A/N: This chapter centers around Sakura's personal space or, lack thereof, because of Team 7's constant presence. I wanted to show how close Team 7 would have gotten if Sasuke had just stayed. There would have been awkward moments as they grew and this story is partially to tell those stories, but in a light, funny way.

This chapter was also partially inspired by a conversation I had with one of my fourth grade students. He didn't understand his sisters missing school due to their periods, but he articulated his feelings on the matter so well that I was able to help him understand them further. I hope that those reading this find a bit of themselves in this chapter. Periods aren't taboo, y'all!

XxX

Sakura's POV

Age: 14

XxX

Sakura couldn't have picked a worse time for her period to show up. They were three days from the village and too close to intercepting their targets for Sakura to make a fuss about it, so she tried not to think about the uncomfortable conversation she was going to have to have with the boys.

She'd had her cycle every month for the past year, but her team hadn't caught on to anything. Well, Kakashi knew, but she chose to tell him since . He was just as clinical as he always was, but awkwardly congratulated her before patting her head.

Sakura shuddered at the memory.

Thankfully, she'd been able to escape missions during her four days of feminine torture. That way, the two idiots never saw her flinching or stumbling when the stabbing pains of her uterus committed mutiny against her. Sakura made a vow to not show weakness in front of them and she was desperate to keep it. However, now that Orochimaru wasn't a threat and Sasuke was allowed out of the village, their missions started ramping up again, regardless of her biological cycles.

Sakura took a deep breath and tried to ignore the reflex to press on her abdomen to stem the premenstrual cramps. She didn't because she knew if she favored one side or made even the slightest indication that she wasn't okay, the teammate next to her would question her incessantly. She wanted to get this mission over with, go home, and soak in a nice, warm bath.

"We're in position," Sakura whispered to Naruto. "They should be coming down the path soon."

While Naruto and Sakura watched from the branches above for the bandits terrorizing the borders of Konoha, Sasuke and Kakashi waited on the ground. The plan was simple, one that Sakura even came up with, but she didn't have the spare energy to feel good about it. She was too busy trying not to pass out from the sharp stings of pain.

When she heard the distinct bird call from Kakashi, Sakura took a deep breath and dropped from the trees. Sure enough, several bedraggled men were coming over the hill, laughing and sporting ninja weapons like they were toys. Sakura didn't need to pretend when she slumped over and fell to her knees, clutching her stomach. She let out a gasp of pain, the only one she'd allow until she was home alone. Here, her teammates would think she was acting.

"Help," she called out, looking up at the men through her pink hair. She batted her eyelashes. "Oh, please come help me!"

The men looked up at her voice and walked faster. Sakura tried to keep the look of disgust off of her face, but it was hard. She'd never get used to the way older men talked to her or eyed her body. She knew it was a weapon against them, but it didn't make her feel good. Still, she let herself tremble a bit with fright, her eyes wide when she looked up.

All of the men paused, their own eyes widening. Disgusting, Sakura thought to herself before she said, "I-I'm lost! Can-can you h-help me?"

Sakura swore the lead man licked his lips before bending down to her level. He leaned forward to brush her hair away and-

A barrage of shuriken came flying out of nowhere and his hand was no longer near her. Neither was his body, for that matter, as he was now pinned to a tree by multiple, now bloody shuriken.

Sakura leapt to her feet and launched several kunai at the remaining men while Naruto, Kakashi, and Sasuke jumped into the fray. More weapons crashed and flew through the air while they worked together to round the bandits. Truly, it was easy for the teens to coral the civilians with barely any true fighting experience. Naruto knocked out at least four of them with his clones while Sasuke managed to tie up four more with his wires and shuriken.

Sakura battled two, knocking out one and subduing the third. She held him down in the dirt and called for Naruto to send a clone over with rope, but she couldn't get the words out. The man elbowed her in the side before kicking backward, shoving her off of him and onto the hard dirt in a second.

Sakura sprang to her feet and went to block the man's sloppy kick, but a sharp pain in her abdomen caused her to falter. She yelped when the kick got her in the thigh and she went down to one knee, ducking just in time to avoid a flying fist, but not in time to avoid being tackled to the ground.

Sasuke and Naruto were there, seconds later. Sasuke had the man by the throat and slammed him down on the ground. It was only a bit more excessive than Naruto doubling his clones to surround her long enough for Sasuke to tie the man's hands behind his back.

"I'm fine," Sakura muttered. These moments, when the boys went overboard, never ceased to make her feel incredibly protected and unbelievably useless at the same time. She rose on steady hands and eyed their new captives. "Good work, guys."

Sasuke rose from his crouch and eyed her, checking her for injuries like he always did when the battle ended. His eyes narrowed on her lower half. "You're bleeding."

"What?" Naruto asked, his clones moving to guard the prisoners while he made his way over. "Sakura's hurt?"

Sakura didn't feel hurt. She looked down and felt like screaming, finally feeling the wet, warm blood as soon as she saw the evidence staining her clothes and skin. The edges of her skirt were specked with the blood that slowly dripped down the inside of her thighs.

Sakura officially was having the worst day ever.

Kakashi's eyes only widened in concern for a second before he twitched. "Ah," he began awkwardly, one hand rising to the back of his neck. He gave Sakura a grim sort of look, and she knew he felt awful that this was happening to her for a multitude of reasons. "Sakura's fine. She just needs a bandage and we can head out."

Sasuke frowned, taking a step closer to Sakura. Why couldn't he just stop looking at her? "Where's the wound?"

"Oh my gods," Sakura whispered to herself. She closed her eyes and prayed that lightning would strike and kill her.

"Sakura, are you really okay?" came Naruto's concerned tone, definitely getting closer.

"She's fine, Naruto," Kakashi said, a bit more heat behind his words.

She could feel Sasuke's eyes on her. "Kakashi, it's a lot of blood. We should-"

"For fucks sake, I am fine," Sakura snapped, completely overwhelmed from embarrassment and another dash of period cramp. She fought a grimace, but they all saw her expression flicker for a moment.

"See!" Naruto called, looking irritated now. "She flinched!"

Sasuke looked too calm for her liking. "Sakura, what is going on? You can't just-"

"It's my period!" Sakura shrieked, throwing her hands in the air. "I'm fed up with the damn secrecy and taboo or whatever! I'm a fucking girl and it happens, okay? If you're my teammates, you'll stop looking at me like I'm crazy, and get me a fucking bandage!"

Both boys froze upon her first exclamation, their expressions slowly morphing. Naruto looked completely unsure of what to say while his mouth opened and closed, whereas Sasuke looked shocked, like the thought of Sakura having her period never occurred to him. Which, of course, she knew it probably never had.

Sakura took a deep breath to steady herself, but found it shaky. She looked down, knowing that if someone didn't say something soon, she was sure she was going to c-

"Here."

Sakura looked up to find Sasuke in front of her, holding a bundle of white bandages. He had them extended towards her, his pack against the tree open and against the ground. She looked up from the bandages, wide-eyed and shocked that it was Sasuke of all people, bridging the gap.

His eyebrows furrowed slightly, but he extended his arm further out. Sakura quickly took the bandages and murmured a quiet thank you, unable to stop her treacherous heart from beating faster in her chest.

Then she stopped it. He wasn't her Sasuke, he wasn't doing this because he loved her, he was doing it because she was his teammate and she needed help. Once she reminded herself, Sakura found it easier to face him.

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun," she said a bit louder. She took a step back, pointing to the trees. "I'll be… right back."

Sasuke, Kami bless him, let her have her awkward moment without a snide comment. He nodded and said, "We'll get them rounded up to be moved."

Sakura didn't wait for another second. She darted into the trees and nearly wept for joy when she realized how many wraps Sasuke gave her. Eventually, her eyes did water a bit in embarrassment, but she was able to sniff them away when she realized she had more than enough to wipe her thighs clean and line the inside of her ruined shorts.

With a confidence she expertly faked, Sakura walked with her head held high all the way back to Konoha. When her cramps hit, she still tried to hide them, but now that all three of her boys were made painfully and visibly aware of her condition, their normally sparse looks were feeling near constant. Every time she felt her facial features even flicker for a second, she swore she saw Sasuke's hand twitch.

Her only prayer for the journey home was that the sharingan didn't grant Sasuke any weird, body scanning powers he hadn't told them about.

She left as soon as their debrief was done and raced home, desperate to shower. Naruto quietly asked her if she was okay before she left. She wanted to snap, but the genuine look of concern in her eyes softened her enough to give him a smile. Sasuke gave her nothing but a 'See you later', but she didn't expect anything from him, so she took it.

She would have given it back to him if she realized his words meant sooner, rather than later.

XxX

Sasuke's POV

Same Day

XxX

The entire walk home, Sasuke felt very odd. He couldn't stop thinking about how angry he had been when he saw Sakura on the ground. That disgusting civilian bandit was hovering over her with the same look in his eye he had when he first saw her. The leader had been licking his lips at the pink haired girl, but Sasuke sensed a different danger from the other man. He was more sinister and wanted more from his teammate.

Sasuke stopped denying he felt protective of Sakura and Naruto after the fight with Orochimaru. The feeling of having been knocked out while they nearly died trying to save him was unbearable. He was an Uchiha, he was supposed to be the one who lasted the longest, who was the last man standing. He thought his rage came from his wounded pride. When he realized he was angry because he thought it should have been him protecting them instead of the other way around, he gave up. For better or for worse, those two loud, obnoxious, and warm individuals had suckered him fully into their team, to the point where Sasuke would die for them.

This was why he was feeling so odd while he walked home. Sakura's condition couldn't be slayed like an enemy or cured like an illness. As far as Sasuke knew, menstrual cycles were something every woman had, but he had never heard of them being painful. Sakura was no stranger to pain; she took a hit better than he or Naruto did, so it must be painful for her to grimace or flinch. Every time she looked even slightly uncomfortable traveling back to the village, Sasuke felt his body itch with the desire to ask her again if she was okay. He didn't like the wounded look she had after yelling at them and he certainly didn't like the surprise in her eyes when he handed her the bandages.

When Sasuke walked in the door, he couldn't stop his feet from walking towards the sound of his mother's voice. It was late and only she was in the kitchen, making a cup of tea.

"Sasuke!" she called when she saw him. "Welcome home. I didn't think you'd be home tonight!"

Sasuke sat at the counter and took the tea his mother gave him. He stopped trying to refuse the tea his mom made for herself originally; she would never give up taking care of her boys, even before taking care of herself. "It went well. The bandits weren't shinobi, so it was quick and easy."

Mikoto made her way back from the stove with another cup of tea in her hands. "That's good to hear. Are Sakura and Naruto well? No injuries?"

Sasuke opened his mouth to say yes, but ended up closing it. Mikoto noticed and raised a brow. "Did something happen?" she asked, concerned.

Sasuke's thoughts raced until he finally found the courage to ask the question that had been weighing on him all day. "Do all women experience pain during their cycles?"

If his mother was surprised by his question, she didn't show it. "Most women do. It is at least an uncomfortable experience for all women and many women have intense pain for up to a week at a time."

Sasuke nodded, his thoughts racing. He couldn't stop thinking about how half of the population walked around in pain and he had never even known. Sure, Sasuke had sat through and been tested in his basic anatomy classes on all aspects of sexual reproduction, but his teachers made it out to be small, a minor inconvenience for women at best. To hear from his own mother that it was basically the opposite was a bit jarring. To realize that Sakura trained and went on mission in pain and in silence for who knows how long was even more jarring.

She took a dainty sip and asked hesitantly, "Is this about Sakura?"

Sasuke didn't respond at first. He didn't know how to explain to his mother that he felt horrible for her, for Sakura, for women in general. "On the mission, she…bled. A lot. It stained her clothes." Sasuke took a deep breath and felt his cheeks heat from the embarrassment. "We had no idea what was going on. We thought she was hurt and I guess Kakashi-sensei knew it was just her cycle, but we kept bugging her until she told us."

Mikoto nodded slowly, her lips pursing. "Was that the first time she told you and Naruto?"

Sasuke felt even worse with his mom pointing it out, but he nodded. "She said it was taboo to talk about. I didn't know that it would embarrass her mentioning it, I-" Sasuke paused, his eyebrows scrunching together in confusion as he rambled on. "I don't know why. It's normal. Or, I thought it was normal. Now it seems awful."

Mikoto smiled warmly at her son and said, "Because women are taught to hide it, Sasuke." When he looked up at her in alarm, she merely shrugged in response. "We are taught that it is shameful. Women are very secretive during their cycle, like they would be seen as dirty or unclean. In many cultures, that is the case."

"It's- It's just blood!" Sasuke sputtered out, his jaw dropping. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

His mother laughed, her eyes shutting while she pressed her hand to her chest. "Goodness, if I had known you would be so upset, Sasuke, I would have had this conversation with you sooner!"

Sasuke sobered immediately, but he couldn't help but grumble out, "It's the principle of it all."

Mikoto sighed, smiling down at her son. "Sakura is a young woman. She's probably been having her cycle for a while now and kept it quiet for as long as she could." Her smile grew somber when she finished another sip of her tea. "I'm sure that was not a fun experience for her, today. Being a young woman is hard enough, but being one around two teenage boys and a young man?" She clicked her tongue. "That is the true strength of a kunoichi."

Sasuke frowned. "You always say that. Is this what you are talking about?"

Mitkoto tilted her head side to side, considering. "Yes and no. The true strength of the kunoichi is the perseverance to be a ninja first and a woman second when the entire world will see her as a woman first and a kunoichi second. The kunoichi will spend her entire life reminded of this with her cycle, when her comrades degrade her or call her weak because of her sex. For her male counterparts to be aware that for several days, her energy is low, her body will ache, and her head will pound…"

His mother let the sentence hang for him to finish. "They would think of her as a burden. Someone who had a constant lag on their system for days at a time, once a month."

"Yes. But the funny thing is," his mother continued, her eyes sparkling. "You never knew when Sakura was on her cycle before. She wasn't ever a burden because women, especially a kunoichi, are stronger than men realize. Sakura knows the true strength of the kunoichi, of being reminded that you are a woman while battling to be a ninja in everyone else's eyes. A little victory of that battle is won every time that week passes and no one's the wiser."

"She doesn't want us to know because we'll be aware that she could be in pain or feeling tired and we'll treat her differently without realizing."

"And that's the worst thing you could do," Mikoto said quietly. Her eyes suddenly became severe. "You are a gentleman as well as a ninja, Sasuke Uchiha. That girl is your teammate and your friend. You owe her more than just common courtesy."

Sasuke suddenly felt like he was under a microscope. "I… okay?"

Mikoto stood straighter and Sasuke knew he was about to receive an order from the matriarch of his family. "You will not treat her differently tomorrow, the next day, or the day after. You will pack extra linens in your pack for every mission. You will bring a tin of my ginger tea and lavender incense to Sakura tomorrow morning. You will tell her it's for her cycle, give her a compliment, and walk away." She eyed him with coal black eyes. "Am I clear?"

Sasuke swallowed. "Yes, Okasaan."

"Good." She rounded the counter and kissed her son on the top of his head, much to his chagrin. "You will be a good man, Sasuke Uchiha. As long as you listen to your mother, that is."

Sasuke hid his grin with a cough. "Yes, Okasaan."

She gave him one more loving pat against his cheek before heading down the hall towards her and his father's room. Sasuke watched her go, his jaw working. He was raised well and he did want to be a good teammate, so he eyed the cabinet that held the tea before flickering over to the altar down in the living room.

Making up his mind, Sasuke gathered the necessities and headed out into the early evening.

XxX

Sakura's POV

XxX

Sakura didn't take her time getting ready for bed. Her cramps were still bothering her and she'd run out of her special tea, so the hot water and future heated blanket were her next best thing. She felt better once she was in a t-shirt and shorts and dry, the sweat, grime, and blood no longer making her feel like a walking dumpster.

Dropping the towel onto her bed, Sakura rounded the corner and sat down at her vanity. It was the girliest thing in her room, but she loved it. It was ivory white with pink roses adorning the corners and center of the table and molded around the mirrors. She only kept her brush and some moisturizer for her beauty routine, but it was a hardened path to be the strongest kunoichi. In order to accomplish her goal, she withdrew from makeup and endless skin products. She actually found that she liked how she looked better in the long run.

She had mentioned this to Itachi the last time she saw him. She thought about their last interaction while she brushed her towel-dried hair.

Every time they run into each other, he inquires about her progress towards completing her goal. This time, she smiled and said that she understood the monks who gave up worldly possessions. When Itachi had raised a brow, Sakura had laughed awkwardly and said she was six months without cosmetics and found she didn't actually need or want them. They didn't improve her as a person, so she threw them away. Itachi had shaken his head, but smiled and told her she learned a good lesson on her own.

Sakura thought-

A light rap against the glass pane of her window startled Sakura into dropping her brush. She narrowed her eyes and palmed the kunai she kept underneath her vanity and stood. However, when she recognized the chakra signature outside of her window, her heart rate nearly doubled.

Flinging the curtains to the side, Sakura stared wide-eyed at the raven haired boy perched on the iron railing of her window's flower boxes. "Sasuke?"

Slid the window up quickly, wondering if something was wrong. Without the foggy glass, she could see clearly that Sasuke was wearing the same clothes from the mission, his hair still dirty and a swipe of blood on his chin. He gripped the iron between his feet with one hand while the other rested on his hip.

"Is everything okay?" Sakura asked. "You aren't supposed to-"

"I know," he said, cutting her off. "It's not that."

Sakura's eyebrows drew together. That was the only reason he was supposed to come to her window. She couldn't help but lean further out of the window, her hands grasping onto the windowsill.

She asked, her voice breathy, "Then… why are you here?"

Sasuke's hard expression didn't falter. Instead, he slowly extended the hand at his hip towards her, holding what she hadn't seen before.

She took the paper bag with one hand, looking back and forth between it and Sasuke with wide eyes. He waited for her to open it before speaking. "I told my mother about our mission. She said to give you these for your cycle."

Sakura felt her face flame, but she managed to stutter out, "T-tell her I am very grateful."

She couldn't look at him anymore. Everything she wanted to avoid when it came to her cycle was happening and the only thing she could do was sit and bear it until she could cry under the covers by herself.

"I…"

Sakura's stare intensified on the floor when she heard Sasuke speak.

"I did not know that your cycle can cause you pain. That it does cause you pain."

Sakura wanted to drown. "It's not that bad," she said weakly. She would take the cramps over her teammates looking down on her any day.

"My mother says otherwise."

Sakura's head jerked up of its own accord. Sasuke hadn't moved an inch from where he was balanced precariously, but his stoic facade cracked for a second, showing a bit of remorse. "I told her about our mission. About Naruto and I not knowing. She… educated me."

"Okay…" Sakura said, unable to think of anything else to say. She was dumbfounded at the thought of Sasuke going to his mom to talk about periods. All because of her?

Sasuke looked at the ground and opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. He did it once more before finally, he said slowly, "My mother says that there is a strength only a true kunoichi can know." He looked back up at her and said clearly, "You went a long time before Naruto and I found out, didn't you?"

Sakura pressed her lips together in a grim smile. "It was surprisingly long."

Sasuke nodded. He leaned to jump down to the next roof, but stopped halfway, his grip on the railing tightening. Sakura held her breath while he slowly turned around and said, his words quiet even in the near silent night, "You have that strength. You were in pain- are in pain -and neither of us could tell. You became stronger because of it."

Sakura could have fallen out of her own window for how weak his words made her knees. This was what she craved from Sasuke. This quiet, thoughtful side that gave his true opinion and left her heart fluttering for days. This Sasuke was never hateful or unkind, but wise and filled with a warmth Sakura rarely ever saw.

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun," Sakura whispered. She couldn't help but let the honorific slip. She was so in love with the boy on the railing. His noble actions and words were thrashing her heart around in her chest without the wall of training and mission readiness to slow them down. It left her breathless to be with him like this, late at night and whispering words to one another like they were in their own world.

Until Sasuke popped her bubble.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Sasuke said abruptly before jumping down from her window.

Sakura gasped in surprise and leaned out, watching him go with an ache in her chest she knew would never go away.

XxX

Sasuke's POV

Age: 13

XxX

Sasuke hated many things. Several of them involved his idiot of a blonde teammate, many of them included some form of sweetness, but only a few included his mother. Returning home from training much later than expected, sporting a broken rib and several cuts to his arms, and chakra too low to run and surely running into his obviously worried sick mother was one of them.

He didn't want his mom to fuss over him, so he went through his options. He could go to Kakashi, but his sensei would probably have several stern words for him about practicing rasen-shurken techniques without his supervision. He could sneak into Itachi's room and have his older brother stitch him up and wait for the hospital, but he wasn't in the mood for another lecture. That only left one option.

Gritting his teeth, Sasuke set out towards the northern end of the village. He knew where Sakura lived solely because Kakashi forced them all to go to dinner at one another's houses after the ordeal at his own home. He managed to find enough chakra to jump up to the rooftops several buildings away from the building he had visited just last week in order to swing down to her window. He teetered on the edge of the iron railing and held on tight.

Her curtains were drawn, but he could see the glow of a lamp while a shadow moved somewhere inside her room. Thankful that she appeared to be awake, Sasuke braced himself for a verbal beatdown he considered less abrasive than the other woman in his life and knocked on her window.

There was a rustle in her room before the curtains were yanked to the side, revealing a pajama-clad Sakura, staring wide-eyed and in shock. She quickly put the kunai in her hand down and pulled the window up to lean out. "Sasuke, what are you doing here?"

He grimaced. "I was training with the dobe."

Sakura raised a brow. "And you're too afraid of your mother to go home and have her heal you?"

Sasuke regretted coming to her, forgetting how easily she understood him, but he couldn't go anywhere else. Plus, she wouldn't tell Naruto. "Are you going to fix me or not?" he asked curtly.

Sakura's eyes flickered for a moment before the haughty attitude was back. "Only because you asked nicely."

Sasuke did feel a bit bad for coming to her this late at night, and at her window no less. But, he was her teammate, and he banked on that. So, when she stepped back and helped him slowly lower himself into her room, he gave her a muttered grunt of thanks.

Sakura pushed him to sit at some sort of girly vanity, but he could say for sure that it was the only girly thing in her room. He surveyed the small room while she hovered next to him, her hands glowing a soft green against his abdomen. The walls were painted a copper color and the walls were decorated with shelves filled with books upon books. Her bed was made, but several scrolls and pens sat scattered about. She had a desk that was piled with even more books and several polished shuriken.

"What were you doing?"

Sasuke jerked his head back towards her. "Nothing."

Sakura looked like she wanted to laugh. "I'm not talking about my room. I want to know how you got injured."

Sasuke hated that his cheeks felt red. He had felt caught, although there was nothing wrong with surveying your surroundings. "I was sparring with Naruto. We've been testing the boundaries of our rasen-shuriken."

Sakura nodded, her eyes still on her healing hands. "I figured as much." She pointed her chin at the marks on his arm. "You used wires."

He grunted.

"Do you guys get it right this time?"

"Does it look like we got it right?"

Sakura clicked her tongue, but didn't say anything. She moved to his hands and started healing them, but now with a curious look in her eye. It was calculating, almost as if she was creating a plan of attack.

Sasuke knew that Sakura was smart, but it was another thing to see her actively working her brain. It was almost as if he could hear the gears turning while her thoughts jumped from conclusion to conclusion. She was a strategist at her core and right now, she looked like she was in the middle of building one.

Annoyed by her keeping it to herself, he flicked the hand healing his palm. "What are you scheming about?"

Sakura pursed her lips, her healing pausing. "I have a question." He gave her a look to continue. "Are you pulling the strings with your whole hand?"

"What do you mean? I'm pulling them."

"Is the wire wrapped in your palm or around your fingertips?"

Sasuke had to think about it for a second before he could respond. "My palm, what… why are you asking?"

Sakura flipped his hands over to heal the back of his hands before speaking. "You have more control in your fingertips. They're dexterous and can manipulate the shuriken much easier than a harsh pull of all the strings."

Sasuke wondered why he hadn't considered it. He found himself musing out loud. "I could pull them in more than one direction after throwing. With multiple fingers and multiple wires, they could cross and collide in the middle as well."

"Yes," Sakura said, smiling softly at the ground. "I read about puppet masters in Sand. It gave me the idea."

"Of course you read about it," Sasuke found himself grumbling. When Sakura's hand's paused, he couldn't help but feel like a jerk. He knew she'd been made fun of for being nerdy and a bookworm. Hastily, he added, "It's a good asset for our team."

Sakura looked up, her eyes wide. Sasuke felt uncomfortable with her being so close, but he found that it was less apparent compared to how it used to be between the two of them. "I'm glad you see me as an asset," Sakura said quietly. "I know I'm not as strong as you and Naruto, but I will get stronger." She looked up and said, with a wicked gleam in her eye, "Maybe even stronger than you."

Sasuke smirked. "Keep dreaming."

She stuck her tongue out, but shrugged his words off as if she knew he wasn't joking with her. He did want her to keep pursuing her dream of becoming stronger. That way, he wouldn't have to worry about her being left behind or being the weak link on missions as they got harder and harder.

They settled into a comfortable silence after that. Sasuke realized that it was probably the first time they spent time alone with each other but found that he wasn't desperate to leave. Her healing jutsu sank into his bones until the only thing he felt was sleepy.

He looked down to ask Sakura how much longer, but found her a bit more slumped over than before. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and took a deep breath, but the air seemed to get caught in her lungs. Sasuke was surprised to see her eyelids drooping while she raised shaky hands to his forearms to seal the deep slashes from his strings.

"You're tired." But, she had left right after training? That was hours ago.

Sakura chuckled softly to herself and said, trying to sound nonchalant, "You and Naruto aren't the only ones on Team 7 that train extra, Sasuke."

Sasuke hadn't realized how much time Sakura was spending at the hospital. She had to have been there since their practice ended if she was this tired. "Why did you let me in?"

"Because you're my teammate," Sakura said quietly, as if she was convincing herself.

Before he could respond, she suddenly let go of his arm and stood up straight, her eyes hard. "There. Your body can do the rest overnight. You can go."

Sasuke wanted to make a snide comment about her mood swings, but something about Sakura's guarded posture had him keeping it to himself. He nodded in thanks and moved to leave, but Sakura's voice calling out his name made him pause halfway out the window.

He turned to look back at her. "Yes?"

She held her hands in fists at her sides like she wanted to punch him, but her eyes were emotionless when she said, "Don't come to my window unless you really need my healing. I don't want you perched like a bird outside my bedroom each time Naruto hits you too hard."

Sasuke wanted to argue the last point, but he was an intruder, so he nodded quickly and left, wondering what she meant by being really hurt. He didn't look back before taking off across the rooftops of Konoha, his chakra recharged and his body feeling better than it did when he woke up that morning.

When he crawled into bed that night, Sasuke thought to himself that Sakura might be a better teammate than Naruto.

XxX

A/N: Thank you so much for the kind words in my PM's! I am so happy that people are liking this story and there's some interest in this AU! To answer a few questions, yes I plan to use Itachi as a tool in all character arcs, yes more characters are going to be introduced, and no, the Uchiha coup is null and void. Hope that clears any confusion!

I would love some reviews of this chapter! I love where this story is going to go and can't wait to share it with others!