Sakura looked up at Sasuke, surprised at his offer. Those choices weren't particularly ones she favored though. Sure she had no qualms with him carrying her, but it would have to wait until after they were out of the hospital.
Also, she couldn't go home tonight, not looking like this at least or in the middle of the night. If she did, her parents would wake her up at the crack of dawn grilling her with questions about every detail that happened and how exactly she wound up in the hospial.
"Well, I didn't plan on going home. I really don't want to explain this all to my parents. Would you mind if I slept on your couch tonight? I'll leave first thing when I wake up, and I'll even let you carry me there. I have to walk out of the hospital by myself though, or they won't let me go," she explained, hoping he would accept.
Sakura frowned before reaching for her chart, using her pen to write 'discharged' across it along with a short note explaining she'd do the papers next time she was at work.
Taking a deep breath she looked back over to Sasuke, a gentle smile on her face. "Really all you have to do right now is help me walk to the elevator."
Sasuke looked curiously at her for a moment, appearing to be mulling it over.
"I'll take the couch. The injured person gets the bed," he said, referring to her.
By the look he gave her, she wasn't going to argue with him about the whole, bed and couch issue. She could maybe convince him later to switch spots with her, but right now it was obvious he wasn't going to talk about it.
At least Sasuke was a gentleman of sorts, or had decent manners on guests. Either way, she was surprised at how... Nice he was being. Holding her hand all night had been a surprise, offering to carry her home had been a stretch, but now he was agreeing to let her stay at his place. This couldn't have been real, but the pain simmering in her joints said otherwise.
He sent her a serious look to indicate that it was not up for discussion if she wanted to stay at his place. "Fine, let's get going then," he said, finally releasing her wrist.
He stepped beside her, probably in case she would lost her balance while she was walking and needed to lean on him.
She smiled at him before slipping on her shoes and started walking towards the door. "Thank you."
There was no one in the hallway and Sakura was thankful for that, not really wanting to explain to anyone why she was leaving. It wasn't until they got to the elevator though and the doors were closed that she slumped down against the wall. She barely stole a glance at Sasuke before the bell gave a short 'ding' to show they were arriving at the first floor, a sigh escaping her as she pushed herself up and started walking.
It was a slow day in the hospital and save the few people asking how she was doing or saying hi, pretty much everyone else was going about their business and ignoring her and paying a bit more attention to the person walking next to her. Sasuke. Sasuke glared on passed, not even really noticing anymore and looking completely unfazed.
That caused her to hurry her steps, sending a few of her own glares here and there to people who were a little too blunt with the stares. When they finally got outside she motioned for Sasuke to keep going until they were at the wall that surrounded the hosptial, blocking their view from mostly everyone inside the building.
She wasn't going to embarrass him, nor was she about to have anyone asking her questions why Sasuke Uchiha was carrying her... anywhere. It wasn't their business and the last thing that Sasuke needed was rumors they had something going on. He'd kill her for sure over that.
Once they were in a safe area he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close to give her support. Then in one swift movement, Sasuke put his free arm under her legs and picked her up in his arms, causing her to gasp. She had expected him to do something along the lines of a piggy-back ride, yet when he, for the lack of a better word, scooped her up, it was safe to say she was a bit shocked.
Her only real reaction though was putting an arm around his shoulders and resting her head against her upper arm. She couldn't bring herself to much care about however they got back to his apartment or even bother to hide the faint blush on her cheeks.
She was aware enough to feel his hand at the crook of her knees or his fingers brushing up against her arm at her waist. If she wasn't so tired though, she'd probably be nervous as all get-out. Right now she just didn't care what-so-ever.
"Hold on," he said, sprinting off at full speed. He decided to take the rooftops to reach his apartment complex.
When Sasuke had come back, she had known she still loved him, even if that love was a pipe dream from her childhood. She thought though, that she hadn't loved him in the same way. She had believed with every fiber of her being that she loved him the same way she loved Naruto, just a friend who she'd do anything for. It was only a little awkward seeing as what she and Naruto had gone through for him and he didn't seem technically grateful for it. She wasn't sure she'd feel about him in the same way she had as when she was a kid.
But then that bastard had to go and be nice. She could remember talking to Naruto about him, Just a few days ago actually. She talked about how he had changed, Naruto talked about how he was still a little sensitive about things, but he could see the changes too.
She figured Sasuke's conversations with Naruto were much different than the ones between herself and him. Naruto was his best friend.. She was just, well, she still didn't have a freaking clue what she was to him.
They arrived at his apartment and managed to open the door after taking a minute to figure out how to get the keys out of his pocket without dropping the pink haired girl. But he eventually got it and was able to open the door and enter, pushing it closed with his foot afterwards. He didn't set her down until they were just outside his bedroom. Then he set her feet down on the floor, giving her a moment to make sure she wouldn't fall over before he let go.
His apartment was still nice and clean with content of the boxes she'd given him the only semblance of a mess that could be seen. Even his bedroom was without mess. All the clothes were neatly hung and the bed was made.
"The bed's in there," he said, pointing into his bedroom.
"Sasuke, I'll take the couch, you don't have to."
Next Sasuke set himself to gathering up a pillow and blanket so he could sleep on the couch. He grabbed the extras he had from his closet and tossed them over onto the couch in the living room. She made her way over to the couch, a little more awake now that she was trying to balance herself.
Sakura glanced to Sasuke's bedroom before following him to the couch and laying a blanket down over the cushions. She knew this was going to piss him off that she was being stubborn, but she wasn't about to take his bed when she asked if she could stay here. As tired as she was and as much as she didn't want to argue, she wouldn't feel right, as if she were overstepping her boundaries.
"Please," she mumbled.
Sasuke frowned and crossed his arms. "Fine, do what you want."
Sakura stole a glance at him, expecting to see a heated glare or anything of the sorts. She only made it to his shoulders before she lost her nerved and looked back down to what she was doing, tucking in the edges of the blanket and tossing a pillow on one of armrests.
She felt a wave of nausea come over her before she slumped down on the couch, placing a hand to her forehead as she leaned her head back.
Sakura sighed. "Can I just have a glass of water though?"
"Hn," he said, leaving to get her a glad of water from the kitchen.
He returned a minute later with a glass of ice water and handed it to her. He was still sulking though, along with frowning.
"Sasuke, don't be mad." She looked up at him as she took the water, meeting his frown with one of her own. If they had switched roles, he'd be doing the same thing. It didn't matter that he was trying to be a good guy or that she had just gotten out of the hospital.
She had asked to stay here, she wasn't about to take over his bed when she was invading his space. Her parents had always been a stickler for manners, and she just assumed that this fit into that category. The only way she was going into that bed was if he dragged her in there, cause she didn't see herself moving on her own will another inch tonight.
"I asked to stay here so I should have to sleep on the couch. It's not a big deal to me."
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I'm not mad," he said stubbornly.
She sunk back down in the seat before taking a drink of the water, setting it on the end table afterwords.
"Anything else?" he asked, still sounding annoyed.
She glanced back up at him and she could only shake her head, inwardly wincing at how annoyed he sounded. Sakura had to remind herself that if he had a problem with her being here, he would of outright said 'no' to her staying. He could have just taken her home instead and left her more in an aggravated state of disappointment than nothing else. She would have forgiven him for it in a day or two anyways.
"Goodnight. Get some sleep," he said before leaving the room without another word, going into his bedroom.
Sakura could only let out a sigh as she pulled the other blanket off the back of the couch and covered up with it. He may have said he wasn't mad, but he certainly wasn't happy with her.
She honestly couldn't bring herself to worry about the issue as she buried her face into the pillow. It smelt like Sasuke, and she honestly didn't know how to explain it. He had a unique smell just like everyone else, but he was one of those people that you just couldn't describe it. All Sakura knew was that she liked it.
She couldn't remember when she fell asleep, but all she remembered was continuously waking up throughout the night. Once around three fourty-five, another time after four, again at five and then right before six. She must of been having a bad dream, but she couldn't remember exactly what it was. All she knew was that whatever it may be, it kept waking her up with a light cold sweat and her breathing would be labored.
That last time she woke up, she took that time to look around his apartment, giving a faint smile. He really hadn't moved anything from where she had put it. She felt so comfortable here, like it was her own apartment or something of the sorts. The thought of leaving at that moment never even crossed her mind. Rolling over on her side to face the apartment she held back one last yawn before going back to sleep.
Sasuke was always an early riser. Sakura remembered that from when they were younger. It was shortly after dawn when he woke up. Yawning, Sasuke left his room and headed to the bathroom, still in a daze and half asleep.
The sound of a shower running was what woke Sakura up for the final time. Sasuke's apartment was quiet, even with Naruto living one floor directly beneath him, but every little sound woke her up. She'd given up though on trying to sleep, not when the sun was rising at least.
She was usually up a good while before this, either having to go to the hospital early or taking a run around the village. Occasionally she would throw a full blown-out training session in the mix, but in most cases she saved those for mid-day, even if it was the hottest time of the day.
She had to force herself to sit up, pushing the blanket back and making the move to stand. She could have stayed on the couch all day, and if it had been her house, she would have. Sakura had a hunch though that Sasuke wouldn't want her around, not after last night at least. He had been annoyed with her and probably would be even more so if she was still here by the time people started to leave to go to work.
They probably dodged anyone that had been out and about last night, but it would be her luck to be seen walking out of Sasuke's apartment this early in the morning. She felt bad just leaving though, the least she could do was make breakfast for him.
Her body felt heavy, but she wasn't near as exhausted as she was a few hours ago. She just felt like she was dragging was all, but she could push that thought aside.
Picking up the blankets she had used she folded them neatly and placed them on the coffee table with the pillow resting on top before heading over to the kitchen. Opening the door she wasn't surprised to see the amount of tomatoes in there. Sasuke really did have an issue with the red fruit she would never understand.
Sighing she reached in and grabbed one along with three eggs, going through the motions of cutting the tomato up and mixing it in with the eggs. The final product wound up being an omelet, and a misshapen one at that. Sakura could cook decently, and more often than not it all tasted good but never could she make a dish look pretty. She could only frown at the folded egg before setting it on the counter along on a plate before turning to the sink where she began washing dishes.
She nearly cursed though when she heard Sasuke coming into the kitchen.
Sakura smiled at him. "Good morning. Sorry I'm not gone yet, I figured I should clean up though."
He shrugged. "I don't care when you leave," he said nonchalantly. He honestly didn't care.
Sasuke looked at what Sakura was doing, his eyes pausing as he noticed tomatoes, his favorite food. She glanced over her shoulder, raising an eyebrow at Sasuke.
"You made breakfast?" he asked, looking awake and fresh from his shower.
She had apparently surprised him, his rhetorical question and expression proving that fact. What Sakura couldn't figure out was why he was surprised. It wasn't like she had never cooked for him before. She would of done it regardless of who she was staying with too.
"Just a way to say thank you."
He picked up the plate with the omlette and a fork and started to eat. He didn't bother sitting down at the table, probably because he didn't plan on staying long.
"I might go back to sleep then, if you really don't mind. I know my parents care and all, but their lectures on me needing a new job are a little much to take sometimes."
The memory of when Sasuke flat out told her off when they were kids came rushing back to her, that first day out of the academy when they were put in teams. She'd been complaining about her parents and it had obviously struck a chord with him. She knew better now, but still, nagging was nagging no matter who it came from and she didn't want to deal with it right now.
She smiled at him, the expression short lived as she was rudely reminded of what she was cleaning, the knife she had used to cut the tomatoes cutting her palm.
"Damn it," she exclaimed.
A sharp breath passed her lips as she switched the water to cold, running her hand under it to wash the blood away. It wasn't deep, but it still stung like hell. Her pain tolerance was high, just like any other person in their profession, but even things like cutting yourself with a knife or getting a simple papercut still hurt. There wasn't an adrenaline rush to counter act the pain, an annoyance she wished she could do without.
Sasuke looked up when he heard her curse and saw her washing the blood away from her hand. "You shouldn't be so careless," he said as he watched her.
She frowned. That was definitely something he'd say in these types of situations. Not an 'are you okay?' or something along those lines. No, he had to tell her not to be so careless. He was right though, she hadn't been paying attention to what she was doing, so really, what could she say back to him. Maybe he had reached his quota on being nice to people for the next couple of years. Hah, that wouldn't surprise her in the least bit. That was just Sasuke for you.
After she recleaned the knife and set it down next to the pan she had used, reaching for a paper towel and pushing it in her palm she began to rethink the decision to leave so early. He had said she could stay for as long as she wanted. Or rather, he said it in his weird and slightly insulting way of speaking. She could use another few hours of sleep to be honest and she still wasn't ready for the onslaught of questions her parents were sure to have.
She turned with her back to the counter, leaning against it as she looked down at her hand whileSasuke set the plate down and left the room for a moment, returning with bandages in his hands.
"Go back to sleep then. If I'm out when you wake up then lock the door when you leave," he said, taking her hand and shooting her a glare to tell her not to complain about him bandaging her up.
She was about to take the first aid kit from him, before he told her to lock up when she left and then took her hand without even thinking to let her do it herself. Sure it was easier if he did it, it even made since for him to do it, but he had proved her wrong again. Here he was, being nice to her and taking care of her... Again. The blush that crossed her cheeks was light, but it would be stupid of her to think he couldn't see it.
He moved the papertowel and looked at it. It wasn't big enough to need wrapping, a simple band-aid would do. He opened up the band-aid wrapper and stuck it on over the cut. It was kind of ironic, him bandaging her up for once instead of the other way around, even if it was just a tiny cut.
"Thank you," she said softly.
She watched as he put the band-aid on it, smiling softly at it. She couldn't remember the last time it had been someone bandaging her up besides herself. It was nice, and even nicer that it was Sasuke doing it.
When she braved looking up at him, she hadn't realized how close they were standing, but she was very aware of the fact she hadn't pulled her hand away just yet.
"Hn." He looked down and then back up at her.
"And I don't mean for just this or the past few days. I mean it for everything." She meant it for him coming back, staying here, spending time with Naruto, with her, taking care of himself and so on and so forth. Just, everything. "It means a lot to me."
Then there was a moment that seemed to move time so fast she couldn't even move. He leaned forward and his lips brushed against hers in a very light and very short kiss. He realized what he had just done and quickly released her hand and took a few steps back to put some distance between them. It hadn't lasted long, Hell, Sakura wasn't even sure how it happened.
"I have to go. I need to work on the Uchiha district some more," he said, keeping his voice at its usual tone as if nothing had happened.
He exited the room without giving her a chance to say anything, going into his bedroom to change into his training clothes.
One moment she was looking up at him, the next he leaned in, and now he was in his bedroom.
There was only one thought replaying over and over again in her mind. "What in the hell just happened?" She whispered to herself as she reached up to her lips and her eyes slowly fell to the door he had disappeared to.
Sasuke didn't kiss people, at least, not voluntarily. So really, what was she supposed to do right now? Follow him and confront him about it? Leave? Pretend nothing had happened? She wanted to do that first option.
She really couldn't go home now with this on her mind, and she was sure Sasuke would want that last choice. Maybe she could compromise... Then again, this was Sasuke she was talking about. Sure he had done the unimaginable and kissed her, but it had been so short and he had bolted like she was a plague.
Sighing she finally got ahold of herself enough that she pushed away from the counter, making her way to his bedroom door. Might as well figure out where he stood in all of this. God only knew what was going on in his head right now. Lifting up her hand she gave a light knock.
Sasuke frowned as he opened the door, looking reluctant.
"What?"
She wasn't entirely sure how to react. She wasn't stupid, she knew he'd say something along those lines, he more than likely didn't want to talk about it, but still, there was a big difference between thinking it would happen and it actually happening. She wasn't sure if she was mad he was ignoring it, hurt, or just plain relieved. Because honestly, she didn't know what she would say to him either.
"You really have to say 'what'?" Sakura questioned.
She raised an eyebrow at him before crossing her arms. She wasn't angry yet, she wasn't even sure if she was going to talk to him about it right now, but she wasn't exactly happy with him playing Mr. Forgetful either. He had kissed her, not the other way around so he couldn't be the one in denial right now. She didn't give a damn if he got annoyed with this, he had dug his own grave.
Before she spoke again, she stopped to think about it and took in his point of view. Sasuke had been under a lot of stress lately, anyone in his situation would be. She couldn't blame him for doing irrational things. She had told herself she could compromise on this. It was obvious he didn't want to talk about it now, the least she could do was give him awhile to accept it all and figure out whatever the hell had been going through his head be it good or bad.
Only a sigh escaped her before she took a step back to get out of his way.
"Sasuke, look. I'm just going to go back to sleep. I can do that here or at my house." Though she probably wouldn't get any sleep there.
"Hn," he grumbled that one syllable.
"Can I stay here for a while or do you want me to go? You won't hurt my feelings if you'd rather me leave."
"I already said you can stay here. I have of work to do. See you tonight," he said nonchalantly, as if nothing had changed.
He was moving too fast. Sakura didn't even have a chance to react, barely had a chance to notice he'd changed into training clothes.
He left his room, heading for the front door. "Go back to sleep," he said before leaving, getting out of there as fast as he could.
Sakura was left giving a dumbfounded look to Sasuke's front door after he left. She didn't have a damn clue what had just happened and she had been here for all of it. Everything had been so fast and she had been caught so off guard, it was a miracle she still wasn't leaning up against the counter with her jaw hanging open like a fish.
The only thing that really pissed her off about it all though was that Sasuke didn't even give her a chance to do anything, to say anything. The kiss had happened before she could react and he was gone before she could even put a sentence together that briefly even scratched what she was feeling. She wanted to beat the living hell out of him, but then again, even with the rush going through her, her body was still fighting to just stand.
She frowned before turning to his room and walking inside of it. Again, everything was in the same place as she had arranged it, even the bed was in the same place. She slowly climbed into it, pulling the covers over herself and relaxing into the warmth. The bed smelt like Sasuke way more than the pillow from last night had, it was comforting even though she was still angry with him, or rather, frustrated was a better word.
She wasn't mad, nowhere near it actually, but still, he had kissed her and then skipped out. At least she was still invited to go to his training session. She could grill him all she wanted then.
She rolled on her back, bringing her hand up to look at the band-aid across her palm, a gentle smile coming across her features as she ran the fingertips of her other hand over it. Sure there were times where he was an idiotic jerk, like before, but he could also be nice at times.
He could make her feel like she was important because he treated her differently than every other girl. Plus, she was the only girl in Konoha to say she had kissed him, that was a big plus. Ino would throw a fit whenever she found out, though that wouldn't be for a good while Sakura was sure.
Dropping her hand, the medic rolled back onto her side, her breath slowing as she relaxed a little more. She'd deal with this more when she wasn't as tired, when she could think rationally. Because right now, the only plan she could come up with was to be the one to kiss him first next time she saw him and see how he reacted.
She could lose Sasuke as a friend acting like that, but it was either that or talk to him. She had clearly gotten nowhere with the talking, so maybe being irrational was the way to go. Pushing the hair out of her face she just let out another sigh before burying her face in his pillow and trying to get at least a few more hours sleep.
She woke up in the early afternoon and it was the first time she had felt somewhat back to normal. Sure she was still tired, but at least she wasn't on the verge of collapsing anymore after taking three steps. After Sakura had gotten up, she made up his bed and put on her shoes, making sure everything else was in order before leaving, locking the door behind her as he asked.
The only time she had stopped was when she was in the kitchen stealing a glass of water as she stared at the spot where she had been leaning. Maybe she had just drempt it all or something of the sorts. Sasuke Uchiha didn't kiss people, especially when that 'people' was her.
The rest of her day was fairly uneventful. She went home, thankful her parents were out and took a quick shower and changed clothes. She left a note telling them she was alright and she'd see them in the morning. She visited Ino, was asked a million and one questions about Sasuke, but never once could Sakura bring herself to say anything about the morning.. incident.
She doubted that if Sasuke had ran out on her so quickly that he wanted her telling anyone about it, especially the gossip queen of Konoha. All she said was that the reason they were so comfortable around each other was because she had spent a lot of time with him recently as his doctor, making sure everything healed right.
When night finally rolled around she made her way to the training grounds. Sasuke was already into his routine, going about his business and completely ignoring her.
She had brought a book with her, but as much as she was pretending to read, she couldn't stop thinking about what had happened. Her initial plan had been to walk up and kiss him, to see how he reacted, but he was still avoiding even so much as looking at her, so that couldn't be a great plan.
Sakura's next idea had been to interrogate him about it, but pestering that boy would get her nowhere. She made the excuse for him that since they had been spending so much time together lately that he had just been relieved she was okay and he got caught up in the moment. He meant nothing by it besides he was glad she was alright and that was that.
She didn't like that excuse, but at least if she needed to give him anything that they could at least still be in each other's lives, she'd say that. She'd give anything if that kiss meant something to Sasuke, but that was a pipe dream that would get her nowhere. She'd just have to suffer through it and pretend that it meant nothing to her either.
As he summed up his training, she stood, watching as he made his way over to his supplies and followed suit.
"Hey, want me to take a look at your eyes?" she asked, not mentioning the kiss just yet.
She'd let him bring it up, if he chose to do so. Other than that, tonight she was just his medic.
"Yeah," Sasuke answered.
He reactivated his sharingan and moved closer to her so that she could get a better look at the problem with his eyes. "
They are still uncomfortable when I use the sharingan even without the mangekyou."
She didn't say anything as she lifted up her hands, placing them on either side of his face as she looked at his eyes. She went about examining them before allowing some of her chakra to seep from her fingertips, focusing on healing his eyes to see if that would do anything to ease the... discomfort. She did this for only about thirty seconds before she noticed a change in his expression.
He paused for a moment, looking a bit unsure for a moment before speaking. "I have feelings for you. That's why I kissed you. And I don't regret it."
If someone killed her right then and there, she would of liked to of said she could die happy. Those three words, 'I like you,' were about the closest she could get to the three things she really wanted to hear him say, and she never thought she'd hear them coming from him. Well, coming from him and directed to her.
Before she could respond to it though, she needed to consider everything. Sasuke wasn't just any guy to her, he was theguy, and he'd had his share of rough times, probably enough for the both of them. She'd have to tread lightly with him.
"Sasuke..." She trailed off, not entirely sure what to say to him.
He had to of known how she felt, it wasn't like it had changed in the past three years, but she didn't have a friggin' clue what was going on in his head, even if he did admit to liking her. He had been throwing her so many mixed signals, for instance he stayed with her at the hospital, but then he ditched out on her after kissing her. What the hell was she supposed to do about that? He said he didn't regret it, and she could believe him on that, but did he honestly know how he felt about her? Damn it all... To hell with it.
She slowly lowered her hands to his neck, trailing the pads of her thumbs along his jawline before pulling him down a little bit as she leaned forward the rest of the way. She kissed him gently, but just as he had done, she kept it short, hardly giving him time to react before she pulled away, dropping her hands to her side and taking a step back.
Sakura made no moves to walk away, instead staring at him as if she were waiting for some kind of reaction.
"I don't regret that either."