Summary: She sort of considers herself the last resort, the one to pull him through; it never really occurs to her that she's the one that could fall. [SasuSakuMonth2017 - Day 4 - Prompt: "Lean On Me"]

Disclaimer: This story utilises characters, situations and premises that are copyright Masashi Kishimoto, Shueisha, Shonen Jump and Viz media. No infringement on their respective copyrights pertaining to episodes, novelisations, comics or short stories is intended by KuriQuinn in any way, shape or form. This fan-oriented story is written solely for the author's own amusement and the entertainment of the readers. It is not for profit. Any resemblance to real organizations, institutions, products or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

All plot and Original Characters except for those introduced in the canon books, manga, video games, novelizations and anime, are the sole creation of KuriQuinn. (© KuriQuinn 2016- )

Rating: K

Warning: Spoilers for pretty much everything the start of Shippuden.

Canon-Compliance: As close to canon as fanfiction can possibly be. With a few personal additions :P Takes place during the Blank Period.

Beta Reader: None at the moment.

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一

The first time it happens is two weeks after Team 7's mission in the Land of Waves.

A C-rank security detail (on a squash-farm of all things!) fast becomes a B-rank when the nearest competitor hires former mercenaries to sabotage their client. It's an easy take-down, Sakura thinks at first, especially compared to what they faced with Zabuza Momochi and Haku. Between Kakashi and Sasuke, it's the work of minutes to quash the saboteurs, and with Naruto's blustery lecture about teamwork and respect, everything seems to go well.

But then Sasuke passes out.

Sakura only just makes it in time to keep his head from hitting the rock-littered terrain. "Sasuke!"

"What's going on? What happened?" Naruto cries, looking around like he expects another attack.

Kakashi remains calm, however.

"It's the strain of his Sharingan," Kakashi explains. "While he gets used to it, Sasuke will experience certain side-effects. He'll wake up soon."

Under normal circumstances, they would stay the night or at least until Sasuke was awake and strong enough to walk again. But it turns out the mercenary captain has information on someone in Kakashi's Bingo Book. He insists he'll only speak to the Hokage, and so they have to get him to Konoha as soon as possible. With Kakashi's hands full, Naruto is the next strongest on their team to act as his back-up; this leaves Sakura caring for the unconscious Sasuke.

Not that she minds—at first she even entertains herself with fantasies of nursing him back to health and him being forever grateful and asking her out as a reward.

But the two-hour trek back to Konoha erases any sense of romance she might imagine.

Sasuke is much heavier than Sakura, and after exerting himself against the mercenaries, he smells, too.

Not that I can talk, she thinks as she strains and sweats in desperation beneath the dead weight on her back. I'm going to need to shower for a week to get the smell of fertiliser off my skin!

But she doesn't complain the entire way back home.

By the time Sasuke wakes up and pulls away from her, she's too exhausted to even care if she looks sweaty and dishevelled in front of him. In fact, for the first time, she experiences a little more annoyance than hurt that he can't even manage a proper thank you before slouching off. He shoves at Naruto when the other boy teases him for passing out.

Boys, she thinks in exasperation.

二

The next three days, Sakura's entire body feels like one giant bruise. Every muscle and tendon throbs at her in reproach for having carried such a heavy load for so long. Ino says she looks like a bunraku puppet hobbling around. Sakura doesn't even have the energy to retort ( "At least my face doesn't look like a kabuki monster!" ) before limping away to run her errands for the week.

And pick up more medicinal balm.

While restocking her supply of explosive tags at the village surplus store, Manako Inuzuka takes one look at her and snorts.

"Someone hasn't been keeping up with their training," she singsongs, as she undoes the wrapper on a chew of bubble gum and tosses it in her mouth.

"What would you know about it?" Sakura snaps, aching muscles contributing to an already bad mood.

How dare a drop-out like the Manako comment on her training? She has been working hard, ever since the Land of Waves.

Sakura's worst nightmare is becoming caught unawares like that again, and just sitting by while everyone else is useful. She's since been improving her genjutsu and ninjutsu abilities. She's gotten excellent at Kawamiri and, okay, so she hasn't had time to work on her taijutsu yet, but she is trying!

The Inuzuka woman considers her, unruffled. "Kid, I was in your exact situation when I was your age: I had a Sharingan and an idiot on my team, too. Guess who always ended up lugging those two home at the end of the day?"

Sakura's irritation fades, and she stares up at the woman in awe.

That's right. Manako was around when Sasuke's family was still alive. She actually knew other Uchiha.

"So, what'd you do?" she asks.

"Besides mark up their faces and take pictures of it while they were unconscious?" the woman remarks, earning a scowl from Sakura. "I trained for it."

"Trained for it?"

"Is there an echo in here? That's what I just said. And what you need to work on. Unless you want to throw out your back before you even reach thirty, you need to exercise your body. You need to plan because nine missions out of ten, you'll end up lugging an unconscious teenaged boy back to the village." She studies Sakura again, sharp eyes roving over her in a critical manner that she doesn't appreciate. Manako snaps her gum in her mouth. "Then again, you're kind of tiny. Maybe it's just not in you."

Sakura splutters at this, too indignant to form a reply.

"Here," Manako continues, sliding over a package of smoke bombs.

"I don't need smoke bombs," Sakura tells her tightly.

"They're not for you," Manako sneers back. "They're for your Sharingan idiot. Give them to him when you see him next, it saves me a delivery."

Sakura makes a face. "But don't you make money delivering things?"

But Manako waves a dismissive hand and heads to the back of her shop, like she doesn't hear her. Or as if the notion of making money isn't important to her.

Sakura's eye twitches.

How does she even still have a business? She is so weird.

三

Weird, but right, Sakura decides a week later when it inevitably happens again; at training, this time.

Sasuke pushes himself to keep his Sharingan active longer and longer, despite Kakashi's warnings to keep it simple. Eventually he tries a genjutsu on Naruto, succeeding in knocking the other boy out—and then keels over backwards himself a half-second later.

Again, Sakura skids into his path to keep him upright, while Kakashi kneels beside Naruto.

"At some point you kids will listen to me, right?" he asks, though she gets the sense he's talking more to himself than to them. "You'll have pretty short lives if you don't start soon." He picks up Naruto and addresses Sakura. "I'm going to take him to see the Hokage. Sharingan genjutsu can be tricky to break people out of."

"But you have a Sharingan. Can't you just undo it yourself?"

The visible part of Kakashi's face twitches in an expression she can't decipher—either caution or approval. "No. There's another matter to deal with, and it's easier to wrangle him there if he's unconscious. You'll see to Sasuke, right?" He glances at his other student and his eye crinkles in a smile beneath his mask. "Or leave him there. It would serve him right for not listening."

Before Sakura can rush to defend Sasuke's honour, Kakashi and Naruto disappear in a puff of smoke.

"Right...no problem," she sighs, not hiding her dismay as she glances down at her charge.

Unconscious, he seems so relaxed, a contrast to how burdened he always seems when awake. She hates that he has to push himself so hard that he knocks himself out. Being an Uchiha always seemed so cool, and with his Sharingan, it seems like one day there won't be anything he won't be able to do. But she's realising that having the kekkei genkai might not be the boon everyone thinks it is.

Naruto pushes himself too, of course, but for Sasuke, his desperation to succeed sometimes seems like it's boiling within his very blood.

I wish I could help him, she thinks sadly as she crawls down beside him and struggles to bring him to his feet. But even if I did...there's not much I can do...

So far, it appears like the only thing she's capable of is sitting there while her teammates throw themselves into dangerous situations. And hoping there are still pieces left to collect at the end of the day.

Manako's words ring in her head.

"You need to plan because nine missions out of ten, you'll end up lugging an unconscious teenaged boy back to the village."

The knowledge that Sasuke might end up unconscious again on her watch—not might, but will, considering how determined he is to master the Sharingan!— makes her steel herself. She has to support her teammates; if that's all she can do, she'll do it with the same determination and perfectionism she always gave to her school work.

四

Decision made, Sakura takes an analytical approach and considers their weaknesses—not just her teammates, but her instructor's, too.

They are always pushing themselves to the limit, tiring themselves out. Sasuke trains himself to the point of unconsciousness, Kakashi has ended up confined to bed on at least one occasion and Naruto—well, he doesn't have the best judgement. The idiot shoved a kunai through his hand for dramatic effect once; that alone suggests the kind of antics she's in for in the future...

As for her weaknesses, she's not as strong as the others. She doesn't have Sasuke's clan jutsu or Kakashi's talent or Naruto's indefatigable spirit. The only thing she has going for (she hopes) is a bit of common sense.

There's no point to us succeeding at missions if they all just drop dead right afterward.

She isn't sure quite where to start, and at first goes to her parents for help and suggestions. As usual, they are a little bemused, but supportive. Mama agrees to front her allowance for the next month so she can buy some exercise videos and weights. Papa helps her come up with a training regimen, offering helpful suggestions.

Time passes, and increasingly, without fail, Sakura ends up carrying Sasuke back home. Occasionally Naruto, as well, but he has a really weird tendency to throw off injuries like they're nothing. Sasuke's acclimation period seems to last longer, which he isn't happy about.

He's not too pleased about the carrying thing, either, judging from how fast he is at scrambling away from her and putting distance between them whenever he wakes. Even though Kakashi reminds him that a good shinobi knows when to accept help, he often gives her the cold shoulder for days afterward.

As if it's my fault he keeps getting knocked out, she thinks angrily to herself.

Kakashi at least tries to make it easier on her, making Naruto carry him or doing it himself; but every third instance or so both boys get knocked out, and it's up to their remaining squad members to care for them.

"Naruto's probably lighter," Kakashi points out the day of one such an instance, as Sakura is bent over the Uchiha boy's unconscious form. "I can take Sasuke, if you want."

"No, I can handle it," Sakura says firmly. "I won't get stronger if I always take the easy option."

She thinks her sensei is smiling beneath his mask. "That's true."

He doesn't discuss the matter again, even when she occasionally stumbles on their way back home. But he slows his stride so that she can catch up, hefting Sasuke's heavy body against her back more securely.

Sasuke remains unconscious almost the whole way back to Konoha, but once they reach the gates, Sakura pauses and stays behind. She knows he doesn't like to be seen having someone carry him, and if he wakes before they enter the village he can walk in himself. Kakashi, of course, has no interest in preserving anyone's dignity, and marches through the gates with Naruto basically hanging off his back.

This time when Sasuke wakes, he seems angrier at himself for passing out than Sakura. She can't help sympathising with him at that.

He puts so much pressure on himself...

"Don't worry, Sasuke," she tells him, offering him a comforting smile. "I'll always be there to catch you, okay? So just keep working hard."

He stares at her a long moment, looking uncharacteristically stunned, before his usual frown overtakes his features.

"You won't need to," he tells her. "I will not be weak like this forever."

He turns to walk away.

"But Sasuke..." she begins, automatically reaching a comforting hand out before remembering herself and pulling back. "You're already really strong."

He pauses, tilting his head slightly as if to acknowledge her comment, but then mutters, "Perhaps by your standards."

When he walks away this time, shoulders hunched, she doesn't try to stop him. Instead, she sighs, and heads towards her own home.

He's right.

She doesn't know how to accurately judge someone's strength, because she isn't strong.

But I will be, she vows.

五

Sakura meets Chōji one day to ask for advice. He may be big, but she also knows from watching him train with Ino and Shikamaru that he is strong.

"Eat," he tells her, over lunch at the Yakiniku Q (her treat, of course). "Food gives you energy, energy gives you strength. Protein's always good—mmm!" He stuffs his face with beef from a skewer. "And never let anyone take the last helping of anything! They're stealing your strength if they do!"

He tries to look fierce, but the effect is ruined by the beef juices running down his cheeks.

Sakura isn't quite sure about the last bit. She thinks if she got in the way of Sasuke or Naruto's fights for the last bit of rice she might lose a finger. But the advice is appreciated.

She eats more and stops trying the diets in her fashion magazines. She had mostly stopped after Kakashi's bell test, but she's still been more conscious of people judging her eating habits than she should be. Now she goes to the library to find books on healthy eating and how to build muscle mass and which foods help.

She also tries to boost her endurance by going jogging, often with a giant knapsack filled with the heaviest books she can find. It's nothing to Sasuke's weight, but she decides if she can get used to that it will at least help.

And slowly, it does.

As time goes on, the fainting incidents happen less and less.

Or perhaps they happen just as often and she just stops noting it because lifting her teammates stops being an effort. Even when they both start to get taller and heavier, her body seems to get stronger alongside them.

But even better than that, Sasuke no longer seems to have an issue when he wakes up draped across Sakura's back on the way back to village.

One evening, she even gets a gruff, "I'm fine now," and a nod before he pulls away from her.

It's not a traditional thank you, but she's learning that when it comes to Sasuke, nothing ever is.

六

Then the Chunin Exam and the attack on Konoha happen.

The Forest of Death and the mark on Sasuke's neck; his burning fever and Sakura's very real fear that he might die.

For the first time in her life, the idea of her own death doesn't frighten her—not compared to the thought of losing him. She thinks she could face that disgusting snake shinobi's killing intent a million times if it means Sasuke lives.

It's as if a switch inside her flips, and it's not just about being there to support him after he gets hurt. She has to protect him from ever being hurt again.

And so she throws herself at the three Oto-nin even though the odds are against her. A month later she faces down the giant, monstrous sand demon that is Gaara, and does anything she can to give Sasuke enough time to get away. If she will die, she'll do so proving to Sasuke and everyone else—and herself—that she's the best damn support system anyone could ask for.

But everyone lives, and suddenly there's an unspoken acknowledgement of her ability to keep pace with them. Sasuke stops leaping in front of her to take attacks meant for her. She longer gets reminders from Kakashi to be careful during missions, and Naruto learns to be wary of her fists during sparring sessions. No one says anything, but their dynamic changes.

Not necessarily for the better, she soon learns.

The encounter with Gaara and the One-Tail haunts her nightmares, but not for the terror of that day. Something happened while she was unconscious, something that caused more tension between Sasuke and Naruto.

Something she might have been able to stop, if only she hadn't been so damned weak and passed out.

Never again, she vows.

七

It's a few days after Lord Third's funeral.

Despite the tragedy, the village still has to continue assigning missions, but until a new Hokage is named, the jōnin level ninja are delegating the tasks amongst themselves. This leaves Kakashi too busy to go with them on any high-ranking missions, and so Team 7 is left to deal with the routine, mundane tasks.

Of course, their team is always a magnet for trouble. What starts off as a courier job in some civilian village three hours away becomes a race against time to stop a greedy mayor from demolishing a school. Greedy mayors are never without their bodyguards, and the team quickly becomes embroiled in an all-out fight to stop the school from being destroyed.

At the end of the day, the three of them are satisfied with their work, if a little exhausted and chakra-depleted. Naruto is fine, of course, and Sasuke is pretending that he isn't utterly exhausted so that he can keep up with Naruto. And Sakura...

Has twisted her ankle rather painfully, but she has no intention of having her teammates making a fuss over her.

Once, she might have, but she has a reputation to maintain (even if it's not as glamourous as her teammates'). If anyone hears about the pink-haired kunoichi from Konoha having to be carried home, it might make people question her abilities again.

Sometimes being a girl and a shinobi is a pain in the ass.

She keeps her mouth shut while they relay their successful mission to the faceless jōnin in charge of missions. When Naruto excitedly suggests grabbing dinner at Ichiraku's, she declines with a little white lie about her parents expecting her. Both Naruto and Sasuke go blank-faced at that, and Sakura feels stupid. She's always careful not to talk about her parents near her teammates, considering they're both orphans. The pain is obscuring her thought process.

Sasuke doesn't even bother with a farewell, heading toward the Uchiha district. A moment later Naruto mentions in a falsely bright tone that he will see if Iruka-sensei is anywhere nearby.

"He sometimes buys me dinner if I don't piss him off too much," he confides in her, all smiles again. "See you tomorrow, Sakura!"

And he takes off at a run.

"Bye," she replies, before turning in the opposite directions. Her ankle gives a sharp, throbbing pain that demands a detour to the hospital—even if that detour is out of her way.

Two streets later, however, she has to stop walking.

Try as she might to direct the last vestiges of her chakra to stave off the swelling and relieve the pain, she's completely tapped out.

Just great, she harangues herself as she leans against a nearby wall. I should get an award for awesome judgement...shannaro...

The hospital is still several blocks away, and she doesn't know any of the people milling around that she is comfortable asking for help. Konoha is a small village, but it doesn't mean she's on speaking terms with everyone in it.

Either she will have to hop all the way to the hospital and hope someone takes pity on her, or she must walk very slowly. Which could do more damage to her ankle than she's already done.

Because this is so much less embarrassing than Naruto carrying me home, the voice in her head complains. Oh well...suck it up!

She gingerly takes a step forward, only to have her foot give out beneath her.

Sakura gasps, throwing her hands out to catch herself as she falls, bracing for an impact—

Which never comes.

Someone grabs the arms she thrust out and hauls her backward, steadying her. When she finally shakes her hair out of face, she stares up in surprise.

"Sasuke?" she asks, not entirely sure what she's seeing is real.

What's he doing here? We went in completely opposite directions!

"You're hurt," he replies, ignoring her explicit and implicit questions.

"It's, uh, it's nothing," she tells him, a little uncertain at the look he's giving her foot. He's scowling as if he finds it personally insulting.

"How long have you been like this?" he demands.

For a moment, she flinches, a particularly horrible memory rising to the surface.

"Sakura...who...did that to you...?"

She swallows and waves it off. "It's fine. Just a little swollen. Probably a little sprain is all—"

"Don't lie," Sasuke orders, taking a step closer. "If you're hurt, you have to say so. What would have happened if you collapsed while we were on our way back? Or if we got attacked?"

"I-I–"

"Come on," he sighs, and a bit of the tension eases from his shoulders. "You're going to the hospital."

"Well, yeah, that's where I was head—ehh?!"

To her utter shock, he loops her left arm around his shoulder and neck, and then wraps his right around her back and waist.

"Put your weight on me, not on your foot," he orders her.

Sakura smiles, a little teary eyed but not from the pain.

"And you'd better not make a big deal out of this," he mutters.

"I won't," she promises shyly, because moments like this, when Sasuke shows her any modicum of tenderness, are jealously guarded close to her heart. She never even tells Ino about them.

They walk together in silence for a while.

The sensation of his arm along her back is protective, and she can't help but feel totally and utterly safe. Being so close to him fills her with warmth, and yet she can't suppress the shiver that runs up her spine.

"Don't tell me your catching a cold now, too," he complains.

"N-no, nothing like that," she assures him.

"Good. Because if you get sick on me, it's just me and Naruto, and I can't promise I won't kill him when he's being an idiot."

She chuckles lightly at that, but there's an edge there; lately Sasuke's sparring sessions with Naruto have been getting more vicious. She doesn't like the idea of them fighting anymore, even as a joke. It seems too much like tempting fate.

"Um...Sasuke?"

"Hm."

"Are you training with Kakashi-sensei tomorrow?"

"Maybe."

"Oh."

There's a pause and she expects it to be the end of the conversation, but to her surprise he asks, "Why?"

She smiles.

"I was just hoping...if you're not...too busy...would you spar with me?"

As close as they are to one another, bodies pressed closed, she senses him startle. She thinks she's startled him, anyhow, considering she's never before asked him that. To be fair, she's never felt entirely confident asking him that.

"I know you only ever fight Naruto because you guys are on the same level," she adds quickly, "but I want to improve too. So that means I have to train against people who are stronger. And you...you're so strong, Sasuke, and I want to be, too."

Sasuke is quiet for a long time and she believes he's ignored the question. Disappointment floods her until he sighs.

"I'll consider it," he tells her gruffly, and her spirits instantly lift. "Ask me again when your foot is healed."

She beams at him thankfully. "Okay."

Sasuke mutters something under his breath—it sounds like he's called her annoying again—and avoids looking at her the rest of the journey.

八

Of course, it never happens.

The next day, Sasuke tracks down his brother Itachi and lands himself in the hospital for several weeks. And upon waking, he is so consumed with rage and resentment that there are no more training sessions. Their team is splintering, and to Sakura's grief and horror, the final nail shatters the day Sasuke abandons Konoha.

In the months and years that follow, Sakura worries endlessly about him.

She wonders if he has anyone to support him the way she and Naruto did, of if there's anyone around to genuinely care when he pushes himself too far. These days she has Tsunade, and she knows that while he's on his travels Naruto has Jiraiya. But for Sasuke...

Sakura doesn't imagine Orochimaru to be the type that helps someone who stumbles or get hurt.

She hopes that wherever he is, Sasuke finds someone to care about him and take care of him when he's too focussed or stubborn to do it himself. Sakura doesn't care who that is, just as long as someone is there for him to support him or carry him back home the way she did.

Even if it's not truly his home.

Sakura doesn't really understand his exact reasoning for leaving, but somewhere in his motivations is the need to get stronger. And if he intends to do that, she will do the same.

One day, she and Naruto will get Sasuke back, and she'll show him he shouldn't have left. That if he had stayed, they could have all grown stronger together, and supported each other instead of having to carve out lonely new paths.

And she doesn't care how dark or twisted his path becomes, she will still be willing to let him lean on her if it means bringing him home.

終わり

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Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome! I'm only able to keep writing as I do thanks to the encouragement of readers like you, so every bit of support helps! And be sure to check out my tumblr (Typewriter Ninjutsu) for content you won't necessarily find on this site.

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