Chapter Text
Warning(s): G, none
When they disembarked from the platform, Ibiki and Sakura were the last ones to leave the train. They were left at a civilian train station, as if a reflection of their disavowed status. But, because Kakashi was Hokage, they weren’t being pressured to pack right away, even if that’s precisely what Sakura did. Their hitai-ate were taken the moment they left the train, marking them clearly as traitors to their village. Like a displeased god they’d scorned for daring to question the darkness it perpetuated, but claimed was shade.
It was in the bunker that Sakura spent a good few hours packing her things, sealing everything within sealing scrolls and changing out of the Jōnin uniform she’d donned so proudly roughly a week ago when they’d left. With the Haruno home already emptied of their belongings, Sakura was at least glad that her parents had left a while ago.
In exchange for the lost hitai-ate, Sakura wore the same ribbon that Ino had given her years ago, knotted at her nape instead of the top of her head. Dressed in ¾ length beige pants, a white camisole beneath, a baggy jade cardigan, and sandals, she looked ordinary as she shouldered her messenger bag full of her belongings.
Leaving the Intelligence Division through the front door, she surrendered her clearance dog tags at the security desk, relieved that the guard was on break, which meant she would encounter fewer people in the halls and on the streets. While much of her considered entering sage mode to utilize one of her senjutsu to make a speedy getaway to the public train platform, she decided against it. If anyone had scorn or insults, she’d take them—all of them.
“Sakura-chan.”
A heartbroken expression met her the moment she exited the Intelligence Division, the growing hues of twilight painting them both in shades of fiery orange as she faced a certain Uzumaki, someone she hadn’t seen since the year before, when he had thought that Team 7 would reunite at last when, in truth, they had fallen apart at the seams.
The bright, indomitably sunny boy she’d wanted to see his dream come true appeared exhausted, lusterless ocean blues searching for something in hers. What it was, Sakura didn’t know, because she did not doubt in her mind that the eyes that met his were completely different than what he’d known even up to the end of the war when there had been a light, a love for the place she’d loved as fiercely as he had.
Now? Love was loved, a past tense she couldn’t return from. A place she wouldn’t be able to return to after that day.
“Oh, um… hey, Naruto-kun,” she ventured awkwardly, attempting a smile before it fell when he didn’t smile back.
“Sakura-chan,” he started again, as if it were the only thing he could bring himself to say, “were you on your way to the station, ‘ttebayo? I, uh… I could walk you there, if you want.”
Sakura nodded her assent, joining the Uzumaki’s side despite how terrifically uncomfortable it all was. He took her down a more secluded path that ran along the Naka, a few faces who recognized him began to wave until they spied his disgraced teammate and continued hurriedly along, pretending like they didn’t see either of them. Though Naruto tried to ignore it, she could see the conflict on his open face. He never disguised his feelings well, but then and there, she was grateful for it.
“You probably heard about what happened during the trial, right? There’s no point in trying to avoid it,” Sakura broke the silence bluntly, but with a shrug. Her eyes were trained on the ground as they walked.
“Yeah… I don’t get it, though! That Kamae bastard orchestrated so much shit, hurt so many people! Why does he get off the hook but you get the sack, huh?!” Naruto railed passionately, hands clenched into tight fists while his teeth grit so hard the veins at his temples bulged. “None of this makes sense, ‘ttebayo!”
Sakura pursed her lips and watched his impassioned flare, remembering why she’d fallen in love with him all those years ago. It was easy to fall for someone who cared so much, even if he couldn’t put his patriotic love of the village behind him enough to see all the wrong. That would be the wall between them, the dividing line between the Hokage-hopeful and the disgraced former kunoichi.
“But it does,” Sakura said grimly as they continued, gripping the strap of her messenger bag tightly. “Why else do you think they let Danzō get away with so much? It’s similar to what happened in Amegakure when he colluded with Hanzō to put down Yahiko’s Akatsuki, which eliminated a threat against Konoha’s foothold in the world. And that’s what Kamae did, too; he put a leash on these unstable villages to keep them quiet until Konoha recovered enough to crush them, like in the good ol’ days.” The last was spat emphatically, jaw locked for a moment.
“That still doesn’t make it right! How the hell can everyone agree with it?!”
Sakura wheeled on him with a strained expression, lower lip worried. “You heard the verdict, Naruto. They went through everything, and I mean everything. Nothing was left out, but it was all justified for the reasons it was done. The Uchiha Massacre? To destroy a clan powerful enough to start a coup and possibly succeed, who would’ve thrown Konoha into a civil war and made it vulnerable to another Shinobi World War. Oh, but it’s okay if we have to make a blackmailed teenager slaughter every man, woman, and child! It’s for the village, so of course it’s fucking okay! The same goes for everything else! Torturing children and your comrades under one of the Elders who enables you like crazy? It’s fine as long as it’s for the village! But the second that person leaves to do it on their own, suddenly it’s bad!”
Sakura didn’t know if her outburst came from being hormonal from pregnancy or just her own repressed anger from the unjust outcome of the trial, or both, but at that point she couldn’t bring herself to care. She was incandescent with rage, especially towards the one person learning the truth last.
“Sakura-chan… you don’t really think Konoha is that bad, do you?” Naruto asked forlornly, and she felt her heart break for him as she badmouthed the place he loved and smashed that idealism to pieces. He would’ve expected it from Sasuke, but her? She was the last person in the world he likely thought would be driven so low.
Sakura’s seething extinguished itself at how crestfallen Naruto had become, lips thinned as she gazed sidelong at the river, biting the inner flesh of her lip. “Naruto… all the hidden villages are like this, especially the Great Five. It’s every village for itself, and… it’s why Danzō came out of this a martyr. Every horrible thing was for the village, and it didn’t affect most of the villagers. I hate it, too, but— I tried. I exposed everything possible, and it still wasn’t enough.” Sakura laughed bitterly, shaking her head. “Sheesh, it’s almost like I made him look even better than ever.”
“Not everyone thinks that. A lot of people must think what you did was right, ‘ttebayo,” Naruto replied as he pocketed his hands, brow furrowed. “Maybe it won’t seem like that right away, but people’ll remember this differently, I know it!”
Sakura stared into oblivion, her movements guided by muscle memory, too absorbed in the conversation to notice she was seeing her hometown for the last time. “I’m not so sure, Naruto. Lots of shinobi here did horrendous things for the village, and they’re regarded as heroes. Danzō is just another star in that sky, now. Even if he deserves to rot in the deepest pits of Yomi.”
“Yeah…” Naruto said, his voice dispirited, and Sakura wished she could give him back his oblivious happiness—shield his empathy from the helpless reality they couldn’t change. She had accepted the consequences and now had to try to piece her life back together. Her legacy as the strongest med-nin and Tsunade’s heir was over. Now, she was just Sakura Haruno, and she had to find her way forward.
“We really are like our predecessors as Neo-Sannin, aren’t we?” At the new tangent, Sakura gave Naruto her undivided attention. “Sasuke never bounced back from his ‘darkness’, I guess, and he’s leaving. That creepy snake never rebounded either, even if Sasuke isn’t anywhere nearly as depraved. Last I heard from Kakashi-sensei, he’s going to be traveling with those guys, uh… Team Taka, that’s it! Pervy Sage never lost faith in the village, even if he left to tail Akatsuki and Orochimaru, and here I am, one of the only ones left. Then, Granny Tsunade,” he continued with a pointed look at Sakura, “she got all disillusioned with the shinobi way and retired as a kunoichi to wander the world, gamblin’ and stuff. And now you’re leaving, forced into retirement, too… kinda. Not sure if you’ll be gamblin’, but where you’re goin’ is pretty far, too, isn’t it?”
Admittedly, Sakura couldn’t help but feel a pang in her chest at his observation that struck home, even if it didn’t surprise her in the least. Despite his goofiness and lack of book smarts, he possessed an emotional intelligence and philosophical mind that stunned her on more than one occasion. An almost superhuman empathy; she sometimes couldn’t wrap her head around it.
“That sounds about right. There was a point when Shisō disappeared because of her pregnancy with the Yondaime, so it makes sense,” Sakura said wistfully as she glanced down at her abdomen, hand touching her womb like a habit.
That, however, halted Naruto in his tracks. “Hang on, you mean… Granny Tsunade is my actual Granny Tsunade?!” the Uzumaki exclaimed in shock, voice boisterous and like a clap of thunder. “Holy crap, why didn’t you say something, Sakura-chan?” Naruto took her by her shoulders, his aghast expression the pinnacle of comedic astonishment.
“Sorry, sorry!” Sakura apologized with a snort of laughter. “We were so busy with the war and everything, it totally slipped my mind! Besides, you only learned who your parents were during Pein’s Invasion and after during the war, right? It didn’t feel right to say anything before you were told that first!”
Naruto sobered with a toothy grin that made her smile, releasing the former kunoichi’s shoulders. “Ahah, sorry, Sakura-chan! I guess it’ll be something to do when you’re gone, ‘ttebayo! Man, if Granny Tsunade thought I was annoying before, she’ll never see the end of me!” he exclaimed with an impish grin, satisfied at his new course of action. It was one positive thing she was happy to facilitate, at least.
“Naruto, hang on, before I go—” Sakura fished in her cardigan’s pocket for a folded slip of paper that had her new home’s address written on it. “Don’t be a stranger, okay? If you ever get the time, feel free to pay a visit, got it?”
Naruto responded by suddenly engulfing his former teammate in a hug, Sakura stunned for only a moment before it softened, and she returned it just as strongly, which had him protesting at how tight it was before Sakura released him with a rushed apology.
“Hey, Sakura-chan.”
“Yeah, Naruto?”
“Let’s do our best, ‘ttebayo!”
Sakura pumped her fist, a familiar gesture between them that Naruto eagerly parroted—before they bumped fists in a way only close friends could.
“You got it!”
By the time Sakura arrived at the train platform, no one was willing to cross her with the village hero many times over, to which Sakura was grateful. Parting with one last embrace and promises to write to each other often, she lingered to watch his retreating round a corner and vanish.
Thankfully, her end of the platform was mostly deserted, and the automated dispenser spared her any frosty treatment from a teller. She wondered why it was so empty—until a familiar silhouette rose from a bench and walked toward her.
“So, they finally let you off the hook, huh?” she greeted the Uchiha with a knowing smile, though Sasuke was as stoic as ever. “You headed in the same direction?”
“The Land of Waves, yeah. You?”
“Yup. Anything waiting for you out there?” Sakura replied, tucking an errant strand of hair behind her ear.
“Uzushio. I’m going to leave with Team Taka and we’re going to build a new home for people like us. Karin and her mother especially have a reason to go,” Sasuke answered succinctly, and she couldn’t help her surprise at the mention of Karin and Maya, glad that they’d finally been reunited, at least. Exactly as Sakura had wished they would. “You?”
“I’m… not sure yet. I guess my main concern is just finding a stable new life so I can start this family on solid ground, y’know? Everything else will come after, I guess,” she answered with a shrug, glancing at the concrete.
The silence stretched between them as the distant horn of the oncoming train blared like an alarm, crystallizing the life to come, which she would essentially have to figure out on her own.
“He might be able to see them soon.” Sakura’s eyes snapped to him, mouth slightly agape. “The only reason he’s still in custody is because he allowed it. They tried their means of trapping him once, and he isn’t the type to fall for the same trick twice. If he knows you’re pregnant with his children, that’ll happen sooner rather than later.”
Sakura felt a stutter of nerves at the thought of his reaction before her testimony when Hiashi had revealed her pregnancy to the entire world. That it wasn’t conclusive, or that he shared his feelings about it at all. “I guess, but… does he even want them?” Never mind her complete uncertainty about whether she has any feelings towards her.
“Our clan’s genocide broke him. What makes you think he wouldn’t want more Uchiha in the world, let alone Uchiha he’s the father of?”
As the train horn sounded again, the clatter on the train tracks came ever closer. “Gods, I hope you’re right…”
“Sakura,” he addressed directly, gaze intent upon her, “the Uchiha value love more than anything. He’ll value these kids, too. Stop worrying about something that won’t even happen.”
…He didn’t entirely understand, and Sakura wasn’t sure if she was prepared to tell him how deeply in love she was with Madara. She had no idea how he felt and how much it tore her up inside. Still, she mustered up a smile and fished into her pocket for a similar slip of paper identical to one she’d given Naruto, derailing their exchange and glad of it.
“It’s my new address, if you have to ask. Sure, you’re as broody and mysterious as ever, but you know you can drop in for a visit now and then, okay? Promise me!” Sakura demanded with a grin as she offered her pinkie to him.
Sasuke considered it in bemusement for a long moment before he reluctantly offered his own pinkie, which she firmly took in her own, shaking their hands once. “See, not so bad, is it?”
Sasuke huffed softly, hand retreating under his cloak. “I guess not, but… don’t ever make me do that in public again.”
“Okay, okay!” Sakura promised with a guffaw. “No more public pinkie swears, promise!”
As the train finally pulled into the station, she swore she could see the smallest quirk of his lips from her former teammate’s lips. She beamed at his reaction, facing away and towards the end of the train she’d board with him.
Maybe the new life she’d lead once they were well and truly gone wouldn’t be so bad after all.