Tears & Trials
It seems like everyone found out about her shinobi deregistration to join Sasuke’s travels overnight. Sakura should have expected this; after all, both Naruto and Ino saw her deliver the necessary paperwork directly to Kakashi. While she’s not quite sure what Naruto did with the information, Sakura received an earful from everyone: her parents, her patients, even some of her friends…
“Ino-pig,” Sakura repeated herself during their last scheduled lunch together. “You’re not listening to me!”
“You’re right, forehead! I’m *not* listening to you. What do you mean ‘you’re going to travel with the love of your life for an undetermined time’ without having first received a confession out of him?”
Sakura’s mind painted an answer for her: the moments she’s spent together, simply listening to Sasuke’s recollections of his travels; the letters she’s received for only her pale green eyes to cherish; the way Sasuke fidgets with the rough texture of her hands as if they’re where his belong; how Sakura is always right in Sasuke’s eyes when corrects Naruto on something or other; and the brilliance in his eyes when she retells the mundaneness of their time apart.
But Ino wasn’t understanding.
Life has made love look differently for her than for her friends. From the outside, it looks hard to conceive of a future Sasuke and Sakura together. Ino reminds Sakura of the same points everyone else has made to her: all the tears she’s cried, all the blood she’s shed, how he left her behind repeatedly. However, none of it dissuades her. It is Sakura’s choice to make and her heart is Sasuke’s to hold.
A couple of hours later, Sakura finds herself finishing her written notes for her last client session before departure from Konoha the next morning. Amid the preparations, she’s gotten behind on submitting treatment transition plans, patient termination notices, and rescheduling appointments off her caseload. If she thought her daily paperwork was insurmountable, moving all the patients off her schedule onto somewhere else and documenting all of it was a nightmare.
She finds herself thinking through the suggested treatment modality for a Deaf seven-year-old patient whose sign language skills need additional visual supports when a rap at the door breaks her concentration. Sakura can feel Sasuke’s chakra on the other side of the door. He usually enters through her back window, but he’s made a notable behavioral change.
‘Why? What’s he doing here?’ She hesitates, thinking through all the work she’s put upon herself. The planning, the packing, the trying-to-get-people-to-understand, the arguments she knows she can’t win, the questions she knows she can’t answer.
“Sakura,” she hears from the other side of the door. “Are you awake in there?”
“Come in, Sasuke-kun.” Sakura does not move from her spot on the couch, watching his cloaked form enter and sit on her armchair quietly. Sasuke’s face is not his usual blank expression; no, that’s part of the mask he presents to everyone. This is Sakura’s space. Entering her office, knowing that only she is there, allows Sasuke to lighten his expression.
His steps are no longer silent. His back is not ramrod straight. His eyes are slightly squinted, not from his usual façade, but because he can’t quite stifle his smiling cheeks.
Sasuke wants to be here; he wants to be heard and seen enjoying her company, if only to those who’ll notice the details.
“Here to help me out with my paperwork, Sasuke-kun?” Sakura’s giggling laughter confirms his mood.
Sasuke continues the jest with a tiny shake of his head and a widening smile: “Put me to work.”
Sakura grabs his armless sleeve, pantomiming Sasuke – of all people! – filling out medical paperwork for patients he will never know.
“Ah, yes, Doctor Uchiha,” Sakura teases. “You need to fill out these treatment authorization forms and modality certifications. Don’t forget that you need to…”
“Dr. Uchiha, eh?” Sasuke returns her quip, riffing along the joke as long as possible. “Sounds nice.”
“I don’t know if you have it in you, Sasuke-kun. You like the road too much.”
Shy smile intact, Sasuke’s eyes redirect away from connecting with hers while insisting: “I could learn.”
As Sakura continues her joke, Sasuke’s cool smile finally breaks into quiet chuckling. She sees the stretch of his lips revealing his teeth. The freckles he’s collected from his wayfaring wrinkle at his nose. His eyes reveal no ire from being teased. Sasuke does not hide behind his hair.
This is the way Sasuke is truly Sasuke only when he’s with Sakura. This moment; it’s only theirs. No one else can take it, no matter how many rocks they throw at towards them.
Sasuke does not require brief after brief of proof. This trial, filled with false experts, lack of witnesses, and ridiculous speculation, does not mean his love for her isn’t there. The jury’s out, but, looking at Sasuke’s joyful calm that only she can provide, Sakura’s choice is still him.
END.
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