Never Too Late

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"She's gone? What do you mean she's gone!" exclaimed the frustrated blonde. When Tsunade gave the thumbs up to go and see Sakura, both him and Sasuke were expecting to see her still asleep in her room, and not an empty hospital bed.

"I just checked up on her 10 minutes ago..." Sighed the nurse who tilted her head in contemplation.

"Where ever she is," Sasuke said, "she couldn't have gotten far. Not with those injuries."

Naruto and Sasuke split up to go search for her.

The night before, Sasuke had a sleepless night. In his apartment, which bordered the Uchiha residences, he remained awake, frustrated by his inability to sleep. Coolly, he rested is hands behind his head. He layed there in the comfort of his bed thinking... just thinking. It was a sad thing that happened to Sakura. That was something he understood deeply. And he also understood that the pain may never go away. With this said, it's not like he was willing to step up and be her personal mentor. It was still her problem, afterall. Uchiha Sasuke was never one to mingle in someone else's emotional problem.

And then he found her.

From behind her, he watched as she sat on a ledge and gently rocked herself back and forth. The strands of her hair were significantly longer. Not that he cared, he just noticed.

Sasuke took a step towards her and then another one. She started humming a tune; her eyes were closed.

It was quite breezy on the roof of the hospital. When he felt he was close enough, Sasuke just stood there knowing she'd acknowledge his presence. And he was right.

"Sasuke," her voice was airy and light. Her eyes were still closed.

"You should go back inside, it's chilly."

Sakura shook her head. Her eyes finally open. "No, I don't want to."

He was a bit surprised. Sakura's face wasn't tear stained as he imagined it to be. And again, she wasn't going to him and clinging onto his shirt crying like he expected. Instead, her face was inscrutable. Not a trace of a single tear. He couldn't figure out what she was thinking. The morning sun was still rising and it made her face glow. She looked so serene.

"You should rest."

Sakura had a bandage wrapped around her arm and hands. There was another bandaid on her forehead. She pushed herself off the ledge and landed on her feet. "See? Perfectly okay."

"Hn."

Sakura walked to the edge of the hospital roof. She leaned over and closed her eyes."Wouldn't it be nice to just forget everything... to go far far away?" Her speech was beginning to sound like incoherent mumbles. Her once bright emerald eyes were now dull, her lids were half closed, "I just... I just..." She lost her balance and almost fell over. Quickly Sasuke ran over and pulled her back before she fell off the roof.

"What did I tell you!"

Sakura began resisting in his arms, "Sasuke, let go please."

"No. You're going to do something stupid again. I'm bringing you back."

He felt the resisting stop.

"You..." She started, her voice volume dropping, "...you should have let me fall..."

He noticed her eyes were half open, she clearly was not herself.

"The drugs are making you act weirdly. We're going in now."

"W-What happened?" Naruto inquired.

"Don't worry about it, just let her sleep."

"But-"

Sasuke threw Naruto a stern look, "She's exhausted, we should go."

They both looked over to their sleeping teammate and Naruto pulled the covers over her tighter. "Please be okay, Sakura." He took her hand and rubbed it. The boys had left.

An hour later, Sakura's eyes opened to a dark room. Despite it being morning, the curtains were drawn shut, maybe as an attempt to make it seem like it was night to fool her into sleeping more. In her restless nature, Sakura couldn't go back to sleep anyway and yet she was still so so tired. She closed her eyes for another 2 seconds. "You're back." She said.

"You're pretty keen." Came the reply. Sasuke took a seat in the chair next to her bed. "Have the drugs worn of yet?"

"Maybe. We'll see."

"Hn."

"What are you doing here."

"Just go back to sleep."

Sakura scoffed, "You never answer my questions."

"It's not important now."

His voice was smooth like honey. In the darkness of the room, she could still see the outline of his body; the way he sat there, fingers interlocked in front of his face. His eyes stared past her into the darkness. What he was thinking, she didn't know.

"Did they find out?" She said.

"What."

"The person who killed my parents."

She could tell his gaze was on her now.

"No. Not yet."

"Were there any leads?"

"Some."

"What were they."

She heard him exhale. The sound signified she was going to hear something important: "They found a specialized kunai near the site. Blacksmiths from the Land of Key are experts in manufacturing specialized kunai. Regardless, you shouldn't be worrying about this right now. You should be resting."

A silence took over the room and the both of them stared off into darkness.

"What are you doing here?"

"You already asked that."

"And I didn't get my answer-"

"Don't be difficult."

"Hah," Sakura scoffed. She turned to look at the annoyed Uchiha. In her drugged state Sakura felt brave enough to do anything. Even risking to set him off with her questions. "You hated me didn't you."

His eyes darted around the room; even Sakura could tell he was stalling. "It's alright," she said, "I just want to know."

"I didn't hate you, Sakura. You just weren't... a priority."

Two days later, Sakura was discharged from the hospital. She was strong and others noticed it too. For her to only spend 3 days in the hospital with those injuries was a Godsend. Others would have been in bed for weeks. During her stay in the hospital, she prepared herself mentally and especially, emotionally. She hadn't cried yet, not since then.

Uchiha Sasuke had appeared by her side everyday while she was bed ridden. She didn't know why, but she had a bet that it had a lot to do with guilt. On the last day before being discharged, she had told him there was nothing to be sorry for. He didn't have to make up for anything. Frankly, she just didn't care anymore. The romantic feelings she felt for him years ago, she thought had still lingered around her, but when she laid her eyes on him, there was nothing. She felt nothing. There was no special thunder bolt or spark that she felt. She was finally over it.

Because right now, there were bigger things to worry about.

Sakura was instructed to go straight home and continue her rest there, but in her kindered spirit, she had already wasted 3 days in the hospital and was eager to get out there and continue training.

Alright...

She clenched her fist and her black glove was tight with friction. She summoned all the chakra into her hand and ran forward.

Concentrate, concentrate...

Sakura quickly brought her arm the back and flung it forward into a boulder that exploded with contact. After a satisfied smirk, she recoiled back with a back flip into her original spot.

She tugged at her glove and found another target to attack; this time she spun in the air and land her heel, crushing another huge rock into nothing but rubble.

Sakura knew to not strain herself and so she packed up, left the training ground for the day and went home to prepare for her parents' funeral. Naruto and Sasuke were supposed to pick her up around 7 in the evening. The sun had already started to set.

There was a knock at her door, "Come in." Sakura turned back around to face herself in the mirror. With a bobby pin inbetween her lips, she struggled to keep her strands in place.

Naruto stuck his head in first, "Sakura... hey, how are you?"

"I'm fine, Naruto." Out of the corner of her eye she saw Naruto had changed his clothes into an all-black attire. That image alone sent a shiver down her spine and reminded her of the situation. Her parents were dead, and indeed this was their funeral, but it hadn't really all sinked in yet.

After pushing the pin into the last strand, she turned around to face him. Her hair, the top half pulled up into a half up-do and she left her signature face framing bangs where they were.

"I'm so sorry, Sakura," Naruto muttered, his eyes glazed over. He was frowning, he looked sadder than she looked. He then came to her and gave her a hug. The warmth surrounded her and she could have sworn at moment she was about to break down. Thank god for waterproof mascara. She didn't though because days of mentally and emotionally supporting herself prevented such a thing.

"Sasuke...?"

"He's going to meet us there. Should we get going?"

Sakura nodded.

The sun had set and they continued to walk to the cemetery in silence. Naruto held her hand and squeezed it occasionally for reassurance. The place was lit up with various lights. It was dim. The shiny plaques over the graves reflected more light all around. But as people began to acknowledge her presence they made way for her to walk through. She was at the front and Naruto lingered beside her. It was almost... eerie.

It was a closed-casket ceremony. She could only imagine what was inside those coffins... The thought of it almost made her tear up. Sakura bit her lip.

I don't want to cry...

When the ceremony started, she heard people crying behind her. Tsunade watched her from a distance and to her surprise there were no tears.

It was incredibly difficult to hold her ground. To not lose her mind in front of all these people. The sadness surrounded her, the hysteria bubbled inside her core, pushing and pushing. To suddenly let go of the people who raised her, took their love and gave it to her. To watch them be horrifically murdered over and over in her dreams. How much longer could she last?

And hand was placed on her shoulder and she flinched on contact.

"Sasuke."

After the ceremony, there was no after-service. She went straight home, and claimed she just wanted to be alone.

It felt like forever to get home, the tears were threatening to fall. Mentally she planned her night: to go home and cry, to let it all out. The pressure pushed at her sides and her chest heaved in and out.

Her eyes were starting to blur. When she reached her door, her fingers clumsily fumbled with the keys. She dropped it twice, cussing. The door flung open and she got in and slammed it shut. Locked it.

Sakura sobbed. She cried it all out.

"Why...?" She screamed in between sobs, "Mom!... Dad!"

She never cried like this before. The tears were pouring out. Her chest hurt and her head was pounding.

I can't take it... The images of her parents' limbs, body parts... She took her coffee table and flipped it over. It crashed onto the floor and the flower vase hit the floor with a sickening crack.

She continued to cry. She leaned back onto the door that she came in and slid down to the floor. She grabbed at her hair and pulled it in agony. Her pretty face was twisted in ultimate depression.

She cried louder and louder, shrieking in high sobs. The sound was heartbreaking. She mumbled incoherent words in the midst of her crying. The pain was certainly to great for her to handle.

Little did she know, Sasuke was outside on the other side of the door, listening to every bit of it.

R&R!