Sakura pulled her jacket tighter around her and glanced up at the sky, "It's snowing again..."

She quickly continued down the sidewalk from a long day spent hanging out with Naruto and Hinata, after some persuading from the latter of the two. Sakura chuckled to herself at the thought of the two potentially having a thing for each other and she couldn't be more proud. It was starting to get dark, but she recognized the front of Konoha Cafe. At the sight of it, she immediately thought of Sasuke. That man she last saw three whole days ago. That man that she kind of blew off the last time they talked. That man that, she hates to admit, she actually misses seeing. She would only see him from afar either working in the cafe or leaving the hospital from long one-hour visits with Itachi. After everything she said to him from their last meeting, she wouldn't blame him for avoiding her, but she also felt the need to explain everything to him. She didn't feel it then, why is she feeling it now? She pushed those thoughts from her mind and turned to enter the cafe. Without looking, she opened the door and stepped in.

"Sorry, we close early on... Oh."

Sakura looked up at the lone barista, a wave of relief and fear swept over her, "S-Sasuke! I... didn't know you work this late."

"I don't. I'm just covering for someone else's shift." He looked at her with an emotionless gaze, "we're closing."

Sakura pursed her lips, "well, uh... Listen, I just want to talk to you. About..."

"Oh, are you ready to talk now? You didn't seem ready to talk a few days back, but I suppose I can find the time to listen, now." Sasuke leaned over the counter, sass caressing his tone.

Sakura felt her face boil with rage. At least she thought it was rage, "yes, well... If you're ready to listen now... What did you expect of me at the time? To tell you my whole life story?!"

"Of course not. We just officially met about two weeks ago."

"Exactly!" Sakura crossed her arms, "therefore, I felt no obligation to tell you why I was in the hospital!"

"'Felt'?"

"Yes, well, you're cold-shoulder treatment took its toll on me and now I'm forcing myself to tell you. Happy?"

"I wasn't ignoring you!"

"Then why haven't we talked?! You've left me on read this past week!"

"Same reason you won't tell me about your sickness!"

"Sasuke, that's different and you know it!"

"Well, you could at least warn me about falling in love with something that'll just end up de..."

Sakura stared in him for a moment, "what did you say?"

Sasuke looked away, "it's nothing."

"Sasuke!"

He squeezed his eyes shut, "you have cancer, right?"

Sakura paused when the tone of his voice changed from anger to devastation, "Sasuke, I--"

"Yes or no?"

She looked at him sadly, "yes."

He gripped the countertop and inhaled, "and it's getting worse? Yes or no."

It was a long pause before Sakura finally answered, "I... Don't know."

That was all he needed to hear. Sakura waited for the outburst, but to her dissatisfaction, it never came. Instead, after the long silence, Sasuke stood up straight and started making a drink for himself.

"Is that it?" Sakura stared at him in shock and utter disbelief, "I finally give you what you want and you're going to continue to...To push me away? Making coffee?! S-Sasuke, I thought... I thought you'd be more than this!" She clenched her hands into fists as tears fell from her eyes, "you idiot!"

"Don't be ridiculous." Sasuke sighed as he set the coffee down on the counter, dropped his apron on another counter, and came around to the front where Sakura was standing, "Sakura, I would never choose to ignore you. I was just scared, terrified of what you're really dealing with. Of course, your answer turned out to be the worst case scenario, and it hurts me. It really does. I would never push you away. Only if you don't push me away. Deal?"

Sakura stared at him. She was slightly confused, but she knew that this is what she really needed in her life. Someone to shoulder her sorrow, pain, and fear of death. She cried even more as Sasuke moved closer to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"You'll never be alone. Not as long as I'm here." He smiled as he leaned his head against hers and rubbed her back, "I was kinda serious earlier, though. I need to have this place locked in about a minute."

Sakura chuckled as she stepped away and the two left the cafe.

"Let me walk you home to make up for this past week." Sasuke continued once he got his jacket on and held his coffee, "Must've been a real tragedy without me."

Sakura laughed, "you have no idea."

"So..." Sasuke looked down at the snow-covered sidewalk, "what type of cancer is it?"

Sakura sighed, "AML, Acute Myeloid Leukemia. I've had it for about four or five years now and have been going in for treatment since then."

"Five years..." Sasuke murmured. All those times... The shortness of breath, her drowsiness, all the signs are there... She's not kidding, "so, you've been getting treatment, right? Chemo? Is it working?"

"That's... Another thing." Sakura looked at him, "they say it's working, but it's still scary. Cancer can be an unpredictable thing. Every day, every moment of my life, I don't know if I have decades of years left to live or if this is my final breath. Death stares me in the face..." she looked down, "I don't have too many friends, only my childhood ones. Ino, Hinata, Karin, they're some of my closest friends, and just the thought of them getting hurt because of my cancer...That's why I wish I could limit my relationships. But I guess you just couldn't stay away."

Sasuke chuckled, "of course not."

Just as they finished talking, they approached her house, "hey, Sakura, by the way. I wanted to know if you want to come visit my brother with me sometime this week. Maybe tomorrow. It'd be cool for you two to meet each other. I've kind of already told him a little bit about you and he thinks you're a cool person."

Sakura smiled and chuckled slightly, "yeah, sure. I'd love to meet him. Heh..."

Sasuke studied her place behind her, "are your parents home?"

She turned to look at him, "oh, no. They're on a business trip outside of the country."

He looked at her, concerned, "oh, uh, are you okay staying here on your own?" 

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry." Sakura smiled and turned to go. She stopped before turning once more and hugging Sasuke, "thank you. I'll see you tomorrow, then."

He smiled before holding out his coffee, "this is for you." She blinked a few times before he chuckled, "don't worry. I didn't drink from it. Besides, I made it for you. Forever Mocha, right?"

Sakura felt the same burning sensation in her face before she accepted the coffee, smiled up at him, and finally turned to leave, "thank you so much."

"Of course." He smiled and waited for her to safely get into her house before leaving and heading home. 

AML... She has terminal cancer. Sasuke pursed his lips. Sakura... Sasuke took a deep breath before forcing himself to smile.

She'll be alright. 

~~~

Written by xX_Fang_Xx