I wanted to also give credit to .sunflowers. A lot of the hospital scenes are inspired by her story Variance, which is a must read! =D

Not Afraid Anymore

Chapter 5: Rabbit Heart

The paper work was endless, who knew that releasing Sasuke from a hospital took such heavy precautions? Then again, it was common sense, insomnia must be doing a number on her, Sakura thought as she sat at the reception desk filling out his medical records, signing here and there, then shuffling them into a yellow folder with confidential stamped on the front. She stood up and bid her goodbyes to the nurses at the reception and went into the medical records' room to put away Sasuke's file. The medical records' room was one of her favorite places in the hospital; it contained information on every shinobi in the Village Hidden in the Leaves, the details of their physical health to the type of ninja arts they performed, similar to a bingo book. She was curious by nature, so when she stayed in the hospital for long hours, she would explore the old medical records on former ninjas that have gone rogue for future reference.

Once she put away his file, she began to plan out how the rest of the day would work as she walked by the reception once again and looked up at the clock. Lady Tsunade wanted Sasuke to be settled in today, and its 7:30am right now…that gives her plenty of time to buy groceries, get him new clothes, and whatever else he needs to make his stay comfortable. He will be under her roof for who knows how long, so he might as well keep himself busy. With that settled, she strolled to Sasuke's room.

This is going to be a long day…


Sakura walked down the hall approaching Sasuke's room and spotted Kakashi standing outside reading Icha Icha, and Sasuke casually leaning against the wall. Kakashi looked up from his book and waved a silent hello, Sakura smiled in return.

"Kakashi-sensei it's good to see you. Hello Sasuke-kun." Greeted Sakura.

Sasuke looked up and gave her a small nod as he straightened up, ready to go.

"Nice to see you as well, it's been quiet without you around." Commented Kakashi motioning his head towards Sasuke, Sakura just shrugged with a small smile.

"How are you? I was not able to ask you how you were feeling last night?" inquired Sakura.

"I only had few cuts here and there, nothing serious. You worry too much about your old sensei." Commented Kakashi comically.

"You are just like Naruto, reckless" Sakura retorted with a pout.

"There, there." Kakashi motioned with his hand, a noticeable smiled behind his mask.

Sakura let it slide and turned to Sasuke. "So, ready to go Sasuke?" asked Sakura, turning fully towards him. Sasuke gave a short nod and began walking away.

"Well, my job here is done. I will see you two later." Kakashi waved off as he disappeared.

Sakura gazed at where Kakashi stood and then turned around following behind Sasuke.


As they walked out of the hospital Sakura did not miss the stares and murmurs directed their way. People would stop and look; others would walk into the nearest shop and cower. Surprisingly there were still women who would stop and ogle at Sasuke, with heavy lidded stares and whispering sweet nothings. Sasuke, as expected, remained unfazed and continued on his way.

As she looked around, she spotted a small clothing store and decided on their next destination. "Sasuke, let's stop here in the market. We need to get some groceries and clothes for you as well." Sakura said as she looked around. Sasuke halted and waited for her to make up her mind on where to stop first. It surprised her how docile Sasuke was, then again, it's not like he can do much, so he might as well not do anything.

Sakura walked into the clothes store and approved. The clothes were definitely his style, if he even has one, but similar to what he usually wears. The clothes were not too bright, but they were still stylish. She looked up at Sasuke who was still at her side, and she wondered if she had to do the shopping for him too.

"So, are you going to pick out some clothes?" Sakura asked lifting a questioning eyebrow. He looked at her like she had two heads and then she remembered. "Oh! And here is your allowance…" Sakura informed as she hurriedly shuffled around her purse, and then handed it to him.

"Spend it wisely." Sakura advised with a small smile. "I'll be waiting over here, alright?"

"Thanks." Sasuke responded and walked over to a shelf with high-collared shirts. Just like him…she thought with a nostalgic smile.

It was a strange sight, really. To see him out and about shopping was out of character. To do such mundane things; it made him look so…normal? I supposed you could put it that way. As ridiculous at it sounds, he does not do normal. He always seems so out of place, drowning in his own musings. Yes, that's it, she contemplated.


It had been a while since he had done something as normal as being out in town. Now, as he walks amongst the crowd of people, he comes to realize how much of his time and life his vengeful goals had taken from him. There was no time for joy or simply the mundane on those days. To train, to search, to fight, to eat, sleep, and repeat. That was all he had. He needed nothing more. Now he wonders what to do with his life. How to move on.

As he moves throughout the store, Sasuke quickly picks out a few high-collared shirts, some pants here and there, then he proceeds to get some undergarments and the like.

These all do.

He went up to the cashier, hand it the money rapidly, and left. Sasuke wasted no time. He was efficient like that.

"Well, that was quick" Sakura commented as she followed Sasuke, peering over at the bags full of clothes he carried. Sasuke just shrugged.

"Should I have stayed longer?" He questioned curiously with a lifted brow.

"Oh no! You're just very quick. Perhaps not as indecisive as other people. Hehe…" Sakura said awkwardly with a slight blush while waving her hands rapidly in front of her in denial.

"I see." Sasuke said and continued on his way not at all afflicted by his obliviousness to Sakura's attempt at small talk.

Sakura quickly followed behind and took a grip of his wrist. Sasuke turned around with a glare. "Is something the matter?"

"Uh…We are not done yet." She said with a small smile. "We still have to shop for groceries. Besides, some of us want to enjoy this beautiful day."

"Mmm." Sasuke nodded but did not pull away, instead, he kept his gaze steady on Sakura. She would've stayed there, dazed by his gaze but quickly became flustered and let go of his wrist and walked off into the market. Sasuke was clueless but followed behind.


The market was crowded. Countless shinobi were shopping for groceries after their refrigerators had been empty for weeks from being away. She looked around the shelves', which were partly empty, but manageable. "Sasuke let me know if you want anything in specific, or just put it in the basket." Commented Sakura as she walked around the market with Sasuke on tow. She picked out some instant ramen, miso, beer, Komochi, Mitarashi Dango, and her favorite anko dumplings. Then she loitered around the produce area, and looked over to see Sasuke walk over to the tomatoes section and fill out a whole bag. He is just like Naruto…. she thought fondly.

"I think that's plenty." Commented Sakura cheerfully as she peered over Sasuke's shoulder. He just brushed off her comment and placed the heavy bag of tomatoes in the basket. "So, I think we are set to go. Did you get everything you need?"

Sasuke nodded.

"Sakura-san how nice to see you." The cashier greeted with a smile.

"Hello, Kaede-sama. It's nice to see you too." Sakura said politely as she placed her groceries on the check-out counter.

The old woman smiled and peered over Sakura's shoulder. "Who is the handsome young man accompanying you?" Kaede asked with a coy smile.

Sakura blushed at her suggestive question. "Oh, this is Sasuke-kun. He is a friend." Sakura replied with a nervous smile.

"Sasuke-kun, this is Kaede-sama." Introduced Sakura, Sasuke gave the old woman a curt nod.

"Hello Sasuke-san, it's nice to see Sakura-san with company, she usually makes trips to the market alone." She said cheerfully. Sasuke just kept up his unemotional façade.

"Yes…its nice. Well, we got to get going. We are in a bit of a tight schedule." Sakura nervously replied while trying to divert her attention, quickly gathering her items.

"I understand."

"Thank you."

"Well, that was awkward…sorry. She is very friendly." Sakura commented keeping her gaze away from Sasuke's peripheral vision.

"Why are you apologizing?"

"Well, ummm…I…nerve mind." She was beginning to ramble. Is he that dense…? She thought bitterly.

"Let's head home."


They arrived at Sakura's apartment before noon.

"Well, this is it." Sakura said as walked into her apartment with Sasuke. She made her way over to her kitchen counter and put down her groceries, then motioned Sasuke to follow her.

"This is the living room area; I have a lot of books that you can read, puzzles, and some crosswords you can do to pass the time. Down this hallway to your left is the bathroom, there's a cabinet at the side of the sink where you can put away your personal products, and I have spare towels in the closet next to the bathroom. Further down is my room, and across is my study, which will be your room. We'll have to move some things around so we can accommodate your futon, there is also a closet in there where you can put away your clothes." Sakura explained as she moved about the place picking up the clutter.

After Pain's Invasion, she did not spend too much time at her apartment because she was too preoccupied aiding the village, thus leaving her less time to take care of her own business.

She lifted her gaze towards Sasuke and smiled. "Make yourself at home." She said cheerfully.

"Thanks."

Sasuke gave her a short nod, put his bags down, and ventured into the kitchen. He shuffled around the grocery bags taking out the produce, canned goods, and began to put them away in the kitchen cabinets. As Sakura looked over in awe, a smile slowly spread across her face. This was Sasuke's silent way of thanking her. Maybe living with him won't be as odd as she thought it would be.