Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Naruto doesn't speak all the way back to Konoha and Sai doesn't really know what to think.
He has always been a ninja—solider—and to watch these bright individuals, even the ever-burning, ever-furious Sasuke slowly wane away, he thinks about what he has sacrificed for green, green eyes and gentle hands.
Sakura was the one who pulled him out of the fire, teaching him slowly, gently. Sakura was the one who helped him get on his feet, understand how people worked, how to maneouver in society. Sakura was the one who danced to her own beat, desperately trying to outrun time.
She was the one Sai was loyal to, more than the spider in the corner, the hat on the mantle and he waited for the day where she could walk into Konoha free, when people would realize her sacrifice.
And yet, as Sai notices the gleam in Sasuke's eyes—the fervor the once bloomed brightly—slowly disappear, he wonders if he should open his mouth and say—
She never wanted to. You have to believe she never wanted to.
But as Sai sees Naruto's tight mouth and white knuckles he knows those boys will never give up on her.
"Just wait spiderlily." He whispers so quietly it's only a movement of his lips, "You will get your vengeance."
Yamato glances sharply at him and Sai lets a knowing gleam sharpen his dull eyes.
"You failed." Tsunade's voice is hard, her jaw set into an unrelenting edge.
Sasuke barely heard her, his eyes trailing over the way Sai seemed to be having a silent conversation with Yamato, the elder of the two looking too pale.
There was an undercurrent of…something in the air after Sai had met Sakura.
(After Sasuke realizes that he had tried to assassinate her and she had blown up the entire base.)
(After Sasuke realizes that Sakura has an entire hidden agenda—starting from the moment she was bitten with the curse mark—instead of him.)
That foreboding feeling the day before arriving at Orochimaru's base, the moment where he had stared into Sai's blank, blank eyes and felt an eerie feeling that coated his entire body, returns as he focuses on the way Yamato stares, pale-faced, as if he's seen a ghost and Sai's eyes hold a knowing gleam, one that Sasuke doesn't trust for a minute.
"Granted, I didn't think you would succeed." Tsunade continues, her eyes trailing over Naruto's slumped frame and tearful eyes. "But…I hoped for your sake, that you would."
"Yamato." Sasuke watches the man tense before drawing himself up, as if coiling himself into a pile of live nerves, ready to strike, "Stats on Haruno Sakura, now please."
Sasuke closes his eyes, ignoring the burning lump in his throat as he thinks of the blade that's pressed against Naruto's throat, and hopes that somehow Yamato will spare the words he knows will destroy every opportunity Sakura has of ever returning to Konoha.
"Haruno Sakura is dangerous and unstable. Not only does she show initial signs of psychological trauma, she is also erratic and has a cruel side to her undertones of playfulness. It isn't obvious yet, if she holds any lingering attachment for her teammates, but it is obvious that she does hold some sort of…resentment or vendetta. Due to her unknown goals and nature, I believe her status should be updated to S-Class missing-nin."
Naruto's Adam's apple bobs, throat contracting and Sasuke's chakra spikes so violently it leaves the office breathless.
"Haruno Sakura is now an international S-Class missing-nin." Tsunade says almost gently and Sasuke curses the day Sakura decided to take matters into her own hands and leave him.
It is nearly a week later, after countless trashed training grounds and angry snarls, that Itachi tells him to go visit the hospital. His older brother looks at him with those calm gray eyes and it is in their reflection that he sees himself—raging, erratic, resentful.
("You cannot find her if you continue to act like a whining child, Sasuke. Take control of your options—make sure she comes home.")
The next morning, Sasuke heads to the hospital, eyes heavy under the strain of his quiet anger.
"Hi, Mrs. Haruno." Sasuke said quietly, unloading the backpack on his shoulder.
The elder woman smiled softly, lifting her gaze from the book she was reading. Tucking a stray strawberry-blonde hair behind her ear, Haruno Suki gazed at him with green eyes and a gentle smile.
(Sasuke pretends he doesn't always flinch when he looks into Suki-san's eyes. He pretends he doesn't come here to see something—someone similar to Sakura just to get closer to her.)
"Back again are we?" Suki smiled merrily. "What rations do you have for me today?"
Sasuke's lips quirked upwards and the older woman chuckled.
"I got some of that chocolate you like. They're selling pineapples on the end of your street, and I know that you—" eat them because Sakura did, "Like them a lot so I got you some of those too."
Handing over the valuables, Sasuke dragged over a stool and sat close to the hospital bed, observing her. She hadn't aged much from the pictures in Sakura's bedroom. Her skin was still relatively wrinkle-free, her eyes still retaining that youthful spark, the gleam washing away any signs of age.
She looks so much like her.
Itachi called it torturing himself despite his quiet acceptance.
Naruto called it reminiscing.
Sasuke called it both.
They're silent for a couple of minutes; Suki, enjoying the treats Sasuke brings for her and Sasuke, staring at the mother of the girl he—the girl he somethings—eyes trained on her hair.
"We found her." Sasuke doesn't intend it to be a whisper but it comes out that way.
Suki drops the chocolate.
The elder woman's hands trembled and for one moment, Sasuke saw a sheen of tears in those green, green eyes.
"And?" Suki asks quietly, turning her eyes to his. Her throat works and Sasuke can see how her fingers shook on the covers. "How is she?"
Sasuke licked his dry lips, unsure how to begin. "She grew. But not much."
A wet laugh escaped Suki, "Of course. We were always on the short side in my family. Her father, bless him, was where she got her curls though."
Sasuke gave the woman a soft smile.
"Does her hair still curl?"
"Yeah." His voice is breathy but he continues, despite the pain at the images that flash in his brain. "She still has the frizz she hates. And I'm sure it would be a bushy mess if she took it out of the ponytail."
Suki's smile was a teary mess and Sasuke tried not to shift uncomfortably when she blotted her tears out with the corner of her hospital gown.
"Oh, I'm so sorry Sasuke. I know you wanted to bring her home. I know you still love her very much."
His heart jolted in his chest and memories (her smile, straight teeth, warmth—her laugh so kind and beautiful) flitted through his mind and the edges of his mouth turned down.
"She betrayed us." The words slip out of his mouth too fast and he bites down on his tongue to keep himself from screaming his rage.
Because she had looked so untouchable, standing there, her hair in the wind. Because she had left them—him without a thought and they were still trying to recover from that blow.
Suki's eyes watered but her mouth hardened and Sasuke knew he had committed a grave error. Ever since the day Sakura had left, Haruno Suki was adamant in her belief that her daughter was innocent—that Sakura was an inquisitive child, but not a dangerous one.
"She is not—"
"Mrs. Haruno." A nurse called from the doorway. The woman's brown eyes looked at Suki's tears and how Sasuke's face had turned pale in his anger and cleared her throat, shifting uncomfortable. "Your preparation for your surgery is coming up. Visiting hours are over until a day after the operation."
Sasuke's eyes swung towards the elder woman and barely heard the soft pattering of the nurse's feet as she walked down the corridor to prep the operating room.
"I'll be here when you come out." Sasuke tells her with a quiet, pained smile.
Suki nodded her green eyes hardening as he rose from his seat.
"Sasuke," Haruno Suki called from the hospital room, just as he was about to turn the corner and leave. "Don't forget that my daughter never does anything without a reason."
Green eyes so similar to her daughter's burned into his, her mouth a straight line.
Sasuke nodded his head slowly.
(He remembered her warmth—"Did you get my note?—with a curl of her mouth.)
(He remembered that undercurrent of sharp loss—wait for me, I'll come home, I'll come home—and the familiar body swinging familiar fists.)
(He remembered Itachi's eyes—shocked, pinwheels, spinning, regretful—on the day that Sasuke comes stumbling home, eyes blank, the day Sakura left Konoha, leaving a trail of bloodied bodies behind.
No one spoke of the fact that Sasuke, Naruto and the rest of the Rookie Nine were untouched.)
He had a lot of thinking to do.
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