Gravity
By: Fenrin
When he got to the hospital room the door was slightly ajar and he could already hear calm voices speaking inside, none of which were Sakura's.
The owner's of the voices were both female. He walked passed the door and saw Sakura sitting on the hospital bed, somewhat distracted. To him, he wasn't eavesdropping. He was merely training his senses…to find out what he wanted to know. Same difference, but he wasn't eavesdropping.
He leaned his back against the wall and put his hands in his pockets. He couldn't use his eyes to look in, because then he would be noticed, so he had to rely on sound. But since they were female, they talked loud enough so that he didn't have to try too hard. The only voice he couldn't hear was Sakura's…
"So, what should I write down in the report?" The voice was unrecognized. She was probably a nurse.
He almost scoffed at his own conclusion. It was more than obvious, since he was in a hospital filled with women of that occupation.
"Nothing is damaged, so there is nothing to record." He recognized this voice. The Fifth. Had she left from the stadium after their match?
"But then why…"
"Emotional shock. Give her a few days. I'll bet on three, at the most."
'Emotional shock?'
"Sakura, we're still on for training today, so regular time and place."
"Excuse me…"
"Leave the report to me, Shizune."
"Yes, Tsunade-sama."
Shizune, the presumed nurse, was the first to leave, and Tsunade came out a moment later, nodding to Sasuke.
"You can go in to visit now. She's able to leave anytime." She placed a hand on his head and ruffled his hair, much to his distaste. "When you eavesdrop, you should calm your body down first."
He glared.
She lowered her voice and leaned towards him so only he could hear, and more importantly, so Sakura couldn't hear, "When I want to, I can hear other people's heart beats that are in range of myself. Yours was erratic." She stood upright again and smiled broadly, continuing to pat his head in her contempt.
"Ahh, but I haven't taught her that ability yet."
Was that relief on his face?
"Well, she is my prodigy, after all." She chuckled to herself and gave one last ruffle to his hair before turning and leaving (to more than likely start her afternoon drinking session). Hopefully, Sakura wouldn't pick up that aspect of the Fifth.
Sasuke entered the room, fixing his hair and holding a grudge against Tsunade for that childish view of him. He set aside his aggravation when he noticed Sakura, who was sitting on the hospital bed, her legs dangling off the side.
She was looking out the window, her eyes distant. She took out a kunai from her pouch, and her face contorted into a pain that made her look as if she was trying not to cry. Her body shook and she closed her eyes.
'He's been dead for a long time, but now I know…that…since he died…he's been with me every minute of the day…even more than when he was breathing. I can't make him leave me alone…he's dead…so…now I have to realize it and wake up! I'm tired of being scared and for not fighting back. I should have fought back!'
Sakura raised the kunai from a good height and brought it down as fast as she could to her leg. She didn't feel the pain she had anticipated, and opened her eyes to gaze up at Sasuke, who was more or less looking bored, and with a kunai lodged into his hand.
She opened her mouth as if to say something, but he simply pulled the kunai from his hand and set it aside.
He couldn't reprimand her, because Naruto and him had done the same thing many times before. But for her, it was such a foreign sight, and he didn't want to see her feel the same pain he'd have to make an excuse to feel.
When you knew you were going to be hurt, it hurt even more.
Surprised, he watched her take his hand in hers. She said nothing, but her eyes grew soft and apologetic, as if to say, 'I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun.' That's what she would have usually said.
In her concentration, she closed her eyes and healed his hand. For a split second, he could only think one thing of this ability: 'miracle.' His hand was healed completely, as if he had never been hurt. He stepped back to allow her room to move, and she stood and checked the cabinets above her bed for some cloth and disinfectant. She proceeded to clean his hand of the blood, a feeling of guilt welling up inside of her, tightening her chest.
"Tell me what happened." It was an order that meant he wouldn't take anything other than the answer. It was a typical Uchiha approach.
She looked apologetic again, and shook her head. She made a motion with her hand to her neck, and then to her lips. She swallowed slowly, and her lips were pouty.
He looked away for a split second and gave a cough.
The bright green of her eyes was more apparent. He noticed her eyes much more than usual, and her lips. Her absence of voice made him pay attention to these aspects more. He couldn't figure if this was good or bad. He coughed again, in which she gave a questioning glance.
"It's nothing. Just some dust from the match…"
She moved to give him a check up, but he stopped her. "No, it will clear out by itself. It's nothing to waste chakra on." He stopped her because she wouldn't find anything wrong with him. He filled the silence, "Sakura," he started, his voice stern.
She shook her head again. Was she refusing to talk?
He grew angry. "Sakura, tell me what happened." He approached her and grabbed her arm a bit too tightly, as his eyes connected with hers and gave her a gaze that said, 'I'm not taking "no" for an answer'.
She gave a look of impatience, as if to reprimand him for being so brash. Her glare stopped him. She held up a finger, which he saw was thin and petite, much smaller than his own. She pointed to her throat again, then to her lips.
He glared at her for making him focus on her lips again. He swallowed heavily, his throat tight, as she mouthed to him two words.
He didn't catch it the first time, but had watched her lips close in irritation. She tried again, and this time he understood.
Her lips had formed the words, 'No voice.'
Sasuke let go of her arm, which was red where he held it. She shook it slightly, and shrugged it off, looking up at him expectantly.
His face heated, and she saw it. She probably thought nothing of it. Even he knew how she thought sometimes. She probably thought he felt guilty for being part of her lost voice. He acted smoothly, but carefully.
"Kakashi asked me to check up on you. You'll have your voice back in a few days, so it's not like its permanent."
'Emotional Shock.' He shrugged off the feeling of guilt, which at the moment, was over powered by his embarrassment.
He opened the door and she caught his attention once more. She motioned to the room, and flicked her hand at it, which he once again noticed were much more smaller than his own hands.
'Damn hormones.'
He made for the door, and she followed. Sasuke stopped, faced her, and let out a frustrated breath of air. "What?" He snapped.
She opened her mouth as if to respond, realized she couldn't say anything, and then placed her hands on her hips. Her mouth closed in what he presumed was frustration, and then she pushed passed him and made for the exit of the hospital.
He stood there for a minute, closed his eyes to collect himself, and closed the door to the room a bit too loudly.
"Hey! Don't slam the doors!" A receptionist from the counter called, as he followed after his teammate and held himself from yelling back at the woman who dared to bother him at such a time.
Sakura had been ahead by a few meters, walking with more sway than usual, and with a temper she couldn't unleash. Her Inner Sakura was swearing vehemently.
Sasuke was used to her voice, and was pissed with himself that all he could think about was how her hips swayed more to the right when she was angry. He continued to follow her passed the ramen shop, when she abruptly stopped and crossed her arms, turned towards him and waited.
She pointed to the ramen shop.
"You're hungry?"
She nodded. He paused.
A moment passed.
After a minute, she huffed at him, as if to say, 'This is your fault.'
At least, that's all he could come up with. He grumbled out a, "fine" and took a seat at the counter. She sat next to him, placed her chin on her hand, and flicked back her hair behind her shoulder. Her neck was bare, and her gaze was on the menu in concentration. She caught his attention and pointed to what she wanted on the menu, and he ordered for both of them.
It wasn't good to put a pissed Haruno Sakura with a pissed Uchiha Sasuke who had the attention span of child when his mind was wandering, and an even worse patience with others when he was misunderstood.
For one, Sasuke was used to his only female teammate having a voice to go with her body. Having only a body to go with a body was damn unnerving, and it was proven, that when one sense of a person was lost, their other senses increased in ability. Sakura had only lost her voice, temporarily, because of Uchiha Sasuke.
Sasuke's jutsus, although very affective and useful, were to blame. So now, it was his responsibility as a friend and a teammate make sure she got what she needed. She wouldn't take advantage of his hospitality, he knew that, but this frustrated and assertive side of her, that he rarely ever saw, especially directed towards him, was something he usually didn't put up with.
But he had to. Why? Because he was the one who caused it, and because he wanted to know what, aside from his jutsu, caused her to lose her voice. It was uncharacteristic of him to want to know so badly.
"Sakura, when your voice comes back, I want you to tell me what happened."
Her irritation subsided, and she looked to him for a moment, before looking away. She shook her head.
"Why?" He pushed.
She searched for something, and was in luck when she found a pen sitting on the counter a few seats away. She took it and began writing on her napkin.
'I can't. It's personal.'
He wasn't satisfied with that answer.
"Sakura," He looked at her in all seriousness. "If you won't tell me, I have ways of getting the information."
She glared and began hastily writing, snagging the paper napkin in some places.
'Your Sharingan has done enough. You have your own secrets. I have mine. Why do you care so much?'
Truthfully, he didn't know why he cared so much, and he didn't have an answer for it. His answer was half-assed, but it wasn't entirely untrue.
"I'll admit, you've grown stronger. If something's bothering you, you can't go out onto the field with a weakness like that. Right now, you have control of your physical body, but your mind is weak. You have to get over whatever has happened."
It was something Tsunade might have said.
She took a moment to let it sink in. If anything, he knew that she was trying to overcome being weak, and any form of weakness she'd go against it with everything she had. She reached her hand onto the counter, above the napkin. He saw it shaking slightly.
'It's not that I won't. It's that I can't say it.'
She paused, somewhat pained.
'When I get my voice back, I'll let you use your Sharingan.'
He watched her crush the napkin in her hand. When the food came out, they ate in silence. As if there was any other way…
She wasn't angry with him anymore, and Sasuke had cooled down.
He looked at the time. Usually, training with Kakashi would be over by now.
Sakura stood from her seat and stretched slightly. Now it was time to go off to train with Tsunade, and for Sasuke, he had to meet with Kakashi for the second half of his training.
She usually would have said goodbye, and he would have replied with, 'Aa.' But the silence was heavy, and they couldn't leave without a proper closing.
"I'll see you tomorrow morning, then."
She was somewhat deflated with the prospect of him knowing about her with his Sharingan, but she had a few days to get used to him knowing that part of her she liked to keep quiet.
She forced a smile. He noticed and sighed.
"I'll pick you up at your house in the morning."
She gave a questioning glance.
"This was my fault…so just be ready." He mumbled.
Sakura would have laughed. Uchiha Sasuke was taking fault for something. Well, well. This entire deal wasn't so bad. It had its' perks.
She gave a smile, which he was relieved for, and she waved before departing for training.
Sasuke headed the other way for his training with Kakashi. In his mind, he was already preparing himself for tomorrow. He started off a mental list:
1. Don't make her mad. (Her hip swings more to the right that way.)
2. Figure out obvious gestures. (Or else she tries to mouth everything she wants to say).
3. Bring pen and paper. (Kill two birds with one stone.)
"…" He forced himself to not quote Shikamaru.
He sighed. As if he needed Kakashi to offer him a copy of his perverted book (an offer that had probably been shot down at least six times before). He wouldn't say anything about it to the jounin.
At least, this was a chance to become more advanced in self-control. This perk didn't lighten his mood.
The emotions of being a teenager were a pain.
Getting a little Sasusaku feelings in here. I like it when Sakura and Sasuke are both frustrated...for different reasons. Hah.
Hope you like. I updated so soon because of all the nice reviews. Please keep up the wonderful support. It's really helpful!
And sorry that I haven't answered some questions. You'll just have to read and see!
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Thank you all so much.
