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Stuck With You
by sweetreject

Chapter 6:
Promise

Every time she went on a mission, she'd promise herself that they would all come back alive. She never told them, of course. People would probably think it was unnecessary, even if she herself took it seriously. But, that one time, she forgot.

She'd woken up late, and when she joined her team, she was too preoccupied with going over the mission that she completely forgot to make that promise.

All four of them died.

Sakura hated to remember that moment. But it was her punishment; she would forever remember the looks on their faces when they were ambushed, the way she was unable to save them.

One of her teammates had a wife; she was pregnant, expecting a little girl in less than a month.

And she took that little girl's father away.

All because she didn't make that promise.

Sakura was resting when Sasuke returned home. Gaara sat in the living room, staring blankly at the wall.

Without looking up, he addressed Sasuke, "Sakura's sleeping in your room. She didn't feel well enough to wait until you came back; she said she'd talk to you tomorrow."

Sasuke looked across the living room to the hallway, where his room was. "To talk about what?"

Gaara shook his head. Standing up slowly, he said, "It's up to her to say." Without another word, he disappeared in a blur of sand, leaving Sasuke standing alone in the darkening room.

What would she have to talk about?

Sighing, Sasuke opened the door to his room, silently slipping inside and closing the door.

He could hear Sakura's slow breathing as she slept. The sunset shone brightly through the only window in his room, casting orange rays over the bed where Sakura lay. He could see part of her face laying on the pillow, and the white sheets tangled around her. Her hair fell over her cheek and onto the pillow.

Sasuke didn't take notice that she was only wearing a t-shirt.

Seeing someone in his bed should have made him uneasy. After all, he never had people in his home; it was always quiet, always empty.

But, strangely, seeing Sakura sleeping on his bed made him feel like his house was finally a home.

It felt right.

He didn't realize what he was doing, didn't realize he was standing over her, until his hand was brushing away the piece of hair falling over her cheek. His hand froze when she stirred a little, but she quickly breathed normally again, and he dropped his hand to his side again.

What was he doing?

He felt like some pervert spying on an innocent girl.

Only, Sakura wasn't innocent. She'd gone through enough in her life to ever be considered innocent.

Sasuke's fists clenched. Before he'd left, he'd made a promise that he would never let them get hurt. That he would always protect them, because he didn't want his loved ones to die again.

Instead, he put her through so much, and all because she'd tried to get him to come back. She'd gotten hurt many times, all for his sake. Because she still believed that the old Sasuke, the one she knew, was somewhere inside him. But now she knew. He couldn't love; he didn't have the right to feel something so human.

He stared down at her. "Do I…even have the right to ask you to stay…?" If she decided to fall in love with someone else, would I even have the right to tell her not to leave me? I hurt her; tried to kill her, yet she still says she…

He shook his head. No.

Silently, he slipped in next to Sakura. Almost instantly he felt her reach out for him, and even though he told himself he didn't have the right to, he brought her against his chest, feeling a tremor run down his back as she pressed her body against his.

He didn't have a right to anything.

By the time Sasuke opened his eyes, the bright light coming in through the window almost blinded him as he sat up. The sun was already high up in the sky; had he really slept in until noon?

After taking a shower, he walked slowly towards the living room, feeling refreshed after sleeping for so long. He wasn't even halfway down the hallway when he felt someone slam into his legs, and the words, "Sasuke-kun!" muffled by his clothes.

"Sakura." He paused. "Get off."

She giggled. Without letting go of his legs, she smiled up at him and said, "Good morning, Sasuke-kun!"

"Hn." He glared down at her, though it was only half-heartedly. "Wait, didn't you want to talk about something?"

He felt her suddenly stiffen, and before he could ask what was wrong with her, she'd let go of his leg. "Sakura?"

She slowly looked up at him. Smiling, she said, "Gaara says he'll be able to turn me back soon; he just has to heal, so it'll be in about a week." Sasuke stared at her, searching her face for…something, he didn't know exactly what; Sakura was hiding something, and it was obvious the moment she smiled up at him. "For now, I'll just have to keep on being the lost little girl I'm supposed to be."

After Sasuke left to train that day, Sakura sat in the living room with Gaara, talking to him about nothing in particular. Looking at Gaara, she stopped talking. "Is something wrong?"

Gaara sighed. Looking Sakura straight in the eye, he asked, "Why didn't you tell him everything?"

It took Sakura a while to answer back, but when she did, she couldn't stop her voice from shaking, "I just don't want him to worry about me if it doesn't go right."

N/A: Short, I know, but the next chapter is the last one! I had to save some of the stuff so it'll make the last chapter a little longer.

Review? c: