Chapter 46

"I am not in any sort of forbidden relationship with Sasuke!" Sakura hollered, jumping to her feet and glaring daggers at her, "You know the rules as well as I do, you know how Sasuke is—how dare you suggest there be anything between us!"

"Oh yeah? Well, if you really want to know why I'm really here, it's to hear it from him directly. I can just see you sitting up here, playing the seductress!" Ino yelled back in equal intensity.

"The seductress?! Me?!" Sakura screeched indignantly, "How dare you call me the seductress when you were the one who was throwing yourself at Shikamaru after Sasuke left!"

"Throwing myself?!" Ino shrieked, "How dare you!"

"Face it, Ino, you are just professing your love like a little twelve-year-old girl," Sakura taunted, "You don't care about Sasuke—you don't love him. Why deny it? You've been crushing on Shikamaru for years now! Trying to get his attention constantly, dragging him all over the place! You don't love Sasuke, Ino—if you did, you would be trying to find out how you can help, not accusing me of 'playing the seductress'. If you want to see Sasuke, then you'll have to wait until he's released from hospital in a few days."

Sakura relaxed her stance and cast a last sharp look at Ino, "Don't forget that he's a criminal to this village, and will most likely be punished accordingly, no matter what either of us do."

With that final word, Sakura walked past her and out the door, leaving a shocked Ino behind; the argument had been abrupt and short. Not only that, but the argument had also left her thinking about something she had never notice before. Had…had she really been so clingy to Shikamaru? She hadn't even realized it…maybe she was just like that towards guys. No, that didn't make any sense either, because she wasn't like that to Chouji or any of the other guys she knew. She didn't want to contemplate the possibility that she actually liked someone other than her beloved Uchiha.

Sasuke was being released in a few days, huh? Well… She didn't want to admit it to herself, but she knew that any other attempts for her to see Sasuke would most likely be thwarted—damn, it was so not like her to give up. But there was nothing she could do, right? Well, there was something she could do…she could help.

Leaving the room quietly and closing the door behind her, Ino plodded down the hallway deep in thought, having been given plenty to think about.

"Glad to see you're both still alive," Sakura stated cheerfully as the door opened up.

"Aa," Sasuke found himself replying, a crooked smile crossing his face.

"Did you deal with the problem?" he heard Naruto ask Sakura conversationally, "What was up?"

"Just someone poking their nose where it doesn't belong," Sakura replied, sounding displeased about the matter, "Which reminds me—Sasuke, I'm assuming you don't want any of your old fangirls being allowed into to visit you."

"Preferably not," he stated, not wanting his old schoolmates squealing and swarming into his room. Old associates he could perhaps put up with, but fangirls was an absolute no.

"I thought so," Sakura replied, sounding firm, "Are you and Naruto done visiting? Because I'd like to get the healing procedure started soon."

"Okay," Naruto's voice was projected towards Sakura, then when he spoke again, his voice was turned to Sasuke, "Oi, teme. Get well soon—we have to train you up again."

A smirk crossed his face, "You better get ready, dobe—I won't go easy on you."

"Neither of you should get overconfident," Sakura cut in, her voice amused yet sighing, "You'll both be careless and end up back here."

Though none of them said it, they all knew that Sasuke couldn't even hope to defeat Naruto at the moment—and even though he knew that they didn't say anything because they were being considerate towards his condition, it made him angry. His entire life he had been the best of the class in skill, and now here he was, worse than Naruto. In all honesty, he respected Naruto, but it still left him feeling worse that for once he couldn't beat his old rival—his best friend.

"Thanks for coming, Naruto," Sakura said kindly as there were retracting footsteps heading across the room to the door, "You're going to have to let me know when you want to visit again though—this a restricted floor."

"Hai," Naruto said cheerfully, "Ja ne, Sakura, teme."

There was a quiet closing of the door and Sasuke knew that Naruto had left, leaving him and Sakura alone. Her quiet footfalls approached the bed, and the edge of the mattress sank somewhat under her weight. He felt her grab his left hand, passing her thumb over the back of it like she said she would do, and there was a light touch at his forehead; he assumed she was brushing her fingers over his forehead protector.

"It suits you, Sasuke," she said after a minute, "I'm glad you're back."

He wasn't so sure if he was though. Even though he had ended up in Konoha, and he had found things going well, he wasn't certain if this was what was best. To retie the bonds that were severed—to recreate that which he knew he would have to destroy as he set out for Itachi.

"Sakura."

"Hm?" he felt her fingers fall away from his forehead.

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