When Sasuke left on his important mission with Naruto, Sakura's week went by as normal. She worked her shifts at the hospital, made sure to spend time with her family along with her friends, though every time she saw Ino she was grilled with questions about Sasuke. Everything was going fine though, as routine as could be. The only setback she had was not seeing Sasuke before she left on her mission a week after he had left for his. She had thought for sure he would have been back, but there was no luck. Even her mission went as planned; she even got back early.

It wasn't until she was at Tsunade's office though that her world suddenly stopped its smooth rotation. She had asked a question about Sasuke and Naruto, just curious if everything had gone alright only to find out that the boys weren't back yet. Sakura began to panic and she wasn't sure if it was the empty sake bottle that got her mentor to talk or the absolutely horrified look on Sakura's face, but the woman didn't hesitate to tell her about what their mission was, and it was no surprise they weren't back just yet. They were searching for Madara, brought back to life during the war and still not yet at rest. That man had so much power and even after all that happened, was still trying to harm Konoha. And Sasuke. He'd demanded that Sasuke join him, to help him bring the Uchiha back into their rightful place. She felt like her head was spinning.

For the next week, Sakura wasn't exactly the greatest person to be around. She was on the brink of freaking out, every fiber in her being telling her she needed to find the two boys. Something just didn't feel right and she had a sick feeling that she might never see them again. It was enough to bring back memories of the two and a half years they had both spent away from the village. It left her unsettled and she was finding it hard to focus on anything but her worry.

The rosette had been in the Hokage's tower running a few errands for Tsunade when she heard rumor that Sasuke and Naruto were back. Also, Sasuke was hurt and apparently it was bad. She wound up dropping everything and getting her ass to the hospital as soon as possible. It didn't take her long to find someone and track down Sasuke's room number. Naruto was fine from what she heard, he was definitely on her list of people to yell at, but first thing was first. She had to know if Sasuke was okay.

When she came upon Sasuke's door though, something in her snapped and she found herself standing outside his door for the stretch of a handful of seconds. She was scared to see the shape he was in, if he was even conscious, was he even breathing on his own? Her hand was shaking when she finally got the will to give a light knock before opening the door. She was quiet, even after she closed the door she didn't say a word.

Her first impression was that he was alright save a few bumps and bruises, but then she saw the bandages coming up around his shoulders. She wasn't shocked that he didn't start speaking right away. For the briefest of moments, Sakura switched from being his girlfriend to instead being his doctor as she crossed the room to the foot of his bed, her brow set in a furrow as she picked up his chart and flipped through it. A weight was lifted from her when she saw he was going to be alright, just bedridden for a while. That gave her the green light in her mind to let him have it.

"Before you say anything I want you to know that there is no excuse for you lying to me. You made such a big deal about me being reckless when I wasn't even in danger and you went and searched for Uchiha Madara and picked a fight with him."

Her voice was quiet, but there was a slight shake to it, like at any moment she could start lashing out. Oh, he was in huge trouble.

"You didn't even try to tell me how dangerous your so-called 'mission' was and to make matters worse even if it wasn't me there you didn't even bring a medic with you. It's like you were asking to be killed. I don't even understand why you didn't tell me and half of me doesn't care to know. I'm going to ask you this once, Sasuke, and I swear to God if you say anything other than the truth than that'll be it. What the fuck were you doing?"

He let her have her long rant, not trying to interrupt her once. Her anger was justified. He'd lied to her and could have gotten himself killed because of it. Once she was done and had asked him a question, he finally spoke.

"It had to be just me and Naruto. Madara would have taken off if there had been more people, and then we never would have found him."

He pulled himself up farther in the bed, looking pained as he moved. She watched the way his body tensed. It had to hurt and it took everything she had not to walk over to him and try to get him to sit still so she could do something about it. It wasn't that she wanted him to be in pain, but she didn't want to be close to him right now.

"If I had told you what we were doing you would have insisted on coming along. He made it clear to me that if I didn't join him he would get back at me. And he would do that through you. He would have tried to kill you. He still might."

Sasuke looked tired and as if he was struggling to speak. The painkillers must have been affecting him. It was difficult for him to fully articulate everything. He went on to tell her all about what happened on the mission.

Even though it was two on one, Madara still had the advantage. His abilities were above what they were when Sasuke last saw him even. Or maybe Madara just never showed him his full abilities. Either way, it was a difficult fight. It couldn't be considered either a win or a loss in the end, since neither side suffered any casualties. They had managed to injure Madara badly, but he escaped in the end. It was that sharingan of his. It was too powerful for Sasuke, a major blow to his ego. And then there was also the major blow to his chest. That one hurt more. Naruto came away from the fight with similar injuries, but Kurama allowed him to at least partially heal them and be in much better shape than Sasuke. But of course, before Madara escaped he did manage a threat or two, alluding to a response to Sasuke's refusal. He knew what that would mean. Madara intended to make good on his threat against Sakura. Sasuke tried to pursue the man, but he was injured and unable to pick up his trail.

If anything, his explanation only pissed her off more, and she wanted him to know that. She wanted him to know that he hurt her by not trusting her, by not trying to talk to her.

"There is a difference between lying to me and protecting me. I'm not saying I wouldn't have insisted on going along, but don't you think that choice is mine? You chose to put yourself in danger to protect me and just left me behind without saying a word."

Her voice was a bit louder now, and she was sure that if someone passed in the hallway, they'd probably be able to hear. She just didn't care though.

"All missions are dangerous, but that was practically a suicide mission. One split second mistake could have been what killed you, and Naruto for that matter. I can't lose you guys again."

She was close to tears, mainly from just being furious, but she did not want him to see her cry right now. If she kept yelling at him though, she knew it'd be unavoidable.

"No, it's not your choice. This is my past that's coming back to haunt me and I won't have my mistakes being the reason for your death."

He was speaking too forcefully for his body, and the boy was clearly riddled with pain. Sakura took in a jagged breath as she clipped his chart back up and walked over to the closet, opening it and getting a second pillow out. When Sakura walked over to him, she didn't even give him so much as a warning as she placed a hand on his shoulder and pulled him forward enough to put the pillow behind his back and then pushed him back into place. She was quick to get out of his reach again as she sat down in the chair in the room, rubbing her forehead with one hand as if she were trying to get rid of a headache.

Sasuke continued. "And that's what would have happened had you come along. It may have been practically a suicide mission, but at least Naruto and I had a shot. You can't deny it. If Madara wants to focus in on killing one person and ignore the others then he'll do it, and neither of us are strong enough to stop it."

He grabbed his chest where he'd been injured and tried to calm himself so that he wouldn't hurt himself more.

"The only way to keep you safe is to keep you away from him."

He took a deep breath, trying to get his temper back under control.

"I'm not going to let you die, no matter how much it pisses you off. And if I had the same choice all over again, I'd do it exactly the same way. Because you're still alive and that's what matters to me."

Sasuke had to hold back a pained groan and Sakura could tell that he was hurting so badly. But she wasn't done speaking either.

"It is so my choice, because even if that's your past, you are my future and I'm not going to let your pride jeopardize that. Even if you and Naruto had a shot without me there, you know that he wants to hurt Naruto, too. You're willing to let your best friend put his life on the line and you can't even give me the same courtesy to protect the people I care about."

She refused to look at him, that same feeling of anger coursing through her. She knew he wasn't going to be able to see her side of this, he was too stubborn for that, but this wasn't something she was just going to let go.

"I get you were trying to protect me, but I'm not just some helpless girl. Every time either of us steps out of this village there's a chance we might die, Sasuke. It's our job. I don't see you freaking out about every other mission I go on. It's not even about the fact that I couldn't go to help you, it's that you neglected to even try to talk to me."

She finally looked over at him, her eyes glossy with tears.

"Do you honestly think I'd be alright if you died?" Sakura demanded.

If Sasuke were to die, she definitely wouldn't handle it well and would probably wind up getting herself killed on accident. She would lose focus of everything and probably fall into a fit of depression that was bad enough that she wouldn't even care, either. She hated that she lost herself so much in him, but she knew that if he stopped existing, her world would come to a crashing halt and she would not be okay. She loved him too much.

"This has nothing to do with my pride. I put Naruto on the line because I knew I wouldn't survive if I went alone, but I wasn't going to risk you too. I love you and that's why I can't let you die. Everyone else I've ever loved is dead. I watched them die a hundred times," Sasuke responded, looked just as upset as her.

"I refuse to watch you die too. This wasn't about some chance. It was an absolute certainty. And not because you're a helpless girl either. Because he's Madara. Madara! He is no ordinary mission so don't act like I think you're weak. It's not true."

Sasuke sighed, trying to clear his head. He sat up further, turning and sitting over the side of the bed now so that he could look at her properly.

His voice was quieter now. "I'm not dead. I'm going to be fine. But I know with absolutely certainty that if I had told you what I planned to do, you would have found a way to come along and you wouldn't be fine right now. I will never allow that to happen, even if it means you hate me for it."

This was the first time he understood a bit of why Itachi had done what he did. Not the killing his whole family part, but what happened after. He understood that part just a little, being willing to let Sakura hate him if it kept her safe.

Sakura scowled at him, unmoved by his pleas. "So you're willing to risk Naruto?! It's always a double standard when it comes to me with you. You can train with Naruto, but not with me. You can take him along, but not me. I understand that you don't want me hurt, but no matter which way you turn it, you still didn't have the right to go without saying anything to me!"

She was mad yet again and she felt like she was yelling at a brick wall. Sakura wasn't getting her point across to him and she knew that his mind was made up. He was going to believe what he wanted to believe no matter what she had to say about it.

"I know perfectly well who it was and what he's capable of Sasuke," Sakura tried to explain. "That's the thing I don't think you realize. What would you have done if you were too hurt to get back to Konoha? You would have died out there because you didn't bother finding someone with medical skills to even so much as teach you a basic healing jutsu. I know that you don't think I'm weak, but you haven't even given me a chance."

Maybe she was just as stubborn as he was, because she wasn't going to change her mind on this either.

Sasuke frowned and shook his head. "There is no what ifs there because I fought him and I didn't die. And I knew Naruto would be fine as well. The Kyuubi will heal anything that's thrown at him."

When he mentioned the Kyuubi, Sakura knew he had a point, but Naruto wasn't invincible. That was something she tended to forget with how fast he healed. Sasuke wasn't either and one thing she hated more than anything was to see him in the hospital. Each time it only served to remind her of that fact that every time he left on a mission he could die. She just wanted to keep him safe as much as he wanted her safe, she didn't think she was getting that through to him though.

So that was when she stood up, wiping her cheeks once and ignoring the wet feeling that came back on her fingertips. Her voice was calmer now, but she was clearly upset and she just couldn't be around him right now. One of them was going to wind up saying something they regretted if they kept this up and she didn't intend for it to go that far.

"I don't hate you, I never could," she mumbled.

She slowly stood up pushing him back to lay back down, though much gentler this time.

"Regardless of if you like it or not, Sasuke, I'm as involved in this as you are." She reached down and brushed the hair out of his face. "Look I need to get some air and to think. Just let me have some space and I'll come back tomorrow. I can't stand here and argue this over and over again with you. I just can't."

Sasuke frowned for a moment but nodded. "Alright, go. But if I don't see you tomorrow then I'll come looking for you. And send Kakashi in when you go. He's the only other person I want to talk to right now."

"I'll be back tomorrow." She leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm glad you're okay."

It was becoming more and more obvious that she wasn't able to stop crying and the last thing she wanted was to break down in front of him... Again. It made her feel as if she were throwing a fit because she couldn't tag along, and when in fact that was what it kind of boiled down to, she wasn't going to let him see it. At least not anymore.

"I love you," she added.

She stood back up, glancing out the window to see darker clouds coming in and she couldn't help but be grateful he was back before the storm that was sure to hit by tomorrow at the latest. She didn't stick around to voice the thoughts though because she highly doubted Sasuke was up for a conversation about the weather, not when they were in the middle of a fight, which she still considered this as. Even if they weren't yelling at each other anymore she still hadn't forgiven him for lying to her.

"I love you too," she heard him say as she passed through the door.

She made a stop at Naruto's room on the way out of the hospital after she had told Kakashi about Sasuke wanting to see him, but she never did go in. She didn't want him seeing her like this either but she was sure she'd give him a good tongue lashing tomorrow. Instead she just headed home, slipping past her parents and going to her room. She didn't want to be around anyone. No, she was much more content wallowing in her anger alone.

She wasn't sure when she fell asleep but Sakura woke up with a jerk when she heard a rasping on her window accompanied with the light pitter-patter of rain drops. When she glanced at the clock, she could only frown to see it read three thirty in the morning. Pushing herself out of bed she went to the window to find a chunin beating on it. He had been on a few missions with her before, which was the only reason she bothered with acknowledging his presence.

Sakura was a bit short with him at first, but after she found out that he had come to ask her to come on a mission she felt something in her sink. Now wasn't the time to be running off when she and Sasuke were fighting but it was either she go or no medic did and it was only going to take a day. A sigh escaped her before she agreed and started getting things together.

She only made one stop before heading to the gate and that was to drop a note off at the nurse's station to give to Sasuke, telling him where she went and that she would come see him when she got back. It was the only thing she could think to do without actually confronting him and she wasn't going to wake up Sasuke so early in the morning for something so trivial.

Even though Sasuke had brought up Madara wanting to hurt her, it wasn't like she could exactly say no to going on the mission. She was the only trained combat medic available, the originally scheduled medic apparently having come down with something horrible enough to keep them in bed. It was only a scouting mission after all, just outside of the village, but she still couldn't let them go without a medic. They were maybe just going an hour or so out into the forest. Still, her fight with Sasuke was fresh on her mind and it was keeping her plenty distracted. She found even hopping limb from limb was difficult to concentrate on.

It was late in the afternoon when they decided to head back, the rain still pouring down. They had only run maybe ten minutes before they realized they were in trouble. There was a loud clunk that drew their attention but it was too late as an explosion went off, causing them all to lose balance. She was too focused on stopping herself from falling to take account of her teammates, but a loud yell quickly brought her back to her surroundings. She looked to the ground as she saw a body hit, only to see the team leader lying face down, the blood pooling beneath him already telling Sakura he was dead. It wasn't even a minute later that her other two teammates were following his lead. It was safe to say that Sakura was just short of panicking as she finally got her footing on a lower limb.

It was too late though, a hand forming tightly around her neck and pushing her against the trunk of the tree, the bark digging into her back. It was enough to knock the wind out of her and it took her a second to realize what was happening as she grabbed onto the arm of her attacker, it took her just a moment more to realize that arm belonged to Madara. She was quick to send a kick into his side, and when it collided she knew it was too easy as he let go, already turning into a puff of smoke as the clone disappeared. She stumbled slightly as she regained her breath, but he was already coming at her again.

Sakura knew she was no match for him, but she had never expected it to be like this. She couldn't even find an opening large enough to catch her breath let alone try to formulate a plan and he wasn't even using jutsus on her.

To say she had been severely beaten would be an understatement. There was bruises on her body already, cuts littered her skin and she was sure of at least three bones that were broken and there had to be more. But when he seemed to get bored with her, she was lying on the ground, or rather, the crater he had thrown her in. He appeared above her and slowly picked her up, forcing her to look at him before he leaned down and whispered into her ear. That alone sent shivers down her spine but she didn't want to admit to him she was scared, so when he pulled back she simply cursed at him. All she saw was the crinkle of his one eye, as if he were smiling when he drove something sharp into her stomach, as far as it would go.

The next thing she knew, she was alone, coughing up blood as she tried to heal herself. She could already feel her chakra exhausting and she knew she was in big, big trouble. There was no way she would make it back to the village by herself. Hell, she was starting to think she wouldn't make it through the next hour.

She didn't know how long she laid there, sure that she was going to die. Maybe it was hours or maybe it was days. Sakura could hear someone shuffling about somewhere close, and as much as she wanted to turn her head, look for them and try and get their attention, she couldn't. It was taking everything she had just to focus on breathing and even that was tasking. She had given up on healing herself, her body far too exhausted to want to cooperate. Her gaze was just focused on the rain coming down, and all Sakura knew was that she was tired. She also knew though, that if she fell asleep, that she would probably not wake up again.

For a moment though she could have sworn she was starting to hallucinate when she heard Sasuke call her name and then he suddenly appeared above her. She watched him through a half-lidded gaze and it wasn't until he pressed his hand against her stomach that she was shoved back into reality as pain shot through her, a choked yell escaping her as she cringed. At least she knew he was definitely real though.

"Hey." Her voice was barely loud enough to be heard over the rain and it sounded as strangled as she appeared. "You're supposed to be in the hospital."

She gave him a tired half-smile before she started coughing again, blood coming. She had internal bleeding, but this wasn't news to her. She knew what that meant, and if he didn't get her to Konoha soon, she didn't have that good of a chance. In fact, she maybe had a solid forty minutes before she'd be a hopeless case. She slowly lifted her hand and placed it over the one he had on her stomach. She had promised him she wouldn't leave him alone and there was a good chance she was going to break that promise and it was all her fault for going on that mission.

"I'm so sorry, Sasuke."

"And you're supposed to be visiting me in the hospital," he responded, looking relieved to hear her voice.

He turned away from her for a moment, hearing someone approaching behind him. It was Naruto.

"Go back to the hospital. Tell them to be ready for Sakura. She's losing blood fast," Sasuke shouted.

The blond hesitated for a moment, wanting to stay with Sakura as well. But he knew what he had to do and he was gone in a flash. Normally Sasuke was faster than Naruto, but he would be slower while carrying Sakura so the hospital would have time to get prepared.

Then he looked back at Sakura, addressing what she had said. "Don't apologize. When you get better I'm going to be mad at you. Until then you don't get to apologize."

Kakashi was now beside Sasuke. The copy nin was silent as he pulled out his emergency medical supplies. Having come straight from the hospital, Sasuke had none, nor any ninja tools with him. Sasuke carefully removed one of his hands from her wound, taking some gauze and covering the wound with it. The rain made the tears that were forming in his eyes less obvious.

"I'm going to hurt you a lot when I pick you up," he said as he taped the gauze down, checking to make sure the bleeding was at least slowed so that he would be able to mover her without causing her to bleed to death.

Her breath caught in her but she didn't cry out. It was starting to get to the point where everything was turning from painful to just cold. That wasn't a good sign, she knew, but part of her was having a hard time accepting the fact that she was indeed dying. She'd felt this before and she knew what to expect, but this time Sakura was having a much harder time getting used to the idea of leaving Sasuke behind. If she was used to the idea or not wasn't didn't exactly matter though, it was more of the fact that there was a chance she wasn't going to make it back to the village, and Sasuke needed to know that. She needed to get what she needed said, said.

"Sasuke..."

Sakura was staring up at him, that same soft smile on her face. She couldn't bring herself to say goodbye to him though. The look on his face just made the words die in her throat, and if it wasn't raining, she could have sworn that she saw tears. If that were true though, then Sasuke had to be aware of how bad the situation was, and there was no need for her to sit there and explain it to him. So all she could do was stare up at him as she reached up and brushed the wet hair off his face with a shaky hand.

"Thank you," she said with the last breath that she could muster.

She could only hope he'd understand that she meant that the same way he had the night he left.

Her fingertips followed the length of his arm before she laid her hand across her stomach. She was so tired she could barely keep her eyes open. Her breathing was already starting to slow down drastically as she shivered.

"No, don't thank me like that. You don't get to- I won't let you die! I'll never forgive you if you…" His voice trailed off, unable to continue speaking.

Sakura couldn't stop thinking about when they were kids. Sasuke had hated her at first, and she was actually missing that. She wanted him to hate her right now, if it could just get that look off his face. He was crying, something she never thought she'd ever see and she knew she didn't like it. What killed her more was that there was nothing she could say or do to fix it. She was dying, it was that simple, and she wasn't sure that if she even got help that she'd make it.

Satisfied that the bandages were as good as they were going to get, he released her wound and slid his arms under her. He was being as careful with her as he could while still trying to hurry. She was finding it harder and harder to stay awake. The only sound that came from her was a gasp of pain that hitched in her throat. She couldn't have been anything but dead weight in his arms, but she was so far gone she couldn't even register trying to make things easier for him. All she knew was that it hurt, but she couldn't even find her voice to tell him to put her back down.

He slowly stood, lifting her up in the process. There was a surge of chakra to his feet and then he was gone, moving as quickly as his body would allow. His sharingan was still active, the three commas in his eyes able to see every little movement and ensure that he didn't take a wrong step on the wet ground.

Everything started happening in flashes after that as she drifted in and out of consciousness. One moment she'd look up to see Sasuke there, determined eyes fixed ahead and then it'd be black. The next she could see the gates passing overhead and then the hospital came into view. Then she could feel herself on a bed as she stared up at an operating light, soon to be blocked out by a nurse as she felt the prick of a needle in her hand as an IV was set. Next thing she knew, she was out cold.

Everything seemed like a bad dream to her, and for a while, she thought it was. She wanted to believe that any moment she would wake with a jolt and be in Sasuke's apartment or her bed. She knew better though, even unconscious, she knew exactly what happened. She didn't want to remember that her teammates had died because they happened to be with her, but it was like everything was on a loop. The second she could see Madara coming at her with a blade it would just start back over with her running, then the explosion, and then people dropping like flies. She couldn't escape it, and no matter how many times she ran through it, she couldn't find an out.

That was until she started hearing a beep. It sounded like a heart monitor to her and it was strangely comforting. Then the smell of the hospital filled her nose and she wasn't cold anymore. Apart of her thought she died, but it took her a second to realize that the beeping really was a heart monitor, and it was hers. She hadn't wanted to bother with opening her eyes until that fact hit her but it felt like it took all her energy to just do that.

As Sakura opened her eyes, everything was blurry for a moment, her eyes getting used to the darkness before she glanced over at the clock on her bedside. It was four thirty in the morning, but by the fact that it wasn't raining anymore she had no idea how much time had passed. She thought about hitting the nurses' button, but she stopped when she realized that someone was holding her hand, her attention falling to it before she glanced over to Sasuke, gently squeezing his hand.

Sasuke sat up and rubbed his eyes with the hand not holding onto Sakura, clearing the sleepiness from his vision. Seeing Sakura with her eyes open he smiled before leaning over and planting a careful kiss on her forehead.

"How do you feel?" he asked, looking concerned.

Sasuke didn't look so good. His face was ghostly pale and the dark circles under his eyes reminded her of Gaara. Who was she really to talk though, because even though she hadn't seen herself, she highly doubted she was even a dim resemblance of the epitome of health. She could feel the bandages wrapped around her stomach and the gauze that was littered over the rest of her body. She also felt as if she had been hit by a train, but that was beside the point.

"Probably about as good as I look," she answered weakly.

You look perfect," he said, brushing a stray piece of hair out of her face.

"Liar." She smiled at him softly at his comment.

It was sweet of him, and whether he knew it or not, it was helping her. She was surprised he wasn't lecturing her yet to be honest, but he either didn't want to talk about it either, or he was picking up on the fact that she couldn't listen to it right now. No, right now she was much more inclined to just being with him. It was comforting, something that he was getting much, much better at.

There was a small upturn of her lips but she still couldn't shake the feeling over what had happened. She couldn't bring herself to be grateful she was alive because she felt like she didn't deserve to be. She didn't deserve to have Sasuke, not after being so stupid. It was a risk for him to be running around with that chest wound of his, and seeing as how he was out of bed, he clearly wasn't resting like he should have been. No, instead he was watching over her because she had gone on a mission and gotten other people killed. She wanted to cry, but she couldn't bring herself to allow those emotions to boil over, at least not when anyone was around, especially Sasuke. He'd find some way to blame it on himself if he already hadn't, and she refused to let him do that.

"Sasuke..."

Her lips were still parted but she whatever she had been planning to say died in her throat. She wanted to tell him how sorry she was, but she also didn't want to talk about it. Madara had said things to her that shook her to her very core and it made her not feel safe. Madara had made it very clear how much he wanted her dead, his means to an end, and the look in his eye was still fresh in her mind.

"Shh…"

He brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it.

"Everything's going to be fine. I will make sure everything's alright."

Sakura wanted to disagree. It wasn't going to be fine for everyone, at least not for the people that lost someone, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything.

Sasuke glanced over to the corner of the room where Naruto moved in his sleep, but the blond slept on.

"Naruto's here too. He's fast asleep though," he commented, soundly slightly amused.

She tightened her grip on his hand before her eyes drifted to Naruto. The blond needed his rest and it would take an earthquake to probably wake him up right now. She was halfway glad that he was asleep, also. Sasuke wasn't one for P.D.A. and if Naruto woke up, she doubted Sasuke would still be holding onto her hand or doing things like kissing her or brushing the hair out of her face. All she wanted right now was to be close to him, his touch was the only thing making her feel alive still.

She stared at Sasuke with sad eyes. "I don't blame you, you know. I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for you."

She wasn't going to let him shoulder the burden, not a chance. She knew how Sasuke thought, and the expression on his face only confirmed her suspicions.

"You wouldn't be hurt at all if it wasn't for me. It was because of me that he wanted to hurt you, and because of me that he's still alive."

"No. This wasn't your fault. I promise."

She wasn't going to say anything else on the matter. One, she knew that whatever she said right now wasn't going to sink in with him, but over time she'd probably be able to get him to believe otherwise or in the very least forgive himself. Sasuke was a tough guy, but his problem was that he took on other people's burdens. He was always so hard on himself and she couldn't stand it, but then again, there was nothing she could do right now.

"I don't deserve you." That last sentence came with a crack to her voice, but a deep breath brought her back on track. She really didn't, not if he was blaming himself for something like this.

He frowned. "I don't ever want you to think that. You are my most important person and I can't exist without you."

She smiled at him. Even though they had been together for months he still had a difficult time telling her how he saw her. It was reassuring, but it was the exact same issue for her. She was too hard on herself and she couldn't believe that she was good enough for him, at least, not after what she put him through. Sasuke had saved her more times than she could count and what had she done for him besides be his doctor?

He paused for a moment, looking at her curiously. "Did Madara say something to you?"

Sakura was hesitant before she choked out a "No."

She was lying, and when tears started to form in her eyes she knew it was the straw that broke the camel's back. All she could do was look away from Sasuke, roughly wiping her eyes to try to stop herself from crying but she couldn't. Madara had said things to her that made her question everything from Sasuke to her standing in Konoha. He made her feel like the worst person to ever walk the planet. He told her of the things he could do to torture her family, her friends, to Sasuke, and then was even more 'generous,' as he had put it, as to go so far as to show her. She had never met someone with so much malice, yet he had beat everything into her enough that she found it hard not to believe every word that came out of his mouth.

"Whatever he said, don't believe any of it," the Uchiha asserted. "Madara says things that sound convincing, but he is just an evil man who says evil things with the sole purpose of hurting you."

She looked up at him. He was evil, there was no question of that in her mind, but he logic he used, she had to ask herself if he was wrong. Some of the things he had told her had been hitting the nail on the head. She just couldn't brush it off simply because he was a bad person and he had been looking to hurt her.

"The truth sometimes is what hurts the most," she mumbled.

He shook his head. "I know, but he can manipulate the truth to mean whatever he wants. If I had listened to his truth then I wouldn't be in Konoha right now."

He reached out and gently brushed a tear from her cheek.

He added, "I won't get mad at you if you cry."

Sakura tried not to cry but she couldn't hold it back anymore. She was still fairly quiet besides a sharp intake of air every once in a while but she was definitely crying, a lot. She didn't want Sasuke to see her hurt like this, to see her so broken. It made her sick inside that she was crying in front of him again, especially because of this because if anything, she had a feeling it would make him blame himself more.

"Promise me you won't go after him again, please," she pleaded.

She knew that was a lot to ask of him, but she knew that if Sasuke was blaming himself, than he was probably already plotting out some fashion of revenge. She didn't want him going after Madara when he was injured. There was just far too big of a chance that Madara wouldn't be looking to keep Sasuke alive. The only way Sakura knew that he'd want Sasuke alive would be if he came after her again. As much as she would love to never see that man again, she'd much rather the target be on her back than Sasuke's.

"I promise."

Sasuke sighed and shook his head, interlacing his fingers with her and holding her hand tightly.

"I talked to Kakashi earlier. He said that it was reported that Madara was fleeing to the south quickly. It doesn't look like he'll be coming back here any time soon."

She grew quiet. She was surprised to know that the information of Madara's whereabouts was slightly comforting to her. She had been under the impression that as long as that man was alive she'd never feel safe even in her own home. But at the knowledge he was heading towards the borders of the fire country she found herself relaxing a bit more with each passing second.

"Thank you."

She tightened her grip around his hand at the same time that he tightened his. She wanted him next to her, to hear his breathing and feel his heart beating. She wanted his warmth next to her and the feel of his arm around her. She could barely take a deep breath without feeling something hurt let alone move over to give him room to at least sit next to her. Madara had definitely done a number on her, having made her more or less his punching bag. She had never thought someone could make her feel that weak again, and Madara had hardly put forth any effort to make her seem helpless.

She didn't speak up again until she started to calm down, finally convincing herself to stop crying.

"I don't know if I'll ever be able to tell you some of the things he did to me."

Her voice was steady as she avoided looking at Sasuke, instead looking over at Naruto and watching him as he repositioned himself in his chair. Madara had tortured her enough that she had wished he would just kill her though, and that had scared her, how badly she wanted it.

She sniffled. "I couldn't stop thinking about how I had left though, cause I had been so mad at you over something so stupid."

She had been grateful when he showed up, just because she thought she had a chance to apologize to him, the thought of actually getting help never even entered her mind.

"I'm sorry," Sakura added.

He gave her a very light kiss. "It's alright. I knew you would be mad even before I did it and I was prepared for that. I'm just glad you're alright. That's the only important thing right now."

She didn't think he'd be mad at her for not telling him what happened with Madara, in fact, she was avoiding looking at him for a completely different reason. Each time she glanced over at him, she just felt guilty. There had been a point in that fight where she honestly didn't want to be alive anymore. She didn't care if she'd see her friends, family or even Sasuke again because she had just wanted to get away from Madara. She didn't even know how to explain that feeling to Sasuke, and she wasn't sure how he'd take it.

"How did you get out of the hospital, anyways? Also, why aren't you in a bed resting?" Sakura asked, changing the subject.

She looked over at him and gave a skeptical look. She knew she wasn't going to like whatever answer he came up with.

"You could reopen your chest and get an infection. Do you really want to go out that way? Death by infection?"

She smiled at him, obviously dramatizing the whole thing but in all honestly, it wasn't that farfetched. Sure he probably wouldn't die from it, but it would certainly be a setback.

The questions brought a sheepish expression to Sasuke's face. "Kakashi cut my restraints. But you don't have to worry. I let them heal me some earlier and my wound is fine. As long as I don't do anything strenuous I'll be fine so they're letting me stay in this chair

"Restraints?"

She let out the faintest of chuckles though the second she felt pain she forced herself to stop but there was still a small smile on her face.

"I don't think I want to know, do I?"

Sasuke shook his head. "It's better if you don't know. Let's just say I love you more than you realize and leave it at that. You should ignore anything else you may hear around the village. It's all lies."

She gave his hand a gentle squeeze, obviously amused by him. Most people didn't see, actually, no one really besides Naruto, Kakashi, and herself saw it, but Sasuke was actually a pretty funny guy. He was quick, and though his humor was more focused on humiliating someone else or just pointing out how stupid they were being, it was still funny regardless.

"Just be careful." She smiled at him again, a tired glaze to her expression as she kept her stare fixed on him. "I'm really tired, Sasuke."

She knew she had been asleep for a long time, but she felt like she could still squeeze another eight hours of sleep out. She never thought it would be possible for her body to feel this exhausted, to the point where she could barely lift her own arm up. If it weren't for Sasuke sitting next to her, she'd probably feel vulnerable and not get a wink of sleep, still, she felt bad for just going back to sleep on him. He probably wasn't too keen on sitting in that chair.

"That's okay. Go back to sleep."

He brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it once more.

"I'll be here when you wake up."

She knew it was selfish, but Sasuke was stubborn and she knew he probably wouldn't leave even if she told him to so there was no sense in wasting her breath.

"Thank you," Sakura mumbled

"Now get some rest or I'll make you," he said, smirking slightly to indicate that he was only partially serious when he threatened to make her rest.
Sasuke kept his hand on hers and leaned back in his chair, giving her some space to relax.

"You'll make me? Oh, how terrifying."

She just smiled gently before she turned her head to look back at the ceiling. She knew there was ways he could put her to sleep, he'd offered before and she had a feeling she'd one day be asking him to help her. She hoped she could skate by, but she'd be stupid to think she wasn't going to have nightmares about what had happened. Madara had tortured her, and it wasn't something she could just push to the back of her mind and forget about. No, she was stuck with those memories for the rest of her life and there was no doubt in her mind she'd be reminded of it in her nightmares.