Summary: Even when she was pulling ahead, they pulled her back behind. She would always be weak. Two-shot / Non-massacre

Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto, ofc. :)

Please enjoy my random thoughts.


Sakura sat exhausted, drained of chakra from a four hour surgery that hit close to the heart. At three twenty-one in the morning, ANBU Uchiha Sasuke was carried in by his blonde best friend with a gash across his stomach and an arm that could only be described as attached by a single tendon holding it together.

A similarly injured, but not as fatal, Naruto was bellowing behind, fearing for the well-being of his best friend. Thankfully, a concerned Kakashi was able to hold-back the raging ninja.

A sleeping Sakura was tucked-in her bed that night, left behind on a mission they silently refused to have her on. She would be lying if she was not a little upset that they requested that the mission be altered for only a three-man-cell, but these were the same men who always insisted on moving ahead without looking behind.

Naruto left for two years with Jiriya and Sasuke with Kakashi, they would always be the strongest ninja in Konoha. Sakura was simply the girl that was lucky enough to be chosen on their Genin team. Naruto would always be like a best friend to her, but this inner-feeling of being left behind would never be something Sakura would share with him. It was not her place.

And so began her training with Tsunade-sama, the slug princess who was named Hokage after Namikaze Minato. When her two teammates returned, powerful, but Genin, she was already a Chūnin and ready to show the two her worth.

But they still held her behind.

Now, Team Seven were all members of ANBU, but it was rare to see all of them reunited and on the same team. They always had weak excuses, but that was exactly how they still viewed her, weak.

It was only when she first joined ANBU Captain Itachi's team on a mission that she realized that she never really needed the approval of others to be considered strong. She was finally in a place where she could accept her power-levels and love herself for her.

Or at least she was working towards it.

Her team of newly trained medic-nins could in no way handle the high-level of Sasuke's injuries and came clamoring to Sakura in the middle of the night. Sakura's groggy attitude that usually came coupled with being woken up in the early morning was replaced by a sudden determination and adrenaline.

Her ebony-haired teammate was stabilized and laid across the hospital bed, unconscious and undoubtedly spending several nights in her second-home. They were only an hour into the vital first twenty-four hours and Sakura felt a large migraine incoming.

At around nine in the morning, Shizune tiptoed her way into the room, sensing Sakura's irritability levels and hoping not to spike it any higher as the pink-haired woman sat on the chair across from Sasuke. Spending two hours sitting in the hospital without any reprieve from the same room, Sakura was almost driven fully insane, her medical texts being her only sense of reprieve.

"I brought burritos." Shizune offered sheepishly.

"Thanks." Sakura looked up from her book, Shizune noting it was rather large and she seemed to already be halfway through.

"You should've heard Kenji talk about you in the break-room." Shizune teased, "'Haruno-senpai was able to piece that Uchiha's ribs bone by bone, without breaking a sweat.' I love her so much." She clasped her hands together and imitated his swooning.

"He's over-exaggerating."

"You know that's not true." Shizune countered.

Instead of giving into the older woman's teasing, Sakura suddenly tensed and was staring at Sasuke's prone form. It was then that both women noticed.

His breathe hitched.

In an instant, Sakura was barking out orders and Shizune was following the doctor to the room designated for surgery. How this had escaped her tests and constant scrutiny, Sakura could not wonder. However, the problem was present now and had to be eliminated immediately.

Another three hours of ripping him open, undoing a lot of her previous work, and finding the obstructing piece had Sakura beyond drained. What she was experiencing this morning was nothing compared to the lethargy and true fatigue she was enduring now.

The obstructing item was designed to expand overtime, so there was literally no way for her detect it in his system without tearing open his stomach and looking for something she had know idea to look for.

Sasuke getting rushed back into intensive care did not go ignored by the ongoing gossip that circulated the hospital, and this news reached the ears of a certain Uchiha Itachi quicker than possible.

The moment Sasuke was back into the recovery unit, the Uchiha heir was looming over the occupant with the rest of his immediate family with him.

Sakura's interactions with Itachi and his family can mostly be categorized as professional. Mikoto was the politest of the bunch, proving one's manners were not reflective on the parents. The Uchiha matriarch was kind and almost always offered Sakura dinner whenever training ran longer than usual. Fugaku was indifferent to her, offering greetings only when considered necessary.

Itachi could be both ends of the spectrum, in a single day. Over the course of their last mission together, an over-exuberant missing-nin threw a plethora of knives that would be easy to dodge if it weren't for their pretentious charge that refused to be carried. The one they were trying to escort was worse than dead-weight and ran into the wide open for anyone to attack. With no other choice, Sakura jumped in front of their charge and then quickly relieved the missing-nin of his life.

It was then that Sakura knew that Itachi cared. Once the mission was safely over and the team was retiring in the safety of a hotel within Fire Country's borders, Itachi knocked on the door to her joint-room.

Upon opening the door, he did not waste a beat, "You were irresponsible."

"Excuse me?" Sakura had to stop herself from slamming it back closed.

"You let yourself be injured." Itachi continued, "As the team's designated medic-nin you are supposed to stay behind and heal our injuries if necessary."

"I did what was necessary to protect the man we were escorting."

"That is not your job."

"If someone is in danger then it is my job to step in."

"If this is doing your job," He motioned to the newly health gash on her stomach, eyes dilating with slight anger, "then it is severely flawed."

The statement and his entire reaction caught Sakura offguard. It was a simply injury, one that would not take much to heal and the both of them knew that. He was taking this entirely out of proportion, and that was when Sakura fully realized what was happening. A small reaction for Itachi, the Uchiha prodigy who was known for repressed emotions, was equivalent to another much larger one. "I-"

"Do not challenge my authority." Itachi warned, interrupting the pink-haired girl before she could continue, "If I have to request a different medic, I will not hesitate to do so."

This Pyrrhic victory was not entirely worth it, in Sakura's later musing. Sure he had admitted to caring and having feelings with some emotion, but he had completely disregarded her skill-level and had the looming warning that he would no longer request her. This was the last time the two interacted and Itachi had the exact same visage to the one that he had while reprimanding her.

"Are you proud of yourself, as a kunoichi?" Fugaku asked from his place, seated across from Sasuke in a common hospital chair. Sakura and Shizune stood, chins held high are ready to be scrutinized under the eyes of each Uchiha in the room. Mikoto glanced at the two briefly before avoiding her gave to sate at her unconscious son. Itachi held a stare with Sakura before he turned to gaze out the window.

"Is that the way you speak to the woman who saved your son?" Shizune boldly asked, to break the enduring silence.

"I am not addressing you." Fugaku never faltered in his gaze on Sakura. The girl in question knew without a show of a doubt that the man was exacting judgement simply based off her appearance. And by her unusually colored hair and childlike height, Sakura knew he was already underestimating her. "However, if this is what you call healing, then this hospital must be lacking acceptable medic-nins."

Sakura attempted to handle the situation, "I am sorry for my error, however you can see that I have—"

"Please do not continue, Sakura-san." Fugaku waved away her words and stood up, perking everyone's attention, "It had come to my attention that you are the kunoichi that leads this hospital. Placing Sasuke under your jurisdiction for surgery seemed like the most advantageous because of his injured state. However, you have failed."

Shizune sucked in a heavy breathe and raised a finger, ready to intervene. But the look Itachi was shooting both medic-nins stopped them entirely. Itachi was the first person not to take Sakura's skill level for granted, inviting her on mission with his ANBU team, the most prominent team in the entire village. And yet, his disappointed face was enough to wipe away Sakura's confidence.

"It seems as though the apprentice to the acclaimed Hokage needs to be retrained." Fugaku paused, ready to keep reprimanding. However, it was then that Sakura intervened.

"I am sorry for being inadequate for your family." Sakura stated calmly, bowing in apology and then walking over to grab Sasuke's file off the counter and hand it over to Shizune. "Sasuke will no longer be under my care."

Glossy eyes and sniffling away, Sakura rubbed her nose before exiting the room. Shizune was gaping at her friend, known for her punches and muscles. It was then that the woman realized the file was now in her hands, leading to her being under the wrath of a certain Uchiha.

"If you think I'm taking this after that display," Shizune emphasized, "You thought wrong." Promptly walking out of the room with the folder, she handed it to a woman she knew was a Sasuke-fangirl, and yes, she was one of the medic-nins in training under Sakura.

Fuck the Uchiha's, Sakura thought as she wiped away her silent tears.