night when I saw him but he hasn't said anything back to me since" she decided to stop then as a thought crossed her mind, one that she had to pull every ounce of courage in her body to put into words as she looked at the Uchiha "You could...stay at my place if you want, I mean I'm sure by tomorrow everything should be arranged but at least for tonight you could stay, if that's okay with you of course"
He was slightly taken back by her offer, even in the low light he could see the pink dusting on her cheeks. It was true that he didn't have a place to stay and the idea of staying with her didn't sound unappealing but...would it be right for him to accept?
Worry began to creep up the back of her mind at his silence, his expression unreadable. Maybe I went too far? maybe it would've been better to just help him find a place? Why not go with Naruto? I'm sure he'll be happy to let Sasuke stay at his place right? Yes! all I need to do is just take it back and-
"Okay"
Did he just… "O-oh...okay then, I'll take us there"
They walked in silence through the streets until they arrived at an apartment complex, climbing up the stairs until they reached the third floor. Pulling out her keys Sakura opened the door into her apartment and waited for Sasuke to enter before closing it behind them.
The place was a decent size, there was one double couch with a coffee table in the center of the main room, a kotatsu off to one side by the window. A long counter split the space between said room and the kitchen and off to the other side of the entrance was a hallway with a couple doors of which one led to a bathroom and the other to the bedroom.
Sakura removed her sandals and laid them neatly to the side before stepping in and heading to the kitchen "Are you hungry Sasuke-kun? I can make us something to eat or at least some tea if you'd like"
Placing his own sandals down next to hers to hesitantly took a step into the room "Just tea is fine"
"Give me a few minutes to get it ready then" she looked up at sasuke, a bright smile on her face "Make yourself at home"
Taking in the brightly lit room he admired the simplistic design and light pastel colors around him, he stopped by a bookshelf that was almost completely full of medical textbooks and he wondered if Sakura had actually gone through all of them. Making his way over to the Kotatsu a lone picture frame caught his eyes, sitting on a shelf with a couple other objects was their first team 7 picture, a breath escaped him as a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth before he continued on his way and picked a seat at the kotatsu on one of the soft cushions and leaned his back against the near wall.
The window next to him was open and it let in a nice cool breeze that filled his lungs and brought in the fresh scents of an autumn night. He leaned back his head with a deep breath and closed his eyes, he hadn't realized how much he had missed the outdoors in these several months that he was locked up until now.
Pulling out a set of cups from one of her cabinets she set them next to the stove where the kettle was boiling, looking up she found herself looking at Sasuke as he rested with his back against the wall at the kotatsu. His eyes were closed and he was taking deep breaths as if to take everything in, the breeze coming in through the window ruffling his onyx locks.
If anything Sakura would simply say that he looked..relieved? It didn't surprise her at all considering that he had been confined to a cell for months without even a breath of fresh air. It made her happy to know that at least now he was somewhat less stressed, the fact that he was out of that prison took a big weight off of her own shoulders so she could only guess how much more it must've taken off of his.
Sasuke opened his eyes again to see Sakura walking over with a set of cups, placing one in front of him and the other directly across where she was going to take a seat. Thanking her for the drink he turned to face the table and took a sip, the hot liquid providing a good contrast to the cool breeze.
They sat in a more comfortable silence for a bit, Sakura stealing glances at the Uchiha from time to time. In this clear light she could easily see his well defined features, strong jawline and lean build that even though it had suffered after the long confinement was still present. His ever present Rinnegan added yet another mark to how unique the man before her really was.
She felt like a child all over again almost gawking at him and mentally shooed the thoughts away, she still loved him but a lot had changed since they were Genin and she had seen different sides of Sasuke that she didn't know existed...things were different, but maybe it was a good kind of different?
Putting down her now empty cup she stretched her arms up, leaning back on them when she brought them down "So, what are you going to do once you're out there?"
In all honesty it wasn't a case of what would he do, but what could he do "Don't know, it's not like I can do much"
"Well...I have a regular schedule at the hospital but I normally leave around 6 unless something happens so if you ever need anything you can find me there. I bet Naruto will be just as happy to help you out with anything too"
"I'm guessing he's not in the village right now?"
"He's out on a mission, scheduled to return in about a week"
"Does he know about...me being out?"
"Not yet, Kakashi didn't think it would be wise to send a letter to tell him considering how reckless he can get"
something like an amused chuckle escaped him "I guess you're right"
"He's not going to be too happy about us not telling him but I'm sure it'll be fine. He'll be pulling me out of my work to get the three of us to get some ramen as soon as he hears of this I'm sure"
Taking another sip of his tea a question escaped his mouth before he had time to swallow it "What do you do at the hospital?"
"What do I do?"
"I remember you only mentioned you were working there and something about another clinic"
"Oh yes! I'm...kinda surprised you remembered"
"Why would you think that I would forget in the first place?"
Sakura was silent at this, a feeling she couldn't pinpoint building in her chest "I uhh...nevermind" she rubbed the back of her neck in slight shame "Well I do a bit of everything at the hospital really"
With that the medic began taking over the conversation with ample details of her work and everything she had been doing along with the development of a children's clinic for mental health. Even as a couple more complex medical terms or explanations went over Sasuke's head he found himself entranced by her voice, looking at the excitement in her eyes as she spoke of something she was very passionate about.
He noted how she never really credited herself with the achievements by always saying 'we' or emphasizing how she had only done this and that but he was able to see through it easily. Seeing how many things she had achieved in the span of about a year and all the effort and work she had put in to help the people and benefit others made a feeling of pride swell up in his chest. She really has changed a lot huh?
This dragged out for a while as Sakura explained everything and answered the Uchiha's occasional questions, most of the time ending in taking the conversation topic down a tangent that sprouted from said question.
Finishing one of her stories Sakura glanced at the clock on the far wall, feeling her stomach sinking at the fact that their conversation had dragged out for hours.
"Oh gods look at the time. I'm sorry I didn't mean to drag this so long, you must be tired of just listening to me talk nonstop"
He shrugged "I didn't mind"
Suppressing the heat that threatened to climb up her face she simply shook her head to clear her thoughts "you must be tired, let me just clear these things and I can go grab a spare futon and bring it out here" she began to stretch out her hand to pick up Sasuke's cup, stopping when he grabbed it first and stood up.
"I got it" walking around the kotatsu he picked up her cup and began making his way towards the kitchen.
Had Sasuke always been this...nice? "O-oh, okay sure, thanks. I'll go get things ready then"
Heading for her room she opened her closet and pulled out a rolled up futon, grabbing one of the pillows from her bed and a spare blanket to take back to Sasuke. When she returned he was finishing up washing both of the cups they had used, the action seeming rather unexpected to her but also kind of sweet at the same time.
Between the both of them they moved the coffee table that was in front of the couch off to a side to make some more space, setting down the futon along with the pillow and blanket she had brought. Sakura left the room once more and returned with a pale cream shirt and loose black sweatpants that she offered to Sasuke who turned on a questioning look at her. "Naruto left these a while back, you can use them to sleep if you want. Bathroom is the first room down the hall to your right, feel free to take ashower if you want, there are spare towels on the cabinet in there"
He took the clothes from her hesitantly, thinking over her proposal, a hot shower certainly didn't sound too bad after a long day but he felt like he could be abusing her hospitality a bit much "Are you sure?"
"Yeah! of course. If you happen to need anything just knock on the door at the end of the hall"
"Thanks"
She waved it off "It's no problem, really" turning around she began walking through the hall towards her room, stopping at the door and turning to look back at him "Good night Sasuke-kun"
"ah...good night"
Once the door was closed he let out a deep breath as he ran a hand through his hair. What was he even doing? he had a thousand thoughts running through his mind with as many questions and not even a single answer. Rather defeated he made his way to the bathroom Maybe I'm thinking over this too much, I'm probably just tired anyway
He stripped off his shirt and caught a look at himself in the mirror. He was definitely thinner and had lost some of the tone of his muscles, even his skin had turned a shade paler. I really need to get back into training…
Stripping off the rest of his clothes he fiddled with the shower handles until hot water began pouring down. He closed his eyes at the soothing feeling of the hot water, back in prison it was always quick cold showers but right now he practically felt the tension slip from his body as the hot water rained down.
Making quick work of getting washed up he shut off the water and pulled one of the spare towels from the cabinet to dry himself before donning the borrowed clothes. Patting down his hair and shaking it with his hand he got rid of most of the water before hanging the towel and stepping out into the cool apartment.
He noticed the light that had previously been shining from under the door to the bedroom had been shut off so he quietly made his way to the main room, turning off the remaining light before heading for the futon and laying down.
He scanned the dark room until his eyes landed on the moonlight that shone through the partially closed blinds on the window. He hadn't expected much of tonight when he took his first steps out of the prison but as fate would have it he was now even more confused than when he was back at the hospital after the seal that he had on his shoulder had acted up.
Being here had made him remember how he had felt back then, the warmth, the comfort...the peace.
He found himself enveloped in similar feelings throughout the night. He had felt at peace just by listening to her talking, as if all of his problems simply melted away. It had been comforting how they were just able to sit and talk for hours even if it had been her who did most of the talking and even now as he simply laid on the futon he felt...right
Something stirred in his chest but he couldn't put a finger on it and it bothered him to no end. Why was Sakura being the cause of all this turmoil? He thought back to when they were Genin, even though back then she had been annoying at times she never really bothered him too much, even accepted some of her overly affectionate gestures. When he left the village and worked on severing his bonds with everyone it was his bond with her that he had more trouble dealing with to the point where at a pivotal moment in time he believed that the only way for him to break the bond was to kill her...and he had almost succeeded.
Despite this here he was, that very woman offering him a place to spend the night and leaving herself open to being attacked so...did she really trust him that much after all that he had done to her and his actions in general? What in the world was pushing her to be so forgiving?
Back at the final valley he had apologized to her, probably his most sincere words ever other than what he had talked with Naruto just hours earlier. Maybe Itachi had been right when he said that a person doesn't truly know who they are until their moment of death…
He got his head around some of the things he was confused about during his time in prison, after all, time was something he had to spare back then, but he always avoided the topic surrounding Sakura. Even during her first visits he had always felt relieved whenever she came and that day when his seal went out of control simply threw a whole other slew of emotions his way.
Maybe that bond he had failed to sever before somehow grew into something else at some point...but why? and how?
He brought his arm up and rested it over his eyes Yeah, I'm just really really tired, that has to be it...right?
he turned on his side and slipped his hand under the pillow, closing his eyes to attempt at getting some real sleep for the first time in months. Not passing out for an hour or two due to pure exhaustion, no fever induced coma and no losing track of time and wondering if he had actually slept or just absentmindedly gone through another night with his mind blank.
Just real, refreshing, blissful unconscious sleep.
Sakura slowly came back to her senses, cracking open her eyes at the first rays of sunlight that made their way through her window. With the fuzziness of sleep still clouding her mind she sat up and stretched her arms up before swinging her legs around to climb out of bed.
Picking a set of clean clothes she headed for the door, opening it slowly to take a peek outside of her room.
The hall and living room were scarcely lit by whatever little light managed to seep through the partially closed blinds over the window, the lack of sound or movement leading her to believe that her visitor was still sleeping. Padding out of her room she left her change of clothes in the bathroom before moving over to the end of the hall to take a look.
Sasuke was still asleep as she had guessed, facing up he had one leg bent up with the other remaining stretched out and his arm rested over the blanket on his abdomen.
His face was framed by dark onyx locks splayed around the pillow, hinting at possible tossing and turning while he slept. She became unable to tear her gaze from his face, an expression she had never seen before etched into his features, his normally pensive brows were relaxed and the grim line of his mouth was absent to leave slightly parted lips that allowed soft breaths to escape, normally tense features receding to allow his face to appear more relaxed than she had ever seen on him.
Thinking back she guessed he was probably extremely tired so she would try her best to avoid making any unnecessary noise that could possibly wake him up. With a smile on her face she turned around and headed for the bathroom to take a shower.
Everything was dark, the silence was deafening to the point where he couldn't even hear his own footsteps, was he even walking? moving at all? The infinite darkness made it impossible to distinguish heads or tails from this place and it wasn't helping his alarmed state. What even is this place?
The silence started to give way to voices, jumbled and intermixed to the point where he couldn't distinguish whose voices he was hearing or what exactly they were saying. The voices grew louder and louder with each passing second and with them came flashes of his memory as the voices became clearer and he could link words to memories.
Traitor.
He had left the village in search of blind power, following a path that stained his soul and twisted his loyalties.
Monster.
Blinded by rage he killed his brother, his only remaining blood and the only person that had always loved him to the point of sacrificing himself to guide him down a path that he refused to follow.
Scum.
He almost killed one of his closest friends as she attempted to free him from the darkness that clutched his soul, also betraying another comrade and dragging her to the verge of death.
Uchiha thrash.
Consumed by darkness and on the verge of breaking he had made it his goal to destroy all that his brother had died to protect, descending even further into the spiral of death that had doomed his clan for generations.
You should've died along with the rest of your accursed clan.
He fought in the war while hiding his ulterior motives, betraying his friends once more and nearly succeeding at killing the only friend who never wavered when it came to believing in him.
Those eyes beckon misfortune.
By now the voices were deafening, even as he covered his ears and closed his eyes the voices didn't quiet down and his memories continued their assault in quick flashes. He felt his breath hitch in the back of his throat and struggled to allow even a little oxygen flow through.
Another voice called him by name but he couldn't hear it through the assault. A flash of white blinded him and all of a sudden it was as if the ground had crumbled beneath him as he started falling. All he saw was the white, the memories were no longer blocking his view and the voices became a jumbled mess once more.
There was only a single word that he could make out over the cacophony of voices, the tone was alarmed yet different from that of the voices he had heard before. He tried to focus on it to ground himself somehow but another assault of memories caused him to lose his concentration once more. This had to be a dream, a nightmare, it had to be there was no other explanation.
He shut his eyes tightly and felt his chakra subconsciously pool behind his eyelids, he needed to wake up, he needed to find something to ground himself to and he needed to do it fast.
Wake up wake up wake up wake up!
"Sasuke-kun!"
He jerked up fast enough to cause his head to spin, gasping for air, he still couldn't focus on where he was as he struggled to get his breathing under control. His breaths were short and jagged, unable to properly fill his lungs with the much needed oxygen.
Finally bringing himself to open his eyes he scanned his surroundings, his vision was foggy but it was clear enough so that he could find something to focus on and ground his thoughts. His hand held part of the blanked he had used with enough force to turn his knuckles white.
He felt something take a hold of his hand and he quickly turned to find the source, crimson and lavender meeting emerald.
She had just finished her shower and was silently making her way to the kitchen to grab something to drink when sudden shuffling called her attention. Walking around the counter she noticed the previously relaxed expression on Sasuke's face had been replaced by furrowed brows and a clenched jaw, something was wrong..was he having a nightmare?
She didn't know if she should intervene or not, she didn't want to overstep the boundaries and scare him off or possibly unintentionally push him away altogether by appearing too intrusive in his business.
She kneeled down an arm's length away from him as she thought about what to do, his hand was clenched and his eyes were tightly shut. After a few more seconds she noted how his breathing started to become more erratic and sensed how his chakra was moving irregularly and almost in a similar way as if he had been put under a genjutsu.
Oh screw this!
Pushing her doubts away upon seeing this she drew closer to him and softly placed her hand on his shoulder "Sasuke-kun wake up, it's just a nightmare"
No reaction, whatever had him trapped in the realm of dreams surely had a very firm hold of him. "It's not real, wake up"
His breathing started to become even more uneven, coming in with short pants. She noted the slight shivers that occasionally rocked his body and she placed her hand over his forehead, shocked to feel how cold he was.
Worry tinted her mind as she found herself unable to wake him up but from her experience whenever she had seen children suffering of similar nightmares she had come to learn that it was never good to break them out of them directly, all she could to was gently prod him and talk to him in hopes that he could grasp her voice and use it to anchor himself.
She called his name a couple times with no real effect and with each passing second his state seemed to deteriorate. Taking a hold of both his shoulders she gently squeezed them, a hint of urgency coloring her words "Sasuke-kun!"
Suddenly he jerked up, startling her into letting go of his shoulders and sitting back. He was sitting up now but his weight was still leaning forward for the most part as his dark bangs fell forwards to cover his face.
His hand was tightly clenching the sheets and his breathing was still ragged. Alarmed, she placed a hand on his back and felt the remnants of the earlier shivering but other than that there was no reaction from him "Sasuke-kun?"
testing her luck she grasped his hand with hers, immediately earning a reaction as he turned to look directly at her.
A pang of fear threatened to form on the back of her head at the sight of the activated Sharingan and Rinnegan but those feelings didn't get as much as a second of attention before sadness replaced it.
What could he have possibly been dreaming about that was enough to activate his Sharingan?
She held his gaze and saw a whirlwind of emotions that threatened to swallow her. Longing, regret, fear, sadness..sorrow.
As she looked into his mismatched eyes she noticed his breathing started to slowly even out, the flood of emotions that had pooled in his eyes receding until he finally closed them with a deep breath and turned away from her. If she had to hazard a guess from the way he looked she would say that he looked..ashamed?
He spoke without meeting her gaze "Sorry…"
Sorry? Why was he apologizing? did he really think that he had troubled her with this? "Don't apologize"
"I didn't mean to alarm you"
she noticed how all emotions from a minute ago had gone back to being held back by the carefully crafted walls he usually wore and it bothered her that he still believed that for him showing emotion was a sign of weakness, that he wasn't allowed to feel.
Gathering courage she ventured to cup his face with her hands and make him look at her, startled obsidian and lavender staring back into emerald. "Don't you ever think that you need to apologize for showing emotions Sasuke-kun...you are allowed to feel, you shouldn't have the need to push everything back just for the sake of appearance"
He was startled at the unexpected gesture but he didn't pull away. He considered her words carefully and noted how even though he hadn't said a single thing she seemed to be perfectly able to read him like an open book, it bothered him how she was able to do this but at the same time a part of him was amazed at the empathy she was able to show even for him.
He looked straight into her eyes and saw nothing but pure honesty and determination, the same feeling of comfort from before bubbled up in his chest even after the turmoil he had just endured. He didn't know what possessed him to move next but he didn't really make any real efforts to stop as his body half moved on its own.
He lifted his arm to wrap around Sakura's shoulders and pulled her closer to him, resting his own head on her shoulder. She was tense for a few seconds before she relaxed in his arm and brought her own arms around his midsection.
He allowed himself to close his eyes, the warmth of her body against his own being overwhelming enough to chase away any lingering thoughts from his nightmare and leaving the space to be occupied by the peace that she managed to bring to him "Thank you...Sakura"
After a little while the quiet apartment was finally disturbed by a knocking on the window, Sakura stood up to open the blinds and found a hawk standing on the windowsill, a note safely stored on the little pocket attached to one of its feet.
Petting the hawk in return she took the note and it flew away as she unfolded it, reading through it as she walked back deeper into the room. "It's a summon from Kakashi sensei, he wants to see us"
Sasuke nodded before standing up, throwing the blanket over his shoulder and picking up the pillow "I'll help you put this away"
Leaving the note on the counter she stepped around the couch and slid the blanket off of his shoulder "I got it, you go get changed so we can go see Kakashi"
He hesitated but eventually gave in and handed her the pillow before picking up his own clothes from the previous day that he had left next to the futon and made his way over to the bathroom.
Since it was still rather early the walk to the Hokage tower was mostly uneventful, few people were around but even still Sasuke didn't miss the scornful looks and occasional hushed comments that resembled the ones from his nightmare.
He didn't hold it against the villagers though, almost a year had gone by since the war but that resentment and anger that had been created could last a lifetime...He knew that way too well himself.
The looks and comments did not go unnoticed by Sakura who was more than just a little angry at the scorns from the villagers, Sasuke had been one of the two key players in undoing the infinite Tsukuyomi and saving them all! Y
eah he had done some bad things before but he had changed and considering that he had been the one to bring forth the previous Hokage when he arrived at the battlefield they wouldn't have had a chance at winning the war if it wasn't for him.
She kept her eyes forward as she lightly tugged at the side of Sasuke's shirt for support, whether that support was for him or herself she wasn't quite sure.
Finally arriving at the building in question Sakura nodded at the receptionist before continuing to walk past her and up the several flights of stairs, reaching the desired floor they walked through a few hallways before stopping at the larger double door that signaled the entrance to the main office. Knocking on the door, Sakura waited until she heard the voice inside granting permission to enter.
The pair entered the office and were greeted by the recently appointed sixth Hokage, papers and documents stacked around him leaving only the space in front of him free of the chaos. "Good morning you two, glad that you could make it in such short notice. I hope I didn't wake you up"
Sakura could very clearly see the mirth in his eyes, she realized then that he had known exactly what he was doing by sending her to pick Sasuke up the previous night while knowing that he wouldn't have a place to stay.
He knew about how she felt about Sasuke after she had all but poured her heart out to him in front of the silver haired man before the battle with Naruto. Of course he would try and pull the two of them together now that things were somewhat back to normal.
Taking the lead entering the office she greeted him with a smile "It's okay, we were already up by the time your hawk arrived"
"ah, good to hear" he turned to Sasuke "How are you doing Sasuke?"
"Better" he bowed his head slightly "Thank you again, for doing this"
He leaned back in his chair "mah mah, no need for that, we've already discussed this. Raise your head, there are some things we need to discuss"
Rising his head mismatched eyes met with a pair of obsidian "What about?"
He reached out to a drawer and pulled out a folder containing several documents, he stretched it out for Sasuke to take and the man in question walked the couple steps needed to reach the desk.
Taking the folder from Kakashi he opened it and began to browse quickly over the papers to get a general idea of what it was about. Leaning back in his chair Kakashi started to explain.
"Given the rather short timeframe things were a bit rushed but I pulled a few strings, called up some old contacts and managed to get a place for you to stay along with some of the basics"
Turning the pages he found the one that detailed the rental agreement for an apartment along with the address. He read over this particular page in detail while Kakashi continued.
"First three months of rent have been taken care of so you won't have to worry about that for a bit. Furniture might be a little sparse and you'll need to go get clothes and food of course but those should be your only worries"
He tore his sight away from the documents in his hands to look back at his former sensei "I'm not able to leave the village or go on even light missions so how am I going to be able to care for these payments?"
"That has also been arranged" he nodded towards the document in his hands and Sasuke turned a few more pages until he reached a set of banking documents "As you might remember the Uchiha compound lived under its own rule and organization, this including handling their own budgets and savings provided by the village. After the disaster the village never touched any of that up until now per the third Hokage's request which Tsunade and I kept in place" Had Kakashi not been used to detecting small shifts and movements in people's expressions he would've missed the slight widening of the Uchiha's eyes upon reaching the end of the document he was reading "As the last remaining member of the Uchiha clan and since you've come of age you have acquired the Uchiha inheritance as a whole which, as you can see, should be more than enough to keep you comfortable until we're able to figure things out after the trial and you're able to go on missions again"
Snapping out of his stupor he turned to look at the Hokage with a raised eyebrow "You're speaking as if you know what the outcome of the trial will be"
his eyes curved into a smile "Well I have faith that it will go well...that and as I've been going through possible witnesses, evidence, arguments and counterarguments with Tsunade the idea of getting this resolved with a good outcome is very possible"
Now it was Sakura's turn to step forward "You've already done that much?"
"Well...it's been a busy week"
"I thought the decision of the trial hadn't been made official until just two days ago"
"Well...yes, that was the case but I already had a feeling that we could push them into agreeing for a trial if we caught the feudal lord on a good day. And so we did"
She was speechless, she had no idea that Kakashi had been doing so much behind the scenes. A part of her wanted to be angry for not telling her about this so that she could help him but another part of her was simply grateful for everything that he had done so instead of saying anything back she simply extended her thanks to him.
Sasuke was in a similar state, unable to formulate coherent thoughts at these new revelations. "Thank you...again"
Kakashi leaned forward and propped his hand up from the desk to rest his head. "No need for that" a smile formed under his mask "After all, what kind of sensei would I be if I didn't care for my students?"
The pair extended their gratitude to him before turning to leave, they walked together for a little while until Sakura announced that she needed to take care of some things at the hospital.
The two stood in front of the large building, the light blues of the sky in full bloom now that the sun had fully come out "I need to go over some of the papers for the children's clinic but uh...m-maybe we could meet again soon?"
A soft smile made its way to his face "ah"
She mirrored his smile before turning to walk away, stopping halfway to wave back at him before continuing on her way.
Walking through some of the more empty streets to avoid calling more attention to himself Sasuke opened the folder Kakashi gave him and carefully flipped through the documents until he reached the one detailing his new residence.
He was not familiar with the streets that were on the paper but he somehow managed to find the building in question. Climbing up the stairs until he reached the fourth floor he found the door marked with the number '407' as written on his documents, using two fingers to hold a small envelope he closed the folder and held it under his arm while he fiddled to get the key out.
Inserting the key and turning the knob he was greeted with an open space that was similar to Sakura's apartment in the sense that a counter separated the kitchen from the living room, the difference lay in the rest of the layout.
A couple empty shelves and a bookshelf lined the walls, a navy blue kotatsu was in the middle of the open space, providing a contrast to the cream walls and light bamboo flooring.
The long white granite counter dividing the room contrasts with the dark wood cabinets in the kitchen.
whereas in Sakura's apartment there was a hallway immediately left from the entrance in here it was on the far side of the room, locking the door behind him he walked over to see not two, but three doors on said hallway.
He opened the first one to reveal a full bathroom with a glass shower and modern looking sink, the next door was a storage or closet of sorts and the final door at the end of the hallway led to an ample bedroom that had a set of glass sliding doors into a small terrace outlooking Konoha.
The terrace wouldn't be enough to even set a chair outside but he guessed it would be good to just look out and get fresh air, he was on the top floor of the building after all.
After going around the place he safely stored the documents he had in a drawer on the desk that was in the bedroom. Overall the place wasn't bad, it wasn't too flashy or overly modern and the minimalistic feel was something he preferred.
After wandering around aimlessly he realized there was no food in the fridge and that he would be needing some fresh clothes, the bright sunlight streaming from the window only signaled the peak hours of the morning and in all honesty he didn't feel like having to deal with the sour looks and comments from the villagers or expose himself to being the center of attention.
Taking a deep breath he headed back to the bedroom and slid open the glass door to the terrace where he sat on the floor and rested his back against the wall on the side. He would wait until the sun began to set and there was less light to expose him before making any moves, on his way here he passed a few sored nearby that he could quickly drop by hopefully without incident and get what he needed.
For now he simply closed his eyes and relished in the cool autumn breeze and the warmth of the sunlight on his skin.