"Ne, Sasuke-kun.."
"Hn."
"You really loved Naruto, didn't you?"
"..what?"
The crack in her voice did not escape Sasuke and he could imagine Sakura's tear stricken face.
Imagine.
Sasuke couldn't see. Overusing his sharingan, he had turned blind. That's why he was with Sakura now- she could help. He had heard of her while working under Orochimaru. She had trained under one of the Sannin; Godaime Hokage, Tsunade. That had to be something.
So he had sought her out, and found her he did. Along with Naruto, Kakashi and two others of her team, later known as Yamato -Kakashi called him Tenzou- and Sai.
They were fighting enemy nin -their enemy, not his- and he had helped them, until every last one of them were killed.
To say they had been surprised was an understatement and he had found himself on the floor the same second as he killed the last enemy shinobi off.
He had explained everything and he had been accepted in the group. Though everyone was wary of him- even Naruto and Sakura. Sakura had told him she also healed Kakashi's eye, since it needed constant healing. He was told, she wasn't sure if she could cure blindness.
He honestly hadn't expected her to, but, secretly, he had wished that, so he could see their faces again.
Months had passed and he was fully accepted in the group again, no suspicious glances from Yamato and Kakashi or angry whispers from Sai.
Nothing.
Only laughter. Though he hardly smiled and he knew Sai's smile was a fake one, he was happy. Truly happy.
So when there was an ambush. He hadn't expected it. He didn't even see it coming, no pun intended.
They fought them off, but one of them, wasn't so lucky.
Naruto was badly injured and was coughing up blood- a lot of blood, if his ears weren't deceiving him. Since the Kyuubi had been taken from Naruto years ago, Naruto didn't have the same amount of power anymore, and his healing powers had disappeared as well. Naruto had died, but Tsunade had sacrificed herself for Naruto, reviving him, killing herself. Naruto had been devastated, and had embraced life. But since the apocalypse they were on the run.
And now- Sakura was healing him and he could've sworn he heard Naruto laugh and murmur, "it's okay, Sakura-chan. I'm losing too much blood. Leave me be."
Sakura was crying, as he could hear by the way she was sniffing and he felt something warm sliding across his cheek as well.
It was then that she asked him something he hadn't expected.
He looked at Naruto, whose body had long stilled, but Sakura was still pumping chakra in him. It was then, he realized, his best friend passed away -died, killed, murdered- something he had wished to do a long time ago, but couldn't.
Sasuke laughed, a small one, but it was a laugh none the less. "Hai.."
Sakura's eyes left Sasuke's dull ones and she glanced at Naruto and stubbornly refused to stop healing him, but she knew it was futile. She felt hands grab hers and pull her up from her kneeling position as she was pulled in a hug. When had Kakashi arrived? But the thought drifted away as she thought about her fallen teammate and cried- hard. She had never cried so hard before and she almost felt like the small, innocent girl she had once been.
Sasuke looked at the scene and felt something tugging at his heart, he wanted to see Naruto.
"Sakura."
…
"Heal my eyes. I know you can do it."
Sakura let out a soft gasp and hung her head. "How did you know?"
"Naruto told me."
"Oh.."
Sakura hadn't told Sasuke everything about his eyes. She had healed his eyes fully. Except for the vision, but that was easy. She just didn't want Sasuke to leave after she had healed him, she was afraid he had no reason to stay with them when he was healed.
She had told Naruto- he had been angry at her. And so it seemed he told Sasuke. But apparently Sasuke hadn't minded. Giving him a reason to stay.
But things were different now. Their teammate was dead. He wanted to see him.
"Sakura.. please."
Her eyes widened, if only slightly, and she walked over to him. She put he hand over his eyes, and he slowly closed his eyes. As he felt the warmth of her hand disappear, he opened his eyes- and closed it again. The light was too bright and he needed some time to adjust. He blinked some more.
Finally, he could see clearly again and he noticed Sakura- still standing before him. He noticed all the small things- every detail on her face. He noticed the little droplets of water in her eyes, just peeking around the corner, the little wrinkles around her eyes -a sign stating she was getting older- and saw the tiny freckles, he never knew she had. She was beautiful.
And then, she grabbed his hand, and pulled at it. She was leading him to Naruto. It took only five steps- but they were the hardest steps he had ever walked.
Naruto was lying there. A smile on his face while his eyes were only half closed. He looked at the wound, and he wished he hadn't. Some organs were spilling out. He had seen worse, yet he almost vomited. He was surprised Sakura reacted normally to the wounds- he guessed she had seen far too many ripped bodies. He almost wished he hadn't left her on that cold bench all those years ago, so she would've been the innocent girl she was back then.
A voice –it belonged to Sakura- had pulled him out of his thoughts.
"I loved him, you know. Just like I loved you."
He glanced her way, not quite expecting her confession, yet he smiled, a real smile, and put an arm around her.
"Me too."
For the first time, since Itachi's death..
..he cried.