Title: Sweeter than Vengeance

Summary: They say that a speech made in anger is the best worst speech you'll ever make.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Prompt: Silver Lining

Warnings: T

Comments: Continuation of the previous prompt (A Night with No Stars).

"He's twitching."

"Whoops, I must've missed a spot!" Sakura's foot connected with the defeated boss's already blue and purple stomach, causing the man to seize up again as he coughed up more blood.

"H-how is this possible?" he wheezed. "You were supposed to be helpless!"

"I don't know how many times I've gotten that comment before," she grumbled to herself. "Sasuke-kun, sit still. I can't very well assess the damage properly if you keep fidgeting."

Around them, the base was in complete shambles. A few well placed punches from Sakura had sent the whole place tumbling to the ground, and with it, all resistance from the inside. Small fires were scattered amongst the rubble, and clusters of men sought their warmth. The boss and a few of his close subordinates were not so lucky. Sakura was currently using the man's chest as a stepping stool to inspect Sasuke's wounds. She had a rather nasty habit of accidentally slipping every time she found a new injury and kicking the boss in the gut. As for the others, they were tied up not far off, where Ino was extracting as much information as possible.

They worked in comfortable silence. Sakura seemed too focused on her job at hand to notice that Sasuke was watching her as well, greedily taking in all her mannerisms. He supposed it was reasonable that after having impersonated her for so long and knowing that he wasn't doing her justice, that he would pay more attention to her. Notice her more.

"Sasuke-kun," she said quietly. "You really shouldn't have done that. I was so worried—"

"SASUKE!" Karin tackled him, nearly knocking the wind out of him with the force of their contact. Beside him, Sakura lowered her hands in resignation. "Are you injured? Do you need to bite me? I swear if they touched a single hair on you…"

"He's fine, Karin," Sakura said shortly. "I just finished my examination."

"Like I believe you!" Karin scoffed. "You were willing to leave poor Sasuke alone. If it hadn't been for the fact that I sensed his chakra spike, he'd be dead. Sasuke, did she tell you about that? Did she tell you how she was willing to leave you to the mercy of these bandits? What kind of teammate does that?"

"She made the right decision," he noted placidly. "Now get off of me, Karin."

"Why are you defending her?" Karin demanded, even as she clambered off reluctantly. "You're best friends with Naruto, the kid who won't shut up about precious teammates! Her conduct was completely uncalled for and endangered your life unnecessarily." Glancing maliciously at Sakura's back, she continued, "In fact, I'm going to report this incident to the Hokage. Haruno Sakura was obviously compromised by her desire to distance herself from her enamored former self."

"No way!" Ino protested, having joined them in time to hear Karin's accusation. "Sakura was acting on her best judgment!"

"It was suggested that she was not, by you yourself!" Karin argued triumphantly.

"How dare you—That was a hypothesis, made in private!"

"But it raises a good point! We can't rule that out, and so I demand that Sakura be placed off active duty and under on probation to be judged by a committee!"

Ino gaped in open outrage. Stalking towards Karin, who bravely held her ground, Ino launched into her tirade. "You IDIOT! You would try to ruin her career just to get to Sasuke-kun? How desperate are you, you little bi—"

"Ino, enough!" Sakura barked. Still not turning around, everyone's eyes pinpointed her shaking fists, which slowly calmed under their watchful gazes. "I'll face the report. Karin is correct in that the decision was a morally questionable one." She turned around then, to look Karin in the eyes hard. Her normally large, kind eyes had narrowed into pinpricks that bore into the other woman's soul. Sakura took a step forward. Karin took a step back. "But in my report, I will include a detailed account of your insubordination to the captain of the mission, your blatant disrespect for your teammates, and your inability to put aside your own personal feelings when the situation demanded it. In short, I will conclude as a judge to your future potential to reside in Konoha that your compatibility with our village is highly questionable and should be examined further."

Karin was, by this point, cowering away from Sakura such that the latter had to bend at the waist to make eye contact with her. "Do I make myself clear?" Sakura whispered.

Karin's refusal to look her in the eyes was answer enough.

"Glad to know we're on the same page."

Someone tapped Sasuke on the shoulder, pulling him away from the drama. He was surprised to see one of the workers smiling up at him. "Ah, Uchiha-san, the men and I were talking. Someone told us that the bastard over there was going to kill us. You saved our lives." And then to Sasuke's astonishment, the man bowed deeply, presenting something that glittered in the firelight. "Thank you. This is for you; it's a small share of the silver we were each allotted."

Suddenly, Sasuke was surrounded by men, each one fighting to get a chance to touch their hero, thank him, give him their token of thanks.

Sakura watched on for a moment, a soft smile spreading across her face. She took in his tensed shoulders, the his knitted brows as he tried to find what to say, and finally the jut of his lip, almost like a pout.

"Neh, Karin," she said. "You care about Sasuke-kun too, right? And perhaps there was a better choice to be made, but it wouldn't quite have this outcome, would it?

"I'm not going to report you," she continued, eyes gazing upwards at the sky. "Not when you were just worried about the boy you loved. I guess… That wouldn't really be representative of this silver lining.

"Don't you think?"