Naruto happens to be Sakura's next visitor, sometime the next morning. When his vivid orange jumpsuit comes through the doorway, Sakura can feel herself relax, her heartrate calm. The uncertainty she had lain with all through the night had kept her awake. Her only company, though she had been expecting a worse kind at any moment.
They may have released her restraints, but she knew better than to trust that false security. She knew she was not out of the woods, yet.
Naruto was full of energy, as always, bouncing on his heels and wringing his hands. He launches into a long winded story of going on an extended mission with some old perv that was going to teach him some new tricks. He spoke so quickly that Sakura struggled to keep up. She felt overstimulated with this information, especially after everything that had already happened. Things they hadn't even got the chance to talk about yet.
"Wait, wait Naruto, hold on-" her hands are waving frantically in front of her face to catch his attention when she interrupts him. "When are you supposed to be leaving, again?"
"Today. Like, right now, actually." He says it with an easy laugh, but he's scratching the back of his head like he's nervous about her reaction.
It's warranted.
"You can't just leave!" She almost yells, but reigns it in with a control she wasn't confidant she would be able to find in time. "After- you can't- you haven't even told me how Sasuke is doing!"
"Oh! Ahhh- he's doing ok! He got really burned, I guess, but they say he's going to be fine."
"No, Naruto. Mikoto died. How is he doing?"
Naruto falters at this.
"I don't really know… he hasn't been talking much."
Her eyes sharpen, shooting him a look of cold jade.
"Exactly. And you're just going to leave him, when he needs friends now more than ever?"
She doesn't want to talk about how much she needs one. She doesn't want to tell him the things they're accusing her mother of- accusing her of. A part of her is worried if he knew, it might make him look at her differently.
But she can't pretend like she's arguing this just for Sasuke's sake. She can't deny the panic that seized her the moment Naruto mentioned leaving the village.
"Sorry, young lady, but he doesn't have much of a choice."
The unfamiliar voice startles her- her heart is racing when a man enters the room. He's a big guy; tall enough to have to duck under the doorway. His white hair boasts a volume Sakura is secretly jealous of, and his hitae-ate is customized in such a way that it looks like he dons tiny ears. Or horns. Sakura is unsure of which.
"What do you mean I don't have a choice?" Naruto's tone is impudent- his nose scrunches in the way it does when he's particularly peeved.
He doesn't seem to feel threatened or wary of the man at all, and this helps calm Sakura's nerves. Mostly.
"You said it was a chance for me to learn cool new jutsu- not that I had to!" He continues, his voice pitched high in a whine.
The older man lifts his palms in easy surrender.
"Hey, don't take it out on me. Hokage's orders."
That's enough to snuff out Naruto's rebellion, apparently. He turns back to Sakura with wide eyes.
"You're right though, Sakura-chan. I don't think Sasuke should be alone, either. Can you keep an eye on him, for now? Just until I get back?" Genuine worry laces its way through his expressive brows.
Sakura's hesitation is heavy in her gut. Of course she wants to watch over her teammate- be there for him in a time in which he will need support. Sakura remembers the feeling of this particular type of loss well. How easily it can eat through you, ravenous in its consumption.
She doesn't want Sasuke to have to go through that, alone.
But what if he has been told of her mother? What if he wants nothing to do with her, as a result? What if the Uchiha will not permit her proximity to him, regardless of how he feels?
Sakura's smile is tight and uneasy as she makes a promise she's unsure she can keep.
"Of course, I will."
Naruto's acceptance is instantaneous- he beams his thousand watt smile at her and flashes a thumbs up. "I'll be back before you know it!" He promises in return.
And then he's leaving the room, and she allows him to leave without knowing about her own turmoil. She allows him to leave without noticing the red chaffing on her left wrist, where she had been bound to her bed not even 12 hours prior.
What point would there be in sending him out of the safety of the village with worries for both his teammates plaguing his mind?
There was nothing he could do, in either case.
But her assumption that he was unaware of the current state of her reputation was incorrect. She had believed-falsely- that his cheerfulness and boisterous optimism with her was a sure sign of his ignorance.
In reality, Naruto knows what they have been accusing her of. Not that he believes any of that. But deep down, he knows there's nothing he can do. He knows that to have any real power in this village, it had to be backed up with actual power.
Something he just does not have yet.
It solidifies the one goal he's always strived for- to become Hokage. But now, it's for more than just recognition. More than mere acknowledgment. He needs to become Hokage to ensure the protection of his precious people. It's the only way he can. Politics went way over his head- he had no idea how to play that game. But if he was the single highest authority in the village, he wouldn't really need to know, right? Everyone else would have to play his game.
So when he walks passed the village gates, his chest is swimming with worry for both his teammates. But he knows how strong they both are. He has faith they'll be ok in his absence.
And this is just something he has to do.
xXx
Other than the nurses coming in to check up on her and present her with the bland hospital food they try to pass off as 'lunch', Kakashi is Sakura's only other visitor, sometime later that evening.
He takes her in silently at first, his hands in his pockets and a strange tenseness to his shoulders. His lone eye immediately catches on the aggravated ring of skin around her wrist, but he does not comment on it.
Sakura follows his silent example, unsure the reasoning behind his visit. Unsure if he, too, is about to hurl accusations at her. Or perhaps announce his own brand of departure.
Everything feels so up in the air to her, now. Like she had been standing on solid ground, only to find herself in a sudden mudslide, trying to keep from being buried alive. Not knowing which way is even up, anymore.
She hates how unreadable her sensei is- even without the mask covering half his face, she knows she wouldn't be able to guess what he was thinking. That one, slate eye speaks volumes about how well he plays his cards; how close to the chest he holds them.
And then he heaves a huge sigh, as if in exasperation, before cocking his head over his shoulder.
"Well? Ready to go? I can't imagine you would want to stay in such a drab room any longer than absolutely necessary."
Sakura hesitates. Chief Inabi's warning rings clearly in her ears.
"I was told not to leave."
"I've already spoken with the nurses- they've cleared for you release this morning."
"No, it wasn't-" Sakura stops short. Maybe Kakashi-sensei honestly had no idea what had happened? Her heart sinks into her stomach. She doesn't want to have to be the one to explain everything to him. She doesn't want to speak the words aloud.
"Dunno who told you that," he continues, blithely. "But if the nurses cleared you, then you're cleared. A bar from release despite good health can only come directly from the Hokage- of which, there is none."
Her eyes study him, trying to figure out how much he knows. That was a strange line to just throw out at random.
She tosses out a cautionary stone, seeing if it sets off any hidden landmines.
"Can we go see Sasuke, first?"
The man before her noticeably winces.
"I'm not sure that's a great idea, just yet. Maybe give it a little more time?"
Ah. So he is updated on current events, then.
She can't quite get a read on his personal feelings revolving the matter, though. It makes her anxious. Nevertheless, she finds herself nodding softly in agreement.
"Yeah, ok. Did you- I mean, have you seen him yet?"
"I did. He's recovering well. He'll be alright."
"Did he… say anything?"
At the question, it's Kakashi's turn to hesitate. She can see the cogs in his mind working as his eye darts between hers.
"I've spoken to him," he settles on in answer. Sakura is dissatisfied with it.
He knew she would be.
"Come on," he insists in a soft tone, again gesturing over his shoulder as he turns to the door. "I bet your stomach will thank you for getting some real food in it. My treat."
He leaves the room to give her the privacy she needs to change out of the stiff hospital robe. There's a pile of clothing she recognizes to be her own on the table by the door. It hadn't been there before.
Her silver-haired sensei takes her to a small establishment serving yakisoba. The dining area boasts only two tables- both of which are blessedly empty.
They order quickly and as they wait for their food, the silence becomes tense- thick in the way the Land of Rain's air almost drowns you for attempting to breath it.
She fiddles with the worn hem of her skirt anxiously.
Something occurs to Sakura then, and she immediately opens her mouth to speak if only to disrupt that horrid silence.
"How did you get my clothes?" The set he had left for her were a variation of her typical summer uniform- nothing close to the formal yukata she had last been wearing.
"Ah- I, well, took the liberty of stopping by your home to pick up a few things you may need- clothes included."
Startled, Sakura looks around his form for any bags she may have missed- or had she left them in the hospital room because she hadn't noticed?
"They're back at my place." He offers quickly.
And this sets off an array of questions, the first of which should have been initially addressed.
"Wait, why were you in my home going through my things?" Her face heats at the implications- just how thorough had he been? And why do that in the first place?
Something behind his eye hardens- it's slight, like clouds growing minisculely darker. Edging just a bit closer to something dangerous.
"Your house has been roped off. It's being considered an active crimescene for an ongoing investigation."
Sakura's usual rosy cheeks blanche at the news.
"Even I'm not allowed in, actually. I had to have a friend gather your things for me." The admission is meant to make her feel better about it. And strangely, it does, but only in the way that she doesn't have to think about her sensei seeing her unmentionables. Some random stranger is much preferrable.
Sakura wants to laugh at how unimportant that simple embarrassment is in the wake of everything else- even after being told she cannot return to her own home for now.
Their food is set before them, but neither move to eat. Sakura watches as the steam rises from the dish, evaporating into nothing. Cooling down and stopping altogether.
"You don't have to stay with me, if you don't want." The statement is delivered with an out of place tenderness that has her attention snapping firmly back onto him.
"We can put you up in a hotel in the meantime, if you would be more comfortable there."
Sakura begins to nod her head in agreement. After all, she doesn't want to be a burden to anyone. She doesn't want to take up any space. She just wants to shrink within herself, curling into a tiny little ball, and wait and hope for this whole thing to blow over. Hope things go back to how they were, even when a very loud part of her warns her that it won't be possible.
"I would prefer if you stayed with me, of course."
Large, wary eyes question if that's the truth.
"Why?"
"Because," he says easily as he finally reaches for his chopsticks. The wood lets out a satisfying snap! as he breaks them apart. "The worst thing you could do at a time like this is be alone."
She moves to argue, to offer some vapid reassurance that she'll be fine on her own, but he pins her with that one, lone eye. Something speaks to her from within those stormy depths. Something she recognizes- some deep, prevailing sadness that is familiar.
"Just trust me on this one," he says. She doesn't really know this man- even as their sensei, he was still shrouded in so much mystery. She doesn't know the things he's lived through, the things he's seen. But it's very clear to her that some part of him understands, on a level so deep that she has not been able to reach herself, yet.
So, she decides to trust him.
xXx
It hasn't even been an entire week since the incident, but already it feels like lifetimes to Sakura. It's so far from her usual 'normal' that she feels like she's been cast into an entirely different body, in an entirely different world.
She attempted to see Sasuke at the hospital- only once.
The two Uchiha guarding him had sneered and looked down at her like she was a worm they couldn't wait to crush underfoot.
She got similar stares from Uchiha tending to their business at the market. Even those without a drop of Uchiha blood steered clear of her- shot her wary glances and whispered to each other in harsh tones as she passed. One man had even spat at her feet.
Posters boasting rather accurate renditions of her mother's face occupied the occasional billboard or wooden post. Words labeling her as 'convict at large'- big bold letters at the bottom sealing her fate:
WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE.
Murmurings of "traitor" and "terrorist" followed Sakura everywhere she went. She could not seem to escape it.
The whole thing made her nearly viscerally ill.
She had confided in Kakashi later that night. She had just been so pent up with upset she couldn't help herself. Her people pleasing tendencies could not stomach so many people being so angry with her- and her being at a total loss in how to fix it.
He listened to her with rapt attention and a patience she did not know he possessed. When she had finished her venting with a hiccup, he only nodded in soft acceptance.
"Misunderstandings and unpredictable violence cause fear, and fear often leads people to be cruel to those who have done nothing to deserve it."
It may not have been much, but it reassured her, all the same. Knowing he wouldn't be one of them. Acknowledging that she did not deserve it.
He had been sure to escort her wherever she wanted to go the next day, citing boredom and a rare day exempt from any pressing matters befitting his station.
It helped. His tall frame acting as a buffer to the harsh stares and sharp words. Watching the weight of his heavy gaze pin an Uchiha woman that had not initially been swayed by his presence- how she had stammered her nervous departure under its weight.
He was reassuring in his sturdy dependability, but he wasn't much of a talker. And what Sakura really needed right then was a friend- someone to yammer with about nothing.
She wasn't surprised when her feet led her to the colorful Yamanaka shop. Kakashi busied himself with a colorful grouping of pansies at the front of the store and Sakura threw herself into the arms of one of her oldest friends.
Ino's thick ponytail whipped around them as she used the hug to swing Sakura in a circle.
"Finally! I've been scouring the village, looking for you!"
"Sorry," Sakura responds with chagrin, as if she was at fault for her sudden displacement. "I've been staying with Kakashi-sensei."
"Oh," Ino's voice is flat with genuine surprise. Her eyes flick to the man by the door who has moved his faux interest to a couple of iris' boasting a deep, vivid indigo. "Well at least you're not alone," she finishes, but Sakura could tell there might have been more to the thought. "You know you could stay with me, too."
Sakura winces. "I didn't want to be a burden or anything…"
"Why would you be a burden?" The question is sharp, direct. Something Sakura had always secretly envied Ino for. How she could so easily speak her mind with confidence. "If anything, you're the one being burdened- what with how they're turning your entire home inside out." She leans forward as if to divest a particularly tragic secret. "They absolutely ruined your mother's flower garden. Can you believe it? Even the marigolds have been trampled on; I helped your mother plant those myself!" Her face is genuinely crestfallen, as if expecting to share her commiseration, but her blonde brows raise in question when Sakura does not mirror it.
She doesn't know how to respond- she didn't want to believe the things they were saying about her mother at first. But after sitting with it- staying up that first night and ruminating on every conversation she ever had with her mother- every snide remark towards the Uchiha, all the vague threats Sakura had just written off as hopeless frustration- she's not entirely sure she can defend her mother anymore.
But neither can she disparage her- especially not in front of Ino. Ino, who had lost both her parents. Ino, who had stayed with them in those early years so she didn't have to be alone until she was ready. Who looked up to Mebuki as a maternal figure because Mebuki had taken her in like her own daughter.
She remembers her mother's gentle smiles as she served the girls' dinner together- let them stay up late to practice braiding each other's hair. The way she would surrender both her hands to give the girls soft back scratches on those particularly rough days- how Sakura cannot remember there being anyone there to comfort her as she raised two girls, alone.
Her conflicting feelings leave Sakura feeling weightless and lost.
"Don't worry about what everyone else thinks." Ino had never needed to use her family jutsu to know what went on in Sakura's mind at any given moment. "Your mother is a hero, as far as I'm concerned."
Shock washes over Sakura's face at the bold statement. She shoots a worried glance at Kakashi-sensei. His meandering around the hydrangeas is less than convincing. She knows he's listening, but he does not react.
"Ino!" Sakura takes it upon herself to scold the other girl. "You can't say that!"
"Why not?" The blonde challenges with blatant attitude. "Can you really claim they didn't deserve it? They're the ones who started it. They're the reason I have to take twice as many missions as anyone else if I want to keep the flower shop."
Sakura cannot fathom what it would be like to have to pay both a mortgage and a business lease at their age. And that was with Mebuki volunteering her time and money to help, too.
Still-
"That doesn't justify-"
"Of course it does. An eye for an eye, right?"
Ino's lucky the shop is empty except for Kakashi-sensei, who doesn't seem the least bit alarmed by her bold outbursts.
Such statements could get her into a lot of trouble if overheard by the wrong people.
Sakura settles for shushing her, to insist she keep her voice down, to not say such things out loud. What she really wants is to argue- to insist that to think such things is wrong on a fundamental level.
Death does not justify death.
But Ino doesn't know any Uchiha. She hasn't had to fight her way out of certain death alongside one. She hasn't had one's soft smiles set her heart aflutter.
She isn't familiar with the specific brand of genuine motherly love that could be bestowed upon you with just one of the matriarchs gentle touches, the tinkling of her soft laughter.
Something that now, no one would ever experience again.
Sakura doesn't like the twisted feeling in her stomach that wrings tighter with every word Ino speaks. So Sakura quickly excuses herself with false smiles and hurried waves.
She makes a beeline for Kakashi's apartment as he shadows her quietly.
When he goes to unlock the front door, it bursts out of Sakura before she has a mind to stop it.
"What do you think- of my mother? Of what she did?" She honestly does not know how to feel, at this point.
He looks startled by the question, like he wasn't expecting it. But as he swings the front door open, he doesn't move to enter. His hands go to his pockets, and his face goes up to the ceiling as he gives it true thought.
When he deigns to look back down at her, it's with an expression full of empathy and pardon. He feels as if he's looking at a younger version of himself.
"I don't think my opinion has any relevance. Or the opinions of anyone else. I think your opinion is the only one that really matters, in the end. What other people think isn't any of your business. Don't let it derail you. Don't let it push you into betraying yourself just to please others."
xXx
Oddly enough, Kakashi's advice serves Sakura well. It's enough to bolster her into leaving the apartment, even if it means without Kakashi's presence, since he had left early that morning for an errand he said could not wait.
His words- exactly: "I promised to help a friend with a haunting."
So, clearly, it must be urgent.
But his absence doesn't bother Sakura. Even when she stops by her house, eyeing the yellow caution tape with contempt- as if there was really anything dangerous within it. Even when she spots the trampled garden Ino had mentioned yesterday. Only one, lone golden flower is left standing in the wake of its fallen brethren. The garden rested directly against the fence- you needed to be awfully deliberate to tred here.
She silences her mind and really tries to focus in on her feelings. And she's not at all surprised to find the anger that lurks there. Anger at having been barred from her own home. Anger at feeling ostracized from the rest of the village- looked at like some lowly criminal. Anger at feeling so at odds with her best friend- someone she had long considered to be a sister.
None of this anger would reside within her if it wasn't for her mother- for her actions. Actions that led to her own daughter's privacy being rifled through, for her reputation and honor being questioned. And then to just abandon her?
And when an Uchiha policeman walks through the front door and out to the walk, Sakura doesn't even mind that he checks her with a hard shoulder, even when she moved out of his way.
He can think of her however he would like. He can believe whatever he wants about her mother.
Because she's already made up her own mind.
And she agrees with him.
She agrees with them all.
The last marigold lies broken and mangled in her wake.
She makes her way to the hospital, intent on seeing Sasuke this time. Needing to let him know that she was on his side.
But she doesn't want to lose her nerve, so she avoids traversing through the heart of Konoha and careens to the quieter part.
The part that was near abandoned- though she didn't know how anyone could claim that when those alleys were constantly crowding in ghosts.
Still, she would much prefer the ghosts for company at the present moment.
Wind whistles through a decaying shutter. The shade seems to deliver an extra chill upon her shoulder.
She's quietly withdrawn into her own thoughts. Her soft footsteps echoing off the empty stalls is the only sound she registers, until-
"Sakura."
It was a mere whisper on the wind, but Sakura heard it. She stops short, swiveling her head back and forth, taking stock of her surroundings.
She was currently standing in a corner where the store fronts and shops are more run down and dilapidated- never to be rebuilt after the passing of their original owners. The Yamanaka flower shop was on this street as well, though it was one of the only ones that was still upkept. The location was likely a high contributor to its low foot traffic, though.
It was sad- Sakura had fond memories of holding her father's hand as a little girl, walking down this very street and picking out a sweet treat from the dango stall everytime she passed it because her father never had the heart to deny her.
Now her eyes fall over it for half a second before darting away- she can't stand inviting those memories back right now. Not when it feels like more of her life is being ripped away from her.
She cannot find the source of the sound- no one else is really out here today. But she senses it- the subtle flicker of chakra at the opening of a dark alley. Genjutsu. It had to be.
She walks into the alley without a second thought. Passed the genjutsu barrier. Because she knows who's calling her name. She would know that whisper anywhere. And here she had thought-
"Mom…" Sakura nearly collapses from shock when her mother immediately embraces her. She doesn't know whether she should hug her back or pull away. She doesn't know how to make sense of any of the emotions whirling and competing within her belly.
"Sakura! I'm so glad you're safe!" And then she's walking down the alley, her mother pulling her by the wrist. "We need to get out of here- now. Don't worry about anything you may still have at home. We'll replace it. We just need to get out of Fire Country."
This jolts Sakura from her pseudo trance. She tugs her hand away with more force than really necessary. Her mother's nails scratch her from the sudden escape.
Mebuki looks back at her daughter, features drowning in concern and worry- her vibrant eyes dart around like a spooked hare who hears the howling of wolves closeby.
"Sakura, we don't have any time. I need to get you out before-"
But Sakura is having none of it.
"What did you do?!"
Mebuki is stunned by the sharpness of her tone. It shows in the dramatic raising of her eyebrows, in how she takes a cautious step back from her daughter.
Did she really not expect her to be angry?
Sakura wants to laugh in her mother's face.
But Mebuki doesn't answer right away. Her eyes become clouded, hazy, as if she's trying to find a clear path through her own thoughts. Remorse is apparent in the wilt of her shoulders, and it's the only thing that keep Sakura from hurtling hurtful accusations. It's the only thing that keeps her mouth shut, allows her mother to collect her thoughts and respond in her own time.
Because after everything, Sakura wants her mother to tell her that she didn't do anything- that she's innocent of all that occurred that night, everything they're accusing her of. That they've got it all wrong.
Sakura wants- more than anything- to believe that to be the truth.
And she knows if her mother claims it to be true, she would believe her. She knows that her mother would not lie to her about this.
"I never meant for it to go that far." Her mother says, instead.
Something within Sakura cracks. Something vital.
As if her mother could hear it, she's on her knees before her daughter in an instant, her hands on her shoulders. It's meant to be a comfort.
It offers little.
It feels more like a snake winding its body around her throat.
If she can feel the tremble in her daughter's shoulders, she does not comment on it.
"There was never supposed to be any poison- the alcohol was supposed to be laced with a chakra inhibitor, that's all! And Fugaku was the only intended target for assassination! I trusted the wrong people- they weren't who I thought they were- and that's on me. But Sakura, please, you have to believe me- I never meant for so many people to get caught in the crossfire. Even if they were Uchiha, I never meant-"
"Your intentions are irrelevant, though, aren't they?" Sakura snaps back, and her tone is cold. Colder than either of them have ever heard it before. "In the end, what happened, happened. And it was all because of you." Sakura takes a step back to shake off her mother's hands; Mebuki does not try to reach back out. She recoils instead, bringing her hands together in a ball against her chest, as if she could protect her heart from the rejection that way.
She nods in defeat; in acceptance.
"Yes, you're right. You are right, Sakura. I saw a chance- a chance to finally right the wrongs that had been committed against us. Against this village. And it backfired, horribly. If I could take it back, I would. But that's not the way the world works, and I can't take it back. And I'm sorry- I'm so sorry for how this has affected you-"
"You left. You just left me." Sakura interjects, numb.
Mebuki looks up at her with panicked eyes. "Toru promised he would retrieve you and keep you safe. But he got caught, too. I never meant to leave you behind- that's why I'm here, Sakura. I would never leave you. I'm so sorry it seemed that way."
But the words are little comfort.
"Everything I've worked so hard for- it means nothing now! I'll never be more than the daughter of a traitor! You've ruined my life!"
"It was no life to live in the first place, honey. You were too young to remember- what Konoha used to be. What it is supposed to be! Konoha used to stand for something- the Will of Fire used to mean something. Now, all it means is the Will of the Uchiha. And if you are not already one of them, you will never truly become anything."
Sakura shakes her head, her features set in stone. "You're wrong."
Mebuki looks at her daughter- really takes her in. The rigid shoulders, confident in her decision. The hard set of her eyes. Her innate stubbornness and refusal to back down- Mebuki can sympathize with these. Because Sakura got them from her. But her soft heart- her daughter's consistent and adamant hope in humanity- these things she got from her father, Kizashi. And though they were actively working against Mebuki in this moment, she can't help but feel a tinge of pride in the person her daughter was becoming.
"Maybe I am wrong." She concedes with a sad smile. "I hope I am, Sakura. But none of this changes the fact that you're in danger, now. I admit it is my fault, but that's why I can't leave you here. That's exactly why you need to come with me. Honey, please. You have to come with me." On her knees, eyes wide and hands balled against her chest, Mebuki knows she is begging. She can only hope it will be enough to sway her daughter.
"I can't do that. My teammates need me. My village needs me. And if you want to run away like a coward, then that will be your legacy- not mine."
Mebuki cannot stop the small gasp that escapes her- the fear that floods her bloodstream as her daughter turns her back and walks out of the alley without another word. Only when the pink haired girl turns the corner and is out of sight does Mebuki hear the tell-tale signs of sandaled feet running. The muted sobs that can be heard just as her own tears begin to trail down her face.
But Mebuki knows better than to go after her- to force her. Mebuki knows she has no right to interfere with her daughter's life more than she has done already.
And If the Uchiha have allowed her daughter the freedom to roam the streets of Konoha, perhaps it was a sign she would be okay, after all. That Sakura's fortitude and loyalty to her team and village was great enough to overshadow her own mother's treason.
Mebuki knows she must respect Sakura's decision. Even as it cleaves both their hearts into two.