Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Chapter 16
Alrighty! Here is chapter 16. It's in some sense a filler chapter that does i guess advance the relationship between Sasuke and Sakura.
Next chapter will be the time skip.
Before i continue with the story I just want to say a huge thank you to all those that reviewed. Your reviews really motivate me! So thank you.
Time seemed to have stopped for Sasuke. One minute he was talking to Tsunade about the next course of action in regard to Itachi and the next, a scared chuunin bursts through the door screaming something about a wounded pink haired girl.
There had been times where Sasuke had thought about killing Sakura. Like after the Danzo incident, and again when she tried to attack him. But both times she was rescued, and both times he felt a small bit of relief to know that he didn't actually kill her. He knew at the moment he probably wouldn't have felt regret in ending her life, but he probably would afterwards.
.
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So that's why right now was surreal moment to him. Standing in the middle of the bustling hospital he watched as nurses wheeled Sakura into one of the ORs. They moved quickly, but with his eyes, he still caught sight of all her wounds. Her stomach was all spiked though and blood was spilling out of the wounds leaving behind a trail of red on the white marble ground. He briefly heard snippets regarding her condition from nearby nurses. Critical condition. Bacterial infection from leaving the wounds untended for to long. Extensive internal injury. Dangerously low chakra.
For the first time in a while, he felt fear.
She was dying and he didn't know what to do.
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"The surgical room is prepped Tsunade-sama." One of the head nurse shouted over all the commotion to Tsunade as she held the blue door opened for Tsunade.
The said woman give the nurse a nod, before turning her attention back to the stunned boy.
"Wait out here, Uchiha." She watched as the boy, slumped unceremoniously against one of the plush couches in the waiting room. Despite his stoic facade, she could see the myriad of emotions in his eyes.
"She'll be fine." She added, as she lightly squeezed his shoulder. The boy said nothing as he lowered his stare to the ground.
Three days since she was first wheeled into the operating room. Three days since Sasuke moved from his spot on the chair (except for going to the bathroom). He ate bits of food that were brought in by Kakashi, and rarely slept.
When he heard that her survival chances were less than ten percent, any hope of her possibly making out of this alive vanished. He ignored Kakashi's attempts at trying to make him feel better, and the failed attempts by fellow rookies to try and distract him. They couldn't possibly start to understand how he was feeling at the moment. The only person that actually had a shot of understanding him, was out of the village.
The whole time he stared at the blue operating room doors, not saying a word to anyone.
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On the fourth day those blue doors finally opened and a tired but pleased looking Hokage walked out. A victorious smirk on her face.
"HOKAGE-SAMA HOW IS SHE!" A frantic Ino screamed while running up to the hokage. Her blue eyes blood-shot from all the tears she cried these past few days.
"She'll make a full recovery." Tsuande replied, as she briefly glanced at all the rookies that were gathered in her hospital's waiting room.
Finally, for the first time these past few days, Sasuke stood up from his spot and walked up to the blond woman. "Where is she?"
"Room 305" Tsunade watched as Sasuke turned and walked towards the stairs. "Oi, Uchiha she's still…" She trailed off, and her smirk grew. For this once she'll make an exception.
"Kakashi you can also go see her." Tsunade called out to the silver haired jounin.
"No, no I'll come visit her when she's awake." Kakashi gave Tsunade a knowing look, before pulling out his green book.
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Turning another corner he walked down the quiet halls of the third floor on hospital. His eyes scanning the small black numbers that were stamped on the doors.
305
Stopping his pace, he gently slid open the door and walked in. His eyes fell on the sleeping figure laid motionlessly on the white bedspread. Numerous wirings were hooked onto her arms, but the raising and falling of her chest signaled to him that she was indeed alive.
Taking a seat on the chair beside her bed, his eyes softened as he watched her sleep. She looked so fragile. Reaching out his hand, his fingers grazed against the back of hers. Her skin was clammy but she was warm, and that's all that mattered to him.
"Annoying." He muttered as he closed his eyes. For the first time in four days he let himself fall into a dreamless sleep.
When Sakura woke up the sun had just risen and the chirping of birds could be heard through the open window of her hospital room. Her vision slightly blurry as she raised one of her hands and rubbed them. A soft breathing sound was heard from beside her. Turning her head, she stared at the raven haired boy that leaned comfortably against the hard plastic chair, sound asleep. Her lips curved upwards as she continued to stare at the boy. He looked so vulnerable. Cautiously she hoisted her body up and leaned towards her sleeping teammate. She noted his flawless complexion and long lashes. He was truly handsome.
"It's rude to stare."
Sakura's eyes widened when she heard him talk, and immediately leaned away. Onyx eyes stared at her with a hint of amusement.
"You're awake!" Sakura sputtered as she tried to calm her racing heart. Damn it, he just caught her ogling at him.
"How are you feeling?"
She watched as he lifted himself up into a more upright position on the chair. A concerned look crossed his eyes.
"I'm fine, a bit sore but good." Sakura replied giving Sasuke a small smile. "Oh, do you have any news regarding Itachi?"
"Yeah, Tsunade found the mission scroll."
"That's good." She smiled, as she leaned back against the headrest of her bed.
Seeing her movement, Sasuke placed one hand on her back while the other one repositioned the pillow behind her, so that it would be more comfortable.
"Thank you Sasuke-kun."
"Aa." He returned back to his seat.
A comfortable silence fell on the pair. Sasuke closed his eyes once more, as Sakura stared around at her room. She noted a small vase of forget-me-nots by the window sill. "Who brought those flowers?"
Sasuke opened his eyes and turned to stare at the three white flowers that basked under the sun. "Your annoying blond friend." He heard her give a short laugh.
"Her name is Ino."
Another pregnant pause
"Sakura?" Sasuke turned his attention from the flowers and stared at the girl. "What happened?" This question had been bothering him these past few days. According to Tsunade she was sent on a simply medic missions, so how in the world did she even end up in this condition.
The smile on Sakura's face faulted. "Orochimaru sent one of his under men to fetch me." She saw Sasuke's knuckled whiten. "But, I defeated him...with the use of the curse mark." Her voice slightly trailed off.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed in slight confusion. "Then why were you still injured so badly? The curse mark once activated can heal your wounds."
Twiddling with the hem of her cover, she lowered her gaze. "When I used the mark it didn't heal me, in fact I think it released some sort of toxin. So... for a brief moment it does make me stronger, but at the same time it was killing my organs."
"How?" She noted the malice in his tone. Turning up from her cover, she stared into his cold, unblinking eyes. She could notice a hint of red flash through them.
"I think my body is rejecting the mark." She saw the anger on his face turn murderous. Immediately fearing that he might leave again and go after Orochimaru, she placed her hands on top of his. "It's fine, I just have to never use the curse mark." She quickly added. Sasuke left the village the first time for revenge and she was not going to lose him again.
When he felt her warm smaller pair of hands encase his, his anger slowly subdued. It amazed him how she could always calm him down. The first time when his curse mark activated and now this. "Aa."
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"Glad to see you're awake, kiddo."
Both genins turned to see their silver haired sensei and the Hokage walk into the room.
"Sensei! Shishou!" Sakura chirped. Her hands left Sasuke's as she waved at her two teachers.
An annoyed look crossed Sasuke's face that went unnoticed by Sakura, but not by the two adults.
"How are you feeling?" Tsunade asked as she scanned through Sakura's chart.
"Good!" She smiled at her shishou.
"That's good hear." Tsunade smiled back, as she took out a small pen and signed the chart. "You should be able to leave the hospital within a few days."
If possible Sakura's smile grew.
"Well then I'll leave you to your team." Tsunade gave Sakura a pat on the head before exiting the room.
"You gave us quite a scare." Kakashi said as he stared at his female student with a soft expression.
"I'm sorry."
Kakashi smiled behind his mask, as he ruffled her pink hair. "I'm just glad you're okay."
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The rest of the day Sakura spent chatting amiably with everyone that came to visit her. Surprisingly Ino didn't try to make any moves on Sasuke. Instead she focused her sole attention on her best friend.
It was a few days later, when Sakura was formally allowed to leave the hospital. Changing into a clean ninja attire brought to her by Ino, she walked out of her room and headed for the main lobby to sign herself out.
Once she hit the main floor, she caught sight of her raven haired teammate.
"What are you doing here?" She asked in a surprised tone as she messily scrawled her name on the bottom of the sign out paper.
Walking over to her, he shrugged. "Making you don't trip on banana peel and land yourself back in the hospital."
Giving the boy a snort, she whacked him across the arm. "I'm not that clumsy"
He smirked when he saw her pout. "You sure about that?"
"Hey!" Sakura gave him a mocking glare, but it soon turned to laughter when she saw his smirk grow.
Sasuke's usually stoic expression softened as he watched the girl laugh. It always surprised him just how easily she was able to laugh. No matter how dire a situation may be she could still find it within herself to laugh. He never realize up till this point that during his time away, he missed her laughter, her smiles, the way she could make him forget all those horrible things.
In fact, it took Sakura nearly dying for him to realize just how much he needed her in his life.
So like the sasusaku ness in this chapter? It's the starting point of the sasusaku! Spoiler? i guess but once time skip happens there will be a lot more moments between them as well as Naruhina (cuz they are seriously to cute)
Anyways please review! :D