puzzle pieces

title: sunshine
author: shinigami to tenshi
rating: T
prompt: #6: death
summary: SasuSaku. He needed saving. She was the only one who would save him.
a/n: so I kind of didn't know how to write Sasuke in character. So I watched a few episodes and got back in the mood. This fic's gonna be all in anime world instead of AU's... The reason I do AU's is because it just doesn't seem possible for Sasuke and Sakura to happen. Road to Ninja, however...

"NARUTO!" Sakura yells at the top of her lungs. She feels like bursting. She can't take this. "NARUUUTO!"

It was a fight to the death. She should have known from the start that when Sasuke and Naruto were going to fight, it wasn't going to stop until one of them dropped dead. They are both so stubborn, after all. This was the last blow, she tells herself. only one of them is going to come out alive.

"NARUTO!" she hears someone yelling. It's not her. Ahead of her, several medic nins are running towards them. Sakura breathes. They're all here to save him.

When the dust clears, she sees Sasuke and Naruto lying on the ground. They lay a few feet away from each other, but they're side by side. This is what Team 7 looks like. Her mood lifts a little and a glimmer of hope shines within her.

Everyone rushes to save the village hero. Shizune has led all her best medics to help Naruto. He has blood coming from his abdomen. He's covered in deep cuts. His face is swollen.

She turns to Sasuke. He's alone. No one rushes to save him. No one even pays any attention to him. He coughs and blood spurts out of his mouth.

She runs to him, like she always has. "Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kun..." she whispers, trying to hold the tears in. Her hands are already glowing green with chakra and working on his head.

The damage sustained to his brain is significant, she realizes. His Sharingan wasn't healthy for his eyes and the damage continued onto his brain. He was bleeding from his torso. He was covered in open wounds. She continues to work on fixing the wounds in his brain. He winces.

"Sasuke-kun, you're going to be fine," she says, her voice trembling. "You're going to be just fine," she continues saying. Her voice is on the verge of cracking. "There's no dying on my watch." Sakura can feel the emotion building up within her; she can feel the tears threatening to fall.

There's so much bleeding, she looks horrified. I can't control it all at once. She tries to send chakra to all his wounds in his brain, but she can only concentrate on the part that his Sharingan affected the most. She needs help. I need help, she realizes.

"I NEED HELP HERE!" she yells, and tears finally stream down her face. She can't save Sasuke. After training so hard, she still can't save Sasuke. "I NEED HELP!" she screams again, her voice slipping at the end.

No one was coming. Sasuke wasn't important. He was a traitor. He almost destroyed the village. He almost killed Naruto. This was the end. This was the end for-

"Forehead..."

Sakura looks up. Ino is standing above her, looking down at her with sad eyes. "Stop healing him." she hears Ino say.

Suddenly, Sakura is angry. Her and Naruto have worked so hard to get Sasuke back. This is their chance. This is Sasuke. He is right there, and they won't save him? "He's not dead. Help me mend his brain tissue. His Sharingan destroyed a lot of it. Help me stop the bleeding." she glares at Ino. "DON'T JUST STAND THERE!"

Ino feels bad for Sakura. After everything, this is what she's decided to do. As her best friend, the least Ino could do is support her. She smiles at her best friend. "I'll help you save Sasuke," she tells her. Instantly, Sakura's face brightens.

It's working, Sakura thinks. Ino has controlled the bleeding on the other side.. She feels giddy. Sasuke was going to be alright. "Continue with the brain, I'm going to repair his heart walls."

Sasuke's body was a mess. It was under so much stress. But he wasn't going to die. Sakura is confident she is able to heal him.

Naruto has been brought to the hospital in Konoha. There was no place for Sasuke. She brings him into her home. It was practically a hospital. She did all her studying here and made a lot of medicine for missions. She kept it all in her home.

There is a wet cloth over his forehead. He flinches every once in a while, as if he's having a nightmare, but she brushes it off. Sakura watches over him. She gives him some of her chakra every once in a while, but she is also drained.

She eventually falls asleep next to him in her bed.

When she wakes up, it is dawn outside. The sky was a mix of purples, orange and yellow. She could see the sun peaking out from its hiding place.

When she sees Sasuke still soundly asleep on her bed, she smiles. His chest heaves up and down with each breath. He's alive, she thinks happily. He's lived through it all.

When she touches the towel on his forehead, however, a hand catches her wrist. She gasps, her heart beating quickly. Sasuke opens his eyes, though slowly and hesitantly. She continues to stare with her mouth slightly agape. It takes a few moments for him to register where he is. It doesn't look familiar to him, but the pink hair does.

"Sa...Sakura," he says. His voice was weak. He sounded brittle.

"H-Hi, Sasuke-kun," she manages, a small smile gracing her features. "how do you feel?"

The grip on her wrist becomes tighter. His eyes start to close a bit. When he starts talking again, his voice is low. She almost didn't catch it.

"Thank you," he says.

a/n: I think I'll make this fic sort of connected, if you know what I mean. It's 4AM, omg. I can't tell apart a period and a comma. My god. Anyway, if SS were to have a moment in the manga, this would be it. That's what I believe.. Would a kiss be pushing it?