Author's note: Hey guys, I honestly apologize for such a late and delayed update. I know I keep telling you guys I will update more often, I will try my best. This chapter was written a while ago, and I added a little more for your reading pleasure. I do apologize if there is any grammar error, I did not get a chance to edit.

I hope you guys like this emotional chapter.

-Another Goodbye -

"This is really weird..." Onyx eyes looked up to the direction the voice came from. She stood in front of him. The blond hair tied up into a high pony tail and those baby blue eyes were all too familiar to Sasuke now. Even though this was the first time she had directly spoken to Sasuke since the incident a months ago, he knew very well who she was. Ino Yamanaka; from what Naruto had told Sasuke, she was one of Sakura's only few trust worthy female friends. He had seen her come in and out to check up on Sakura, and have also caught her give Sasuke a questioning look, confused as to why he was always by Sakura's side every single day, and never really ever left her side.

"I-I know I haven't really spoken to you. But since it seems like you're not really going anywhere and we have better news for Sakura, what are you to Naruto?" She sat on the black leather sofa across from Sasuke with a warm cup of coffee in her hands, as the background of Sakura's soft breathing and the beeping sound of her heart monitor was heard.

"You don't ask me what am I to Sakura but to Naruto instead?" he questioned as he watched the female in front of him having trouble keeping calm around him; something he was very used to. He figured she was finally breaking the stoic attitude ever since the Doctor had finally given them the good news that Sakura's condition was stable and she was finally breathing on her own, no more life support. It had finally given the chance for Ino to really take in the fact that Uchiha Sasuke had been around for a whole month.

"Well...she- she's never really mentioned you. Plus, you seem very close to Naruto." It never stopped hurting, knowing she just went on with life as if their relationship never existed.

"Hn."

"This just seems really unreal. Half nightmare, half dream. It really doesn't feel like this month was real. With Sakura being in the hospital, and you know you..."

"Me?" Sasuke questioned her.

"Well I just never thought I would ever see you in person. This up close and personal, have a semi conversation. Feels so unreal..." the last words were more of a whisper but loud enough for him to hear. Sasuke remained silent as she continued to fiddle and try to explain herself.

"This is coming from a girl working in public relations. You'd think I would have a shot at meeting you at some point. But that was impossible, well I thought it was until now." he understood exactly what she meant. He wasn't the type to go on talk shows for interviews or do any autograph signings. He wasn't one to stop and take pictures with his fans or really anything. He kept to himself, obviously during parties it was a bit of a different story. But of course those that were allowed to be around him were highly selective. To be more specific, only those with his level of high profile or anyone with an occupation with the word 'supermodel' seemed to be his type of crowd. High security around Sasuke 24/7 was understandable. With his net worth and family reputation, he wasn't able to just walk around town without being bothered. With the power and fame comes a few envious and hateful people. Perhaps because of how hard it is to even get a glimpse of Sasuke was why she was so curious about Naruto's relationship with Sasuke. From Ino's perspective and to Sakura's description, he was just a caring, energetic young dorky man, who eventually became Sakura's best friend/brother.

"Tell me." Sasuke commanded as he looked at the unconscious girl in the queen sized bed just a couple feet away from him. He had requested to have the VIP hospital room, top floor with it's own private elevator for people like Sasuke to come in unnoticed. Fortunately being in America's top hospital it wasn't unheard of for people to be requesting rooms like these.

"How did you meet her?" he wanted to know every little detail about Sakura, all those times he'd missed out. He wanted to know what went on with her life.

Her eyes were just stuck on him, sitting still as she analyzed his features and continued to look at him in awe.

"Whoa...You're actually here...Just give me a second"

"Ino, please." Sasuke pleaded his voice soft, a very out of character tone for himself.

"So does this mean you're going to actually be around, this isn't a one time thing, some type of charity work you have to do? If you see me in 5 years you would actually acknowledge me. Can I actually say I know you? Or do I say I have met you before? Which one do I say? You have no idea how cool this is" Suddenly she was just like a fan girl. However this time, he wasn't annoyed or angry. This time he was relieved, and patient. To see a girl who was this big fan of his be so serious for the whole month and not even take a real glimpse, it made him appreciate how much she really did care about Sakura.

Ever since the good news came, she was exactly what Naruto had described. A fangirl. Starstruck and excited. But he smiled, because he could see himself in her. Relieved that Sakura would be okay, maybe some rough patches, but workable patches. She had made a 180 transformation, during the month she never cracked a smile or even acknowledge his existence. She made Sakura her priority and he really was impressed with her.

"You can say you know me"

"This is fucking crazy! I cannot believe that you're here right now. I can just murder Naruto for keeping this a secret. He knows how big of a fan I am of your music and just you in general."

"Would you have believed me anyways?!" Naruto interrupted, he said right after he closed the door behind him.

"Naruto! I thought you were with Hinata" Ino questioned

"I was, and I heard the better news" Naruto spoke quietly as he took a seat next to Sasuke, his hand squeezed Sasuke's broad shoulder as a greeting.

"Thank God. It's about time we heard something good" Ino sighed, her back slumped back into the soft cushioning of the leather sofa.

It had been a rough patch for the month. Her recovery wasn't smooth, there were many complications. The second week into Sakura's recovery she has an infection, they had to move her into the Isolation room. No one was allowed in, and she was in critical condition, as if she wasn't already. Tears were continuously shed as the doctor almost lost hope of Sakura's recovery. Being in the condition she was in, and having an infection was anything but good news. Even so, Sasuke made sure to stay around every single day.

It had been a long month, his family continuously begged for him to come home, Karin called every single day and demanded answers but he never picked up his phone, it was always Naruto speaking on his behalf, but worse of all the media was waiting for his return. Because as of right now, he was missing in action. He couldn't even pay attention to the media during his stay by Sakura's side, it made him sick to his stomach that even after close to 2 months he was still the main focus for the media.

During the week of isolation, they were forced to give her strong doses of antibiotics to fend of the infection, but during that process there were other medication given to help her heart beat, breathing and healing process. Due to the extensive medication dosage Dr Tsunade had given the rough update that her white blood cell count had been permanently damaged. She will always be prone to infections and her immune system would be at risk. It wasn't the greatest news, but both Naruto and Sasuke had thanked Dr Tsunade for being able to rid the life threatening infection and locate her to the VIP ICU room where she was away from other patients that would risk her health and recovery again. She had discussed the options with them, and was very knowledgeable on what she spoke of. The treatment was close to chemo therapy, perhaps a notch lighter, hence her hair wouldn't fall out, but enough potency to do a good amount of damage to her body permanently.

That news was still good news compared to everything that went on the past couple of weeks. They can almost relax a bit.

The only thing they can do now is wait until she finally wakes up. Although stable, they were all still just an emotional wreck. Some days they were calm and maintained, but other days it was rough to realize the trauma she had to face on her own.

XoXoXo 1 Month Later XoXoXo

The pain was indescribable, unbearable. The ache in her body all over was enough for her to just wish for death upon her. She's been through a lot, but this was different. That heavy, pounding feeling as if someone continuously took a hammer and whipped it onto her skull. Her vision was blurred, she can only make fuzzy coloured shapes and shades. The ringing in her ears was deafening. But slowly the faint voices were getting louder.

"Sakura Haruno, can you hear me?" She was able to piece out what the woman was asking. Sakura forced her heavy lids to blink away the involuntarily forming tears. Her vision finally refocused, there was a panicked woman that stood right beside Sakura. Sakura took a moment to analyze the woman that was speaking to her. She had bright blond hair with hazel pair of eyes, by looking at the woman she could tell she was not a regular person, she must be a doctor of some sort with that white jacket and stethoscope draped around her rather large chest. Although discombobulated, she managed to lightly nod her head to acknowledge that she was awake and can understand. During her studies for medical school, she knew the importance of cooperating with the medical team when you are the patient.

"My name is Dr Tsunade. You are in New York General hospital, today is Tuesday June 5th 2015. You have been in a medical induced coma for 58 days, close to two months." She spoke slowly and loudly, her soft hands rested on Sakura's right hand.

What had happened? She forced herself to put the events before this together. Why was she here, the last event that she remembered.

Obito...Ino...

She mentally cursed herself for bringing Ino into this mess, suddenly it hit her. Naruto. Naruto...what had she done? Was he okay? Where was he?! Her eyes scanned the room, she hadn't realized her surroundings. Naruto was there standing right behind Dr Tsunade, his body shook, his blue puffy eyes couldn't even look at her directly. He was sobbing uncontrollably, lips trembled when he attempted to say anything, even just her name.

Brown eyes widened in surprise when Sakura inched her fingers to Naruto's direction. She wanted Naruto to come over, with the limited mobility she had, she managed to lift her index finger and point at Naruto. The blonde haired doctor quickly looked at Naurto and gave a weak smile and turned her heels towards Naruto in a light whisper "I'll give you 5, but we need to do some assessment. Make sure to not overwhelm her.", Naruto nodded and weakly came over to Sakura's side.

He analyzed her lifeless body, she was so thin and discoloured. She was already pale to begin with, but this time the skin tone was lifeless, almost paper white. He couldn't even recognize the woman before him with those bruised corneas and pupils that had taken over her glowing green eyes. All he could see were dark red blobs as eyes. She looked so beaten and paralyzed. The breathing mask and all those wires that covered her body was just immense. He knelt down next to her and held her hand, his head bowed down as he just bursted in tears.

It was a while until he managed to lift his head and stare at her, even so he tried his best to avoid eye contact, because every time he looked at her he would want to break down again.

"Sakura...I am so sorry. I failed. I wasn't there for you. I was an idiot" he whispered to her. She wanted to just scream at him for being an idiot, but had no energy. It was already a miracle that she had her eye lids open to even just look at Naruto. She remained still, eyes just on him.

"You're going to be okay. I promise. I know a lot has happened but you're a fighter. You will make it." his voice was practically broken.

It broke her heart, what did she do. What pain did she bring upon her loved ones? She did not want to burden anyone anymore. Why was she alive? She couldn't remember the events leading up to the hospital, all she could remember was releasing that young girl, everything else was a blur. Naruto gave her a soft peck on her forehead and nodded to Dr. Tsunade who came in to start her assessment with Sakura.

"Dr. Tsunade will be with you for a bit, I will be out there waiting. You will be fine" he softly spoke before he left the hospital room, as soon as Naruto left the room he quickly put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder who was sitting right outside of the hospital room, head down and silently sobbing. These past couple of months were too much for everyone, especially Sasuke.

He. He. He out of everyone stayed by her side every single day and night, Naruto tried his best to stay every day, but he had Hinata to care for as well. Ino had to continue her life, she was there everyday for a good couple of weeks but she couldn't miss work anymore. Something out of her control.

But Sasuke, he did not care about his pleading family for answers, his angry and constantly crying wife who had miscarried their child due to the overwhelming stress and most of all he hid from the media who was still looking for him and answers from the night of the wedding. HIs life outside of this was a complete mess, he was all over the news and Karin's family is anything but happy. He had put friction between his family and Karin's. However, no matter what he was most contempt with staying by her sleeping side, although unrecognizable, it was a choice he had chosen, a sacrifice he made.

He had gotten the VIP room for Sakura, where there was a pull out couch and bathroom inside the room. He never left her side, Naruto brought everything to him. His clothes, his food and grooming was all done in the hospital.

Sasuke was known to be stoic, emotionless. Yet these past few months have been anything but that. He was vulnerable, most vulnerable Naruto had ever witnessed. He was so fragile and weak, something very alien for Sasuke.

"She's awake Sasuke, she's good" he softly spoke to his friend.

"They're going to be running some tests on her, make sure she's going to be fine. But we can breathe now Sasuke, she's awake." As his cheeky grin came out, his tears also slowly came down, Naruto was overwhelmed.

Naruto sat next to the head down Sasuke, who remained silent. Confused on what to do.

"We can manage now Sasuke, she's awake." Naruto tried to comfort the crying man, he felt lost and jailed. He didn't want to go in, he was afraid. Afraid to see her, afraid to accept this torturous reality.

Naruto's hand squeezed his shoulder and left it there, they both waited outside of the room in silence.

XoXoXoXo

"Based on just her cognitive examination, she seems pretty well. She understood everything I said, and was aware of where she was. Eye coordination is excellent. She's very lucky that with the amount of damage done to her brain, she seemed good. No brain damage, if you haven't been quick enough getting her out of the water it would have been a different story." Her eyes narrowed towards Sasuke.

"You did good Sasuke, you saved her." Dr Tsunade's took her warm hands and grabbed his folded ones. She had witnessed his daily presence, witnessed the pain he's gone through. She witnessed his dedication and sacrifice. He truly never left her side, not even for a minute. Although Dr Tsunade was a doctor, and maybe too busy for any social life, she knew exactly who he was, royal reputation with a stoic attitude. But she's seen a different side of him, not the side the media had defined him as. He was so human these past couple of months.

"Sasuke, I am in debt to you forever. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't know what would have been. It could've been far worse. Sasuke, thank you." Naruto's eyes shifted over to his still silent best friend.

"Based on her MRI scans, CT Scans, X-ray, she does not have too much damage. Something we can work around" she tried her best to be soft of the news.

"What do you mean work around?" he spoke for the first time today, his onyx eyes sharp and focused on the doctor across the amber desk from him.

"What I mean is, she is not permanently paralyzed. Spinal cords are in tact. Which is great news. But I will say, it should take around a good year for her to fully recover physically. Mentally is something I cannot give a time frame for. That could be a life time illness." her voice soft as she spoke slowly as she analyzed the two men's reaction.

"Wait, a year?! What do you mean?" Naruto interrupted.

"She will need to learn to walk again, she has been in bed for 58 days, her muscles need to gain back the strength. I noticed her balance had been affected as well, something to work on. She will need to learn how to balance herself and walk with all the titanium in her body. We had to replace her right femur bone, her hip bone and left arm. She has been through a lot, recovery is going to take a while. Those are easy things we can work on, my biggest physical concern for Sakura is her heart and immune system." She waited until they absorbed the information before she continued,

"Sakura had gone through 3 cardiac arrest, 1 before arriving to this hospital, and 2 during her stay here. Her heart is not healing as we expected, heart beat is weak, irregular with a murmur. The murmur is a damaged valve, I do not want to touch as of right now. I want her to completely healed before I do any other major surgery-"

"Major surgery?" Sasuke interrupted,

"Sakura will eventually need an open heart surgery, its nothing I have to do immediately, but the sooner the better. Right now there are too many risks that outweighs the pros if I was to perform the surgery sooner than later. Her body cannot handle it. Even with the surgery, it would only help with the murmur, not the irregular heartbeat. With that being said, I will give her some medication that will help her heart strength. I do recommend precise monitoring, to make sure for her safety, she'll wear a wrist heart monitor." Tsunade took a deep breath, again eyes on both the gentlemen, who listened patiently.

" Lastly is her immune system. During the infection time period, we had to do a lot of treatment to keep her organs functioning properly at the same time trying to rid of the infections going on with her. The treatment done was on par with chemotherapy, compared to strength and potency. As i compare chemo and her treatment, you understand her immune system was drastically compromised. Naruto, I understand you told me she is looking to become a doctor. I know of Sakura, we've been notified of her as well. She did really well with her studies, top of the country actually. Great progression."

"Please don't tell me that" Naruto whispered, he feared of what's to come,

"Naruto, based on her condition as of right now. I don't think it's a good idea for her to be working around this field. Her immune system as of right now is very vulnerable and-"

"So you're telling me I have to tell the girl whose world has been shattered by everything, that the only hope she has is also shattered?! That the one thing that she finally looked forward to would be taken away?!" his voice grew louder as he stared at Tsunade in anger. Mostly anger at himself. Sasuke sat silently, that dream of hers was dreamt since the first day he'd met her. Their playdates were always her being a doctor and he, as a patient. His heart broke, just like Naruto said, everything was taken away from her, this was definitely going to be her last straw.

"Yes, Naruto. Unfortunately this is reality. Some people are unlucky."

"I...I can't tell her that now." Naruto stuttered, his body slumped back into the soft leather chair across from Dr Tsunade.

"You don't need to tell her right away, I am just saying that for you to understand her future. You can tell her how you want, and when you want" both men remained silent.

"I understand" this time he whispered, his eyes torn away from her and onto the desk.

"That's the good news, on with the bad news"

"Bad news? There's more?!" Sasuke questioned, his dark orbs slowly transitioned to crimson.

"You need talk to Sara and explain everything to her. I am guessing she already has PTSD, but this time it might be worse based on the situation she had been in. I am not a therapist or psychologist, it's best to contact Sara and get her in again. I have spoken to her already, but I believe she wants to ask you more questions in details before the event as well. And Sasuke-" Tsunade hesitated for a bit before she continued,

"Sara said she hasn't heard anything about you from Sakura." That stung-

"It's a long story." Naruto answered for the silent Sasuke.

"Either way Sakura is number one priority right now. Her health needs to be recovered. Her safety as well." Tsunade gave a look to Naruto who silently acknowledge what she quickly inhaled before the both of them refocused on the silent man. Her hand quickly went into the cupboards pulled out a couple stacks of magazine and lightly placed them on the amber wood. She spread the magazine out so that the cover of each can be seen. She quickly looker at Naruto who then looked at Sasuke, whose body tensed for a second as he analyzed the cover on each of the magazine.

'Could it be?! Another woman who Sasuke is in love with?'

'twitter trending #mistresswh$ore, #BACHELORSasuke - fans outrageous of mystery woman making online death threats and cyber bullying on mysterious other woman

'Who is the mysterious woman that has taken Sasuke away from Super Model Karin?'

'Fans rioting outside of Victoria secret's angel, Candel Swane accusing her as the other woman. She said all she's had was a one night stand with him. Is she being honest?!'

'Wedding disaster, Sasuke realizes his love for Karin is not what he wanted. His disappearance says there is someone else out there.'

'Other woman is not just a regular one night stand of Sasuke's. This is much more'

'Karin remains silent about the whole ideal.'

He couldn't believe what he was reading. He understood that there were always very loyal and jealous fans he had. Karin herself had to have extra security because of the constant death threats she had. It was a price she paid for being with the most wanted man. But the woman he constantly sleep around with during a night or so, they were safe... Maybe short term threats but never anything like this.

"There is much worse on TV and onlline. Twitter, facebook, Tumblr, Instagram... They've made a hate page on this 'mysterious' woman." Naruto muttered.

"How is this possible? Naruto you know I've done a lot with other woman while with Karin, and sometimes it's come out to the public. But those girls never had it this bad." Sasuke tried to reason with them, questioning this abnormality.

"Because this time you've been gone for 2 months. Right after the wedding, no one knows where you are, what you're doing. They will speculate. You're lucky that this is just a speculation" Dr. Tsunade explained to him,

"Sasuke, I know this is hard for you. But this is fixable." Naruto tried to slowly come out on what he was really trying to say.

"Fixable?" Sasuke retorted, his voice leaked impatience

"This can still be just a speculation..." Naruto lightly spoke, Tsunade noticing the complication of Naruto being able to explain himself, she continued to reason with Sasuke,

" We both understand that whatever your relationship was with Sakura, it was important. So important that you've disappeared on the face of the earth and stayed by her side every single day. We both understand that. But I believe it's better if we keep it between just whoever had witnessed it in the hospital. Me and Naruto have already what you can tell the public."

"I'm okay with being in public. So just say that I was in a serious mess, I am your childhood best friend and that as a true friend you flew out of the country to see me. I didn't like the fame so you kept me on the side. But of course because of all these speculations, you need to let them know it is just a speculation and that is all. You need to let them know you and Karin are perfect together, happiest newly weds out there." Naruto continued, his blue orbs analyzing the white knuckled on Sasuke's tightened fist as he spoke out.

"I have already spoken to Itachi, explained the situation. He helped out with the idea. Karin has been explained by Itachi already as well. Itachi told her I took all of your phones and everything else away because I really needed your help. I took the blame. She probably hates me now. But that's okay, -"

"So you fucking went behind my back and decided to figure out my life for me?" Sasuke interrupted Naruto through his clenched teeth, his glare was deathly.

"Listen, I fucking know you're going through hell right now. I cannot imagine the fucking pain you're in alright? I get that. But can you please get off your fucking high horse and just think about what Sakura is going through. Please" Naruto's voice slowly cracked,

"Her parents are gone Sasuke...She's been fucking raped multiple times, she wanted me to burn her face off Sasuke. She has no family to go to. She's alone Sasuke. They were murdered in front of her, and then those fuckers took her away as a merchandise. They treated her worse than an animal. And believe me, I am saving you some pain by not giving you the complete details. Her days are managed by popping all these fucking pills to just keep her stable. She suffers from PTSD, screams all night. Freaking and throwing stuff all over the place, shrieking for her life. Hurting herself when she's getting her episodes. Her room is covered in egg cartons. She spent a whole day sticking egg cartons onto the walls of her bedroom in our apartment, because she didn't want anyone to wake up and be burdened from her. Even me..." This time he was sobbing as he explained to the silent Sasuke.

"You know the first couple of months I didn't even know she had PTSD, until I walked into her room late in the night and found her tied on the bed post and mouth duct taped. Every fucking single night before I even knew about her PTSD, she taped her own mouth, tied herself down so that I wouldn't need to be afraid. She was worried about me! Can you believe her?! Instead of hating the world, she still puts her self second and everyone else first. I learned to be selfless because of her." Sasuke's crimson orbs widened,

"Sasuke. Please put yourself second this time. Please just understand that, although this is the most painful thing you'll have to do, you must protect her. The last thing she needs in camera's all over her face and these online dweebs make threats to her. She doesn't need karin traumatizing her even more. I already have to break the news that she might not be able to become a doctor. There is too much going on. Let her heal first."

"We're sorry Sasuke. But this is best for Sakura as of right now." those words...they felt like knives. He never hated himself more than he did now. He never wished he was a nobody as much as he did now. He didn't want to be who he was, he did not want to be an Uchiha. He would trade it all in, just to be with her, protect her from everything.

"I promise I'll continue to take good care of her." Naruto promised to the man slouched over the leather seat.

"She deserves nothing better than being treated as a princess." Sasuke finally spoke once again, this time his voice was soft. Sakura, ever since he knew her, she was an angel. Like Naruto explained, she was always so...selfless.

"I know Sasuke. I am going to talk to her and explain everything. Give you a chance to give her a proper goodbye."

XoXoXoXo

"How are you feeling?" Naruto lightly spoke to the lying girl, her blood shut eyes stared back and smiled. He chucked when she gave him the thumbs up, without raising her arm up.

"You're looking much better." He lied,

"Listen...there's someone here for you. He saved you that night, and haven't left your side until you woke up. I am truly thankful of him. I do not really know your relationship with him but he's sacrificed a lot to be here with you. I think he deserves to see you, I think you owe him a 'thank you'" Naruto teased her, she thought back to the event. Eyes widened. How could she forget. How could she forget that Sasuke was there that night? She gulped and painfully nodded.

"I'll go get him" before she can even acknowledge anything Naruto was already gone. She would already hear the heart monitor next to her beating faster. Her face flushed as she couldn't even imagine seeing him again. Something she thought would never happen. But there he was suddenly, that childhood friend of hers that was once so dearly to her stood at the door frame.

His body vibrated as he slowly stepped closer to the still body, red bruised eyes stared at him with every step taken. It felt so unreal, he wanted to just grab her and hug her but afraid she'd disappear, that this was just some sick joke or nightmare. It was overwhelming to see her before his eyes, when he thought she had already been gone for years. To make matters worse, see her in the condition she was in. Unable to even move.

"Sakura..." his hand tugged at hers, she could tell how much it had hurt him to see her like this. She understood how much emotion and confusion he must have been through these past few months. It was a face she was familiar with, when he left. But those days it was one tenth of what it was now. He was completely torn.

With all the strength she had, she pushed herself to place her hand on top of his head. Her frail fingers brushed through his soft blackened hair. Onyx eyes widened from her warm touch he had been yearning for. Those soft little fingers that used to always comb his hair when he was younger that softly scratched his scalp so he'd settle asleep beside her during those sleep overs during the summer heat as the cool midnight breeze brushed over their soft skin. It was like it was just yesterday.

"I'm so sorry" it was barely enough to be heard, his voice cracked and couldn't manage to stay strong when he attempted to apologize to her. It was all too much.

It felt like they stayed in silence for minutes, he could feel that peaceful release just with the comfort of her touch. Her fingers continued to twiddle with his soft black locks, only thing heard was the breathing mast and her heart monitor. Slowly her index finger traced his facial features, From his temples she traveled his eyebrows, down his nose bridge to his cheek bone and then towards his lips. Before she could remove her hand away from his perfect face, his hand softly grabbed her hand, and kissed it lightly.

"I am so sorry Sakura. I wish I could take the pain away from you" he meant every word, and she knew he did. Even with all this media and him acting out, she knew the little innocent boy will always be there. Those puppy dog eyes of his was still there. Those puppy dog eyes he used to use so that she would give him a peck on the cheeks. Her heart broke to see him in so much pain and misery. This was not what she wanted for him, she wanted him to forget about her and never find her. But this...this was the completely opposite of what she had hoped for.

His muscular arm draped over her torso, his head rested on the side of her stomach as he silently cried. He tried his best to stay strong for her, but it was too hard. She lightly scratched his back, as they both slowly watched the sun settle down into dawn. His breathing was calm and consistent. Just like the old days, she smiled and remember him always falling asleep peacefully next to her. Next to her he'd always sleep like a baby. This must have been his first good nights sleep in a while. She can tell just by watching his fingers twitch every now and then.

XoXOxOxO

A hand placed on Sasuke's broad shoulders, his eyes slowly peeked opened. Usually he wasn't a morning person, but these past 2 uncomfortable sleeping months, he had no complaints.

"Sasuke, Itachi's here" Naruto whispered loud enough for Sasuke to hear and low enough that Sakura wasn't awaken by it.

He bit back his tongue and excepted his fate, that this was it. This was his way of getting his closure. Life...even though he had it all the money the looks and a happy family, to him it was all too unfair. Because to him, the only thing that mattered was the woman laying in the soft white bed, breathing softly with the help of an oxygen mask.

"She is in good hands Sasuke, I promise you she will be okay. She's in good hands" Naruto reassured the nervous man in front of him.

"It's for her own good." he informed Sasuke again, letting him know what he was doing was for the better of Sakura's well being. His expression stressed, as he continue to stare at his sleeping beauty, forced to leave her behind. Unknowing how she would feel with him abandoning her again. It had to be done, for her own good. He had to understand and accept this. He had to protect her and if he truly cared for her, he had to do this. He placed a kiss on her forehead, brushed his fingers lightly against her pale skin.

Naruto again gave a guilty forced smile to try and give Sasuke a positive outlook on the situation. "I promise you I will take good care of her. Don't you worry"

Sasuke nodded, and slowly walked away telling himself not to turn back around because if he did turn around he might not be able to actually walk away from her. It killed him to have to leave her again, it was like she was back in his life in a sick twisted way and now ripped away from him again. How on earth would he cope with this terror.

But he did what he had to do, he had to drive back home to Karin and his family. It was time to face the media and tell them a whole different story. A decoy from the real situation, get them away from her. Sasuke Uchiha was always the emotionless being, and this is the only time that it really mattered. He needed to not show any of his emotions. No one can feel his pain. She will be first before anything.

A/N*Hoping you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did. It was a very emotional chapter to write.