A/N: This was actually a commission I got done back in 2011, and I just now found it now by accident, so I thought I'd post it. If you happen to be the original author, let me know, and I'll gladly take it down.
It wasn't even supposed to have been a dangerous mission. Gather some intelligence, keep your distance, report back. A recon mission. And while Naruto had been a bit annoyed by the lack of danger, that addictive opportunity for the boy to prove himself, Sakura could tell he'd been excited. Maybe too excited.
He'd been on his way back, is what they'd said. Him and his team, details catalogued and ready for use in the upcoming attack, heading home. No injuries or fatalities to mark. Of course, she hadn't been expecting any. Nobody had been expecting anything like this.
To say it was a trap would be an understatement. Whether it had been a tip or warning by a rumored source, a mole leaking information of their plans, they'd been waiting for him. And despite their obvious being outnumbered, Naruto had fought. Because Naruto always fought. Sakura cringed as she placed a fresh glass of water next to Naruto's hospital bed. Naruto didn't know how not to fight.
In retrospect, his injuries could have been much worse. The last time she changed his bandages, there had been hardly any blood still trying to seep from the deepest wounds, all the others remedied and closed, thanks in large part to his quick and efficient arrival at the hospital. And, though she'd never admit it, the amount of time she'd spent healing him in the first few hours of his admittance might have been overkill. But Sakura couldn't help herself. She'd acted without thinking, the look of him making her hands work without her common sense, her body taking a surprising toll in her vigor, her desperation to help.
Taking care to be extra quiet—Naruto had woken up not long after being brought in, giving her grief about making him stay until late into the night when his obvious exhaustion finally knocked him back out—Sakura lowered herself into the chair by his bed.
"Idiot." She whispered, running her fingers absently through her bangs as she let out a sigh. "You knew they were there, didn't you?" She glanced at him, his sleeping form peaceful in a way that Naruto never looked in his waking life. She closed her eyes. "You told everyone else to leave, made sure they delivered the information as planned… But you stayed behind?" She clenched her teeth, the same anger she'd felt when she found out what he'd done the day before, muted only by the initial fear, the look of blood dripping off of limp fingertips, a head of spiky blond hair poking sharply out of crimson soaked, haphazardly wrapped bandages… The memory alone was enough to get her heart stuttering against her ribcage again. "What did you tell them?" She asked through clenched teeth, her voice low out of reflex in the echoing silence of the otherwise empty room. "Did you say you were right behind them? Or did you put up a fight… Play the hero like some… Some idiot…?" Another sigh escaped her and she allowed herself to sink back into the chair, exasperated. "You… You idiot."
"Would you quit calling me that?" The sound was hoarse, a chuckle barely hidden underneath the annoyance in his tone, but it was enough to make Sakura jolt upright in her chair, surprised and more than a little embarrassed.
A silence lingered, not awkward exactly, but tense. Like both of them were waiting for the other to speak, while neither of them wished to say anything at all, clinging to the familiar quiet while trying at the same time to push it away. Sakura frowned, her anger at him settled, but not gone.
"You should be sleeping," She said, getting to her feet, making it plain as she ran through the standard medical checklist that she was on her way out. She let that knowledge hang there, omnipresent, as she checked his pulse. It was a little low. So, she leveled her steady, able hands over his body, palms of barely trembling fingers—noticeable only to a focused shinobi—hovering centimeter from his partially bandaged, but otherwise bare chest. Her eyes closed, her own energy feeling the ebb and flow of chakra in his system, weak but not damaged. It had been a purely physical attack, thank god. Nothing that natural healing and some much needed rest wouldn't cure. She leaned in closer, head bowed involuntarily, hands settling on too hot skin. She listened to the soundless rush of his chakra, felt it swirl from his head to his heart and back, links of interconnected energy spanning throughout him. It always amazed her at how powerful he was. Powerful and foolish.
"That tickles, you know?" He chuckled breathily, and she could feel the movement underneath her hands, a reminder of where she was, what she was doing. What she was supposed to be doing. She removed her hands at once, so sudden that the touch of warm skin still lingered on her fingertips. She cleared her throat.
"I'm sure it does." She rolled her eyes, grabbing the chart off of the end of his bed. She'd finish marking off the check list outside, where it was much less emotionally congested. She turned towards the door.
"Sakura, wait." She heard the sound of the sheets rustling as he sat up, the automatic reaction to keep her patient from hurting himself overriding her need to leave. She turned around and walked back over to his bed, placing a firm, but hesitant hand on his shoulder, pushing him back into the pillow. He smirked at her, but did as instructed, laying himself back down. The silence returned, softer this time, but still overwhelming. Until finally, Naruto looked up at the ceiling, resigned. "I didn't have a choice. Not really."
"You could have left," She said without thinking. "You could have left with everyone else."
"Not without everyone being attacked. It was just safer that way." He shrugged.
"For everyone, but you." She glared, the look violent even in the darkened room. "Just, go to sleep. You need it." She turned on her heel, ready to leave, but a hand at her wrist spun her back into place, Naruto sitting up again, eyes pleading.
"No, wait." He said again, looking away, but not letting go of her hand. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you."
She rolled her eyes, very aware of the feel of his hand, warm and calloused, around her wrist. "You didn't, so just–"
She was cut off by the abrupt feeling of being pulled towards the bed. And then more so by the sudden feel of soft, warm lips against her own. She froze, eyes wide, heart hammering against her chest as a blush rose up to her cheeks. When he pulled away, she could still taste him, could still feel that subtle pressure of his closeness, her lips tingling. She touched her fingers to her mouth without thinking.
"I'm sorry, really." He said again, adding with a smirk that made her blush grow deeper, her chest tightening. "Thanks for taking care of me, Sakura-chan." He let go of her wrist, laying back down. "I'm sure you're getting tired of it by now."
Her head was still swimming, the kiss so present in her mind that she could barely answer. Still, she managed a mumbled, "Yeah. A little." She cleared her throat. "Just stop getting your ass kicked."
"Hey! I don't–" Naruto started to argue, but she interrupted.
"And stop being an idiot. You're no good to me dead." She felt her heart race as she said it. Acting before she could stop herself, she leaned down and placed a chaste, awkward, but tender kiss on his lips, the moment gone too quickly and replaced by more blushing and hesitant chuckles. Naruto smiled, and she smiled back. She couldn't help it. He was alive after all. But still an idiot.
She hit him on the side of the head, ignoring his surprised yelp of pain as she turned back towards the door. "Go to sleep, Naruto." She looked over her shoulder with a smirk. "I'll come and check on you in the morning."