Sakura was in complete bliss. Her bedroom was perfectly dark except for the sliver of light escaping her digital clock showing 3 am. She was encompassed in a beautifully soft and warm duvet and was just sinking into a peaceful sleep. Her eyes were heavy and she felt herself creeping into her little dream world, a few more minutes and she could have a full nights sleep. After a fifteen hour shift in intensive care that sure sounded inviting. And her pillow was so damn soft…

BUZZ!

"No," she moaned to herself groggily.

BUZZ!

Her beeper vibrated against the hard wood of her night stand producing the most irritating sound. She grabbed the beeper and turned it off, resisting the urge to throw it against the wall. She let out a frustrated sob as she pulled her tired body out of her warm bed. The cold night air rippled against her and she felt goose pimples erect instantly all over her skin. She threw on her black linen trousers and a white t-shirt. She had absolutely no desire to wear her uncomfortable uniform and if that crabby head night nurse had a problem with her attire then she could go to hell for all Sakura cared. She pulled on her green Jounin vest to keep out the bitter cold she knew was waiting for her outside. She slid on her sandals and shuffled into the kitchen to knock up the world's fastest cup of coffee before rushing to the hospital. If she took longer than another few minutes to arrive then that stupid beeper would begin to vibrate like crazy. "Pedantic night nurse," Sakura thought to herself.

This had been the third time in a row she had had her sleep interrupted, she wouldn't have minded if they were actual emergencys but the majority of the time it was something the nurses could have handled with their hands tied behind their backs. Sakura sighed heavily and pour the boiling water into her travelling mug and grabbed a cookie from the jar on the side board before walking out of the kitchen towards the front door. She placed the cookie between her teeth, reached out and quickly turned the door handle. She opened it hastily only to collide with Naruto who was stood right before her, fist balled and poised to knock the door. He fell forward and bumped her abruptly, causing her cookie to fall from her mouth onto the dirty porch step. She watched it fall into a small puddle and glared at Naruto.

"Naruto!" She said with a growl. However he didn't give her a childish smile like she expected, instead his face was serious and anxious looking.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked in a concerned tone. It was a rare occasion that Naruto was serious and it was usually a just one. He stepped forward quickly, grabbed her arm and took her coffee from her hand.

"You need to come with me," he said placing the coffee down on the step. Sakura pulled her arm out of his grasp gently,

"I can't I'm on call. I've got to go to the hospital," she said as she turned to lock the door. He took the keys from her and looked it quickly; he grabbed her arm again and pulled her down the short pathway that lead round the back of her house onto the highstreet.

"I know," he said as he pulled her along quickly. "So am I," he said solemnly. Sakura starred into the back of his head with confusion but allowed him to pull her along through the gate. She shut it quickly and ran out into the high street to catch up with Naruto who had already bolted ahead. She ran along side him desperately trying to keep up, he was going insanely fast.

"Naruto what the heck is going on? Why are we in such a rush?" she asked with an obviously confused tone.

"We don't have much time," he said simply. He turned his face towards her, his azul eyes were cold for the first time in his life. She starred him right in the eyes and felt her stomach turn.

"Naruto you're scaring me. What's happened?" She asked with a slight waver in her voice. Naruto looked away and gazed straight down the road seeing the hospital come into view.

"Almost there," he said under his breath. He jumped ahead quickly and she bounded off after him like lightning. They made it to the hospital in a second flat and rushed into the Reception, Sakura ran up to the desk.

"Atsumi," she said addressing the dozing receptionist with her head lying on the desk. The girl woke with a start and looked up at Sakura.

"Oh Dr. Haruno," she said and she straightened out, obvious embarrassed to be caught out by her senior. Atsumi noticed the man stood behind Sakura and stood up immediately with a slight shock.

"Captain Uzumaki," she said quickly. "Tsunade-sama is waiting for you on the third floor." Her eyes were sad like Naruto's had been. Sakura looked between them and compared the looks of evident despair. Her stomach was so tied up in nots she couldn't even bring herself to ask what was happening. All curiosity was now overshadowed by suffocating fear and dread. Naruto grabbed Sakura's arm roughly and bolted towards the stairwell. They ran up the stairs two at a time in complete silence. Sakura started to feel nauseous as they passed the sign saying,

Third Floor – Intensive Care Unit.

They burst onto the corridor and Sakura looked around bewildered whilst Naruto stood behind her completely still. Sakura looked down the corridor to see someone stood outside the Head Nurse's Office; she walked down the corridor with haste and greeted the person with a bow.

"Tsunade-shishou," she said respectfully as she could given that her throat seemed to be closing up. She straightened out to see the hard look on her sensei's face, it made another wave of nausea hit her as panic set in. Naruto appeared behind her again and Sakura looked back at him,

"Where is Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura managed to croak out. Tsunade turned to open the office door and let Sakura and Naruto in before closing the door. Sakura walked through tentatively and looked into the office; a slouching man with unmistakable silver hair was sat in an armchair in front of a desk. He looked back at them and then stood up quickly. Sakura felt relief sweep over her, every bad thought running through her mind had been swept away, now all that she was left with was confusion.

"Tsunade-shishou I was beeped. Have I got a patient to attend to?" she asked.

"Not in so many words Sakura," Tsunade said morbidly as she sank down into the chair behind the desk. Sakura gave her sensei a pleading look as if to say more but Tsunade remained silent. Sakura turned to Kakashi in search of answers but he was as unreadable as her last source.

"We apprehended a rogue ninja on the outskirts of Konoha early this morning. He in the room opposite," Tsunade finally said. Sakura, still looking confused, walked around the desk to grab the clipboard in front of Tsunade. But it was snatched from her hands before she could even read the name, Naruto took it from the desk and walked towards the door.

"Come with me Sakura," he said as he opened the door for her. She gave her senseis a look of confusion and walked out of the office. Naruto gave them both a look of contempt before shutting the door. Sakura stood in the middle of the corridor playing with the end of a tendril of hair. She could feel her head spinning through the transition of emotions from fear and panic to relief and confusion.

"What's all the fuss about some rogue?" she asked in wonderment. Naruto didn't answer and walked straight across the narrow hall and opened this door for her again, motioning for her to enter first. She gave Naruto a look of misunderstanding but entered all the same, grabbing her stethoscope from her vest pocket. Naruto shut the door behind them; the only noise that escaped the room after that was the clatter of the metal stethoscope on the sterile hospital floor.

Sakura looked down on the patient lying down on the bed before her, wires and tubes protruding from every inch of his body. The visible skin, of which there was little, looked pale and marred with dried blood. Even his raven hair was matted with a red colour to it, blocking the ever so familiar blue tint it had had before. She watched his chest rise and fall rhythmically to the beeping of the machine next to him.

"Sas…uke…" she stammered quietly. She looked down at him and felt her chest tighten. Her whole body began to shake as she looked at his unconscious face, riddled with pain. She took a tentative step towards the cot and reached out for the side of the bed to stabilize herself. She stood over him and felt her eyes glass over, her breath hitched and her legs were about to give way. Naruto rushed to her side and caught her before her legs dropped underneath her, he held her to him so to keep her up right. He felt her tremble and he held her tighter.

"Wha…," she mumbled. "What happened to him?" she asked. Naruto sighed quietly,

"We don't know. ANBU found him collapsed in the outskirts of the city. He was completely unarmed and already wounded to this extent." Sakura felt her breath hitch again. "I was on the team Sakura," Naruto said to her softly. She looked up at him, her eyes sparkling with stubborn tears that refused to escape.

"He said he'd finally come home for good," Naruto said simply. But despite the "happy" news Sakura had a little red flag going up in the back of her mind. Naruto should be ecstatic but his expression said the complete opposite, his eyes were dead and his face was hard.

"There's something wrong," she said. She looked back down at Sasuke's horrific form. "There's something you're all not telling me," she stated. Naruto looked down at the floor and remained perfectly silent, answering Sakura's question instantly. She tore away from Naruto's hold and walked hastily over to the SAT's machine in the right hand corner of the room, next to Sasuke's bed. She grabbed the clipboard on the windowsill and read the readouts printed. He had been here for about two hours and his blood pressure and heart rate had been gradually reducing over that time. His platelets were ridiculously low and his white blood cell count was far below its threshold. Sakura walked over to the draw near the window and grabbed a syringe and a small vile of fluid. She prepared the antibiotics and antibody injection and walked back over to the bed side to administer the drugs into his drip but as she looked up she found he was not hooked up to one. The drip usually contained everything used to treat infections and restore things the body needed to recover but noone had set one up for him. A mistake like that was like breaking medical 101. She gave Naruto a questioning look but he gave her no answers yet again. She turned back and swabbed the only part of his arm that was not hooked up to a wire. She pressed the needle to his skin but before she could administer the drugs a weak hand was grabbing her wrist in resistance. She gasped at the sudden contact and looked down at him, his right hand was holding her hand steadfast as to not inject him. His eyes were cracked open so she could see his deep onyx eyes looking up at her, his face forming a slight smile underneath his oxygen mask. Sakura pulled her arm back and looked up at Naruto again.

"Go tell Tsunade he's conscious," she said firmly. Naruto did not move a muscle. Sakura regarded him for a small moment and then started to get angry at his obvious awkwardness.

"Naruto go tell her!" she yelled at him.

"She already knows," a croaky voice came from below her. Sakura looked back down at Sasuke who had pulled his mask away so he could speak. Silently and with a blank expression she moved the mask back down gently and went back to his forearm with the needle.

"Sakura," came a harsh and commanding voice from the doorway. Sakura snapped her head up to look at Tsunade stood ahead with Kakashi behind her. "You are not to administer any medication is that understood." Tsuande's face was as stern as her tone. Sakura was taken aback by the biting register of her voice and looked back at Kakashi. His stare was blank too, the lack of information given away by anyone was causing her to really loose it. Her brow furrowed and her hands clenched the metal bars on the side of the cot. She felt a rough but soft hand placed on top of her own; Sasuke's hand was on top of hers and was making slightly stroking motions. Sakura looked from their hands to his face; it was seemingly calm and contented with the slightest smile. Their eyes met, her almond shaped emeralds connected his piercing onyx eyes and it sent a shiver down her.

"Sakura," he managed to utter. His voice ripped her away from his eyes; she pulled her hand away from his and she slowly backed away from the bed.

"Sakura?" Naruto questioned. Her face was contorted with confusion. She looked from Sasuke to Naruto to Tsunade and Kakashi back to Sasuke. She looked up and her face was once again emotionless and stoic. She walked from her place in the far side of the room out towards the door, not looking at any of its occupants as she passed them. The door closed quietly behind her. After a small moment of delay Tsunade sighed quietly and walked over to the cot side as she looked down at Sasuke.

"I hope you know what you're doing?" she said.

"Hnn," Sasuke grunted in reply.

Thanks for reading. This is Chapter 1 of a short ficlet. Reviews are appreciated, with constructive criticism XD Love Kenners