The grass crunched dry as dust under her soles. The green stalks were dry and yellow.
It hadn't rained for weeks and the earth was partly cracked.
The sun shone mercilessly from the sky and not a cloud could be seen.
It was late afternoon and the temperature dropped a few degrees. A pleasantly gentle breeze now swept over the woman, who strolled across the ground cratered by small crater landscapes. The sun was soon beginning to lower itself over the horizon and let the night rule. Very slowly the world around them was bathed in glistening, reddish-yellow light. It would be at least an hour before dawn began.
She walked on, blind to her surroundings. All she wanted was back to Konoha. Her job was done and she was accordingly tired now. All she wanted was to go to bed.

But first she would deliver the good news to Tsunade about the successful completion of her assignment. Exhausted, dirty and thirsty, she took the shortcut through the forest until she finally reached Konoha. It wasn't far from the gate.

But despite her numerous smaller wounds, which she could not yet treat because of a lack of chakras, she never forgot to pay attention and keep an eye out for possible enemies.
You lived in difficult times. The situation between the Akatsukis, the rest of the Oto-Nins and Konoha had worsened. It is true that reports of the death of Orochimaru, which one of his followers are said to have committed against him, but nobody really believed in it.

After the last couple of attacks, all of which affected Naruto, Konoha had reached an amended peace agreement with the other great powers in order to guarantee the highest possible level of protection for the population.

As much as she tried, her steps became slower and slower.The tiredness suddenly crept over her eyelids, but with all the willpower she could muster, she forced her eyes to keep open. Her field of vision became more and more blurred and soon she would no longer be able to get to Konoha. Not in this state.

She staggered to a nearby oak tree on the right side of the unused path.
Suddenly there was a figure. The last rays of the setting sun let it merge with the ever-lengthening shadows. Wrapped in black, she stood and watched. She stumbled on to the unknown person. What did it matter whether it was an enemy or a friend. The pain was gradually fading, the light was clouding far too quickly, and her breathing was shallow and erratic.
Apparently one of the kunais that hit her had been poisoned.
And apparently it was a slow, almost excruciating poison.

The stranger caught her when she stumbled into his arms. He let her slide to the ground, her head resting on his legs. With one last look into her fantasizing eyes, he pulled back the hood and now revealed himself to her.
Her head fell to one side, her eyes wide with horror and a fit of coughing that made her spit blood, and silence fell.

The person frowned, picked them up, and carried them away until nothing but a breath of wind reminded them that there were two people resting there.





Black Sea.
There was nothing but cold, emotionless blackness around her.
A stabbing sensation spread across her chest.
Her eyelids twitched and then opened. The picture was blurred and only with repeated blinking her eyes cleared. It was dark. She couldn't see where she was.
She felt something soft under her fingers and a soothing breeze brushed her body from somewhere and cooled her head and her thoughts.Slowly her eyes got used to the dim light. At least she could tell that she was lying in a room. On a soft bed, to be precise, the smell of which reminded her of something. All she knew was that she hadn't smelled this scent for a long time and had always loved it.

With a jerk she sat up and her whole body thanked her with a sudden, excruciating pain that made her groan and sink back onto the soft sheet.



“Rest first.” The voice came from the right. It was dark and velvety. And instantly she had a premonition in whose bed exactly she had ended up. This realization carried her with it like a wave. Insecurity, shame, anger, sadness and fear mixed up and threatened to break out of her. With all the willpower she could muster, she forbade herself these thoughts and instead forced herself to remain calm.
"Sasuke Uchiha.", She replied, taking a deep breath and taking a deep breath.
There was no emotion in her voice that suggested how agitated she really was.
Something went really wrong here. She shouldn't be here, strictly speaking, she couldn't be here. He was a renegade, a nuke-nin. There were many names for something like him, but none of them seemed enough for her.

“Sakura Haruno.” Ah, so he still knew who she was.
"Why did you bring me here?"
A twitch played around the Uchiha's lips, but nothing but a "Tz" left his mouth.
He turned and looked out the window. The sky was cloudless and clear, the crescent moon shone yellow from the sky, revealing a rare interplay of flawlessness and power.
Sakura caught her breath. Sasuke's wild beauty, his profile in the moonlight, made her heart beat faster. His half-length hair that looked constantly electrified on the back of his neck, his long bangs that fell boldly into his eyes, his narrow, finely curved lips.All of this and more made her stomach tingle.
She didn't think she would ever get an answer to that question.
“You shouldn't die.” As he said this, he turned back to her, his eyes looking at her.
Questioning. Empty. Maybe with hope too.

"And why not? ". It took some effort for her to ask this question, but she had to do it.

"To find out, I healed you."