Sacred Flower

Here you go guys: another chappie! I’m gonna try to update ASAP due to your demands, so I’m talking maybe one update every three or four days. For now, enjoy!

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The next morning, Sasuke woke up to check on Sakura. She was still asleep. He proceeded to make breakfast. Fried eggs, bacon, a muffin and orange juice. Sasuke thought she hasn’t woken up yet, so he decided to check on her. Unknowingly to him, he was walking into the biggest shock of his life.

There was Sakura, in her bra and panties, in the middle of changing from her nightgown to her usual red training dress. Sasuke felt paralyzed. He didn’t want to look at her in her state of undress, but he didn’t want to look away from that beautiful creature. Luckily for him, she didn’t notice his presence through the crack of the door.

‘Was I blind all this time? Sakura was right in front of me and I didn’t notice her-’ ‘Beauty? Yeah, you didn’t. You were too busy with this whole ‘revenge’ crap to even bother to look at her.’ Sasuke’s heart clenched. She might as well be a stranger to him, with all the response he’s been getting from her. Although his heart didn’t want to admit, he was grateful for Itachi’s brutality. It brought out his true feelings for her. It brought out care, concern, possibly love.

‘Wait, love? I can’t possibly love her, and she can’t possibly love me.’ Once again, his heart clenched. ‘I’ve told her off many times. Why would she still love me?’ Sasuke quickly got out of that situation, and got himself to calm down.

‘She’s your team-mate. She’s your TEAM-MATE.’ Sakura walked into the kitchen that moment and sat down to eat. They both ate in an uncomfortable silence. Sakura drank all of her orange juice in one gulp.

“W-would you like some more juice Sakura?” he asked. She softly nodded, as if he’d hurt her if she provoked him with aggravation or something. ‘Why isn’t she speaking? She’s nothing like how she was before Itachi…’ Sasuke growled gently, so low that Sakura couldn’t hear it. ‘That bastard will pay with his blood…and his life.’

He poured another glass of juice for her. ‘Maybe if I start talking to her, she’ll follow my lead and start talking. Well, I got nothing to lose.’ “So Sakura, is there anything you’d like to do in particular today?” he asked cheerfully. Sakura looked at him with the blankest face and gave him a small smile. ‘Well, there’s progress.’

She looked out the window to see children playing Ninja Mission using water balloons as their weapons. The overwhelming silence bothered Sasuke, especially since Sakura was near him. Sakura would never shut up, and here she is, quieter than the silence itself.

They already established their trust to one another. Sasuke would leave, but Sakura would wait awhile until he returned. Sure, she got worried that he’d never come back to her, thinking that she’s vulnerable to another attack by Itachi, but he came back during the same moment she had those thoughts.

Now, Sasuke was trying to see if she can stay by herself for longer periods of time. The longest he’s ever been away from her so far was for half an hour when Sakura was in the shower. Also, he’s trying to get her to cope by herself, making her do more things for herself so she’ll be able to go back to her apartment.

‘But then I won’t see her all the time. Do I really want that?’ argued his mind. ‘It could be for the best. This is what I’m doing anyway. I’m helping her rehabilitate.’ “Sakura, would you like to take a walk with me?” he asked suddenly. She looked at him before she nodded.

Sasuke held the door for her on the way out and locked the door. Sasuke instinctively held her hand as they walked through the streets together. Sakura would lift her head and take in the sights: the street vendors selling their fruits and vegetables, the children playing, and the birds sweetly singing in the cherry blossom trees overhead. Sasuke decided that they should stop for lunch at Ichiraku Ramen Shop.

Sasuke ordered to miso ramen with extra beef for both of them, seeing that Sakura still refused to speak. Naruto walked by for lunch and noticed them both sitting together. When Sasuke told him to ask the Hokage why they were together, he sulked. He didn’t like the answer Tsunade gave him. Why should Sasuke get the special attention? Naruto slid onto the stool next to Sasuke’s, sulking at him.

“Hello Sasuke-bastard,” he said. Just then, he noticed Sakura. “Hi Sakura!” he said in his loudest voice. “Shut up loser!” Sasuke yelled back, equally as loud. This scared Sakura to her wits, but her blank face showed nothing. She simply grabbed Sasuke’s hand and squeezed it a bit. Sasuke turned his head to her, seeing her state of discomfort near Naruto.

“Hey loser, you can have our bowls of ramen that’s coming. We’re leaving.” “Wait!” called Naruto. He caught Sakura by the wrist and she started to tremble. Sasuke grabbed her hand away from Naruto.

“What do you think you’re doing loser!?” Naruto answered his question with a sheepish tone. “Well, uhh…see…can I come see her sometime? I haven’t seen much of her lately. Can we hang out sometimes?”

Sasuke paused for a minute. Naruto would be a good influence on Sakura. She could start talking again after this loser hung out with them. God knows he couldn’t start up a conversation even if his life depended on it.

“Fine,” replied Sasuke hastily, “we can. Come by my place tomorrow.” Naruto was overjoyed that he knew he could spend time with his supposed “love of his life”. The shopkeeper came up with Sasuke and Sakura’s bowls of ramen just then. “Hey Naruto, have you seen that broody Uchiha boy and the pink-haired girl? I just got this ready for them.”

“They left, but I’ll be happy to eat those for them!” he replied. And off Naruto went, slurping his free bowls of ramen.

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Sasuke got Sakura ready for bed, getting her pills and her glass of water while she changed into her nightgown. After he came inside his/her room (AN: however you guys wanna see it), he noticed her breasts, the creamy colour and a lot of her cleavage was exposed.

Sasuke blushed a pretty pink colour and handed her the water and pills. She consumed them and he tucked her goodnight, something new he’s been doing lately. He kissed her goodnight again and turned out her lights.

“Goodnight Sakura. Sweet dreams.” Sasuke was almost out the door when he heard it: “Goodnight Sasuke.” It was so low, he barely caught it, but it was something. He gently closed the door and she fell asleep. Outside the door, he was…there wasn’t a word to describe this emotion. Overjoyed seemed like an understatement. He was extremely and absolutely happy!

She spoke her first words since her run-in with that bastard Itachi, and she has been making a lot of progress lately. He went back to the couch, his blanket folded up on the side of the couch and he collapsed into it, feeling exhilarated.

‘Sakura…actually spoke,’ he thought. ‘Maybe, there’s hope that she’ll make it through this.’ ‘And what’ll happen when she does make it through this? Will things go back the way they were where she’d annoy you to no ends and you’d turn her away?’ Sasuke thought long and hard about that last remark his inner self made. ‘If she makes it through this…I won’t ever take her voice for granted.’

He remembered the look in her eyes when they all passed the teamwork test Kakashi set up for them on the first day they were a team. Feeding Naruto was all it took for them to pass. Her eyes were the most sparkling emerald green he’d ever seen.

Sasuke got up again to turn out all the lights in his apartment, the moonlight being his only source of light now. He collapsed back down onto his couch and pulled his blanket up over him.

‘Sakura spoke,’ he thought. ‘Maybe she’ll speak even more if I speak a little more. It can't hurt, right? First she’ll only speak two words, and then a little more, creating sentences, and maybe she’ll answer my questions.’

He fell asleep, satisfied with the day’s progression, cringing a little knowing that Naruto would be over the next day.

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The next morning, Sasuke tried to get everything ready for Naruto’s visit. Sasuke made breakfast, as usual. He and Sakura have fallen into a pattern: eat breakfast, talk a little bit, her watching him train, have lunch, train some more, have dinner, talk some more and go to bed. Sometimes, he’d try to get Sakura to do some small tasks like helping him with the dishes or doing the laundry, but she’d do them without complaining.

He wondered if she was doing these things because she was actually getting better, or if she thought he was still Itachi and did these tasks so he wouldn’t hurt her. For breakfast, he made toast with dango jelly, muffins, oatmeal and a glass of milk. Sakura walked in on him making breakfast.

“Oh, good morning Sakura. I’m just making breakfast. Oh, and Naruto will be here later.” He cringed at his last words. He set down the oatmeal on the table and proceeded to the bathroom. “I’m gonna take a quick shower, okay?” Sakura nodded and we walked away from her line of sight.

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Somewhere in the village, Naruto woke up. ‘YEAH! Today’s the day I can see Sakura!’ He instantly jumped out of bed and threw on his usual orange jumpsuit. He ran like mad to Sasuke’s apartment, stopping by Ichiraku’s for breakfast.

After he dumped all his money out of his frog purse, he continued running like mad to Sasuke’s place. Naruto, being the idiot that he was, didn’t bother knocking on the door. Instead, he entered through the kitchen window, seeing Sakura eat.

“Hi Sakura,” he said, a little softer than the last time he greeted her. Sakura looked up from the table to his face and vaguely remembered him, or more, his outfit. She gave him a small smile in recognition and he smiled back. Naruto can just barely make out the small sound of water hitting the bathtub.

‘Now, what can I do to surprise our dear Sasuke in the shower?’ he lecherously thought. ‘I could use the Sexy no Jutsu. No wait! Better yet, the Harem no Jutsu!’ Naruto was about to execute his master prank on the Uchiha prodigy, when his foot slipped on the kitchen floor.

Naruto grabbed whatever he could to keep him from slipping. Unfortunately, he grabbed Sakura’s bowl of hot oatmeal and burned his hand. He tried grabbing other things to keep his leverage, such as the plate of toast, the chairs and the oven door. The plate of toast flipped up into the air and shattered as it landed, toast flying everywhere. The chairs flipped over and he nearly ripped off the over door from its hinges. A loud crash was heard all over the village, possibly even in the Land of Waves. Sakura’s smile progressed to a large grin.

Naruto was on the floor, rubbing his aching butt from that fall when he heard wet feet hit the flooring of that kitchen. ‘Oh man, what do I do!?’ he panicked.

He really didn’t want to see his enemy at the moment, but he reluctantly looked up to see if he needed to protect Sakura or not. And that’s when he saw something that’d scar his life forever: Naked Sasuke with his Sharingan out, and a handful of kunais and shurikens. Naked.

Naruto turned into the deepest green the world has ever seen and dove underneath Sakura’s chair in cowardice.

Sasuke heard a large crash in the kitchen and ran out just like that. He thought that Itachi was here to take her away again and Sakura was trying to struggle away from him. As soon as he go to the kitchen, he was alert and on the lookout for the attacker.

“Where is he? Where’s Itachi!?” he bellowed. He saw Naruto on the ground, staring at him but that didn’t matter. What mattered was killing that son-of-a-bitch for his family and for Sakura.

He looked towards Sakura who had a stunned look on her face. Sasuke walked towards her and bent down, giving Naruto a nice view of his glory. Naruto jumped right back out the window from where he came and yelled something about him being scarred for life. Sasuke didn’t care much for Naruto; it was Sakura he cared for.

“Sakura, are you okay?” he asked. Sakura’s stunned look changed into a smile. Sasuke smiled back to see her safe. That’s when a giggle escaped out of her. Sasuke was the one who suddenly looked stunned. ‘She relearned how to laugh!’ His mind was racing. Her sweet voice and her laugh filled the room with a happy sound.

Her rosy pink lips became even rosier, if that was even possible. ‘I wonder if her sweet voice is as sweet as her taste...’ He leaned in, closer and closer to his face. His eyes drifted closed and inched even closer to her face. ‘Do it, do it, do it!’ chanted his inner self.

“Sasuke?” she asked. He instantly opened his eyes and saw Sakura with a questioning look. He snapped his head back, ashamed of what he nearly did. He felt added guilt from the times he tried to peep on her in the shower and when she was changing yesterday morning.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. ‘Wait, what did you just say?’ yelled his inner self. ‘Did you just say you were sorry!?’ ‘I guess I did.’ ‘Uchihas are never sorry for anything! How do you expect to kill Itachi with that kind of sissy attitude?’ He felt a cold draft and decided to turn up the heat, even though it was mid-spring.

He walked by the little hallway to the living room, taking a small glance down the hall, to the very end of the hall where a mirror hung. He walked back when he noticed that he didn’t see his usual blue shirt. He saw…white? He took a nice long look at himself. He was bare naked!

‘Oh crap…’ he thought. He looked back to Sakura who was still laughing. He ran back to the shower and slammed the door shut. He can still hear her faint giggle through the door.

‘Well, she learned how to laugh, even though it’s at my expense,’ he thought. Right now, he just wanted to disappear from the world for letting her see him like this. ‘It helped her, that’s all that matters.’ ‘And don’t forget: karma’s a bitch. This is what you get for peeping on her all those times, even if it was ‘accidental’.’ Sasuke sighed and returned to his shower.

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The next day, there was a change in plans. Right after they had breakfast, they’ll go see Tsunade for a check-up and for more medicine, if needed. He alerted Sakura about the change while she sat down to the table. After they were done, Sasuke asked Sakura to help him do the dishes. Sakura quietly got up and walked towards him. She dried the dishes while he washed them.

‘Okay,’ he thought, ‘she’s doing more things for herself now. Her speech has gotten a lot better and she no longer cowers in a corner. I doubt she’ll be able to fend for herself yet.’ ‘Damn straight she better not be able to fend for herself. You won’t get to tuck her in at night anymore, or kiss her goodnight.’

After they were done, Sasuke led Sakura through the village to Tsunade’s office and he held her hand as usual. The villagers looked at Sasuke oddly, some even whispered, “Has the Uchiha boy gotten possessed? He’d never hold that pink-haired girl’s hand.” Others would stop to say, “Hi Sakura!” and she’d smile back at them.

Sasuke blushed a little bit, a small rose colour growing darker in his cheeks. True, he’d never hold a girl’s hand but Sakura needed it. After they reached Tsunade’s office, Sakura let go of his hand. She lightly knocked on the door of her office. Tsunade opened the door and greeted them with happy words.

“Why, hello Sakura! How have you been feeling lately?” Tsunade wasn’t expecting an answer, but she became absolutely shocked when he heard a reply from the pink-haired girl. “I’m fine, thank you.” Unknown to them, Tsunade received the results from Sakura’s tests concerning her reproductive system 10 minutes before their arrival. It came out inconclusive.

Tsunade became frustrated about not knowing the result. ‘Will she be able to produce children?’ she thought. She worried about Sakura’s mental state after learning this piece of info on herself. But Tsunade would wait. She’ll wait to tell Sakura when the results confirm it all, and when Sakura has gotten more confidence in herself.

“Alright, we’ll begin. Sasuke, I’ll need you to leave for this.” Sasuke complied, resenting the fact that he won’t be able to see her for awhile. When he left, Tsunade proceeded to ask Sakura questions such as her life with Sasuke, how she felt, if she could do things herself, etc.

Sakura answered most of them, if they required her to explain or use words. The rest of the time, she nodded or shook her head. After Sasuke was admitted back into the room, Tsunade asked him a few questions concerning Sakura’s behaviour.

He replied as honestly as possible, leaving out the part where she relearned how to laugh at his expense. Tsunade prescribed her the same pills and they left the office. “Where would you like to go now Sakura?” he asked. She looked up at him with weary eyes. “Home,” she replied. He saw the exhaustion in her eyes and carried her on his back. He then jumped from rooftop to rooftop, getting her back to his house as soon as possible for her nap.

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Sorry guys, I’m gonna leave it here for the time being. Plz R&R!