"Dobe. Shut up."
"But Teme!"
"No."
"Teme!"
"..."
Naruto was frustrated. He was happy with the fact that Sasuke was being less of an ass and had finally decided to be there for Sakura. However, he couldn't imagine that the Uchiha had forcefully dragged Naruto out of her room. Him. Their best friend.
He was offended.
"You are too loud and she needs to rest."
Sasuke looked like he could strangle Naruto just to shut him up. The drugs were working their magic on Sakura and she was currently knocked out under their influence.
Sasuke had barely left the hospital for the past two days and all that Tsunade would tell him was that she was recovering steadily and was out of any danger.
Shizune was currently in the room with her, checking her vitals.
"Sasuke?" Shizune's head poked out of the room.
"Since you are here almost all the time, can you make sure you call me as soon as Sakura wakes up? There's nothing to worry about, but I just need to ask her a few things about how she is feeling."
Shizune stating the fact that he never Sakura's bedside made the Uchiha blush and Naruto started snickering behind him.
He politely nodded in acknowledgment as Shizune moved on to her other duties.
It was past lunchtime and Ino and Sai had promised to bring in some ramen for the Team Seven members.
"Where is my ramen!?"
Naruto was now grating on Sasuke's nerves.
"Shut up." he almost growled.
"But..." As soon as Naruto started speaking again, Sasuke had him in a death grip with one hand around his neck and the other on his mouth.
"Dobe you will get your ramen. Now shut up and let her rest."
Naruto knew what a threat sounded like when he heard one.
"I see you are being really caring Sasuke."
He turned around to find a stoic Sai and an amused Ino staring at him.
He could feel a nerve in his head twitching. He just couldn't believe his luck. How could one person be so unfortunate as to be forced to deal with all sorts of weird and annoying people together?
Sakura really owed him a lot. At least Naruto would shut up for a while now that his precious ramen was here, Sasuke sighed.
Finally alone, Sasuke sank into his chair next to Sakura's bed. After spending so much time in it, it had almost become his designated one. The only time he left the hospital was to train and shower at home.
He sat with his eyes closed and head resting on the chair when he heard a soft whisper.
A sleepy Sakura was smiling at him.
"Hi." She smiled softly.
He almost smiled back at her before he resorted to a signature smirk and "Hn."
"Did you mean it?" she asked. Uncertainty clear in her eyes.
"Mean what?" Sasuke thought he had missed something she must have said earlier.
"That you don't think am weak, stupid or annoying?"
The insecurity he could feel radiating off her shocked him.
"I meant what I said Sakura." He said in his most reassuring stoic tone.
"But, I think it was a very stupid mistake on my part. And it's alright if you think I was being careless Sasuke."
Her confession really shocked him. He wasn't expecting to have a conversation with her about her pregnancy so soon. As shocked as he was, he felt relief flood him gradually as her words sunk in. She had called it a careless mistake. So the father wasn't someone she intended to stay with. It was probably a one-night stand and by the sound of it, meant nothing else to her. Yet, the fact that she had decided to open up suddenly made Sasuke uncomfortable.
"You don't have to justify anything to me Sakura." he managed to say even though curiosity about the man was bubbling within him.
"I am not justifying. Call it thinking out loud may be and the fact that you are here right now means that am saying it all to you instead of just going over it in my head. I should have been more careful when they attacked. I never realised that those thugs were so dangerous. And I am the best medic Konoha has and yet I did not think of checking myself for all the symptoms until Tsunade ran her tests on me."
Her words were now ringing in Sasuke's head.
"What do you mean by you were attacked by thugs?!" the surprise was evident in his voice.
"While I was coming back from my mission, I was attacked. And well I wasn't careful enough and they had the upper hand on me for a while. I managed to defeat them in the end but didn't bother doing a thorough examination on myself after it. I just wanted to get back to Konoha." Her voice was now a whisper. Her eyes were constantly on Sasuke, waiting for a reaction. He looked frozen in time, too stunned, too angry suddenly.
"Did they live?" She could see that he was now seething.
"What?"
"Did they make it out alive? Because if not, then I will make sure I kill them myself!" His onyx eyes had now turned into the red irises of the Sharingan.
Sakura had been attacked before, and on many missions where Sasuke had accompanied her. But never had he ever shown so much rage.
"Sasuke I am fine and they are long gone. Trust me. Just calm down. Please." she pleaded.
Suddenly her breath hitched with all the burst of reactions and the monitors started beeping. Sasuke frantically rushed out to find Shizune or Tsunade.
Once he had found Shizune, she had assured him that Sakura had just gotten a little stressed. She had reprimanded him and warned him that he would be kicked out of the hospital if he did not keep his calm around Sakura. But how could he remain calm while he knew there were men out there who had possibly raped her and left her with a child she had already lost? The thought disgusted and enraged him.
Whenever he thought of anything pure and untainted, Sakura's face came into his mind. And to imagine that someone tried to tarnish her soul made his blood boil.
As Shizune walked out of the room, she reminded him to not stress Sakura before telling him that Sakura was waiting for him. With a curt nod, she left the last Uchiha standing at the door.
Sasuke opened the door quietly and entered the room. As he walked in, he saw Sakura sitting on her bed, looking pale and weak. Almost as fragile as a porcelain doll.
"I am fine." was all she said. She didn't look at him, instead stared out of the window as she spoke.
"Hn." was all he could manage.
"I really am fine Sasuke-kun and those men have been taken care of. Trust me. They can't harm anyone anymore."
Sakura could feel the intensity of his gaze burning a hole in her, but she refused to look at him anymore. She was scared she would catch a glimpse of that revenge-obsessed Sasuke once again.
"How can you be so calm? You went through so much and not once did you tell us?"
"It was just part of the mission. Nothing that wasn't a common occurrence." The kunoichi in her was now getting agitated with his sudden protective streak.
"Nothing out of the ordinary, is it?" She could hear the rage seeping into his voice once again, but she refused to look his way still.
"Nothing."
Suddenly he grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to see him. She realised that their faces were mere inches apart and he held her in a vice-like grip.
"You call going through so much and losing a child nothing?"
"Child?" Confusion took over her deep green eyes.
"I know about it. So does Naruto. We know you were pregnant." He was now visibly calmer, yet his anger had not subsided.
"Pregnant? What are you talking about?"
"We know that you just lost a child and that's why you are in the hospital Sakura."
"What? NO! I am in the hospital because I got cut with a poisoned dagger!"
Sasuke stared at her for a really long time. Was it possible that she wasn't even aware that she was pregnant, or that she had gone into a state of shock?
"When I was returning from my last mission, a bunch of goons, the ones I was talking about, attacked me. I managed to defeat them but not without a few cuts and bruises. I healed most of them before I reached Konoha but one of the cuts was infected with an almost undetectable poison that must have been on their kunai that they threw at me. That skipped my notice and was slowly killing my chakra system.
Tsunade had me tested for my sudden weakness and caught the poison right in time before it severed my body's binds with my chakra forever. That's why she had to admit me to the hospital suddenly."
Sasuke was now collecting his thoughts and staring at her dumbfounded.
"So there was no baby?"
"No."
"And you are sure of it?"
"Yes, because it's not possible that I am pregnant."
"Why?" His blunt question made them both turn a shade redder.
"Because to have a child I would need to have sex."
"So...uh you haven't?"
"Not in a year at least." Sakura refused to meet his eyes anymore, especially with him practically an inch away from her.
So she wasn't a virgin. That wasn't a surprise for him though, he had expected it, he knew he didn't deserve her. He wasn't living in delusions where she never tried to move on from him in all the years that he was away plotting murder after murder.
Yet, at the same time, he was relieved that there was no child, to begin with.
In the past few days, he had gone from considering to adopt the child, to just be there as an Uncle, to being worried about the child and mourning it eventually. All for a child that did not even exist!
But this fictitious child had taught him what all he was willing to change for Sakura if he needed her in his life and there wasn't much he wasn't willing to shed for a new life with her.
Relief washed over him and any other confusion or questions he had faded away. All he knew was the pinkette in his arms.
Almost with the same intensity as before, he crushed her to his chest. Sakura could feel his chiseled abs under her own soft flesh with two thin layers of clothing separating them. Her cheeks reddened at the thought.
"I am so glad that you are fine." He murmured with his face buried in her hair.
She finally managed to move a little to look at him and as Onyx met Jade this time, a whip of electricity crackled between them, unlike the usual tension that was always there.
Neither knew who moved in first but within a second their lips crashed together. Sasuke was holding Sakura as if she was a fragile doll, while Sakura had her hands on his chest, his Uchiha clan t-shirt bunched up in her hands.
Soon he was cradling her head, while her hands were holding onto his ebony locks, as if for dear life. Their lips moved against the others like tides when suddenly Sasuke took in her lower lip in his mouth and sucked on it. Soon both had their tongues fighting for dominance.
Finally, almost an eternity later, they broke apart for some air.
"I don't..." Sakura began to explain, but Sasuke beat her to that.
He put a finger on her lips and just said "Rest." Before almost smiling at her as he tucked her back into bed.
Sakura was over the Moon would be the understatement of the century. The drugs were making her feels funny things, she concluded as she drifted off to sleep; Sasuke's hand clasped firmly in her own.
(A/N) Hope this was long enough and finally the big reveal! Thank you so much and really sorry for the rant, and in short just want to explain that when you spam a story with similar comments without actually knowing the entire deal, you ruin the experience for other readers who might have enjoyed it. I know the same has happened to me so many times where I put off a story after reading the comments, but land up loving the story in the end. I know I cannot make all of you love the story, but please try to be fair to all the author's here. And critique is always welcome and I often try to incorporate all the points mentioned for my next chapter. But if ever you want to discuss the story, please do it in a fair manner or simply PM me. A bad review about my writing style and all is most welcome, I write to make myself better! Sorry if it irked you all, but thank you for standing by this story! Twenty reviews until the next chapter? Please? I gave you a kiss between them. I can ask for that much :P
And I am really sorry for the wait. Life has just been a tad bit too difficult lately. I will reply to all the reviews when I can!
Heheheheh
XOXO
-MM