#downside is theres no sarada in this au my babby

i was thinking about how i personally would make sasusaku work (platonic or romantic), and now it’s a whole AU where naruto fails as a hokage and has to resign, there’s a new big international conflict brewing, sakura has to leave her position of senior medical researcher at the hospital to rejoin the army, and her and sasuke are a team of two sent on key missions as part of the preparation efforts set in motion by the emerging world war.

the background: after the events of shippuuden sasuke goes on a 10 year long trip, while sakura establishes her career at the hospital (at this point she no longer has a crush on sasuke, and has finished her primary character arc). upon sasuke’s return their relationship starts from a hard reset, and they gradually become friends partaking in regular ninja poker nights of drinking and talking politics. by the time the international conflict starts, they are in their late 30s [and would become more intimate during the war, if u wish]