She lied before and the majority of the time she would get away with it, skipping off mischievously into the sunset. They were all such petty, easy lies. Making up excuses so she could take a hot bath or misleading a lovestruck boy for free food. Despite it, Sakura had to admit - it was an adrenalin rush in a way. The way a person would walk right into her trap of words, tangled and forever deceived.
It was hard; to tell the truth.
"Do you honestly think that I'd believe that?" Sasuke muttered darkly, anger laced in his voice. He'd never heard such a thing before in all his life. It was impossible. Kabuto had breached the subject before, but never had his sadistic, sarcastic tone left him while he spoke of it.
As Sasuke's words left him, Sakura had already begun taking the necessary precautions. She melded her hands together and formed the seals with careful precession. "Sasuke, please. I need full concentration."
"Why do this?," he coughed, blood spurting from his mouth. He hated himself for leaning heavily on her for support, which she gave without question. Sasuke really didn't understand her logic, her way of thinking. He had wanted to see her neck sliced and see her choke on her own blood the last time they had met.
"Sasuke the next Hokage," Sakura said to herself and she couldn't help but grin. It would be quite the sight; to see him sitting behind that desk with paperwork the size of mountains.
Her fingertips lightly brushed his torso where dark red blotches painted his skin. A bright green light emitted from her hands, causing the blood to recede back inside his body. Sasuke watched her in silence, frighteningly unsure of how to react, to feel.
"You'll live happily if Naruto is beside you, I know it." Her eyes softened, picturing Naruto and Sasuke standing side by side beneath Konoha's gate. It was poetic, in her mind.
Seeing Sasuke in this state of near death reminded her of her own selfish dream. She wanted to be with them, both of her teammates again. More than anything in the world, she just wanted to be beside them. That dream was about to die unless she acted, so she did the only thing she could possibly think of.
"It was a sand ninja that taught me this. She was an amazing healer and it was a tragedy to see her go," Sakura said to Sasuke who continued to observe her. "She brought back Gaara from the afterlife and I know I can do the same for you."
"Do I look dead to you," he quickly retorted, a snarl unmistakably etched on his face. Then there was silence, with the exception of the soft hum of Sakura's jutsu at work.
She tried to smile, but suddenly her nose clogged and her vision started to blur. 'No. Don't cry, not now.' She thought to herself, but to no avail.
"No, but your life energy is l-" She choked back the sobs. "It's giving out."
Without properly thinking, Sasuke's hand gripped Sakura's and squeezed it tight, forcing her to stop. "I don't need your energy. I don't want it." He threw her hand aside and backed away from her, grunting in pain as he felt his wounds start to tear open again.
Sakura gazed at him through her tears and simply stared at him, confused. "Sasuke, I have no chakra left! This is all I can offer you!"
He didn't respond. The light that her touch brought was now gone and it felt like he was hollow inside. A foxhole dug deep in the earth, but without a fox to fill it.
"I wasn't planning on becoming a Hokage," Sasuke suddenly ground out. He deliberately avoided her eyes and instead focused on the rubble beside his broken fingers. "I lied to you."
She was surprised, to say the least. For him to actually admit that to her like that. Although, the confession was nothing new to her. She had second guessed his motives from the beginning and knew them to be untrue. "I know," she whispered to him.
Their eyes finally met and Sasuke couldn't help but smirk. "You are so annoying."
His expression flooded Sakura's hope, filling it with genuine happiness. The dying flower inside her heart was now watered after all these neglected years. 'He hasn't looked at me like that since ...'
With renewed confidence, she scooted closer to him and continued her jutsu that Sasuke had rudely interrupted. She ignored his protests until he said would kill her if she continued. Sakura laughed with a whole heart at the statement, knowing that if she continued giving her life's energy she would die anyway.
In such a vulnerable and weak state, Sasuke could do nothing to stop her. She had the strength of one hundred men, even when her chakra was depleted like this. So, he watched her and waited to strike, slowly sensing her light in her soul disperse.
She awoke with Sasuke pacing inside her hospital room. She was, to say the least, shocked to see him visit her. Naruto did describe to her (in great detail) that Sasuke was helping rebuild some parts of the village. That, and also some other conspiracies that the villagers had conjured up about Sasuke.
He saw her move in the corner of his eye and he immediately confronted Sakura, glaring down at her. "You said you'd die," he muttered darkly.
She frowned, agitated but interested in his statement. "Do I look dead to you?"
"Was that a lie then?"
"Yes," Sakura raised an eyebrow, amused.
He bit the inside of his cheek, remembering the gossip the nurses had said. He narrowed his eyes as he thought back on their shocked faces when they recognized him. They were scared, part of it was who he was and the other, on how he would react. "sixty years," he murmured.
She cocked her head to the side, "sixty years of what?"
"Your life that I took."
He clasped his hand on her pink, ruffled head and gently put his forehead against hers. She dared not move, too shocked to even breathe correctly. She settled for holding her breath.
"Never lie to me again," Sasuke's eyes bore into hers, making this moment more intimate than Sakura could handle.
Sasuke watched in masked amusement as her eyes rolled back in her head. She flopped clumsily back onto her hospital bed, the blush taken her entire face captive.
She never lied to him again.