Capitulum XV – I want to believe you.

"Hell of a fight you guys got yourself into. But you'll all be fine, you just need some rest. And no strenuous activities, especially Miss Uzumaki. She's lost quit a lot of blood, but the bullet didn't do any grave damage. I gave her a sedative, so she'll be asleep for the rest of the night. If you need anything else, just call me."

Sasuke nodded and watched the physician leave his hotel suite. He walked over to the bar, poured himself a drink and took a seat on the couch. Downing the Scotch in one gulp, Sasuke set down the glass on the table and leaned back with a sigh. His left thumb went to the palm of his right hand, scratching the wounds underneath the bandages. With closed eyes he thought back to last night.

The mission turned out to be a complete fuck up. Once the fight had ended, there were only his and Gaara's men left standing. Except for Karin. After Sasuke shot Danzo, Gaara had his men clean up the mess in the back alley, while the rest of them retreated to the hotel, with Karin's unconscious body in tow. Sasuke had a physician check up on everyone and then retired to his suite.

Things definitely didn't go as planned. However, Danzo was dead.

Sasuke wasn't sure whether this was a good thing or not. Granted, he was a shady and secretive bastard, even by Yakuza standards. He and his Root organisation had always acted from the shadows and nobody had ever quite figured out what exactly he wanted. Danzo had been a thorn in Sasuke's side ever since he had taken over the Uchiha business, so part of him was glad he was gone. But then again, he claimed he was actually opposing Madara. Eliminating such an influential figure, who could have possibly helped to bring down the enemy, might have been a mistake.

Feeling the sting from his wounds on his hand reminded Sasuke of the rage that had overtaken him when Danzo had mentioned his brother. No, not for anything in the world would he have worked together with that bastard. In retrospect, Sasuke was glad Danzo was dead. He deserved to die. Either by his bullet, or by his hands. Sasuke knew he could have punched him to death, if it hadn't been for Sakura.

Sakura.

At the thought of his ex-wife, Sasuke leaned forward and put his head in his hands. It's already been more than a day since she had confessed, but he still couldn't wrap his head around the idea that she might still be in love with him. Part of him wanted nothing more than to believe her, to forgive her. Whatever it was that he was feeling for Sakura, it practically begged him to take her back. But then rationality and worry kicked in. Sasuke's broken heart kept reminding him of the hurt she had caused him, kept reminding him of the vow he made after their divorce to never let another woman come this close to him.

But it was Sakura. She had been his everything once.

Sasuke remembered that when he had seen her walk into the lobby in that breathtaking green dress. He couldn't keep his eyes off her the entire time. It angered him to know that Sakura still had such a strong hold over him, while he thought he was over her. But what angered him most was Gaara's kiss.

The feeling of jealousy started when Sasuke watched him pull Sakura closer as they started dancing. It had taken every ounce of self-control he had to not strangle Gaara then and there, as Sasuke watched his hand touch her bare back and his eyes follow every curve of her body. His jealousy peaked when he watched his lips closing in on hers and it instantly turned to full-blooded rage when they touched. Granted, it was only a quick peck, but it was still enough to leave Sasuke seething with anger.

This emotional roller coaster Sasuke was going through ever since Sakura had come back into his life made him realise she was right. She was absolutely right when she had told him that they still had chemistry, that there was still something between them… that they still wanted each other. Their attraction has finally reached a point where Sasuke could no longer deny it. Hell, he was even playing with the thought of embracing it. Embracing her. Feeling her in his arms again. Simply letting go of all this anger and hurt that had plagued him for the last three years.

But Sakura was and always will be the only woman able to break him. Sasuke wasn't sure whether he really was ready to take that step.

He opened his eyes when he heard someone enter his suite. "How is she?" Speak of the devil. "Fine. The doc gave her a sedative; she'll be asleep for the rest of the night." Silence followed his answer, until he heard her leave again.

With his back still turned to her, Sasuke raised his voice and made her stop. "The flash drive you stole from Sasori. Did you look at it?" – "Not all of it. I couldn't decipher everything. But the things I did see seemed to point to someone trying to sabotage Madara. That's why I took it in the first place; I thought he would let me go if I showed it to him."

Sasuke's thumb ran over the bandages around his right hand. As his gaze fell on the empty glass on the table in front of him, he grasped it and made his way towards the bar. He still didn't look at Sakura, but he could see her standing in the doorframe out of the corner of his eye. Opening the bottle of Scotch and pouring himself another drink, Sasuke explained, "Shikamaru was able to decode everything on the flash drive. He showed me the contents, but they didn't make sense to me, as one vital piece of information was still missing. The files on it indicated some sort of sabotage, but we couldn't figure out who was planning it."

After putting two ice cubes into his glass, Sasuke turned around to look at her. His eyes met Sakura's. Raising the glass to his lips, he took in the sight of her. The short hair suited her, he realised, despite it looking messy. "Danzo was telling the truth after all. With his confession all the pieces fit together. The files on the flash drive confirm his story; he really was keeping up the resistance in secret."

Sasuke watched Sakura cross her arms in front of her and lean against the door. She didn't look surprised, but rather worried. "Do you regret killing him? He was quite influential, he could have been useful in our fight against Madara."

Sasuke shook his head as he made his way towards the couch in the centre of his suite. Regret was not a word often to be found in Sasuke's lexicon. And he most definitely did not regret killing Danzo Shimura, especially after he had insulted his family. His brother. Sasuke took a seat on the couch and let his gaze rest on Sakura.

"Just because he was opposing Madara didn't make him any less of a bastard. He deserved to die."

He could hear her sigh as she looked at him with uncertainty in her eyes. "So, what do you want to do now?" – "I honestly don't know. I was thinking you could tell me." Sasuke's gaze was met with her puzzled expression.

"What do you mean?" – "You were always the one who came up with bright ideas when I was stuck."

Sakura snorted as a grin spread cross her lips. She closed the doors behind her and walked over the bar to pour herself a drink as well. "Yeah, ideas like how you could organise Naruto's bachelor party, not how to wage a war against your great-grandfather." Taking a sip from his Scotch, Sasuke remarked, "As if a party with Naruto is any different to waging a war." He could hear her laughter fill his suite.

Sasuke realised then how much he had missed that sound. Her laughter. Her. They had moments when everything was so easy, as if they were still married. Where he could have sworn he was still madly in love with her and she was head over heels in love with him. This was one of those moments.

As Sasuke watched Sakura mix herself a drink, a question suddenly escaped his lips.

"Why did you tell me?"

She froze for a second, before turning her head to look at him. With a baffled expression, she asked, "Tell you what?"

"That you love me. Why did you do it? To confuse me, to manipulate me… what's your endgame, Sakura?" Putting in ice cubes in her drink, she grasped the glass and headed over to the couch to take a seat opposite Sasuke. He was met with her sincere green eyes; those deep green eyes he thought could never fool him. Sasuke realised he was afraid to look into her eyes for too long. He was afraid he would eventually see her true feelings, her true intentions…afraid he would maybe even see real love.

"You are my endgame, Sasuke-kun. Everything I did, I did for you. Even leaving you three years ago, hurting you… I did it to protect you, because I couldn't go through with what Madara wanted me to do."

Sasuke tore his gaze from her to look at the bandages around his right hand. Oh the pain he still had to suffer because of her. He thought everything was over when she had left him, yet here he was, falling for his ex-wife all over again. Sakura's soft voice made his eyes look up again.

"Whether you believe it or not, I really do love you, Sasuke-kun. I told you I will be honest with you, I will not lie to you. So that's the truth. I married you because I love you, I left you because I love you, and I'm here sitting across from you now, because I love you. I don't expect you to reciprocate my feelings, but I sincerely hope that someday you will at least be able to believe that those feelings I have for you are real." Sasuke lowered his gaze to his glass and watched Sakura raise her own to her lips and take a sip.

I want to believe you. He couldn't say it out loud. The part of him that was suspicious of Sakura was still bigger than the part that wanted her back. But the very fact that he even had a part inside himself that wanted her back, be it ever so small, proved to him that what they had was not yet over.

Sasuke's raw voice disrupted the silence that had engulfed them when he spoke. "You destroyed me, Sakura. I let you into my world and into my life and you took everything from me. You do realise that I'm having difficulties believing your confession, when it's coming from the one person who utterly annihilated me." Sasuke's angry eyes were fixated on his ex-wife. Sakura couldn't withstand his ice-cold glare and lowered her gaze to her hands folded in her lap.

"I know. But I'm doing all I can here to redeem myself, because I want to make it up to you, Sasuke-kun." – "God, even hearing you say my name like that drives me insane. Do you have any idea what you do to me?", he snarled as he stood up from the couch and headed towards the glass wall. Looking at the skyscrapers illuminating Sapporo's night, Sasuke ran his fingers through his hair. "What is it that I do to you?" When he heard her voice close to him, he realised she had stood up and was approaching him from behind. He still had his back turned to Sakura as she continued speaking. "Tell me what I do to you, Sasuke-kun."

"You make me feel!", he growled as he spun around quickly facing her now. His livid black eyes met her surprised green ones.

Sasuke clasped Sakura's face between his hands and rested his forehead against hers. Letting out a sigh, he clenched his eyes and said, "You make me feel again, and I hate you for it, because I don't want to feel anything for you, so I hate you, but at the same time I-"

Sasuke stopped himself before going any further. The words he was just about to say surprised him. Have I really fallen this fast?

He could suddenly feel Sakura's hand resting against his cheek. Sasuke opened his eyes to look at her. He was met with her jade green pools and the sight of her endless love. Sasuke realised something in that moment, as he lost himself in her gaze.

As his lips came crashing down on hers, one thought reverberated through his mind.

I'm still hers.