It is barely two months until Sasuke crosses beneath the gate once more, wearing a fresh cloak and a newfound resolve.
He can't avoid himself anymore, and he'll be damned if he won't address the point directly. Uchiha Sasuke does nothing by halves.
It is midday, a time during which he typically attempts to avoid villages due to the increased presence of other people, unless he is absolutely pressed by necessity.
Right now this is about the most necessary thing he can think of.
He's far more agitated by the pounding in his chest than he's ever been by any thirst or hunger.
When he breezes through the doors to the hospital, he notices with some surprise that the same medic-nin is tending the front desk. She meets his eyes with equal wariness as in their first encounter, but he's got no time for her suspicion, so he forces himself to speak with the greatest civility he can muster.
"I'd like to see Haruno Sakura."
"Well, I'm afraid she's-"
"Please."
Now the medic-nin stares at him, clearly shocked by his earnestness. He sees her conflict with herself briefly, but then she yields, sighing and scribbling a room number onto a loose paper.
"Her office is that way."
"Thank you."
He turns, striding down the hallway with such purpose that other hospital-goers practically leap out of his way.
Her office is the furthest on the hall, tucked into a small corner of the building. Sasuke's determination threatens to falter as his eyes meet the elegant lettering of HARUNO SAKURA engraved into the door, but he shakes himself and taps gently on the cool wood.
The door creaks open, and suddenly he feels a rush rise unbidden in his chest.
Sakura's hair is loose about her shoulders, and it tosses gently as her head tilts ever so slightly, realizing with some disbelief who has interrupted her break from hospital duty.
"Sasuke?"
He sees her platonic guise is already intact, but he refuses to be deterred by it this time.
"Come with me."
Sasuke is proud of how evenly he is able to say it. The words have been on his tongue ever since he'd left Konohagakure, reeling from his last encounter with her.
Her brows knit.
"What?"
"Come with me. On my journey. As my traveling partner."
Crack. He sees a piece of her mask falter.
"Why?" Her voice is reserved; she won't be so easily swayed, the stubborn, strong kunoichi she is, and then Sasuke can't take it any longer.
He kisses her.
He feels her go instantly rigid against him, astonished, and her hands fly to his shoulders, prepared to shove him away with her amazing strength; but then, extraordinarily, for the first time in years she lets her guarded facade fall away entirely, and she instead wraps her arms around his neck and pulls him in even tighter.
Sasuke can't remember a more blissful moment.
After what seems like many wonderful minutes, she pulls away, and he can't help the blood that rushes to his face as she regards him with playful reproach.
"Took you long enough."
He smiles despite himself, and then pulls her in again.
