“I’ll be blunt, by rights you should be in prison right now”. Sasuke nodded, knowing fully well how lucky he has been for being granted the opportunity to roam free after everything he did. Half of the credit goes to Kakashi, who is now the Hokage officially, who pleaded for his case and helped him train.
“But we have heard your plea and all your actions up to now have been pardoned”. Sasuke didn't miss the hidden threat in his word, as his sensei Kakashi has done everything to help Sasuke forgive himself and start anew but as a Hokage, he needs to remind him that if he chooses to break the law again he won't be pardoned.
“Breaking the jutsu for the infinite Tsukuyomi played a big part in the decision. As well as the fact that I happened to become the sixth Hokage and that Naruto, the key figure in ending the war, testified on your behalf. Don't forget that and please don't get reckless or I'll be held responsible”. Kakashi said in an authoritarian voice but the underlying concern shone through.
“Understood. Thank you”. Sasuke nodded.
Sakura watched the interaction, her throat swelling up with emotions so thick she couldn't help but mutter those words, “Must you go? The artificial arm that Tsunade-sama is creating from Hashirama-sama's cells will soon...”. She knows his answer won't change, it never did but knowing herself too she can't help but try her best.
He denied the artificial form as a way of his repentance.
The last few months were a reprieve from all the bad memories between them, plus Sakura noticed it. She saw the slight change in his behavior if she can make a bet she was sure it is Kakashi sensei and in her heart, she knows it is. No matter how disinterested he may want to look in their lives he cares too much about them. Sasuke used to pull back mentally every time he and Sakura made some process by opening up but slowly he stopped doing it, no he didn't open up but he didn't run either shutting her off. He learned to let go of the negative emotions confining him and started being more present.
“I need time to understand my feelings. How I should view the shinobi world, this world”. Sasuke said solemnly, he meant to in both ways though Sakura didn't catch it never thinking of herself as something worth more in his life.
The falsehoods, treachery, and murder regarding his clan and forcing his brother Itachi to kill his brethren for the sake of Sasuke's life had rose conflicted and hostile emotions in his heart, of which he has left go but there are still ways he needs time to process all the trauma from his childhood and the biggest question why would you save a village even if it is the reason you can't live anymore.
Sasuke thought he got his answer from the previous Hokages but the stage his mind was at didn't truly fandom the dynamic of it. He needs time to understand his feelings be they romantic or patriotic and for that, he needs to start asking for forgiveness from every Hokage, he may have been forgiven here but he still has ways to go.
“Perhaps I'll be able to see things I couldn't see before. Things that can't be seen unless I do this”. Sakura understood his reasons, she didn't need him to say it once again but she did need the consolation of it. She knows the journey of repentance is something important for him and she shouldn't try to take this away from him, she won't.
She just doesn't want him to be alone anymore. She doesn't want to be alone again.
“Also, there's something I'm worried about”. Sasuke didn't elaborate but Kakashi got the reference.
A few days ago Sasuke had come up to Kakashi and explained his concerns about the Ōtsutsuki clan, and how something about it still irks him. He can't explain the feeling but it's there and it's never wrong, so Sasuke had been given the responsibility of obtaining any information regarding the Ōtsutsuki clan which might help the village.
Sakura’s eyes widened with an idea and she looked away, her heart beating a bit too loudly for her comfort, a blush covering her cheeks making her pinker, “What if I said... I'd go with you?”. Her emerald green eyes looked at him expectedly, myriad emotions swirling in her iris. Sasuke closed his eyes for a moment not being able to reject her request while looking at her.
“This is a trip to atone for my sins and my sins have nothing to do with you”. He truly believes the person he is right now, especially his destructive reputation isn't deserving of her. This journey he is embarking on is to view this world without the already embedded sentiments in his head like the past and atone for his iniquities. He wants to be a better person for her and the village to be proud of but right now he is none of those.
Kakashi's eyes widened with laughter seeing the look of total mortification on Sakura's face as she jerked back and hung her head between her shoulders dejectedly, “Nothing to do with me...?”
The forlorn look on Sakura's face was swept away by stupefaction when she felt a poke on her forehead, not convinced Sasuke did this for her but for her, it meant so much because he has never been the type to show his affection.
“Matakondo da...arigato”.
Sakura and Sasuke's greatest moment of intimacy, was not like the evening when other couples decide to go on dates. But it was when she saw the stripped expression on his face, it was completely different than the expression he looked at her once with no recognition. Like he didn't know her but the man standing in front of her bared his soul, conveying what his mouth couldn't with words but Sakura thinks otherwise. He never tries.
Sasuke took off, growing invisible between the trees leaving her flustered but this time her heart did not burn with the uncertainty that he might not return. He will, she just doesn't know when, and a thought popped into her mind.
what if?
What if all this time, all this struggle,
has been leading them to this beautiful
chapter in their life?
What if everything does work out, even
if it doesn't seem like it right now?
And she hopes for him,
If you only carry one thing throughout your entire life, let it be hope. Let it be hope that better times are always ahead. Let it be hope that you can get through even the toughest of times. Let it be hope that you are stronger than any challenge that comes your way. Let it be hope that you are on the path to where you are meant to be...
Because during these times, hope will be the very thing that carries you through, and hers, as she waits for him, for a version he's fighting so hard to find in this wretched world.
A version she'll witness when the time comes and their love will bloom
To be continued...
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𝗘 𝗡 𝗗
𝘚𝘛𝘈𝘙𝘛𝘌𝘋: 𝘑𝘢𝘯 28 2022
𝘌𝘕𝘋𝘌𝘋: 𝘈𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘭 17 2023
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➳ 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙑𝙤𝙮𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 2024, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘍𝘊.
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Love From Confinement ➥𝘚𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘬𝘶
Fanfiction❝ 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗼 𝗱𝗮...𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗼 ❞ After the fourth great ninja war ended, Sasuke was apprehended because of his record as a rogue ninja while Sakura took care of him as a medical ninja. In the isolation, alone with his thoughts he final...
