Just some fluff up ahead!

Mending Memories

Sasuke had just left the hospital to gather a few of his things so that he could basically live in Sakura's ward until she's been released. Sakura insisted that she follow him but after a very one sided argument between Sasuke and Sakura. Sakura was left behind to wait patiently for Sasuke's return. She often turned her head towards the direction of the window, even though she couldn't see. Just to check for his presence.

Then she felt the door open. Instinctively she turned her head towards the sound, wondering if Sasuke decided to use the door but soon realized it to be the nurse, bring her meal in to her. "Ino? Is that you?" Sakura asked nervously as she lifted her hands to try and feel for the nurse. She heard a tray being set down before she felt the cold hand of her nurse. "Yeah, it's me"

Sakura's face brightened up and her fingers closed around Ino's hand. Suddenly the atmosphere became awkward as Sakura struggled to find the right words to say "I-Ino… About yesterday" she began. "Its fine, I understand" Ino cut in, giving Sakura's hand a little squeeze. Sakura smiled then sighed in relief.

"I was worried that you wouldn't want to talk to me anymore" said Sakura.

"You're not getting rid of me that easily" said Ino, earning a chuckle from Sakura. Ino hadn't realized just how much she missed her laugh and begrudgingly, she had to admit it was all thanks to Sasuke.

"I'll be sticking around until I see my godchildren" she proclaimed proudly and Sakura flushed.

"Don't you think that's a little too far ahead, Ino"

Ino thought for a moment "Maybe it is, but haven't you ever thought about it? A mini-version of Sasuke-kun would be so adorable" she squeal.

"If I were to have a child, I would want a girl." Sakura said.

"Same! Boys are so hard to control, you should've seen the guys when they were in the academy. They were so annoying" Ino huffed and Sakura laughed, practically hearing the pout in her best friend's voice

"I would've really liked to see a little Sasuke" Sakura sigh, smiling sheepishly.

"You can keep dreaming then" a voice suddenly sounded. Both girl gasped "Sasuke!" "Sasuke-kun" Sasuke dropped his little pack onto the floor and nodded slightly at Ino to acknowledge her presence before he turned around to close the window. "Geez, you know there's an invention called a door? It's a very magical thing, it sends you to different dimension- like a room" Ino snorted sarcastically.

"Good to know" he said, briefly.

"You just don't want the nurses to stare when you're walking in" Ino teased. Sakura seemed startled at that.

"But you told me that the nurses don't like you. You're a liar, Sasuke" Sakura in feint anger.

Sasuke scoffed "Everyone's trying to kill me wherever I go now, actually" said Sasuke.

"But you never mentioned anything about ogling nurses, I'll become an envious little hag, Sasuke" said Sakura.

"Wait, how do you even know that they were ogling? Ino only said there were staring" said Sasuke.

Sakura laughed "Whoops"

"You observe my visits when I come pick you up from work?" Sasuke asked, slightly peeved that she just stood by whilst he get bombarded with women.

"Sometimes, but I just watch you walk in through the main entrance, don't worry. I didn't follow you or anything" Sakura smiled sheepishly.

"Hah! You don't even need to observe him, just follow the nurses' squeals and they'll lead you right to him." Ino noted.

Sasuke's face scrunched up in distaste "Women" he muttered, disappointed at Sakura's lack of jealousy for him.

"You sound like Shikamaru now" Ino said. "Speaking of him, how are things going with you two" Sakura asked. Ino shrugged

"Shikamaru's pretty busy, with the code and Pein and all. They're trying to find out what sort of abilities Pein has so that we can plan a counterattack" Ino said.

"Sasuke, Is Itachi-" Sakura was cut off by Sasuke "He's awake now"

Surprised, Sakura wondered why wasn't she immediately informed of this. Itachi was, after all still her patient. Tsunade was probably trying to keep her in the dark to cut down her worries for her recoveries' sake but she never liked the dark.

"So it was really him I saw, walking around the corridors the other day" she said. All the talk of Itachi has reminded Sasuke of his postponed training with Itachi, he's already made up his mind to stay with Sakura till her sight returns. Until then, he refuses to let anyone else be her eyes. Ino stood abruptly.

"I better get going, my storage shift is starting soon" Ino said "Ugh, Storage shift" she complained.

Ino gave Sakura's shoulder a little pat before leaving "See ya later, Sakura"

"Alright"

And then the door rolled shut.

"How's Itachi-san doing" Sakura asked all of the sudden.

Sasuke rubbed the back of his head "He's doing fine, he's taking a break from the ANBU and providing information for the strategists" he said. They were suddenly brought back to the topic of Pein.

"How long has he been awake?" Sakura asked.

"Around the same time you were sent to the emergency room" he muttered quietly, not really wanting to continue down this topic.

They were silent.

Sasuke couldn't guess what Sakura was thinking, he stared at her. Hoping that she would say something, anything because he was getting a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Sasuke" she finally spoke.

"What is it?"

"I need to speak with Itachi-san." She said all of the sudden, looked rather impatient. "There's something that's been bothering me for the past week and I think that Itachi-san can help me with it" she said. A jealous frown was visibly shown on Sasuke's face as he said "Why would you need him for" he said.

Sakura gave him a wry smile "Are you really going be jealous of your brother, Sasuke?" she said with a small chuckle.

"I'm not-" he was cut off when Sakura tugged on his arm, making him bent over. Gently, she moved both her hands to cup his cheeks. Blindly aiming, Sakura managed to plant a quick peck on his lips.

She smiled "You'll always be special to me"

Sasuke doesn't blush, no matter how embarrassing the situation is, he scorns, glares and snaps but he never blushes- he was always composed. So why can't he seem to control his emotions whenever Sakura's involved. He stood there, stiff and blushing every shade of red possible to the human body.

Never had been so thankful that Sakura couldn't see right now.

"I'll go get him" Sasuke said reluctantly. Sakura gave him a victorious smile as he rolled his eyes. The things you do for love.

Sakura was left alone to her thoughts once again. If it's Itachi-san then I might be able to get to the bottom of this. She couldn't shake the feeling, she felt like she was being pushed into a corner whenever she tries to forget about that person's chakra. The world had never seemed so big.

She heard the door open a few minutes later; she straightened on bed and turned to the door on instinct, the world is still dark. "How are you, Sakura" she heard the gentle voice of Itachi. A smile spread across her face

"It's been awhile, Itachi-san. I don't remember giving you permission to be walking around after falling into a second stage coma" she said rather cheerfully but something in her tone send a chill down his spine as if he was being threatened.

"Aha…" Itachi exclaimed nervously "You're a brilliant doctor after all, I've already completely recovered" Itachi said. Sakura chuckled then she fell silent. "And? I don't suppose you asked for me just to scold me" Itachi said. Sakura nodded

"There is something I need to confirm" she paused "I might have a chakra linked to the leader of the akatsuki" she said.

Itachi's eyes widened when the leader of the akatsuki was mentioned, the same man that he couldn't beat- the same man that killed Jiraiya. His down casted his eyes and narrowed them bitterly at the ground at the growing feeling of guilt and helplessness that began to eat his insides at the memory.

"How do you know it's his chakra" Itachi asked quietly.

"Because I seem to have connected with a fragment of his chakra receptors when I was trying to stop your bleeding" she said "You had a 15 mm thick fragment, lodged into your left shoulder. My chakra had probably melded with the receptor, causing a reaction then forming a link due to my kaiho abilities. At least that's what I came up with, I could be wrong, that's why I was wondering if you could describe the shape of the leader's chakra to me and see if I could match it" Sakura said.

Itachi thought for a moment then moved to sit on Sakura's bed. "Rather than describe, there is a faster way of doing it" he said as he poked too fingers onto Sakura's forehead "Relax" he told her then glanced over at his anxious brother "You too, Sasuke" Itachi smirked.

Sasuke snorted then folded his arms.

Without Sakura's sight, Itachi couldn't link his sharingan directly to her brain therefore he needs to have physical contact to gain access. Using his sharingan, he entered her inner world, looking for that chakra link that is different from the rest. Due to Sakura's abnormally large range, he found it that particularly hard to do, nonetheless he was able to trace down the odd one out.

Itachi lowered his hand with a grave look on his face. "Indeed, that is the chakra of Akatsuki's leader, Pein." He said "Although the bond is not strong enough to pinpoint his location, I can see that his chakra grows restless, he might be coming for the kyuubi soon" he said.

Sakura's eyes widened "then the strategists need to know" she said, alarmed.

"I'll tell them, but before that. Sasuke, do you mind leaving us for a moment" Itachi said with a charming smile to Sasuke.

"Yes, I do mind" Sasuke answered immediately and stoically.

Itachi snorted "How do you put up with this possessiveness, Sakura" Itachi teased.

Sakura smiled "I find that feature very charming. But Sasuke, could you wait outside?" Sakura asked too sweetly. Sasuke didn't like being left out of conversations, especially when they seemed important but when Sakura gets serious, he just didn't want to disappoint her.

And so he left the room, albeit reluctantly.

Sakura waited till she heard the door slide close "This is about Sasuke, isn't it" she said.

Itachi smiled "Your loss of sight was caused by Sasuke" Itachi said all of the sudden.

"I'm well aware of that" Sakura answered with a straight face, not quite sure what he's trying to imply.

"Do you know why?" Itachi asked, Sakura wasn't sure if it was a rhetorical question but decided to answer it anyway.

"The nerves to my eyes were shut off from my brain due to a traumatic experience, either physically or mentally"

"Yes, but why?" Itachi asked again. Sakura frowned not quite understanding what he is getting at. "It was because of Sasuke's mangekyou sharingan" Itachi said. Mangekyou.

She had read about the kekkei genkai of the Uchiha. It was portrayed as one of the ultimate dojutsu technique but she had also read that the Sharingan had a stage two. The Mangekyou Sharingan, they didn't specify a fixed way on how to achieve it, but it was noted that it was a very rare occurrence. Only a mere handful of clan members were said to be able to achieve it but it was said that each pair of mangekyou have different abilities and techniques that makes the user unique.

"You're a clever girl, Sakura. I'm sure you've read about the mangekyou." Said Itachi. Sakura nodded. "Before you fell unconscious, Sasuke had probably unconsciously used his sharingan on you but halfway he had achieved his mangekyou and that caused a distorted connection between you two and then affected your nervous system, that should also be the reason why you can't differentiate chakra signatures now" he said.

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked him.

"Because I want to take Sasuke away from you, at least for a month or so, until he learns to control his mangekyou" Itachi put it bluntly; Sakura's fingers clenched on her sheets.

Take Sasuke away from her? The mere thought of it has already made her feel lonely. Now she was the one being overly possessive, just this once she wants to be selfish and say no, but before she could say anything, Itachi cut in her thoughts.

"Sasuke's cursed seal is growing stronger by the day, it is either he masters his mangekyou and take control of his seal once and for all or it won't be long before he is overpowered by the seal again. Pein is coming, Sasuke needs to get stronger or else he won't last a second against him." said Itachi, he was right and Sakura knew that. Itachi was the only one in Konoha that has fought and lived after a fight with Pein, he has seen and experienced how strong Pein was and for someone of Itachi's calibur to sounds so defeated at the mention of his opponent's name would mean that Konoha is in grave danger.

Won't last a second?

Sakura knew how strong Sasuke is, Sasuke could probably fight on equal footing with Kakashi now and he was probably one of the best shinobi in the village and to just be told that her teammate's chances against their enemy are zero to none, scared the lights out of her. Pein was a monster.

Sakura's brows furrowed "No one said he has to fight" Sakura retorted firmly, trying to sound strong but she knew she was wavering.

"And what happens when the time comes when he faces an enemy he can't handle? Can you protect him?" Itachi was harsh, harsher than he has ever been with her.

He wants to protect Sasuke, that's why he wants to make him stronger but here she is, trying to stop Sasuke from getting stronger- But if he can't protect himself, who will protect him? Frustration began to build in her chest as she realized that she was completely useless now. Everyone was working hard, except for her.

When did I become this weak…?

"A week" she muttered. Itachi looked intently at her, taking in her features that were mixed with frustration and sadness. "Give me a week before you take him away." Sakura said then looked up to Itachi and smiled "I'll tell him myself"

Itachi smiled "Very well" he said, standing.

"Rest well, Sakura" he said as he walked towards the door.

"You too" she murmured softly.

Sasuke paced up and down the corridor, frequently glancing at the door to see if it has opened yet and when it finally did he saw Itachi walking out, nearly bumping into him with his pacing.

Itachi smiled at him "You can go in now, before you make a hole in the floor" Itachi teased as he poked his little brother's forehead then walked down the corridor. Sasuke glared at his brother's back that grew smaller down the hallways.

He entered the room "What did you two talk about?" he asked immediately, his voice ringing with suspicion.

Sakura gave him an awkward smile "Do you think I'm a hindrance? Sasuke" she said, trying to make it sound like a casual question. Sakura laughed bitterly then lowered her head "What am I saying? Forget I said that-"

"You're not a hindrance"

There was a pause then a small smile appeared on her face as she figured that he probably just said that to make her feel better. "I'm not saying that out of courtesy, Sakura" Sasuke cut into her thoughts,

"Its fine, Sasuke. No matter how you put it-"

"Sakura"

"I can no longer be of anymore use to anyone" her voice is but a whisper.

"Sakura" Sasuke tried again, beginning to feel irritated.

"I've failed as a shinobi" Sakura said, the words tumbling out in a choked sob as she looked at her hands

Sasuke scowled and grabbed her by the shoulders "Sakura, look at me!" he yelled at her, and then eyes widened, realizing what he had just said. Sakura's dulled green eyes looked at him, but her gaze never reached him. His features softened as he could only examine her face helplessly.

She gave him a bright smile "I'm sorry, Sasuke." she said, apologetic, the tears welling up in her eyes. Sasuke felt like the words had physically wounded him, the guilt was eating him from the inside.

"Sakura you should know by now that I'm not the type to say things out of courtesy" he said, then looked around, feeling awkward as he added "I'm anti-social, foulmouthed, short tempered and spoiled. I get angry when things don't go my way, but I never tell people things just because it's the right thing to say, I say them because that's what I think" he said.

Sakura's eyes widened then a large smile crossed her face "That's pretty rare of you to throw in your massive pride like that and admit your flaws, Sasuke" Sakura laughed. Sasuke twitched then raised a brow "But thank you" she added, her hands lifted to touch his cheeks. Her fingers tracing his jawline then moving up to brush her fingertips onto his lips, then to the curve of his nose then traced his eyebrows with a finger.

Sasuke closes his eyes as she moved her thumb along his eyelids then his cheekbones, brushing past his dark eyelashes along the way.

Sakura blushed then lowered her head, Sasuke smirked "Why'd you suddenly stop?" he teased.

"I-I was just thinking—that you have a very beautiful face" she said.

Sasuke snorted "I'm not sure how I'm supposed to take that" he ruffled her hair "But thanks"

Sasuke noticed that the tray of food was still placed on her side table and stood up "Do you want to eat anything?" he asked her. Sakura shook her head "I'm not hungry" she said. "I brought apples; do you want to eat one?"

A smile lit up her face as she nodded "Yeah" Sasuke smirked as he took out his kunai and began to peel the apple. Sakura listened, because that seemed to be the only thing she could do now— to listen. Sakura's hand lifted, slowly reaching towards Sasuke as he remained focused on the apple before he felt a little tug on the side of his shirt. He paused then lowered the apple and kunai then looked at Sakura.

"Sakura?"

Sakura seemed to have snapped out of it when she released her hand "A-Ah! I'm sorry!" she withdrew her hand then held it with her other hand "Just that… I wanted to touch you" Sakura mumbled softly. Sasuke felt that Sakura was acting a little off; in fact she's been a little off since she had finished talking with Itachi.

"What did Itachi tell you" Sasuke asked, although his tone was firm and sounded off as more of a demand. If Sakura wasn't going to answer him, he'll personally ask his brother. Even if it was his own brother, he wasn't going to forgive anyone that implanted such self-doubting in Sakura. When no reply came, Sasuke was about to leave the room to go find Itachi before he was stopped by Sakura's fingers clutching onto his sleeve. "One week" she said.

Sasuke turned back to look at her slowly. "Itachi-san is going to take you off somewhere where he can train you without hindrance in one weeks' time" she said. Sasuke frowned and his brows furrowed.

"Tch, I told him I was going to stay with you till your eyesight returns" he said, firmly.

"There is no telling how long it will be before I can see again and by that time, Pein will have already invaded konoha." She said. Sasuke stayed silent, of course he wants to get stronger but he didn't want to leave Sakura by herself so soon.

"I'll be fine, Sasuke."

You always say that, but you're not

Sasuke looked dissatisfied as Sakura withdrew her hand again, from her expression he could tell she was thinking again. Sakura was pulled back to reality by the scent of fresh fruit, in this case, a peeled wedge of apple. "Bite" he said to her. Sakura obeyed and took in half of the apple into her mouth, feeling Sasuke let go of the wedge, she lifted her own to take hold of it but only to be stopped by Sasuke's hands.

She could feel Sasuke biting onto the other half of the apple whilst she was still holding on to the other half, his lips drifting dangerously close to her lips before she heard a shaacck sound. And she was relieved from the burden of the apple wedge's other half.

A bright red tint brushed across the kunoichi's cheeks as she began to chew uneasily. Sasuke's grip on her wrist tightened as looked seriously at her. Sakura could almost feel the intensity of his gaze even with her lack of sight "Don't worry, I'll stay with you for as long as you need me to" he muttered softly. "I promise"

A small smile appeared on Sakura's face "Okay" she said. Sasuke's frowned, feeling like she still didn't believe him he bumped his head with Sakura's

"Sakura, I mean it" he said firmly.

"Alright, Sasuke" she reassured him. Sasuke straightened then stabbed another apple for Sakura, Sakura lifted her hand "I can eat by myself" she offered, Sasuke directed her hand over to hold the needle which he used to stab the wedge.

As she ate, Sakura could feel Sasuke's gaze on her the entire time, she felt slightly uncomfortable as she knew that there might be something funny on her face and Sasuke could be silently laughing at her. "Sasuke what time is it?" she asked all of the sudden as she began to poke around her plate to check if there are any more wedges left. Sasuke directed her hand down onto one more before lifting her hand back up for him to take a bite.

"Nearly 7 in the evening" he said as he chewed.

"Mm… if possible, Sasuke could you lead me to the bathroom? I want to take a shower" Sakura said. "By yourself?" Sasuke said, raising a brow. If he remembered correctly, Ino was supposed to come in around this time to help her. "Oh? Do you want to join me? Sasuke" Sakura asked with a smile. Immediately Sasuke turned red. Sakura could vaguely guess what Sasuke looked like right now, but it was still a little frustrating being unable to see it for herself.

"Ino probably wouldn't be coming in today, the hospital must be busy again. Beside I've taken lots of showers, I'll manage" Sakura said.

Sasuke ended up agreeing to lead Sakura into the bathroom. "Are you sure about this, Sakura?" Sasuke asked for the fifth time.

Sakura stepped lightly into the bathroom "Of course" she said.

"How will you know which is the shampoo?" Sasuke asked

"By smell" Sakura answered immediately

"Where is the towel rack?"

"To the right of the tap"

"What if you trip?"

Sakura let out a light hearted giggle "Stop worrying, Sasuke. I know my way around" she assured him.

Sasuke gave in and sighed "Alright, just call if you need help" he said. He watched her nod before he closed the door. Sakura slipped out of her hospital robe then carefully took a step forward, visualizing and remembering her footsteps. Although she told Sasuke that she knew her way around, however she found it more difficult that she thought. Regardless she managed to get herself under the shower head and turn on the tap.

Sasuke, who was leaning against the bathroom door, let out a breath upon the sound of the shower.

Sakura jolted at the sudden coldness of the water raining about her body before turning the tap the other way to even out the temperature. She let out a sigh as she let her thoughts run like the water. Her heart raced just by thinking about

Don't worry, I'll stay with you for as long as you need me to.

I promise…

Sakura let out another sigh "Don't go making decisions like that on your own…" she mumbled. She lifted her hand up to feel around for the bottle, once she got her hands on one, she popped the cap and sniffed its contents. She recognized the smell as her shampoo.

Sasuke was still leaning against the door of the bathroom and waiting patiently for the shower sounds to cease so that he may go and get Sakura's robes and wait for her to come out. He twitched 'For some reasons I feel like some kind of dog' he shook his head roughly and tried to get the thoughts away from him. He was doing this for Sakura, she needs him now.

Sakura stood under the showers, her hand reaching out to put back the bottle of body wash she had just used onto the rack. But it seemed she didn't reach far enough when the bottle landed on the floor instead, Sakura bent down to try and feel for it however when she couldn't seem to be able to find it with just her hands, she began to feel frustrated.

Sakura had seemed to become conscious of the tormenting darkness that surrounds her; she panicked but no matter where she turned to, there was always darkness. She was finding trouble in breathing as the haunting memories of her childhood began to flood her mind to the point of suffocation. The cave, the screams, the training, the cold, she could feel no warmth. Her body has gone numb. Even though she had told herself that she had gotten used to it-

She was afraid.

She clutched herself as she sat on the tiled bathroom floors and screamed for Sasuke "Sasuke! Sasuke!"

Outside, Sasuke was immediately alarmed by this and nearly kicked the door off of its hinges. "Sakura, what's wrong?" he demanded. His heart nearly destroyed itself when his eyes fell on the shrunken figure of Sakura, the water still running on her body as her hands clutched herself. Her nails digging into her skin and drawing blood, her eyes were staring off into the non-existent distance; her wet hair was clinging onto her back and face and her entire body was trembling uncontrollably. She looked so small—so powerless.

Sasuke didn't waste a second to turn off the tap before wrapping a towel around Sakura. Sakura's eyes seem to widen with a sharp intake of breath "No… no! Don't come any closer! Someone help me! Please!" Sakura begged, clutching her head and shutting her eyes. Sasuke tried to pull her back by taking her by her shoulder and calling out to her. But her trembling wouldn't stop. "Sasuke… help" Sakura's voice wavered. Sasuke snapped, afraid of what is going on in her head, he panicked. He hadn't even realized that he had sub-consciously activated his sharingan as he grabbed her by the wrist "Sakura, Sakura! I'm right here! Listen…!"

Acknowledging the presence of warmth within her darkness, Sakura released herself to cling onto Sasuke with her eyes opened and alarmed. "It's okay" Sasuke's voice told her. Her chest and shoulders heaved as she said with a frightened voice

"It's dark… Sasuke" her voice was muffled in his shoulder. Sasuke wrapped his hands around her towelled body and rubbed her back soothingly, scowling at him for not knowing what to say to her. Sakura buried her face into his shoulder as she spoke again "It's so dark, I'm scared… I don't want to be blind forever" her voice broke into soft, muffled squeaks.

Sasuke blinked and his head started to hurt, he saw flashes of images but they all disappeared before he could make out what they were. Wait- was that blood on his hands?

No, they weren't his hands.

They were a lot smaller; he guessed they belonged to a child's but for some reasons, those fingers... The way they were shaped was vaguely familiar.

It had only just hit him that those fingers belonged to Sakura.

He was seeing her memories from back when she was an Iwagakure assassin. He was aware that Sakura had a cold-blooded murderer alter ego that she couldn't get rid of to this day but she has learned to suppress it to the point that it no longer has any effect on her. Another thing Sasuke knew was the fact that the darkness has proven to be the trigger for Sakura's murderous side to surface as a survival instinct due to her traumatized childhood.

But why was he seeing this now?

Then he realized that his sharingan had been activated out of his panicked fear for Sakura, immediately he released it. Now wasn't the time to think about that. He made sure that the towel had been wrapped securely around Sakura before picking her up and moving her back to her bed.

He placed her down gently before grabbing another towel and draped it over her head and dried her hair as gently as he could. Sakura was hugging her knees as she looked down in a hooded gaze. Then, as if she had seen something, a look of fear flashed across her eyes. This didn't go unnoticed to Sasuke, in the midst of drying her hair, he wrapped his arms around her "It's alright, I'm right here." He said. Sakura's features calmed and she mumbled tiredly into his neck

"Sorry about this, Sasuke" she said.

Sasuke remained silent till he felt her trembling stop. "E-Erm, Sasuke" she began. "Hm?"

"I can dress myself now" she said. A faint tint of red appeared on Sasuke's cheeks as he released Sakura, straining to keep his eyes off her. Too late, he looked. Sakura's cheeks were flushed as she held on to her towel, the only thing between them were that thin layer of fabric he could so easily remove from her body. Her skin was creamy, the curve of her shoulder, the bend of her legs were tempting him beyond the point of no return. And her chest- let's not go there.

His hormones were disturbingly loud; every muscle in his body was throbbing. The only thing holding him back was his sheer will and he was afraid that was going to snap too. Sakura pouted and tried to cover herself even further "I can feel you staring, Sasuke" she said, crossly. It was only then did Sasuke manage to tear his eyes away from her and sit on the chair next to her bed with his back facing her. Warmth crept up to the tips of his ears as the embarrassment of being caught staring got to him, was he really staring that intently to the extent that Sakura could feel it? Would Sakura think he's some kind of sick pervert now? Depression had soaked him to the bones and he began emitting a very heavy aura.

Sakura, now dressed in a fresh set of hospital robes, seemed to have sensed his mood and tried to comfort him. "I'm done, Sasuke" she started out, but there came no reply from Sasuke nor did she hear his movements. "I-It's alright, Sasuke. I'm not mad about you staring" she said, then straightened "In fact, the fact that you even stared at a half-naked woman proves that you're a healthy young male" Sakura stated as-a-matter-of-factly.

Sasuke snorted 'Oh I'm healthy, alright' he thought.

He then groaned inwardly and sunk himself deeper into depression and burying his face in his palms. Sakura was beginning to worry now and wondered what was bothering him so much "Are you not feeling well, Sasuke?" she asked him. Sasuke heard shuffling on sheets and he turned around to stop Sakura from trying to get up.

"I'm alright, Sakura." He assured her.

Sakura then stopped climbing out of her bed and sat back "If you say so" she smiled.

Sasuke grabbed her towel and draped it over her still damp hair "Who was the one that told me to dry my hair properly or I'll catch a cold?" Sasuke said with a wry smile. Sakura gave a sheepish grin as he dried her hair for her relishing the feeling of being treated like a child. As he was drying away, his movements slowed as he wondered about something. He stared into her eyes as she stared back blankly. He wondered if-

He held Sakura by her face and made her face him completely. "Sasuke?" Sakura asked questionably. "Hold still, Sakura" Sasuke said as his sharingan appeared in his eyes. Sakura could sense the sudden build-up of chakra his Sasuke's eyes "Sasuke, what are you-" "Relax, Sakura"

Still having no idea what Sasuke was trying to do by activating his sharingan on her considering the fact that she's blind and dojutsu will have no effect on her. Sasuke on the other hand had something else in mind, if he could activate his mangekyo for just a few seconds, he might be able to enter Sakura's system and mend the broken link. The physical should give him the access he needs to get his mangekyo into her system and a partial activation of the tsukiyomi should give him some control of her memories. It wasn't a solid thesis, but Sasuke figured it was worth a shot.

Sasuke shut his eyes for a moment and did as Itachi made him practice; as soon as he's build up enough chakra, his eyes instinctively shot open. Without a second wasted, he had entered Sakura's mind. He stood in the middle of nothing but darkness. Strange, he'd expected to be something more here. He shut his eyes and his chakra flared, trying to sense for something- broken.

"Sasuke?"

He heard a voice, Sakura's voice. He opened his eyes and before him stood Sakura, clad in a white dress like the one she was wearing when they first met. "What are you doing in my head?" Sakura asked, tilting her head to one side with a questioned expression. To be honest, Sasuke hasn't got the slightest clue in what exactly was he supposed to be looking for. He was hoping there'd be something that's obviously broken, he looked around for it but there was nothing more than the overwhelming darkness. "Sakura-" he turned back to where Sakura was standing before, but she was nowhere to be found.

"Sakura…?" he looked around, every muscle on guard as he desperately tried to detect a presence. A blurry image appeared in front of him, he took a step back instinctively and held his stance, his eyes narrowing at the image that was trying to form something. It was then he realized that he was looking through the eyes of someone.

That someone was running through a forest, seemingly in pursuit of someone. He could tell from that person's line of sight that he or she wasn't very tall but definitely agile. He could make out that blur ahead was the prey. The shinobi ahead turned around and skidded to a stop, looking at him with a desperate grin. Sasuke could tell by the situation that he was just led into a trap, now he has to watch as this person deals with it. His line of vision moved to look around the surroundings and noticing the number of shinobi that had arrived around him. There was a flurry of hand movements and blood drenching the whole forest, Sasuke's blood ran cold as he recognizes that kunai that had been used to stab at numerous enemies over and over again and the hands that made those seals.

He was watching Sakura's memories.

Sakura stood up and looked down at the incapacitated shinobi whose body was barely recognizable then down at her own bloodied hands, trembling and still gripping tightly on the kunai. The vision blurred and sounds of sobbing were heard.

Sasuke felt a pang at his chest as he slowly reached out to the blurry image in hopes that he could somehow touch her, to hold her and comfort her and tell her that it's going to be alright- but he couldn't. He knew he couldn't, this was simply a figment of the past and what's in the past, stays in the past. The memory faded and Sasuke once again looked around, awaiting for the next event.

'It's dark…'

Sasuke's head shot up "Sakura…?" he called to her, trying to locate the source of the voice. "Sakura, answer me." he snapped impatiently. His movements paused when he noticed a very familiar smell. One he recognized all too well- the smell of blood.

However it wasn't just the smell of blood, it was a mixture of blood accompanied by the smell of moist dirt and decay that followed afterwards. Sasuke cringed at the unpleasant odour before he heard her voice again

'Please forgive me… I won't fail next time. Please… don't hit me'

Sasuke's eyes widened as what followed after were a series of whip lashings but he heard no sound of pain from Sakura. With every lash he felt his fingers clench tighter, his sharingan that he held during his time here morphed into his mangekyo and a line of memories appeared before him, forming a kind of hallway. However this time, the images were filled with their time as Team Kakashi ranging from their first meeting to their latest reunion. Sasuke made his way down the makeshift hallway, not sparring the memories a glance but more focused on what was ahead and in this case- who was ahead.

In the end he was right, Sakura stood at the end of the hallway but she was back to her 12 year old self. Her eyes still blank as she looked down and her body seemed poorly carried with her shoulder slump and her back slightly hunched. He immediately took her small figure in his arms; Sakura blinked "It's alright, Sakura. It's alright" he said.

The dilute in her eyes faded and she melted into the embrace 'Thank you…'

Sasuke found himself back in the hospital room with Sakura still in his embrace. "Sasuke?" Sakura spoke.

Sasuke's arms tightened around her "Just let me stay like this" he said.

"O-Okay" she squeaked.

Eventually Sasuke let go of her and they talked for a bit.

"So you still can't see?" he said.

Sakura nodded "Did you do something?" she asked him.

"I don't really know now" Sasuke mumbled. Sakura yawned, reminding Sasuke of the time.

"It's nearly ten, go to sleep" he said, moving to get off the bed before Sakura's finger brushed past his sleeve in failed attempt to grab his arm. He smirked as she pouted at her own miss "What is it, Sakura?" he said.

A faint tint of red painted her features as she smiled at him "Do you mind if we sleep in the same bed tonight, Sasuke?" she asked him. Sasuke raised a brow, not that she could see it but she could definitely read the awkward atmosphere. "I-It's okay if you don't want to though. I just thought that you've sleep on a chair for the past week and it's not good for the posture so…" Sakura nervously played with her fingers.

Sasukle smirked "Alright then" he said then leaned in to place his lips beside her ear as he said "but if something happens to you in this bed, it's not going to be my fault" he whispered seductively into her ear and left her to ponder about the meaning on her own as he removed his gear because we all know how dense Sakura is.

Sasuke took off his white jacket and sandals along with his pouch, holster and headband, but making sure to leave a free kunai on the side table for security purposes. Sakura snapped out of her reverie when she felt Sasuke sit on the bed, she shuffled to the side to allow Sasuke more room but made sure she didn't fall off the bed. Surprisingly, it wasn't as cramped up as Sasuke thought. At first they laid facing upwards with their shoulders touching, not quite sure what to do since they weren't exactly sleepy. "Sasuke?" Sakura started. Sasuke gave a grunt to show her that he was listening. "Just checking if you're asleep" Sakura said. Sasuke smirked, she was feeling lonely. He turned to his side and snaked his arms around Sakura before pulling her to his chest till their thighs touched.

Sakura felt her cheeks heating up as she allowed herself to lean against his chest. Immediately when she made contact, she felt herself melting against him as she breathed in his scene and dozed off almost immediately. Sakura felt her peaceful breathing and dared himself to look down and at the sight of his lover's features, he felt his own soften.

He felt a memory lingering in the back of his mind, something about this just felt vaguely familiar. He frowned and tried to remember but nonetheless he found his eyelids heaving down on him and he allowed himself to be drowned in deep slumber.

Morning came and Sakura was first to wake, she shifted as she found herself nearly suffocating in Sasuke's chest. She groaned and screwed her eyes shut first before she opened them, only to be greeted by something bright and overwhelming- sight.

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