Chapter 23: Mismatched Pieces of a Puzzle

It was not Sasuke's internal clock that told him to wake up from the long slumber that he had fallen into, but rather the loud and obnoxious outburst that had erupted somewhere outside his room that disturbed his enjoyed sleep. He groaned slightly and rested his arm across his forehead, dimly wondering what was going on. Again he found himself wondering what had happened to him—a feeling he had come to find very annoying.

"WHERE IS HE?" came the obnoxious sounding voice—one that had changed with time but was still very recognizable, "I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!"

Sasuke groaned and rolled over onto his side, facing away from the door. He knew that word would get out that he had returned to the village, and he knew that eventually the person who was making a ruckus outside the door was going to come and confront him.

"Naruto!" Sasuke heard Sakura exclaim from outside the door, "Sasuke is resting right now—along with a number of other patients. This is a hospital and I would appreciate it if you kept your voice down."

"After everything he's done to his friends and to the village?! I'm going to beat some sense into him if it's the last thing I do!" Naruto's reply came and there were some grunts like he was trying to make it past Sakura in the hallway but she was preventing passage.

"Sasuke is in no condition to be seen right now! He's asleep and if you continue to be noisy, you may wake him!" Sakura retorted, sounding like she had landed a punch on Naruto somewhere.

Sasuke's lip twitched in amusement.

"You shouldn't come so early in the morning either, Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed, "More people are asleep at this time!"

A frown creased Sasuke's face, the last thing he remembered was that it was the afternoon and the curse mark had started to spread. What had happened since then?

"It doesn't matter if Sasuke's injured or not, he can take it! I owe him a good beating for what he did to you!" Naruto growled from the hallway.

What he had done to Sakura? A small frown descended on to his face. What had he done to Sakura?

"That. Is. Enough!" Sakura lashed out angrily on the other side of Sasuke's room door, "I will not have you going in there! You don't know what has happened to Sasuke—I can tell you right now that he is not in any condition to see anyone! Now please leave, Naruto, before I call hospital security and have you thrown out."

There was silence in the hall for a moment, "Sa-Sakura-chan…"

"Please, Naruto," Sasuke heard Sakura said in a weary tone.

There was another pause and then Naruto spoke again, "What happened to Sasuke?"

"That's confidential, Naruto," Sakura said curtly, "As Sasuke's healer, I am not at liberty to tell you. Only Sasuke can tell you if he wants—but you're going to have to wait until he's better before I'll let you see him."

There was a sigh, and Sasuke almost didn't catch it because of the walls and closed door, "I'll come back some other time then…"

There was the sound of receding footsteps that sounded partially dragged, and it was not until that they had completely faded from his hearing that Sakura opened the door to his room tentatively.

"Sasuke?" she whispered quietly, "Are you still asleep?"

He rolled back onto his back, a grim smile on his lips, "I was…until Naruto decided to pay a visit."

Sakura's footsteps drew near to him and the side of his bed sank a little as she sat down on its edge.

"I'm sorry I let him wake you," she said softly, "I shouldn't have let him make it this far."

"Still as hard-headed as ever," Sasuke commented.

"Some things never change," he heard her say in a poignant tone and he knew that she was smiling, "And Naruto is one of those things."

"Hn."

"Just so you know, now that Naruto knows that you've returned, it's going to spread like wildfire throughout our old schoolmates. You'll probably be getting many more people who want to visit you," Sakura said after a pause, "It's out of our hands now."

"How did Naruto find out?" Sasuke asked in irritation.

"He has this habit of listening in on Tsunade-sama at work, trying to get on all the missions that would have helped in returning you to the village. He promised to bring you back, and he had never forgotten that promise," Sakura replied, and to Sasuke, she sounded slightly emotional, "Apparently what he heard this morning was enough for him to figure out that you were back here in Konoha."

"I see…" Sasuke growled mentally; he did not want visitors. He preferred it if he didn't have anything to do with people at all, "Sakura… Thank you."

"For what?" her tone was confused.

"For not telling Naruto what happened," was his response.

"They're going to find out anyways, but I wanted you to be the one who decides when they get to learn about it," Sakura told him, sounding sympathetic.

"Hn."

"Anyways, how are you feeling today?" she asked him as she stood again and put something on the nightstand beside him. There was a rummaging and then the sound of papers being attached to a clipboard.

"Tired," he responded.

She sat down on the edge of his bed again, and he could feel her gaze on him, "No aching or burning sensations? Nothing?"

"No…" Sasuke replied. He paused for a moment and then looked away from her, "What happened, Sakura?"

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