Three days after Sakura had secretly performed the Chisei Chikizuna no Jutsu, Sasuke was discharged from the Konoha Hospital. While this should have been a good thing since it meant that he was physically sound once again, it wasn't exactly advantageous for Sasuke himself, since it meant that he was healthy enough to be thrown into one of Konoha's maximum security holding cells and placed under ANBU supervision, to be held until the date set for his trial.
Sakura herself had ended up stuck in the hospital for most of those three days; the jutsu had been surprisingly draining, and Shizune, who had found the young medic-nin slumped against a wall in the middle of an empty hallway, had taken one look at her ghostly pale face before rushing her off to a room of her own. Despite the pink-haired girl's protests that she was fine, Tsunade had checked her over personally, then ordered her to stay in bed for a minimum of three days. Sakura, who was far too exhausted to put up much of a fight, had meekly complied, though she hadn't liked the knowing glint in her shishou's amber eyes; regardless of the lengths to which she'd gone to keep her use of the forbidden jutsu hidden, Sakura suspected (correctly) that the Hokage knew exactly what she'd done...and she had all the evidence she needed in the recently awakened Uchiha Sasuke.
But to Sakura's surprise and infinite gratitude, the busty blonde gave no indication that her apprentice's condition was anything other than normal, scribbling down 'chakra depletion due to overworking, lack of sleep, and a slight case of malnutrition' as the cause of the girl's collapse (though as she left, Tsunade had shot Sakura a look that clearly said that they would be discussing this matter at a later time, much to Sakura's discomfort).
While Tsunade might have known the true cause of her collapse, Naruto certainly didn't. He had been nearly hysterical on hearing that she was in the hospital, practically breaking down the door to her room in his desperation to assure himself that she was alright.
"Are you sure you're gonna be okay, Sakura-chan? I told you that you were working too hard…" He hovered close to her bed, looking down at her anxiously and glancing to the right or left every few moments, as if searching for some way to "help" his old teammate.
Sakura rolled her eyes a bit at this and waved him off with a laugh. "I've told you four times already, Naruto, I'm alright! I just wasn't taking care of myself the way I should have been…"
"But you were fine the other night when we broke into—"
Eyes wide, the pink-haired girl quickly clapped a hand over the blonde's mouth. "Never mind that," she said with a warning glare. "And I told you, I'm fine now, too."
"Oh yeah! I almost forgot!" Naruto burst out excitedly as she removed her hand. "Guess who else is fine? More than fine, actually!"
Though she had a pretty good idea as to who it might be, Sakura played along, cocking her head and displaying an innocently curious look that would have fooled her own mother.
"It's Sasuke!" the Kyuubi container exclaimed, just as she'd expected, though her heart gave a curious leap at his name. "He's awake!"
"He's what?" Sakura (still acting, of course) gasped, sitting fully upright with a jerk and struggling to free herself of the blankets.
"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed, catching her firmly but gently by the shoulders. "Where do you think you're going?"
"To see Sasuke, of course!"
"Nuh-uh, no way!" The blonde pushed her back down on the bed, tucking the covers so tightly around her that there was little room for movement. "I promised Tsunade-baa-chan that I'd keep you in bed—that was the only way I could get her to let me to tell you about the teme! She wouldn't've let me tell you if I didn't promise…and you know how I am about promises, Sakura-chan."
After studying his resolute face for a long moment, the medic-nin let out a slow, hissing sigh from between clenched teeth and determinedly made herself more comfortable in the bed.
She was going to be there a while.
Since she had nothing better to do, Sakura spent most of the three days sleeping; she really was tired, and since Tsunade wouldn't even allow her to work on paperwork, she figured she might as well.
When she wasn't sleeping, she had a constant stream of visitors, for which she was thankful--she thought she might've died of boredom otherwise, since all she had to occupy her excess of time was staring at the ceiling mindlessly and wondering how Sasuke was doing.
Naruto was there almost constantly (apparently he was dividing his time between Sakura and Sasuke's rooms, though Sakura seemed to be getting most of his attention, a fact which she suspected the last Uchiha was secretly--or perhaps not-so-secretly, judging by the new and suspiciously fist-sized bruise on Naruto's jaw--quite thankful for), and Ino was there nearly as often, which served as a source of both amusement and annoyance for Sakura: both of her blonde best friends talked so loudly and so much, it oftentimes seemed almost like a contest to see which of them could most effectively drown the other out. The resulting level of noise was truly awe-inspiring and had gotten both of them kicked out of her room on more than one occasion already.
Hinata had come with Naruto on one of his many visits on the first day, and thus Sakura had been only slightly surprised to find Neji sitting beside her bed when she woke up after an especially lengthy nap during her second day in the hospital.
"So the fair princess has finally awakened, and even without a kiss from her prince charming," he deadpanned, smirking when his sardonic tone drew a faint groan of annoyance from the pink-haired kunoichi.
"Shut up, Hyuuga," she growled, easing herself up into a sitting position. "How long…?" she mumbled, running a hand through her sleep-tousled hair and feeling a strong sense of déjà vu.
Neji's smirk deepened—apparently he remembered their past conversation like this one as well. "Not that long," he said as Sakura rubbed the sleep sand from her eyes and ruefully wondered why she could never seem to look nice in front of the Hyuuga prodigy. If she didn't know any better, she'd think he was doing this to her on purpose.
"You should take better care of yourself, Haruno," he went on, his voice suddenly and surprisingly devoid of sarcasm. "We wouldn't want to lose you, after all. You're far too…valuable."
Sakura's eyes went wide, and she felt the blood rushing to her cheeks--not because of the unexpected compliment, but instead at the softer tone in which it had been given. She glanced away quickly only to find her eyes drawn to a vase full of pale pink roses on her bedside table. Those weren't there earlier, she realized with a thoughtful frown. Light pink roses…those stand for sympathy…and admiration. Did…does Neji…? She shifted her gaze back to the Hyuuga, her expression inquisitive.
An ambiguous smile was his only response to her unspoken question. "Get some rest," he said quietly, rising fluidly from his chair and pausing to look down at her for a moment, his expression flat, closed, and unreadable. "As much as I'd like to stay, I suppose I really should leave…" he said at last, a hint of his typically arrogant smirk returning to his handsome face. "After all, the nurse did say that too much excitement wouldn't be good for you."
Crossing the room, he slid the door open to reveal a rather startled-looking Ino, a bouquet of daisies nestled in the crook of her arm, one hand raised, obviously in the middle of reaching out for the door handle. Neji, on the other hand, appeared utterly unfazed by her presence, as if he'd known she was there all along (and considering the impressive abilities of his bloodline trait, he probably had).
"Yamanaka," he said evenly, inclining his head to her courteously before stepping to one side to allow the blonde kunoichi through. He paused in the doorway and glanced back at Sakura, whose bemused gaze was still fixed on him, an expression of honest confusion and curiosity apparent on her face; his smirk briefly stretched into a faint but real smile, then he turned and disappeared out the door, closing it gently behind him.
Ino watched him go, her surprise clearly expressed by her raised eyebrows and atypical silence. The latter, of course, didn't last long however.
"What was Neji-senpai doing here?" she asked after she was certain that he was gone, blue eyes lingering on the fresh, pale pink roses in the vase beside Sakura's bed before settling on her friend's slightly flushed face.
After nearly half a minute with no response—
"Sakura!"
"Huh? What?" The pink-haired medic blinked and shook herself, feeling rather flustered.
"I asked why Neji-senpai was here," the blonde repeated impatiently.
"Oh…uh, he was checking on me for Hinata-chan," Sakura said, thinking quickly. Although she wasn't entirely certain as to why Neji had been there herself, she definitely had her suspicions, and though she knew better than to admit them to Ino--it would be all over town before she could blink if she did--she did have to tell the other kunoichi something, or she'd never hear the end of it. "Hinata-chan was here yesterday, and apparently she was wondering how I was doing today, but since she was busy, she asked Neji-san to come check up on me."
Ino's skeptical expression indicated that she wasn't entirely convinced, but she accepted the explanation regardless, and soon the two young women were chattering away like always.
Ino had just finished rubbing it in Sakura's face that she had been to see the newly awakened Sasuke twice already when she suddenly stood. "I have to go—I'm supposed to meet Shikamaru and Chouji for some training at three, and then dinner afterward. Ugh, it'll probably be Korean barbecue again. You know how Chouji loves the stuff, and either Shika or I will probably end up paying." She stretched, showing off even more of her well-toned midriff, then flashed Sakura a grin. "Hurry up and get rested, Forehead. I'll steal Sasuke-kun away from you for sure if you're just lying around all day and getting fat."
Sakura snorted, smiling lopsidedly up at her childhood best friend. "Yeah right, pig. You'll be a lot fatter than me if you're always eating Korean barbecue with Chouji."
Ino giggled all the way to the door, turning back long enough to stick her tongue out and pull down her lower eyelid with a quiet "Nyah!" before slipping out the door with one final wave.
Sakura was surprised to find herself staring at the closed door wistfully, and was even more surprised to realize that she was actually sort of jealous of Ino. It wasn't that she didn't like her own team--far from it, in fact--but a part of her had always wished that things could have been more simple. Even though she had originally "won" by being put on the same team as Sasuke, Ino had always had it easier in terms of finding her place on her team and getting along with her teammates. True, Team Ten wasn't nearly as powerful as Team Seven in terms of brute strength, but at least they'd managed to get along and work together reasonably well, and at least Ino hadn't been ignored or patronized by everyone on her team.
And at least they managed to stay together, Sakura mused, fingering the thin, silky petals of one of the daisies Ino had brought her. They had looked childish and somehow out of place beside the stately pink roses, so Sakura had set them on the chair on the other side of her bed for now. And, she thought as she pulled one of the flowers from the vase and spun the stem between her fingers, her teammates didn't always leave her behind…literally or figuratively. They were always working together, having fun, and we…
She shook her head silently, though her eyes never left the flower in her hand. Sasuke and Naruto had both left Konoha, leaving her to pass the Chuunin exams on her own. She'd ended up being paired with Ino and Chouji, and while it had been nice to have another female on the team for a change, she had still missed watching Sasuke's fluidly graceful style of fighting, as well as yelling at Naruto for whatever stupid stunt he was attempting to pull at the moment.
She was still staring blankly at the daisy when the door to her room rattled open again, and the brooding silence was effectively shattered by Naruto's bright (and of course obnoxiously loud) greeting. "Sakura-chan!" he gushed and flung himself at her bed, engulfing her in a semi-smothering embrace just as he had twice already that day. "How are you feeling?"
"Just was well as I was when you came to check on me a few hours ago," she said after prying his arms from around her throat and pushing him back a safe distance. "Don't you have, um, missions to do or something?"
"Nope!" the energetic blonde chirped with a wide grin as he dropped into the chair beside the bed (Sakura just barely managed to snatch Ino's daisies out of the way before the Kyuubi container smashed them flat). "Tsunade-baa-chan has been too preoccupied with all the paper shuffling and red tape related to Sasuke-teme's return and sentencing and all that to specifically give me any missions, and I didn't want any anyway—I want to be here with you and the teme, now that we can all be together again for real!"
Sakura managed a small smile at Naruto's optimistic tone, but she had known him long enough to be able to tell that really he was just as worried about Sasuke's upcoming trial as she was. He wasn't naïve enough, or stupid enough, to think that their old teammate would get off easily, even if he had taken out Orochimaru and the last living member of the Akatsuki, as Sakura had told Naruto the day before.
There were few times that she had seen the blonde look so relieved as when she had explained to him what had really happened in the Sound Country, and though he had initially demanded quite sternly to know how she'd gotten that sort of information, he did not press the issue when she turned her eyes to her folded hands and mumbled something about 'Sasuke-kun telling her, sort of.' Though he had regarded her with careful eyes, he had not questioned her any further, apparently accepting her words on faith: he didn't know how she knew, but he knew her well enough to know when she was honestly telling the truth.
"Ah!" Naruto suddenly exclaimed as his eyes settled on the roses on her bedside table. "So you did get them!" Seeing her puzzled look, he explained, "Hinata-chan wanted me to make sure that you got those roses, and I promised her that I'd check. She'll be happy to know that you did get 'em, though I'm not sure why she thought you might not. The Yamanaka family's really good about that sorta stuff."
Hinata wanted him to check…? Sakura thought, casting a suddenly uncertain glance towards the beautiful pink buds. So maybe they weren't from Neji after all, she thought with an odd pang of something that felt suspiciously like disappointment.
Oblivious to his pink-haired teammate's contemplations, the blonde continued to babble on about Sasuke, his last date with Hinata, Sasuke, the mission he'd been on last week, a funny prank he'd pulled on Sai two days before, Sasuke, the ramen he'd had for lunch, and Sasuke. (Naruto was apparently even more excited about the Uchiha's recovery than Sakura herself, if his level of enthusiasm while discussing anything to do with the other man was any judge; but then again, Naruto was fairly enthusiastic about most things.) He soon had Sakura in good spirits once more, the daisies and her old team situation forgotten almost entirely; before long though, Naruto had to rush off to meet Hinata at Ichiraku, and Sakura was left alone with her thoughts once again.
…That is, until Tsunade came in to ask her apprentice some very important questions about a certain scroll she'd found hidden in the bottom of one of Sakura's desk drawers.
Predictably, it was Naruto who informed Sakura the next day that Uchiha Sasuke was to be discharged that very afternoon, and that he was to be placed in solitary confinement in a maximum security cell until his trial. This hadn't surprised Sakura in the least--she'd expected it in fact--but it did give her cause to get herself discharged; she had to see him before he was moved, or she might very well not see him at all.
But, as always, she found that she was just a little too late; by the time she'd gotten through the release forms, and healed one patient's broken wrist and the fierce-looking shuriken wound on another's abdomen (she knew that she really shouldn't've been working so soon after being discharged, but she was there and her chakra levels were higher than they had been in months, so she had figured she might as well), Sasuke had already been moved.
However, she refused to let that stop her: she was the Hokage's apprentice after all, and the second-best medic in Konoha, and even prisoners being kept in solitary had to have check-ups sometimes, especially ones that had been so recently released from the hospital. It had taken her less than fifteen minutes to convince Tsunade-shishou to give her regular access to his cell, so she visited him pretty regularly, always claiming some sort of medical business as her reason for calling, though most of the time she really just wanted an excuse to see him.
His cell was small and very dark, having no windows and only a single dim light buzzing faintly overhead and flickering every few minutes, sporadically leaving the room in total darkness for long periods of time. Sasuke himself was bound with chains around his ankles and wrists, and his chakra was drained twice a day, which of course left him looking tired and even more pale than usual.
After seeing him for herself, Sakura had to admit that her scheme, reckless though it might have been, had worked. It had worked remarkably well, in fact, even if it had left her unconscious due to intensive chakra drain, which seemed to be becoming a regular occurrence when it came to dealing with this patient. Sasuke was perfectly lucid and surprisingly submissive (though that probably had a lot to do with his chakra levels being kept so low), and, the pink-haired medic found to her dismay, just as uncommunicative towards her as before.
It wasn't that she'd thought they'd have some kind of deep, spiritual or even mental connection after she saved him; that only happened in movies and books, and she was far too practical to hope for anything of the sort. But though she hadn't honestly been expecting any sort of link to form between them, she had expected him to be just a little bit friendlier towards her, if for no other reason than the simple fact that she had risked so much to save his life. But as far as she could tell, nothing had changed between them at all: he was still the same silent, reserved Uchiha Sasuke that he had always been, though he did seem a bit more at ease with himself somehow. He was less angry, though he was still distant and reticent, concealing his passionate, volatile nature beneath a smooth surface of imperturbability.
The most noticeable difference was that he was more formally polite, actually adding honorifics onto people's names…sometimes, in any case. Though Kakashi had become "Kakashi-sensei" and Tsunade was "Hokage-sama," Sakura found that she herself was still plain "Sakura," and of course Naruto was still just "dobe."
But of course, she hadn't really expected anything else, and it was comforting to know that some things would never change, no matter how many years went by.
Uchiha Sasuke sat with his back to the wall in Holding Cell #302, staring sightlessly down at the book laying open on his lap, lost in thought. There wasn't much to do in solitary, and for some reason the guards had been kind enough to allow him to keep the books that Sakura had brought him (after they had literally gone through them page by page to be sure that they didn't contain anything dangerous or potentially useful in any escape attempts of course). He had almost instantly recognized the books as some of the very ones he'd had in his old apartment, and he wondered without really wondering why Sakura had had them in her possession.
The dim light overhead guttered out for the third time in as many hours, and Sasuke, unable to read now even if he had decided it was worthwhile to focus on the book in his hand, closed his eyes to the absolute darkness and tipped his head back to rest it against the cell wall, allowing his mind to wander.
It still felt rather odd, thinking so clearly, and seeing and remembering things with the exceptionally high level of clarity that he'd been so accustomed to in the past was almost painful now. It was something like a sensory overload, having everything work and feel the way it was supposed to, and actually noticing his environment. He was intimately aware of his surroundings--of the cool stone that made up the cell walls and floor, of the stale taste of the air and the musty particles that drifted through the sickly yellow beam falling from the sputtering light overhead, of the quiet and almost musical clink of the chains attached to the metal rings that chafed his wrists and ankles.
He was himself once again, something that he'd never really been thankful of before, but now after all he had been through, it was something of a relief.
And if what he'd been told was the truth, then it was all thanks to her.
His thoughts settled almost reluctantly on a particular memory, which he then brought up for careful re-examination: the first time he'd been visited by the Hokage, nearly two weeks ago.
He had been in much the same position as he was now: seated on the floor, back to the wall, newly-fastened chains clamped securely about his wrists and ankles. The Godaime had stared at him hard, fists posted on her voluptuous hips as she gazed down at him through fiercely narrowed golden eyes. "So Uchiha. Rumor has it that you're finally in your right mind again," she had said at last. His only reply had been a soft snort, but that was just as well since the Hokage had continued almost without a pause, "Well, you should be, after the stunt Sakura pulled to save your ass."
Sasuke had blinked up at her impassively, seemingly uninterested.
"Take a look at this when you have the time. Which would be now, seeing as you're not going anywhere any time soon." Offhandedly she tossed an unusually slender scroll at him, which he had made no attempt to catch, and it bounced off the wall a bare inch from his head and fell to the rough stone floor with a dull clatter; the Uchiha did not flinch in the slightest, either at the noise or the scroll's near-miss, though the slim cylinder had passed close enough (and had been thrown hard enough) to send a slight breeze ruffling through his dark locks.
Tsunade had met his flat stare with a long, carefully evaluating look before huffing out a sigh full of impatience and dissatisfaction. "Well, apparently you don't care, but I'll tell you anyway," she had nearly growled as he closed his eyes and bowed his head slightly. "Totally disregarding the potential price for her actions, Sakura performed this jutsu, and somehow managed to restore your severely damaged mind, bringing you out of whatever strange psychosis you had fallen into, as well as a self-induced coma. And through some miracle or force of luck, she came out of it nearly unscathed."
Sasuke hadn't even looked up at her words, though he could feel her eyes on him.
"From what I understand, the jutsu can essentially heal, or at least alleviate some of the pain resulting from emotional wounds," the Fifth had gone on in a much more subdued tone, "Ostensibly even wounds that have been there for a considerable amount of time." She crossed her arms over her ample chest, a hint of the previous sharpness returning to her voice. "I'm not saying that you won't still have problems because of your past, but someone who internalizes everything as much as you do can't be entirely oblivious to this drastic of a change. You must have noticed that you're feeling a lot better 'inside' than you have in a very long time."
In truth he had noticed--he'd noticed almost the very instant he woke up to find an unconscious Sakura sprawled on top of him--and the realization had startled him, though nothing of his outward appearance had given any indication of that: and now his eyes remained closed, his head bowed, his arms limply at his sides, and he remained silent.
"Well, since you've been so helpful, I guess that concludes our audience for now," the Godaime had said, her tone blatantly sarcastic, but as she had turned to go, she had paused to glare down at him once again. "I know you haven't had the easiest life, and I'm certain that you're well aware that your troubles are far from over, but keep in mind that you have a hell of a lot to be thankful for, Uchiha…and first and foremost is that you have talented, powerful, intelligent friends that still care about you enough to die for you, regardless of how much of an asshole you've been to them."
Taking in Sasuke's blank, unmoved expression, Tsunade shook her head and snorted, "I have no idea what she sees in you, but she must have seen something that would give her a reason to risk her life like that. I hope you can prove to me--to all of us, really--that you were worth it."
After giving him one last scrutinizing glance, she had left, looking tired and fairly disgruntled.
Once he had been absolutely certain she was gone, he had casually, almost carelessly picked up the scroll, more out of idle curiosity than anything else, but on reading it, he had been more than a little surprised in spite of himself. The Hokage hadn't been joking when she'd said the jutsu was dangerous, and it was remarkably complex as well.
He had continued to read, and, as much as he hated the idea, it hadn't taken long at all for Sasuke to recognize that he owed one Haruno Sakura a very, very large debt.
Now, as the overhead light flickered back on, he allowed himself to really consider that debt, and Sakura herself as well.
She was very much the same as she had been ten years ago, in that she seemed to use every possible excuse as a chance to visit him. Her touch was gentle and tended to linger just a fraction of a second longer than necessary, her gaze sometimes held a curious softness when he happened to catch her eye, and she still insisted on referring to him as "Sasuke-kun."
But she was very different as well. She was noticeably more self-confident and outspoken, no longer merely an awkward, uncertain girl who was more interested in boys than her profession: from what he could tell, she was significantly stronger (though in his opinion, she couldn't very well have gotten much weaker). She had to have gotten stronger to successfully perform a jutsu like the one on the scroll Tsunade had given him--a hell of a lot stronger.
…She had let her hair grow out again, too…
The door to his cell squeaked open, and when he gave the intruder his usual desultory glance, he was somehow not at all surprised to find that it was the very person he'd been thinking about.
She had another armload of books along with her medical charts, a fact for which he was secretly quite grateful; he'd finished all but the one currently in his hands, and he was halfway through that one as well, but he kept his expression carefully neutral as she placed the new books beside the others before going about the routine check-up.
"I still can't believe you've finished all those books! I'll have to bring you more next time, too. Well, everything checks out, just like usual Sasuke-kun…although I wish they wouldn't keep your chakra levels quite so low. If they keep this up, your muscles will start degenerating, and the lack of regular exercise doesn't help...ah, but I'm sure you'll be out of here before that happens…" She fell silent when he didn't respond (not that she'd really expected him to), choosing instead to focus on filling out his chart.
"I didn't want to come back, you know."
The words were quiet and dull, and Sasuke did not raise his eyes from his limp hands as he spoke them.
The regular, methodical scratching of Sakura's pen stilled, and surprisingly unreadable green eyes flicked up to study his face, her lips compressed into a thin line. "I know," she said in a low voice, her eyes dropping back to the clipboard before her as she went back to her writing.
"Why," he muttered after another long silence had stretched between them.
"Why what?" she replied simply, her voice soft but clear.
"Why…did you save me."
She blinked, not quite concealing the brief flash of surprise that flickered over her face, then gave a little snort. "I'm a medic-nin. It's my job to save people."
"At any cost?" Slowly he reached behind him and pulled out the scroll Tsunade had given him; Sakura's eyes widened a bit, though she gave no other sign that she recognized the scroll.
"Yes." She drew herself up, hugging her clipboard more closely to her chest, and met his piercing gaze coolly. "For some people, yes, at any cost."
"And why me," he asked, though there wasn't much of either question or concern in that phrase--just flat, barely half-interested curiosity.
"Because of our bond," she said simply, in that same infuriatingly calm voice.
His eyes narrowed just slightly, his expression clearly saying what bond?
"We're still friends, aren't we?" she said with a trace of a smile, and he blinked, his glare fading back into his usual apathetic expression. "You and Naruto and I…we're all still friends. And to me, that means that without a second thought, I would die for you--either of you, both of you." Her green eyes took on a strange expression that he couldn't quite place, but he could feel the sudden tension it caused in his chest and shoulders. "…I know you've found that some bonds are impossible to break, no matter how much you want to…so you should be able to understand this, at least a little."
Something about the way she said those two words—I know—frightened him for some reason; and Uchiha Sasuke did not respond well to being frightened.
He scowled darkly, but before he could lash out at her verbally, she suddenly smiled brightly--too brightly for the expression to be honest--and practically bubbled, "And, well, I like do what I can for everyone!"
Quickly scooping up the books he'd finished, she flashed him one last dazzling smile before heading for the door, calling back the inevitable, "I promise I'll come see you again soon, Sasuke-kun!" over her shoulder as she went.
Sasuke stared at the closed door through narrowed eyes long after the echo of her footsteps had died away into the surrounding gloom, leaving him to contemplate the complexity of bonds, as well as her unnerving knowledge of his past, in silence.
She "knows"? She couldn't possibly know…unless… His eyes dropped to the scroll he still held in his hand, and his eyes narrowed even more.
Damn. He didn't like this at all.
"Kakashi-sensei!"
The silver-haired jounin didn't pause in his slouching stride, nor did he look up from the book his nose was firmly buried in. "Yo," he said calmly, raising a hand at the pink-haired girl without even giving her the barest glance, as if it hadn't been over a month since they'd last seen each other.
"Kakashi-sensei, wait!"
Obediently he slowed his pace, though his single visible eye never left the apparently quite captivating pages of the book in front of him. "What is it, Sakura-chan? Is something wrong?"
"I don't think so," the slightly breathless medic-nin said as she fell into step beside him. "I just saw you from down the street, and I'd been meaning to ask you if you've been to see Sasuke-kun yet."
"It's funny that you would mention that. You see, I was actually on my way to do just that when—"
Sakura rolled her eyes. "Kakashi-sensei, don't take this wrong, but…shove it. Your excuses are never anywhere near believable."
"—When I was summoned by the Hokage and sent away on a month-long mission. To Suna."
Sakura blinked. "Wow, I… stand corrected. That was actually quite believable."
That drew a half-skeptical snort from the older jounin. "It had better be. It's the truth."
"The part about you being sent away for a month, maybe," she said, giving him a withering look. "But I doubt you were on your way to visit Sasuke-kun when Tsunade-shishou called for you."
"Oh? And why is that?"
"Because I know you. You were probably either reading or sleeping."
Kakashi let out a chuckle, but made no other reply, and they walked on in silence for a few hundred yards, Sakura idly wondering how he kept from running into things with his face caught in his book like that; even if he did happen to have exceptional peripheral vision, surely his depth perception must have been hindered by his only being able to use one eye. But maybe after so many years of living with it he was just used to it.
She marveled as he effortlessly sidestepped two puddles, a pothole, a half of a dropped pork bun, and someone's wandering toddler; then she bit her lip, reaching out to grasp his sleeve and pull him to an unwilling stop, looking up at him with solemn green eyes. "You haven't been to see him once, sensei…why is that?"
The tall man beside her sighed quietly. "You know, that's the nicest thing about getting lost on the Road of Life…no one stops you to ask you questions." He shrugged, effectively pulling his arm from her grasp, and continued on his way.
…And he still hadn't looked up from that blasted book once.
Sakura wasn't going to let him get away that easily, however. "Kakashi-sensei!" she shouted, running after him. This time he did not slow his walk, and she almost had to trot to keep up with his longer stride. "Kakashi-sensei…I'm serious."
"I know. So was I."
She suddenly placed herself in front of him, forcing him to stop once again. "The only time you've seen Sasuke was the time you ran into us on the street, and that was when he wasn't in his right mind--he probably didn't even know who you were. And you never visited him at the hospital either."
"I've been busy, Sakura-chan," he said calmly, raising hand to absently scratch his jaw. "I told you, I was away on that mission to Suna. I only just got back yesterday."
She stared at him hard as he nonchalantly turned a page in his book. "Kakashi-sensei. You said that your mission lasted a month."
"That's right," he said lightly, trying to step around her.
Her eyes narrowed as she moved to intercept him, blocking his way. "Sasuke-kun has been back for three months now."
Kakashi blinked slowly, then turned a forlorn look up at the sky. "Um, did I mention that my mission was actually four months long if you count all the prep-work?"
The pink-haired girl snorted and shook her head. "You really are a terrible liar. We ran into you that one time, remember? And I gave you a check-up a little more than a month ago, before you left on that mission to Suna. I've seen you around, sensei."
Kakashi was silent for a long moment, his eye focused somewhere off to her right. "I'd only have been in the way, Sakura-chan," he said quietly. "There was nothing I could do to help, both you and I know that—"
"Just being there for him might have helped!"
"You and Naruto were both 'there for him,' and it didn't make a bit of difference, did it? Not until you decided that you wanted to help him at any cost."
Green eyes flew wide at that, and she looked at him askance. How did he know?
"It still might have helped somehow," she muttered, glancing away quickly.
His book closed with a firm snap, and Kakashi released a long, quiet breath. "Sakura…" For the first time since this conversation had started, he looked directly at her, and the expression in his single eye was surprisingly soft and remorseful. "Sometimes it's hard to confront things that we see as failures...particularly when we see that failure, at least partially, as our own fault."
She blinked at this, then forced herself to laugh. "That's silly, Kakashi-sensei...you were a great teacher. It was Sasuke-kun's choice to leave. You tried to talk him out of it…and you nearly succeeded. Well, you did better than I did, anyway," she said with a sheepish smile, and the silver-haired man's eye narrowed almost imperceptibly at her words. "You know better than to blame yourself for something like that."
Kakashi's eyebrow inched upwards, and Sakura suddenly found his gaze uncomfortably intense. "You blamed yourself for not being able to stop him, didn't you? Why are you the only one who's allowed to feel responsible for something that isn't really their fault?"
Sakura bowed her head, and a fragment of a mirthless chuckle escaped her. "I was a child then, and I came to terms with that guilt." She didn't say that he was an adult both then and now and was old enough to have known better, but the accusation hung between them nonetheless.
"Sorry," she muttered after a moment, but Kakashi waved away her apology.
"Don't be. You're just being honest."
"Hey, Sakura!"
Both looked up to see Ino waving at Sakura from the other end of the street. "You're supposed to meet me for lunch, did you forget? C'mon, we can both get fat together!"
Sakura turned back to her old sensei and smiled faintly. "I have to go. We should all get together for dinner sometime…once Sasuke-kun is released, I mean. We could go to Ichiraku, just like we used to." Kakashi noticed that she didn't sound all that confident that that would ever happen, and truth be told he wasn't any more certain than she was, but he nodded reassuringly nonetheless.
"Alright. I'll see you, Sakura-chan."
" 'Bye, Kakashi-sensei." And with a small wave, she turned and headed for the waiting (and obviously impatient) blonde.
Kakashi sighed again as he watched her go, then shrugged, opening his book again and sloping off down the street. He hadn't told her that he'd be seeing Sasuke tomorrow regardless of whether he wanted to or not—Tsunade had ordered him to be present for the trial, which had been scheduled for late tomorrow evening.
Ah well. It didn't really matter, and she'd find out soon enough.
Exactly two weeks to the day that he'd been pronounced healthy and released from the hospital, Uchiha Sasuke was called before the Hokage and the Council of Village Elders to stand trial. The temporary amnesty he'd been granted due to his mental instability had officially expired that day, and a new sentence had to be given.
It was the talk of Konoha. Everyone in the village knew that today the fate of the last of the once-proud Uchiha clan would be decided, and more than a few betting pools had started over the issue (and judging by those, most people thought that he would either be sentenced to a lifetime imprisonment or else he would be executed as a traitor and mass-murderer, regardless of the circumstances). A betting pool had also been started on "the Kyuubi boy's" reaction to the outcome, and although he had gained the faith of the general public years ago in the battle against the Akatsuki (a rumor had been circulating that he was to be named the Sixth Hokage before the year was out), a lot of people still didn't seem to know what to expect. Most of them thought he'd simply end up doing nothing--he wasn't Hokage yet, after all, and thus had little political power--though a handful of the more cynical villagers bought into the long odds of him flying into a rage and destroying at least half of Konoha, with even money being placed on both the Kyuubi container and the last Uchiha either escaping or ending up in prison together at least temporarily.
The trial was to be very private—only the Hokage, the Council of Elders, Uchiha Sasuke, and a handful of others would be allowed, among them the ever-present ANBU escort.
The morning of the day the trial was to be held, Tsunade summoned Naruto to her office to discuss the situation with him. "Uchiha Sasuke will be allowed to select two advocates to stand with him at the trial," she said, resting her elbows on the desk and folding her hands in front of her.
Naruto let out a single huff of quiet laughter and grinned. "That's easy, the teme would pick Sakura-chan and me."
The Hokage's gaze sharpened a bit. "I know that nothing I can say or do will keep you out of that room, Naruto, but…I won't allow Sakura to be there. Instead, I would suggest Kakashi for the position. I've already discussed the matter with him, and he's agreed—"
"What!" Naruto half-shouted, disbelief readily apparent on his face. "Why can't Sakura-chan come? She's the one who's done the most for him!"
"You have no idea how right you are, Naruto, but that is exactly the reason I am preventing her from being there."
Something in her tone caused the blonde's indignation to subside, and he frowned at her. "What do you mean, Baa-chan?"
The Godaime leaned forward a bit more, resting her chin on her folded hands, her eyes intense. "In the quite likely event that the Council should prove to be…unreasonable…the outcome of this trial might be difficult for Sakura to accept." Naruto lowered his gaze, though his jaw clenched determinedly. "I think it would be best to spare her that sort of pain, don't you?" Tsunade continued quietly. "Hearing about it will be hard enough…but being there, and not being able to do anything about it—"
"I get it," Naruto snapped, turning his head sharply to the side to glare at the wall. His shoulders slumped a bit, and he closed his eyes, though his teeth were gritted in helpless anger. "You're right…Sakura-chan shouldn't be there." But that doesn't mean I'm going to let them do anything to Sasuke.
"Alright," the Godaime said, leaning back in her chair. "Now, I suggest you go and find Kakashi before you tell Sakura about this. I have a feeling that you'll need some backup, and regardless of how lazy your old sensei is, you'll probably need all the help you can get."
"WHAT?"
"Ano, Sakura-chan…I'm sorry, but that's what Tsunade-baa-chan told me!" Naruto said, desperately trying to calm his old teammate.
"Why not?" the pink-haired young woman whirled on her old sensei, eyes flashing. "Why am I not allowed to be there for the trial? Naruto gets to go!"
"It isn't seemly for a woman to sit with the Council, Sakura-chan..." Kakashi replied somewhat sheepishly. He and Naruto had decided that it was best not to tell her the real reason she wasn't being permitted to watch the trial--it would just make her worry even more--but they had obviously forgotten what a wretched liar the Copy Ninja was: Sakura saw through his lie in an instant.
"That's BULL! One of the Council members IS a woman! And what about Tsunade-shishou? She's a woman!" Sakura posted her hands on her hips and gave him a withering look. "What's the real reason, Kakashi?"
The silver-haired man heaved a sigh. It seemed there was no getting around it, so he might as well tell her the truth…half of it, at least. "Well, Naruto is allowed because he's taking legal responsibility for our old friend for now--and besides, if Sasuke did try something, Naruto's pretty much the only one around who could do anything about it."
"Yeah," Sakura muttered under her breath, "so when that fight breaks out, they can work together to destroy the Hokage Tower. They'll have it down in no time flat."
"Ahem," Kakashi coughed pointedly before continuing his explanation, "And since you have been spending the most time with Sasuke in recent months….well, judging from that, as well as previous instances where you intervened on his behalf, your position on the matter could in no way be considered objective."
"And I suppose Naruto's will be?"
"We'll make sure nothing happens to Sasuke, Sakura-chan," Naruto said firmly, laying a hand on her shoulder, and Sakura stared up at him for a long while, wondering at the mixture of determination and compassion there in his eyes.
Finally she looked away, crossing her arms over her chest. "Hmmph. You'd better."
That evening found Uchiha Sasuke standing before the Council of Village Elders, Naruto slightly behind him and to his left, Kakashi on the right, listening to Tsunade read a written testimony from one Haruno Sakura concerning his possession by Orochimaru.
"…In summary, since the defendant was not in control of his body at the time, Haruno proposes that the guilt for the slaughter be placed where it belongs—on Orochimaru."
"How do we know that this testimony is accurate?" queried a particularly wizened old man who must have been in his late eighties at the very least. "For all we know, the memories she saw were false or altered somehow—"
"I can vouch for the testimony's legitimacy, Homura-san," the Godaime interjected. "The jutsu she used is not deceived by lies, or what the subject would like to be true. What Haruno saw was the truth, plain and simple."
A woman who looked no younger than the man who'd spoken before leaned forward. "I am familiar with the jutsu that was performed--the Chisei Chikizuna no Jutsu, if I am not mistaken."
"That is correct, Utatane-san," Tsunade nodded.
"Then tell me if I am correct in this as well: when last I heard, the Chisei Chikizuna no Jutsu was a forbidden jutsu, considered far too dangerous to be used on a regular, or even occasional, basis." Tsunade nodded once again, somewhat grudgingly this time. "How, then, did Haruno come to know of such a jutsu?"
"It was a mistake on my part," the buxom blonde admitted. "I had her organizing some of the medical scrolls in my office, and apparently it had gotten mixed in with them."
"…So you were informed of the fact that she would attempt to perform this forbidden jutsu, Tsunade-hime?"
The Hokage snorted. "I'm her teacher, not her babysitter or her mother. She doesn't tell me everything, and she was smart enough to know that if I heard anything about it, of course I wouldn't allow her to take such a risk. But—" here she gave the older woman a sharp glare "—I didn't tell her not to do it, either; and regardless of how foolish her actions might have been, Haruno Sakura is not on trial, nor are there adequate grounds for her to be put on one."
Utatane leaned back in her chair, obviously less than pleased, but there was little point in arguing the matter.
"So what are you suggesting by reading us that?" Homura spoke up again. "That we simply absolve the defendant of all charges?"
"I would respectfully disagree with that decision. Uchiha willingly submitted to being used as Orochimaru's vessel," Hyuuga Hiashi said quietly, piercing silver eyes locked on the dark-haired man standing before them with far more pride and self-confidence than he liked. "Lack of control notwithstanding, he is still indirectly responsible since he permitted his body to be taken over by another."
At this, the carefully regulated discussion gave way to scattered conversations, debates, and outright arguments.
"Hiashi-sama is correct, but placing the blame for the entirety of Orochimaru's horrendous actions on him seems a bit severe—"
"Then who should they be placed on?"
"—Absolutely ridiculous, the mere idea of allowing such a thing—"
"Orochimaru is responsible—"
"Uchiha killed him, he can't stand trial for anything—"
"—Can't imagine what she was thinking, but perhaps—"
"—And good riddance, I say, the whole place was crawling with missing-nin—"
"Uzumaki wouldn't stand for something like that--he'd fight to the death anyone who tried—"
"—Last of the Uchiha Clan, and Konoha can ill afford to lose such a powerful tool—"
The council members had been arguing back and forth for quite a while, and seemed well on their way towards exiling the last Uchiha without any hope of redemption or reparation when they were interrupted by a loud, easily recognizable voice:
"Excuse me."
The conversation died away as Naruto stepped forward, and after an uncharacteristically polite bow, he raised his head and addressed the Council.
"I know some of you probably still begrudge my very existence, and that since I'm half your age, if that, none of you are really all that inclined to believe anything I have to say, but here it goes anyway." He looked at each of the council members in turn, his gaze finally coming to rest on Tsunade. "Uchiha Sasuke used to be seen as one of the most promising young shinobi in Konoha—hell, one of the most promising in any of the hidden ninja villages. That hasn't changed. He still shows a lot of promise towards being one of the best, strongest shinobi that this village has ever seen…but that won't do anyone any good if you don't give him the chance to prove himself. The Uchiha Clan was one of the proudest and most prestigious, honored and full of good, dependable people…and Sasuke is a true Uchiha. I have every confidence that he will prove trustworthy once again." He straightened, his expression unwavering and resolute. "So long as you give him that chance to redeem himself, I swear that I'll take full responsibility for his actions."
"Why, Uzumaki?" Utatane demanded, her voice surprisingly strong for such an elderly woman. "You have only recently gained any sort of standing with this Council. Are you really willing to risk losing that by standing for him? You know what he is, what he's done. He's a killer, a murderer, and worst of all a traitor. He turned his back on Konoha years ago…and he turned his back on you as well. On top of that, he tried to kill you—both you and Haruno, if the reports I've read are correct—and now for some reason the two of you are his strongest supporters! That is the person you are protecting, and you know it…so tell me why? Why would you defend him?"
Her words were strong, and everyone in the room agreed with her, at least to a certain extent…or nearly everyone.
Instead of subsiding into bleak resignation at the councilwoman's statements, Naruto's eyes seemed to burn even brighter than ever, and his jaw set, as if he was ready to dig in for a fight.
And, well, he was.
"Why?" he repeated, voice tight with anger. "Because even though he denied it before, we still have a bond! Never once in all these years have I stopped being his friend, and as such, it is my duty to stand beside him! Because regardless of what he's done in the past, he is still Uchiha Sasuke—top student of his graduating class, heir of Konoha's most elite clan—and my best friend!"
A flicker of surprise crossed Sasuke's downturned face, and his eyes darted up, fastening on the blonde man standing almost protectively in front of him. Bonds… Heh. Naruto, too, huh?
But Uzumaki Naruto wasn't through with the Council yet. Being polite had gotten him nowhere, and now his typically blunt personality was reasserting itself with a vengeance. "Yeah, he's made some stupid mistakes, I agree, but haven't we all? He left Konoha because he wanted justice—misguided, sure, but there are worse reasons to leave. I didn't understand at the time, and maybe I still don't really understand it even now, but he did what he thought was right, regardless of what anyone else said, because he wanted the person who killed his family to be punished—something that no one in this village was able to do, something that no one seemed even remotely interested in." He snorted contemptuously, leveling an accusing glare at the Council. "I bet you were all relieved when Itachi left, weren't you? Instead of tracking him down, you just breathed a sigh of relief and thanked the gods that he was gone, and that it hadn't been your family that he'd killed. You were too scared of him to even want to find him or bring him back." Naruto's gaze dimmed, pain evident in his voice, "Sasuke was scared of him, too…I know he was. But he didn't let that get in the way of achieving his goal of making sure that his brother paid for what he'd done. And when…" The blonde's voice suddenly choked, and he swallowed hard before continuing, "…When no one here would help him achieve that goal, he went somewhere else to get that help." Slowly he shook his head. "How can you blame him for that?"
Stunned silence met his words, and more than a few turned guilty faces down or to the side, refusing to meet those intense blue eyes.
"At least give him a chance to redeem his clan's honor...you owe him that much at least for failing to enforce the justice and peace you claim to protect. And keep this in mind, too…" Every head turned sharply as a flicker of powerful red chakra surrounded the Kyuubi container, and he bared his teeth ever so slightly at the entire Council. "…If you do anything to him, if you so much as raise a finger against him, I promise you'll regret it, because I won't forgive you—ever." Quickly as it had appeared, the faint red outline vanished, and the entire room breathed out a collective sigh of relief as plain, obnoxious Uzumaki Naruto stood before them once again. "—And if you banish him, you're banishing me, too, 'cause I'm going with him!" he finished almost petulantly, crossing his arms firmly over his chest and scowling at the Council, and earning himself another startled glance from Sasuke. "And Sakura-chan will probably come with us, too," he added, almost as an afterthought.
"Well, we can't have that," Tsunade said at last with a small smile. "The future Hokage and our second-best medic leaving the village…I think about half of Konoha would leave along with you, Naruto." Her amber gaze shifted to the dark form standing beside the unrelenting blonde. "Clemency it is, then," she said quietly, sharing a meaningful look with the rest of the Council before slowly pushing herself to her feet. "The Council will have a brief recess to discuss this matter. We will return shortly with our verdict."
The various Council members shuffled out into the small adjoining room, darting furtive looks at both the raven-haired man and the blonde still standing before him and muttering amongst themselves; they were gone for the better part of an hour before they all shuffled back in again, and after all were seated once more, Tsunade stood to address the room:
"As the Hokage of Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, I declare that Uchiha Sasuke is to be granted a conditional pardon. The terms settled on by the Council of Village Elders are as follows: in addition to the mandatory six-month probation period for leaving Konoha without permission, Uchiha Sasuke will be placed under ANBU supervision for a period of at least but not limited to one year, the exact length to be determined by his behavior while under observation. Other specifics concerning this probation will be addressed by the Council at a later time. However," her gaze, still sharp, lanced into Sasuke, who barely resisted flinching ever so slightly, meeting her eyes with a faintly uncertain expression on his face. "In light of the service, intentional or not, done for the Village--the destruction of Sound, Orochimaru, and Uchiha Itachi--as well as his compliant behavior up until this point, the Council has agreed that Uchiha Sasuke's name will be cleared of all dishonorable records on completion of a few prior requirements." She held out a scroll, which Sasuke stepped forward and accepted with a stiff, distinctly reluctant bow.
"We will have a fifteen-minute recess, which should be time enough for Uchiha to look over the conditions." The Hokage turned her full attention back to Sasuke. "Read through the terms, then return here once you've made your decision." She nodded to the two ANBU standing guard inside the door, and they stepped forward to flank him.
"Come on, I'll take you somewhere where you can look that over in peace," Naruto said, half-dragging his old teammate towards the door.
Sasuke very much doubted that he'd find any sort of peace, at least not with Naruto around.
Seated at a desk with nothing on it besides the unwrapped scroll, save a brush and some ink, Sasuke bent to study the terms, Naruto leaning over his shoulder to see as well and predictably blocking the light. Growling inwardly, the Uchiha forced himself to ignore the very irritating person hovering so close behind him and concentrated on the task at hand. He quickly skimmed over all the information Tsunade had already mentioned, pausing when he reached the line that read The terms are as follows:
Firstly: he is to work to attain his proper shinobi rank, which the Council has determined is at least that of a jounin.
Sasuke nodded slightly in agreement, though Naruto said altogether too loudly for how close he was to his old teammate, "Nah, you gotta make ANBU captain at least!"
"Shut up, dobe," Sasuke said with his trademark glare, clapping a hand over his ringing ear and leaning away from the other man. "The longer it takes to reach whatever rank they decide is 'fitting,' the longer it'll take for them to leave me alone."
Naruto shrugged offhandedly, clearly not listening, his eyes scanning the other conditions listed in the scroll:
Secondly: he is to train daily with a designated opponent, in order to help achieve the first requirement.
Thirdly: he is to complete any missions given to him by the Hokage without complaint, no matter how tedious and dull or dangerous and difficult.
This sounded vaguely ominous, and a shiver of anticipation ran down his spine at the idea of a challenge; however, Sasuke soon found that all it really meant was that he would spend a lot of time pulling weeds and fetching runaway pets--they didn't quite trust him with babysitting as of yet, which, with his limited patience, was probably a good thing.
Fourth, lastly, and MOST IMPORTANTLY: he is not to cause ANY trouble whatsoever; if he causes serious and/or irreversible injury to anyone during this time, he will be placed under immediate arrest, held for questioning, and quite possibly expelled from Konoha at the very least.
Sasuke snorted. Not exactly demanding requirements, but hopefully it would be at least somewhat interesting. His dark eyes settled on the final few lines, which he read slowly and carefully.
The Uchiha Clan bank accounts, which contained considerable funds, were seized by the Village of Konoha on Uchiha Sasuke's defection ten years previous; restricted access will be allowed through a secondary party, and they will be restored and unrestricted access will be allowed once his loyalty has been proved.
For the entirety of the first month, Uchiha Sasuke will be put under house arrest—he will not be permitted to leave the apartment provided for him without an escort. Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha's temporary guardians, are the only people who will be allowed to take him anywhere without a written consent from the Hokage herself.
Also, Uchiha will be sealed in his apartment each night with paper seals. We on the Council have no illusions that it would serve as any sort of challenge for the subject to break these seals and wander as he would; instead, it is another way of testing the subject's loyalty and willingness to obey the orders of the Hokage and this Council: in other words, we know very well that the subject can get out, but he will be proving to us that he will not.
(This level of restriction is subject to change whenever and however the Council deems necessary and fitting.)
Any misdemeanors deemed serious enough by any two Council members will be adequate grounds for a reevaluation of this case. If the subject escapes after carrying out any unlawful or harmful acts, Haruno and Uzumaki will be the ones who answer for it.
I, Uchiha Sasuke, agree to the terms contained herein, and will do my best to abide by them.
House arrest and being sealed inside his own home. Sasuke didn't particularly like the idea, but he knew that it made sense—no one in their right mind would allow an unproven ex-traitor and possible murderer to wander freely around the streets whenever he wished. As long as he did what they wanted (which seemed simple enough), they'd leave him alone soon enough.
"So what do ya think, teme?" Naruto asked apprehensively, this time a little farther away from the dark-haired man's ear than before.
In response, Sasuke picked up the brush, dipped it in the ink, and neatly signed his name in the space provided. After waiting an adequate time for the ink to dry, he re-rolled the paper and stood, glancing at Naruto as he did so.
"Alright, let's go!" the blonde exclaimed, leading the way back to the Council Chamber.
"I accept the terms, Hokage-sama," Sasuke said with another stiff bow as he placed the scroll on the table before the Council. The Godaime raised an eyebrow slightly, and Naruto elbowed the Uchiha hard in the side. "And," he continued grudgingly, shooting a quick glare at the other man, "I offer…my apologies for the trouble I've put you through." Sasuke's tone was low and just barely civil, hardly concealing his extreme displeasure at having to apologize at all; his expression, not quite as unreadable as usual, was reminiscent of someone being forced to eat nails (though truly what he was having to swallow was his pride, which wasn't any easier to choke down).
Another expectant silence, followed by another elbow in the ribs and another dark glare.
"…Please...forgive me."
Naruto beamed at the room in general and gave Sasuke an affectionate punch on the arm; the Uchiha grimaced and clamped his hand over the spot, looking fairly irritated. Tsunade ignored them both and unrolled the scroll, studying it for a moment, then she glanced up at Sasuke with a wry smile. "Very well, then, everything's in order. Welcome home, Uchiha."
This time his bow was quick and little more than a nod, but before Sasuke could turn away, the Godaime spoke: "Since early times, the Uchiha Clan has always protected the public order of the Village," she said, her voice and her expression unexpectedly soft. "Let it be so once again."
Sasuke looked her full in the face, and for an instant the smallest trace of a smile quirked the corners of his lips upwards. "Yes," he said with a minute nod, then turned and made his way out of the Council Chamber, Naruto slinging his arm around the dark-haired man's shoulders and chattering away brightly as they walked, and Kakashi trailing after them, nose in his book once again.
Uchiha Sasuke was, in a word, frustrated.
He had been waiting for the better part of an hour for his supervisor--who happened to be Naruto today, thus the lack of punctuality was almost to be expected--to show up and escort him to the site of that day's predictably dull and labor-intensive mission. He was frustrated that he had to wait at the foot of the stairs, still within the arch of the stairwell and thus technically still inside the building; he was frustrated that each and every mission assigned to him thus far had failed to be even the slightest bit challenging; and as each minute passed, he was growing increasingly frustrated with Naruto for being late. He had been at this charade for nearly a month now, and he was, Sasuke realized with even more frustration, nearly as bored being on probation as he had been while he was locked up in the high-security holding cell. Not that he held any illusions about how "free" he really was; he knew very well that he was still under constant surveillance by the ANBU--he probably couldn't take a dump without someone having to write up a report about it--and their continual presence, which he could sense all too easily, irritated him, though not immensely so.
(What did irritate him, he thought sullenly, were all these stupid low-level missions he was stuck with, but he had agreed to that, so he couldn't really complain about it all too fiercely.)
The Uchiha snorted and let his eyes fall closed, shifting his weight to lean against the wall a bit more. He didn't know why he didn't just leave. There was no point in staying here, in this place that he'd abandoned so long before where everyone shot him nasty looks and whispered about him behind his back…but there was no point in going anywhere else, either. He'd achieved his life's goal: no longer was that constant pressure to fulfill all his childhood oaths of revenge spurring him onwards. His life no longer had any purpose. The emptiness that Kakashi had warned him about years ago had finally filled him, just as his old teacher had said it would...and he didn't know how to go about ridding himself of that emptiness.
And so he stayed, simply because it was easier than leaving, and because he knew that he had nothing better to do.
…And also (though he wouldn't admit it) because there really were two people who actually seemed to care about him in spite of everything he'd done, regardless of everything he'd put them through, and they were here, which he supposed was reason enough to stay. They'd just hunt him down and drag him back again if he left, so why bother? He really didn't have anything better to do.
But that didn't mean he'd ever truly be able to enjoy living here, or that he'd go out of his way to win back the trust of the rest of Konoha's population. There were only two people (two and a half, really, Sasuke decided--he honestly didn't see enough of Kakashi to count him as a whole person) in the whole village who mattered at all to the last Uchiha; the rest of them could all go to hell, and say whatever they liked about him on their way down, he didn't care one way or the other. He never had.
"Oi! Teme!"
He opened his eyes, looking up to see Naruto dashing towards him full tilt, and a small smirk curved along his lips. He would've thought the blonde would slow down at least a little over the years, but for the most part he was still the same old Naruto…loud, hyperactive, and annoying as ever.
Sasuke forced the smirk off his face, leaving his expression blank as usual as the Kyuubi container practically skidded to halt in front of him, kicking up a knee-high cloud of dust before posting his fists on his hips and grinning at him, all but saying aloud Ta-da!
The Uchiha blinked impassively at his friend's "impressive" entrance, idly wondering if perhaps the blonde had spent a bit too much time around Lee during the years he'd been gone. "You're late, dobe."
"I am not!" Naruto exclaimed, looking thoroughly indignant.
The raven-haired man gave him a withering look. "You are. You said ten o'clock, and it's nearly an hour after that."
"Ah, one lousy hour! Gimme a break! It's a whole lot better than what Kakashi-sensei used to do to us, y'know, and my excuse is better than his, too!"
Rolling his eyes, Sasuke pushed away from the wall and started off down the street without waiting to hear said excuse. "Come on, dumbass," he grumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Let's go so we can get this over with."
Naruto had to jog a bit to catch up, but he let out a quiet chuckle as he fell into step with the Uchiha.
Sasuke glanced over at him coolly, then, against his better judgment, said, "What."
"Just thinking about the mission, that's all," the blonde said airily, an impish grin spreading over his face as he folded his arms behind his head. "I picked out a great one for ya this time—made sure it was nice and easy, seeing's how you've been stuck on all these difficult missions lately. I didn't want you to be nervous or scared that you might get hurt or mess up or something." Ignoring the intense glare he knew had to be directed at him, the Kyuubi container smiled blissfully, closed his eyes, and began to whistle an annoyingly shrill and cheerful tune.
After less than a minute—
"Stop it," the dark-featured man beside him growled, and though he didn't say the words, there was a distinct "or else" in his tone.
"Ooh, Sasuke-teme is scary!" Naruto laughed, dropping his arms and faking a wide-eyed, trembling cringe. "Too bad you can't follow through on that veiled threat, though—there's like ten ANBU watching us right now, as I'm sure you're aware, and with your chakra levels being kept so low, there's no way you could get away from them. And," the blonde went on exultingly, "since Sakura-chan worked the night shift at the hospital last night, she's definitely at home sleeping right now, so I can say and do whatever I want to you without having to worry about her hitting me for it!" He flashed his sullen companion a grin that was far too full of teeth and smug satisfaction to be at all pleasant. "You, my friend, are stuck with me."
Sasuke closed his eyes, a long-suffering look settling over his handsome face, and just kept walking.
The hot noon sun found them thigh deep in water, and nearly ankle-deep in mud; Sasuke was certain that his sandals were ruined, and by the look of some of the things he'd found growing in this lake, they might very well glow in the dark too. He'd have to pick up some new ones tomorrow morning…if his obligatory ANBU guard would let him, that is.
They were supposed to be harvesting some sort of algae from the bottom of the rather scummy lake, which was more difficult than it sounded--the dull olive green hue of the water obscured everything more than a foot below its surface. The Uchiha glowered at the stringy, oily-looking tendrils his most recent dredge of the lake bottom brought up before dumping them in the bag at his hip. The algae was used in a special healing salve for burns, though he couldn't imagine how anyone would have stumbled upon that sort of knowledge; the stuff absolutely reeked, smelling something like a cross between rotten eggs and Naruto's dirty socks, and the few times he'd accidentally let it make contact with his clothes or skin, it had left splotchy, green, and unexpectedly dark stains.
With a quiet grunt, voiced more from irritation than effort, the Uchiha jerked his feet free of the abnormally thick and viscous mud, nearly losing his sandals in the process, and slogged his way a little deeper into the lake. He was wearing pants, so his entire lower half was already soaked anyway; going a little farther in wouldn't make him any more (or less) miserable, and the algae seemed to grow thicker the deeper he went. He found himself wishing, and not for the first time either, that the handles of the nets they were using to harvest the stupid plants were just a bit longer; that way, he could have simply focused his chakra in his feet and stood on top of the water, thus avoiding most of the unpleasant aspects of this task, such as the mud, the general greasy feel of the water, and his very valid concerns about the possibility of leeches. Although, with how low they were keeping his chakra levels these days, he might not have had enough to do even something so inconsequential as that for very long…
A short yell followed by sizeable splash came from behind him, and he glanced over his shoulder at an obviously disgruntled Naruto, who, judging from the algae hanging from one ear and the water dripping from his hair and jacket, had lost his footing in the thick mud and slippery plant life covering the bottom of the lake and had subsequently gone for a little swim.
Sasuke snorted in slight amusement and turned back to the task at hand, wondering at the blonde's choice of this particular mission. Surely he had to have known that he'd be carrying out the mission objectives right alongside his "charge."
Dobe.
The next instant, a sudden deluge of decidedly foul-tasting water engulfed him entirely, leaving him coughing and sputtering angrily. Slowly, ever so slowly, he turned to face his overseer, who was grinning cheekily and looking completely unrepentant.
He glared at the other man through thick black bangs still dribbling with distinctly grey-tinted water. "What the hell was that for?" Sasuke gritted out, showing remarkable and, in his opinion, highly commendable restraint.
"You just looked like you needed to cool off a bit, that's all, teme," the fox-faced blonde chuckled.
Closing his eyes and reminding himself that he'd regret it if he killed Naruto (though he couldn't help but think that this lake would have been an ideal place to hide a body), the last Uchiha heaved a sigh and started to turn around once again, when—
WHOOSH!
The water didn't taste any better the second time he was nearly drowned with it, and the poorly-restrained laughter coming from somewhere behind him was more than enough to convince him that swift and decisive retaliation was in order.
Dobe, you are going to pay for that one.
Inwardly seething, Sasuke pushed his bangs back out of his eyes, his other hand casually slipping into the water to scrape a handful of mud off the bottom of one of his sandals.
He was beginning to seriously reconsider his decision to stay in Konoha.