Chapter One: A Fatal Blow

Slick, wet blood coated her hand as she clutched her at abdomen. She had healed the deep wound as much as she could. The damage had been extensive, cutting through organs and she had only just enough chakra to heal the fatal blows. Now she was barely walking and still bleeding to death.

Sakura stared into the darkness getting fuzzier by the second. She was nowhere near the main gate and all she could see was the deserted section of the old Uchiha district. She could climb the wall and be closer to the village than going around. Mustering all of her strength she pulled herself over the gate. Not having enough strength to climb down while holding her gushing wound, she fell to the ground.

Dazed and on the verge of unconsciousness, Sakura pushed herself from the ground. Slow and feeble steps carried her through the ghost town she had only even been in once. She didn't even recognize it as the same place anymore. Now it was just a barren wasteland of painful memories for the one person she was trying save. The one person she was willing to risk her life for.

Sakura collapsed to the ground, dirt grinding its way under her fingernails as she coughed miserably. There was no way she would make it to the hospital and no one was here to find her. Clutching her bleeding abdomen tightly she glanced around her. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw Sasuke's old residence. She was closest to it, the only place she might have a chance at making it inside.

Wincing at the irony, she used the last of her energy to find Sasuke's room. The rest of the house gave her chills. At least she knew Sasuke's room had been lived in more recently than the others... rooms she felt to even walk in were disturbing the dead.

The house was dark and Sakura traced her hand against the wall to find her way. Slowly, she found Sasuke's room. Thankfully the moonlight shone in enough for her to see. Her vision was so blurry she could hardly make out the bed, but as she felt it beneath her hands she breathed a sigh of relief.

If she could just rest... she might make it... Sakura closed her eyes and fell onto the bed but not before her eye caught sight of something.

Pushing herself up she crawled to the other side of the bed and with great effort stood leaning against the bed. The object lying face down before brought tears to her eyes. Despite the pain, she reached out before her and touched the wooden frame. Gently, she picked up the picture and locked eyes with the one person who had signally caused her more pain than she had felt in her entire life.

She vaguely wondered if she would ever see him again as she set the picture frame upright. She smiled. After all these years no dust had coated the glass. Perhaps he had unknowingly preserved what he had tried to destroy. Sakura's vision blurred and she pulled back the covers and crawled into the bed. Her already torn shirt slipped off her easily and she quickly fell into a deep trance.

Sasuke stared at his old home. It had been a long time since he had stepped foot in Konoha, but it was imperative that he await what was coming. No more time could be wasted. By now that idiot Killerbee would be long gone. If Naruto was in the village, Sasuke had to find him before Pain.

All he had to do now was wait. Sasuke entered the manor and left his shoes by the door. The cool moonlight cast eerie shadows down the hall. His vision was bad enough he didn't need strange illusions throwing him off balance so he touched his hand to the wall beside him.

Sticky residue touched his fingertips and Sasuke stopped. His Sharingan easily saw the trail of smeared blood on the wall, still dripping in places. A hard lump formed in his throat at the fresh blood in his home once again. The blood dripped from his fingertips, the sound of it hitting the floor resonating through his mind and surfacing every suppressed memory of that night. Subduing the painful memories, Sasuke uneasily followed the blood to his room, his eyes tightening as he neared it.

The door to his room was ajar and no light was shining through. Sasuke frowned and pushed the door open not touching the bloody doorknob. Pitch blackness greeted him as he stepped into the room. The still calm kept him on alert as he glanced around.

Oddly, the first thing he noticed was the picture frame not face down on the dresser. It had been moved. Sasuke moved to the other side of the room and picked it up. It had been moved recently.

The clouds outside shifted and the wind howled. Rays of moonlight flooded the room. Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke noticed the person in the bed beside him, until recently shrouded in darkness. The long pink locks and delicate features made his eyes widen.

Sakura.

What was she doing here? Sasuke didn't move as he contemplated what to do. As the moonlight continued to shift around them, the blood on her face stood out. Blood. Lots of blood.

Sasuke dropped the picture and pulled the sheet off of her. He was momentarily stunned that she didn't have a shirt on, but was quickly drawn to the blood soaked sheets.

"What the hell..." Sasuke muttered.

It was like a bad dream: finding Sakura naked in his bed to only realize she was bleeding to death. Sasuke ripped the sheet into a long strip and wrapped it around the gaping wound under her breasts. It was deep. She had obviously been attacked. Bruises covered her body, though fairly light ones. She wasn't breathing even and she was pale, too pale.

"Sakura! Wake up," Sasuke hissed.

She barely stirred, but with this much blood loss... she had to wake up. Sasuke touched his hand to her stomach and felt how cold she was. She was shivering. Covering her with the blankets, he pulled himself over her and gently rested against her, careful not to damage her wound. She was frozen, like she had been outside all night.

Sasuke wasn't sure what to do when she woke up. Everything had changed since the last time he had seen her... and he had no idea how to convey that. Would she even be willing to listen if he felt the urge to explain?

Sasuke closed his eyes. Of course she would. Feeling her stir beneath him, he opened his eyes and watched her.

Sakura's state of dead rest was ending. She could feel much needed warmth near her and wondered if she was in the hospital. Dragging her eyes open, she saw only pitch black and the blaring red eyes of someone hovering just above her.

Sakura sucked in her breath immediately recognizing Sasuke's sharingan. The thought to panic never crossed her mind, but she did wonder if he was just an illusion. However, illusions didn't keep you warm. His cool fingertips grazed her cheek and Sakura involuntarily shuddered.

"Sakura, what happened to you?"

His voice was a memory she had often wondered if she would ever hear again. Hearing her name on his lips was so surreal she could only gape at him for several moments. She could see his face a bit more clearly now and it only worsened her condition.

"Sakura, are you alright?"

His tone was sharp and she closed her eyes. She tried to talk, but she didn't have the strength. Realizing he might not know of her injuries, she touched her bandaged abdomen and was relieved he had suppressed the bleeding.

The thought overtook her. Sasuke had taken care of her. What was he doing here anyway?

Eyes still closed Sakura moved her hand down her stomach to the wound on her inner thigh. She could feel Sasuke shifting his weight to see what she was doing. She opened her eyes to see him lift the sheet off of her. His eyes widened at her wound.

He was worried. Sakura wondered if this was real... could this really be Sasuke? She was used to him protecting her... used to him saving her... until he had tried to kill her... What was going on?

Sakura tried to fight the unconsciousness that was overtaking her again, but couldn't find the strength.

Sasuke stared at the raw and bloody wound on her thigh. Just as he was about to tear more of the sheet, he felt a faint touch. Sakura had placed her hand in his and gently squeezed it.

He glanced at her.

"Don't... go..." she whispered.

Sasuke stared at her. She was already out of it and her faint grip on him fading. She used the last of her energy for that... Something was tearing at his heart as he pulled his hand from hers. Ripping at the sheet again, he tied off her wound in a tight bandage to stop the heavy bleeding. Someone had cut her up pretty bad.

The light shone in through the window again illuminating the room. Sasuke glanced back at her wound. There were bruises all over her legs. He touched her leg with his hand, touching each bruise with a finger...

Sasuke could feel his blood start to boil. What the hell had happened?

He glanced at Sakura's face and noticed the cut on her lip and then the same kind of bruises on her neck. Forgetting subtlety, Sasuke followed the bruises down to her breasts. Someone had definitely abused her... but how could this happen to Sakura?

Sasuke closed his eyes, unable to face her battered body. How could this happen? Where was Naruto? Where was... he...

Sasuke's face darkened. How could he have been so careless... His blindness had allowed her blood so soak these walls. What kind of cruel trick was fate playing? Or was this just his punishment?

Sasuke picked Sakura's body up and held her in his arms tightly. He would never allow something like this to happen again. He carried her to the bathroom and turned on the hot water. Lighting a candle, he stripped to his boxers. He held Sakura carefully and placed her in the water before climbing in behind her top keep her steady.

Unwrapping her bandages Sasuke realized how deep her wound really was. What if she had internal damage? Using his sharingan, he was convinced she was alright. She must have healed herself. He carefully washed both wounds. He didn't have it in him to take off her panties, but he was worried she might be hurt.

Sasuke let out a frustrated groan and tugged them off of her. He hardly had a problem holding Sakura in his arms completely undressed. Her body was bathed in candle light, her smooth skin and supple breasts in perfect sight. He didn't feel like he was being rude with how he looked at her, it was more like simple astonishment. He had never realized how beautiful she was.

Of course, time must have more to do with it than anything. Sasuke closed his eyes as he let the water soak off the dried blood on Sakura's skin. He hated how good she felt against him. There was too much in the near future for him to be worrying about Sakura.

A subtle increase in her slow breathing warned him she was awake. Sasuke froze as she lifted her hand out of the water and rested it on his knee that was keeping her steady.

"You didn't go..." she whispered.

Sasuke wasn't sure if she was oblivious to the situation or not, but decided to pretend she was.

"What happened, Sakura?" he asked.

She was silent for a long moment before she shifted to turn herself around. Sasuke could tell she was in a lot of pain, but she did it anyway. After she was facing him, she slipped from the pain as she used her hand to hold the wound sliding smoothing to Sasuke's chest.

Sasuke held her there so that she wouldn't move, but felt a mix of sadness and irritation. She was going to hurt herself, but as much as he wished it weren't true, seeing her in such pain made his chest hurt.

Aside from that, feeling her wet body against his chest was not the direction he wanted to go with her. Sasuke watched as she lifted her head to look him in the eye.

"Why are you helping me?" she asked.

Sasuke stared at her. What was he supposed to say to that? His lips parted but he didn't know what to say. Sakura only smiled as a tear slid down her cheek.

She leaned her head back against his chest and wrapped herself around him in every way she could.

"I'm going to hold onto you like this for as long as you let me," she whispered.

"Humph."

Review please! This story may be 10,000 or 30,000 words depends on how much time I have. I will probably aim for it being a little longer and take my time with each chapter though. I pretty much know what I think is going to happen in Naruto and how I hope it will play out and that is what this fic will go through. Sasuke and Sakrua emphasis as well as Naruto.