What it means…

Chapter 11 - Recovery

Don't.

Her head is pounding. She tries to move her fingers, but both her hands are caught in something warm and wet.

You.

She swallows. Her eyes flutter open, but her long eyelashes get stuck in a wet lock of pink hair. The feeling of a familiar warmth on the top of her head disappears as the sound of a moving chair echoes in the silent room.

Dare.

Her tongue appears slowly behind her cracked lips and starts to moist them. A hand pushes the lock of hair away and lingers on her cheek. She tries to open her eyes again and a shadow moves to block the light out of her sight. When she finally manages to regain her focus, she recognizes the azure eyes and whiskers of her noisy best friend, who's looming over her. She smiles. He laughs. All of a sudden, he's pushed and Sasuke appears in her field of vision. Obsidian meet sea-foam and for a minute, everything stays still. Then, as quickly as he appeared, the raven boy leaves her side.

Die on me, Haruno Sakura.

Two days have passed since she woke up surrounded by her team in one of Tazuna's room. This morning, when Tsunami came to change her bandages, Sakura noticed how quickly her wound had healed. This reminded her of the importance of sharpening her medical skills and of Kakashi's promise. Speaking of the masked man, her sensei hasn't spoken to her once since she regained consciousness, just like the rest of her team. At first, she really thought they were just giving her time to rest, but now she knows something's wrong. The look that Sasuke gave her is a mystery in itself, but even Naruto's joyful laugh hasn't been heard in two days. As she reflects on the odd behavior of her team, Kakashi enters the room with a tray of food. Without further ado, she corners him.

"Am I contagious or something?"

The silver-haired man's body stiffens, but he keeps walking in the direction of her bedside table on which he lays the food without looking at her. The silence stretches as he turns to face the door.

"Mah, Sakura-chan, I don't see why you would think that…"

When his hand settles on the doorknob, she bursts out.

"Sensei! Nobody talked to me or even looked at me since I woke up! What's going on with you three?"

In the darkness of the room, she can still see his figure hesitate in front of the door.

"I don't know what you're talking ab–"

"Kakashi, look at me!"

The absence of the honorific surprises the man and in a slow movement, he turns to face her. When his eye stops on her petite form, Sakura is surprised by the sadness appearing on his features.

"Sorry… sensei…", she adds, blushing.

"Sakura." He sighs. "I am the one who should apologize. It's just… You were dead… Well, you looked dead. And your stomach… this scar will never go away, you know… And you're still hurting, I can see it… And it's all my fault."

"What are you talking about? Haku did this to me, not you!"

"Aa. But, you see, I'm your sensei. I should have protected you. I let you down miserably that day…"

"You ordered me to stay behind and I disobeyed. I'm the one to blame, not you! Sensei, I'm sorry, but I don't understand where the problem is. Yes, I have a scratch on my stomach, who cares? What I did, I did it for you all and it worked. I'm alive because my teammates had my back, just like I had theirs. I trusted you with my life, sensei, and… well, I'm still alive, so it probably means something, don't you think? I put my life in your hands as I always will… and I will never regret this decision. I know how lucky I am to have you as my sensei."

With a chuckle, Kakashi walks towards her and places a hand on the top of her head.

"No, Sakura. I'm the one who's lucky." His eye closes in his characteristic smile as he ruffles her hair. "Come on, you should eat."

"Are you leaving?"

Taking his orange book out of his pocket, Kakashi sits in front of her bed and starts to read.

"I'll stay for a while."

Team Seven left Tazuna's family the next morning after an emotional parting on Naruto and Inari's part. The grandson of the old man seems to have grown fond of Konoha's most unpredictable ninja, although Sakura sometimes wonders how people cannot be irritated by his loud mouth… Not that he's been very annoying with her lately anyway. Still avoiding her, the boy and his black-haired teammate are currently walking in the front as they cross the Land of Waves' border, leaving Kakashi and Sakura behind.

"At least, sensei seems normal again", she thinks, smiling at him. His eye crinkles in her direction before returning to the book in his hand.

"Normal? No, something has clearly changed in him. I bet you became his new favorite student, outclassing the famous Uchiha."

"Well, I don't care. As long as he speaks to me, I'm happy", Sakura adds, eyeing her two teammates in sorrow.

At sunset, Kakashi decides that it would be best for them to stop for the night, Sakura's injury slowing them considerably. After ordering the girl to sit and rest, the man and his two male students begin to make a fire and prepare dinner. Whenever the pinkette tries to start a conversation, the boys ignore her, leaving to Kakashi the task of keeping the discussion going. After a while, Sakura decides to just turn her back on them and quickly falls asleep in her makeshift bed, exhausted.

In the midst of the night, she wakes up and after assessing her surroundings, her eyes lock with two blue orbs. Since Naruto is currently on watch duty, Sakura takes the opportunity to join him in the hope of making him talk. Seeing his teammate coming his way, the blond begins to stir, his eyes widening and darting in every direction. When she takes a spot next to him, he shifts uncomfortably and stares the other way.

"Naruto…"

"Sakura-chan, you should go back to sleep, it's essential to your recovery."

"Did I do something wrong?"

Naruto's head jerks and he watches her, surprised.

"What? No, never! Sakura-chan, you're perfect!

"Then, why won't you look at me?"

"I am."

"Naruto… You know what I mean."

"Sakura-chan… I'm sorry if I worried you. It wasn't my intention. It's just… I don't deserve your friendship. I'm unworthy."

"What? Nonsense. Naruto, you're always so nice to me. I'm the one who's unworthy. I was such a bitch to you and I never apologized."

"Don't do it! Please, don't. You don't understand…"

"So, please, explain to me!"

After that, Naruto sighs and tries to find the right words. Meanwhile, Sakura watches him intently, frowning.

"I… have a demon inside me." He blurts out the words, his head in his hands.

"What do you mean? You… have two personalities or something?"

"No, not like that… I mean, I literally have a demon inside me. The nine tails… Kyuubi."

Silence stretches as Sakura realizes what her friend has just confessed. Meanwhile, Naruto's head is low and he plays nervously with the hem of his shirt, an aura of sadness surrounding him. Putting a hand on his shoulder, Sakura interrupts his dark thoughts.

"Naruto, you really think I care about that?"

"Well… yeah. Everyone who knows it hates me."

"What? Naruto, that's why people are mean to you? It's awful. It shouldn't be a problem. This isn't a problem! Listen, I don't care what lies inside your belly, because I know what's inside your heart. For me, you will always be my noisy best friend who annoys me half of the time."

She chuckles and wraps her arms around him.

"Sakura-chan, don't joke with that, it's serious. I could kill you one day. When he takes control, I can't stop him. Just like with Haku… I could have killed him."

"But you didn't. He sacrificed himself for the person he loved. Honor his devotion and don't feel bad for what happened. And you didn't almost kill me, you literally saved my life."

"But what about next time?"

"We'll see about that next time, if there's a next time, that is. I know there's only good in you, Naruto, so I will always trust you. And if you need someone at this hypothetic next time to help you come back, then I'll gladly be that person. You can trust me too, Naruto. After all, I'm your teammate."

"Sakura-chan, thank you. You and the others, you're everything to me."

"Don't underestimate yourself, Naruto. You mean a lot to me too." She pauses for a moment, then adds: "Now, I hope everything will go back to normal between us." She kisses him quickly on the forehead and returns to her sleeping bag, leaving the blond boy dumbfounded, a smile slowly emerging on his face.

"Now… There's still one problem…"

"Let me guess… Uchiha Sasuke."

"Hm."

"Don't be so nervous, Sakura."

"It's just… he's not the type of person who talks his problems through."

"Maybe not, but you're truly gifted at it, so everything should be fine."

"Mhm..."

On the other side of the girl, Sasuke watches the stars as he digests the information he just heard. "So, Naruto is a jinchuuriki... Well, I guess that explains his tremendous amount of chakra." Shifting in his sleeping bag, he turns to his side and his nose brushes the pink hair of his teammate. He stares at her for a moment, then tries to go back to sleep, but every time he closes his eyes, he sees her face contorted in pain, just like every time he looks at his hands, he sees blood all over his white white skin, dripping down his fingers and ending in a red puddle at his feet. And when he does manage to sleep, he dreams of his teammates, all dead, just like he found his family four years ago. His sensei, his lone eye open, blankly staring at the ceiling; Naruto, face down, a big gash on his back and his hand outstretched in his direction, or rather in the direction of Sakura; And her, lying on Sasuke's knees, the same painful expression on her face and the same crimson red all over her bare stomach, one of his hands soothing her long pink hair, his other putting pressure on her wound, and her pretty lips, now almost white, slightly ajar, no air coming out of them.

Yes, Sasuke always knew what it meant to have people dear to him. He always knew how fragile life could be. That's why he was standing away from his team, from that lazy sensei, that obnoxious dobe and that annoying little girl. "That girl, what was she thinking? Putting herself in danger like that… I would never do that for her… or would I?" When his eyes finally start to close, Sasuke is already convinced. "My body moved on his own."

[AN]

Nothing to say here other than thank you thank you thank you! Keep on reading and reviewing!