Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Fall by kacau

Sakura was annoyed.

She had been surprised ― to say the least ― to find Sasuke and Naruto, both in terrible conditions, standing inside her office.

She hadn't seen Sasuke in two years. She hadn't seen Naruto in three weeks.

She'd started to worry they were dead.

Closing the door behind her in a hurry, the med nin found herself wondering if anyone knew they were back. Knowing those two, probably not. They were more than able to infiltrate the village without being caught even if hurt.

What brought her back to the situation at hand.

Sakura had made them lie down and sat between them, using her chakra to close the gashes along their forms.

Naruto, despite the bleeding and burns, grinned at her with almost childish joy.

"I did it, Sakura-chan. We did it. Madara is gone!"

It was incredible how someone could change so much and, yet, not change at all.

The pinkette realized her boys were a very obvious example of that.

The girl concentrated on treating them, her glowing hands caressing their injuries as they healed. It was a strange and marvelous sensation, the ability to fix things in a world where so much was about plain destruction.

She also found herself unable to look Sasuke in the eyes. They hadn't so much as said a word to each other, though she doubted he could. His right lung had been perfured and his shallow breath was enough to tell her that it took all of him to stay concious.

Without noticing, making sure he would survive was the first thing she did.

By the end of it all, Sakura suddenly felt drained.

The boys were now unconcious, their body slowly regaining energy.

It had taken her all day and more chakra than she thought she had but they were alive. The med nin felt lightheaded but knew Tsunade had to be warned.

The world around her spinned as Sakura made her way to her mentour's office. People passed by and some tried to talk to her but the girl could feel her senses getting weaker and this had to be done.

Pushing the door open without ceremony, Sakura walked right in, staring at Tsunade's curious and surprised expression.

"Naruto and Sasuke... My office... Come back..."

And, then, she blacked out.

So, really, you have to understand her annoyance when she woke up in a bright white room with a very irritated Hokage.

"Why didn't you call me?" The blonde had yelled at her, making Sakura realize just how much her sound range was similar to Naruto's. "I taught you better than this! You had been in a 24 hours duty. Your chakra levels were already low and then you just go and save two of the most stubborn ninjas of this village from death?"

The woman took a deep breath before looking at her aprentice again.

"Why, why would you do that, Sakura?"

The eighteen year old shifted her gaze to the wall behind her mentour, knowing that, in some level, she deserved this.

Then, light as a feather, her answer danced in the air.

"They are my boys, shishou. They are my responsability."

Silence followed until Tsunade got up, smiled softly at Sakura and walked out.

The girl knew she was thinking about Orochimaru and Jiraya and how she had never been this loyal to her boys.

The pinkette pretended not to notice that even her mind had started compairing Sasuke to Orochimaru.

Days later when she'd walked into Sasuke's room, his file in hand, she looked at him for the first time since he'd come back.

His skin was as pale as ever and somewhere in her mind her inner screamed about how someone could stay like that after days in the sun.

His hair was also the same, though a little longer, starting to fall from its usual spiky way. It looked good on him, more mature.

His eyes were the last thing hers found, dark, intense and with some strange light she'd never seen before.

It surprised Sakura to find out his eyes were the only thing on him that she couldn't recognize.

"Hello, Sasuke."

She had stopped using the sufix.

He'd noticed.

"Sakura."

A nod and a stare.

The med nin almost sighed in frustration at the fact that that was the best he could do after 6 years of being away.

Opening his file, she took everything in, pretending she didn't already know it by heart.

"Your eyes seemed to have suffered severe damage but Tsunade was able to repair almost all of it. You will have to stay in intense care for about a week so that she can restore your sight completely. I will be using my knowledge of the sharingan to find the source of it, though I can't promise anything."

Something shifted in the air.

"Your knowledge of the sharingan?"

If the girl wasn't mistaken, there was something alike to admiration in his tone.

She brought her eyes to meet his again.

"My academy thesis was about how similar the sharingan and the byakugan were and how they work. Kakashi-sensei gave me the idea, offering himself as my cobaya of some sort. Neji-kun and Hinata-chan were also terribly helpful, specially after Neji was elected the clan leader."

He didn't say anything else so Sakura continued with the instructions.

"The rest of the injuries were completely healed when you first came in apart from some minor things. Still, your lungs are in a very delicate condition, so you'll be on antibiotics for the next week or so; an infection is the last thing we want and you never know when it comes to hospitals." Her fingers traced her jaw as she looked outside, her face suddenly pensative.

"You don't seem to be rejecting any of the medications so I'll have the serum took off and someone will come in later with lunch."

Smiling brightly at him, she turned around and walked to the door, feeling satisfied that she didn't have to stay with him any longer.

For some reason, his presence made her extremely unconfortable, her heart beating quickening.

It had been so long but it seemed some things did never change.

Her hand was at the doorhandle when he spoke again.

"Is that all?"

And she could hear the meanings behind that.

"Is that all I have to do?"

"Is that all there is to my condition?"

"Is that all you came here for?"

"Is that all I get after six years?"

Sakura looked at him again over her shoulder, feeling her throat grow tighter under his gaze.

With one final smile, she opened the door.

"That's all."

And she was gone.

When he realized his lunch was a tomato onigiri, though, Sasuke found himself smiling.

"That's all my ass."

It wasn't like they didn't see each other. She just did her best on not spending any time alone with him.

Sakura leaned against the guard-rail of the bridge, almost laughing.

Her twelve year old self would have been so disappointed.

They were friends, she realized with joy.

She, Naruto and Sasuke would go out for ramen and the lunch would turn into an afternoon of babbling, laughing and smirks on the Uchiha's part.

He was still the same boy she'd met years before but it was as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

Itachi wasn't a murderer. She remembered him saying in one of those evenings when she suddenly found herself alone with him. He was just a ninja who loved his village too much. His expression had been somewhat bitter but still light. Our clan wasn't everything I thought it was but I guess none of it can bring any of them back.

It had been the first time he'd told her something about his family so openly and she could finally understand his changes.

His brother, the person he'd loved the most when younger, was innocent.

Killing wouldn't bring him back, though he'd made that mistake once.

She felt his approach before she saw it.

Sasuke was walking calmly in her direction.

Through the panic of having to be alone with him, Sakura noticed that he looked much more relaxed than at their genin years when she was the one walking to him, begging for attention.

You'd think that those memories somehow embarassed her but the pinkette just wasn't like that. She'd been young and naive, not everybody could be as mature as Uchiha Sasuke when twelve.

She was the first to say anything.

"Hi."

"Hn."

Well, old habits die hard.

The breeze was soft and her pink tresses flew with it, dancing around her face. Her closed green eyes missed the way his obsidian ones traced her form.

So beautiful.

Sakura opened her eyes again, looking at the cherry trees without really seeing them.

In the end, it didn't really matter if he looked at her or not, Sasuke realized, because he'd never be caught.

The med nin sighed, turning to him slightly, orbs still unfocused.

"Do you regret leaving the village?"

Her tone was so casual she could have been asking about the weather.

The boy didn't seem fazed. He glanced at her before answering.

"No."

There was silence for a second.

"You trained under Tsunade."

She dropped her gaze to the floor, watching the rotting wood under their feet, feeling there was no reason to agree.

"Naruto became Jiraya's aprentice."

And, just like that, she understood what he meant.

They didn't say anything else, though both knew what would complete that conversation.

And you, with Orochimaru, the last Sannin.

Girl and boy stood there, lost in their own thoughts as the river ran behind them, calm and powerful.

Sakura felt this was umbearable. His proximity was teasing her, showing everything there was and that she couldn't have.

Pushing herself away from the rail, the pinkette began walking away from the bridge.

"Do you regret it?"

She turned to him, a bit confused.

Sasuke had his back to her, his eyes staring into nothing just like she'd done moments before.

"Do you regret letting me go?"

Sakura felt her body go rigid.

Did he have to bring that up in such a way? Like it meant nothing?

But did she want it to mean something?

Because six years before, when he was about to leave, she knew it would happen. She knew he was going to look for Orochimaru.

Still, Sakura didn't go after Kakashi or Naruto or even the Third.

No, she went by herself, despite knowing it wouldn't be enough to change his mind.

It was selfish, she knew, but the girl had thought that if he didn't stay for her, than she didn't want him to stay for anyone else.

But, again, she was twelve and imature.

And weak, her inner added in the back of her mind.

There was a moment in which she wasn't sure what to say.

And, then, he was in front of her, his eyes piercing through her like they always did.

"No, I don't think I do."

Her reply was sweet and low and it felt like sharing a secret.

She didn't, because if they had found a way to stop him then he would have never forgave her. He would live his life in what if's, never moving foward.

And they wouldn't be in this position.

That suddenly sounds good, hun?

Sakura could feel his breath against her face, a warmth she had never felt before coming from his body.

She had always thought of him as pure ice.

Strangely, it seemed all her resolves about him were being slowly put aside because of this encounter.

In a bold act that reminded him that yes, this was still Sakura, she took a step closer and rested her head against his chest.

He didn't flinch away from her and that was all she could ask for.

"Thank you."

She heard him whisper into her ear, the warmth tickling her skin in an emphasis that he was Sasuke and Sasuke was the only one who could ever toy with her emotions and sensations in such a way.

She'd never told anyone that his last words to her were thank you because she knew it would only raise questions. Ino would have come up with a romantic suggestion and Naruto would be just plain confused.

Sakura knew why he had thanked her. It was because he knew that she hadn't really tried to stop him that night.

She had just been trying to get her goodbye.

Sakura couldn't remember how she'd gotten herself in such a situation, being stuck between a tree and Uchiha Sasuke.

She remembered something about training and chakra infused fists and his damn speed but her mind didn't seem to work properly at the moment.

His eyes were at her again, smoldering and dazing as always.

It made her blush and inner Sakura dance in joy.

Funny thing, he was the only one who seemed able to bring that part of her back since the Uchiha heir was the only thing her inner wanted and her true self wouldn't act out on.

Suddenly, his hands were on her waist and hips, crashing their forms and the med nin wasn't sure if it was hell or heaven but it didn't really matter as long as his lips were still on hers or on her neck or ear or collarbone.

Sasuke wasn't one for words. He liked actions.

So, there was no courting nor confessions.

It started with that kiss and grew with each time he appeared on the middle of her shift, out of nowhere, just to take her for lunch or make sure she got home safely.

He still didn't like to talk but Sakura found it was okay, she could do it for the two of them.

The proposal was something Sakura hadn't quite been expecting and certainly hadn't been expecting it in such a way.

He'd left the beautiful emerald ring in the bench with a sole cherry blossom.

He knew she would go to that same place to wait for him to return from his last mission.

And that was what she found.

The med nin had started crying out of surprise and happiness even before he'd appeared behind her, reaching for the hand she hold to eye level, staring mesmerized at the symbol of their engagement.

Sasuke had turned her around, holding her hand in public for the first time since she could remember.

Her answer was said between tears and kisses as she threw her arms around his neck and pulled him down.

Their relationship was never perfect but it didn't have to be.

Sasuke was far from perfect, he knew that very well, but as he watched his wife sleep, her pink hair in disarray and the smell of blood and cherries lingering long after the end of her shift and shower, it didn't matter.

Sakura remembered him of what they were ― ninjas ― just as much as she gave him hope.

And maybe that was the first reason he fell in love with her but he couldn't care less.

There were so many things about her that irritated and pleased him that he realized they just weren't relevant.

Sasuke loved her compassion and her naivity and the way she would get excited over stupid things. He loved the life they had and how everything had just fallen into place despite how it had begun. He loved that she made him forget his past and just enjoy the present because his present was everything.

He loved his daughter and sons, he loved their family and friends, he loved her.

In the end, who would have guessed, he was Fall. Something between warm and cold, confortable and instigating, you just had to get over its unsettling exterior.

And, just like Fall, Sasuke would let go of his past and embrace whatever the future had for him.

As long as Sakura was still there.

Okay, hope you enjoyed this. I certainly spent a lot of time on it. Any mistakes, tell me, english is not my first language.

Thank you,

Camilla.