Hey guys!

Sorry for LOOOOONG delay…school has been crazy.

But I'm trying to write and sort out all my ideas, so bear with me :)

I hope this chapter will satisfy you guys for the long wait!

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Must I do this all the time? I do not own Naruto and its characters.

Chapter 8- Could It Be?

It's been an exhausting day at the hospital. Twenty ANBUs came back injured from defending themselves against the Akatsuki, who were still intact. On top of that, there were 7 pregnancies, 10 other check-ups, and Tsunade's pissed-off attitude at the Akatsuki. It was too much to take for any regular person, but Sakura wasn't just regular. She had to take care of each and every ANBU, each terrified newborn's mother, and each ninja and villager that needed healing. Even with all those healings and treatments, Sakura didn't complain. She enjoyed being able to treat all of those people and smiled warmly the whole day. That's why everyone wanted to be healed by Sakura. But now, she was on her way to Sasuke's estate, around 12 at night.

"I hope he's not waiting for me this late," thought Sakura.

It's been around a week since she's been checking up on Sasuke every night and just the other night, Sasuke gave her a copy of the keys to the house in case he was sleeping and she was late. Sakura smiled at how close they've already gotten. Once in a while, Sasuke would come visit her at the hospital and help out with some hospital stuff. But don't get her wrong, he was still quiet and closed off, but sometimes Sakura sees Sasuke open up to her.

As soon as she thought of Sasuke, she thought about what Ino said previously today.

FLASHBACK

"Sakura, did I tell you that there's something different about you ever since you've been visiting Sasuke?" said Ino, watching her friend getting information of patients from the front desk.

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Sakura as she turned around and looked at herself, "I don't see any changes."

"Well I do. It's your eyes. They seem much brighter and clearer than they used to be. It's much prettier now," Ino said with a suspicious look on her face.

"My eyes? What do you mean? And why are you looking at me like that?" asked Sakura.

"Sakura, are you and Sasuke dating? Is that it?!" asked Ino excitedly.

"No!! Of course not! I don't think we're strangers anymore, but maybe… friends?" said Sakura.

"Hmm…friends…right. But seriously, it's not only your eyes. Just everything about you has gotten brighter and happier ever since meeting Sasuke," said Ino.

"Or maybe it's just what you think," said Sakura.

"Hmm…nope. Tenten and Hinata also agree. WAIT! Do you like him?" asked Ino.

"Huh? No! I told you we're just friends!" said Sakura, red-faced.

"Friends, eh? Okay then, Sakura. See ya around," said Ino, walking out of the hospital, leaving behind a frustrated Sakura.

"Of course she's brighter and happier since meeting Sasuke. Even though she doesn't know it, she has an everlasting bond with Sasuke, and the girls and I can see that. Without her knowing, she probably is starting to like him again," thought Ino as she walked to Shikamaru's house.

END FLASHBACK

"Hmm…me liking Sasuke? No way," said Sakura as she shook her head of the thought and continued to the Compound.

Once there, she was relieved to find that all the lights were turned off, meaning that Sasuke was asleep. She walked up to the front door, dug into her purse for the silver key, and opened the door with the key and stepped inside.

"Neat and tidy as always," thought Sakura, smirking as she walked up to his bedroom.

When she reached his door, she quietly opened the door and whispered, "Sasuke? I'm here."

She looked in to find Sasuke on his bed, deep in his sleep. He was sleeping on his side, facing her, with his blanket covering half of his body. She walked closer and examined him with her medic eyes, which were able to pinpoint certain areas on a person's body that were injured or bruised. When she looked around, there were a few cuts here and there, a big purple bruise growing on his leg, and a slight wound that most definitely came from a kunai. And, once again, his wound on his stomach opened slightly again.

"Training again,"grumbled Sakura as she activated her healing chakra and started with the minor cuts and bruises.

While she was healing his body, she looked over at his face and was surprised. Sasuke looked so…peaceful and warm in his sleep. His cold demeanor was safely tucked away when he was unconscious with sleep and Sakura couldn't help but marvel at the thought that Sasuke has an innocent side to him that can only be seen at night, when he's sleeping.

By the time she was done, Sakura was ready to collapse. She's been using her chakra the whole day on her patients and used a couple of chakra boosting potions, but by the time she was finished in the hospital, she was dangerously low on chakra. Although sleep enveloped her whole body, she knew staying at Sasuke's house wasn't an option. Plus, it would be rude of her to spend the night without the host's permission. So slowly, Sakura got up from where she sat in front of Sasuke and slowly grabbed her purse and was about to walk away when a hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.

Sakura turned around, "Sasuke! You're awake."

"Sakura…" whispered Sasuke, looking up at her.

Sakura immediately noticed what she had failed to see before: dark purplish circles forming under his eyes, hair ruffled around so un-Sasuke like, and his tired expression on his face; they all pointed out that Sasuke was very much sleep deprived.

"Sasuke, you're exhausted. I know the way out, so go back to sleep," said Sakura as she tried to move away from his grasp, only to have him grab tighter.

"Sakura…you're more exhausted than me. You're too low on chakra to be safe on the streets, let alone get home before collapsing. Just spend the night here," said Sasuke.

"Sasuke, I'm o-"

"No Sakura, you're not okay. You're tired," said Sasuke, who was getting tired of repeating the same thing over and over again.

"Okay then Sasuke. If you're okay with it. I'll sleep on the couch-"

Sakura was then cut off when Sasuke pulled her in, having her land on the bed, "the couch is uncomfortable," said Sasuke as he pulled her into his embrace.

"…S-Sasuke?" whispered a shocked Sakura as she thought, "this is so wrong!"

"Sakura, nothing's going to happen. Just go to sleep," said Sasuke.

"Okay… oyasuminasai (good night)," said Sakura as she closed her eyes and tried to go to sleep, trying not to focus on the strong pair of arms around her shoulders and the muscular chest right in front of her face.

"Hn," said Sasuke, holding her closer and having an arm slide down to hold her waist, satisfied in secret at the tiny squeak heard from her mouth.

In truth, the couch was one of the most comfortable places to sleep in the house. However, Sasuke was so intoxicated by Sakura's mere presence that he got curious at how she would feel in his embrace. Plus, he got worried that Sakura would indeed faint before reaching her house or have someone bad show up without the strength to fight them off. There was one thing he was sure of though: when he sees Sakura before going to sleep, he holds her image in his head throughout the night, chasing his nightmares away. But, since he couldn't see Sakura before going to sleep that day, the nightmares came back full force, like a cheetah waiting for the perfect time to strike at its prey. He barely fell back asleep after waking from his nightmare when Sakura stepped into the house. Sasuke needed her so badly that it hurt physically, mentally, AND emotionally.

Sakura was now a necessity for Sasuke.

Soon, the exhausted Sakura fell asleep in the arms of a tired Sasuke.

At 3 in the morning, Sasuke woke up.

He didn't know why he woke up, but he when he looked down, he was surprised that he wasn't the only one sleeping on his bed. Once his thought process worked, he remembered the events around 3 hours ago and realized it was just Sakura in his arms. He looked down at her sleeping face tenderly. She looked so innocent and small when sleeping, something you can't see when she's awake. It reminded Sasuke of the Sakura 4 years ago and smiled slightly.

"She really has grown…" thought Sasuke as he noticed Sakura's arms loosely surrounding his waist in her sleep.

She was so loveable that he couldn't help but lay back down and hold her tighter, feeling her also tighten her embrace in respond. He would give anything to have Sakura's memories return to tell her of his love for her. But for now, it would have to remain hidden away in his heart until the time the real Sakura came back. The Sakura that remembered him for who he was. He brought the blanket back up around them and started to think.

For the past week, even he could see that they've gotten closer than before. Sakura was now very comfortable with visiting him and considered him as her friend. A few days ago, she admitted to him that sometimes visiting him was the best part of her day. He couldn't agree any less, although he didn't tell her. Most of the time now once she finished checking up on him, they would sit around and talk for a good few hours until he would tell her to go home and rest. They would talk about anything, from Naruto growing up to her intense training all these years. Ever since they've gotten closer, he started to worry about her walking home by herself every night and started to walk her home. He knew he had nothing to worry about, but he just couldn't help himself. Sometimes he would visit her in the hospital too. At the thought of the past week, Sasuke closed his eyes.

"Am I really doing the right thing?" thought Sasuke.

"Should I just leave her alone and let her live her life…without me?" he thought. But as soon as he thought about it, his heart forcedly rejected the idea.

"I'll worry about that later…" thought Sasuke as he looked down tenderly at Sakura's sleeping face and started to lull back into sleep. Sasuke held her tight and was consumed by sleep once again.

Few hours later…

Sakura woke up from her deep sleep. She had never felt so refreshed in her life!

"That had to be the best sleep I ever got!" thought Sakura, who was getting up when she realized that a strong pair of arms were holding her gently; one around her shoulder and another around her waist. Then she gasped in shock.

"Sasuke! I slept in Sasuke's bed! WITH Sasuke!" thought Sakura as she covered her mouth with her hand in shock.

From the tiny movements from Sakura, Sasuke was also waken up and stared down at Sakura, who was looking up at him with wide eyes.

"Uh…Sasuke?" said Sakura, getting red-faced with embarrassment.

"Hn? Oh," Sasuke then noticed their awkward position and removed his arms from her. Sakura then immediately stood up from the bed.

"Uh...sorry about ruining your sleep Sasuke. And thanks for letting me stay over. Then I'll be on my way," said Sakura, fighting the urge to run straight out of the room, out of the house, and out of the area as fast as she could.

"Hn, where are you going?" said Sasuke, calmly, although on the inside he was bursting with emotion at the sight of Sakura so embarrassed and awkward.

"I'm heading home and then going to work again," said Sakura, not being able to hold back a sigh at how routine her life is.

Sasuke, of course, didn't miss that, "You don't have work today."

Sakura laughed at the crazy statement, "I never get off from work. I can't get off from work. The patients need me. And plus, how would you know if I didn't have work?"

"Tsunade called yesterday before you got here. And there are other doctors to tend for the patients," said Sasuke.

"Hmm…nah, I'm still going with my instinct and going to work. But the hospital is like my home. I need to be there to feel comfortable," said Sakura, happy that their awkwardness dissipated quickly.

"Just relax for one day. Go out with friends, have fun. Or stay at home and do something. Just rest up," said Sasuke.

"I can't. And I really need to be going. I'll see you later, Sasuke," said Sakura, hurriedly leaving the room and out the door, into the cool air of the morning.

"Why is he so concerned about my well being? Can it be that he really cares?" thought Sakura, and when remembering the feeling of security when his arms were around her, it made her feel embarrassed that she ran all the way home.

When she got home, she realized that Sasuke was telling the truth.

Tsunade left a note on the door saying that because of her excessive labor from yesterday, she was granting Sakura a day off. She also wrote that she had called Sasuke last night, but she didn't know if it would get to her.

"Wow, he was actually telling the truth," thought Sakura, "but then again, when has he really lied to you?"

Without her work, she had nothing to do for the rest of the day. But she took upon Sasuke's offer and decided to just watch movies all day on her comfortable couch and have a day of leisure at home.

After taking a long hot bath, Sakura stepped out of the bathroom in her bathrobe when the doorbell rang. She gasped and ran to her room and put on some comfortable clothes. The doorbell rang again.

"Hold on! I'll be right there!" yelled Sakura as she raced to the door, opening to find a slightly amused Sasuke, looking at Sasuke with her loose-fit shirt and sweatpants.

"S-Sasuke? What are you doing here?" asked Sakura.

"I told you," said Sasuke.

"Huh?"

"I told you that you didn't have work today," said Sasuke with a smirk.

"Yeah…" grumbled Sakura, letting Sasuke in.

"So what are you doing here? You never answered me," said Sakura, bringing two cups of orange juice to the living room, where Sasuke was walking around looking at her pictures. Sasuke was so distracted by something that he didn't hear Sakura.

"Earth to Sasuke, Sasuke are you there?" said Sakura walking over to Sasuke, who was staring at an empty place on top of the counter…where a picture should have been. Sasuke knew which one.

"What happened to the picture here?" asked Sasuke, pointing to the empty place.

"Oh, I think it was a picture of my team and me in our genin days. Naruto said he needed to borrow it and never gave it back," said Sakura.

"Hn, I see," said Sasuke, "nice move, dobe."

"Sasuke!"

"Hn?"

"You never answered my question!"

"Which one?"

"What are you doing here?"

"Oh. I wanted to ask you if you wanted to hang out with me for today.

"W-What?"

"Sakura, you know I don't like to repeat myself."

"Oh. Right. Sorry."

"Is this too much at once?" thought Sasuke uneasily while he watched Sakura scrutinizing his face.

"What is he trying to do? I don't understand…And why is my heart thumping so fast?" thought Sakura.

"Sakura? You alright?"

"Oh yeah. Sorry about that. And I would be happy to hang out with you!" said Sakura, "at least, that's what my heart wants…"

"Okay then. What were you gonna do today?" asked Sasuke, "I can't believe she actually said yes!"

"Well…I was just gonna watch movies and chill at home. Is that okay?"

"Hn," said Sasuke, taking a seat on the couch.

Sakura almost laughed as she went into the kitchen for some refreshments. She could never picture Sasuke so casual looking at her home.

Sakura walked back to the couch, put down the refreshments on the coffee table, and took a seat next to Sasuke. Once they chose their movie, which happened to be "A Walk to Remember", they sat back and started to watch. That's when the awkwardness started.

At first, everything was okay, with Landon and Jamie in the beginning of the movie. But once the romance began between the two characters, it became awkward with Sasuke and Sakura. They both were stiff in their seats, trying so hard not to show any signs of emotion.

"In my whole entire life…" thought Sasuke.

"…I never felt this way for someone," thought Sakura, "could it mean that I have feelings for Sasuke?"

But by the end of the movie, both Sasuke and Sakura were getting kinda drowsy from waking up so early in the morning. Sasuke briefly closed his eyes when he felt something on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and looked over to see Sakura sleeping, leaning on his shoulder. He smiled and leaned back on the couch so Sakura was leaning on his chest, sleeping comfortably. He knew it was wrong to do this without her permission, but he wrapped an arm around her waist, drew her closer to him, and then planted a light kiss on her forehead. Then Sasuke began to fall asleep for the second time with his lover in his arms.

Wow…I suck at uploading new chapters.

I'm really sorry that guys.

But! I hope you guys enjoyed at last chapter. There was a lot of SasuSaku fluff, right?

But yeah, I'll try my best to continue writing, so bear with me!

Until next time!

Love, Cilla :)