Had to push this out tonight. Let me know what you think~
This was a lot of fun writing. :D

... as usual, I don't own Naruto.

Flashbacks of when Sakura and him were young teammates scorched his mind. When she held his arm over her shoulder despite how tired she was just to support him after fights that took too much of a toll on his body. Then there was the time when he was in too much pain and immobilized on the ground, Sakura had jumped in the way wielding only a Kunai in her defense... Just to protect him. When Naruto had described over a bowl of ramen (that he couldn't even finish) how much Sakura screamed and cried over Sasuke's body during their first mission when she thought he had died. This was similar to those times. Sasuke, in his defense, had gone insane once trying to protect Sakura and always told Naruto to protect her when he couldn't.

His heartbeat echoed in his ears, deaf to the screams around him and still frozen to the ground with his hand clenched around the hilt of his sword. When her body was released and fell from the sky, he watched her plummet to the ground, her blood trailing after her messily. Why was he feeling so cold? Why did watching her die feel wrong? He had a mission, he had himself to focus on, those ties with Team 7 and Konoha had been broken for this purpose. Sakura was a part of his old life, she had others to take care of her now. But when she got closer and closer to the ground, and Naruto was too engaged in battle to help, he realized no one was going to catch her. This was war. A pain wrapped itself around his heart and squeezed.

It was only old instinct that he reacted, he told himself. Disappearing in just a blur from where he once stood, his arms caught Sakura merely inches from hitting the ground. Tucking her head and legs against him, he dodged an attack from a white Zetsu and only stopped when he was away from others and safe enough to examine her.

Sakura was awake, and grinding her teeth furiously from the pain. Her breath came in shudders, catching in her throat as she gasped and coughed blood down her chin. Sasuke tried, tried the hardest in what must have been years, to keep a frown on his face and seem emotionless. He watched her open her familiar emerald colored eyes and stare at the wound on her stomach, then they trailed up to glance at the red of his eyes. Those green eyes screamed pain, and his body weakened at the sight even though he wasn't even looking at her.

She lifted a shaky hand to heal the wound in her stomach, the Byakugō on her forehead had stretched out to release the Yin Seal and her body was recovering thanks to the Creation Rebirth technique. Sasuke only then watched in piqued curiosity, unaware of this ability she had mastered. But the stored chakra in her body was diminishing too fast, and the seal was retreating back to the diamond on her forehead, the wound on her stomach only half healed and still weeping too much blood.
"Sasuke-kun," she hissed beneath her breath, and his eyes narrowed nervously. "Your grip is too tight."

Realizing she was right, and loosening the hold a bit, she moaned in pain and squeezed shut her eyes again. Sasuke felt panic rise in his stomach, his mind racing to find a way to help her, to save her. Or a way to kill Obito, both would be equally satisfying right now-

"Tch," he grunted under his breath, turning his head away to hide the emotion in his eyes. Why did he feel weak right now, out of all times? He had a bad feeling about this.

The glow of green on her hand covering her stomach, and she concentrated to fix the wounds and tie herself back together.
"Thank you," she muttered under her breath, opening one shaky eye to look up at him. Her whole body was shaking at this point. "I'll be okay, thanks to you."

Sasuke didn't look to her. He wanted to, but felt more stable when he couldn't see her. Staring at her right now, years later and actually in his arms, dying and stronger than he ever thought possible, was too much. Way, way too much. This man had killed his brother, watched him die again, abandoned his village and previous people, murdered hundreds of others in the process and gave into power and hatred, but this was different. This was Sakura, the girl that took the place the hole in his heart from when he lost his family, and the tiniest part of him would admit that Team 7 could be the only "family" he had left.

Sasuke only realized this once he had actually let her go.

"Why did you intervene?" he growled, letting the anger shine through. It was better than seeing him like...

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him.
"It's my duty as a medical-"

"To obviously put yourself in a situation to be killed?"

"To heal and protect others!" she cried out angrily, moving just enough to tweak the wound and she hissed under her breath, upset at herself to let anger get the best of her healing.

Sasuke looked back to her, watching her face twist while her mind raced with whatever the hell she was dwelling over, staying silent the whole time. What happened to the rambling girl he used to know, that spoke whatever was on her mind, foolish or not? The adrenaline must have worn off, because she threw her head back when she had to stitch back together one of her torn intestines. Sasuke forced himself not to flinch in reaction to the torment she was dealing with.

Unexpectedly, she turned and buried her face in his chest, bearing the pain the best she could. Sasuke stiffened at the contact, grinding his teeth to fight back the emotions building in his chest, fearing for her life again. She still wasn't fully healed and his concern for her depleting chakra was only growing.

An explosion around him interrupted his train of thought and caught him off guard, but he simply dodged it and disappeared off to an even farther distance. Obito would have to wait.
"I've always envied your's and Naruto's strength," she suddenly whispered against him, forcing his heart rate to elevate. He stopped when he found a decent sized hole in the ground, figuring "underground" was a good enough shield and they were hidden from the war that suffocated them.

"I'm only strong for you guys. But it's never... enough," she breathed shakily, the green aura around her hand fading away, leaving the healing done on the hole in her stomach unhealed and still dangerously open. Dropping her hand, it hung off the side of her body, and her breathing continued to shake and shudder, slowing down dangerously.

No.
"Sakura," he muttered beneath his breath, feeling fresh tears on the front of his chest. She opened her eyes weakly, her hanging fingers twitching to move, but didn't. A sad smile widened on her face and his eyes desperately searched her face for any sign of strength, of life, of determination. You're part of Team 7. The vibrant green in her eyes hadn't dulled one bit, and his breath hitched at the beauty he forgot they could hold. You can't...
"You are not fucking dying in my arms today, Sakura," he growled to her, and she shook her head so slowly he almost thought he had imagined it. She simply shut her eyes.

"Seems like it's all I could ask for," she breathed, taking a deep breath but failing when her lungs forced the air straight out of her. "To die in the arms of the one I love."
Sasuke stopped breathing at this point. What- still? Why? It was after a few seconds of shock he realized that her breath was far too shallow, and it would be only luck if she lived in the next few minutes. He could feel something boiling inside of him. Panic surged through his veins at full force now, and the usual still movements of his body were now shaky and unexpected.
The Mangekyō in his widened eyes were swirling violently, and his legs shook in horror, buckling so he actually fell to his knees. "The Sharingan, the eye that reflects their feelings." Oh how the mighty fall, and how would he fix this? He could not heal. He was the enemy.
Sasuke brought her body closer so her face fit right into his neck, his teeth clenched to bare the familiar emotion of loss that was mercilessly exploding inside his heart. He and Naruto helped push and make Sakura strong, she was not weak anymore, and he knew that. He could see that. Her willpower and courage equaled those of great strength, and she was an incredible Shinobi. But she needed a boost, a jump start. Anger and fury fueled Sasuke's needs, but what was Sakura's? There had to be more to it than this.
Then, it hit him so hard it almost made him reel back in shock. Sasuke and Sakura were opposites, but not as much as he had convinced himself. Anger and fury wasn't the only thing that fueled him. His Clan proved that. Fear suddenly overwhelmed him, challenged him, and he shut his eyes and struggled to focus on reality. If only once in his life... let it be now. He owed it to her, and he knew it. This may be the last chance he ever got.
And so Sasuke, the true mighty last Uchiha, gave in.
Bringing his hand up to cup her pale face, his thumb swiped across her cheek and caught the only tear that had threatened to stain her face. He leaned back to look at her, the smile on her face she was prepared to take to her grave still wide on her face. Admiration suddenly combined with the rest of the feelings he felt at that moment. Sasuke leaned his face closer to hers until he could count her eyelashes and notice the freckles on her nose that used to be much more noticeable when they were kids. Pressing his forehead to hers, Sasuke focused to pour some of his own storage of chakra into that seal of her's atop her head.

They were so close their noses grazed each other's at every deep breath he took, and even more so when her eyelashes brushed against his own when she opened her eyes. Sasuke, never being so emotionally close to someone in his life, could only stare back at her. Dazzling green to stunning black and red...
When her mouth barely broke open to speak and he felt her shuddered breath on him, he felt his heart peak, and something inside him broke and he pushed himself forward, pressing his lips to her's.

... I know, cliffhanging like crazy over here.