They were waiting, again. Just like old times, at that Crayola red bridge for their perv of a mentor, late as always. But they had changed, and very much so. After all, it had been five years since that day. That day, when he left her lying there, cold, alone, after she had given him her heart.
She had changed the most. No longer was she a loud, immature fan girl. After he had so coldly knocked her out and just left her, no explanation, on a park bench in a village full of pervs, of all places; how could she go back to worshiping the very ground he walked on? No, it had been time for her to move on, and as such, the Uchiha Sasuke Fan Club lost its vice-president. Nobody asked why.
In a way, the ordeal had helped her. In a way, it had broken her. But after all, she’s a medic-nin. She could heal. Mental toughness, endurance, a steady sense of calm, these were her elements. She threw herself into training, flew into denial. She didn’t need him, she didn’t care about him. All she cared about was training, becoming the best that she could become.
And so, she moved on, became Konoha’s best medic-nin, her chakra control ranking with the elite, second only to Tsunade, yet she still kept up on her ninja training, sparring with Lee and Naruto had helped with that. She was glad that she had defined her skills over the past five years; she’d need them for this mission.
She didn’t think that she would ever forgive the Tsunade for this little mission. She must have gotten the idea during one of her famous Silly Sake moments…yeah, don’t ask.
Flashback
When she called Sakura into her office, Sakura could smell the booze on her former mentor’s breath. It was time for another eventful session of trying to pull some sense from the Tsunade during her habitual drunken stupor.
The Tsunade was surprisingly clear headed considering all the empty bottles lying around the room.
“Sakura, come, sit.” Tsunade gestured to the chair and Sakura pushed aside Sake bottles from the chair to clear a place to sit down.
“Yes, Tsunade-sensei?” The Tsunade looked at her through hung-over, red-rimmed eyes.
“I have…a mission for jooooo” She said giggling like a school child.
Sakura sweat-dropped. “But Sensei, I haven’t been on a mission in ages.”
“Yesh, I happen to know that, dear-child, but I have my reasons…heh, heh” Tsunade giggled, sounding more sinister by the moment.
“But who am I going to go with? Team 7 hasn’t been on a mission s-since…since Sasuke left.” The last few words came out as a whisper.
((A/N: Team 7 sorta, died. She left to train with Tsunade and Sasuke was gone, and Naruto had been looking for him…and Kakashi was reading Icha Icha))
“Ex-act-ly! Mwahaha!” the Tsunade exclaimed obnoxiously. “But I know you’ve had enough training, and I want to make it absolutely im-pos-si-ble for you to avoid that seeeeexy Uchiha prodigy. Actually, prodigy and traitor gotta love the bad boys…always so sexy….I wish I had a bad boy…”
Sakura sweat-dropped, Tsunade was rambling again, and it was creeping Sakura out. Not to mention irritating the hell out of her. How did somebody who was oh-so-seldom-sober notice that she had been avoiding the Uchiha with a ten foot pole? Actually, it was more like a hundred foot pole. She had helped in his healing when he returned from exacting his revenge, but once he regained consciousness— she was out, she was good at avoiding people when needed. She really didn’t want to deal with all of that un-buried past.
“Tsunade, is this really necessary? We have all moved on. We haven’t been a team in five years!” Sakura said desperately “The mission would be doomed from the start.” She finished icily.
“Ah, but that is the beauty of the whole damn deal! The mission is not all that important in itself, it’s more of an excuse... to revive a clan with such beneficial qualities…Actually, the mission will help you-” she hiccupped drunkenly and giggle the end of her sentence out “-to hee hee, practice. Hee hee””
Sakura just stared at her, almost not believing what she heard. This was far-fetched even by Kakashi’s standards. Which were pretty high, considering he had tried to set her up with Jiraiya… for a bet, of course.
“Sensei…I don’t even want to know what you were trying to imply, but still, the fact remains th—”
“There is no argument! You. Are. Going. Deal with it!” Cue high cackle from the Hokage and glare of death from Sakura.
Sakura’s voice turned icy cold. “In that case, I would appreciate the vital information of the mission so that I can begin preparation.”
“Well…I don’t wanna tell you!” Tsunade said in a whiny tone, offended at Sakura’s cold temper. “You’ll just have to wait for Kaka-dude to tell ya ‘bouts it. I sure hope he remembers to meet you guys…Earlier he said something ‘bout having to buy brand-new paradise,” Tsunade started to ramble. “But brand-new paradise is a pretty lame excuse, ne? I think he was just trying to get out of meeting you guys and—“
Sakura gave up and cut her off. “Hai, Tsunade-sama, just one last question, are we meeting him today?”
“Hai! Hai! And the ducky jumped over the moon!”
Sakura sweat-dropped as she left the office thinking, it’s always hard to tell whether she’s buzzed or hung-over…
End Flashback
So there she was, in the very last place she wanted to be, with the very last person she wanted to see. She looked strait ahead over the water, refusing to give him the satisfaction of thinking he was worthy of her gaze. She didn’t want to look anyway. As it was, the whole situation brought up too much of her painful past.
He had changed too. Then again, finally getting revenge on the brother who had single-handedly slaughtered your whole family in front of your eyes when you were but a mere child, would do that to a guy.
Coming back to Konoha, realizing that his first goal in life was completed… was a shock. It had only been four years since he had left. His mind was numb with the impact of what had happened. He didn’t have to be a cold-hearted bastard. He could allow himself to feel more emotions than just hate and anger. What a strange and foreign situation.
The problem was that he didn’t really know how to feel. It had been so many years since he had been able to act human, that he had trouble not acting like his old stoic, robotic self. Which is why he didn’t say anything when he arrived at the bridge to see Sakura gazing intensely across the water.
He thought that’d he would at least get an ‘Ohayo Sasuke-kun’ or even ‘Ohayo Sasuke-san’ for goodness sakes. But no, she refused to even look at him. He knew he had broken her heart, and regret was one of the first few emotions to break through his customary shield.
What happened to her? He thought desperately. She looked so…different. She held herself proudly, calmly. Her head held high, shoulders relaxed, face carefully assembled to display no emotion except that of tranquility. It irked him, it truly did. Suddenly he would give anything for her annoying voice to tease him, to see that impish smile from when they were young.
She looked so different now, it was unbelievable. That silly, eccentric fangirl who couldn’t last 3 days without seeing him was gone, replaced by a strong, independent woman. She had changed physically as well; if you catch my drift…Sasuke couldn’t help but notice.
Sakura arrived at the bridge alone. When he came along a few minutes later, she could feel his presence approach. Hear his footsteps, heck, she could even smell that spicy soap he used, cinnamon. She didn’t need to look to know that he was across from her on the bridge. She closed her yes, sensing his chakra. Yes, across from me, and slightly to the right, she thought.
Not only that, but she could sense his eyes on her. His eyes were burning holes right through her, and it was all she could do not to shudder and turn to answer the burning gaze. But that was what he wanted, he was challenging her. She knew that if she were to turn around, she’d see him staring, and then the famous Uchiha smirk would be too much for her.
She would break down. There was a reason she’d been avoiding him. She didn’t know if he’d heard her that day, so long ago. Eight and a half months ago to be exact, in that hospital, the day she handed his treatment over to a different medic-nin, the day he regained consciousness.
Flashback
She entered his hospital room once again, “Ohayo Sasuke-kun!” she said with only a slight note of sorrow in her voice.
“Let’s check out those bandages, ne?” She’d say as she un-wrapped the bandages, cleaning the wounds and then smearing them with salve before re-wrapping them. She talked to him all the while, comments on how nicely he was healing, telling him about his brain activity, how it was rising each day, and how he should be waking up soon. He never replied. After all, how could he? He had been in a coma for two and a half months!
((A/N:yeah, its been 11 months since he came back for all those confused…he was in a coma for the first 2 and a half months, then recovery for the last half a month, probation for 8 months, and now a low ranked mission. Oh, and I made up all the medical info completely out of the blue, so if it doesn’t sound real, I’m sorry.))
She knew that she loved him still. She never had completely let go, no matter what happened. She knew that she was supposed to hate him, for betraying her mostly, but also for being the cold-hearted bastard he was, for everything he did. But she never was one to listen to common sense now, was she?
Soon, the comatose state would end though, it was clear to see. His vital rates had been rising steadily, and he no longer needed those damn oxygen tubes that she hated so much. Sure, they had kept him alive, but his already pale complexion + trauma + wounds/bruises + stark white bandages + a feeding tube + oxygen tubes + I.V.’s… all of that equaled Sakura’s worst nightmare. He was nearly healed as well. After the comatose state was over, he’d be out of the hospital in a matter of weeks.
She’d have to leave him then. The clever Haruno had planned it ahead of time, as soon as he showed signs of waking, she would hand his case over to her friend, the medic-nin Hinata. Her friend understood, she knew what was going on in Sakura’s mind, and after Sakura had helped her to stand up against her father and pursue the profession she truly desired…she was happy to be able to do anything to help Sakura in her time of need. Just as Sakura started to space off, she heard a voice behind her
“Hhhhhnnnnnn,” it was a weak groan from the bed beside her. So weak in fact, that she barely heard it.
She looked over and watched as his fingers began to move. She needed to get out. Now. Yet… she wanted to say good-bye. Sakura couldn’t help it, as looked down at the raven haired Uchiha prodigy, he somehow still had her wrapped around his little finger. Even weak as he was, he had still not even managed to lift his eyelids, revealing those amazingly deep onyx orbs. But could he hear? She was not sure if she wanted that question answered, considering what she was about to do.
She leaned down, kissed him on the forehead, and softly whispered “Ashiteru Sasuke-kun. Forever... and always.” And then she walked towards the door, stealing one last glance towards the man who had caused so many conflicting emotions within her heart.
End Flashback
Lost in memories, staring out at the lazily rolling water below she wondered if he remembered, and blushed at the thought.
dreamsXreality says: So…I hoped you all liked it… New author here -points to self- would really appreciate some feed-back…please? I have the next couple of chapters…I have to re-edit them then I’ll post if you want me too…
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