Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Naruto.

Hey guys! I'm sorry that it's been so long! I hadn't really counted on taking this long to update. I'm so disappointed in myself. I had to read the previous chapter to actually know what to write in this one. That's how long it's been :3 I hope that you all can forgive my tardiness! Anyway. I know that you all want me to stop this jibber-jabber so you can read my wonderful and flowing words of my story. I hope to read your reviews soon!

Sakura woke up to an empty bed and whispered "I knew he'd be gone… but why were my hopes up?..."

She just shrugged at her overemotional behavior and wrapped herself in a robe then greeted the day with a sad aura. She had nothing to do, no work, no training, no cooking, no cleaning, and what hurt most of all… no Sasuke…

She walked into the bathroom and discarded the robe to take a quick dip into the tub to become fully awake. When she got out she got dressed in a black pencil skirt that hugged her knees then a pink blouse. She still wore her hitai-atte because she had her pride to consider. She then grabbed a little black, hand purse and walked out the door. She knew she wasn't supposed to do anything due to the strict orders, but the only people who knew about it were Tsunade and Sasuke. As far as she knew Tsunade was stuck in the hospital with her duties and then Sasuke was off on a mission. There wouldn't be anyone to stop her. As she approached the library to do some studying she found herself at a nice quiet table. She say down and began reading up on the anatomy of the human nerve system. She found herself engrossed in studying and was completely unaware of her surroundings.

Sasuke was walking out of the Hokage's office and out of the building towards the Uchiha compound. He knew that Sakura would be so tired that she'd probably be asleep and he could crawl back into bed and surprise her when she woke up. When he walked into the house he found it disturbingly quiet, even if she was sleeping. When he walked into the bedroom he almost boiled over with frustration. The bed was made and there was no trace of Sakura anywhere in the house. He walked out of the doors and decided to ask around for her. He finally found Ino who told him that she wanted to stop by the library to do some studying. He nodded in thanks and walked towards that direction trying to keep his cool and keep himself from boiling over and letting his anger show on his face.

"At least she's not training or working…" he told himself trying to find reasons not to blow his top at her and yell to kingdom come, "You would think that she would've learned by now…"

When he walked into the library he saw towering bookcases and countless books that he would never be able to read in his lifetime. He finally found the section of the library that held medical books, the only place in the library he would ever think Sakura would be. Then low and behold, he found her hovering over one of her medical books completely transfixed on it. He knew that if she wasn't focused to completely on that book she would've sensed his presence and looked up at him. He decided that he'd had enough of this foolishness and approached the table and somewhat gently slammed his fist on the table right in front of her book. Sakura jumped back in surprise and had to cover her mouth to stifle a scream. Sasuke just looked at her with cold hard eyes.

"I thought you were out on a mission!" she whispered frantically.

"And I thought you were supposed to be in bed" he retorted dryly not caring if other people around them heard the conversation they were sharing.

"We're in a library" she reprimanded him, "show some respect for the other people and lower your voice!"

Then Sasuke decided there was no other option. He took her by the wrist and drug her out of the library as she whispered frantic pleas of protest. She knew once they were outside she would face the full fury of Sasuke Uchiha, the only surviving Uchiha of the Uchiha clan. However when they were outside she found herself suddenly engulfed in strong arms and pressed against a rock solid chest.

"Please, I don't want you to kiss yourself, just get better and stop making things worse for yourself…" He pleaded without sounding desperate in his normal emotionless voice.

Sakura wrapped her arms around his next and snuggled her face into the crook of his neck and nodded. She'd never seen this side of Sasuke before. She didn't know he had a caring protective side. She'd seen his jealous protective side, but not the caring one. In all of her time she'd been with him she had never experienced this kind of warmth he was emitting. After that little fluffy moment they shared together outside of the library they went home and Sakura complained, but none-the-less went to bed. She didn't like just laying in bed. She was a very active Individual who couldn't stand staying in one place for too long. She appreciated the mobility her legs granted her and never took it for granted.

Once Sasuke was satisfied that she was going to stay in bed, he left the compound and headed to training ground 3 where he was supposed to meet his new squad. That was the place where he and his team had first gotten together. He shook the memories out of his head as he approached the three child like figures that seemed to be… playing?

He landed on the ground and it seemed as if he was being ignored while staring at the unfazed children continuing to play their pointless game of tag, or so it seemed that was the game they were playing.

"Time to stop playing ninja" he stated coldly causing the children to stop in their tracks, "And act like real shinobi. Game's over, every mission your lives are on the line…"

All the children gulped at their sensei's sinister aura. Takashi, a black shorthaired boy, crossed his arms and scowled at his sensei returning the sinister look that was being cast at him. The other two genins were girls so they just clasped each other's hands and cowered in fear.

Sasuke pinched the skin between his eyes then told the two girls, "You can't be afraid of every person that gives off an evil aura. There are people with scarier auras than mine. I simply am frustrated at seeing the lack of talent in this squad so far. All I've seen is you guys lolly-gagging and playing games. It's time you step it up a notch and take your training seriously."

The three genins gulped then nodded at their sensei. They didn't want to get on his bad side.

Sakura was at home and was currently reading one of her medical textbooks. Ino had dropped by earlier and given them to her. It turns out that it was similar to the book in the library that she didn't get to finish studying. Then she scowled remembering how Sasuke had just crudely drug her out of the library like that. It's as if he didn't even care that he was making a scene, but that was just his nature. He was just someone who didn't care about things that weren't too important.

"Then why did he care that I went to library?" she thought to herself, "does he care about me?..."

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard someone walk into the house. She suspected it to be Ino so she called "Ino? Is that you?" right after she said the last words a man leaned against the doorframe of her room.

Her face instantly brightened and she cheered "Naruto!"

Naruto smiled and pushed himself off the door frame then got on this knees next to her bed and crossed his arms on the mattress, "good to see you too Sakura-chan."

Sakura giggled then closed her book and put it to the side, "So why are you visiting me?" she asked.

"Do I need a reason?" he asked jokingly, "but I heard that you'd over worked yourself and were in bed on Dr.'s orders. I looked around town for you because I thought you wouldn't stay in bed due to the way you are, but I couldn't find you so I came here."

"Well I was out of bed and in town, but Sasuke found out and drug me back her kicking and screaming" she replied while her lip was twitching recalling the event.

"Hey where is Sasuke-kun?" he asked looking around.

"He said he would be out for a while, but said that I had to stay here… or else…"

"He didn't tell you why?" Naruto asked slightly shocked.

Sakura just shook her head with a blank expression.

Naruto shook his head in disbelief as he said, "Tsunade told me that he barged into her office early this morning and resigned from the Anbu ranks because he wanted to be with you and he could if h-"

"HE WHAT? !" she asked pitching a fit.

"Calm down Sakura-chan!" Naruto panicked at her fuming temper.

"How cam I? Anbu was his life!"

"Not really, you're his life now."

"That's sweet of you to say but I know he'll regret this if really resigns."

"He already did."

Sakura was pinching the skin between her eyes in frustration. Now she had her answer as to why he wasn't gone on that mission. He was now a jounin. She wasn't disappointed in him, she was happy that he would be around more, but she wasn't happy that he was giving up something he enjoyed just for her. He always lived for excitement and danger, which is the exact missions Anbus do. She was still going to be an Anbu, but she was a medic-nin, so she was needed in the village more and would only occasionally be sent out on dangerous missions.

"Naruto… why was he allowed to be dropped to jounin?" she asked in a whispered tone as she thought to herself on what was happening.

"He… he had to take on a genin squad and become their sensei, so that's why he isn't here. He's probably out there training them. He'll be home soon though. I have a feeling he'll just fail them to get out of having to deal with them… typical Sasuke…"

"Hey Naruto?..." Sakura asked softly.

"Yeah?"

"Can we talk about something else?" she asked quietly.

"Un, sure Sakura-chan. Have I told you about the new flavored ramen I tried? It's called 'peanut butter'!"

Sakura gave a grossed out face, but knew Naruto was obsessed with his ramen, and she'd really rather talk about ramen than Sasuke at the moment.

The genins out on the field were clutching their kunai panting while Sasuke stood unfazed and unscratched. He wasn't even looking at them while they were attacking them. Mostly it's because it was like they were taking turns attacking him to see who was the strongest. He knew that this was a problem. It was like his old squad. They didn't know the word 'team-work'. He basically told them flat out what their problem was. After a while they started to get closer and closer to getting the bells he'd attached to his belt-loop of his pants. Eventually he let them get them because they were using teamwork. Since they caught on faster than he did in his squad he decided to pass them and keep them. He would just have to figure out when to train them. Especially if he still wanted to have some time to spend with Sakura. He finally dismissed them and headed to his house.
Naruto and Sakura were chatting away on the strangest subjects when they heard the door open, much to their surprise it wasn't another visitor, but Sasuke himself. He stood in the doorway looking at the two and glaring at Naruto.

"Get outta my house dobe…" he muttered as he narrowed his eyes and the numb skulled blond.

"C'mon teme! I was just talking to Sakura-chan!" he whined.

"Well I need to talk to her, so leave" he said dryly.

Naruto stood up from kneeling on the floor and told Sakura his farewells then walked out of the house. Once he was gone Sasuke stood next to the bed and looked at Sakura. It appeared that she'd stayed in bed, but how'd she get that book? It wasn't in the house.

"Where did that come from?" he asked pointing at the book next to Sakura.

"Ino brought it over" she told him.

He didn't sense any tension in her voice, so he figured that she must be telling the truth.

He cleared his throat then told her "we need to talk. I have some things I have to tell you ab-"

She cut him off and spat "Naruto already beat you to it. He spoke to Tsunade, she told him, and he told me, so there's nothing for you to say."

"Why's she so angry at me?" he asked himself as he get irritated with her.

"Now I'm going to bed" she stated dryly and she turned off her bed-stand light and buried her shoulders and below under the covers.

"No you're not" he shot back as he turned the ceiling lights on.

She groaned then sat up and hissed, "What do you want from me?"

He just narrowed his eyes and stated, "I want you to tell me why you're mad."

"I'm mad because you're giving up something you love for me! I'm not that important am I? I just don't want you to be mad later and blame me for being unhappy!" she shouted at him without remorse.

"You are that important" he shot back emotionlessly.

Sakura just looked at him with teary eyes and replied, "Well I don't want you to be unhappy!"

"You're the one who's unhappy" he told her, "and it's my fault."

"Well…" she couldn't argue with that.

He was the reason that she was unhappy. He was always gone and never around when she needed him. He never seemed to care about her anymore, so why just drop everything to be with her?

"You are that important…" he told her again as he sat next to her on the bed, "I know that my voice or eyes don't show it, but you've come to accept that. You also know that if I didn't care about you, you wouldn't live here, you wouldn't know I was constantly thinking about you when I was away on missions, but most of all… you wouldn't have my heart…"

Sakura started to cry after he said that she couldn't stop herself. She didn't think that he was in love with her but he was.

"Now what?..." she thought to herself, "I'm crying uncontrollably, bed ridden, and tired as hell…"

Sasuke just smirked as he felt her warm tears of joy soak his shirt as he pulled her into a hug. He didn't know exactly what to do at the moment, but he didn't want her to keep crying, even if it was out of joy, it made him upset to see her cry for any reason at all.

"Tsunade let me stay here as a jounin if I promised to teach a genin squad. That's why I was gone, but I'm sure Naruto already informed you. I don't know why you're so mad and at me and why you're having an emotional melt down, but I'm not going anywhere anytime soon… so just relax. I'm not leaving you alone again…"

Sakura just nodded as the tears still fell from her eyes. Her face was now in the crook of his neck and she was delicately placed across his lap as his arms wrapped around her. Sasuke didn't know any other words he could use to comfort her so he just remained silent and listened to her sniffles and sobs as her tears continued to further soak through his shirt.

To Be Continued…

I'm sorry if it wasn't as long as I intended it to be. I'm kinda in a rush right now to update all the rest of my fanfictions today or at least make sure that they got updated once this weekend. I hope you guys don't mind the wait! I'm terribly sorry. And I'm also not sure when I'll update again. I have a lot of school work to do and sophmore year is a bitch

PLEASE R&R!

Below I've answered your reviews (if they were worth answering if not then you get an "N/A")

autumn4real: haha I'm glad you liked it!

Akiiya Uchiha: something like that, but I didn't have room in this chapter for all that. It would've taken away from the SasuSaku drama :3 sorry! Maybe next chappy!

Ikuto'slover1112: haha well you'll find you next chapter!

kayasshi: ikr? ^^

xAlternativexMusicxGirlx: haha why thank you! I strive for my lemons to be authentic and original ;) glad to know my goal was achieved! And ikr? Him as a sensei is like… I don't even know! Haha! And I WROTE it! xDDD

Sakura's Indecision: hah thanks for using my name lolz xD

And he is emotionally constipated, that's what makes SasuSaku worth reading, it's what makes it so dang funny xDDD

Hahahaha well those are some great suggestions! I'll keep them in mind ;) but you'll just have to wait until next chapter! xD

Brooklyn-Kiing00: haha thanks! It makes me sad to at her loneliness! But you'll just have to read this chapter to figure out how she reacts to him resigning down a rank! It's not what you think! ;)

TemeBriel: haha sorry for the wait. I hope you had fun at your grandparents though! xD

Cheetay: you'll have to wait for next chapter Cheets ;)

C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only: hahahaha they're not married xDDDDDD

Yamora Love n Friendship: again haha third or fourth time I've had to put this but all the team genin stuff comes next chappy. You just briefly meet the team in this one. You'll learn more about them later. I wanted to focus on the Anbu resignation drama. Sorry!