Chapter 8

You guys might start hating me right now. I know, I know, I update slow and it takes me awhile to finish a story. I apologize Anyway… I got busy now because of med school and because of a mind block. thank you for understanding.

Past and the Present

It might have been a couple of hours since she left Rikuto alone in that part of the forest. She can't help but be worried for him because he wasn't in a state she would want to leave him. He needed further observation. In fact, its the first time she saw him very weak and vulnerable. That heightened her worries all the more. Playing a death match with Sasuke isn't exactly a nice thing to experience. Indeed, the way he almost fell to his death made her heart lose pace from worry; a tight knot that still eats her even now as she follow Sasuke closely.

But on the other hand, she was sure that right about now, help from Konoha has arrived. It also wasn't impossible for them to try and track them down. She was sure Naruto wouldn't just stand up and wait. He'd be following them like crazy with his multiple clones. A failed smile crept on her worried face. He'd fail though. Sasuke knew, as a medic, I had something with me that can make us both untraceable. "I just didn't have a choice."

As she gazed at his back full of curiosity, she began to drift to that time when they were still a team. If she thought of this as a mission, it would make a lot of sense. She can imagine Sasuke as the leader and she's following him towards the mission site. He can give her orders (a thought that made her blush temporarily before she shook it off out of her head).

It's too bad that she was older and wiser than before. It wasn't the time to play pretend games in a situation like this. For all she know, after he's done using her, he wouldn't even think twice killing her. He was a man who denied her existence before and if she were to make Sasuke choose between her and Naruto, he wouldn't even consider her as an option.

Sakura sighed and returned her focus to Sasuke. Judging from the way he moved and the way he tried to protect his arm this last hour, she knew he wasn't in a good condition. Even if he was a super warrior, dealing with those ANBU's must have been really tough. He deserved it. She was on the verge of trying to ignore him but found it too hard to deny his existence. He wasn't exactly the man that can be easily ignored. Well, she tried.

She snapped her head back and bit her lip. This isn't even half of the pain that he inflicted to all of those who cared for him- to all of Konoha who tried to forgive his sins despite how far beyond he had fallen, to Naruto and Rikuto who only tried to protect her and to her, a team mate who he finally found a use for.

She slowly lifted her face up to search for Sasuke. She could feel the hint of suffering pasted in his stoic face. If he was truly superior, why hasn't he forced her to heal him despite the theatrics she had done earlier? If he were truly evil, he would have beaten her up just to force her to heal him. Why hasn't he?

"But I am a healer," she reasoned to herself.

She closed her eyes and thought about it for a while. Sasuke deserved what he got from his earlier fights and if she tried to heal him, it would feel like she would be willing to turn a blind eye to what he did awhile ago- half-killing Rikuto and injuring a few more.

He deserved this, she convinced herself until she saw Sasuke took a plunging swerve and recovered at the most effective manner just seconds after he lost composure. She cringed when she saw how he fell.

Frowning, she finally took a step forward.

"That's it." She thought, brushing her hand through her hair. She quickened her pace to match her speed with Sasuke. Sakura had a hint of distaste in her mouth when Sasuke simply ignored her, giving her only a quick glimpse with his eyes before focusing back on the road they were both taking.

"Sasuke." Sakura only needed to say it once to get her point across. He didn't look at her but murmured something in place of recognition.

"Done debating?" Debating? She thought. She heard this line before. She tried her hardest to remember and when she finally realized where that déjà vu feeling came from, she was taken aback. She simply was dumbfounded. How can he remember something that happened years ago?

Back when they where still teammates, in one of their missions, she kept pretending she wasn't hungry. It took her a long time to say something because she was partnered with Sasuke, her one true love. Sighing, she went to Sasuke and told her dilemma. He simply grinned and looked away.

"Done pretending?" Sakura's eyes widened to the boy who had an innocent smile on his face.

"Y-you knew?" she had a ghastly look on her face.

"I did… you were so keen in hiding it, I simply followed through." Now, old as she was, she began to remember those fleeting moments with Sasuke. Those were the moments, which remind her that Sasuke can still be saved. She looked back at Sasuke and swallowed her last insecurities of her past.

"A-anyway, let's heal you first." Sasuke did not flinch. He kept moving forward without any intention to stop soon. Sakura hated it, how he ignored her while she was being kind to offer herself to help him. She burrowed her brows, wanting to fall back but kept her ground. She wasn't going to make a fool out of herself. "Don't be hard headed." She demanded with an irritated tone. This probably got to Sasuke when he suddenly slowed down to look at her fully.

"What did you say?" Sasuke asked, his face searching her for answers. Sakura had to stop too. As the man bored his black onyxes at her, she somehow wished she didn't talk at all.

"You don't listen to somebody else's opinion, you're hard headed, arrogant and-" Before she could continue, Sasuke reappeared in front of her, his hand grasping the length of her neck, squeezing it until she was on her tiptoes. The weight of his hand was unbearably heavy and she couldn't remove it away from her neck.

"I don't give a damn killing you right now, Sakura. I'm not that weak not to be able to do that either." He pushed her body up against the wall of the tree and activated his sharingan to make his point.

"D-do… th-that a-after… I fix you up." She mouthed. Sasuke withdrew his hand and stared down at her as she fell down flat on her back. She started coughing tremendously, bringing up one of her green-lighted finger up her neck until she felt better.

There was silence between them. No one dared to speak, not even Sakura who wants to say every curse words right now. Not Sasuke who still was lost for words at her actions.

"Why do you insist?" Sasuke finally broke the silence. He didn't part his stare at the girl until she returned it with her beautiful, soft ones that surprised Sasuke at this point. She never looked womanly before, he noticed.

"I'm wondering about that myself." She whispered, barely audible to the ears of the Uchiha.

"But I really can't bear to see anyone injured as long as I know that I can do something about it." Sasuke did not move. His apprehensive posture relaxed for a bit up to that point where he didn't seem too hesitant to that idea too.

Sakura took this as a cue. She stood up slowly and went in front of Sasuke. He looked at her and she looked back equally with no hint of fear. The perfect contours of his face, his black hair that seemed soft, and his eyes that revert back and forth to the Sasuke she once knew were nostalgic. She backed away a little to let him walk towards the trunk of the tree where she would work on him. Surprisingly, he willingly obliged.

When he reached the end, he sat down and waited for Sakura to work on him, eyes closed. She couldn't help but smile a little before going beside him. He wasn't usually the type to follow orders like that.

Sakura decided not to talk anymore so as not to concur his wrath again. She proceeded to get all her things from her belt pocket while emitting a green aura in front of his chest.

It did not take her a lot of time to work on his injuries although she hesitated when she was about to wrap a bandage on his arm and chest. She swallowed hard, trying to look away even when Sasuke himself allowed the proximity to occur between them.

He unwillingly lifted his arms up on the side, giving her access to his body.

"Is there a problem?" she looked up to search his face. He towered over her small, petite body. He looked down at her trying to determine why she stopped all of a sudden. He saw her reddened face that seemed to compliment her pink hair. From this distance, he was able to look at her properly,

"N-nothing." She swallowed and preceded to semi-embrace him, trying to be careful not to touch him in any way. She did this a couple of times and finally sighed a breath of relief when she finished tending to his wounds.

"Sasuke," Sakura started, her eyes down on the floor of the branch. "We need to rest in the next village after this. You incurred a lot of injuries and somehow, I feel there's something that's not right with you right now… I just can't point it out." Sasuke was surprised but did not further comment on that. He instead noticed how she was breathing harder than before. Her eyes were laidback and her fierceness seemed to have softened to a more womanly level. He guessed that she must have exhausted her chakra and she too needed to rest.

"I decide where to go, I don't need you to tell me that." Sasuke looked at her. He lifted his shirt up and fixed it properly so that it fell down nicely on his body.

"Besides, I had planned that from the start." He walked away from her and jumped to another branch that seemed to give a clear view of the road ahead. Sakura tried her best to get up and follow Sasuke who stood still, watching the view from where he was.

"Oh," she said, as she saw the beautiful town that was not that far away from where they were.

"Let's go then." He said as he jumped down beautifully. Sakura couldn't help but admire the Raven-haired man. Her heart can't possible beat again for someone who she tried to forget all these years. Somehow, that's how it's supposed to be right?

.0.0.0

"Are you husband and wife?" Sakura's eyes widened both from the shock and embarrassment. She was frozen from where she stands. Her face flushed a deeper shade of red as she tried to bow her head down in high hopes to hide it from scrutiny.

Is that how people see us? She thought. She refused to look at Sasuke to whom the question was addressed. He was quiet for a moment and it made the answer revel more in suspense. Finally, she heard him scoffed a little and she saw him grin from the corners of her eye.

"We are." The man cooed and tried to sneak a look at the woman hiding behind him. Sasuke stood ground and crossed his arms making the other man cough.

"She's the prettiest lady I've ever seen. Don't worry, we'll take care of everything from here…" he bowed and scrambled to get the keys from underneath the table. When he emerged, he gave the keys to Sasuke and tried to flash a smile professionally without being glared at.

"I-it's by the end of this hall. Just walk through this hallway and take a left in the end. You'll find your room there…" Sasuke took off without saying a word of gratitude, leaving Sakura to bow for him with a smile. Before she could even walk, the man spoke again.

"A-are you really together?" the man scooted in and whispered to her which caught her unguarded. Sakura faked a laugh and tried to bow once more. It was best not to answer that but she may raise suspicions so she stopped and smiled at the innkeeper.

"We have a little fight going on, that's all…" she bowed again and walked fast enough to catch up to Sasuke. She sighed and tried to shake her head. "We're husband and wife now?" that was the most crazy joke she heard in a long while. Not that she's laughing. It was embarrassing.

"You did not retort?" Sasuke whispered without looking. Sakura slightly looked up to catch a glimpse of his stoic face before brushing his comment aside.

"Even if I did, there's really no point arguing. I'm a captured soul." Sasuke seemed to agree with that as well. It was the poorest excuse he had thought in a while. Frankly speaking, he did not even felt it was wrong to say it as well. He did not care enough to worry.

"Hn~" was the only reply she got.

Sakura never heard Sasuke's voice after the last time they talked to each other. He was busy resting, a sight she was particularly interested in observing. He had been a face for so many battles that she thought he never needed to rest. This reminded her that he was still human despite his overwhelming need for revenge.

Time to time, she tried assessing if he was recovering properly. She deemed it important to check it out if ever there comes a point in time that her life is subjected to danger under his tyranny. However much she prepared for it though, there was a compelling force that wants to make her stay and watch over the injured Uchiha. She battled with it for some time until she arrived to the conclusion that staying with him will become a valuable intel gathering experience. There must be loads of things he does which the village needs to find out.

He awoke an hour after he lay down. His hair was a little messy but it was evident he brushed it with his hand before standing up. He walked towards Sakura with his imposing gait with his eyes directly scrutinizing her as she sat there beside the window, looking outside the greyed out skies.

She broke her attention and focused it to Sasuke. She blushed when she saw his loose robes exposing his chest and abdomen that seemed firm and cut to perfection. She can't deny that she was smitten with the way he looked. He was after all blessed with genes that make women fall down in adoration. Surprised when she saw him grin, which she probably knew why he did it, she threw her head back and tried to calm herself.

"What's wrong with me Sakura?" The question threw her off guard. If there was something wrong with him, its how he can look so gorgeous without even trying it. Sakura battled her inner and younger version inside her head and tried to stay rational. Sasuke leaned on the wall. His gaze never left the beautiful woman with pink locks of hair.

"W-what do you mean by that?" Sasuke nudged his head to the side and stared at her, unblinking. This caught her attention and felt the need to face him.

"Didn't you hear what I said?" he asked making her squirm back. She certainly heard what he said but she wanted to know if what she heard was correct. It was a sudden topic she wasn't prepared for.

"I know that you brought me here for a purpose, Sasuke. If you're asking me what's wrong with you then probably you have a condition the other medics you kidnapped can't fix." Sasuke's eyes widened at her guess.

"This won't take long then." Sakura sighed and looked away. She's been doing this deduction game ever since she became a professional medic in their village. If her guess was right, there's only one thing that he can be having problems with.

"Its your eyes Sasuke." A smile crept up to meet her gaze. She was taken aback to see his smile which was a little rewarding and a little bit foreboding. Certainly, there was a catch to that. She still don't know the circumstance Sasuke was in but she knew that whatever condition he is suffering from, he expects her to fix it for him.

"Check it." Sasuke demanded. Somehow, Sakura was unwilling to move but then, she took this as an opportunity to show him what else she can do.

"F-fine…" she moved forward, swallowing a big lump that formed in her throat. After his Akatsuki days, she really never felt comfortable staying near Sasuke and here she was, always being demanded to stay close to him. She took her last sigh and focused her attention to the man.

She lifted her hand on top of his head and closed her eyes. At that moment, she had formed a thin cover of aura surrounding her body. She extended that film over to Sasuke, extending it to cover his whole body as well. Not a minute after she did that, she shot her eyes open. There was a look of concern and horror in her face. She shook a little but then tried to settle herself down.

"What the heck are you doing Sasuke?" she shouted, catching him surprised. He looked at her and stared at her worried face. Why was she worried? He knew what was happening to him but it did not make any sense that she too felt the same alarm he feels. After all, if his condition worsens, Konoha will gain an advantage over him.

"What's my problem Sakura?" he still said coolly. It took time before Sakura could calm herself down but the sound of worry was still etched in her voice. She didn't know why there was a need to shout either.

"You have unstable chakra. Your networks especially in your eyes are beyond crazy. You're going blind Sasuke." She narrated in a matter of fact tone. She can never make a mistake in her diagnosis and this, right now was a fact.

"Very sharp." He went forwards, passing her face to whisper on her ear. "I want you to fix it."

"F-fix it? These jumble of wires? That's madness… it will take forever." She retorted. Forever is not an option for her. She needs to go back and report to the Hokage. This may be a mission in it self but it was too risky to stay long beside the Uchiha. Besides, there are much more important cases out there that needs her. There was no way she'd forego everything just because he demands her to do it.

"You mean you can fix it?" Sakura batted an eye. She believed she can but the process is work in itself.

"Its not impossible but its hard Sasuke... there's only a 25 percent chance that…" Sakura bit her lip. She would have opted to say it was impossible but she knew Sasuke would see behind her lies.

"Good." Good? The word echoed through her mind endlessly. What is the good in that mere 25 percent? She failed to understand his logic but he remained steadfast on this belief that it was good enough.

"Good? Twenty five percent?" she almost raised her voice. She was starting to worry about his indifference to her feelings of worry and fear; that his sole chance of seeing clearly again was at the mercy of her hands.

"The only one who can do this is you Sakura. If I go blind, wouldn't that be a great big favor to Konoha?" he laughed. Sakura looked away, holding her arm with her other. That was definitely true. She can bring back Sasuke that way and he wouldn't be that powerful like before.

"Let me think about this…" Sasuke stood up with a kunai in his hands. He pushed her towards the wall almost lifting her up with sheer force. Sakura defended with a kunai of her own, pushing back the blade that he held so tightly in front of her neck.

"I didn't bring you here for you to think. I brought you here for you to do the things that I want you to do. You have no say in this." She hated how he can be so hardheaded. She frowned and stared back at his dark eyes that might as well be lost to oblivion.

"Y-you can't kill me otherwise." She managed to say. He needed her and as far as her expertise goes, she was too valuable to be killed here and now. As she looked back at him, he flashed a grin that made her back away. When he returned Sakura's stare, his eyes turned completely red, totally catching her off guard. Sasuke got her in the depths of her traumatic worries and troubles in a deathly stare given out by his sharingan.

She remained silent for a little while, kneeling on the floor as if she was already caught in a trance. Moments later, tears started to fall down on her face. There was no saying what she saw however, it was clear she suffered from the dream like state, he deliberately made her stay in for a couple of minutes.

Sasuke began to approach her, kneeling down as she neared his feet. He held her neck in a vice like grip and started to crush it slowly, making her whimper and scratch the hand that slowly took her air away. Finally, he had let go but went forward to whisper something in her ear.

"Don't be arrogant Sakura. I won't tolerate someone making assumptions about me." He stood up and walked away, a sight she should have gotten used to by now... but she couldn't. In the end, all she wished for was his recognition. Sakura cried until she felt the urge to sleep.

Okay. I'm sorry for this late update. It's our sembreak and i finally had the time to update this now. I'm thankful for those who kept reading my stories despite the pace of my updates. you guys are my treasures :) I'll see what i can do for the next chappie :)