Tiger- Aww, Sasuke is your humanity coming back?

Sasuke- --glares evilly--

Tiger- --sigh-- You're such a softy. Oh, anyway thank you guys for the reviews, I love you all muches.

Sasuke- --blinks-- Muches?

Tiger- I think Sasuke's finally confused… Yay! I confused him… anyway here's the next chapter… Time for Sakura to wakee wakee! I loved that review, thanks Karou Uchiha-san for getting that stuck in my head for however long it's been, continue…

Ch 3: Awake

A low groan made its way to the ears of the last living member of the Uchiha clan, stealing his attention from the wall to his bedridden companion. Since the moment Naruto fell asleep, he had been deep in thought, thinking of what his best friend had said to him.

"Because you were my friend before you attempted to kill me. I guess, in some way I still trusted you. I've always trusted you, Sasuke, with my life."

Those words had rewound themselves and replayed to no end. There were a few times when his mind would stop, but only when there was an interruption. Like Naruto moving forward so he could rest his head on the bed next to Sakura his hand still holding hers for comfort, nurses coming in to check up on their fellow medic, or even sudden moans from Sakura. Other than that, he had thought for hours on end, but also watching and waiting for any signs meaning trouble.

"But… for now at least, Sakura will be fine. I suggest you watch her when she wakes up, watch for any sighs of it recurring. We don't know if it was temporary or something more serious."

Another set of words echoed in his head. Throughout his watch, he made his way to Sakura's side, ready to wake Naruto if there was anything abnormal and to do as the Hokage advised. This time, Sasuke made his way back to the bed.

"…Where…? …What…?" familiar green eyes opened tiredly. At first her vision was blurry due to the wariness of their mission. Sakura lifted her right hand to her forehead; man did her head hurt as well as her chest. She tried to move the other one only to realize that someone was holding it. Shifting her throbbing head she looked to see her blonde spiky haired teammate, snoring.

"Ramen," he replied in his sleep, drool slipping from his gapping mouth.

Sakura smiled, giving off a small chuckle before turning to see her stoic old crush at the foot of the bed. His face wore that bored look he used to wear when they were Genin. She comprehended he was clean and his cuts were no where to be seen. Now she wondered how long she had been out. "Hey," she said, making an attempt to sit up. As she did, she put her right hand to her chest to stop the minimal amount of pain that was going through her torso. When she sat up completely, she took to healing the small pain in her chest and when she stopped, she looked at him, "How long was I out?"

"About seven hours," Sasuke stated bluntly. He was watching her every move, and for some reason it made her nervous. During their Genin days, she would have blushed like mad to have him watch her every move, or at least watch her more than he did then.

She looked around to avoid his watchful eyes, "Seven hours?" her voice held disbelief. 'Seven hours! How long-'

"Naruto's been by your side ever since we arrived. I've been here for the last five." He added, as if he knew what she was thinking. Sakura lowered her gaze to Naruto, leaning forward and giving him a little peck on his forehead as Sasuke watched every movement. "After you lost consciousness we hurried here. Naruto was frantic about the situation, as were we all. The villagers all know that you're not in the best health at the moment and are worried," he nodded his head to the bedside table, which she turned her attention.

There were countless bouquets of flowers and cards and balloons on the table and on the floor. It gave the room a nice homey feeling and the heavy scent of flowers filled the air. Nonetheless, one stood out the most, a large array of daffodils with a silver envelope. Sakura grabbed and looked at her name in a beautiful silver calligraphy. 'Lee,' she thought opening it carefully.

My dearest Sakura,

I have gotten these for you since you are not in the best of health and I thought that these would put a smile on your beautiful face, though I did not know what flower you prefer. You would not believe the trouble I went through to get these for you. Dogs foaming at the mouth… perhaps I should stop there. Get well my beloved Sakura, the most beautiful blossom in Konoha and throughout the world.

Sincerely,

Lee

Sasuke watched her expressions at something she read made her pull the letter closer as if to see if it was really written there to giggling at the letter in her hands to giving off one of those smiles she always gave. He raised a brow slightly curious. 'What did Lee write?' he asked himself.

She put the letter back in its place as she leaned closer to smell the heavenly scent the daffodils gave off. A smile of pleasure spread across her lips, 'I haven't been this spoiled with flowers in my life. I wonder who they all came from.' Her attention went back to the Uchiha, 'Still as blank as ever.' Sakura thought looking at him. "Who came to see me exactly?"

"Once I got here, Naruto told me that he was pretty much interrogated by your friend, Ino." He frowned inwardly as he mentioned her and Sakura looked at the sleeping blonde while laughing quietly. Sasuke clearly remembered his crazed fan girl's years ago, Sakura, Ino, and any other girl just about, though there were few that weren't all over him. Like the shy Hyuuga heiress and the one who's on Lee's team. They were the only ones that didn't hang on him whenever they seen him. 'At least Sakura grew out of it,' he inwardly smiled as he watched her read more cards. "How are you feeling?" Sasuke asked suddenly.

Sakura looked up, surprised he was asking. Her eyes closed as she gave a soft smile, "I'm fine, thanks for asking." Somehow, those last three words sounded harsh to Sasuke. They were almost innocent yet not. He raised a brow at this; she didn't seem to notice that her words were a little cruel. Her face still held her peacefulness.

'What just happened?' Sasuke inquired himself. 'It sounded like she hated me for asking. What's her problem?!'

"You can sit down if you like," Sakura said as she moved her legs over, her kind side back.

'Or did I just imagine it?' the Uchiha thought, still observing her.

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke shook his head to get the first thought out of his mind, 'I think that mission wore me out,' he nearly lost his balance and two hands grabbed him to keep him steady and pulled him to the bed. Sasuke placed one hand to his face, suddenly he felt like he had a headache. Perhaps it was because he had been awake for almost two days straight, and when he was with Orochimaru, he was used to staying up for a few days on end. But now that he no longer had to be aware of his surroundings, he felt tired staying awake for twenty-four hours. He felt a soft hand touch his forehead where his headband had been years ago. Since he had returned, he was on probation for a year, without the right to go on any missions. However, the previous one was an exception and he still had no idea how it was excused. His headband would belong to the Hokage until she felt he was trustworthy. Sasuke looked to his left to see Sakura concentrating on him just as she sent healing chakra to soothe the pain. 'Sakura?' Something in the back of his head was relaxed with her gentle touch, and another feeling made him slightly nervous.

He wasn't used to this kind of contact so as a natural reaction he reached his hand up to slap hers away, but was a little slow since a few moments had passed and she was no longer focusing on him. "There." She looked at him for a second, inspecting him carefully, "You should go home and get some rest. You haven't slept in two days."

To Sakura's side there was movement as Naruto opened his eyes, "…Sakura…?" he blinked as she nodded. "Sakura!" he shouted, jumping up and hugging her as she and Sasuke winced at the damage done to their ear drums.

"Ow, Naruto!" Sakura cried, trying to get the boy off of her before he clamped himself to her. She socked him pretty hard. "Hey, I'm recovering!" she yelled.

Sasuke's arms were crossed and his eyes closed, just as he had done when they were Genin.

"Sorry Sakura," Naruto massaged his head, "I was just worried about you." The kunoichi softened at his words and Sasuke opened his dark eyes. "So Sakura… what happened? First thing we know is that you couldn't breathe before you lost consciousness." Both males turned their eyes to her as she turned to the window, in thought.

"I honestly don't know what happened," she answered truthfully. The sky was gray, the scent of rain filled the air, she could smell it because the window was open slightly. 'Sasuke or Naruto must have opened it.' She took a deep breath to filter her burning lungs with fresh atmosphere. Thunder sounded just before lightning clashed. Droplets of water fell one by one, before becoming a soft drizzle. "I love the rain," Sakura said, to no one in particular. "It makes me feel at peace."

"Sakura?" she turned her attention to her blonde haired teammate. "Will you be alright? Do you feel alright, I mean?"

"I do now, thanks to you guys," she gave a reassuring smile.

"If anything else happens you can always count on me to be there for you, believe it." He pounded his chest to show that he meant every word.

The medic chuckled, "You always are there for me, Naruto. Naruto?"

"Huh? What is it Sakura?"

"Thank you," she started, "thank you for being my friend, after all we've been through."

"Aw, no problem Sakura."

At that moment, Sasuke felt like an outcast. His ambitions made him so. True they had accepted him openly after all, but there was something that made him feel this way. He had tried to distance himself from every living person so he wouldn't feel so, but even since he came back and was reacquainted with his former companions, he had become the old Sasuke they knew back then, no matter how much he tried to keep it hidden. It was starting to emerge from its slumber.

The door opened getting everyone's attention. There was Tsunade, who was followed by her first apprentice, Shizune. "Sakura," the young woman said, walking in with Tonton in her arms. "I heard everything and was worried about you!"

"Oink," the pig agreed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to worry anyone, especially my team." Sakura replied, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly, she stopped when her sensei was in front of her. Four pairs of eyes were on the blonde and pink haired women.

"I'm glad to see that you have recovered so quickly." The Hokage lowered her amber eyes to her student. "You gave us all a panic, Sakura. Apparently you either healed a heart attack before it began or something stopped it before it could become dangerous. Did you obtain any unusual injuries?"

"Is it possible for a wound to be lined greenish-yellow instead of pink and give off yellow pus?" Sakura asked quickly, the words flew from her mouth.

Tsunade raised a brow, "Why?"

"Because the only injury I got was exactly what I described."

"Ew, seriously, Sakura?" Naruto cringed, obviously disgusted with the expression on his face. Sasuke remained the same, though he had to agree with Naruto.

'That's the only thing I'll agree with Naruto on.'

The Hokage placed a hand to her chin, in thought, ignoring the other blonde. "That's unusual. I haven't come across anything like that. Are you sure?"

Sakura nodded, "Unless I was more exhausted than I thought."

"We can't dismiss that though. I've come here to check your progress and if all is well you can leave early." Tsunade placed her hand on the pink haired female with her glowing blue chakra. Naruto, Sasuke, Shizune and Tonton watched as the process started. The blonde boy was tapping his feet in irritation and his arms crossed, this was taking to long for him and it was annoying the Uchiha to no end. He raised his fist and brought it down only to stop an inch from impact as the Hokage spoke, "You really have come a long way, Sakura. You've healed yourself quite nicely and there are no signs of anything you haven't found. You are free to leave but I recommend you rest. Shizune, Sakura has the week off." The dark haired woman nodded.

"No, c'mon sensei," Sakura protested, "what am I going to do with the week off?"

Tsunade smirked; Sakura should have seen that coming, "Hang out with your teammates, Sakura."

"Are you sure, sensei?" Sakura continued. "There're a lot of patients in the hospital and even you can't do it all."

The Sanin waved her off, "I am the Hokage after all."

Sakura crossed her arms, "I'm surprised you're not drunk," she mumbled, arms crossed. Tsunade turned with a deadly glare.

"What was that?"

"Uh, nothing sensei." She scratched her head.

"That's what I thought," she looked at the stoic and loudmouth boys. "Would you make sure she gets home safely?" she asked walking out the door, waving.

"I'm glad to know you are alright Sakura," Shizune smiled.

"Oink, oink."

"I'll take care of your shift so don't worry about it, you rest as much as you can." Sakura's fellow medic continued.

"Shizune, I can't have you do that. You've already covered so many of my shifts and I haven't even repaid you for that yet. I'm sorry Shizune, but you don't have to cover for me, it's my responsibility-"

"Sakura, you need your rest." Naruto cut in. "You always overwork yourself when you're here and you're always tired when you go on missions. You'll kill yourself and I can't have that. You need to rest."

"He's right you know," everyone looked to Sasuke. "If you don't rest you can't help anyone. You'll be too weak and ineffective and won't be able to heal your patients when you're drained."

"But…" Sakura looked out the window. "I don't like doing nothing." She sighed in defeat, "Fine… as much as I don't like it."

"I'll walk you home, Sakura." Naruto volunteered cheerfully.

"Don't worry about me, Naruto. I'll be fine." The kunoichi moved her legs over to the edge of the bed and stood up.

It didn't matter what she said, Naruto wasn't going to let Sakura go home alone. Who knows what could happen? Sure this village was safe, the former organization Akatsuki shown them that there are some stealthy people out there. Besides, he wasn't entirely convinced that Sakura should walk alone; not only that but he was still worried about what happened earlier and didn't want the same thing to reoccur. "I'm still taking you home." Man he was persistent. Naruto jumped up and walked beside her, opening the door letting her walk through first.

Sasuke followed quietly, arms folded over his firm chest. As they reached the front door to the hospital, a pretty nurse came up to Sakura. Long brown hair flowed to her lower back and she watched her fellow medic with soft sapphire eyes. Her skin looked soft to the eye and was tan. "Sakura," she said, "we were all so worried about you."

"I'm fine, Ayu, honestly. Tell everyone else that."

The nurse sighed, "You overwork yourself to much. There's more to working at the hospital, you know? We all feel that way about you. Rest is the number one thing you need right now. For your week off you should train, you're always complaining about not having enough time to do that. Or hang out with your girlfriends; I'm sure they miss having you around. Or even go find yourself a boyfriend."

"Mm," Sakura groaned, eyes narrowing. "And I want one because…?"

"Here," another female voice caused Sakura and her two male companions to turn. A second nurse popped up, a large purple umbrella in her hand. She was a little on the bulky side, certainly not fat, but certainly not skinny. Just right. Despite this fact, she was easy on the eyes with hers as a pale shade of pink and short wavy blonde hair which was tied up in a small ponytail on top of her head and pale skin. "You're gonna need this."

"Yuraku, what about you?"

"I have to stay her for twelve hours, so I won't be needing it anytime soon. But hopefully the rain will stop in a few hours." Her smile was genuine. "We wouldn't want you to get sick on us either."

Aya nodded. "Just go and get some rest," she looked at the boys. "And I trust you both will make sure of that?"

"You bet we will," Naruto promised.

"Hn," Sasuke answered, turning his head to the side to avoid looking at the nurses.

Aya and Yuraku leaned toward Sakura, "He's a fox. Is he single?" Aya asked and blushed along with the blonde female.

"You can forget about it." Sakura smirked and crossed her arms, "He's not one to date, let alone like girls to my knowledge."

Both nurses sighed with dismay, "That sucks."

"C'mon Sakura," Naruto but in, the three pulled apart.

"Get some rest," both said in unison before leaving for the front desk.

"I'll have someone take your flowers to your house," Yuraku waved. Naruto took off his orange jacket and placed it over Sakura's shoulders and took the umbrella from Sakura's hands.

"Naruto?"

"You wear it; I don't want you to catch a cold." Sakura returned his smile with one of her own.

"Thank you, Naruto." The boy opened the umbrella as he opened the door. It was surprisingly big enough for three teenagers. Water slashed from under their feet with each step.

"Hey Sasuke," the kyuubi vessel started, getting a glance from the Uchiha before he looked straight, "I can walk her if you like. You can go get some rest."

Sakura was in front of them both as they walked side by side. "You're the one who needs some rest, Naruto." Sakura suddenly stopped, if the boys weren't paying any attention they would have walked right into her.

"Sakura? What's wrong?" Naruto asked, concern leaking his voice.

She turned toward them, "Neither of you have to walk me home. I'd be alright by myself." She insisted.

"I don't mind it, Sakura," Naruto blinked. "What about you Sasuke?"

"Hn," the dark haired boy answered.

Sakura sighed, "I don't need to be watched. I'm stronger than I was when we were Genin."

"Who says we're watching you?" Sasuke asked, his normal tone.

"I'm just worried," Naruto spoke truthfully. "I don't want anything bad to happen to you again. Not after your parents…" her face fell with that.

Sasuke was lost now, way lost. The walk was silent after that, the air was warm and smelt fresh. Moisture filtered their nostrils as they took in the purified aroma as droplets of water continued to fall. The streets were lit with streetlights at every corner. Quickly the blocks passed and they stood in front of Sakura's apartment. She turned to them after she unlocked the door, "Thank you, Naruto. Thank you, Sasuke," she bowed in a polite manner after giving Naruto his jacket. "Would you like to come in and dry off?"

"Sorry," Naruto apologized, "I have a date with Hinata." He turned to his best friend. "You?"

Sasuke shook his head, "No."

"Uh… I guess I'll see you two tomorrow. Thank you for walking me home, though I didn't need you to. Hey Naruto, bring the umbrella to me tomorrow before training. Goodnight." She entered and closed the door behind her with a soft click and the sound of her locking it.

Naruto looked at Sasuke, "Should I walk you home too?" he asked with a grin.

"Hn," Sasuke snorted, walking out from under the umbrella and into the rain. "See you tomorrow, Loser." He disappeared in a flash.

----

Two silhouettes watched from a distance. One turned to the other, "Mission complete."

"Now all we have to do is wait." Both voices were male, one old and one was perhaps a teenager.

"How long?"

"Not long," the older one replied, his voice was deeper and sounded gruff. "You did well, with these ninja from the Leaf. Phase two will begin once this one is fully complete." He started chuckling to himself.

Tiger- --clasps hands-- Aww, Lee's so sweet. –unclasps hands and looks at Sasuke-- How come you didn't do that?!

Sasuke- --obviously annoyed-- And I would do that because…?

Tiger- --crosses arms, huffing-- You are SO in denial. Anyway, I hope that letter from Lee was somewhat what he would have done. How was the chapter? Some things are falling into place. Your thoughts and ideas are welcome and appreciated.