A Promise
xxredemption-love-and-liesxx
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oneshot
[T]

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"Why are you even here?" Sakura hissed, looking over the Uchiha whom had decided to randomly appear.

Sasuke did not answer, keeping his left eye firmly closed. Blood was flowing down, and he looked to be in pain. His rinnegan eye was open still, and he was shaking a little. Someone had implanted something in him, making his body reject his sharingan eye. Yet, for some reason, the rinnegan had not been affected by the drug.

"Someone's—"

"Don't go and lie to me! Why are you here injured? What in the hell happened?" Sakura snarled, her green irises flaring dangerously.

The raven-haired Uchiha hesitated before dropping his head. "I was… paying attention to something else. As it was, I was too worried about another thing."

"Another thing? To the point that you let yourself get injured? Jeez, Sasuke-kun," Sakura paused. "I thought you were smart enough to not stop paying attention. You still have enemies out there."

Sasuke sighed, shaking his head a little. "I don't care. This was more important."

"What can be more important than your own health?" Sakura just looked flabbergasted.

She reached for a tissue and wiped away at the crimson staining his cheeks. The bleeding has stopped, it seemed, but she wondered what the drug was used to screw around with the raven's eyes. Sasuke watched her cautiously, but relaxed into her gentle ministrations.

The question from before still hung in the air, and he felt no need to answer. However, he knew that he would need to explain what was going on, but he allowed himself to feel calm in her safety.

When she finished, she pulled away, giving the Uchiha his space.

"Listen, Sakura," Sasuke started. "You need to be careful. Someone is after you."

"Huh, why?" Sakura asked, confusion flittering into her seafoam eyes.

The ex-avenger dropped his head. "It's because of me. They are trying to test me… involving you."

The roseate did not understand what he was saying. "Na… Nani?"

"My eyes. That's what they're testing. If they kill you in front of me… they want to know whether my dojutsu will improve once more, like it had done before," he answered softly.

Sakura felt her heart stop. Someone was after her… because of Sasuke? She knew full well that he would still have enemies, but going that far to test him…

"W… Would it?" Sakura asked, somewhat unable to ask herself.

"… No. But… I'd more than likely…" he looked away, unable to face her now. "… lose myself if you were to die."

The roseate nodded her head, feeling numb. She leaned against the wall, so she would not fall over or collapse. Her fingers were shaking, and she felt afraid. She had not been this fearful for years; even when Hinata had been kidnapped by Toneri, and how she saw Naruto fall when he faced him for the first time.

Sasuke pulled close, resting his newly-created arm against the wall, trapping her. He cracked open his sharingan eye, and Sakura gasped when she saw that the colouring was becoming a deathly-grey. She reached her hand up, but he shook his head. He eyed her for a moment; his mismatched eyes showing an array of emotions that she could not even begin to decipher.

Sakura pursed her lips. "You can't… You can't lose yourself because of me, Sasuke-kun. Please. If I die—"

"I won't allow it," he snarled, his voice heavy. "I won't."

"We're shinobi; we all have the possibility of—"

"I don't fucking care," Sasuke swore, his fingers curling into a fist. "I don't! You won't die because of me, Sakura."

Sakura did not like this at all. She did not want him to feel like he was the one who caused her death because he was not. These people, while they were after her, it did not mean that it was directly his fault. She could have become their target no matter what happened. That was just how the world worked.

The roseate gazed up at him. He was seemingly glaring at her, but she knew that was not his intention. "Please… this isn't your fault, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, trying her best to calm Sasuke down in some way; she knew that he was not fine, and that he was furious about the situation. "These people do want to get a reaction out of you, while that's true… I can protect myself. As can Naruto if they even tried to do something to him. You don't need to worry about me."

"I need to protect you, Naruto can handle himself, but—" he stopped when he noticed the hurt flitter across her facial features. "Fuck, Sakura, I didn't…"

The roseate pushed at his chest, asking him to move. "I thought you would have understood by now that I can protect myself."

Sasuke nodded, knowing that this was true. "Sakura, listen…" he paused for a moment, closing his eyes now, and allowing his hand to slide down. "I do not think of you as being weak, but I should be the one to protect you. Naruto can handle himself because of the abilities given to use by that sage… But you… we have no idea of what these people can do. If they took away my sharingan like they did, as well as my sight, what could they do to you?"

"… I get what you're saying, Sasuke-kun," Sakura's eyes flared with a spark that showed that she would prove him wrong. "but I am different to you and Naruto. I can analyse an enemy's fighting style in seconds. While you do have the sharingan, it merely shows you a path. I can figure out what someone can and can't do. You just see what they are going to do and anticipate what you will do. Me, on the other hand, I can use their abilities again them."

The Uchiha shook his head. "But what if you're wrong, Sakura? What will you do then? You can't do this on your own."

"Neither can you," Sakura breathed.

"I know that, but you are my first priority. You need to be safe. I don't care if I have to fight an army to do that," Sasuke snapped, his voice becoming gravelly now.

Sakura did not understand why he was so hell-bent on keeping her safe. At the end of the day, he was the target for all of this. Not her. She was merely a prop. If he became bad again, people could use him like they had done before. The roseate sighed, deciding that she should check Sasuke's eyes before they got any worse. She wanted to see if she can make some sort of antidote for the toxin affecting his left eye, and to repair the damage done.

That was her first priority.

"Sit down," Sakura whispered, tilting her head towards the couch in the lounge-room.

He nodded his head, pulling away completely and moving to sit down.

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"Sakura," Sasuke uttered out when Sakura had finished with his eyes. "I don't fucking care what it takes, I'll be the one to protect you."

Sakura could not believe he was getting into this again. "How many times do I have to say—"

"I don't think that you can't handle yourself. I am watching you, so that you don't get fatally hurt or killed. This is more than likely what those bastards want to happen, Sakura," Sasuke said. "I won't allow anyone to sacrifice themselves for me."

The roseate was shaking her head furiously now. "I won't die, I don't know why you're—"

"If they even lay a hand on you… I will make their suffering long… and kill them…" he warned, his eyes glinting dangerously.

The young medic did not like seeing the Uchiha like this, and reached up to touch his cheek in an effort to calm him down. Instead of pulling away like she had expected, he leaned into her touch and relaxed once more.

"Sakura… you have already nearly lost your life because of me too many times. Let me deal with this…"

"No," Sakura shook her head. "If we're going to deal with this, we're going to do this together. You understand that, right?"

Sasuke looked shocked for a few moments before smirking lightly. "Hn. Fine," he said. However, his expression turned serious once more. "… If they even so much as harm you… get out of there. I can't lose you."

"I don't… I don't understand why you keep on—"

"After all this is over, I'll tell you."

Sakura pursed her lips before leaning into his chest. He did not push her away, but he made no move to hug her. He just allowed her to take comfort in him.

"You promise?"

"Aa."

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fin

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So, if you didn't gather, this was based on the spoilers given from Sakura Hiden. Of course, I doubt something like this would have happened in the novel itself, but still... Anyways, this was like a fifteen minute project so mistakes are sure to be around. I might proofread it properly later, but I'm wanting to write a couple of pieces before I go on holidays. And yeah, Firsts may have a chapter today or tomorrow, but I'm unsure as to whether or not I'm in the mood to write a certain scene in it. Either way.

Uhm, well... I do hope that this was (somewhat) enjoyable, and sorry for the short length. I need to get better at lengthy one-shots again. I really do. So yes.