Redemption |complete| (SasuSaku)

The threat

Tuesday, 21st of July. Sarada is 15 months old.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay for longer?" Sakura took his hand and squeezed it.

"You need to get back to Sarada. I will be fine."

"If that's the only thing that you're worried about then you shouldn't. Sarada is fine if anything I'm more worried about you than her right now. You're the one who's alone all the time."

"I'm fine." he brought his hand back to his chest leaving Sakura's hanging in the air. "I am going to take care of this and I will come back to Konoha."

"I could help you take care of it."

"Sakura, we have talked about this. The two of us can't be dead. One of us has to survive for her. She can't end up alone like I did."

"I know it's just..."

"I will come back, don't worry." he interrupted her gently.

"Will you write me letters?" she looked at him with her innocent eyes. He loved that look on her it made her cute.

"I will write you letters. Now go, Sarada needs you." he tried to be firm but it was hard. The idea that she was leaving was hurting him.

Sakura hugged him one more time and pressed his head against her lips. "Don't be too long."

Sasuke nodded and she let go of him. From where they were standing he could see the heads of the two Anbu that Kakashi sent to bring her back home. He was glad that they were here to protect her, not that she particularly needed to be protected but he needed to make sure that she was going to be safe. He was even surprised that she agreed to have two ninjas escorting her.

Sasuke watched his wife's back as she walked away from him. He laughed when she stumbled on something. She was the Kuonichi with the best chakra control in the world and the best medic which meant that she definitely wasn't clumsy but for some reasons she was always stumbling onto things. He shook his head with a smile as she disappeared behind a big rock. Now he was back to being alone, completely alone.

———————————————————————

Kakashi was looking at the window to see if Sakura was coming to report from her mission. Two days had already passed since she had left from his location and there was still no sign from her. He crossed his arms against his chest and his index anxiously tapped against his forearm. Something seemed off. "Please tell me that letting you go wasn't a mistake." he whispered.

The door opened suddenly. Kakashi turned around and saw Shikamaru standing there.

"Lord Hokage, I checked at the gates like you asked me to. She hasn't been seen today crossing our borders. What should we do?"

Kakashi looked back at window. A ball of anxiety took over his stomach. What was the right thing to do? What was the right choice? He took a deep breath to keep his calm and he turned around. He was chosen to be Hokage because of his ability to analyse things with a cold head and also because if his experience. Right now he needed to focus to find the right thing to do.

"First let's send a letter to Sasuke. By the time he replies, a day will pass and if Sakura is not with him then we send a team after her. Knowing Sasuke he will start looking for her as soon as he gets our letter if she isn't with him."

"Understood."

Shikamaru left the room and closed the door behind him. Kakashi turned around to face the window again.