Explosions sounded off in the distance, dust clouds and flying debris littering the surrounding areas. A small deserted town a ways off from the blasts bore the brunt of the dust clouds, the buildings already half destroyed by previous bombings.
The noise and dust cloud settled slowly and the town was quiet, the drone that had dropped the bombs leaving the area. In the silence, toward the end of the main street in a roofless house, a grunt was heard, then a murmured chastisement.
"Hold still, Sasuke."
"Can't you be a bit more gentle- ow! That was on purpose."
"I won't deny that."
"Why are you being so nasty?"
There was a huff of irritation from inside the little house.
"If a certain idiot hadn't tried to be a hero, we wouldn't be in this mess. Seriously, what were you thinking? It was a frag grenade. Did you want to die?"
An annoyed green gaze met faintly amused dark eyes.
"This isn't funny Sasuke, you could have died."
Sasuke groaned, rubbing the side of his face with a gloved hand.
"It's not that bad, Sakura. It's just shrapnel in my leg, you worry too much."
Sakura instantly started spluttering, yanking hard on the bandage that she was putting around Sasuke's thigh, making him hiss in pain.
"I worry too much? Me? I'm the medic. It is my job to worry! You-!"
"No, Sakura, it's your job to fix me up so I can go back out and fight."
She opened her mouth to reprimand him again, but his hand shot out and clamped over her mouth.
"Did you hear that?" he whispered.
She stilled instantly, eyes widening. Sasuke pulled his hand back and raised his rifle, turning his head to try and pinpoint the noise. He could hear faint voices from the street, along with the shuffling of feet and clicking of weapons. That didn't make sense. This place was supposed to be deserted of civilians, and they'd already taken care of any enemy stragglers.
He felt a tug on his leg and glanced down. Through her pink locks, Sakura gave him a determined gaze and nodded up at him. His leg was fine to go, apparently. He nodded once in return, turning onto his good knee to see out of the window above them. There was no one out there, but the voices were still echoing. His eyebrows furrowed and he shifted again, the dull ache in his injured thigh a reminder of the last time he'd misjudged the situation. Gritting his teeth, he kept an ear out as he slid back down to the ground.
Looking over at Sakura, he signalled for her to leave the house through the back and circle around the houses to their right and cause a distraction. If she could distract whoever was out there, he could snipe them from the house next door.
Sakura nodded firmly, raising herself from the floor in a half crouch to do as he asked. Before she left though, she glanced back at him, hesitating. He nodded for her to leave, but she ignored that, moving back over to him to kneel by his side. He watched as she leaned forward, surprised to feel her lips on his. As she pulled away, she directed his eyes to her hand, signing a message out to him.
'Don't do anything stupid. I want you to come back to me.'
He smirked slightly, touching her fingers with his and giving her a nod. Her lips set in a line and she moved out of the house. He thought about her actions for about two seconds before remembering the situation.
Moving as quickly as he could with his leg as it was, he ducked into the next house over and set up his rifle. Lining it up with the street, he waited for the owners of the voices to come into view. A minute passed, then two, before he felt a familiar presence behind him, glancing back to see his teammate kneeling next to him. Her hand fell on his shoulder and he looked up to see Sakura's eyebrow twitching.
"It's Naruto, Kakashi and Sai," she grumbled. "They've cleared the sector. Time for us to head back to base."
He sighed quietly and rolled onto his back to get up. A hand was extended towards him and he took it, glad for Sakura's help in rising. He looked down at her and she smiled back up at him, turning to leave. His fingers tightened around her hand and stopped her in her tracks.
She turned to look at him, eyebrows already raised, but he was closing the distance and returning her affection from earlier, his lips warm against hers. His gaze was amused as he leaned back, eyeing the redness underneath the dirt on her cheeks with satisfaction.
"From now on," he started, reaching out to wipe some of the grime from her face, "You be careful too, ok? I want you to come back to me."
Her lips quirked and she tilted her head.
"I suppose," she quipped, leaning around him to lift his rifle onto her shoulder and help him down to the street. "I don't think that'll be a problem."
A/N: It's been a while, but I saw a picture by finval (on tumblr, they're pretty awesome, go check them out), and due to procrastination, this came forth. Enjoy!