Disclaimer: Naruto© belongs to Masashi Kishimoto
The Perfect Palette
-the colors remain-
-edited-
because the first one sucked
Sun-Kissed Peaches
The war was over. Peace was finally achieved. Dreams came true. Her dream came true. Sasuke was back.
Only this time, she didn't seem to care anymore because Sasuke was just a dream and a world without him was reality she embraced.
Sakura Haruno woke up from that dream.
And she was determined to stay up all throughout her life.
Wilted Dandelions
"You came." his voice was composed and impassive.
"Just a quick check-up." she replied automatically and placed her long and delicate fingers on his wrist. He sat still and allowed her to continue examining his condition, from taking his temperature to checking up on his breathing. He allowed them. He allowed them all. Sasuke felt himself frown the moment it was all over.
"You'll live." that was the final thing she said before she turned her back on him. The raven-haired man blankly stared at her, drawn to the subtle changes of his female teammate.
"Sakura," he blurted out before he could stop himself. The medic stopped momentarily and glanced over her shoulder, a tiny gesture which meant that he had her attention.
"Thank you." it was an ordinary act of gratitude but the sincerity was there. She curtly nodded and said the words as warmly as she could.
"Welcome back."
She shut the door.
He was left alone once again in the hospital room. He wondered how there were no flowers in the vase, or how there were no peeled bunny apples on the plate, or how the room seemed to be blindingly white. He closed his eyes and pictured spring for the first time during his return.
Scarlet Letter
"You haven't visited him yet." it wasn't a question and she knew that. Naruto looked at her, his face serious as he patiently waited for a valid response.
"I did. A couple of times." she answered coolly. Sakura was busy arranging files and medical equipment on her desk and the last thing she needed was distraction. It was the aftermath of the war, and things don't magically return to the way it was. And that included death and the numerous injured shinobi on the battlefield.
"And how many of those visits weren't orders from baa-chan?" he was being hard and persistent on her and he knew that, but he wasn't planning on letting her go without a proper reply.
"There are a lot of people injured. I can't always stick to one patient." she tried reasoning with him by offering him a bit of reality. "So if you'll excuse me, I have to attend to all of them." she gathered her kit and donned her lab coat.
The blond blocked her way, his arms inexplicably outstretched and obviously giving her no means of escape.
"Sakura-chan, what about Sasuke? Do you—"
"You know what your problem is Naruto?" she snapped, making his teammate fidget at the intensity of her voice. "You always think that my world revolves around you and Sasuke! There's a much bigger picture here and I don't plan to miss that." she stormed past him and into the halls of the infirmary, leaving a disheartened friend behind.
Chocolate and Ochre
"Sasuke Uchiha. S-ranked criminal and a former member of the Akatsuki you are under probation for two years indefinitely. You cannot leave the village under any circumstances except when it calls for a mission that the other nations—Earth, Lightning, Water and Wind ask you under this two-year trial. During your stay in the Land of Fire, you are only to be assigned to D-Class missions and would always be under surveillance 24/7 by a chunin or jonin. You are not to take any exams that would raise your rank as a ninja of the Leaf during this indefinite probation. You are also to perform community services five times a week to help at the fast recovery of the village. Your chakra would also be depleted by fifty percent as part of your punishment. If you do not comply, your other option would be death." the blonde Hokage barked and stared at the raven-haired man intensely, waiting for his answer.
Sasuke grunted as he was in no condition to make demands and that he was still hooked up onto the machines of the freakin' hospital.
"Hn."
"Answer me clearly you brat!"
Tsunade was stopped by Kakashi and Naruto who tried to pulverize the already bedridden Uchiha.
"Aa." Everyone went still and gazed upon Sasuke. "I accept."
Everyone in the room rejoiced—Kakashi who sighed in relief, Naruto who was wailing like an ass, Tsunade who merely smirked, a couple of anbu spectators who witnessed an important verdict relaxed.
And there was Sakura.
Who was just glad he wasn't going to die.
Copper Rose
"What are you doing here?" Sakura asked the calm and arrogant man who stood by the door of her office.
"My first assignment of community service." he replied casually.
"In the hospital?"
He nodded once.
"Who's with you?"
"No one."
"I thought—"
"You're the one going to look after me Sakura." he rolled his eyes.
"Oh. So I'm your boss now?" she raised a thin eyebrow at this. She was not amused.
"Temporarily. But yes." he grumbled.
"Okay then here's what you're going to do," Sasuke looked at her expectantly and thought she was about to make him her assistant. He also speculated that he'd be sorting out medicine bottles or cleaning the whole hospital halls in the worst case scenario. But what she told him caught him off guard.
"Report to Tsunade-shishou, tell her I don't need an assistant."
Light Plum
"You did not just throw away the chance of having Sasuke as your personal assistant." Ino gawked at the pinkette who was apparently busy with medical issues again.
"I just did."
She did.
And payback's a bitch.
Fig and Lavender
I do not get rejected.
This was running over and over in his mind. Sasuke Uchiha does not/will not and will never ever be rejected.
He'll show her.
He'll definitely show her that no one gets to reject the Sasuke Uchiha but himself.
Navy Blue
"I thought I made it clear that I don't need an assistant." Sakura dumped a lot of trash into her waste basket.
"I got orders from the higher-ups." Sasuke lazily replied and made himself comfortable inside her office. "Besides, this is for my probation."
Sakura gave off a weary sigh.
"Alright. You might as well make yourself useful."
Sasuke smirked.
Dusty Aqua
"How many times did I tell you?" the pink-haired kunoichi irritably placed her hands on her hips as she reprimanded her self-proclaimed assistant. "The clear bottles go to the right shelf and the green ones are placed on the left."
Sasuke didn't say anything and continued sorting out the medicines like she wasn't even there.
Sakura reached out to stop his actions but failed to do so when her knees gave in.
He caught her just as her body was about to hit the floor. The warm hand on her small back tightened its grip on her and she found her arms reflexively wrapped around his neck.
"You're exhausted." he said softly and helped her to her feet.
"I am, so stop screwing around and get a simple task such as this done."
Sasuke didn't like the tone she used on him.
But what he hated the most is the supposedly rosy color of her face that should have been there when he caught her like a princess.
Iris and Cerulean
A month had passed and he was nowhere to finishing the hospital duties.
He glanced at the pink-haired medic who was still busy making antidotes and other medications.
He looked at the clock.
2:45am.
"You'll die before you could treat everybody." He bluntly commented and that earned him a scowl from the hardworking kunoichi.
"What are you still doing here? I've already dismissed you haven't I?"
"I was told that I am to be under twenty-four hour surveillance. Think you could still do that?" he was underestimating her again and she hated that.
"I called for the anbu to do that job for me so I could work without you getting in the way. Happy now?"
He was most definitely not.
He didn't like the idea that somebody else is going to watch over him now that he'd gotten so used to Sakura. And he certainly didn't like the idea that Sakura was working her ass off for the last seventy-two hours straight.
Denim and Celeste
"Sakura-chan I brought ramen!" the cheeky and loud ninja rushed towards her, dumping the noodles on her desk.
Sasuke merely snorted at this as he cleaned and arranged the bandages on the cabinet.
"Take a break and eat teme!" Naruto snickered at how low his friend had become. From one of the best in the ninja world, to a lowly hospital janitor.
It was a direct hit to his ego.
"Shut it dobe." he snarled.
"Hey Naruto," Sakura tugged on her teammate's sleeve and smiled. "Think you could watch him for me? I really need to check on a lot of patients. Besides, he seemed bored as well." she politely asked and the blond beamed at her.
"Sure thing Sakura-chan!" Both of them exchanged stories then fits of laughter and smiles. Sasuke felt a strange pang of jealousy hit him.
He ignored his best friend's invitation to take a break and busied himself with more bandages.
He was left behind.
Maple and Mauve
"It's three in the morning." Sakura yawned.
"So?" an irritated reply came from the arrogant ninja with ebony locks.
"Your hospital duties are over in the last five hours. Seriously…" Sakura didn't manage to finish her sentence and ended up sleeping on her desk.
Sasuke sighed.
That same morning, Sakura found herself in the room of her apartment.
Caramel and Latte
"Why me?" Sakura knitted her brows in confusion.
"Naruto and Kakashi are currently out on a mission." The Hokage explained casually, signing papers that she didn't bother to read. "And seeing that you are available and relieved of hospital duties, I don't see why not."
"Sai is also available." She stubbornly suggested. "And I still have to check up on the—"
"Look Sakura," the old lady rubbed her temple to calm her nerves. "Shizune and the other medics could take care of the patients. None of them are in critical condition anymore. It's been five months already. And besides, I couldn't simply pair up an anti-social brat," Sasuke scowled at Tsunade but she continued speaking, not minding the daggers thrown at her by the Uchiha prodigy.
"And an absolute dense person like Sai. Besides, you've known each other for a long time."
Sakura sighed, obviously defeated and she nodded silently.
"Alright I accept."
It's been five months. Sasuke thought.
And nothing has changed.
Except Sakura.
She's changed.
By a lot.
Camel and Ivory
They reached Lightning where she was warmly welcomed and he was not.
Glinting Silver
"You called me to be your punching bag?" Sasuke literally growled at the Raikage who was not in the least bit amused.
"You got a problem with that brat?" he roared but Sasuke didn't even flinch. "We want you to be a dummy to train our ninja for a couple of months. And given that we could use you in whatever way, you really don't have any say in the matter." he acknowledged the presence of the pink-haired kunoichi who was beside him the whole time during the briefing.
"Besides, whatever wound you receive would only be healed by her."
"Hn. I will never even get a scratch from your weak and pathetic—"
The Raikage's temper is a force that should never be reckoned with, especially if you're an arrogant, selfish, chauvinistic and egotistical power-hungry asshole.
Slate Gray
He winced when Sakura placed her chakra-infused palm on his cheek. The Raikage had lost control and punched Sasuke with his lightning fist and did damage to the once perfect and aristocratic face of the young Uchiha.
"I always thought you were a fast learner." she sighed right after she finished the treatment. "How long does it usually take one to learn manners?"
She placed an adhesive bandage on his cheek and lingered there for a moment, her fingers lightly tracing the edges of the sticky plaster.
Sasuke stared into her pale emerald eyes and held her hand unknowingly.
She flinched at his touch and withdrew her hand hastily as she stood up.
"Rest easy, Sasuke." without another word, she left.
He placed his hand on the part where she touched him and finally accepted the feeling that has been haunting him.
He would give anything just to be called 'Sasuke-kun' again.
Black and White
It was the night before they were supposed to leave the Land of Lightning, Sakura would never forget it.
"Why are you doing this?" Sasuke hissed his voice husky in the middle of the night.
"Do what?" she innocently asked.
"This!" he barked at her and she was taken aback by the sudden shift of his reserved and uncaring emotion to an open and defenseless state.
"Care to be more specific Sasuke?" she snapped right back at him, refusing to lose to his towering height and overwhelming presence.
"Acting like you don't care about me." the pain in his voice almost brought Sakura to her knees.
Almost.
Lime Green
"Forget it." he suddenly said as they packed up to leave and head home to the Leaf.
"Forget what?"
"About last night." he softly said.
"It never happened." she assured him.
And for once they agreed.
Olive and Antique Gold
She was humming sweetly to herself. Tomorrow, they would reach the Leaf Village and that would mark first year of Sasuke's probation.
She was happy for him really, because another year wouldn't hurt to say the least.
She froze in place when he stood behind her, mere inches apart.
Inside an inn with no one to bother them.
Or stop them.
Chartreuse, Mint and In-Betweens
"What are you doing Sasuke?" she swiftly took two steps back, separating and putting distance between each other.
"Do you hate me?"
She didn't respond and the stillness of the night choked her.
"You tried to kill me."
There. Now she said it. The truth came out.
"You're still mad about that?" who wouldn't be? Though he still asked and was rendered speechless by her response.
"I'm not mad. I'm hurt. There's a huge difference Sasuke-kun."
Blush Pink
Sasuke-kun.
The moment he heard that, he spun her around and grabbed her waist, locking her on his frame.
Sasuke is kissing me. Sasuke-kun is kissing me.
Tears spilled from her eyes because the single action breached her defenses. Because the kiss tore down the walls that she had so carefully built.
"Don't…" she whispered into his mouth. Sasuke continued to ravish her until he memorized all the corners of her mouth and edges of her teeth.
"Why not?" he rasped, letting her catch her breath.
"Because I don't know where and how to start again…"
She cried and Sasuke never let her go as he softly whispered.
"Then let's start with this…"
And they danced in the moonlit night.
Persian Rose
"Come on Sakura!" the raven-haired young man called out to the medic. They were finally heading home.
"Just a moment!" Sakura smiled as she took in one last time the room that held so much memories in so little time.
They met outside and he frowned.
"Why are you smiling?"
"I'm thinking of going back to this place once again. Wouldn't you?"
"Hn."
And they headed home.
Together.
With the promise of the future in both their hands.
A/N: And they live happily ever after! I sort of edited the whole thing out. The first one was so bad I hurled for even trying to read it-with all the grammar mistakes and shit. Hope this one's better. :)