Her breathe hitched and she opened her eyes with a jolt. Her heart palpitated, fluttering in her chest like a trapped moth.
Her eyes drifted around the room. She could make out the dark outlines of her dresser and doorframe.
Crickets softly chirped in an off kilter synchrony outside the window.
Her curtains were slightly open allowing blocks of light to spill across her bedroom wall from the streetlight.
The room felt still and crisp.
Sakura closed her eyes and her fingers ghosted against her lips. They tingled and pulsed, right where he would have pressed his lips to hers.
She released a breathe and shifted to on her side.
Her hair slipping off her shoulder and falling into her face.
The bed was empty at her side.
Her arm drifted over the spot where he'd laid. It was warm.
Sakura retracted her hand and pulled the sheet up over her bare chest. She curled into her side pulling the sheet tighter against her body.
What a cruel way to say goodbye.
Sakura watched him down every drop of water.
His neck craned back in an elegant arch. Something about it looked very masculine and regal.
Sasuke passed back the empty canister and murmured a quiet, "thanks" wiping away a stray droplet.
Sakura accepted it wordlessly, not allowing their fingers to brush.
He hadn't even looked at her. His curtain of raven locks created a wall between them. It was a barrier he'd needed to accompany his trademark silence.
She could feel the reality coagulating in air now that she was in Sasuke's conscious presence. The heavy thrum of his chakra was spreading out like a thin sheet of fog across the floor and lapped at her feet.
His quiet used to feel deafening and Sakura liked to fill it with gentle questions to coax him into conversation. She was always trying to understand him, trying to pick up on his passing glances.
But a lot changed.
Ibiki taught her to thrive in quiet. He taught her how to wield it like a blade.
They sat there in what seemed like a quiet mediation, the but the air was charged with a beating tension. Sakura's hands sat on her lap patiently waiting for the young Uchiha to speak.
It didn't take long to see how her silence unnerved him.
Sasuke cleared his throat, and leaned on his upturned knee.
"Did Kakashi send you?" He finally asked. His voice was husky and indifferent, like he was speaking to a stranger.
Sakura wet her lips, mildly surprised at his question.
They both knew Kakashi wouldn't make a request like that. He respected Sasuke's choice to leave the village, and Naruto had long given up on bringing Sasuke back.
It was borderline insulting for him to imply she was on a retrieval mission- for him.
"I needed a place to rest after my mission and I found you here-"
She tried to keep it to as few words as possible. More words meant more opportunities for her to open up doors. It was clear she'd healed him. The dried blood and nearly invisible scar on his chest was evidence of that.
Sasuke shifted his gaze so he was looking at her mask. "Aa" he said in quiet understanding, an unusual flicker of emotion in his voice.
The birds of the forest had slowly been gaining volume. First light was fanning into the room, casting them both in a white hue.
"Are you injured?" Sasuke asked, still fixated on her mask, his voice had softened, but he refused to meet her eyes.
"No." Sakura said cooly. The irony wasn't lost on her. The concern lacing his words dropped into Sakura's heart with a pained thud.
"You're almost out of chakra." Sasuke pointed out.
"I'll survive." Sakura said plainly, daring him to look in her direction.
Sasuke's chakra wavered, and she could tell he was about to chastise her. But they both knew he had no right. "You should have saved your chakra."
Sakura's lips curved down. She was reminded of the trail of blood, and the night she'd woken up to a cold bed.
"And let you bleed out?" She said, schooling her expression to trained platitude but underneath she was loosing her patience.
She couldn't count the nights he'd come to her on the edge of death. Sakura would patch the man she loved back together and wonder when he would stop pushing his limits.
He couldn't even muster a thanks.
Sakura watched his jaw tighten. The Uchiha adjusted the shirt she'd torn open to heal his chest.
"I would have been fine."
Sakura closed her eyes for a brief moment and inhaled, she'd had enough. He had no reason to lie to her for his own ego. She deftly got off her knees and moved to stand.
"Sakura"
The low timbre of his voice sounded nearly as pained.
Sakura felt her body respond on instinct, hating it. Her muscles froze and she stared eye level with him.
"I'm sorry." he said lowly, so low she almost couldn't hear it.
Sakura's inadvertently felt her pulse sped up. Sasuke still hasn't looked into her eyes. His face now bowed to the floor.
Sakura exhaled, "Don't apologize." Sakura said tersely taking her mask off it's holster. The ceramic felt heavy and reassuring in her hand. She didn't want an apology from him and she didn't need him making her feel guilty about healing him.
Sakura leaned forward on the balls of her feet in an effort to stand.
In a blurred motion she felt firm rough fingers clasp her wrist stopping her from putting on her mask. "I'm sorry."
The words were louder now, more sincere and accompanied by two striking eyes searching for her own. She met his gaze and the air shifted. Her defenses seemed to melt away and her frown disintegrated.
She was reminded of how disarming he was and the hypnotic and deadly hold he could have on anyone that met his orbs. But this look was gentle, one that she'd only seen when all the walls were down and he was looking at her, really looking at her.
Her heart beat rhythmically in a steady thrum and one final loud thud broke her trance.
"For what?" The familiar words tumbled out her mouth without a second thought.
Hope you enjoyed this drably kinda writing, I feel like this is a good place to end but I'd consider continuing. I could give more backstory on Sakura's ANBU status! Lmk in the comments :)