Finally! The long awaited Epilogue! Read on to the end for some important messages!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Epilogue
"You seem pleased, Tsunade."
She smirked, her chin resting on her intertwined fingers. "Do I now?"
The elders exchanged unamused glances, Homura crossing his arms as he leaned back into his chair. They had been sitting in the conference room for nearly half an hour, silent, neither party willing to speak the first word—at least, not until the elders noticed the slight tug at the corner of Tsunade's lips, noticed the twinkle of satisfaction in her eyes. And that infuriated them.
"If we didn't know any better," Homura continued, his tone light, his eyes severe, "it would almost seem that you knew about this." He paused, waiting for a rebuttal, receiving none. Pursing his lips, he glanced at Koharu who nodded solemnly. He cleared his throat. "I don't think we need to remind you about the—consequences for such an act."
Her smirk faded. "No, you don't," Tsunade said stiffly, biting the inside of her cheek. She sat up. "Convicting my student was a sufficient reminder, thank you."
There was another pause.
Koharu sighed. "Then I hope for your sake, Tsunade," she said sternly, as if she were speaking to a child rather than the Hokage, "you've finally come to realize that even if she was your student we had no other choice. You do understand the position we were in, don't you? There was no way we could have exempted her from facing the consequences without the possibility of causing another conflict between the other nations, and we were not about to take that risk. And, may I remind you that not only did she act against her superiors, she allowed the Uchiha to escape. Whether you like it or not, Sakura Haruno is nothing to us now, no better than the Uchiha himself: a criminal."
"That's all just a matter of opinion."
"I think you mean fact."
"No," Tsunade said, shaking her head, "Actually, I don't."
Homura squinted his eyes. "What are you trying to say?"
"Nothing." She clicked her tongue, the dangerous glint in her eyes betraying her stoic expression, a challenge. "At least, nothing you two probably don't already know."
"So that's it," Homura said, sitting up and placing his hands on the table, "You don't trust us."
"You said it, not me."
However, Koharu stepped into the conversation before he could rebut, noticing Homura's fists clench. "I'd watch that tongue of yours, Tsunade," she said, pursing her lips, "You may be the Hokage, but you're not the only one with power in this village. And whatever it is you think you know isn't important right now. We called this meeting to make a decision about our next course of action. This is a serious matter; and yet, you've been taking the escape quite lightly. You can't blame us for being—ah, wary of your intentions.."
Tsunade suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. Of the two council members, Koharu was definitely the worst. Yes, Homura may have had a short temper, and, yes, his personality was as abrasive as sandpaper. But Homura she could handle. It was Koharu, with her silent judgments and her calculating gaze, who aggravated her. And on those rare occasions when she did choose to speak, her words were nothing short of vicious. Tsunade bit the inside of her cheek—it was always the quiet ones. "As I've told you before," she said, "this was much as a surprise to me as it was to you."
"Was it really?" Koharu asked, "I almost find that hard to believe."
"Then that's too bad."
Her lips forming a tight line, Koharu stood up and motioned for Homura to do the same, shooting him a quick glance before turning her attention back to Tsunade. "If this is all we have to discuss with each other," Koharu said, "then I suppose this meeting is over. So if you will excuse us; we have more pressing members to attend to."
"Which would be?"
"An interrogation," Koharu said, not bothering to even spare Tsunade a glance as she and Homura continued towards the exit. "The chances of catching up to Sakura and the Uchiha at this time are slim, but despite this we have reason to believe one our guards had a role in their escape. He may have information on their whereabouts. But regardless of whether or not he can provide us with that information, if he is believed to have helped the two escape then proper punishment will also necessary."
However, Tsunade stopped them just before Homura could place his hand on the doorknob. "That won't be necessary," she said as they froze, their heads turning slightly, eyes wide in both confusion and suspicion. She smirked. "I requested for his release earlier this morning."
"You what?"
"I released him."
"How dare you do this without—"
"How? How? Well, if I'm not mistaken," Tsunade said firmly, raising her voice as she stood up and slammed her palms on the table, "you may be of the Konoha Council, but I am still the Hokage." It was the first time she saw Koharu lose even the slightest bit of her composure. She was fuming, unable to form a proper response, and Tsunade loved every second of it. "As far as I'm concerned, Shin Takori has committed no crime. He's innocent."
"Tsunade—"
"Innocent."
"Where's your proof?"
"Where was yours?"
But Tsunade wasn't talking about Shin anymore, and Koharu and Homura knew it. For a few moments, they stood in yet another stalemate, this time glaring at each other as Tsunade waited for a response to her unspoken accusation. However, the elders remained silent, remained in pseudo-ignorance until Koharu finally huffed, exiting the conference room without another word.
Tsunade raised her brow but said nothing as she turned her gaze to Homura, challenging him, knowing he was as likely to respond to her question as Koharu was. And she was right. He didn't even wait a minute before he turning to the door. However, just before he left the room, Homura spared Tsunade one last warning.
"This isn't over."
They had been travelling for hours now, watching the sun rise as they made their way further and further from the village, finally stopping to take a rest near the peak of the mountain. But even though they were miles away from Konoha, Sakura could just make out Hokage Mountain from where the stood, could just make out Ichiraku's and the Academy, the training grounds and the flower shop, the hospital and her home. All of Konoha was laid before her, even the prison where she'd been detained for the last few months, and Sakura couldn't help but wonder, was it really that small?
She shivered.
"Sakura, we should start moving again."
But she didn't answer. Sasuke said her name again, but the response was the same. Silence. He took a step closer—noticeably, audibly—and yet, nothing. He sighed. She had been awfully quiet ever since they finally convinced Naruto to stay behind, saying no more than a few words to him at a time. Even when he told her it was safe for them to take a break, Sakura merely gave him a weak nod before walking towards a cliff near the edge of the forest where she remained for the last twenty minutes. And as Ssauke stared at her back, he wondered what she was thinking about, wondered if she'd tell him if he'd ask. But just as he was about to reach out to her, she spoke.
"My execution," Sakura said softly, barely loud enough for him to hear, "it would have been over by now. Isn't that weird to think about? Right at this moment, if you hadn't come I would have—" She paused, taking a breath before turning her head to him. Her eyes were slightly red, Sasuke remarked. She'd been crying. "This is really happening, isn't it, Sasuke-kun? We're really leaving."
She was looking at him with those eyes again—so vibrant, so trusting, so green—as if waiting for him to say something, to say anything. And he wanted to. He really did. He wanted to tell her how he swore he felt his heart stop when he heard about the trial. He wanted to tell her how relieved he was when he reached Konoha in time, how he never stopped running no matter how tired he was, or how hopeless he was, or how frightened he was. But most of all, he wanted to tell her how, dare he say, how happy he was that she was there, that she was leaving—with him.
But Sasuke was never one for words. He cleared his throat. "Sakura—"
She shook her head once, and he was silenced—just like that. "You know," she said, turning to look at the village once more as Sasuke took a few cautious steps to stand next to her, "it could be years before we return to Konoha."
He sighed. "I know."
"And it's just going to be the two of us."
"I know."
Beat.
"You sure you can handle it?" Sakura finally asked, a tint of laughter in her tone, her small smile just reaching Sasuke's peripheral vision. She shook her head. "So I've been told," she continued, "I can be quite, ah, annoying."
Sasuke turned.
Sasuke smirked.
"I think I'll manage."
Wow, and that's the end! Finally! I almost can't believe it. And yet, I can, because technically, I wanted to finish this over the summer, but college got really crazy, and oh well, at least I finished it!
And as for the future of this fic, I'm not entirely sure right now. I wanted to leave the ending a little open ended because I do have an idea of where I want this go, but whether I actually do it is questionable. And if I were to do a sequel, it would be much more than four chapters and an epilogue, most likely containing the (mis)adventures of Sasuke and Sakura and the fate of Konoha. Who knows? Maybe it will happen. Maybe it won't. But it also kind of depends on what you guys think. If a good amount of people ask, I'd be more likely to consider it, though, it may take a while since I'd still have to organize the plot and such.
But, anyway, I hope you enjoyed "Tangent!" Thank you for all of you who read and reviewed, giving me constructive criticism or stopping by just to say hello. I appreciated every single one of them. So thank you, again. Seriously! Thank you!
Until next time, then? Maybe?
But as always,
Read and review!
GhostofYou