Sakura returned back to Sasuke's room after getting rice balls for both of them and she knocked gently before entering, closing the door behind her. Judging by the rise and fall of his body, she could only assume he was asleep as she quietly made her way to his bedside table to set down the food. As creepy as it sounded, one of Sakura's favorite things to watch Sasuke do was to see him sleep.
She didn't sit there and stare relentlessly, she wasn't obsessed with him anymore, but she couldn't help but steal glances at his expression. He was so serene, relaxed and lacking that underlying anger that usually seemed to accompany his features. He was just peaceful and it was something that fit his face so well but she doubted he hardly experienced.
She couldn't resist her urdge as she slowly crouched at his eye level and reached out to brush a bang from his face. She was sure it would wake him, but Sakura just wanted one clear look at him before he woke up and that set of jaw and furrow of his brow came into play. She smiled at him softly as she touched the soft strand of hair and pushed it to mingle with the rest, away from his face.
She barely allowed herself to run her hand through his hair before she came to her senses and realized just who she was touching so intimately and remembered how light of a sleeper he was. Her hand stopped as her smile faded, a blush quickly rising to her cheeks before she pulled away and stood up.
But it was too late. She'd already still stirred him a bit. "Mom," the dark haired boy mumbled softly in his sleepy state.
Grabbing her food she sat down in the visitor's chair with Sasuke's chart in her lap, putting a wall of hair between him and herself as she contemplated over his treatment. At least she could tell him that if she focused on him the most, he could be out of here in a week. Maybe that would keep him occupied and not letting him kick her out for her actions.
She kept up her act of eating, pretending to of not heard that quiet word that passed through his lips that held no physical meaning for him. She had never met his mother, though she could vaguely remember seeing her once or twice. Sakura definitely remembered seeing his father on the incredibly rare occasion. That man had been huge she could recall, with a frown written in the aging lines of his face. She didn't think he was angry, just.. Stressfully important. That was about all she knew of the man and probably all she ever would know. Sasuke's family wasn't exactly a casual conversation.
He looked over her as he seemed to wake up fully. "You could have woken me when you walked in," Sasuke said grumpily.
"Sorry, Sasuke. You're usually such a light sleeper, I figured you would of woken up."
Whatever trace of a smile she'd had was long gone, replaced with something more kin to sorrow. In fact, she looked like she could probably cry if she thought about whatever was on her mind long enough.
When she seemed to realize this, she looked back at him, forcing a more neutral expression. "You need a lot more rest before I'm letting you out of here." A light chuckle escaped her as she glanced out the window, standing up.
Then his eyes fell to the food that she'd brought, clearly interested in the food. He looked hungry, but she ignored it for the moment.
"The village is pretty close to being fully rebuilt. They have all the housing done, all it's really lacking is just a few shops." She didn't bother looking back at him until she was pointing at a building, making sure it was in his line of vision.
"That is probably where you're apartment will be. It looks like something you'd like, they've got plenty of room, everything is new so it's not gonna break on you, and a few other things. I stayed there when my parents house was being rebuilt, so I get along with the landlord pretty well, so I could probably get you a corner apartment if he has any."
Sasuke looked out the window, seeing what little of the village he could see from his room. "I don't care if it's in a corner. I just want something neither on the top nor ground floor."
He took a rice ball and took a bite. "You're still living with your parents?" he asked, actually attempting to take an interest in someone else's life for once and causing her to raise an eyebrow at him.
Uchiha Sasuke was not usually one to make small talk, and never in a million years had she ever thought he would take an interest in her personal life. She'd play along, but for whatever reason he was asking, she didn't have a clue. Sure he missed a few things here and there, maybe he was just trying to figure out what?
"Well, sort of. I'm hardly ever home, cause if it's not a mission, I stay a lot of nights at the hospital. I should just go ahead and get my own place though." She shrugged as she took another bite before setting the food aside, obviously finished as she leaned back in the chair and pulled her legs up underneath her.
Sakura smiled. "You see, I want a corner apartment. You get more privacy that way and then you won't take the chance of having noisy neighbors on both sides of you. I might look at the apartments for myself, too."
"I could handle a noisy neighbor," he said confidently.
She turned to look at the clock at Sasuke's bedside table. She'd had her thirty minutes of peace, and now it was back to work again. Standing up she let out a yawn, picking up the remnants of her food and tossing it in the trash before resting her hands on the end of his bed.
"Hn. Tomorrow I'm going for a walk outside." That wasn't a question about whether he would be allowed to or not. He was doing it. She could hear it in his voice.
Saukra nodded. "You know, a walk tomorrow would probably do you good. Just so long as you stay on hospital grounds, it'll be alright. Also, I meant to tell you. Visably, you're perfectly fine save a few bumps and bruises. After a few more healing sessions, you're bones should be strong again and it doesn't look like you're getting infections but I can't know for sure. Also, I'm fairly positive there is no internal bleeding, but I'm going to order an ultra sound just to double check. So basically you'll be out of here by the end of the week. I'm just keeping you for observance to make sure nothing goes wrong."
"Hn. I've got it." Now that he was told that he'd been out by the end of the week, he seemed to cheer up.
"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow then." Sakura smiled gently at him before turning and leaving.
It wasn't until she shut the door behind her that she had that same rush of feelings as the day before, as if she were remembering how to breathe. He had that effect on her, the kind that made her normal functioning skills stop working to the bare minimum of her survival. She wasn't sure if he still hated her as much as when they were younger, but she highly doubted he enjoyed her company.
Shaking her head, she turned to make her way towards the lounge on this floor, every intention of preparing for a procedure on one of her other patients she'd be doing in the next few days. She had a feeling though she wasn't going to be able to focus though. At least not until she could accept the fact that Sasuke was back, here in Konoha with his so-proclaimed intention of staying, that was if he was allowed to.
When Sasuke first came to the village, it ws easy to ignore him. She had shoved his case off and then done everything within her power to avoid being in the same room with him, let alone the same floor. Then, after becoming his doctor, not seeing him was thrown out the window. She had accepted it, and for some reason, it wasn't as hard to sit herself down and focus on what was injured and keep up with the small talk, avoiding instead any touchy subject. She felt that if she was in that hospital room, she held the authority, she could be professional, not that girl that was so undeniably in love with Uchiha Sasuke that she could be herself.
That all went down in flames a few days ago after the elders made their decision. They would let him stay in the village, with a few conditions of course, but still, he was not a permanent resident of Konoha. He came back and was not going anywhere, that fact alone not hitting her until the end of that trial. Maybe in the back of her mind, she knew there was a chance he might not be allowed to live here, so she didn't have to worry about bumping into him everywhere, or have to wonder if he'd be around when Naruto dragged her out to lunch. She wouldn't have to worry about her feelings for him boiling over and then just wind up hurt again.
After she heard the verdict, she had made her visits short, usually using the out he needed rest or she had to go see another patient her scape goat. She'd send nurses in to do the tests she could of done herself, or give him his pills while bringing him a meal that she made. There was a good chance that if she fell for him all over again, she'd be hurt in the end. Actually, it was almost a one hundred percent chance that would happen. She couldn't risk it again.
So on the day when he was meant to be released, she spent a good five or so minutes staring at his door from the nurse's station, papers in hand. Whenever she discharged him, the cycle would begin. She'd start bumping into him everywhere, and then the second she started expecting it, she'd stop seeing him and then she'd be thinking about him constantly. It was her luck, and before she knew it, she'd be that twelve your old completely obsessed with him.
Sighing she pushed off the counter and walked over to his door, knocking before coming in and seeing him sitting on his bed, ready to go. She smiled at him as she walked over to the bed, holding out the papers to him with a pen and a key.
"Okay, you're ready to go. Here's the papers for you to get out of here and the key to your apartment. I marked all the spaces for you to sign and when you're ready, Naruto'll take you to your place. I moved some things in there already, just some stuff you can use until you get furniture. I put some clothes there, a futon you'll probably want to replace, I filled the refridgerator and a few other things. The essentials." She was actually getting off work after she filed these papers. She had thought about going with him, but in the end deemed a bad idea.
"Why aren't you coming?" he asked, looking at her with a frown.
"Oh, well, I still have one or two things to do here. I know you don't want to wait on me."
She let out a faint chuckle as she rubbed the back of her neck, a habit she had when she was lying so she wouldn't hurt someone's feelings. She highly doubted that Sasuke would care if she told him what was really bugging her, in fact, he'd probably be relieved, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.
"Hn," Sasuke grumbled, making her think he didn't believe her.
She was supposed to be someone who would care for him unconditionally, his friend, but she was finding it so hard to be around him. She wanted to trust him, but she knew in the back of her mind she was waiting for this facade of his to drop and he'd revert back to that Sasuke, and not only would her Sasuke die with that moment, but she knew that she was probably the worst person in the world for even expecting this of him.
"Plus, ever since he found out you were moving into his apartment building, a floor above him I think, he's been talking about nothing else but being your neighbor," she said with a laugh, remembering her conversation with Naruto.
Sakura was flipping through his discharge papers to make sure she got everything. She was fairly positive that Sasuke wasn't going to be pissed at the prospect of Naruto living within one hundred yards of him. In fact, he was going to be livid when he learned that Naruto lived directly below him, and that the orange-clad ninja had already picked out what stick he was going to use to hit his ceiling with.
The Uchiha immediately sent a cosmic size death glare in the girl's direction. "I'm one floor above him?" he asked through clenched teeth.
"I was going to get you an apartment on the other side of the building, but Kakashi thought it would be a good learning exersice for you and insisted that be your apartment. I think you'll have fun." She shrugged before looking up at him and smiling. She was running her mouth to keep him from saying what few words he had. She had to get out of here, the fear knotting in her stomach becoming nearly unbearable.
Sasuke stood up and slung the bag with all his stuff in it over his shoulder. "Anything else I need to know before I leave?" he asked, his eyes daring her to give him more bad news. He stared her down. After all this time, he still knew how to intimidate her with one glance.
And it worked. At the first sight of his expression she froze. It wasn't that she was nervous, not in the least bit. No, it was that she suddenly found herself absolutely terrified. Fear was taking over every bit of her motor functions and all she could do was stare at him, her expression not even remotely hiding how she felt. She hated that he had this effect on her, but he did and there was nothing either of them could do about it. It wasn't until she dropped her pen and she heard it collide with the ground that she was pulled out of her stare.
"Uh, no." She was quick to look down and find her pen, wasting no time to bend down and get it.
"You shouldn't keep Naruto waiting and I should really go. I hope you like your apartment," Sakura muttered.
Whatever she had been building with Sasuke over this past week, a rekindled bond maybe, it was shattered now. She couldn't see herself building up the courage to talk to him again.
The Uchiha boy took the few stepped towards her and closed the distance between them, continuing the glare. She was about to turn away and get the hell out of the room, but when Sasuke started to move towards her, she felt everything in her body refuse to listen to what her mind was screaming at her about getting away. Maybe it was the fists had loosened, or the way his shoulders lost their rigedness. He leaned down so that he was at her level and his mouth was mere inches from her ear.
She slowly looked up to meet his eyes, and even though he was still glaring at her, this one lacked the prior malice. It was his usual look, the one she could remember from years ago. She highly doubted that Sasuke would hurt her, now at least, but he was still unpredictable, especially when he started to lean towards her after getting so close. He wouldn't... Would he?
Then his expression softened a bit and he whispered, "I'm going to be at the training grounds late tonight. Someone should be there after my training to make sure I don't reopen any of my wounds. Around midnight."
No, he wouldn't. She had never even seen Sasuke talk to a girl if he didn't have to, he wouldn't be so keen as to start kissing them. She could feel that tug of disappointment, but still, the tingle of his breath against her skin gave her goosebumps. She had never thought she would love the sound of his voice more than she already had, but the whisper in her ear had proved her wrong. What made it all even better was the actual words he was saying to her.
When they were kids, Sakura could remember pestering the Uchiha about going on a 'date' with her, always asking him to train together. He had always replied with an imediate 'no.' Never had she thought the day would come that he would ask her to go with him.
Then just as soon as he got his point across, Sasuke turned around and walked away without even waiting for an answer from her. Without looking back he walked out of the room and into the hallway, finding Naruto and leaving. Sakura hardly noticed when he slipped out of the room she was so perplexed with his request. He had to of been talking about her, but it almost didn't seem real.
The medic wasn't sure of how long she stood in the hospital room, staring at the same spot on the wall. The thought of not going never even crossed her mind as she moved out into the hallway, filing his chart and then punching out to go home.
As the day drug on, Sakura couldn't help but realize her mixed feelings about midnight. She wanted to go, so badly, to reassure him that she wasn't scared or angry with him over anything, but it all boiled down to she still didn't trust him. Whatever had happened in the hospital room was fresh in her mind and dragging up memories from months ago. Every time she thought about Sasuke's chidori coming towards her head, or his hand around her throat, she'd rethink the entire 'going' plan. She had thought for sure that if she went, she might not come back... As dramatic as that was. Just, being alone with Sasuke in a secluded area didn't ring the safety bells.
By the time eleven thirty rolled around, she had decided to take a walk. She didn't have work tomorrow, in fact, she intended to use that free time apartment hunting, so she could walk around for hours, or, go see Sasuke for however long. She doubted it would take long, Sasuke hardly being one to spend time with her willingly.
It dawned on her that this could be his way of apologizing for his little glaring stunt, and that gave her the indication that was her Sasuke's action, a slot on the pro list. But then again, he could just be doing it because he knew he'd be straining himself and he wasn't one to let himself get hurt purposely. He was always on the move when it came to training, if he wasn't going on missions for a month, he certainly wasn't going to sit around and twiddle his thumbs. That just let her with the professional outlook.
No matter how many times she twisted the situation around, it always came down to her obligation to go as his doctor. If anything, she could lie to herself and say she was only going for that reason. Sakura knew that she wanted to see him, despite the fact he scared the life out of her, but it was hard to even sort those emotions out, a task she just wasn't up to yet.
By the time midnight came, her feet had taken her to the old training grounds. Sakura came up to the clearing, the three posts being the first sight that met her eyes followed by the Uchiha's training supplies such as extra weapons and drinking water. She frowned at the fact the water had been untouched, knowing that Sasuke was straining himself. She could only roll her eyes before looking up to see the man himself, watching as he fought with an invisible opponent. He looked so graceful and intense, she couldn't bring herself to interrupt him.
After two or three minutes Sasuke decided that he was done and ceased his training. Then he turned around to look at Sakura, wiping sweat off his brow. Before acknowledging her, he walked over to his supplied and grabbed a bottle of water. As he walked over to his supplies, obviously done with his training, she just offered him a smile.
Sasuke seemed worn out, but he also seemed like the old him. It was so odd, she was wary of him, yes, but she wasn't scared, not like she had been before. He could snap her in two with ease, but with him acting like this towards her, so casual, she couldn't picture him doing it. Even with all that though, the thought still did enter her mind.
Sasuke took a big long drink, dehydrated from spending so long training without a break. The Uchiha took a seat on the ground, deciding to rest for a minute.
The exhausted boy's eyes trailed up from the ground and to Sakura's face, looking her in the eyes. "My wounds didn't reopen," he said, moving his arm around to feel if it was injured once more.
"Oh, okay." She wasn't sure if she should stay or go. If Sasuke was a twelve year old boy, he would want her long gone by now, but he wasn't. He had grown up, and even though the same traits were there, he was acting different towards her. Despite the occasional killing intent, he was being nicer, initiating conversation and willingly meeting her without a motive that she could see. It was odd, he was acting like he actually didn't mind her company. That was what shocked her the most.
She looked down at the ground next to him as he gave attention to it, and that was when her eyes narrowed at him. Sakura was quiet as she sat down next to him, making sure to give him his personal space. That didn't stop her from staring at him though. He probably was going to think she was crazy with the way she was looking at him like she was trying to find something. Maybe she was. Maybe Sasuke was, he was the one acting weird.
"So what's with you? Why are you acting so... different?" She wasn't even sure how to word it. All she knew was that he was being nicer to her. She didn't have a problem with it, and it was certainly better than the menacing look he could give her. She kind of liked it, to be honest, the fact that she was still in love with him being a complete side note.
Sasuke took another drink of his water, waiting a moment before he answered Sakura's question. He set his water bottle aside and glanced over at her.
"You're afraid of me," Sasuke said quietly and if she didn't know better, Sakura would think he almost sounded vulnerable.
There it was. Sasuke had been back in Konoha for almost two months now, and as much as she knew this conversation was coming, she still hadn't expected it to be so soon. This conversation wasn't going to be light, and not only were they going to have be careful with how they worded things, but they couldn't leave anything out. She wanted to be close to Sasuke, she did love him after all, but more than anything, she wanted to trust him completely again. She cared about him so much, but she knew that she could never really be there for him unless she could get over what had happened.
He looked away from her, glancing up at the sky, his eyes settling on the half moon that was out tonight.
"It's not that I'm afraid of you." Sakura let out a sigh as she looked down at the ground, looking for the right answer.
"It's just, you can scare me. I understand that you're under pressure with all the commotion going on right now, but I'm just not used to you being back. Sasuke, please don't get mad at me, but last time I saw you, you were fighting so hard just to get away from us. I'm worried that you might change your mind, and things might go back to the way it was before."
She looked over at him, lifting her hand as if she was going to reach over for him, but decided against it, resting it back down in her lap instead.
She got her point across, she felt like. She wasn't outright saying she was trying to figure out if he was going to go on a killing spree or anything, but she had given enough notion that she was afraid he might revert back into 'that' Sasuke, the one that hated this village.
"I don't think I could go through losing you again and I know Naruto couldn't," Sakura added quietly.
Once again Sasuke hesitated. "I'm not going to leave again."
He kept his eyes focused on the sky, not looking at her the whole time. "I don't want to, or intend to, hurt you," he said, his voice a little quieter than usual.
A soft smile spread across her face as she looked at him, her shoulders finally relaxing. It was comforting to hear him say that, she knew it had to of been hard for him. Sasuke wasn't the type to share what he was feelings or have a legit conversation that wasn't about anything related to fighting or one of his goals. Sasuke didn't put stock in people's feelings, she couldn't imagine why he was now. She couldn't help it when she finally reached over and placed a hand on his forearm.
"Thank you, Sasuke. You don't know how much it means to hear you say that." She was quiet for a moment, slowly dropping her hand to the ground between them and looking at his side as something dawned on her. She doubted Sasuke would have anything to say in response to that, so the least she could do was change the subject and give him an out.
"Hn." That was sort of his way of saying you're welcome or the closest he ever came to it, using Sasuke speak. Of course most people wouldn't know that from hearing that one syllable, but she'd always been good at understanding his short sentences.
She was relieved when all he said was a short simple answer. Sasuke wasn't pushing her away, insulting her or ignoring her completely. Then again, he was the one to ask her here. She didn't know what had him acting so different towards her, but she wouldn't mind if it kept up. The only problem with it was, when he was in that mode that she was absolutely terrified of, it was a hell of a lot easier to push aside her feelings for him. When he was like this though, she couldn't help but want to do everything in her power to try and make him happy.
"Do you want me to change your bandages? They probably need it if you've been training all day."
His bandages were probably filthy by now, especially the ones on his arm. He reached over and into his bag, pulling out the clean bandages and handing them to her. Then he rolled up his sleeve so that she could get to the full arm.
"It's finally healing right. I can feel the movement in it when I train and it feels better," he said, finally looking her in the eyes once more.
"Good. I would hate to be responsible for the one who couldn't fix your arm."
She smiled at him as she turned, taking his arm and slowly taking off the bandages. When they were all off she looked back to his arm, running her hand down it to get a feel of the muscles and do a general check-up on it.
"You probably have the majority of your strength back, right?" When she seemed satisfied with it, she started to wrap his arm back up.
Sasuke watched as Sakura redid his bandages, his dark eyes fixed on her hands. "My strength is coming back well, but I need to stretch my muscles and move around more though."
That was one trait she had always admired and got slightly peeved at. Sasuke was the type of guy that could always get better. He always strived to improve, but he still focused on what he could be doing to get better and was hardly ever satisfied with his current level. Sasuke never seemed to be good enough for himself and that was one thing that put emphasis on the fact she could probably never be anything more than a friend to him. If he wasn't good enough for himself, than in what world would she ever be good enough for him?
Over the years, she had thought up of a million and one questions to ask him. She wanted to know things about his past, what was going on with him now, what he was feeling or thinking. She wanted to know everything about him. Now was her time to ask, but just as her luck served, Sakura's mind went blank save the medical questions and she couldn't think of one single thing to ask. This was her chance and she knew she was going to blow it. All she could bring herself to do was keep wrapping his arm.
"The food in my fridge is edible," he said, trying to change the subject even if a bit randomly in an effort to fill the silence she'd caused by getting lost in thought. It was his way of thanking her for picking up some food for him.
A chuckle escaped her. Anyone else could of said 'thanks for the food,' or 'good choice.' He could only say it was edible though? She hadn't expected a thank you or anything, but what caught her off guard was the fact he even brought it up.
"You're welcome."
She couldn't hold back a smile as she finished wrapping his arm. Dropping her hands to her lap, she was left with the decision to either get up and leave or sit down for awhile and leave the ball in his court. When they were kids, he would of already been up and getting his things, but he didn't seemed to be as bothered by her presence now. She wasn't ready to go home, and as much as she was harping on the fact he invited her here, she didn't want to force him into being around her if he didn't want to be. If anything, she could walk around the village for awhile until she felt the urdge to go to the hospital.
"Well, you don't need me anymore." She pushed herself to stand, stretching her arms up over her head before taking a few steps into the training grounds. "I think I'm gonna walk around for a little bit then head on to work. Are you going home?"
"Yeah, I'm going home. It's late and I should sleep." Sasuke nodded.
He too stood and he began to gather up his supplies that he'd brought with him. He put his spare kunai and shuriken in his weapon pouch and his water bottle in his pocket.
Then, the dark haired boy looked back at Sakura. "I plan on training here every day to get back into a routine."
One of her favorite things that had been taught to her when she was first training to be a ninja was how observant it made you. She was able to read people down to the tone of their voice and everything down to the slight movement of an object became potentially aware to her.
But even with all of that training, there was no possible way anyone could just understand this Uchiha. It took years to finally be able to decipher the seven word vocabulary he favoured. But even with her experience with him on top of everything else, she still had to strain to see his subtle meanings.
"Okay." She wasn't sure what else she should say to him. She knew that if Sasuke didn't want her to know about his training schedule, he wouldn't of brought it up. It was his way of saying he wouldn't care if she showed up or not, or maybe something along the lines of he wouldn't mind having his own personal medic, especially if he was still so uncomfortable. She had felt the way his muscles had tensed in reflex to the pain. She knew he still wasn't in tip top shape.
Placing her hands at the small of her back she turned back to the path that led into the village, taking a few small steps to show that she was waiting for him. Sakura glanced back to Sasuke, her smile softening as she did so.
Sasuke saw that Sakura was waiting for him, but he didn't quicken his step. He reached her after a moment and was immediately assaulted by the loaded question and stopped dead in his tracks, unable to hide his surprise.
"Sasuke, that night you left... Why didn't you just leave me on the ground?" He had to of moved her to the bench, they had been standing in the middle of the street. It was something that always left her confused. He hadn't really cared for her at all back then, not about her feelings, worries, etc. Plus, he had been leaving, why would he of cared if she slept on the ground or in a ditch for all that matter.
After what couldn't have been more than a couple seconds, Sasuke began walking down the path to the village again, not looking at Sakura and not answering yet.
"The ground is where you leave trash," he finally answered.
He glanced at her. "Why does it matter now?"
"It was something that has always been on my mind. I thought you hated me back then, but you had your moments where I knew you weren't as distant as you pretended to be. It was moments like those that made me realize how much you meant to me."
"There was a time that I didn't hate you at all," he said in response, his pace speeding up.
She shrugged as she matched his pace, looking ahead and praying he didn't see the blush that was started to creep on her features.
"I kept replaying those times over in my head and that was what gave me the drive to help Naruto find you. I never knew why you did that, but I always kind of liked to pretend that was a time you didn't seem to hate me as much, I was just wondering if I was right or not."
A sigh escaped her as she looked down at her feet, trying to stop herself from talking. As much as she wanted him to know how much she still cared about him, she didn't want to give him the wrong idea she was still some love-struck girl. She knew there was a good chance he'd never see her as anything else but his ex-teammate and maybe he'd find someone he could stand to be around, and as much as that hurt she still wanted to be apart of his life. Even if it was only as a friend or a teammate.
"I don't think I'll ever understand why you said 'thank you' though."
Sasuke smirked, looking like he finally knew the answers to one of her questions. "I was thanking you for caring about me."
She looked at him, this time a bit of a surprise on her own face. If it had been three years ago, she would of been elated to hear anything he had just said even if it was just some rumor that some stranger was saying he said about her. Two years ago, she would of started crying.
Now though, she wasn't sure what she should do with that. It made her happy though, and in the end all she could do was just give him a gentle smile and look forward again. He could admit he didn't hate her, and could even answer one of her biggest questions about that night. That was a step up for him, and never had she appreciated him more.
"Sasuke, caring about you is something you never have to thank me for."
No matter how nice it was to hear it. When they came to the end of the path, she knew Sasuke was going left, and even though that was the way to the hospital, she wasn't quite ready to go in that direction just yet. She took slowed to a stop and looked up at him before she made a decision that he might just kill her over. Not giving him a chance to react she pulled every last attempt at being brave and hugged him.
She was sure the action was annoying the hell out of him and he was bound to push her away within the next few seconds. Before he had the chance to she pulled back, stepping in the opposite direction.
"I'm glad you're back. I really did miss you." Turning she was quick to cross her arms and start putting distance between them. She didn't dare look back though, not even wanting to know what expression was on his face. If he didn't hate her before, he might now.