A/N: I'm sorry it's been so long! Almost three months without an update. Life's been crazy and I've had this chapter stuck on 8000 words. I just couldn't push forward, so today I had a free day and I sat down and wrote it off. Here it is. I'm quite pleased with it as well, so I hope you enjoy it! Also - 500 REVIEWS! I'm squealing with joy.

Tsubasa
by Ailu-Chan

Chapter Twenty-One

After the longest day in his life – a boring Sunday with absolutely nothing to do, but to patiently wait for the death of the man responsible for most of the tragedies in his life – Sakura showed up on Monday morning.

At the beginning, he wasn't sure what she was doing at his doorstep (shouldn't she be preparing for killing Danzo?) but then again, the execution was at midday. How much preparation could she need?

She was wearing the customary ninja gear this time – and this was probably the first time he'd seen her in it. The Leaf's hitai-ate shone on the top of her head, keeping her hair in place, and she wore the jounin green vest as if it had been hers for years. (This wasn't true. Naruto had told him she'd become a jounin just a year and a half ago.) As she made her way inside, his gaze lingered on the kunai pouch strapped to her right leg – his shinobi mind told him to remember the fact she was right-handed. The blue pants and long-sleeved t-shirt were also conventional.

Nobody would look at her twice if she were standing or sitting still, if it weren't for her pink hair; but there was an ease to her movements – a relaxed but assertive stride, the way her hips swayed to the sides as she tucked her hair behind her ear – that would surely attract looks around the town. She came into the hall confidently when he stepped aside for her, and his nostrils flared when he caught her familiar vanilla scent – she'd been in his house enough times to know her way around, and a part of him warmed at how comfortable she felt.

"Mission?" he mumbled, as he served her tea. He knew she preferred coffee, but truth be told; he didn't know how to prepare it. If she kept visiting him, he might have to learn.

Sakura looked at him like he had five heads. "Yes. Later today."

Ah, right. Snap out of it, a voice that sounded a lot like Itachi told him, and he shook his head softly. Of course. She had to kill Danzo in about five hours.

Had he been another man, he might have blushed; but as he were Sasuke, he just felt the tip of his ears burn slightly. He offered her the cup and she grabbed it immediately, bringing it to her face and smelling it. She sighed heavily.

After taking a sip, Sakura realized it was too hot, as it burned the tip of her tongue. She pouted and then opened her mouth, moaning. "Gosh, how can you drink this?" Sasuke shrugged, fighting down a smirk as he sipped his own. She childishly stuck his tongue at him and then gazed at the window, tucking her hair behind her ear once more. "I was thinking I could heal you outside," she offered. "I'd like you to try out a couple of jutsus while I monitor your chakra network."

"Aa," he mumbled. She glanced at him, nodded gently in return and then stared out again.

It was mainly out of inertia that he agreed. The idea of performing jutsus again – of being a shinobi again – still felt utopic, foreign to Sasuke. He'd come a bit closer when he warmed her chocolate milk on Saturday, but he didn't dare do it on his own. Would his chakra levels be the same as before? How long would it take for him to become fully functional again? These were the kind of questions and musings that gave him relentless anxiety, so he dealt with them in the same way he dealt with everything: shoving it to the back of his awareness.

He would go with it, step by step; at the pace and rhythm Sakura took him.

She complained about her tea burning her tongue, and in the end, she insisted on reaching for a teaspoon and stirring it so that it would cool down. Sasuke, of course, scowled at this kind of heresy; but otherwise watched her quietly. He could tell she was uncomfortable as well, particularly by the clichéd way in which she commented on the weather.

("It looks like it'll be sunny this week."
A raised brow. "Whatever."

A strained smile. "You're impossible.")

After ten minutes of silence, they finally moved to the garden. As Sasuke lifted his feet to step over the threshold, he felt himself grow eager – his excitement betraying his rational mind, which told him to take it easy and not to have his hopes too high. He inhaled and exhaled consciously in an attempt to ease his heartbeat down, to no avail.

Unlike previous sessions, Sakura stood at his side. She had a hand on her hip; and her keen, experienced gaze was inspecting his garden. He'd never seen this side of her either – the one in which her kunoichi instincts would take over and she'd scan her surroundings; examining the environment and taking in every single feature that she could use to her advantage. Curiosity tingled in the edge of his mind, making him wonder if he'd ever go on a mission with her, and witness all the other facets she hid within that poised, humble façade.

It was over soon, however; as Sakura began talking and he had to blink. Of course, he told himself, there was no need to be so thorough. She wasn't going to fight him.

The idea made him swallow uncomfortably.

"-and well, I don't think you'll burn those trees over there, right?" She mused, staring at said trees and putting a hand on her chin. They were a good hundred and fifty feet away from them. "So, let's do it!" she said enthusiastically. She moved closer to him and placed her hands close to his right arm, palms already glowing with healing chakra. "Remember, a small fire jutsu, Sasuke."

He inwardly cursed himself for not listening to her, and it took him a couple of seconds to fully grasp the situation. She had told him earlier, in the kitchen, that she wanted to monitor his arms as he performed jutsus – he gathered that was what her hands were doing on his arm. Whereas he felt excited before, now he felt just… nervous. What if she saw something wrong?

Sasuke shook the idea off his head. He didn't have the time to be this stupid. Not with Sakura's chakra glowing and her staring at him expectantly.

"I need to make seals," he told her. Her hands there would just get in the way.

"I know," she deadpanned. "I need to feel that too. Hand seals help us mold our chakra, so it's kind of important that I do. Don't worry. Pretend I'm not here."

That's absurd, he almost retorted. I can't pretend you're not there.

However, he just pursed his lips and focused on the seals. A part of him was worried he might have forgotten how to do it; so as he made the signs (tiger, snake, ram, monkey, boar, horse, tiger) he was quite pleased with his muscle memory. Before encountering Madara, he'd been able to perform all of his Fire Techniques with only the last seal; but he deemed it appropriate and prudent to do it the proper way this time.

Fighting the urge to glimpse at Sakura's expression, he said, "Katon: Gokakyü no Jutsu," and focused his chakra on his lungs, breathing it out as fire.

The fire eased its way out of him steadily, and he struggled to keep it in check. He wanted to let it go, to make it as powerful as he could, but he faintly remembered Sakura and the trees she'd mentioned. Letting go would give her the idea that he wasn't in complete control of his chakra, as well. The jutsu was actually working: the fire was hot enough and the fireball was as huge as he wanted it to be, and his heart raced at the certainty that it could be bigger if he wanted it to.

He kept it going for about ten seconds, and then he slowly let it die out. His arm retreated back to his side and he breathed out, relief and satisfaction washing over him. The memory of practicing this same jutsu with his father so many years ago (another life, as his mind would always tell him) suddenly rushed back to him, and pride burst quietly in his chest as well.

Remembering Sakura, he had to acquiesce to her: he'd barely felt her there. Sasuke assumed she'd moved her hands with his, or maybe she was using her chakra strings. Nothing she'd done had interfered with his technique, as he'd feared. He opened his eyes and was met with hers, staring at him in awe.

Her lips were slightly parted, and the chakra of her glowing hands also died out slowly as her arms fell to her sides. Green eyes wide; filled with stunned wonder and unwavering devotion, she whispered, "You smiled."

Such an accusation would normally make Sasuke scoff. Nevertheless, at that precise moment, he couldn't find it in himself to do so – not with the mess of butterflies and tightness and churning he felt inside him. He'd just done the Gokakyü no Jutsu. His father might be proud of him again. Sakura had seen him smile.

He wouldn't have believed it, but he knew she wasn't lying.

He'd thought he'd never smile again.

"Let's go back inside," he muttered, turning away from her so that she wouldn't notice his smirk. He had already taken a few steps, when he heard hers catching up to him, and the butterflies attacked again.

"Okay, so that was…" she shook her head softly as she plummeted onto the chair, "quite decent." Sasuke did scowl at her this time, as he leant on the wall. Sakura giggled, and the light sound rang in his ears. "Relax. I know you were holding back. It's fine."

"What did you see?"

"Well, the chakra molded just fine; but that's probably because you've had a lot of training on that," she explained. "The good news are that the chakra network looks functional – there are no blocked channels or extra vessels. I did notice some roughness within some of them, as if they weren't…" she struggled with the word, and she looked up, biting her lip; "polished enough? The chakra seemed unstable around your elbows, but you evened it out with your chakra control. It's going to take some training to get those vessels back to normal, and they might hurt as they get back into shape; but you'll be okay." She beamed at him, and repeated softly, "You'll be okay."

He had to take a moment to register that she'd stopped speaking, but couldn't think of anything to say. He realized he was staring at her, her last words ringing in his ears repeatedly (you'll be okay you'll be okay you'll be okay) and his heart leapt when relief finally caught on to him. Forcing his gaze off her, he jerked his head away and stared out the kitchen window again. "Should I train?" he forcibly asked. It was still humiliating to ask for permission for such things.

Sakura moved, and he caught from the corner of his eyes it was just to lean her head on her hand, elbow on the table. "Uhm, yeah, you could do some taijutsu. We still have straw and wood dummies at the training grounds, I assume you know where they are?"

"Tch, of course," he gritted out. Dummies. This was mortifying.

"Okay. You could also spar with someone – I believe Naruto was dying to, and I quote, 'kick your sorry ass again'," she laughed. "Although I'd appreciate it if I don't have to heal you both after."

Sasuke snorted. "You'd have to heal him."

She smirked. "We'll see," she retorted, and he widened his eyes. Was she taking Naruto's side? He was about to make and indignant comment before she spoke again. "If you're going to practice ninjutsu that involves your hands, however, do it under supervision."

"Supervision?" he repeated indignantly. He could perfectly take care of himself.

"Somebody who can call for a medic-nin in case the jutsu goes wrong and you blow up your arms or something," she shrugged. "I'm serious. I'm not working double for you. If you mess this up, find another medic to heal you."

"Fine," he replied, annoyed. He would love to find another medic, but according to Tsunade, she was the only one who could heal the damage in his chakra network. Which reminded him – "Have you spoken to Kakashi?"

She looked confused for a second, and she was probably going to ask what she had to talk to Kakashi about; but Sasuke gave her a pointed look before she could open her mouth. She finally understood what he meant, and she widened her eyes. "Your Sharingan, of course. Well, yes, I've talked to him – and I have his permission to start working on it." Her eyes wandered across the room, and finally landed on her folded hands on the table. "I'm supposed to study the Village's Files and study the Sharingan this week - which is why I won't be able to heal you. Then I can start working on your eyes' chakra network."

He decided to ignore the fact that the Village had files about the Sharingan – he'd talk to Kakashi about it later. "You almost fixed it the other day, can't you just do that?"

A frown creased her brows, and she glared weakly at him. "It's not that simple. I told you I was just bridging your chakra with my own, I didn't actually do anything."

Sasuke leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. Sakura didn't usually glare like that – there was something hindering her determination, like she didn't really want to research the Sharingan and heal him. "There's something you're not telling me."

"Wh-what?" she looked up, startled. "No – what are you talking about?"

He could just hope she wasn't this terrible at lying when in infiltration missions. He pushed himself off the wall and walked towards her. Her body language got defensive – she straightened up, and her eyes hardened. Placing a firm hand on the table, he leaned over her. "Do not lie to me, Sakura."

Her eyes widened again, but there was something different in them this time. It seemed his words had struck a chord there, as her determination quickly crumbled and stared back at him pathetically. "This doesn't concern you," she mumbled weakly, breaking the eye contact and looking down at her knees.

Sasuke lowered his head to meet her eyes again. "Is it about the Sharingan?" She bit her lip. "It is about the Sharingan then. Of course it concerns me."

She brought a hand to her forehead, rubbing it nervously. Then, she looked up. "This is classified, Uchiha Sasuke," she said, attempting and failing to sound composed and detached. Her fidgeting fingers gave her away.

"Speak," he barked out roughly.

"I can't," she pleaded.

"Don't lie to me!"

She finally caved, gasping in shock in response to his yelling. Those words had a particular effect on her, he noted. He felt a bit guilty for using them twice, but the feeling quickly evaporated when she began speaking. "Danzo has the Sharingan. Oh man, Kakashi's gonna whip me for this…"

Sasuke didn't pay attention to the rest, as he straightened up and stared down at her. His hands fisted at his sides, in an attempt to control his rage. "Elaborate."

She looked up weakly at his shaking hands, and then into his eyes. This time, she held his gaze. "If you do something stupid, I will knock you out. Sit." It was an order, he realized, and his eyebrow twitched in disgust. He decided to comply nevertheless, just because he wanted to hear the rest. Sakura sighed, and then continued. "I was present at one of his interrogations. He's got a Sharingan in his right eye-socket – do not look at me like that, Sasuke."

He breathed in, and then out; after realizing his eyes had widened and he was about to break something.

"And ten more Sharingan implanted in his right arm."

Words couldn't properly describe the sheer fury that cursed through Sasuke's blood. He simply saw red, and he stood up and took it against the first thing he saw, thus kicking the table again with everything he had. Sakura didn't stop it, quite on the contrary; she seemed to have been expecting such a reaction and she simply raised her hands when the piece of furniture went flying across the kitchen and crashed against one of the walls.

Breathing heavily, he watched with something akin to satisfaction as the heard the wood cracking and splitting, the table now far from usable.

The next events happened too quickly, and Sasuke was only able to process them when his head and back slammed against the kitchen floor. Sakura had appeared before him in a heartbeat (he hadn't expected her to be this fast), put a leg behind his and her open hand in his chest; pushing him down and effectively knocking him down. The air forcibly left his lungs and he gasped for breath, glaring fiercely at her and trying to shake her off him. Her grip was iron-like, and her hand was just over his sternum, solid and unyielding.

Surprisingly enough, however, her expression wasn't an angry one – she was composed and understanding, and in her eyes glimmered a death promise. Sasuke glared back and swallowed, and in response; Sakura planted her forearm across his chest and placed her dangerous fingers around his throat. It wasn't tight enough to hurt him, but it was definitely enough for him to feel the warning.

"Get off me," he snarled, after a few moments of silence in which she didn't seem to let go.

"I'll take care of Danzo in a few hours," she whispered coldly. Sasuke felt the hair on the back of his neck stick up. "But if you kick a table in front of me again, I'll also take care of you."

He only had a few moments to be startled of her blatant threat (a part of him couldn't believe she'd had the nerve to threaten him), because it was gone with the mention of that man.

Danzo was the one he was furious at, not Sakura. Furious was an understatement, to say the least – he wanted him dead, he wanted him to suffer the losses he had, to tear him apart limb for limb. For a moment, Sasuke considered asking Sakura to make it painful; but two things prevented him to – he was in no such place to make such requests to begin with; and secondly, what use would it be? The man would die anyways. The pain he wanted for him wasn't for his family's sake, it was for his. It was selfish, he knew, and he'd probably be that way forever, but he didn't have to let it show.

Suddenly, he realized he could breathe freely, and when his eyes focused again, Sakura was staring down at him – her eyes suddenly cold. "It will be over soon, Sasuke."

Sakura tried not to think about the mass of people outside, waiting to see a man get executed.

She'd glared at Kakashi when she first saw the makeshift stage where the former Head of ANBU would cease to exist. Even if she believed he was a despicable man, she would never agree with the morbid fascination both citizens and shinobi shared for death.

The Uchiha Clan's truth had come out, as a way of justifying Danzo's execution; and most of the village's population had shown up to witness his punishment. Although he had done great services to the Village, everybody thought it unacceptable to give such a mission to a thirteen-year-old; and some sort of sympathy had arisen towards the sole Uchiha heir, victim to said mission.

It wasn't so much of a moral issue to Sakura. Ever since Konoha had taken her in, she'd been loyal to the bone. Kakashi was using this loyalty in order to sway her to kill Danzo herself, she knew; but she couldn't bring herself to care. He'd willingly betrayed his own village and acted against it, conspiring with two of its most dangerous enemies (Orochimaru and Madara) and collaborating with the massacre of one of the most powerful Clans.

Danzo was going to get what a traitor deserved. Death.

Despite Naruto's (and maybe Sasuke's, too) concerns, and also despite the fact she didn't particularly enjoy killing; it was very clear in her mind that it was part of her job.

And Sakura was very good at her job.

As Sasuke's loyalty was still in question, Sakura was well aware that she was being a bit of a hypocrite. There were questions unanswered, yes, but anyone could say his allegiance to Konoha was arguable; to put it lightly. And yet, she went to heal him every day, she did his shopping and helped him get his arms back, she'd brought the issue of his Sharingan to Kakashi, she shivered every time they touched.

She still didn't know how to categorize Sasuke in her mind – prone traitor, or manipulated asset? Telling herself nothing was definite yet, she shoved the topic aside as she tied her head protector over her forehead. She'd already changed into her black garments; and she stared at the mask she'd been given in disgust. There was no use, everybody knew, in wearing it for her. Her identity would be obvious the second she stepped out – her pink hair wasn't exactly standard. It was in the protocol, however, so she slipped the mask on as she walked onto the stage.

She'd been preparing and changing in the small tent that had been set up for the… event, right next to the makeshift stage. From the inside, she had been able to get a glimpse of Danzo sitting in the execution chair, and she felt her guts churn a bit in agitation – not for killing somebody, but for the number of people that were going to watch.

This wasn't, of course, her first death – she'd been sent on assassination missions before. It was, however, her first execution, and the first time she'd be doing this in front of so many people.

There had been murmuring and chit-chatting before she got on the dais, for she'd heard it when she climbed up the few steps of the stairs. However, as soon as she came into view, they quickly evaporated into silence. Spectators knew that when the executor stepped up, the sentence was about to be carried out. She caught Naruto's apprehensive stare in the crowd, and Sasuke's unreadable face next to him. They weren't in the first row, as she had imagined, but rather mixed into the mob.

Averting her gaze quickly, she strode across the wooden dais and stood behind Kakashi, to his right. She was glad he was there – he didn't judge, and she knew he was proud of her. She trusted him as well – with her life, as did he. The idea made her straighten up, shoulders tall and chin up. Kakashi had always been a gentle, constant and trustworthy light in her darkness.

He would laugh if she ever called him that to his face. For such a talented man, he didn't have much self-esteem.

The Hokage took a step forward, and addressed the crowd gathered in front of the dais. Clearing his throat, he diverted the attention away from her and towards him. "Shimura Danzo has been sentenced to death," he started, and paused. Sakura was glad there wasn't any cheering. Everything was dead silent, Kakashi's voice cutting through the quiet as his Chidori cut through his enemies. "For the crimes of treason and conspiracy."

No more explanations were needed. Kakashi had lifted the confidential seal on Danzo's case and the news had spread like wildfire. Taking a closer look at the mob, Sakura could see that it was the first time they were witnessing an execution; but most of them wore an angry frown in their features.

"Executioner," Kakashi prompted, and she knew it was her turn.

Realizing now that she'd been avoiding staring at Danzo, Sakura was forced to do so as she turned towards him and closed the distance between them. He'd been depleted of his chakra, and he looked quite miserable. His bandages were nowhere to be seen – the Sharingan that he had wielded on his right eye and arm were closed. Sakura wondered if that part of the story had also been leaked. Sasuke would never leak it, she knew, so she couldn't help but hope that some of the people in the crowd would take a closer look at the scars on his arms and ask more questions.

His feet and arms were chained to the execution chair, and suddenly Sakura's thoughts contradicted themselves, wishing that there weren't so many people to watch. It was humiliating. The broken man held his chin up proudly, trying to keep the last strands of his dignity with him, but Sakura knew better.

There's no dignity in death, old man.

Kakashi had explained to her that it was customary for the executioner to ask for some final words. She didn't really want to, she actually feared what he had to say, but then again; Sakura was very good at her job.

"These are your last words, Shimura Danzo."

The man looked up to her, his eyes hardened with pride. She had expected a mild reply, as he looked weak and worn out; but his voice came strong and firm. He spoke to the crowd, with his eyes locked on hers.

"I regret nothing. I did it all for Konoha."

At this, the mob reacted; a blend of yelling and screaming which she couldn't understand. She felt the urge to glance at Sasuke and warn him not to do anything stupid, but at that moment she wasn't Haruno Sakura, she was Executioner. A bit of relief was brought upon her when she recalled Naruto was with him. He was very good at keeping people in check.

Itching for all of this to end, Sakura straightened up and the mob calmed down a little. When she spoke, the icy edge in her voice effectively silenced them.

"Rest in peace."

It was fairly easy. A bit of chakra on the tip of her index and middle fingers. A small touch on the back of his neck. Sakura toyed with the idea of paralyzing him and giving him some pain, which would be also easy if she pulled on some of his nerves; but quickly discarded it.

This wasn't about revenge. This was about justice.

It took her chakra scalpel a fraction of a second to sever his brainstem in half.

As she expected, he lost consciousness immediately, and she didn't need to check – she knew his heart and breathing had stopped. It was done. Cellular death would follow in the next few minutes, but for all intents and purposes, Shimura Danzo was dead.

The people didn't dare break the silence, and Sakura wondered if she hadn't given them what they expected – there'd been no blood or maiming, nothing but a clean, painless death. Kakashi stared at her like a proud father, and she swallowed nervously. She wasn't very sure about what was supposed to happen now.

In the end, they both stepped down the dais and into the makeshift tent beside it. Kakashi quickly told her he was proud of her, and that he'd arranged with Tsunade for her to have the day off. She wasn't glad – a bit of work was exactly what she needed to clear her head, but she thanked him nevertheless. At least she would get to eat her mourning food at home without disturbances.

They stayed in the tent for a while, waiting for the rest of the medical team to take the body to the morgue. She could tell from the dimming sound of chit-chatting that the crowd was dissipating as well.

The moment she put a foot outside the tent to go home, however, she did a double take.

Naruto and Sasuke were waiting for her.

She should have known, however. Naruto's chakra sparkled boldly like a young star, and Sakura had gotten used to recognizing it even when dormant. She had just been careless enough not to check her surroundings, and now she was faced with the only two people she didn't feel like seeing right now.

Sasuke's chakra was there, too; but it was quite sidelined and she wasn't so familiar with it. His eyes, nevertheless, were quite telling. He stared at her like she was a completely different person, and as if he felt appalled but contented about it. Well, as content as Sasuke could ever seem. Sakura broke the stare when the fuzzy feeling in her stomach became too uncomfortable for her own good.

"Just leave me alone for a while."

A few days later, Sakura was feeling much better.

She knew that time was doing its job, healing wounds and washing anxiety away; but she also knew she felt so relaxed because she hadn't seen Sasuke in almost four days. Working full-time at the hospital, running errands for Tsunade-sama and even going on a two-day C-rank mission had helped a lot as well, as she could almost pretend everything was back to normal.

But then again, she would spend hours at night at her apartment, studying all the information Konoha had available about the Sharingan. It wasn't like she disliked studying – quite on the contrary, actually – but every second she spent researching that topic in particular reminded her that he was in town. He would probably be sleeping when she did her research, or maybe training with Naruto, even if she'd told him not to overwork himself.

It was annoying how often she got distracted with such thoughts. She found some solace, however, in the fact that she was almost done with it; and she found his Sharingan quite fascinating, truth be told. Mixed feelings and a bittersweet taste in her mouth were the only things she got when she acknowledged that, in a few days' time, she'd have to see him again to treat his eyes.

On the one hand, she was truly eager to take a closer look at his kekkei-genkai. It had been captivating the first time she'd sensed it with her chakra strings, and now that she'd broadened her knowledge; there were many things that could be done in order to help him regain his dojutsu. It was simply the medic in her, she told herself, wanting to fix things that were broken.

On the other hand, she'd worked hard and avoided him like the plague ever since Danzo's execution. It hadn't been particularly difficult, and she assumed he wouldn't be seeking her out either, but she truly dreaded the moment in which they met again. Well… perhaps dreaded wasn't the right way to put it. It was just that he made her feel so uncertain. Around him, she didn't feel… normal. She felt erratic, doubtful. She felt like at times, she could trust him and let herself become close to him again; and then he would say something, do something, that would remind her of everything that had happened and she would close up like a book, reminding herself that people don't always change, and that shinobi don't trust those who betray.

And immediately after that, he would do something else (like steading her on her chair, or giving her that look) that told her that he'd never hurt her, that maybe, maybe, he'd cared for her; and that she was fine and she could rely on Uchiha Sasuke again.

In any case, she didn't like feeling that way and she felt uncomfortable with it, so she'd decided to avoid the subject in question until it was absolutely necessary that they met again for their healing sessions.

Her plan was working smoothly, until she got the (not so) brilliant idea of going training with Tenten; and bumped into Uchiha Sasuke as she came out of the newly inaugurated dressing rooms after a very needed shower. It was Friday afternoon, and Tsunade had released her of her night shifts so that she could study; so she'd rushed around the corner because she wanted to get home as soon as possible. It was right then when she literally crashed against his back.

It was totally unfair, Sakura thought when he turned around to scowl at her, how his damp hair didn't look as messy as hers, and how he managed to look so hot under the dimming light of dusk, even with cuts and bruises here and there. Recalling how she'd looked like a few seconds ago in the dressing room's mirror, she was mortified to realize her clothes weren't appropriately fitted and that she'd dressed in such a rush it was quite likely her training pants were wrong-side-out. He'd opened his mouth, probably to scold her, but his eyes widened a bit when he finally recognized her. Her stomach fluttered when his shoulders relaxed and his silky voice reached her ears, "Sakura."

Blinking after a couple of silent seconds, she swallowed and brought her attention to a particular deep gash in his left shoulder (which she could see because he was wearing a sleeveless t-shirt, god help her). "Oh, sorry, I didn't see you there," her right hand lifted itself up and chakra glowed before she could help herself. He stiffened a bit, but it would be stupid to back down, so she steadied her resolve and said, "Let me take care of that."

Sasuke remained silent as she carefully closed the gash, though it didn't really take more than twenty seconds. Feeling his stare upon her, Sakura started biting her lip; wondering what she should say.

"Sakura-chan! You're back from your mission!"

Naruto's voice would have made her jumped, had she not gotten accustomed to his wild intrusions. She widened her eyes and grinned brightly at him, retrieving her hand from Sasuke's newly healed shoulder. "I told you it was a short mission."

The blonde hugged her tightly and arched his back, effectively raising her from the ground. She laughed and complained, but the moment passed by as soon as it came.

"I didn't know you left on a mission," intervened Sasuke, raising a questioning brow.

Sakura stared at him, lips slightly parted. She smiled. "I'm a kunoichi. It's only natural."

It was like this that, before she knew it, Naruto had dragged her (and Sasuke as well) to have dinner at Ichiraku's; claiming they couldn't miss the chance of having some time together. This was probably true, but Sakura could not understand why he was so adamant on the matter – they weren't teammates, or anything of the sort.

Despite dreading it at the beginning, Sakura couldn't deny she was having a good time. Naruto pestering Sasuke was something hilarious to watch; and she realized how much they really meant to each other when Sasuke answered back instead of murdering him on the spot. It reminded her a bit of how she used to treat him, a lot of years ago. Her heart warmed at the sight of their banter, but there was something else preventing her to treat him the same way Naruto did.

There was a moment in which, after mentioning she'd seen Hinata-san sparring with Lee at the training grounds; Naruto choked in his ramen and coughed a piece of pork right out of his throat. Sakura almost rolled on the floor with laughing, and she could have sworn she'd heard Uchiha Sasuke snicker. It might have been her imagination, of course, but she certainly didn't imagine how her chest swelled at the sound.

She should have known this was some kind of trap.

It was too late when she finally realized it – there was no way out of it when they finished their ramen and Naruto excused himself claiming he had to do some ramen shopping. They had just had ramen! Sakura wanted to strangle him. This kind of… matchmaking set-up was even below Ino's level. He must have felt her murderous aura, because he waved and disappeared down the streets in a blink.

She sighed, defeated, having been left alone with the one person she didn't want to be alone with.

She stole a look at him as he paid Teuchi, Ichiraku's owner; and her heartbeat betrayed her as it paced up. To her credit, his hair did look a bit disarrayed now that it was dry. She wondered if he actually combed it or something – she couldn't picture him doing something as… normal as combing his hair.

Having paid for his own meal, Sasuke simply turned around and gazed about the area. His eyes stopped and settled on her when he finally found her, as she had paced a bit around, and something changed in his gaze. It was the way you looked at something when you'd been searching for it for a while, and you're suddenly relieved that is there.

The thought sent a shiver down her spine, and the sudden movement shook her out of her daze. Sakura considered for a moment excusing herself as well, maybe putting the hospital as an excuse; but if Sasuke found out she'd been relieved of her night shifts it would look like she was avoiding him. Her mind raced with several options, toying with different pretexts she could fabricate in a matter of seconds; but then Sasuke approached her and nodded towards the street, in her apartment's direction.

Sakura's eyes followed his movement, and she stared dumbly into the streets for a moment. It was barely nine in the evening, if she recalled right; and Konoha would still teem with life for one or two more hours. She found it quite lovely how people came and went under the artificial, yellowish light of the lampposts.

Konoha had indeed changed a lot after the war – times of peace usually brought along economic progress. There were higher buildings, more shops and a university for civilians was being built, even. Farmers came in every Sunday with their produce, in order to sell it in some of the markets; and Sakura was usually thrilled to see the variety the markets had now. Watching the people rambling, like small ants do in their nests, she felt protective of them.

She felt his stare on her and swallowed, trying desperately to think of a story that wouldn't sound so desperate and could get her out of there. Away from him.

Then, he took a step forward, putting himself before her; all while locking his eyes into her, and then he –

No. No, don't do this to me.

- it wasn't as such, but if she'd been another woman and he'd been another man, it was just as if –

Look away, Sakura. Look away.

- the left corner of his lips tilted slightly upwards, his eyes inviting; and he gave her the smallest, most compelling smile she'd ever seen.

He took another step, and melted as it was; her heart instructed her to follow.

After this brief… exchange, there were a few instants of silence in which Sakura felt like she would throw up out of frustration. This was Sasuke, who had used her and discarded her and she should not be feeling this way around him. She deserved better. Even more importantly, she couldn't handle any more of his heartbreak. She couldn't indulge in these little things any longer.

His eyes were locked on their way ahead now, so she was safe for now; and she was forced to put herself back together. She knew it was just a matter of time before he asked about Danzo's execution, and this was exactly where she didn't want their conversation to go. After a while, she figured the only way to ensure this happened was to take him out of his comfort zone and simply talking about something else.

She cleared her throat softly and effectively caught his attention. "So, you've sparred with Naruto today."

By 'caught his attention', she meant of course his stealing a glance at her before focusing on the streets again. "Aa."

"Any discomfort or pain?"

"I might feel it tomorrow."

The smile crept up her lips before she could stop it. "Take a painkiller. I left plenty in your bathroom."

He fully turned to look at her this time, and she thanked the dim lights for disguising the blush that surely tainted her cheeks; realizing how that had sounded. A single brow was lifted before he asked, "When did you do that?"

"I have my ways."

He smirked. "That, you do."

Another awkward silence, in which the both of them seemed to build up courage to speak their minds. Sakura welcomed the distraction of the buzzing streets, the greetings of some fellow shinobi here and there; to which Sasuke merely nodded and watched in silence. Suddenly, they walked into a more residential area, and the silence grew in protagonism.

It stayed that way until, for the second time in two weeks, they both spoke at the same time.

"Sakura, about Danzo-"

"I've been looking into the Sharingan-"

Sakura only then realized they had stopped in their tracks, and they were staring at each other, practically gaping. She didn't want to pretend she hadn't heard him, and her mind chose this particular moment to shut down. He shook his head, smirking; and she could have kissed him for taking the lead and speaking first.

Wait, what?

"What did you find about the Sharingan?"

Relieved at the fact he'd chosen her topic for conversation, and flustered because her thoughts and heartbeat were forsaking her; she sighed and tried to gather in her mind the most important points of her research.

"Quite a lot, actually, but I keep feeling like it's not enough. I've read quite a lot about the Sharingan, but just a bit about the Mangekyö. I'm beyond impressed of its abilities," she said, giving him a pointed look, and he simply stared. "However, there are many things I can't understand yet. For example, how the Mangekyö develops, or how the relentless deterioration that comes after overusing it is stopped. If what I read is accurate, most Mangekyö Sharingan wielders should have been blind, so my guess is that I'm missing a lot of information."

She stole a glance at Sasuke, who was looking ahead, but gave her an acknowledging nod nevertheless. "Aa," he said simply.

"It's probably because it's a Clan secret," Sakura continued, her verbosity getting the best of her. "But if I'm going to repair yours I'll need as much information as I can get. You know that I can't disclose anything, due to physician – patient confidentiality, so…" Sakura trailed off, her voice faltering as she realized they'd missed the crossing in which they had parted ways a few nights ago.

Sasuke was walking her to her doorstep, and she couldn't focus because of her throbbing pulse deafening her. She was glad he wasn't pushing her, as he merely raised a brow at her unfinished sentence. Before she could think of anything else, they were a block away from her apartment.

She considered inviting him inside – it certainly looked like he was on the verge of speaking about the Sharingan, and Sakura knew how secretive people could be about their clan jutsus: she had had her fair share of Hyuugas and Naras and Aburames to deal with at her hospital; and it had been a massive headache most of the time – but speaking about his kekkei-genkai secrets in the streets would be definitely out of the question.

Sakura weighed up the pros and cons of such a thing through every step she took, but Sasuke didn't seem to notice (or he did, and didn't mind). By the time she finally had her key in the lock, she'd gathered the courage to look up to

his eyes. "Tea?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

The kunoichi exhaled, and it came out a bit shaky due to sheer exasperation at how her insides fluttered every time he smirked. Her mind kept scolding her body for these reactions, and her conscious self for making such bad decisions she'd regret the moment she made them – inviting him in, for example.

Suigetsu was on watch – he was trying to woo one of the city guards and he'd take every night shift he could get. Sakura'd laughed and joked about finally not having him around for dinner and being able to go around the house naked. As Sasuke stepped in and took a chair in the kitchen, watching her place the kettle over the stove; she blushed at the thought. This was definitely not something to be pondering in his presence.

"The Mangekyö Sharingan does drive people blind," said Sasuke suddenly.

His deep voice almost made her drop all of the sugar in her tea. Sakura nodded, to let him know she'd heard him; and handed him his cup – plain, no sugar. Pulling up a chair for herself, she simply stared at her tea. He was talking. She didn't want to scare him off by saying something stupid.

"It starts with a mild blurriness, and becomes increasingly incapacitating," he continued, and Sakura felt something in his voice that made her look up. "The only way to escape blindness is to take another Uchiha's eyes," he deadpanned. Sakura, stunned as she was, could only stare at him in bewilderment, her lips slightly parted. "You must think we're monsters."

A crooked smile found its way to her lips. She didn't think they were monsters, but was nonetheless stunned. She took a sip of her tea, which gave her a few seconds to think.

"So, even if I manage to heal your eyes, you would still need a transplant."

Sasuke held his forehead with the side of his hand, staring at his own cup, and sighed defeatedly. "This is pointless."

Sakura raised a brow. "What? Don't tell me you're giving up," she said. "I haven't been studying my ass off for you to say that. I think I should heal your optic nerve, regain function of your Sharingan and then we should try a transplant."

He shifted his head to look at her. "You don't-"

"Should we take Danzo's eyes?" she interrupted.

She wished she hadn't said anything, for Sasuke's face was tainted with utter horror almost instantly. "What?"

Swallowing quickly, she tried to explain herself. "I mean, I know they aren't Danzo's but – I've got them in my lab, for research, of course." His expression didn't change. "They're not putrid or anything."

Eyes wide, Sasuke opened his mouth to say something, then closed it and stared back down at his tea. His hand shook slightly when he sipped it; and Sakura realized she'd spoken quite tactlessly. She got a rush of adrenaline, similar to the ones he'd give her when they were back at her village house, when she'd feared she'd said something wrong and he would storm out or lash out at her.

He kept silent for what it seemed like an eternity, but then his voice came, composed and velvety. "No. You should get rid of those."

"Uhm. Okay."

It wasn't a complete lie – she was, of course, going to get rid of those eyes in the end; but she still needed to perform some other experiments. Her gut told her he wouldn't appreciate that at all.

The atmosphere quickly became thicker, as they both dwelled on what this meant – they still had no eyes for him to use when he went blind. Sakura wrapped her hands around her cup, enjoying the warmth, as she made the effort to come up with an alternative. The more she thought about it, the more she brooded. Every Uchiha was dead but him (how lonely could that feel?), and he refused to take the eyes that were well-preserved. She considered insisting on the issue, but as she fought over her words, Sasuke beat her again and spoke first.

"We could take Itachi's."

Had she been sipping her tea, she would have surely choked on it; so she was at least thankful for that. Her eyes widened and she stared at Sasuke, knowing he was incapable of joking – least of all about this – and wondering if he'd finally gone insane. Itachi had been dead for at least five years.

"What?" She managed to ask, and her voice came a bit a pitch higher than usual.

She felt a bit better when she saw he was also struggling with his own words. "Madara must have supplied Danzo with the Sharingan. He was the one who helped Itachi with… his mission, after all. After I fought him, I woke up in Madara's hideout," he disclosed, never meeting her eyes. It was for the best, though. This way, she could watch him freely. "He must have also found Itachi's body, if he found me; and if he found it-"

"-he could have preserved his eyes," Sakura finished for him. Her heartbeat pulsed in her ears and she felt them redden when he finally made eye contact. "But Madara's dead. We killed him when he attacked Konoha."

"Didn't he have a hideout of sorts?"

"We never found one. His teleportation techniques made it incredibly difficult for us to track him."

He nodded, and paused for a moment, thinking. "We may have to search again."

She grinned. "I'll speak to Kakashi tomorrow morning." This is what she'd been expecting - some interesting development that would finally make it seem like they were actually making progress. She'd speak to the Hokage as soon as possible. "And I'll start working on your eyes on Monday, as we've agreed. I'll also check your arms," she said too quickly, and immediately felt self-conscious. "I-I mean, if you don't have other plans-"

"Eight a.m. is fine," he simply answered. "I should go now. Thanks for the tea."

Her heart sunk a little. She wondered if, despite his curtain of politeness, she'd actually overstepped some boundaries by being so straightforward. She hadn't expected him to leave so soon.

Again – wait, what?

"Thank you," he said suddenly, halting on his way to the door. His deep voice shook her out of her thoughts. "I wanted to kill Danzo myself, but-"

"Sasuke," she said warningly. She felt her walls already building up around her, and it frustrated her – she'd felt them come down slowly over their conversation. "I don't want to-"

"But you were the next best thing, and you did it better than I would have." He smirked. "Much cleaner, certainly."

Her throat went dry. "I'll take that as a compliment," she managed to croak. He shook his head knowingly, his bangs hiding the tip of his smirk as he left.

Her hand was raised to knock the door, but it opened before her knuckles even had the chance to connect with the wood. She widened her eyes a little, and then frowned when blonde hair and a tanned face peeped out to greet her.

"Naruto, you don't have to use the sennin mode all the time, you know," she laughed. "You could at least pretend to be normal."

Her friend feigned indignation. "Sakura-chan, of course I'm not normal! I'm awesome!" he whipped his head to the insides of the house. "BASTARD! Sakura-chan's here!"

Sasuke's form came out of the kitchen door, and from where she was standing she could already see his frown. He was relaxed, however – Naruto had that effect on him. His shoulders were loose and the frown on his brows didn't quite reach his eyes. One more second of staring, and she realized he was actually wearing what it looked like… pajamas. She blushed.

"I know that. You've been tracking her for the last half hour."

Anger bubbled within her. Half an hour? She fisted her hand and smacked Naruto on the top of his skull. "I was showering twenty minutes ago!"

"OW!" he screeched, and then laughed mischievously. "That explains why-"

She was about to knock him unconscious before he could finish his sentence, but Sasuke had approached the door as well and also smacked him on the head. "Shut up."

"What was that for, asshole?!"

Sakura shifted her gaze from Naruto to Sasuke, hopelessly fighting the inevitable flushing that must have made her look like a fresh tomato. He finally met her eyes, and she swallowed, suddenly wishing for some kind of miracle that would take her out of there. "He's made coffee."

She blinked. "Right."

The embarrassment slowly faded as she found herself much more comfortably seated at his kitchen table, with a steaming cup of coffee; which Naruto had prepared, surprisingly enough.

"Hinata is definitely a good influence for you," she said, grinning. "This looks just drinkable!"

Naruto pouted. "Are you healing him yet? I came here to spar!"

Sakura glared in return. "Don't push me."

"You're giving me a headache," Sasuke uttered from the end of the table.

"Give me a couple of minutes, I'll give you more than that," Naruto smirked.

"As if."

"Okay. Stop," said Sakura, setting her cup down after a long sip. She turned her chair so that she could face Sasuke, and smiled, setting her chakra strings loose in order to assess his arms. "So, how are your muscles feeling?"

Sasuke evidently felt a bit invaded, for he raised his arms a bit and leaned back on his chair, feeling her chakra intruding his system. His eyes showed his annoyance. "A warning, next time?"

"A thanks will suffice," she deadpanned.

Naruto chuckled, and Sasuke glared at him briefly before speaking. "They're fine. I need more training, that's all."

Sakura wriggled her fingers, letting her chakra strings move further into his system, and assessed his shoulders joints. "Your shoulder hurts," she said, frowning. His tendons were a bit swollen – it was normal. The muscles and tendons hadn't raised his arms in a long time.

"It's nothing."

She shook her head, sighing and working to eliminate some of the toxins that were causing the pain. It wouldn't do much, but it would ease it a little. "You need to stretch after you train."

"Aa."

"Other than that, you're doing pretty well. Training's been helping you. I'm guessing you're not as strong as you used to be, but you'll get there soon!" Excitement leaked on her voice. She told herself it wasn't anything special – it was something she actually did quite often with all of her patients, when they were doing well. "I'll have to get closer for the eyes," she warned, standing up. The chakra network was way too delicate there for her to use only chakra strings.

Sasuke relaxed a bit as she approached, and Naruto shifted uncomfortably in his seat. She stood behind his chair, and carefully settled the tips of her index and middle fingers on his temples. "Sakura-chan, are you sure about this?"

"When did you start doubting me?" she asked jokingly, and exhaling, slowly began to pulse her chakra through his eye chakra network.

Sitting down would have been much more preferable, but then again that would require Sasuke to lie down on a bed or couch; and Sakura already felt uncomfortable enough to be in his house, touching him, to have him lying down. Ino would have laughed at her stupidity, and jumped him herself whenever she had the opportunity.

In any case, working on his eyes was a bit more complicated than working on his arms. The knots on his chakra networks were much smaller, and even with her chakra control she couldn't really 'see' them, but rather feel the chakra being blocked. She never felt blind while working with her own chakra, but this might well be a first. She chewed on her lip, trying to ease out the tangles one by one.

"So, you wanna go to Ichiraku's for lunch?"

"You've just had breakfast," Sasuke answered. The movement of his jaw when he spoke and the frown on his brows made Sakura touch something she shouldn't have on his chakra network. He flinched, and then she definitely had to withdraw her chakra from his eyes.

She furrowed her brows. "Sorry, but please don't speak – Naruto, you can speak with me."

"Whatever," he muttered, as Naruto chuckled.

"So, Sakura-chan," he started. "Kakashi-sensei says you've been asking for more field missions."

She scoffed. "Is he Hokage or an old hag?"

Sasuke scoffed as well, and Naruto roared with laughter. "Sh, you; you can't speak, remember?" he said to Sasuke mockingly. Sakura could feel the annoyance building up in the man below her, and was already regretting the idea of having Naruto there. "Well, is it true?" He added, looking up to her again.

"Well, yeah. I love the hospital, but it can get a bit dull sometimes."

He puffed his breath out. "Tell me about it."

Sakura laughed softly. "How about you? I bet you'll go stir crazy when you become Hokage. You'll be forced to stay in the village."

"If I were Hokage, I wouldn't complain about anything, believe it!"

"Yeah, right." She mocked him. She felt Sasuke stir below her, fighting the urge to comment. "I'm almost done here."

"So, will he be able to use his Sharingan again?"

She bit her lip softly, understanding what Naruto was doing. With his stupid exterior, he was actually quite cunning with words, and had a subtle way of manipulating conversations. She'd only discovered his techniques a couple of years ago. In all likelihood, Naruto already knew everything about Sasuke's eyes, as he would have been briefed by Kakashi; but was using his sly conversational skills to make her spill the beans.

"You know that already. Don't be all diplomatic with me."

He grinned knowingly. "Where are you going to get a spare Sharingan?"

Sensing Sasuke's imminent outburst, she decided to stop her chakra flow. As if on cue, he opened his eyes, only to narrow them again and glare at Naruto. "Kakashi is a blabbermouth."

Sakura laughed softly, trying to ease up the mood. "Naruto has higher clearance than both of us together. Anyway, we were thinking about looking for Itachi's eyes in the near future. Sasuke thinks Madara might have preserved them after he and Sasuke fought."

She felt rather proud of her choice of words. She wasn't usually good at that, but she knew it was definitely a good choice to opt for 'fought' rather than 'kill'.

"I see," said Naruto, with a seriousness that wasn't at all like him.

She tilted her head. "Why?" She sat down opposite Naruto, and next to Sasuke. "Do you know something?"

In actuality, she knew perfectly why Naruto was reluctant to speak – Sasuke. He was known to have an impulsive, self-destructive personality, and he probably feared he'd storm off and look for his brother's eyes if he had some kind of intel on it. Sakura would have agreed, and at first she was a bit worried, but a look at Sasuke told her there was nothing to worry about.

He didn't look like his impulsive self. This was probably a result of being crippled for five years, in which he couldn't have afforded to take stupid risks; and Sakura couldn't help but wonder how else he'd changed. He stared at Naruto interested, but it didn't seem like he would jump off and run after whatever clue he had.

A frown creased his brows, and he looked from Naruto to Sakura; annoyed. "If you know something, you may as well say it," he spoke. His words were impatient, but his voice wasn't. There was a composure in it she'd never heard before, and it was the kind of tranquility that assured her everything would be okay.

It had been a while since she'd felt that way, like there was something in the world that could comfort her; as it was usually she who comforted other people.

"Well, this is totally off the records; but Orochimaru has found one of Madara's hideouts," Naruto explained.

The serenity Sakura could have felt vanished before she could actually enjoy it, just by the mention of that man's name. "Orochimaru? I knew this fucker was still alive. Why are we allowing him to live, again?"

Naruto frowned and shook his head, staring at his folded hands on the table. "He's helped defeat Madara, so we have some sort of deal."

"You've got to be kidding me," Sakura snapped. "He experimented on children!"

"I know, Sakura-chan. I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do about that now."

She stood up, about to slap some sense into Naruto's diplomatic head, but Sasuke took her by the wrist and sat her back down. "He found one of Madara's hideouts?"

"Aa. Maybe Itachi's eyes are there, or maybe there's a clue where they could be."

Sakura sighed. She would take on this whole Orochimaru-being-alive issue later. "Have you send word to him?"

"Kakashi and I agree that this is not something to send a bird for. Sasuke," he looked at him pointedly. "Once you're better, we'll go and look for ourselves."

"You're forgetting someone," Sakura glared.

Naruto grinned wholeheartedly. "As if! Of course you're coming, Sakura-chan."

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A/N: Reviews? :D