Author's Note: Sorry for the really long wait! College has been murder the past couple of months. Hoping you guys enjoy this! Think of this as your Halloween treat from me! And if you want to treat me back, reviews, likes, and shares are always my favorite!

P.S. "Hanakotoba" is the Japanese equivalent of the Language of the Flowers. Apparently, there are several meanings to every flower and if that isn't complicated enough, flowers mean one thing when they are sent in one situation and another if they are given in a different situation. Fun fact.

Pairing: SasuSaku

Chapter 10: "The Gift of Flowers"

Sakura groaned as she rocked back and forth slightly. Her head pounded as she realized blood was rushing to her head from being upside down. Peeking in the darkness, it took her a hazy minute to realize that she was being carried and that she was watching the back of someone's feet as they walked.

"Kakashi?" she murmured. She tried to lift up slightly but a wave of nausea came over and she barely managed to keep from throwing up. She heard someone speak, a deep murmur that she couldn't distinguish. The world was a blur around her and she realized her body wasn't processing sound. Her vision, she realized, was also cloudy.

Why was she being carried? What was going on?

"Put me down," she managed to get out, a small alarm going off in her head that maybe it wasn't Kakashi helping her, but it was an enemy. Why else was she so dizzy? Had they poisoned her? Her ninja instincts told her she should try to get away, to kick, scream, to do anything to free herself. Lifting her right hand from the ninja's back, she pushed hard in an effort to lift up, but failed because of the nausea.

Suddenly, the ninja who was holding her stopped and set her on the ground. As she was sitting, the ninja pushed back against her body until she was leaning against a solid surface. Sakura felt something cold touch her mouth and she instantly spat out as liquid hit her tongue. She wouldn't be drinking anything this ninja was giving her.

Sakura heard the deep murmur again but couldn't recognize the words. In her dizziness, she was barely able to make out a dark figure crouching in front of her. Her instinct was to fight this person and run but her body wasn't moving.

A hand came to her forehead and lingered there. Sakura squinted, trying to pull away. She was able to make out small orbs of light in the distance. It was comforting to know she was still in the village, but she was obviously in some sort of alley. This was not the place where she was supposed to be. Where was she supposed to be?

Sakura heard the voice again and the hand on her forehead slid down to her chin. She felt pressure on it but when she didn't open her mouth, the hand pressed harder and Sakura found that she was too weak to resist. As her teeth opened, Sakura felt a small of amount of water rush into her mouth and she swallowed some by accident. She tried to cough and when she did, vomit came up her throat and out her mouth.

The ninja suddenly stood and took a step away from her. After she was finished, Sakura fell forward but before she could fall into her own mess, an arm caught hold of her body.

"Let go," she breathed. Her voice failed her; Sakura had meant to scream it.

She heard the murmur again. It was slow with three beats to it. They were saying the same word over and over. It almost sounded like her name.

Her vision grew black and when the ninja picked her up again and placed her on his shoulder, she slipped back into unconsciousness.

When she stirred again, she found herself laying on her side with something firm against her back. Reaching around her, she identified the feel of pillows and blankets. Was this her bed?

She heard the same voice again and saw the figure of a person leaning against her bedroom doorframe. She wanted to speak out but when she tried a palm gently covered her eyes and she fell back asleep.

…

Sasuke watched as the pink-haired kunoichi tossed silently in her sleep. For a second, he thought he was going to have to force her to stay on her side, but she failed in her attempt to roll onto her back because of the wall of pillows he had fortified behind her, and so she returned to her side.

Walking around to the foot of the bed, Sasuke quickly found another pillow that had been lost between the bed and the wall and tucked it against her chest. He also pushed her legs up until her knees were bent, so that her body made a "Z" shape. That would keep her from rolling on to her stomach.

Sasuke sighed and let himself slip down the wall adjacent to her bed, making sure he was still in eyesight of her. Isn't this what you were supposed to do for someone who was intoxicated? Watch them to make sure they would be okay? Sure, he imagined he would eventually find himself in this situation one day, but he never imagined having to look after Sakura. Naruto, or Kakashi maybe, but not her. In fact, if that were the case, he would have probably ditched either of them onto Sakura for her to look after. In order for Sakura to have done something that was completely unlike her, she must really be suffering.

But even in her suffering, Sakura had always dealt with it in strength, hadn't she? Why would she suddenly resort to alcohol? To be honest, Sasuke blamed that Sanin-Hokage-Sensei of hers. With as much time as Sakura had spent with her, Tsunade was bound to have an influence. While they were mostly good influences, he didn't see why there wouldn't be some bad habits his kunoichi teammate had picked up over time.

Sasuke sighed, resolved to let the questions go. For now, all he cared about was that Sakura was alright. Kakashi had said she would be okay as far as Alcohol Poisoning was concerned. In the meantime, what she needed was rest and water. He had tried to give her the latter of the two earlier on the street, but she had resisted him. He had tried to talk to her, but she seemed too out of it to listen.

In all honesty, Sasuke had been surprised that Sakura had been able to wake up at all. It seemed that even when she was drunk, she was nearly impervious to genjutsu. On anyone else, the genjutsu wouldn't have worn off for hours. He remembered using the Sharingan on Sakura before his battle with Naruto, when Sakura had once again pleaded with him. Of course, he had been more ruthless at the time, but his goal had been to immobilize her with his genjutsu in order to prevent her interference in their fight. After the battle, when Sasuke laid side by side with his blond friend, arm missing at the elbow, Sakura had shown up and healed her teammates devotedly despite the genjutsu he had just placed her under.

"Sakura… I…" he had begun, only for her to interrupt him.

"Just shut up for now. I'm concentrating."

He had continued despite her command, "I'm sorry."

She had played it off, saying "Sorry? For what?"

Sasuke had stared up at her, genuinely regretful of his behavior towards her over the past 3 years. It was with this feeling that he had spoken, "For everything up until now."

For some reason, Sasuke found that his regret still lingered. Maybe that was why he was keeping a careful eye on his drunk teammate while she slept, right now. Looking back, Sasuke realized he owed Sakura a lot. Whenever Sasuke had been sick, injured, or hospitalized, it was always Sakura who had attended him, sitting by his bedside and doing things like bringing him flowers and peeling him apples.

A sharp image of shattering glass and falling apples came to his mind. He had smacked her offered plate away angrily and proceeded to challenge Naruto to a fight.

Sasuke sighed again and buried his face into his palm.

He truly felt guilty for not valuing his friends more. Even to this day, he was away from them. Sasuke couldn't help but recall what Sai had said to him in the hospital: "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."

Sasuke knew that Sai was right. He didn't deserve the happiness the two of his friends held out towards him so freely.

…

Sakura's pounding head woke her the following morning. She groaned, covering her face with a pillow to block out the light streaming through her bedroom window and hugged it to her face tightly to relieve the throbbing. Finally, as her body refused to slip back into unconsciousness, memories from the following day began to return to her.

She recalled Emiko's death and Sakura's sorrow returned to her, frustrated tears pricking the corner of her eyes. She had been so upset, that Sakura began to question her decisions in opening her mental health clinic as she worked throughout the rest of the day after the child's death. Not only this, but a couple of her burn patients had come in with late negative reactions to her healing poultice. The skin looked as if it had started to heal, but had stopped and recoiled at the medicine, reddening and swelling. Of course, this had prolonged her patients' healing and they had only come in when they couldn't bear the pain anymore. After softening the medicine and removing it, Sakura had used the last of her chakra to reverse the damage.

Drained and frustrated with herself, Sakura had gone into her office at the end of the day and cried. She had remembered Tsunade telling her that she had to be tough in this profession. Sakura had asked Tsunade one time what she did when the pain was overwhelming and Tsunade had jokingly admitted: "That's what sake is for!" At the time, Sakura had shaken her head and laughed, dismissing the comment completely. But as she sat in her office, Sakura recalled the memory and so had determinedly located the stash she knew her sensei hid in her office.

Taking them all back to her own office, Sakura had stared at the bottles for a few minutes before deciding to go through with it. It's not like anyone or anything else could help her anyway. Ino had told her it wasn't her fault, Shizune had said that there was nothing that could be done to stop someone bent on suicide, the rest of her co-workers promised to do more than what they already were, and Kirai had made her feel even more guilty for apologizing to her all day-she shouldn't have put so much responsibility on the girl's shoulders anyway. She didn't want to talk to anyone anymore.

Naruto always had a way of making her feel better, but of course, he was gone. The only other person she cared to see was Sasuke, and even he wanted nothing to do with her. She had tried to be brave, offering him a key to her apartment she knew he didn't want. She had practically dragged him to her apartment so he could get out of the rain and have a decent meal. He didn't want her help. He didn't want her affection. He would rather be on his own.

These were the thoughts that Sakura had as she opened the first bottle. She didn't make it very far into the first bottle before she began to feel funny. And as she began the second bottle, she heard voices outside her door. Kakashi had apparently shown up to console her, for he had asked, "Sakura, can I come in?"

"Don't even think about it," she had said, crossing her arms over her chest. And every time he had tried, she fired a bottle in his direction. Eventually someone made their way in, pinning her arms behind her. All she remembered was that as she faced the person, she saw red eyes before everything went black.

Red eyes? Sakura thought, removing the pillow from her face, realization dawning on her. Sasuke?

No, Sakura thought, Kakashi had the Sharingan, too. Although she only ever saw Kakashi use genjutsu against Zabuza, she knew he had the ability. But would he have used it on her? Not likely.

Then, Sakura recalled waking up in the middle of being carried by someone. At the time, she had thought it was an enemy but apparently it was friend if she was currently laying in her bed. Maybe it was Kakashi after all.

Sitting up in her bed was more painful than Sakura had expected. She deserved it, she supposed, for acting so foolishly yesterday. She knew what the consequences would be but in the moment she hadn't cared.

Grabbing her head, she slowly swung her legs over her bed before finding her balance to stand. Squinting in the morning light, Sakura stumbled until she could grab her doorknob to steady herself. Before opening the door, a couple of muffled voices met Sakura's ears and she immediately froze, ninja instincts returning to her. Voices? Who was in her house?

Silently, Sakura placed her ear against the door. It was hard to hear anything clearly because of the constant sound of her hearbeat in her head and ears.

"She's sleeping," a low voice grumbled.

Someone responded, but the voice was too distant to hear. A girl's voice?

"She just needs sleep, now go away."

Her eyes widened as she matched the sarcasm to the tone of voice. Along with the pounding in her head, Sakura could feel another form of thrumming begin in her heart. Sasuke? Was it him who had brought her home?

Oh no, she thought. If Sasuke were here, then he probably witnessed her drunk episode last night. That's just fantastic, she thought, seriously considering turning around and crawling back into bed due to her embarrassment.

After a few seconds of working up her courage, Sakura carefully unlatched to door and peeked outside through the crack. The morning light was almost too much for her befuddled senses. She took a couple steps out into the hallway, looking towards the direction of her front door. Sasuke wasn't there. Maybe he left.

Just as she was coming around the corner, Sakura stumbled and grabbed hold of the wall, leaning against it for support. Something caught hold of her arm and Sakura snapped her head towards the left, an action that had her reaching up to support her head.

Looking down at her, a trace of concern in his usual blank expression, was Sasuke.

"You're awake," he stated rather than asked. Despite her pounding head, Sakura couldn't help but react happily to his voice. She tried to smile. She almost couldn't believe it. He was here.

"Sasuke, I didn't expect you to be here. Did you bring me-"

"You should go lie back down," he ordered, interrupting her immediately. He tried to lift her off the wall by pulling carefully on her arm, but she waved him off.

"No. I just need some medicine from the cabinet."

"Don't bother, I'll get it," he said, holding on to her as she tried to make her way into the kitchen. He lead her into the dining room instead, forcing her to sit in one of the chairs.

Grabbing her head, Sakura relaxed into the chair, thankful to be sitting again.

"It's in the cabinet above the stove. Look for the container that has a yellow label. Would you mind bringing me some water, too, if you don't mind?" She heard him rustle around in the cabinets for a minute, bottles clinking. Sakura groaned inwardly; she had forgotten how terribly messy that cabinet was.

"What is this?" Sasuke asked, returning a moment later, sitting the glass jar down in front of her, along with a cup of water.

Sasuke stood over her as she began to pour some of the jar's contents into the water. Just having him in the same room made her nerves do funny things, but now he was standing within a couple feet of her, which was really making her sweat. It also didn't help that she was mortified to have him see her in this pathetic post-drunk state. What had she done? If she was so bent on having Sasuke respect her and believe in her, why had she gone and done that?

Finally, after taking a heavy gulp of the mixture, she replied, "It's a mix of Cysteine and Potassium that breaks down the Acetaldehyde in the liver. I developed it for Lee for when he uses the Drunken Fist."

"Hn," Sasuke replied, taking the jar off the table and putting it back in its place in the cabinet.

Relief permeated throughout Sakura's body as the medicine began to take effect. Slowly, Sakura summoned to her fingertips what little chakra she had managed to gather in this state overnight. Once her fingers began to glow, she placed them weakly on her temples.

Immediately, the sensitivity in her eyes began to fade and her vision slowly cleared, returning to her at last. The sharp noises dulled and Sakura's pain began to ebb away.

Looking behind her, Sakura was able to see Sasuke clearly for the first time. He was leaning against the wall behind her, eyes closed, arms crossed over his chest. The sun from the adjacent window was illuminating his features and casting a glint across the ninja headband he had hanging from his belt.

"Thank you for helping me," Sakura stated as she appraised him. Seeing him in her home like this, knowing that he had once again come to her aid, gave Sakura a little bit of hope.

"It's not like you ever help yourself," he stated matter-of-factly, annoyance apparent in his voice.

Sakura blushed, embarrassed at his rude comment. She deserved it she supposed, in this circumstance. However, the comment still stung.

"You didn't have to," she said, trying to offer him an apologetic smile. "But I'm grateful regardless."

Sasuke looked away from her, obviously out of patience. He didn't give her a reply.

They sat in silence for a few minutes then, neither of them talking about what happened last night. Sasuke leaned against the wall, frowning. With everything else, Sakura was also feeling extreme guilt for getting him involved in this.

"Who was at the door," she asked, suddenly remembering his previous conversation with a person outside.

"Your bothersome blond friend, and not the one I want to see." Sakura had two blond friends: Naruto and Ino, whom were both definitely "bothersome" as Sasuke had put it.

"What did she want," she asked, turning her body more towards him.

"To bring you these," he said, pushing off the wall, grabbing a package off the kitchen counter and walking over to drop a wrapped bouquet of flowers onto the table in front of her.

"Oh," she exclaimed, taking the package gingerly in her hands. The flowers were a mix of vibrant red and blue and Sakura recognized the type of flower immediately. In all her years spent with Ino, she was able to decipher the meaning behind the two types of poppies. The blue poppies represented "get well" and "sympathy" where the red poppies were symbolic of loss and grief. Only Ino would use flowers to communicate her feelings about Emiko's death and Sakura couldn't help but feel sad again, despite being touched at Ino's gift.

Sakura stood then, unbundling the flowers while walking into the kitchen. She located an empty vase in the cabinet below her sink and proceeded to fill it with water. As she placed the flowers carefully in the vase, Sakura couldn't help but think that the red poppies looked so much like the Sharingan. Sneaking a brief glimpse at the man in her dining room, she noticed that he had shifted in her direction, watching her from his peripheral vision.

Loss, death, red poppies, and the Sharingan. Sakura realized that she was struggling now with the death of someone she barely knew, but Sasuke had lost the people closest to him. And if she felt like a failure now, she couldn't imagine what Sasuke had experienced on that terrible night, long ago. Her feelings of anger, regret, and sorrow had caused her to react irrationally last night. She kind of understood a little better now, why Sasuke had left the village and chose the path that he did.

As Sakura continued to unwrap the bundle, she discovered a single bright pink peony bloom hidden among the poppies. She knew exactly what this one meant: bravery and strength. Tears suddenly pricked Sakura's eyes as she recalled a conversation she had had with Ino.

"Sakura, even your name is a flower! You should have much more interest in Hanakotoba."

Sakura had giggled at Ino's logic as she waited for her friend to finish closing down her flower shop, one summer evening.

"It just all seems a little too much don't you think?" Sakura had asked. "And besides the only flowers I've ever given to anyone were to people who didn't necessarily know what they meant." When she said this, Sakura thought of Sasuke, Naruto, and Lee. Looking back, she had been silly to think they could decipher the meaning.

"It's always a pleasant gesture to receive flowers, no matter if you understand what they mean or not," replied Ino, plucking a flower out of a basket she had near the front desk. It was light pink and the size of two fists held close together.

"For example," began Ino, "placing the bloom in Sakura's hand. "If I gave you this, you would be happy to receive it because it is beautiful."

Sakura had nodded in agreement, fingering the lacy petals.

Taking back the flower, Ino had reached up and pulled back Sakura's hair, arranging the flower so that it adorned the left side of her newly fixed bun.

"But in Hanakotoba, this flower means bravery and strength," Ino had said with a smile. "So when you receive this flower it means that the giver thinks highly of you. It means that they admire your bravery and believe in your strength."

Sakura had reached up to touch the flower that matched her hair color, feeling extreme happiness at her friend's words. She had worn the flower for the rest of that night.

Now, as Sakura clutched the bright pink blossom in her hand, tears began to stream down her cheeks. Despite her failure to save Emiko and despite her pathetic display of drunkenness, her dearest friend still believed that she was brave and that she was strong.

…

Sakura turned so that her face was hidden from him.

Sasuke couldn't help but stand up straight when he realized that Sakura was crying. For a second, he didn't know why she was and he instantly regretted being so harsh to her a moment ago. Yes, he was beyond annoyed with the girl who had him running around worried yesterday, who had gotten herself drunk, and was now making him feel completely at a loss for what to do in this situation.

He knew what the former Sasuke would have done. He would have left. He wouldn't have cared if he saw her crying; in fact, he would have thought her weak. Even back in the day, before he let darkness envelope him, Sasuke would have let Naruto deal with this. Naruto would know what to do. Naruto always knew what to say. And to his extreme exasperation, Naruto wasn't here.

She was wiping at her face when Sasuke approached. He didn't touch her. He just stood behind her, listening to her sniffle. Sasuke knew what it was like to suffer by yourself. He knew that Sakura was in pain. Most of the pain she had experienced in her life was because of him so he felt like he needed to make up for all of that now.

Finally, after a few seconds, he forced himself to say, "I'm sorry about the girl."

"Don't be," Sakura said, after a few seconds of silence. "It's my fault. I couldn't be there to save her."

When he didn't say anything, Sakura continued to wipe her eyes and say, "I opened this medical clinic to save children who were suffering from mental trauma. I brought Emiko to Konoha because I thought I could save her. But I failed."

What could he say? He wanted to tell her that it wasn't her fault; that nothing she did could have changed someone's mind once it was set. He knew that for sure. In fact, Sakura had tried to stop him before he had left, but was unable to. But Sasuke sure wasn't going to bring that up. That would only make her cry more. So he didn't say anything.

Sasuke was starting to regret not letting Sakura's friend come inside. Ino would have done a way better job at consoling her than he was currently doing.

Wiping her eyes, Sakura finally turned to face him. Her eyes were red and glassy from crying. Sasuke sure knew that look. He had seen it several times.

"About last night," Sakura said, trying to smile. "I-uh. I'm sorry. About all of it. But can I ask you a question?"

After Sasuke nodded, she asked, "Why did you show up to help me?"

Sasuke knew he couldn't remain silent anymore despite how badly he didn't want to answer. Several answers ran through his head:

Because I was scared something bad had happened to you;

Because I was worried sick when Kakashi left me that morning to find you;

Because I haven't been here for you when you needed me;

Because I'm sorry for everything I've done.

Because I don't want to see you in pain anymore;

But Sasuke couldn't say these things. If Sakura heard these words, he would only be causing her more pain in the long run. He wanted to be here for her now, but he knew that he couldn't be. He had to find and stop Kaguya.

So instead, he pushed down these words and said, "Because Shikamaru came looking for me."

Sakura looked down, and said, "Oh... I'm so embarrassed."

"You should be," he chastised, allowing a small smirk to touch his mouth. "You threw up on me."

Her face turned a bright red and Sasuke crossed his arms in victory.

After a few smug seconds on his part, Sakura deflated his pride when she said, "Now we are even. For the genjutstu, I mean, since it's obvious who did it now."

Sasuke's smirk vanished at her smile. Yeah, he supposed he deserved that.

A knock came from the door and Sasuke instantly frowned, his mood darkening. Walking to the door, Sasuke swore that if it was that loud blond again, he'd tell her she could take her flowers and get the hell-

But it wasn't Ino at the door. It was Kakashi, garbed in white and red. He wore the hat of the hokage and was accompanied by the woman Sasuke knew as Shizune.

Giving Sasuke a knowing smile under his mask, Kakashi raised a hand in greeting. "Didn't expect you to still be here. Care if we come in?"