The Eyes Are on Fire [COMPLETE]

[impassive_eyes]

WHO: Sasuke, Tsunade, Sakura (?), Kakashi (??)
WHEN: 53, after Tsunade's journal post
WHERE: Her office
WHAT: PG-13 for Sasuke

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[no_sevens]

Tsunade sat at her desk pensively, her hands folded in front of her mouth. It was almost comforting, being back here and staring at the clock as the minutes ticked by, but whatever nostalgia Tsunade would have otherwise allowed herself was shoved aside in favor of contemplation for her upcoming...appointment.

She had a feeling about what to expect from the rash and stubborn Uchiha. He would storm in here, demand an explanation and an apology, and perhaps even request her resignation.

Did she owe him an explanation? Yes, most definitely. A part of her regretted the use of a letter to deliver information as sensitive as the truth behind the Uchiha.

Did she owe him an apology? No. While she wished for better circumstances, the fact still remained that Sasuke had jeopardized the safety of his classmates and professors by harboring that seal unchecked, and the orthodox method of questioning had failed because he wouldn't offer the information voluntarily. She had asked, for the most part, purely professional questions. The lives of the students here took priority over Sasuke's illegally obtained magic.

She cracked her knuckles.

Any second now.

[impassive_eyes]

The door flew open, but didn't slam. The reason for this was that Sasuke was gripping the handle so tightly that there might have been indentations where his fingers went, and it prevented him from letting go and having the door crash against the wall behind it.

They were heavy doors, too.

Tsunade was waiting for him. Of course she was. She knew exactly what he wanted to say to her, what this was about. It was about her just walking into his life and ripping it down. He had spent weeks, months now, building it back up until he could function, until he could think without shaking.

And now she thinks she can just come back here?

Sasuke sat down, and said nothing.

[no_sevens]

She appreciated the fact that the walls of her office wouldn't be needing a paint job due to the scuff marks from a door slamming into them. She gave Uchiha a few points for that. It was a new coat, after all.

She watched quietly as Sasuke walked to the front of her desk and sat, not oblivious to the way his fists were clenched. Being an Auror and Healer for over three decades had made Tsunade well-versed in body language, and it wouldn't have taken much effort for her to see that Sasuke was waiting for her to make the first move.

Tsunade wasn't exactly feeling indulgent this evening, and thus only leaned back slightly in her chair.

[impassive_eyes]

She was in control of the situation. That was the thing about Tsunade, the thing that pissed Sasuke off. She was always in control of the goddamn situation. She just sat there, so full of self-righteousness, as if it were perfectly okay that his family had had to die for this peace. That he had watched them die.

[ The thing is, really, that if his family is dead, and Itachi killed them, but Itachi had done it on orders from the Ministry, in order to save more lives; the thing is, Sasuke's still angry, but now he's too confused, lost, because there's really nowhere for it to go.

The thing is, it isn't Tsunade's fault, and it isn't Itachi's fault, and it isn't anyone's fault at all.

The thing is, it just happened. ]

She wanted him to break first? Tough shit. Sasuke was prepared to sit here all day.

[no_sevens]

He sat with far more patience than Tsunade would have given him credit for. No, patience wasn't the right word for it. Patient people didn't send off waves of hostility or anger. Stubborn--determined--people did.

If Tsunade were the type to be intimidated easily, she may have awkwardly forced small talk or offered a drink or anything to remove the tense silence that had flooded her office.

As it was she merely began to shuffle things around on her desk. Papers still needed reading, and if Sasuke needed something he needed to learn how to ask for it first.

[impassive_eyes]

She had no right to expect Sasuke to let her go without demanding an explanation. It wasn't as if he had asked her to upend everything he thought he'd known about his life. It wasn't like he'd thought she'd bother to stupidly endanger the both of them by telling him the truth.

Sasuke's fingers clenched. The letter she'd written him was in his pocket.

It wasn't like he'd thought she'd care enough to do something that stupid.

[no_sevens]

In the quiet that Tsunade was experiencing and the tenseness that she was ignoring, it was all too easy to convince herself that this was routine. That everyday, professors sat with the students they had Veritaserumed, had ripped up the foundations of their life and created cracks that were irreversible.

They had called her a groundbreaker, back in the day.

This was an entirely new terrain.

Tsunade leaned back, trying to formulate some sort of strategy for simply dealing with the situation. Fixing it had become obsolete, and she had learned long ago that with some wounds there are no ways to erase the scars.

He had changed. She noticed that much. So had she, the death of her mentor had given her a bitter taste in her mouth, one that only grew stronger in the presence of the boy that mentor had arranged to be spared.

Sasuke had his life, The Professor and his brother had given it to him. Now it fell on Tsunade's shoulders to make sure that he lived it.

But first things first.

She had to get him to talk.

[impassive_eyes]

Sasuke said nothing, but pulled out the letter from his pocket. It was so rumpled now, so read and reread and clenched tightly in sweaty fists, that it felt more like cloth than paper now. The writing was hardly legible anymore.

He slapped it on her desk.

[no_sevens]

Tsunade stared long and hard at that letter--every aspect of it-- from the creases formed by refolding, to the wilted edges. To the way there were ink blots that had seeped through in the spots where she knew words wouldn't be enough.

She saw his hand.

Time to up the ante.

Keeping her pokerface on, Tsunade opened the drawer where she kept her sake. With a simple wave of her wand, the jug and dishes transfigured into a tea pot and cups, the wine into oolong.

Tsunade set them on her desk.

She took her time pouring herself a drink.

[impassive_eyes]

Sasuke's fingers slowly curled, clenched, until half of the letter was once again crumpled in his fist.

The muscles in his jaw twitched slightly from clenching so hard; a dull ache crept up his teeth from the pressure.

[no_sevens]

Tsunade lifted the cup up to her lips and gently blew away the steam before taking a long sip.

Her eyes didn't leave him.

[battle_in_bloom]

Tsunade had said to come visit her during her office hours. She hadn't specified when, exactly, so Sakura figured she was in her rights to make use of the same hours Sasuke was.

Likely they hadn't killed each other.

Likely.

She stepped inside the office, and was nearly propelled back out by the sheer tension evident in the room. She paused for a moment, looking between her mentor and her best friend.

He had the letter out. So far, it didn't look like anyone had said anything.

Sakura lifted a hand and rubbed her temple. "I'll come back later, shall I?"

[impassive_eyes]

Sakura's entrance broke some of the tension in the room. Sasuke's gaze hadn't yet left Tsunade's, but his clenched hand relaxed slightly.

He turned and gave her a quick glance - something that meant something along the lines of, "let me handle this on my own for once."

And maybe also something like, "I promise not to kill her."

The glance was gone as soon as he gave it. He didn't like the idea of showing weakness in front of Tsunade - weakness of resolve, that is, not of his relationship with Sakura.

[no_sevens]

The silence that Tsunade had refused to let bother her was broken by Sakura's hardly surprising entrance. She was far from shocked to see that her apprentice and Sasuke were back on speaking terms. Resolve went a long way, but matters of the heart went further than that, and Sakura always did have too big of one.

But now was not the time for reflection upon her protege. Tsunade had left many loose ends after leaving for the Ministry, and it was time to begin repairing the damage.

And she had damaged no one more than the boy sitting across from her.

Tsunade also sent Sakura a look, one that she hope conveyed how she knew things weren't settled between mentor and student, but how this wasn't the time for that. With a curt nod at Sakura's question, Tsunade went back to staring at Sasuke, folding her hands gently before her after she set down the teacup.

[battle_in_bloom]

Sakura's expression tightened slightly at Sasuke's glance, but she ignored the barrage of old impulses (He doesn't want me, need me, doesn't think I can help at all--) and sighed instead, accepting. This was something that she could help him with, but it wasn't something that she should. For both their sakes.

She laid a hand lightly on his upper arm for a moment - a check up, a comfort, a reminder, but mostly just a simple, brief reassurance before looking directly over at her mentor, meeting her gaze calmly.

"Later, then," she confirmed quietly, before she let her hand slip softly from Sasuke's shoulder and walked out of the room.

[impassive_eyes]

Sasuke nodded as Sakura left, leaving him to Tsunade.

He folded his arms, and continued the staredown with her.