Finally updated a chapter! I never once forgot about my story I swear! Life has just been so busy for me lately. College and work! I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. I know there is a lot of talking and it's long. Sorry T.T But now it's really starting to unfold and I am excited. Thank you for all of your lovely reviews.

Chapter 9: Think

"Whoa Sasuke you're naked under here!" My happy thoughts were interrupted with Naruto's random outburst. I continued to stare at my lap out of respect for Sasuke. I couldn't even blush at the thought of that from how weak I felt. I thought for sure I was going to pass out. My legs hurt so badly from sitting in that same position for so long. I wanted to say something, but Sasuke needed to be taken care of first.

"Will you shut up you dobe!?" I heard Sasuke punch Naruto in the head.

"Ouch c'mon Sasuke what was that for!?" Sasuke growled. I saw him pull a blanket over his lap in my peripherals.

"Will you go get me something to wear?"

"Right!" Naruto ran out of the room. I continued to stare down at my lap. I could see in my peripherals that Sasuke watched Naruto run out of the room, then redirected his focus to me. I was twirling my thumbs in nervousness as I continued to stare down at my lap.

*Why is he just staring?!* As soon as that thought entered my mind, Naruto returned to my relief. He handed Sasuke the normal white pants and shirt that the patients wore. Sasuke put the pants on under his blanket then stood up out of his bed and put the shirt on.

"Naruto go get something ready for Sakura in Iruka's office. I'll bring her in."

"Right." Naruto nodded and ran out of Sasuke's room. It surprised me how he just listened to his orders. I was still staring at my lap. I seen Sasuke walk over and kneel down next to me. He put his hands on my arms and turned my torso to face him. I finally looked up from my lap. I looked at his face and studied it closely. Everything truly did look the same as before. If anything he looked better. He was studying me as well.

"Sakura…" The way he said my name caused my heart to miss a beat. He pulled me into a tight embrace. I could tell this was his way of thanking me. He had his face buried into my neck. His eyes were closed. A surge shot down there and I clenched my thighs.

*Sakura stop thinking like that!* I started to tremble. The way he was breathing on my neck had much feeling all kinds of hormones. All from his simple embrace, which was completely his way of saying 'thank you' and nothing more…but I couldn't help myself. As much as I wanted to return this, I still was just too weak. I was fading in and out at this point. And my legs were in so much pain. But my burst of adrenaline from his touch gave me a small amount of strength.

"Sasuke…my, my legs…" He gasped and leaned back to look at me. He quickly moved to the side of me and lifted me off of the ground with ease bridal style. I looked at his bicep bulging from his arm. How well defined it was. I could smell him, and it intoxicated me. My head lying against his chest, I was in bliss. He was so comfortable to me at that point. I was exhausted. He left his room and carried me to Iruka's office. He opened the door and carried me to the pull out bed that came from the couch that was in there. It was neatly made with new sheets on it as Sasuke instructed Naruto to do for me. He gently laid me down and covered me up. Naruto walked over and they both hovered over me staring. Before I knew it, my vision blurred, and I was fast asleep.

SASUKE'S POV (THIRD PERSON)

"Think she will be alright?" Naruto rubbed the back of his head and looked over at Sasuke.

"…Sasuke?" He just continued to stare at Sakura as she slept. Naruto sighed and turned away with his hand on his forehead. He began to pace around Iruka's office.

"We need to get her out of here. She needs rest, a lot of it."

"We need a lot of things Sasuke. Ugh well I mean, I don't know. What do we do from here?! You know me; I had only planned up until this point. Ah man…" Naruto walked back over to Sasuke's side. He still stood next to the bed, not once breaking his stare from her. He admired her face and her beauty. Though, he would never admit it. He could still see how sunken in her eyes were from how much energy she took to bring him back. He reached down and cupped her hand with both of his hands.

"I can't believe she did this…f-for me." Naruto put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

"Yeah she's pretty incredible." Naruto said. Both of the boys stared at Sakura for a long silence. Sasuke gripped her hand tighter. Then he lifted it to his mouth and kissed it softly. He leaned his forehead against it and closed his eyes.

"Naruto…promise me. Promise me that for whenever I am not around, you will protect her." Naruto looked over at Sasuke and nodded.

"I owe her my life." Sasuke opened his eyes and rested her hand back onto the bed. He walked over to Iruka's chair and sat down. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the desk lacing his fingers and holding them close to his mouth. Naruto jumped onto Iruka's desk and got comfortable.

"Naruto tell me…how?"

"Well, I kind of figured it out believe it or not. I knew you were conscious when I told you that the nine tails came out of me, thus breaking Iruka's seal."

"Yeah I know that part. I mean, how did Sakura learn…and so quickly?!"

"Well she came over my house and she told me how she seen you using your Sharingan. Then she explained to me how you guys were able to form some sort of communication with one another."

"Right, yes." Sasuke cut in.

"She explained that you had answered 'yes' when she restated something she told you. Something about her wishing she could heal you. Well, I put two and two together. I couldn't believe that in the condition you were in you were still even able to use your Sharingan! I knew what you were doing; you were reading her chakra levels and abilities. So that's why you responded with a 'yes' when she restated what she said." Sasuke just laughed and punched Naruto in his arm.

"Hey what was that for?!"

"'Cause…I can't believe a dobe like you would've figured that out." Sasuke looked up at Naruto and smiled.

"Like I was SAYING, oh wait, well way before that she found out that I was a super awesome ninja! See she had no idea about people like us, like most of this part of town. But anyways, she said she had never heard of chakra or anything like that. I asked a little bit about her family history and she said that her father would go away for long periods of time. He would never share what his line of work entailed with her, like it was top secret." Sasuke closed his eyes and nodded his head.

"So with THAT being peculiar enough we sat down for a while and thought. But still nothing would come to mind for her. I gave her my books from the academy and told her to study them. Study chakra, how to tap into it, and how to use it with her body. She was nurse for a reason, meaning she made it through school. I figured if she could remember all of that medical junk then this would be a no brainer for her. I knew she had it in her. Not to mention, at that time I also knew that you knew she had it in her too." Sasuke opened his eyes. He looked confused.

"So you're telling me that she only studied those basic books and was able to-" Sasuke lowered his hands and looked at them.

"-to do this?"

"Wait Sasuke let me finish. Ya see eventually we decided it would be safer if I stayed over her place. Sasuke my house was raided! All of my weapons were taken. Luckily though…" Naruto patted his thigh and Sasuke looked down at it seeing the outline of his kunai sheath through Naruto's scrub pants.

"You're telling me they missed one?" Sasuke looked away and laughed shaking his head back and forth mocking them for their stupidity.

"Yeah they forgot to take my books from the academy too. But hey, you know me."

"Yeah I do, you never read those damn things."

"Hah, no I didn't. When I gave them to Sakura they were still ridiculously dusty. So yeah, we went to her place. The next morning she tells me that she had a dream about when she was younger. But apparently it was more so like a flash back. She dreamt about how when she was a little girl she healed some kind of animal. Her father apparently freaked out because he didn't want her to become a medical ninja for her own safety. So he scolded her for it as if she did something horribly wrong." Sasuke was now looking over at Naruto in disgust.

*I can't believe Sakura's father did that to her. Forcibly holding back her potential, her being.* Sasuke thought.

"Her chakra was off the charts when I used my Sharingan Naruto. And now you are telling me this. It all makes sense now. No wonder…" Sasuke clenched his fists.

"What?"

"She's a prodigy. No ninja can heal that young without any training or technique."

"Yeah I thought the same thing. From the way she told me, she just kind of did it." Sasuke unclenched his fists and took a deep breath to calm himself down.

"A gift she was never taught, but born with. Her father was probably the same way. Shit like that is always hereditary, something that would have been in the family for generations."

"Again, I thought the same thing. She said she was absolutely certain this was true. After she told me that I just knew tonight was going to be the night. I told her to call Iruka and say that she was sick and she may be in later. I instructed her to be here by midnight. That would've given her a few hours to study my books. And with that came my perfect plan!" Naruto smiled an evil smile and rubbed his hands together.

"Yeah I've been meaning to ask…how DID you manage to get Iruka out of here?" Sasuke looked over at Naruto humorously with his eye brow raised and a smirk on his face. Naruto laughed evilly.

"I made a quick stop to the drug store and picked up some Ipecac."

"Ah. Hence why you had Sakura call out saying she was sick."

"Exactly. I mixed it with his coffee and after he finished it he was ralphing in no time! I made sure to do it about 45 minutes before Sakura arrived. When she did get here she did the fake getting over a stomach virus bullshit. We both convinced him to go home. Pretty much right after he left we were in your room. She was fully confident that she was ready, and as we can see now she clearly was." Sasuke looked down at his hands again.

"Tell me something though Sasuke. When she dreamt of that flash back she said she had seen you afterwards. Did you really contact her through the dream realm like you did with me too!?"

"Yes I did. I astral projected and also seen her chakra trail. Usually I can only see your orange one, but there was also a green one. Both led to her house so I was able to contact you both easily. I'm glad I was able to do that given to…the way I was before." Sasuke shuddered.

"I was surprised too! Especially with you being burnt to a crisp like you were before! Boy, you're strong Sasuke." Sasuke sighed in relief to his luck and his hair blew back as he laid his forehead onto the table. His hands were in his lap. His anxiety was kicking in.

"Okay Sasuke my turn for the questions now. Who did that to you!? Was it Iruka!?" Sasuke kept his head pressed onto the table and squeezed his eyes shut. He inhaled painfully and nodded his head. Naruto could tell something was bothering him but was unable to realize. Sasuke was replaying what happened to him in his mind. Scarred for life from that pain. It was almost unbearable for him to relive mentally. Naruto was about to say something else when they both heard Sakura move. Both Naruto turned his head and Sasuke lifted his head in unison to look at her. Her face looked as if she was uncomfortable. Naruto ran over to the bed and leaned over her.

"Sakura?" She put her hand on her forehead. She was sweating profusely.

"Naruto leave her alone she needs to rest."

"No Sasuke, get over here." Sasuke stood up from the chair and walked over. Sakura was panting heavily and turning pale as she continued to perspire. Sasuke put his hand on her forehead.

"Does she have a fever?"

"No…she actually feels cold. Her blood sugar must be low. We need to get her to drink something. I wish I knew how to hook up an IV."

"Should I go get water or something?" Before Sasuke could answer Sakura quickly rolled onto her side and vomited over the side of the bed. Both of the boys gasped and stepped back. She flipped back over onto her back and wiped her mouth with her hand. She opened her eyes and blinked a few times.

"Ugh." She groaned. She placed her hand onto her forehead again and was breathing heavily.

"Sakura are you okay?!" Naruto yelled. He ran over to the side of her bed. She tilted her head back so she could look from underneath her hand at Naruto.

"I need water." She barely responded. Naruto looked back at Sasuke and he nodded.

"Go get her some water and crushed ice from the kitchen. While you're out there also get her one of those drinks with the electrolytes in it. Know what I am talking about?"

"Right!" Naruto ran out of Iruka's office. Sasuke walked over and sat on the side of the bed next to Sakura.

"Sakura…" Her heavy breathing skipped in rhythm when she heard him say his name. He seen her squeeze her eyes shut in what seemed like fear. Sasuke gently took her hand from her forehead and she nervously looked over at him. He gave her a weak smile.

*She's trembling...* He knew she was nervous. He knew that he was the reason why. She quickly broke his stare and looked the other way. She still was panting and perspiring heavily. She began tugging at her scrub top and waving it up and down to help cool herself off.

"Sakura here." Sasuke tucked his arm underneath of her and slowly sat her up. He lifted her arms and proceeded to remove her scrub top. Underneath she was wearing a tank top that was now sticking to her skin from the sweat. His eyes grew wide and he immediately blushed. He couldn't help but to relish in the eye full he was receiving as he slowly lifted the scrub top. Not only was the tank top underneath skin tight proving her hourglass figure, but it was also generously accentuating her full bust. He swallowed his spit and turned his head slightly to the left closing his eyes as he finished lifting up the shirt. Once it was off Sakura fell back with her arms wide onto the bed and took a sigh of relief.

"Oh that does feel much better, thank you Sasuke." She said. Sasuke could feel in his hand that the top was soaked. He tossed down to the end of the bed. Naruto then came barging in with bottles of water and electrolyte mix in his arms. A sandwich was also hanging from his mouth. He used his foot to shut the door and ran over to Sasuke. Sasuke glared at him and balled his fist. He comically punched Naruto on the back of his head and bared his teeth.

"I TOLD YA TO GRAB SOMETHING TO DRINK, NOT TO MAKE YOURSELF A SANDWICH YA DICK."

SAKURA'S POV (NORMAL)

I could hear Sasuke and Naruto comically arguing back and forth. Naruto argued back the whole time with his sandwich in his mouth. I smiled to myself. I was happy. Happy Sasuke was ok, happy that Naruto and him were being their actual selves. Not under Iruka's jutsu. You could clearly tell they had a love-hate friendship for each other. Like brothers. I came back to reality and focused on myself and how my body felt. I was still a little queasy and weak, but still also very thirsty.

"Ahem." I had my hand reached out. Naruto and Sasuke immediately stopped arguing. Naruto looked down at me still with his sandwich hanging from his mouth. Sasuke was still sitting beside me with his back towards me. I could see him looking at me from the corner of his eye. A short silence went by as everyone stared at each other. I could tell they felt bad for letting their argument take over thus forgetting about me.

"Oh uh, sorry Sakura." Naruto handed me a water bottle. When I grabbed it, it felt like it was 10 pounds. I was so weak I could barely hold it up. I dragged it up my body and close to my face. I tried to unscrew the cap but for the life of me could not do it. I was that weak. I dropped the bottle and let it roll down to the side of me. I placed my hand on my forehead over my eyes again and laughed in embarrassment. I heard someone grab the bottle and twist the cap off. My hand was gently taken away by Sasuke. He rested it on my stomach. A shock of nervousness jolted through my body and I got twice as shaky. I could feel that my sugar was low. I had all of the classic symptoms: sweating, shaking, weakness, clammy skin, paleness, nausea. But on top of all of that I was actually parched and starving too.

*Man using all of that chakra to bring him back really took a lot out of me.* My train of thought was broken when I felt soft, but calloused fingers being placed under my chin. I nervously inhaled deeply. You could clearly hear the shakiness in my breath. When I felt those fingers touch me I knew exactly who's they were. I squeezed my eyes shut.

"It's okay Sakura." My heart skipped a beat.

*Can he tell that I'm nervous because of him?!* Sasuke gently took his thumb and ran it across my eye lid to coax me to open my eyes, which I did. I looked into his eyes and seen that he was fixated on my mouth. Gently he tilted my head back and brought the water to my lips. Slowly he poured it. It literally couldn't have been more perfectly done in regards to the flow and amount he poured at a time. Because it can be difficult to pour something into someone else's mouth so they can drink it ya know! That water was the most refreshing water I have ever drank in my entire life.

*I can't believe he is doing this for me. Why is he acting like this?* The thought of how sincere, caring, and just plain cute (for lack of better terms) he was being to me made my heart skip a beat and internally happy like a giddy school girl, even though I was too weak to show it. I was almost in disbelief. He was a complete 180 in comparison to our first encounter. About half way through the bottle he took it away even though I was still thirsty. He turned away and Naruto handed him a bottle of the electrolyte mix. Sasuke sat the bottle in his lap then tucked one of his arms under me. He slowly helped me to sit up. He grabbed the bottle and twisted off the cap and handed it to me.

"Here, now drink this, but slowly. Only sip it or you'll make yourself sick again." I nodded and took a small sip.

"How are you feeling now Sakura?" Naruto said. He had so much care in his voice. I had grown to really like and respect him as a person. I smiled.

"Better. I am still a little queasy and weak but that'll pass soon enough. I just need to get rehydrated and eat something."

"Naruto go make her some crackers and soup from the kitchen. Put those bottles back too, she won't need all of them." Sasuke demanded this immediately after my response. Almost made me feel like I was his property or something, but in a good way. My heart skipped a beat. I liked how he did that.

"Right!" Naruto ran out of Iruka's office with the bottles in his arms. Sasuke climbed off of the bed and a part of me was sad that he was no longer by my side. He leaned back against his hands to stretch his back.

"So what now?" Sasuke stretched his arms up into the air and then let them fall to his side. He turned to face me.

"What do you mean?"

"Well how are we going to hide you and well also put the old you into your room too?" I scratched the back of my head and intensely pondered the thought.

*What ARE we going to do?!* My mind was at a complete blank. Sasuke laced his fingers and stretched his arms out in front of him cracking his fingers in the process.

"You just leave that to me. Ain't nothing my substitution jutsu can't handle." Naruto came in shortly after. He carried in a tray with chicken noodle soup and crackers and placed it on my lap.

"Wow you guys have everything in that kitchen back there don't you? Thank you Naruto, really." I loudly sipped the broth from my spoon and looked up. Naruto and Sasuke made eye contact.

"I'm going to use my substitution jutsu to make it look like the old me is still in there for now-"

"That's-"I said with a mouth full of noodles. I quickly swallowed my food without chewing it.

"That's not going to work if you're going to do what I think you're doing. You can't just put something there that merely 'looks' like the old you! The nurses are on a strict schedule of when to change your bandages and stuff! No, that's never going to work."

"Hmm, you have a point." Sasuke put his hand on his chin and looked down in thought.

"Shit it's already after 4:00am. Morning crew will be here in less than 3 hours. Come on guys, we've got to think!" Naruto exclaimed. A long silence went by. We all pondered in thought, thinking of ideas of how we were going to do this. I grew frustrated and discouraged. We were running out of time. The silence only grew longer and none of us broke our concentration. But then suddenly, I felt a sense of hope fill the air. That's when Sasuke really began to think.

"Naruto, scan the perimeter."

"W-What?"

"You heard me. Leave. Go find out who else is in on this."

"Sasuke what do you mean? Iruka runs this joint. It's been in his family for generations." Naruto and Sasuke looked over at me and smirked in repulsion. I was like an ignorant child returning their stare.

"Not now he doesn't, not alone at least." Sasuke said. Naruto and he both looked at each other and shook their heads.

"Wait what do you mean? Are you telling me you think there are others alongside Iruka?" Asuma immediately came to mind. My mouth opened and my heart jumped. I stared off in thought. Sasuke noticed the invisible light bulb above my head finally click.

"Now you're getting it Sakura. No way could he do this all by himself." Sasuke said.

"He's just been telling you what he wants you to believe, Sakura." Naruto said. His voice was different. He was looking down at the ground, clenching his fists so hard that his arms were quaking. I could see his muscles defined, and his veins bulging through. My hormones went nuts. A pair of strong arms was in my sight and I couldn't help but to zone out.

*Sakura! Did you really just…with NARUTO!? Stop thinking like that!* I shook my head and blinked twice. My eternity of mental joy was just mere seconds in reality.

"Why Sasuke…" His voice cracked. He was so infuriated and hurt that his eyes were watering. I just stared in disbelief. A part of me felt blessed to be in their presence at that moment, honored to be a part of their fight. I admired both of those boys in different ways. My heart grew fonder for them with each passing moment we spent. But what always got to me the most was Naruto's passion.

"Naruto. Now is not the time." Sasuke's voice was stern. In a way to get Naruto's emotions back in line. Naruto looked up at Sasuke. There was so much rage and hurt in his eyes. He looked as if at any moment he could just explode. Tears were streaming down his scowling face now. It made my heart skip to see the strong happy Naruto at such a weak point. Sasuke walked over and put his hand on his shoulder. Naruto slowly unclenched his fists. The anger fell from his face; only sadness remained as he stared into Sasuke's chest.

"Find out who they are taking orders from, and report back to me." Naruto looked up with his eye browns bunched in determination and nodded. He turned around and ran out Iruka's door. Sasuke lifted his hand to his mouth to amplify his voice.

"Remember your ninja training! The key is to be quiet ya dobe!" Sasuke waited to hear the steel doors close. Once they did he looked over at me.

"Are you all done?" I looked down at my half eaten soup.

"Yeah, I guess."

"You guess?" Sasuke chuckled and grabbed the tray from me sitting it onto Iruka's desk. Then he walked back over and sat down next to me. He just stared at me for a minute. I would look up at him every few seconds. But I mainly just looked away or down at my lap nervously. I jumped when I felt his hand touch my forehead. He flipped his hand to feel with the back side of it.

"You feel pretty normal now to me. But I still want you to go home and get some more rest." His voice sounded sweet with so much care behind it. Like, he was happy to be speaking to me. He almost felt like my boyfriend in a way? I swallowed my spit at the idea. I couldn't help but to be nervous with this new softer side of him I was discovering. I felt privileged to receive this treatment from him, even if it was just a simple change in the tone of his voice. I could tell he wasn't like this often if ever at all.

"Sasuke I can't leave now."

"Just trust me..." Sasuke stood up and walked over to Iruka's desk. Then he returned with a pen and piece of paper and handed them to me.

"…here. Write down your address for me. I'll be over before Naruto's shift ends, if that's ok."

*SASUKE is coming over MY house? This can't be happening…* I went brain dead for a minute as a stared off pondering my nervously excited thoughts.

"Sakura…hey Sakura!" I shook my head and looked up at him. When I did he was inches away. My face turned completely red.

"Eh… Sakura are you ok?"

"NO YOU CAN'T COME OVER!" In a split second after he asked if I was ok I pulled my left hand to my chest and threw my right hand up. I hit him and he comically flew into the air spinning in circles as I squeezed my eyes shut looking away from his direction. My face was still entirely red.

"Why not…" Sasuke said painfully. I took a deep breath and calmed down.

"B-Because! How will you even sneak out of here? It's impossible with all of those guards!"

"Heh." Sasuke leaned over and lifted my badge off from around my neck.

"I've got it all figured out."

"Okay so how will you get passed all of them?"

"Like I told you, I've got it."

"Well how do you plan on doing this? And why are you taking my badge? HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO GET BACK IN!?"

"I told you I'll be over soon. I'll give it back then."

"Sasuke but-" He put his finger on my lips. I blushed.

"You talk too much. Just go." I looked at him angrily and pushed his hand away. I slowly got of bed and felt a little light headed when I stood to my feet, but that subsided shortly after. I grabbed the pen and paper and walked over to Iruka's desk and wrote my address down. Then I walked to Iruka's door which Naruto left open. I stopped in the door way and looked back at Sasuke. I forced myself to keep from asking any more questions.

"Mm, bye Sasuke."

"I'll see you soon." He said. I left my sector and headed straight home to get some sleep. I was exhausted, but my mind was wide awake pondering with ideas of when he finally comes over.