I got this idea after listening to the song "Makes Me Wonder" by Maroon 5 some time ago. Of course I've been very busy with school, family, and of course now that summer's here I'll have a little more free time on my hands, but probably just as much to do as ever. So we'll just have to see how things go as far as keeping up with this and all the other deadlines I have set for myself.
This is my second attempt at a SakuxIta fic, by the way. I've always found that couple to be cute and charming, even though NaruxSaku is still my number one as far as Sakura is concerned. Anyway, this will be rated T for now, just to be safe, but it may go up later on as the story progresses. This story may also have brief glimpses of other pairings as well as one-sided SasuxSaku and slight to mild Sasuke bashing, though I'll try to keep it to a minimum if possible, unless you, my adoring readers, request otherwise. ; )
I don't own Naruto, but I do one day aspire to have my own hit anime/manga that's just as popular. :P
Summary: Sasuke has returned, but Sakura couldn't care less. The former avenger is determined to find out why she suddenly seems so indifferent towards him, but isn't prepared for what he discovers. Another Uchiha seems to be her newest objection of fixation. And he seems interested in her, too. Feeling jilted, Sasuke is determined to regain the kunoichi's affection, but is it too late?
It was a normal day much like any other for Haruno Sakura when her hyperactive blond-haired teammate literally came bursting through the doors of the hospital, the bloodied form of one Uchiha Sasuke, sole survivor of the Uchiha clan massacre and deserter of the Hidden Leaf Village, slung over his back like a sack of potatoes.
"Sakura-chan, Sakura-chan! Look, look!" he screamed frenziedly, as was his nature when excited or panicked. "We did it! We brought back Sasuke,"
Vivid orbs the color of healthy grass blinked once, and her carefully trained medical specialist eyes surveyed the unconscious Uchiha's slumped form, noting the caked blood and dirt along with his ripped clothes.
It was obviously not an easy fight for either of them, and she imagined Sasuke's stubborn persistence to be left to his own path of vengeance and self-destruction had given Naruto quite a hard time, though with the exception of the dirt caking the blond's own clothes and the minor cuts that she could see across his face, you would never know it.
It was a wonder he was still up and standing, let alone so bouncy, but then, it was Naruto. And having the healing power and stamina of the Kyuubi probably helped too.
Sasuke was stubborn, but Naruto's fiery spirit was unrelenting, and he would go to the greatest lengths imaginable to fulfill a promise. He'd always been reliable in that manner.
She frowned as she noted the pool of blood beginning to from on the hospital's clean tiled floors. "Naruto, put him down on the table over there," She instructed calmly, "And try to keep your voice down; this is a hospital."
Naruto, who had been waiting just inside the doorframe with eager ocean blue eyes and a wide grin that threatened to break his face, for his pink-haired teammate to come running forward, crying and gushing over the younger Uchiha, stared in astonishment, not expecting this reaction.
He was aware that Sakura had steadily grown in strength over the years, and that, while training under the Godaime Hokage had also grown quite a bit of backbone and no longer needed regular protection like the kunoichi of their early genin days.
Still, he also knew that no matter how tough and strong-centered she'd become, she had always had a particular fondness when it came to the traitorous Uchiha he currently carried across his back, and that was something he hadn't expected to change, no matter how physically and mentally powerful she'd become.
A shinobi could control their mind but never their heart, for they were human and subject to feeling all the emotions of joy, suffering, love, anger, and despair as any other human soul.
But Sakura seemed completely professional at the moment as she gazed at him, hand placed squarely on hip as she gave him a tight-lipped expression and waited impatiently for him to place the badly injured Uchiha down on the examining table.
He did so, stumbling hurriedly. He watched with his brow furrowed slightly in concern as the pink-haired medic began removing the remains of the Uchiha's mostly destroyed clothes, exposing his pale chest and placing a hand directly over the spot where Naruto had struck the Uchiha just below the heart with his Rasengan.
He hadn't meant to harm Sasuke so badly, but as thick-headed and set on his reckless goal of revenge as ever, Sasuke had refused to come easily, as was expected.
And as in previous battles with his former teammate the renegade Uchiha had threatened that in order to bring him back, he would have to come at him with the intent to kill him, or be killed in the process.
This time Naruto hadn't held back, going at the Uchiha with everything he had and just narrowly missing ending the avenger's life accidentally.
But after seeing the damage his old friend had sustained, which include multiple broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder, deep lacerations, and a hole in his lower abdomen from the deadly blow of his Rasengan, he felt deeply guilty.
His blue eyes darkened sadly as Sakura inspected the internal damage with a lightly glowing hand. 'Sasuke…how did it come to this?'
"Well, he'll pull through right?" Naruto found himself asking in an almost timid voice, so unlike his normal raucous, confident self. Sakura glanced at him briefly before turning her eyes to survey the bloody mess that had once been her childhood crush.
Then, she pushed a button on the wall that summoned available nurses, and at least a dozen medics on standby came rushing in. Sakura informed them of the Uchiha's diagnosis and told them to prep him for emergency surgery immediately. If they didn't act soon, he wouldn't make it.
If the severe internal bleeding and hemorrhaging didn't kill him, the fact that he was well on his way into a coma that could leave him brain-dead forever would seal his fate. It was as simple as that. She turned to the stunned blond, still standing off to the side.
"Honestly Naruto, he's in bad shape. If the Kyuubi's chakra is in the wounds, then there's really no telling. Right now, I'd say his odds are around 30/70." She said this so calmly, with such candor, that Naruto almost couldn't believe that this was in fact the same Haruno Sakura he had known for years.
Sasuke could die. Sasuke could die, and while he was fully aware it was his fault, a part of him felt mad at Sakura—for giving up on him so easily.
The pink-haired kunoichi quietly strutted out of the room to join the team operating on Sasuke. "You're a medic nin! You're Tsunade-baachan's student, you can fix him. You have to!" Naruto called weakly after her, shaking his head fervently.
Sasuke would not die. Konoha had the best medics anywhere, and the arrogant bastard was too damn stubborn to give up just like that. He would not die.
In all the years he'd strived to retrieve Sasuke, the fact that he was out there alive somewhere, always gave him hope that one day he'd be able to see the Uchiha return to them.
But if Sasuke was gone…he would be swarmed in guilt forever. Sakura…Kakashi…how would he be able to look them in the eyes?
Despite the fact that the avenger had narrowly missed the chance to end his life on several occasions, he wouldn't stoop so low as to end Sasuke's. The Uchiha may not have known it, but he needed his family in Konoha. And they needed him.
Verdant eyes studied the battered face of the sole Uchiha. Her pink brows furrowed in concentration as she focused on staunching the flow of blood from his ruptured organs.
Naruto's Rasengan had just missed permanently damaging his liver and spleen; his right kidney was beyond salvaging. It figured nothing short of a fatality would be able to stop Sasuke.
At one point she had seen this as admirable— his unperturbed glare into the face of danger. Now she saw it for what it was: childish, foolhardy, asinine…
The list went on, but what good was berating a man who could literally be on his death bed. Her job was to heal, not preach. Though she could and would do plenty of that when he was in more stable condition.
The heart rate monitor panged constantly as the surgeons operated. At times the heartbeat was faint, but Sakura had a high success rate and was determined to see this particular patient through. Eight long hours later, Uchiha Sasuke still breathed, and Sakura exited the room with her team, exhausted.
Naruto paced impatiently in wait, and upon seeing her, his anxious aqua eyes rested on her face, searching frantically for anything at all telling.
She reassured him with a placating smile, "He pulled through. Don't worry," Instantly the blond was expelling a major rush of breath in relief.
She frowned on her way to file the medical report, 'But the battle's just beginning from here on out. ...I hope you're prepared Sasuke, for your sake.'
Swimming into consciousness was like fighting through a dense fog.
The minute his eyes cracked open, blinding white filled his view. Was he dead? Where was this? He wanted answers, but knew instinctively that he was in no position to force them out of anyone as he normally would.
He remembered being confronted by Naruto, telling his team to hang back…He remembered being locked in a fierce stalemate, until the blond, in obvious desperation, unleashed the likes of something so unimaginably horrid that even now he felt a tug of death creep upon him to think of it. How close had he been?
Would Naruto have had the strength to go through with it? On a normal day, he would've doubted it…but there had been something burning like a wall of flames in Naruto's eyes as he had been immersed in a burst of lethal red chakra. And then…and then there was the flash of a strangely altered Rasengan, and nothing.
Stillness followed and he could only guess that in those tense moments he had fallen. He cursed himself for his weakness. Something the blond had uttered…made him slip up.
In that brief moment of reprieve, the vicious power of an enraged Naruto sank deep into his gut, nearly ending him. He didn't know why he'd been spared, but he had a good guess as to where he might be.
A cursory glance of the room affirmed his worst suspicions. The white linen and walls, incessant beeping sounds and, most of all, the familiar sterilized smells.
He knew he was in a hospital from the moment he opened his eyes—but the peaceful atmosphere told him he was not in Sound or the infirmary in any of their other hideouts.
In those places the lingering stench of blood and the groans of the dying filled every corridor. Death fell heavily like an iron curtain, and just being there made a bleak feeling of hopelessness set into your bones until it had slowly devoured you from within.
This was a hospital, but of a different grade. A much better grade than any of those he knew of could offer. All except one—the last one he would ever choose to be in again. Konoha.
A knot of rage swelled in his stomach, and he reached for the hilt of his blade, only to find it absent.
The increased beeping ruptured any semblance of tranquility and the door swung open to reveal a skeptical looking young woman, her hair icy pink and her pale lips pursed thoughtfully.
"You're awake earlier than expected." She told him, and he assessed her coldly, as she fiddled with a machine pumping a steady flow of liquid into his IV drip.
"Haruno Sakura," he seethed, very nearly lashing out at her on reflex, though he was sure in his state not even she would be concerned.
"Uchiha Sasuke," she barely spared him a glance as she stopped the beeps. And her tone was no less acerbic, he noted.
"What am I doing here? Haven't you people learned your lesson yet? As soon as I'm healed enough, I'll just leave again. You can't stop me; I'll kill you if you try." He growled. However, Sakura nearly surprised him with the cool gaze she scrutinized him under.
"Uchiha, don't think you're in a position to give any orders. You're lucky to be alive after the stress on your organs, and as much as I'd hate to go against the grain and injure a patient as a medic…your attitude makes it tempting." She idly flexed her lean muscled arms above her head as if to demonstrate.
Perturbed and in the mood to let his temper simmer, Sasuke sank back into the firm pillows, letting his tense shoulders crack before staring up at the ceiling. "Hn."
"I hope that means you'll comply." A much deeper woman's voice rose as the clack of heels filled the room. He eyed the Hokage with disinterest.
"And I guess if I don't you'll beat me into submission?"
Tsunade narrowed her eyes, "Something like that. Listen Uchiha, you're a high profile threat to the Leaf Village and a wanted criminal with charges of treason and a bounty on your head. I wouldn't be so quick to burn the only bridge keeping you away from the chopping block."
She approached his bedside, and he noticed the way Sakura moved aside, but stayed on hand, eying the older woman with reverence. "Don't think the council will settle for letting you slide just because of your Uchiha blood. If they do, they'll make you a puppet and subject you to their will for the rest of your life."
"I'm no one's toy. And the Leaf doesn't scare me. Just try and stop me, I dare you." He lifted his chin in defiance as if to prove his audacity.
"You little...the nerve!" Tsunade eyed him coldly. "Sakura, put him back under for now. When he's fully recuperated, call me. I have some very important things to discuss with the Uchiha."
If he hadn't been so weak, he would have lunged for the blond in an attempt to show the legendary kunoichi just what his time away from the village had made him. A cold-blooded murderer. A true shinobi without ties to hold him down.
But as Sakura approached him with that same hollow stare of indifference he had no form of defense but to pour all his hatred, frustration and exhaustion into a soul-chilling glare. She hardly raised a brow as she inserted the long needle into his inner forearm, his vision going murky within minutes before he grudgingly conceded to unconsciousness.
Weeelll? What did 'ya think? I'm really proud of this chapter. I don't think I could have set the tone better if I'd tried. For once, it turned out 100% perfect to me without any of my usual doubts or worries. Sasuke's in for a hell of a shock if he thinks Sakura's going to fawn all over him like nothing happened.
Honestly, I don't think those stories where he comes back to Konoha and Sakura still has strong feelings for him without any bitterness is realistic. It's downright ludicrous, actually... if someone you truly loved and cared for with all your heart and soul betrayed you and tried to kill you and your best friend without remorse for selfish reasons, I don't care how devoted you are, there's no damn way you wouldn't be pissed off for a while.
I also think at this point in the canon story-arc if Sasuke came back, it'd be very unlikely him and Sakura would get together. There's very little indication to show she's still hung up on it; it's more strongly implied that her preferences lean more toward Naruto. So this may have some slight NaruxSaku in places, just because I luuurve that couple-but Sasuke is a douche and shall be bashed on and off quite frequently-all Sasuke fans be warned...*laughs evilly*
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