Hey, I'm back! Only 3 days and 2 exams later! ;;

Yay, it only took 1 1/2 chapters for Naruto to appear in a sasunaru fic >.> Also, I'm really sorry if you get any feelings that they're all still 12 in this chapter. Or just that Sakura's extremely annoying. I don't hate her, really!

Warnings for this chapter: Still not much. Boys feeling overly sorry for themselves? Dunno.

Anyway, here it is. Please read and review!

Haruno Sakura hobbled slowly down the street. Noticing the house of her old best friend, she decided to stop and catch her breath.

"Hey! Forehead-girl! You looking for something?" demanded a voice from the open second floor window. Sakura hid a smile. The insult no longer packed any punch, but the girls still continued the game, not showing their friendship openly.

"Hmph. Nothing to see here, Ino-pig." Sakura yelled back. Then, in a kinder tone, she added, I'm going to the hospital to check up on Naruto and then I'm gonna visit Sasuke."

"Pfft. Sasuke-kun wouldn't want to see you. Besides, I just saw him walking to the park."

Sakura stuck out her tongue, "Saw and assaulted, more likely."

She turned, beginning to limp away again. Ino smiled at her fondly, before pulling in her violet curtains and swinging the windows shut.

As Sasuke rounded the corner he came face to face with Sakura.

"Sakura?"

"Sasuke-kun!" she exclaimed, her face flushed with pleasure. Just then, however, Sasuke became aware of her cast and crutches. He shot her a look of slight alarm.

"What the hell happened? No one told me you got hurt during the mission!"

"It's not that bad…" she muttered, casting her eyes downwards.

Sasuke felt the unpleasant feeling of guilt, once again boiling up inside of him. It was nearly sickening. Placing his hand gently on her shoulder, he met her eyes with his.

"Sakura… I never said it, but… I'm sorry."

The pink-haired girl practically threw down her crutches as she flung her arms around him. Any touch of distance that she had put between them, trying to not act so much like the little girl with a crush, was erased. "Sasuke-kun! You never spoke to me very often… but your actions spoke for you! And now you're back. Simply that makes me happy."

Slightly embarrassed by her open displays of affection, Sasuke carefully untangled himself from the girl's arms and reached down to hand her back her crutches.

Sasuke motioned with his hand, and the two of them continued on in the direction Sakura had been going. They walked for a while in silence, one that Sakura found slightly uncomfortable, but Sasuke didn't especially feel the need to fill with meaningless chatter. They eventually came to the back entrance of the village hospital, which was evidently Sakura's destination. Realizing her injuries, Sasuke helped his friend up the stairs. It seemed slightly foolish to him that she had decided to go the ramp-less route, but he held back any of his natural sarcasm.

"Why are you coming here, anyway?" Sasuke finally questioned Sakura, before they reached the doors.

"Oh," she smiled at him, "I'm just visiting Naruto-kun."

Visiting Naruto. Naruto.

The implications jerked Sasuke to alertness.

"Naruto?" he asked, trying to hold back the worry in his tone, "Naruto's staying here?"

"Yes…" she replied cautiously, "You were unconscious when we reached Konoha. Just after we arrived, he passed out as well, from loss of blood. He had a concussion and Tsunade-sama believed that he may have had internal bleeding. I think that he is doing better now."

As they passed into the main lobby, Sasuke was facing a personal dilemma. He desperately wanted to check up on Naruto, and to verify all that Sakura had told him. At the same time though, he struggled with feelings from earlier. He didn't fell prepared to face Naruto. Along with the guilt, there was apprehension and a bit of fear. It seemed like the others had found it fairly simple to forgive him, whether or not he thought he deserved it. What if Naruto couldn't though? Memories of the last times he had seen the boy came back to him, unbidden. He remembered the look on Naruto's face, when it had first become clear that he wished to kill the blonde. He had nearly succeeded, too. Was that truly something that could be forgiven? Somehow, probably because of the guilt over that incident, it seemed like Naruto's forgiveness would also be that which he valued the most, as well.

Sasuke slowly followed Sakura, almost dragging his feet. Possibly he was steps closer to his old friend; but then again, he might also be that much closer to the one person who resented him more than anything.

Sakura stopped at the end of a long white corridor, and opened door 205, like she had been coming here all her life. He ventured in, just stepping inside the door. The room smelled like bleach, and Sasuke could see a small bouquet of daffodils on a table before the window. There was a white curtain in front of them, dividing the room, although the closest half was unoccupied. The curtain showed the faint shadow of a hospital bed, and a form could be made out, sitting up against the wall.

Sakura proceeded confidently past the curtain. "Hi Naruto!" Sasuke could hear her saying in a very cheery voice, "How are you feeling?"

"Bored!" came the familiar voice, "I'm already better! Why am I being kept prisoner in this stupid place? You need to be here more than me!"

"Did you take your medicine?"

"Sakura-chan! You're not my doctor! Are you even listening to me!"

"What? Oh, right! You have another guest!"

Gritting his teeth, Sasuke froze. His heart beat uncomfortably, but he realized he had no choice now. Forcing his legs into action, he slowly took the steps to put himself past the other side of the heavy white wall of cloth. Time froze, as he emerged, and for a second as Naruto's face entered his field of vision Sasuke felt things click into place in his mind, like seeing the boy had solved a puzzle that had been sitting at the back of his mind for ages.

Then, with a flash, his mind caught up with his emotions and he felt like a deer caught in the spotlight. The blonde and raven-haired boys stared at each other without moving.

Naruto felt a pang in the pit of his stomach upon seeing Sasuke. Remembering his anger and hurt, he tried to tear his eyes away, but couldn't. He remained frozen while minutely studying the smallest details of his teammate's face. Conflicting emotions flooded his consciousness.

With a final sudden burst of anger, he forced himself to look away. Clenching his fists, he let a hiss of breath.

"Oh… it's you…" Naruto said in as uncaring a tone he could manage.

There was a scarcely perceptible tightening around Sasuke's eyes. It was familiar enough, however, for Naruto to recognize.

"I'm sorry your mission caused you injury."

Naruto flashed him an angry look, "I wouldn't want you to waste any energy worrying about someone other than yourself!"

He received a venom-filled glare in return, "I never asked you to do anything for me!"

With that, Sasuke turned and left without another word.

Sakura watched all this with a helpless look, "Sasuke-kun…"

Appearing more or less defeated, she moved over and placed a hand on Naruto's hospital bed. Sensing her, Naruto turned away from the door and leaned back against the headboard. Letting his tense muscles relax, he slowly exhaled, his anger fading into irritation, "Idiot."

Sakura moved a hand towards the small blonde, "Naruto…"

He stubbornly avoided her glance, and the hand dropped.

"I guess I should probably leave," she said with a brave smile, "I'll come back tomorrow."

"Hmmph. I'll be outta here my then."

"We'll see."

She quietly gathered up the remains of Naruto's supper on the bedside table, then carried them out, leaving Naruto alone to watch the last rays of sunlight slipping between the blinds. Not being in the mood for TV, reading, or any of the other few available distractions, Naruto turned over on his side and attempted to go to sleep. But, closing his eyes, he couldn't find much rest. All he could see in the darkness was Sasuke glaring at him in apparent disdain.

Author's note: Whoa, I got reviews. That actually did shock me. But in a very good way. Warm and fuzzy way. So, thank you so much for all the reviews! XD

I'm really sorry if I made Sasuke seem a little too angsty/girly in the first chapter. I think anyone'd feel pretty bad after what he did though. At least I hope so, because that really continued in this chapter.

There is going to hopefully be a lot more sasunaru goodness in the next couple chapters, but probably a lot more shouting, too. And who knows, begging sounds good...

There will definately be more to this. I spend WAY to much time on the computer.And my favourite homicidal brother will be coming in soon. Yay!