[canon-compliant, introspective]

-

The first time Sasuke Uchiha saw Sakura Haruno was on the first day of the Academy. He was on the lookout trying to find them—the one person that would be better than him. Itachi had told him that there would always be someone better than him, but he couldn't find them yet. (Later, he realized that Itachi meant in general, not in his class.) While he was looking, his eyes landed on her. They scanned her and she, after noticing him staring at her, hid behind her mother.

Sasuke figured that she was not going to be the one, so he went on to the next student.

The second time Sasuke saw her was a year or two later. His family was gone, killed by the one he loved most, and he almost wasn't surprised when he realized that he was no longer number one in the class in theoretical studies. He had started to put much more effort into the practical, but he didn't expect his theoretical to suffer so much. Still, he was second in the class—dangerously close to being third—and the person who had surpassed him was Sakura Haruno.

Quite honestly, he was impressed. While Sakura wasn't from a civilian family, her parents were first-generation Shinobi and neither of them had made it past low Chuunin level. And yet she managed to beat an Uchiha in theoretical studies. She was going places—even if that place was behind a desk, not on the battlefield. Sasuke has a large amount of respect for bureaucratic Shinobi, and Sakura looked like she would do just fine. It would suit her better, anyway. Her practical grades were atrocious (he was number one).

The third time he saw her was when she was assigned to his team, along with a certain annoying blond. The idea troubled him—she should have been a bureaucratic Shinobi, and yet they placed her on a team with him. As an Uchiha, Sasuke would definitely be on a heavy assault team. Naruto, while horrible at literally everything he did, had a ridiculous amount of stamina, meaning he was also designated for heavy assault. Sakura...maybe they intended for her to provide support of some sort.

Sasuke could think of three possibilities: morale—which Naruto had covered—genjutsu—which Sasuke would have covered once he activated his Sharingan—or medical assistance. Now that he thought about it, Sakura did always have amazing chakra control—a thing of envy. So, Sakura was going to be a medic-nin. For the first time in a while, Sasuke was pleasantly surprised.

The fourth time he saw her was right after he struggled back to life. For what felt like an eternity, he thought he was dead. He hadn't taken a single breath, felt a single emotion. He just knew, until suddenly, he didn't. He suddenly felt himself struggle to breathe, struggle to move at all. And then he bolted upright, taking in a huge breath. There is a silence, during which Sasuke only had one thought in his mind: I'm alive.

He was startled when arms suddenly wrapped around him, tight and unwilling to let go. He heard a choked sob and a whisper of, "You're alive!"

When he registered the pink hair, he smiled. He wrapped a single arm around Sakura Haruno and said, "Yeah, I'm alive." He then looked up, then around, and asked, "Where is Naruto?" Because it was Naruto's job to protect Sakura when he couldn't, and it looked like he had succeeded. She was alive, at least. Sasuke would never forgive Naruto if Sakura died under his watch—not that he would ever admit it.

The fifth time Sasuke saw her, it was through a red haze. He remembered waking up and seeing Sakura hurt. She was broken and bruised and the mere sight of it filled Sasuke with rage. He had asked, voice low, "Who did this to you, Sakura?" She stared, wide-eyed, before glancing at someone across the clearing. Ah, he thought, it was him. The rest was little more than a blur, but he remembered distinctly the sound of bone cracking, of pained screams...and he remembered the sense of complete and utter satisfaction. But then he felt something else. Hands wrapping around his abdomen, a face buried in the back of his neck. "Please stop, Sasuke-kun."

And Sasuke stopped, because Sakura asked him to.

The sixth time Sasuke saw her, it was in the dead of night. He had a backpack slung across his back and a path laid plainly before him. It was a risk, yes, but a risk worth making. Sasuke was absolutely sure that going to Orochimaru was a gamble that would pay off. He was almost through the gates—near a bench where he had seen many couples hold hands and laugh—when he sensed her. Her chakra signature was much larger than when they had first met, and it no longer could be ignored.

It took him all his strength to not turn around when Sakura asked, "Where are you going, Sasuke-kun?"

He felt hollow when he said,  "Nowhere, Sakura."

"Don't lie to me, Sasuke."

It was sharp and desperate and it struck Sasuke to his very core. Sakura had called him by his name. No "Sasuke-kun," just "Sasuke." He suddenly felt a sinking feeling in his gut, but he couldn't turn back now. It took less than a second to get behind Sakura. It took maybe one for him to finally muster up his courage. But, when he said it, it felt like forever. "Thank you, Sakura."

He could see her eyes widen before he struck the pressure point on her neck. He caught her as she fell and placed her gently on the bench, and silently tried to project his thoughts across the entire village to one Naruto Uzumaki.

If you let her die, I will never forgive you.

The seventh time Sasuke saw her, it had been a very long time. It was somewhere he didn't remember, doing something he has long since forgotten. He has an inkling, however, that it was nothing good. His gaze was clouded back then, and very few things penetrated through his self-imposed insanity.

Then he saw Sakura. He saw her coming, and he could clearly see what she was going to do—she was going to kill him. She intended to, at least. Sasuke saw this, and something inside him broke. It would take him a long time to put it back together, but at that moment, he shattered into a thousand pieces.

And he tried to kill her.

Naruto came, just in the nick of time, and, deep down, Sasuke was glad. He wasn't ready to completely hate him just yet.

The eighth time Sasuke saw her, he was terrified—not that he would ever admit it. Still, you can't blame him—she shattered the ground with a single punch. It didn't even have that much power in it, and yet the ground crumpled and folded like it was made of glass. She took down a dozen of the Juubi's monstrosities with a flick of her finger.

Sasuke Uchiha was scared—and yet he grinned, wide and proud. Because that was Sakura Haruno, and she was magnificent.

The ninth time Sasuke saw her, it was after he had been beaten into the ground, one of his arms torn off. He was bloody and broken in more ways than one. But Sakura kneeled down next to him and smiled. She healed him and, when he smiled back, she very nearly burst into tears. "You moron," she said, "you complete and utter moron!"

Sasuke bowed his head as a show of apology, somewhat scared of what she would do—he was basically defenseless. Instead, she just continued to heal him, tears streaming down her face. It was Naruto who said, "He's coming home."

She stared at Sasuke, too scared to hope. But Sasuke nodded, and she smiled so wide that it hurt to look at. "Sasuke-kun!"

And, slowly, Sasuke put himself back together.

He saw her many times after that. She was his teammate, his friend, his girlfriend, his wife, the mother of his child, but most of all, she was Sakura Haruno—now Sakura Uchiha. That was crystal clear.

the end

-

Guys, I screwed up. The one-shot I was planning to write was nowhere near done so I wrote this out yesterday after I took my French test. It's rough around the edges and there's no humor and no Sasuke and Hinata friendship (I'll write one eventually). I should really start writing one-shots way more in advance. Hey, but there's not that much angst in this one, at least!

Until next time, bye! SSSRHA2