SasuSaku: Forever and Always
Chapter 1: Sleep

Sasuke sighed as he waited for his teammates beneath the cherry blossom trees on a cold winter morning. 'Why is it that I'm always the first one here?' he wondered, annoyed that he had been waiting for about 15 minutes and to top it off, he hadn't been getting much sleep lately.

Sasuke shivered. He was trying to stay as warm as possible because he had forgotten to grab his coat that morning. He couldn't afford to get sick. Especially if he was ever going to get strong enough to kill his older brother, Itachi.

He looked up as a gust of wind blew and bunches of snow fell from the tree branches, landing on the ground and in his hair. He sighed again, not caring about the snow falling all over him. He shivered as another gust of wind hit him.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun!" he heard Sakura shout. He didn't even look at her. She walked up to him, wearing a red coat and scarf.

"The snow is really pretty, ne? You forgot your coat?" she asked, looking at the blanket of white on the ground that surrounded them and then looking back at him.

"Hn."

Sakura took a closer look at Sasuke and giggled. He finally look at her, annoyed. "Why are you laughing at me?" he asked, irritated.

Sakura went on giggling. After a few seconds her giggles ceased and she frowned at his tone.

"You have snow all over you." she said, reaching out and carefully brushing snowflakes out of his hair. Sasuke leaned away, but Sakura ignored it as she carefully brushed the snowflakes off his shirt.

"All done." she said, pulling back and looking away. Sasuke looked at her and sighed.

"Hn...Thanks." he said awkwardly; he wasn't used to thanking people. Sakura smiled, still not looking at him.

"No problem."

"Oi, Sakura! Sasuke!" they heard Naruto shout as he ran up to them. Sasuke winced at Naruto's loud voice and Sakura punched him..

"You baka! Don't be so loud so early in the morning!" she said, annoyed at Naruto. She walked back to where Sasuke was standing, trying to control her temper. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Sorry!" Naruto said loudly again. Sasuke winced again.

"Dumbass..." he muttered quietly. Naruto's shouting was giving him a headache. Sakura looked at him, noticing the dark shadows under his eyes for the first time.

"Sasuke-kun, are you feeling alright?" she asked, concerned. Sasuke sighed.

"I'm fine..." he said in annoyance. He just wanted to be left alone. Suddenly, a wave of dizziness hit him and he fell forward.

"Sasuke-kun!" "Sasuke!" Sakura and Naruto shouted. Sakura quickly moved and caught him as he fell forward into her arms. Naruto ran over as Sakura carefully turned Sasuke around. He had fallen unconscious.

Sakura slowly sat down, carefully shifting Sasuke so that his head was resting in the crook of her arm. Naruto looked at his teammate's face worriedly. Then he looked at Sakura.

"Do you know what's wrong with him?" he asked. Sakura nodded. "Is it serious?"

Sakura smiled. "No, he'll be fine. Look at the shadows under his eyes. He's just tired." Naruto smiled in relief. He watched as Sakura gently brushed his bangs out of Sasuke's face. She took her coat off and wrapped it around him, not caring about how cold it was.

Naruto nodded, knowing that both he and Sakura would take good care of Sasuke. Sakura looked at him and smiled. She stood up, holding Sasuke close to protect him from the wind.

Naruto stood up as well. "Can you carry him?" he asked and she nodded. "Where are we going?" Sakura looked at him calmly.

"We're taking him home." she said quietly, and Naruto nodded. They both disappeared.

At Sasuke's house...

Sasuke came to just as they arrived at his house. "Ughh...What the hell happened?" he asked, not knowing where he was and what was going on.

Sakura looked down at him. "I'm glad you're finally awake Sasuke-kun." Sasuke realized that she was holding him and tried to get down. Sakura kept her hold on him.

"Sasuke-kun, please stay still. You fell asleep standing up." she said sternly. Suddenly Naruto's face was above him too.

"You idiot." he said, smiling. "Just let us help you. We don't want you falling over again." Sasuke glared at him, but he knew that he couldn't argue. He sighed and slowly nodded.

"Fine..."

"Naruto can you please open the door?" Sakura asked, smiling when he nodded. She walked inside to Sasuke's bedroom and helped him sit down on the bed. Naruto went to go light a fire.

Sakura handed Sasuke some dry clothes and left the room so that he could change. A few minutes later she heard a thud followed by a low curse. Sakura went back into the room and found Sasuke on the floor.

She walked over to him and helped him up onto the bed. Sasuke fought her weakly.

"I'm fine. Let's go train. Kakashi-sensei's probably waiting for us." he protested, glaring at Sakura who sighed, gently pushing him back so that he was laying down.

"I know you want to train, Sasuke-kun, but obviously you haven't been getting enough sleep lately." she said, smiling as he glared at her again.

"Just get some sleep. I'll wake you up in a few hours." she said softly. Sasuke looked at her in anger, but didn't say anything. After a few minutes, he sighed in defeat and closed his eyes. Within minutes, he was fast asleep.

Sakura stroked his hair for a moment and then leaned down so she could speak into his ear.

"Just sleep." she said. "I promise we'll be here when you wake up." she placed a gentle kiss on his cheek and went to join Naruto in the living room. He had gotten the fire going and looked up when he heard Sakura walk in.

Naruto looked at her questioningly and she nodded in understanding. He smiled, relieved.

"Looks like we're gonna have to take care of him for a while." Naruto whispered, laughing softly. Sakura smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Now let's try to entertain ourselves for a few hours." she said quietly.

Hope you all liked it! It's really long for a first chapter, but I like it. Chapter 2 is undecided, so ideas are welcome. Thanks so much for reading and review if you want me to continue.