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[artsyaprilmr]

have some orions in these trying times

[catflorist]

Markings (ao3 / ffn) catflorist Summary: After the war, Sakura steals the hearts of Team Taka. Sasuke doesn’t know how to feel about this. All about healing and friendship for Sakura and Sasuke (and Team Taka/Team Seven). SasuSaku Month 2020, Day 14: Battle Scars @ssmonth 1 / 2 / 3 / 4

Markings Chapter 1 A sprawling mass of canvas tents at the edge of a plateau formed the armed forces encampment. After the final battle, shinobi returned there to rest and recover. It was a village in its own right, existing because war needed time to transition into peace.

Sakura knew her way around the encampment like she knew how to recite the bones in a human body. She could tell the urgency of a request by what kind of sound a tent flap made when a medic rustled it open. She knew which boulder at the edge of camp provided the best view of the sunset. But Sakura didn’t have time to watch sunsets anymore. The war had wounded many, and she spent most of her time tending to patients and working shifts in the infirmary.

“Medic,” Sakura called, then entered the tent housing the members of Taka, the last stop on her daily rounds.

Suigetsu looked up and smiled.

Jugo stood. Once Sakura had taken up assignment as their medic, he started bringing her the wounded animals that crossed his path. In thanks for her service, he awarded small gifts—smooth stones, curved twigs. This time he presented her a speckled blue eggshell.

“It’s beautiful!” Sakura said. “Will you keep it for me until I go?”

Jugo bowed his head. A bird landed on his shoulder—Sakura’s most recent patient.

“How’s our favorite medic?” Suigetsu called, smiling wide.

Sakura nursed a secret curiosity for the people Sasuke had hand-picked as his teammates. There was Suigetsu, with his laidback speech and flirtatious smile. Jugo, the wild killer, the gentle giant who comforted injured animals. Karin, with her mess of red hair, whose tired eyes glazed over whenever someone mentioned Sasuke’s name.

Sasuke himself was a simple patient. They had exchanged few words since their reunion. Since his apology.

Jugo’s bird chirped, bringing Sakura back from her thoughts.

“I’m fine, thank you,” Sakura replied, bright and professional. “How are you all feeling?”

“I am well,” Jugo said. “As is my friend.”

“Suigetsu? How’s the sprain treating you?”

“Better every day.” He spun his chair around and straddled the seat backwards. His sprained ankle failed to diminish his level of swagger.

“Karin?” Sakura prompted.

Karin sighed and shifted in her cot. She had never said so, but it was clear she was less than enthusiastic about Sakura’s visits.

Today the red-haired kunoichi wore a cropped shirt, exposing the thick knot of scar tissue on her stomach. Sakura had not seen this injury since she had healed it herself.

Karin followed Sakura’s gaze and looked away.

Sakura had healed thousands of injuries in thousands of circumstances. She would never forget this one. The edges of Sakura’s vision blurred, and she slipped back to that day: a chidori aimed at her skull, electricity standing up the hair on her arms, the air red and thick with the scent of blood. Sasuke with the intent to kill in his eyes.

Sasuke had pierced clean through Karin’s body in his attack on Danzo. As if she were no more than a layer of clothing.

Sakura still had nightmares, but she did not wear Sasuke’s betrayal on her body as scar tissue.

“Everything is fine,” Karin reported, adjusting her glasses. “I don’t need you to look me over.”

Sakura pulled a chair next to Karin’s bedside. She rubbed the sleeve of her white coat. “How’s the old wound?” she asked softly.

Karin’s eyes widened, then she crossed her arms. “It’s fine.”

“If you like…” Sakura began, “I might be able to heal this scar away.”

To Sakura’s surprise, Karin’s lip trembled.

Jugo silenced a squeak from his bird. Even Suigetsu didn’t speak.

Two stubborn tears slipped down Karin’s cheeks. Sakura’s throat grew tight.

“No,” Karin said. “I don’t want to forget.”

Sakura understood Karin a little better then. “You’re strong,” she said.

Karin raised her head, not hiding her tears.

A pang of kinship struck Sakura’s heart. She squeezed Karin’s hand. Karin squeezed back.

“Has he apologized to you?” Sakura asked.

Karin sniffed. “I can tell he’s sorry. In his own way.”

Sakura could not hold back a scoff. “Idiot.”

The two kunoichi exchanged a look. They both knew him.

Karin mumbled, “Idiot.”

Smiles broke out on their faces. Karin wiped her eyes.

“You knew Sasuke. Before,” Suigetsu said. It was not a question.

Sakura thought, And you knew Sasuke. After.

Sasuke was the kind of person who split the landscape of time into before and after, leaving a deep chasm between. On one side, Sakura, before, stared at the members of Taka, after.

She sighed. “Yes. We were teammates.”

The faces in the room grew soft, contemplative. This was the first time they all acknowledged their mutual connection to Sasuke. Sakura felt a door open, a weight lift. They had slung a rope across the chasm.

“Well,” Suigetsu resolved, “you can heal my old scars.” Forgoing all modesty, he lifted his shirt over his head. A long white scar marred his stomach. “I got this a few years back. It messes with my look.”

Karin snapped, “You’re so fucking vain.”

“You’re jealous I’m prettier than you.” Suigetsu balled up his shirt and tossed it into her lap. Karin bristled like a cat.

Sakura could not fight her smile. She gestured for Suigetsu to approach. He sat on the edge of Karin’s cot.

“You’re both very pretty,” Sakura granted, and pooled healing chakra into her palms.

Both Suigetsu and Karin beamed at her.

“I like her,” Suigetsu said to Karin, bobbing his finger towards Sakura’s face.

“She’s out of your league,” Karin snorted.

Suigetsu sputtered, shifting under Sakura’s touch. Then he added, snide, “Sasuke’s really the one who needs a touch-up. He looks like a cat’s scratch-post.”

Karin smirked. “He would never want that.” She glanced at Sakura.

Sakura rolled her eyes. She confirmed, “Too much pride.”

“Can I call you Sakura-chan?” Suigetsu asked.

“Whatever helps you heal faster,” Sakura said.

Jugo chimed in from the corner. “Next time, I will bring you a bird’s nest.”

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Once it was all over, and Sasuke lay bleeding on the ground next to Naruto, he felt himself floating away. The sound of skittering rocks and urgent footsteps reached him through a thick haze. Then a gentle warmth spread throughout his body. The feeling returned to his limbs in a rush. He could not help gasping in pain, everything heavy and hurting.

He concentrated on the warmth. It was soft, precious, like the first glimmer of light on a cold morning.

Sasuke blinked his eyes open and understood why the sensation felt so familiar.

“Leave me,” Sasuke mumbled.

Sakura chewed her lower lip as she worked, eyebrows drawn. The green light of her healing chakra danced across her face. She gave no sign that she had heard.

Sasuke tried to roll away. His body obeyed with the slightest twitch. At this, Sakura glared at him. “Don’t distract me,” she ordered. “I’m trying to concentrate.”

“Sakura.” Breathing was easier now. “I’m sorry.”

Her mouth curled. “For what?”

Sasuke did not have the right words. There were too many things for which he was sorry. He muttered, “For everything until now.”

“Good,” she said. “I hope you’re sorry.”

Slow tears spilled down Sakura’s cheeks, tracing the same paths over and over.

“You fucking asshole,” she added.

The flow of chakra never wavered. Sakura did not hesitate to save him yet again.

To keep himself from drifting, Sasuke watched the green glow on her face.

Afterwards, Sasuke spent his days in the medic encampment. He relearned the balance of his body, feeling the air where his left arm once existed. He discovered new patches of scar tissue on his skin. At night, he could not sleep.

Sasuke’s visitors bombarded him with questions and urgent topics of discussion.

Naruto limped in on crutches, asking Sasuke, “Aren’t you excited to finally come home?”

Kakashi touched a thoughtful finger to his masked mouth and asked, “Let’s talk about what will happen next. It’s possible you’ll be branded a criminal.”

Tsunade charged into his tent demanding, “Tell me why I should convince the council not to brand you a criminal.”

Sasuke’s answers didn’t satisfy any of them.

Sakura was his other regular visitor. She came each day to check his injuries. Only Sakura didn’t ask anything of him, though Sasuke felt she deserved his answers the most.

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It started off small. Jugo fretted over an injured bird. The next day, the bird perched alert and unharmed on his shoulder.

“The medic healed him for me,” Jugo told Sasuke.

Sasuke hadn’t asked.

“The pink one,” he elaborated. Sasuke somehow already knew.

Then one day, Suigetsu could not stop smiling as he lounged in Sasuke’s tent.

“What are you so happy about?” Sasuke finally asked.

Suigetsu raised an eyebrow. “Sakura-chan is really something.”

Sakura-chan?

Sasuke’s stomach clenched.

“She’s cute,” Suigetsu said. “Tough. Nice smile. Interesting hair. And she healed up my old scar.”

With a flourish, Suigetsu pulled up his shirt to reveal his unmarred abdomen.

“What’s with the long face?” he protested. “She’d probably do the same for you if you asked.”

“I’m not interested,” Sasuke muttered.

Suigetsu’s smile transformed into a shit-eating grin. “You’re as predictable as they said,” he laughed.

Sasuke did not take the bait.

No fan of subtlety, Suigetsu elaborated on his own. “Karin and Sakura, I mean.”

Sasuke should not have been surprised, that with her warm smile and sweet disposition, Sakura had befriended his teammates.

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The next time Sakura appeared at his tent, Sasuke was in a bad mood.

She paused in changing a bandage. “Are you feeling more pain than normal?”

“What?”

She frowned. “You seem upset.”

“I’m not.”

Sakura held his stare.

“You’ve been talking to my teammates,” Sasuke said.

Sakura blinked. “Well, they’re my patients. Just like you.”

Sasuke regretted speaking. “Never mind.”

“What does it matter if I’m talking to them?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

A shadow fell across her face. Sakura checked his injuries without another word, a green thundercloud of healing chakra.

She stood up the instant she finished. “I don’t know what’s bothering you today. But I suggest that instead, you should think about how you still owe Karin an apology.” Her mouth opened again, then shut.

Sasuke stared at his lap, because she was right.

Her jaw set. She stormed away.

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.

Sasuke broke his bedrest early and apologized to Karin outside of the Taka tent. His throat was dry, and his words were too curt. He could not look her in the eye.

Karin nodded once. In a thick voice, she said, “Thank you.” After a while, she retreated inside. It was far more forgiveness than Sasuke deserved.

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For the first time, Sakura did not leave right away after her next visit. She shrugged off her white coat, smoothed back her hair, and took a seat by Sasuke’s bedside. She peeled and sliced two apples, then arranged the fruit on a plate.

“Antioxidants,” she explained, dropping the plate on Sasuke’s lap. The apple slices jostled on impact.

“Thank you.” His voice was quiet.

Sakura didn’t blink. “You apologized to Karin.”

“Yes.”

“Good,” she said.

Sasuke opened his mouth, his face hot, yet another imperfect apology burning on his lips.

“I already know you’re sorry,” Sakura interrupted. “Just finish your fruit.” She hummed her approval when he lifted a slice to his lips.

Sasuke offered the plate to her. She paused, then picked a slice. They took turns until the plate was empty.

It was the best apple Sasuke had ever eaten.

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Through messages relayed by Sakura, Naruto pestered Sasuke to stop by his tent. After a week of rest, Sasuke gave in one late afternoon and made his way through the lively encampment.

The encampment had grown in purpose beyond a location to house troops. Medics darted in and out of the infirmary tent, the tall landmark at the center of camp. Shinobi from each nation mixed and mingled together. They lined up for meals, called out to each other in greeting, or gathered to swap stories and spar. They transformed rows of tents into neighborhoods.

For its community of shinobi, the encampment served as a space to celebrate, mourn, and heal before returning home. For Sasuke, it was the unexpected reprieve of a clearing in the middle of a dark forest. But it only gave way to more uncharted forest.

Sasuke opened the flap to Naruto’s tent. Naruto dozed open-mouthed atop his futon. Next to him, Sakura lay coiled on her side, her loose hair strewn across a pillow, fingers curled up next to her cheek.

A gust of wind sent the entrance of the tent flapping. Sakura shot up at the noise, already reaching for her white coat.

When she saw Sasuke her shoulders dropped, and her sleepiness returned. “Naruto was supposed to wake me up,” Sakura murmured, rubbing her eyes.

Sasuke could not shake the image of their closeness. He said, “I’ll come back later.”

“You better stay. He’s been annoying me all day about you.”

Caught in her pleading gaze, Sasuke joined Sakura on the ground and crossed his legs. She gently shook Naruto’s shoulder. Naruto sat up and yawned with vigor.

“I love napping,” he announced, stretching, then grinned at Sasuke. “Look who finally showed up!”

“You’re keeping busy,” Sasuke said.

“Sleep is important, teme.”

“You were supposed to wake me up,” Sakura reminded him.

“Ah! Sorry Sakura!” Naruto offered a sheepish grin. “Do you need to run?”

Sakura waved a hand. “Shizune would have found me by now if they needed me.”

The three teammates regarded each other. They had not been alone together in a long time.

“Look at us. We’re old now.” Naruto beamed.

Sasuke scoffed under his breath.

“We aren’t old,” Sakura said. “But we are veterans.”

Her words weren’t bitter. But it was a candid acknowledgement of their reality. They were young, and already fighting so hard.

Sasuke examined the slight shock he felt at her introspection. For a long time, Sasuke had convinced himself that Sakura was nothing more than a weak and silly girl. She never had been, but Sasuke rewrote his memories of her until it became true. He did this to make leaving easier. To make being her enemy easier. It was time to let go of this falsehood.

“Only four arms between the three of us,” Naruto joked.

Sakura didn’t respond. Then she drew a shaky breath.

“You idiots,” she whispered. “You could’ve killed each other.” Her eyes shone with unshed tears.

Naruto’s face fell. He rubbed her back. “We’re sorry, Sakura-chan. We really are idiots.”

As Sakura cried, Sasuke froze. He did not know how to match the comfort Naruto so easily offered. He reached out, faltered, and withdrew his hand. After all this time, after all he had done, would his words, his touch, mean anything?

Naruto caught Sasuke’s hesitation. With the smallest movement of his chin, he gestured, get over here.

Sasuke touched a thumb to her knuckles. “Thank you, Sakura.”

He didn’t know what he was thanking her for. He only knew that he would never get to the bottom of everything he owed her.

“You saved us. Again,” Naruto said.

Sakura took a deep breath and threatened, “Next time, I’ll kill you both myself.”

She gripped Sasuke’s hand and squeezed.

“I don’t doubt it,” Naruto said with a nervous chuckle. “But it won’t happen again. Eh, Sasuke?”

“Never,” Sasuke promised, dazed by the sudden warmth of her small hand in his. Her hand was illogical to Sasuke. A rough, calloused palm met slender fingers and a graceful wrist. Her hands promised both to break bones and to mend flesh.

Sakura tilted her head back. She closed her eyes and smiled.

A thought entered Sasuke’s mind as he sat next to his old teammates, listening to Naruto coax a laugh out of Sakura.

So this is what I missed.

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. Note: thank you to @diwatafolk for beta-ing! up next: Taka banter, healing lessons, sparring, and Sasuke builds a table.