blooming flower08 - haha I lvoe making cliffhangers

Sunshine-Peak - I DID, I DID! Oo

Tenshi no Hana-chan - Yeah, I do like reveiws But I'd rather entertain my readers than leave them hanging just to get more reviews haha. And SasuSaku is absolute love! Woo.

yinyang-sensei - But I wnat to make them longer xD

sakura13pisces - thanks

gaarababe - Haha I know he is >) I wanted to amke someone tease Sasuke.

Kacijo12 - Yes he is slowly realizing there's more to life. And look out for his 'second goal' hints xD

RedWillow123 - Fluff in this chapter xD Not much, but I like to make Sasuke and Sakura's relationship grow in time.

A little Sasusaku fluff here. More explainations about why Sasuke was at that certain camp in next chapter. I'm writing longer! Woo!

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The lamp had stopped swaying Sakura observed as she stifled a yawn. From the looks of it, it was a little past midnight. She couldn't sleep that night because her mind kept replaying the events that happened earlier that day.

She had been huddled up on her bed as usual, reading a magazine that Sasuke had brought her every two days or so and she heard shuffling outside the door. Sakura had been a little frightened of it, knowing Sasuke wasn't the klutz type. After a few minutes of gathering her courage, she made her way to the door and pressed her ear to the door. She could hear a faint conversation:

"You still intend to keep her here?"

"Yes." She knew that voice. Sasuke.

"But they're here… Looking for her, how are you supposed to hide her? I mean we need to-"

"We'll break camp. We'll leave her here and go somewhere else until they've finished their search-"

"But…"

"I know what I'm doing!" he snapped, "Now go!"

Sakura heard footsteps come towards her door. She was paralyzed, would she be caught? The door had intended to swing open, but the person holding the handle stopped when they realized something was behind the door.

"Hn. What're you doing so close to the door?" droned Sasuke as he leaned over, letting Sakura scuttle away before closing the door behind him.

"I-Um..." she swallowed trying to look not too guilty. He gave her a smirk and she saw that he held the usual try.

"Sit-" he commanded. She did so on the bed, fumbling with her knees out of nervousness. Sakura let her gaze turn to the floor, her mind buzzing with the consequences that might come to her for eavesdropping.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you…" his voice sounded a bit taken aback as he kneeled in front of her, shuffling the lettuce and rice around with the chopsticks.

"I-um. Sasuke-kun?"

"Hn?"

"I heard every thing," she whispered timidly. She had no idea what to expect from him. He was unpredictable.

Sasuke gave a small smile, not a smirk, Sakura saw. She was, however, very predictable. Sasuke had already come up with the answer when he calculated that she was behind the door listening in to his conversation.

"I know you did…"

"Then-"

"It's Naruto. He's looking for you along with half the other jounnin shinobi. Shikamaru had also gathered a few ANBU and is searching along with Naruto's team."

"They-" she was cut off by a piece of salad that he had pushed into her open mouth. She glared at him as she swallowed it.

"You like interrupting me, don't you?" He just smirked. Oh how she hated that, and loved it at the same time.

"Why are you keeping me here?" she finally asked after letting him poke lettuce between her lips for a while. She had given up arguing about him feeding her. She contemplated that maybe he needed this, to have someone to take care of other than himself.

"Ah. I'm not-" he lifted the chopsticks again, ready to interrupt her again. She wouldn't let him as she placed her hand on his and lowered the chopsticks.

"What do you mean?" she was looking straight into his black pools he called eyes. He gazed at her seriously for a moment then cast his eyes downward. That girl was going to make him go soft sooner with those eyes she had, he decided.

"I never locked the door- Have you ever bothered to escape?"

"I-ah… No actually…" she blushed slightly and let go of his hand as if it suddenly was on fire. Sasuke nodded slowly then tried again to put lettuce in her mouth. She stopped him again, this time using her other pull the chopsticks away.

"Why didn't you lock the door?"

"I wouldn't keep you anywhere you didn't want to be Sakura-" he was growing impatient. He had a meeting with Orochimaru to go to.

"Then I can go whenever I want?"

"… Yes…"

"Sasuke?"

"Hn?" his eyebrows were furrowed with frustration as he tried to reach for the chopsticks, but she held his hands back towards his chest. It would be easy to break through. To break those tiny wrists, he thought as he glared at her hands. Sasuke's expression softened slightly. He'd never hurt someone he, dare he think it, cared for. Isn't that what he said when he was younger though? A faint memory of him telling Naruto that he would not allow his teammates to be harmed came to mind.

"I-I don't" he could sense her nervousness as she placed the try on the other side of the bed, "I don't really want to leave."

Sasuke suddenly realized where this was going. He tried to gently pull away from her, but she held on to his hands tighter. He was silently panicking inside. He had to get away somehow. Sasuke never intended it to go this far. If Orochimaru knew what he was feeling. Damn.

"Just. After you left… I couldn't," he got a grip on herself. No way was she going to cry in front of him again, "I… Saved myself for you, I guess that's why I don't want to leave… If I do, I might never see you again…" she bit her lip, looking away.

Sasuke sighed as his temple started to throb. He brought up his wrists gently, letting Sakura's fingers come down to his elbow joints as he placed his hands on her shoulders.

"When I left Sakura, I never said goodbye."

"You said 'thank you', I know. But what did that mean, Sasuke-kun!" he head snapped up looking at him directly. A he tired to look away, she brought up her hands to his cheeks and tucked her fingers in the tufts of hair behind his ears, forcing him to look at her.

"Aa." He started, feeling his voice quiver. This was wrong. He needed to push her away. Break her heart. ANYTHING! Just to get out of there… Sasuke couldn't find the strength to. Maybe he was weak all along.

"I thanked you… Because.."

Sakura looked at him, her eyes full of determination. Her eyes-

"Because you made me feel human," he choked out.

Sasuke felt Sakura's warm breathe against his fingers. They say your fingertips have the most sensitive nerves in your whole body. Maybe that's why he felt himself shiver slightly.

"Your hands are cold Sasuke-kun…." Sakura started to rub her hands together in his and found her heart skipping a beat. How can someone who killed so many, still have such soft hands, she didn't know, but she couldn't pry herself away.

"You're doing it again," he whispered.

"Doing what?"

"Making me feel human-"