Date: 5/30/13
Rating: T
Genre: Angst, Drama, Romance
Prompt: 632 - Sakura gets badly hurt in battle. Sasuke goes up to her and starts to remember how it was to lose people he loves and by that realizes he has feelings for her.

The minute Sasuke heard her scream his blood went cold.

And when he turned around to see Sakura on her knees clutching her abdomen, stabbed by one the juubi's clones, Sasuke swore his heart stopped. There was just so much blood. And for a split second, Sasuke didn't just see Sakura bleeding on the battlefield. He saw his mother. And his father. Aunt. Uncle. Brother.

That's when he knew.

He couldn't lose her.

He wouldn't lose her.

With one last swing of his katana, Sasuke killed the juubi clone in front of him and began running towards Sakura. He didn't have a plan. All he knew was that he had to get Sakura out of there.

Sakura looked up when she felt Sasuke approach her, her hand still on her stomach. "Sasuke-kun—?"

But Sasuke ignored her, lifting her off the ground and carrying her bridal-style. "We have to go," he said. "You're hurt."

"What are you talking about? We don't have to go anywhere, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said as she began to struggle in his arms to the point he almost dropped her. He glared, holding her even tighter. "I'm not hurt—!"

"You call getting stabbed not hurt?" Sasuke looked at the blood on her hands, the image of his murdered family flashed through his mind. He shook his head, clamping his eyes shut. "Stop being annoying, and just—just listen to me. Please."

Beat.

She didn't know what it was, but in that moment, Sakura caught a glimpse of a side of Sasuke she'd never seen before. For a moment, she saw the child in him emerge—worried, frightened. "But Sasuke-kun," Sakura said gently, "look. I'm fine. See?"

Sasuke opened his eyes as Sakura slowly lifted her sullied hand. There was still a lot of blood, but there was no wound. Despite the hole in her vest, it was almost as if it never happened. Sakura smiled, lifting herself from Sasuke's arms. "You don't have to worry so much, okay?"

"I know that," he said gruffly, averting his gaze. But even though he knew Sakura was healed and perfectly capable of taking care of herself, he couldn't shake the fear that he might actually lose her. He clenched his fists. He didn't know exactly what he was feeling. But Sakura was important to him. He knew that now. "I just," Sasuke said, just barely above a whisper, "I can't help it."

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows and moved closer to him. "What?"

He sighed. "Nothing."