Silly as it was, Sasuke could not rip himself away from Sakura's unconcious body. Clothes dusty from being stuck underground for a good few minutes, body stiff, he chose to sit down and wait for her to wake up. As if to remind him of his frustration, his stomach growled. He had not eaten since last night. The stupid bell test was exhausting, it took a lot of energy and the old man putting them to the test seemed more like he was playing with them than anything.
Uchiha Sasuke was not a patient person. He wanted to make progress and he wanted for it to happen immediately. However, whatever hard to ignore instinct had awoken inside of him, it was telling him he couldn't leave his pink haired teammate alone like that. She'd fallen over in what seemed like an uncomfortable position, startled by seeing his entire body buried in the ground.
Watching her chest go up and down as she was breathing steadily, he thought of her constant attempts at getting closer to him. She was clearly unaware of life and its hardships, choosing to pester him with her feelings. He couldn't deny, however, that a small part of him found that innocence endearing. Another part of him, equally small, was jealous of her. He sometimes wished he could be unaware of what can happen in a shinobi's world.
"Sauke-kun..." she mumbled in her unconciousness.
He almost chuckled at that. The girl was seriously infatuated. A certain determination accompanied that, though, and he tried imagining, for a second, her applying that determination to her training. From their academy days, she clearly seemed intelligent enough to put her talents to use and become strong. His appreciation for strenght spiked his curiosty to see her develop if both of them managed to pass the test.
Glancing over at her sleeping face, he remembered their limited time and felt a certain urgency. He could only hope that if he attempted to wake her up, she actually would. Calling her name from afar seemed to be useless. His tone going from calm to irritated and even to loud had no effect on her. Frustrated, he'd gotten close to her, practically climbing over until their faces were inches apart, and he used his right hand to shake her, and the other for support.
"Mhmmm." she mumbled again.
"Sakura, we don't have time for this. Wake up. Sakura!" he repeated over and over again.
Eventually, her green eyes opened slowly, and their beautiful colour managed to startle Sasuke. Her lips moved and they seemed to form his name, although not one sound came out, after which her eyes got really wide and she threw herself at him.
"Sasuke-kun! You're okay!" she was practically yelling in his ear.
Arms wrapped tightly around his neck, skin on skin contact making him feel as if the temperature had risen, she was pressing herself to him like she'd witnessed him coming back from the dead. Surprised and not knowing what to do with himself, his hands found their way to her waist, more for support and some balance than anything.
Warm warm warm warm, she's so warm.
For the most baffling second in Sasuke's recent memory, that was all he could think for a whole second after which he pushed her away, not open to the new type of feeling he'd just felt.
"Alright, alright. Get off now, I'm fine. Time's running out."
Sasuke Uchiha, the survivor, the avenger and the one who would become the strongest shinobi who could defeat his brother, turned away quickly so that the girl whose pink hair was blowing in the wind could not see he was breathing a little hard.