A/N: Half of this is old and the other half is new. So its not that great. Don't get your hopes up
Disclaimer: Characters not mine, this is just for fun. I wish someone would pay me to write fanfiction.
Sakura wasn't really sure what had happened by the end of her mission, all she knew was that she was beaten to an inch of her life by an unknown assailant that she wasn't told of in the original mission report. She knew there were two people that she had to fight and she was ready for those two people, but not for the third one that showed up in the middle of the fight. She had come out ahead in the fight in the end thanks to her chakra controls and her medical knowledge, but it had been a close one and it had made her scared for the briefest of moments that she would lose her life.
This detail she left out of her mission report this morning but she was fairly certain Kakashi-sensei had seen it in her expressive eyes, though he chose not to say anything about it as he patted her head before he left the room. But it was a fear that hadn't lasted because she was too proud of herself for defeating three ninja by herself. When she had finally passed out she was certain she had passed out with a smile on her face because she had impressed herself through her actions.
It was due to this fact that she was in a good mood despite being in the hospital and having being instructed that she had to remain there for the next three days. She was under the impression that nothing would bring her down today. Until Sasuke Uchiha walked through the door.
Four years after the war, Sasuke had decided to finally return home to the village and team seven was on its way to something resembling normalcy. But her relationship with Sasuke had always been volatile… fragile. So after he had returned to the village, she had decided to avoid him if at all possible because she was at a point in her life where she was happy with herself and she didn't want to lose that, not for anyone.
This knowledge didn't stop her heart from skipping a treacherous beat as he walked through the door in his black ninja pants and long sleeved shirt with the Uchiha symbol sewed to the upper sleeve. His black eyes avoided her as he closed the door behind him, his dark hair covering his eyes. She took a deep breath to calm her breathing and smiled brightly at him, a smile that went unnoticed due to him still not looking at her even as he walked passed her bed to stand near the open window, the breeze swaying the hair on the back of his head. She suddenly felt nervous, like she was a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar as his eye finally raised to meet her green ones, his hands in his pockets and his back leaning against the window sill.
She sat up straighter on her bed, pulling the sheet over her lap.
"You look serious." She said playfully, attempting to cut the tension in the room.
"I told you not to take solo missions anymore." He said, his deadpan voice making her furrow her eyebrows, something she had promised she would avoid doing. It made one's skin between their brows to remain that way with frequent use.
"Oh, I am sorry, I completely forgot to ask for your unwanted opinion about what missions I decide to take." She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. This made him furrow his own eyebrows at her, clearly upset with her tone. Neither of them ready to let go of the fierce stare held in each other's eyes.
"Why do you keep taking them?" he demanded, pushing off of the window sill and standing his ground.
"Because I can" she snapped without a beat.
"Clearly not." He muttered instantly eyeing her as if to point out the fact that she was lying in a hospital bed.
Sakura's eyes flashed with anger and she clasped the bed sheet in her hands in an attempt to control herself, her knuckles turning white with the force.
"Get out." She managed to mutter through gritted teeth, her eyes downcast because she was supposed to relax and at the moment she wanted nothing more than to punch the daylight out the man standing in her room.
Sasuke was clearly shocked to hear her tone of voice as was evidenced by his lack of a response before gathering himself.
"What?" he asked quietly his shock visible in his tone of voice.
"Get out, I don't want to see you right now." She managed to say, keeping a steel grip on her anger.
If Sasuke wanted to object, he didn't. At least not until he got to the door.
"You never do anymore" he muttered before opening the door but he didn't get a chance to step outside the door.
"Do you know why?" she muttered her eyes still looking down at her lap. As the door remained open and no sound came from him, she raised her eyes and stared at his back. "Do you want to know why I never want to see you anymore Sasuke?" she repeated more loudly and he slowly closed the door turning to look at her.
She took a deep breath, willing the anger filling in her chest to subside, giving way to brutal honestly she has been holding onto for however long Sasuke has been back in the village, she can't even be bothered to remember anymore.
"I've worked really hard for the past four years to become strong. And I have… I have become strong and I take pride in that, the fact that I have worked hard and I have something to show for it. I am not crying anymore because I can't protect anyone and I take pride in that." She was surprised in her ability to keep an even tone of voice as she went on. She was determined to get through this without looking away from Sasuke's ever expressionless eyes. He stared at her with nothing written in his pale face and that gave her more power to keep going.
"…Yet somehow, you come along and you make me feel this small Sasuke" she brought her right hand from her lap and held it in front of her with her index and thumb a centimeter apart. She suddenly feels so tired, and she doesn't think it has anything to do with her recent mission.
She put her hand back down on her lap and continued, "You make me feel worthless and weak and it's like everything I have done for the last four years just don't matter anymore." She was sure she saw something flicker in Sasuke's eyes, but it was too fast for her to put a finger on…regret? Shame? She wasn't sure. " And its partly my fault too because I let you do it. Everybody praises me, everyone says how I strong I have become, but one word out of you and I'm right back where I started and I hate it. I hate the fact that you can make me feel like the sand under your feet and I am sick of it." She realized she has finally lost her breath, her need to keep herself calm abandoned for the vulnerability she feel exposing herself to Sasuke like this, like she never has before. "Staying away from you keeps me away from these ugly thoughts and doubts you make me feel, because I don't know what you call strong Sasuke but I know that I am." She was breathing heavily at the end of her tirade and her hardened face told her that her green eyes were fiery at the moment refusing to look away from Sasuke's suddenly unfamiliar stare.
She watched as Sasuke turned around and exited her room allowing her to finally relax onto her hospital bed releasing a soft sigh as she laid back down to get some much needed sleep.
Sakura was more than a little shocked to see Sasuke back in her room the next day, first thing in the morning. So early in fact that he had to come through the window as visiting hours were not yet open. She was honestly more surprised to see Sasuke in her room at all than see him coming through the window. Having had a check-up about an hour ago, she was already up and reading a book when her uninvited guest turned up and she put her book down on her lap at the sight.
"If you still don't want to see me then don't look at me." he says as he steps into the room. His voice seems a little frantic, as frantic as someone like Sasuke can seem and his hair is disheveled, bags heavy under his eyes.
"I know you are strong…" he starts and Sakura is frozen in her place, her green eyes surely wide with shock at the sudden compliment, words she has never heard Sasuke say to her, words she had always wanted Sasuke to say her. " You are stronger than anyone I know. I'm impressed at how far you've come." Sakura can see that Sasuke is getting a little frustrated from the way he runs his long fingers through his dark hair, messing it up even more, before he begins again. "But every time you leave for a mission where I am not accompanying you, I'm left on my toes waiting for you to come back. I can't sleep, I can't eat, I can't even train. If I am with you I can see you and know that you are safe. I just…I can't stand it when I can't see you."
"I can protect myself Sasuke. I don't need you saving me all the time." Sakura was quick to counter because to her it just sounds like he is proving everything she said to him yesterday. But she could also see something in Sasuke that she hasn't seen in a while. Something of the old Sasuke… the one who always wanted to protect Naruto… the one who jumped in front of flying kunai and needles to protect his team.
"I know…but I can't help it. Anything could go wrong on a mission and I can't stand knowing that fact because you are not in front of me in those times." He finished, kind of pathetically, like he knew he was being vulnerable right now but also didn't know what else he should do.
"This is an occupational hazard. One that every shinobi has to understand and be okay with. Me getting hurt is just part of my job just like it is a part of yours. You can't take that away from me. I WILL go on solo missions and I WILL get hurt in some of them. There is nothing you can do about that. Just be a good friend when I come back." She finished, the fight having left her a long time ago because Sasuke was being too real in front of her for her to throw that in his face. "I survived four years without you, you know?" she couldn't help reminding him, she was still bitter. She's only a little ashamed of the wince it awarded her from him.
"Yeah I know. Frankly me staying away from you is the best thing that happened to you." he said looking away from her, a humorless laugh leaving his lips.
"Yeah." She agreed quietly, biting her lip and waiting for him to look at… "don't do it again." She said sternly, her eyes hardening over his. She wanted to frown at the smug smile already on his lips, but she knew she failed as her own lips threatening to lift up in a smile.
"I won't." he promised as he walked towards her bed.
A/N: Okay. So I wrote half of it a million year ago and rediscovered it and thought I would finish it. It's not really good and there are probably things that don't match up, but I missed them and wanted to miss them less. I hope to write more in the future since I am done school, but I really can't promise anything.
It was kind of hard getting back into writing which is why this is so crap. Lets see of I can do better in the future.