Date: 5/24/13
Rating:
T
Genre:
Action, Angst, Drama, Romance
Prompt:
631 - Sasuke steps before Sakura in order to protect her from an attack, Sakura gets pissed and yells at him. Sasuke gets annoyed because he's caring for her


"Sasuke-kun, what are you doing?!" Sakura exclaimed as Sasuke pulled her out of the way. Landing on the ground with a thud, Sakura watched as Sasuke stopped the attack that she herself was just about deflect. She crossed her arms; she was pissed. No, she was more than that. She was seething.

"Sorry," Sasuke said once he walked over to where she was sitting, extending his hand to help Sakura up. "I didn't mean to pull you that hard." But Sakura slapped his hand away from her face and got to her feet by herself, sticking her nose in the air as she began to walk away. However, Sasuke grabbed her wrist before she could leave and said, gritting through his teeth, "What the hell, Sakura?"

"Let go of me, Sasuke-kun," she said as she tried to shake herself from Sasuke's grasp, but this only made his grip around her wrist tighten. She sighed, her arm going limp; clearly, he wasn't going to let go any time soon. "What do you want from me, Sasuke-kun? We're wasting time."

"A simple thank you would suffice."

Sakura laughed, incredulous. "Fine, then," she said, charging chakra into her arm, snatching it from Sasuke's hand. "Here is your thank you." She cleared her throat. "Thank you for taking over when I had the situation under control. Thank you for saving me when I clearly didn't need saving. And thank you for treating me like a child."

"Sakura—"

"No! I'm not finished fucking thanking you, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura was yelling now. She knew she was being foolish, but at the moment, she just didn't care. "Unless you want take over and thank yourself for me because clearly I can't do anything on my own!"

Sasuke took a few deep breaths to calm down; he didn't want to do or say anything he'd regret. Now wasn't the time. They needed to work together to defeat Madara. But damn it, she was making it so difficult. "Sakura, you're being foolish," he said evenly, pausing between every word, "I was just acting in your best interest."

Was he being serious? Sakura was so angry she began to cry. She cursed herself. "My best interest? Acting in my best interest isn't treating me like I'm incapable of protecting myself, Sasuke-kun!" Hot, angry tears flowed freely down her face, and before she could stop herself, Sakura punched the nearest boulder with her chakra infused fist, shattering it into a thousand pieces. "God damn it! Even after all this time, do you still just see me as the weak girl who always needed you to save her?"

"Of course I don't!" Sasuke exclaimed as he grabbed Sakura by the shoulders, his hands shaking. "I just," he paused, bowing his head, grip loosening, his voice barely above a whisper, "I just couldn't do it."

Sakura bit her lip; she'd never seen him like this before. "Do what?"

He looked up and let go of her. "Stand and watch as a person precious to me got hurt," Sasuke said, fists clenching, the image of the life slowly disappearing from Sakura's eyes flashing through his mind, "or worse."

"Precious?" Sakura repeated, "I'm a precious person to you?"

That's right. Sakura never knew; she was unconscious at the time. Sasuke sighed. "You always have been," he said, turning away. He couldn't look at her anymore, not with those eyes of hers, wide, confused, bright. Always bright. "Still are."

Sasuke ran a hand through his hair. "You're not weak anymore," he continued. "I know that. You don't need to be protected. But I can't help it. I need to protect you. Because if I don't, then—" I don't think I could handle it.

He felt her grab his hand. "Sasuke-kun," he heard her say, "thank you." She sounded sincere this time, and when Sasuke turned, he saw she was crying again. But they weren't tears of anger. No, they were tears of happiness, gratitude, understanding. "But I can take care of myself. I can't promise that I won't get hurt. You just have to trust me. We're going to get through this. Together." She squeezed his hand. "Okay?"

"Okay," Sasuke said, squeezing back. "I trust you."