puzzle pieces

title: ribbons
author: reviee
rating: T
prompt: #7: apart
summary: SasuSaku. Canon. He needed saving. She was the only one who would save him.
a/n: continuing on! yay! this took me a lot longer than expected. since this is not exactly a traditional story, I really don't know what's going to happen next.

"You're back." She is waiting for him on the couch, a medical textbook in hand.

He looks at her and nods. He goes to her and sits down. They don't speak for a while. She simply plays with the frayed pages of her book and he stares blankly. He is in top shape; he never misses a chance to practice with Naruto and he always eats well thanks to her. She has done wonders for his body.

"Did you find a place?" She finally asks. Her heart is pounding. He is leaving her. She should not be hurt, she thinks, because it's not like they were going to live together anyway.

"No," He replies, looking away, "no one agreed to rent me a place."

Mentally, she sighs. He is not leaving her. Just for a little longer, he will continue to stay with her. She's scared because she knows that when he steps out, he may not come back. Although she has helped him through some tough times, Sasuke has never chosen to spend a lot of time in her company.

"Okay," she says cheerily, "you can always stay here, Sasuke-kun." She gives him a big smile. "And, the Uchiha compound will be open in no time. You'll have your home back."

"I have to go out," He declares, ignoring her comment. "I have a meeting with the Hokage."

A flash of worry overtakes Sakura for a moment. But she realizes that she trusts her sensei. She trusts Naruto. They would never let the elders do anything to Sasuke. No matter what the cost, they would never give up hope; just like her.

There is an extra room right next to hers. It is the guest room she uses when Naruto unexpectedly crashes over or whenever she has anyone come to stay. It is rarely used, so it was a bit dusty until she fixed it up for Sasuke a week ago. She looks into it. It is as clean as when she prepared it. The bed has been made; his night clothes are folded onto the bed. Sakura smiles—Sasuke has always been a neat person.

That night, she waits for him. It is late into the night and dinner is cold on the table. He is still not home. She continues to wait. She sits on the couch and plays with the pages of her romance novel. At midnight, while curled up on the couch, she falls asleep.

When she wakes up, there is sunlight streaming through her windows. She hears faint chirping noises. It is morning.

"Sasuke?" she calls. "Sasuke-kun? Are you home?"

She wants to laugh at how she refers to her house as home. Sasuke would never consider this his home. He has no home—not yet.

He's not here, she realizes. She is out the door in two minutes.

Sakura ends up at the Hokage tower, knocking on Tsunade's door. She hears Shizune give her permission to enter. The paperwork is in heaps on top of the Hokage's desk. There are papers strewn everywhere and Shizune is scrambling to pass her the next papers to fill out and stamp. When she enters, Tsunade does not even look up.

"What do you want?" Shizune continues to pass her papers as her hand comes down to place an angry red stamp on it.

Sakura gulps. This is the aftermath of war. "Where is Sasuke?" she asks carefully.

"In interrogation with Ibiki," the older woman promptly answers.

With a curt nod and a half-hearted bow, Sakura quietly exits the room. She had a lot of questions to ask, but she figured starting with locating Sasuke would be the smartest thing to do.

She decides to drop by the hospital to see Naruto. She peeks into his room. He's snoring loudly. She giggles.

"Naruto?" she calls, shaking him lightly. "Naruto!"

Naruto jolts awake. "Oh hey, Sakura-chan!" he grins at her. "What's going on?"

"Do you know what the elders decided on regarding Sasuke's punishment?"

The blonde's gaze lowers. "I don't know. But it's not like it's going to be light. He has a lot of debts to repay."

"He's in interrogation with Ibiki, apparently. He left yesterday afternoon, though…"

Naruto looks up. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan! He knows a lot of things we don't know, so they're probably gonna juice everything outta him."

She gives him a half-hearted smile. He grins at her.

After an hour with Naruto, Sakura leaves the hospital. She returns to an empty home. For four weeks, Sasuke has been with her. Every time she steps out the door, Sasuke is with her. When she returns, she is with Sasuke.

Now, she is alone. He is locked up somewhere in interrogation with a merciless Ibiki. She wonders for a while if he'll survive. Maybe she'll have to heal him again.

He never agreed to a life with her, she reminds herself. He is a damaged man. She'll never be able to heal all the cuts, stop all the bleeding and fill all the gaps. She knows she's wasting her time. But here she is, in an empty home, worrying about him.

Maybe—just this once—it's time for a date.

Sakura calls Ino. "Hey, pig, I was, uh, wondering…" she starts, not really knowing how to go about, "if you could set me up on a blind date."

She hears a high pitched squeal on the other end of the phone. "Of course I have a guy for you! I got you, Forehead! Tonight, I'll text you the address, go to the table booked under my name."

"Ino, do you have a guy practically waiting for me?"

There is silence, then some nervous chattering, "No, no! I have some guys on speed dial—don't judge—and they're all willing to go on blind dates, kay?"

"So I get to go on dates with desperate guys?"

Ino strains a laugh. "They're all approved by me!"

"I don't know where you find the time to scout all these guys…"

"Trust me, Forehead!"

Sakura considers this date thing for a moment. Maybe Ino is not the right answer to find guys. Maybe Lee is the right answer. "They're not creeps though, right?"

"Do you know think I approve of creeps?" Sakura shrugs. "Anyway, why do you suddenly want a date?"

"I…" she pauses for a moment, "Sasuke's in interrogation with Ibiki. I just, like… I don't think I can wait all my life for him to come around. I've followed him around all these years. I want to get married, have kids, you know? Sasuke doesn't really scream family."

"I see," the other girl sighs. "I'll set you up with the love of your life," Sakura can practically hear the girl grinning, "but only if you name your firstborn after me!"

She laughs. "I'll think about it, Pig!"

a/n: whoa that date idea just hit me outta no where and it is TOTALLY the thing this story needs right now. alright ok, I hope you enjoy! school is starting soon but I'm really hoping to continue writing. god, but it's most important year this year so I don't know….