Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Story rating: M for themes

Summary: After Sasuke wakes up from a year in coma.

Awake (2)

Escalation

A week has passed in a relative peace after Sasuke had finally come to terms with the changes in his relationship with Sakura, recognizing them as necessary and unavoidable in the kind of situation he found himself in. It was both strangely liberating and at the same time vexing for him that for the sake of his recovery he had to take on a role of a patient and Sakura his caregiver – liberating because he didn't really have to hide his pain from anyone and even was obligated to report it right on instance. The vexing part... well it stemmed from their past in Team Seven. The care and gentleness she had expressed for him then had been genuine, but now he was certain all she did was out of obligation, not kindness or any real feelings for that matter. The Hokage made a fine choice, assigning Sakura to him. She was professional and unaffected by his presence, showing none of the unease she must have surely felt for someone who had threatened to take her life and destroy all she held dear. Furthermore, if he ever posed a security risk, she would have been the only one among the medics, sans Tsunade herself, to be able to stop him, Sasuke thought, remembering the incredible growth his old teammate had displayed during the war.

Sakura never stayed around for long, leaving him for hours to his own devices especially once he had regained most of the mobility in his hands and arms. She said she had to tend to other patients, but he just knew she couldn't stand being around him. Besides her, the only people he came into contact with in the duration of his hospital stay were the nurses, who didn't talk to him and quickly left when done with whatever task they came for, fleeing from the criminal they undoubtedly knew that he was. In result, even though Sakura brought him some scrolls and magazines, Sasuke couldn't help but feel increasingly bored.

He thought it was a given that the dobe would come as fast as humanely possible to pester him with the incessant chatter or maybe Kakashi would drop by and offer to borrow him that perverted book, however they didn't show up at all. For someone who had repeatedly tried to cut his bonds with them, Sasuke felt surprisingly disappointed about this. When he questioned the glaring lack of visitors, Sakura told him they were out of Konoha on missions and would probably be back by the end of next week.

A knock on the door took Sasuke by surprise as he didn't expect any other guests than his former teammates and Sakura never knocked. A brow was raised when an unfamiliar, plain-looking man entered, carrying an armful of flowers.

"Hello? Is Sakura-san here?" he asked politely, glancing around to found no pink-haired women in sight and one irritated from being disturbed Uchiha glaring from the bed at him.

"What do you want?" Sasuke didn't feel like returning the good manners and got straight to the point in a rather rude tone.

To his displeasure, the man instead of speedily backpedaling out of the room, closed the door and set the flowers on the table.

"I just wanted to give her my thanks for yesterday but she wasn't in her office. A nurse told me she could be here," the man answered truthfully.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed in suspicion. Just what did this pitiful loser want to thank her for?

"Sakura doesn't have time for this, she's working," he said blandly.

The intruder waved off the argument dismissively and took a seat on a guest chair, making himself at home without invitation, which only served to further aggravate the seclusive Uchiha.

"She always finds time and she deserves a break if someone wants to show her some appreciation, right?" Sasuke didn't respond in any way, but the man took it as a go ahead and began rambling on. "There's a lot to appreciate about her, her smarts and that great body, of course! Her hair is so shiny, I'd just like to feel it..."

Sasuke tried to tune out the diatribe about Sakura's valors from her fanboy, strangely similar to what a certain Green Beast usually spouted, only without "youth" appearing three times in every sentence, and for the most part he succeeded in not listening. Unable to kick out the yammering man, Sasuke started fantasizing about strangling him, just so he would shut the hell up.

"Sakura-san has such a delicate touch! When I think about my time with her yesterday, it just makes me shiver, it was so great!" the man made disgustingly dreamy eyes.

The implication in his words didn't escape the attentive Uchiha. Sasuke's blood ran ice cold and the mere fantasy of strangling the pest turned into a burning want to make it a reality.

His hand was reaching out to grab the man's collar when the door opened.

"I'm back, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura announced cheerfully and he quickly let his hand fall to the bed sheet as he looked at her. She was daintily holding two white daffodils and he frowned, wondering if it was a gift from another man she had "delicately touched". "Oh, you have a visitor?" she asked, noticing the red flowers and the fanboy making googly eyes at her.

"Sakura-san!" the man shot up to his feet. "It's so good to see you! I've been looking for you everywhere!"

Sakura cocked her head questioningly. "You did? There was no need..."

The man snatched the red flowers from the table and thrust them out in her face, cutting her off mid-sentence. "Please, accept these! I know it's not nearly enough, but I have to..."

Sakura held up her hand to stop him, looking uncomfortable with the entire situation. She didn't miss Sasuke's deadly glare directed at them. She supposed he must have been annoyed enough with noise, not to mention that he didn't particularly like strangers.

"Look, can we take it somewhere private? My patient needs rest now," she reasoned, turning to her admirer and missing darkening of Sasuke's scowl.

"Ah, of course, Sakura-san! I know this nice cafe, we can go there and talk!" the man exclaimed happily as she ushered him outside.

"Wait until my lunch break, it'll be soon," Sakura replied offhandedly, then told him to wait near the hospital entrance and closed the door.

The medic grabbed the vase off the table and threw the old, wilted flowers into the trashcan in the corner. Sasuke quietly observed her as she went into the bathroom to change the water.

"Sasuke-kun, I hope he didn't bother you too much?" she asked, coming out and placing the filled vase back on the table. She put the fresh daffodils in it and adjusted their arrangement to her liking.

The Uchiha scowled in annoyance, which was an answer enough. Sakura sighed and checked her watch.

"Well, I have to go. The nurse will bring you lunch. Eat everything on the plate, okay?" she instructed sternly. The hospital food was cooked to help the healthy recovery, not to please the palate, unfortunately, and even though Sasuke wasn't one to complain about something as mundane as a bad taste, she noticed that if he wasn't watched, he would always leave some food on his plate. Sakura laid her hands on her hips and looked at him expectantly. When he slowly nodded in a reluctant compliance, she beamed at him and finally left.

The Uchiha stared out of the window, angry and miserable. She chose to spend time with that infatuated loser over staying with him, her teammate! Sasuke was sure that teammates should rank higher than some idiots with flowers, yet Sakura told him to eat his vegetables like he was a toddler and practically skipped out to meet the other guy without a second glance. Wasn't he important to her anymore?

Brooding over his bruised ego, Sasuke's eyes strayed to the fresh white daffodils she always brought him when he was in the hospital. It was a small prize of consolation, especially when he recalled how she had been regularly visiting Rock Lee after his fight with Gaara, essentially giving the taijutsu specialist the same treatment Sasuke was getting now.

"Tch," the Uchiha frowned sullenly and punched a pillow in his frustration. It didn't ease his mind from these strange thoughts in the least. What in the world was happening to him?

Sasuke was flipping boredly through one of the magazines Sakura had left for him, when his tedious afternoon was once again interrupted by a knock. He looked with a measure of curiosity at the nurse standing in the doorway. She wasn't the same as the one who had brought him lunch.

"Uchiha-san, you have visitors," she announced.

He closed the magazine, nodding but his eyes narrowed in contempt when he spotted just who deigned to visit him. The two village elders, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, strode into the room confidently – of course, he couldn't snap their necks in his weak state, what did they have to fear, Sasuke sneered inwardly. The nurse closed the door behind them, leaving him alone with the last two of the people he blamed for the Uchiha massacre the most. The loathing he made known was fully reciprocated – the elders shared a look of controlled disgust aimed at him.

The old woman, Koharu, dragged the singular chair paces away from the bed and seated herself primly, Homura hovering on her right. Sasuke didn't miss their cautiousness. They certainly chose a perfect moment for a chat not only because he was still very much incapacitated as a shinobi, but also due to the absence of all the people who gave a damn about him from the village. Even Sakura, his personal medic, was busy elsewhere.

Old bastards planned it well, he had to give it to them.

Sasuke adopted his usual, impassive countenance, fixing them with a casually bored look. He wasn't about to start a conversation with people he considered simply despicable.

The silence thickened.

"Uchiha Sasuke," Koharu finally spoke up, "you're a missing-nin in Konoha's custody. We're here to... discuss... your future."

"Did the Hokage send you?" Sasuke asked evenly.

"No, but she doesn't have to..."

"Then I don't care," he interrupted the old woman bluntly. She frowned angrily, her lips pressed in a tight line of disapproval. Sasuke didn't give a shit. "If you're not sent by the Hokage on official business, go away."

"For an Uchiha clan member, your knowledge of the village politics is appalling," Homura commented mildly, adjusting his glasses. He looked like he was barely resisting from giving a long lecture on the matter. "I assure you, boy, we have enough authority to handle certain village affairs on our own when Tsunade-hime is too busy otherwise."

"Well said," Koharu nodded at her old teammate. "Now, Uchiha Sasuke, do you know of your current position?"

Sasuke remained impassive so as not to give away that he really had no clue whatsoever. He had been for a year in a coma, did that change anything and how?

"I take your silence as a 'no'. Do you want me to tell you?"

He gritted his teeth in annoyance. Crafty old witch, making him ask for information about himself he was entitled to know.

"Yes." An expectant look from her made him add a grudging 'please'.

Koharu looked satisfied with his less than elegant request and moved on. "You were never put on a trial. Frankly, no one even expected you to wake up. Not after the injuries you sustained. However, now it can't wait, the information about your recovery has already reached the other villages. The date is already set.

"In two weeks you, Uchiha Sasuke, will answer for your crimes before the Shinobi Alliance Tribunal."

"Is that all?" Sasuke shrugged, unconcerned. Two weeks... it was a long enough time.

His reaction wasn't what the elders were looking for. Well, if they expected fear, they didn't know him at all.

"The Uchiha arrogance is astounding," Homura shook his head disparagingly. "Do you think turning on your ally, Uchiha Obito, would speak in your favour? You can be as well executed for your brazen attack on the Kage Summit and murder of the temporary Hokage, Shimura Danzo."

"The Uchiha are valuable to Konoha and I'm willing to pledge my loyalty to the village. I've already proven it," Sasuke replied assuredly. As if the Leaf would allow the execution to pass. The Sharingan was too coveted to let go of it just like that. He knew he was at the moment irreplaceable and it gave him additional time to regain trust and bonds he had cast aside for his quest for vengeance.

Koharu smiled for the first time since her arrival. He could see 'conniving' painted all over her face. "Yes, the Uchiha are valuable. However, you are not."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked guardedly.

"Oh, nothing. When you were in coma without any hope for awaking, we were concerned for the future of the Uchiha clan. You are the last one alive, after all."

"What did you do?" Sasuke had a very bad feeling about this but he needed to know. His fists were clenched tightly, a hard stare fixed on the gloating old face of the witch.

"We made you redundant for the revival of the clan. Konoha can have as many Uchihas as we'd like without a need for your cooperation," she explained, savouring every word.

Sasuke's knuckles were white. "What did you do?!" he growled.

"We had the medic collect the semen samples from you." Koharu spelled it out to him. "Don't expect any leniency on the account that you're the last Uchiha, because it's not an issue anymore."

"You!" Sasuke made a motion to get up but didn't have the strength. However, his rage was palpable, saturating the air with the killing intent. "How dare you!"

"Don't take that tone with me, boy!" the old woman snapped, standing up and towering over him. "How dared you betray the village! How dared you ally yourself with our enemies! Your deeds are inexcusable! You thought yourself above the law?! Well, guess again, brat!" she spat out with burning vitriol. "If you stood for what your family had and concentrated on what is really important, not the revenge, Itachi may have lived! With his help in the war, we would have officially absolved him of his crimes and welcomed him back into the village like a hero he was! But instead of our best and brightest shinobi of this generation, we got a comatose, useless criminal! So excuse us for doing what was best for the village and the Uchiha clan!"

"Best for the village?! Best for the Uchiha?!" Sasuke roared. "You greedy, corrupted, two-faced crone! You had the Uchiha exterminated! You had my brother do your dirty work! You..." he shuddered in disgust, "... you had these samples collected! You don't know what 'good' even means, you're worse than Orochimaru!" He breathed deeply after his outburst, glaring at the elders viciously. If only he had the access to his Mangekyo, he would have burned them with Amaterasu.

Before Koharu could retaliate, Homura laid a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down. Let the boy think whatever he will. His fate is out of his hands anyway," he advised.

The old woman exhaled and nodded.

Homura turned to the bed-ridden, fierce Uchiha. "In two weeks, the Alliance will make a decision. Until then," he inclined his head only fractionally and both of the elders headed for the door, however it opened before they reached it.

"I'm back, Sasu..." Sakura called out but paused, seeing the esteemed village elders in the room. A sudden feeling of foreboding came upon her as she bowed respectfully. "Koharu-sama, Homura-sama," she greeted. "Can I help you with anything?"

"Ah, Haruno," Koharu recognized right away Tsunade's student. "No, we're just leaving. I trust you can take care of the Uchiha?"

"Yes, of course," Sakura replied, not letting a bit of annoyance that her ability was questioned creep into her voice. She stayed in a subservient position until they filed out, then closed the door and rushed to Sasuke's side.

"Sasuke-kun? What did they want?" she asked but he stared at her unnervingly. He didn't hear her question, the cogs turning in his head.

She had a red flower tucked in her hair.

Her hair is so shiny, I'd just like to feel it...

When I think about my time with her yesterday, it just makes me shiver, it was so great!

Look, can we take it somewhere private?

We had the medic collect the semen samples from you.

Who do you think washed you when you were asleep? I've seen it all so many times I've lost count.

I trust you can take care of the Uchiha?

Yes, of course.

"Sasuke-kun, what's wrong? What happened?" Sakura asked frantically when he didn't answer, her green eyes big and worried. She reached a hand to shake him gently but suddenly he snapped out of his thoughts and slapped it away.

A hurt look appeared on her face as she cradled her hand. She didn't feel any sort of physical pain, Sasuke was still too weak for his swat to hurt anyone... yet she felt an acute pain, the pain of rejection.

"Sasuke-kun, why..." she uttered but he only glared at her harshly.

"Get. Out," he snarled, his expression twisted in rage as he threw her out coldly. "I don't want to see you again."

Tears pricked at her eyes, but she held them in. Sasuke's killing intent was so potent, so real, giving her a terrifying recollection of Iron Country. His glare didn't let up, all his fury concentrated on her. Sakura swallowed and backed away to the door. She gave him a last worried, hurt look and stepped out.

Outside, Sakura walked so fast, she almost broke into the run, startling the few nurses in the corridors as she headed for her office. Only in its safety she allowed the tears that were brimming in her eyes to cascade down her cheeks. Sakura sank to the floor and curled herself into a protective ball, sobbing wholeheartedly. She felt so wretched.

"Why? What did I do wrong? Sasuke-kun..." she whispered.

In his room, Sasuke was punching his pillow, unable to suppress his rage and pain. Finally, he tossed the pillow at the vase with flowers, which fell off the table and shattered on the floor. He didn't care that he made a mess. His chest was hurting, something in it being mercilessly squeezed and stabbed.

Sakura betrayed him and nothing was right anymore.

To be continued...