Chapter 9

A groan ached through my chest and throat the moment I gained consciousness. The severe pain throughout my body had dulled only slightly since the last time I was awake, but not enough that I could completely ignore it.

Something soft brushed against my cheek, and I felt my brow tense slightly in response. A deep hum floated through the air, and a sigh eased from my lips, my body relaxing further at the comforting sound. The tender sensation against my cheek came again, but this time it moved to brush my hair out of my face, and then I realized it was someone's hand, their fingers.

The drowsy haze I was in slowly faded as I finally acknowledged what was happening and tried to make myself fully wake.

Even if my injuries were still plaguing me, my body was warm, and I immediately recognized the feeling of an oversized cotton shirt or dress against my skin. My fingers twitched atop the fabric of whatever I was wearing. The sleeves were too long and covered them completely, but it proved to be incredibly comforting.

"Sakura…" It was that melodic voice again.

My eyes opened, and the breath momentarily left my body when I saw Sasuke. He was propped up on his side with his elbow as he looked down at me with such a relieved expression that it almost seemed wrong to witness it.

Neither of us moved for a long time. Red and black eyes studied mine patiently as my memories slowly started to flood back in, and when they did, a soft gasp shook my chest, and I felt tears begin to well up.

Then he was kissing me, slow and soft, like I would break if he didn't treat me with abundant care. With each tender press of his lips to mine, my tears got thicker, and my chest got tighter until I couldn't control it anymore. He seemed to sense this and pulled back a bit so I could cover my eyes with one hand as I weakly sobbed, pressing his lips to my forehead with his fingers gently coming into my hair. Either one of us is trembling, or both, but I can't tell.

A minute or two passed before I could get ahold of myself enough to speak, "S-Sasuke…."

He slid his hand down to my chest so I could wrap all of my fingers around it, but he didn't say anything or pull back so I could see his face.

"You were bleeding. Are you okay?" Each word felt like pins and needles were stabbing my throat.

The peaceful aura of the room threatened to fade as Sasuke finally pulled away so he could fix a disbelieving glare on me. He's angry but is still trying to stay calm for my sake. My vision focused on his face, and I looked over every part of him that I could see to make sure he wasn't injured.

The unhappy expression on his face hardened further as he stared at me, but then I was stunned to see it soften all over again. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he leaned down to rest his forehead against mine lightly, squeezing them closed in a desperate attempt to keep the tears from spilling over, "Baby…."

My face warmed at the term of endearment. The first time he called me that, I thought it didn't fit him or me or our relationship, but now my stomach flips excitedly every time he does. The incredibly emotional tug in his tone made my heart both flip and ache within my chest.

The way he's acting now, the way he acted when he realized there wasn't anything he could do to help me in that god-awful room, it's so genuine and unfiltered that it made me feel guilty. For him to throw his bashfulness to the wind, I must've scared the living hell out of him.

I touched his cheek and repeated the pet name, hoping he understood how much I loved him with just the one word. We didn't move for a moment before I broke the silence, "I'm so sorry, Sasuke."

He made a negative sound deep in his throat, kissing me a few times between words, "You're alive."

My eyes fluttered open, and he pulled back to look at my face, both of us wiping our tears, "You're not angry?"

Dark eyes narrowed, and he took a deep breath before responding, "I'm so unbelievably pissed at you right now that I could spit." The amount of force behind his tone just confirmed the statement. He was indeed holding back a tremendous amount of rage for my sake.

"Sasuke, I-" "But you were dead, Sakura." He didn't explain further and didn't need to for me to understand what he was implying.

My heart rose into my throat, threatening to make me start crying again, but I did my best to choke it back down and changed the subject in an attempt to lighten the heavy atmosphere, "Where are we?"

I finally realized I couldn't identify our surroundings. We were on a bed in an unfamiliar room.

"You're gonna be a doctor, and you can't recognize a hospital when you see one?"

My face warmed at how he worded the question as though it wasn't a what-if that I would achieve my dream but a fact. When I glanced around a bit more carefully, I noticed the curtain hanging from the ceiling, pushed back all the way to the wall, which was why it hadn't caught my eye before. The white linoleum floors also seemed to fit the vibe of a hospital.

"In Konoha? How long was I out?"

He shook his head, making me look back at his face, "Suna. It's not even been two days." The fact that I pretty much died and somehow came back to life was hard enough to believe, but to top it off, I was only out for a single day afterward.

"What the hell…." I tried to sit up, only for the unbearable pain in my midsection to increase tenfold and steal the very breath from my body.

"Don't, you idiot."

A knock came at the door before I could argue with him for calling me names again, and my mouth remained open in disbelief as a familiar face appeared. "Tsu...Tsunade!"

I tried to sit up again, to try somehow to fix my undoubtedly sorry state of appearance, but she made a shushing noise at me with a glare on her already stern face, "Stop that!" I reluctantly relaxed against the pillow, noticing that Sasuke was glaring threateningly at the woman as she approached, like a bodyguard warning someone not to come any closer.

Once she was close enough, Tsunade began checking my pulse. She returned the glare when she noticed my boyfriend's intimidating aura, "Enough, Dear. I told you she didn't need an IV, and I was right, wasn't I?"

I looked between them in confusion, "What's…?"

My therapist released my wrist and shook her head with a warm look forming, "Your…friend here has been quite protective. It took hours to convince him I wouldn't hurt you."

The man in question didn't flinch or look away from her, but his eyes narrowed slightly more. Warmth met my face as I pictured him turning anyone and everyone away who tried to come to see me. He really can be such a sweetheart, even if his way of doing so is a bit different.

"Sakura, Sweetheart, I am so proud of you." Tsunade pulled my attention back to her as she grinned at me, tears welling up in her eyes.

I squeezed her hand when she reached over to grab mine, "How are you here? I'm happy to see you, but-" "You have some very good friends who told us what was happening."

My brow furrowed, and I absently grabbed Sasuke's hand in an attempt to ease his tense aura because it was putting me on edge. He seemed to snap out of it, if only a little, and interlaced our fingers silently.

"What do you mean by "us"?"

She knelt so she was at my eye level and explained, "There's a haven in Konoha. Around a hundred of us traveled here with Hinata and Naruto."

"A-A hundred?!"

Tsunade ignored my disbelief and brought her other hand up so she could hold mine between both of hers, her voice wavering a bit, "Your friends…they charged right into a losing fight despite knowing they were likely to die."

Tears welled up in my eyes this time, and my chin quivered as I imagined the tragic air that must've been about the group of them as they accepted their fate.

"This boy was at the head of the pack, too." A small gasp passed my lips, and I glanced up at Sasuke, who finally looked away from the doctor so he could give me a warm look.

"To think that you, of all people, would be lying here next to a man. I can hardly believe it."

I blushed, "I can hardly believe what we've gone through."

Her smile was almost bittersweet, "I've heard some of what happened. We can talk about all that later. For now, I want you to focus on resting." The woman placed a bottle of pills on the serving tray near the bed, "Take two of those every six hours for the next few days to help with the pain. I'll come to check on you in a bit, okay?"

I acknowledged her instructions, but she'd already turned her eyes onto Sasuke again, "And you… Keep a good eye on her. Come get me if anything seems off." He nodded without a word, and then the older woman turned and left the room.

Once the door was closed behind her, I returned my gaze to Sasuke, "Was she telling the truth? Did you…?" He squeezed my hand in his, bringing it up so he could kiss the back of it before wordlessly climbing over me and walking into what I assumed was the bathroom.

Tears welled heavily in my eyes when he was out of sight. Just how desperate did I make him feel?

What happened remained fuzzy, and I'm unsure if I want to remember the details anyway. A flash of terror came through me as I recalled looking down and seeing a sword cut through my torso. My breathing picked up, and I shoved the thin blanket down and pulled the oversized shirt I was wearing so I could look down at my body.

Nothing.

There's nothing there except the scars from the torture I went through at the asylum. My insides are killing me, though. Even the left side of my face hurts like the cut was still fresh, but it was smooth when my fingers danced up to feel the skin there. There wasn't even a scar.

One hand over the side of my face and one holding a handful of my shirt, I squeezed my eyes closed and tried to avert my thoughts to anything but the traumatic event that landed me in this hospital bed. My chest was tight, and I felt hot and scared as my mind raced.

Cold fingers gently pulled both hands away, and I opened my eyes in surprise to see Sasuke looking down at me with a sad expression. He slowly used one hand to caress the bare skin of my stomach and cupped my cheek with the other, bending down to press his lips to my sternum before coming up to kiss me. As he silently comforted me, he fixed my clothing.

Tears were running down the sides of my face by the time he pulled away, and I wiped at them as I trembled and tried not to burst into sobs. Sasuke remained uncharacteristically silent as he sat between my legs, pulling them up over his hips, and carefully helped me sit, reaching around to bring the pillows behind my back. Then he reached over to grab the medicine bottle Tsunade had brought and a glass of water, which I now realized he'd gotten from the bathroom.

I held the cup as he opened the medicine and got two capsules onto his palm before pausing to read the bottle label with narrowed eyes. Disbelief left me sitting there with wide eyes and no idea how to react.

This isn't the first time Sasuke's taken care of me. When I was shot in Otogakure, he single-handedly ensured I both lived and recovered. This time, the difference is that it isn't necessary because Tsunade's here. So, he's doing this because he wants to and nothing else. That being said, the focused expression on his face, the way his fingers are slightly trembling, and how he's doing very little to mask his concern is throwing me off.

When Sasuke handed me the pills, I took them without delay. A sharp sting came about in my stomach, and I hissed, swiftly setting the glass on the bedside table so I could lift my shirt. The tears were impossible to stop completely, so I gave up wiping at them as I dropped my clothing back into place after confirming I wasn't bleeding. It must be my internal injuries; still on the mend.

"Sakura."

I lifted my eyes from my shirt to meet Sasuke's and nearly flinched when he suddenly cupped my face, his thumbs wiping gently at my slow tears. My fingers lightly wrapped around his wrists, holding him there as we simply stared at one another.

Minutes seemed to pass before he spoke softly, "Say you'll move to Konoha."

The breath in my throat got caught for a moment, but I nodded. If the fact that I could only dream of this man in my last moments doesn't mean I'm completely in love with him, then I don't know what does. I want to be near him so severely. Even if I have to get a job to pay for it, I'll somehow find a way to stay in Konoha when I return to school.

"I'll get a dorm, Baby."

His brow furrowed slightly, and he said, "No." I searched his face, confused, but I didn't have to ask because he spoke again. "Come live with me."

My grip on his wrists tightened slightly, and I instinctively shook my head, "Y-You're teasing me again…."

He frowned, "I'm serious. Move in with me."

My tears picked up, as did my insecurity, "Sasuke, we don't know how we'll work out in a normal setting. What if you think I'm annoying or-" "I already think you're annoying."

My mouth clamped shut in surprise at his interruption, and I took a moment to give him a pleading look, begging him to understand that my objections weren't because I don't love him, "I don't want you to offer something like this when you don't know if it's what you really want. Things might change between us once there's no more danger. You understand that, don't you?"

His fingers moved further into my hair, and he leaned forward a bit with narrowed eyes, "I love you. Say yes and shut the fuck up." His words were almost harsh, but his tone was anything but his expression matching.

Now I get it. Sasuke almost witnessing my death must've lit a fire inside him. He doesn't want to go back to that empty compound alone. Just imagining the man returning to that shell of a home and having to live quietly like before we met made me want to cry even harder than I already am.

Suddenly, nothing else matters. I love my family so much, and it's bittersweet to move away from home, but just because I don't live near them doesn't mean we're not family anymore. It won't mean I hate them. On the contrary, not moving to Konoha would hurt the man I love. Knowing about his abandonment issues and how hard it is for him to talk about those kinds of things, I can't say no. The courage it's taking him to ask now means the world to me, too.

I nodded slowly, "O-Okay, but I have one stipulation."

Simultaneously, he seemed relieved that I was saying yes and concerned about what I could possibly want from him.

A small smile tugged at my lips as I whispered excitedly, brushing my nose against his, "We're getting a dog."

Black and red eyes widened as he likely recalled our conversation about childhood pets before arriving at his family's compound in Konoha. Then he kissed me and spoke in a breathless, relieved voice between each press of his lips to mine, "Baby, I'll buy you ten dogs."

The fingers in my hair trembled slightly with emotion, and I moved my own from around his wrists to cup his face as I returned his affection, "What happened to not spoiling me?"

He scoffed, pulling back to give me a playful, irritated expression.

God, I love this man so much.