Crossing the threshold in haste, Naruto skidded to a halt when Sakura's heavy breathing filled his ears. He slowed, drinking in her form beneath the snow-white blanket. The small lamp on the bedside table illuminated her small face; giving a soft glow to the otherwise empty tent. He could tell she was in deep sleep, but she didn't look relaxed at all. She laid sideways, her brows furrowed and her hands clutched at her chest; as if holding something she feared might be taken away. Her hair was still tied back, indicating that she had been on duty even prior to the Ceremonial Rites. He reached out and, careful not to wake her, slowly removed the tie and ran his fingers through her hair.

Sakura-chan…

"Step back a little, Naruto."

He had been so concentrated on her that he did not even notice Tsunade and Sasuke enter the tent. "Is she… alright?" Naruto asked, doing what he was told but not turning around nor taking his eyes off Sakura.

"I need to check her to know for sure. Help me take this off," Tsunade carefully lifted Sakura and unzipped her vest, allowing Naruto to pull it off. She then laid her back on the bed, quietly examining the rest of her body while her team mates looked on.

Naruto was shifting restlessly on his feet as Tsunade finished up and began writing things down on a clipboard. "Baa-chan…"

His plea was unheard and she did not regard him till she finished. "She's going to be fine. She has no fever and there's nothing irregular with her vitals; it's just chakra exhaustion. I'm actually surprised she suffered from this, since I had already split all the medics into small teams and gave them shifts."

"When I saw her at lunch she hadn't rested yet. She was dozing off in front of her food," Sasuke explained, successfully tearing Naruto's eyes from the kunoichi on the bed.

Tsunade sighed, "I was with her the whole afternoon checking on some of the patients under her care. She didn't look tired at all. Then again you never do when you're running on pure adrenaline. Anyway, doesn't matter." She turned to smooth Sakura's blanket before giving her hand an affectionate squeeze. "She'll have a couple of days off, I'm sending out an order for it. While she doesn't need constant care I still hope neither of you are too busy to check up on her. The people are to return to their respective villages two days from now. I don't want her to meet her parents in such a weakened state."

"I'll take care of her, Baa-chan."

"Good. The meeting will start in half an hour. I'll see both of you then,"


"I didn't know you two were together at lunch," Naruto sat next to Sasuke, his voice tinged with bitterness.

Sasuke said nothing.

"Weren't you together at the ceremony too?"

"Would you like me to tell you what you already know? You obviously saw us, dobe." Sasuke smirked, eager to push Naruto's buttons. "How about let me tell you something you don't know?"

Naruto sighed in defeat. Perhaps he was going to announce the Uchiha Wedding and he was going to be the Best Man. Who was he kidding? He knew this was going to happen; might as well try to accept sooner, not that it would hurt any less. "Be my guest."

Shifting in his seat, Sasuke seated comfortably and crossed his arms before speaking. "You don't seem to understand where Sakura and I are coming from when we ask you to reconsider your choices of late. I know you have your reasons, and I know we could never understand what it means to be like you, but hear me out for a bit."

Clearly surprised, Naruto could only nod in response.

"Now that the war is over I'm certain that the Allied Forces wouldn't have stood a chance, even with a Sannin like Tsunade. If the other jinchuriki hadn't fallen the whole war wouldn't have centered so much on you, then again I didn't know how big a role you actually played till I saw for myself. In any case, it never occurred to me that you wouldn't survive, and frankly I was, at the time, selfish enough to ensure your survival and one day claim the honor of defeating you."

"Is that a compliment or what?"

"It isn't, dobe. You were dying when Madara tried to take the beast from you."

"So you're criticizing me."

"No. I'm trying to tell you something but you keep interrupting me with your side comments. Are you going to keep adding after every sentence? I might actually give up telling you something very important."

Naruto looked sideways, the seriousness taking him aback. Cold air had somehow made its way inside the tent and breezed through to the surface of his skin, making his hair stand on end. Sasuke focused on a spot on Sakura's bed, taking a deep breath before continuing.

"Like I said, you were dying. I didn't know it was happening; I was just… staring in disbelief. Someone had to knock some sense into me. She did," he paused and let his gaze rest on Sakura's face.

"She ran to me, clutching at my shirt, crying her eyes out. She said you were already dying, and that if Madara succeeded, we would be too late. She asked me - no... begged me, to save you. I've seen her cry before, Naruto. Not that I'm proud of it, but I made her cry a lot, didn't I? I'll never forget her face. Before I came to the battlefield I wanted to win, because my goals had not changed. I saw the seat of the Hokage as a title that would bring my family honor, and a perfect way to rebuild my own name. I still do, and like I said I will fight you for it. But when she came to me, begging me to save your life… She knew, and I knew, that if I just stood there and did nothing, that if I even so much as failed to give you time to fight back, you would die. And we would die along with you."

Naruto shrugged his shoulders in an effort to lighten the emotion filling his chest. Hands fisted on his lap, he kept his head low and smiled. "That's not true, Sasuke. You're strong enough and so is she; so is everyone. The war would've been won. All of you would have survived."

"That may be true. But I think you know what I'm trying to say. We would have lost so much more, Naruto. Sakura shook me with words up to now I don't know the full effect of. Your death - I couldn't even imagine it. It was very selfish of me. You couldn't die. You still had to face me. You said we'd die together; I said I would destroy you and everything you stood for. You said you'd bear my hate, but little did I know while we fought together, you already did. If you died, I would have nothing, and no one would care about me."

"That's not true."

"It's the only truth that I knew. It was only after the war that I finally understood. I understood you, and I wanted you to know that. I didn't have to be alone here."

A smile crept on Naruto's face. "I'm glad you feel that way, Sasuke."

"And don't even get me started on her, I've never seen her so distraught before… Sakura and I… I think we understood each other more than we ever did our entire lives."

"Is making me jealous the desired effect of this conversation?"

"No. But if that's what you're feeling then you're completely missing the point."

"I didn't miss the point, Sasuke. I get it," he sighed, somehow feeling a little bit better. "I haven't even thanked you for all your help."

"I'm waiting," he replied, chin high up in the air.

Naruto chuckled in spite of himself. "Yeah, yeah. Thank you, Sasuke. I mean it."

"Oh I know. You're welcome, dobe."

"I wish it was that easy, teme. Either way, sounds like I need to rethink my choice, don't I?"

"Or you could find another way," Sasuke smiled. "Never give up, right?"

He then initiated a gesture that caught Naruto by surprise: a fist bump. He gladly reciprocated, his signature grin lighting up his face. "Never give up."


A/N:

Thanks for the reviews! ( ´ ▽ ` )ノ

Need to answer some, though:

twwistedimagination - thank you for the compliment :) I'm drafting at about twelve chapters, but if ever I extend it won't be longer than fifteen. They say the new chapter will be out on the 15th, so this story will be done by then. :)

guest -I'm pretty sure the first chapter already established Hinata's character in this story. She's actually not oblivious here, she knows exactly what she's doing. I don't understand how you should think that way, because based on Hinata's character in canon (this is fanfiction after all), she wouldn't initiate something as heavy as completely ask Sakura to step aside in healing Naruto when she doesn't have any medical experience at all. As for creating drama, well I wouldn't have a story if there isn't, would I? :)