scene xi.

Morning was shedding its first rays on the village.

Sasuke shuffled to the table and sat down with a reluctant plop. His eyes landed blankly on the wood surface and stayed there. Kakashi was beside him, looking fairly alive, still reading his porn. Naruto, on the other hand, sat slouched. His snores were obnoxious. But then again, Sasuke thought, Naruto was obnoxious.

Sasuke glared as another snore erupted from Naruto.

The sound was an odd mix with Sakura's singing in the background. Chipper and bright and warm, her voice tinkled from the kitchen, singing along with the radio. Raking his hand through his still disheveled hair, Sasuke grunted and leaned forward. He laced his fingers together in front of his face and prepared to sleep while he could.

A few footsteps padded daintily on the linoleum; Sasuke opened his eyes, frowning.

"Babies! I thought I had men on my team!" Sakura popped her hands on top of her hips and eyed her teammates.

Sasuke sat back and laced his fingers over his stomach, instead. His hair was falling into his eyes, and Naruto's snoring made it even harder to stay awake. Of course, Sakura's experience with handling little to no sleep had to be taken into account. They were babies compared to her, in that respect. Sakura huffed and marched over to Naruto, pausing before delivering a heavy-handed whack to his head. Naruto's hands flew to his head and cradled it. "Oww, Sakura-chan! That hurt!"

"Sleeping on the job. Shame on you," Sakura chided, half-serious, half-joking. Rolling her eyes, she slipped back into the kitchen and reappeared moments later, holding a pot of food.

Sasuke eyed it with distaste. He could smell it. "We're having ramen?" Didn't they already have one too many ramen freaks on their team? he thought.

Sakura bounced up a little after setting it down. "Naruto's orders. I figured I should keep him happy." She smiled and turned to Sasuke. "How you are feeling? Still sick?" Her hand was cool and soft against his forehead.

"Terrible." Sasuke thought she looked a little surprised at his blunt answer. And it was true. He felt terrible. She took her hand away, and he missed the cold. Feverish heat settled back into his temples, and he wanted to groan.

"I think I have something. Hold on a sec." Briskly, she strode into another room, and he could hear her rummaging around through her various packs. Sasuke let his head loll backwards, and he laughed to himself. The living room was covered in medical supplies. And he had thought she carried a lot with her normally. The mission they'd been sent on required three weeks worth of medical attention (enter Sakura) and recon. Sakura looked like a pack horse when they left Konoha. Weight made no difference to her, so bags were strapped around back, hips, stomach, and legs. Standing tall, she received quite a few strange looks.

Naruto's snoring started up again, and Sasuke heard both a laugh from Kakashi and an "Aha!" from Sakura.

She walked in front of him with two white pills lying in her hand. Sasuke took them without further prodding and immediately felt some of the pain in his head go away. "Better?" she asked, her head tilted in front of his, smiling as always. Morning was her time of day.

Nodding, Sasuke shifted in his seat and ran his hand through his hair for the second time. Without any warning, his hand started to numb, and Sasuke opened his eyes to stare. Vaguely, he heard Kakashi ask what was wrong and Sakura answering, "He has to sleep. That poison's nothing to take lightly."

Then everything faded into perfect darkness and silence.

Something shifted to his right. Sasuke felt himself slowing waking up, and he tried to hear more, but everything was quiet. He opened his eyes and jerked into a sitting position. Black was all he could see until shapes started to form inside the darkness. His vision adjusted, and he looked around his room. Sighing, Sasuke slid his legs to his right; and instead of meeting the floor, his legs stopped against something soft and warm.

Eyebrows rising, Sasuke glanced down at the messy mop of pink hair on top of one of the pillows. He frowned and nudged her shoulder. "Sakura. Wake up." What was she doing in his bed? "Sakura," he tried again.

She moved her legs around and answered, mumbling, "Sasuke-kun?"

The moonlight danced across her arms. Sasuke looked toward the window and wondered if she was the one who had opened it. "Wake up, Sakura."

"Alright, alright." Waving his hand away, Sakura sat up in bed and folded her legs Indian-style. She rubbed her eyes and stared at him through the sheet of darkness. "Sasuke-kun? What are you doing in my bed?" After a moment, she added, "Am I dreaming?"

Sasuke snorted. "No. And you're in my bed."

She blinked a few more times before it registered. "Oh!" she exclaimed. Wide-eyed, she started padding the sheets and her shorts, looking for something. "I didn't mean to, I was giving you a shot..." She picked up an empty syringe.

"Do you normally fall asleep when giving people shots?"

"No. I was just tired. Sue me. I wasn't the one who slept all day."

"You made me sleep all day," Sasuke replied, rolling his eyes even though she couldn't see it.

"And you got hit with poison senbon, so we're even." Sakura reached up to his forehead and yawned. "Fever's broken, though."

Then why did he still feel like he was on fire? When Sakura looked back at him, Sasuke realized he had said that out loud.

"You'll feel better by tomorrow." Her body was warm and silky as she slid next to him in a hug. Her arms wrapped around his neck; her breath tickled his ear. "I promise," she added. When she leaned back, she started to unfold her legs, about to leave.

"Just... stay here. Might as well." Sasuke muttered the end, trying to rationalize what he wanted. The poison was having its own effects on him; he'd had the strangest nightmares since it happened. He told himself that he really just didn't want to be alone.

Her eyes were clear and bright, despite the lack of lighting. "Okay," she answered. The bed sunk down as she moved back under the covers and curled onto her side. Sasuke hesitated before he lay back down, and she laughed. He turned his head toward her, and her chesire cat grin widened. "What were you dreaming about before?"

He remembered the nightmares...? That didn't seem to be what she was talking about, though. Sasuke coughed and asked, "Why? ...What?"

She only laughed, the sort of laugh she had when she was really satisfied or amused. Sasuke frowned, not remembering anything. "Don't wonder about it. I won't tell anyone!" Sakura answered, scooting up to his arm and promptly falling asleep.

Promises

Promises didn't mean anything to Sasuke. No matter how noble someone might be, no one can control circumstance. Sometimes, things just happen, and Sasuke knew that well. Sakura, on the other hand, was a strong believer in following through with her promises. She smiled as she promised he would feel better. He closed his eyes and woke up feeling better than he had in weeks. And he wasn't even surprised.

"I promise, Sasuke," she had said to him once. "And when I promise you something, damn it, you're going to get it whether you think so or not."

In an odd way, he liked that kind of reassurance.

a/n. wooww. it's been some time since i've updated this... if you're still sticking with this, you have my eternal gratitude, haha!

hey, guess what. you should click on my profile and look at my brand spanking new story, Variance. :)