Disclaimer; I do not own Naruto Shippuuden.

Sai was released from the hospital on the ninth day. Tsunade had personally attended to him like a mother hen, and while everyone from Naruto to the Ink Shop's daughter was able to visit Sai at least once a day, Sakura had tried to see him three times in twenty four hours but was never admitted into his quarters. The Fifth had made sure of that.

When Sakura had angrily demanded for a reason, Tsunade told her the truth.

"While I am busy healing him physically and mentally, he needs time to heal emotionally, on his own. You showing up will make it harder for him to recover. Leave him alone. Isn't this what you wanted?"

As if Tsunade's disappointment wasn't bad enough as it is.

Sakura had found herself wallowing in guilt and self-pity everyday for the past nine days that not even a concerned Ino and a forcefully cheerful Naruto could have made her feel any better. Going home in itself was torture, as memories of Sai were everywhere. And since her probation prevented her from being away from the village for long periods of time, and majority of her hours were spent in the hospital, it was like self-inflicted torture. She would pass Sai's room a total average of five times a day, but was never able to even get a glimpse of him. The degree of sadness this fact had brought surprised even her.

She had not been aware how the former ROOT member had evidently become a constant to her life, in a span of only a few weeks of being with him. Had she been wrong with her feelings all along?

In an attempt to answer this question, Sakura had also spent a few hours visiting Uchiha Sasuke in prison. Most of the time he was lying on his bunk bed, his back to the bars. He seldom ate, and Sakura knew it was because of his pride. Uchiha were unreasonably proud.

Unreasonably. Annoyingly. Unnecessarily.

Once or twice, Sakura had tried to talk to him, ask him how he was feeling, how his five years had been. Mostly she was ignored, but once in a while – when Sasuke was in a relatively good mood – he would occasionally utter his trademark "Aa," or his indifferent "Hn." It frustrated Sakura to bits.

She was supposed to be in love with this creature, chased after him desperately, did everything to make him acknowledge her. His fifth to seventh day in prison, she had actually begun to wonder why.

In the fifth to seventh day, she wanted to see Sai so bad that she had raised her voice to Tsunade for the first time in seven years.

It had earned her a slap across the face.

This was also a first time in seven years that Tsunade raised her hand to Sakura outside the battlefield.

"You selfish little girl!" Tsunade had hissed. "You cannot – do not! – play with people's emotions like toys! You are my apprentice, close to being my daughter. You should know better!"

Sakura had tried to explain, plead her case. Tsunade wouldn't hear of it. For some reason, her Master was difficultly refusing to hear her out.

"Do not be a child about this. You wished for something so hard and sacrificed what you already had in your hands in the process. And now that you realized what you wished for wasn't all that, you suddenly change your mind." Tsunade had looked at Sakura in disgust. "Some people aren't as lucky in love as you. Women like us, we do not waste time dreaming about fantasies and love stories. We seize the reality of the moment. Before it slips through our hands…" There was a glassy look in her amber eyes, as if remembering something quite painful. She had ended the conversation then, slamming the door in her face just slow enough for Sakura to see Sai raise his head and look away.

Sakura did not cry after Tsunade's cold scolding, but this did not mean she admitted it. Unmistakably, she had made a grave mistake. She was, as Naruto had pointed out, merely human. Wasn't she entitled to mistakes once in a while? She had made a mistake. And she wanted to apologize. She had apologized to Captain Yamato already, and although he was not usually as lenient as Kakashi-sensei, the Wood-release user had strangely placed a hand on her head and affectionately ruffled her hair.

"I forgive you. I was young, once, too," was her captain's answer.

She had always found adults saying they were 'young once' very hard to believe. She could not imagine Yamato understanding her feelings about chasing after a boy because she was an idiot.

After her last talk with Tsunade, she had decided to give up on seeing Sai in the hospital for the time being, and buried herself in hospital work and the preparations for Sasuke's trial.

Naruto and Kakashi-sensei had been allowed to attend said hearing. Sakura had night shift in the hospital and was not able to go. She suspected Tsunade to be behind it all. She didn't care. She didn't want to be there anyway if or when they sentence Sasuke to death.

She had sat behind the reception desk like a zombie, however, and it was a good thing she was alone and no one was there to witness her wretched disposition.

Naruto had informed her of the good news the moment the trial was over: The elders and the Hokage, in a rare display of unity, agreed to keep Sasuke – or the very least the Uchiha blood and the Sharingan – alive. Perhaps reviving the clan was most rational of the small number of choices they had.

Sakura didn't know whether to be happy or sad. Much to her surprise, Naruto looked just as disturbed. Sasuke was a Genin when he left the Village, and he was stripped of that rank, however lowly it was. He was to be under Jounin supervision at all times, with bathing ablutions and toilet breaks the only exception.

"If it's for the good of the Village, then who are we to question?" Sakura had pointed out to him.

Naruto had gruffly reasoned that he was not questioning the elder's decision, but admitted to Sakura that things were not going to be as simple as before.

"Unless you pull yourself together," the Kyuubi Host said dejectedly, and he left Sakura to suffer more inner turmoil in the last hours of her night shift.

The moment Sai was released from the hospital, he was surprised to find Ino Yamanaka waiting for him in the lobby. She had with her a potted plant adorned with a pink ribbon.

"From Sakura," she explained unnecessarily, almost desperately as she held the object at arm's length like a peace offering.

Of course it was from Sakura. From Sakura. Always Sakura.

Sai had stared at it a brief moment before closing his eyes and brushing past her. He did not want any more confusion. It was too time-consuming, too energy-consuming.

"Wait!" Ino called out to him, caught him by the arm with one hand. "Can you wait a moment, please? Please?"

Sai, out of respect for Ino, stopped and turned around to face her. The sight of the potted plant in her hands made even faking a smile all too difficult to do. "What?" He didn't mean to sound too cold.

He just did.

Ino feebly let go of his arm. "Try talking to her," she suggested out of the blue.

Sai felt his eyes narrow. This was the last thing he needed at the moment. "We have nothing to talk about."

Ino sighed, as if frustrated, as if tired. She hugged the plant to her middle. "You can't just avoid talking to her forever. She's your teammate. You wouldn't be able to function properly with all these negative feelings involved."

Sai's head suddenly snapped up, making Ino jump. "There are no feelings involved. For two years Team Seven had functioned satisfactorily well without these emotions running all over the place. We can manage. I can manage."

"Sakura isn't like you. She'll be aloof. She can't turn her feelings on and off like a robot." Ino seemed to have realized what she just said, and instantly clamped her mouth with a hand.

Sai pinned the potted plant a glare, then, as if suddenly finding amusement with what Ino had just said, gave the girl a tight, close-lipped smile. "Contrary to popular belief, Sakura Haruno can turn her feelings on and off. And she just did. With me. It's over. I already know how she feels. There's nothing to talk about anymore." And Sai turned to leave again.

"But what about your feelings? Don't you think it would be better if you let her know what you feel?"

The irony of everything made Sai want to laugh and cry for the sake of it. He looked over his shoulder and he knew his face was devoid of anything that Ino could interpret.

"I have no feelings. I have no emotions. There is just the mission. And if that mission will be successful if I have to work with Sakura Haruno, then so be it. There is nothing to talk about."

He left Ino gasping.

It was not everyday that the Konoha Eleven、or so the Village had named them, minus Sakura, got to gather together by chance at the dumpling shop at the edge of town. It was a Sunday, two days after Sasuke's trial and three days after Sai's release from the hospital. Everyone just happened to crave sweet dumplings and bean jam.

It turns out the group had mixed feelings about the Uchiha coming back to the village. While they had admittedly expressed relief that 'The Chase' was finally over, some of them had raised eyebrows at the leniency of the elders. After Naruto had explained the reason behind this, everyone made a start to complain that bloodline limits made a ninja indispensable. This made Ino and Kiba protest, but since everyone in the Rookie Nine, with the exception of Sakura, had a bloodline limit, none of them complained. Tenten and Lee, who didn't necessarily come from a certain clan, shrugged it off and joked about them being 'dispensable'. The mood lightened relatively after their comment, and everyone started poking fun at Naruto and Hinata, claiming that they would produce a Hyuuga heir that would live for two-hundred years. The conversation shifted to Shikamaru, whose nickname spread through the group, thanks to Ino. By the end of their first round of dumplings, everyone had started calling the my-pace Jounin 'Shika-Bear', much to his dismay.

Unfortunately, the good mood had vanished when Sakura showed up, the Uchiha with her. The pink-haired Kunoichi was guiding him by the arm.

Everyone had gone silent.

Sakura had initially blushed, unsure of how preambles were supposed to be made between… ex-friends. But come to think of it, Sasuke never really had… friends.

It was then did Hinata suddenly speak. "Welcome home, Sasuke…" She did not stutter.

Remarkably, this gesture shattered the heavy mood.

"Welcome home, Sasuke," Shino said after a while.

"Welcome home, Sasuke," Chouji followed.

Kiba settled with a manic grin.

Ino nodded, still looking skeptical.

Naruto, who usually had a lot to say at times like these, remained silent and unmoving, his piercing eyes on Sakura instead.

Sasuke, his own onyx eyes hardly seeing, blinked at nothing then turned away. "Hn."

Neji had to smirk. "Five years and that's all you have to say? You haven't changed a bit."

Sakura begged to differ.

Sasuke had changed a lot…

"I'm taking him to the training grounds. Kakashi-sensei is meeting him there," she said decrepitly, unsure of why she was explaining herself.

"Oh," Hinata said after a while when no one would react to what Sakura had said. It was as if the group didn't even know how to react to her being with Sasuke, or maybe they were wondering how Sai was? Sakura wondered if they knew.

It was, again, Hinata, who broke the tension. "Isn't… Sai with you?" She was a bit wary as she asked this. Though Sakura had known Hinata to be quite timid, she was never suspicious. She looked suspicious now.

Sakura was biting her lip under everyone's scrutiny, even under Lee, who had never looked at her coldly before. She turned away.

Sasuke, as if sensing hostility – and not really caring, because he never really cared – let his seeing eye wander to the group, lingered a bit on Naruto, then smirked. "Are you stronger now?"

Naruto didn't make a move. He held Sasuke's stare, an implacable look on his face. "We grow up at a certain point in time, Sasuke."

This made the Uchiha sniff, rolling his shoulders confidently. He had always been too cocky for his own good. "You always thought you were special, didn't you?"

Sakura frowned. Although she had tolerated Sasuke's bitterness every time she had visited him, she didn't feel he had the right to speak up to Naruto as if he had been there to see his progress over the years, how the blonde had grown – like Sasuke – from a boy to a man.

"And you always thought you were better." It was not a challenge when Naruto said this.

But insecurity made anything sound like a challenge. Sasuke's smirk widened. "I always was. I always am."

The group around them started to shift uneasily. Hinata even moved as if to reach for Naruto's hand.

Naruto, if five years ago would have exploded in anger with what Sasuke just said to him, simply leaned back on one foot, his arms loosely at his side. "That's right, Sasuke. Keep telling yourself that."

Even Naruto had his limits. Forgiving was easy. Forgetting took time.

And he was not a snotty little kid anymore.

Sasuke needed years more before everything got buried in Leaf history.

"I… we have to go," Sakura said, and she did, feeling ten times worse than she did this morning.

His apartment seemed too empty for his liking, what with majority of his art supplies still at Sakura's place. He did not plan to retrieve them. He will just have to make do with what he had, and buy back the things he needed, when he needed them.

Remarkably, he had set to painting, not even bothering to change out of his ANBU uniform, which he had worn before he was admitted in the hospital. He settled with a brush in his right hand, his shoulders stiff from lying down in bed for over a week. His work was scratchy, but this had nothing to do with underused muscles.

Now that he had time to himself, it was then did he realize that he had rarely painted anything since he had started dating Sakura. The thought made him pause. He came to rationalize that he just didn't have that much alone-time since they were almost always together.

He stared at the pink and purple swirls on the canvas in front of him, putting his hand holding the brush down on his knee, not really knowing what to do next. Dipping the brush on black paint, he wrote 'Sadness' at the bottom as a title, grabbed the canvas roughly and ripped it in half. He threw it to the floor, not caring it hadn't dried yet. Standing up, he rummaged through the box where he kept his paints, seized every single shade of pink and green he had in it, and chucked each and every one of them out of the window, not caring if he hit anyone.

Unfortunately, he did hit someone.

"Ow!"

Sai poked his head out the window and saw Ino shaking a fist at him while her other arm was wrapped around the potted plant she tried to force onto him earlier.

"Why is it raining pink and green paint bottles?" the blonde asked as she looked up at Sai in wonderment.

Sai ominously looked down at her, but didn't say anything. Ino only sighed, leaped up into the roof's banister leveled to Sai's window.

"The least you could do is relieve me of this plant. She wanted you to have this, you know," the Yamanaka said and propped said object on the window sill and stepped inside his room without an invitation.

Now he knew how Sakura felt when he suddenly barged into her privacy unwanted. "I would appreciate it if you'd leave. I thought I already made it clear that I'm not meeting with her."

Ino's eyes roamed around his room, pleasantly occupied. "For someone who claims he doesn't feel anything, you sure sound cranky."

Sai opened his mouth, then instantly closed it. "I like my alone-time." It didn't seem too relevant at all.

Ino crossed her arms over her chest. Sai looked away. He remembered that stance. It was when Ino would bully Shikamaru or Chouji into doing something for her. "Why don't we cut to the chase then, Sai? Sakura's tried to reach you the whole time in the hospital, to talk things out, maybe work things out. If it hadn't been for the Lady Tsunade, she would have been at your bedside every single day."

Ino did not have to tell him this. Naruto had spoken to him about Sakura feeling confused because of Sasuke, and the Jinchuuriki had begged him to understand. But… what was there to understand in the first place? Sakura's feelings had wavered because of an appearance from a past love. Was it so wrong to be even a bit hurt about it?

The remembrance made him scratch his chest a bit where it started to hurt. He did not like the feeling of being deceived. Glancing at the plant, he asked, "What is it?"

Ino's expression softened. "It's a rue sapling. It's a medical herb that's mostly used as an antispasmodic." She tilted her head to the right. "It… means remorse… in the language of plants."

Remorse.

Remorse.

Sai looked away from the herb, at that instant feeling incredibly confused.

Ino, once again, uninvited, sat on the chair in front of his easel. She crossed her legs in front of her and gestured with her hand. "This is your first relationship, and I suppose you don't have a single clue on what to do, and I understand that. But here's a penny for your thoughts; if every single relationship in this world was run by pride, self-pity and indifference, we humans would be getting nowhere." She leaned forward. "Lovers sometimes fight, because fighting is a good form of communication, Sai. Making mistakes, and having your significant other make mistakes with you is a form of growth. Understand Sakura, please? She's been hurting a lot even before you came around, and I honestly think you've done so much good in her, and I don't want to see you guys fall apart because of this one speed bump on the road."

Sai sneered at her. "And what of the Uchiha?"

This seemed to get her to fumble. She smiled sadly. "Everyone who has eyes could see that he would never love Sakura in the end."

"And so I get to replace him again once Sakura finally realizes that?" he asked, incredulous. "What am I to you people? I know that you are friends with Sakura and that's why you don't want her to get hurt again, but what about me? Don't you think I could get hurt, too?"

He hated emotional pain. Hated it. Having both your arms broken was better. Much better.

Ino abruptly stood. "I'm here because I'm thinking of you! If I were thinking of just Sakura, I wouldn't be here to begin with. Don't let this fade away, Sai!"

Sai took her in, those frustratingly sagging shoulders, the frown, and then the plant. Remorse.

Remorse.

"Don't you have feelings for her?"

He touched his forefingers to his temple. Is falling in love this so goddamn hard all the time? No wonder most ROOT members were single. "I don't have feelings," he said between gritted teeth.

And the next thing that happened caught him off-guard.

Ino had suddenly bent her knees, and she unexpectedly jabbed the base of her palm onto the bridge of his nose.

Ino had attacked him!

He was flung backwards, splotches of light exploded in his brain as he hit the far wall.

And Ino had one hand lightly on his throat, the other on his head. And he felt everything spinning, and blacking out, then lighting up again. He felt his feet disappear beneath him.

And that was when it hit him.

The presence of Ino – Ino herself – was in his head, probing, Poking into the recesses of his mind.

"If you, by some unknown reason, lost your feelings just because of a little misunderstanding, I'll flush them out of you if I have to," Ino's voice rang though the chambers of his skull.

And he felt sinking into his own subconscious.

As usual, Kakashi-sensei was late. They have been sitting on the grass of the training grounds for nearly half an hour, and their punctually-challenged Jounin was nowhere to be found. Sakura was starting to get really uncomfortable.

Five years ago, she would have giggled and giggled and giggled about the fact of being alone with the Uchiha, who was now sitting a few feet away from her, but right now, the only thing she was feeling was the excruciating sensation of sweat trickling down her back and neck. They didn't talk. Sasuke was as silent as ever as he stared at a very uninteresting tree across him, and Sakura was tired of trying to initiate a conversation.

That's why when Sasuke talked for the first time in thirty minutes, she nearly jumped out of her skin.

"So long as I don't use the Mangekyo Sharingan anymore, my eyesight won't deteriorate any further than this." He pulled one of his knees to his chest. "I'm going to escape again."

He sounded as if he just announced he was going to the toilet. Sakura stared at him in disbelief. "You can't."

Sasuke blinked. Sakura watched his handsome profile, that profile she had so wanted to look at almost every waking moment of every day when she was twelve. He was handsome, even more than before, but there was a certain – something – that hung around his person that made her shiver. That aura felt even more evil, more menacing than the cursed seal…

"I can't stay here and make baby Uchihas for this village," he spat out bitterly. "They want me to revive the clan."

"Isn't that what you've always wanted? Revive your clan?"

"I am not a dog you breed to make strong puppies!" he snarled.

Sakura had to back away. She doubted any female in the Village would want him as a mate, anyway. She chewed on her bottom lip. Sakura bowed her head. "Is that the condition they gave you in your trial?"

"The village wants the Sharingan alive in Konoha. They don't want the bloodline limit to die."

Sakura kept her head lowered. This was the most Sasuke had ever spoken to her in the past days. "It's a valuable Village asset, Sasuke."

"I am not an asset! I was a ninja!" He turned away. "And now I'm not even that."

Sakura felt irritation bubble somewhere at the back of her throat. "And whose fault is that?"

That was when Sasuke finally turned to look at her. It was probably because Sakura had never questioned him before. Ever.

Sakura met his gaze bravely. His dark eyes, those that usually made her swoon before, now left an empty lump at the base of her stomach. "I… We begged you to stay. The night you left, Neji, Chouji, Shikamaru, Kiba and Naruto risked their lives to bring you back. Neji and Chouji almost died. Lee, who was barely recovered, fought to get you back. Gaara, Temari and Kankurou got involved just because of you…"

Saying these things… she knew it was too late. Five years was just… too late.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her. "I never asked you fools to do so. I left on my own accord. And I got my business done."

"And are you happy with it?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke didn't answer.

"Are you satisfied? You got strong enough to kill Itachi. Now that he's dead, are you happy?"

"Whatever satisfaction and happiness are, it's not here. Not in the Leaf. Never in the Leaf."

It didn't hurt as much as Sakura thought it would, the admission that he did not find happiness in the Village.

"He doesn't belong anywhere. He never did. He neverwill. You'll see when you meet him." It was what Karin had told her on the boat on the way back to the mainland. She believed her now.

"You will help me escape," Sasuke said. It was not a request.

It was a command.

And it was Naruto's voice that started to ring in her head now. "Sasuke is my friend, and you know I treasure my friends, Sakura. But if this is what happens to you because of him, then I'd rather we have him brought back by different means. Not like this. This can't possibly be love you're feeling. When you love someone, you don't turn into some evil person you're not. People in love bring out the good in themselves. Not the bad."

It was then did she realize that things were a lot less complicated with Sasuke out of the way. He never wanted to be here in the first place. She wondered how desperation had made her blind, and how that blindness made her think it was better they get him back. She buried her face into her arms. She wished she could turn back time and redo things on the events with Sasuke.

With Sai.

Sakura felt her heart hurt. Especially with Sai.

She had always been self-righteous, and she believed that she made right decisions majority of the time. People had said she had a good head on her shoulders, and that her judgment was flawless. Tsunade had taken her in because of this. No wonder her Master was so mad at her. While she had made such a common mistake on an everyday-life circumstance, how was she to be trusted making big decisions in important missions?

"You shouldn't have told me your plan. I could tell someone about it," Sakura said to him.

Sasuke smirked. "You won't. You will help me escape. And you will do it fast."

Sakura felt her right cheek twitch. She glared at him. "And you're just dripping with confidence that I'll help you, because?"

Sasuke's unseeing eyes met her green ones. He was no longer smirking. "Because you will do everything for me. Isn't that what you said to me, five years ago?"

Sakura wrapped her arms around her, broke their gaze.

Naruto's voice echoed through her head again.

"We grow up at a certain point in time, Sasuke."

Sakura shook her head. "I can't break you out, even if I wanted to."

"Alone, impossible. But maybe with a little help, it can be done," said a voice from behind them, making Sasuke bolt to his feet and Sakura dryly looked over her shoulder.

Kakashi-sensei stood a few feet away from them, his masked face stuck inside his dirty book.

Sasuke eyed him suspiciously. "What are you saying?"

His book closing left an echoing snap across the training grounds. "You want out so badly? I'll help you get out. And so will a few others." Kakashi's practical eye stared at the Uchiha pointedly. "On one condition."

Sakura felt sweat bead her brow. Kakashi-sensei never did give fair conditions.

She had wanted to wait and listen, but Kakashi had turned to her and said, "The Lady Tsunade is looking for you. She said to meet her by the river in half an hour. Can you make it?"

A strange summons. While Tsunade always wanted her in either the Hokage Tower, or the hospital, being summoned to the river was a first. She wondered if Tsunade was angry enough to drown her in it.

She nodded. "I'm on my way."

She left with Kakashi and Sasuke staring at each other, dark eyes against one equally dark one.

She hurried away.

Half an hour later, she was facing a very stern Tsunade leaning on an enormous scroll by the river's edge.

"You have a month's probation. Don't waste the chance," Tsunade said. "It's time you sign Katsuyu's contract."

Sakura felt faint.

A/N: I've always wondered why Sakura stopped getting stronger after her training with Tsunade when she could be so much more… XD

I'm down to four more chapters, and I can't wait to finish! Expect the next chapters to come: Prison break, action, fluffy fluff, drama and a wedding!