When Sasuke awoke the next morning, he found the room was empty. Struggling to his feet, he slowly made his way to the door and, opening it, peered around the corner. When he saw no one coming, he proceeded to the front room, but before he could make it to the couch in one piece, he slipped on the hard wood floor and fell with a loud thump.

"Oww…" he groaned, rubbing the back of his head as he tried to sit up.

He got half way when he lost his balance again and fell back down. With a heavy sigh, he laid there, staring at the ceiling.

"Sasuke?" came a soft voice from the kitchen doorway, "What in the world are you trying to do?"

Sasuke turned his head so that he could see better and found Sakura leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed.

"Well, you know, I was tired, so I decided that I would take a nice long nap, right here…" he said, rolling his eyes, "I was trying to get to the couch and I fell…"

Sakura laughed and approached his side then, looking down, she shook her head, "Man, I'm not sure what to do with you…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sasuke asked, glaring up at her.

"Oh, nothing, I was just thinking to myself, that's all…" she replied, starting to walk away.

"Hey, a little help here would be much appreciated!" he exclaimed.

Sakura turned and walked back until she was standing beside him once again, "What, you can't get up on your own?"

Sasuke growled, "Please…"

"What was that? Sorry, I didn't catch that…" Sakura grinned, trying not to laugh.

"I said 'please'…please, can you help me up…?" Sasuke muttered, looking anywhere but her face.

"Awe, how cute! Sasuke said please; that's a first…" Sakura laughed.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "All right then, I get the point, now can you please help me up?"

"Oh, all right, you big baby!"

"Who are you calling a baby?!" he exclaimed, grabbing a hold of her wrist.

"You! Ahhh!" Sakura yelped as Sasuke, who was trying hard not to laugh, accidentally pulled her on top of him.

"You think that's funny? You did that on purpose just to get me to fall over! You Meany!" she cried, punching him in the arm.

"No, I really wasn't trying to pull you on top of me, it just happened," he explained, "But you know you like it."

"Sasuke!" she exclaimed, hitting him again.

"Woman!"

"Oh, don't you "woman" me!"

"Oh really?" he smirked.

"What are you going to do?" Sakura asked, seeing the look in his eye.

Sasuke continued to smirk and without warning, he flipped them over and proceeded to tickle her around the waist. She shrieked and tried desperately to escape his grasp, but found that he was just too strong.

"Sasuke…heehee…please…Sas…haha…" Sakura struggled for the words through fits of laughter.

"Huh? What was that? What was that? Are you trying to tell me something?" Sasuke laughed, rising to his feet and lifting her up off the floor.

"Ahhh! Hey, put me down!" she cried, slapping any part of him that she could reach, then, when that didn't work she proceeded to kick her feet.

Sasuke placed her on the couch and, in no more then five seconds, Sakura kicked him in the side, sending him stumbling backwards. Pain shot through his body and he landed on the floor, once again, with a loud thud.

"Argh!" he fell, clutching his side.

"Sasuke, Oh my god! Are you all right? I didn't mean to hurt you!" Sakura cried, running to his side.

She removed his hand and found that she had opened one of his wounds and it was starting to bleed. Dashing into the kitchen, she soon reappeared with a needle, some thread, and more bandages.

"All right, roll on to your other side for a few minutes, this may hurt so just try and relax, okay?" Sakura told him softly, trying to calm him down.

Threading the needle and placing it on the floor, she carefully removed his shirt. Once it was off, she couldn't help but stare.

"No offense, Sakura, but I really don't think that this is such a good time to stare at my chest as much as I like it…" he said through clenched teeth.

"Oh, sorry…" Sakura replied, blushing.

Realizing that she needed a cloth to clean the wound, she rushed back in to the kitchen. Returning, she knelt and began to carefully wipe away the blood. Sasuke twitched when she made contact with the wound, but she told him to relax. Then, once the blood was gone, she picked up the needle.

"All right, you're going to feel a sharp prick, okay? Here, use this to bite down on…" Sakura said, handing him a dry, clean towel.

"Arghmmm…" Sasuke groaned into the towel as she began to re-sew the wound. Trying hard not to pull away from the needle, Sasuke concentrated on the window. He watched the birds in the tree and, before long, he could hear Sakura saying his name.

"All right, it's done…" she replied, taking him around the shoulders and lifting him into a sitting position. Then, mustering all the strength she had, she lifted him onto his feet and moved him over to the couch. Having him lay down, she was about to move her arm from around his shoulders when he suddenly fell backwards, taking her with him. She again landed on him, only this time she was half on him and her other half was dangling off the side of the couch.

"Sorry…" he muttered, "I just couldn't stay sitting like that…"

"It's all right, don't worry about it…" she blushed slightly and looked away.

"You're more then welcome to stay there if you like; besides, your body is warm and I'm slightly cold since you took off my shirt…"

"But…are you sure?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure…"

Swinging her feet carefully up on top of his, she adjusted herself before laying her head upon his chest.

"Sasuke?" she muttered

"Huh?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Just out of curiosity, why did you touch my stomach earlier, just before you passed out the second time?" she asked rather quietly.

"Uh, well, you see…I feel rather awkward saying this..."

"It's okay, I'm sure that it wasn't anything bad, right?"

"Well, you see…I was having a dream. When I opened my eyes in the dream, I saw you next to me, sleeping. When you awoke, you hugged me, then, shortly after, Kakashi appeared. But what was strange was the way the two of you were acting. He was placing his arms upon your shoulders, then, he told you to go lie down in the other room because the doctor said you should get rest. So when you stood…oh man…I could have fallen out of the bed…"

"What? What did you see?" Sakura asked, lifting her head so that she was now looking at him.

"Well, first of all, you kissed him on the lips—"

"I-I kissed him?" Sakura asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, you did all right…then when you turned to the side, I noticed something that looked different about you…finally, it hit me…you were pregnant…" Sasuke said, looking away from Sakura.

"Pregnant?!" Sakura exclaimed, "With his child?! Ahhh!"

Sasuke laughed and nodded before continuing, "The next thing I knew, I couldn't hear or speak…that's when you woke me up…"

"I remember that, you were saying "Excuse me?!" real loudly, I could hear you outside the front door."

"Well, sorry about that…But when I fell off the bed and Kakashi rushed…I thought I was still in that…that…nightmare…that's why I checked your stomach. When I found out that it was just a dream I relaxed and, as you witnessed, passed out…"

"Wow…you have a very active imagination…" Sakura giggled.

"Uh, Kakashi was actually here, right?" he asked, rather serious looking.

"Yes, he was. How do you think you got into that bed? That wasn't me, that was Kakashi. When you came to my door, you passed out the minute I opened it. That's when I ran and phoned Kakashi. He came over and helped me carry you into my room and then helped me with your wounds. Do you remember coming to my door last night?"

Sasuke thought a moment, "To tell you the truth…no…"

Sakura sighed and thought for a moment, then, something hit her. Why hadn't she seen it before? Could it possibly be the reason for the way he was acting? Sakura scrunched her nose and looked at the floor, trying to find a connection.

"Are you okay?" she heard Sasuke ask.

"You don't remember anything?" she repeated.

"No…"

"Then, do you remember anything that happened prior to this?" she asked.

"Uh...The last thing that I remember is…leaving Konoha on a mission with the rest of the ANBU Squad, but I got separated from them…after that, my mind is foggy…Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was thinking and something finally hit me…"

"What?"

"Your personality, Sasuke…you've changed since the last time I saw you. You never used to smile let alone look in my direction. I was so distracted this morning that I didn't seem to notice it…"

Sasuke looked at her then looked away. Something was definitely wrong, but what was it? What had happened to him while he was on that mission? Sakura sighed and decided to let Sasuke in on the truth.

"Sasuke, you don't remember anything after you were separated from your group correct?"

"Yeah, everything after that is a blur…"

"How long do think it's been since you left for that mission?"

"Huh? I would have to say maybe a week…why?" Sasuke gave her a questioning look.

"That's what I was afraid of…."

"What's wrong?" he asked again.

"When you appeared at my front door last night, I was so shocked and relieved, that I could have died happily knowing you were alive…" she replied, a tear falling down her cheek.

"What do you mean by 'that you were alive'?" Sasuke asked, tensing a little.

"Sasuke, you've been missing for two years!" Sakura cried, "How was I supposed to react when you came to me?! I was told you were dead! But when I saw you last night, I wasn't sure that it was you. It wasn't until you fell on me that I was convinced you were real!"

Sakura rolled off of him and stood up; then, turning, she ran out of the room. Sasuke laid there for a few moments, trying to everything that had just happened. What did she mean by his personality had changed? Hadn't he always cared for her? What was going on?

Slowly rising to his feet, he stumbled forward, catching himself on the chair just before his knees gave way. With a heavy sigh, he sat down and placed his head in his hands. Two years? What had happened during that time?!

"Argh!" he cried as his head began to throb, 'What is going on?! Can anyone tell me?!'

With the strength that he had left, he made his way to the door. He took one final look back, before opening it and stepping outside. As he approached the sidewalk, he grabbed the fence for support, 'Forgive me Sakura…' then, without further thought, he left.