Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor will I ever.

Summary: "Haruno Sakura, you have been ordered to guard the prisoner Uzumaki Naruto." After a strict order from the Hokage, Sakura has been forced to conquer her greatest fear—the rumored beast of Konoha. The tragedy is slowly revealed, piece-by-piece.

Pairing: Naruto X Sakura

AN: Sorry for the long wait, at least I updated at/near New Years! It's unbeted.

Edited as of March 25, 2009

Broken Leaf

09. Unease

"See you later Sakura." was the last she heard of him. Then he disappeared into wooden doors during the night.

"Well, I finally have a free day today." She stretched her arms and stepped out into the village.

She snorted. Finally, there would be peace and quiet. While she liked the company of the blond, it was important that she have some time alone. It seemed impossible lately.

"Right, this is my day to relax!" She decided to visit Sasuke. She loved seeing him in his cranky state and no doubt he would be in one while he was still at the hospital. To her relief, her teammate had not attempted an escape and was sitting carefully on top of the bed.

"Where is he?" He shifted his eyes over carefully. His hands were crossed over his mouth like usual.

"Where's…who? Naruto?"

Sasuke nodded. He appeared to be mentally bracing himself for the worse.

"He's not coming today," she answered.

Sasuke cleared his throat, "Where is he then?"

"With the Hokage."

"The Hokage?" he asked, his voice filled with curiosity. "Who is he?"

Sakura walked over, "An idiot. Anyways, how are you? Feel any pain? Fever?"

"No," he shook his head, "When can I go?"

Sakura look up at the ceiling, "Well…you are sure you aren't feeling any pain?"

"Yes," he said wearily. "There's nothing to do here."

Sakura sighed. There was something wrong with the ninjas here. They all wanted to get out of the hospital earlier, even if they were injured. Idiots. Because they weren't fully healed, they end up at the hospital and leave her to clean up the mess. Sasuke could probably go back today, but she added a few more days. It was just in case. He was her teammate after.

"You're sure?" she asked, confirming it one last time.

"Yes."

She sighed after seeing the "look" on him. The "look" as the nurses commonly called it was when ninjas would get this look on their face that would tell the nurses that they would be leaving the hospital, regardless the hospital's permission.

"Fine," she gave him a sour look, "I expect you to come back daily for checkups."

He appeared to be about to protest but instead said, "Whatever."

Sakura whacked him, "Don't 'whatever' me." He didn't say anything. Typical. "Where are you going to stay at anyways? There's probably a lot of dust over at your place…"

"…" he looked at him.

She raised an eyebrow, "What? I don't have time to clean. Being a medic takes away your time you know?"

"Where's Kakashi and Sai?"

"Why don't you stay at my place—what?"

"Where's Kakashi and Sai?" he repeated.

"I…don't know. Team seven disbanded shortly after you were…in your coma," she confessed, looking away from Sasuke.

"I see. So I'll stay at your place then."

"Sure, but you'll have to stay at the living room. Naruto took the last closet—room," she said, grateful that Sasuke had stopped asking questions. It wasn't at easy topic for her to talk about, even with Sasuke.

Sasuke froze, "That guy's living at your place?"

"Yeah…his house's being remodeled!" Truthfully, she didn't even know if he had a house or not. "So it's not like I like him or anything."

"I see," said Sasuke. He got up, "Let's go."

Sakura blinked, "Huh?"

"To your house," he said in a chiding voice.

"But, don't you have to pack?" asked Sakura.

Sasuke lifted at eyebrow, "I was unconscious when I got here. Do you think I packed? I have nothing here."

"But I can't leave the hospital right now. I think they've decided to take away my day off," she argued. She sighed inwardly. Sasuke was the same as ever.

He looked away, "I…suppose…I could wait."

Sakura rubbed his hair, "There's a good boy."

"Do you want me to change my mind?" he unruffled his hair.

Sakura let go immediately, "Enjoy your stay." She was gone before he could reply.

"People these days," he frowned, which unknown by him was also said by Sakura just now.

"People these days," she frowned, "no manners whatsoever!" The pink haired girl huffed before turning the corner. "At least I don't have to worry about Naruto running loose around the hospital today…"

Pretty soon she was up and running with no time for thoughts. Hinata had it the worse. By break time at noon, the poor girl was already sleeping on the guest sofa in the lobby. Now that the Chuunin exams had ended, many ninjas were sent to the hospital for check-ups and injuries.

"I should have showed Sasuke my living room…" sighed Sakura, "that could have been an excuse."

Hinata nodded barely and moved her head into a more comfortable spot on the couch.

"Are you even listening Hinata?" asked Sakura, who was eating the hospital ramen. Sure it wasn't healthy, but she didn't have the energy to buy food somewhere else.

Hinata nodded again and yawned. She rubbed the tears out of her eyes, "Are you going to go talk to Naruto-kun?"

Sakura fidgeted, "He's not here today."

Hinata's eyes were a bit clearer now, "R-Really? How come?"

"Um…you know him! He can't stay too long in one place before he wrecks havoc on it."

Hinata nodded, as if agreeing though she did not seem convinced. She groaned, "O-Only thirty more minutes…"

Sakura looked at the clock and nearly fell down, "Oh my god, I want to sleep so badly." She looked outside. It wasn't even near the time when it was time to go home. Her head kept telling her to close her eyes.

"Hang it there, self!" She nodded, "I'll go home and take a nice long bubble bath!" Her eyes wandered over to the Hokage Tower. How was Naruto doing? Was he offending anybody? She scoffed, knowing well enough how Naruto thought of the elders.

Soft snoring broke through her thoughts. Hinata was well on her way to dream land. She was curled up in a ball on the sofa, sleeping peacefully against all that loud noise.

"I wish I could sleep," yawned Sakura, leaning against the wall. "I'm so sleepy yet…I keep seeing more havoc when I close my eyes!" Taking her chopsticks, she finished the last of her ramen and threw it in the garbage. "At least work will kill the fat I ate in that ramen…"

"Sakura, we have an emergency!"

Sakura sighed, twitching her eye, "Even my break is shortened now…"

Taking one last glance at the window, she grabbed her gloves and raced to the room, "What happened?"

"Ninja wounded on a mission with punctured lungs and wounded arms. Here are the details."

Sakura nodded, "We should operate quickly." She raced to the table to put on her mask and nearly dropped it.

"Sai?"

The ceiling dripped another drop of water. Sasuke looked outside to the stormy grey clouds. As a drip fell towards him, he caught it with his fist. His scowl grew when two more drops fell onto his hair. He looked up the ceiling and for the first time realized how many cracks there were.

"Sasuke, stop looking at the ceiling and get ready."

"Back already, Sakura?" he asked. She looked a bit tired though. Her eyes sagged a little and her movements were sloppy.

"Yeah, you would never guess who I saw today, Sasuke-kun."

He avoided a few more drops, "Who?"

"Sai," she answered. "He was wounded."

Two drops fell onto Sasuke, "What happened?"

She walked up to him, "I don't know…a bunch of our shinobi found him wounded just outside the gates of Konoha. He's currently sleeping in the hospital. We don't know when he might wake, but it should be soon."

"I see."

"I see?" Sakura asked, "Aren't you the least bit worried?"

Sasuke didn't move, "He'll be okay. Stop worrying."

"I'm not worrying about Sai." In fact, what was he doing injured in the first place? He was the bad guy here; she was sure of it.

"Let's go then."

"It's just…he's part of our team," lied Sakura.

Sasuke looked at her, "What do you plan to do then?"

"Wait until tomorrow I guess," said Sakura after a while, "Do we need to go to the Uchiha household for stuff?"

Sasuke merely nodded. "What about Naruto?"

Sakura bit her lip, "I don't know. He said he'll be back and that Tsunade will tell me, but I didn't hear from either of them the whole day."

Sasuke nodded his head, "Let's go."

"Okay," Sakura smiled tiredly and exited the hospital with Sasuke. Hinata, for some reason, shied away from Sasuke. She did congratulate him on exiting the hospital though.

The Hokage Tower was well lit after dark, as Sasuke observed. Sakura wondered how Naruto was doing for what seemed like the hundredth time today. It was so different without Naruto somehow. It was like a piece of her life gone and it just didn't feel right. Of course, it was much quieter and peaceful, but it was very…lonely. Perhaps she was missing him, but she wasn't about it admit it.

"We're here," announced Sasuke, breaking Sakura's thoughts away. She nodded, saying she'd wait outside. He just shrugged and walked it. The place was full of cobwebs and dust. It was hard to imagine that there used to be a clan living there. It was so dark that even Sakura was a bit intimidated. When Sasuke didn't come back after a length of time, Sakura decided to go in after him.

The wooden gate creaked open noisily and echoed through the entire household. Her fingers trailed across the wooden surface. She caught a handful of dust.

"I wonder if Naruto's apartment is like this…" she muttered softly under her breath. There was a shuffle.

"Sasuke?" she called out, uncertain. There was no response or any further noise. "Sasuke?" she tried again.

"What?" His voice was right behind her.

Her head turned so she could see him. Sasuke was holding onto a knapsack around the size of a small basket. "Ready?"

She could see him nod lightly.

"Do you still live—"

"No," she pointed east, "I'm renting one of the apartments somewhat near the hospitals. It makes it more convenient for work."

If Sasuke wanted to ask more questions, he didn't, choosing only to nod.

They began walking back to her apartment. When they passed by Ichiraku's, Sakura decided to stop.

"Can you wait for a moment, Sasuke-kun? I want to buy some ramen for Naruto," she said, "He'll probably want some. Do you? I'm sure they have take-out."

Sasuke nodded hesitantly, taking a good look at the ramen and poking it with chopsticks. Sakura slapped his hand away, telling him not to mess with the food.

"Why did you buy eight bowls?" asked Sasuke, speaking his mind for once.

"Naruto, he eats a lot," said Sakura, empathizing the word 'lot'.

Sasuke nodded again and followed her. Somehow, it felt to Sakura like she was talking to a wall. At least with Naruto, he was always listening and always commenting. Sasuke quickly grew accustomed with her living room, claiming the sofa as his bed. After eating his portion of ramen, he decided to go to train.

"You can't train yet!" she protested. "Or, do you want to go back to the hospital?" she threatened.

He didn't seem happy, but he stayed put.

Her eyes strayed to the clock as she sat at the dining table with her bowl of ramen. It was getting late yet Naruto wasn't back yet. A few times she caught Sasuke looking at her from the sofa. It wasn't like she was waiting for such a long time. Just a little bit more and she'll go to sleep.

The ramen was long cold. Even the oil had formed a layer over the top, becoming white. Her eyes closed eventually and she went to sleep with an empty stomach.

Sakura's self-alarm woke her up early in the morning. The first thing she smelled was the oily smell of freshly cooked ramen.

"Time to eat!" said a noisy voice.

She opened her eyes. The tables remained untouched along with the ramen.

"A dream…" she whispered. The bowl was already bad. She took it along with the rest and dumped it down the sink and garbage.

Sasuke had left a note saying he went out to train. She would have to punish him for that, she guessed.

Still, one question bugged her. What could possibly take Naruto so long? Grabbing her weapon pouch and gloves, she headed towards the Hokage Tower. She stayed close to the walls, watching the guards stroll around the bottom ground. She had never taken the time to find out their routine and now she regretted it. After wasting too much time, she decided to walk up casually. She was the Hokage's apprentice after all. What could they do to her?

"Going to see the Hokage?" asked one of the guards.

"Yes," answered Sakura as normally as she could. They merely parted away without giving her much trouble. She frowned, slightly scolding herself for being over-cautious.

On the top of the stairs, she met a friend.

"Sakura, what brings you here?" asked the ever-lazy Shikamaru.

"Here to see the Hokage, what about you?" she asked in return towards the half-asleep ninja, "And, you look really worn out."

"Troublesome, I should be glad I'm not dead with the Hokage's troublesome orders," he yawned. "My mission ended today so I'm merely reporting to the Hokage."

"I see," she nodded and proceeded to walk up, but Shikamaru spoke up.

"So, what are you really here for?"

"To see the Hokage," she repeated. "Why are you asking?"

"No reason," he walked down the stairs, "Go ahead. It's not like I'm the type of person to stop you."

Sakura lifted ay eyebrow. Shikamaru was definitely a weird person even if he's a genius. Then again, most geniuses were quite bizarre. As she approached the door, she listened for any type of sounds first. There were none. Being so, she brought up her fist and knocked on the door.

"Come in!"

Sakura opened a small creak.

"Open it up the whole way or leave!"

"Good morning, teacher," she walked in, closing the door behind her. Taking a quick look, she found only her teacher there.

"Naruto's already gone if you're asking."

"Really?" she blurted, "I mean, I see."

Tsunade took another swig from her sake, "Do you? If so, leave already."

"Wait," Sakura raised one of her hands, "Can you tell me…what happened yesterday?"

Tsunade placed down her sake on the table, "No." Her eyes were firm and unchanging. She pushed the bottle with her index finger, "If you're really that curious…go ask Naruto."

"But Tsunade-sama—"

"I said don't ask me!"

"Yes!" she chirped out and quickly raced towards the exit. Tsunade still had an effect on her after all these years. Regardless, Tsunade was a good teacher and mentor. Out on the streets, her mind was already off thinking of the places Naruto could have gone. There weren't much when she started counting off with her fingers.

She snapped her fingers, "Ichiraku's!"

Turns out, the ramen stand was empty. There was not even a single customer this early. Noticing the time, she rushed back home to change into her uniform. She did take her time to look around though Naruto wasn't in her apartment at all. If she noticed, she would have found a bit of the food supply missing and perhaps tears shed over the thrown away ramen.

Sensing that she was still minutes early and she really didn't want to see Sai again, she took her time walking.

"I'll ask Sasuke to help me look later," she declared. At the same time when she said it, a wave of powder blew over the area. She inhaled some of it in her mouth and started coughing.

"Hey, are you alright?" Someone grabbed her arm, "Do you need anything?"

She shook her head, unable to speak. Her eyes widened when she saw who it was. Naruto.

"You sure?" he asked, "Hey, I can ask Sakura to help you out! She's a really good medic though…you're dressed up as a medic too!"

How did he know she was dressed as a medic…unless, he could see again? She smiled warmly on the inside. She would smile out front, if she wasn't coughing so badly.

When she tried to speak, she could only cough.

"Come on," he dragged her by the arm, "Let's go see her."

She shook her head, still trying to explain. It made sense that he didn't know who she was considering that he never saw her.

"Don't worry, she's real nice!" he reassured. He frowned, "Your scent smells familiar…I mean, it's not like I'm sniffing you out or anything!" He frantically raised his hands.

Sakura nodded. She might as well play along. The other nurses there would realize that she's Sakura anyways. How ironic. She spent the whole morning looking for him and the moment she gives up, he appears.

"Can't wait to see her again and Sasuke!" he laughed, almost skipping along as he walked.

She took a deep breath, finding it easier to breathe without talking. "Hey," she wheezed.

It was just a wheeze, but at that sound Naruto froze completely.

"Sakura?" he eyed her closely, grabbing her by the shoulders, "…It's really you!"

She nodded, a faint smile on her lips, "...T-Took you that…long, idiot!"

"What happened?" he asked quickly, "How come you were coughing so badly?"

"Someone…randomly sprayed pepper powder around," she coughed out; "…I'm okay."

"If you say so…"

"Hey…how come you didn't recognize me?" she asked. She looked straight into his eyes this time, knowing that he could see this time. His eyes moved away to the side.

Even though she knew the truth, she was still waiting, to hear Naruto's side of the story.

"So how come?"

He looked at her and she immediately wanted to take her words back. It was too late.

Naruto grinned a bit too awkward, "Let's just say…I did something bad and they punished me by taking away my eyesight…"

Sakura nodded, urging him to continue.

"But the old hag manage to convince them to take back that punishment so I can see again!" he did a thumbs up, "And…that's it. Let's go!" He was already turning to walk away.

Sakura felt the opportunity going away. She tried to speak, but her mouth couldn't form the right words. She didn't know what to say.

"I'll…" Naruto spoke up, "I'll explain later."

Sakura nodded from being. He sounded so serious this time she felt she could take his word. Besides, he was a person who kept his promises.

"Alright, or else you'll get it," she joked threateningly, lifting her fist. He winced and nodded.

Sakura froze, remembering that Sasuke's room was no longer available.

"Oh, and I found my teammate yesterday! He was wounded somehow though."

Naruto nodded in response, "How's your teammate doing?

"Okay, it's not anything serious so she should be waking up soon."

"I see," said Naruto, "Hope your friend gets better soon."

"Yeah," nodded Sakura, "…And Sasuke's out of the hospital so, I don't know what to do with you."

Naruto jolted, "That guy's finally escaped from the hospital?"

She shook her head, "That's not what I meant. He was allowed to leave."

"Really?" His eyes narrowed. "That guy's tricky and sly…"

Sakura laughed forcefully, "Sometimes. Anyways, I'll see what to do when we go to the hospital."

Sakura thought she was dreaming again.

When she got to the hospital, it was near empty. She even pinched herself to make sure she was not dreaming.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata was out at the lobby.

"Hinata-chan?" he questioned. After he observed her for a while, he smiled and said, "Hey!"

Hinata replied back shyly, "I didn't see you yesterday…"

"Yeah I was—"

"Work time," Sakura clapped her hands, "How's Sai?"

"He's awake," Hinata said.

"Okay, we'll go see him now," she said.

"But," Hinata added, "No one's allowed to see him since the ANBU are questioning him right now."

"Did they state their reason?"

Hinata shook her head, "And, Tsunade-sama said that after Sakura-san finds Naruto, you should report to her office."

"New mission?" asked Sakura.

"That's all she said, Sakura-san. Sorry, I didn't ask," she backed up, "I should get back to work."

"Sorry for interrupting you so long."

Hinata shook her head, "Good l-luck."

It took less than a minute for the two of them to reach the Hokage's Tower at full speed.

"What's the hurry?" wondered Naruto, taking his time to walk up the stairs. Sakura was different. She looked back at him on the top of the stairs like he was crazy.

"Do you know how Tsunade-sama can be when people are late!?"

Naruto looked uncertainly to the left and right, then scratched the side of his head, "Huh?"

"That ninja who was late became so scared they couldn't speak for the whole mission."

"Who?"

"Chouji. He was late because of some barbeque he and his team were having."

"And couldn't speak the whole time out of fear from the old hag?" he looked close to tears from holding back his laughter.

"Yes," said Sakura exhaustingly. "Now stop stalling and get going already. We're going to be late and she won't be happy."

"Just trying to lighten up the atmosphere, Sakura-chan. You should relax a little sometimes!"

"Naruto!" she warned. He quieted down immediately.

She knocked on the door once and opened it immediately. They didn't make Tsunade wait too long, right? She peeked her head in first to make sure.

"Hey old hag!" Naruto pushed the door wide open and strolled in like he was walking down the streets.

"That idiot!" Sakura closed her eyes. She didn't want to see his guts spilling all over the Hokage's office.

"Naruto, where's Sakura?"

She opened her eyes. He didn't die yet? No, it would be pretty soon.

"Tell her she's dead if she doesn't show up in the next three seconds."

"Reporting for duty!" she said weakly.

"Close the door," Tsunade commanded. Her face wasn't red so she didn't look too angry. She threw a folder at Naruto, "Find that person."

Naruto opened the folder and flipped through the papers, "That guy?!"

Sakura walked up to Naruto and looked at the contents of the folder, "Jiraiya-sama?"

"Yes," announced Tsunade, "I need you find him immediately. Make sure he doesn't escape, like what the others have done."

Tsunade punched a fist on her desk, "He escaped from everybody I assigned this mission to so far. Naruto, Sakura, I'm counting on you two with time running short."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," said Sakura. This was going to be a hard mission. She would have to succeed in this mission if she didn't want Tsunade to scold both her and Naruto.

"Do we really have to?" asked Naruto, looking at the folder upside down.

Sakura widened her eyes, "Tsunade-sama, he doesn't mean that!"

"Yes I do," he protested, "He's too sinister. One false move and he'll escape like the little peeper he is!"

"Look, I wouldn't call you two if it wasn't urgent so stop complaining for once and get going!"

"Okay," replied Naruto reluctantly.

Sakura relaxed at this.

"Leave by noon if you can," commanded Tsunade, "We need to find him in the shortest time possible."

They began to leave when Tsunade spoke up, "If you feel you have a headache Naruto, take a rest and ask Sakura to look at you."

"Alright old hag."

Tsunade sighed, not bothering to correct the 'old hag'. She was used to it already.

"Okay! Its go time!" proclaimed Naruto.

"With ramen as our only food supply?" remarked Sakura bitterly.

"We have crackers," Naruto shrugged.

"Fine, I don't want ramen as our MAIN food supply for who knows how many days."

"It's noon already," said Naruto in a sing-song voice.

"Fine," Sakura grabbed her backpack, "We should visit that hot springs Tsunade mentioned from before."

"Right behind ya!"

Sakura smiled, "Ready to see the world with your eyes?"

Naruto did a lopsided smile, "Better if we weren't searching for a pervert."

"Pervert?" Sakura frowned.

Naruto merely nodded, "You'll see."