A/N: Old submission for Sasusaku Month 2014 Day 17. Prompt: Monster.

It was a normal, hot summer afternoon when Team 7 was having their usual sparring practice. To most people, things had gotten back to normal after the war. Nightmares were slowly going away, wounds were healing, and forgiveness was underway. But that wasn't the case for Sasuke.

Somewhere deep down within him, he was still seeking justice for his clan. He still detested the elders who put such a burden on his brother's shoulders. He didn't realize that his anger had seeped into his fighting.

Sakura's fist collided with the ground, creating a large crater and a cloud of dust. Sasuke leaped back to avoid her deadly fist. When his feet landed on even ground, he grabbed his chokuto and quickly charged towards her. She sensed his approach and grabbed her kunai, but his movements were too fast. Just when Sakura was trying to avoid his blade, he managed to land a gash on her stomach.

He swung his sword back towards her and Sakura quickly held it back using her kunai. Sasuke started channeling electricity to the blade, cutting through the kunai like paper. She jumped backwards but faltered, wincing in pain from the huge gash on her stomach. Seeing this as an opportunity, Sasuke quickly tackled her to a tree and held her throat in his hand. Brows furrowing and sharingan swirling madly, he held his chokuto in his prosthetic arm. The heat must had gotten to him because in his mind, he was holding one of the elders' throats in his hand.

His hand was gripping her neck tightly, digging his nails into her skin. Her hands were gripping his wrist, trying to pry it off her. Air wasn't entering her lungs and she knew his grip would leave marks later on. The more she struggled, the more his grip tightened. His attention was soon disturbed by the sudden shout of his blonde teammate.

"Sasuke!" Naruto's voice managed to snap him back to reality. He widened his eyes before releasing his hand, causing Sakura to fall to the ground with a thud. Naruto quickly stormed towards him, grabbing him by the collar and staring into his eyes intently.

"What do you think you're doing?! Are you trying to kill her?!" Eyes widening, Sasuke's eyes glanced towards Sakura who was kneeling on the ground with her hand on her neck. He saw blood dripping from her stomach to the earth beneath. She leaned herself to the tree and soon her hand was glowing green, stitching back the wound.

Naruto saw the horror and regret in his eyes before releasing him down. Sasuke kept his gaze on Sakura, seemingly speechless. He watched as the wound closed up and she was no longer panting.

I did that? I did. I hurt her. Again.

Horrified with what he just did, he quickly gathered his belongings and left the training grounds. They didn't see each other again for a few days.

.

.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto stormed into the hospital, shouting her name. He was carrying Sasuke by the shoulder. They looked pretty beaten up with scars and blood all over their body.

"Naruto, what-?" he cut her off before she could say anything.

"Teme's injured badly. I think he has poison in his wound." Sakura lended him a hand and escorted Sasuke to the emergency room, laying him on the bed. Sakura instructed some nurses to gather some rags, IVs, and scalpels.

"Naruto, I need you to wait outside. I'll have another doctor look at your wounds." Nodding, Naruto fully obliged and stepped outside. She tied her hair in a bun and slipped on some gloves before cutting open Sasuke's clothes to get full access on his wounds. It was a terrible mess. Broken ribs, punctuated liver, several flesh wounds, and it looked like he had lost a massive amount of blood. When the nurses returned, she began to extract the poison out of his system.

It took a total of four hours for Sakura to extract the poison out, fix his broken ribs, heal his liver, and close his wounds.

"He'll be fine now. He's getting some rest."

"Thanks, Sakura-chan." Naruto let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and sighed in relief. He winced once he felt some pain radiating from his shoulder.

"Here I'll take a look." Hands glowing green, she focused her chakra to heal his dislocated shoulder. As expected from the best medic.

"There good as new. What happened out there?"

"A-rank mission gone wrong. But we still completed the mission." She shook her head in disbelief. Leave it to the boys to get carried away in a fight.

.

.

The moment Sasuke opened his eyes, he was met by a blinding light and the smell of antiseptic. He soon realized he was lying on a hospital bed. The last thing he remembered was the sight of Sakura hovering over him. He didn't know what she was doing, or what he was doing.

His eyes scanned the room and soon saw Sakura sitting on a chair beside his bed. She was resting her head on the bed, her hand on top of his. When she felt him twitch, she straightened up and looked at him.

"Sasuke-kun! You're awake." He slowly tried to lift himself up to a sitting position but was soon met with pain that reverberated throughout his body. "Careful." She extended her arms to help him. They sat there in silence before he finally spoke.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was checking up on how you were doing. You were injured pretty badly." She moved to check on the bandages around his forearm. Noticing the way he tensed, she retracted herself.

He fisted the blanket under his grip as he looked at the faint bruise marks on her neck. His mind registered back to when they last sparred, when his hand was around her neck, squeezing air out of her lungs.

"Please leave, Sakura. I don't want to hurt you again." He tore his gaze away from her.

"You won't Sasuke-kun."

"You don't get it do you? I'm a monster."

"No you're not, Sasuke-kun. I don't believe it!"

"I'm going to hurt everyone else like I've hurt you!" He turned back his gaze to her as he started raising his voice. His fisted his hands, frustration evident all over his features.

"No you won't." Voice still as calm as ever, she met his gaze with just an equal amount of determination.

"I'm a monster Sakura! A monster."

"No Sasuke-kun! Stop saying that! You're a good person." Her eyes were starting to glisten, her throat felt tight as emotions were starting to bubble.

"How can you have such faith in that?" The moment he said that, she placed her hands on his in an attempt to soothe him. Her eyes were filled with conviction and determination.

"Because I love you." Deep down he knew this. He knew Sakura still cared for him after all this years. But hearing those words come out of her mouth never failed to surprise him.

Overwhelmed, he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her. He didn't care about the pain that shot through his body. Sakura was taken aback, but embraced it nevertheless. Her arms gently wrapped around him, drawing him closer as she melted in his embrace.

"I'm Sorry. I'm so sorry Sakura." He kept repeating those words like mantra as he continued to hold her. The tears that she had been holding back managed to fall.

"It's okay Sasuke-kun. It's okay."

In people's eyes, he may be a monster. But to her, he was no longer.