Chapter Text
When Sasuke thought of The Hidden Leaf he thought of summers in the forest. Riding on his brother’s back. He remembered picnics with team 7. Naruto obnoxiously making everything into a competition. Sakura rolling her eyes in annoyance. Their sensei reading under the shade of a tree. His mother wiping rice from his cheek in the early morning light. His father’s stoic expression. He thought of that night. Blood on the walls. Blood trickling down the street he’d walked thousands of times. Silver moonlight spilling over Itachi as he stood over him with glowing red eyes. The Uchiha clan slaughtered and buried beside the innocence he lost that night.
Some memories were soft, warm. Others tore their way in.
Sasuke had spent two years alone. Trying to see what the shinobi world looks like to him now. He needed distance between himself and his village for the bitterness in him to dull. His idea of honor and duty was warped by the discovery of cruel betrayal carried out by those who were supposed to be the village’s most honorable shinobi. He trekked through war torn lands just to find men who were no better. They called themselves ninja. Yet they terrorized villages, pillaging and looting and selling war orphaned children for coin.
What separates a shinobi from a criminal?
The word used to mean something honorable to Sasuke. Now, it was stained by innocent blood and reduced to nothing more than a childish illusion, a title used to justify bloodshed.
The leaves above him rustled lazily in the night wind. The coolness of the trunk beneath his hand grounded him. He’d been gone a long time atoning for the sins he committed against his comrades. Himself. And her.
“My sins have nothing to do with you.” He meant it the day he said it, but it wasn’t true. He hurt countless people, but most of all her. Remembering the chime of the chidori just inches from her heart made something ugly twist in his chest. The look in Naruto’s eyes. The echo of his own maniacal laughter. His sensei’s crestfallen face, visible even through the mask.
How you’ve fallen, Sasuke.
Kakashi’s disappointment had irritated him then, but now it made his stomach knot with guilt. Guilt he clung to for the fear of what it would mean if he didn’t feel it anymore.
After two years on his own, there were a few things Sasuke was certain of.
Atonement would be a life-long journey. There would never be a day that he would truly be pardoned for his sins. Those were unforgivable. And, if there were any good and honorable shinobi left in the world, they were in Konoha. They had fought for him when he didn’t deserve it. He would do everything to protect the village that Itachi gave his life and clan for. Home to the ones who risked everything to bring him back.
In the light of the moon, standing on a branch high above ground, Sasuke tied a tube to a messenger bird’s leg and slid a rolled up message inside. He whispered to the bird and set it free. Sasuke watched it fly home. To Konoha. Unsure if that’s where he belonged, he picked up his sack, slung it over his shoulders, and leapt forward in the same direction.
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“Sakuraaa.”
She picked up her head and looked up to find Kakashi-sensei standing over her, white robes stirring in the wind.
The Sixth Hokage.
The title felt strange on him still. What was even stranger was looking into his two eyes instead of just one.
“Oh hi, Kakashi-sensei,” she said, pushing herself up on her feet, brushing grass and dirt from her skirt. “Is everything alright at the hospital?” These days, that is where Sakura spent most of her life. Seeing patients, reviewing charts, lecturing exhausted medical ninja who were so tired they forgot to eat. But the morning was too beautiful to waste indoors. She wandered to the old training grounds before she even wondered why.
“No emergency. Why don’t you take a walk with me?”
“Sure,” she said, tucking her book beneath her arm and falling into step beside him.
The trees just on the edge of Training Ground Three swayed overhead. Somewhere in the forest, a brook babbled over stone. Walking beside Kakashi-sensei here, she could almost believe she was thirteen again. Naruto's voice carrying through the trees. Sasuke trailing behind, pretending not to listen or care. Kakashi arriving late with another terrible excuse, a little blue book in his back pocket.
“I wanted to congratulate you,” Kakashi said. “Your students scored higher than any medical unit in recent years. Apparently half the hospital thinks you’re terrifying.”
“That’s not a compliment,” Sakura groaned.
“Yes it is,” Kakashi said.
She huffed out a laugh. “Oh, well you know, I had a pretty terrifying teacher myself. Lady Tsunade deserves all the credit.”
“You know, Sakura, you’re allowed to admit that you’ve become pretty exceptional yourself,” Kakashi-sensei said, resting a hand on her head before she had a chance to answer. The gesture hit her with embarrassing force, and made her feel like a genin again. Desperate for approval and acknowledgement from those she admired most.
“Thank you, Sensei,” she smiled softly.
“There is one more thing.” Something in his tone made her chest tighten. “We got a messenger pigeon early this morning.” The tilt of his eyes and the crinkles around them told her there was a smile beneath his mask. He looked at her intently. “It looks like Team 7 will be reunited soon.”
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The sunset was blazing orange over Konoha as Sakura walked home from the hospital alone, like she usually did. Her brows furrowed, heavy with exhaustion. The smell of miso ramen drifted through the streets and reminded her that she hadn’t eaten since…when? Breakfast? Maybe dinner last night. She made a turn into the village square where the smell of roasted pork and tangy aromas lingered thick in the air. Her stomach growled painfully, and she knew she had very little time before a migraine crept in for lack of food and sleep. She already felt the pressure building behind her temples.
She was no stranger to long days at the hospital but now her evenings were spent within white walls and beneath bright lights too. It was all she could do to keep herself from becoming a nervous wreck ever since Kakashi-sensei told her Sasuke was on his way home.
“What if… I said… I want to come with you?”
“Maybe next time. I’ll see you when I get back. Thank you. For everything.”
That was the last time they spoke to each other. She knew better than to let herself become attached to the scraps of affection he’d shown her that day, the tap on her forehead. The last time he’d reached for her, he trapped her in a genjutsu. And before that, the chidori nearly split her in half until Kakashi-sensei whisked her away with a speed that made her head spin.
But there was something different about him that day. His tone wasn’t pointed, though still reserved, guarded. The sharpness in his eyes was sanded down to something more gentle. She recognized her comrade again. Her friend. If only she could reach in and hold on to that tiny spark. She would shield it with both her hands and never let the darkness swallow it again.
“Hey Sakura!” A raspy voice pulled her from her thoughts. Her head turned to the left to find Naruto rising from his seat at his favorite ramen spot, waving her over. Hinata sat beside him with blue-black hair spilling over her shoulders like silk. Those two were the glowing picture of marital bliss since they became husband and wife. Seeing them together side by side, fingers entwined, and Hinata blushing at Naruto’s every glance made something in her chest ache. She missed something she’d never truly had.
She shifted her books over to her other arm and waved back.
“Come have dinner with us! we’re just about to order!”
Normally Sakura would decline but she couldn’t ignore her growling stomach any longer, and the thought of spicy tonkatsu ramen made her mouth water. She walked over to where they sat, and Hinata greeted her with a warm smile.
“Sakura-san, I hardly ever see you out and about these days, I’m glad you could join for dinner today,” she said with a rosy glow spreading over her cheeks. Naruto moved closer to Hinata’s other side to let the women sit together. Somewhere after the war, Hinata had become one of Sakura’s dearest friends. As genin, and later chunin, they’d never been especially close. They’d only been respectful teammates from neighboring circles. After the war, a lot changed. The kunoichi of Konoha had built a strong bond through the devastation of war. Ever since then, they’d been there for each other just as fiercely as on the battlefield. Hinata was never much for words. But sometimes her quiet presence and gentle demeanor was what Sakura needed most.
“She’s probably a nervous wreck since finding out Sasuke is coming back. Bet you can’t wait, huh Sakura?” Naruto waved over the counter.
“Hey, old man! I’ll have two miso ramen with extra noodles, and an order of crispy gyoza. Oh yeah, and whatever they’re having,” he said, gesturing to Hinata and Sakura.
“Naruto, don’t be rude,” Hinata chided softly, with amusement lighting her pale eyes. “I’m sure Sakura-San has just been busy at the hospital, that's all,” she said with a sympathetic smile. “Besides, it's not polite to point out something that makes someone nervous.”
Sakura could feel a flush creep up her neck and into her cheeks. She scrambled to find something—anything— to fill the awkward silence. “I’m not, I…” she knew saying she wasn’t nervous would be a blatant lie, one they both could see through. A desperate attempt to seem collected and unaffected by Sasuke Uchiha. She felt so juvenile. “I’m just glad our old team will be reunited again!”
“Ahem.”
Sakura jumped. How long had Teuchi been standing there? He was looking at Sakura with expectant eyes, notepad and pen in hand. The heat rose straight to her ears and she was glad she wore her hair down so no one could see how bright red they surely were.
Sakura and Hinata ordered their dinners and before long hot steaming bowls of ramen were set before them. The creamy broth was rich on Sakura’s tongue and was warm all the way down to her belly.
“Nothing like old man Teuchi’s miso ramen,” Naruto exclaims with a mouthful of noodles. “This really takes me back, huh Sakura?”
“Yeah, it does,” Sakura smiled, despite herself.
“Hey I’ve got an idea!” Naruto’s eyes glimmered. “We should all come out here when Sasuke gets back. A real Team 7 dinner. What do you say, Hinata? And Kakahsi-sensei too of course.” He said with a grin. “Maybe he’ll actually pay this time now that he’s got that fancy Hokage salary.”
Hinata giggled and veiled her smile behind a delicate palm. “I think that’s a lovely idea, but I’ll leave you three to it. I can use that time to catch up with Shino and Kiba and visit Kurenai-sensei and her baby girl.”
“How about it then, Sakura?” Naruto said, hanging an arm around Hinata’s shoulders. “Team 7 dinner to welcome Sasuke back?”
She felt foolish for how giddy the idea made her. Gathered together at Ichiraku around bowls of ramen, just like before. Trying to catch glimpses of Kakashi-sensei’s face between bites. Sasuke always leaving his share of gyoza, and Sakura convincing herself that it was some kind of gesture, just for her.
Girlish longings.
Yet a smile spread over her face.
She picked up a crispy gyoza and dipped it in the sauce and said, “Count me in”, before popping it in her mouth.