Chapter 7
Sakura barely noticed Sasuke lingering in her doorway, an imposing figure reminiscent of a vampire seeking explicit permission to enter.
It was the first moment they truly acknowledged each other since that tense encounter, when he had forced her hand down his chest. Heat rushed to her cheeks, an unwelcome sensation that stirred a mix of embarrassment and something else entirely.
"I have to go to the hospital," she blurted, breaking the silence.
Sasuke stood there, oddly out of place in her inviting home. She couldn't envision him seated at her table, sprawled in her chair, or sleeping in her guest bed.
"The hospital? You're hurt?" His brow furrowed, a flash of confusion breaking through his stoic facade.
"No, not at all! I've been away and just want to check on things. I'll be back by morning. In the meantime, feel free to make yourself at home—use the groceries, whatever you need. Just… don't let anyone into my room. There are some forbidden scrolls I haven't finished, along with other confidential papers."
Sakura was confident her wards were sturdy enough to keep any unwanted visitors out, regardless.
She returned from her bedroom a few moments later, a long white coat brushing the floor, her fingers weaving soft pink strands into a braid. He had not moved.
Holding her breath, Sakura brushed past him. A part of her yearned for him to reach out, to grip her elbow and ask her to stay—acknowledge the awkwardness, but revel in her presence.
Yet, that longing felt humiliating. She was smart, one of the sharpest, and despite their distance, she understood his unspoken language. Where Naruto and Sasuke exchanged blows, she and Sasuke spoke through their eyes.
As she met his mismatched gaze, a wave of despair washed over her. She knew he would vanish before she could return from work, and the weight of that certainty stung deep as any wound.
He'd been unsuccessful.
As the four of them approached the village outskirts, Sakura came into view—a burst of color in pink, red, and white. She set her book aside and stood from the bench, waving to the group.
"I was a little early; my lunch is always at an odd time."
"How'd you know we were leaving?" Suigetsu asked with a lopsided grin. "Not that I mind getting to tell you goodbye."
Sakura smiled genuinely. "A girl knows these things. I brought you all a little something."
Next to her sat a cloth sack and a large water jug. She picked them up and walked toward Suigetsu.
"I found this at the hospital gift shop. All the nurses have one—keeps your water cold and is double insulated. No sweating, and you can toss it around without breaking it. I noticed you stopped carrying your other bottle."
Moving down the line, she reached Jugo. Digging into her bag she pulled out a jar filled with birdseed, encased in beautiful fabric mesh. She handed it to him, and he traced the words scrawled on the label, hoping someone would read them.
The other jar contained white pills, and Jugo eyed them warily.
"I wrote down the directions for the birdseed. That other jar is dried Mermaid's Miracle–the white flower I–." She stopped, rubbing her face and then resting her hand on her cheek as the scene of her nudity interrupted her thoughts. Sakura cleared her throat.
"It's herbal–no side effects, non-addictive, and easy to take. One pill a week on an empty stomach–it's enough to last a year. Just promise to keep an eye out for anymore while exploring Orochimaru's hideouts. It's rare and I cannot tell you how helpful it will be to others who are suffering."
Finally, Sakura turned to Karin. "I'm not a bitch," she began, searching for something in her bag. "I'm not a whore, or annoying. I didn't deserve what you said to me, and I know you didn't deserve what others have said to you. I genuinely wish you the best in your travels."
As she spoke, Sakura produced a hairclip, ornate with red gems and intricate metal curls—far too extravagant for a simple gift between friends. This gesture left Karin taken aback; after all, they were not friends.
"I have one just like this–pink of course. It doesn't rust and it won't break as easily as a plastic one. I noticed you liked to keep your hair up when we were in the hot spring. I kicked myself for not bringing mine."
Lastly, a set of stationary. It was childish. Brown teddy bears were stamped in the corners, it smelled of chocolate, and the matching pen had a dangling bear charm. Sakura passed it to Karin.
"This one's for me. If possible, could you please write? Update me on how you all are doing–where you plan to go next, what you plan to do. Sasuke doesn't reply to my letters."
The woman stepped back, surveying the group with an air of finality. Suigetsu studied her face, searching for any hint of emotion, but found none—no signs of anger, no tears. He glanced at Sasuke and then turned briskly towards the gates.
Jugo followed in agreement, offering Sakura a thankful wave. Clutching her presents, Karin turned and, purposefully ignoring their chakra, ventured deep into the woods outside Konoha.
"I didn't forget about you," Sakura said as she settled back onto the bench, pulling a needle and thread from her bag. Sasuke now realized held much more than just gifts. Patting the space beside her, she looked at him expectantly.
He sat.
They fell into a comfortable silence as she began stitching the mars in his clothing. Her fingers worked deftly and precisely—Sasuke imagined she must have stitched skin with the same skill. No frills, nothing fancy, just taught lines.
"How did you know I would leave?"
"You didn't exactly make yourself at home," She held the needle in her mouth as she tied a knot. "I assumed you'd run off as soon as everyone bathed and ate."
Sasuke leaned forward and took the sharp pin from between her lips. He was close–less than a head away. "I don't mean this time."
Blinking, Sakura recalled the night Sasuke defected. How the days leading up to it had been tumultuous. He and Naruto had fought–Sakura got between them. Bruised apples, bruised egos…
"You were different. I didn't realize at the time that Lady Tsunade's healing from Ita–your brothers' jutsu would not truly heal…"
"Truly heal?" Sasuke questioned.
"You cannot heal the mind with chakra alone. It takes time, sessions, energy. Medication can take over, but only for a short time. You need both to get better."
"And your Miracle plant?"
"It does it all. It can only grow with chakra or in specified conditions. Boiling hot water, underground–apparently. Being both natural and chakra-laden, you understand how it earned its name."
Sasuke handed back the needle and held his cloak out to her, flattening the largest of frays. As she pressed into the fabric, Sasuke angled his head to see her face fully.
"Naruto was the person I was closest to, back then."
Humming in agreement, his teammate did not deny the fact. Sasuke looked up to the sky for only a moment. The stars did not show themselves here. He exhales, regarding her again.
"Kakashi understood the stress I was under. He had even cautioned me about the choice. Yet neither he nor my best friend knew I had planned to abandon them."
Sakura felt as if she were in trouble and had to justify herself. She finished quickly, unable to bear the closeness or the probing questions any longer. Rising to her feet, she blocked his view of the night, wrapping the remaining thread around its bobbin.
Leaning forward with her eyes closed, she waited—and waited.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm waiting."
Sakura opened her eyes when he didn't respond. She tapped her fingers to her forehead, prompting Sasuke. "This."
He blinked several times, still unmoving. Frustrated, she straightened and sighed. "Well, it was worth a shot. I'd at least like to hear you call my forehead 'charming' again, but I bet I'm out of luck with that, too."
She intended to tease, but Sasuke looked genuinely perplexed.
"When have I said something like that?"
Sakura scoffed. "You don't remember? We almost kissed! Then you got all shy… you…you actually look confused right now."
"When was this?" She couldn't recall ever seeing him so bewildered.
"It was right before we met Kakashi! Or maybe after…you scolded me for all those mean, immature things I'd said about Naruto. Thank you for that, by the way. I deserved it."
Sasuke leaned back. It took him several moments to pinpoint that day in his mind. So much had happened since.
Naruto had jumped him that day. Sasuke couldn't remember if he'd seen him take his likeness, but the boy was a shithead back then. Sasuke wouldn't put it past him.
"Naruto."
Groaning, Sakura covered her face. Embarrassment seeped from between her fingers. "I'm going to pound him. It will have to be before I tell him you left, of course. He's going to be devastated."
"He'll get over it,"
"I won't." Crossing her arms, Sakura turned her head away from him. She meant her words, just not aloud.
There was no point in confiding in anyone, especially not Sasuke, about what she was feeling. She had finished her task, and their time together was coming to an end. Her eyes stung—not from sadness, but from fatigue. Not from sadness…
How do you explain to someone that you feel sad because you love them? That you embrace this sadness and cherish it, even as they drift farther away than ever before?
She swallowed everything she wanted to say, burying it deep in her gut, letting it fester and die without seeing the light. Such was her path in life.
"Sakura,"
The grit in his voice took her by surprise. His head remained bowed, but when his eyes finally met hers, she felt the weight of his gaze. She took in the contrast of his pale skin against the warm, buttery glow of the streetlight, illuminating his features in the best of ways. His lips were downturned, his strong nose cut through the shadow, and his eyes—one a dark obsidian, the other a luminous, almost ethereal purple—shimmered like the Devil's Eye flower.
Something was shifting between them, a painful tension that quickened his breathing, evident in the way his shoulders moved.
Concerned, Sakura reached out, her fingertips brushing gently beneath his eyes just as a cluster of tears slipped down his cheek. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"
In response, he grasped one of her hands, pressing it tenderly to his cheek as he leaned into her touch. She found herself captivated by his thick, glistening lashes, feeling a rush of emotions swirl within her, unsure of what to say or do in this poignant moment.
"If your eyes are strained, I can help–"
"Do I disappoint you?" he asked slowly, choosing his words with care. For anyone else, he might have said "hate," but Sakura had made it clear in the past that she felt the opposite.
Sakura pursed her lips, caught between silence and fear.
Every inch of her body screamed at her to deny it. To say, no, you could never disappoint me, you're perfect. Sakura wanted to paint a life for them with her words. He'd be happy with her, if he stayed. She'd make sure of it.
That was not their lot in life. Destiny had made its choice and laughed in her face. She could not even manage to lie anymore. Not to herself. Not to him. She gave the smallest nod.
He returned the affirmation. "I have to go."
Her hand began to sweat, but Sasuke pressed his cheek firmly against it. She didn't move, terrified that this fragile moment would pop, leaving them as nothing but droplets.
"Why can't you just stay here? With me?" A beg if there ever were one.
"Because you belong here. And when I am here, it feels like I'm being buried alive."
Sakura's glass heart felt irreparably shattered once more. After hours of mending, with friends and family helping her piece it back together, it lay in ruin again.
His laughter echoed in the stillness, but it wasn't the sound of joy. It was dark, almost mocking, a deep rumble from somewhere inside him. "Do you understand why I left Konoha, Sakura?"
"To get stronger—"
"To sever my bonds," he interrupted, his voice slicing through the air. "The ties I forged with Kakashi, with Naruto… with you. I was drowning in a sea of memories that felt hollow, a place that never felt like home. I was destined to be nothing more than the last of the Uchiha. What bonds would you sever, Sakura?"
"None of them!" Her voice trembled with urgency as she shook her head vehemently. "Why would I? I can still write to everyone, I can return and say hello—"
"And what of your hospital? The dreams you've built for yourself? Bonds aren't just with people. What of your goals, your aspirations? You can't simply abandon Konoha. As much as I despise who I was, I will never regret leaving you behind."
The weight of his admission hung heavily between them, deepening the chasm of despair that separated their hearts.
Sasuke wrapped his arm around her waist, his fingers slipping beneath her clinical coat. A breath filled his lungs, and for a moment, the weight pressing down on his chest began to lift. It felt almost liberating, yet with each heartbeat, he sensed himself growing weaker in her presence, surrendering to desires he thought he could control.
Sakura had never witnessed him so vulnerable, not even when the cursed seal's poison ravaged his adolescent body. There was something achingly raw in his voice, in the way he held her, as if he were laying bare all his secrets.
"Is it… because I admitted I was disappointed in you? I won't pretend that I'm not." Her voice faltered, cracking under the strain of honesty. "I can't begin to understand your motives during that time. But I—"
Before she could finish, Sasuke pressed his forehead against her stomach, burying his face into the warmth of her skin, fingers digging into the soft flesh above her hip. He willed her to remain silent, because he couldn't hear–didn't deserve–
"I love you anyway. Wholly, completely, without reservation—"
"That's why I fear you." His words hung in the air, heavy and cold, a truth that shattered the moment between them.
An hour had passed. The moon hung lazily at its highest point, Sasuke and Sakura finally parted. They did not share words or feelings, for they bore too many burdens that night.
The burden of sorrow, the burden of heartache, the burden of love..
To Sakura's surprise, it was not his fingertips that brushed against the diamond of her forehead, but his lips instead. She did not know what it meant or how to react. Whether it was out of pity or gratitude, she appreciated it nonetheless.
And if Suigetsu, Jugo or Karin noticed the change within Sasuke, they did not dare comment on it.
The entire village buzzed for two entire weeks at the news of a new Uzumaki-Hyuuga. Sakura noticed a surge, expectant mothers within the ward–many of whom she'd fought alongside and went to school with. Surrounded by couples and love, Sakura kept her head above water with the letters Sasuke sent.
She was surprised the first time she saw a hawk at her window. Preening its feathers, she unraveled the letter tied to its foot and offered it unshelled peanuts and water. It waited patiently as she unwrapped the brown parchment, the scent of chocolate now only slightly there.
No flowers at hideout #2. I went back for the others. They've dried out. Do you want them with the next letter?
-S
Their correspondence was not profound or worthy of note. Yet, Sakura cherished the sharp, square words she received on the silly teddy bear paper that smelled like candy. She kept them all in the drawer of her bedroom, where only the classified tomes and scrolls slept. Late one night, when the winds were starting to grow colder, she heard a tap on her window.
Leaping from her bedding in her loose pajama bottoms and tank top, she excitedly opened the door for Sumukha, Sasuke's hawk–and instead met the wrinkled face of Pakkun.
"Woof,"
Sakura welcomed the dog like an old friend. She fed him, ran her nails along the short hair of his back, and patted his head. He loved visiting this little one the most.
"What does Kakashi have for me, this time?"
"Your presence is requested at the Hokage tower."
"This late?"
"He's nocturnal."
Sighing, the woman dressed quickly and fulfilled her duties. She took to the roofs, unbothered by the new lights and buildings that seem to litter the cityscape as the days passed. She slides in through the window, too accustomed to Lady Tsunade's preferences.
Naruto threw his hands up at the sight, grinning ear-to-ear. "You're here!"
"I am," She grinned back.
"Hello, my precious students. I hope I haven't interrupted anything." Kakashi raised his head from a pile of paperwork. It is much tidier here than Sakura ever remembered.
"Just sleep, nothing important." The shorter one quipped. "It's not like I need beauty rest."
"Very true, Doctor Haruno. How are things going?"
"Great. The proposal for my clinic is ready. We have enough Miracle flowers on hand to start therapy sessions immediately. Lots of promising applications in regards to therapists and caregivers. I wanted to veto your idea of volunteer housekeeping staff–I think it would be safer and more inviting to bring trusted hospital custodians over. They won't have random, new faces popping up every day."
"Just add it to the proposal. You, Naruto? How is your blushing bride?"
"Miserable. We're just a month in, and she's really struggling to keep food down. Mornings are the worst. We've been staying at the Hyuuga complex, but Hanabi thinks I'm too involved. I just hate feeling sidelined, damn it!"
"The Hyuuga have strict protocols regarding pregnancies and births. I know it's tough, but try to respect Hinata's wishes," Sakura replied gently.
Naruto nodded, his expression clouded with sadness. "I would, I really would… if it were her wishes."
Sakura placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, but the moment slipped away as quickly as it came.
Kakashi gathered some scrolls, leaning back in his chair. His demeanor shifted from camaraderie to seriousness. "Now, the reason I called you both here: we've received more reports about the mysterious chakra in Frost. I'm afraid that—"
"We get to go?" Sakura interrupted. "Or is this just another mixup on your end?" She leans against his neat desk, fluttering papers.
"Sakura, I already explained to you what happened…"
Naruto crossed his arms across his chest. "Oh? You got an excuse out of him?"
"Apparently, the Elders didn't agree with sending two previous enemies-of-state together on an official mission."
Kakashi sighed. "You both know I don't agree with the majority of their rulings. I figured Sakura would be the best candidate to join them, and the most likely to accept the mission. I wrote a quick note and left it at that. Karin was supposed to meet them, but due to her own shortcomings, she'd arrived in the afternoon–"
"Afternoon? We were supposed to meet at sunrise…" Sakura interrupts.
"So," Kakashi continued. "I have no doubt that the both of you would have left with, or without her, anyways. Now, you've got some packing to do. Leave me be."
