IMPORTANT: READ CHAPTER 16 IF YOU HAVEN'T YET. You may not have been updated about its release, since I just modified the author's note with the Chapter 16 document.

He relentlessly breathed out quick and heavy gasps, his body visibly shivering. Trickles of sweat smothered his face, which was marred with utter horror. His low shudders gave Sakura no insight about the images that haunted him in his sleep, yet she was overcome by the innate desire to protect him.

Wordlessly, she bounced off the bed without halting to take a second of hesitation. She made her way to the couch and watched the man struggle against mental agony, ache washing over her as she absorbed touches of the torture that suffused his sleep. Crouching down to his level, she cautiously avoided making any unnecessary sound. Her hand hovered over his disturbed face and she ran her fingers through his disheveled har soothingly.

The delicate act seemed to relieve him from the state of anguish—his eyebrows slowly rested, the rising of his chest calmed down, and the quivering nearly died down to stillness. Using her other hand, Sakura cupped one side of his cheek and caressed the skin in circles, earning her slower pants from the man.

With great suddenness, there was a tight grip on the wrist of the hand she used on his cheek; Shisui had awoken to the alert that rang in his senses and grasped one of Sakura's hands. Momentarily, she caught the sleep-induced demise in his eyes flashing a hint of mistrust. Hence, she pulled away her other hand from his disarrayed hair.

At that moment, the two locked themselves in a long minute of staring, sleep deprivation infecting the both of them with a lifeless urge to break the cold silence. Their eyes were as hollow as their dim surroundings, yet filled with the desire to just stay still and leave the screeches of questions unanswered.

Slowly, Shisui loosened his grasp from her hand, his fingertips sliding against the skin of her wrist and eliciting a numbing sensation before the separation. Upon his wordless response, Sakura rose from her feet and averted her gaze to the floor beneath her bare feet.

"Sorry," she heard him whisper as he shifted to return to his sleep.

"Ah," he heard her answer as she turned around to walk back to the bed.

"Haruno-san, you are way overqualified for this job!"

Han leaned her weight over the desk where Sakura had piled up the liquid solutions she had formulated from the stocks of freshly picked herbs the older woman had prepared for the last stage of her assessment. Prior to this, the pink-haired woman had performed a vast range of tests that covered her knowledge on first aid and basic surgical operations such as stitching, all the while shoving such a good impression on the two older women. She had only been tasked to conduct rudimental operations, yet in each phase, she had proven them that she was out of any league they had witnessed; the medical know-how they had seen from even the best hospitals in town were incomparable to the applicant's knowledge and expertise.

"I only know a fifth of all the antidotes you have created with just these herbs," Han exclaimed in awe, gaping at the fascinating sight before her. Yen nodded quietly, sharing her sentiments.

"You can create many antidotes even from the same selection of herbs. The functions depend on the mixture, yes, but the ratio is also a factor," Sakura explained, taking pride in the knowledge she had acquired from years of practice and expressing humility in sharing the bit of information with the healers.

Han tilted her head to the young lady with intrigue unveiled in her eyes. "You mentioned about traveling from town to town for personal research. What exactly is your project and how is your work here going to help you?"

Sakura nodded in understanding of her curiosity, which also seemed to be tinted with a bit of confusion. Certainly, she had expected such a question. After all, she knew that she was overqualified.

"I try to widen my medical knowledge by learning and integrating the approaches of each town I visit."

"But surely, you have expected that our practices in this clinic are nothing new. Why still apply?"

Sakura had always disliked the idea of lying, but if it meant concealing her identity, then she would have to resort to such. "One of my goals is to impart my knowledge to other people, Han-san, and I've already told you this, but I really do love helping people in any way there is." She mentally sighed, grateful that all of her words were actually true, albeit used to cover up a lie.

The bell atop the entrance door chimed, signaling the three ladies about the arrival of their first patient for the day. Han volunteered to accommodate the visitors and proceeded to the waiting room, while Sakura began to tidy up the antidotes and pieces of equipment on the table.

She and Yen were the only ones left in the clinic's cramped annex; the timid woman offered to assist the younger lady out of kindness much to Sakura's polite refusal and Yen's insistence. She gently smiled at the woman; the old lady reminded her of herself.

"Have you been sleeping properly?"

Sakura slightly widened her eyes at the healer's uncharacteristic initiation of a small conversation. Inwardly, she thought that maybe the only reason why she deemed it uncharacteristic was that she had only met her. Yet, she found herself puzzled by the quiet healer's choice of subject. And maybe a little perturbed, since the subject reminded her of what happened between her and a certain Uchiha.

There was no reason to worry someone, she supposed.

"I have been sleeping just fine, Yen-san. Why?"

The look of concern on Yen did not waver even the slightest. Perhaps, she had noticed the dark circles under her tired emerald eyes. Sakura avoided her gaze by busying herself with the stacking of the antidote samples and tools on the nearby shelves.

"You seem tired, dear. Is there something bothering you?" the woman said in a delicate motherly tone, slowly tugging the corners of her chapped lips and creasing her wrinkled skin in the process.

"Not at all, Yen-san. Thank you for your concern," Sakura forcibly curved her lips upward, although the genuine feeling of gratitude was evident in her tone. Opening up about a fight with someone close to her, whatever their relationship was, would certainly smash her efforts to detach herself from such feelings. On the other hand, opening up to someone she barely knew was almost as difficult. It was true that she wore her emotions on her sleeve, but those were feelings she had in concern of other people. She was not the type to unveil what bothered her alone, what hurt her alone.

Yet, there was something about the aura of the old woman with her. She carried a cloud of comfort above her and she was willing to have it hover over Sakura as well. It was like she could already bet her trust in her, despite their relationship's weak foundation. In that sense, she was reminded of how she saw Shisui—someone she had not known for a long time yet had given her enough reasons to bare her true self to him.

"Dear, don't force yourself to let go of such feelings," she heard the old woman say, feeling the warmth of her hand rested over her own. Yen continued, "Being sad is not a sign of weakness."

The feigned smile on Sakura's face slowly softened into a genuine one.

"Thank you, Yen-san," she said, almost whispering her sentiments. The woman tightened her squeeze on her small hand before releasing it and leaving her to her devices.

Raven hair and eyes swept by her thoughts. When she had awoken this morning, Shisui had already left the pension. At his absence, she became apprehensive again, but the escalation within her was calmed at the sight of fewer coins inside their shared container of savings. Even though the food takeout she had bought last night for him was unconsumed, it still relieved her to know that he was attending his body's basic needs with the money.

Yet, the growing distance between them now left a bleeding wound on her feelings. The sting from their fight still drizzled on her head. There was now only a faint bit of the hurt from being mistrusted. What mostly invaded the emotional tide within her was the concern she carried for him, knowing full well that his refusal was engendered by a history that was devoid of light, one that implanted traumatic stress on his heart.

As the memory of the falling-out replayed in her head, she sought more rays of consolation from her objective self, focusing harder on the notion that it was going to pass. They would soon land on mutual ground and she would be able to make him nod at her offer to heal him. After all, she cared about him deeply and this compassion just might be paired up with her innate stubbornness.

But what if the distance between us will just grow?

Sakura clenched her fists.

"We can't afford the medicines you've prescribed."

With a sense of responsibility taking over her, she entered the waiting room and found Han and Yen speaking with an alarmed middle-aged woman holding a pale young boy whom Sakura believed was her son.

"We can't afford hospital treatment. This is the only clinic that accommodated us. There must be some kind of alternative," the mother cried.

Han and Yen exchanged unsettled glances before the former raised, "We'll give you a discount on the medicines."

The disquieting scene before her made Sakura frown; Tinland was a developing town, making poverty within its barriers common. Small-time healers such as Han and Yen were fortunate enough to have established their own clinic amidst a sluggish economy. Healthcare was a basic right to every person. Sakura could commend the two healers with her for offering discounts out of compassion, but she knew that doing so would trample on their earnings.

She had to step in.

"What seems to be the problem, Ma'am?" she interjected, snatching the attention of every living being in the room.

"His son has had a high fever for over five days now. He's been coughing really bad, too," Han responded with concern etched on her face. "With a fever and cough, there are two medicines needed. But with the closing of ship travels, there's a delay in the imports of medicines."

"So the town's supplies are getting low and it's caused an inflation," Sakura concluded, earning a nod from the healer.

The kunoichi made her way to the frail boy and crouched down to his level, flashing him one of the warmest smiles she had given and coloring a tint of red on his awfully pale cheeks. Children had always filled her heart with happiness for some reason.

"What's your name, little kid?" she spoke to him cheerfully, aware of the intense gazes on her.

"My name is Shi, onee-chan," the child beamed at her.

Sakura blinked upon registering his name, her line of thinking leading to Shisui. Composing herself, she softly ruffled Shi's hair, saying, "That's a cute name, Shi. I'm Sakura."

The contact on his head allowed the entrance of her chakra and she briefly diagnosed him. With years of practice, she was able to prevent her hands from glowing, although such was only doable for momentary operations. The child's innocent eyes enlarged at the sudden yet cooling entry of her chakra; the women around them seemed to believe that he was simply enthralled by the beauty of his onee-chan.

The quick diagnosis reported to the kunoichi that the child was suffering from acute bronchitis. The medicines prescribed by Han and Yen could actually help him in his recovery, but since they were produced through traditional methods such as herbal extraction, she doubted that the recovery would be quick. Possibly, Shi would need a higher dosage of the prescriptions.

With the family's financial situation, Shi's ailment had to be treated right away before it could worsen into pneumonia.

As a professional medic and shinobi, Sakura knew what had to be done.

"I'm going to try pressing on some pressure points on his back, just over his lungs," she lied to the women intently watching her.

"How's that going to help?" Shi's mother questioned, a thin veil of relief washing over her tone at the knowledge that there was an alternative yet a bit of reluctance lingering at such an unconventional method.

"Sakura has just been hired, but she's really skilled. It's probably one of the methods she has learned from visiting other towns," Han explained on her behalf, to which the kunoichi was thankful for.

As Sakura's hands lightly pressed on the boy's clothed back, a faint glow of green emerged from her fingertips and hovered over the area behind the lungs. Shi and Sakura were facing the other three women in the room, keeping the magical way she was healing the boy hidden from their view. She could hear a sigh of relief from the patient; it was, after all, his first time to feel healing chakra flow through his body.

After a whole minute, she extended her bent legs and raised her body to a standing position, satisfied at the sight of natural color returning to the Shi's previously blanched face. Placing a hand on his forehead, she noted that his fever was already gone.

And now to somehow not make things seem like magic…

"I pressed on some pressure points. The fever and coughing should completely go away days from now. Shi just needs to rest and eat regularly," she once again lied, trying her best to water down the way she had just healed the boy in an instant in order to silence the civilians' suspicions.

Much to her relief, the senior healers were moved by sheer astonishment and the mother by gladness. Each of them took turns in checking the boy's body temperature, awe-stricken at the drop despite Sakura's advice to expect such a day from now. She was utterly grateful that no one questioned such contrast.

"Shi, are you still feeling unwell?" the mother whose name Sakura did not know asked as she bent down to pull her son into a squishing embrace.

"Mom, I feel better than ever!"

A smile made its way on Sakura's lips. She had always loved the feeling of helping people and making them happy without counting the costs.

"Sakura, I don't know how you did it, but you've got to teach me that one!" Han exclaimed with a burning passion in her eyes despite her age. Yen gently rested her hand on the kunoichi's shoulder, expressing her pride in her work.

"Eh? Well, honestly, I'm not so much of a good teacher, Han-san" she forced out a lie, slightly guilty that she could not impart her knowledge on healing with chakra to the civilians before her. When a tad bit of grimness shrouded Han's and Yen's expressions, the kunoichi quickly threw out a suggestion, "But I could teach you how to make some medicines so that you wouldn't have to buy from the market."

The practical suggestion she had raised lit up a gleam in the two healers' eyes, their smiles reflecting back on Sakura's face.

There was a sheen of richness in opening one's own heart and helping people that no words could fully explain—how she wished it was the same when it came to him.

By evening, she had returned to the pension with no one to greet her.

Not that Shisui would have if he was present anyway.

The usual routine filled her eve: she ate a dinner takeout, took a relaxing shower, dressed herself in her sleeping attire, and then finally laid in bed. Yet, when she realized that her sight had been glued to the ceiling for thirty minutes, it agitated her to think that she had subconsciously added silently waiting for his return to her regular course of procedures.

She blew out a jaded sigh; letting herself be swallowed by the dead of night was an impossibility when concern still rang in her head. The thought of him suffering from his ailment out there robbed her of a fraction of her levelheadedness. Time and again, she reminded herself that Shisui was the complete opposite of an unthinking being, yet the thought still scratched the back of her mind.

Just when swirls of raven hair and clothes invaded her mind, she caught a tinge of a familiar chakra nearing the room. The prospect of his returning pacified the tide inside her head for a brief moment. Then, with no time to waste, she prepared to give the approaching man a false appearance of her in a sound slumber, her body veiled with a blanket and her back facing the entrance.

Her ears grasped the sound of the door opening and the sound of it being locked. The idea of the Uchiha entering the comfort room and taking a shower was given away by the thumping of his feet against the wooden floor and the creaking of the aforementioned room's door. When several minutes had passed, she heard the door opening, his feet thudding against the floor, and the sound of friction between clothes and the surface of the couch.

Her senses informed her that the spike of his chakra had leveled down to a dormant state—the man had already dozed off to sleep. She peered at him over her shoulder, watching the sight of an unconscious man seeking comfort from a cramped couch and having to drop the weight of his legs over the seat's edge. She mentally stabbed herself with insulting daggers; she should have slept on the couch so that he would have no choice but to do so on the bed.

Seeing as there was not much she could do about the situation, she lulled her senses to sleep and let go of the picture of the man who occupied her thoughts.

When a few hours had already breezed by since Sakura had shut down her eyes, a shout drilled into her ears, alarming the drowse in her head to wakefulness. In an instant, her resting body jut out from the flat bed, thrusting up and about instinctively. Alert, she quickly scanned the dim surroundings for any indication of danger. After her calculating eyes had swiftly landed on every corner of the room, her gaze then fell on Shisui, who was held captive by tremors, the same visible shaking he was under in the previous night.

With her mind at the zenith of concern, she quickly extricated herself from the bed and darted towards the man whose current state was triggered by a haunting nightmare. She kneeled down on the floor beside him, carrying no amount of hesitation in reaching out for his hair and delicately running her fingers through it. She slid her other hand into one of his own, intertwining their fingers together.

Shisui appeared to have been relieved from some of the burdens in his sleep, as the creases between his eyebrows rested and the trembling of his body died down. Without thinking, Sakura found herself hushing the man back to sleep; the reassuring sounds she was emitting seemed to quiet down his panting.

"Sakura…?"

Her eyes slightly widened at the calling of her name. With half-lidded eyes, he fixed his line of sight at her with an insipid and intent look. It took him a few seconds to register the present situation before jerking his body upward, causing Sakura to retrieve her hand from his hair.

Amidst the quiet of the dawn, the pair found themselves caught in a moment of staring that was similar to what had taken place on the previous night. Their eyes were fastened to each other's, teeming with a thousand of words and questions, until they lowered to the source of warmth that physically connected them at the moment—their intertwined hands.

Several seconds had crawled by. Within those sluggish seconds, not one of them had dared to slip away from the other's grasp. Perhaps, ever since a fight had escalated between them, it was the closest thing to the way they had been before. It was not the mere idea of holding hands together—the warmth they were holding onto now was a snippet of the past, a fragment of the kiss they had shared nights ago.

But it was Sakura who broke the silence as she removed her hand from his, remembering the mental torture that Shisui had been struggling with for two nights in a row. "You should sleep on the bed. This couch is too small for you."

Shisui softly raised his eyebrows at her concern, but then he composed himself with a thin veil of indifference. "I'm fine here."

And with that, he slowly descended to the couch with his back against her, forcing himself to sleep and leaving Sakura no choice but to go back to the bed alone.

When morn came to pull her from her heavy trance, the first thing she had mentally annotated was the emptiness of the couch. By that time, she thought that she should have already gotten used to his absences; it voiced out a ton about his need for personal space. Yet, even though the barrier built between them had hardened, she still harbored great concern for his health and safety.

Sakura was a strong-willed medical ninja who never in her years of practice had allowed any obstacle to obstruct her objective of healing anyone to the best of her abilities. Even if the terrain of her relationship with a patient was too rough for her liking, she would not care about any biases for the wellbeing of that person.

When it came to Shisui, however, she somehow found the need to not only heal him, but their relationship as well.

But things were not that simple. It was as clear as day to her that he still needed time—he still did not welcome her. It humored her to look back at the times he had playfully invaded her personal space. Now, it hurt her to think that the time he would allow her to be near him again was indefinite.

A distraction was just what she needed.

Hence, on that day, when her regular shift of eight hours had failed to pacify the surge of feelings that ate her up, she immediately volunteered to work an extra shift in Han's place at her faint expression of worry for her children at home. Apparently, her husband, who usually looked after their kids at dusk in her stead, was one of the sailors who were stuck in a foreign country, waiting for the typhoon to die out.

At first, Han was concerned that Sakura was pushing herself too hard. After all, the evening shift was an extension that Han and Yen had agreed on having, since they had wanted to make the most out of the incline in the number of visiting patients. Of course, since they were the only ones who had families to raise and they cared about Sakura's physical wellbeing, they initially declined her offer to assist them in the extra shift. Hence, it took Han much of her willpower to accept the younger medic's offer the second time she asked.

Presently, Sakura had just bid farewell to a patient whose fractured leg she had healed, all the while preserving the discreetness in her chakra-using method especially with Yen around as well. Yesterday, word got around about her astonishing treatment of the child named Shi, which miraculously increased the number of patients today.

However, the great news carried a major drawback. More cases meant more chakra to expend. Throughout the day, Han and Yen certainly did their parts, but Sakura had run an extra mile by entirely completing the recovery of each patient who came and went in secret. She was glad that it was not as hectic as the operations she dealt with at Konoha's general hospital. Thus, with that as a measure, chakra exhaustion was unlikely, but physical tiredness was inevitable on the other hand.

But if it meant taking her mind off of him, then to hell with it.

"Dear, aren't you tired?"

The kunoichi plucked herself out from her thoughts and turned to Yen whose aging face was etched with concern. Ever since their encounter yesterday, Sakura had warmed up to the woman's motherly side. She curved her lips upward, straightening her posture as Yen took a seat beside her on the waiting bench. "I'm fine, Yen-san. How about you?"

"Oh, don't worry about me, dear. You're the one who's working on an extra shift here."

The uncharacteristic talkativeness of the healer surprised Sakura a little. Yesterday, she was taken aback by her sudden initiation of their conversation, and that was different to blurting out more words than usual.

"Well, I could say the same about you, Yen-san," she said in a soft tone. "Besides, it's almost 8 PM. We'll be closing soon."

Silence fell upon them as Yen returned no response, causing Sakura to worry if she had said something insensitive. When the older woman wordlessly rose from her seat and left Sakura as she went to the annex, the kunoichi was even more perturbed. She was about to follow the woman and apologize for her inconsideration when Yen rejoined her in the waiting room, carrying a hot bowl of noodles.

Dumbfounded, Sakura ascended from her seat and protested when the woman extended the bowl to her, "Yen-san, I can't accept this. I can eat outside. You should be the one to eat this."

"I won't take no for an answer, dear," Yen rebutted, handing her the steaming bowl and chopsticks, which Sakura found herself reluctantly accepting in the end.

"Thank you, Yen-san," Sakura meekly expressed, slightly bowing her head.

Once again, the two ladies sat on the bench. Sakura began slurping on the noodles, cautious enough to avoid burning her tongue.

"Sakura, you're too hard on yourself. It's clear that something's bothering you. Why do you choose to tire yourself instead of taking time to rest?" the healer said as she turned to the kunoichi who had accidentally burnt her tongue at the subject. Quickly, she swallowed the noodles watering in her mouth.

After composing herself, she lowered her gaze to the bowl, subconsciously staring at her distorted reflection on the cloudy broth. The woman's words held no lie from her perspective; overworking herself did serve as an effective distraction, but to a great fault. In essence, it was a coping mechanism of hers that turned her away from her problem and sacrificed her physical health.

She clenched her hands against the base of the bowl, piecing out her words before uttering them. Although she barely knew the older woman, there was something about her presence that radiated warmth and comfort, something that she desperately needed.

"I just feel like there's not much I can do if I actually face my problem now."

"Well, there's nothing wrong with taking your time, dear. From the way I see it, you always put others before yourself. You need to remember that your wellbeing matters, too, and you deserve a break to clear your head, not punish yourself."

At that moment, the burden weighing down on Sakura's chest heaved. A faint smile made its way across her lips. "Thank you, Yen-san."

In return, Yen simply nodded in satisfaction. Sakura continued slurping on her noodles, realizing that her overwerking had emptied out her stomach.

"Are you in love, dear?"

Sakura almost choked.

The woman chuckled at her reaction towards the random subject she had brought forth. "I just assumed you were, since you had a look like you were awfully worried about someone."

Sakura hastily gulped down her noodles.

"Yen-san, dating is the last of my priorities!"

Again, a chuckle escaped the older woman's lips. Sakura breathed in a thick amount of air. For someone who was normally timid, Yen was awfully curious. Did aging come with a habit to pick on the youth?

"Dear, love doesn't always sprout from dates. Sometimes, it just happens when you least expect it. You can find yourself looking at some acquaintance and it can still happen."

An image of Shisui painted Sakura's mind. Her silent thoughts drew her to the kiss they had shared a few nights ago.

Can it really happen with someone you don't know that well?

"Yen-san, I don't think you can love someone you're not too familiar with. What if you're just in love with a few of the sides he or she has shown you?"

Yen only smiled at her before averting her sight to something ahead of her. "One may have a lot of sides to him or her, but not all sides can show you who a person truly is. We can be with a person for years and still only see the sides he shows on the surface."

Sakura opened her mouth to respond, yet found herself absorbing the silence. Sasuke was someone she had known deeply for years—he was not some teammate whom she had only seen on the surface. She had known him for who he was as a person and grown to love him despite his flaws.

On the other hand, she had not known Shiusi for that long, but she knew that she had already seen him for who he was deep down. Yet, ever since their fight, she had come to realize that there was so much about him that she had not been afforded a glimpse yet. There were so many sides to him that he had kept buried all this time—all dark and torturous in his nightmares.

And still, she was far from the edge. The desire to know him and pull him into her arms remained despite the distance that had grown between them in the past few days. It strengthened with her willingness to heal him and take great care of him. The truth would hang around her mind for some time, but it would not take away the Shisui whom she had known and had grown attached to. After all, his past did not make him him.

"Well, we could always have this lovey dovey chat next time when you're not zoning out, dear."

Leaf green eyes widened to wakefulness. "I apologize, Yen-san! I tend to do this when I'm-"

"No need to worry, dear. For now, it's time to close," Yen hushed the girl down, the corners of her lips tugging.

When Sakura had returned to the pension, it was the first time that she had been grateful that Shisui was not around yet, or at least, she had arrived before him. Due to the extra shift she had worked on, she came home two hours later than usual.

The regular evening routine occupied thirty minutes of her time. After changing into a fresh set of clothes, she propped herself on the small couch near the door, tossing and turning to get into a lying position. Her legs hung over one edge of the piece of furniture uncomfortably. How on earth did her partner manage to bear with an undersized mattress?

Shaking her head, she reminded herself that this was necessary for his sake. She could not forgive herself if he was going to punish himself by sleeping on the couch again. Talking him out of it was not a considerable option. Besides, the physical tiredness that shoved her could smoothen her trip to slumber.

When Shisui's chakra flickered within her sensory range, she immediately slowed down her breathing and reduced her chakra to sluggish levels. Twisting her body to face the backrest, she anticipated the creaking of the door.

And when it came, the first thing she had heard was silence—his feet had been glued onto his first step into the room. Uneasiness fell upon her: even with her back facing him, she could feel the sharp gaze he had intently fixed on her. She knew that the sight of her sleeping on the couch would automatically reach his understanding. She was aware that he would grasp the conveyed message, but she was not entirely certain about his feelings toward the matter.

The quiet that swept around the room was joined by the light tipping and topping of sandals against the cold floor. Shisui's arrival was followed by his own routinely tasks: showering and changing clothes. When the sound of bedclothes sliding against bedsheets filled Sakura's ears, she felt her chest thump in momentary satisfaction and rest in relief.

She let her heavy eyelids droop, hoping that he would be alright.

But when midnight fell into dawn's hands, a dragging groan invaded her hearing and forcibly opened the curtains of her eyes. Her lifeless body shot up to life and she was overcome by protective instinct. In an instant, she slid off the couch and darted towards the bed, slipping into the empty sheets beside Shisui, who was struggling against mental agony.

She sat up beside him, his face turned to her direction. One of her hands stroked his ruffled hair in circles, soothing the torrent of pants he had been breathing out. Her free hand slid against his clothed back, stilling his trembling body with delicate pats.

The faint flickering of his chakra signaled Sakura that he was sluggishly coming to wakefulness, registering what had just taken place. His closed eyes became half-lidded, and for a long moment, dull onyx eyes only laid on her with a mask of emotion she could not comprehend.

And ever so slowly, he let himself fall back into trance, holding onto her body's warmth.

Sakura lied down beside him and pulled him close to her, joining him in the peaceful silence.

When she found herself hushed into unconsciousness, the dead of the night crawled into her vision and darkness clothed her mind.

Colors took over the black abyss around her. She was standing on a thin and fragile ground, as if any step she took would suck her feet into the hell beneath. Before her laid a massive wasteland, its rough face littered with piles upon piles of bodies, some corpses, some on the verge of eternal stillness, but all tattered and torn in crimson.

Her cloudy vision was failing her: the scene in front of her distorted in hazy images. The colors swirled in heaps of yellow, orange, black, blue, silver, and green. She gasped at the sight of her team helplessly lying on the ground and groaning for any last chance at survival. She willed her legs to rush to their sides, but her muscles were drained of life, paralyzed by a monstrous weight inside her. Her throat rang and ached to scream, but silence possessed her voice.

Sakura, why are you so weak and useless?

The torrent of war before her flew out of her consciousness. Now, she was seeing a sable-haired man standing a few meters away from her. She knew of his name. She felt like she knew him, but she could not remember who he exactly was.

The man before her merely stared at her, his dead black eyes plagued with veins of red. Tears trickled down the corner of his eyes—tears of blood.

She was taken over by a strong desire to help him. She tried calling out to him, but only thick air escaped her lips. Her mouth parted widely to throw out shrieks, but the man before him merely stared at her.

He was looking at her, but not in the eyes.

He could not see her.

He was blind.

Quiet muffled sobs crept into his ears, slowly awakening his consciousness. The dull gray of his eyes was unveiled by the rise of his heavy eyelids. He became aware of a warm weight resting atop his waist and fingertips tightly clutching the cloth on his chest. His wakeful mind processed the situation: he was facing Sakura who, in turn, was facing him with her arms holding his body.

His eyes fluttered open, blinking several times in surprise of their positions. Something heavy thumped against the vessel in his chest; uneasiness rose within him at the recollection of the fight that had broken between them a few days ago and the awkward turn of their relationship. Yet, despite how his mind was commanding him to stay away from her, he found himself staying in her delicate hold.

Shisui glanced at the woman's face. Her eyebrows were restlessly contracting and her trembling lips seemed to be an exhaust for hefty wheezes. It seemed like she was running from an evil air of horrors inside her mind. She was sobbing without shedding tears.

"Shisui…"

The width of his weary eyes grew upon hearing his name. His mind was bristled with a thousand of questions. Was she dreaming of him? What was she dreaming of? Why did she seem like she was in pain?

Protective intuition overcame him as the pain inside his chest ebbed. With no amount of hesitation, he sealed his arms around her waist and gently drew her into a tight embrace. He rested his nose on the crook of her neck protectively. When he felt her breathing quieten and the motion of her abdomen becalm, he was freed from the stir of emotions he had been carrying.

The barrier that stuck between them mattered little to him now, because for now, he just wanted her to sleep in peace.

When morning had come and awoken Sakura's senses, she became aware of the first thing she had usually noticed in the past few days: Shisui's absence. As soon as the man filled her first wave of thoughts, her line of thinking picked up fragments of last night's events. She had slept on the couch and there she was now, lying on the bed.

What exactly happened?

Heat clothed her cheeks at the vague recollection of joining her partner in the bed to comfort him and sleep tight next to him. She remembered hugging him close to her body without any hint of resistance from him. And sadly enough, that was all she could remember. Shame washed upon her at the rising worry that she could have done something embarrassing. It would do her no good to think about it further.

Yet, she found herself wondering if Shisui's submission to her offer of comfort last night was an indication that he was slowly warming up to her, albeit so slowly. Or was it just a meaningless thing he had done out of sleepiness? But with the series of nightmares he had been tolerating and the times she had offered to help him, didn't his constant refusal prior to last night tell her that even in his drowsy state, he was capable of making firm decisions? As a professional medical ninja, she knew there was no definite pattern to this behavior. Yet, there was no denying that she wished his response to her last night was deliberate.

And if it was, what was she going to do?

Yen had advised her yesterday to prioritize her wellbeing now. What exactly did that mean for her case? Truth be told, what would truly appease the uneasiness within her at this time was a talk with Shisui, but was she ready for that now? Or should her decision also be based on his readiness? His absence at the moment implied many things, and one of them was the possibility that he still did not find it easy to be around her.

Maybe she did not need to overthink Yen's piece of advice. Perhaps, she could simply take her time to do something she normally enjoyed. After all, Han and Yen had given her the day off since she had worked on an additional shift in the previous night.

After several minutes of pondering, she found herself in the dining area, eating breakfast while reading the first few pages of the medical textbook she had obtained from Kazuya's base. Putting herself first in such a way might have also meant looking out for him, but she did enjoy studying.

The reading took three hours of her morning. Within that period, she learned about the technicalities of ocular prowess in general. However, she found the information at surface-level and realized that it would take a few more chapters to be able to obtain medical insights. But when a grumble was heard from her stomach, she closed the book and decided to take a shower and eat out at a rice bowl restaurant that was a few blocks away from their place.

After finishing her meal and handing a handful of coins to the cashier, she contemplated on what to do next, provided that she was already outside. Perhaps, she could pass by the clinic and work on a shift, although she figured that her seniors would refuse her wish. But Sakura was just like Naruto: she was stubborn.

Hence, her feet led her to a series of turns around the town. Throughout the course, she reminisced about her days at the clinic, although short. Han and Yen had been nothing short of hospitable and amiable; they flashed her memory back to her work at Konoha's general hospital. Yen, especially, had warmed up to her like a mother would to a daughter, and their little conversations cleared her head a little when it came to Shisui.

Her flailing legs halted in front of the entrance of the clinic and the odd sight before her pushed her to question at first if she had gone to the right place. The usual door and window were replaced by a rusty roll-up door that covered the entrance halfway. Something about the situation did not settle with Sakura, and she was about to enter to gain clarity of the issue, but a woman exited through the main door, ducking under the curtain-like metal.

She realized that it was Han.

"Han-san?" Sakura called out to her, causing the woman to turn around and blink at her presence. A faint smile ghosted on her lips, but the pinkette could tell that it was rather forced. She noticed that the older woman's face was rather drained of color, the skin beneath her dull eyes a dark shade of gray. Her eyes were pale red and weakly lifting the puffy lids above, as if she had just shed a stream of tears.

Sakura had an inkling of what had escalated, but it hurt her to entertain such thought.

"What's the matter, Han-san?" she dared to ask, not even wanting to know the truth.

Her senior lowered her gaze to the ground and soaked in the silence for a brief moment.

"Yen passed away this morning in her sleep."

A cold weight surged through Sakura's chest; it suffocated every call for comfort within her. Demise crawled into her heart, and all of a sudden, every object around her, alive or inanimate, slowed to stillness. The woman before her said something about closing the clinic temporarily and a family-private funeral, but every word that floated in the air only rang in silent rings to her ears.

The world around her stopped—dead.

The waters were black, as if the sea swallowed the midnight sky. The wind traveled through the thick air, pulling wisps of her dry hair. She let her legs hang over the edge of the pier, feeling every ounce of the dragging weight.

With the stoppage of travels, there was no man loitering around the bay. It had been hours since she had rested her bones on the dock, aimlessly staring at ripples of waves. She just wanted to find some quiet. She just wanted peace around her, even if it did not exist inside.

She felt something clench in her throat. Her eyes, already dried out in red, seemed to have caught some bits of sand from the aerial torrent, or at least she convinced herself that such was the case. They moistened and clouded the scene before her, allowing swirls of black to plague her vision.

All her life, she had been living on a lie. In her first year on the medical field, she had crouched before fleshless limbs and hollow skulls and chosen to battle the inner cynic who told her that it was a lost cause. She had persisted and exhausted herself then, paying no heed to the hopeless beeping of the heart monitor. As the youngest of the team, she was told by her seniors that, with time, she would get used to death.

And her seniors were liars. Behind their masks, they were liars.

Loss was something that never came easy regardless of preparation or experience. It was a part of life. Wounds healed, but scars would never go away.

She had not known Yen for a long time, yet she had somehow reminded her of her mother and herself. Yen had taught her that emotional attachment did not necessarily come with time. And it humored her how the woman, even though Sakura had barely known her, was able to crack her feelings open and connect with her emotionally.

Yen had taught her about the importance of self-care and real love. She had entrusted her with some lessons to live by. She had left her with these lessons.

The night wind blew against her face, carrying the scent of salt and sand. The cold of the night latched upon her skin, biting off every bit of heat left. The weak sound of feet against the wooden planks filled her ears, and her body instantly tensed at the presence as it neared the empty spot beside her and settled there.

He drenched himself in the quiet of the night, his unreadable eyes laying on the dim horizon. Sakura's body remained its composure; she spared no thought of glancing at his direction and continued staring ahead.

"I could never be prepared for loss," she spoke, the words she had slipped directed more to herself than to the person beside her. "I'm a medical ninja, but not once have I accepted loss so easily. Yen… Yen did not deserve this. She taught me important things within a short time. She treated me like I was her daughter. She had a family… She-she had a life ahead of her."

A grunt escaped Sakura's sealed lips as she tried to suppress the cries she had been bottling up. She lifted up her hand to scratch the hotness in her eyes. Soon, low and quiet sobs forced their way out of her and she found herself struggling to dry away the trickles of tears from her eyes.

Then, she felt a pair of arms encircle her shaking body; she found herself crying to a sturdy chest. Shisui rested his chin on top of her head, pulling her vulnerable self into a tight embrace. For a few moments, she let herself bask in his warmth to loosen her grip on her muffled cries.

When her weeping slowly quieted, she felt a hand stroke her back in circles and another caress the moist skin of her face, wiping away the salty tears that had remained. Slowly, Sakura let her face rest on his chest; she did not want to be alone. It was only at that moment when she had realized how much she hated loneliness. She wondered if Shisui felt the same. She wondered if he had experienced losing people dear to him as well. She did not know what kind of life he led, and her grief was replaced with the innate need for sympathy, for understanding.

For several minutes, the world around them muted. Not a word hung in the dense air until Shisui decided to break the long silence.

"I know what it feels like to lose someone."

Slowly, Sakura tilted her head against his chest to catch a glimpse of his face. Shadows painted half of his facial features while the moonlight spread across the other half, illuminating the demise in his onyx eyes. His eyes seemed to be shrouded by a cloud of weariness that he had been bearing for far too long a time—a dark and brooding cloud that she often saw in his countenance but could never bring herself to fathom. It embodied the hard barrier that had been built between them ever since they had met, and Sakura realized that the reason why she had only felt its presence after their fight was that she had only come to notice it now.

His broad shoulders briefly stiffened before relaxing; he bit his bottom lip, as if he was struggling with an arduous decision. To her surprise, the man beside her began to open up about his past.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

-I had a hard time writing this chapter, because I wanted to continue a "slice of life" kinda vibe without making it boring or repeating some elements.

-The ending of this chapter was REALLY difficult to write for me, because the transition was not so smooth to begin with.

-I'm sorry for the cliffhanger. In fairness, the next chapter's going to be really long. It will be about Shisui's past. I will write it in a narrative format in Shisui's POV, covering his childhood to present. So it will take a long time for me to update again.

-I couldn't delete the author's note chapter and so I modified it instead with Chapter 16.

-Also, I've only realized just now that the Fan Fiction logo is actually two F's combined? Probably inverted to symbolize imagination.

-I do not own Naruto.