A/N: Old submission for Sasusaku Month 2014 Day 16. Prompt: Indestructible.
"What?" Sasuke nearly choked on his drink when his wife told him that she was going on a solo mission. The topic was so sudden.
"When?" He calmed himself, coughing out the liquid from his air pipe before continuing.
"Tomorrow."
"Where?" There was a pause before Sakura continued.
"Amegakure."
"Details?" She shook her head.
"Classified." She answered calmly. The fact that Sakura was going on a solo mission to a remote country like Amegakure was a bit nerve racking for Sasuke. He would have to talk to Naruto later regarding this matter.
"Sorry Sasuke-kun, I can't tell you anything about the mission any further." It was a highly classified mission. The destination was the only piece of information she could tell him without leaking all the details of it.
"I know what you're thinking." She said.
"Hn." He hummed whilst sipping his tea.
"I'll be fine, Sasuke-kun."
"That's because I'm coming with you."
"No you're not." She gave him a look, the same look he would give her whenever Sakura had an idea that Sasuke didn't approve of.
She knew this wasn't a request, but more of an order. Nevertheless, she couldn't let him tag along. Besides, she was more than capable of taking care of herself. He raised an eyebrow at her, still demanding to come with her.
"No Sasuke." She had dropped the suffix, he noticed. She was serious this time. "I am no longer the useless girl like when we were still genin, you know. I'm a full grown woman and I can take care of myself for Kami's sake!" She gave the table a hard bang, perhaps harder than she had intended because she almost knocked over her coffee mug. Deciding she was done having this conversation, she put on her nin-sandals, and left the house for a mission briefing.
"Hn." Sasuke continued to sip his tea, with a smirk making its way to the corners of his mouth.
.
.
They were at the gates of Konoha early in the morning.
"I'll be back in a week." She cupped his cheek and gave him a light peck on his lips as a parting gesture.
"Aa." She turned around and set her course towards Amegakure.
"Sakura." He called out to her after just a few steps. "Be careful." His face was nothing but sincere. She knew he was always looking out for her, and everything he did was for her own good. She couldn't help but be touched by his concern.
It would be nice if he could come along, but this was a mission that had been given to her with the intention of it being a solo mission. She had to prove that she could handle it. And she would. She returned his smile and continued on her journey.
Sasuke watched as she started running with an even pace until her figure disappeared into the forest.
Now he was on his way to do what he wanted to do since yesterday; confronting Naruto.
.
.
Storming into the Hokage's office, he opened the door with too much force, almost knocking the door of its hinges, and slammed his hands on his desk. He looked at the Hokage straight in the eyes.
"Oi teme!" Naruto complained when Sasuke's hands almost knocked over his cup of ramen.
"Why did you send Sakura on that solo mission?" Naruto sighed. He knew he had to deal with this sooner or later.
"You know I can't tell you the details." Sasuke didn't care, he squinted his eyes, demanding his best friend to spit out some information to soothe his worries. He was trying to convince himself that his worries were mostly due to the lack of information he was getting.
Naruto sighed. He guessed this was Sasuke he was talking to. Letting him in on the details wouldn't be the end of the world.
"She's supposed to go to Amegakure to investigate on a disease. We want to keep it a secret because we don't want others to grow restless. If it turns out worse than we imagined, we would have to get help from other villages." Sasuke was somewhat relieved after finally knowing the reason behind the mission.
However, the nature of the mission was slowly getting on his nerves. What if it turned out to be worse that they thought? What if she got infected? What if there was no one who could help them? Then this would be a suicide mission.
"Why a solo mission?" Sasuke reasoned, if it were to investigate on a disease, Naruto could send other medics as well.
"She's the best medic in Konoha. She's also a skilled kunoichi compared to other medic-nins. So she fit the criteria better than anyone. Sending other umm less inexperienced medic-nins would lower the success rate of the mission."
"Hn." Logically speaking, Sasuke knew Naruto was right.
Sasuke couldn't hold back the smirk on his face merely because of two reasons. One, he was proud that she was the most skilled medic in Konoha; and two, the fact that Naruto had increased his thinking skills and abilities that he was able to plan and decide the most effective decisions in missions. But all things aside, his growing restlessness hadn't been appeased.
"Relax Sasuke. She's going to be fine. This is Sakura-chan we're talking about! She's indestructible." Naruto stood up and placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder.
Indestructible. He kept repeating the word in his head.
Was it even the right word to describe her?
Intelligent, yes. Strong, yes. Brave, yes. Courageous, yes. Invincible, yes!
He was right. She was a medic-nin after all, and she of all people knew what she was getting herself into. He just had to have more faith in her.
Satisfied, for now, Sasuke lifted his spirits and exited Naruto's office. This time, not threatening to destroy the door.
7 more days.
.
.
She was supposed to be home yesterday. He thought to himself. Counting down the days like it was new years, he was expecting her arrival sometime yesterday late afternoon.
He waited for hours in front of the gates, but she never showed up.
Becoming restless the entire night, sleep hadn't been able to come to him. The following morning, he was already waiting by the gates.
His mind was getting restless and worried, running through the what ifs.
If only I could come with her on that mission, she wouldn't be late.
He tried activating his sharingan and stepped on a tree to scan for her presence. After scanning for a few moments, he picked up a faint signature of her chakra about a mile away. He darted towards it and saw Sakura slowly making her way towards Konoha. Her clothes were dirty and a bit torn but other than that, she seemed fine. No substantial wounds that would threaten her life.
When he had reached her, he jumped in front of her, cupping her face and trying to examine her body for any external wounds.
When he didn't find anything other than a few small scratches, he put his arms around her, drawing her body close in a protective but gentle way.
"Sasuke-kun!" Oh how he missed her so much. One week was too gruesome. He didn't know how she managed to wait for him all those years.
"Hn. You're late." She giggled, snaking her arms around his torso.
"Sorry…" He noticed her breathing was a bit labored. He didn't waste any moment and swung her arm around his shoulder as he helped her walk towards the village.
"I'm fine you know."
"Hn." Of course he didn't believe her. Of course she was trying to act tough. He gave a look at her, quirking his eyebrow in disbelief.
"This is nothing."
"How did it go?" She was slowly leaning towards his body, shifting her weight onto him, which he gladly accepted.
"There was a virus attack in a small part of Amegakure. I was asking people around about the illness and visiting their homes. Because of the continuous contact, I was soon infected." Sasuke's body tensed. The worst did happen after all.
"It was attacking people's breathing tract. Long story short, I created a cure by taking some plasma from those who were immune." She continued.
After hearing her, there was only one thing that came into his mind. Dedicated and brave. His already present admiration for her only grew at that moment, and seeing how she managed to come back alive and saved all those people only justified her abilities. He had never been so proud. She was truly the best medic-nin, probably the best in the entire world.
"That's why you're late."
"Oh no, I was late because of the bad weather." Despite her injuries, she still managed to crack a joke.
"Hn. Annoying."
Sakura gave a tiny laugh.
"I'm proud of you." Sasuke breathed with confidence. Sakura's heart swelled at the sudden compliment.
"Thank you."
When they arrived at Konoha, he quickly took her to the hospital. Thankful she wasn't in a much worse situation, he couldn't help but think of what Naruto said.
She was truly indestructible.