DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN OR CREATE ANY OF THESE CHARATERS,

MASASHI KISHIMOTO DID (LUCKY BASTARD)

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Sakura stifled a yawn as she stretched her arms above her head trying to rid her body of the cramps she had accumulated from b lounging around all day and nearly all night at the registration desk at Konoha Village.

It had been an abnormally slow day today. Sakura had to admit that a slow day was a good day at any hospital, because that meant that no one was hurt or dying, but being cramped into that little cubicle for 13 hours drove her to the brink of insanity.

She was filling in for the girl who usually worked the night shift, Risa. Risa's sister was getting married however and she couldn't miss her sister's wedding. Sakura envied Risa's sister immensely.

Sakura was now 22 years old and found the single life dreary and depressing even for a shinobi. After literally dragging a certain sharringan user, Sasuke Uchiha, she found that she no longer pined after him like she did in the days of her youth.

She still loved him, he was her very first love and she would always love him deep down. However, she knew the stoic Uchiha had no feelings for Sakura and she had accepted it long ago.

As she sat at the desk she wondered what the Uchiha was doing. He's probably asleep right about now. It was well into the night. Sasuke, Sai, Shikamaru, Shino, Neji, Kiba and Genma had all gone on a mission a few weeks ago and were due back any day now.

Sakura's head snapped towards the door as she heard the doors being slammed so hard that the door handles slammed into the wall behind the door, leaving gaping holes in the plaster board wall. She held back a severe tongue lashing and a good smack in the face as she saw Shikamaru and Neji hold open the doors as Sasuke and shino carried Sai's motionless body into the lobby, Genma and Kiba trailing behind them.

"Sakura, what are you doing working the night shift…? Oh never mind forget it, tell us later. Sai needs Medical help immediately. He's….He suffered from a broken arm, 3 broken ribs, and a really nasty gash." Shikamaru said, his usually calm face was distorted with fear for his team mate.

"I tried my best to stop the bleeding, but I just couldn't get it to stop…It…It just keeps flowing…like a river." Kiba said frantically, his voice was shaky, as he took a deep breathe trying to control his anxiety.

Sakura didn't even take the time to walk fully around the counter; she jumped over it with ease as she took Sai from their hands and carried him towards a nearby couch with ease.

Sasuke looked towards his ex-team mate with awe. She just picked a grown man by herself and didn't even break a sweat while both he and shino had to struggle between the two of them.

Just Sakura's luck to have the other two girls who were doing the night shift with her to leave for break. She then ran as fast as she could to a nearby closet where the medicals supplies were kept and pulled out a black leather bag filled with medical supplies and rushed back. She was only gone a few seconds.

She then got on her knees and sat next to the couch where sai lay unconscious. There was no way she could go all the way I.C.U. to get a gernie and take him to all the way back there.

That would've taken too much time. Time Sai didn't have. He was so banged up that she doubted if she had the capability to actually save him all by herself with such rudimentary equipment. She wished her sensei Tsunade-sama was he to help her. "Stop that!" she scolded herself.

She had to stop doubting herself, she had to stop second guessing everything she did. She had to have faith in herself and faith in sai's will to live.

She had to admit that when she had first met sai he got under her skin and would've liked nothing more than send that jerk through a wall, but the more time they spent together the more she realized how much they had in common, she had even grown fond of him.

He was her friend and it was with his help that they brought back Sasuke. She owed him a lot. Now was her chance to redeem herself the cruel way she had treated him. She felt her eyes sting with the tears she fought back.

She then let instinct take over as she pulled out a kunai and slashed what remained of sai's jacket and his pants, she however found herself too bashful to take off his boxers, so she left them on.

Everyone stood behind her breathless, praying for their comrade's safety. The only sound that could be heard was Akamaru's panting, as kiba patted his head reassuringly.

Sakura cringed as she saw the infected gash on his stomach.

"How long ago did this happen?" Sakura asked, as she with quick, but delicate fingers smeared salve on the gash.

She had to rid it of infection before she could heal the skin.

"Yesterday afternoon, we were ambushed on our way home by rain village ninja. We were outnumbered and we got separated. When we regrouped later and sai wasn't there I used my Byuakagen to find him. When we finally did reach him he was badly banged up, so we've been traveling all night long to get it him help as quickly as possible." Neji explained.

"It's a good thing you guys did, because there's no way he would've made it through the night. Good Job. I know how tired you guys must be, so get some rest and I'll send for you when the situation turns for the best….or the worst." Sakura insisted. Genma snorted.

"Sakura how do you expect us to go home and sleep when Sai is so badly injured?! Sai's our comrade and we will not leave him when he needs us the most. There's no way I'd be able to sleep any way…I'll be up worrying about him all night either way, so I might as well worry here, by his side. " Genma said, loyally. Sakura knew that because Genma was team leader at the time it happened, he blamed it on himself.

Sasuke put his hand on his Genma's shoulder reassuringly. "You got him here alive and that's what really matters." Sasuke told him, being unusually kind to him. Genma gave him a rueful smile.

Sakura tuned them out concentrated on the task at hand. Sakura focused her chakra into right palm and using her chakra and realigned the fragile ribs and reconnected the tissue and muscle and bone.

She watched sai going into a coughing spasm and cough blood up all over himself.

'OH GOD, HIS LUNGS ARE FILLED WITH BLOOD! I'VE OT TO DRAIN THEM QUICKLY BEFORE HE SUFFOCATES!' She thought to herself frantically.

She took a scalpel and made a small incision in his chest, piercing his left lung.

'LIVE SAI LIVE! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD SAI YOU'VE GOT TO PULL THROUGH!'

Tears slipped unnoticed down her cheeks. She watched as blood gushed forward.

Once she was sure all the blood had pumped out, she healed the incision she had made and then she turned her attention to his broken right arm.

She held his arm with her left arm and with her right arm, she snapped it back into place.

Sakura's heart raced as Sai let out a blood retching scream filled the lobby.

She watched as he started to settle down, the worst over.

He was panting really badly, but other than that he had stop screaming. Sakura let a sigh escape her lips.

'He going to be ok…All that's left is that gash on his abdomen and a few scratches.'

After she double check all his wounds to make sure the salve had taken affect so that he wouldn't get infected.

Once that was done, she focused her chakra into her palm again and began to reassess all his wounds were healed and smiled with relief as sai's painful expression changed to a peaceful one.

She hastily wiped her tears on the back of her chakra glove before anyone could see her.

Sakura rose to her feet and turned back to the crowd behind her, that were all now sitting in chairs.

All of them looked up at her, fearing the worse. Sakura smiled at them and announced.

"He's going to be alright! He's stable now, all he needs is rest and medicine and he'll be up and about in a few days." Sakura said as she watched everyone smile with relief, even the stoic pair Sasuke and Neji, Akamaru even barked and waged his tail.

Sakura's cheeks tinged pink as Kiba actually ran up to Sakura and hugged her in his delight. "Thank God for Sakura!" he said ecstatically, he declared before finally letting Sakura go.

"Good job Sakura. I'm going to report Lady Tsunade the good news." Shikamaru said, as he put his hand on her shoulder, before leaving.

"The Hidden Leaf is indeed fortunate to have Sakura amongst us. I'll leave Sai in your capable hands. I never had a chance to tell Tsunade-sama I was back." Genma said, smiling at her, before he too left.

Shino mumbled something along the lines of "Good Job and goodnight." Sakura wasn't entirely sure, she could barely hear him through that turtleneck jacket of his. Kiba and Akamaru left followed after shino.

Neji looked at Sakura and actually smirked. "I knew you could do it, Haruno. Sai and I aren't especially close, but he is my comrade. You saved my comrade's life and I am in your debt." Neji said, as he bowed his head at her.

"I was just doing my job." She mumbled, her cheeks flushed.

"Well you do your job well. " Neji retorted as he walked out the door.

Sasuke stood there a while just staring at her.

"Sasuke-kun, I've got things here, you can go get some sleep." Sakura told him, smiling at him.

"Ya know Sakura….your pretty amazing." Sasuke said as he looked at her with a smirk on his face. Sakura looked up at him.

'Was Sasuke Uchiha flirting with her? No, there was no way. She must be day dreaming.'

"I'm sorry Sasuke-kun what was that?" she asked, she must've heard him wrong.

"I said you're amazing Sakura. You've changed so much. I knew you could heal, but I didn't know the concentration and precise chakra control it took. It's kind of funny because we used to make fun of you because of how weak you were, and in the end you're the most physically strong Shinobi in the world, second only to Tsunade. Even Choji can't compete with your raw strength."

Sakura looked up at him dumbfounded. "Sasuke-kun…" was all she could mutter.

"You're not the annoying little girl you used to be, you've grown into a beautiful young woman. Sakura I need you."

Sasuke closed the space between them and tenderly wrapped his arms around her and held her close, his chin resting on her head.

Sakura felt so elated. How many years had she waited to hear those words. All her childhood memories had coming back to her, how she had loved him and stayed loyally by his side no matter how badly he treated her. All the names he called her and cruel way he treated her.

"Sasuke-kun I…" Sakura started.

"Sakura I need you…" he repeated. "I can't restore my clan without you, sakura."

Sakura felt her heart breaking all over again, just like the day he had left, and the day he had come back and had rejected her love.

'I knew it was too good to be true.' Sakura thought to herself bitterly.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Sakura screamed enraged, as she shoved him away from her.

"Sakura I need you…" he said, his voice agitated.

"SASUKE I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU! YOU DON'T LOVE ME, ALL YOU CARE ABOUT IS THAT STUPID CLAN OF YOURS! I SHOULDV'E GUESSED WHEN YOU SAID 'I NEED YOU' NOT 'I LOVE YOU' I'M SUCH A FOOL! I CAN'T BELIEVE I ALMOST FELL FOR IT!" Sakura screamed, at him.

Sasuke looked at her an angry look on his face. "I thought this is what you wanted. You've been following me around like a lost puppy for years talking about how much you love me. I could give you anything you want, we'll live in the Uchiha Estate and you can leave that shoebox sized apartment you have. You can have anything you want, I'll buy you anything."

"I KNOW YOUR NOT BRIBING ME SASUKE! YOU CAN'T BUY LOVE YOU ASS WHOLE. YOU PROBABLY DON'T KNOW WHAT LOVE IS!"

"Sakura…I love you." He said, stoically.

"THE AUDACITY! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR YOUR LIES ANYMORE. LEAVE! NOW!" she screamed, jabbing a finger in the direction of the door.

"I'm not going anywhere until we sort this out." He said, gritting his teeth.

"SASUKE THIS CONVERSATION IS OVER. IF YOU DON'T LEAVE RIGHT NOW THEN I'LL MAKE YOU LEAVE." She said menacingly.

"Sharrin-" Sasuke was about to use his sharringan to make her obey, but before he could say anything, Sakura grabbed him by the color of his shirt and tossed him such force that he actually went through the wall into the street outside.

"AND STAY OUT. "She screamed out at him, she was o upset she was actually panting from the rage.

A elderly woman in her mid forties came walking into the room through the hole in the wall, a younger woman who looked Sakura's age was by her side, they both had coffee's in their hands.

The elderly woman looked at the wall with the hole in it and sighed. "Again Sakura? You know the drill, the repair costs are going to be taken out of your paycheck." She said.

"Yes Wikumi-sama." Sakura said, to the hospital director as she took a deep breath to calm herself, and walked over to Sai and picked him up in her arms and carried him up a flight of stairs.

He was in good enough shape to be moved now.

Sakura too engrossed in her thoughts, not paying attention, accidentally hit Sai's head on the door frame, trying to get him to the patient's room.

"Sakura, watch where you're going. I have enough problems as it is without a concussion."

Sakura taken aback by this mystery voice looked down and saw Sai looking up at her smiling his usual fake smile.

"Sai?! How long have you been conscious?"

"Hmm…about the time they dragged me through the front gates of Konoha."

'Oh Shit…' Sakura thought as she laid sai down on a hospital bed.

"Did you hear…."

"Yup"

"….."

"Sakura?"

"What?"

"You have a hell of a right hook."

"Thanks Sai"

I HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOYED IT, BY ALL MEANS COMMENT AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK