𝓣𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮'𝓼 𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓼𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭 Sasuke loathes more than anything, and it's not Naruto yelling in the morning (although it is second in line.) The sound itself isn't that intolerable, but it stirs something in his heart he cannot comprehend, which he truly hates.

It's Sakura crying.

With the girl's nose engulfed in the middle of his back, his shirt muffles some of the sobbings, but they still resonate through his entire being, and even though he feels disoriented and admittedly a little scared of what happened, of the black marks and losing control, his only desire is to end Sakura's crying.

"Sakura-chan, are you okay?"

Mole kneels at their sides, extending a tentative hand, but the action provokes the opposite effect. Sasuke sends him a glare when another wave of sobs erupts from his back and covers the girl's clenching hands with his own.

"Sakura."

The softness of his tone surprises him, and so does the gentle way he unravels Sakura's arms from his torso. The last thing he wants is to startle her, and this feeling is so foreign to him. It's so different from the hate that consumed him only minutes ago.

He feels her breathing ease as she sits back on her heels. This new position enables him to move again, and he hurries to face her, a million questions crossing his mind, but the words get stuck in his throat when he takes in her appearance.

She has a swollen eye, and a purple bruise is emerging on the right side of her jaw, where a big bump has already altered her pretty features. Sasuke's eyes trail further down, and a blush creeps to his cheeks when he realizes she's not wearing her shirt. But his embarrassment morphs into concern upon locating a big gash on her collarbone. The blood oozing out of it is soaking the bindings around her torso, giving them a crimson hue, as it does to the tip of her short hair sticking into it. Speaking of her hair, it looks like something has roughly cut half of her long pink locks in a shoulder-length fashion. The other half, however, is still cascading down her side.

Under his intense stare, Sakura brings one leg up to her chest, circling her arms around her shin. The action attracts Sasuke's attention to her other leg, where blood seeps out of a hole in her shorts and trails down her thigh.

Mole's voice breaks the heavy silence, startling both teenagers. "What happened?"

Sakura sends her uneven hair flying left and right, then hides her face behind her folded knee. But, as if remembering something important, she jerks her head up to meet Sasuke's eyes.

"How are you feeling?"

The question should catch him off guard, but it doesn't. And maybe that's why he's never been able to hate her. Because he's selfish, and to have someone caring, for once, is refreshing.

Upon meeting Mole's penetrating gaze, Sasuke dodges the question. "Sakura... Are you... Are you crying because of me? Did I hurt you?"

"What? Sasuke-kun, no!" Her hand latches onto his, and she intertwines their fingers. "Although," she falters. "I admit I was scared for you..."

He stares at their linked hands. Usually, he would break the contact instantly. But today, he notices he needs it more than he would ever admit. So instead, he closes his fingers around the back of Sakura's hand and glances up to meet her frown.

"For me?"

She nods but doesn't elaborate further, and he drops it in front of her exhausted state.

"I don't know the complete story," Mole says after a minute. "And Sasuke, I don't want to pry into your life, but I've seen those marks before. I know what they mean, who you encountered in this forest. We have to find your sensei."

"I agree," Sakura breathes out, trying to stand up.

"Wait, no!"

Mole and Sasuke react simultaneously. The Anbu brushes Sakura's shoulder to prevent her from standing while Sasuke tightens his grip around her hand. She recoils from Mole's touch, startled, then sends the Anbu an apologetic look and sits back down.

"We have to look at those wounds first, Sakura-chan," the man says softly. "Can I..." He leans forward tentatively. "Is it okay if I do that?"

She nods, biting her lower lip, and Sasuke doesn't know what pushes him to squeeze the girl's hand, but upon seeing her shoulders relax he instantly forgets the awkwardness behind the gesture.

While Mole takes care of Sakura's many wounds, Sasuke reflects on their encounter with Orochimaru. In the end, was he, or was he not worthy of the Uchiha blood? He brings a hand to his sore neck. And why give him this? So much power, so much darkness. What is he supposed to do with it? Kill his brother, of course. But why would this unknown man want to help him with his revenge? What would he gain from it?

The black-haired boy glances at his injured teammate. The brightness of her green eyes shines more than ever, convincing him the pink-haired girl is hiding something. A part of him wants to confront her about it, but she's been so quiet that he finds himself more concerned with every passing second and settles on postponing the conversation. 

"Alright," Mole interrupts Sasuke's train of thought when he strides to the unconscious teenager lying a few feet away. "We should leave before his team comes back with reinforcement."

Sasuke releases Sakura's hand and faces the Anbu, standing. "Leave? What about Kakashi and Naruto?"

"Kakashi has his ninken, and Sakura is full of blood. They can easily track us to a safer location. We cannot stay... she's in no shape to fight right now. And," he adds as an afterthought, "you shouldn't use your chakra until we know more about the seal."

That last part irks Sasuke to no end. Orochimaru gave him power. Why shouldn't he be allowed to use it, or at least try to use it? With that power, he could ensure Sakura's safety and achieve his primary goal. 

His jaw clenches at the thought of Itachi, and he glares at Mole, but at a sudden jolt of pain at the base of his neck, Sasuke folds in two with a hand clasping his new seal. Sakura latches onto him and swats his hand away from his neck. A cold, gentle touch replaces his warm one, and he closes his eyes in relief.

"I'm fine, Sakura."

Her searching eyes meet his, and he doesn't know what she sees in them, but she relaxes a bit upon meeting his stare.

"We have to leave," he says, finally agreeing to Mole's words after one look at the girl's beaten face. "You rest. I'll carry you."

Before she can protest, Sasuke kneels to offer his back. He hears Sakura fidget and is about to send her an annoyed look when her tiny hands wrap around his neck and she leans against him. He places his hands under her thighs, careful to avoid her injury, then proceeds toward the exit without a word. As he steps out, a piece of human flesh attracts his attention. Bathing in a pool of blood and a handful of pink hair is the tip of a finger. Sasuke tightens his hold on Sakura at the sight, his heartbeat increasing. 

𝓢𝓪𝓴𝓾𝓻𝓪 𝓯𝓪𝓵𝓵𝓼 𝓪𝓼𝓵𝓮𝓮𝓹 minutes after climbing onto Sasuke's back, as Mole brings them to a dark cave to rest in a semblance of peace. He sets out scouting the area shortly after, leaving the two teenagers alone for the first time since Orochimaru's fight. The reserved Uchiha awaits the girl's awakening in dreading curiosity, having an unusual amount of things he wants to address.

While he waits, he lights up a fire, then stares at the flames in deep thoughts, munching over all the information he's gathered about Haruno Sakura: her shifting personality, the nosebleeds, the memory loss,  her eyes changing colour, and the weird sentences she's let slip here and there. 

If I act strange, tell Kakashi. It means I am lost again.

Sasuke whispers those words, trying to unravel the meaning behind them. Too engrossed in this arduous task, he doesn't notice the girl stirring up nor feel her eyes on him.

"Lost again," he says in a breath. "What does that even mean?"

"Sasuke-kun?"

He jerks his head up at Sakura's voice and notices she's no longer lying on the opposite side of the cave but is walking to the fire, careful not to hit her head on the ceiling.

"Who are you talking to?"

He shakes his head, then brings his hands to the hem of his shirt.

"Here, I'll give you something to wear until we return to camp."

Sasuke lifts his shirt, but a touch on his elbow refrains him from removing it. He casts her a puzzled look, and Sakura's face turns crimson, her eyes focused on something above his left elbow. She clears her throat before speaking.

"Please, don't do this. Then you would be the one half-naked."

"Sakura, this is not the same."

He feels his skin burn out of embarrassment.

"I don't see the difference. At least I have bindings acting as a shirt of some sort."

"It's hardly hiding anything."

She crosses her arms in front of her chest at his comment. 

"Please, just take it," he presses.

"No! Please, Sasuke-kun, I can't believe I am saying this, but keep your shirt on, for Kami's sake!"

"Why are you so stubborn? Can't you see I'm doing the right thing?"

"No, you're not!" Sakura takes a sharp intake and locks eyes with him. When she speaks again, her tone is softer. "Would you do the same for Naruto?"

He frowns. "Of course not."

"Exactly my point."

"You mean exactly my point."

She shakes her head with a chuckle. "Maybe." Her hand on his elbow trails down and tugs on the shirt still clutched in his hands to let it fall back into place. "But I don't want you to treat me differently because I'm a girl. I want you to see me as your equal. Plus," she adds as an afterthought, her blush darkening, "seeing a guy shirtless might do nothing to you, but it does something to me, as seeing a girl without a shirt does something to you. That's because we're attracted to the opposite sex. So taking off your shirt doesn't change much about the situation."

Sasuke's heartbeat quickens at Sakura's statement, and he turns to poke at the fire. "If you say so," he whispers, his face flushed.

An awkward silence follows their conversation. Sakura takes a spot beside him, and Sasuke has to fight hard to keep his eyes glued to the dancing flames. All this talk about attraction made him uncomfortable.

"So," Sakura trails off.

He peeks at her from the corner of his eye. She's glancing at her wounds with a grimace. "Sakura. We need to talk."

She faces him with a concerned frown.

"If I act strange, tell Kakashi. It means I am lost again," he recites, watching her eyes widen. "You've been acting strange since our first day as a team, to be honest. What was Orochimaru saying the other day? What are you hiding from us?"

Her eyes turn to the flames with a deepening frown. "You told me you didn't notice things about me. I'm not hiding anything from you. You made it clear that you didn't care, anyway."

To say her answer surprises him would be an understatement. He leans forward, hands clasped on his knees. "So, there is something?"

"Kakashi asked me not to tell you guys. But frankly, I didn't think you deserved it. No one noticed. Can you believe it? What does it say about me? About the people surrounding me? About my family, my friends, my team?"

When she looks at him, he's taken aback by her pooling eyes.

"It hurts, Sasuke-kun. To always be dismissed, to not being taken seriously, just because I'm a civilian or a girl and somewhat pretty—or at least to Naruto, I am. And with what happened with Zaku—"

"Who's Zaku?" Sasuke interrupts her.

She stares at him, nibbling at her bottom lip, then averts her eyes. "The guy you broke both arms."

"Oh..." Sasuke eyes her from head to toe, a lump forming in his throat. "Wait. What... What happened?"

"I'd rather not talk about that."

Sasuke nods reluctantly. He has a good idea of what happened, and the mere thought of it makes his blood boil. He never considered the threat it posed to be a kunoichi. Why would someone do something like that? He vaguely remembers a day at the Academy where Iruka broached the subject of power trips. But power, Sasuke realizes abruptly, is what he's yearning for...

"To answer your first question," Sakura resumes, snapping Sasuke out of his spiralling thoughts. "There's also someone inside of me. Her name is Nezumi Hana. And until Kakashi-sensei gets her out of my body, we share my life. Five days each. Congratulations," she adds with a sour face. "You're the second person to notice."

"But, that's," he shakes his head with a frown. "That's unfair. Why is she there to begin with? Just push her out."

"I don't know how to do that," she answers, irked. "She locks me in a cell. And I'm alone for five days, in the dark, with nothing. I don't know where she's going when I'm in charge or how to push her out. I'm helpless."

The silence stretches as information sinks in. Sasuke glances at his teammate, expecting tears still streaming down her face. However, he is met with a hard stare and a squared jaw.

"So," he says tentatively. "You're going through this every five days?"

She gives him one stiff nod. "I've never felt so lonely in my entire life."

Her hands move, attracting his eyes to her tight fists, and he grabs her wrist.

"You've been hurting yourself."

He flips her palms up, and she opens her fingers slowly.

"I don't know why," she says, brushing the rosy scars, "but I guess it helps me anchor myself in the present moment."

"Don't you have enough wounds already to anchor yourself?"

She chuckles dryly. "I guess you're right. Plus, I have the most hideous hair. Ino would be happy to see this."

A fond smile finds its way to her lips. Sasuke stares at it for a second too long, making Sakura tilt her head to the side.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he says, diverting his gaze. "Your hair isn't hideous, just uneven."

He frowns at his own words. That was completely unnecessary. But upon hearing Sakura's laugh, Sasuke's opinion abruptly changes. At least he's cheering her up a bit. It's better than making her cry.

"Sasuke-kun?" She tucks a lock of short hair behind her ear. "Would you mind cutting the longer locks?"

"I don't think I'm qualified for that," he points out, embarrassed.

"Well, at least, just to even it out, you know. I'll ask Ino to fix it when I come back."

"I thought you hated each other," he states bluntly.

She snorts. "Yeah, just like you hate Naruto."

He sighs and grabs a kunai. "Yes, your point?"

She shakes her head with a playful smile. "Whatever, Sasuke-kun. Whatever."

Sasuke ignores the teasing and sits behind the girl with a growing frown. He never thought he would one day cut his teammate's hair. That's not on the list of things a shinobi is supposed to do. But he guesses it could be worse: it could be Naruto's. He shivers at that thought and runs a shaky hand through Sakura's pink locks. He thinks he sees goosebumps rising on her skin and smirks. Some things will never change.

As he cuts the long strands of hair, the image of the cut finger entangled in the pink strings comes rushing back.

"Sakura," he whispers at the memory. "You're not helpless. You're the most capable kunoichi I've ever met."