A/N: Hello everyone! It's been a while! I wanted to thank everyone for the follows/favorites/reviews on the first chapter; I always appreciate support and feedback on my writing. I also wanted to add that, since this story is a series of drabbles, the chapters are not necessarily in a chronological order, nor is the story a series of continuous events. I'd like whatever the order of events is to be completely subjective to you guys :) Thank you again for reading, I really hope you enjoy this second chapter!

Through her bleary emerald eyes, Sakura could only make out dark shadows of the large bountiful trees that unfolded before her as she ran as far away as she could manage, as fast as her feet would carry her. Sprinting through the darkened, bumpy forest terrain she tried her best to suppress her involuntary gasping sobs whilst also frustratedly wiping away the beads of tears streaming down her porcelain skin with her palms.

She had been desperately running like this for what seemed like eternity but, in reality, was most likely maybe ten or fifteen minutes. Needless to say, her legs were beginning to burn and her throat was now completely raw from her desperate wheezes, causing her to stop only for a moment once she reached an open clearing. She bent down with her hands on her knees to stabilize herself while she panted, accidentally letting out her soft uncontrollable cries occasionally as she worked to control her breathing. With rose locks stuck to her forehead in a sweaty mess, she looked up and spun around the clearing aimlessly only to be met with a curtain of total pitch blackness–but, despite this total lack of visibility of what was right in front of her presently, the black screen of night that reflected in her verdant orbs only allowed her to re-envision the events that had transpired prior to her midnight venture into the wilderness.

His face… she could never un-see it now, the look of pure, unrelenting rage. Sakura had never seen Sasuke so furious before in all of her years of knowing him–certainly not while they have been traveling together these past few months–and that was only the way he looked. But his voice, she clenched her eyes shut as she remembered it, she had never once considered that the lone-surviving Uchiha, usually quiet and subdued in demeanour, could boom anywhere near as loud as he did. She eventually found herself collapsed to her knees as she recalled his angry reprimands.

"Sakura, how could you have been so careless!" he had roared, "Do you even realize what would've happened if I wasn't there? I never imagined you could be such an idiot!", the redness of his sharingan gleamed in the darkness, angrily piercing into her own eyes. Sakura moaned in discontent at the unpleasant memory.

"And what if you hadn't shown up?" she barked back at him, hands defiantly pressed into her hips, "Do you really think that I'm so weak that I can't handle myself?!" she cried out as she returned his glower, fearlessly looking directly into his livid stare.

Although his words were full of outrage and harshness, Sakura soon realized that the worst had not yet to come. Incidentally, the worst part of this ugly exchange between the pair had to be his final response, which was absolute silence. He had said nothing, only glaring at her as she awaited his response, a response that would never come.

After a few seconds of complete silence, aside from the night ambience of the crickets and the wind rustling against the leaves, Sakura could feel the stinging in her eyes as they welled up with heavy tears; she remembered how his menacing expression had begun to falter and soften at this. And just as he opened his mouth to say something, she choked the sob which had been creating an aching lump in her throat and hurriedly began to run off. She could hardly bear the embarrassment and frustration she felt at his scolding, she didn't know if she would be able to handle his pity which would undoubtedly follow—some sort of confused, guilt-ridden notion upon seeing her cry.

She opened her, now swollen, eyes and sniffled audibly. She stared blankly at her knees, sprinkled with her tear drops, illuminated only by the dim moonlight filtered in by the foliage above her. She felt totally numb and so lost all at the same time. When she embarked on this journey with her beloved Sasuke, this was the furthest thing from what she expected to result. Sure, they encountered some bumps and awkwardness early on as they adjusted to being with one another, but they did just that in the end: adjust. In the past few weeks, it seemed like everything was falling into place, seemed as though true, mutual feelings between the pair were finally beginning to blossom. The young woman let out a despondent sigh. And now, she solemnly pondered to herself as she painfully squeezed her eyes shut again, it was over.

"Sakura!...Sakura!"

Her viridescent eyes snapped open at the loud, desperate echoes of her name. The calls continued to ring in her ears, but she felt completely frozen in her place—panicked, she could not think of what to do. That is, until it occurred to her that the exclamations of her name grew closer and closer with each repetition.

The pink-haired young woman shot up as quickly as she could muster and prepared to sprint once again, but just as she had begun to scramble her feet, a large, warm hand gripped her wrist and tugged against her pull. Of course, as she instinctively whipped back her head to gaze upon the source of this newfound resistance, she was met with the face of the man she loved.

"Sakura, where are you going?", he asked cooly, she noted that all of the rage he had seemed to harbor earlier was now totally absent.

She jerked at his hold on her once again, but he was unrelenting. "What could you possibly want with someone you hold in such low regard?" she spat mockingly, tears streaming down her pretty face, "Just let go!".

"What are you talking about, Sakura?" he spoke, his composed tone beginning to slightly falter to his irritation upon hearing her implication. "You know exactly what!", she cried, "earlier when you…", she trailed off lamentably, wiping her swollen eyes once more.

He knew fully well what she was referring to.

"That's not it", he sighed defeatedly, causing her to look up at him confused, yet hopeful. He continued, averting her stare, "...It's just that..", he sighed again, "You were right". Sakura stared at him in disbelief, tears starting to dry on her rosy flushed cheeks, she sniffled, "What are you talking about?"

He turned to look at her and was looking directly into her eyes now, onyx peering into emerald. He released her wrist and stepped forward, his rough calloused hand reaching out to cup her face. He spoke gently, "I overreacted..I know that you are fully capable of defending yourself, I know that you're strong, it's just that..", he closed his eyes, his thumb lovingly wiping away the remnants of tears on her face, "I just don't want anything bad to happen to you—the thought of you in danger, no matter how well-prepared you may be to handle it, I–" he stuttered and paused as he swiftly moved his arm to her upper back and pulled her small form in close to his own body "I'm sorry. I just can't lose you", he whispered to her softly, hugging her tighter.

Upon hearing his apology, the sheer vulnerability of his admittance, she knew that there was nothing more than the utmost conviction behind his words. She let out a loud involuntary sob before reciprocating his embrace, tightly wrapping her small arms around him and nuzzling her face into his chest.

"Will you please come back with me?", he asked softly, desperately—breaking the silence. Sakura pulled herself away, far enough so that he could see her face, lit up by what little moonlight permeated through the canopy of leaves overhead.

Tonight may have been one of the worst exchanges she has ever had with Sasuke, but as she peered back into his soft, apologetic gaze she realized something.

They're relationship wasn't perfect, and it was never going to be—that wasn't what was important anyways. However, what lay at the heart of their relationship, their bond, was their dedication to one another; an unrelenting drive, a force that always seemed to join them at the end of the day. This is what made their relationship worth fighting for.

She gave him a small smile and shifted her head to nod slightly, "Of course."

A/N: Hello again! I just wanted to pop back in to thank you again for taking the time to read my story. I'm hoping to start posting updates to this story more frequently, but I'm still brainstorming some good prompts/scenarios to write about so I apologize if it takes me some time to figure out. This chapter was a bit more 'angsty', which is not something I have explored much in my writing, and so I would absolutely appreciate your feedback and any suggestions you have to make my writing stronger/more enjoyable. Thank you all again!