Chapter 4: The Bath House.

The insect using ninja released the jutsu after Sasuke put him in a genjutsu. It was a relatively uneventful conclusion to what turned out to be a horrific mission for them. The depths of human depravity never ceased to disturb him. But it wasn't all that long ago he wasn't much better. He had planned to destroy the leaf at one point, to kill all the villagers, he was thankful Naruto had beat some sense into him, because he wasn't sure how he would have lived with himself if he had slaughtered children... there was no coming back from that.

The Anbu came and picked up the group responsible for infecting the citizens of Kisaragi Village. Sasuke and the team of medical shinobi stayed in the village for almost a week attending to the recovery of everyone affected. Sakura was able to make antibiotics to treat the villagers and refused to leave until she was sure people were recovering.

Thankfully they were moved to much more comfortable living arrangements, a small house closer to the shrine where they had their own rooms, but he still had a hard time sleeping. He was on high alert for the rest of the mission, even when he wasn't on watch, every sound had him jumpy.

It was now time to head home. Sasuke couldn't wait to leave this place. He was torn between wanting to be always around her to make sure she was safe and being as far away from her as possible because he was having problems deciphering the emotions welling up inside. He had never been so confused. He thought about the things that would happen when he faced her... but planning a short conversation while a few thousand miles away and standing in front of her were entirely two different things, and she really was nothing like he remembered when they were genin.

Sakura was bidding her goodbyes to the villagers. Giichi was trying to convince her to stay and become the village's doctor. Every time he looked over, the village leader was constantly pawing at her, getting way too handsy towards her and shamelessly flirting. 'As if that's all he wanted from her.' Maybe he should that guy under a genjutsu too.

"Sakura! Let's go." Sasuke growled through his teeth. If he had to hear that guy talk about his oversized house one more time, he was going to lose his mind.

Hakui and Iyashi joined him by the gate.

"I'm sorry," Sakura called out as she jogged towards them. Sasuke turned his head away from her, the way her body was moving wasn't something he could watch right now with becoming... uncomfortable.

The group had been walking for about an hour with Sasuke walking silently beside her while only looking away from her. Sakura slowed her pace putting distance between Hakui, Iyashi and themselves. Sasuke patched her pace unconsciously.

Sakura kept changing her pace with a bemused grin on her face each time he would match her cadence. It took him a few moments to pick up on what she was doing. He shot her an unimpressed look in her direction and stopped engaging in her little game. She let out a little laugh and shoulder bumped him before running to catch up with the others.

The group decided to set up camp near the same area they camped in while on the route to the village. Usually, Sasuke would normally sit across from her during meals, a considerably safe distance from her for all situations, but tonight he sat beside her for dinner, keeping her to his left side. Hakui and Iyashi decided to take the first and second shifts on night watch, insisting that Sakura and Sasuke get some rest. Considering he was running on basically no sleep for days, he didn't really put up much of a fight.

Sasuke fell back on the grass. For once he was glad to be out under the stars. They always seem to clear his mind. Sakura was already asleep, lying just out of arms reach. He kept looking over at her, going on this mission with her really put things in perspective and also confused him greatly. He had to start somewhere, to be honest, he was trying to close the distance in his relationship with her since she healed his now permanently wounded arm, even though it was mostly him processing his own emotions towards her in private. He thought he had it all figured out and now she was just beyond his fingertips and still couldn't bring himself to close the gap between them both literally and figuratively.

Sasuke rolled on this back and pushed the thoughts from his mind. He had to get some sleep before it was his turn to be on watch.

X

The bright morning sun was shining in his face, it was too bright, he tried to roll on to his side away from the sun but found he was unable to move. He felt a weight on his chest he wasn't familiar with. He snapped his eyes open, ready to defend himself, but had to blink multiple times to truly take in the sight before him. Her messy light pink hair splayed out over his neck, chest and even tickled his face. Her head was resting on his injured arm. She was facing away from him, but she was still tucked along his side. Her breathing was calm and even, she was still asleep. He heard giggling from across the now burnt-out fire.

"What's going on?" Sasuke muttered, realizing he slept though his watch and was now pinned under her weight. He tried to slip his arm out from under her head, but she was deadweight, the only way he was getting out of this was to wake her up.

"The two of you cuddling was too cute we just couldn't disturb you guys. We took care of the watch shifts." Hakui explained as the pair of medical shinobi continued to giggle, the pair was preparing breakfast.

Sasuke's face flushed, "Sakura! Wake up!"

She murmured something in her sleep, stretching out for a moment before cuddling in closer.

"Sakura!" He snapped, more out of embarrassment than anger.

It appeared that was enough to wake her up. When she realized her position and heard the snickering coming from across from them, she immediately jumped up. "I'm so sorry."

Sasuke didn't acknowledge her comments as he sat up, even though he would never admit it out loud, he also wasn't in the same place he fell asleep in. It wasn't exactly what he meant when he thought about closing the gaps in between them.

Hakui handed Sasuke a bowl of fish stew... lovely... more fish... even when travelling with others it was always fish.

Sasuke stretched when he got to his feet. He looked at his hand, the scar across his palm was a reminder of emotions he wasn't sure how to process and now this... he sighed again.

"Sasuke?" He looked up from staring at his hand. The trio was waiting for him at the edge of the tree line heading back to the path.

Sasuke jogged lightly and caught up with the group. The plan for the day was to return to the inn village they stayed in on the route here. It was a popular stop for many travelers with its hot springs. He wanted to protest but it was the only place to stop between here and the leaf. He was outnumbered, why sleep on the ground outside in the autumn chill when they had nice beds and a hot spring at a fancy inn. 'Where he had the dream.'

They walked for about an hour before Sasuke spoke up, "hey Sakura...," his voice was barely audible hoping she didn't hear him, "could you teach me medical ninjutsu?"

"What? Like right now?" Sakura looked over at him inquisitively, "what brought this on?"

"I wasn't able to help you when you needed it," Sasuke admitted.

She was smiling again, always smiling at him, "you did help me, you helped summon Katsuyu, and you infused so much chakra you exhausted yourself just to save me."

"I could have done more if I knew how...," he trailed off, more embarrassed at his own uselessness in the situation than anything else.

"It takes very delicate chakra control to heal a wound like I received without causing further injury, that'll take a lot of training."

"-so you'll teach me?" he interrupted. This knowledge would also be useful when he set off on his own again to search for anything related to Kaguya. He already knew what his true mission was, it was just a matter of time before he had to leave again.

"The great Sasuke Uchiha as my student...," Sakura mused, "alright I'll show you a few techniques."

The pair spent the rest of the walk to the village inn with Sakura explaining the basics of medical ninjutsu. She told him that she would show him more advanced techniques when they got back to Konoha if he wanted to learn.

X

The group had checked into the inn, most commenting how excited they were to be around a hot spring after such an ordeal. Sasuke followed behind them quietly. His usual unimpressed demeaner hiding the fact this was the last place he wanted to be.

Everyone had gone off on their own agreeing to meet up in the morning at the main gate to head home. Sasuke found himself standing outside Sakura's door. Her room was two doors down from his. He had been standing outside her door for almost fifteen minutes but couldn't bring himself to knock. He'd raise his hand only to lower it again. He exhaled deeply. Why was this so hard? He couldn't do this. He turned to leave when her door slid open.

"Sasuke...?" she squeaked. Sasuke immediately blushed and looked away. Sakura was in a light blue sheer bathrobe that ended just above her knee. It hugged her curves so indecently he couldn't even look at her. "Do you need something?'

Sasuke tried to talk but he couldn't focus on anything anymore. His chest felt tight, his heart started racing and he was so dizzy... He felt like he was going to pass out.

"Sas-" her voice full of concern, "-uke?" He was gone. He didn't look so good. She tried to reach out to him, but he had run off before she could. She lowered her hand and turned to look dejectedly at his door.

Sasuke sat on the edge of his bed trying to calm himself. He was taking sharp deep breaths. What the hell just happened? Was that a panic attack? Before he could even answer himself, he heard her footsteps stopping at his door. He froze, his breath caught in his throat. He exhaled when he heard her walking away.

He pulled his black cloak off and tossed it over the chair that sat by the window. This wasn't the same room as last time, but it was styled the same, and he had sat in a similar chair when she threw his summoning snake at him. He smiled at the recent memory.

He looked at where his left arm used to be, the sleeve of his shirt hung loosely by his side. Oh, yeah, there's that. A wave of insecurity washed over him. Women don't fawn over injured shinobi like him. He always wore his oversized cloak to hide his injury. He could have taken the prosthetic arm like Naruto had, but he didn't deserve it, this was the punishment for his sins. She might say she loved him, but her feelings may have changed since they were kids... did she even want him like that? Maybe she just saw him like a brother now... She didn't fawn over him like she used to.

He fell back on the bed, his feet dangling off the edge. Why was this so complicated? The more he mulled this over the more he had no idea what to do. He sighed again. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. Maybe he could go on another journey and avoid this all together. No, he won't run away from this. He had already spent enough of his life running from his feelings and the bonds he had with people. It's just... his bond with her was –different-.

A soft knock at the door interrupted his thoughts. He already knew who it was. He kind of ran away from her earlier so of course she would come. Always a doctor first.

"Sasuke...," she called out quietly, "can I come in?"

He pushed himself back to seated position, "...yeah..."

She was standing in the doorway, "Are you okay?"

He let out a relieved sigh, at least she wasn't in that bathrobe anymore. The light violet pajama set consisted of simple tee shirt and shorts that weren't nearly as sheer or form fitting. Her hair was still damp from her bath, and she was barefoot.

"I'm fine."

"I'm not buying it, you didn't look 'fine'," she crossed her arms giving him an unimpressed glare.

Sasuke didn't answer at first, he wasn't sure what he was supposed to say.

"You don't have to put up a strong front with me," Sakura paused for a moment before continuing, "I know something's been on your mind."

He exhaled sharply before lying like a coward, "Uh... I... uh overused my Sharingan on this mission, just had a headache."

"Sasuke... your headaches last this long? Let me let me exam your eyes," her voice was full of genuine concern as she raced to sit on the bed beside him, her hands cupping his face at his temples. He could feel her warm soothing chakra flowing through him. He closed his eyes and unconsciously he relaxed to her touch.

Her right hand brushed his bangs from his face, the motion caused him to open his eyes and he almost jumped, she was inches away, their noses almost touching. She was in doctor mode; her expression was serious, those green orbs staring into his mismatched ones. Her closeness was making his heart race and he knew she could tell. He couldn't stop the blush spreading across his cheeks.

"Activate your Sharingan for me, please?" she ordered while her fingers lightly massaged his temples, he was putty in her hands now.

"Uh...yeah...," he obliged. His black iris turned red and the three tomoe pattern appeared. He thought she would turn away as these eyes had caused her so much pain, but she didn't even flinch. He could easily put her under his genjutsu again and yet here she was biting her bottom lip and trying to heal the source of the made-up pain because he was too scared to talk about his feelings. An intense wave of guilt hit him so hard that he was the one to drop his eyes, breaking her gaze.

"My diagnosis is the same as before, your ocular muscles are extremely fatigued and strained, when we get back, I'll tell Kakashi not to send you on missions for a while." She explained, her chakra stopped flowing but she was still holding his face.

"No, it's okay...," Sasuke was leaning forward as he spoke, closing the distance between them but paused when the room around them began to tremble, the floor beneath them began to violently shake. The small window by the desk cracked from the force. He pulled back immediately, instantly on guard, "what was that?"

"I don't know...," Sakura answered, she was also on high alert. She stood up and walked over the broken window, the dust cloud made it impossible to see more than a few inches.

"Lady Sakura! Lady Sakura! There's been a landslide!" They could hear Hakui frantically calling for her from Sakura's room.

"I'm sorry Sasuke... I have to go." It was hard to tell but was she pouting as she said that?

"I understand, go," he didn't even finish his thought and she was already gone, "I'll be right behind you..."

'You've got to be kidding me...' Sasuke thought to himself as he grabbed his cloak.

Sasuke ran to the front of line of the landslide. He was standing in the middle of chaos. A handful of villagers and medical staff were pulling survivors from under the rubble. The landslide had taken out the south end of the inn town, burying many homes in its wake. This village was enclosed with steep mountains and cliffs around the south and west sides, much like Konoha. But this village was a tourist destination not a ninja village, with its natural hot springs many shinobi from various lands now stopped in here to relax before returning to their own villages.

In fact, he had stopped in this village once before during the first few weeks of this atonement journey. His previous stay wasn't all that exciting, he crashed here one night before heading to his next stop, back then he really didn't have a destination in mind he just wandered from place to place.

Sakura was already there commanding the situation. She had already set up triage stations dividing up the critical and stable patients to be seen by the villages medical staff. When did she have the time to change back into her work uniform? Her long white lab coat she wore on missions had her title embroidered on the back in red thread: Executive Director, Hidden Leaf Hospital and her name stitched on the front above the chest pocket.

He made his way to stand just behind her. "Do we know what caused it?" he asked.

"No." Sakura answered. She was so preoccupied with helping the slew of injured villagers, moving between them one by one, she didn't even glance in his direction. He realized he couldn't do much here, maybe if they had a mild burn or small cut, his medical ninjutsu skills were nonexistent in comparison to hers, if they even counted for anything at all. He could search for survivors and find out if it was a natural disaster or if it was caused by a jutsu.

Sasuke left her to work, as much as he wanted to watch her in her element, he couldn't just stand around and do nothing. He headed to ground zero and started to jump through the rubble and rocks, using his Sharingan to scan the area.

So far there was no sign of it being caused by a jutsu or anything else suspicious, appearing to be a matter of consequence that this natural disaster happened on tonight of all nights. Fate had a strange way of punishing him. Divine intervention perhaps.

He had been searching for just over an hour and it appeared all the injured had already been pulled from the debris. He decided to head back to Sakura's side to see if he could lend her any type of assistance. He wasn't sure what kind of help he could be, but it was better than nothing.

He returned to the triage area to find Sakura still working on critically injured patients. He looked over her shoulder and behind the rows of pop-up tents. There was a row of bodies covered under white sheets, 15 people who didn't survive this tragedy and they were still in chaos, so no real head count had happened yet. He looked back at the rubble wondering if he had missed someone or if he could have done more.

However, he wasn't a sensory ninja and wouldn't be much help. He could only sense large amounts of Chakra like Sakura's but only after she had completed the 100 Healings Mark and when she was infusing or Naruto's and the other tailed beasts, and only within a certain range. It was a skill he was actively working on improving since the attack on Sakura. He had promised himself he would never abandon his watch duties again. He had gotten complacent, and that resulted in his entire team being wounded.

"Is there anything I can do to help you?" Sasuke asked as he approached Sakura. She was working hard healing every patient that came into her tent, most were being carried in on stretchers. This was a small town and didn't have the same resources and staff Konoha had, there wasn't nearly enough trained medical shinobi to handle such a crisis and he was positive if she wasn't here this would be far worse for the village.

Sakura looked up at him, her gaze made him feel very inadequate. He wanted to shy away behind his black high collared cloak. What use would she have for a one-armed shinobi who was completely clueless on major trauma care. He dropped his head slightly looking away from her.

"Well...," she paused. She was thinking but now the pause was taking way too long. His insecurity was getting the best of him now, and he just wanted to leave. "Can you hand me bandages and tools when I need them? I'm only stabilizing the critically injured, they will then be transported to the hospital for further treatment, consider this lesson one of your training."

Sasuke nodded enthusiastically. Sakura showed him around the workstation she had set up and gave him a quick rundown of what she expected. The pair worked through the night with the only words spoken between them was her asking for tools. Hakui would occasionally come in and give Sakura updates.

The line of patients seemed endless, and Sakura was beginning to look worn out. She was starting to stumble and make simple mistakes. They had been working for almost four hours and she had been using a large amount of chakra without a break of any kind.

Sasuke frowned for a moment before leaving the tent and quickly returned with a cup of water and presented it to her, "You should take a break," he suggested. Now that he had a chance to look at her, she looked exhausted.

"Thank you," she accepted the drink but waved him off, "I'll be okay."

He continued to watch her over the next hour, he was almost positive she was going to work until she collapsed. And he was correct. He immediately rushed to catch her when she started swaying before she hit the ground. The motion brought back memories of when she and Obito had brought him back from the alternate dimension he had been sent to.

"Are you okay?" he inquired. He wrapped his arm around her waist, and he could feel her weight leaning against him, "you push yourself too hard."

Sakura hooked her arm around his shoulder and allowed him to help her to her room, surprisingly she didn't protest. Sasuke scolded her for pushing herself too much during the short walk back to the inn. He stumbled into her room and laid her down on her bed the best he could without summoning his Susanoo to be an extra arm. He looked down at her sleeping form, a part of him wanted to stay with her but he decided to air on the side of caution and headed back to the front lines to help for a little while longer.

X

Sasuke hadn't slept for a minute. He was still wide awake when he heard Sakura leaving her room, he guessed she was heading to the hospital. He had only laid down a few hours ago and hadn't been able to silence his racing thoughts. He almost kissed her last night and probably would have if fate hadn't intervened. He couldn't shake the feeling from the night before, her hands on his face, her chakra, the way she was looking at him.

As much as he wished he could hide away in his room and avoid all forms of human contact, really, he just wanted to avoid her, but he was starving, and he should probably go lend a hand at the hospital. She would probably be disappointed if he didn't aid people who needed help.

The original plan was to leave this morning and continue the last leg of their journey to the Leaf village, but that took almost an entire day at almost full speed to reach, and it was already just after noon, -and- it was also unlikely that Sakura and the others would want to leave during a disaster like this. It was a safe bet that they would leave some point over the next few days.

Sasuke was just walking out of the inn when he ran into Iyashi.

"Ah, Mr. Sasuke, I was just coming to get you," the older medical specialist greeted. Sasuke gave him a sideways glance, "Lady Sakura wants us to head to ground zero to help in the cleanup and recovery."

"Oh, okay, let's go then," Sasuke nodded. Sakura was team captain for this mission, she was also the only jonin on the team. It almost made him laugh, he was considered one of the strong ninjas in the world and was still a genin.

Sakura was a great tactician, she wasn't at Shikamaru's level, but she was incredibly smart and able to analyze situations quickly, he had seen it many times over the years, what she lacked in battle experience she made up for with her wits. He remembered when they took the written part of the chunin exams he could barely understand the questions and had to cheat but she was able to answer all of them and before the time limit. Now with advanced knowledge of medical ninjutsu in situations like this she was able to take charge. This was the best course of action as he wouldn't be very useful at the hospital.

The pair walked to the south end of the village where the damage had occurred. Thankfully they weren't the only shinobi visiting the inn town, when they arrived the six other ninjas were using earth style jutsu to remove the large boulders and debris that had fallen into the village. While he has copied a few earth style techniques over the years it's not as well polished as daily users would be. He was torn between using his Chidori or Susanoo but then everyone around would know who he was. He may have been pardoned for his crimes against Konoha, that didn't mean everyone agreed with it. He had run into various shinobi over the years who harbored resentment for his past. He decided to copy the jutsu the other shinobi were using and went to work.

With seven jutsu users and three medical staff on standby the area was cleared of debris in just a couple of hours and surprisingly no one was buried under the rubble, but this was still a tragedy that claimed the lives of many villagers.

His stomach growled loudly. He had already skipped breakfast... or lunch... since he was up late and restless most of the morning. Last time he was this hungry was their training session with Kakashi.

He followed Iyashi back to the hospital, he wasn't sure what to pick up when he happened upon an Onigiri restaurant. What luck. Sasuke wondered if Sakura had stopped for a break yet, knowing her, that was unlikely. He decided to take some lunch to her. The pair ordered as much as they could carry and continued to the hospital.

The village hospital was smaller than the one at the leaf but still a decent sized two-story building. He didn't have to look far to find her, she in the lobby tending to the overflow of patients packed into the tiny space.

"Oh, hey Sasuke," she greeted as he approached her, "are you guys all finished?"

"Yeah, there were a few of us there to help," he answered and then presented her with lunch, "I... uh... brought Onigiri... if you want some."

"Oh...," they both blushed, how incredibly awkward they both were. He wanted to laugh, "Thank you, Sasuke."

She led them in the direction of a small staff room with cafeteria style tables and chairs along the wall, with a small coffee maker and fridge next to a countertop. The group of leaf ninja sat together to share their lunch. Sasuke found himself choosing the seat right next to her and offered her the container. They finally had a chance to figure out the next steps of their journey. His original train of thought was correct, they were heading back to the Leaf Village as soon as everyone was stable, Sakura estimated at least a few days. What should have been a short couple day mission was turning into almost two weeks.

X

Sasuke leaned against the wall near the door of the hospital and watched her work; she was completely in her element. There were so many doctors and nurses here, his help wasn't needed, not that he was very useful. She was in command of the situation, directing the staff on what to do at the same time checking on the ones with the red ribbons tied to their wrists.

He had noticed she would tie a red or yellow ribbon to each patient when they were finished tending to their wounds the night before, he didn't ask about it at the time thinking it just meant they had received medical attention now he knew what the ribbons meant. Red was critical, yellow was stable and green was minor. To think she had the presence of mind in all this chaos to come up with such a system to keep organized.

She moved flawlessly between patients, checking in on everyone, tending to those who had to wait to be seen, even remembering the names of all the people she had met previously. It seemed that her reputation as the greatest doctor in the world held true. She had single-handedly guided this village through a tragedy with very little loss of life considering the level of devastation and only a week after suffering what would be a fatal injury to anyone else, and still had the ability to remember every person she tended to without needing to look at a chart.

She really wasn't the same person he originally knew when they were kids. He once thought he knew her so well, but reality was proving otherwise, and maybe if he wasn't so lost in his need for revenge, he would have noticed it earlier. Yeah, she could hold her own in battle, but that wasn't what her real strengths were, what she excelled in... this... moments like this... and he couldn't take his eyes off her.

As the hours passed the lobby slowly cleared of patients with the most critical being taken away first. Sakura walked over to him now that she was no longer busy, she was still smiling.

"Thanks for all your help last night," she said as she sat down in the waiting room chairs beside him.

"Hn," he acknowledged, but in all honesty, he didn't really do much, a child could have handed her bandages.

"Disasters like this happen all the time, it's better to know what to do and never needing the knowledge versus needing the knowledge and not having it," she leaned back in her seat and stretched her arms out, arching her back and let out a small sigh, "I know this wasn't you thought your training would be like, and usually it isn't, but this is part of being medical ninja, keeping levelheaded in the face of tragedy and death and knowing what to do to help others."

"Yeah...," His eyes followed the curve of her body as she moved but quickly looked away, blushing slightly.

"I'm not planning to teach you complex surgeries, but if you'd like to see one, they are prepping the OR now. A young man had his rib cage crushed and the bones punctured his lung," she explained, "you're welcome to come observe." She stood up but didn't wait for his response before walking down the hallway.

"Ah, yeah sure...," he said to no one as he pushed himself off the wall and started following her.

She wouldn't allow him in the Operating Room, so he had to watch through the glass. He didn't even know she could infuse chakra into her hands to make scalpels. It was a technique he was familiar with; Kabuto used his hands like weapons with his chakra blade. She could be far more dangerous with her hands than he realized.

He watched as she repaired broken bones and fixed tissues and then healed the incision flawlessly. She really did live up to her title as the best medical ninja of all time. The more things he learned about her, the more impressed he was at her many talents.

Notes:

As you can probably see Sasuke is already falling hard but I don't think he knows what love looks like... but he's getting there... only a few more chapters before he starts opening up. I promise.

Sorry for any errors.

Please leave a review, they feed my soul.