Chapter Eight

When Sakura woke up, she didn't want to open her eyes. She'd just had the most wonderful dream. Sasuke had woken up! Then she remembered that it wasn't a dream. She opened her eyes and sat up. Sasuke was still asleep, but Sakura knew he'd wake up soon. Sure enough, it hadn't even been five minutes before Sasuke stirred and opened his eyes.

"Morning, Sasuke-kun," Said Sakura. "I was just about to go get breakfast, you want anything?" Sasuke yawned, seemingly still half asleep. He sat up and shook his head. Just as Sakura was about to leave, Kakashi and Naruto burst into the room.

"Good morning, Sakura!" they said, at the same time.

"We got you some breakfast, so you could stay and watch Sasuke," Naruto said, handing her a bagel. Sakura took it and said,

"You're back from your mission already?" Naruto nodded and grinned.

"It was easy," He bragged. Kakashi's uncovered eye scanned the room. It stopped at the bed.

"Sakura, why didn't you tell us Sasuke was awake?" he asked.

"Well, you didn't give me a chance to!" Snapped Sakura. Naruto's mouth dropped open.

" Sasuke-teme!" he yelled. "You're a baka, you know that right?"

"It creeps me out when you talk to yourself, and your name is Naruto, not Sasuke," Sasuke replied. Sakura sighed, knowing that this was the nicest reaction that could be expected from those two. It took a few minutes for Sasuke's insult to travel to Naruto's brain. When he finally realized what Sasuke was talking about, he all but exploded.

"SASUKE!" he yelled, running to the bed. Sakura jumped in between Sasuke and Naruto. Naruto skidded to a stop, not wanting to harm Sakura, and tripped. He fell forward and Sakura stepped out of the way. Naruto landed with a bang on the floor. He mumbled a few choice cuss words and something about Sasuke then slowly picked himself up off the floor.

"You're lucky Sakura-chan is here to protect you or I would have beaten the crap out of you," He said.

"NARUTO!" yelled Sakura. Naruto took a few steps back. Sasuke smirked. Some things never changed. Naruto suddenly had an idea.

"Hey Sasuke, Sakura-chan likes me better!" he said. He did a few hand signs behind his back that no one noticed. Sasuke looked from him to Sakura, who had her fist raised.

"What would give you that idea? Right now it looks like she'd like to rip out your guts," Said Sasuke.

"She went on a date with me once," Said Naruto, grinning. Sakura's eyes widened and she dropped her fist.

"See," Said Naruto. Sasuke crossed his arms.

"Why would I care?" he said.

"I know you do, you told -," Kakashi clamped Naruto's mouth shut.

"I think it's time to go," He said, dragging Naruto out. "It was nice to see you two." He stepped on Naruto's foot to make him stop struggling. It didn't quite work the way he wanted it to. Naruto started kicking around and it took Kakashi a long time to drag him out of sight.

Once they were gone, Sasuke burst out laughing. The noise startled Sakura. She'd never heard Sasuke laugh before. Once he settled down he muttered a few words like "Baka" and "Stupid as ever." Then he became serious again and asked, "Did you…uh…really… you know…date Naruto?" Sakura paused, unsure of how to answer.

"Yes, but it wasn't really a date, I made him pay for it," She finally said." And I only called it a date because it was the only way I could get him to listen to me." She was still slightly confused by Sasuke's actions. She'd never known him to burst out laughing for no reason and why would he care if she had dated Naruto? Orochimaru must have really messed with his head, She thought.

"Hey!" said Sasuke. Sakura looked up. "Has the hospital food gotten any better since the last time I was here?" he asked. Sakura shook her head.

"I can go grab you something if you want," She offered.

Sasuke smiled and said, "Ok."

Now Sakura was really freaked out. Sasuke was actually smiling and laughing! Though this is nice, it's not normal! Inner Sakura flared up in her mind. Maybe I'll have Tsunade look at him again. He is definitely not being himself, She thought as she excited Sasuke's room.

"Tsunade-sama!" Sakura called out. Tsunade turned to face her.

"What? Is something wrong?" she asked, seeing the concerned look on her former student's face.

"You could say that," Sakura mumbled. Tsunade raised her eyebrow, waiting for her to elaborate.

"Sasuke-kun's acting really weird," Sakura started. "He's laughing and smiling and actually being somewhat nice." Tsunade frowned.

"Is that normal for him?" She asked. All she knew about Sasuke was that he had broken Sakura's heart by leaving the village and that he was arrogant and stubborn. Sakura shook her head.

"Before he never even acknowledged me," She said.

"I'll go check on him," Tsunade assured her.

"Thanks!" Sakura called as she hurried out of the hospital.

Tsunade walked slowly to Sasuke's room. When she opened the door, she saw Sasuke sitting on his bed with a stupid grin on his face. "Sakura says that you're acting weird, Uchiha," Tsunade informed him.

"Sakura-chan's so hot," Said Sasuke, grinning even more stupidly. Tsunade was surprised.

"What did you say?" she asked.