Author's Note: A huge thank you to Omgsakuraqueen for suggesting the prompt for this one. Namely, Sasuke protecting Sakura from a potential enemy who wants to harm her.

The fever had taken her a day earlier. Being close enough to the village they had wanted to reach, Sakura insisted they don't camp and waste more time, but rather power through the storm and find a comfortable inn to rest. Sasuke had endured worse than heavy rain, so he agreed. Now, safely tucked away under a blanket, Sakura was shaking with a high fever and sniffing continuously. All of her physical strength and medical expertise easily made both of them forget she was, after all, only human.

"Sasuke-kun? Do we have another blanket?" she croaked, opening her eyes briefly.

Shaking his head slightly, Sasuke took off his cloak, placed it on top of her blanked and then crawled into bed next to her, pressing her close to his own warm body and rubbing his hand on her back. The faint pulse of her chakra, working towards healing her body, was like a heartbeat, engulfing all of his senses. Moving her arms to wrap them around Sasuke, Sakura sighed deeply into his chest. Whenever he embraced her, she almost quite literally melted into his touch, which proved to Sasuke that perhaps he was too much of a greedy person. He never wanted to stop doing it.

"We still need to go look for the document in the morning," she spoke softly after a time of being silent.

"It can wait until you're better," Sasuke replied instantly.

"No, it cannot and you know it," she replied, leaving no room for a retort.

Ever since the end of the Fourth Shinobi War, Sasuke had considered quite seriously what Kaguya's army could have been for. She clearly had an enemy to defeat she had been preparing for all that time, even before her resurrection. A week ago, while visiting a sweet shop Sakura had insisted on buying an entire bag of goods from, they overheard talk of a forbidden scroll that had been stolen by lowly thieves wanting to make a buck off of it. That particular bit of information didn't interest them beyond the point of brief curiosity. However, one of the men discussing it let it slip that the document was supposed to be sealed because of its relation to an Ōtsutsuki goddess.

And so, following the trail of mere rumours, the Uchihas landed themselves in this situation. Not sure exactly why, Sasuke had felt, all the way coming here, that there was an urgency to discovering any new information about Kaguya and her plans. As if the world, while at peace currently, would not be quite safe unless he managed to discover what the real threat currently laying in wait truly was.

"I can feel you worrying, Sasuke-kun. Stop. I'll be healing myself through the night. I'll feel better by morning."

Scooting even closer, she reached out her neck to place a soft kiss on his jaw, then she tucked her head in between Sasuke's face and his shoulder. Feeling her slow breath on the skin of his neck relaxed him somewhat, and before he knew it, though his arm was going numb from Sakura's weight on it, he managed to also drift away into a dreamless sleep.

Come morning, her skin was still too warm, and her voice a little ragged, but as always she insisted that it wasn't enough to stop them from doing what they were supposed to do. Making their way to the outskirts of the village, where they heard the band of thieves would try to sell of this new valuable merchandise, they were on high alert for any kind of whisper that they were headed in the right direction. The atmosphere was certainly different from the heart of the village, where they had previously been. Hostility was palpable here. Even those who didn't seem in the business of doing illegal things shot daggers out of their eyes at the two strangers passing through the dusty roads.

One particular man caught Sasuke's attention. He seemed to be a civilian, terrible at being subtle and hiding his emotions. He was waiting in front of a worn down building, fidgeting constantly with a small paper in his hand, as well as occasionally touching the knife he kept in his front pocket. He also carried a bag out of which a piece of parchment peeked out of. Sasuke and Sakura pretended to be interested in a poorly kept weapon shop standing right beside the apparently abandoned building the man was waiting on front of, chatting aimlessly about the shape of different blades and how silly they looked.

While travelling, neither of the Uchihas wore their Konoha headbands, Sasuke keeping it tied to his belt, which was almost always hidden beneath a cloak, and Sakura's being tucked safely inside of her hip pouch. Sasuke decided to flash his headband, making it look like an accident though making sure the man saw the scratched out Konoha symbol. His reaction to it was alarm. Panic. And just as he was about to clearly bolt, two more men approached him, one carrying what looked like a bag filled with coins. Making their way around the corner, Sasuke focused on the sounds of their footsteps, and clearly heard a door open and them men enter from the other side. Glancing at Sakura, who was equally aware of the situation, he gave her a brief nod, after which they followed the men quietly.

Tip toeing around the building, the Uchihas glanced through the windows, making sure to remain unseen and unheard. The men inside seemed to have met with a number of others, judging by the chakra signatures inside, and aside from the civilian there were four shinobi. Hardly a challenge for him and Sakura, but Sasuke did glance towards her, concerned, noticing how she swayed ever so slightly when she paused to check yet another window. Quiet whispers were becoming angry ones, the tones becoming harshest when discussing numbers – what Sasuke suspected was the negotiation for the scroll's price.

Finding a window which was completely open and easy for them to get in through, they did just that, praying the old, wooden floor would not creak and alert the others of their presence. In such a situation, being outnumbered, element of surprise might as well be vital, even if their opponents seemed weak enough. Navigating the dark rooms quietly, the Uchihas stopped, learning against the wall, near the door of the room the voices seemed to be coming from. Sasuke glanced back at Sakura, whose breathing was a bit too rapid. He briefly touched his hand to her face and raised his eyebrows, to ask if she was okay and ready. She placed her hand on top of his, smiling gently and nodding.

Within the time of one full heartbeat, when the discussion inside of the other room seemed to become even more heated, the two shinobi quickly entered the room, each knocking out one of the two enemies whose backs were to the door and closest to it. The civilian holding the scroll avoided Sasuke's elbow, though he wasn't really trying to hit the man, merely frighten him enough to stay out of the fight. His attention immediately went to the man who was previously holding the bag of coins, who had taken out a sword and positioned himself to fight. Sasuke's own katana was out in no time, and the two men were immediately engaged in a fast exchange of blows. Sasuke's enemy was getting tired quickly, his breathing erratic and panic evident on his expression, not knowing how to deal with Sasuke's speed and strength. Thrusting desperately at Sasuke, his only chance of even scratching the Uchiha was that he kept glancing back at the fight going on behind him, where Sakura, slowed somewhat by her illness, was fighting the other shinobi. The man Sasuke was battling was mediocre at best, but he was observant and thought quickly enough to take Sasuke by surprise. Making it seem as if he was going to throw a kunai at the Uchiha, he merely aimed right behind him, towards Sakura, whose yelp of pain immediately alarmed Sasuke.

Mercy vanishing from every molecule of his being, Sasuke activated his Sharingan, thrust at the man in front of him with his katana, and predicting the way the man was trying to dodge, he aimed for the dead man's chest, missing by an inch simply because the man, in his panic slipped and began falling backwards. No other thought was spared to the fallen enemy. Sasuke removed his katana and immediately switched places with a small rock behind Sakura's enemy, his Rinnegan also at work, and thrust the back of his katana forward, hitting the man square on the head, knocking him out. Only the sound of his head hitting the wall, followed by the thud of his body falling on the ground remained.

One second was spared to look at the abandoned bag on the ground, still holding the scroll. The civilian was nowhere to be seen, and right now Sasuke could not care less. He dropped his katana and rushed forward to grab hold of Sakura's arm, examining it closely where the kunai managed to scratch her. It was shallow, Sakura having managed to dodge it for the most part.

"What the hell was that?" she asked, surprised at how he had suddenly finished off their opponents.

"They hurt you," was Sasuke's only response.

"They were weak Sasuke-kun, this wasn't necessary."

"They hurt you, Sakura."

Small hand in a fist, she playfully hit him on the forehead with her knuckles, calling him an idiot for being so overprotective, but smiling nonetheless. Even he began to feel foolish when, immediately after the fact, Sakura began healing her arm, and it took mere seconds for the wound to be completely closed up. She was one hell of a kunoichi, but that was the last thing on Sasuke's mind when hearing the sound of her pain. He bent down, to pick up the discarded bag, and coming back up, he leaned towards Sakura, placing a kiss on where the wound had previously been, staining his lips with a little blood. She gave him a strange look, wiping the blood off his lips with her thumb, but then shook her head at him affectionately, reaching her hand out so that he would give her the scroll.

"I can recognize some of the symbols, so this is definitely what we're looking for," she said, looking over the ancient writing, "but it needs to be decoded. I'm not familiar with almost any of these letters."

Looking over her shoulder at it, Sasuke was also left confused by the array of new symbols. Taking the scroll back from her, he tucked it safely back into the bag and they both left the wretched place, stepping back outside. The whole ordeal was done with in a relatively short time, but Sasuke could see Sakura was still not well and exhausted by the battle. Fighting off the urge to simply pick her up and run with her back towards the inn, he simply took her hand and walked with her slowly back towards the center of the village. He knew he had been ridiculous back there, and this retrieval mission was as simple as they got with two shinobi of their caliber. He simply could not shake off this feeling of protectiveness. Sasuke knew that if Sakura butted into every one of his battles on the presumption he needed protecting, he'd be annoyed at the very least, even knowing she'd be simply concerned. Why couldn't he afford her the same treatment he wanted?

"I'm not mad," she said, reading his mind for the millionth time.

"I'm sorry. You know I know you're strong."

Sighing deeply, she squeezed his hand.

"I know. I appreciate it, Sasuke-kun. I do. But if you always help me, if you're always there to take over before things even get hard, I'll stagnate. I have every intention of improving as a shinobi, so please let me make my mistakes, just like I let you make yours."

It was a fair point, he knew. And he would try his best to respect her wishes, but a pang of guilt hit him, knowing he might sometimes intervene without even thinking about it. Sakura's clear laugh interrupted his thoughts, and looking back down at her, he was met with her amused gaze. Stopping, and pulling at his hand to stop as well, she reached up on her toes and kissed him sweetly, grabbing with her free hand at his cloak to keep herself steady. Her lips lingered for a while, after which she bit his lower lip ever so slightly, but enough to make him wince a little.

"But, as I said, I do appreciate it," she said before kissing him again.