Disclaimer: I don't own!1!!1one!1

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Sakura never had much spare time. A few moments between patients, a few seconds between punches. Not enough to do anything useful, only time to think of Sasuke.

Did he still steeple his fingers and rest his chin on them when he was contemplating, was his hair long enough to brush his shoulders yet? Did he ever think of her?

Time had dulled her heartache. She no longer cried when his name came up, didn't dig her nails into her palms when his face came to mind. But it was still there, sharp and painful under her skin, and she had long ago stopped thinking it would ever fade completely.

The first time she had seen him since he'd left with a simple 'thank you' and an array of broken hearts had been hard. She still remembered acutely the look on Naruto's face as Sasuke's hand had come to rest upon his shoulder, pain and sadness and an utter loss of faith.

He'd given up. Not on bringing his one time -so long ago- teammate back to Konoha, but on bringing him home. So she'd tried to steel her resolve, to keep faith alive for both of them.

In the end she'd given up too.

The second time she had seen him since he'd left with a simple 'thank you' and an array of broken hearts had been harder. Only because it seemed his face would be the last she'd see before she died.

Her ANBU mask had been broken, the porcelain shattered at the point of impact while tiny cracks and fissures spiderwebbed outwards. Her chakra was depleted, and she'd been unable to continue healing herself after the fourth broken rib.

Leaning against the trunk of an ancient grandfather oak, she smiled. Sakura wasn't ready to die, but had realized long ago she never would be, there would always be so much more to do. At least she would pass with peace, no regrets.

Instead, dark and overwhelming Sasuke strode into the clearing and to her side. She closed her eyes and became angry as she heard him call a name. Not her name, was what she thought as her stomach clenched and knotted.

So when suddenly a hand was behind her head cradling her skull gently and another had pushed something soft and human to her mouth, she bit hard. There had been a shrill scream and then bite marks upon bite marks upon bite marks.

Hours later, when she'd finally awoken, her wounds were healed, and Sasuke sat still and cold.

"Why?" She asked him, yearning for an answer so tangible she tasted it on her tongue.

His eyes were flat and dark like coal.

"I don't want you to die."

Fat salty tears rolled down the curve of her cheeks, cut across the slope of her neck, and slipped beneath the soft material of her top. "I love you." She whimpered out, small and wobbly but so sure of the fact that Sasuke had blinked his eyes and opened his arms to her.

She'd crawled to him on her hands and knees, tucked herself into him as he rested his chin on the crown of her head. "Please, Sasuke, please. I love you." Keening, she hadn't known what she'd been asking for and neither had he, but as she begged incoherently for him, he'd been content to sit there with her in his arms.

When she'd stopped sobbing and the only noises left were her soft hiccups, he'd let her run her hands through his hair, curl the strands around her fingers and tug his face down to press his cheek to hers.

"Stay with me." He had told her, not giving her room to refuse even as she'd nodded her head.

She pressed her cold nose to his exposed collarbone and he'd hissed, hiking his hands further up her waist and pressing himself closer.

"Let me kiss you." She had told him, not giving him room to refuse even as he nodded his head.

But he'd taken control, firmly molded his lips to hers as she admired the strong curve of his jaw with her small fingers, unfurled his tongue into her mouth and kissed her so hard her teeth ached.

"Why?" She'd asked again, knowing this time the true answer, even if she'd never hear it aloud from him.

Sasuke smirked, the closest his lips would ever get to a smile and told her. "You are mine."

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So, probably OOC but wtf do I know, and there might be some past/present tense issues.
Also, this was pretty much supposed to be PWP, but I cut out the lemon just cuz. :3