title: love month
prompt: SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ!
rating: T-M

summary: oo7; "Only you can fix me." In which Sasuke tries to tell Sakura that she's not like the other girls.

.oo7.
Fix You

"Only you can fix me," Sasuke said to her one time as she healed his wounds. She stopped, her green chakra fading, and he looked up at her with serious eyes, his body bloody and bandaged.

"Hm?"

"Yeah. Nobody else can understand me like you do. And if they can, they're all dead," he scoffed, thinking of his family. He looked up at Sakura again.

"Sakura?"

"What's wrong?" she asked him. He immediately turned solemn and took her hand, placing it on his cheek, the side of his face.

"Don't leave me." He hugged her tight around the waist and pressed his head on her stomach. "Whatever you do, please don't leave me."

"I won't," she promised, petting his hair. "I promise, Sasuke-kun. Just lie back down and breathe for me, alright? Then you'll get better."

Sasuke didn't say anything. She felt a warm trickle of liquid soaking her shirt. Pushing Sasuke back gently, she looked down and then back at him to see that he was…crying.

"I missed you," he whispered.

.

.

.

As Naruto promised, he brought Sasuke back. Of course, the village was never the same—girls still fawned over him, despite the horrible things he had done. He had been sent to psychological training to stop his screwed up brain, and was soon partially fixed, but still working on it.

His eyesight had deteriorated, so Kakashi was sent to help him, as an old friend and a fellow member of the Sharingan. But it wasn't really the happy village that they all used to know and refer to.

The air was more tense. Sakura didn't necessarily welcome him with open arms and tears at the beginning. In fact, when she first saw Sasuke, she froze in her steps, looked him up and down, watching as his stoic face never changed (not that she expected it to) and punched him straight in the face. He was already bruised and bloody from Naruto's fights (using a special seal to make sure Sasuke couldn't fight back when Naruto brought him home), and Sakura, becoming much stronger than she was before, had her punch knock his head back and had blood flying out of his nose and jaw, his neck nearly snapping.

"You bastard," she mumbled. "And you have the guts to come back here after trying to kill Naruto and me…"

Both Sasuke and Naruto watched as she walked away, slowly at first, before she picked up her pace and started running, her hand making her way to her face in a quick, sideways motion, as if she was wiping away tears.

"That idiot…" she muttered, not knowing if she was referring to Sasuke or Naruto. Heck, why not both of them, for the sake of it?

.

.

.

"I'm Sai," Sai said, introducing himself to Sasuke. "So you must be the guy I've replaced. I think that we look alike, don't you?" he said, examining himself and Sasuke.

"Hn."

"Still not much of a talker? That's okay, I'm not very talkative either," he said. Sakura scoffed. What a lie.

It had been nearly a week, and Team 7 was back together again. Naruto tried to crack jokes with Sasuke, but they always came out half-heartedly. Kakashi tried to brighten the mood with the old bells that they used to chase after when they were genin, but nobody paid attention to the chimes. Even Sakura wouldn't look Sasuke in the eye, and always turned away whenever he called for her.

"You know, Sasuke. Naruto's gotten pretty strong the last couple of years, right?" Kakashi said, patting Naruto's head. "Of course, he's still the same dumbass who loves ramen, but otherwise, I'm actually really proud of him."

"If he weren't strong, I wouldn't be here, now would I?" Sasuke said sarcastically, folding his arms.

"Aa. Well, Sakura-chan on the other hand…" he turned his head to see where Sakura was, and she was busy walking towards the trees where they had learned how to walk on, remembering that she was the best out of all of them.

"Sakura-chan has gotten mega strong. As in, it's crazy. She can literally create earthquakes and has great chakra control. Honestly, I'm a little jealous…plus, she's gotten really pretty, and older now…so what is she, 16? 17?"

"Hands off, Kakashi," Naruto snarled. "You're like, 31!"

"Yeah, but it's not as weird as when she was 12," Kakashi muttered. "Anyway…"

Sasuke blocked the whole conversation out. He looked at Sakura's back, remembering what she had told him in the Forest of Death.

Now, it's your turn to watch my back.

And he was. She had packed one hell of a punch, and Sasuke knew that she wasn't even trying her hardest. He rubbed his jaw at the thought.

"Sakura," he called out without thinking. "Come here."

Everyone froze to see what would happen between the two. There was obviously some unresolved tension, and everyone was scared to find out what would happen.

"Why?" she asked from afar.

"My eye hurts," he lied, hoping that Kakashi wouldn't take him away to help his fake needs. "And my wounds are still as painful as hell."

Kakashi looked Sasuke over, who pretended to be doubling over in pain. "He does look pretty worn-out, Sakura. Why don't you take him over to the hospital?"

Sakura, sighing, came back and put Sasuke's arm around her shoulder. "Your place is close by, right?" she asked.

"Hn," he nodded. "Yeah."

Slowly, she walked, supporting him as he pretended to limp. For some reason, he thought back to the time where they were 12, at the exams, and she had threatened to tell someone about his curse seal.

It was funny, since she thought about the same thing, too.

.

.

.

"Lie down," she said, pouring him a cup of tea. He agreed, sitting on the edge of his bed as she brought him the hot tea.

"Sai told me how to make this. It's actually really good. He's a bit of a jokester and likes to fool around with me and Naruto…"

"Do you like him?" he asked. Sakura looked at him weird. "Why would I? He's such a weirdo!"

"Hn…so," he murmured. "Do you still like me? Even after everything?"

Sakura didn't respond. She looked at him and then quickly averted her gaze. "I…well, you should already know…"

"No, I don't. Tell me." He grabbed her wrist to prevent her from escaping. "Do you still love me?"

Sakura closed her eyes, trying to pull free. "I can't—I don't want to—" she opened her eyes, gasping, feeling tears spring down her cheeks.

"Sakura…" Sasuke said, sighing. He pulled her into his arms and comforted her, not knowing what to do. He had changed when he left, nearly attacking her and killing all of his friends and family that meant something to him…and now he was acting totally different.

Power and revenge were nothing anymore. He wanted his family back. He wanted to feel loved again.

"Stop it." She pulled away and brushed her clothes. "I'm going to go make more tea."

"Heal me first?" he asked, undoing his chest bandages and taking off his shirt. Sakura gulped, feeling the air rise in temperature. She had seen plenty of gorgeous men half-naked before, but Sasuke…

"Lie back down, and make yourself comfortable," she said, gently laying his head down on the pillow. Using her chakra, she put her green hands over his chest and he groaned at the relief. "That feels good," he murmured.

"Be quiet and relax," she snapped back as her hands roamed everywhere else on his torso and his arms.

"Hey, Sakura?" Sasuke said, raising his head from the pillow

"Yeah?" she asked as she continued to focus in her work.

"Only you can fix me. I wouldn't dream of having anybody else do it."

"Oh." Sakura stopped healing.

He held her hand in his. "You're special to me."

So are you, she thought.

"Fix me."

She smiled. "Lie down and stop squirming, first."

Slight changes 7.8.14!