He was home.
There was no other way to interpret what he was currently experiencing. The familiar smells, voices and the faces that never seem to have left his imagination were now in his presence. After years of avoidance, they were here. There was no revenge for a massacre that was too cruel to bear, no hate to block his senses. Uchiha Sasuke was finally free to live his life.
The wind mixed with the earthy scent that could only belong to Konoha flowed gently from the hospital windows. It blew softly against his growing bangs, and he couldn't help but close his eyes to drift off into a peaceful daze. He had probably missed this simple attribute the most, before and after his imprisonment.
Being locked away for months, bound and blinded in a drafty dungeon was certainly not anyone's idea of fun. But he deserved it at the least, Kakashi had granted him a punishment significantly lenient for his crimes. Besides, it had given him some time to reflect on himself. What he wanted for his future.
"Uchiha-san?"
A nurse poked her head through the doorway, holding a tray of assorted vegetables on rice with a small portion of meat. "It's time for lunch." She chimed as she set down the food on the small table to his right.
"Aa." He nodded in gratitude.
Her name was Tamura Yoko, a young, mousy girl with brown hair. Normally, he would have never bothered to remember a nurse, but she was different. Unlike the other nurses who were either too afraid or disliked him to be able to care for him comfortably, she was kind to Sasuke. Out of curiosity one day, he had questioned her about this.
"Sakura-san personally assigned me to you." Was her answer.
Apparently, Sakura had mentored Tamura during her probational period in the hospital. And once she was promoted to a full-time position, Sakura had officially taken her under her wing. There was no doubt that this girl respected his former teammate greatly. And because it was no secret to the whole village what Sasuke meant to Sakura, she would treat him to the best of her abilities.
Perhaps it was the pink haired woman's way of watching over Sasuke without being there to watch over him herself. To send a nurse that wouldn't chatter his ear off nor ignore his needs. And while he appreciated this tremendously, it stung a bit to know that she still refused to see him.
The last he saw of her was during his final days of confinement. She was the only physician the council and he would allow to examine him. Periodically, she cleaned his stump to avoid infection and healed his damaged retinas. She was also under strict orders and supervision so there was no small talk, but he didn't care. Her soothing touch and breathy instructions were more than enough. Naruto, however, did not see the point to these restrictions and often broke into his cell as much as he could.
To his complete frustration, the Dobe never ceased to amuse himself with the echoes that the tunnels provided him. Needless to say, that dumbass was damned lucky that Sasuke could not move any of his limbs.
Sasuke pushed back his thoughts when a familiar pounding noise came from the door. Tamura quickly went to open it, only to find that the nuisance himself (accompanied by his replacement) was the source.
Humph, speak of the devil.
"Teme! We brought lunch!" Naruto grinned as he waved a plastic bag with his new arm. The pair walked into the room, each grabbing pushing a chair next to the Uchiha's bed.
"Hello, Traitor. How was your nap?" Sai happily joined in.
"Uzumaki-san, please be quieter!" Tamura panicked. "There are other patients sleeping!"
The blonde laughed and scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "Oops. Sorry." Sighing, the nurse gave a curt bow to the men and left the room.
"What brings you idiots here?" Sasuke groaned. So much for peace and quiet.
"Like I said, lunch! Duh. No one likes hospital food." Naruto snorted before pulling out an instant ramen cup and walking over to the small sink in the corner. "And don't bitch about how you don't want us to eat with you, you introverted bastard. I sacrificed Ichiraku today, ya know."
"You know what introverted means?" Sasuke deadpanned.
Sai nodded as he unpacked a tray of sushi. "He's learned a lot of big words recently due to spending so much time with Hyuuga Hinata."
"Fuck you both." The blonde grumbled after inserting his ramen into the microwave.
Hyuuga Hinata huh? If memory serves him correctly, she was the shy heiress of team 8. Not to mention she blushed and stuttered almost every time the Dobe was around. "Dating?" he asked impartially as he picked up an Onigiri obviously purchased from a convenient store.
"Huh? No! We don't see each other like that." Naruto waved wrist insistently. "She's an important friend. We've just been hanging out a lot because she misses Neji. That's all."
The poor girl was in love with a fool, an oblivious one at that. "Hn." Sasuke merely continued to chew on the salty rice ball.
"But if you want to talk about girls, what's up with you and Sakura-chan? Why is she still avoiding you?" The hero sat in front of him, staring with great exasperation. "I didn't bring you back here to just not to talk to each other."
"Perhaps Ugly is holding some sort of grudge? Have you offended her recently?" Sai held his chin in thought.
Sasuke glared at the pale ex-root member. He had gotten used to his replacement's fondness for unusual nicknames. Referring to the Dobe as Dickless was humorous in itself, and although 'Traitor' was a bit of a low blow, he wasn't too far from the truth. However, when it came to Sakura, he would have never gotten where 'Ugly' stemmed from. Though he would never admit it out loud, she was far from ugly.
"I did nothing." Sasuke retorted. At least, he was sure he did nothing.
"Then why is she being like this?" Naruto whined. "I want us all to get along!"
"Ugly also turned down our invitation to eat together today. She lied and said she had already made plans with Ino, and yet Ino just left this morning for a mission." said Sai.
"It's not a big deal. If she doesn't want to come near me then don't force her to." Sasuke sighed deeply. "Now shut up and eat already." He mumbled before taking another bite.
Naruto frowned. Clearly his emotionally stunted friend was just as bothered about this as he was. No matter how much he pretended that he wasn't, it was practically all over his face. The way his eyes lingered at the door like she was going to come walking in any minute. The way his shoulders tensed up any time some mentioned her name. The disappointment in his voice when he tried to change the subject.
He hated it when his friends lied to themselves.
"Whatever." Naruto huffed before slurping up the steaming noodles. Sasuke would have to man up and Sakura-chan would have to stop playing hard to get if they were ever going to get together before they got old.
"Stupid," Sakura spat at her reflection in her bathroom vanity. "that's what you are."
Yes, Naruto was no longer the knucklehead of Team 7, that title now belonged to her. She groaned and hung her head down in shame. What an idiot! Today was a prime day to visit Sasuke! But no, of course she had to reject Sai and Nauto with some lame excuse. And it just so happened to be on a day where she didn't reek of blood and antiseptic! Her hair was neatly combed for once, and she even had some time to apply a thin amount of makeup. An opportunity lost and wasted.
Today wasn't the first time either. In fact, since his discharge from prison, she had not seen him once. Almost a whole week of dodging his room at the hospital, hiding behind walls while masking her chakra every time he walked down the hall and avoiding visits in general. She could not have been more pathetic!
Sakura gave her reflection one more glare before exiting the washroom. Thankfully, she was off duty for the rest of the afternoon. Throwing her body onto her white suede couch, the medical ninja decided to stay in. She wanted to wallow in the privacy of her new apartment for a few hours longer.
"Sasuke-kun," She mumbled into a pillow. "I want to see you." It was the truth. There was no one in the world that wanted to be by his side as badly as her.
"I want to see him," Sakura repeated this like a mantra until her eyes slowly closed, and she dozed off.
Team 7 gathered together at their usual spot in the training grounds. Each of the three teenagers were bruised and covered in leaves, while their teacher's uniform remained neat. Sakura resisted the urge to scream while continued to pick out the sticky plants from her hair. Kakashi grinned and leaned back into the wooden post behind him. "That's all for today, children. Your mission is completed." Not without a few minor setbacks, of course. But that was to be expected of a trio of green shinobi. The good news was, their teamwork was significantly better.
"Ugh, finally!" The vessel of the nine-tailed fox moaned loudly, stretching his arms into the air.
"Now, now. You've been asking for a challenge nonstop since the Chunin exams ended. What's with the lethargic attitude, suddenly?"
Naruto rolled his eyes at this. "Because! I wanted a chance to show off my skills, not spend an entire day looking for a kid that forgot where he lived!"
Sakura frowned and slapped the blonde upside his head. "Will you shut up? He didn't forget, he was lured out by a thief who trying to get a ransom for him! Besides, he's Ino's cousin." Originally, they had only been training in the forest when suddenly they heard a woman crying in the distance. Once they found the source, Sakura immediately recognized her to be one of Ino's aunts. She explained to them that her five-year-old son had gotten separated from her while they were harvesting wildflowers. Then, what started out as an assignment to find a lost child in the woods, quickly ended up becoming a rescue mission once evidence of struggle appeared.
"But I didn't even get to land a punch on the guy! Sasuke beat me to it!" Naruto pointed to the Uchiha to his right.
Sasuke shoved his hands into his pockets and huffed in annoyance. "That's because you were too slow. He would have gotten away if I let you handle it."
"Nu-uh! Sure, that senbon threw me off for a second, but I was perfectly fine!"
"You idiot, your arm was paralyzed! You're just lucky Kakashi-sensei caught the second one before it hit you!" yelled Sakura.
"Dope."
"Why, you!"
The former Anbu member sighed. "Can't you three give it a rest for once?"
"Fine! I'm hungry anyways." Naruto dusted his pants off before turning to his teammates. "You guys wanna get some grub?"
Kakashi-sensei shook his head. "Maybe next time, I have some business to attend to. You kiddos have fun though. See ya!" And with a poof, he was gone.
The boys started to walk towards the main road but stopped when they noticed she wasn't following them. "Sakura-chan? You coming?" The blonde asked.
She waved her hand and smiled gently. "Actually, I have some things to do too. I'll see you guys tomorrow." With that being said, she turned to the opposite direction and walked off. The pink haired girl could only imagine the awkwardness that ensued between her friends after her departure. She couldn't help but giggle, imagining Naruto and Sasuke's confused expressions as she strode along the field.
It was hours later and the sun had begun to set; coloring the sky in purples and oranges. Sakura would have appreciated the pretty scenery, if only she weren't so occupied with the wooden martial art's dummy in front of her. This section of the training grounds was used by Team Gai regularly, but they had been kind enough to let her borrow it on their days off. Lee especially was more than happy to let her use his equipment and even offered her a matching jumpsuit (which she politely declined) as a gift. Whether it was purely due to his supportive nature or for personal satisfaction was none of her business.
The dummy was perfect for improving her hand to hand combat skills. The more she used it, the more she understood how to counter attack. The initial weirdness of using an inanimate object to 'spare' with was something she learned to get over. However, she was far from talented. Her moves were still unfocused and unsure. And keeping a proper stance up the whole time was exhausting.
"You're putting too much weight on your leg." A familiar voice rang in her ears. A voice that would never cease to send shivers down her spine.
Sakura lowered her hands but did not turn to face her teammate. "Sasuke-kun." She acknowledged him.
"Isn't it a bit too late for you to be training?" He asked coolly as he paced his way to her side. And while his tone was gentle, his presence made her feel small. Like she had been caught doing something wasn't supposed to do.
A soft chuckle fell from her lips. "That's funny, coming from you Sasuke-kun." Training was more important to him than eating sometimes.
"Tch."
Deciding to continue her previous exercises instead of standing like a statue, she started to move again. This time, trying out a new position. She flung her hands at the slats as fast as she could then went in for a few punts. Right, left, right, left, drop kick.
"Too sluggish, you have to put some more speed into your kicks. Let the wind of it give more of an impact. Otherwise, you're just going to end up getting tired faster." Sasuke pointed out.
She thought about it for a second, then swung her leg at a swifter pace. "Like this?"
"Faster. It's a combination move, you have to keep up with the tempo." Was his next instruction.
Five minutes passed and she was beginning to get the hang of it. Perhaps it was because of his company, but suddenly she felt more energetic too. She wanted to get this right, not only to impress him but for herself.
"Keep going." His encouragement rang in her ears.
Then, finally, it happened.
Her last kick sent a powerful blow to the wooden post, thus breaking apart the bottom half from the top.
Sakura stared at the wreckage in front of her in amazement. "Wow!" she exclaimed. How the hell did she do that? That was awesome!
"Better." He smirked in agreement.
As soon as the shock wore off, the strength in her legs ran out a second later. She fell onto the grass with a loud thud. Her whole body was tingling and throbbing as the adrenaline started to dissipate, leaving her a panting mess.
She couldn't resist any longer and peered up at the handsome boy. He looked pleased, and that alone made her already pounding heart beat faster. "I've never landed a blow like that before." Sakura smiled shyly, a small blush tinting her cheeks. "Thank you."
Sasuke stayed silent for a minute, slightly uncomfortable under her gaze. "Hn." He grunted before kicking away a piece of wood. "So, this is what you've been doing this past couple of weeks."
Now it was her turn to feel uneasy. It was a bit embarrassing to be seen training at such a basic level, so Sakura had tried to keep it a secret. Normally Kakashi had them work on their Ninjutsu, but compared to her male teammates, she was much better suited practicing like this. Out of their way and at her own pace. "I haven't made much improvement, but I'm trying." said the pink-haired genin.
Pulling her legs to her chest, she hid her face from him. "Even though it's not fair- even though I know that I'll never be as strong as you or Naruto, but I…" Damn, she was getting emotional. "I want to help, to be useful. Not just to get protected all the time like dead weight." She didn't want to feel as weak she did in the Forrest of Death or during the fight with Gaara, ever again.
A jolt shot through her system when a warm back pressed against her's. She flushed a bright red when she realized it was Sasuke sitting behind her. Oh crap, he was sitting behind her! And she was drenched in sweat! Sakura cried internally, unsure if she was blessed or cursed to be within such close proximity of the love of her life.
"You're not dead weight."
"Huh?" Sakura turned her head to look at the boy, surprised.
Sasuke inhaled deeply, thinking about his words carefully. "Your chakra control is impeccable, and you have a knack for strategy. And despite what you lack for in taijutsu, you can still win if you put your mind to it." It was true that out of the four of them, Sakura was the weakest. But she wasn't absolutely talentless or handicap. They still needed her in their team, he saw that now. "I don't consider that to be dead weight."
"Sasuke-kun…"
"During the exams too, in that forest, you held your own against three sound ninja way above your level."
He narrowed his eyes and gripped the grass beneath his fingers. "Because I couldn't protect you, you ended up getting hurt."
Sakura spun around to face his back. "No! It wasn't your fault, it was because Orochimaru-" She cut herself off. Nothing good came from speaking that monster's name. Besides, Sasuke was sensitive about the curse mark on his neck and forbade anyone from mentioning it unless it was an emergency. The pink haired girl felt tears well up in her eyes. God, she hated that snake bastard! If she hadn't been so weak, so afraid of him, then maybe things would have turn out different.
She shook her head angrily. No, there was no point thinking about those things now. What mattered the most was that Sasuke was here, in this moment.
He was safe in their village, surrounded by Kakashi-sensei and other powerful Jounin who would protect him. He had friends who cared for him. And even if they could never replace the real family that he lost... she and Naruto would always be there for him.
And yet, somewhere in her heart, the nagging fear of him disappearing still remained.
"Sakura?" Sasuke asked, surprised when he felt two small arms wrap around his torso and her forehead pressing into his shoulder.
"Sorry, I know you don't like it, but just let me stay like this." Her voice was unusually low as her fingers fisted the material of his shirt. "Please, just for a little while."
He didn't say anything for a while, but his body relaxed in her embrace before he whispered, "Only until the sun goes down."
Her eyes fluttered open. Slowly, her vision adjusted to her surroundings and the darkness.
What was with that dream, she wondered. Sakura moved over onto her side, glancing at Team 7's picture on her wall. It happened so long ago, she had almost forgotten about it.
"We both pretended it never happened the next day, that's why." It would only embarrass him if anyone knew about it anyways. And they were assigned that mission to the Land of Tea shortly after. So many things happened, they were all exhausted and very injured when they finally came home.
Then he left.
Groaning, the pink-haired kunoichi sat up and rubbed her eyes. She was so tired. As if he didn't have a big enough effect on her reality, he had to disturb her dreams too? As a doctor, it was her professional opinion that sleep was meant to rest the mind, not overwork it!
Wait, work!
"What time is it?!" Sakura quickly ran to her room and grabbed the small alarm clock on her nightstand. It read the ugly truth. "Oh crap, I'm late!" And within the same minute, she was running out the door.
Hello readers! Well, I'm on vacation! This is just a small fic that I'm writing to get me into the groove again. Eventually I'll update Mama and Papa, but for now, enjoy this little piece that's been brewing in the back of my mind!
Review please! ;)