Hello everyone! This is my first NS fanfic ever. I wrote this for the NaruSaku Exchange event on Tumblr, for hinata-hinta. I Hope you all enjoy the story and have a happy holiday. Special thanks to my friend John Smith, who's an awesome author here on FF, who proofread and helped me edit.


Staring up at the hospital, Naruto looked towards the window to where he was supposed to go. The sun shone down on him, causing his blonde hair to illuminate. Feeling cold, Naruto snapped out of his daze and headed into the building. His nose felt on fire, as he transitioned to the warmth; however, it was a pleasant transition. Various patients of the hospital smiled and greeted him. People even tried to stop him and chat. Grinning, Naruto waved his bandaged hand in greetings and made his way to his assigned room.

It had been a year since the war and most of the village had been repaired. However, many people were still in healing, including him. Naruto had gone on a few missions here and there since the war had ended, but the missions were over little things, such to his dismay. He always looked forward to his hospital appointments, even though it was out of character for him. There is a special reason why.

Reaching the door to his assigned room, he looked up at the name of the doctor and a grin spread across his face. Leaning inwards, he turned the knob and opened the door, being greeted by a lovely sight.

"Hi, Sakura-chan!" With enthusiasm, Naruto greeted his doctor.

Looking up from her desk, she grinned at Naruto. She noticed his nose was slightly red from the cold and wanted him to hurry up and come in.

"Hey, Naruto. You're on time….surprisingly." Smiling at him, she gestured to a stool next to her.

Laughing, Naruto came over next to her and sat down. "Of course I'd be on time!"

Shrugging, Sakura looked at him and thought to herself "Normally, you're late….baka"

"Okay Naruto, take off the jacket and hold out your arm." Sakura instructed him.

Watching him take off the jacket, she noticed he had a little difficultly. It was a black jacket with orange sleeves; he had bought it recently. What she noticed shocked her.

"Is he going through another growth spurt again? Holy cow, how much more will he grow? He just got that months ago!" Thinking to herself in disbelief, Sakura shook her head.

Naruto had gotten the jacket off and sat down. Noticing Sakura staring off into space with her brows furrowed, he waved his bandaged hand in front of her.

"Uhhh, earth to Sakura." He said in a low tone, trying to get her attention.

Snapping back into focus, she looked at his hand and grabbed it; using force, she made him flinch.

"Ow! Watch it, I'm your patient." Whining out, he flashed his cheeky grin at her.

"Oh don't be a baby, get over it." She retorted.

Naruto has been going to Sakura for about a year now as her patient. He needed physical therapy on his new prosthetic arm and she was Tsunade's student who knew her master well. So she was plenty qualified to be his doctor. However, Sasuke denied the arm they wanted to make him. To him, losing an arm was a badge and a reminder to him of what had happened. Naruto just took it as to each their own. He was glad his friend was in the village with his team; however they came and went because of missions. His friend was determined to make up for all his past mistakes.

Looking over his arm, she asked him to do various things with it.

"Stretch out your fingers." Watching him do it without delay, she was surprised. Since he had gotten his arm, he had come a long way and was beginning to use it efficiently. Most of the other patients that needed prosthetics were nowhere near his capability yet.

"Now, I want you to throw this kunai at the target I put up over there." Motioning towards the wall adjacent to the window as she handed him the weapon, Sakura's voice held skepticism that he would make the mark.

"Right!" Naruto responded with confidence as he furrowed his brows.

Sakura watched his arm carefully as it made a fluid motion and his wrist gave a quick flick. A sharp thud sounded as the kunai dug into the marked wall. Staring at him in shock, she was quite amazed. Most of her patients still struggled with moving their replacements with ease. Even Guy-sensei could barely walk on his prosthetic leg still.

"Jeeze, Naruto. I can't believe you're already progressing this far. I guess it's because of your healing capabilities. Soon, you won't even need physical therapy" She explained in a disbelief voice.

After hearing this, Naruto's stomach dropped. He had always looked forward to his appointments and had felt that the two of them had gotten rather close.

Seeing the disheartened look on his face, Sakura looked at him and asked "What's wrong with you? I thought you would be happy to hear that."

Regaining his composure, he replied "Oh, I'm happy. I just…I always look forward to seeing you. You know?

Sighing, Sakura rolled her eyes and karate chopped his forehead lightly. Flinching, Naruto expected a sharp pain, only to be surprised.

"You'll still see me, baka." Her voice resonated in his ears.

Laughing, Sakura felt glad deep down inside. During the last year, she had begun to enjoy their sessions as well. The sessions were an hour and a half long, but he came about four times a week. She grew to learn many things about him. During the first few sessions, she had wondered on how he felt and was quite surprised that he was good at dealing with his emotions compared to before.

Remembering back, she used to look down on him and thought he was lucky that he didn't have parents. However, when she saw his final goodbye to his father, it made her heart ache for him. She never realized what he had missed out on and to pass time she would ask questions about his parents and his life. Snapping back to the present, she glanced over at her patient.

Mumbling, Naruto sat there following her orders to throw things, catch things, and different locomotive skills. He knew he would see her still, but he liked having alone time with her. As he followed her commands, his eyes gazed over her. When she did her job, she was very passionate about it and her green eyes lit up. Since she kept her hair up while she worked, her forehead was exposed, and was even accented by her side bangs. Sometimes he wanted to kiss it, but he knew her feelings were with Sasuke.

Sitting there thinking about his feelings, his face became red and he shook his head side to side, violently. Taking notice of it, Sakura had asked him to sit still.

"Okay, well as far as being to move it goes, you're pretty much good. However, have you been able to use chakra effectively with it yet?" Looking into his eyes, she waited for his response, knowing he probably tried performing ninjustus outside of their sessions.

"Uhh…..Well…I still struggle with getting the chakra channels to work." Looking away, he mumbled in embarrassment. It sucked not being able to do the rasengan with it and not being able to blend chakra with it, only reminded him of his childhood struggles.

Not feeling surprised by that fact, Sakura's voice perked upwards. "I'm thinking that's what we need to start focusing on, here in our sessions."

Nodding, Naruto agreed and they began to work. Throughout the entire session, he felt flustered and frustrated. Deciding he was going to attempt the rasengan, he tried his hardest to blend the chakra and control it. This ended up with him being thrown across the room.

"Are you okay, Naruto?" She asked him as she watched him get up from the ground, being thankful he didn't hit anything.

Shrugging it off, he stared fiercely at the ground and wanted to avoid making eye contact. He wanted to show her his cool side, but he felt like he completely failed at that. However, she was still impressed by his progress, none the less.

"Alright, I think we're done here for today. I rather not have you damage the arm." Directing him, she motioned for him to rest.

Feeling aggravated, he complied because he wasn't about to be murdered today and he knew that would happen if he defied Sakura. "Okay..." Naruto replied in a heavy voice.

Once the appointment was over, Naruto struggled to put his jacket back on and stood up. Moaning, he didn't want to go back out in the cold, as the snow started falling. Sakura stood up next to him and looked out the window. The sight of a thin white blanket spreading over the village amazed her, as she found the snow quite beautiful. Next to her, instead of admiring the snow, Naruto was gazing at her face. Looking away from the window she turned to him and he snapped his head towards the window, hoping not to get caught.

Eying him, what she had noticed earlier was really true. Naruto was definitely going through another growth spurt, as the jacket was noticeably tighter and his wrists hung out from the sleeves.

"Would you stop growing already? Sheesh, you're like a head taller than me now!" Sakura sighed out in exasperation.

Feeling taken aback, Naruto just looked at her. To him, she looked even shorter and he compared their heights. He hadn't even noticed that he had gotten taller, as he had other things on his mind lately. Leaning back, he rubbed his head and smiled as he wasn't quite sure what to say. "Uh, I guess I am still getting taller."

Crossing her arms, she began to playfully pout. "I remember when you used to be a lot shorter than me, but now you're taller than half the people I know."

Hearing these comments gave him a confidence boost, since he used to have a complex over his height. Being cut off from his thoughts, Sakura looked at the time and gasped.

"Oh geeze, I'm supposed to be with another patient right now! I'll see you later, okay?" In a hurry, she was trying to shoo him out. She felt bad, but as he walked out of the room, she eyed him over. Noticing what she was doing, she shook her head and felt embarrassed as she waited for her next patient.