Prompt: Sasusaku Week, favourite Canon Moments
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Mashashi Kishimoto.
The moment she fell from Gaara's sand Sasuke realised just how far he'd fallen.
It's not a reflex to save her, not like it's with Naruto where he acts without thinking, where his body moves without him telling it to. With Sakura it's different, it's not a reflex, it's a need.
His body doesn't move without him telling it too, it moves because he's conscious of her every move and whenever she's in danger it's his heart that pounds and his mind that screams in desperation that spurs his frozen body into action.
The first time he'd done it, stood with his arm outstretched in front of her to protect her from the demon brothers, he couldn't figure out why. It had puzzled him as to why the moment he'd seen one of the ninjas running towards her, his mind had screamed and pushed him forward in panic to stand in front of her and protect her no matter what the cost.
The second time such an event had occurred was during the Chunnin exams.
Somewhere during their various missions Naruto and Sasuke had made an unsaid pact to protect their female teammate. Smart as she was, her combat abilities were sub par and time and again Sasuke had argued with himself that by keeping her out of the fight he was simply being rational as logically she would be less than useless if she decided to pitch in.
But waking up to see her bloody, bruised and on her knees had thrown all that rational logic out of the window.
Sakura who they, no he made sure would get away from most missions with nothing more than a few scratches had been beaten to a pulp while he'd been unconscious and less than useless the entire time.
And that made him angry.
It was easy to blame his curse mark for the anger, for its chakra was all consuming, it's power unbelievably addictive and it was always easier to give into that sort of power with an excuse. He had always reasoned with himself that his extreme reaction had been purely due to corrupt power of Orichomimaru's mark and nothing more.
But still there were things about the entire ordeal that baffled him.
It wasn't the irrational anger that confused him, for that could be planned s curse marks but what really confused him was the lack of it after she'd put her arms around him.
Because while the marks power was all consuming, addictive and unbelievably overwhelming, Sakura he'd realised possessed something even greater. With her arms around him, her voice desperately calling out his name as telling him to come back he remembered how the power that the mark offered him suddenly seemed to dim in the presence of her light offering a sort of peace that was far more tempting than anything Orochimaru's chakra could give him.
But he still didn't realise why she had that sort of effect.
But at that moment, the moment when she free falls from Gaara's hold and he barely makes it in time to catch her in his arms that he realises that she had the power to ruin everything.
For it was only then that he realises just how far Sasuke Uchiha had fallen because as he sets her down on the branch gently he realises that he really didn't want to let her go.
And now he's caught her from falling again.
She's taller now but she still only reaches his shoulders. Her green eyes look up tiredly at him the criss-crossed black marks fading into her diamond shaped seal. His sharingan can make out every little detail about this older version of Sakura who he has once again caught from falling.
Who once again risked everything to save him despite everything he's done to her.
His hand gently wraps around her arm, she's injured he knows but his hold on her simply tightens as she rests, her body slumping against his. This Sakura is no longer someone he needs to protect, he's seen her demonstration of strength with his own two eyes and yet when he'd watch her tilt backwards his mind screamed and his body moved to support her directed by the pounding of his heart.
Once again he's confused as to why he can't tear his gaze away from this girl- no warrior woman that currently rests against him. He's confused as to why Sasuke Uchiha, the man who took pride in standing alone couldn't help but support the woman who for the past two years had meant nothing to him except for being a door to a path of his life that he'd long since abandoned.
He rationally reasoned that he's repaying the favour, that he's trying to cover his guilt but he realises what a farce that is all to quickly when she steadies her weight back on her feet and moves away, her green eyes breaking their mesmerising hold on him.
For at that moment, Sasuke relearns a lesson he thought he'd left behind a long time ago.
Because as Sakura moves away from him he once again learns that he doesn't want to let her go. That at that moment when Sakura had fallen from Gaara's sand, Sasuke had fallen with her, for her, and he'd fallen so far that he'd never really got back up.