Chapter Nine

Assaulted

By the time she had remembered that she was supposed to remember something, she had already forgotten it. This exact thought confused Sakura to no end so she just gave up.

Whatever it was, it was probably not as important as covering an emergency shift at the hospital. She'd been working for a little over three hours. Signing documents and prescriptions, assisting in one short surgery, and performing one detoxification, had her almost completely bushed.

In a moment of resting her head had fallen against the new hardwood exterior of her desk and against her greatest intentions, she closed her eyes.

He did not know why he was here. Of all places, he was here. Inside the tiny room of his ex-teammate, he stood with his back to the wall. His muscles contracted painfully and locked into place. Sasuke supposed he was just rigid from being in someone else's house.

His eyes drifted from one object to another. From the flimsy curtains that adorned her window, which he had just entered, to the white covering of her bed, her room reflected her choice of profession. It was plain and very clinical like the hospital. A true medic through and through it seemed.

Finally, he watched her misshapen form that was strangled beneath her covers. Sakura shifted,her breathing light.

It was a shocking change to watch her sleep unaided by many tubes and a hospital bed. Which brought him back to his first dilemma: Why was he here?

The dark haired male became distracted by her next move. She had twisted again. The covers had slid down just a bit, revealing her night clothes. Even though it was freezing outside, she was wearing nothing more than a sleeveless night dress with shorts.

A closer look at her skin revealed that it was covered in a sheen of sweat. So she became hot easily. He hadn't known that. But then again – he did not know many things about her.

She mumbled something unintelligible and became completely still. Unnerved by her stillness, he drifted closer to her bedside. Sakura was simply at peace, her pink hair strewn over the pillows. He could see what attracted the senbon ass to her, and every other male it seemed.

He could not help but notice that the strap of her gown had slid halfway down her shoulder and that the skin of her right breast was almost fully exposed.

The Uchiha felt his throat tighten and flashed towards the window. He should definitely leave. He had no business here. He was halfway through the square cut of her window when she did it.

She flew upwards, her right hand outstretched in the air. He could see that her green eyes were wide with shock and that she was hiccupping and sobbing so violently that she probably wouldn't even notice his presence.

He felt the emotions - betrayal, longing, hate, and sorrow – tumble off of her in a giant wave of disorder. And then he felt an intense guilt overcome him. He had let his mind wander far off into the past where it had all started in her presence. And now she had seen everything. The blood, the limbs, and the terror.

So lost in her haze of grief, she did not notice him. She was still sobbing recklessly into herself. He supposed that she was expressing his emotions in her own way because he never cried when thinking about it.

Sasuke watched as she tripped from the bed and stumbled into the blackness that was her hallway.

There was a loud knock – the sound just what she needed to rip her from another memory in the form of a dream. She gasped and then tried to fix her appearance when she heard Ino's sing-song voice drift angrily into the room.

"Heeey! Tsunade-sama sent me to get you! You're an hour late," the blonde yelled from behind the door.

Shit. That was what her subconscious had been nagging her about. The get together at the bar was tonight and she was still dressed in her medic apron and top. She dashed outside to meet her best friend, trying to forget the memory that felt forced. As if he wanted her to see it.

Upon arriving, Sakura headed straight to the bar, intent on enjoying the night even if she had to be drunk to do so. She was reaching out for her second glass when a faster, more muscular arm got to it first.

Fuming, she swiveled in her seat, pink locks exuding sparks.

"You," she sighed at once. "Give it back."

Genma smiled down at her, innocently taking her glass and passing it back to the bar tender. She protested but he simply took a seat next to her. "As much as I think you'd make a cute drunk, I prefer you sober."

She frowned. "I'm not here to impress you. Actually I'm not here to impress anyone, I'm just here on orders."

"That so?" He wondered. "Well you could have changed at least…" He was looking down at her medic skirt, apron, and blouse.

She blushed and then ordered a non-alcoholic cocktail. Genma instantly chuckled at her embarrassment and leaned closer. "Don't worry, I dig role-play."

And then he laughed again at her affronted expression.

"You know," the rosette woman mused after a momentary silence. "Almost everyone is still in uniform, including you."

"I know, most people came here straight after work. Amazing isn't it? We get almost zero time off. Well, what about you? Anything interesting happen in your life?" And then she related to him her previous mission.

"I bet it was a pleasure working with Sasuke," he drawled sarcastically. She was going to agree when she was pulled up from her chair.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto screamed. She noted with horror that he was covered in blood and something else. He seemed to be talking so fast that he probably didn't understand what he was saying.

All good-naturedness aside, Genma was helping Sakura calm him down. "What happened kid?"

"I told you…Sasuke was attacked and he needs your help now!" Naruto growled.

"What!?"

"Shizune is helping to stabilize him and the granny as well but I know that they need you! She told me not to tell you but Sakura-chan I know that you can save him. Only you!"

Genma had a weird expression on his face and Sakura was too stunned to form an expression at all.

"What do you mean you won't let me operate?"

Her mentor let the door shut behind them quietly as someone closed the blinds on the window. Her expression was grim but even more so, weary.

"Hush," she snapped. "You can't be too loud around here when I just stabilized him."

"But-"

"Nothing," The blonde finished. "I have a team of medics in there that are highly qualified and professional. Let it be some comfort that Shizune is overseeing the second operation."

"Why-"

"Because you are too close to the patient. You know how this goes, Sakura. Only in the case of absolute need are you allowed to work on someone who you have close relations. And we have a hospital full of the most talented doctors."

Helpless, Sakura collapsed onto the bench beside the wall. Tsunade followed her. "Do you at least want to know what happened? Or are you going to bite my head off? I need to know so I can have you removed if you cannot handle it."

"Yes," Sakura answered quietly.

"He was allegedly assaulted by ANBU. Naruto found him on his way to the bar and brought him here. Now, I don't know why in god's name one of my men would do such a thing but I have all operational ANBU under question. They are with Ibiki now."

Sakura was shocked. Why would any ANBU want to attack Sasuke? Had he done something to offend them personally?

"Now," Tsunade started. "What doesn't make sense is that I have one-fourth of my ANBU on rotation in Snow Country for conditioning. The other three-fourths were supposedly at a briefing at the time of Sasuke's attack. And from what Naruto could tell me, Sasuke almost killed them all, but they fled."

"How many?" Her voice was hoarse.

"Five."

"Why?" The question was more directed to herself than anything but Tsunade answered none the less.

"I do not know…" And then she jumped to her feet. "It couldn't be…"

By this time Sakura was on her feet as well. "What is it shishou?"

But she ignored her student and continued to pace back and forth. "They vanished a year and a half ago. It simply cannot be. But maybe. Yes, that would make sense. Why hadn't I seen it before?"

"What?"

"Root. The sub section of ANBU that was disbanded years ago and reorganized together by Danzo. After Danzo's murder by Sasuke, they disappeared. You know, I never did find the last remnants of Root."

But Sakura was too distracted by the current circumstances. At any moment, Sasuke's second surgery would begin or it might have already started. She did not even know what kind of surgery was being done! That was another thing that worried her. Why would it take two surgeries? What had they done to him?

"Stabilizing" someone could go two ways, of that she knew. He could pull through and be fine or he could ultimately – and she was now focusing on a less depressing thought.

"Do you know when I'll be able to see him, tomorrow maybe?"

"Honestly, it's too soon to tell. But Uchiha is stubborn so I think that he'll be fine tomorrow. Of course he'll have to stay in here for a week or so. And then he'll need a nurse…"

A young medic pushing a pill cart down the hallway slowed, a little too interested in their conversation. Tsunade paid her no mind, instead making her voice loud enough for everyone on the same floor to hear. "And I have just the one in mind."

Disappointed, the young medic blew a strand of orange hair out of her face and continued down the hall.

"Don't you hate that?" Her mentor asked, momentarily amused.

"When the subject of the matter is Sasuke, you get used to it." They laughed quietly, Sakura still worried.

"I was thinking," Tsunade began. "That you might consider taking care of him for a little while?"

"You don't have to be so careful with your voice, I won't bite," Sakura answered with a clipped tone.

"Sure. But back to my question - yes or no?"

"Fine, as long as I don't have to live in the same house."

"Fair enough."

An hour and thirteen minutes later, the door across from the pair opened and they both silenced at once. Shizune smiled, albeit tiredly, and informed them with a cheery tone that Sasuke would be fine. "The surgery was local but he's still very much tired. He's so stubborn and well…he asked if any of his teammates…er…ex-teammates were here. I did not have the heart to refuse him and he's seems healthy enough so…maybe you'd make an exception Godaime-sama?"

Tsunade glanced at Sakura and then at the door. She groaned. "Five minutes. That's it. And Shizune you can be so terribly persuasive. Note the sarcasm in my voice."

The sight of him took her breath away, and not because of his apparent beauty. No it was the vulnerability that he exuded. He was awake, but his eyes were focused on the far wall and possibly another time.

Sakura floundered in front of the closed door, unsure of how to approach him. When he did not acknowledge her presence after several minutes, she went to sit in one of the far chairs.

"Tsunade-shishou said that you wanted to see me."

At last, his head turned to look at her face. "I didn't exactly say that. I said one of my teammates. I didn't go into detail if that was what you were wondering."

She stiffened in her seat, prepared to leave. He must have seen this, for his voice grew considerably softer.

"Don't…"He paused, the action almost awkward. "Just sit down, alright?"

Sakura relaxed and he sighed.

"Where are the others?"

"Kakashi is out with Kurenai and Asuma in Tea Country on emissary duties. And I think Naruto went into shock, he's being treated on the first floor."

He nodded to himself, as if confirming some thought.

"Why?" She questioned. "Would you rather them than me?"

"Yes."

She grit her teeth before he eyed her wearily. "It's not for the reasons you think."

"Then why?"

"Because you're…different…just – never mind."

She considered his statement for a moment and chose not to analyze it as she was prone to do. Instead, she settled on a more pressing issue. "How are you feeling?"

"Do you need to ask? I feel like shit."

She laughed, although she couldn't say that it was a proper thing to do at that time, given the situation. "Is that somehow hilarious to you?"

She stopped laughing just enough to answer, "Possibly." She hesitated, and then asked, "Sasuke?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you think they attacked you?"

"I don't know, maybe because I killed the coward of a man who they were blindly following." He stopped for a moment to catch his breath, a broken rib most likely the problem.

"I was going to kill them…all of them. And then they ran. But make no mistake, I will find them and finish what they started." His voice was sinister now, right above a hiss.

"You can't-"

"Why the hell not?"

"Haven't you learned anything? Anything at all? I won't let you go out there to hunt someone that wants to kill you, Sasuke! That's insane! Vengeance, retribution, payback – whatever the hell you want to call it, never leads to anything good!"

The Uchiha's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Sakura, those people," He seemed to be refraining from saying something else. "Are out there somewhere. Possibly in this village. Do you really think that I would just forget about this? That you can just snap your fingers and wish it all away? For all I know, they could be after you or the dobe. And I won't let you suffer for my actions."

"You know, after this you are going to need a medic to check on you for a couple of weeks."

"I figured as much." And then he seemed to realize the hidden implication. "No," was all he said.

"Why?"

"Anyone but you."

She did not have the sense to be hurt, just extremely pissed off. "Wow. And I thought we were passed this."

He cursed something dark and then growled at her protest. "Look, I said anyone but you because I have my reasons."

"And those would be?"

"Have you NOT heard anything I just said? You could be a target and now you want to play my doctor? Stop being such an idiot and open your eyes!"

"My eyes are open!" She screamed back. For a moment, she thought she heard Tsunade coming down the hall. "Don't you see that I'm just worried about you? I care what happens to you…"

"And I never asked for any of that."

"You didn't have to."

They stared furiously at one another. "It doesn't matter anyways. Shishou has already agreed, even requested, that I will be overseeing your care. Now you don't have to like it-"

"I don't like it," he cut in.

"…but it would be easier if you just accepted that I am a qualified medical kunoichi that can look out for herself." She continued as if he hadn't interrupted.

"I know how strong you are. But this is bigger than just you. Who knows what they plan to do."

"Please don't tell me you are trying to turn this into justice."

"If you want to look at it that way, I won't stop you."

She sighed, and then mentally thought of a solution. She could see none, only her predicament. But she had a little over a week to persuade him otherwise, or if she had to, she would tell Tsunade about his plan.

"You know before this happened," She gestured towards his body and he grunted. "I had this dream…or memory. And I'm trying to get past the fact that it took place in my house, when I was sleeping, and ask you this. Did you want me to see that? Because it felt very deliberate, almost forced."

"I did."

"Why?"

He pressed his lips into a straight line and ground his teeth. He was silent for a moment after, as if he were planning out his next words in brooding peace. "Like I said before, I was going to kill them. I was going to rip them apart." At her somewhat horrified expression, his voice became less harsh.

"But in the case that I was killed, however stupid that is, I wanted you to know that…damn it…that you were the last thing on my mind. My final thought."

To be continued…

A/N: This update took longer than necessary. It's been on my computer, unedited for quite some time. I've been swamped with work people and I have to keep my grades fairly high. And then the document manager kept rejecting this chapter for TWO days. Needless to say, I was pissed.– sigh – Anyways, I really enjoy this story. Maybe because….- prepare drumroll please -….I finished the ending yesterday! Hell Yeah! But don't worry there should be at least five more chapters until the ending.

And then the ending is around two chapters. And then the epilogue. But that's my draft, so I'm going to try and push it to about twenty-one chapters instead of seventeen which is where I'm at right now. Thank you for such lovely responses. They make my day, guys. Also I haven't posted on livejournal yet, but I should soon, so I encourage you to friend me! Also, I promised an update on Conceiving With You so that should be out tomorrow, I think. As an afterthought, I was thinking that Genma is completely dirty yet a gentleman. Crazy huh? Okay, end long author note.

Surmise