"Value"
(Day Two of SasuSaku Month.)

"How could you be so stupid?"

Sasuke twitched, but otherwise didn't react. It only served to fuel her ire, though. It was all she could do not to scream and punch his perfect sculpted jaw and simply heal the hole he had on his stomach.

The stupid, idiotic, gorgeous bastard had the gall to sashay his way in the middle of the goddamn war and say in that infuriating monotone voice of his that he was fighting in their side now and that he was going to be the bloody Hokage (the bastard, can't he see the things he's done?), but noooo, Sakura didn't mind that time because Team Seven was complete and she could finally show them her back (after all these time, all the hard work will pay off).

Everything was going fine. They showed everyone that each of them deserved to be the student of one of the Sannins, their teamwork was flawless like they've been working on it for all these years, and they were winning dammit, but then Madara had to screw it all up and the past Hokages have joined the battle and it still wasn't enough (she's never strong enough, why can't she be strong enough why fucking why).

And to top it all off, Sakura takes her eyes off the damn battle for a single second and stupid Madara sees it and the goddamn Ten-tails sends one of its attacks towards her. She sees she can't evade it, she knows she won't survive this and she can hear the calls of her name and Naruto's howl so she closes her eyes so she won't have see their faces when the inevitable comes and she's waiting – and then something splatters on her.

Red is the first that greets her; not the red of blood that's been splattered on her hands for so long, but the red of the Mangekyou Sharingan that's staring at her and oh my GOD Sasuke-kun!

"I didn't need your goddamn help, dammit!" She's raging now, and she knows that they're in the middle of the battle but Sakura doesn't care because she has to say it. She has to, it's been bottled up in her for four fucking years, and he has to know.

"You – you can't just suddenly save me when a few days ago you would have killed me without a second thought, bastard! How dare you take an attack for me, how dare you make me and Naruto chase after you for four years only for you to just come here without anyone making you to!"

And Sasuke, the bloody bastard, he is staring at her in the eye like he didn't do anything wrong (like he didn't leave her crying on a goddamn bench all those years ago), and Sakura wants nothing more but to stop the green chakra on her hands and pulverize his pretty face (his face was still the same, nothing's changed) but she knows she cannot – and she loses all her anger.

The hand that is not healing his stomach digs in the ground beside her, and Sasuke's eyes looks at it before staring back at her. "You had no right." Sakura whispers, blinking back the tears that want to make an appearance.

(But she won't cry, she's been crying too much for him.)

"You're needed there more than me." She finally whispers after a beat of silence. "Why did you do that?"

Sasuke stares at her. "You act like you're not grateful."

His voice jars her, because even after everything that's happened, that voice would still haunt her even in her dreams because she longs for him, still, even though she spent so many months convincing herself that she's done with fairy tales and broken dreams.

"Why should I be?" she ask, and the venom is back. "You value nothing but your life and your dreams; you would kill for them, why should I be grateful? Did you save me because it's all for show, Sasuke? Because you want to be Hokage?"

She's being bitter. Her lips automatically form the –kun that's always been said after his name, but she stops it because she has a point to make, because she's done with him (lies, lies).

"You and Naruto are always like that." She hisses. "You're always protecting me like I'm some damsel in distress. Both of you have this crazy idea to fight in every battle and look great in doing so and it's infuriating because I don't need saving, I never needed saving."

Sakura blinks back tears, but one escapes and she hates herself for it. The glow of her hand stops because the wound in his middle is gone, no scar is visible and it's like nothing even happened minutes before.

It was all so unfair.

Her body quakes with suppressed sobs (she can't cry, she's needed in battle), but her eyes are clear again and they face Sasuke's head on. "Go." And then she's reverting her gaze and instead rests it on the ground.

There is no movement, and instead she hears him. "Look at me."

The command is said in his monotone, but the power in it is palpable that despite herself Sakura raises her eyes and meets his. The emotion there is unreadable (she could never read him like Naruto could), but Sakura's breath catches on her throat at something in those inky depths.

"I saved you because I valued something more than my life."

There is no lies, no deception, and Sakura can only gape at him because what the hell did he just say? But before she could say something more, there is a great explosion and Naruto's scream could be heard from their position, and they immediately stand to help.

Side by side, they run their fastest towards their teammate, and even if their future is bleak and the world is about to be destroyed and she's more confused than before, Sakura thinks that it would all be okay.

I hope you like my take on Day Two! As you've read, I've based it on the latest chapters that, may I add, have reinforced my faith on Kishi once again. I mean, omfg there's fanservice! Team Seven is back! Sakura can summon! NOT TO MENTION THE SASUKE AND SAKURA INTERACTIONS.

My SasuSaku feels have been all over the place every Wednesday because Kishi's been hinting something big about it. I can hardly wait! Reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome!

[Day Two: Lessons Learned]