Sasuke watched her silently as Sakura struggled to hold back her tears. To his silent surprise, she succeeded and when she looked up again, her eyes were clear again. She did not look at him or open her mouth to speak.

After a moment of silence, he cleared his throat uncomfortably. She sighed.

"Sorry, Sasuke-kun. I didn't mean to get all upset," she said quietly.

He nodded.

She became quiet after that and he started to feel exasperated that she was not the talkative child she used to be. He missed that Sakura; in fact, he wanted that Sakura back, rather than this shell of Sakura.

That Sakura, she was bright and lively, like a spark, a flame that gave life. The sad girl before him now was a bird with broken wings, unable to fly.

He deemed it a great loss.

He let out a frustrated breath before walking briskly over to her and taking her arm. She looked up at him in quiet surprise.

"It's getting late. We should go home," he said before pulling her up.

She got to her feet unsteadily and his hands came to her waist reflexively, helping her steady herself. She felt herself blush slightly at the contact and he immediately withdrew them when he was sure she was fine by herself and looked away.

She flashed him a grateful smile.

When she did not move, Sasuke quickly took her hand without looking and tugged her along.

Her eyes widened slightly in surprise as he led her back inside Konoha, his hand warming hers. She walked slowly, slightly behind him and continued staring at his back.

He kept his face forward, not saying a word.

Soon, her house neared and he stopped suddenly so that she almost bumped into him. Tugging her hand again, he brought her in front of him and let go suddenly so that she stumbled forward.

He stuck his hands forcefully in his pockets and looked away.

"Make sure you eat dinner."

She turned back to him and bowed her head, her eyes still a bit wide.

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun."

He grunted after a short embarrassed silence.

She smiled.

When he didn't move, she turned and went to her door, opening it softly and going in before taking one last look at the dark-haired boy standing outside. His brow was furrowed slightly and his mouth was pulled down in an irritable scowl but what was most endearing was the slight blush that his cheeks held.

She stifled a laugh and closed the door softly.

His head turned to look back at the house when Sakura entered and he didn't leave until the lights turned on.

A small smirk graced his handsome features as he made his way back to the Uchiha mansion.

-

-

As I stumble blind in the darkness, fear closing in, restricting my breath, disintegrating my will to live, a ray of light hits me.

A memory, a truth, a promise.

You are not alone.

So do not give up hope.

Put your hand in mine, for I am at your side.

I can give you sight.

And I can see.

-

-

Reach

-

-

"SAKURA-CHAN! SAKURA-CHAN! SAKURA-CHAN! SAKU…EH?? SAKURA-CHAN? SAKURA-CHAN? AHHH SASUKE-TEME, HELP!"

Sakura found herself hopelessly at the mercy of an exuberant blonde boy whose object of unadulterated interest was her. His strong arms were wrapped tightly around her small waist and she felt herself growing dizzy as he swung her around and around, ecstatic that she was back. Not to mention, her supply of oxygen was steadily decreasing and she did not have the heart to bonk Naruto painfully on the head as she usually would in this situation.

Her thoughts wandered as she was being unintentionally throttled by the young kyubi. She pondered why Sasuke was there when she woke up and why he had insisted on staying with her until she had gotten safely home. Her lips curved up in a soft smile, remembering his rare act of kindness, but her lips slowly grew slack like her body as she could feel the energy draining slowly out of her body. Probably the side effects of over training without the steady influx of food, she concluded briefly. She had forgotten to eat dinner, instead, had went right to bed and fallen asleep.

Her body, exhausted, sagged weakly against Naruto's strong one and she closed her eyes for a short moment, telling herself she would just rest a bit here, in Naruto's safe hold. Naruto, feeling her body go limp, immediately panicked and he pulled back a little to see her pale face and closed eyes. His own cerulean eyes widened and shook her lightly this time, gently. When she did not respond, his head whipped toward the Uchiha, his whole body tense.

Sasuke had previously stayed a few steps away, letting Naruto embrace Sakura. His face was turned and his eyes closed irritably as the blonde let out his wails of happiness and joy that his 'beloved Sakura-chan' had finally returned to his side. He sighed in annoyance as he glimpsed a look and saw that Naruto was practically smothering Sakura. His hands twitched, itching to throw Naruto off her, but he knew the blond had worried for a while about their orphaned teammate.

They were all orphans now, he realized with a start.

He turned away again, remembering Sakura's words to him.

How she hated being left behind.

His brow furrowed, relaying his slight distress at her words. He did not like it when she put herself down like that. The sad picture of a little orphan girl was too hard for him to swallow and he hated to see a sad Sakura wallowing in her grief and weakness.

His senses picked up Naruto's anxiety and his eyes shot open immediately when Naruto called to him. He was at the blonde's side instantly and his automatically turned sharigan eyes looked down at the still girl in Naruto's arms.

Naruto blinked as Sakura was ripped away from his hold.

He looked up, surprised to see Sasuke supporting her and her confused emerald eyes open. She looked up at Sasuke and was shocked to see him staring down intently at her with his eyes blazing furiously. Naruto blinked again and then scowled.

"HEY! What was that for, Sasuke-teme?!" he demanded angrily, put out that his time with Sakura-chan was cut short.

Sasuke kept his arm around Sakura's waist, steadying her, and turned to Naruto. His voice was soft with an underlying tone of anger. "If you hadn't noticed, you were crushing her, dobe."

Naruto opened his mouth to retort but then shut it, realizing he probably had gone overboard in his joy. He grumbled unhappily before crossing his arms and looking away.

Sasuke looked back down at Sakura who was still staring at him with a confused expression. He forced himself to calm down before speaking, frowning down at her.

"You need to take better care of yourself. Did you eat dinner last night?"

He saw a flash of irritation cross her features before she sighed.

"I…I forgot."

His frown deepened. "When's the last time you ate?" he pressed.

He watched as she pressed her lips tightly together stubbornly before she sighed again.

"I don't remember."

He bit back a curse. He slid his arm from her waist and then snagged her hand. Her head jerked up in surprise as he tugged her along after him as he began walking.

"S-Sasuke-kun?"

"Dobe, come on. We're getting breakfast."

Naruto whipped his head back towards them and his gloomy expression disappeared, his ear splitting grin back on his face. "Yeah! Let's go!" he cried and ran over to Sakura's other side, grabbing her free hand, catching her before she could stumble from Sasuke's quick pace.

Naruto gave her a smile as she looked up gratefully to give him thanks.

"Sakura-chan."

Sasuke continued staring ahead, his expression blank, his other hand stuffed down his pocket.

She gazed up at Naruto, waiting for what he had to say.

Naruto's grip on her small hand tightened. His smile was soft and sincere, his expression serious, as he looked down at her. It was a rare thing that Sakura see the exuberant Naruto be serious. His voice when he spoke was not loud and bright as it usually was, but sad and genuine.

"Sasuke-teme and I, we like watching out for you."

Tired emerald eyes widened.

Naruto's voice was slightly admonishing. "So don't feel left behind, ne?"

Sasuke stayed silent, his expression blank as ever. Unconsciously, his hand tightened ever so slightly around hers, but she felt it.

A small smile graced her porcelain face as she walked into the Ichiraku ramen stand with her two best friends in the world.

"Okay."

-

-

Breakfast was beautiful. Sakura had never had such a good breakfast, and it was ramen! She never thought that ramen would taste so good. She imagined that if she would have to give friendship a taste, it would be the delicate, serene waft of ramen noodles.

She expressed her thought out loud. Naruto gave her an agreeing thumbs up as he stuffed his face into another bowl of ramen and Sasuke only raised his eyebrows at her words.

She laughed joyously and both boys were secretly relieved to hear her bright laughter again. Sasuke had not realized how much he had missed it until he heard it again. He smirked roguishly into his ramen as Sakura dug enthusiastically into hers, simultaneously smacking Naruto on the back as he choked on his own, having slurped up the noodles too fast.

Sakura seemed almost back to normal now, except for the bags under her eyes and the chalkiness of her pale complexion.

Sasuke did not dwell too much on the fact. She had started eating and in time, she would heal slowly.

Sakura finished her ramen and she sighed happily. She twisted in her seat and Sasuke felt anger flare up as she embraced Naruto tightly. He watched as Naruto turned bright red and stuttered uncomprehendingly as Sakura hugged him.

Sasuke viciously tried to beat down his anger (or was it jealousy) and looked away, his hands clenched tightly on the table.

He looked up in time to see Sakura turn to him happily. He watched as she flashed him a quick smile before leaning in to give him a quick, sweet peck on the cheek. His onyx eyes widened and he felt his cheeks burn brightly before he quickly ducked down and tried to ignore the way his ears were flaming bright red.

Naruto laughed at his reaction but Sakura was oblivious as she gave Sasuke a quick hug, whispering a heartfelt thank you into his ear.

She pulled away and Sasuke almost audibly protested the leaving of the soft warmth. Digging into her pockets, she pulled out a few coins and laid them out on the table, smiling.

"Breakfast's on me, guys! Let's go train!"

She hopped off her stool and wobbled unsteadily for a second before two hands shot out and steadied her. The boys glared heatedly at each other but quickly looked back to Sakura as she smiled gratefully at them.

"C'mon! It'll be bad if we're even later than Kakashi-sensei!"

She laughed at the thought and the boys reveled in her sweet laughter for the second time that day. Naruto nodded enthusiastically and Sasuke gave his silent approval.

The boys hopped off their stools and the three best friends stepped out of the ramen booth into the bright sun, stopping for a moment to bask peacefully in its warmth.

Sakura smiled and slipped her hands into Naruto's and Sasuke's and squeezed them, conveying her gratitude again.

"Let's go, ne?"

"Yeah! Dattebayo!"

"Hn. Dobe."

"Teme!"

A smack to the head.

"Awww, but Sakura-chan!"

A ticking of the vein.

"Don't call Sasuke-kun that!"

A handsome smirk and an adorable pout.

Sakura cannot help but smile.

-

-

If just for a moment, you help me forget my pain.

If just for a moment.

It's worth it.