Author's Note: Woohoo I am updating! Probably thought I forgot all about this story, didn't you? Well here is the newest chapter I hope you are enjoying this story!

Disclaimer: I do not, nor have I ever, owned Naruto. I simply play in their world.

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Chapter 9

Now...

Sasuke awoke slowly, his sensory perception telling him that several things were out of place since he had collapsed. First he wasn't lying on a cold, hard floor. Instead something soft cushioned his body and the small hut was no longer freezing from the dropping temperatures, but remained comfortably warm. He was also aware that he had been stripped to the point where the only clothing he could feel on his body were the torn and bloody pants.

There was also the scent of wood smoke, and he could hear the soft crackle of what could only be the noise of a hearth fire.

There had been no fire burning when he collapsed. That could only mean one thing.

The safe-house had been compromised. Sakura wasn't safe here anymore.

Sasuke's eyes snapped open but he only saw darkness and he made to lunge out of bed when something soft, yet strong, pushed down on his shoulders.

He found himself shocked at how weak he felt.

"Shhh, easy...just lay back down. Everything is fine, we are still safe."

That voice...soft and hypnotic, like a flute among the wind...there is only person I know who has that voice... "Sakura?"
His voice cracked on her name, as though rusty from disuse. Frowning, or at least attempting to, Sasuke once more tried to peer through the darkness... "Why can't I see?"

"So impatient!" a hint of soft laughter but there was an undercurrent of worry, and something was removed from his eyes...and abruptly he could see again.

Sakura, her long hair unbound and flowing around her, was leaning over him. In her hands she held a black cloth that she had just removed. Exquisite jade-eyes filled his vision, luminous with their worry. She was no longer naked, clad only in her silken black underwear. Instead she wore a simple sleeveless, peach colored top and flowing white skirt.

"How is your sight now?"

Sasuke actually blinked at that, not for the words themselves...but for the concern in her voice that she did not even bother to try and hide from him.

"Better," he replied, his voice still sounding rusty. "What..." he began but Sakura stopped him with a simple touch of her fingers to his lips. "Hush," and she disappeared from his sight only to reappear a moment later with a cup in her hand.

"Can you sit up?"

"Of course," he growled out and made to sit up...and nearly fell over as his vision reeled. Sakura braced him with her own body until he felt more steady. "Here, keep your eyes closed and drink."

He opened his mouth to speak, but she had anticipated that and quickly placed the cup to his lips. "Drink or I will pour it down your throat myself."

Sasuke decided it was easier to just obey her rather than have her treat him like and invalid. He took a quick sip...and found the cup held cold, spring-fed water and suddenly his throat was parched and he had the cup emptied in seconds.

"Another?"

He nodded his head and again she was gone and back before he could have time to miss her and once more was placing the wooden cup to his lips for a second drink.

"Enough," he told her, opening his eyes when she would have gone for a third glass. His voice sounded better even to his own ears. He didn't sound so...brittle, anymore.

Apparently so did his companion because she simply nodded her head and set the cup down on a ledge that held a small bucket and dipper. He assumed that was how she was getting the water so quickly.

Sasuke attention suddenly snapped back into focus as he realized she was up and walking around.

"Sakura...how are you walking? Your injuries..."

Sakura gave him a slight smile and came back over to where, he realized, he was lying on a bed. "I'm...well I wouldn't say I'm in top form...but I'm better. What do you remember?"

Sasuke decided this was the oddest conversation he had had in his life. "You were unconscious, burning with fever. I sewed up the sword wound in your abdomen and then...I lost consciousness..." once more a frown marred his unearthly beauty. "How long was I out?"

It felt like hours.

Sakura gave him a odd smile. "Well...I don't really know...but from when I woke up myself...you've been asleep for two days now."

This time Sasuke did snap up in bed, "Two days! Shit I need," but that was as far as he got because Sakura snarled at him and firmly pushed him back down into bed.

"You need to lay back down and heal!"

Sasuke began to tell her that she had not the rank to give him orders...when he saw the glassy look in her eyes and a single tear slid down her face.

Alarm flashed through him. He was used to seeing Sakura as a strong-willed, mouthy and utterly fearless kunoichi. That single tear seared through his mind and he found himself sliding his thumb across her skin, to wipe away the moisture. "Why are you crying?"

His voice sounded harsh, but he couldn't help it, the sight of her crying nearly undid him.

"Because! You. Are. An. Idiot!" She punctuated her words with a fist to his chest...albeit a gentle fist. "Do you know I had to restart your heart twice! Twice you nearly died on me and now you want to get out of bed like a lunatic!"

Her words shocked him...but not at much as seeing her shoulders shake from the tears she was trying suppress. "I...I thought I had killed you..."

Her voice was no higher than a whisper, yet he heard each word as though she had shouted them in his ear. He head was bowed, her long fall of hair shielding her face from his eyes.

Sasuke did the only thing he could think of and gathered her in his arms and tucked her close to his own abused body and laid them both down on the bed.

"Shhh," he whispered his fingers threading through her hair, "I'm not dead." He kept whispering the words over and over as Sakura buried her face in his shoulders, her relief at him finally waking after two days of torturous waiting finally undoing her precious self-control.