A/N: I know I should be apologizing and offering excuses for why this is so impossibly late, but you don't really want to hear them- And guess what! The song "We Are One" from The Lion King 2 is in Japanese on YouTube! *bounces with excitement* Aren't the wonders of modern technology lovely? I need a life.

Sasuke handed Sakura the steaming cup of ramen. These things continually smelled worse, he decided. Sakura looked at him like he was holding a kunai to her throat when he tossed her a package of chopsticks. It stung him as he realized that she probably would have been less surprised if he had suddenly attacked her.

Expertly, Sakura ignored the awkwardness of the situation and began to try to start up some kind of conversation. The only thing Sasuke wanted to talk about at the moment was what she had the gall to hide from him- but because he decided he should "bend", he allowed her to exhaust the subjects she apparently held in reserve for an instant like this. He even acknowledged them with an "Hn" before quickly dismissing them, or otherwise tearing apart her argument. Finally, his patients were rewarded as Sakura ground to a halt, apparently realizing that the subject of her little secret could no long be avoided. Now he only had to find the right way of demanding she tell him-

"So what did Naruto tell you about his relationship with Hinata?"

Sasuke blinked. So that was the big question she had been building up too? Normally he had an answer for everything; he could effortlessly brush aside statements intended to block his path and drag out the information he wanted. Which totally made the fact that her off-the-wall comment had thrown him for a loop that much worse. Desperately, he tried to reel his brain back in and answer her question with some measure of intelligence. The problem was he really didn't remember anything Naruto had said that would be appropriate in this conversation. So Sasuke settled for, "He merely said that she would make him happy."

Sakura sighed. "I was afraid of that."

Sasuke wasn't sure what to say. Technically, he could insert his demands about her secret here, but it didn't feel right. He felt she was on the verge of some deep revelation, and he couldn't interrupt that. So, he decided to "bend" and remain silent.

"You know what they say, if you go after things because you think they'll make you happy, it just makes everything worse. I mean look at Ino, and- well- you. You got what you thought you wanted and it turned out to be horrible. Naruto- he goes after things he wants relentlessly, and usually it works out for him, but he does it for other people. Not himself. He's never done something specifically because he thinks it might make him happy."

Sasuke took a minute to digest that before telling her how stupid that sounded. It was true that his mission of revenge had completely backfired on him; sure, he had managed to kill Itachi and avenge his family, but it had nothing but increase the self-loathing and misery he had already endured once he had learned the truth. However, he didn't think that the Dobe had completely flown off the handle and done this on a whim. Naruto wasn't capable of doing something like that. On some level, he loved Hinata; it probably just wasn't the flowery sort of crush like he'd had on Sakura and the idiot was making a big deal of it. Knowing Naruto, he probably had just heard the Hokage mention that it would be helpful if Hinata married and he had taken it upon himself to marry her because he couldn't stand the thought of anyone else having her. After all, Naruto had grown up; he wouldn't do something completely stupid.

"He's probably just working himself up to ask her out, Sakura. Don't worry about it," he replied finally.

She frowned at him. "You don't understand. Hinata confessed her love for him over a year ago. If he really had feelings for her, why didn't he say or do something before now?" Sakura had turned away during her speech, but he had still caught her blush.

Sasuke didn't miss her connotation. Hinata had declared her love for Naruto over a year ago and the Dobe hadn't even mentioned it afterwards. Sakura had confessed her love to him four years ago and he had told her she made him sick. Now she had been forced to marry him, an arranged marriage in which she could never hope to be loved; as, if his feelings had changed surely he would have said something by now.

He didn't bother to really think about it. He couldn't. Because if he did, he would have to face the reality that he would have to change or give up that stupid dream he'd had since he was twelve- the one of having a loving family again. As he had gotten older, the Uchiha had realized how impossible that dream was, yet he had never been able to really shake it off. It ran through his being like his chakra, and truly giving it up would mean letting go of the only thing that had kept him half-way sane. Like complete chakra depletion, it would kill him.

Considering the uncomfortable places the current conversation was going, Sasuke decided it was time to change it. "Tell me what you're hiding, Sakura," he demanded.

Her head shot up, and she met his eyes almost like a wild animal facing down a predator they hadn't noticed until it was too late. Emotions flitted through her apple green eyes so fast that he couldn't recognize all of them. But the basic message seemed to be that she was afraid he had discovered something she was hiding from him at all costs, and now she was prepared to defend herself however necessary. Then they were all gone and her eyes were hard and flinty. "What do you mean?" She asked guardedly.

Sasuke felt like he'd ended up in the middle of a power play he hadn't been aware of, something that had happened often in Sound. For him, force had been the best weapon. His life had been the only thing he'd had to gamble with at the time, and by some miracle he'd managed to win every time. Resorting to old habits, he growled "Tsunade said there was something you were not telling me. I want to know what that is. Now," he ordered. He hadn't meant to snap at her like that.

"Oh," she said, and relief flashed across her face. He frowned, what else was she hiding from him, then? "Before I explain, I want you to know why I haven't told you. Frankly, I felt that you couldn't handle it, and I expected to have it taken care of before it became an issue."

His eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Basically, you overdid it by giving Sai back his emotions. But you already know that. What you don't know is the full extent of the damage you did to your system." Sasuke bit back the desire to tell her to hurry it up. Partly because he realized that that would not be considered "bending" and he had no desire to be lectured by the Witch again; partly because by the time he did so and she retorted he could have already discovered what exactly it was that she was hiding from him. "You collapsed the chakra-"

"Sakura!" Sasuke bolted up at the sudden shout. When he realized who it was, he had a hard time resisting the longing to pummel the idiot into the ground for interrupting Sakura's "revelation". His childish selfishness was suppressed somewhat when Naruto panted, "It's Ino and Sai! They were found by Chouji this morning in their apartment. They're in rough shape, and I thought you'd want to-"

He didn't have to finish. Sakura was already diving under the bed looking for her shoes while firing questions off at Naruto. "What exactly happened?"

"I don't know, enemy shinobi I'd guess." Sasuke tensed at the mention of enemy shinobi. Perhaps they were scouts and the mission had simply gone wrong. Unlikely he knew, but the mere thought of spies in the village was dangerous enough. There was no way Sakura could leave the apartment now… "But why he'd want to target them-" Naruto blabbed on until Sakura again cut him off.

"Doesn't matter. Damage to vital areas?" She demanded.

The Dobe held up his hands defensively. "They didn't tell me that stuff, Sakura-chan, just the basics."

Sakura wasn't listening as she brushed past the blonde. Sasuke knew exactly where she was going, and why. He also knew that he could stop her, but he had learned long ago it was important to choose which hills you wanted to die on, because you might be expected to. Over the last few months, he'd gathered that Sakura and Ino had become friends. Sakura being Sakura, she would want to bring her friend back from the brink of death herself; she wouldn't be satisfied if anyone else did it. But that was Tsunade's battle. He didn't care if she saw her friend or whatever, but if there was enemy shinobi in Konoha they would watching their target, even if they were half-dead in the hospital. And if they happened to see Team Seven enter, they'd be curious why Uchiha Sasuke was following a medic-nin into the hospital to see her friend- an annoying ex-fangirl he could care less about. They might be curious enough to follow up on the point and find that the Uchiha was hanging around this pink-haired girl more than normal and make the obvious conclusion. He didn't want to deal with the consequences of that.

"Sakura," he said firmly. She stopped mid-step. "Hinge." It was something they had tried to do consistently in the last week as it would be odd for the two of them to always be seen together for obvious reasons. So, before leaving the apartment, they always hinged, changing the appearance of their transformations as often as seemed necessary. This time however, the woman whirled around and opened her mouth as if to challenge him. That was when he realized that she was in her "top medic" mindset, and willing to quell anyone who even dared to think about questioning her. But, he was proud to see, his power over her wasn't entirely gone, despite what she wanted to believe; she shut her mouth and obeyed him.

Sasuke and Naruto did the same and followed her out.

"Hey, Teme, are you and Sakura-chan okay?" Naruto asked casually as they jogged along behind Sakura.

Sasuke gave him a look. They had been forced to marry each other, told they must have a child within a year, kept information from each other, and had had an argument over her healing Kiba. Did the Dobe really think they were okay? But, they had survived the week. That was something. So, since the blonde seemed to require an answer, he replied, "We're alive."

Naruto fixed him with one of those soul-cutting stares.

Personally, Sasuke was glad that he hadn't said anything.

Sakura barged into the hospital, and disappeared around a corner. Sasuke slowed down to a walk, waiting for Naruto to do the same and when they turned the corner, they released their jutsus. The invisible leash bound between Sasuke and Sakura oddly enough helped him navigate the maze of hallways she had vanished down.

The two shinobi caught up with Sakura just in time to witness her scaring a poor nurse into telling her where Ino was. Sasuke inwardly sighed. He had been expecting her to try and take things over despite the Hokage's warnings, but he hadn't been prepared for it quite this soon. He now realized how stupid that had been. When was anything Sakura did more than an impulse? The girl looked like she was about to break. After all, he reasoned, it wasn't her problem to deal with. But before she did, Tsunade herself came around the corner.

Naruto sighed beside him.

Sasuke turned to him and raised an eyebrow, leaving his question unspoken.

Scrunching up his nose in disgust, the Dobe replied, "It's about to get loud and bloody."

Sasuke doubted it. He wasn't stupid; Sakura was spirited, he realized, but he also knew that she had a tender heart, and conflict with people she loved disturbed her. Unless it was the kind of "just joking" fights that she had with Naruto.

The Dobe seemed to read his thoughts. "Remember our fights when we were kids?" Sasuke didn't point out that many people still considered them "kids", he just nodded. It irked him that people failed to see he hadn't truly been a "kid" since he was eight. "Well, times that by about ten, and you have the fights that take place between Granny Baa-chan and Sakura."

He didn't believe it. How could he? Sakura, unlike Naruto, would show more respect for her teacher. She'd proven that already. Still, the thought of the two most respected medics in Konoha in an all-out brawl was undeniably amusing.

"Laugh now, Teme. Guess who's going to get stuck cleaning up the mess since we're hanging around here?" Naruto paused for dramatic effect. "That's right, US!" Sasuke rolled his eyes. The Dobe really needed to get a life. Perhaps a relationship with Hinata wasn't such a bad thing after all.

The argument between teacher and apprentice was rather loud and intense. It was also short lived.

Tsunade threw her hands up in the air and shouted, "Fine then, have it your way." Sasuke took it to mean that the fight was over. But the Hokage did not back down. In fact, she glared Sakura down in blunt dare to go ahead and do whatever it was she wanted. He watched curiously as she stuck up her chin and strode past her teacher into a hospital room. Sasuke told himself he followed because of the jutsu, because that was the only reason that made sense.

Sakura pulled back the glass door of the ICU unit slowly, like one would pull back the sheet covering the dead at the morgue. She stepped into the room and fully saw her friend- or what was left of her. And watching her face, he could tell, it was that bad.

Beside him, Tsunade shook her head as Sakura trembled at Ino's bedside. He watched as she brought her fist up to her chin in determination, even as the tears flowed down her face. It was a scene to close to comfort for him. So he glanced over at the Hokage and asked, "How?"

She sighed. "Sai went ballistic on her. We don't know why. She gained conscientiousness once, but we had to sedate her. Apparently, she was attacked, and finally forced to defend herself. She believes she killed him, and she might have. She never loved Sai, but she trusted him. This destroyed her- emotionally, physically, and mentally."

Her words rocked him like a crashing wave. Sai suddenly attacking Ino, his wife, the woman he wanted to love-

It was his fault.

It was all his fault and he felt like scum. Well, he should. Because he had felt the need to show Sai just how hard life was for him, he had given him and overdose of emotional ability. And turned him into a murder. He was the lowest scum of all.

Sakura's tears were like a knife in his gut. He had done this to her, and to the girl in the bed. He had become like Itachi, Orochimaru, and Madara. In that moment, Sasuke knew he must fix what he had started. So he unleashed his sharigan.

"NO!" Sakura yelled. He looked up. "You can't." She said breathlessly. "That was my secret. Last time, it caused your sharigan to shut down. I've almost healed it, but I didn't get a chance to heal it all. Because of the previous injury, this time, it would cause you to lose the sharigan, go blind, or even die; and I can't-" She choked up. "I can't let you die too." She meant it. She still cared.

And he knew then that he was the worst kind of person.

A/N: Reviews? PLEASE? I promise you they are cherished and get royal treatment. :)