(11/13/14) edited

Thanks for reviewing: ArjunaAnja and Gaaraslover30240

:] Cake and cookies for all of you! Hehe.

It was actually you, Gaaraslover30240, who motivated me to finally complete this chapter. However, there may be quite a few grammar or spelling mistakes littered through this chapter (because I wanted to get it out as soon as possible) but I'll edit them later on. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: If only, if only, I had thought of the idea of Naruto first. But -sigh- I didn't, so I must be content with just reading it.

Chapter 2: Take My Hand, Tell Me Lies

Three figures were scattered throughout the room, each lost in his own thoughts. The beeping of the heart monitor was the only noise that filled the absolute silence.

Sai sat next to the bed, sketchbook in hand, but his fingers were holding his brush limply. Every now and then he would look up at the figure lying in the bed, begin to draw, but then shake his head and rip out the page. He simply couldn't focus. His head was spinning with questions. Would she have woken up by now if he had run just a bit faster? Would her scars fade, or would they mar her perfect pale skin? When would she wake up?

On the other side of the room, blue eyes pierced the dim atmosphere as they gazed unwaveringly at the bed. Naruto hadn't slept for over 30 hours, refusing to leave the hospital room until he knew she had woken up and would be alright. His thoughts wavered between his injured teammate, and the other long lost teammate that was now being examined in the autopsy room. He would never know if Sasuke meant to return to Konoha eventually or forever betray the village, and now he would never know. Sighing, he shifted in his chair, attempting to find a somewhat comfortable position upon the hard wooden object.

A silver-haired middle aged man crouched on the windowsill, his ever present orange book perched in his hand. Kakashi was never seen without his Icha Icha books, and he would read them at any moment, no matter how random. Today, however, his hand was lax and the pages were never turned. His eyes had skimmed over the same line for the past few hours, and he couldn't stop worrying about his student, lying in that hospital bed as still as death. Though she was breathing, her breaths were shallow and weak. His other student, dead since he had arrived at the battle scene, gave him another regret to ponder on every time he visited the memorial stone. His was another name to add to the list ingrained in his heart and mind.

These three men had dutifully been in the room every since Tsunade had finished healing Sakura. Though Tsunade had told them that she wouldn't wake up for at least two days, they refused to leave the room, and by now probably smelled quite awful, as none of them had taken a shower after returning from their mission. The minutes ticked by slowly as the three ninjas awaited the return of consciousness in their fourth teammate.

Sakura couldn't die, she was the one who linked them all together. The boy who had been shunned ever since he was young enough to walk. The man who had suffered too many losses to count, and until receiving his first genin team had never cracked a real smile. And lastly, the dark and mysterious boy who had been unceremoniously snuck into their team ever so recently. Without her, they would all be lost once more.

Naruto finally stood up and walked over to the bed. He pulled up a chair, sat down, and took Sakura's hand into his own. Though he didn't realize, tears slowly began to slide down his face. Even though she had thought him stupid and extremely annoying when he was young, she had treasured his friendship and made him feel loved. He loved her like a sister, and couldn't bear to lose her, especially now. With Sasuke gone, she was all he had left. She was the only one he could speak to about his problems, and he knew that she would listen every time: no matter how small the situation might be or how stupid his story turned out to be.

"Sakura-chan, come back to us. You can't leave us here. We need you, all of us need you, especially me. I don't think I've ever told you before, but I love you Sakura-chan. You were the first one to treat me like a human, and I'll remember it forever. Wake up, Sakura-chan…"

Kakashi and Sai watched Naruto as he lightly kissed Sakura on the forehead. The door creaked open, and a busty blond woman walked in. Tsunade gazed around and gave each the three men a disappointed and menacing scowl.

"I thought I had told you all to leave and get some rest. She won't be waking up for at least another day. Besides, do you want to be smelly and unkempt when she does wake up? How do you think that'll make her feel? She'd probably be sad and angry that you guys didn't take care of yourselves. I'm telling you once again, no, this time it's an order. I want you guys to get off your asses, go home, and get some rest. I'll notify you immediately when she wakes."

Naruto gave her a defiant look and opened his mouth to retaliate, but Tsunade glared at him and he shut up. He knew what that look meant. 'Do as I say or you'll be in pain.' Sighing, he stood up and slowly walked out the door. Kakashi nodded at the vexed hokage and flashed away in a burst of leaves. Sai glanced down at Sakura one last time and jumped out the window.

Tsunade, apparently happy that the three had finally followed her orders, took Sai's place next to Sakura.

"My obedient and rambunctious pupil, won't you listen to me once more and wake up soon? I don't think you realize how much you're worrying the three of them, how much you're worrying me. I know you wanted to rescue him, but didn't you realize that you were in over your head? You're not yet strong enough to take on so many shinobi at once, especially at their level. I don't think I can ever get rid off all those scars…"

Tsunade jumped up as she realized Sakura was beginning to move. Though it was only a shifting of her arms, she was quite glad that she had made some progress. The next thing that happened surprised her, more than she would admit to Sakura in a later conversation. Sakura opened her eyes. It had only been a little more than a day, but it seemed that she had already regained consciousness. Her body must be a lot stronger than Tsunade had expected.

"Shi-shishou? Where am I?"

"Don't talk too much, Sakura. A kunai punctured one of your lungs, and I had to patch it up as best I could. You might not be able to move for another day because I numbed you while I was healing you, so you wouldn't be in pain the moment you woke up. But, oh kami, I'm glad that you've woken up."

Sakura was beyond surprise when Tsunade began to cry. Besides tears of laughter after drinking far to much, her shishou had never cried in her presence. She felt warmth pool into her body as she realized how much her teacher truly cared for her.

"Where is everyone else? Were they injured in any way?"

Tsunade wiped her eyes and stood up, once again regaining her demeanor of the fifth hokage.

"Those idiots. They seem to think that staying here and watching you without sleeping was going to make you gain consciousness quicker. I sent them away so they'd stop stinking up the room. Shizune will soon go get all of them. I'm sure they'll all be extremely happy that you've awoken."

Sakura laughed. Her boys always made her smile, and she knew they cared greatly for her. They were the three people she could trust with her life, and was happy to know that they were smart enough to listen to Tsunade's demand. Her mind flitted over the incidents of the other day, and her faced sobered.

"Shishou…I know you probably won't want to discuss this, but have you preformed an autopsy on Sasuke's body?"

Tsunade sighed and tugged her ponytails in an agitated manner. She knew that Sakura would want to talk about Sasuke eventually, but she didn't realize that she would do this the moment she awoke.

"Yes, I've examined him myself, and I can say that I don't envy what he had to go through. One of his lungs had been cut out to be replaced by something I have not yet identified, but I believe it was something manufactured by Orochimaru to keep Sasuke under his control. His neck area had developed a rash and was quite irritated, probably caused by Sasuke's itching. Strangely, I could not find any evidence of the curse seal anywhere on Sasuke's person. It was as if it had just disappeared. It didn't even leave any mark on his systems either, though you would think it should. I'm still undergoing my investigation, but I wished to see you before I proceeded."

Sakura untangled the lump in her throat, and choked down the tears that were threatening to fall. Sasuke had led such a hard life in Konoha and had met an even harsher lifestyle after being kidnapped by Orochimaru. Before she could think of anything intelligent to say, the door swung open slowly.

"I knocked, but neither of you heard me. I see you've woken up, Ugly."

Sakura's tears fled as she gazed upon the familiar figure of her friend Sai. His hair was dripping with water, probably from a rushed shower after hearing she had finally woken up, and he had that ever fake smile plastered onto his face.

"Drop it, Sai. You know I hate it when you make that expression. It's better to see you neutral than stare at that creepy smile of yours for hours on end."

Sai nodded and returned his face to his natural position. It indeed was more comfortable to have this stoic and emotionless expression on his face rather than attempt to smile awkwardly every single minute. Sai was glad that Sakura and Tsunade understood and didn't mind this. He looked up when he felt fingers gently touching the side of his face.

"You're hurt."

His heart fluttered slightly when he saw the saddened expression on Sakura's face. What was this emotion? Why was he suddenly feeling this way? And around none other than "Ugly?" Well, he supposed that he wouldn't call her Ugly, the way she looked now. Sakura had grown her hair out once more, and now her long, pink locks hung to just above her hips. Her forehead (yea, still somewhat big) wasn't the first thing that caught peoples' eyes anymore, it was her captivating jade green eyes. They were always filled with some sort of emotion. Most ninjas' eyes became dull and lifeless after long years of service, seeing their loved ones die right in front of their eyes, but Sakura seemed to have a more optimistic outlook on life. Right now though, Sai could tell that she was extremely worried about him.

"I'm fine, it's just a few minor scratches, only skin deep."

Tsunade scowled at him, but upon observing the pain etched into Sakura's features from seeing one of her teammates hurt, she kept her mouth closed. Of course, she wouldn't call a gash to the stomach that almost punctured his organs a scratch, or that gaping hole in his arm from a deeply embedded kunai into his bicep anything minor. She couldn't, however, bear to see any more pain reflected in her pupil's eyes.

"I'll leave you two to talk then. I have to get back to some of my other patients."

Sai and Sakura nodded goodbye to the Fifth Hokage as she stepped out of the door, gently closing it behind her. They sat there in comfortable silence for a few minutes, before Sakura started speaking.

"So what happened after I…left? I'm assuming you guys came after me?"

"Yes. Kakashi-sensei, Naruto and I discovered you had left approximately four hours after your departure from the gates of Konoha. We promptly informed the Hokage that we were going after you and raced at top speed, with Kakashi's ninken leading us. When we were closing in, around 10 enemy shinobi attacked us and we had to fight them off. I'm guessing that they were all around chuunin or jounin level, and therefore they weren't too difficult to take care of. However, a few of them were quite clever and were able to draw some blood out of us. We were able to annihilate them quite quickly and continue. When we arrived we…"

Sai stopped abruptly, no knowing whether he should continue or not. What they had stumbled upon was not a very pretty sight. Sakura however, squeezed his shoulder, urging him to keep speaking.

"When we arrived to your location, we thought we had stumbled upon an earthquake. The trees were uprooted, some of them were even falling over. And…there was blood everywhere. The bodies of the shinobi were cut open, some of them missing limbs. And in the middle of it all, we found you. At first we thought you were dead, but Kakashi-sensei performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation and attempted to wake you. When you did wake, however, you spoke as if you were going to die. When you fainted again Kakashi and Naruto assumed you were dead, but I would not believe it. I felt a very small heartbeat and raced back towards Konoha. What happened next, I'm sure you can guess yourself."

Sakura grimaced. Her teammates had gone through so much just to get her back. How could she have been so selfish? She would have never forgiven herself if her teammates had been killed, partly because she knew it would have been her fault.

"Are Naruto and Kaka-sensei fine? Have they been hurt too?"

"They have been taken care of by Hokage-sama, and are now waiting for us at Ichiraku. Hokage-sama said that you could leave if you are feeling better and were escorted."

Sakura, eager to see her other two teammates, immediately agreed. Sai waited outside for her while she changed into her normal clothes. Sakura's clothing had changed quite a bit over the years, but she finally found something that fit her battle style and was quite comfortable to wear. An unzipped dark red vest over a tight-fitting black tank top graced her upper body. On her left hand she still wore her signature black fingerless glove, cut off at the wrist, but on her right arm she wore her black fingerless glove all the way up to her bicep. She wore a dark red slitted skirt over black shorts, with dark red fishnet stocking trailing down her left leg. She wore regulation black ninja sandals and her right leg bore her pouch filled with shinobi weapons.

When she finished dressing, she walked out and followed Sai to Ichiraku. Their walk was silent but not uncomfortable. After 3 years of working on the same team, she had come to know that Sai was perfectly fine with not speaking for hours on end. This, in no way, meant that he did not enjoy the company of others. He simply preferred to sit in comfortable silence.

"SAKURA-CHAAAAAAAAAN!"

Sakura let out an "oof" as she was attacked by a yellow and orange ball of Naruto.

"Hey dickless, maybe you shouldn't be so brutal with your hugs right now. Ugly's injuries aren't completed healed yet."

"Shut up you queer! Sakura-chan, I'm so happy that you're ok."

Laughing at the exchanged between her two best friends, Sakura allowed Naruto to pull her off the ground and lead her towards the ramen stand. She knew that their name-calling was harmless, a friendly exchange of sorts, if you might say, between two good friends. She knew that they would be able to trust each other with anything, now that Sai had cut off all ties with Danzou.

"Ohayo, Sakura-chan."

"Ohayo, Kaka-sensei."

Sakura let out a big smile as she walked over to Kakashi and gave him a hug. He was like a father to her, and she could tell him anything, knowing that he would have some sort of advice to give her.

"Ma, ma, Sakura-chan. How many times have I told you to stop calling me sensei?"

"Gomen, Kaka-sensei. I guess I'm just too used to it."

"GROUP HUG! Come here, queer-baka!"

Sai scowled but allowed Naruto to drag him into the Team Kakashi group hug. It did feel good to have their whole team together again. He was the first to find Sakura gone, and almost left by himself to go find her. For some reason, he had felt his heart drop into his stomach, almost as if he was afraid to lose her, that he would fall apart if he had found her dead. Shaking his head, he disentangled himself from the hug and walked up to a table to order himself a bowl of ramen. Naruto followed, and ordered three bowls. Kakashi preferred to sit there and giggle perversely over his Icha Icha book, and Sakura was perfectly content with watching her three men while sipping on some miso ramen. It was indeed good to be back.

The wind fluttered and blew strands of her hair out of her loose bun as she sat on the Hokage Monument. It was common to find Sakura sitting out there on warm nights, watching the stars and sometimes even falling asleep. A black shadow flew over the rooftops and landed beside her.

"Hey, Sai. Come to join me in watching the stars?"

He nodded and sat down beside her. For some reason, he knew that she would be up here, craving the company of another. He was right, and was glad that he was the only one to be here. For some reason, he was always more comfortable when he was alone with Sakura. Perhaps it was that she understood him the best out of the members of Team Kakashi. She could read him like a book, which was saying something, because he tended to not show any emotions at all. Sighing, Sakura placed her chin upon her knees and drew her knees closer to her, as if hoping she could cut herself off from the world and into a safer place.

"You guys shouldn't have come after me."

"What are you talking about?"

"You guys might have gotten hurt. You shouldn't have come after me. It was my own fault that I didn't think my strategy through, so if I died it would have been my own fault. But, if you guys died I would've never forgiven myself."

"But we didn't die. And you didn't die. So everything is fine."

"Everything is fine…I don't think anything is ever fine. Just look at the world. So full of murder, so full of hatred and death. So many young children tainted by the blood of war and battle. They shouldn't have to be subject to this kind of world. I mean, just look at us. We've just barely turned 18, and we have seen death. We have brought death upon others, and our hands are forever stained with blood. Maybe ignorance is bliss? I've always wondered what I would've been like if I had never decided to sign up for ninja academy. Perhaps my family would still talk to me? I never would've witnessed death. I would be married by now, and my husband wouldn't let me do any work. My hands would be soft instead of calloused and rough after years of training. But what then? I would be ignorant and haughty, perhaps. I wouldn't know of the suffering of others, and I probably could care less how many people die in a single day. So in a way I am glad my ignorance is lost, because I can understand the suffering of others, and sometimes I can take that suffering away. That's one of the reasons I decided to become a medic, you see."

While she was speaking, Sai had slowly inched closer to Sakura, and now their bodies were touching. It was nice to feel the small amount of body heat flow from one to the other in the cool, spring night. Sakura laid down on her back, and a minute later Sai decided to join her.

"If I had never become a ninja, I wouldn't have met you guys. So I don't regret my decision, not then, not ever."

He knew that silence was the best policy to take here, and just let her speak while he listened. It seemed, however, that she was slowly falling asleep. Without warning, Sakura grabbed his hand and squeezed, gently.

"I'm glad you came here tonight Sai. I'm glad I met you those 3 years ago. You've become one of my closest friends. I hope we'll always stay friends, even after death."

Sakura drifted off to sleep soon after, and Sai turned his head to look at her. Some strands of her hair fluttered onto her face, and her pale skin glowed in the moonlight. No, she wasn't ugly at all…she was beautiful, and it had taken him three long years to realize it. He did not know what he was feeling right now, but his heart had clenched when Sakura spoke the word "friend." Perhaps he wished to be something more? But he knew that Sakura's heart had been broken by Sasuke and had not yet been mended, so for now he would stay by her side as a loyal friend.

"Yes…we'll always be friends, Sakura."

Wahhhhhhh! It's done, after a long time of writer's block, I finally finished it. YOSH. SORRY FOR THE GRAMMAR/SPELLING MISTAKES. Tell me, was this a boring chapter? T^T It was, wasn't it? Well, -sigh- at least it's out. Next chapter shall be…better? lol I hope so xD

Please R & R!

:] ~sakuya