Locked Away
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Summary:
After the War, Sasuke is imprisoned for his crimes. His teammates pleas fall on deaf ears. Naruto visits every morning and Sakura visits every evening. They are the only people that don't hate him. Their only hope is when Kakashi becomes the Rokudaime, he will be able to exonerate him.
The time period of Sasuke's imprisonment where he starts to fall in love with Sakura.
SasuSaku
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The light was fading and he felt so tired. The seething anger was gone. His best friend lay next to him also dying. They'd obliterated the sun and moon seals and half their arms. Had it been inevitable that they would die at each other's hands like all their other incarnations? Were they just doomed to repeat the same battle every lifetime beginning with Indra and Asura? Could they not break the wheel of time?
A shadow fell over the two teens and Sasuke felt a peace overcome him. Gentle fingers lifted his eyelids open and jade peered into his eyes. "Sakura," he stated, his voice barely a whisper. "I'm…sorry." He didn't know what to say. Once again, he'd left her behind, knocked her unconscious before he tried to murder their best friend. And if he'd succeeded, he'd have destroyed the entire village— razed it to the ground.
Everyone was still stuck in those cocoons. The whole ninja world was trapped saved Team Seven. And he'd been just as insane as his ancestor — Madara.
"Shhh, don't talk," Sakura chided, tears fell silently from her eyes. He could feel the warm liquid as it trickled down his cheek and fell over his lips, tasted the salt.
She moved beside him to check on Naruto.
"Sakura-chan, it's really good to see you," Naruto said, his voice tired. "He came home. Believe it."
The warmth of Sakura's healing chakra washed over them.
"I'm sorry, Sakura. For everything." Sasuke tried to lift his good hand, to touch her shoulder, her hair, but he couldn't. He was so very tired. He could watch her though, watch that purple diamond on her forehead, her petal pink hair loose about her shoulders — made him think about the Forest of Death. She'd saved the two of them then too. That tiny girl became this fearsome woman.
"I can't save your arms," Sakura murmured, her brow creased in concentration. "You obliterated them. You're lucky you didn't bleed out."
"I'm sorry about your jacket," Sasuke whispered, his eyes were feeling heavy.
Several seconds passed before Sakura spoke. "You're more important than a flak jacket, Sasuke-kun."
She still called him that childhood endearment — even after everything. "You looked really good busting that army down with your fists." Sasuke's eyes closed, his consciousness slipping away. "So strong. I've never seen anything more beautiful."
"Hmm," Naruto moaned. "I can't believe you finally kissed me, Sakura-chan, and I was unconscious for it. My first kiss and I can't remember."
"It was CPR, silly," Sakura chided. "I was supposed to be Sasuke's first kiss, but you took that position," she teased, referencing the time Naruto fell on Sasuke's face when they were children at the Academy.
"I can still feel you holding my heart," Naruto murmured before he fell silent.
"Sakura?" Sasuke forced his eyes open. It was stupid — really, but he felt jealous. He and Naruto had been gravely injured at the same time near the start of the battle. His Team Hawk had helped him and Naruto had Sakura, Gaara, and the Fourth Hokage that saved him. The idea of Sakura breathing for Naruto and literally holding his heart — it sounded so intimate — she was literally the one standing between him and death.
Sakura's face was close, Sasuke could feel her breath on his cheek.
"I owe you a proper first kiss." Sasuke started to slip into the darkness. "I can't let the blond idiot take that honor." He was safe. He was with her. She'd take care of him. He was home.
"Sure, Sasuke-kun. Just get some rest now," Sakura murmured. The healing chakra she was using had a calming, sedative quality to it. "This is going to take a while."
"Yeah, and we still have to wake everybody up," Naruto added, his voice drowsy.
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Hours later, Team Seven stood at the edge of a cliff, looking over the massive branches that stretched for miles and the pods that trapped everyone in a dreamworld. Sakura had her arm around Naruto's waist, supporting his weight and Kakashi supported Sasuke's weight. Using Sasuke's right hand and Naruto's left hand they formed the necessary seal to release everyone.
The original Team Seven hobbled together completely exhausted to join the surviving shinobi. It was in the headquarters for the Allied Shinobi Nations on the battlefield they held a preliminary trial. Anbu guards had immediately surrounded Sasuke and Team Seven didn't resist. Unfortunately, Sasuke had expected it. He warned his foolishly optimistic allies that he would be distrusted by their army.
Traitor.
Murderer.
Terrorist.
Monster.
These were the names that greeted Sasuke when he returned to the allied forces after he and his former Team Seven literally defeated a goddess and saved the world. To be fair, he had planned to annihilate the Leaf afterwards. But his two friends stopped him.
And that was it — he literally had two friends. Well— three if he counted Kakashi.
Over the years, he'd used countless people, but only a very select few people did he consider friends. Naruto Uzumaki. Sakura Haruno. Together, they were the Neo-Sannin. They'd rode into battle on their massive summons and rescued the entire Five Nation Allied Army.
"He should be in the hospital, not covered in chains!" Sakura protested, one fist clenched in fury at her side with her other arm wrapped around Naruto's waist as he stood next to her, a crutch tucked under his other side. Yamato had been busy constructing crutches for countless injured.
"No, he should have died on the battle field, like so many fine shinobi that weren't traitors," Homura Mitokado hissed- an elderly council member whom conveniently arrived to pass judgement but did no actual fighting.
"If he hadn't showed up on the battle field, everyone would be dead," Kakashi Hatake said quietly. The simmering anger in his voice silenced the old man.
"He murdered Danzo," Koharu Utatane pointed out— the other dinosaur on the Konoha council.
"Danzo is a whole different matter. And frankly, I applaud that Sasuke killed that man. He did Konoha a favor. Danzo is single-handedly responsible for the mass murder of the Uchiha clan — as I'm the one that was on clean up detail after the fact — I don't want anyone else to say a thing about it." Kakashi stood, slamming his hands on the table in front of him. His charcoal gaze roved slowly over the council members and the Fifth Hokage. "It was brutal and awful and completely avoidable. Danzo stole Shisui's eye knowing it could be used to quell the growing hostilities and after he'd forced a thirteen year old boy to do his dirty work, by threatening his baby brother, he stole every Sharingan of the slaughtered victims."
"How does that relate to the matters at hand?" Tsunade asked, pointedly avoiding Sakura's eyes. "Fine, I agree that Danzo deserved his execution— he even usurped the position Hokage while I was in a coma. Goodness knows what a disaster that would have been if I'd not woke up when I did. You can be certain Orochimaru would't have been as generous in helping us Kage recover after our battle. What Danzo did to those kids in Root…. Good riddance to him. I'm sure if we dig deeper, we'd find even more reasons to be grateful. But right now, we are talking about Uchiha. Let's not forget about the Five Kage Summit. I understand, Konoha failed Itachi and Sasuke— severely, but he's not a child anymore."
"I certainly haven't forgotten about the summit," the Raikage rumbled.
Sasuke stared down at his feet. He'd messed up — a lot. Honestly, he barely remembered the summit. He'd been absolutely devastated and enraged. His one goal in life — end Itachi. It had ended up being his worst nightmare —worse than losing his entire clan. He lost the one person in this world that loved him unconditionally and absolutely. Every dark and terrible thing Itachi had done in the last decade had been to protect Sasuke and Naruto and Konoha.
"Please, Granny Tsunade, you have to give Sasuke a chance. He's been through so much and I promise, I'll keep him in line! He's back, he's really come back to us," Naruto pleaded. "You have to understand how lost he was. He needs us. He doesn't need punished by us!"
Tsunade's eye began to twitch at being called "granny" and she started to crush the table in front of her. She opened her mouth to spew verbal venom. "Naruto! You—-,"
"Master Tsunade, I would like to submit that Sasuke is not guilty by reason of insanity," Sakura interjected, interrupting Lady Tsunade. "As everyone is aware, I am the leading expert in the Medical Community when it comes to mental illness, Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, acute Psychosis related to Mental Breaks, and Alcoholism. And given the recent death of his brother Itachi Uchiha — twice — whom served Konoha until the very end his actions at the summit and later with Lord Danzo can be directly correlated to his grief. You should understand how bereavement can affect someone's rational thought."
Sasuke lifted his eyes, but Sakura wasn't looking at him. Insane? Her normally gentle pale green eyes were lit with a righteous indignation as she stared unwaveringly at the Fifth Hokage. He'd told his team about Itachi as they'd stumbled together towards the pods across the battlefield. How Itachi had revealed his true motivation, eradicated the poison of Orochimaru from his person, and how after his reanimation they'd fought together against Kabuto. He only just now understood Itachi after all these years and now he was gone for good.
"Every soldier in this army has Post Traumatic Stress disorder!" Tsunade roared. "Every citizen living in these lands has suffered grief! The casualty list of the Akatsuki is enormous!"
"Sasuke is not responsible for what the Akatsuki did. The long-standing members of that group are all dead. I would also submit to the court, that Sasuke is underage. He cannot be treated like an adult and should thereby be granted parole or house arrest and therapy to help him adjust to society," Sakura added. "Section thirty seven of code five b says such."
"You, Sakura Haruno are incredibly biased on this matter. You may have memorized the Konoha legal system's code, which has nothing about therapy you added that part, but we aren't just dealing with Konoha— this is war crimes we're talking about. You wouldn't even be in this room, if he hadn't insisted." Tsunade thrust an angry finger in Kakashi's direction.
"It all boils down to fear of the Uchiha. You cannot prosecute Madara or Obito, which, the latter also was instrumental in our victory against a goddess," Kakashi said. "I understand your anger. It was Obito that unleashed the Nine-tails that led to Lord Fourth and Kushina's deaths, and the subsequent banishment of the Uchiha clan to the outskirts of the village. I had been prepared to kill Obito in battle, but I was stopped by someone more wise than any of us." He looked across the room at Naruto. "Minato Namikaze — present only because Orochimaru and Sasuke had brought him into battle — stopped me. We are shinobi — we protect, but there are times when we kill. The value of our lives isn't determined just by the merit of our actions, but also our potential. We faced a literal goddess and she was one of the weaker of her kind — an entire alien race— the originators of the shinobi world and the powers of ninjutsu. These are unprecedented times. Killing Sasuke Uchiha will not solve anything. His skills and powers are necessary if humanity has a chance of survival. And I submit that he deserves a Full Pardon."
"I second Hatake. I believe Sasuke deserves a full pardon. I have committed much worse atrocities than him in my past and was forgiven and allowed to atone," said Gaara. "I serve as the Kazekage to my village. Why should Sasuke Uchiha be given less grace?"
"Well, Kakashi, you're not the official Hokage yet," Tsunade huffed. "I am. So your vote doesn't count. And even so, Lightning, Mist, and Earth all want Sasuke punished. Nobody said they wanted him dead."
"I wouldn't mind him dead," the Raikage stated.
"Nor would I. I didn't see this Kaguya — it would give me closure to see Uchiha and Orochimaru with a public execution," the old Tsuchikage added.
"As they both hail from Konoha, I object to execution," Tsunade protested. "To both. Because Kakashi is right. They have skills that meant the difference between us all being stuck in those cocoons for our entire lives — however short that would be and standing here today arguing. We would have lost without Sasuke. That is clear."
"It would seem a waste to kill the last Uchiha," the Mizukage murmured. "I'm sure we can acquire some volunteers to impregnate. Make sure that Sharingan isn't lost to time."
Sasuke's mouth ran dry at the prospect. He hadn't thought about that possibility. Long ago, he'd wanted to revive his clan, but after he learned the truth about Itachi — only days ago— he was of a mind to let the clan die with him. And honestly, he'd never been interested in intimacy or romance or any of that. The idea of being used in such a way caused a big ball of nausea to lodge in the base of his throat.
"Don't talk about him like he's a stud," Kakashi interjected warningly. "He's still a child by our legal system — even though our society puts children to work as soldiers. As I've been a sanctioned soldier since I was six years old, I believe I understand this better than any of you. The ones responsible for keeping the world from being destroyed are my former students and myself. It took all four of us, working together, after years apart to do the impossible. The dying wish and supernatural intervention of shinobi that were brought back to life intervened on behalf of the living. The Sage of the Six Paths himself bestowed power onto Sasuke — do you think you are more wise than him?"
"And look at what he did with that gift!" Tsuande pointed towards the empty sleeves of Naruto and Sasuke. "Blew up that power!"
"No one really knows what transpired that led to the mutual destruction of the Sun and Moon seals," Kakashi stated. Only Team Seven were aware that the Sun and Moon seals were taken back by Hagaromo before the duel. "I have a hunch the power is too great for mere mortals and the boys were driven to self-destruct. They were but pawns in a supernatural war that's been waging for the last ten thousand years."
Tsunade glared over at Sakura. "Maybe they were fated to die then. And they would have done just that if it weren't for the interference of my own Apprentice." Then focused her ire on Sasuke, in his chains with an Anbu guard on either side. He wasn't a threat in his current state — he was a seventeen year old boy who'd sustained severe physical and mental trauma. "Take him away, I can't stand to look at him. We need to discus the other prisoner."
"No!" Naruto's chakra flared and he struggled to calm, leaning hard into Sakura.
"Sasuke needs to be in the hospital," Sakura protested. "Please?"
Tsunade rubbed her forehead, fatigue in the slouch of her shoulders. "The hospital is days away and the medic tents are bursting at the seams. You may attend his medical needs, Haruno," Tsunade relented. "After you finish whatever shift you're assigned. But that's only because no other medic should be forced to waste chakra on him. But he won't be given any special treatment. He is a prisoner. He knew the risks when he became a missing Nin. You should be grateful I'm staying his execution—for now."
"Thank you, Master Tsunade." Sakura bowed her head, elbowed Naruto, and he did the same.
Sasuke almost smiled at watching the two. He remembered their time as genin together under Kakashi's leadership. Who'd have thought, five years later it would be Naruto and Sakura standing together as the golden heroes of the Shinobi world, while he stood not fifteen yards away alone, broken, and empty.
Some prodigy he was.
Kakashi met his gaze, his dark gray eyes solemn and determined. Sasuke knew then — he did have three friends. He was not forsaken by them, so he would live on to right his wrongs and bring honor to his clan name. Make sure the world knew Itachi Uchiha was a hero and his little brother would work towards earning his name.
Sasuke didn't protest as his guards placed a seal around his eyes and led him away, presumably on the long march back to Konoha. He wasn't a flight risk. Where would he go? Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi were going back to the village. They both worked hard to keep him alive, so he would keep on living — for the three of them — even if he was so tired. He would join his beloved brother and parents eventually, but not right now.
Right now, he would persevere.
It took five days to return to the village. It had been an awkward march in his chains and learning to balance with only one complete arm. He was also forced to move blind. He struggled to hear around him and a few times he stumbled and caught himself before falling flat on his face. Naruto, Kakashi, and Sakura took turns helping him with his needs. Sakura literally fed him. Naruto and Kakashi guarded him when his arms were unbound so that he could relieve himself when his body demanded it. Everyone else seemed to be rooting for him to soil himself. They were eager for his shame.
Little did those fools know that Sasuke only felt shame. Only someone full of pride could ever feel shame truly.
It was the first time Sasuke had been back in Konoha since he defected. The world all considered him an enemy save his team. Ironically, his greatest crimes — his attempted killings of Sakura and Naruto — no one outside of Team Seven knew.
Even Kakashi kept silent about those murderous attempts. Sasuke was tossed into his prison cell— a seal over his eyes and a straight jacket over his torso and listened. Those he had wronged most pleaded for his acquittal while others demanded life imprisonment or death. And because of that trio, a small glimmer of light lived within his heart. He would try to nurture it, maybe one day he might even find peace.
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There was no stay in the hospital for Sasuke after his serious injury. It was a sentencing by the Kage and imprisonment. He'd have a full trial later, but they wanted to focus on rebuilding the war damaged land and healing the mass quantity of casualties. Sasuke Uchiha was low priority, but they wanted him to know just how low as he was escorted in a dank cell in the basement level of the Konoha prison.
He didn't think it was in the prison in the Uchiha district where his family once ran the police, but suspected it was in the subterranean levels of the Anbu tower. He remembered long ago, when his brother Itachi had pointed it out to him.
A fresh wave of guilt washed over Sasuke. His reunion with his brother was only days ago — his precious older brother whom loved him and whom he had wasted most of his life hating.
Sasuke cooperated as he was shoved onto a hard bed and the sound of the metallic door slammed shut. He was blinded by the seal over his eyes and his remaining arm was bound against his chest. He was thirsty and he'd need to use the facilities at some point — he wasn't sure if they bothered to think about the logistics or if they just didn't care. It had been somewhat embarrassing that his teammates had helped him with his basic body functions on the march over — the guys turning away at least while he relieved himself. He doubted if prison guards would give him the same respect.
And his arm itched — the one that was missing. Sakura explained to him about phantom limb pain. His nerves didn't understand that the arm was no longer there. The condition was extremely difficult to treat and one way or the other — he would have to learn to live with it.
Sasuke leaned his head against the hard stone wall. When he was a child, his brother had told him of the importance of meditation. Orchimaru had stressed the importance as well. Now he had nothing to do, but meditate.
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Sakura was exhausted after a twelve hour shift at the hospital. She tossed a food pill into her mouth and made her way to the prison. There were only two prisoners at present — Sasuke Uchiha and Orochimaru. She knew Sasuke was there by choice, but was a little wary of Orochimaru — he had to also be there by choice, but she wasn't sure why. Was he hoping to reconnect with Tsunade or Sasuke? The Godaime made sure their cells were on opposite ends — solitary confinement.
It annoyed Sakura so much with Sasuke already struggling with psychosis not long ago to be placed in such an unhealthy environment. She, Naruto, and Kakashi had done their best to support their old teammate. Sai had actually offered to create ink mice to visit Sasuke and keep him company.
It had only been three days since they returned to the village.
The guards said nothing when Sakura approached. She had a backpack slung over her shoulder with a nutritious meal packed away, clothes, medicinal and cleaning supplies. When she approached his cell her heart clenched painfully. He sat stoically — he could be sleeping or meditating. The straight jacket was uncomfortably tight and his eyes were sealed. There was a foul odor that almost made her gag. His dark hair was becoming greasy and he'd been denied a toilet in his cell, but a chamber pot and a bucket and they sat in the far corner. She'd dealt with the problem before in bed bound patients. Her first two visits, he'd obviously avoided the more embarrassing of the two basics of living, but going more than three days would lead to severe constipation and much longer than that a burst colon.
"Why hasn't the waste been removed?" Sakura turned towards the guards. She was promoted to Jonin on the very battlefield where Sasuke had been sentenced. However, they were Anbu and were on a completely different ranking scale.
"If it bothers you, you're welcome to do so. It's not part of our job description," the guard on the left answered gruffly.
"Then we're changing cells — one that has a functional toilet and sink," Sakura demanded. She's spoken with Lady Tsunade about the logistics of the situation. They couldn't keep him bound — he needed to use his hand for basic needs. He needed to learn to function with one hand. And he needed to use the damn bathroom! As she was assigned to be his personal doctor, there was no protest.
"Under who's authority? You may be a Jonin, but you are only a visitor to the prisons here."
Sakura narrowed her eyes at the Anbu guard. They didn't like people not in Anbu in their territory. "Under the Godaime's authority." Sakura shoved the signed document at the guards. "He's going to the cell on the first floor. If there's a problem, I'm happy to ask Kakashi Hatake to clear up any misunderstanding."
She just name dropped the two most respected shinobi in the Land of Fire.
Sasuke hadn't moved an inch during the exchange, but Sakura had felt his attention. She waited in the hall while the guards unlocked the cell and yanked Sasuke up to a standing position. Sakura followed along. Kakashi had helped her figure out which cell to request — there was a slight view from the tiny high window of a large maple tree that was frequented by birds and squirrels. They'd thought it might provide some amusement — even if Sasuke couldn't see the animals, he'd be able to hear how active they were. And he'd smell the crisp leaves on the breeze.
Sasuke had been thrust into the new cell and the guards waited for Sakura to enter it with him before they locked the door. They would be back in two hours.
"You've gotten bossy," Sasuke murmured. He took a deep breath, noting the difference in the air and relaxed the tension in his shoulders marginally. "Smells better in here."
"Yes, it does," Sakura agreed. "I'm going to take off that jacket now, okay?"
Sasuke nodded and stood perfectly still. He towered a head over her.
Sakura wasn't short, but Sasuke was tall — as tall as Kakashi-sensei. She reached behind his back to loosen the leather belt. She frowned as she noted the tautness of the jacket — it had to hurt his injured arm with the awkward angle and the circulation in his right arm was reduced. She let the jacket fall to the floor and and ran both hands down his right arm starting at his shoulder and slowly massaging down, Sasuke stiffened at her touch, but she ignored the musculature of her old crush and infused healing chakra down the length of his arm, pausing at his fingers. His nails were growing long and jagged. Maybe he could use a stone to file them down.
As she was about to move on to his injured left arm, Sasuke's hand tightened around hers.
"Thank you, Sakura," Sasuke whispered hoarsely. "I don't deserve this from you. I've only caused you grief. I'm sorry."
"I already forgave you, Sasuke-kun. You don't have to keep apologizing. We are your friends. It doesn't matter how much you've pushed us away. You can't change our feelings, just like we can't change yours. I'm not here because of a childhood crush. I'm here because I care about you. It's just your bad luck to have ended up on a team full of stubborn shinobi that refuse to give up on their friends."
Sasuke squeezed her hand once more then let his arm drop to his side.
Sakura moved on to his injured arm. She could sense the inflammation of his nerves. His body was still in shock over the loss of his appendage. She couldn't repress a sigh. Her boys were so stupid— maiming each other like this. It could have been worse — they could have both died. "If you two had succeeded in killing each other, it would have just been me and Kakashi -sensei awake in the world. Can you imagine? I mean, we get along pretty well, but still."
Sasuke cleared his throat. "Can we talk about something else?"
Sakura smiled. There were two things she knew hadn't changed about Sasuke over the years — he was full of pride and he was easily jealous of the other males on their team. "What do you think would have happened if I had gone with you last month?" She infused his left arm with her mystical palm.
Sasuke's lips pressed together. "For a moment, I felt relief at you showing up at the time. My vision was so bad and I'd gotten revenge on the man responsible for wronging my family. Then I smelled the poison on your kunai. What were you thinking, Sakura?"
"The entire Konoha twelve were on me. Sai was on me. They said it was my foolish quest for Naruto to save you that was endangering him. I tried to let him know he didn't have to keep his promise to me — to get you back. But, by then, we both wanted to save you." Sakura stopped her chakra infusion and stepped back to look up at Sasuke. He couldn't see her, but she looked at his face anyway. "So, I thought…I thought if we killed each other he'd be able to move on."
Sasuke sighed. "Reckless. You thought your life held so little meaning? Naruto and Kakashi would move mountains for you."
"Yeah, I shouldn't have listened to Shikamaru and Neji." Sakura frowned, remembering that Neji was dead now. "I'm going to lead you to the sink." She reached for Sasuke's hand and guided him towards the sink across the room. "And actual toilet here. I'm going to request permission to remove your seal. Kakashi-sensei knows how to unlock it. I'll have him teach me."
"I'll memorize the room," Sasuke told her. "Count the paces between bed, toilet, sink, bars."
"There's a window too," Sakura said
Sasuke's nose crinkled. "I can tell. I smell a maple tree outside."
She turned on the sink and unslung her pack to pull out the soap she'd brought. She and Ino had made the soap themselves. It was a blend of rosemary and other medicinal herbs that would both calm the mind and sooth skin inflammation. She also had a wash cloth and hand towels to dry him. "It's not a shower, but I can wash you up — if you're okay with that?"
Sasuke nodded. "I guess I'll need to strip for that. Twelve year old you must be passing out with joy."
"Twelve year old me passed out at the door the moment you willingly spoke with me," Sakura joked. "On a less humorous note— I brought fresh underwear. I had to ask help from Kakashi-sensei. You definitely owe me for that."
"Oh, I'm pretty sure you have me at your mercy right now, Sakura," Sasuke answered. "I can clean that particular area since you freed my hand. I'm not completely useless." He toed off his shoes, stepped out of his pants and stood only in his days old underwear.
"No, but you are blind at the moment. I'm a professional Sasuke, just let me do my job." Sakura ran the washcloth under the water — it was cool. There was no hot water in the prisons. "I have an entire fresh uniform for you. I think we can safely burn this one."
Sasuke chuckled. "I don't suppose the new one is less itchy?"
"Of course. You have friends in high places these days, Sasuke." She started on his face, wiping away the smears of dirt that had accumulated from their road travels and the sweat and grime that had accumulated in the prison. He still had dried blood from the battle. "Bend down, I want to clean your hair. It will do no good to clean your body first and then let your dirty hair get you messy all over again."
"Top to bottom," Sasuke murmured. "My mom used to stay that when she gave me a bath when I was a boy."
"You want to talk about her?" Sakura asked.
"While I'm standing naked in front of you? No." Sasuke leaned down, his head over the sink.
Sakura cupped water in her hands and began to pour it down his head. She lathered the soap and scrubbed it into his midnight dark hair. "Twelve year old me is ecstatic to run her fingers through your hair. Seventeen year old me is wondering if you've been cutting your hair with a kunai. It's very uneven."
"All the cool kids use a kunai these days. You started a trend back at the Chunin Exams," Sasuke teased, a slight smirk dancing on his lips.
Sakura massaged his scalp and worked her fingers through the length of his locks. Then she rinsed it all with cool, clean water. His hair and face looked much better. She took one of the hand towels and dried him off. Now for the rest of him. She started next on his shoulders and back, down his arms, taking extra care on his injured arm. She cleaned his neck and chest, trying not to linger or be distracted by Sasuke's sharp intake of air.
Then she skipped to his lower thighs, knees, ankles, feet. He stood on one foot, then the other. There was only one section left to clean.
"I can do it, Sakura," Sasuke said.
"So can I. Do you want to do it?" Sakura steeled herself to ask the question she really wanted to ask. There was no time to be shy around this man. Life was precious and never guaranteed. "Or would you like for me to take care of you?"
Sasuke's lips pressed together tightly. He was conflicted himself. "It wasn't that I rejected you because I didn't like you, Sakura. I am fond of you. I just have never been interested in any kind of romantic relationship — with anyone. It was a distraction from my goal, but now…I am a man without any particular goal."
Sakura stood in front of him, hands on his shoulders. "I'm going to be frank with you, Sasuke. You have to learn how do things one handed. This is your first real bath in weeks. I'm actually worried you'll have a fungal infection in the area. I can close my eyes if you want?"
Sasuke laughed. "Then how would you know if I have a fungal infection?" He reached down and ripped off the old underwear and stood naked before her. "Have at it, Sakura. I don't care anymore."
Sakura released his shoulders and stared down — she'd been curious, of course. Sasuke didn't disappoint, but he also wasn't particularly eager to be in her proximity. She focused herself. She said she was a professional, she would be. She took the wet, soapy cloth and started working on his hips, his groin, she cleaned down the length of his penis and felt him tremor under her hands. She used the cloth as a barrier, never touching him with her bare hands — that would be taking advantage. She cleaned his backside, his skin had become irritated and she poured another round of healing chakra to the chafed flesh. She rinsed him and then strung the towel around his waist.
"So was there any problems?" Sasuke asked, his voice strained.
"Just some slight irritation. You'll be able to manage your future wash-ups fine," Sakura assured him.
"Though you'll help if I need assistance?" The tips of Sasuke's ears were pink.
"All you have to do is ask."
"Hm." Sasuke shivered. He wasn't allowed to use chakra in the prison so he couldn't warm himself. Sakura gathered his clean clothes and helped him dress. "So, do you do this for all your patients?"
Sakura laughed. "Of course not. I usually do complicated surgeries. Sponge baths are generally for low level staff."
"I'm glad you found your own strength," Sasuke murmured. He rolled his shoulders back. "Okay, this isn't a standard prison uniform at all. It's incredibly soft."
Sakura felt her cheeks heat up. She didn't want to tell him that she and her mother had actually sewed him three custom-made uniforms over the last few days. "There will be two other uniforms and a week's worth underwear in your trunk. It's under your bed. You can have a few personal items too. Let me or Naruto know what you want and we'll see if we can get it for you."
"He's been visiting every day bringing breakfast. The guards don't speak to me. And you've been by every evening to bring me dinner. What personal item could offer as much comfort?" Sasuke asked.
"I can bring the whetting stone you used for your sword. You can use it to file your nails," Sakura suggested.
"Oh. I guess I won't be able to cut them one-handed," Sasuke murmured. He sat on his bed and slouched. "I guess I'll need to work on those one-armed pushups like Kakashi-sensei used to do."
Sakura sat next to him on the small bed. "I'm going to trim your nails now, okay?" She took the clippers out of her bag and Sasuke held his hand out to her. She held it gently and bent over it to trim his fingernails. "Naruto is having a prosthetic made. He's told you, no doubt."
"Yeah, using Hashirama cells or something. I don't want anything to do with Hashirama cells." Sasuke shivered, not from the cold. "You saw that weird face thing on Madara's chest. Senju cells would probably lead me to madness again."
"Would you like to write to any of your Hawk friends? You're left handed, so you're going to need to learn to write again," Sakura pointed out. She released his hand as best manicured as she could manage.
"So inconvenient." Sasuke lifted the remains of his left arm. "I can still feel my fingers, but they're not there."
"My dad is an engineer," Sakura said quietly. "He's been working on a prosthetic made of wood and metal. When Kaka-Sensei becomes Hokage, he wants to create a whole Scientific Research Team. You're not the only one who lost a limb in the war."
"Maybe, but I don't want to trouble you or your family any more, Sakura. And with my lightning chakra, I don't think metal is a good idea." Sasuke licked his lips. "I should probably write an apology to the members of Hawk. They did accompany me to battle. They saved my life."
"They're your friends too, Sasuke," Sakura explained. She reached into her bag and pulled out the food she'd brought. "I've water, tea, tomato soup, and onigiri. You can feed yourself with your hand free. No need for a spoon to eat the soup. You can just drink it out of the bowl if you like. It has a handle on it."
"Water, then the soup," Sasuke murmured. "I guess you remembered the tomato thing. What do you like to eat?"
"I used to like sugared plums, but there was an adventure where it's all I ate for three days straight. So, I just like a well-balanced diet now. No particular favorites." She smiled thinking about the younger girl she'd saved during Pain's attack on Konoha the year before. She'd become quite the proficient baker. "I guess that's not true. There's this girl named Tami who bakes the most delicious pastries— her strawberry diafuku is heavenly. It's this chewy mochi stuffed with strawberry and red bean paste."
"I did remember you had a sweet tooth. Guess that didn't change then." Sasuke handed her the empty water cup. Sakura exchanged it for the soup mug. "How much longer will you stay?"
"I think we have about twenty more minutes." Sakura folded the spare uniforms and underwear up neatly and placed them in the trunk under Sasuke's bed.
"Why don't you tell me about the Chunin Exams? The one you passed without me and Naruto to hold you back."
Sakura snorted. "Yeah, right. I was always looking at your backs. Well, after you left, Naruto went off to train with Jiraiya. Kaka-Sensei started taking S class solo missions because our forces had been so depleted after Orochimaru's invasion. So, I was left abandoned and alone and decided I wasn't going to sit around feeling sorry for myself. If you and Naruto could apprentice after a couple of Sannin, there was no reason I couldn't ask the Sannin leading the village to train me. So I requested an appointment with the Godaime — it took two weeks before she could see me. And she agreed to apprentice me. It was grueling, but I enjoyed it. No offense to Kaka-sensei but the best use he had for me was serving as additional weight on his back while he did pushups. Master Tsunade had me pouring chakra into dying animals saving them for hours until I passed out from exhaustion— it did test my limits. Then she'd take me to the training grounds and beat the crap out of me. She taught me to redirect my chakra into my taijutsu. Then I asked to train with Team Guy — Tenten helped me with projectiles and Lee and Neji worked with me on Taijutsu. I got very little sleep, but after a year I was not only a skilled medic but a pretty good brawler."
"Go on, I like hearing you talk about yourself," Sasuke said.
"The Chunin Exams were coming up and Asuma was still alive at this point. Shikamaru was promoted already and he had allowed me to join Ino and Choji for a three-man team." Sakura paused, thinking back to the time. It had been a grand adventure and she'd been seen as Sakura Haruno, a capable kunoichi and not as the weakest member of Team Seven.
"It's good that you and Ino made up. Why did you stop being friends to begin with?" Sasuke asked.
Sakura chuckled. "We were supposed to be love rivals for your affection."
Sasuke groaned. "I'm telling you— I was not interested in girls — at all."
She noted his use of past-tense in his verbiage. It probably didn't mean anything. "We worked together pretty well. It has really helped us bond. I even tutored Ino in basic medical ninjutsu — she's talented, but with her mind-transfer clan technique she has many more options than me. The written exam was easier than the first one. Ino was able to use her mind transfer to copy my answers onto hers and Choji's tests. Apparently, that's what she did on the first time around too."
"You are really smart, Sakura. I struggled on that exam until I realized we were supposed to cheat without getting caught." Sasuke handed his empty mug to Sakura. "I don't mean to be crass, but I need to pee." He stood and started towards the toilet, Sakura watched him as he navigated, his lips moving as he counted the paces. She turned away while he did his business. He returned shortly afterwards. "Not a big cell. Definitely a step up now that I have running water. Will they put me back in the straight jacket?"
"Just when Ibiki interrogates you. Can you even do one-handed seals?" Sakura knew that Kakashi could do them, but he knew a thousand jutsus.
"I guess I'm going to have to learn," Sasuke murmured. "You'll be back tomorrow?"
"Of course."
"Good." Sasuke leaned his head against the stone wall. "I haven't done anything today and yet, I'm so tired."
"Your body is still recovering," Sakura explained. She reached for Sasuke's forehead and brushed back his bangs. His eyes were covered by the blindfold that sealed his ocular powers.
"Your hand feels nice," Sasuke murmured. "Cool and soft."
Sakura laughed. "Maybe soft compared to a swordsman's hands. I have a lot of calluses on these fingers of mine. And cool because you still have a mild fever." She reached for the tea. "There is some yellow yarrow in this tea. It will help with the fever. Will you drink it?"
"Sure," Sasuke agreed.
"Then I want you to sleep. Sleep until Naruto comes in the morning. You won't be stuck in here forever, Sasuke-kun," Sakura promised. "Kaka-Sensei will be inducted as Hokage in two weeks. You just have to wait until then."
"What day is it, Sakura?"
Sakura pulled back the covers on Sasuke's new bed and helped him crawl inside. "March fifteenth."
"So you'll be eighteen by the end of the month. What will you wish for on your birthday?" Sasuke turned his head to face towards her.
"I already got my wish, Sasuke-kun." Sakura leaned down and pressed her lips against his forehead.
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OoO
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The guards escorted Sakura out and Sasuke was once again alone in his cell. He felt better — he was certainly cleaner. But honestly, it felt like he was home — with Naruto to chat with him during the day, Kakashi looking out for him from afar, and Sakura to care for him in the evenings. He smiled faintly as he laid in his bed in his soft prison uniform smelling like sandalwood and rosemary. Twelve year old Sasuke would have been mortified that Sakura had not only seen him naked, but had bathed him.
Seventeen year old Sasuke could admit he'd enjoyed the experience.
And maybe he was starting to understand the desire to have companionship — at least with her. He may have had countless fangirls when he'd been younger, but now people feared him and hated him. Being around Sakura brought him peace and even with his eyes shrouded in darkness — to him, she was the most beautiful person in the world.
He could still feel the sensation of her soft lips pressed against his forehead.
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A/N: I just wanted to write a sweet piece about SasuSaku after Sasuke regained his sanity and started realizing the depth of Team Seven's dedication to him. This chapter was originally going to be part of a series called Jailbreak where I have Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto vanish to a different dimension to wait out until Kakashi is Hokage before returning to Konoha. But, it got a little 3-way smutty (which I'm not good at writing) and I just wanted something sweet. I'll say this is cannon to my House Divided and Sooner Than You'd Think story-universe. Thanks for reading!