Teehee, :] um, haha, _sweat drop_ yea I know, forever right? Does it feel like a super long time to you guys too? It always does to me…. Anywho, this story took legitimately like a month and three days to finish, crazy huh? I hope it was worth it :] and pardon me for so long between updates, my stories are sort of on hold till I get my head about me, I have these great ideas and get so so so excited to let you guys see them and I never have the actual story finished first, so I'm working on that, so soon okay? I promise :)

[pre important note for my own sanity, this wasn't all my idea, I just want to put it out there that I read a quiz on quizilla that had to do with friends and being doctors when they were little, I just put it to Naruto and made it super radtastic, I hope no ones offended, just saying, that's where I originally got the idea from (mind you I read that quiz 3-4 years ago)]

Anyways:

Rated M, language, self mutilation, and a lot of angst :3

I don't own Naruto! _crys_

Writers + randomness = stories (and sometimes love :) )


Doctor.

She gazed up at him softly, a look of concern filled her features. Her light eye brows furrowed and she chewed on her lip quietly, trying to think of words to say to the broken looking boy before her. His charcoal eyes were downcast, black bags hung deep beneath them, casting his face in a deathly, ghastly appearance. His clothes were rumpled and he looked tired as hell.

"I-I'm sorry about your brother, Sasuke," her eyes still rested on him from her position on his bedroom floor. There were crumpled papers, uncapped pens, and broken tipped pencils scattered around the girl. His bedroom was a mess. Clothes lay scattered around, books lay in heaps in corners, empty water bottles and wrappers joined the mess too. Sakura sighed. The male wasn't usually like this. Normally he had sharp comebacks and that irritating, slightly adorable smirk nestled on his lips.

But not now, not today. Today he looked broken and dejected. As if he were the only one god had ever forsaken.

"Don't worry about it." he said lowly, his deep voice quiet and shattered.

Her eyes ran over him once more, he was perched up on his desk, one knee bent up with an arm resting on it, his other leg hanging down from the wooden structure. Sakura sighed, a part of her heart ached greatly for him. A part of her broke off and died for him when she saw that his brother, the only family he had ever had, was dead. Killed, murdered, stabbed to death. The only family he had was taken from him. And a part of the small girl died with him when she heard.

"I'm just sorry." she murmured. "You shouldn't have to go through that."

The boy ignored her, silence fell between them for a handful of seconds, neither willing to break it, and neither knew what to say to break it.

"Do you remember when we were little Sakura?" Sasuke's eyes became nostalgic, the corners crinkling slightly with the memories he was recalling, his pupils dilating. His voice became faded, like he wasn't really talking to the girl who was with him. "We hung out everyday, and you used to make me play doctor with you." he laughed darkly to himself. "You were so hell bent on becoming a doctor, and you said I had to help. 'We're best friends, Sasuke, so you have to help me become a doctor.'" The teenager shook his head. "We were, like 7, what little girl wants to become a doctor when she's 7?" he spared her a glance then, and for a split second Sakura saw into his soul. It was black, and stained, she saw so much pain in that split second look, and she shuddered quietly, another piece of her breaking and dying.

"Yea? Well you swore to me you'd marry me someday, and we were like, 5 then." she laughed as he wrinkled his nose at the memory.

"You were talking about marrying Naruto. I was just going to save you from a very irritating future." the girl laughed at his words. Just like a boy, to try and cover up the sweetest thing he did with fake excuses to make himself look tough.

"Hinata found him though," she said softly, thinking about their closest friends. "And they're perfect together."

"I still think someday she will just snap and stab him in his sleep." Sasuke said, eyes falling away from the pretty pink haired girl across from him. "I swear she will, she's too nice to him. She'll just snap someday at his stupidity."

Sakura laughed again, "No, Hinata is just a very patient loving girl." Sasuke glanced at her with doubt.

"Yes, but it's Naruto, he could drive anyone crazy."

Sakura didn't reply that time, memories from their childhood and thoughts of their friends were floating through her mind, taking up the majority of her concentration. Funny thing growing up, it made you miss the little stupid things you used to hate.

"Can we play it once more before I have to go?" the words were gossamer thin as they traveled from the boy's lips.

"Play what?" Sakura asked, one of her eyebrows raised on her forehead. 'Where do you have to go?' she thought the question silently to herself. Knowing if she gave it enough time he would divulge the information.

"Doctor," the teenager murmured gently, his black eyes falling from her face once more, resting on the deep blue carpet.

Sakura contemplated telling him no, that they were both seventeen now, they weren't children, they didn't need to play those silly games anymore. The rose haired girl opened her mouth to tell him so, but at the last second she saw how he was shaking. He tried to hide it by keeping his hands in his lap, but they shook all the same. "Yes," she said almost inaudibly, her eyes still resting on his shaking hands, then they jumped up to watch his shoulders shake as he let his feet hit the floor as he got down from his desk.

The girl took his outstretched hand, letting him help her get up from her position on the floor. He dropped her hand as soon as she was vertical. With the feeling of his warmth gone, she felt somewhat alone. Sakura followed him through the few rooms in the small house he shared with his adoptive father, Kakashi. The walls were plain white, few pictures hung on them, the ones that did decorate the dull walls were of them together when Sasuke was young. Kakashi's single eye would be crinkled, obviously smiling at the energetic handful of a boy that he had chosen to raise on his own.

"Where are we going?" the girl asked, her voice was faint as she asked. He was headed towards the French doors that led out into the backyard.

"The doctor's office has always been in the tree house." he replied easily, quickly angling himself to look at her before swiftly turning away from her to continue on to his destination.

A tiny 'oh' was breathed out of the girl. She paused for a second, standing in the living room unsure for a moment before following the teenager outside.

It was colder than she expected it to be outside. The vibrant green grasses gave the impression of summer warmth, though the deep tones in the trees gave indication that a rain storm had just passed. The air smelled sweet, as a small wind danced past her, brushing across the skin of her arms and tossing her short rose hair. A shiver broke over her. Autumn was coming, the climate was already showing signs of it. The green grass was the only thing that summer still had his hand on.

She lifted her lustrous jade eyes from the equally radiant ground, setting them instead on the male's back.

She noticed his stride was lacking its normal purpose. His shoulders weren't straight, he was slouching forwards, his large hands jammed into the front pockets of his black and white horizontal stripped zip-up hoodie. Her eyes ran down over his legs for a moment, the legs of his skinny jeans were over his black Converse high tops. Her orbs lingered for a moment on his ass, and pink laced quickly up her cheeks. Looking up hastily, she averted her eyes to look at his hair. His shadow filled hair, that stuck up in odd angles, spiking in the back and hanging into his inky eyes. Sakura smiled to herself, remembering how he used to be self conscious of it, how he tried to force it to stay down in the back. Going so far as to use gel and even tried straightening it once. Though, no matter what he did, it would jump back up defiantly, mocking him with it's disobedience.

She missed Sasuke stop in front of her as she lost herself in her reminiscing, consequently stepping right into his back and bumping off of him. She stumbled but didn't fall, catching herself as she laughed at her own clumsiness. After straightening up, Sakura's lime eyes meeting Sasuke's ebony orbs. One of his raven eyebrows was cocked on his forehead. The girl reached a hand to her head, scratching it in an embarrassed manner, "Um, sorry," she giggled lightly, "I'm okay."

The teenager beside her shrugged slightly, nodding to her before reaching one of his long arms up to grab the rope ladder that led up to the old tree house, aka doctor's office. He rested his weight on it for a moment, putting his foot in the lowest rung, and jumping on it, seeing if it would hold him before they started climbing up it. Deeming it safe, he backed away from it for a second, his gaze falling onto Sakura, waiting.

"You go first." he said quietly, his dark eyes continuing to rest on her. She opened her mouth, to question him, but he cut her off. "So if you fall I can catch you, now just go." his voice was hushed as he spoke, like it hurt him to talk anymore.

Sakura closed her gapping mouth, nodding quickly before taking the twisted, rough strands into her hands, and she began pulling herself up. Leaves brushed over her face, and branches reached for her as she climbed up the unruly tree. It had been unattended to since their younger years, being unused there wasn't a point in Kakashi trying to keep it tamed.

The pink haired girl made it up into the small building, hoisting herself up onto the hard wooden floorboards. After pulling herself the whole way through the small opening, she stood, letting her eyes take in the objects she hadn't seen for years and years. Dust sat in thick layers on everything, an abandoned bees nest hung in one of the corners, spider webs littered the walls, and dried, crinkled leaves were strewn across the dusty floor.

The two beanbag chairs still sat on the old, worn floor. A pink one for her, and a blue one for Sasuke. She smiled softly to herself, remembering the many conversations they had had resting on those beanbag chairs. Silly conversations and more serious ones as well. There were other toys laying on the floor too, ones from their childhood. Favorite toys among other more expendable ones. She let her eyes glance to the square hole cut into the side of the room, a makeshift window. It let plenty of light in, making everything visible. Sakura walked over to it as Sasuke pulled himself into the room. Her verdant eyes scanned the sky from the open hole in the wall, wondering silently to herself if it would rain again that day.

"My heart hurts." Sasuke said, his normally deep rich voice sounded hollow as he said the words. He shoved his hands back into the pockets of his hoodie, his black eyes falling from her face, as if he were embarrassed he had asked her to do something so childish again. She could tell he was still shaking. "Fix it," he mumbled.

The petite girl shook her rose head. "Doctor's offices are clean and spotless, silly. We have to clean this out first." the male sighed, stepping past her to the back of the small building, where a closet stood. He opened it and pulled out two brooms. Handing her one, he immediately got to work, starting in the corners where most of the dust was congregated.

The girl watched him for a few seconds, how his body stretched to move the simple plastic broom, how his face angled to see where he was sweeping. She smiled softly to herself as she turned around away from him, into the opposite corner to start her own sweeping. Her light blue Converses crunched the brittle leaves into nothing but pieces as she moved through the small space, evicting the dust out through the hole in the floor they had entered through, Sasuke was breaking the spider webs and busting the old bees nest from the wall.

After the final pile was swept out of the hole, Sasuke's onyx eyes fell to the girl. "Better?" he asked as he coughed from inhaling the particles of dust they had stirred.

She nodded, eyes still taking in the now clean space, before they fell back to the teenager to her left. "Yes," she leaned her broom against the wall before she met the boy's pools. "Better." she repeated his word.

They stood staring at each other for a handful of silent seconds, both felt slightly uncomfortable and awkward. Finally the boy spoke again.

"My heart hurts." he said faintly.

Sakura nodded, "Well step into my office and I'll take a look at you." she said, wondering if he would play along or if he had something else in mind.

Surprisingly he obeyed, stepping closer to her side. He stared down at her from his vantage point.

"Lay down," she spoke, and again, he obeyed. Firstly sitting down as Sakura did, but then with a look he leaned back, settling himself on the floor in front of her. He watched her with his intense shadowed eyes. Something in the look he was giving her made her own heart hurt.

She moved from her sitting position so that she was kneeling beside him. Then she placed her fingers over the pulsing section of his strong neck. His skin was soft and smooth, his flesh pulsed under the minimal pressure she had applied to feel it. She removed her fingers from his elegant neck, Sakura placed her hands on the rough wood and leaned over him, sticking her ear to the left part of his chest. Listening to the beating of his heart.

It was racing and pumping like crazy.

"Well?" he asked lowly, the resonance of his voice sounded so sweet when she was that close to him.

Sakura ignored his prying for the moment, instead she leaned away from him, settling back into a cross-legged position. She reached one of her hands out, taking his larger one in both of hers. Her slender fingers ran over his palm, and the slight dampness there confirmed her suspicion.

'I wonder if I can feel his pulse through his wrist…' the random thought flew through her mind. 'with his heart racing so hard it would have to be really obvious.'

Deciding to act on her small impulse, she brought the hand she had in custody closer. She took the smooth fabric of his hoodie sleeve into her hand, pushing it up to his elbow so she could view the skin she was inspecting.

"What are you doing?" the boy demanded, immediately sitting up. "Don't." There was a harsh under-lacing to his normally sweet, mellow voice. It made the normally calming sound into a more piercing serious tone.

Sakura felt his now exposed arm tense in her hands. "I can never find pulses in peoples' wrists, and your heart is beating rapidly, so I was going to see if I can feel yours." she said the words easily. The girl attempted to turn his arm in her grasp, so she could see the flesh she was probing. "I want to see, so if you'll just flip your stupid arm over," she struggled to try and force his limb to move. "I can do it real quick and then it'll be done like it never happened." she ground her teeth, getting irritated with the boy's stubbornness. "Sasuke, please? It'll just take a second."

"No."

She glared up at him, her green eyes drilling into him. "It's just a stupid pulse, Sasuke, come on. Just let me find it."

Silence ate them, leaving them in a staring contest, neither blinking, nor talking, and it was hard to tell if they were even breathing. Finally Sasuke's shadowed eyes narrowed into slits, and seconds later his wrist flipped with a strength Sakura barely ever witnessed. Her hands were jarred from their previous positions, but all the same, the arm was now exposed, and she was free to find his pulse.

A small gasp was emitted from the woman's lips, her verdant eyes widening in horror at the scene she saw.

Scars. Numerous, deep, puckered, painful scars. Laced all along his skin, over the tendons and tender flesh, like tight ribbons that held him together. He laced himself together with ribbons of blood. The sight made the girl feel sick. They were so tight, one right beside the others some over lapping, causing the cut to be deeper. Lacerations over his pale, pale skin, jagged edges crisscrossed, teasing his life every time he decided to play the dangerous game. Some of them were old, and some were new. Faded, or newly fading, but there. Always there.

"Oh Sasuke," Sakura breathed, her jade eyes filling with tears, her heart jumping in her chest as she let her fingertips trace gently over his tender flesh.

He let her touch his arm for mere moments before he felt caged like an animal. He felt his heart in his throat as her fingers grazed over his marred arm. "Stop," his voice sounded hollow as he spoke the word, tugging at his arm, wanting it back. He wanted it all back. His arm, his secret, his heart. All of it.

"Sasuke-"

"Stop." the male spoke, cutting her off, his obsidian eyes narrowed faintly, not necessarily angry with the petite girl in front of him.

No one was supposed to know. This secret was his, and his alone. He was supposed to be able to bare it by himself, it was his responsibility. Not his friends', or his father's, and especially not his Sakura's. Not his precious Sakura. He didn't want anyone to know, but especially not her. She was innocent, she was delicate.

She didn't need to know of his scars. He didn't want her to know of the bright red blood on his hands. The blood that was his brother's.

She couldn't know that was why he had to leave.

The boy's mind began to race and yell. It screamed and pounded into his now aching head.

He couldn't tell her he was the one who killed Itatchi.

She was far too innocent and breakable.

He was leaving because Kakashi felt he no longer had control over the teenager. The older man didn't want a troubled youth in his house any longer. He didn't want to live with a murderer. Kakashi didn't want a son who couldn't be what he wanted the boy to be.

Sasuke felt something warm and soft on his face. He lifted his ink eyes from his shaking hands and took Sakura in, sitting in front of him. Her green eyes soothing his raving mind. His delicate little Sakura. His innocent, breakable, vulnerable Sakura.

Why did she have to know his secret?

The boy felt her take her warm small hand from his cheek, leaving him feeling alone all over again. Something wet fell over his cheeks then. Something hot that left a small trail, and when it landed on his lips he could taste the saltiness of it. He reached his free hand up to wipe his face. His other arm was still in Sakura's custody, as if she imagined being in her arms would heal his scar tissue.

"You're crying." the words were simple, short, and spoken with such gentleness that the male wasn't sure if the girl had said anything at all. But he heard, and he heard the traces of confusion that laced its way through her tone. Her light eyebrows were furrowed on her forehead, marring it with temporary wrinkles. "Why?" she asked as she chewed softly on her lip.

Sasuke shook his head no, silent tears still running from his obsidian eyes. He felt broken and he hated it. He pulled weakly against the girl's grasp for his arm once more. Gently tugging at the appendage to try and regain control over it. He wished he could just take care of it himself.

He just wanted to be alone with his sharp metal friend. Let it bite into his already scarred arms a few more times. And after his sharp little friend bit him, making his pretty crimson blood flow, he wanted to go lay down somewhere, to pass out or maybe even pass away from blood loss. He wanted nothing else at that moment.

The young woman let the silence linger for a few moments, "Do you want to do it now?" her slim fingers traced over his lacerated arms tenderly, quietly letting him know what she was talking about. Her large lime eyes were wide as she looked up at him. The young man saw tears in the female's eyes as she watched him, her light eyebrows knitted tightly on her forehead.

His midnight eyes fell from the small girl's face, his free hand tightened into a fist. "Very much," he mumbled lowly, feeling completely drained and exhausted.

Emotions, emotions, emotions. He was a murderer, but… he avenged his parents. He hated his brother but there was a part of him that couldn't let him go. He had feelings but didn't want them. He had a heart but he wanted to cut it out. He wanted to be alone but he didn't either. He wanted to tell Sakura, he needed her, but he couldn't do it to her.

"Fuck," he murmured faintly, his fist tightened farther, his short fingernails dug into his palm sharply. "Stop thinking. Stop thinking." he hissed, "..stop."

"Sasuke?"

The male ignored her and finally ripped his arm from her hands, upsetting one of his more recent cuts. The flesh pulled apart some, blood trickled out down over his pale skin. He strode on long legs over to the square hole in the floor that they had come through. Crouching down he jumped from the high wooden platform, landing gracefully on his feet on the hard ground below, his knees bent momentarily, absorbing the impact. Then straightening, he stalked quickly into the house, throwing open the glass doors and disappearing from the girl's view.

"Sasuke!" she yelled at the house he escaped into from her position in the tree house. "Damn it," she muttered, sighing to herself as she got up from the floor, her mind racing to try and figure out what to do. She ran hurriedly to the hole Sasuke had jumped through, and she was about to jump down to the ground below, then she thought of her height disadvantage and grabbed the rope instead.

She scurried down over the fibrous material. In her haste her foot caught in a rung and she fell half way down to the ground.

Air rushed past her lips as her small body made contact, the ground knocking the wind out of her, making her feel lightheaded before she even moved a muscle. Her breathing came in slight gasps and black dots swam across her jade eyes.


"Nnn" the girl moaned, her head was pounding and she swore she felt blood wetting her hair, but when she raised a shaking hand to touch the spot, there was no redness on her fingers.

She laid there on the cold grass for a few more moments, and within seconds she felt spatters on her face. Sakura opened her jade eyes and rain spit into them, the clouds above her had darkened, and they were dumping their water onto the world. Crying for a reason unknown to the teenager.

The young woman took a breath then, inhaling the air into her lungs, waiting for a moment to see if it would hurt. When it didn't, she rolled onto her stomach, lifting herself up on her hands and knees, before finally getting to her feet. They swayed below her as she stepped towards the house.

"Sasuke?" she murmured as she walked through the same hallway that they had passed through earlier in the day. No voice answered her, but she heard soft sobbing, and she kept going and entered into his room. The girl noticed the mess inside all over again, how uncharacteristic it was of him to leave it so unkempt.

She repeated his name, her voice soft and it wavered some as she spoke. The small girl walked to the private bathroom that the male had attached to his room. "Sasuke?" she breathed his name, she felt like she was going to pass out from her fall as she took the doorknob and spun it, opening the wooded door and immediately she felt sick to her stomach.

There was so much red in the white room. The lights made it stand out a brilliant crimson against the ivory tub and floor. Sasuke's striped hoodie was thrown on the floor to his right, and he was slumped against the edge of the cream colored bathtub. One arms was under his head, the red liquid pooled under his chin and it was splashed across his face. His other arm hung over the inside of the tub, the scarlet ran across his skin and down over his fingertips. Gathering in a puddle on the bathtub floor. There were bloody handprints smeared across the porcelain sides, red spots spattered across the area rug on the floor.

A gasp ran through the girl's lips again that day. Her brows furrowing higher on her head, her nauseousness and headache grew faint when she saw the boy's breathing was shallow and blood still ran from the lacerations in his skin.

Sakura stepped into the room, ignoring all the iridescent ruby color. "Sasuke?" she whispered his name, she heard a soft rush of breath from her best friend's lips. She walked to him, and sat down beside him, again ignoring all of his blood. "Sasuke, please say something…"

The male groaned as she laced her arms around his waist, pulling him closer to her. It was the first time in her life that Sakura realized how fragile the boy in her arms was. He was broken and breaking, and she wasn't sure how to put him back together. She tightened her thin arms around his waist, holding him against her. She could feel the small vibrations from his faint heartbeat.

"Sasuke," she murmured his name, tears were starting to run from her eyes as they squeezed shut, blinding herself from all the redness in the bright bathroom. She choked a little as she attempted to take a shaking breath. "I promise, everything will be fine." She felt the male move in her arms, he was struggling to back away from her. Just like an injured animal.

"No." his voice was so thin, like a web through the air, she almost didn't hear him. She opened her eyes and looked at his face, letting him maneuver himself away from her steadier body. "It won't be Sakura."

"It will be," the young woman retorted softly. "I understand, Sasuke. I-Itatchi was your brother, no matter what he did. I understand, it must be so hard to have him gone." She reached out for him again, holding her arms out, inviting him to come closer to her once more. "Come here," she murmured to him.

The boy shook his head weakly.

The girl's eyebrows furrowed, "Please come here? I know it has to hurt, but you shouldn't do this, you're still alive. That's what counts."

"You know? You understand?" Sasuke scoffed. He was so weak but Sakura swore she saw red swimming behind his normal coal colored eyes. "You don't know fucking anything Sakura."

His innocent, naïve, beautiful Sakura.

Why did she have to be the one who knew?

Sasuke stood, he was upset and his blood loss was causing him to sway slightly on his feet. Sakura followed him and stood as well. Staring at him through her avocado eyes, she waited for him to speak, to move, to do something. This silence was as abnormal as his messy room.

"I killed him."

There was silence after his outburst. The small woman's soft mouth fell, dropping open, gaping at him. Sasuke knew she would ask. 'Who Sasuke?' she was too innocent, she wouldn't know. She wouldn't get it. So he told her.

"Itatchi." He yelled, stepping closer to her. "I killed Itatchi." he screamed.

Her green, green eyes widened. He could only imagine what she was thinking. Monster. Monster. Monster. But he already knew that's what he was. Because he thought he himself was a monster. So he would understand.

The male tightened his hands into fists, his blood leaking out faster now that he clenched his fists. Trickling down his skin, over his slender fingertips and falling down, down, down to the floor. Staining it the glistening crimson.

She would leave. Call him a monster, scream that he was a worthless piece of shit. She would yell that she hoped he would die. And then she would leave. Slip out from his blood smeared fingers and away from him.

But he understood.

Because he knew if he were Sakura at that instant, that's what he would do.

At that moment he felt her soft, slim, arms wrap around his waist, and he felt her nuzzle her head into his chest. Her silky hair brushed against his neck and he felt his heart jump in his chest. Something wet soaked through his shirt, it was warm and damp, and vaguely he wondered what it was.

"S-Sakura?" he murmured, surprise was evident in his voice.

"I didn't know." she breathed. "I didn't know that… I-I… I'm sorry."

The male inhaled, letting the air enter into his lungs slowly. He lifted his arms to hold her back, there was a moment that he wondered if she would be angry with him if he got his blood on her, but decided it didn't matter. He held her tightly against him, his neck bent so that his cheek was resting against the woman's. For some reason he felt so much better with her in his arms.

They stayed like that for a handful of minutes, each breathing easily, unsure of the new feelings that started to blossom in their chests. The male felt warm and he could smell her scent from their proximity. Even though he hated sweets, her sweet scent was wonderful and relaxing. She felt so thin and fragile in his arms, and he vaguely wondered if he felt as frail as she did. She was so warm too, the heat just seemed to absorb into his flesh, making him feel better.

She pulled slightly away from him then, only enough to be able to look up into his face. Sakura lifted one of her hands and ran it trough the male's midnight fringe.

"Sit down on the counter," Sakura murmured, gently untangling herself from his body, and turning away from him. She took a few steps over to the closest in the room and began to pull some supplies from within.

The boy listened to her, and while he was sitting he let his eye run over his lacerated arms. Taking in the dried blood and the still wet blood. He let his eyes jump to her back while she was turned away from him, and he saw the bright red splotches of his blood on her bright yellow shirt.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, feeling cold with her so far away from him. She turned and looked at him, pausing in her harvesting of odds and ends from the supply closet. Sakura looked at him questioningly, and he opened his mouth once more. "There's blood on your shirt now."

The light raspberry haired woman shrugged her shoulders. "Its just a shirt." She sifted again after speaking and continued to grab items.

"It's your favorite shirt though," he sighed, irritated with himself for messing up something else in the small woman's life, even if it was as simple as a yellow top.

Sakura came over to him them, arms full of supplies. She set them down gently and took one of his arms delicately into her hand. Dampening a towel with warm water, she wiped the blood from his arm softly. She took another dry towel, and poured hydrogen peroxide onto it, to cleanse the wound so it wouldn't get infected. Finally, she pulled out bandages from her assortment of items. They were laced over his arms gently, to absorb any new blood and to protect them from potential infections. After finishing one arm, Sakura did the same to his other.

"Thank you." he breathed out as the petite girl washed her hands and replaced what was left of the medical items. She nodded at him and then their eyes met, and awkward tension falling into the air around them. Sasuke let his eyes fall from her, feeling embarrassed at his show of emotion around her. Crying and cutting himself. He felt pathetic.

"Come on," her voice was even as she let her hand entwine with Sasuke's. "You have to change." she said to his questioning gaze. Nodding he hopped down from the counter top, and looked down at himself, seeing once again the blood spatter all over himself.

Sasuke moved to pull his shirt from his chest but Sakura stopped him. "You'll open your arms again," she looked at him shyly, a small blush painting her cheeks a soft pink as she let her fingers find the hem of his t-shirt. "I-is that okay?" she asked, suddenly wondering if she had gone too far. The boy nodded and she pulled the fabric up over his torso.

His toned chest and flat stomach were exposed to her. Her lime eyes glazed over his bare skin momentarily, her blush growing larger by the second. Sakura turned then, almost a bright red, and went to his closet to find a new shirt for him.

She noticed, before she turned away, that the skin on his stomach and chest hadn't been touched. It was perfect and unmarred by blades or anything else. Skin a creamy white color and unblemished, letting the sinewy muscles below move with grace and beauty. He was breathtaking and blush worthy.

Sakura shifted back to him, soft fabric in her slender hands. "Here," she murmured, letting the fabric slide over his arms and fall down his waist, covering his gorgeous skin.

The male murmured a thank you to her, and both sets of their eyes fell to his blood flecked skinny jeans. Sakura opened her mouth to speak but the boy beat her to it. "I can do that myself." She closed her mouth and nodded, the whole time her blush deepening. "Change your shirt while I change my jeans." he said to her, wondering if she would let him tell her what to do this time. She nodded once more and grabbed one of his shirts and slipped back into the bathroom.

Sasuke dug in his dresser drawers, finding another pair of dark wash skinnies, and after kicking his blood stained ones off, he pulled the new ones on. He heard the shower turn on for a few seconds as he tried to button the pants, but for some reason, his fingers refused to move correctly, and he couldn't do it.

Dark eyes narrowed as he glared at the simple button. It mocked him, laughing at him that he couldn't button it.

The water in the bathroom was shut off then and he heard Sakura's soft movements as he imagined she took her shirt off, and put his on. A part of his mind vaguely wondered how soft her skin was, it was the briefest thought, but a separate part of his mind took it and ran. Wondering how her breasts looked in a lacey bra, how soft they would be to lay his head on, and how they would feel if he took them in his hands and gently touched them.

The door opened at that moment and the male jumped, alarmed at the sudden noise. "You okay?" Sakura giggled lightly at him, seemingly not freaked out by his mood change.

"Uhh…" he remembered then that he may or may not be falling out of his own jeans because his damned fingers wouldn't do the button. He looked down, and consequently, Sakura's gaze shifted as well. "Can you help?" he asked quietly, "My fingers won't do it, I dunno why."

Her skin flushed into the bright pink color once again, in turn Sasuke felt the back of his neck grow warm. Sakura stepped closer to him and quickly reached down to his crotch and did the button.

"Thanks," he mumbled, embarrassed by her action.

"Yup," she nodded, looking away from him for the moment. On impulse the young man lifted his arms and drew her closer, and held her against his chest. She didn't shy away from him but wondered why he was holding her this time.

She felt so wonderful against him. He felt like he could hold her like that forever. She was so warm, delicate, beautiful, and irresistible. Her skin was soft and she smelled delicious, despite the fact that he hated sweets. She just felt so perfect against him.

Sakura just felt like home.

"Why?" Sasuke whispered, he didn't want her to go, he didn't want to go. He just wanted to stay with her in his arms for as long as he could.

The young woman's forehead wrinkled with confusion. "Why what?" she spoke softly as her bottle green eyes washed over his pale face.

"Why are you still here?" his heart was still racing in his chest. "Why didn't you leave or run? Anyone else would be scared of me."

The petite woman shook her head. "Why should I be scared of you? We've been together forever Sasuke, we're like family. I wouldn't just leave you like that."

"Brother and sister family?" he asked gently, his sooty eyes averting momentarily from her sweet face, slight pink warmed the back of his neck.

He saw her adorable smile from the corner of his eye, and he looked back to her, confused as to why she was smiling. She didn't speak for a moment and one of her coral eyebrows raised. "Really?" she asked skeptically.

"Really what?" the boy asked feeling lost for the moment as to what they were discussing.

"We're nothing like brother and sister, Sasuke," the girl began giggling then, looking up at him through her light, thick lashes. "Nothing at all. Do you think so?" she asked then, deciding she wanted to know what he thought about it.

"I…" he didn't like how she looked at him like that, like she had an inside joke with herself about him, about them. "No," he mumbled, letting his eyes drop from her. He began to feel awkward with her resting in his arms like she was.

She giggled once more, smiling up at him. "Like I said, nothing like brother and sister."

Sasuke opened his mouth, trying to think of what to say, or if he should say anything, but he only stood gaping at her, no sounds came out. After closing his mouth and his eyes once more, he swallowed and tried again. "Then… what sort of family are we?" he questioned her, his deep voice faint.

The small girl looked at him for a few seconds, and it almost killed him. His heart was racing, he felt sick to his stomach, and he wondered why.

"Maybe family is the wrong word then…" the small girl hummed to herself for a moment, thinking and contemplating on what she should tell him. He couldn't watch her, it was like just being with her at that moment was destroying him. The male felt like she took his heart and threw it on the ground. If she wasn't family, what family did he have?

"W-we're like…" he jumped some when he felt her thin hand against his skin, slightly under his jaw so that she could move his face.

And then they were kissing. Her soft lips were pressed against his. Hers were warm, tender, caring, damp, and lush. He could only feel her, and only register her against him as she kissed him. Everything about her seemed soft in that moment, delicate, and so sweet. Before he had been almost positive that her just being in his arms was perfect, but this, Sasuke decided, this was even better. His heart seemed to lighten, his broken, dying, aching heart, with just one kiss he felt better. Her lips breathed life into him. Then again, he realized, she always had.

She carefully extracted her mouth from his, biting a little on her lower lip, she glanced shyly up at him, as if she had just realized what she had done.

"I think we're like that," she mumbled, "I-it's like a family… well it could be I guess." She smiled timidly. Sasuke couldn't seem to find his voice, stunned in more than one way. His silence made the girl nervous, "I-I mean, if you want it to be."

He took a breath in and started to nod gently. "Yes," he murmured, "yes, I want it to be." he tightened his arms around her, ignoring the slight pain from his cuts. "I want you to be my family," he leaned into her, nuzzling his head into the crook of her neck. "I only want you to be my family." her murmured into her skin, inhaling her scent deeply.

Her thin arms were wound around him, keeping her tight against his chest, as if they were glued together. "Then I will be," the simple words left her lips and fanned over the boy's neck. No one and nothing else could amount to what he had in this small pink haired girl. Nothing and no one else made him feel as calm as she did, no one was home to him like Sakura was home to him.


Okay, soo tell me what you think please? :] thank you all for reading, I love you guys; leave a review and please please tell me what you think of it :]

peace,

a. rose. love