Title: Catalyst

Summary: A catalyst is a "substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent change" (Google). Well, everyone knows the chemistry between Sasuke and Sakura is definitely in need of a catalyst.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Prompt: Dropping your Guard

Warnings: None.

Comments: This is my second-to-last submission for Sasusaku month! I've gotten busy recently, and it's been eating up my prompt-writing time/brainstorming time. Moreover, this series has been taking away from some of my other writing projects like Challenge Accepted, which really should've been done by now OTL. On the bright side, my other upcoming project is a Sasusaku fic that I'm really excited to start writing! Anyways, stay tuned for one last prompt!

Also, happy birthday Sasuke! It's technically past his birthday now where I am, but hey, it's July 23rd somewhere, right (*insert smug smirk*)?

"Neh, did you hear? A new lady is trying to court Uchiha-san!"

Around the corner, Sakura almost dropped her case file. She froze midstride, heart plummeting at a sickening speed.

"A new one… you mean another storekeeper's daughter?" another voice chimed in.

"No, this one is foreign. Like from a different country foreign. Rumor has it, she's an up and coming politician in former Otogakure, and she needs some arm candy to win her votes," the first voice said.

Someone giggled. "Well then she definitely chose the right man! Every girl would vote for him in an instant!"

The nurses station erupted in laughter while outside, Sakura tried to still her shaking hands. She pressed herself further into the wall, thankful that no one was in the halls at the moment.

"There's just one problem with Diplomat-sama's plan," one nurse piped up. "She's not Sakura-sama. Everyone knows Uchiha-san has a thing for Sakura-sama. Those two are practically dating."

"Practically, but not actually. There's a difference. Who knows? Maybe he'll like her enough to give it a shot!"

Murmurs of agreement ran through the room.

"Has anyone actually met her?" someone finally asked.

"I did! She was touring the hospital to see how we operated! She mentioned wanting to emulate our system!" Immediately, the girl was bombarded by questions.

"Miko-chan, you've been holding out on us!"

"Neh, Miko-chan, spill the beans! What was she like?"

"Tell us!"

"Tell us!"

"Pleaaase?"

"Calm down," Miko placated. "She was very nice and very respectful! And she is very beautiful too! Straight, long, black hair and very intelligent eyes. I showed her around the neurology department, and she was really impressed by our efficiency! She asked a lot of questions about our protocol and organization."

"The real question is whether she's a good match for Uchiha-san," someone interjected.

"Definitely not," another nurse snorted. Sakura recognized her nurse's voice, Saeri, a middle aged and fiercely loyal woman. "I had to show her around the cardiology department, which is obviously Sakura-sama's department."

"And?" came the collective and breathless prompt.

"She's a fake," Saeri said flatly. "The entire visit, she made veiled jabs at Sakura-sama, questioning her competence as a doctor." The entire room gasped in indignation. "I reminded her as politely as I could that Sakura-sama was second only to Tsunade-sama. So then, Diplomat-san tried to suggest that her medical background often interfered with her abilities as a kunoichi." More cries of outrage from the nurses. "So I told her that Sakura-sama was known for giving doubters a personal demonstration of her fighting abilities."

"HA! How did Diplomat-san take that?" someone yelled.

"Her face turned a pearly white," Saeri replied, her smug smirk evident in her voice. Cheers rang out among the nurses. Sakura smiled at her nurses' loyalty and wiped away the tears that had begun to fall.

"You know what, our Sakura-sama can take this woman on anytime!"

"Yeah! No one deserves Uchiha-san more than Sakura-sama! She's worked so hard to win him over, there's no way she can lose against a bitch from Otogakure!"

"Yeah!"

"Definitely!"

"Sakura-sama's the best! She's beautiful and smart and strong and hard working!"

"Ladies!" Saeri's voice rang out above the clamor. "We're going to redouble our efforts to get Uchiha-san and Sakura-sama together!"

"Hai!"

"No doctor besides Sakura-sama will tend to Uchiha-san's wounds!"

"Hai!"

"Uchi—"

Collecting herself, Sakura walked into the room with a radiant smile. "That won't be necessary, Saeri-san."

For a split second, the nurses froze, eyes bugged out at the sight of their superior and object of their discussion. And then, chaos reigned as the women scrambled to pack their lunches, bowing in apology, while hurriedly readjusting their scrubs.

"Thank you, everyone," Sakura said, bowing deeply.

For the second time in as many minutes, everyone stilled.

"I… appreciate your support and confidence in me," Sakura said slowly. "But this—this is something I must do on my own. I will fight my own battles."

Saeri was the first to recover. She relaxed and smiled. "Good luck, Sakura-sama."

Trailed by more well wishes, Sakura exited the station with renewed resolve. She'd thought that keeping her distance would save her from heartache, that never having was better than experiencing only once. But that scare—the idea almost turned into a reality that he might someday fall in love with another woman—had hurt infinitely more. She'd dropped her guard, assuming that Sasuke would always be free. Evidently, that wasn't the case. So she would try. And she would win. Because when it came to Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura knew no limits.

"Are you sure about this?" Kitsune asked.

Sasuke didn't even spare her a glance. "Aa. I'm not interested. Too bad you had to waste a trip here to find out."

Her stride never faltered. "I don't think so. I learned some very valuable things about Konoha," she said lightly, lips curling upward. "And you. I learned some very valuable lessons about you."

"Your first mistake, Kitsune, was assuming I'm stupid just because I'm a shinobi," Sasuke said in a bored tone as he stopped at the gates of Konoha. "Your second was to assume that my weaknesses were ones you could begin to tackle. I told you repeatedly before you visited that Sakura is not a force to be trifled with."

"Shame," she drawled as she and her bodyguards turned to bid one last farewell. "We would have been perfect together, and if I recall, you were always a pursuer of perfection."

And with that, she sauntered off. Sasuke waited for her to disappear from his view of the path before he answered her.

"Maybe so. But I'd like to think Sakura and my 'perfect' is a work in progress."

Author's Note:

Thanks everyone for letting me know about the glitch! OTL

Uhh I had a proper author's note before, but it was deleted. Let's see, I think I just wanted to say that what Sasuke implied was that Kitsune (meaning Fox in Japanese) had contacted him from Oto, but when he didn't express any interest, she thought coming to Konoha would 1-improve her appeal and 2-be an excuse to challenge his real love interest, Sakura.