It had been a few hours. At this point, Sasuke was exhausted. He was pacing around holding his head. He knelt next to the bed just holding his head. Sasuke lowered herself next to him and started massaging his upper back trying to take some tension off him.
Sasuke closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"It's done" Sasuke whispered.
"Hmm?" Sakura asked.
"She is out, she is gone" Sasuke answered.
"Oh" Sakura said standing up "How do you feel?"
"Different" he answered while standing up.
He sat down on the bed and looked away.
Sasuke looked more like the way he looked before he was tortured.
Sakura didn't know what to say. She stayed quiet and silently left the room.
"Ino!" Sakura ran to Ino who was awake but still lying on the couch. She looked exhausted and her nose was bleeding profusely.
"That was a lot worse than I expected" Ino joked tiredly trying to stand up unsuccessfully.
"Are you okay?" Sakura said helping Ino lie back down on the couch.
"Yeah, I guess just exhausted" Ino responded.
"Please rest" Sakura said before falling asleep from exhaustion.
Sakura went to check on Sasuke but he was also asleep. She walked up to him and covered him with a blanket.
Sakura managed to get about an hour of sleep before being woken up by Naruto's constant noise in the kitchen. She had breakfast with him and explained what had happened. A lot of things had begun to make sense.
They were interrupted by Sasuke who just sat next to them.
"Hey, how did you sleep?" Sakura asked warmly.
"alright" Sasuke answered sounding more like his old self.
"Do you want breakfast?" she asked.
"Yeah" he answered.
He began to eat unceremoniously.
"You were hungry haha" Sakura joked to which Sasuke just answered with a sharp look.
"So…How do you feel" Sakura said trying to make conversation.
"Normal" He answered.
"What do you want to do now?" she asked.
Sasuke signed "Justice".
The rest of the day was uneventful. Sasuke was back to his normal and things were back to where they were before.
Ino created her report and presented it to Katsumi who suggested taking it to court.
"Alright, I don't have time for drama today. Make it quick" The judge said sitting down.
"Can you introduce yourself to the court?" Katsumi asked.
"My name is Yamanaka Ino, I am representing a sector of the analysis team from the intelligence division" Ino said.
"Thank you" Katsumi said "Did you write this report?" she added.
"Yes" Ino said.
"What does it say?" Katsumi continued.
"It shows the result of my investigation of Uchiha Sasuke's condition and my treatment" Ino added.
"Can you explain your findings to the jury?" Katsumi asked.
"Sasuke's mind was altered. His memories had been tampered with. This is called layering. When you administer truth serum to a person, it puts them in a vulnerable state in which their memories are easy to alter. If you describe sensory aspects of a memory, you may write a new memory on top of another. When I entered Sasuke's mind, I noticed great discrepancies within his memories" Ino explained.
"Here is a copy of Uchiha Sasuke's lab reports showing truth serum among the drugs administered to him" Katsumi said taking the copies to the judge and jury.
"In other words, Uchiha Sasuke's memories would not be reliable in interrogation" Katsumi declared.
"Objection, she is testifying" the opposing counsel said.
"Katsumi save it for your closing statement" the judge said.
"I'll rephrase" Katsumi said "Under the influence of truth serum, would Uchiha Sasuke have been able to provide any reliable information during the investigation?"
"No" Ino responded.
"What would you consider to be the objective of torture during interrogation?" Katsumi asked.
"To force the individual to confess the truth" Ino said.
"What would the objective of interrogating someone under truth serum be?" Katsumi asked.
"To punish" Ino responded.
"Objection calls for speculation" the opposing counsel said.
"Sustained, jury will disregard" the judge said.
"No more questions" Katsumi said returning to her chair with a smile.
The opposing counsel approached Ino "do you have any relationship with Uchiha Sasuke other than a professional relationship?" he asked.
"We attended the academy together" Ino stated.
"It says in this report over here, exhibit 24, that you were the only person who opposed the execution of Uchiha Sasuke, is that correct?" the lawyer asked.
"That is correct, I was hurting for a classmate" Ino declared.
"Were you hurting for a murderer?" The lawyer said.
"Objection, he is badgering the witness" Katsumi said.
"Could it be because you had romantic feelings for Uchiha Sasuke?"
"What? No, that has nothing to do with it" Ino denied.
"But you do admit that you have romantic feelings for Uchiha Sasuke" the opposing counsel said.
"Objection, relevance?" Katsumi said.
"It goes to the credibility of the witness" the opposing counsel said.
"I'll allow it" the judge declared.
"I mean, I had feelings for him when I was little but that has nothing to do with my study" Ino said.
"No further questions" The opposing counsel said sitting down.
"You honor redirect" Katsumi said with the judge signaling her to proceed.
"Could remind the court of the results of your study in your expert opinion?" Katsumi asked.
"Uchiha Sasuke''s memories were tampered with which would have led to ineffective interrogation" Ino said.
"Thank you" Katsumi said.
"Alright, it says here you have another witness. Is she ready to testify?" The judge asked.
"Your honor we would like a recess before continuing" Katsumi pleaded.
"Your honor the defense deserves a speedy process" the opposing counsel said.
"Hun, why should I give you a recess?" the judge asked.
"My client is exhausted; he is recovering from many injuries" Katsumi said.
"Your client looks fine to me" the lawyer said.
The judge sighed "You have until tomorrow morning, not a minute more" the judge said.
"Thank you" Katsumi responded.
They left the court and returned to the witness protection house.
"What happened there?" Naruto asked.
"We need that medic, I put her on the witness list, but I need her now" Katsumi said "I am not sure we can win without that medic" Katsumi said worriedly.
"We just have to get her to talk" Naruto said "We can do that" Naruto said optimistically.
"It's not that easy. I already talked to her, and she refuses to testify" Sakura said with a deep sigh.
"We can't stop trying" Naruto said.
"I need her by tomorrow" Katsumi said "I need you to try everything to bring this lady to testify" she finished.
Sakura pleaded with Sasuke to go see this lady with her and Naruto. He accepted and they made their way up the hill to her house.
Sakura began knocking on the lady's door to no answer. She spent a good 5-minute knocking on the door with no luck.
"Lady! Open the door, please" Naruto screamed.
The was no answer.
"I am begging you, open up. We need you" Naruto kept on going "I am not leaving until you open" Naruto kept on going.
Ten minutes of screaming went by with no response.
"You are living in peace here while my friend's fate is on your hands, it's not fair" Naruto screamed.
"Let's go, she won't open" Sakura signaled Naruto who kept on screaming.
"Do people here know what you've done?" Naruto screamed one more time "Hey dear neighbors listen to me, this lady over here tortured a cooperating witness and almost killed him. While she gets to live in peace my friend's fate is still not decided" Naruto screamed as loud as he had ever screamed.
"Shut up and get in" The lady opened the door and pushed them inside.
"You can't do that" the lady whispered to Naruto.
"You've finally opened the door" Naruto said loudly to which she responded with a shush "We need your help; we need you to testify tomorrow".
"I can't do that" the lady responded "I can lose my life" she finished.
"We can protect you" Sakura jumped in.
"No, you can't" the lady responded "I am really sorry, but this is going to ruin my life. My children don't know what I do. I could lose my license and my life over this" she responded.
"Who cares about your license, my friend needs you" Naruto said "You are a coward, wasn't it enough with Sasuke's suffering? You care if it ruins your life, you've already ruined his" Naruto yelled.
"I am sorry, I am sorry, but I can't" the lady said with tears in her eyes.
At that moment, Sakura asked Sasuke to enter the house as he had stayed outside waiting for them.
The lady's crying intensified, and she dropped to the floor in front of Sasuke "I am sorry, I am so sorry. Please forgive me" the lady pleaded with Sasuke "I never meant to make you suffer".
Sasuke just looked at her aloofly "Then fix it" he said.
"You know I can't, I am sorry, I am so sorry" she kept on crying "I can't, I can't" she kept on repeating.
"Let's go Sasuke, she doesn't really care about making this right" Naruto said "You are the worst of the worst" before leaving the house.
The next day came, and the court was ready to hear the next testimony. 30 minutes passed since the appointed time.
"Well, Katsumi?" the judge said.
"I am sorry for the wait your honor, but it looks like we will have to move on" Katsumi said looking at Sasuke worriedly.
"In that case, the defense can bring their first witness" the judge responded.
"Wait" The doors of the court opened showing Kakashi.
The peace seemed like an unknown concept at this point.