Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 1

-xx-

This isn't a love story.

This isn't even a story about love.

-xx-

The church bell started to ring, its tone loud and deep as the crows flew off the roof to escape the clangs that reverberated throughout the town. Their low, displeased caws could be heard adding to the midday clamor if anyone dared to brave the summer heat; however, the streets were empty, as they usually were regardless of season or weather.

The town was small, too small to even have a name, or at least, too small for anyone to remember. But once upon a time this town was bustling with people, both young and old, out to try their luck as stories of men striking it rich on oil reached the masses—the empty, boarded up buildings a testament to that fact.

But no one found the coveted 'black gold,' not in this town. The rumors proved to be nothing more than simply that, and the threat of the town becoming yet another ghost town ran rampant among the townsfolk. People began leaving by the dozen every day. Buildings that once were full of people were boarded up, left unattended and for vermin to take over.

However, either by an act of providence or the cleverness of some of the businessmen—the townsfolk each had their own opinions on that matter—the town survived, making its living by providing lodging for those travellers who happened to pass by. Though as of late, not many travelers seemed to come this way. Most blamed that year's particularly blistering summer.

The church bell was on its eighth clang when Sakura looked up from her lap. Heat radiated from the ground in waves, towards a sky that hadn't produced rain in days. She wiped the sweat from her brow and sighed, the sleeves of her dress already rolled past her elbows—a habit her mother always hated. It isn't ladylike, her mother always told her as she'd button up her dress, and you are a lady now, Sakura.

Sakura rolled her eyes as she glanced at Naruto, his button-up already abandoned next to him as he laid on her porch. She wondered what her mother would say if she were to come out of the house right then and there—she with her, yet again, rolled sleeves and him, clad only in his undershirt as they went over arithmetic. Sakura almost laughed at the thought. Her mother would probably kill them, if the heat didn't get to them first.

"Sakuraaaaaaaaaa."

She blinked, the drawn out 'a' in Naruto's whine waking her from her thoughts. She looked down at him. "What is it now, Naruto?"

"I don't get this! None of this!"

Sakura clicked her tongue. "Of course you don't," she said under her breath as she closed her book and brought her rocking chair to a stop. She huffed. "Here, let me see your work."

Naruto sat up and passed her his workbook. Sakura quickly scanned each pages and frowned. His work, she shook her head, was lackluster to say the least. But she couldn't say she was knew Naruto was the worst in her class—as small as it was—his marks as dismal as his future. But what could anyone expect from someone without parents?

She glanced at the crumpled button-up again and made a face. Had Iruka not asked her to help him on the weekends she probably would've went her whole life without speaking more than a few words to him, let alone invite him to her home. She knew her mother wouldn't approve. No one did, really. Though, Sakura didn't exactly know why; something about an incident that happened when his family first moved to town. But no one ever wanted to talk about it, and Naruto never asked questions. But it had to be bad. It had to. It was the only way to explain his lack of intelligence and social tact.

Not that she'd ever say any of that out loud. It wasn't ladylike.

"Alright," she sighed, "just give me your pencil. I'll show you how to do it."

"Sure thing, Sakura."

She held out her hand, expecting to feel Naruto place the pencil in her hand but felt nothing. She closed her eyes and took a breath. "Come on, Naruto, just give it to me." She heard something fall to the floor. She groaned. "Naruto!"

"But—!"

"No buts! Do you want me to help you or not?"

"But, Sakura, there's someone coming!"

Sakura bent downwards and grabbed the pencil herself. She rolled her eyes. "I really doubt that. No one has passed here in weeks. And of all days and times, someone would be coming now? I don't think so. It's probably just the heat getting to you."

"No, really! I see a horse! Just look."

And sure enough, as if rising with the heat itself, there was a man riding on horseback, his horse sauntering past the boarded up buildings. He was heading in their direction. However, something was off. Sakura had never seen anyone, not even the worst riders, ride a horse like that. His hat hung around his neck and over his shoulder as he leaned to his right, hand clutching his side as the other barely held on to the reins. What he was doing out here—in the blazing sun, in the middle of the day—she had no idea. It was suicide.

And then he fell.

Sakura jumped to her feet, the workbook forgotten as it fell to the ground. "Get Tsunade," she said as she lifted her dress and ran down the porch steps. However, when she didn't hear footsteps following her she turned around saw Naruto, still on his knees, dumbstruck while he couldn't take his eyes off the fallen horseman. Sakura yelled. "Naruto, now!"

Her scream was enough to wake Naruto from his daze, and as Naruto finally started running towards the center of town, Sakura rushed towards the fallen man, beads of sweat dripping down her face and her back. Dust rose into the air with ever step, bringing tears to her eyes as she suppressed the need to cough. However, the closer she got to the fallen man the more his horse began to neigh in protest, shielding Sakura from him as it rose to its hind legs.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed, palms flying up. The horse was twice her height now. She felt her heartbeat quicken, both from fear and excitement as she mimicked what she'd seen countless of other cowboys do whenever their horses got too excited. The horse neighed again but fell back onto its four legs. She swallowed and waited a moment before taking another step forward.

"Whoa. I'm not going to hurt him," she said gently. "I just want to make sure he's okay. Okay?"

The horse wouldn't remove its gaze from hers, but after a few tense moments of silence it finally moved out of the way. The man wasn't moving. It didn't even look like he was breathing. Sakura got to her knees and immediately checked for a pulse, fearing the worst. She let out a sigh of relief. He was still alive. She turned him over onto his back, eliciting both a groan and slight protest from the man as he continued to clutch his side.

She gasped. Even with dust and his hair covering his face, she realized that the man couldn't have been more than a few years older than her. Sakura looked at his hand and gently told him that she was going to move it out of the way. However, just as she placed her hand over his, Sakura spotted the gun.

It was on the ground, just where his body had been only moments before. It must have fallen out of its holster when he fell off his horse, she thought. She swallowed. She'd never seen one this close before.

The man let out another groan, but this time it sounded like he was trying to say something.

"I'm sorry," she said, finally taking her eyes off the gun, "can you repeat that?"

"You're," he said. He paused to wince and take another breath. "You're on my—Shit. You're heavy. Move."

Sakura looked down at her hands and gasped in horror, realizing that while she was staring at the gun she'd been leaning on the side the man had been clutching. She snatched her hand away and immediately placed her weight back on her knees. "Oh my God! I am so sorry! I didn't even realize—I'm sorry! I just wanted to see what was wrong, I swear."

She tensed as soon as the words left her lips, hearing her mother's voice once again reprimanding her for her lapse in etiquette. Swearing in front of a man you don't know? That's not very ladylike, Sakura. She huffed and glanced at her dress covered in dust. The swearing wasn't even the half of it.

"Anyway," she said, "uh, since I think it would be better to wait until Tsunade and Naruto get here, can you tell me what happened?"

The man finally opened his eyes. "Why should I tell you?"

Their eyes only locked for a few moments, but it was just enough for Sakura's heart to skip a beat, to flutter down into her stomach. He had such beautiful eyes, she thought. She'd never seen eyes so dark before. "Because," she said, a slight tremor in her voice, "Because I'm a doctor. "

He blinked. "Really. You're a doctor."

"Well, I will be."

"Sure."

Sakura couldn't be certain, but she swore she saw the slightest smirk on the man's lips as he said that. He almost seemed amused. However, just as she was about to respond, his eyes closed and his breathing began to slow more noticeably, drifting into unconsciousness.

"Hey, hey," she said, placing her hands on his shoulders. She shook him gently. "If you won't tell me what happened at least tell me your name."

He opened his eyes again and looked at her warily. "Why do you want to know?"

The way he said it made the flutters finally stop. Sakura bit her lip, wanting to tear her gaze away from his, forcing herself not to. She was nervous, but for different reasons this time. "Small town," she said, "Everyone knows everyone's name. I'll tell you mine—if that helps. I'm Sakura."

His gaze went from her eyes to her hair. He relaxed. He closed his eyes and smirked again. "Fits."

Sakura's eyes widened. That was the first time anyone had ever made the connection. She wanted to ask him how he knew, but she didn't. "And yours?"

But just as he was about to tell her, Sakura heard the familiar screech of Naruto's voice coming from behind her. She turned and saw him along with Tsunade and a few others running towards them. She raised her hand, about to call something back when her hand froze mid-wave. The gun. Her breath hitched. She forgot about the gun.

Her eyes went from the man to the gun and back to the group heading in their direction. She didn't know why, but something told her that if this man wasn't comfortable telling even her—a girl barely into womanhood—his name, then having a gun probably wouldn't work in his favor, especially in a town so small.

So she did the only thing she could think of.

She took it, hiding it within the folds of her dress just as she began to wave once more.

In a town where the population was just over a few hundred, news travelled fast. And though the usuals were physically present in the church pews that following Sunday, their minds were somewhere else, thinking about the mysterious man laying in a hospital bed only a few buildings away, Sakura being one of them.

However, it didn't help that along with the mysterious traveller she was also the target of the town's curiosity, catching countless parishioners staring at her with open intensity during the entirety of the service. She couldn't blame them though. Naruto may have been the one to have spotted the traveller first, but she was the only one who had the chance to speak to him besides Tsunade. There was also the possibly that the sheriff spoke to him, but that was under the assumption that within the twenty hours of his arrival he had regained consciousness and spoke to him, which considering his condition—four broken ribs and severe dehydration—seemed highly unlikely.

She just wished she had the story everyone assumed she had—because really, she knew just as much as the rest of them, which was nothing. She didn't even have a name.

She had his gun, though.

But she couldn't tell anyone that.

As soon as the service ended, Sakura followed the beeline out the door, obeying her mother's instructions to ignore the other parishioners as best as she could. She didn't even stop to talk to Ino, her closest friend in town, haphazardly giving her an excuse as she quickly strode in the direction of the hospital—because ladies don't run, Sakura, they stride. Besides, she'd much rather talk to Ino when she actually had something interesting to say.

Tsunade was sitting at her desk when Sakura entered the hospital, glasses on as she scribbled furiously onto a piece of paper. She looked annoyed. Sakura pursed her lips and glanced at Shizune who was placing a few dishes on a tray. They made eye contact long enough for Sakura to see her scrunch her nose. She grimaced. She knew what that meant, finding the bottle she had failed to notice earlier at the corner of her desk. Tsunade was in one of those moods.

"The damn bastard refuses to talk!" she finally exclaimed, slamming her pen down along with her fist.

"Tsunade!"

"What? He won't! You were there! The ungrateful little—"

Sakura covered her mouth to suppress her urge to laugh. Of all the people she'd ever met, Tsunade was the only woman to use such coarse language, and so freely, too. She even wore pants sometimes. Pants. Sakura remembered how shocked she was the first time she'd seen her like that. But Tsunade was one of those women who cared not for appearances, and though some of the other townsfolk—Sakura's mother included—did not approve of such behavior from a woman, no one could deny this fact: Tsunade knew what she was doing, and they needed her.

She was everything Sakura dreamed to be.

"—comes into our town severely dehydrated along with four broken ribs and he has the nerve to—"

"I could try talking to him."

Tsunade turned. "Oh, Sakura," she said, "you're here earlier than I expected."

Sakura lifted her shoulders, freezing mid-shrug. "I came straight from service," she said, lowering her shoulders as she clasped her hands instead, "I didn't feel like being asked more questions I couldn't answer."

"Makes sense."

"Anyway," Sakura looked at the tray Shizune was holding, "I could take that to him for you. If you don't mind. I mean, it's worth a shot, right?"

Shizune and Tsunade exchanged glances. Tsunade shook her head and sighed. "Oh, why not? But good luck."

Sakura smiled and took the tray from her. He was in the room furthest down the hall, Shizune told her—he, uh, requested we move him there. Sakura raised her brow but said nothing as she walked towards his room. It seemed odd, she though, but people made odd requests all the time. She took a breath and knocked before she entered.

"It's you."

He was sitting up, arms crossed as he leaned against the bedframe, watching closely as she came in. He never broke eye contact, and Sakura felt her breath hitch, hearing the beating of her heart rather than feeling it. She wondered if he heard it, too—because it seemed that loud. But she couldn't help it; she knew what he really looked like now, and he was the most handsome man she'd ever seen in her life, with a face that matched the beauty she saw in his eyes just the day before.

He cleared his throat, making Sakura jump. She let out an awkward laugh. "Yes, it's me."

"What are you doing here?"

"I told you I was going to be a doctor some day, didn't I?" Sakura placed the tray on his side table and pulled the nearest chair next to his bed. She sat down. "Tsunade probably didn't tell you yet, but I'm under her tutelage. She doesn't usually do this, not since she moved here with her other student, Shizune, but I don't know. I guess I seemed promising to her."

"Tsunade?"

"Oh, she must have introduced herself as Dr. Senju, then. Right?" He nodded yes. "Hm, I can't imagine why, though. She hates it when we call her that. She says it makes her feel old. Everyone around here just calls her Tsunade. Well, unless you're Naruto, of course. But he's—well, you probably wouldn't like him."

He didn't answer, his eyes turning towards his lap. He closed his eyes and sighed.

"Where am I?"

Sakura blinked. "Um, well, that's kind of a hard question. We don't really have a name. We're a small town, the only one for miles and miles around us. But it might help if you told me where you came from. I could probably tell you where you are in relation to that."

"I'd rather not."

"Oh. Um, right. Then I guess me asking what happened to you would be useless, wouldn't it?"

She saw him tense as he nodded again. Sakura gulped. It was almost as if she could feel him drawing himself further away from her as the conversation progressed. It was such an odd feeling. She'd never met anyone so—so cold.

And yet, he still seemed so young.

"So how old are you?" she asked quietly.

"Sixteen."

Sakura nodded. Two years older than she. Old, but not old enough. However, she thought about Lee, about to turn sixteen himself, and the differences between them were striking. She wondered what happened to him, what things he'd seen—things he'd done—for him to be so guarded. "Have you been on your own for a long time?"

"You ask a lot of questions."

"Does it annoy you? Shoot. I did it again. I'm sorry." She bit her lip. She was getting nervous again, and she knew he could tell. "You just seem," she paused and thought about the gun again, the gun that lay beneath the loose floorboard in her bedroom. She swallowed. She wondered if he'd killed anyone with it yet. "You just seem too young—to be out on your own like that."

There was a beat. He sighed.

"It's been a few years," he finally said.

"What about your family?"

"They're dead."

"Oh. I—I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I don't know what to say."

"People usually don't."

Sakura looked at her lap, her fingers tensely fiddling with the fabric of her dress as she felt a lump grow in her throat. The way he spoke to her—she couldn't blame him, not really. She'd never felt so low before. She thought about Naruto. She thought about how he didn't have any parents either. However, Naruto never seemed to be hurting, not the way the man in front of her did right now. But it had to hurt, she thought as she stole another glance at the stranger. It had to hurt a lot.

She sighed. Naruto. Growing up with him, watching him in class, tutoring him, she thought she understood him.

She clearly didn't.

"I can't imagine what that's like," she said, or whispered; she couldn't tell anymore. Her thoughts were still on Naruto. "I never have."

"It's lonely," he said, "Mind-numbingly lonely. It's almost suffocating."

Once again Sakura didn't know what to say, but she figured he already knew that. Maybe he planned for it to be that way, she thought, just so she'd finally stop talking. Or maybe he didn't. She looked at him, his eyes staring at his lap, staring at nothing. But Sakura knew he was somewhere else. Somewhere painful.

The church bell began to ring.

"Oh," she said, counting the clangs. There were ten of them. "I should—I should probably go."

Sakura got to her feet and took five quick strides toward the door. She didn't care that her efforts to gain any new information from him were as successful as the rest of the others. She just wanted to leave.

"Wait."

She stopped. "Yes?"

"It's Sakura, right?"

Her eyes widened. Sakura turned around slowly and gave him a smile, one big enough that she felt it tug at the corners of her eyes. He remembered. "Yeah, it is."

He blinked a few times before he nodded, tongue in cheek as he looked away. "Right, well, you never got mine. My name, I mean." He paused, resuming eye contact through his peripheral vision. "Aren't you going to ask?"

"I thought I already asked too many questions."

He uncrossed his arms and shrugged. "I could deal with one more today."

She laughed. "Okay. So what's your name?"

"Sasuke."

.

.

.

It's lonely.

His church jacket and tie were already in a crumpled pile next to him when Sakura saw him sitting on her porch steps. Naruto waved as she slowly walked over, careful to keep the finger of his other hand wedged in his workbook.

Sakura gave him a small smile and waved back. He almost seemed surprised, a slight pause in his wave before he resumed waving, but this time with more fervor. Sakura sighed. Had this been a few days earlier, she probably wouldn't have noticed this. She probably wouldn't have cared. But things were different now. Things had changed.

And she noticed.

"How was he?" Naruto asked. "Still breathing?"

"He's fine. A few broken ribs, but yes, still breathing. Tsunade says it will probably take three to six weeks to heal. He doesn't have any money with him, though. He's probably going to have stay in the hospital."

"Who is this guy anyway?"

Mind-numbingly lonely.

Sakura took a seat in the rocking chair and asked Naruto for his workbook. "I don't really know," she said, "He's only a couple of years older than us, but he doesn't talk much. The only thing he was really willing to tell me was his name. Sasuke."

"Sasuke, huh? No last name?"

She shook her head. "I don't think so. I don't really know. Anyway," Sakura opened the workbook, suddenly very tired of the subject, "let's get started, shall we? Come here, I'll teach you the next lesson right now."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really."

Naruto smiled and walked behind Sakura's rocking chair, listening carefully as she went over his previous efforts and corrected his mistakes. She went more slowly this time around, checking every so often with Naruto before she moved on. Everything was connected, she told him. If he understood what he did wrong now, it would be easier for him to understand what she was about to teach him.

She told him to stop her whenever he was confused, but he never did. She stopped anyway. She gave more examples.

The lesson lasted no more than an hour before Sakura told Naruto to try some problems on his own. He laid down in his usual position on his stomach, next to his crumpled clothes, and began to work. However, this time Sakura didn't have a book with her to keep her busy, and she didn't feel like going inside to get one. Rather, she watched him—watched as he scratched his head, watched as he erased his mistakes, watched as he found breakthroughs.

And yet, all the while Sakura's thoughts always led her back to the same person.

It's almost suffocating.

"Hey, Naruto."

He placed his pencil down and turned his head. "Yeah?"

"We're—we're friends. You know that, right?"

Naruto's eyes travelled down to the floorboards, a sad smile painted 1on his lips. He took a breath and closed his eyes. He laughed and looked up. "Of course, Sakura!"

She smiled. "Good. I just wanted to make sure you knew."

"You're here again."

"I am."

"Why?"

She shrugged. "You're the most interesting thing to happen to this town in a long time."

"I'm not that interesting."

"But you are."

"I'm not.

"I think you are."

"And where do you think you're going, young lady?"

There is was again. That word. Lady. The sound of her mother's voice made Sakura freeze, shoulders raised just as she was about to open the door. She cursed. Her mother was supposed to be at the store. She turned around slowly and gave her a smile. Strained. "I'm going to the hospital. Like I always do."

Her mother raised a brow and hummed. "Oh, really. Again? I don't know if you've noticed this, but you've been going there a lot more lately." She looked behind her. "Hasn't she, dear?"

Her father looked up from his book and thought about it for a moment. He nodded. "Yes, I suppose you're right. She has."

Sakura suppressed the urge to clench her fists, taking a deep breath instead. There was a point to this. There always was. "I'm just trying to learn as much as I can from Tsunade while I can," she said, "Learning medicine isn't easy, you know."

"I know. And yet, could it really have to do with that boy that showed up two weeks ago?"

And there it was. The point.

Sakura knew what she was thinking.

"That's just coincidence," she said.

"Really."

"Yeah. Really."

Her mother shook her head. "Right. Do you even know this boy? Where's he from?"

"I don't know."

"Where's he heading?"

"I don't know."

"What's his name?"

Sakura smirked. "Sasuke."

"Last name?"

Her smirk fell. Damn it. "I don't know."

Her mother sighed. "Sakura—"

"I know!" Sakura shook her head and took another long, deep breath. She was going to lose her temper otherwise. She lowered her voice. "I know this seems bad, and I know this isn't how a 'lady' should be acting but please, just let me go. Maybe a part of it has to do with him, but Tsunade is finally letting me work with a patient. I'm finally doing something I've wanted to do for so long! So please, let me go to the hospital. I'll be back home by five. I promise."

"Four."

"Four-thirty."

Her mother pursed her lips. "Fine," she said. "Four-thirty. And not one minute later. We'll be waiting."

But Sakura was already out the door.

.

.

.

She was quieter than usual. Her latest argument with her mother, though somewhat resolved, had left her with a bitter taste. She could barely even look at Sasuke when she entered his room, afraid its remnants would be visible on her face. She had always been so expressive.

And yet, a part of her, a part that she didn't want to admit to herself, knew her mother was right. She knew close to nothing about him, except for half a name and the little facts that would happen to escape whenever they spoke. But other than that, she knew nothing. She should have been afraid of him. The gun and his seemingly unwaranted suspicion proved that. But she wasn't. She wanted to know him. She wanted to spend every possible moment with him—and that just wasn't her curiosity getting the best of her. There was something about him.

She couldn't help herself, and she didn't know why.

Sakura placed the stethoscope against Sasuke's chest and asked him to take a deep breath, watching closely to see if he still winced. She asked him again. She scrawled something on a piece of paper. He's doing better, she thought, glad. He was doing a lot better. She paused. She decided to write that down.

"Your friend was here yesterday. Naruto."

Sakura looked up. He was staring at her. She wondered for how long. "Yeah, I told him he should probably see you at least once," she said, taking a seat, "He was the one who saw you first anyway."

"I thought you said I wouldn't like him."

"I changed my mind. So what did you think of him?"

"He's loud. Really loud. And kind of an idiot." Sasuke sighed, the corner of his mouth turning slightly upward. "He's okay."

Sakura smiled, her first one since she'd entered the room. "Yeah," she said musingly, noticing Sasuke finally relax into the bedframe, "he is, isn't he? But anyway, enough about Naruto, you seem to be doing well. Breathing doesn't seem to bother you so much anymore. Tsunade's exercises are working then?"

He nodded.

"Good. So I guess—I guess that means you'll probably be on your way soon."

He nodded again, but more slowly this time.

Sakura bit her lip. Time was running out, she realized as she turned to look Sasuke's file. She wasn't even reading anything, just staring. She just didn't want him to see. The thought of his eventual departure hurt her more than she was willing to let on.

"Listen," she said, "I'm not asking you where you're going or what you plan to do—because I know you won't tell me—but even so, you should come back some time. Visit us. Me and Naruto." She smiled. "I'd really like that."

"I can't."

"You can't?"

Sasuke shook his head. "We—I never go to the same town twice."

"Oh."

It had gotten quiet. Sasuke didn't want to talk about it anymore, and neither did she. But he said 'we,' and she wondered what that meant.

"You were talking in your sleep again."

"I told you. That's normal."

"But I understood you this time."

"What did you hear?"

She swallowed "Burn. Kill. Konoha."

"You heard right."

". . . Then that other thing you say. The one I asked you about before. Danzo. It's not gibberish. It's a person, isn't it?"

"It is."

She was having trouble sleeping that night. She didn't know why and she didn't know what, but something was wrong. She sat up and looked out her window. Except for the few gas lights lit outside the porches of her neighbors' homes, it was pitch dark. And it was quiet. Not even the shadows of the usual scavengers seemed to be roaming the streets that night.

But despite that nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The town was fast asleep, just as she should have been.

She stood up. She lit a candle and found her shoes. It was impulsive, she knew, but she had to know for sure. She wanted to make sure she was wrong.

Carefully avoiding the spots in the floorboard that creaked, Sakura quietly left her room and shut the door. She tiptoed past her parents' room, stopping just for a moment to make sure they were sleeping, and went down the stairs. It was only when she was finally out the door that Sakura finally relaxed and let out the long breath she had been holding.

For a moment she toyed with the idea of going to Naruto's and asking for his help but thought better of it. It was best she did this alone, she thought—or maybe that was the selfishness in her talking she couldn't tell.

The streets felt more ominous than they did from her window, and the many darkened, abandoned buildings didn't help either, fear creeping down Sakura's spine as she ran—not strode—deeper into town. She also felt the hem of her nightgown dragging against the dusty road, but she couldn't bring herself to care about that either. She'd come up with an excuse later.

When she finally reached building, Sakura carefully placed her candle on the ground and slowly pulled the door open, which was a lot heavier than she anticipated. A few whinnies came from the first couple of horses near the stable door from the noise, but she quickly shushed them before they could wake anyone else. Sakura picked up her candle and closed the door once more, this time with her inside.

She walked through the stable, careful to keep the candlelight from waking the sleeping horses. When she finally came to the last stall she paused to take a deep breath and raised the candle in front of her, afraid of what she would—or wouldn't—see. However, the horse was still there, his dark eyes dilating as they met hers. Sakura let out a sigh of relief.

"Hey, there," she said, stroking him on the nose. The horse blew a puff of air into her face, eliciting a quiet giggle from her. "Yeah, I know it's late, Manda. But I have a really bad feeling about tonight."

Sakura found a stool near the wall and took it inside Manda's stall. "Maybe I'm wrong. But I just want to make sure, okay, Manda?" She stroke his nose again with her left hand and took his reins with the other. She sat down and blew out her candle. "I'll only be here for a little bit."

Manda had started getting restless, stomping his front foot and shaking his head, which in turn jerked the arm that was holding his reins. Sakura gasped. She didn't know when, but she must have fallen asleep. Manda started to whinny. She stood up, legs woozy from the uncomfortable position she had been in.

"What is it, Manda?" she asked. "Do you hear something?"

The stable door opened.

Sakura's hand flew to her mouth to stop herself from gasping too loud. Some of the other horses had woken from the sudden noise again, their soft whines filling the stable. However, the man who had opened the door paid no attention as he continued to walk towards the back. But Sakura didn't need to guess which stall he was heading towards. She already knew who it was.

"Manda, you're awake," she heard Sasuke's voice say as she stood on the other side of the horse's body, hand still clutching his reins. Her heart started to race. He hadn't noticed her yet. "We can't stay here anymore. We have to go."

Sasuke opened the stall gate.

"So this was how it was going to be? You were just going to leave? Without a good-bye?"

Sakura emerged from Manda's other side. However, she could barely see Sasuke's face, the only light coming from the stable window just behind her. But from what she could tell, Sasuke didn't seem too surprised.

"You're supposed to be asleep," he said.

"So are you."

Sasuke ignored her and looked for Manda's saddle. Sakura closed her eyes, unable to watch as Sasuke placed the saddle on Manda's back, feeling a sharp pain in her chest. She'd read about it before, but she never knew it hurt that bad. She never knew it would actually feel like her heart was physically breaking.

"What are you doing, Sasuke?" she asked, pieces of fragmented heart making its way to her throat. It almost hurt to speak. "You weren't supposed to leave for another week."

"How did you know I would be here?"

Sakura didn't answer his question. She just knew. But, she didn't tell him that. He wouldn't understand. She barely understood it herself.

Rather, she settled for another question. "Will you come back?"

She heard him sigh as he gently took the Manda's reins from her hand. She didn't even put up a fight. "I thought I told you," he said quietly as he began to walk out of the stall. "I never go to the same town twice."

"Oh, right," she said, fighting the tears, fight the fragments that had made their way to her eyes now. "I—I must have forgotten."

But she didn't forget. She never forgot anything Sasuke told her, and she knew the chances of his return were slim. However, she'd always hoped he'd change his mind about that fact, hoped she would change his mind.

But that was naïve of her, and she knew it. Besides the two years that separated them in age, there was a deeper, larger chasm that kept Sakura far away from him. It was something that she couldn't understand and something that only Naruto could cross—because in the weeks that they had all gotten to know each other, Naruto had a better understanding of Sasuke's life than Sakura could ever hope for. That much was obvious, and yet, she still hoped that Sasuke valued whatever it was they had just enough to stay.

But she was wrong. She was wrong, and now Sasuke was going to ride out of their town, without a second thought, never to return. And yet, she still wanted to try.

"Wait, Sasuke!" she exclaimed, the fragments giving her the strength to run—not stride—out of the stable. He hadn't mounted his horse yet. There was still time. "Whatever you're running from, whatever you're running towards. You can leave it all behind. I don't care what it is. I won't ask you. But you can stay here. You can live the life your family wanted for you here. You don't have to get revenge, Sasuke."

He tensed, hand clenching around Manda's reins. "How do you know about that?"

Sakura swallowed. "You say other things in your sleep, you know," she said, "It's not always about Konoha. Or Danzo. You say other names, too. And the way you say them. It's different."

"That doesn't matter."

"Why not?"

"You don't understand, Sakura. You never did. You have a mother, a father, friends. We're different. You have a life here. I don't. I can't stay, and I don't want to."

"Then let me go with you."

"What?"

Sakura took a step forward, close enough that she could touch Manda, close enough that she could touch him. But she didn't; he was always so far away. "I could go with you," she repeated gently, "You're probably going to get really hurt along the way. Look at what happened to you here. Someone needs to look after you. You could use a doctor."

"You're not a doctor."

"But I will be."

Sasuke finally turned around, the same smirk that plagued her dreams painted on his lips. Sakura didn't know how it was possible, but that smirk, it broke her heart even further past repair. She wanted to curse him. It would've been so much easier if he was angry with her. But he wasn't.

"I know you will," he said, poking her on the forehead. He finally mounted his horse. "So stay."

As hard as she tried she couldn't stop the tears anymore. She was crying now, fragments streaming down her face. She grabbed onto the fabric of his jeans. "Please, Sasuke. Please," Sakura begged. She couldn't even see clearly anymore. She couldn't even think clearly anymore.

And then, of all damn times, she heard her mother's voice—ladies don't beg, Sakura. Ladies don't cry in public, Sakura. Ladies just don't, Sakura. Her fist clenched. She wanted to scream. To hell with what it means to be a lady, she thought. None of it mattered; none of it was helping her now, not when she needed help the most. "Don 't—Don't leave."

Sasuke shook her head and took her hand off of him. Manda began to move.

"Thank you, Sakura."

Okay, I have so much I want to say about this, but I think I'll save that for the next chapter. Fair warning, this fic is just going to be a two-shot. The future of this story is still to be determined.

Thank you!

GhostofYou