Sasuke had acquired a lot of regrets by age seventeen. The list could have stretched from Konoha to Suna if he wrote them all out on a scroll.
Multiple places on that list of regrets had Sakura's name attached. He was always resisting those soul-piercing and loving green eyes of his former teammate, and he often hurt her to do so. The night that he left Konoha stood out in his mind as perhaps the peak of doing so. He had resisted in small ways before that night and given in few times, more than he would ever admit at the time, even under torture.
That night her words and her eyes chipped away at his resolve. There was a moment as he looked into her eyes that his resolve to leave wavered, just for a moment. He did what he could that night to resist. He took the cowardly approach of appearing behind her and knocking her out so he wouldn't have to look at her eyes any longer.
Even when they were closed, still spilling tears as he lifted her in his arms and set her on that bench, he could feel their pull. He resisted again, refusing to look back at her as he left.
Now he looked into her eyes, those expressive green gems, and his first instinct was to resist, call her annoying, and refuse to answer her.
Yet, so much had happened from that night to this day. So much had happened in the past week. What did he have to hide from her anymore?
He exposed his raw grief and shed tears for her, not hiding it. He held on to her, not caring what the others thought, only wanting to convey his sorrow and relief, and perhaps selfishly, receive some comfort as well.
Her eyes did not judge him. There was only love reflected in their depths. He had struggled to say the things he said in the first place; he had been so afraid of her reaction then that he refused to look at her.
How did he ever truly think he could kill her? First when he swore to destroy the Leaf, again in the Land of Iron, and just a day ago when he first thought he might need to if he were to become the Dark Hokage.
"Sakura," he started, "I had a choice I needed to make before we freed everyone."
She said and did nothing, her gaze still loving and encouraging to him. What if the look in her eyes changed after this? He had made up his mind after nearly losing her again and talking to the Sage, but if she rejected him now, it would be the same as walking the world alone even with Naruto and Kakashi's support.
How ironic that he should now feel the way she had the night he left.
"I only saw three choices to move forward," he continued, "and all three were not ones Naruto and Kakashi approved of. I think you would agree with them."
He saw hurt enter her eyes and he didn't know what to do. Was she hurt that he would consider such things? Hurt that he was skipping the details? How could he comfort her and make the hurt go away?
Perhaps his confusion and care showed in his eyes, because she spoke up, "You don't have to tell me the details Sasuke; I'm just sad that you were thinking things that would bring you pain."
He shouldn't have been surprised in hindsight; she was always worrying about his safety and happiness, even when it hurt her.
He felt like his heart was constricting in his chest…she had shed so many tears for him...her pain was now causing him pain too.
He cleared his throat, wanting to think over those feelings another, more private, time. He focused back on answering her request to tell her what happened, "I wanted to talk to you all first, and I was willing to fight you if I needed to. I didn't want to fight any you…"
He felt embarrassed, and he looked away. He was trying to make excuses, but none were coming to mind. The truth was that he had thought through things enough that he had determined a quick genjutsu would take her and Kakashi out so he could capture the tailed beasts and soundly defeat Naruto.
He felt her hand touch his chin and gently push up to get him to look back at her. He complied. He wasn't sure what he expected, but her green eyes were still so beautiful and held no ill will for him.
He was thankful that Naruto and Kakashi were giving them space. Not once so far had either spoken up or made so much as a sound.
He resumed, for her, "The Sage of the Six Paths interrupted, asking if you were okay, and that's when we all realized that you weren't."
He stopped, raising his own hand to gently cup her face, "Sakura, please forgive me for ignoring your condition. It was wrong and selfish of me not to check on you."
"Sasuke," she said gently, nuzzling his hand with her cheek a little, "There's nothing to apologize for. I was the one who was proud and didn't want to say anything while I still could."
Sasuke shook his head, but didn't push it further.
"You died," he continued, "Just for a second, but you stopped breathing and then your heart stopped beating."
He waited, anticipating some reaction from her. He carefully looked into her eyes for any shock or questions. He could not gloss over those torturous moments if she needed to hear more.
Sakura only nodded, unsurprised. Sasuke reasoned that as a medical ninja, things of that nature, even when they were things that happened to her, did not faze her.
Sasuke continued, "The Sage offered to help, though he wasn't sure he had enough chakra remaining to heal you fully. He only asked that I tell him my decision regarding what I would do."
Sakura leaned forward slightly; the anticipation was clear in her expression. Sasuke didn't think he was going to make it this far without her rejecting him, but he wasn't complaining that he had been wrong either. Perhaps his fears were silly. She had stuck by him this long through many other unsavory moments on his part, hadn't she?
"I chose something different from the three options I laid out," Sasuke started, gearing up to share with her the change that had happened to him, "I realized that in all three of those scenarios, I was going to be distant from the three of you, in one way or another. When you were…laying there…I didn't think about anything other than how wrong this world would be without you in it. You had to be there."
Sakura's eyes began welling up with tears, and Sasuke thought that perhaps he had said something wrong. Sakura shook her head and smiled at him, her eyes telling them they were not tears of sadness from something he had done wrong.
Relieved, and nearly at his emotional development limit for the next decade, he hurried to finish, "I chose to seek redemption for my crimes, and be reinstalled as a Konoha shinobi if they will have me, working alongside the three of you to uphold the peace that was started between the nations during this war."
Sakura's smile grew to fill her whole face, and she nearly threw herself into his arms, wrapping her own around him in a rib-cracking embrace. They helped each other and turned to the other two members of their team, ready.
The original Team 7, with their sensei, stood overlooking the tree as it shriveled up and released its prisoners. Naruto and Sasuke held their fists together in solidarity, long after they needed to for the seals to work.
Sasuke refused to let go of Sakura with his other arm so long as she was willing. Kakashi rested a hand on Naruto's shoulder, his smile nearly visible through his mask.
While there was a long road ahead of them, Sasuke and Sakura both were content to face the consequences and bumps in the road together.
