Chapter 9: A Day of Worry

Sasuke paced the ground outside of Sakura's apartment. It was almost midnight and she still hadn't come home.

After Kakashi had left him with the crowd of newly admitted Konoha citizens, Sasuke had escorted them to their lodgings, left them in Lee's care, and vanished within minutes. He hadn't had any desire to hang around.

After he left, Sasuke had stopped by Kakashi's office only to find it void of both his former sensei and the shadow master ninja. Sasuke didn't know why he had gone straight there knowing that Kakashi and Shikamaru would most likely be gone. If Sakura was involved, Sasuke assumed the two of them had made a bee-line for the hospital. To be honest, Sasuke had seriously considered heading in that direction, too, but had mentally chastised himself. Surely Kakashi could handle the situation being the Hokage, he supposed. The Hokage had chosen to keep him in the dark about it, after all.

To occupy himself, Sasuke had spent the rest of his day looking for distracting things to do. He had trained for most of the evening, practicing taijutsu to avoid over using his chakra. When his heart was no longer in the practice, Sasuke had turned to the methodical task of cleaning his weapons. Despite all this, Sasuke had kept worrying. It was dumb, to constantly find himself instinctively feeling like Sakura needed saving. He had seen her skills on the battlefield during the 4th great shinobi world war; he had experienced her medical prowess first hand; he had witnessed her victory against Kido. So why was he worrying? The Sasuke he had been just a couple of years ago certainly wouldn't have been. He wouldn't have even thought twice about it. Perhaps he really was changing.

And so, to the Uchiha's embarrassment, he currently found himself lurking in front of Sakura's apartment under the cloak of darkness. He told himself he was just here to return the key. He would give her the key, tell her he refused her offer, then leave. But as the minutes ticked away, Sasuke's uneasiness grew.

Where the hell was she? It was nearly 1 a.m. Surely she would have come back by now. Did something seriously bad happen to her? No, he told himself. He was choosing to have faith in her abilities. He supposed if it were serious enough, somebody would have made the effort to tell him. Or maybe not, Sasuke suddenly thought. He had been mostly absent for the past 6 years. It made sense that the leaf village would operate on emergencies without considering him.

Maybe Sakura was just busy. Sasuke knew she was extremely preoccupied with her position as the hospital's head medic, especially now considering she had told him that a unit had departed for Kumogakure. Taking into account Naruto's persisting absence, Sasuke concluded that the medical crew must not have returned yet, either. Maybe, Sasuke suddenly thought, Sakura had already been here and decided to return to the hospital for the night shift.

Completely annoyed with himself, Sasuke pulled the key from his pocket and swiftly unlocked the apartment's front door. He told himself he wasn't snooping as he slyly investigated the living room, bathroom, and kitchen, glancing around for any signs of her coming and going. There wasn't any point in sticking around if she had gone and left already.

Suddenly, he heard the front door's handle unlatch and the Uchiha looked sharply towards the door. He crossed his arms, exhaling a sigh of relief and pretending not to feel annoyed as he leaned against the kitchen table. The Uchiha forced an expression of passivity on his face, quickly concealing his apprehension. He'd be damned if he gave her the satisfaction of seeing him even slightly worried.

However, as the door swung open and Sasuke caught the faint outline of a stranger, he lunged forward. Shoving the intruder back outside and to the ground, Sasuke unsheathed his katana and leveled it at the man's throat.

"Woah! Back off!" cried out a familiar voice, and as Sasuke's vision adjusted to the darkness, he was able to recognize the ninja laying on the ground before him.

Deactivating his Sharingan, Sasuke sighed, "You? What the hell are you doing here?"

Pushing the blade away from his face and rising to his feet, Shikamaru dusted off his shoulders. "Boy this is a drag. I could ask you the same question, you know. Should we add "stalking women" to your list of crimes?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the ninja before him as he secured his blade back into its sheath. Sasuke didn't even know how to react. Part of him wanted to demand why Shikamaru felt like he had the liberty to just walk into Sakura's apartment. Who the hell did he think he was? The other part of Sasuke was somewhat disconcerted at the fact that someone other than Sakura had caught him here; he decided to ignore this part. Sasuke had every right to be here if he wanted. Unlike Shikamaru, he had a damn key, after all.

"Not that I owe you any explanations," began the lazy ninja, "but, I've been looking for you. In fact, looking here was the last on my list, considering I figured it would be the last place you'd be." Shikamaru paused to give that statement time to sink in before adding, "Guess I should have looked here first."

"Spit it out," Sasuke sneered at him, "What do you want?"

"Actually," he stated seriously, "it's about Sakura."

Sasuke's angered expression disappeared as he heard this.

"What happened?"

. . . . . . . . .

Sasuke couldn't help but feel a stab of concern as Shikamaru relayed to him the events that had happened the previous night. He told Sasuke that Sakura felt entirely to blame for the little girl's death due to her absence the previous two days. Shikamaru then told him that Sakura had chosen to throw herself into her work, but as the day continued, she began to break down.

"Break down?" he had asked.

"You'll see what I mean soon enough," Shikamaru said as the two of them had quickly made their way towards the hospital.

What was that supposed to mean? Every time Sasuke had witnessed Sakura have a breakdown, it usually involved him. First, in the land of Water when she thought he had died, he had regained consciousness only to have her kneeling over the top of him crying. The time that stuck out most in his mind was the night when he left the leaf village. She had been waiting on the road that led outside of the village when he had arrived, bag packed and not wearing his forehead protector. That night, all Sasuke had thought about was revenge. Even though she had cried out to him, confessed her feelings, and begged to go with him, he had still chosen to sever that bond.

It was a bit ironic now, just how much he was willing to do to keep it, Sasuke thought as he walked through the hospital doors. Sasuke couldn't help but notice how different the hospital was, now that it had been rebuilt after Pein's attack on the village.

Ino and Sai were the first two people the Uchiha noticed as he made his entrance. They were standing by one of the check-in desks. Sai had his back to him but turned when he saw Ino's expression change into one of shock.

"Sasuke?" she exclaimed in disbelief, "What are you doing here?"

Sasuke didn't respond as he turned to Shikamaru who followed close behind him.

"Well? Where is she?"

"This way," Shikamaru said before heading towards the stairs leading up to the second floor.

Walking quickly, Sai and Ino caught up to them as they ascended the stairs. Sasuke didn't know if he was annoyed or somewhat eased to find Shikamaru not in any particular rush to reach the top floor. Sakura wasn't in any immediate danger, then. Good, he thought to himself.

But then Ino's voice interrupted his thinking. "Do you really think it would be good for Sasuke to see her like this, Shikamaru?"

What the hell did that mean?

"Despite whatever objections we might have," Shikamaru replied, "it's Kakashi's orders."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at that slightly accusative statement. He supposed they had every right to think what they wanted about him. Sasuke knew he couldn't really win his old classmates over after everything he had done. To be honest, Sasuke didn't necessarily care if they didn't like him. It didn't matter, he told himself.

"Well, as a member of Team 7," Sai suddenly spoke up behind him, "I feel like my personal decisions should be considered."

Sasuke couldn't help but turn and glare back in the ninja's direction, "And what decision is that?"

Ino grabbed Sai's arm but the ninja pulled away, crossing his arms as he said, "That you get back to your mission outside the village."

Sasuke ignored that comment and kept walking. He wasn't going to let that stupid ink-obsessed, poor-choice-of-a-replacement get to him. He would keep walking.

"Sai," Ino nudged, "you know that Sasuke has important stuff that only he-"

"That's just part of his excuse," Sai continued, interrupting her. "If you want to know what I think, I think it would be best for both Naruto and Sakura if you left and didn't come back."

"No one asked what you thought," Sasuke said calmly, hiding the anger that was rising steadily in his throat, "Now get lost."

"Unlike you," Sai began again, "I intend to protect my bonds with those two. That includes Sakura. I'm still not that great at understanding one's feelings, but even I can see that Sakura suffers greatly because of you. How is she supposed to find happiness if you keep reappearing and then ditching her again?"

Sasuke fisted his palms as they turned a corner. Reacting will only give him what he wants, he thought. If only they all knew how often Sasuke had told himself these things. He knew what he was doing right now was contradicting everything he had done up until now. But hearing Sai say this, Sasuke had the sudden urge to prove this idiot wrong.

Finally, they took another hurried left, revealing the Hokage dressed in the Hokage's white and red, leaning casually against one of the walls. He had his arms crossed, one foot against the wall as he looked up at the ceiling. As opposed to the rest of the hospital, this corridor's lights had been dimmed dramatically.

At the sight of his sensei, Sasuke finally pushed past Shikamaru, leaving the others behind as he hurriedly approached the man who had requested him.

"Kakashi, do you care to explain all this to me?"

"It's about time," he said, straightening up. After realizing he wasn't going to receive a response to this, the Hokage asked, "What do you know, already?"

"Not much," Sasuke answered flatly, still annoyed at the three ninja who were now eavesdropping a few feet away.

Sasuke frowned at his sensei as the ninja placed his hands casually in his pockets, sighing.

"Well," he began, "It seems our Sakura has finally found her way into Tsunade's stash of alcohol." Kakashi then emphasized his statement by pointing at the door directly across from the wall he had just been leaning against. Just to the right of the door, a small silver plaque that said "Haruno Sakura" labeled the door.

Sasuke couldn't help but let out an annoyed sigh as he pinched his nose. Despite what Sakura had just gone through, he could help but think: this was what was wrong? She was drunk? He supposed he was somewhat relieved that there was nothing more wrong with her, but the more dominant feeling that the Uchiha was feeling was frustration. He had been unnecessarily worried about her all day, dealt with Shikamaru, Sai, and Ino all in one night, and now, Kakashi was telling him that she had gotten herself drunk. God, this woman would be the death of him.

"That's all?" he spat out. "You're the Hokage. Go in and get her. Why do you need me here?"

"I've already tried," Kakashi said bluntly, looking shamefully away.

"We all have," Ino interjected from a few feet away. "She doesn't want to see us."

Sasuke just looked around at them like they were all a bunch of idiots.

"You call yourselves shinobi?" he insulted them, walking towards Sakura's office door.

As he grabbed the handle, twisted the knob, and pushed the door inward, Sasuke had to immediately slam it back shut to avoid being hit directly in the face with a thrown bottle. As the door clicked back shut, the glass shattered against the wood on the other side.

"I SAID STAY THE FUCK OUT KAKASHI!"

Eyes now widened, Sasuke turned back to look at Kakashi. The Uchiha certainly wasn't expecting that.

Kakashi just rubbed the back of his head embarrassingly, letting out a small laugh as he said, "You're forgetting that she's a shinobi, too. And a terrible drunk. The two don't mix well."

"Hn," Sasuke remarked, thinking silently to himself, hand still resting on the door knob. He supposed Sakura would be the rather violent drunk. She had always been the angry type with the people closest to her, especially to Naruto. Sasuke had always watched coolly as she exploded on him over the smallest things. There was more than just her temperament in effect here, though. After all, she was also dealing with a death. That was also more than likely intensifying her behavior. To be honest, he didn't know how he would handle this, other than to…

Twisting the knob again, Sasuke ducked as he entered the dark room. As a number of bottles flew over the top of him, he was finally able to locate their source. Sakura was positioned in the corner of the room, sitting down behind a pile of empty bottles, many of which she was firing off at him like rounds. She wasn't even looking as she threw and cussed wildly.

Dodging them, he was finally able to reach her. Grabbing hold of her left arm with his right hand, he tried to prevent her from throwing the next bottle. Sasuke found that keeping his grip on her was very difficult considering her inhuman strength, something he shouldn't have been surprised about. In order to keep from losing control, Sasuke ended up having to spin behind her, pinning her left arm and the bottle between them.

When she turned to counter him, Sasuke had already activated his Sharingan. Their eyes briefly met and even in the dim light, Sasuke saw the surprise in hers right before he placed the kunoichi under his genjutsu. Sakura immediately slumped and Sasuke released his hold on her arm, guiding her shoulder to the wall. Once she was in an unconscious sitting position, he stood and began to look around.

The furniture was knocked over and Sakura's desk was split down the middle. Liquor bottles and broken glass lay everywhere, but Sasuke was relieved to see that most of these were still full. She had definitely gotten herself drunk, but it could have been much worse.

He heard crunching glass behind him as Kakashi entered the room, stopping a few feet away from him. He also heard Shikamaru and Sai grumbling to one another about him, throwing in occasional insults. Sasuke ignored this.

"You don't think you went a little far with the genjutsu?" Kakashi asked, bending down to check on Sakura, "You never did have much restraint."

Sasuke scoffed at this. If Kakashi had wanted it handled a certain way, then he should have done it himself. He watched as his former sensei reached out to place a palm on Sakura's forehead.

"Her body temperature seems normal," Kakashi remarked, then held his ear close to her mouth. "And her breathing is level for now. We should continue to watch for signs of alcohol poisoning throughout the night, but I think her primary need is rest at the moment."

Sasuke felt his shoulders relax. He hadn't realized how rigid he was holding himself until that moment. Just as Kakashi made to reach out to her, Sasuke found himself butting in.

"I'll take her," he said, not knowing why he had felt the sudden need to. Even as he looped her arm around his shoulder, carefully lifting her up from the ground, Sasuke tried to talk himself out of it, but couldn't. Kakashi stared blankly at him, as if he were truly shocked the Uchiha was offering to help her.

A voice resounded from the doorway and Sasuke's glare fell on Shikamaru as the ninja said, "Like we'd really trust her with you."

Sasuke really got their attention when he bent down and tipped Sakura over his right shoulder, holding her up by the back of the legs. There wasn't really a delicate way to hold someone with one arm. Still, Sasuke found that he would rather do it than anyone else.

He walked towards the door but found that Sai wasn't giving way. Instead, the ninja held his ground and stuck out his jaw, speaking low, "If you think I'm just going to let you do what you-"

"Move," the Uchiha demanded, activating the scarlet in his eyes. The Uchiha had just about endured all he could from this one.

Suddenly, Kakashi was there, placing himself between the two. "Alright, let's keep level heads, here," he spoke with that authoritative voice that reminded them all that he was the Hokage.

Placing a firm hand on Sai's shoulder, Kakashi added, "Sai, that's enough. You are all forgetting that Sasuke is one of us. He is also a member of Team 7. We can trust him to take Sakura home."

With that, there was no more arguing. Sasuke pushed through the group, leaving them all behind as he descended down the hall and down the stairs. Once he was out the door, taking a firmer hold on Sakura and making sure she was stable, he disappeared into the night.

. . . . . . . . . .

Author's Note: Poor Shikamaru, he's become quite the errand boy. Also, can we get a round of applause for Sai? I mean, someone needs to stick up for Sakura. Also, what did you guys think about drunk Sakura?

Thank you all again for your reviews. I cannot tell you how many times I check my inbox after posting a chapter, hoping there will be one in there. I absolutely love the feedback. And for those of you who are angry about Sakura's current positions with the hospital, don't worry. Things will look up soon!

Also, this chapter was like a month ahead of schedule. I'm hoping that by knowing this, you will all be more patient with the next chapter.

As always, please favorite and share!