He always wakes up at 2am.
He would have a quick change of clothes to protect him from the cool wind outside. Then he would walk out of his apartment and towards his destination.
At 2:10 he would arrive at his destination, which was the tree near the academy. Once he finds a comfortable branch to stand on (or sit on, whenever he felt like it), he would wait.
Exactly 5 minutes later, his gaze would be on the road and wait for someone to appear. True enough, a figure comes into view. A figure he knows so well he could even recognize it with his eyes closed.
Sakura walked in a rather slow pace, probably from chakra depletion and fatigue, he assumed.
Her shift at the hospital always ended at 2. She would fix her things and start walking towards her apartment at 2:05. It takes her 10 minutes to arrive near the academy, and another 5 minutes before she arrives at the comforts of her home.
She was an excellent kunoichi, that Sasuke knew. Not only was she the best medic, next to the Hokage and Shizune, of course, the woman sure could pack a hard punch. He would know, since he'd been a very lucky recipient of such in the past. A part of the past that he was not really proud of and would like to forget about.
He couldn't help but make sure that she gets home safely, though he had tried walking her home before, but she insisted (more like threatened him) and told him that she was more than capable of taking care of herself.
Which brings us back to where he is now. He would follow her, hiding from tree to tree until she's inside her apartment.
He wouldn't be risking his face (with her punches that hurt so bad, so bad that he doesn't really want to admit it out loud that it hurt so damn much) if it wasn't for that one time when she met a drunkard on the road. According to Naruto's story, "the bastard tried to harass Sakura". Sakura, on the other hand, had tried to ignore him, but he was trying to force himself on her. Naruto, having just arrived from a mission and on his way home himself, was about to interfere when he heard a scream coming from the intoxicated man and the sound of "hell breaking loose".
That didn't sound good at all.
Of course, this just proves that Sakura could indeed handle everything by herself, but he couldn't risk her. What if something different happened? What if she doesn't have enough chakra left? Or was just too exhausted to defend herself?
That's why he always wakes up at 2 in the morning.
He was not worried. Nope. Not at all. He just wants to make sure she arrives safely.
The next day, he woke up at 2 in the morning. As usual, he had a quick change of clothes before walking out of his apartment. At 2:10, he would arrive at the tree. And wait.
He checked his wrist watch (her gift for his last birthday) and realized it was already 2:15. He averted his gaze towards the road, waiting for her figure to come into view.
Any time now.
But nothing came. Strange. He checked his watch for the 2nd time. 2:16. She was late by just a minute, but she was never late before. Not even a minute.
Maybe an emergency came up, he thought, and that kept her in the hospital for more time. Yes, that was it. So he waited more.
Time check – 2:20.
Quick glance. Road. Nothing.
Sulk, sulk, stare into nothingness.
Time check – 2:30.
Still nothing.
Brood, brood, brood some more.
Time check – 2:45.
She was nowhere to be seen.
Starting to panic a little (which was un-Uchiha like), he decided to give her until 3am.
A minute after 3 came, but still no sight of Sakura.
Sasuke jumped from the branch with ease, and started running towards Naruto's apartment (just in case he needed the blonde, however how much he didn't want to) but found the door locked on the outside.
The dobe was on a mission.
He disliked the hospital, for the overall smell of cleanliness and too much white gave him the creeps, so no, he wouldn't check the hospital. Besides, the staff would probably think he was the kind to be worried sick, so no. That's not going to happen.
His feet led him to her apartment.
Fishing the copy of her key that she gave him from his pocket, he clumsily opened the door. Even with the lights off, he easily made his way towards her room.
"Sakura? Sakura?"
Reaching the room, he turned on the lights.
And found her on her bed, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. "Wha—Sasuke-kun? What are you doing here? And why are you screaming-", she glanced at the clock on the wall, "—at this ungodly hour?"
He sighed in relief, releasing the breath he didn't even realize he was holding. "What time did you come home?"
"Sometime around 2 last night." Her eyes were dangerously close to shutting, but tried her best not to.
Last night? "Didn't you have a shift in the hospital today?"
Sakura lifted her shirt a little and started scratching her stomach. "It's my day off, Sasuke-kun." She paused, and instantly realized why he was there. "Wait, are you still following me every night?"
He tensed at her eyebrow raising, a sure sign that she was getting irritated by the second. "..no. Of course not."
She stared at him. "Right. Sasuke-kun, I really want to rip out your balls right now for still thinking that I can't take care of myself, but I'm just too tired from everything that's happened in the hospital this week and I just want to catch up on the Zs. Tomorrow, ne?" And with that she gave him a "sadistic" smile.
He gulped. Hell will break loose tomorrow.
This was certainly fun to write. Strange how I get random ideas when I'm about to sleep.