(Re-uploaded for page break) 10/28/10

Hi. So, this is my first story. Yay. I will try to update this every week, but school has started. Actually, it started Tuesday, but I was sick. Haha fail. So tell me what you think?

Contains:

Shounen-ai

Yaoi

SasuNaru.

Please do not bash the pairing. 'Cause if you don't like it, why click it? Also, this will have no SasuSaku romance whatsoever. Why? Because I hate it. But this is also a cool Sakura. Not bitchy. Sasuke and Sakura will have a close friendship. Which is a very rare concept around here, haha.

(Sasuke has not killed Itachi, therefore he is not the psychopathic freak like in the manga.)

(I DO NOT, own Naruto.)

Sakura Haruno was a busy girl.

Very busy.

With the double shifts at the hospital, training under Tsunade, and keeping up with Team 7, Sakura was exhausted nearly every day. Dead on her feet, yeah, that's what she felt like.

Being the very exhausted girl that she was, Sakura had asked pitifully for her teacher to give her the day off from the clinic.

It was horrid place.

So many false cases of little children just wanting to fake an illness to have an excuse away from attending school. They were truly a waste of her precious, valuable time. Time under the legendary Slug sannin had shortened her temper greatly.

"So, can I take leave?" she asked.

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

Damn.

Any hope that was formed in the heart of Sakura had been crushed viciously, and quite mercilessly. Her anticipation of a nice hot bath was going to have to wait, a very long time.

"Why? You must understand what I go through during clinical, yes? There are hardly any real cases! Just snotty little brats that want to play hooky!"

Tsunade smirked evilly, and Sakura suddenly decided that maybe it wasn't a good idea to ask for ATO. Hazel eyes danced with mirth,

"Sakura, I hear there is a special case for you down there. Actually, you were requested."

That got her attention.

"Who?"

"Classified information."

"But I'm going to fig-"

"Haruno, out!" the blond Hokage bellowed, slamming a muscled fist down her mahogany desk. Sakura swore she felt a tiny sliver of wood hit her upper lip, but didn't bother to reach up and check. Emerald eyes stared helplessly at her mentor.

"Do not defy me, Sakura. Now go tend to your patient, I'm sure you'll find interest in their case." With that, the Hokage made a 'shoo-shoo' gesture for her protégée to leave. Sakura bowed deeply and scurried away, not waiting for a response. Taking a left she wandered down the hall, heading towards her destination.

I hope it's not another fluke, she thought sullenly.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Sakura breathed in deeply, and plastered a fake smile onto her worn face and opened the patient's door. Time to get this over with,

"Hello! I'm Saku-" the pinkette paused in her sickly sweet greeting, and did a double take. Slowly and cautiously, she retraced her steps back outside and into the hallway, easing the door shut. Blinking twice, she cautiously repeated her previous movements. Twisting the silver knob, she opened the door once again.

Was her mind playing tricks on her?

Confused, the kunoichi was about to replay and repeat when a familiar deep voice startled her.

"Don't be childish, Sakura."

Holy shit.

"S-Sasuke?" she asked hesistantly, blinking owlishly. Surely, this had to be a mistake. Sasuke never has gotten sick before.

Ever.

If he and Naruto were out to prank her again for the fifth time that week, she was going to slaughter them both. They nearly had gotten her fired with their stink bomb incident. At the tender age of sixteen, and still acting like idiots.

She reached behind herself, closing the door softly, not removing her eyes from onyx.

"I need to talk to you about something important." Sasuke stated seriously. Sakura eyed her team mate warily. She wasn't hallucinating; she had seen a bead of sweat run down a sharp pale cheek bone.

It wasn't as if she and Sasuke hadn't gotten close over the past few months. Hell, he had even called her his closest friends. Sure, he was a little tipsy at the time, but the truth always comes out with a little sake. It had been over three months since Naruto literally dragged Sasuke's ass back from Orochimaru's. And his confession had just been one of the surprising details he kept inside his mind.

The little blond had kept to his promise. He had broken Sasuke's arms and legs. Even if he was three years late.

When Sakura saw her blond best friend carrying Sasuke, she had thought her feelings of love would fully surface themselves once again for her raven team mate. But they didn't. Instead, she wanted to beat the shit out of him for not for her own emotional distress, but Naruto's. It seemed that she cared for Naruto's well being than her own. She wanted Naruto and Sasuke to make up. She wanted Naruto and Sasuke to renew their not-so-completely-but-mostly-severed-dysfunctional-bond. She wanted them to amend their faults together.

And it shocked her to her core.

At first, she thought she couldn't live without her heartthrob raven prodigy. She had wanted Sasuke all to herself. She wanted to be the center of his attention. She wanted the raven to give her things that would warm her heart. She wanted the raven to bicker and squabble with her, but in the end flash a smirk that would make her swoon with joy.

When she was a genin, of course.

But then reality came crashing down on her. She could never truly love Sasuke and have the fairy tale happy ending with her charming prince. No, because someone else was reserved to be in that spot. And she had a feeling that it was someone she knew, but never was she one to insinuate things. That was Naruto's forte.

Sakura walked over to the pristine white desk and withdrew the rolling chair from under it, pulling it towards the middle of the room. She sat in the red cushion and swiveled to face Sasuke, who was picking dirt absent-mindedly underneath his fingernails. Emerald eyes sparkled with expectancy.

"I love Naruto." He deadpanned. Sakura heard the tremors that shook the usually composed voice.

He looked up from his dark bangs, and it almost made Sakura think he resembled a puppy.

"Well?" he snapped.

Almost.

"Congratulations, Sasuke." She said, sounding more enthusiastic then she expected herself to sound.

"You're …fine with it?" he asked, astonished. She knew he was expecting her to lash out. But she was over it.

Over him.

Sakura rolled her chair closer to Sasuke who was dangling his feet off the side of the bed. She reached for his and cupped it. He flinched, but she ignored it.

"Sasuke, I've already been-there, done-that with you," she took a deep breath. Emerald clashed with onyx.

"Bet you thought I'd be broken, huh?" she asked amusedly.

Sasuke wasn't smiling.

"I'm not the silly girl you think I was three years ago. I've changed. I've gotten so much stronger since you left. Emotionally and physically. I would have never gained such knowledge if you hadn't had abandon us. You're the one who made me strong. You're the one who helped me find my independence, no longer needing to be protected all the time. It's all because of you that I've gotten stronger, Sasuke."

She rubbed her thumb along his trembling knuckle line.

"Underneath all the pain and tears I cried for you, I truly found myself. So, what I'm really trying to say is thank you, Sasuke. I'm not mad, nor am I even surprised. You and Naruto always had a special bond that was unbreakable"

Sakura got up from her seat and pecked Sasuke on his cheek and smiled warmly at him, hoping to ease the slight tension that had accumulated in the air. Sasuke's eyes softened a little, a corner of his mouth twitched.

"You're still annoying."

Sakura's eyes widened, but she responded anyway by smack the side of his head playfully. She didn't want anything to seem awkward between them. Not when everything was going steady. She opened her mouth,

"Sooo…when do you plan on telling him?" she asked curiously. Sasuke held back a choke.

The raven haired teen rubbed the back of his neck shyly; a light pink blush dusted his cheeks.

Embarassed?

Yeah.

A cough bounced off the plain walls of the room, and a pink eyebrow arched expectantly.

"Can you…er, help me with that?"

The pink haired medic nin gaped. Sasuke Uchiha, wanted her help, on dating? How ironic. It should've been the other way around. But, Sasuke had always been constipated in the emotion department. She laughed inwardly, having already formulated a plan in her mind. Her title as the most strategic member of Team 7 wasn't a bluff. Without a word, she placed her chair back under the desk.

Silent, she strode over to the medical bed, bracing her arms on either side of Sasuke's thighs. Pink lips met a pale ear. Sakura smirked devilishly.

"Alright then, Sasuke," she said.

Let's see how many failed attempts you'll have trying win the heart of the knuckle-headed ninja of Konoha.

Sasuke swallowed.

Hard.

"Let's do it."

Yup, so there you have it. Eh, review? I don't think there are any mistakes, but tell me if so. Maybe even suggest some obstacles Sasuke has to go through?

Anyways, feedback will make me smile.