10.- Light
Desperate to get the antidote that would cure those people, the assistants and representatives of the feudal lords signed the arrangement.
Naruto, whom Kakashi Sensei had permitted to be a part of the mission, and other Shinobi members who would be in charge of taking the appropriate reports to start the process accompanied me to the meeting with the leaders.
I was still physically tired from not getting enough rest, but if all this sacrifice meant that Sasuke could get out of prison, then it was all worth it.
The six lords, as well as Tomaru and the scientist, were at the feudal residence in the Grass Land. Unable to move to their places of origin and waiting for my help, they all remained prostrate in suffering. Entering that place and seeing them defeated was like tasting victory.
Naruto was always by my side. The elders looked at him weakly, and I couldn't help but smile. I had to cover my mouth with the back of my hand and clear my throat to hide it.
"You are the hero of the Fourth War, Naruto Uzumaki." The Lord of the Water Country spoke, his lips barely able to open.
"The Hokage has sent a good shinobi, as expected." I heard one of the servants say that.
I ran my eyes over each of the men lying on stretchers, all crowded together in the same room and accompanied by some of their servants. I stood in the middle of the room and crossed my arms. When my gaze reached Tomaru, I thought I would prefer to see him in his current state, suffering from the same thing he had done to Sasuke.
"Are you going to stand there all day? The Hokage sent you to heal us," one of the lords said. I turned my face and gave him my full attention. "Don't waste your time."
"The Sixth Hokage sent me because this is a mission that will be paid for according to the contract filled out and signed by your representatives," I said. "As you know, it is not my duty to take care of your problems."
"What an insolent brat!"
"You should save your energy for survival, sir," Naruto said.
"Naruto is right, unless you want to die before the others."
The fear on the faces of the other feudals was a clear sign of their panic. Unexpectedly, a younger man approached me and took one of my hands. His bright blue eyes sparkled as he looked at me.
"Doctor, please ignore my father's words and take care of your health. I will pay more than the set price if necessary."
I pulled my hand away.
"Before that, I want to inform you that there will be a new trial for Sasuke Uchiha," I said aloud. "In a few days, the Chief Judge will be the one to dictate Sasuke's fate."
"That is not possible."
I turned to the Lord of the Land of Grass.
"Yes, it is possible; it is an order from our feudal lord, and you must not protest. We heard about the secret auction, and guess what? Yes! It is illegal to auction prisoners or parts of them."
Tomaru did not stop looking at me; he was angry, but he could not complain to me because the pain the poison caused in his body did not give him a chance to intervene.
"Yuto also participated in the auction and even offered money for one of the Uchiha's eyes," the old man argued against our lord. "He is not the one to judge us if he was also a participant."
"Did he sign anything agreeing to the auction? Not only did I go to the trouble of creating an antidote to cure you all, but I still have to put up with you. Let me explain to you that this is not how things work; you are in no position to demand anything when you have caused all this trouble."
I looked sideways at Naruto, who was still silent.
"Anyway, I just want you to know that at the trial, everyone, without exception, will be for Sasuke's freedom."
"I object," a man said.
"Then I object to giving you the antidote."
"You can't do that!" he shouted.
One of the men guarding him was a shinobi; he stood up and took his kunai without taking his eyes off me. Naruto positioned himself next to me.
"If you kill me, there will be no antidote, genius."
"You are so rude, Doctor," Tomaru finally spoke, his chest slowly rising and falling; his face was very haggard. "Your attitude makes me think it was you who poisoned us."
The murmuring began to agree with him.
"Mr. Tomaru, you are so witty. But I regret to tell you that it was not me who brought you all to the brink of death, but you should ask yourself why your plan did not work out.
"Plan? Which plan?" he asked.
"You know, that of poisoning Sasuke to get his rinnegan and sharingan and thus possess those powerful eyes. Then kill the rest of the lords and go to war to take the lands."
"That's a lie."
"Tell your colleagues and the judge. I wasn't supposed to give you the antidote and let you die like a rabid dog, but my orders were to give the medicine to the feudal lords, to the son of the Lord of the Grass Land and his friend, the traitorous scientist." I looked at the guy and smiled at him; he turned pale.
"Did you do it? You wanted to murder us?"
I opened my medicine kit and started to prepare the injections for the antidote. The atmosphere had become heavy, but all the hatred had gone towards the son of the lord.
Naruto was next to me when it was my turn to give Tomaru the antidote. I took his arm and punctured his elbow.
"Ah, sorry. My mistake. I'll do it again."
"You're doing it on purpose, you dirty filth," he shouted. "Ah! Stop hurting me!"
"I can't find your vein, sir." I lied.
"You know things won't stay like this; a simple ninja like you can't fight someone with a position like mine."
"That's true, but what you don't know is that I'm not a simple ninja, and indeed, things won't stay that way." I pulled out the needle after giving him the antidote. "You're going to rot in jail, you bastard. Naruto, take him away."
"What? Take me where? Let me go!"
"We have orders to arrest you for the attempted murder of our lord," Naruto said. "You, your father, and the scientist."
"I am the lord of the Land of Grass!" the old man complained from his bed.
"And I am Naruto Uzumaki, the one who saved your ass and the asses of everyone here."
Without another word, Naruto pulled Tomaru up and grabbed his wrists. Since he was still unwell and weakened, he couldn't resist; more Shinobi entered the room and took the scientist and the old man away; the rest of the feudals were stunned.
I looked at myself in the mirror. I had put on a formal suit and pulled my hair back into a ponytail. Sasuke's retrial would begin in less than two hours, and Kakashi Sensei, Shikamaru, Naruto, Ino, and I would all be present.
The investigation had been completed days ago, and there was no way they could find out that I was the one who had planned to poison the lords.
Kakashi sensei kept a close eye on the investigation and checked every piece of evidence that was found; together, we found a way to link everything to Tomaru and his accomplices.
The trial was held in the court of the Land of Fire. The current Supreme Judge of the Five Nations was an old man from the Land of Earth, but even though it might seem that he could be influenced by his compatriots, this man was known for being fair and reasonable.
More than half an hour had passed, my hands sweating and shaking as the reasons for Sasuke's life sentence were read out. The old man turned the page and adjusted his glasses to read the writing.
I closed my fist and took a deep breath, feeling my heart beat a thousand times an hour and the shivering coldness that had taken over my skin. Then a warm touch soothed the martyrdom of my nervousness. I opened my eyes and saw my sensei's hand. My eyes went to him, and even though he didn't look at me, I knew he was encouraging me.
"By agreement of six of the seven feudal lords who spoke at the previous trial, the defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment." "However, I did not attend the hearing on that occasion," the judge explained. "In turn, the judge decided to impose this sentence based on the votes cast against Sasuke Uchiha of the Land of Fire." Documents proving that the convict's rules and rights were violated were brought to me in this new trial."
The man cleared his throat and stood up with a large sheet in his hands.
"Sasuke Uchiha's food was poisoned; he was sentenced to life imprisonment, and Tomaru Namiko secretly tried to murder him. He was assigned to a cell with precarious and inhumane conditions; clinical studies indicate that the young man suffers from anemia."
As the judge spoke, images of Sasuke in prison came to my mind. The three longest years of my life were the darkest for him because he had suffered so much since he was a child and had to pay the price for carrying a surname disowned by cowards.
Each member of the jury paid attention to the words of the judge. Kakashi Sensei and Naruto sat next to me, and Sai and Ino sat right behind us.
The time passed slowly between the interventions of the members of the court. The feudal lords just watched from their seats. After Kakashi sensei had explained to the chief judge the conditions that had caused Sasuke to lose his mind, the old man asked me to speak as well.
I was not prepared; I did not think I would be asked, but I got up and walked to the witness stand. Every step I took was like walking on a tightrope, under the eyes of so many powerful men willing to spend a fortune to achieve their goals, all of whom may have hated me, but at those moments they could not do much.
I raised my face and looked at the judge. He lowered a folder and began to explain to me what my presence in this place was all about.
"You are the doctor assigned to the prisoner Sasuke Uchiha in an agreement signed by five of the seven feudal lords; highly recommended by the Sixth Hokage."
"That is correct, sir."
"Were you the one who discovered the anomalies in the aforementioned?"
"Yes, sir."
"Please explain to us how you knew who was behind the poisoning."
I cleared my throat and looked at Kakashi Sensei, who shook his head in affirmation.
"When I analyzed Sasuke's blood, I determined the type of poison that was used against him. Thanks to this, I was able to break down the elements that made it up, and upon further investigation, I discovered that these components can only be found in the Land of Grass. In addition, Sasuke is immune to a large number of poisons. The official list of toxic elements that can damage his body is confidential information that belongs to the Konoha Secret Archives. The scientist Kihiro works there; he has a direct connection to Tomaru Namiko, and it was he who provided him with this information."
"That's not true!" I heard Tomaru shout.
"Silence!" The judge ordered, "Please, doctor, continue."
"We have Kihiro's signed statement in which he admits to being an accomplice in this crime. Also in the group are Ichiro Kino, the guard; Taishi Taro, the head of the prison kitchen; and Kurumaya Seto, the warden of this prison. All of them, together with the feudal lord So Namiko, are involved in the attempted murder of Sasuke, in spite of the earlier sentence."
"Correct," the judge said, marking several sheets of paper with a black marker. "All this information matches the data I have in my possession," he said, turning the sheet over. "In addition, an illegal auction was organized to acquire the eyes of Sasuke Uchiha, which violates the forty-fifth code of the General Regulations for Processed Persons. I have here a list with the names and signatures of the participants who stamped in accordance with the auction."
I remembered that sheet, wondering how they could have gotten hold of it if the one who ended up with it was the man who conducted the sale. My eyes looked at the men sitting in front of the podium, all with sad faces of grief and humiliation.
"Thank you, Doctor; you may have a seat."
I reacted and bowed before going to my seat. The judge continued his speech, and in a deep voice, I heard Kakashi sensei talking to me.
"What is it? You seem confused."
"How did you get the list of signatures?" I asked.
Kakashi sensei didn't turn around to look at me, but there was something in the way he looked at the judge—it was that mocking look of satisfaction for having humiliated someone.
"Kakashi Sensei?"
"Who do you think conducted the auction?"
My eyes moved everywhere as my mind tried to find an answer.
"I don't know; I didn't see the man."
My former sensei's hand patted my knee twice and returned to his own lap. I expected him to give me an answer, but then my eyes widened and my mouth opened.
"Was it you?" I whispered as quietly as I could.
He lifted his index finger and brought it to his lips.
"Shh..."
I didn't say anything else and looked back at the stand; after all, he knew what had happened and let me act. Maybe all Kakashi Sensei wanted was to help me regain trust in my team and to know that I wasn't alone in my misery and that we were all trying to save Sasuke and bring him to the light, far away from the dreaded darkness.
My heart felt slightly warm again, and I smiled discreetly. That same feeling of companionship was what I wanted Sasuke to experience—to know that he was not alone and would never be.
"Well, with the evidence collected and carefully reviewed, as well as the previous testimonies, and mentioning that I have a document with the signatures of six feudal lords, except for So Namiko, in which they agree to change the defendant's sentence, I proceed to report the verdict of the court."
The old man took a paper from the jury and read it in silence, then marked a few things with his pen and sealed it tightly. He adjusted his glasses and lifted his face, taking a quick look at the courtroom and its members. I heard Naruto's breathing; he was as nervous as I was.
"The sentence of life imprisonment will be overturned due to flaws in the system and violations of his rights. Without being able to prove the aggression that was decided in the previous trial, by the power granted to me by the Court of the Five Great Nations, I rule that the citizen of the Land of Fire, Sasuke Uchiha, is hereby released."
My eyebrows arched and my forehead furrowed; my vision blurred; and Ino's arms were wrapped tightly around me as she cried with me.
Naruto wiped the small tears from his eyes, trying to act calm, when in fact he was just as happy as I was. Sai gave me small pats on the back, and when Ino finally released me from her hug, she grabbed Sai's shirt and kissed him in front of everyone.
Sai was completely shocked, and the rest of us turned away so as not to look at them and make them uncomfortable. That's when I saw Kakashi Sensei's face, his soft black eyes shining in the light of the chandeliers.
"You did a good job," he said, and he put his hand on my head. "I'm sorry you had to go through so much suffering, but I'm still proud of you."
I wiped away the tears rolling down my cheeks and nodded my head.
"Sakura, you're the best, huh?"
The trial was over, and with it, the bitter pain in my heart.
The days passed normally. The summer heat had arrived, and the work at the clinic slowed down. From Kakashi Sensei, I learned that a trial had been opened against Tomaru and his father, the feudal lord. The other lords were angry that their lives were in danger, and amidst accusations and betrayals, Tomaru and his accomplices waited for the verdict.
Sasuke was released from prison and taken directly to Konoha Hospital. Two days after his arrival, Kakashi Sensei allowed me to be the one to monitor his health, so I went to the hospital to take care of him.
The whole place was buzzing with the news, and when they saw me, they fell silent. I took the elevator up to the room where Sasuke was resting.
When I opened the door, I found Shizune making some notes on her clipboard. She looked at me and smiled kindly.
"Sorry I'm late; I could barely finish my other duties at the clinic."
"That's okay; I already checked Sasuke and put it in an IV bag. He's sleeping now."
He was lying in a hospital gown, and I noticed that he had a new bandage over his eyes. It wasn't the dark one with the seal he wore in prison; it was a healing one.
"Why are his eyes bandaged?"
"He arrived unconscious," she explained. "Although he was not seriously ill, his weakness and anemia prevented him from having enough energy to stay awake. In addition, the journey back to Konoha was long, and that was another important factor. I took the opportunity to examine his eyes, and everything is fine. I've cleaned them, and when he wakes up, you can remove the bandage."
Shizune closed the clipboard and handed it to me, then put a hand on my shoulder.
"I'll leave it in your hands."
"Yes."
She left the room, and I started reading Sasuke's medical file, then put it on a shelf and walked over to look at him. His skin was clean, although he had bruises on his arm.
I took a chair and moved it closer to his bed, where I sat down and stood beside him, watching him rest.
My hand rested gently on his, and I felt his cold fingers. Although it was still sad to see him like this, I felt calmer than before, knowing that there would be no more dark cells for him.
It had been two hours since I had entered the room, and I had just finished checking his heartbeat and lung ventilation. I went to the window to draw the curtain a little and let some light into the room.
A noise made me look back, and I noticed that Sasuke was moving. I immediately went to prevent the catheter from hurting him and held his arm. He looked very scared and confused as he tried to sit up.
"Sasuke, calm down."
"Sakura?"
"Don't move; I'm going to raise the bed; just give me a few seconds, okay?"
I pressed the button, and the bed started to tilt. When it was in a favorable position, I stopped. Sasuke was calmer, but he was still nervous; his constant lip movements were the sign of it.
"What's going on? I'm not in prison."
It was true; Sasuke lost consciousness and couldn't know that his sentence had been canceled.
"Sasuke, you see..." I paused to find a way to tell him.
"What? Sakura?"
"There was a new trial, and you were released."
There was a silence, and Sasuke didn't seem to believe my words.
"Am I dead?"
"No, really. The Supreme Judge set you free."
"Why?"
"Because... Your rights were violated."
I remembered that Shizune had given me permission to remove the bandage from his eyes, and when I brought my hands to the back of his head, he reacted quickly.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm removing your blindfold; you don't need it anymore, do you?"
He stood still as I unraveled the bandage and pulled it aside; then I removed the gauze covering his eyes, which remained closed.
"You can open your eyes now." I said.
Slowly, his eyelids lifted and after three long years, I saw Sasuke's eyes again and felt that tingle inside me. He just stared at me without saying anything and even though I wanted to smile in a decent way, I know I didn't do it right because I could already feel my face getting wet.
"Why are you crying?" he asked as he tried to look, for sure the light was too strong for him.
"It's happiness," I assured him, wiping my eyes, "see, I told you I would get you out of that place. There is no more darkness, Sasuke."
"Is it a sunny day?"
I nodded.
"It is."
But Sasuke kept looking at me and I felt strange, I thought I had something on my face and I got nervous.
"Well, since you woke up, I'm going to..."
"Are you okay?" he interrupted.
"What?"
"You have a different expression on your face, like you're exhausted? No, it's something more familiar. How exactly did I gain my freedom?"
I looked down.
"I told you, the judge reviewed your case."
"Why did they do a retrial? The feudal lords wouldn't allow it. They hate me."
"W-well... Kakashi Sensei was keeping an eye on you."
Sasuke remained silent, closed his eyes and reached for my hand.
"Don't do that," I asked, "you'll hurt yourself from the IV bag."
He pulled me towards him, and I almost lost my balance. I held on to the mattress with my right hand since the other one was trapped by Sasuke's hand; my face was about eight inches away from his, and I looked at his beautiful features. Then he opened his eyes and looked directly at me; only milliseconds were enough for me to know what he was going to do, although in the end there was nothing I could do to stop it: Sasuke used his Sharingan on me.
I was in a trance-like state, and although it was almost the blink of an eye for me, when I reacted, I had my head down and was clutching the edge of the bed.
"What did you do?" I asked, trying not to fall, and I felt dizzy. "You shouldn't use your Sharingan; you're still weak."
I lifted my face, and he wasn't looking at me anymore; his eyes were like he was thinking about something sad.
"Sasuke?"
"Can I ask you a favor?"
"Tell me."
"I want to talk to Kakashi."
It had been three weeks since Sasuke had been released from prison, and since then, Naruto and Kakashi sensei had visited him. I wanted to ask them what they were talking about, but I refrained, content to watch Sasuke's health improve until the day he was discharged.
But on that day, I could not find him.
When I entered his room, there was no one there, and I had to ask about his whereabouts, and then I was informed that he had been discharged from the hospital.
So where had Sasuke gone? I thought maybe Kakashi sensei had gotten him an apartment to live in, but it would not be wise to ask about his whereabouts.
Sasuke was free now, and that was the most important thing. Although my love for him hadn't changed at all, I now understood that I would be happy even if our paths parted.
More days passed; I cut sheets from my calendar, and during this time I wanted to return to my daily life. I visited my parents, worked at the clinic, and learned about the sentences for Tomaru and the others.
The guard, the cook, and the warden would be sentenced to seven years. The scientist would spend fifteen years in prison, while Tomaru and his father would spend forty.
Maybe it was unfair to give the crime of poisoning to the lord and his son, but they deserved it. Sasuke would never have gotten out of prison if I hadn't scared away the leaders by putting their lives on the line.
When I returned to my apartment one evening, I lay down on the couch to rest. I had had a hard day of surgery, and my back was sore from the strain. As my mind wandered, I remembered something and suddenly sat up.
"Oh, that's right! I forgot to buy bread."
I put my feet down and went to put on my shoes.
"How absent-minded I am, how absent-minded."
I opened the door to go out and gasped when I saw a person standing in front of the apartment. It took me a few seconds to recognize him by the kind of dark clothes he was wearing.
"Sasuke..."
He looked around and frowned.
"I'm sorry I scared you; I was told you lived here."
I remembered that I hadn't combed my hair properly and desperately tried to fix it with my fingers.
"Yes, I have become independent from my parents."
The wind blew lightly and moved everything I was trying to fix out of my hair.
"I assumed you were staying at a location designated by Kakashi Sensei. Actually, I would have liked to know where you live so I could visit you, but I don't want to bother you." I reacted; I was talking too much. "I mean, I'm very busy at work, and I don't have time for anything.
Sasuke was still silent; he had a strange expression on his face. He looked like he wanted to tell me something, but he was meditating a lot.
"I'm sorry, I'm talking too much, aren't I?"
"Thank you."
"Huh? Thank you? Why are you thanking me?"
His dark eye and rinnegan looked at me, though a lock of hair covered part of his face.
"You know why," he replied.
"It may be that you... You saw in my memories that day in the hospital, didn't you?" I was embarrassed.
"Yes."
I swallowed and pursed my lips; my eyes couldn't look directly at him, and I searched for something to distract me.
"You must think I'm a horrible person."
"I think it was stupid." I grieved even more when he mentioned it. "Brave, but stupid. Haven't you always been like that?"
After saying that, he forced me to turn around.
"Did you call me stupid? Well, I was angry. Are you mad at me?"
"You got me out of prison; I think I was a nuisance to you this time."
I felt my cheeks burning, and I was sure I saw him smile.
"Well... Anyway, what are you going to do from now on? Now that you are free, what are you going to do with your life?"
"I want to travel the world," he said, looking at the sky. "I want to see with my own eyes what is in it and what I missed when I was blinded by revenge."
The sunset reflected on Sasuke's face, the wind ruffled his black hair, and the scene conquered my heart. This was the great reward I had after so much crying: to see Sasuke as free as he deserved.
"Sounds good. Although it's kind of sad that you have to leave so soon." I confessed sheepishly.
"I spent more than three years in prison; this is something I really need."
I smiled slightly and looked at him again. I already knew the answer to my question, but it would be fun to hear it one more time before he left.
"What if... I ask you to take me with you?"
Sasuke blinked without showing any emotion, and I felt really stupid. I wanted to tell him that it was a joke, but he stepped forward.
"It's a trip to atone for my sins." He replied.
"I understand."
"But I guess you have to atone for yours too," he smiled subtly, "so..."
He extended his hand to me.
"Let's go together."
My heart was pounding, and without thinking, I took his now warm hand.
Sasuke didn't know it, but he was shining brighter than any light my eyes could see. We were both completely free of darkness.
END
Thank you for taking the time to read this fanfic. I hope you liked it.