they take their shots, we're bulletproof / and i know for me, it's always you / in the dead of night, your eyes so green / and i know for you, it's always me

- i know places, taylor swift (1989)

the first thing he noticed even before he opened his eyes was that it smelled of antiseptic and flowers, which could only mean that he was in a hospital.

sasuke willed himself to move, to get the fuck out because he didn't need any help, before remembering the last broken fragments of his memories—

the sun on his back, the pain on his ribs, the blood on his hands.

sakura!

aside from the bruises he could still feel until now, sasuke remembered her soft hair grazing his neck up to the side of his face. despite the blood on her head, she smelled of apples and hope and everything he couldn't have. and despite the stinging behind his closed lids right now, he saw everything he could have ever wanted.

why was he alive anyway? sasuke knew that sakura pricked his skin during her last moments and he felt the effects of it right away, making him docile and numb, before everything went dark. he truly believed that as she died by his hands, so did he by hers.

sasuke already accepted that fact, that in his darkest moments where he thought he couldn't hurt her the way he hurt everyone else, he killed her instead— with his sharp words that stung painfully at her heart; with sharp blade that sliced at her delicate skin.

he killed her with his lightning hands that took her away from him. forever.

there was a sudden clench on his chest, the agony of knowing this truth manifesting not just mentally and emotionally, but physically at the same time— everything at once. he found that he could move his hand at least and he curled it into a fist, or tried to. his mind was awake but his body wasn't yet. he was only able to grasp the linen and held it as if it was his lifeline.

and perhaps this was it— his new anchor to life. these insignificant objects and insignificant thoughts might be better than important girls with pink hair and green eyes that would forever haunt his conscience.

sasuke never wanted to wake up. he just wanted that last moment with sakura to be his last. why did he have to be alive and not her? he was pure hatred and revenge; his name associated with fear and blood.

but sakura? she was good and she was light. she gave everything she had and when she was finally empty, she gave even more without hesitation.

and that's what hurts the most to sasuke— knowing that there would be no one to give him her.

a small sound came from somewhere and for a moment he put his grief on the side and was on high alert in an instant. footsteps slowly walked to where he was and sasuke got angry at how vulnerable he seemed to be. he didn't know where he was and he wanted to get out.

there was a dragging sound of something metal rattling and something that sounded like wheels scraping across the floor. he waited for this person to grab him, stab him or anything; but none came. instead, sasuke felt a touch of a hand on his.

it was a small but firm grip on his hand, and the smell of apples dominated his senses.

his heart stopped.

sasuke forced himself to open his eyes to see who it was.

he needs to know who it was.

gods still look down at him for he was able to slowly peel his lids open and even move his arm. everything was quiet, except for the soft whirr of a machine beside him, and his exceptionally loud beating heart.

it was nighttime, he learned, probably even at the wee hours of the morning. the window was open and the summer wind blew through it where there is a bouquet of daffodils by the sill.

sasuke slowly roamed his eyes around his surroundings until his vision fell to his side where a figure stood. the moonlight illuminated her face and in the dead of night, her eyes glittered like emeralds and everything was all right again.

because sakura haruno was alive and breathing and was right there looking down at him as she stands with a glucose stand attached to her. she was alive and smiling as he stared at her.

"sasuke-kun…"

just like in their last fight, she was the one who called him first, pushing him into action. with a surprising strength he didn't have earlier, he slowly reached out to grab the back of her head and tugged her down.

sasuke buried his face against her neck where he could feel her pulse accelerating and breathed again. all the anguish he felt and the regret he knew he would live forever with were released through his exhale together with her name from his lips.

"sakura…"

voice hoarse and body heavy, he slumped against her tiny form. her free arm without the needle wrapped around him and squeezed as tight as she could.

"we're home," she whispered against his hair.

sasuke just nodded his head and didn't say a word, basked in the revelation that his life shouldn't be as dark as he thought it would be. he realized that he has a chance to seek the light and stay there.

stay here— in konoha, and in sakura's arms.

there would be time to repent for his sins and to clean the blood on his hands, or at least the guilt it left. there would be time to take everybody's shots at him and to take it with open arms and open mind. there would be time to realize that he would never be alone— not with naruto, and kakashi, and sakura by his side.

but today when the rest of the world was asleep and only the two of them exist inside this hospital room, sasuke knew that it's time—

it's time to accept the truth that for him, it's always gonna be sakura.

and i know for you, it's always me.

a/n: sequel for the last prompt, the story of us :) this was crammed huhu sorry!