SasuSaku - Past Selves

Chapter 4 - Ex's and Oh's!

Sasuke sat on his bed for who knows how long. Hearing her name was the last thing he needed. It brought back a flood of memories of that night ten years ago. Leaving her there was the hardest thing he had ever done. The first few years without her were painful. He gave up a girlfriend, best friend, and support system all at once when he decided to leave her unconscious body on the bench that day.

He can't count how many times he questioned his decision initially. Maybe he should have brought her with him? But that was the loneliness talking, not his rational brain. Deep down, he knew that she would only be a distraction to his training. She was not built for the life he chose to live. Still, adjusting to a life without Sakura was intense for him. However, soon Orochimaru started putting him through exhausting training, and over the years, he thought of her less and less. Every now and then, she would sneak into his dreams somehow. He hadn't dated anyone since her. Sure, he had one night stands, finding women to mess with was never an issue for Sasuke.

The first seven years after leaving Konoha, hooking up with women was almost unpleasant for Sasuke. Every time he'd look down at them, staring back up at him with their lustful eyes, he would see Sakura. He would imagine her green eyes staring into his, he would pretend they were her. It only hurt him more, and ruined the sex for him. Eventually, the sight of her emerald eyes faded, and he accepted the consequences of his decision. He hoped to never see her again, as a way to avoid any possible future risk.

But now, of all people, she just had to become the most acclaimed doctor. He chuckled, "Attagirl, Sakura...". The Sakura he knew and remembered was nowhere near the strongest... anything, really. She had terrible battle skills, and knew no medical jutsu. He was anxious about this mission, but he decided to be realistic. The Sakura he knew was gone, and the Sasuke she knew was as well. It was no use clinging onto their past selves. He was going to treat this encounter as if he was meeting someone new.

After a few days, he arrived near Konoha. The Anbus were everywhere, it was honestly pathetic how easy it was for his sharingan to detect these lowlife ninjas. He easily avoided all the traps, and quickly put one of the gate guards under genjutsu, having him reveal that Sakura and Ino were on a mission nearby to gather some holistic herbs for the hospital.

*Perfect, how lucky am I?* thought Sasuke. It would have been much messier if he had to go into the village to get her. He followed the directions given by the guard. His heart was pounding, but his mind was sharp.

Somewhere in the meadows:

"Ino, do you feel it? There is someone approaching us... I can sense their chakra...", whispered Sakura, putting some herbs in a basket.

"Huh? Got it. Be ready." Said Ino sternly.

Sakura stood in silence. "Ino, you need to leave. Get out of here as fast as you can. "

"What? No way!" Protested Ino.

"Listen to me! This person is no joke, their chakra levels are insane, this person is dangerous. One of us needs to go and alert the village. The other must stay and try to keep him in place until reinforcements arrive. This chakra is too dangerous to leave this person roaming around Konoha." Declared Sakura. "Ino, go and bring Anbu here! I will try to hold whoever this person is. Run!"

Ino wasn't happy with this, but deep down agreed with Sakura's judgement. Someone this powerful near Konoha was not a good sign, so she nodded. "Take care, Sakura. I'll be right back."

Ino ran away quickly, and Sakura stayed alert, keeping track of the chakra source. The chakra felt almost familiar, but was too powerful and overwhelming to place the origin of it. Sakura had a bad feeling about it. Was it related to the previous attack? What were the odds? She put on her battle gloves, and braced herself.

Sasuke stood there in silence, as he watched her from a faraway tree. Nothing could have prepared him for how it felt. She was stunning, and clearly very smart. He watched her send Ino away, which was the perfect decision on her end. Sasuke planned on using Ino as leverage, but now she would probably bring backup, which meant that Sasuke only had about 40 minutes to finish this. His mind was racing, as he stared at her. She was... older. Prettier. Sexier. Her hair was slightly longer than he remembered. She looked much more confident, her eyes were just as before. His gaze started to go down from her hair to her eyes to her body. He could not help it. He quickly snapped out of it. *Focus, dammit! Remember, she is a stranger to you.*

"How long will you keep me waiting?" Called a familiar voice. "I'd hate to think that I'm being pursued by cowards," she smirked. "Show yourself!"

Sakura tried to put on a tough face, but she knew very well the power of whoever was hiding in the shadows. She could tell the chakra was sage-level. *Stay calm, Sakura. You just need to survive till Ino gets here.*

"I see you still try to look tough in battles where you know you're outmatched, Sakura." A figure emerged from the shadows. A voice that was so familiar, yet so unknown. So much deeper than she had remembered. Smoother.

Sakura slowly turned her head to face the figure. Her eyes widening, taking a few steps back.

"You..." Her mind was racing, legs almost shaking, a million questions in her mind. Why was he here? Were they going to fight? Was he here to kill her? How did he get so strong? Was she dreaming?

She calmed herself down very quickly, she was trained to keep her composure, after all. She took a deep breath, and fully faced him. He looked different, wore the same cloak as her other attackers. His hair looked similar, he had gotten much taller and more muscular. She felt a wave of sadness and anger rush over her. She quickly snapped out of it.

"Today is my lucky day. I get to kick an S-rank criminal's ass!" Sakura smirked. "Long time no see, Sasuke."

He was taken aback by her remark, this was getting exciting. He didn't remember her being feisty like that. "You look great, I must admit..." he smirked. "Would be a shame if I have to scar that pretty face of yours. Why don't you do us both a favor and come with me quietly."

*That bastard! How dare he talk to me like I'm some weakling!* She knew she needed to stall longer, so she decided to conceal her anger at him:

"Go where? What are you even doing here after ten years? You just show up on a random day?"

"I don't have much time to chat, Sakura. We don't want your friend Ino to get hurt now, do we?" He saw her eyes widen, which confirmed his suspicions about their little plan. "But since you asked, I sent my teammates last week to capture you to join our team. You see, we need a medic and it seems like you're the best one around, which, by the way, very impressive. Beautiful AND skilled!" he winked.

*Still the same asshole as before! Always flirting, I will wipe that grin off his face* She giggled:

"Go with you? You'll have to drag my dead body."

"Then that's what I will do. You are coming with me one way or another."

*This is my chance to give him a nice beating for all these years*, thought Sakura, getting ready to attack.

The fight went on for a long time. Sasuke was astonished by how good of a fight she could put up. She skillfully dodged most of his attacks,and quickly healed herself from the ones he landed. He was careful not to kill her with his attacks, so he had to suppress the full extent of his hits. Still, she was phenomenal. Her physical strength was almost unmatched, her stamina was as good as his. *Damn, she has improved. It seems like I can not get her with my base level jutsu. I didn't think I'd have to resort to this.*, he thought.

*I can tell he isn't using all his chakra,* thought Sakura. *This is bad. He can counter all my attacks, not sure how long I can stall him... where is Ino? I better knock him out with this next attack...* She concentrated all her chakra in her fist, and bolted toward Sasuke.

Sasuke activated his newest sharingan, which allowed him to teleport right behind Sakura at light speed, and knocked her out on the spot.

The Deja Vu was overwhelming for Sasuke, as she fell right into his arms. She hadn't grown much taller, so it was much easier for him to lift her up this time. Her skin was soft, and she smelled as sweet as he remembered. "You did well, Sakura." he whispered. He sensed several chakra sources approaching. *They're almost here. I must get going...*

He carried her back to the hideout. This was just the beginning.