"Hey, Sasuke!" Sakura called out when she finally saw Sasuke, surprisingly late to the festival.

Sakura was standing next to Naruto and Hinata at a booth, a smile bright on her face, obviously in a good mood about something as she waved at him.

Naruto was quick to chime in with an "Oi, Bastard, over here!" before Sakura broke off from the other two and began weaving her way towards him through the crowds. She was laughing when she finally reached him, smoothing out the white kimono she was wearing, the crimson petals on it standing out brightly against the fabric.

"You're late. We're just about to go to the training grounds," she chided.

She let out a deep breath, slightly worn out from being drug around booth to booth all evening. After she had left Sasuke's last night, she had by no means, any intentions of going home. She couldn't count the hours she had spent just walking around before she finally went back to her house and climbed into her bed. She had paid the price though when Naruto came knocking at her door around ten in the morning granting her only a few precious hours of sleep. The dark circles under her eyes now were evidence enough of that.

"I was lost on the road of life," Sasuke said with an amused smirk. He was, or course, poking fun at Kakashi's ridiculous excuses for being late all the time, along with also avoiding admitting that he had overslept.

At Kakashi's famous excuse for why he was late, Sakura couldn't help but smile as she glanced back to Sasuke. "Sasuke Uchiha making a joke. The world is ending."

"I was beginning to worry about you. C'mon." Sakura was ignoring the other villager's stares as she reached out and took his hand, towing him in her wake as she began to make her way back towards Naruto and Hinata.

"I told you I was going to come," he said, looking annoyed that she didn't think he would be there.

She chuckled gently before looking back towards the booth, getting just two waters. "And I figured you would. I was just worried. It's not like you to be late to anything." She shrugged as she took the waters, paying for them before handing one out to Sasuke.

"I just got sidetracked," he said, being as vague as possible as he took the water that she offered.

When they reached them, she released his hand, instead pointing Naruto in the direction of the training grounds. "Go ahead and head over there. I'm just going to get a few things and then Sasuke and I will head that way."

Naruto seemed to be ready to argue, yet when Sakura's expression fell to nothing more than a raised eyebrow he fell into surrender, a pout crossing his face as he began mumbling things before leaving with Hinata.

She laughed. "That is how you shut him up. Woman's scorn."

Sakura glanced back to Sasuke, smiling softly as if she were relaxing now that the crowds were clearing out as people went to find their spots to watch the firework show.

The Uchiha raised a curious eyebrow. "Hn. I see."

He obviously would never be able to do that. Naruto would never listen to him in such a way.

He looked over at her. "What is it that you need to get?" he asked, referring to what she'd told Naruto.

"This is all I needed to get. You being late caused Naruto to talk a little bit more than usual. My mouth is as dry as can be from telling him to shut up so many times."

A quiet chuckle slipped past her lips as she took a drink before turning and slowly walking towards the training grounds, waiting for him to catch up.

"Why did my not being here cause Naruto to talk more?" Sasuke asked.

When he did she matched her steps to meet his, running a hand through her hair to get it out of her face before looking towards him. Obviously more relaxed now that things were winding down.

Naruto talked no matter the situation. If he was excited, he was going to talk just to see how fast he could get his mouth going.

"Naruto was just freaking out though asking where you were every five minutes, talking about how if you didn't show up he'd kick your ass. The usual stuff he can jabber on about relentlessly."

A sigh passed her lips. It had obviously taken it's toll on her. He'd been going since ten o'clock this morning.

Sakura smiled at him. "You look nice in a yukata. I don't think I've ever seen you wear one."

Sasuke looked down at his yukata. "I just picked something out. I had to buy it at the last minute."

She reached over, tugging at the fabric of his sleeve as if she were inspecting him. "It's probably a good thing you were late. You would of had girls all over you all night."

He rolled his eyes. "I'd had left if they were bugging me," he said, his voice clearly showing how annoying his thought it was.

A yawn passed her lips as she looked forward and took another drink, her grin shrinking down to a small smile. She knew Sasuke was by no means going to ever be more to her than a friend. She had accepted that, but she knew it would hurt to see him with anyone else, even if he didn't want the attention.

He noticed the yawned pass through her lips as he glanced over at her. "Tired?"

"Is it really that obvious I'm exhausted?"

Sasuke nodded. "Yes, it's obvious."

She let out a sigh, praying the topic change would stick as she reached up to rub her eyes, holding back another yawn. Sakura loved Naruto, she did, but sometimes she just wanted to beat the everliving out of him. "

Naruto thought it would be a good idea to wake me up early this morning to get breakfast. You'll never guess what he wanted." The sarcasm was practically dripping from every word with that underlying disdain.

Sasuke scowled. "Naruto is an idiot," he said, rolling his eyes.

"I'll probably leave a lot sooner than I had planned on." Sakura sighed.

Sasuke glanced at her. "Too bad." That was Sasuke speak for he would like her to stay longer than she planned.

Sakura glanced up at him and smiled gently. She stayed quiet all save the surprised 'hm' sound that escaped her throat when she turned to look forward again.

She couldn't understand Sasuke anymore, well, she could understand him, but not the mixed signals he was sending her. Was he saying too bad because his best friend was a ramen-obsessed idiot, or too bad because she was leaving earlier.

When they were kids, he would relish the idea of her not being around, but now, with everything that had happened, Sasuke seemed remotely at ease when she was around. She just didn't know anymore, and she was sure that if she asked, she wouldn't get a straight answer from him.

"So how did it go last night?" she asked.

She was obviously referring to the boxes. That was half the reason she had stayed up so late walking around. She was worried she had missed something, curious to his reaction to it all. He had seemed so content with just the photo albums, but she couldn't imagine his feelings towards everything else.

The dark haired boy paused for a moment night. "I looked through it all thoroughly. I can preserve and use most of it. The clothes used to be Itachi's."

She shrugged and looked up at him, but before she could comment on it, he mentioned the clothes. She immediately felt a pang of worry, and though Sasuke didn't seem upset with hit, she still couldn't help herself as she began apologizing.

"I'm sorry. I just grabbed them, not even thinking about who they could of belonged to," she said quietly

The last thing she wanted was for the subject to delve any deeper though. No matter what he said she was still going to feel the need to say sorry which would probably wind up just pissing him off at the least.

"You did the right thing," he said, not looking angry or even annoyed.

When they reached the training grounds, they didn't have to walk too far before they reached everyone. It was just their generation of ninja's there along with a few other people who seemed to of discovered the spot. There was still plenty of open ground though that they could all spread out if they really wanted to.

Sasuke was assaulted with greetings from everyone, precipitated by Naruto spotting him and shouting at him. He merely gave him a nod in acknowledgement before proceeded to ignore him.

Sakura had already told everyone she was sitting at the back, as to make a quick exit when she needed, so she didn't bother making her presence known when she took a seat a good ways away from everyone. Plus, she was sure Sasuke would sit with her, and it was kind of nice being some-what alone with him.

Sasuke gave a quick greeting to the others before going to take his seat in the back next to Sakura. He didn't look like he was in much of a social mood, as usual. She obviously had her reasons, though she couldn't say the same for him. He was probably just relieved not to be sitting in the middle of Kiba and Naruto trying to beat the living hell out of each other.

The firework festival was always her favorite every year. It was a time when everyone would quiet down and just enjoy something beautiful. There was no pressure to find gifts, or find something to wear or even get a date. All you had to do was wait for it to get dark and then look up. Anyone could enjoy it and it was the same show for everyone. She knew it was silly, but something about that equal ground just gave her comfort.

It was only a few seconds after he was seated that the fireworks started, the loud booms echoing in the night air. The Uchiha leaned back, looking up at the bright lights that scattered across the sky. Sakura smiled, set her bottle of water next to her and followed suit but instead, lying down completely.

They were on a hill so it wasn't like it was a strain to see the light explosions. Sasuke seemed at ease, for once just relaxing. She doubted there was anything strenuous on his mind, well, she assumed there wasn't judging by the expression on his face. The only other time she had seen him look so peaceful was in the hospital room when he was asleep.

She forced herself to look away from him and back up at the sky. She could only imagine what Ino was going to say to her the second she set foot back in the village after the mission. No one knew about Sasuke's midnight training sessions or the fact that she went to them. No one knew how much time they had been spending together or anything of the sorts.

She was sure Ino could tell that Sakura had forgiven him for the whole, trying to kill her incident judging by the fact at how casual they were around each other. Also, Sasuke wasn't acting like she was the bane of his existence anymore, so Ino was going to more than likely jump to some conclusion. She just didn't have any earthly idea what she would tell the blond. Hell, Sakura didn't know what was going on between them besides the fact that maybe she was becoming something of a friend to Sasuke. Hell if she knew.

Every year the fireworks show lasted for an hour and a half. It was the perfect length, too. About as long as a movie, people wouldn't start getting antsy. They wouldn't get bored because of all of the different firework options and it wasn't so unbelievably loud that you couldn't talk. The booths provided refreshments and the like so in part, it was a reliable entertainment option. Plus, as much as this didn't relate to Sakura's current situation, it did have a romantic touch to all of it.

She wouldn't object to it, she still was in love with Sasuke yes, but she knew it wouldn't ever happen. It was just really accepting that fact that was putting the brakes on her dating life. It would take a lot to get over him, if she ever could. Hell, he had tried to kill her and everyone she cared about, he had even gone temporarily insane and she still loved him with all of her heart. Maybe he the emotionally screwed up one. She had been the one to fall in love with a guy whose plan once was to completely massacre an entire village.

Sakura knew that he was different now. She believed he wasn't going to eventually snap, though his glares still gave her goose bumps just at the mere memory of what had happened.

She knew Sasuke wasn't a threat to Konoha anymore and honestly, here he was at a social gathering. Of course he had changed. But his opinion on romance of any kind was still there. She just had to get over the fact that he would never see her as anything more than a friend if that.

It was only fourty-five minutes into the show that she felt herself fighting to stay awake. She pushed herself to sit up, covering a yawn with the back of her hand before taking a drink of water and looking to Sasuke.

"I think I'm going to head home. I can barely stay awake as is," she said to him.

She smiled at him before pushing herself to stand up, wiping the grass off the kimono and stretching. She was going to pass out the second she got home.

"I'll go too," he said, standing up as well and brushing the grass off of his kimono in the process.

When Sasuke agreed to go with her too, she just smiled and made her way towards the others. He walked with her, not going at a particularly fast pace.

Luckily, Ino was towards the back of the group, so she didn't have to fight to get to the girl. She bent down and told her that both her and Sasuke were heading out, only to get a look back in return. Before the blond could say anything though, Sakura was standing up and waving at her as she made her way back to the Uchiha. On their way back, she kept looking up, catching a few sprays of the firework through the breaks in the trees.

Once they were a little farther away where it would be easier to hear he turned to her. "How long is your mission supposed to last?"

"Well, we're leaving in the morning. It takes about four hours to get there and then we're just looking for leads. The maximum time we're staying though is two nights. So if anything I'll be gone from two to three days."

Sasuke merely nodded, not speaking.

She shrugged and looked back ahead and away from the fireworks. She yawned again, and she was suddenly mentally cursing herself for waiting so long before she left. Her house was at least ten minutes away and from her point of view, it was going to be the longest walk of her life.

"So, did you like it?" She motioned up towards the fireworks to point out what she was talking about.

Sasuke too looked up. "Yes, they were nice," he said calmly.

She knew he used to like them, but it had been years since he last saw one and she knew people's likes changed over time.

She smiled softly. "I hate that I can't stay for the entire thing."

"Hn. It's better to leave before the crowd anyways," he said with a shrug.

Sasuke glanced at her calmly. "I'm getting up early in the morning to start rebuilding the Uchiha district."

She looked over at him and smiled. She knew it was something he had to do on his own, she understood why even, but she wanted to help him. The least she could do though was walk by every few hours to make sure he was taking breaks and not wearing himself out. It was going to do him good though, if he did this on his own. The feeling he was going to get after he finished would probably be great and it would help establish himself in the village.

When she saw the point in their path where they were going to start going seperate ways, Sakura felt a sigh overcome her. Sure, she was exhausted, but she had been finding that she was enjoying these walks more and more with Sasuke and in fact, they were becoming one of her favorite things to do.

Sure they might not always talk, but when they did she'd learn things about him and when it was just silence, it wasn't uncomfortable. That alone was one of the main reasons she always went back to his training sessions. She wasn't afraid to spend time with him alone, at least, not anymore. He had changed, and she couldn't get enough of trying to figure out what exactly was different about him.

"I know that you can take care of yourself, but I'm obligated to say this. Please make sure you get enough rest, okay?" she asked.

"Hn," was his only answer.

She looked up at him and smiled before slowing to a stop as they got to that point in the walk. "So I guess I'll see you in a few days. Don't kill Naruto while I'm gone."

"I won't kill him. Goodnight Sakura. See you when you get back," he said, beginning to head in the direction towards his apartment once more.

"Goodnight."

She waved at him before turning and heading in the direction of her house. Even if it was only a few days, she knew she was going to miss him. Besides him going A.W.O.L. when he left Konoha, she had never been that far from him really. They were always in the same village together, same missions, so on and so forth.

Sure she had missed him when he was gone, but this was different. She knew where he was, that he was safe, and that she'd see him soon. This time, it didn't hurt to think about him. She was going to miss him the same way she missed Naruto, Ino and everyone else. Well, maybe not the same way.

When she got home, she went straight up to her room, pulling off pieces of the kimono she wore along the way. By the time she was up to her room, she just grabbed the hanger she had and began hanging it up before pushing it in the closet. Sakura took a quick glance to her bag that she had packed for the mission and then set her alarm before collapsing in her bed. She was out within the minute.


The mission had been one of those that everything that could have gone wrong, decided to go wrong. First off, she spent half the morning tracking down teammates who were late. One of them was sick while the other was trying to find a replacement for the said teammate. So to start things off, they left the village late.

When they were about halfway there it started raining so everyone got soaked to the bone and when they finally did reach the village, apparently there had been a miscommunication because not one single guard at the front gates knew of their arrival. The village had gone in an uproar thinking that Konoha was attacking them and the team nearly got arrested.

That was just the first four hours.

The rest of they day had been uneventful save the idiot who tried to steal her money and also the ninja assigned to giving them a tour around the village had an obvious crush on her. Even though he was nice, and fairly good looking for that matter, about the third time he asked her on a date she was about ready to rip her hair out.

Nothing else happened until the third day, when they were taking one last scouting trip around the village before leaving. They were ambushed by the ninja they were tracking himself. He had apparently found some followers to, the odds being five against four. It looked like they were going to lose, too, that was until Ronan, their 'tour guide' came in for back-up.

Sakura had nearly exhausted all her chakra by the time she got everyone, including herself, in means fit to travel. Everyone was left with plenty cuts and bruises but she had the most out of everyone. The only thing she had bothered with was the gash that had been across her abdomen, it had been the only true threat to her health, but by the time she was finished with everyone else, she could hardly stand.

The medic barely remembered getting back to the village as she clung to whoever was carrying her or even being brought to the hospital. All she needed was sleep and maybe a small touch-up on healing and she'd be fine. The last thing she remembered though was someone putting her in a hospital bed and then she was out.

The next thing she remembered was being sort of awake and she could barely register the fact something, or rather someone, was touching her hand. Whoever it was, their hand was warm, but calloused like her own, which gave her the impression it was one of her friends, not her parents.

She wanted to give into the sleep, just allow herself to slip into a dreamlike state and not wake up again for hours on end. There was something stopping her though, a nagging feeling that she needed to know whoever it was touching her. All she had to do was open her eyes for a split second, look over and then she could go back to sleep.

With a deep breath she forced her eyes to open, the room blurry in a disarray of pale greens and white as she looked over to her left to see the outline of someone in the chair next to her bed. It took a moment before her vision focused enough for her to realize that it was Sasuke.

All she could do though was turn the hand he was holding over so that her palm met his and wrapped her fingers around his hand. She didn't want to talk to him right now because she knew that if she had a conversation with him, A. she could be trusted with what would come out of her mouth and B. she probably wouldn't remember jack squat. So instead, she held onto his hand and turned on her side where she was facing him before letting herself fall back to sleep.

She was out for a good six or seven hours before she woke up again around three in the morning.

Sakura was groggy as she started waking up, her first registered thought was the fact her hand was still wrapped around someone else's. She doubted it was Sasuke's, but when she heard his voice say her name quietly, she forced herself to open her eyes and focus, taking only just a moment to get used to the darkness in the room.

"Sakura?" she heard his quiet voice once again.

When she looked over at him, she just gave him a blank expression, slightly shocked he had stayed with her and even more so that he was still holding her hand. When that moment passed she just gave his hand a light squeeze, as if to see if she were going completely insane.

"How long have I been out?" she asked.

She rolled onto her back, still holding onto his hand as she used the free one to place it on her forehead, her head pounding. She felt like she had been beaten within an inch of her life, by the bruises on her body, it probably wasn't that far off either. She knew it was just chakra exhaustion, but it felt like the hangover from hell.

"Since this afternoon," he said, assuring her that it had been only hours that she'd been asleep, not days.

It wasn't until she dropped her hand that she reached over and grabbed the bedside clock, holding it in the light coming from the hallway to see it read three thirteen.

"Sasuke, I'm so sorry."

She bolted to a sitting up position, regretting it when she felt the world spin, finally letting go of his hand to steady herself as she dropped the clock in her lap to place her hand on her head.

"You didn't have to stay here with me, you must be exhausted," she said, pain seeping into her voice.

"You should be more careful," he said, looking a little annoyed but not angry.

Sasuke frowned and picked up the clock, placing it back on the nightstand.

She took a few deep breaths before looking over at him, giving him a confused look. "Don't take this the wrong way, trust me, I'm glad you're here, but... Why did you stay?"

That wasn't a farfetched question, she would have expected this of Naruto or her parents, maybe Kakashi even, but the last person she thought she would have ever seen was Sasuke.

"You said the mission wouldn't be very dangerous," he answered with a frown.

A sigh escaped her when she laid back down, closing her eyes as she listened to his answer, if that could even be called an answer. He was just scolding her, but for some reason, she didn't take it to heart.

He wouldn't have waited apparently all afternoon and the majority of the night just to remind her of what she had said about the mission. But then again, it wasn't her fault they were ambushed. She just couldn't bring herself to fight with him though.

"It wasn't supposed to be. We were ambushed by the guy we were tracking and he had the upper hand. It nearly depleted all my chakra just trying to get everyone to the point where they could travel safely."

Sasuke frowned. Next time don't get hurt," he said stubbornly, still refusing to acknowledge that it couldn't have been helped.

She looked over at him, sitting up but much slower this time as she brought her legs over the side of the bed and sat there. She stared at him for what felt like forever smiling gently at him. "Thank you, for staying. I'm sorry."

When she really thought about it, the only explaination was that he was worried about her. At least that meant he considered her somewhat of a friend.

Reaching out she used the arm of his chair to balance herself as she stood up. Sakura had no problems with hospitals, but she worked in one, spent the majority of her time here. The last thing she wanted to do was sleep here if she didn't have to. All she would have to do was take the next few days off and rest before she'd be good as new.

"You are not walking home. You have two choices. Spend the night here or let me carry you home." He sent her a glare to let her know that he was serious. With the state she was in he could easily force her to stay.