Leaving the Past Behind

Chapter 3: Old habits die hard

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Neither of them said anything. Sakura's eyes had widened in shock but Sasuke didn't show any sign of emotion. Sakura didn't know what to say or do. It felt like a vicious tornado had attacked all her thoughts leaving her mind in an awful mess.

"Yes." Sasuke said eventually. His voice was much deeper than she remembered.

When Sakura didn't respond Sasuke said, "I've been getting headaches."

It was then that Sakura realised that the best way to deal with this was to act as if he were no different to any other patient. She couldn't let him see how much his presence destabilised her.

She cleared her throat and took a deep breath. "On a scale of one to ten, ten being unbearable, how much do they hurt?" She asked trying her best to sound as professional as possible.

"Five." Sakura wrote down some things on his forms. "Are you feeling any other kind of discomfort?"

He looked away from her, "No"

"Great," She said plastering a very fake smile on her face, "Now as our policy here we need some personal details from you."

She stared at the form in front of her, where the personal details had not been filled in. "Can you tell me your name and surname please." She asked shakily.

For a moment he just stared at her. "Sasuke Uchiha." He said.

"Age?"

"Twenty-three"

"Birthday?"

"July twenty-third"

"Do you have any allergies?" She asked not looking at him once.

"No." He said sighing.

"How did you acquire your injuries?" With this question Sakura could not help but look at him. Her heart fluttered at the sight of him.

"I got into an accident." He said flatly.

She knew that was a lie but did not think it was worth pressing the matter. His lack of emotion and recognition towards Sakura was shocking. It was as if he really could not care less that he had not seen her for over ten years. She felt horribly angry and absolutely did not want to be in the same room as him anymore.

After jotting down a few other things on his form Sakura stood up. "Your release date is estimated at least three months. Your head injury is serious and needs to be kept an eye on. You should refrain from walking for another week. You will be given painkillers when needed. And," She couldn't think of a way to finalise the whole thing. It was nice seeing you? "Let me know if your headaches get worse."

Sakura didn't wait for anything Sasuke might have had to say, though she strongly believed he was not going to say anything anyway. Sakura ignored whoever it was that called her name and headed straight to the toilets. She locked herself in a cubicle and tried not to punch something. She couldn't let this happen now. She had come all this way to avoid feeling this way. Three months he had to stay. She would have to stay strong until then. But then what? He would just leave all over again? Sakura felt so confused and was furious that he had this effect on her.

Later that night Sakura asked Tadoa to come to her cottage. She wanted a distraction. She felt so desperate to forget all about Sasuke and what his presence did to her that she needed to feel wanted by someone. She knew she was being stupid and reckless but for once in her life she didn't care.

When Tadoa arrived Sakura got out a bottle of saké and served two cups. Tadoa looked her up and down as she did so. She had put on a short flowery skirt and white tank top. Showing more skin than usual.

"Drink?" She said sweetly handing him the cup.

Soon one bottle of saké turned into another and neither of them were able to hold a coherent conversation. They were sitting on Sakura's old green sofa when she climbed onto Tadoa's lap and kissed him on the mouth. She needed his touch. She needed him to make her feel like she was the only woman on the planet. With every kiss and caress Sakura forgot about everything that happened earlier on in the day. She refused to acknowledge Sasuke. All her fears and troubles travelled through her body and into each kiss. She was being taken over by the moment and could not think about anything else. Every part of her was on fire.

The next day Tadoa had to get up early to go fishing. Though Sakura was awake she pretended to be asleep as he kissed her on the cheek and left. She felt horrible. With a sigh she got out of bed and headed to her bathroom where she took some headaches pills and a shower. As the hot water cascaded down her body Sakura could not help but wish that all her problems could just wash away with it. It didn't take her long to realise that last night was a mistake. She had done it out of desperation. She knew now that sleeping with Tadoa would be consequential. Pushing these thoughts away, Sakura finished showering and walked down to a vast field about a mile out from the village.

She made a clone of herself and started to fight her clone. Every inch of anger she felt went into the fight. Sasuke was a traitor and an asshole. Why should she care that he's back? She didn't owe him anything. He owed her everything. Everything she had done for him in the past that he had so obviously ignore. No, she was not going to let his sudden appearance affect her in the slightest. She was done with him. So be it if she was his doctor. She would cure him and that would be it. So what if he left after that and she would never see him again? She had more important people she cared about.

Thwack.

Sakura sent her clone flying into the air causing it to explode into a puff of smoke. Breathing heavily, Sakura led down on the soft grass and stared up into the blue sky and smiled. She was fine. She was going to be okay.

A sudden fit of laughter washed over her. Her body trembled and ached as she clutched her stomach. When the fit subsided Sakura scanned the area hoping no one had seen her.

On her way back to the village Tadoa came up to Sakura.

"Hey." He said smiling.

"Hey." Sakura said forcing a smile.

"Are you busy later?" He asked.

No she wasn't. "Yeah I've got some things to do at the hospital. Sorry."

Sakura didn't feel comfortable lying but wasn't feeling up for Tadoa's company again either.

He looked disappointed. "Ah okay. Well see you around I guess."

Sakura smiled as best she could. "See you."

She made a mental note to apologise next time she saw him. The thing was, as much as she told herself that she didn't care that Sasuke had mysteriously turned up out of nowhere, it still plagued her mind that she was his doctor. She would have to interact with him often and she was worried that he'd drive her insane. Stop it, she thought, He's nothing special.

That afternoon, when she went to check on him, Sakura had prepared herself to be neutral, to forget everything that had happened in the past. It didn't take long for her plan to fail.

"Did you kill your brother then?" Sakura blurted the moment she saw him.

For the first time since he'd been back Sakura saw his eyes widen a little before a dark glare took over his features.

Although she had absolutely no idea why she'd said it, she was suddenly furious that he had nothing to say to her.

"So you go off to Orichimaru to get power and all that shit and leave all the people who love you without any second thought. At least give us the decency to know whether you achieved your most important goal in life." Sakura could feel a red hot ball of anger take over her insides. She wanted to hit Sasuke so badly.

"That's always been your problem Sakura. You always let your emotions take over." Sasuke said coldly.

Sakura laughed, "At least I have emotions Sasuke. I don't betray the ones that love me by leaving without saying goodbye and then trying to kill them when they come after me."

"Really?" He asked still glaring, "Then what are you doing here Sakura?" He motioned around the room, "Why aren't you in Konoha with the ones that supposedly love you so much?"

When Sakura didn't say anything Sasuke smirked, "See, we're not so different in the end."

Sakura was so angry and frustrated she couldn't help but feel like crying. Though she made sure not to in front of Sasuke.

"No, Sasuke. Maybe we're not so different." She said softly before leaving.

The next few days after that Sakura went about cleaning his head wound without saying a word. Who was she kidding. She was a complete mess since he'd come back. The best thing to do was just to wait until he left so that she could get on with her life again.

Of course it didn't take long for Akane to pick up on Sakura's sudden change of mood. Sakura had been avoiding the girl as best she could but Akane managed to corner her in the toilets one day.

"There's no avoiding me any longer Sakura," Akane said a stern look on her face, "Now tell me what's wrong."

Sakura sighed. What harm could it do after all. Akane was a kind woman and deserved to know what was wrong.

"I'm sorry. It's just been really hard lately." Sakura said.

"Go on." Akane pushed.

"It's Sasuke. I know him," Sakura looked down at her hands, "He was my teammate back when I was a genin. But one day he left and never came back. Seeing him now only brings back bad memories."

"You loved him didn't you?" Akane asked softly.

Sakura swallowed. "I still do."