Chapter 58

"I had never seen her in a more terrible state. Every day she would come home and lock herself in her room, and wouldn't come out until mealtimes. At the dinner table it would be apparent that she had been crying, and she refused to talk about it when asked," Kanaye said darkly, "Sometimes I would go talk to her, and every time that I entered her room, she would be holding that picture of your team, or looking at it. Sometimes she'd be crying, other times she would just be staring blankly at it. I could never get anything out of her, but I tried to comfort her in any way I could, though nothing really worked.

"After I became a jounin, I wasn't available to check up on her as often, and I frequently worried. I don't think that she ever sought suicide as an answer—that wouldn't solve her problems. As for self-inflicted pain, I don't think that ever happened either, but she was so depressed that it tore the hearts of my parents, and me too.

"Things got better once she started training under the Hokage. She had told me over and over that she felt so useless, just sitting around on missions, not doing anything—I didn't believe her, but she was so much happier when she became a medic. I guess she didn't feel so worthless now that she felt she could do something.

"Her depression spread out over two years, and it's only the past year that she's finally been the Sakura I've known my whole life. In fact, right now is probably the happiest I've ever seen her. She really did miss you, and I just want you to know that if you ever do anything to harm her again, I am going to have to hurt you."

"I had no intention of causing Sakura such psychological trauma," Sasuke said after a while, his voice devoid of emotion, "But you should know that I left her in the better of two situations—she probably hasn't told you that when she tried to stop me from leaving the village, that she asked me to take her with me."

Kanaye looked over at the boy with a confused and surprised look, "No, she didn't."

"Sakura is my teammate and friend, but I could not do what she asked," Sasuke continued, closing his eyes in thought, "I knew that she was not yet prepared to break all ties with Konoha, because unlike me, she does not have to protect the people she cares about. Sakura belongs in this village; her spirit resides here. I was planning on leaving for good, and she was not yet ready to handle that."

"So you considered bringing her with you?" Kanaye asked, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

"The thought did cross my mind, yes," Sasuke admitted in a matter-of-fact tone, "More or less because the prospect of being alone frightened me at the time. I was a boy then. But it would have been foolish if I had taken her with me. And I am sure that you can agree it was better to leave her here than to take her with me to Orochimaru. Whatever she has endured here is merciful compared to what she would have felt if I had taken her with me."

"I'm glad you didn't take her," Kanaye said after a minute, "Because then I would have hunted you down and killed you."

A twisted smile appeared on the lips of the Uchiha.

"Anyways," Kanaye said, changing the topic, convinced that Sasuke was at least respectful towards Sakura's feelings, "I'm not going to lecture you over sleeping arrangements. Even though I can't say I'm pleased with it, Sakura has assured me that things will be fine, so I believe her."

"If you want to hear the same from me, then know that I have no interest in Sakura whatsoever—in that respect." Sasuke said evenly, an icy quality in his voice, picking up on the undertone of warning in Kanaye's statement, "If I felt that there was another way, I would choose that instead. Sakura and I have already discussed the situation, and we both knew that there would be some controversy."

Kanaye looked suspiciously over at Sasuke and narrowed his royal-blue eyes perceptively. A feeling of doubt hung in his heart as his mind considered that what Sasuke said was contradicting how the Uchiha possibly felt, whether he knew it himself or not. While still doubtful, he said nothing more on the matter, and decided to change the topic of conversation.

"So, Sasuke," he spoke warmly, deciding to give the young man a chance, "Do you like ramen?"

"How come I always get the heavy stuff to carry, Sakura-chan?" Naruto whined on Sakura's left as the three of them headed back down the path to the Uchiha manor.

"You're just unlucky, that's all, Naruto," Sakura replied smiling, shaking her head at him, "Quit complaining and I'll make you an extra helping of ramen."

"Sakura-san, there is something that I wish to discuss with you before we arrive back at Sasuke-kun's house," Lee said from her right, his face serious, "I think that you should be very careful during your stay at the Uchiha household."

"Hai, Sakura-chan," Naruto agreed seriously from her left, "This whole situation is so indecent, I'm surprised you agreed to it."

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