Three months later, Sakura was dead. Or that was the narrative the council was posed to disperse, starting today.

The deliberations had seemed to be getting nowhere for months. Sasuke was an undisputed war criminal. He murdered Danzo, betrayed the village, colluded with sworn enemies, tried to kill the Kages - and that was just the tip of the iceberg. For anyone else, this would have been a no-questions-asked death sentence. Considering the circumstances, a few of the elders, the soft ones, had been willing to consider banishment instead, thinking they were being merciful. Kakashi had wondered how they thought they were going to enforce either of those punishments, but he kept his mouth shut, letting them prattle.

The elders had not counted on Haruno Sakura sitting primly at the table and demanding a full pardon. Kakashi assumed the girl had been invited to participate as a sort of publicity stunt, to give the appearance that he had an advocate on the council and was still banished. They also thought that this child would not dare contradict her venerable elders.

But she had leveraged everything, from her status in Suna and her role in the war to her position as the best healer in the village. She threatened the eldest members of the council with the most conviction Kakashi had ever seen. She even threatened him (her favorite sensei!) when he suggested a stint grading papers in the civilian children's school. She would settle for nothing less than a full pardon. He followed her lead, of course, throwing his new political weight where he could.

It was his first experience with how limited the Hokage's power was. He was not free to act unilaterally. In fact, it felt that all he was allowed to do was announce the decisions of the elders as if they were his own. He was still a new leader, considered provisional in ways Tsunade never had to contend with. Many people still remembered the other war, the one years and years before, the battlefield where Kakashi had grown up; then a new war, when the dust had hardly settled on the old one. Nobody wanted a military dictator anymore. People were unsettled, angry, and scared. Democracy became the new buzz word. In acquiescence, the council's powers had been widened; the Hokage was no longer an autocrat. No one person held sole conservatorship of Konoha. Decisions required votes, approvals, discussions. There was talk of elections, sometime further down the road when the village wasn't in such horrible disrepair. Kakashi felt that he was barely a figurehead. The council had gobbled up their new power, contrarian to the point he suspected it came out of spite. Anything he wanted, they unanimously rejected.

Then, suddenly, the council was willing to make a deal. They needed a dead shinobi, someone no one saw coming, to clean up Sasuke's messes. Two Konoha ninja had died going after Orochimaru's experiments that Sasuke had released and left alive, and they were not willing to sacrifice anyone else over such a traitorous war criminal's mistakes. The mutants were organizing, recruiting people displaced and disenchanted by the war. The other villages said it was Konoha's fault and Konoha's problem to fix; they were demanding action.

So they proposed that she become their secret weapon, living in solitude hundreds of miles away, traveling to eradicate targets as needed. And in return, they would give Sasuke a complete pardon with 18 months of supervised missions, and no other restrictions. Otherwise, banishment or death.

But if she were to accept, the terms were dire: Haruno Sakura could exist no more. The whole village, country, and world would have to believe she was dead. If word got out that it was her picking off the experiments, they would know exactly what to plan for: super strength, regeneration, taijutsu. Better they never even thought to plan for a dead ninja.

And she had done it willingly. She had volunteered. Of course, the terms of the deal were too extreme for her to refuse. They had been made especially to convince her to leave, and she knew it. Kakashi had begged the council for another option, had begged her to let him handle it. Neither had been successful. The council wanted to hurt her for her defiance, wanted to destabilize team seven, strip Sasuke of any chance he had of assimilation. Without her, he remained an outcast, and they knew it. She carted him to outdoor markets and fairs, forced people to get used to him. Kakashi had no time to take his students on field trips, Naruto had no tact, and Sasuke had no one else.

And it might keep the kyuubi in check for a year or two more. Remind Naruto, again, how fragile the lives of those he loves are. Discourage recklessness, encourage quiet mourning, staying close to home, close to the quiet and stable Hinata. Tethered and afraid. Kakashi had suspected from the get-go this reaction from Naruto might be wishful thinking on the council's part. He didn't disabuse them of the notion.

All of this while successfully completing what was, admittedly, an important and prolonged mission. Kakashi wondered which of their detestable heads had come up with this idea. He'd like to see that head roll.

This was what Kakashi remembered as he sat in his office, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose, a headache rolling around his brain. He had slept very poorly the night before, which was unusual of him; he suspected he did not have enough of a conscience left to keep him up at night. But today had been weighing heavily on his mind for months. Also, he did not like having an office. It seemed like nothing but an official place for bad news.

The doors opened and in bounded his students. Well, one student bounded in; the other followed quietly, shutting the door behind him.

"What's up, sensei?" Naruto beamed, plopping into a chair. "New mission? I'm in charge? We'll take it."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and sat as well, crossing his arms. "You're not in charge."

"Yes I am. Council said. Right, Kakashi?" Naruto looked at Kakashi expectantly, eyebrows raised.

Kakashi sighed, clasping his hands on the desk in front of him. Better to rip the bandage off. "This isn't about a mission. It's about Sakura."

Sasuke leaned forward, nearly imperceptibly; his frown deepened. Naruto sat up straighter. "What happened? Do we need to go get her? Why was she on a solo mission in the first place?"

"No. You don't need to go get her."

"What happened?" Sasuke asked sharply, his eyes narrowing.

Kakashi sighed again, looking at both of his students, hoping to remember them this way. Then he took a deep breath and recited what he had practiced in front of the mirror. "She's dead. Her remains were recovered two days ago. I just heard this morning. I'm sorry."

The following silence hurt. He could almost hear their worlds crashing around them, he could see the shock setting in. He knew the feeling; knew it twice, for each of his teammates that had died.

"You're lying," Sasuke said quietly. Kakashi could see in his eyes that he had no real reason to believe this other than the sheer insurmountability of the alternative.

"I'm not," Kakashi said firmly, and Sasuke's eyes tightened.

"You can bring her back," Naruto said, and there was a tinge to his voice that set Kakashi on edge; it felt like his voice had turned red. "Like Chiyo-sama did for Gaara. You can use the fox's chakra."

"That takes more than chakra, Naruto," Kakashi said quietly. "It's a life for a life. And it wouldn't work in this case."

"So find someone who's almost dead anyway! Or old! You have to bring her back, she has to be with us! We've only all been together for a few months!"

"Even if we could find someone willing, Naruto, it wouldn't work."

"Why not?" he demanded.

"For that jutsu to work, the body has to be largely intact," Kakashi said gently. He had been prepared for this request. The council had fed him the official story with every possible question answered.

Sasuke looked sick; Naruto looked floored. "What do you mean, intact?"

Kakashi didn't answer, largely for Sasuke's sake; the boy looked on the verge of vomiting.

He surprised Kakashi by speaking.

"Who killed her?" Sasuke murmured, and his voice didn't sound like his; it sounded like a voice rattling around an empty hallway.

Kakashi shrugged. "Whoever it was, she took them with her. She didn't go down easy. There's no revenge to be taken. No one to punish."

Naruto pushed his face into his hands. Sasuke did nothing but stare blankly.

"They're carving her name on the stone today," Kakashi said quietly. "You should both be there."

She had specifically told him that she didn't want her name carved on the hero's monument. He had specifically ignored her; dead or not, she had sacrificed herself for the village.

The boys did not move for minutes that seemed like hours. He let them sit.

Finally, suddenly, Sasuke stood, his chair toppling to the floor, and he stalked out of the room. After a few beats, Naruto followed him silently, leaving Kakashi alone in his office.

He had done a lot of hateful things in his life. But this was the worst.

That night, in Sasuke's apartment, a single throw pillow on a lonely couch was consumed by black flames.