A/N: I would just like to quickly point out that when someone resurfaces from a coma, it takes several days before they regain total consciousness...regardless of what happens on most soap operas. Thank you,that is all.

Chapter Two

Awakening

The intensive care unit turned out to be nothing but a series of hazy minutes of consciousness for Sakura. One minute she was answering a chain of ridiculous questions such as, "Can you tell me the location you are currently in?", and the next minute she was back under the same dark veil as before.

Something cold was dabbled at her forehead, causing her to stir. Her eyes opened slowly, as she usually did when trying to lessen the sting of the bright light overhead, and focused on the recognizable face above her.

"How long was I out this time?" Sakura whispered as Tsunade changed the IV in her arm. The blond woman discarded the used tube in the waste bin next to her before promptly turning on her heel to face the hesitant woman. "Twenty-four hours."

"Oh." That was at least comforting. The last time it had been three whole days.

The tall woman made a face that Sakura couldn't quite read before she pulled up a chair. The medic groaned once she realized what was about to happen."I would like to ask you a series of questions, Sakura," though the pink haired medic knew that it was more of a statement than it was a request.

She found herself nodding reluctantly. How much longer did she have to wait until she could move around? Judging by the ample chested woman's face – maybe another week at of Tsunade's red polished fingers brushed aside a stray strand of pink hair from her eyes. "So, could you tell me your last name?"

She found herself wishing she had the strength to roll her eyes. "Haruno," she answered automatically.

Tsunade applauded, pleased.

"How old are you?"

"Well I was nineteen before so I'm twenty now."

"What season is it?"

This time, she found herself racking through her brain for an answer. "Uh, Spring?" she offered.

Her mentor smiled lightly before scribbling something down in a folder, that Sakura could only assume was her personal medical file. "Not quite missy. It was spring time when you first lost consciousness. Now it's winter and well…a year later."

Her mouth flung open. "An entire year passed?" she half gasped half screamed.

"Yes," Tsunade answered regretfully. "After you were in a coma for a month, the council debated whether or not to pull the plug." At Sakura's enraged expression Tsunade patted her head. "Of course I told them all to go to hell at even suggesting such a thought! So we ran several tomography scans to find out if there were any hemorrhages. None! You didn't even have a scratch. You and I both know you were never meant to survive that last task."

The memory of the pain itself made her grimace. She could never forget the way Naruto's chakra had ate through her insides like wildfire. But there was something else. Something that she couldn't quite put a finger on.

At her troubled expression, Tsunade frowned. "Did you not just hear what I said, Sakura? Judging by your level of awareness you've reached full consciousness. Though I'm not allowing visitors just yet…what's wrong?"

The medic realized that her eyebrows were drawn so tightly with concentration – that they were almost touching. "There was someone else," she breathed lightly.

"What?"

"That night." She added annoyed at her mentor's inability to understand. "Someone saved me or they at least attempted to." She clarified.

Tsunade huffed. "No, he pretty much brought you back from the dead."

He? Her savior had been male?

"He?" She asked aloud. The blond woman's expression grew guilty as she realized her slip in words.

"Forget I said anything. How about I take you for a walk around the floor before your next examination?"

She felt herself growing extremely agitated. "Not a chance." Though she did find the opportunity to stretch her legs a little, rather appealing. "At least not before you tell me who it was. From your accidental choice in words, I know that it is a he. Now who was it?"

Whoever it had been – she owed him her life. She just wished she knew who the mystery male was. He had to have been someone gracious and caring and kind…

"The Uchiha boy."

And nice and maybe even a bit handsome – wait what?

"Sakura!" Tsunade screamed. The door burst open as a passing intern ran in. He skidded to a stop at the Hokage's terrified expression.

"What happened?" He demanded as he glanced at the limp girl in the Hokage's arms.

She shook her head disbelievingly. "She's lost consciousness again."

The reflection in the oval shaped mirror that Tsunade held up was, for a lack of better words, mystifying.

"I don't really recognize myself Shishou," Sakura confessed in a low voice. "I look terribly sick. Almost as if I've been asleep for too long."

The Hokage chuckled lightly. "Well you have been, Sakura. But you are just as beautiful as you were a year ago. Even more so, I'd say."

Yet, she didn't feel very beautiful. Her skin, which she remembered being healthy looking, was sallow. Her face had not changed drastically or maybe she was too biased.

The skin beneath her eyes – which were still the same moist green – was a faint shade of lavender due to her lack of exposure to the Sun. The curtain of pink hair that fell all around her face – bothered her.

She fingered a long strand that fell into her eyes. "Why did you let it grow out?" she asked accusingly. The mirror shook slightly as the Hokage laughed at her student's revolted expression. "Well," she started as she gathered her bearings. "In all honesty the length of your hair was the least of my worries at the time. I didn't even consider the thought that you might pitch a fit once you woke up."

After much squabbling and squirming, the latter caused by Sakura, her hair hung just at the base of her neck. She smiled in pleasure.

Tsunade ruffled her coral hair as she placed the scissors she had been using back in one of the drawers. "Okay, now that we're done with that, I would like to draw to your attention the fact that I am allowing visitors today. It's been two weeks since you've first come out of your coma and people are getting all bitchy," Sakura giggled at the blond woman's irritated face. "That I haven't let them see you. But don't you hesitate to kick them out if you feel overcrowded."

She rose from the bed and glided towards the exit. If Sakura listened hard enough, she almost heard the quiet thrum of voices outside her door. "I'm only allowing one at a time."

The thought of seeing Naruto put a huge lump in her throat. Of course he would be as healthy as a horse, Tsunade had assured her of that. But he had been in so much pain. Could he even look at her the same? After all, he had been the one to almost take her life.

She could imagine his immense guilt. If their positions had been reversed she would probably have killed herself by now. Her silent musings were broken by the bone crushing embrace that enveloped wet and salty tasting spilled onto her lashes, causing her to blink rapidly.

"I'm sorry."

She recognized the boyish voice from before, when she had first awoke. He had been the one to stay with her through her never ending period of sleep. She didn't know how she knew that. She just sort of felt it.

"I am so sorry." The voice repeated brokenly. She gazed upon the twisted face of Naruto, at a loss for words. He looked so heavily saddened yet relieved beyond belief at the same time. There was something incredibly heart breaking about the way his blue eyes were filled with fault.

Sakura found herself wishing she could ease his pain as she wrapped her arms around his muscular frame. Her own stomach twisted painfully at the realization of the moment. What had her comatose state done to him?

"Shh, I'm alive and well. Even more so…awake." She exalted the last part with an incredulous breath of her own. She held him in silence as the minutes passed by. Eventually he quieted and ceased the hunching of his shoulders.

His hair was longer than she remembered it being. But then again, she had been out of it for little over a year. His face had lost some of its roundness since she had last seen him. He was quite handsome, though she had registered that fact a year ago, with his sun kissed skin.

She wondered briefly if any of the female population had perceived that fact. Of course shy Hinata had noticed. But had Naruto taken notice that Hinata had taken notice? It was awfully confusing to ponder in her current state.

Her hands stopped their stroking of his hair once she had comprehended that his breathing had evened considerably. She almost laughed once she realized that he had in fact, fallen asleep.

The tap at the door made her jump. In walked an elderly looking nurse that glanced between the two of them with soft eyes. They seemed to say, how cute. But her back straightened at Sakura's imploring look.

She cleared her throat nervously. "My best apologies for interrupting but the young man outside has demanded that his turn to visit with you has come."

Sakura almost replied yes, even though she would hate to disturb the sleeping Naruto, because it was fair after all for everyone to have a turn. And she did miss her other friends terribly. But she was curious about who the man outside was. "Who is it?"

The elderly woman looked like she'd rather not say. "Uchiha-san ma'am."

She froze, her tongue losing its ability to move. Somewhere in her head she was longing to see him. To ask him questions about his absence of eight years. And eight years was an eternity in her book. Maybe even longer. But an unexplainable anger filled her. How dare he demand to see her, after abandoning his team and village?

Did he expect for her not to be angry? She was angry and ecstatic at the possibility to see his face. And all she had to do was say yes.

"No." She glared pointedly at the wall. "I will not be seeing him today. Or, ever during my stay here. Please make sure to tell him that," She squinted at the older nurse's name tag. "Yuko-san."

During the next few hours, she was greeted by countless faces. Some she could recall instantly and others…not so much. Kakashi's visit had been rather amusing with his nonchalant expression as if she had never been in a coma at all. He had ruffled her hair as he had once done, before insisting that he read her an excerpt from an edition of Icha Icha that he said was inspired by her.

Not only had she been disgusted by that very gesture but she had been absolutely horrified at the thought of her former sensei reading porn about some girl who had an uncanny resemblence to herself.

And then she had been completely livid that Jiraiya, which he had later claimed during his visit that it had been in her honor and memory, would do such a thing. And when she threatened to tell Tsunade about it, he immediately said he would take it out of circulation. Still, she had found that it was rather awkward to be around Kakashi after that, who simply ruffled her hair again before leaving.

Ino had gone through a tantrum of emotions during her stay. She had cried and laughed before showcasing all of the nice "treats" as she called them that she had bought for her.

The "treats" were mainly clothes, which was slightly eerie considering the fact that they all fit perfectly. And she had never given Ino her clothes size before. Some of them were more revealing than she would like to admit. Ino had responded with her tinkling laugh as she always had.

She even played a bit of Shogi with Shikamaru who told her in his usual drawl how nice it was to have someone on his level of intelligence around again.

Team Gai had also visited for a short while. Gai and Lee's dramatic breakdowns unnerved her a bit, who were both escorted out by an ashamed Tenten. She'd made small talk with Neji whose presence, she wasn't going to lie, made her slightly anxious.

Lastly, her mother and father visited. They brought balloons and bears filled with different kinds of sweets. It was all very touching to know that so many people cared about her and had missed her.

That only served to make the situation all the more surreal.

It was well after visiting hours when she made her move. She had been careful to slip out of her gown and pull on the darkest clothes she could find in the bags Ino had bought for her. She had managed to pull an oddly snug pair of jeans and a button down shirt that appeared black, although she couldn't be sure in the darkness, on. She slipped on her old sneakers as she slunk out of the door.

It was easier than she thought it was going to be. The hallways of the intensive care unit were completely bare except for the occasional intern passing by. She waited five minutes before sucking in a profound breath.

She released it slowly, once she had worked up enough nerves. Tsunade was going to kill her once she found out that she had left the hospital without permisson or supervision. But she just couldn't take another day being cooped up in that awful bed.

Her feet had taken her maybe one step away from her designated room before someone cleared their throat.

She halted immediately. Why did she feel like some sort of criminal caught in the act? Her head turned slowly towards the figure behind her. She looked up guilty at the face of her captor.

"You," she hissed.

"Me," he agreed dryly.

He was indisputably and utterly gorgeous. From the slender curve of his neck to the strong shoulders of his upper body, he was perfect. Black eye brows hung above the same colored eyes, which were narrowed towards her, and a perfectly sculpted nose and mouth were slightly distorted in agitation. A few raven colored strands hung in partial disarray over his forehead – the rest in spiky chaos all around his head.

And the devastatingly beautiful creature had his hands crossed over his chest in casual grace with his back half propped against the wall of her room. Had he been there the whole time? Ever since she had refused his visit?

"Well," she said, returning the look tenfold. "Go away."

He scoffed. "Not until you go back into the room." His eyes shifted pointedly to the open door.

Uchiha Sasuke.

How she had once longed for his return – and for it to be on the exact night of her almost death was most ironic. He had brought her back from the very brink of it with his hands and lips. She supposed she should be happy. Or excited even. He had returned of his own free will. Without the effort of either of his teammates.

That should have made her happy. But she wasn't. It confused her to no end. After telling the nurse that he was not allowed to visit her, she had spent the rest of the day pondering why she had even said that in the first place.

With one look at his pale – arrogant – face…she knew. She was angry and hurt. Angry because he had left. Hurt because it had taken him so long to come back. How many people had he killed on his path to vengeance? But that was neither here nor there.

She had always wondered what it was like to kiss him. Or to feel his hands roam across her body. And he had done all of that. In the most platonic way – he had. She could still feel the pressure of his lips as they shaped themselves around hers. The very breath that he had blown into her.

His hands had not been delicate, like she had always imagined. They had been rough and desperate in their need to get her heart to beat again.

She was scared out of her wits. Because with one look at his face, however arrogant it appeared, she knew that she was still in love with him.

And she did not know him. Sure, she knew his favorite foods and drinks and the type of ramen he ordered at Ichiraku. She knew most of his dislikes – as she was one of them. She even knew that he detested most sweets, if not all. Those all came with the territory of being his teammate. But she did not know him.

How dangerous and stupid her traitorous heart was! Tsunade had once warned her that if she ever did meet him again, she might regret it. How ironic her life had turned out to be. Why hadn't he just let her bleed to death?

"And if I don't comply?" she challenged.

He was still leaning against the same wall in the exact same stupid pose. A flash of impatience crossed his features at her words. "Then I'll make you." He countered, stoically.

He did not stop to wait for her response. His hand snaked around her wrist as he, none to gently, yanked her in the opposite direction. She jerked back but to no avail. "Hey! You don't know anything about me so go away!" But he just flung her down onto the railed bed.

"You're right and neither do I have the desire to. So stop whining."

She silenced at his dangerous expression. He leaned in close to her. "In case the Hokage hasn't enlightened you – I was the one who brought you back to life. And I can just as easily reverse that."

Her throat squeezed painfully. "Are you threatening me, Sasuke?" It just occurred to her that she had actually said his name aloud. Something that she swore she wouldn't do.

He smirked. She absolutely hated to acknowledge it but the action was undeniably attractive. Even if she was terrified of the man. "If that's what it takes for you to stay in this room, then yes. I guess I am." Despite his words, he did sound horribly bored.

He leaned backwards and then pulled the chair that had been last occupied by her father towards him.

"Why do you even care?" she muttered in the darkness.

It wasn't so dark that she could not read his expression. Conflicted. "Easy. I don't."

She awoke suddenly as sunlight filtered through her nearby curtains. The medic remained unmoving as a seemingly heated conversation was taking place at the foot of her bed.

"Sharingan!" Tsunade shrieked. "You offer to help keep an eye out for her and just because she became a bit fussy," she glared accusingly at the man in front of her. "You get the fantastic idea to put her into a Sharingan induced sleep. Did you even think of the possible ramifications of your actions!? You could have put her back into a coma, genius." She added mockingly.

"She's awake, satisfied now?" Sasuke hissed back. Sakura took that as her cue to rise.

She stared at the door which had just slammed shut behind him. Tsunade snapped her fingers in front of her eyes. "Oh don't worry about him."

"I'm not!" Sakura added defensively. Her shoulder popped a little when she moved it. "Rough night?" Her mentor asked delicately. The pink haired woman rolled her eyes. "Not exactly."

It had been a very weird night. Considering her escape attempt, her unintentional reunion with the last man she wanted to see, and the very inappropriate dream that had followed involving the both of them. She brushed it off as a side effect of the Sharingan because in no way shape or form would she even allow herself to think like that.

Even if it was a dream. And it hadn't been as bad as she wanted to believe it was. On the contrary…

The rest of the day consisted of signing her release papers and viewing the results of her examinations. It appeared as if everything was fine so Tsunade stamped her approval, the latter of which had Sakura jumping for joy.

It was just after dinner time when she reached her old apartment. It was impeccably clean considering her extended absence. She found a note penned to the front of her refrigerator that was written in a very loopy writing.

Sakura

Cleaned the place and stocked the 'fridge.

P.S : Also your closet.

Ino

Her eyes rolled completely heavenward at the ridiculous note. Not that she wasn't grateful but knowing Ino, she had probably also redecorated the place. As she walked around, it was pleasing to see that her apartment was relatively unchanged, aside from the occasional new pillow and shirt.

She discarded an apple that she had been chewing on in the waste bin to answer the door, which was being furiously pounded. "Sheesh, I am coming!" Whoever it was – they sure knew how to annoy someone.

Ino and Shikamaru greeted her. "Yo." Shikamaru saluted her slightly in greeting. Ino whacked him in the ribs. "What he meant to say was do you want to get something to eat with us. Please?" she added at Sakura's apprehensive expression.

"I don't know Ino, I mean I did just wake up from a coma afterall. I want a little time to myself."

"Oh come on! All of our friends will be there! Don't you wanna' see everyone again?" she begged. Shikamaru shook his head silently behind the blond.

She could think of a few exceptions. Well, maybe one exception.

She found herself seated directly across from that exception, who was thankfully too engrossed in a conversation with Kakashi to notice her.

They were all meeting in a crowded bar at one big booth in the back. Since it was Friday, it was swarming with people and liquor. Sakura was sandwiched somewhere between Shikamaru and Genma. She smiled nervously at the handsome dark haired male who tried unsuccessfully to catch her eye.

A quick scan of the bar revealed Ino coming towards them with a tray full of drinks and Lee with a stack of barbecue. In seconds everyone had greedily claimed theirs and were passing around old memories. She giggled when Ino had to go back to the bar to get Lee a nonalcoholic cocktail.

"So, Sakura how are you enjoying life now? It's got to be better than dreamland." Shikamaru drawled. She laughed but Naruto threw him a murderous glare. Apparently, it was still a touchy subject for him.

"It's going good I guess…well I mean it's a lot to take in anyways." She sipped her drink as she explained the sensation of being in a coma, or lack thereof. Shikamaru nodded his head knowingly.

Soon she found herself amused with the still confident Genma. "Hey baby." She rolled her eyes. Kakashi and Gai stiffened. Ino mouthed something to the effect of, "Robbing the cradle." Sakura found it hard to keep a straight face when looking at Genma and watching Ino make inappropriate gestures behind his head.

She politely removed his arm from around her neck. "Hello Genma. Long time no see, eh?" They chatted back and forth about the coming chuunin exams and who would have to host it. From what Sakura could tell, he was trying his best to woo her.

Not that she was blind. He was very attractive in a kind of boyish sort of way just like she had noticed Naruto was. The senbon was kind of cute. Her attention however, kept flitting to the man across from her, who was staring intently at the two of them.

Kakashi struck up a conversation about how Sai was out on a mission and couldn't make it. "You know…I kind of miss him." And then Naruto pouted about how she had not said she had missed him. "Aww I missed you too kid." She teased. He frowned at her last word.

"Lighten up I was only joking." She wore a horrified expression when she felt Genma's hand slide a little too far up her thigh.

Sensing her discomfort, Ino pulled her to her feet. "Let's dance."

They danced for maybe thirty minutes when Tenten called them over for dessert. They returned to the table, Ino swaying a bit on her feet. Shikamaru shook his head at the sight. "What?" Ino asked.

"Nothing besides the fact that you're on your way to being wasted." He mumbled. She giggled, somehow finding that funny and sat herself on his lap. "You don't mind do you, Shika?"

Sakura found herself feeling out of place and awkward when they kissed. Hurriedly, she slid back into her original seat. Genma looked up from his chocolate liqueur when she seated herself, somewhat unwillingly, next to him.

In front of her, Sasuke turned back to his conversation with Kakashi.

She groaned inwardly. It was going to be a long night.

TBC

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. As you may have noticed I'm taking this SasuSaku a little differently than my last story. Sasuke will be more Sasuke-like, as the circumstances are completely different than with Missioning With You. I think it is safe to say that Sasuke was already a little in love with her from the start during that story. Anywhoo, I'm also taking a slightly different approach with Sakura's character in this story. It's nothing big – just that it's a bit more analytical on her part as you may have noticed. Am I the only one that loves Genma? I find him kinda hot…but nowhere near my Sasu-kun. It's time to unravel a bit of the plot next chapter(which you can expect very soon). Happy belated New Year!

Surmise