Sacred Flower

Thanx a lot for reviewing! Here's your reward: another chappie!! HOORAY!!! Now, I just wanna tell you, the Sasu/Saku loving won’t happen until further on into the plot. For now, enjoy!

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Kakashi sped his way back to the village. He didn't even stop at the gate for identification. He simply sped towards the Hokage's office. About half of ANBU were chasing after him the entire way but they backed off when they realized it was the Copy Nin Kakashi after he's gotten to the Hokage's door. Kakashi burst in with Sakura in his arms. Tsunade dropped her scroll.

"Oh my god! What happened to her!?" she cried. "No time, we gotta help her," replied Kakashi. They both sped to the hospital, Sakura losing more blood with every second passing.

"DOCTOR!" cried Tsunade. "Doctor! We need help!" Many nurses poked their heads out of doorways and quickly ran towards them. One nurse brought a stretcher around for Kakashi to place her on. Once she was on, the nurses took over the situation.

"How's her pulse?" one asked. "Not good, it's weak," another would reply. "Blood pressure?" "Very low." At this point, all the nurses in that one hospital were working on Sakura. "Unconscious?" "Yeah." Kakashi and Tsunade were just standing in the hallway as the crowd of nurses slowly disappeared to the end of the hall. They splashed herbs and potions onto her wounds and bandaged her up. As soon as they thought they did a sufficient job, they removed her from intensive care into a semi-private room.

"Wanna get a drink?" asked Kakashi. "Yes please. I desperately need one. And tell me how all this happened."

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Sasuke slowly retreated back to Konoha, just a little far from the gates. ‘Why was I thinking that back in the cabin? MY Sakura!? Must have been the adrenaline.’

‘Sure,’ said a sly little voice in his head. ‘Maybe it was the adrenaline...or you were denying your true feelings for her all this time, blinded by your hate for Itachi.’

‘My true feelings? What are they?’ he thought. ‘That can't be right. I'm not denying anything.’ ‘Are you sure you're not denying anything? Y'know, saying that you're not denying something could mean that you are. Maybe Sasuke Uchiha's in LO-’

"Shut up!" he said out loud. "Hey, who goes there?" called a voice. Wow. All that time he was thinking, he made it back to the gates. After a little while, he was admitted inside. He thought of Sakura. ‘Maybe the first place to find her is the hospital.’ ‘Yeah, to see the love of your-’ ‘I SAID SHUT UP!’ Although it didn't look like it, he was having an internal war. He sped to the hospital, a hopeful heart in his chest, wishing that she's alright.

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"Miss, do you know where Sakura Haruno is?" asked Sasuke. "Yes, she's down that hall, on the far right," replied the receptionist. "Do hurry with your visit, there's only 10 minutes until visiting hours are over."

Sasuke rushed to the direction the receptionist pointed, mumbling a soft "Thank you" behind him. He reached her room, but he was afraid to go in. ‘What if she doesn't want to see me?’ he wondered. ‘What if she hates me because I didn't protect her?’ He shook that last thought out of his head and gently pushed the door open.

"Sakura?" he called. He stepped inside and walked to her bedside. She appeared to be sleeping peacefully. He softly traced his fingers down her cheek, just as he's done to her in the cabin. “I’m sorry I didn’t protect you,” he whispered into her ear. “Can you ever forgive me? I’m sorry for all those times I pushed you away. I do care for you whether you know it or not. I realize now, I think…I think I-” He was about to tell her that he liked her too when he noticed a figure standing by the doorway.

“Visiting hours are over. Please return in the morning,” said the receptionist. With a heavy heart, Sasuke made his way back to his apartment. He laid down on his bed, thinking of what he could do to help Sakura.

‘I could bring flowers to her room sometime. That should make her happy,’ he thought. After thinking of his contribution to uplift her spirits after that monster touched her, he fell into a deep sleep. Little does he know, he would dream of one of the most horrifying moments in his life.

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School at the academy was over. Little Sasuke ran home to greet his brother after his mission. When he reached the gates of the Uchiha compound, he knew something was wrong. He ran inside to the foyer, only to be greeted by two bodies covered in blood, and his older brother standing in the corner, hidden by the shadows.

“Brother…why?” he asked. His young mind tried to understand the situation and he tried not to cry, but the tears leaked out anyway. “Because I was never your ‘big brother’. It was all an act.” Young Sasuke cried uncontrollably over the death of his parents, and possibly the entire clan. Itachi bent down and lifted Sasuke’s head with his finger.

“Hate me, little brother,” said Itachi. “Hate me enough to grow stronger. You've always dreamed of surpassing me, and now you have your chance. Hate me.” Then he disappeared without a trace.

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Sasuke woke in in cold sweat. He cursed himself for letting everyone he loved die by the hands of his murderous brother. That one thought lead to another thought. It led to Sakura and her experience with Itachi. He cursed himself again for letting his damned brother touch her. He looked at the clock on his wall. It’s 7 am. ‘Perfect,’ he thought. ‘I can go see Sakura. But first, I should stop by Ino’s flower shop.’

Sasuke got out of bed and got dressed. He walked towards Ino’s little flower shop, and he found that it was her shift to work. “Sasuke! Have you come to see me?” she called. Sasuke inwardly groaned. Another fan girl that’s after him. Just what he needed.

“No,” he replied, “I’m just here to find a few flowers.” He browsed around for a few minutes, trying to see which flowers were the best for Sakura. He stopped by the aisle of roses and started to walk down on it. He saw a few red roses, some white and yellow, when he found some pink roses. ‘Maybe I should get a small bouquet for her,’ he thought. He quickly made his purchase and left the flower shop.

“Good-bye Sasuke! I’ll see you later!” she called after him. ‘I hope not,’ he thought. He proceeded to the hospital when he bumped into Kakashi. “Ahh, Sasuke, going to see Sakura, are we?” he asked. “Yeah, how’s that your business?” he replied, a little bit of annoyance in his voice. ‘Well now,’ thought Kakashi. ‘Somebody’s impatient to see their little cherry blossom.’

“Alright, I’ll leave you to it. Good-bye then.” Kakashi left Sasuke alone, pulling out the latest volume of Icha Icha Paradise. Sasuke scoffed at Kakashi’s perverted mind before he continued to make his way to the hospital.

Sasuke walked down the same hallway towards Sakura’s room. “Sakura?” he called gently. No answer. He gingerly pushed the door open, as if it’d crumble into pieces, blocking his way to Sakura. He found Sakura, still asleep in bed. He placed the six pink roses he bought for her on a nearby table and sat down in a chair. He found a magazine to read for awhile, when Tsunade walked into the room.

“Oh, Sasuke,” she said, sounding quite surprised. “What are you doing here?”

“Nothing much, I decided to see Sakura after…what happened,” he explained. He felt his blood boil at the mere thought of Sakura’s torture. “Oh, yes. I understand.” Tsunade sat on another chair. The awkward silence was disturbing. “Sasuke, it’s not your fault she was…attacked,” she finally finished after not being able to find another word to describe Sakura’s treatment.

“Hn,” was Sasuke’s reply. He felt uncomfortable with the Hokage in the same room as him. All he ever spoke to her about was for more missions or any leads on Itachi. Tsunade felt uncomfortable in the silence too, but her mind was on other things right now.

‘Who will she stay with?’ she thought. ‘She’s all alone in that apartment because her parents died during a mission a few months ago. Will she be safe?’ Tsunade has been looking after Sakura after her parents’ death. Sakura can fend for herself, but Tsunade still looked after her and asked how things were at home every once in a while. Her thoughts were interrupted when a doctor entered the room.

“Hokage, I need to speak with you.” Tsunade left the room, but not before she said, “Look after her for me, just for a little bit. Okay, Sasuke?” Sasuke simply nodded and continued reading the magazine, glancing up every once in a while.

Sasuke was reading an article when he noticed the slightest twitch in her fingers. He instantly got up and ran to her bedside, checking her over. Sakura blinked a few times before her eyes settled on Sasuke. She began to tremble like a little infant.

“Sakura, it’s just me. It’s Sasuke. Do you remember me? Why are you afraid?” He kept repeated it over and over, worried about her mental state of being. Tsunade heard Sasuke’s plea for remembering him and burst into the room. “Sasuke, step back. Let me take care of this.” Tsunade calmed her down within minutes, which angered Sasuke.

“Why is she afraid of me?” he asked softly. Tsunade sighed and rubbed her forehead. “I think it’s because you look very similar to Itachi. She saw you as her enemy and used what little strength she had to fight back.” Sasuke’s chest ached and throbbed when he heard Tsunade string those words together. Sakura? Fight him back? She was always the one who’d ask him out and she’d do it again even if he turned her away with the harshest of words.

Tsunade saw that hurt look in his eyes. At first, she couldn’t believe it. Sasuke Uchiha showing his emotions! She didn’t know exactly what to say, so she tried saying, “Maybe if you show her that you bear no threat to her, she’ll trust you and see you as someone else, other than…Itachi.”

Sasuke thought about it for a moment. Then he thought, ‘that could actually work!’ He slowly walked over to Sakura. Tsunade followed his lead and backed off. Sasuke came into Sakura’s line of vision. “Sakura? It’s me, Sasuke. You remember, right?” Sakura stared at him with a blank face. ‘Well, she’s not shaking anymore, that’s progress of her recovery.’ Sasuke slowly placed his hand on Sakura’s and held her hand for what seemed like eternity. Their small reunion was interrupted by Tsunade’s voice.

“Well, I’ll be going now, there’s a lot of work in the office, but could I speak to you for a moment Sasuke?” Sasuke nodded to her and slowly pried his fingers off of her hand. What surprised him most was that she refused to release him. “Don’t worry Sakura. I’ll be back in a moment.” Sakura reluctantly released him as Sasuke reluctantly let go of her hand, missing the warmth of her palm. Both Tsunade and Sasuke stepped outside to chat.

“As you know, Sakura’s parents have been killed a few months back from a mission.” Sasuke nodded. “I…I’ve granted you permission to stay overnight and watch her.” Sasuke tried his hardest to cover up his embarrassment, but deep inside, he was overjoyed. He began to walk back inside Sakura’s room when Tsunade continued. “Also, because of her parents' death, well…see…I need a place for her to stay. I don’t want to leave her alone. Will you-?”

“I will.” Sasuke heard himself say it, but it was too late to stop his speech.

Tsunade was shocked. No, shocked was an understatement. She was absolutely stunned. ‘Did he just say that he’ll let Sakura stay with him?’ Her train of thought was broken when she realized that she was staring into space. Sasuke went back into the room. Tsunade took this time to leave the hospital for a while to gather Sakura’s clothes, underwear and other things from her home.

Sasuke sank back into the chair he was sitting on. ‘Did I really just say that I’ll watch her? Maybe Kakashi would be a better choice.’

‘Well,’ said that little sly voice, ‘Then you won’t get to see her all the time. And would you really trust that old pervert to look after her?’

‘Good point,’ said his logical mind, ‘that’s a pretty good argument for somebody who just wants to get her into bed.’

‘Hey, you want her as much as I do.’

He looked over to Sakura and saw her eyes flutter open. She looked around the room, seeing if there were any intruders. ‘Where am I?’ she thought. She noticed Sasuke sitting in a corner, looking back at her. ‘Why is that boy over there? He looks just like…’ She tried her best to move away, but she felt paralyzed. Sasuke slowly crept up to her and softly held her hand.

“It’s okay,” he whispered. Why was he so nervous? Is Sasuke Uchiha faltering? “It’s alright. I won’t hurt you.” Sakura heard that line before. Right before Itachi broke her, shattered the last shred of innocence and decency she had left for herself. She couldn’t move her hands away from his touch. All she did was show fear. Her eyes glimmered with tears, her breath was shallow and she kept chewing her lip off.

Sasuke swiftly but gently held her in bed, embracing her. She began to struggle; she thought that those traumatizing events were happening again. Sasuke didn’t back down, he kept holding her. Soon, she stopped struggling against him. He looked into her eyes. Her once beautiful and delicate emerald eyes looked hollow and empty. One lone tear ran down her cheek. That one tear tore at Sasuke’s heart.

‘See what you did? No woman should ever have to cry, and it’s all because you didn’t protect her.’

Sasuke felt hurt. He felt guilty. He felt all the pain and suffering in the world inside one container: himself. Sasuke tried to rock her back to sleep, muttering sweet nothings in her ear. When she finally fell asleep, he realized that Tsunade was standing at the door.

“How long have you been there?” he whispered. Tsunade shook her head and handed him a suitcase. “These are all the things she’ll need when she stays with you.” Tsunade was about to leave when Sasuke caught her wrist.

“Do you…do you really think I’ll take good care of her?” he asked softly. Tsunade had to chuckle at this. “You and I both know that we can’t trust Kakashi with this kind of situation. And I don't think Naruto's any better.” Sasuke nodded and blushed a bit and went back to sitting in the chair. Tsunade spread a blanket over him and left the hospital.

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Okay, that’s all for now! Oh, and BTW, I don’t have anything against Kakashi. I just figured that this would be easier for the Sasu/Saku loving to begin. Plz R&R!