CHAPTER THREE

(I was sick when I first wrote the last chapters so I apologize for lack of description and depth, I hate when people put like 50 billion things before the story so I'll refrain)

(Sakura's POV)

It was late when I finally started back. God knows sensei had pushed me. My arm was bleeding from where the sparing stick had stuck me. It's funny how quickly you can end up dead if you're not paying attention. I walked home, wary at how dark it was. After Sasuke's and mine quick meeting I felt, drained. Who knows why, but just seeing him there, so fragile, his strong, lean body covered in dried blood and bruises. His leg was worse then I had led on. Then skin would take ages to completely heal over, and there would always be a scar, but I guess that was Itachi's final attack before Sasuke killed him. Naruto of course was hesitant in telling me that Sasuke had finally accomplished his revenge. Whether because he thought I would take it as an o.k. to love Sasuke again or because he knew it hurt Sasuke to kill his own flesh and blood I don't know.

It's best though not to let Sasuke know that I know. If he wants to tell us, he can, but Sasuke is Sasuke. Hmmmm, it smells like, ramen noodles.

"Hey! Sakura, you look famished, come eat with us," Us? Who in there right mind would eat with Naruto, if in his way he might devour your fingers in his search for more Ramen. But sitting at the ramen bar were the 9 rookies. Well, were not rookies in more, but the name stuck. I smiled and limped slowly over to them, trying my hardest not to show my arm and walking as upright and carefully as I could. Taking the last seat next to Naruto who was talking in low whispers with his sweetheart Hinta. Although I always was jealous of their relationship, when they started going out and Naruto finally gave up on me, it was a became on of the cutest things to watch. Next to him was Neji, and next to him was, Sasuke.

Ino was babbling away to him. Sasuke was basically ignoring her, because Ino really hadn't changed. Her hair was now being worn down but other then that the customary purple and annoying attitude were the same. Me and her had mended out relationship but when she glanced up and met my eyes, there were no signs of friendship, just pure, unadulterated hate. It was war, but I didn't real like playing.

"Sakura!" the rest of the party, including Sasuke, turned to me, I smiled and sat down, keeping my eyes on Ino. "How was training?"

"Fine," this was just chit chat, she would drop the bomb soon though, and I could tell by the way her hand was now lying next to Sasuke'.

"Thank-you for getting those cranky old nurses to release Sasuke so early. If it hadn't been for you he would still be there all month! Well, I guess when you REALLY care about someone you'll do almost anything," I clenched my jaw. Ino, where were you going with this? "To bad though, I heard that you were his medic. You to could have spent some quality time together. But I guess Sakura was just nervous she was too weak to be his medic," That was too much. Ino could be so cruel sometimes. I stood up and apologized to the Ramen man who had just set a cup of ramen in front of me.

"You can have it Naruto," I started walking again, but as I passed Ino she had to open her mouth.

"Its o.k. Sakura, I know you're just a weak little girl, but I'm a woman and I'll take care of Sasuke. To weak to protect your family, to weak to protect…" but I didn't let her finish her sentence. I grabbed her by the shirt and through her into the road. She gasped for air as she struggled to get up. I attempted to continue walking but she ran and blocked my path.

"Move,"

"Come on Sakura, just because Sasuke will never love you doesn't mean you have to get so upset," With that we began. I moved as if to punch and she ducked giving me a good shot to her face with me knee. She grabbed my ankles and pulled me over, but I had already got up and was pushing her face into the ground. I lifted it up and reached for her shirt, pulling the beaten girl up and dragged her to the ramen stand. She fidgeted but allowed me to drop her on the seat and put a wet napkin on the large, ugly looking mark my knee had left.

"Ino, next time you talk to me like that, I'll do worse," then I left calling good-night over my shoulder. But Naruto wouldn't let me get away.

"Hey, Sakura, Sasuke doesn't have any place to sleep,"

"Well, can't you just find someone to house him for a few days?"

"That's the thing. Nobody respects Sasuke anymore and Kakashi said we need to keep him under careful watch, just in case you know!"

"What does that have to do with me?"

"I'm leaving on a mission tomorrow morning, so he can have my apartment after, but, tonight. Your apartment is bigger then mine, besides….." I watched him struggle with the right words for a while before I sighed and spoke.

"Listen, I don't care, but what makes you think he would want to even share a sandwich with me let alone the same apartment,"

"I don't care Sakura," I gasped, how the hell had he managed to sneak up on us?

"Fine and I followed Sasuke, surprised at how quickly it had been arranged that the boy who only ever called me annoying would be sleeping in the same house as me.

Sauce's POV

What did Ino mean by protecting Sakura's family? Whatever she meant by it, it must have been important because it affected Sakura. Her peaceful green eyes snapped, becoming large and angry. Before we could blink Sakura had Ino laying headfirst in the middle of the road, her hands curled into fist. Whatever they were thinking, I really didn't care, and soon I went back to picking at my ramen, wondering why I had been tricked by Naruto to buy the repulsing dish.

I could hear the girls fighting behind me, and everyone seemed to be quite interested in the fight, but I really didn't care. I went over Naruto's proposal in my head

"'Why not just sleep at Sakura's. She has a big place, she can 'keep an eye on you', and she's a medic ninja just in case! You're not going to find a better deal then that Sasuke. Besides, no one else will take you in, unless you want to share a room with Ino,'"

Sakura threw Ino back onto the chair beside me. Ino's eyes were slightly crossed and a large swelling bruise was on her chin. Sakura seemed to have knocked her old friend out. I watched as she attempted to clean up Ino, and placed a wet napkin on her bruise to reduce the swelling. Then Sakura gave me a smile and left. She waved her hand calling good-night to the rest of the rookies, who were wolfing down their ramen. Naruto ran to catch up with her. I gave one more look at Ino and made my decision.

"I don't care Sakura," I told her as I passed. I guess I was going to spend the evening with Sakura, unless of course I wanted to sleep outside, where the sky was threatening rain. We continued in silence, even after Naruto left to go bid good-night to Hinta. Sakura was walking strange. Putting weight down only on her right leg, pushing her right hard into the ground and then barely moving the left, but still trying to make it even with her right. Her arm had a deep and ugly looking gash in it. The blood dripping slowly onto her hair. Now that I looked at her. She seemed so, rough. There was a certain toughness she seemed to hold now. Like the world was on her shoulders. Maybe it was just the fact she was limping along the road, ignoring the obvious pain. Or not caring that her lovely hair stuck to her forehead with sweat, or that the bottom were hard from crusted blood.

Her pace was slow and finally I became so aggravated I stopped. "Are you going to walk like this the whole way," she looked up, surprised.

"What?" she muttered.

"Come on," I beckoned her to come over, when she didn't move. I rolled my eyes and reached over, gripping her under her arms and swinging her into a bridal style position. She stiffened, but then softened and leaned into my chest. It was an awkward, but strangely comfortable position. I walked, my arms holding her close, at a gentle, but steady pace. When we finally reached her home, I looked down exceptionally.

"It's open," she muttered, her eyes closed. I pushed the door open and walked in. I walked farther in, taking in the clean, stylish surroundings. I placed her on the high backed white couch and walked in the general direction of her kitchen. There were pictures of Team 7. Naruto giving a peace sign, Kakashi grinning stupidly under that mask, Sakura grinning, and me, glaring at the camera.

I grabbed a few rags that were sitting in a large pile next to a bottle of water. She obviously was a dedicated medic, as supplies littered her kitchen. I came back into the living room, only to find Sakura asleep on the couch. Her hair in front of her face, her shirt riding up as she would change position. Why was I being so nice? I would just fix her arm and leg, and then leave her be for the rest of the night.

I sat down next to her and shook her shoulder. Her eyes snapped open and she sat up.

"What,"

"You need to fix your wounds,"

"What, oh. There just scratches,"

"Whatever just fix them so you stop bleeding every where,"

"What, oh. I'm so sorry Sasuke," the front my shirt glistening with her blood. I scoffed and grasped her arm, pulling her close.

"How did this happen," I asked as I started cleaning her arm.

"Training,"

I started wrapping the gash in the white ribbon, then watched as it slowly turned crimson. Next we moved to her leg. She rolled up the bunchy black material. Underneath the many folds of cloth were small, but strong pale legs. Her left knee seemed to be hanging at a weird angle. I pushed down underneath the cap and she sucked in a quick breath. I smirked and slowly rubbed the bruise. She leaned back and I grabbed her hands. She nodded understanding my meaning. She gathered some chakra and healed the bruise, the blue and green slowly fading away.

By this time Sakura had moved to be sitting in my lap. I had an arm around her waist without realizing it. We quickly moved away and she stretched thanking me quickly for the ride and the medical attention.

"I might have a big place but there's only one bedroom. You take it o.k., I need to do some work tonight out here anyway. I nodded and stood and walking towards the door I suspected was the bedroom. Suspect wrong. A tidy blue bathroom with a large bathtub and shower was behind the oak door. "If you give me your shirt I can probably save it before the blood stains," she whispered this as if anything louder would make me, do something.

I walked towards the only other door and pushed it open. Her bedroom was large. A simple, but pretty and plain bed, white sheets and a dark blue comforter. Wood furniture, polished, and very clean cut. I looked to her. She was playing with some fruit on the kitchen counter. I grabbed the bottom of my shirt and pulled it off. I tossed it at her. She caught the soiled black fabric without even looking up and through into the sink. She turned then and began cleaning.

Women are strange creatures, I then walked into the room and sat on the bed. Taking more of the surroundings I could tell she didn't spend much time in here. Spotless, only the cubart over her desk looked like it had been touched. I walked over and opened it. Clothing fell out and my face turned bright red. Of course she chose that time to walk in and discover me covered in her night time wear. A small played at her lips as she walked over and helped me shove it back inside.

"Thank-you Sasuke for picking out what I'm wearing tonight." she meant the nightgown that was stuck to my foot. I threw it at her and turned away, gazing though the window at the night time sky. She left, leaving me my now clean, but wet shirt on the bed. I exited the room into the living room, taking time incase there were more unexpected surprises. Sakura was in the kitchen, and heavenly smells were seducing me. They caressed my bare chest and played with my taste bud, making my mouth water.

"I thought since ramen isn't exactly your favorite either I would just throw something together," she called through the open doorway, "just make yourself comfortable until its ready," I cruised her home. Picking up the many medical books and leafing through the pages. Finally I made it back to the kitchen. I leaned against the doorway and watched her finish up the meal and set the results in the dining room. She turned and gave me a startled smile.

"Ready to eat Sasuke?"

"….."

We sat and she served up the pasta creation. I looked questioning down at the red and white noodles.

"Its not poison, I promise," Sakura smiled and began eating her own. I followed suit and found that it actually tasted quite pleasant.

(Regular POV)

They sat in silence for awhile, eating Sakura's fine cooking. Sakura glanced up at Sasuke and wiped her mouth.

"Sasuke, do you, do you still have the cursed seal," Sasuke's cold black eyes flickered up. She studied his handsome, masculine face, searching for truth in his vacant expression. Sasuke watched her study him.

"why would you ask that,"

"……, what, I mean, well, I was just, just"

"being nosy, annoying,"

"NO, I just wanted to know 'cause, um"

"cause your still the same annoying girl who always stuck her nose into things that didn't concern her!"

"No, why do you have to be so mean!"

"THEN DON'T ASK SUCH STUPID QUISTIONS!"

"I'M SORRY THAT I WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR WELL BEING, I'M A MEDIC NINJIA FOR GOD DAMN SAKES," Sasuke stormed out of the room, he reached the living room before Sakura came after him.

"YOU KNOW THE WORLD DOESN'T REVOLVE AROUND YOU. SHOW SOME COMPASSION. YOU 'RE SO HEARTLESS AND COLD. MAYBE I WAS TRYING TO BE KIND TO YOU," Sasuke had enough and griped her by the wrist, slamming her roughly into the wall, his body holding her against the wall.

"WHY DO YOU CARE!"

"BECAUSE I CARE TOO MUCH ABOUT YOU TO KNOW YOUR SUFFERING!"

Sasuke closed the distant between them and shoved his lips into her soft, pink ones. She gasped into his mouth, and he licked her lower lip. He suddenly withdrew and she crumpled to the floor.

"I shouldn't have done that," Sasuke hurried into the bedroom and slammed the door. Sakura was left breathing heavily on the living room floor.