Chapter Text
It was daylight, when Sakura and Kakashi arrived at the Valley Of The End, halting at its edge. Sakura was supporting her former sensei, who was leaning on her with one arm, while they were looking over the deep valley. Amongst the ruins of the stone statues, they spotted what they were looking for.
“There they are!” Sakura exclaimed, and soon after her Kakashi spoke with a hint of sadness in his voice “Of course they’d be here…”
The man lifted his arm off of Sakura’s shoulders, and without a second thought, the girl hurried to the boys, alone. She reached them with three very long leaps, and her heart clenched for what she saw when landing swiftly at the feet of her teammates.
“Sakura-chan!” Naruto greeted her in a raspy but happy voice, raising his head a bit, but he had to put it back down because it hurt. The two boys were laying next to each other -Sasuke on the left and Naruto on the right. Sakura watched them sadly, how only a stump remained of Naruto’s right and Sasuke’s left arm, and a great amount of blood was spread out between them on the stone. It was a miracle that they were still alive.
The girl collected herself and knelt down onto the blood, reaching out with both hands towards the seriously injured limbs, to start the healing procedure. The green aura of her chakra embraced her hands and the area that needed healing. She managed to focus, not letting her emotions overcome her yet. Sakura needed to stop the bleeding as soon as possible.
“Thanks, Sakura-chan!” Said Naruto with a smile on his face, as he felt that the massive pain was starting to vanish.
“Sakura…I…” Started Sasuke, but Sakura cut him short, avoiding eye contact. “Hush for now…I need to focus.”
In the tense moment of silence Sasuke continued “Sorry.”
“Sorry for what?” Sakura asked, trying to be casual, but she felt as her throat tightened.
“Everything up until now.” The answer was simple and honest, and that was enough for Sakura to lose control over her emotions. Her vision started to blur.
“You got that right…Yeesh…” She said in a trembling voice, finally giving way to the flow of her tears. “It’s about freakin’ time…you idiot!”
While she was sobbing, she couldn’t see the regret on Sasuke’s face or Naruto’s heartfelt smile, though she succeeded in steadying her hands, so soon she could stop the bleeding and close the wounds.
Sakura then wiped her eyes, and when she slowly opened them, the boys were already in a sitting position, watching her. Naruto’s radiant wide grin was a bit grotesque because his face was beaten up. Sasuke’s face wasn’t much better, but the boy dedicated a comforting half-smile to her. When Naruto’s and Sakura’s eyes met again, the two started to laugh wholeheartedly as the last remnants of adrenaline left them, replaced by overflowing joy. It had an effect on Sasuke too, he smiled wide at last and snickered.
Sakura knew that she would be forever grateful to Naruto for bringing Sasuke back, and for many other things too. The war was over, and above in the forest birds were chirping excitedly, welcoming a new age of peace.
Naruto was the first one to stand up, helping himself with his left hand, Sasuke followed suit. Sakura looked up and stared at them, incredulous. How could they stand up so easily after everything that had happened? After their blood loss? Somehow her legs betrayed her.
“Sakura-chan, you alright?” Naruto asked with concern. “Can you stand?”
Sakura shouldn’t have been taken aback for Naruto’s thoughtfulness, but she was. Naruto missed an arm -and probably a few teeth, but still he was thinking about others’ well being. The blonde held out his left hand, followed by an encouraging smirk, so Sakura gladly accepted it, and Naruto helped her get to her feet. She recollected her strength soon, as if Naruto had transferred his energy through their connected hands.
“Oh!” Their sensei came to Sakura’s mind. “Kakashi-sensei is here, too.” She turned and pointed up to the clearing in the distance, where their master was standing, now raising one hand as a greeting.
“Kakashi-sensei!” Naruto shouted happily and waved his left arm with big gestures. It filled Sakura’s heart with light again and again to see Naruto alive and what’s more, in his usual high spirits. She could sense how the weights fell from Naruto’s soul at that time. It was almost palpable.
Besides, she was stealing a glance at Sasuke, who was also gazing up at Kakashi, with right hand on his hip. The young man now radiated a kind of aura that assured Sakura her teammate was really back. She didn’t notice that the glance transformed into a gaze that lingered on Sasuke’s form, until the boy looked at her. She averted her eyes fast, with embarrassment, and she realized that Naruto wasn’t next to her. Sakura scolded herself in her mind for getting lost in thought and losing sight of Naruto. However, she just had to turn around and spotted him in an instant a few meters away, near the waterfall. He was wandering around the ruins of the great statues.
“Naruto, what are you doing?” She yelled after him, not getting what he was up to.
“Just a moment!” Naruto yelled back, and then to himself. “Aaaand gotcha!” Sakura heard that too, and saw Naruto quickly bending down, picking something up. The realization hit her: it was his Hitai-ate. The headband, that was so important to Naruto, that he had even risked his life for it back then, when team seven had fought Zabuza. How many adventures and hardships they had to struggle through since then…
“I’m ready, Sakura-chan, Sasuke!” Naruto announced with enthusiasm. “Let’s meet Kakashi-sensei and wake everyone up!” Then he started running towards them.
The trio climbed side by side up on the vertical wall of soil and rocks, without using their hands. They reached the top of the valley where Kakashi had been waiting for them. The man’s first thing to do was expressing his gratitude to Naruto and Sakura. Then he turned to Sasuke.
As they were staring at each other, Kakashi saw the regret in his former student’s features. The man knew that expression all too well, because he had had to deal with his own guilt too for many years now. It wasn’t his role to judge him. Both men knew that Sasuke would bear the responsibility for his actions and that it wouldn’t be an easy road. But when was life easy anyway? Sasuke would have the fortitude to overcome any hardships and move forward, Kakashi believed in it. He was glad to see that the spark of hope returned to his student’s eyes, and put his worries aside for now. He held out his right hand to Sasuke, who wasn’t sure at first what to do. When he looked at Naruto and Sakura, they smiled and nodded encouragingly in unison, and Kakashi still didn’t withdraw his hand. Sasuke found the nerve to accept the offer. Master and student shook hands firmly.
“Okaeri, Sasuke.” Kakashi said finally, eyes smiling.
The familiar welcoming Sasuke had heard too long ago, struck his heart. The boy hadn’t known up until now how much he missed hearing it. He swallowed the knot in his throat and managed to reply with resolve “Tadaima.”