Random oneshot. Based on the extra FABULOUS drawing by nami86 on deviantart dot com called ANBU Team 7 Sleeping. Terrificly drawn, I was sooo inspired! Not my best, but R&R

It had been a hard mission, there was no doubting that. Sakura had come very close to getting her arm cut off by a kantana, but had in fact punched her opponent hard enough to disrupt his internal organs. Sasuke had been punched by his opponent many times. He'd instantly regretted taking the hardest opponent for himself, thinking the entire time during the fight that Sakura and her super strength could've beaten his opponent's strength in an instant. Naruto had it worst off though. He was bleeding in several places by the time his opponent was dead, and his wrist was broken. Each of them seemed to be cut just above their ANBU tattoo's as well.

They were hurt, they were tired, but they were also laughing. They sat inside a cave, rain pelting the outside of it, a small fire crackling at their feet. Sakura was telling them about Lee's latest attempts to ask her out.

"So then-he jumps into the hot springs next to me and starts singing to me! I swear, I thought I was going to die!" Sakura choked out, wiping away the tears of mirth. Naruto was holding his uninjured hand to his sides, rolling around carefully, laughing. Sasuke smirked, but not to much. Anger was also in his eyes.

Team 7 had not laughed like this since Sasuke had come back from Orochimaru. Each told jokes, laughed, reminisced. Soon enough though, Naruto dozed off. Sasuke offered to tend to the dying fire as Sakura carefully walked across the cave to make sure Naruto didn't role over on his broken wrist. Sasuke's onyx eyes followed her the entire way.

Sakura walked back over to her spot next to Sasuke and plopped down, shivering slightly. She had not anticipated the rain, or being stuck in the cave, and was only wearing light, summery clothing. "Cold?" Sasuke asked his voice low for fear of waking Naruto. Sakura gnawed her bottom lip and nodded slightly. "I'll survive until the rain let's up." She mumbled back. She took a sharp breath as another cold gust of wind blew in, followed by a rumble of thunder and crack of lightening.

Sasuke noticed her eyes were wide with suppressed terror. Naruto remained in his coma like sleep. Sasuke turned his head over to Sakura. "Don't tell me your afraid of a little thunder storm?" He asked, smirking. Sakura shot him a nasty look. She opened her mouth to retaliate, when another loud clap of thunder shook the cave. The lightening illuminated the cave like daylight.

Sasuke jumped. Sakura put a hand to her mouth to suppress a giggle. "C'mon, don't tell me your afraid of a little thunder storm, are you?" She mocked. Sasuke growled deep in the back of his throat. Sakura shook her head and stared at the small flames. "What, you can dish it out, but you can't take it back?"

Sasuke stared at the back of her rosy head. He hadn't realized how close they were sitting. "I can dish it and take it, thanks." He murmured. Sakura rubbed her injured arm. Sasuke stared at it. He had watched Sakura patch her self up diligently, not even wincing as she cleaned her bone-deep cut.

She'd patched up the boys first though. First Naruto and his broken wrist, then Sasuke. Naruto didn't even flinch as Sakura set his broken wrist straight and put a makeshift cast on it. He barely even acknowledged the fact that she was cleaning his cuts with stingy medicine. He just nodded and thanked her.

Sakura had also dabbed Sasuke's cuts with something that had burned quiet a lot. He had hissed in pain. "C'mon, take it like a man." She'd taunted. Both the boys had been instructed to take off their shirts so Sakura could inspect and other bruises or cuts. Now, at age twelve, Naruto would've blushed. But at age seventeen, he had a completely level head about it. Sakura had been able to inspect his chest without a complaint. He seemed perfectly fine, his curse seal over his naval as bright as ever.

But when Sasuke had taken off his shirt and turned around, Sakura had shaken her head. Running from one shoulder to just below his other, Sasuke had had a deep slit on his back, which was bleeding rapidly. Sakura had instantly scolded him. "Why didn't you tell me you'd gotten this in the first place? You could've died from blood loss!" Instructing Sasuke to sit with his back to her, she'd taken a wet cloth and cleaned up the cut. She'd then poured a different liquid onto another towel, keeping it far from any of her cuts. She'd looked at it with anticipation, and then turned to Naruto. "Get me some more water." She's ordered. Naruto griped about it, and then left.

Sakura then turned back to Sasuke. "This is going to hurt a lot." She'd said quietly. She gave him her hand. "It's okay if you squeeze. And don't you give me that look! At least I got Naruto out of here for you." She then pressed the cloth to Sasuke's back and cleaned the rest of the cut.

She hadn't been lying of course. It did hurt. Sasuke winced and squeezed Sakura's hand tightly, biting his lip hardy. Sakura looked sadly at Sasuke, putting the medical cloth down and taking up the wet water cloth again, dabbing the cut. Sasuke had leaned his head forward sighing, letting the cold water soothe the fiery feeling on his back. "Sorry." Sakura had mumbled. Sasuke opened an eye and turned to stare at her. "What are you sorry for, you said it would hurt. I didn't believe you."

Sakura had shaken her head, chuckling. That's when the rain had started and Naruto had come back, carrying the water pouch in one arm, smiling. As they all started talking and laughing, Sasuke silently watched Sakura. Naruto was ranting off about some little insignificant pervy thing his Sensei Jiraiya-sama had done, so he didn't notice Sasuke's onyx eyes following Sakura's expression. She was dabbing her own bone-deep cut with the harsh medicine, turning her face away from the boys so they didn't see her wince, biting her lip to stop the tears of pain.

But Sasuke did see them. He found it odd that Sakura would be so secretive that she was in pain. But he found it odder that he realized he cared.

xxx

"I saw you wincing earlier." Sasuke said earlier. Sakura whipped her head around and stared into his dark eyes. The reflection of the dying fire in them was unnerving. "What do you mean?" Sakura whispered. Sasuke shrugged. "When you were cleaning your wound. You winced. I saw."

Sakura raised one of her rosy eyebrows. "Would you like a cookie or a medal for that?" Sasuke scowled at her. They were silent for some time, just staring into the flames. "Is your back feeling any better?" Sakura mumbled. Sasuke snorted. "Well, it doesn't feel like it's burning anymore if that's your question." Sakura bit her lip to stop a small smile.

A sudden harsh gust of wind blew through the cave, accompanied by splatters of freezing rain. The fire spluttered and died. Sakura and Sasuke sat in the cold, listening to the rain and (in Sakura's case) their own frozen breathing. The icy cold mist of their own breaths hung in front of their faces.

"Damn." Muttered Sakura. She rubbed her hands over her frozen arms quickly. She turned to Sasuke. "Do you think you could restart the fire?" Sasuke pondered for a moment. "With or without having Naruto spontaneously combust?"

Sakura shook her head and shivered. Sasuke looked over at her. He could feel his own face growing hot. Contrary to popular belief, Sasuke was not very good at this. This being his duty, per say. He knew he couldn't let Sakura freeze, but-this-was-just-so-embarrassing!

So, with his face warm in the dark, (Uchiha men don't get red faced.) Sasuke slowly put his arm around Sakura. Sakura was in a total state of disbelief. She was freezing cold, wet, and pissed as hell in their predicament. And now Sasuke had his arm around her too? She looked at him, grateful for the darkness hiding her blush.

"S-Sasuke?" She asked. Sasuke turned his head so she wouldn't see his eyes. "You'll freeze to death otherwise." He grumbled. Sakura bit her lip, smiling slightly. After a few awkward minutes, which, given, had felt like hours (or maybe days), Sakura leaned carefully into Sasuke's shoulder.

Like most things, the awkwardness soon passed, along with the cold. Sleep was coming to Sakura. She could feel her eyes getting heavier, her mind fogging up. She snuggled into Sasuke's chest, grateful for the warmth. "Sasuke?" She mumbled her tongue thick with sleep. "Yes?" Sasuke answered, trying to keep his voice calm and cool. He doubted it was working well, but Sakura was already half asleep. Thank Kami the dobe was asleep.

Sakura yawned, closing her eyes. "I'm glad your back." And then she was asleep. Sasuke stared down at her sleeping figure, shocked. He allowed himself the smallest of grins. He had known that everyone was glad he was back, (not because of his man-sized ego, but because he was aware of the great extent everyone had gone to to get him back), but he was glad for it to be voiced.

He stared down at the pink haired girl against his chest, an odd feeling rising in him. Possessed by a power so unlike anything he had ever felt before, Sasuke leaned down slowly and brushed his lips against the top of her head. "Sakura…" He mumbled. No other word was uttered that night. No other word could be uttered, for no other word could describe, at that moment, the sleepy intensity of the cave.

Sasuke slid down the cave wall, wrapping arm securely around Sakura's waist. Burying his nose in her hair, Sasuke slowly drifted to sleep, dreaming of pleasant things. Cherry blossoms, killing Itachi, and tomatoes.

And in Sasuke's world, those were pleasant things indeed.

xxx

Naruto awoke early in the morning, as the first light peeped into the cave. A fine mist lay upon the ground, and he shivered. Stretching, he winced as he tried moving his wrist. He looked around for his teammates, surprised to see them asleep in each other's arms. A wide grin stretched across Naruto's face.

"'Bout time too." He laughed quietly. He shook his head, looking up to the sky. It was a misty, faint lavender in the morning light. Naruto's smile softened. Really, it was times like these that really made him miss Hinata-chan.

Yeah, I cut it off there. I'M EVIL!!! MWHAHAHAHAHAHA! (ehem) remember, nami86 at deviantart dot com gets ALLL credit (except for the writing part!) :D R&R and check it out!