A WALK IN THE PARK

Chapter 4

He opens his eyes feeling the hard futon beneath him. He can tell his back was out for the day. Sasuke had slept in way worse places before, but Naruto's furniture really did a number on him. The slight hangover from last night was no help either.

Naruto, and Hinata were living in an apartment. After Sasuke had dragged Naruto home last night, Hinata insisted he spent the night there since he had nowhere else to go, and he reluctantly accepted. He was definitely dragging Naruto to search for an apartment for him.

He couldn't just crash on couches for the next- however long he was staying. He can smell fresh eggs, and his stomach rumbles.

Out of the corner of his eye he sees Hinata standing in the kitchen making breakfast. He sits there without wanting to alert Hinata. He was in no mood to make small talk. Shortly Naruto exits the bathroom.

"Oi teme, I can see you're awake." He shouts from across the room, catching Hinatas attention.

'That fool' Sasuke thinks to himself. I guess having the kyubi means no hangovers either. Lucky bastard.

"Hn" he replies.

Sasuke stands and his back makes a vicious noise. A huff leaves his lips.

"I guess the futon isn't a big fan of yours," the blonde laughed as he made his way towards his friend.

Naruto's hands go around Sasuke's stomach from behind causing Sasukes sharingan to immediately activate.

"Wha-WHAT are you doing. Get your hands off of me." Sasuke yelled.

"Just hold on, this will fix your back" He said before lifting Sasuke into mid air suddenly. Another crack. A sudden relief washes his body. Naruto lets go of him and has a smug look on his face.

"Told ya" the blonde muttered.

Sasuke scoffed, earning a laugh from Hinata. He made his way to the bathroom and thought I guess she'd been listening all along feeling embarrassed.

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It had been a sunny day in particular. Sasuke, and Naruto had been scouring the leaf looking for places he could live. So far there were only two good options. The sun had started to go down, and the cold was getting a little more chilly.

Naruto, and Sasuke walked down the street and saw Sakura wait outside the hokage tower. She wasn't wearing her hospital attire today. Standing in front of the Hoakge office, she held her purse, and periodically checked the time.

Naruto was in his own world, but Sasuke kept watching Sakura from the distance. Her bored expression finally dropped, and a small smile swept her face.

A tall man in Anbu attire walked out of the building withhis mask lifted, and walked towards Sakura. She walked towards him, and gave him a hug. He placed a small kiss on her forehead, and they started walking towards their direction.

The sight had troubled Sasuke. Naruto finally snapped out of his thoughts.

"Oh man look, there's Sakura, and Haru. Let's go say hi."

Before Sasuke could bluntly object, Naruto had already ran up to them. Leaving him no choice but stand there, like a fool. He followed after Naruto.

"Hey Haru, how was your mission? Did you just get back?" Naruto asks.

"Uh yeah, I just reported to the Hokage office. It was good, but way too long. I haven't seen Sakura in weeks." the deep voice replied.

Sakura seemingly blushed at that. Sasuke only watched Sakura during this interaction, as Naruto spoke to whatever that guy's name was. Sakura was holding his arm, and would occasionally look at Sasuke and make awkward eye contact.

It was quite odd to see Sakura with someone else. Afterall, she had always been so stuck up on Sasuke it was rather unsettling to him. He didn't know why he felt so strongly about it, or why he was thinking about it at all.

Naruto gets louder, which snaps him out of his train of thoughts finally causing him to remove his eyes off of Sakura.

"Yeah we are just going out for dinner, we'll catch you guys some other time then. Goodbye!" Haru said. Sakura also mumbled a quiet goodbye. Naruto waves them off, and turns to Sasuke. "Hey why do you have that rotten look on your face?"

"Back off" He replies annoyed.

"Whatever I was just asking. Let's go have dinner, Hinata is cooking."

He places a light kiss on her lips, and bids her goodbye. Sakura is standing in front of her building watching Haru leave. His dark hair cast a reflection from the street lights. She waited until she saw his figure disappear.

Sakura really liked Haru. He was kind to her, and treated her very well. But tonight, she felt the need to be alone, so she had to make up a lie about being way too exhausted to carry on with the evening after dinner.

He dropped her off, but she did not desire to be locked in her apartment yet. Sakura took a quiet stroll to the park nearby.

Her interaction with Sasuke earlier that evening was on her mind. She hadn't expected to see him there, but a part of her was happy, and satisfied he had. It was clear from the night before that Sasuke thought Sakura was some lonesome pathetic girl who had nothing in her life other than work.

She sat on the swings watching the stars. It was a full moon tonight, and the stars had been sparkling especially bright. She went back and forth on the swing, feeling the cool air brush her bare legs. She wished she had worn tights.

Life can be so complicated she found herself thinking. How different would her life be if she was never in love with Sasuke. Yes she had moved on from that time of her life, but not really. It's always there. Haunting her.

There was a time where there was no Sakura without Sasuke. Yet the grand Uchiha always stood tall with his own name, vengeance, and at last, atonement.

Flashback

The seconds go by slower than usual. Waiting like this was pure agony. Tsunade was definitely taking her sweet time.

As she thought about the events of yesterday her restlessness grew. She felt as if she had overreacted towards Kakashi.

Sakura loves Sasuke, yes, but she wasn't stupid. She knew what he had done was serious. He even tried to kill the five kage right after Kaguya was defeated.

Maybe this conversation won't remove his punishment but will lessen it. How severe were the consequences to what he had done? 'Will his aid during the war become meaningless?' She was worried.

She waits there for a few more minutes until she can hear Tsunade's heel taps nearing.

"Good morning Tsunade-sama" she says to her master.

"Good morning Sakura, what did you want to see me about?"

"Kakashi sensei spoke to me yesterday. He said Sasuke is being punished for his crimes against the leaf. Is this true?" she says.

"Well, yes. We are being very vigilant towards him. Although, his sentence is not dire compared to what he has done."

"Oh I see." Sakura replies.

Maybe there is hope she thinks. His sentence might not be bad at all. After all, Tsunade-sama was a very reasonable person.

"Sasuke Uchiha has been traitorous to the leaf. Yet he, and Naruto are the only reason we are standing here alive. Because of his contribution to our nation, his punishment has been reduced to something very mild. The elders, and I are still figuring it out." Tsunade stated.

Guilt crept into her heart. She had been way too harsh with her sensei. Her eyes welled. She had no idea what had gotten into her yesterday.

"I'm sorry for questioning you Tsunade-sama, you are right. But I- I do have one request" the pink-haired girl muttered.

"Yes Sakura?" Tsunades serious expression softened.

"Please let Sasuke stay in the hospital until he can get his arm" she begs.

"I cannot assure you of this yet Sakura, I am sorry. I will try my hardest to work this out for you. Today is the day you wake them up from the coma, am I right?"

"Yes m'lady." She responded.

"Do not be alarmed. When Sasuke wakes up, he will be taken into custody for questioning."

"The prosthetic arms are ready. If all goes well, I will try to manage a way for him to stay in the hospital for a few more days so he can adjust to the transplant well, but that is only if he agrees." Tsunade adds.

"Thank you for your time" she politely bowed.

"Sakura, I do have one more thing to discuss with you. It's quite serious, so I wish for your discretion on this matter." Tsunade says.

"Of course, what is it?" The young girl responds.

"I am resigning as the Fifth Hokage." She blurts out.

The shock was painted across Sakuras face. Had everyone lost their minds? It was one blow after the other. She couldn't figure out if this was some big joke.

"But Tsunade-sama, we need you. If you leave us now, who will support the village as we all recover?" the young girl pleaded.

"Don't you worry about that. We already have the next Hokage, though, it is taking quite a bit of convincing." Tsunade smirked.

"May I know who you guys have in mind?" asked Sakura. She knew once the blonde had made up her mind, there was no going back. This was it.

"Kakashi Hatake"

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She left the Hokage's office feeling three different types of shock all at once. She was headed to the hospital, it was time to wake the boys up.

She carried a small bag of fruits she picked up before going to meet Tsunade. On her way she thought of what she would say to Kakashi the next time she saw him. Would she apologize first, or congratulate him?

Naruto would freak out when he finds out. But I can't tell anyone anything until it is to be confirmed, she thought.

She makes her way into the hospital, and goes into the room the two boys rested in. She had to put

both of them on propofol, pentobarbital, and thiopental. Naruto having kyubi inside him meant he would get a much higher dosage than Sasuke, if they wanted to keep him fully unconscious for his own sake. Which is why she had lowered his intake last night.

She stopped their machines, and put on an IV. They might still be weak when they gain consciousness. Naruto shouldn't take too long waking up, but she was unsure of Sasuke. She sat down beside Naruto again, to avoid any awkwardness that might occur.

15 minutes go by, and she can see Narutos eyes starting to twitch. He's gained consciousness, she thinks.

His eyes flutter open, and she can see him observe the room. It seemed to be slightly blurry, but everything was slowly coming into focus.

"Naruto" He heard a soft voice call.

He slowly directed his head towards the voice, and found a smiling Sakura.

"Hey Sakura-chan, how long was I out for?" He asks as he slowly sits up. Sakura's worried hands support Narutos back.

"Not too long, don't worry. It was required for you to heal fully." Sakura said.

"Sasuke isn't up yet I see" Naruto looks through the partition.

"His healing process is slower than yours, but he should be up in about an hour. I've started an IV drip that should dial down the drugs significantly" Sakura said as she fluffed Narutos pillow.

She checked his vitals, and ran a few tests. She needed to see if he was fully ready for the transplant.

"Well Naruto, it seems you're as healthy as a horse" Sakura smiled.

"Well Kurama says it's all thanks to him" Naruto grinned "But I say it's all your doing. Thank you Sakura-chan" Sakura nodded, and thanked him instead.

"Listen Naruto, I've got some news for you. Since Sasuke isn't up yet this will be a good time to tell you beforehand so you don't freak out."

"What is it?" He asked with a worried look.

"Sasuke will be punished for his crimes against the leaf" she spat out. You could hear a pin drop, the room felt more silent than usual. Narutos face dropped into a frown.

"Have you talked to obachan about it?" he asked quietly.

"Yes, and that's where the slightly good news comes in. She said since he is also a hero to Konoha, his sentence will be nothing compared to what he has done. Which gives me plenty of hope. Tsunade-sama is not an unreasonable person." Sakura says with great speed to cheer Naruto up.

Naruto nods.

"Also, I have some other news for you. While you were knocked out, Tsunade-sama made two prosthetic arms for you, and Sasuke. They are made from Lord firsts cells. It'll be as good as new by the time you're all healed. It'll be like your own. You'll take it right?" she asked, afraid he might reject, even though the chances of him doing so are slim.

"Uh yeah, I guess. I'm worried Sasuke won't take it though." Naruto adds.

"Yes, I'm afraid so too which is why you'll play a big part in convincing him" Naruto seemed to agree to this.

"Of course, I convinced the bastard not to destroy the hidden leaf, accepting an arm is no big deal."

Present

It had been at least an hour since she got to the park. The streets were starting to go quiet. She looked around, still on the swing.

A few familiar voices wrung in her ears. Ino and Sai had come to the park. She wondered how Sai, and Ino never got cold dressed like that. It was the middle of winter for gods sake.

They hadn't seen Sakura yet, they were in their own little bubble. It was clear indication she needed to leave now, but before she could get away, they had already seen her.

She knew Inos nosy nature would cause her trouble. After all she was her best friend, and she could never hide anything from her anyways.

"Uh Sakura, what are you doing here all alone?" Inos high pitched voice asked as she held Sais arm.

Sakura swiftly dodged the question.

"I could say the same about you, Ino-pig," Sakura smiled teasingly. A blush crossed Ino's face.

"Oh uh you see, Sai and I were on a date, and we were just walking, and- WAIT FOREHEAD WAY TO GO AND CHANGE THE SUBJECT" The blonde yelled.

Sai had his a nervous smile painted on his face. It was clear he had no idea what the two girls were bickering about.

She knew she was going to tell Ino everything later, so she decides to cut it short.

"We'll talk about this later, have fun you two." She teased as she walked away.

Ino, and Sai resumed back to their usual conversations. They laughed, and giggled as Sakura mellowed her way back to her apartment.

Hello!!! I firstly want to say this was a very long boring chapter, but needed.

I might make edits in already posted chapters, if I do I'll tell you guys exactly what I changed in the notes section here :)

Now secondly!!

I am very happy a certain person left me feedback. I appreciate it very much, I just saw it today. I wish there was a reply feature on here but here's what I have to say to you.

I will be taking your suggestions into account as I move forward. We all know how much Sakura loves Sasuke. It was a bit worrying for people who watched her grow up being in love with him, to be so blank towards the situation now.

But yes you're right she's grown now, and I am very grateful to you that you've said what you have, and this is already helping me organize interactions in the future.

Thank you so much for being so positive, I hope you keep reading, and keep providing me with feedback so I can improve.