Disclaimer: Don't own anything in Naruto. If I did, I wouldn't be writing stuff on the internet. So, use your brain and don't try to sue me!
"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura said, raising her eyebrows in astonishment when she turned over the raven-haired boy laying stationary on the ground. When she set eyes on his face, her heart leapt painfully into her throat. It had been at least seven years since she had set eyes on him, the one person she ever truly loved. The rain was beating down hard now, so that his hair stuck to his face. Brushing his hair away, she saw that his eyes were closed. His features looked so peaceful, yet extremely strained.
"Sasuke-kun," she repeated, putting a hand to his forehead. He had a fever. Stirring slightly at her touch, his face instantly changed to hold an expression extreme pain and discomfort. Much to Sakura's dismay, however, he did not open his eyes.
"Ugh…uhnn…." groaned Sasuke.
"Sasuke-kun, thank god! You're alive!"
Bending down, with some difficulty, she put his arms around her neck and leaned his chest against her back. Then putting her arms securely around his legs, she slowly rose to her feet. Shifting his weight slightly, she started running back towards the village.
Not more than five minutes later, someone landed in front of her.
"And where do you think are you going?"
Knowing that voice all too well, she wasn't about to stop. Not with an injured and feverish Sasuke on her back.
"Come on, SUCK—URA! Come and fight me!"
"Go away, Amitsu-san, or should I say, Amitsu-chan! I don't have time for you right now," Sakura yelled back in irritation.
"Oh come now! It's been over a week since our last date," he said, landing right in front of her. Causing her to stop. He was a rather ugly man, holding an almost reptilian quality with his green hair, his short, thin figure, and his narrow eyes. Standing on her guard, she readied herself to make a quick get-away of need be.
"You're sick, Amitsu-san. I wouldn't date you if hell froze over and that alone would save the human race!"
"Aw, I love feisty women. That just proves that you're exactly my type!"
"Dream on!" Sakura reached down with one hand and threw a kunai knife at the guy. What Amitsu seemed to have for her was a kind of rude love-hate, unhealthy obsession.
"Now, now, sweetheart. No need to be so rough up front. I haven't even started to sweet talk yet."
"I have no time for you, Amitsu! Get lost!" She slipped her hand back around Sasuke's leg and started to make signs at her stomach level. Then bending down, she rammed her hand into the ground hard, making several feet of the ground in front of it break upwards in response.
"Ah, look! My baby has a new toy!"
Suddenly there was a cloud of dust and several kunai knives appeared out of nowhere, heading for Amitsu. Sakura looked up into a nearby tree to see a blonde-haired boy grinning down at the situation, looking amused.
"Naruto-kun! Where did you come from!"
He shrugged, jumping down from the tree branch, "You're late. You said you would be able to meet us for a team dinner, 'for old times sake' over an hour ago. Kakashi started to worry. He had something to do for a few minutes, so he sent me to find you. And who in the world is that you're carrying?"
"Right…well, in that case. Take care of Amitsu for me. This guy on my back needs medical attention desperately."
"Again? When is it ever going to be your turn to deal with him?" Naruto rolled his eyes.
"Oh, shut up! This is only the second time."
"Excuse me. But I want Sakura-san, not Naruto-san," said Amitsu.
Naruto and Sakura both looked at Amitsu, "SHUT UP!"
"See you back at the village then, Sakura-san," said Naruto while Sakura ran for the village.
She hated to admit it, but Naruto was being a large help to her lately. Somehow he seemed to show up just in time to save her from fighting Amitsu.
"Kakashi-sensei!" she screamed, kicking open the door. A white-haired man sitting against the opposite wall of the room looked up, startled.
"Sakura-san, its about time that you—" he voice tailed off at the sight of the raven-haired person she was carrying on her back. The color seemed to instantly drain from his face. Getting up, he swept towards her, taking the young man off her back and setting him gently on a futon.
"Sasuke-san? Where on earth did you find him? And why is he like this?"
"I found him unconscious on the ground within the forest, not too far from here. I was on a short mission earlier, and on my way back, I found him just laying there," said Sakura.
"He's alive, but he has injuries and a high fever."
"Injuries?" Sakura asked, astonished.
"Yes. They're not visible to the human eye, but they're there, and very real. I'd make a guess that the injuries that he has are fairly deep, considering the kind of people he was working with," said Kakashi, as he pulled Sasuke's shirt off and pressed his hand down on the young man's stomach and upper chest. Getting a response of a jolt or knitted eyebrow from Sasuke every once and a while, he could tell when the boy that used to be almost like a son to him, was in pain.
"Stay with him, Sakura-san. While you're at it, you might want to change into something else, you look drenched. My clothes are over there in that dresser if you need them," said Kakashi, "I need to find a druggist who can make something to repair organs. If Sasuke-san gets any worse, he may not make it."
"Okay, Kakashi-sensei."
With that, he left. Sakura sat next to Sasuke, becoming suddenly aware exactly how wet she was. To put it simply, there was no part of her that was dry. It was as if she had taken a bath with her clothes on. Getting up, she made her way to the dresser and found a shirt. Then, grabbing a towel on top of the dresser, she walked behind a screen. It occurred to her how very awkward and wrong it felt to be undressing in her respected teacher's home and then putting on even one piece of his clothing. But none-the-less, she pulled off her dress, leaving on the black shorts that resided under it. Taking the towel, she dried herself off, and pulled the T-shirt on. It was slightly too big, but also fairly comfortable. Walking out from behind the screen, she was startled to see that Sasuke was watching her. Had he seen her figure through the screen?
"Sakura-san? Is that—is that you?" he asked, weakly.
"Yes, Sasuke-kun. It's me," Sakura said, setting her wet clothes and the towel down on a mat and sitting down beside him.
"Where am I?" he asked, looking up at the ceiling.
"Kakashi-sensei's place," Sakura said. Sasuke's eyes flickered towards her.
"Where is he?"
"Getting medicine for you, you've been badly injured," Sakura said.
Sasuke was silent for a moment, then his eyes slowly closed.
"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked uncertainly. He did not answer. Putting her fingers to his neck, she felt a weak pulse, "Don't die, Sasuke-kun. Please."
Naruto entered the room moments later, looking just as wet as she had been, and in a very bad mood, "So, Sasuke-kun's back? And managed to get himself hurt again. That stuck up moron!"
"He could say the same about you, as many times as you've been injured in his absence."
"Hey! At least I don't get hurt as bad as you do half the time!" Naruto shouted in annoyance.
"Only because Kakashi-sensei rescues you most of the time!" Sakura shouted back
"Whatever. You're just jealous that I'm better than you," Naruto said, looking full of himself.
"Dream on, dork!"
"Uhnn…" groaned Sasuke.
Nearly twenty minutes later, Kakashi walked back into the room with a small vile in his hands. Then lifting it to Sasuke's lips, he poured it slowly into the young man's mouth. With difficulty, Sasuke swallowed it. Almost immediately a burning sensation ensued, so painful that he screamed out. Sakura put his hand in hers and watched him anxiously. Naruto walked out of the room in disgust.
"I think he'll be all right," Kakashi told Sakura, "He's just in pain because its healing. Mm…nice choice of clothes, by the way. You're wearing one of my favorite shirts."
Sakura blushed, "Sorry, Kakashi-sensei."
"Don't worry about it. I'm going to see how Naruto-san's doing. Keep watching Sasuke-san. Come and get me if you think he's getting worse." Kakashi rose, leaving Sakura next to Sasuke once again. The raven-haired young man gave a swift jerk as a surge of pain going through his body. He gave a hard squeeze of Sakura's hand, gritting his teeth.
"Sasuke-kun? I'm going to stay here with you, okay?"
He nodded, gritting his teeth, "Aaaaaaaahhh!"
Naruto was sitting up in a tree, when Kakashi found him.
"What's going on, Naruto-san?"
"Nothing…" said Naruto, throwing a rock at a passerby.
"Is it Sasuke-san?"
"He just had to come back! And every time he's around, she doesn't even notice that I'm alive!"
Kakashi rose his eyebrows, "So this is about Sakura-san?"
"I was getting so close. Even Lee-kun has a girlfriend now, so he's not all over Sakura-kun anymore."
Kakashi sighed, "You're fighting a losing battle, I think, Naruto-san. Sakura-san is a complicated woman to understand. She gave her heart to Sasuke-san a long time ago. Even I can see that."
"But that's not fair."
"No, but there's always someone else, Naruto-san. But right now, I have another mission that I need you to do. Why don't we team you up with Hinata and Ino?"
Naruto nodded, and they left to talk to the girls.
Sakura fell asleep, leaning against the wall of Kakashi's house. Sasuke was now sleeping peacefully, and night had come and gone, the sun coming slowly up. As the light started pouring into the room, Sakura started to stir. Her eyes slowly opened to see Sasuke standing up, about to make his way to the door.
"Sasuke-kun…"
He stopped dead in his tracks and looked back at her.
"Please don't go."
"I can't stay here, Sakura-san. They're looking for me."
"Who's 'they'?"
"The masters of power that I've been with since we said goodbye the last time. They want to get rid of me. And if they find me here, they'll kill everyone here…even you."
"Sasuke-san. Kakashi-sensei, Gai-sensei, and the other teachers, as well as me, Lee-kun, and Naruto-kun. We can protect you."
"I don't want anyone dying on my account."
"Sasuke-kun, please!"
"No!"
"Sasuke-kun…"
"No…I don't want that kind of blood on my hands," he said. Then pausing, he turned around completely and kneeled down in front of her.
"You're sick and you haven't healed all the way yet, Sasuke-kun."
"I don't feel ill anymore, and my wounds won't take that long to heal. But there is one thing that I've been meaning to do," he said, closing the distance between them, and turning his head. Then extending his hand to support her face, his lips came in contact with hers. After a moment, he released her and stood back up.
"Sasuke-kun, why?"
Sasuke was already almost to the door.
"Because…while I was gone, I found out how much you meant to me. I thought about you a lot. I…uh…I promised that I would let you know how I felt about you if we ever met again."
"I love you, Sasuke-kun."
"I know," said Sasuke. "Tell Kakashi-sensei that I said thank you."
He left without another word. Leaving Sakura sitting on the floor of Kakashi's home, tears streaming down her face. She had given Sasuke her heart all those years ago. But after all that time he had finally given his heart to her. So maybe, just maybe, he would return to her when he finally gets done running.
Hope you enjoyed it. Not sure if I'm going to continue this story or not. I'm currently working on a much bigger project, so I may not. Anyway, please review. Bye all!