There were only a few things in the world that Naruto really cherished, and having grown up on his own as an orphan, they tended to be more... sentimental ideas, rather than material objects.
The exception to that being his Ichiraku coupons, of course.
Other than the coupons, which he always seemed to have in his pocket in never ending supply, he valued things like... That feeling he got when he mastered a jutsu. The way the villagers looked at him now. His friends and companions. The family he had created for himself in the lack of a blood one.
But most of all, he cherished a smile.
It wasn't his own smile, no—well, not the one on his face. He did like to think of it as his smile in private, though. And he was willing to do most anything just to see it.
Today, 'most anything' meant knowing just what was needed.
It had become his tendency to visit the hospital on a daily basis when there were no missions to be completed or tasks finished. Though most of the time it was just to socialize and linger, he had proved himself to be a ready hand if need be—he was able to supplement healers' chakra with his own, and had a knack for cheering up those sentenced to their beds or in recovery, often times extending it out to assuage the worries of both patients and families with his goofy charm. He was normally a welcome sight.
But today, he could feel the energy was off as he walked in through the large doors. The first floor, where basic examinations and check-ups were performed, had an eerie quiet about it—as thought there was a fear of disturbing the peace.
Which probably meant the ruler of the realm was in a mood.
He raised a questioning brow to the receptionist, Teyumi, and she waved him over to her desk.
"She came in pretty late—something about not sleeping well. And I'm pretty sure she forgot to have breakfast and coffee before coming in," she whispered to him, hunched over the sign-in sheets in front of her to close the distance, and hopefully avoid summoning the beast.
"Aaaaand she hates the coffee in the lounge so it'd just make her more angry," Naruto whispered back, drumming his fingers against the desk very lightly. Teyumi nodded, and went back to shuffling through his paperwork, only glancing up to watch the back of the blonde move back out the hospital entrance with a faint smile. He was an odd one, that was for sure...
To say she was off to a bad morning would have been one of the largest understatements known to mankind. With a combination of a late night due to consoling a certain female blonde friend after a recent breakup, waking up ten minutes before she usually left for work, and a lack of food and coffee, her mood was indubitably awful.
Her stiff movements and short replies to those around her made it blaringly obvious, and she wasn't surprised that no one had spoken to her so far today unless absolutely necessary. Ten o'clock rolled around, and between her appointments she found the time to take off for a quick break. Heading towards the lounge, she practically growled at a male nurse who bumped into her, effectively scaring him away and clearing the path to the door in one move.
Although she hated the hospital coffee with a seething passion, she could see no alternative. The room was empty when she entered, and her eyes immediately went to the coffee pot with a glare...
Only to be distracted by an arrangement of sorts on the counter to its left, a paper folded in half in front of it with her name written in a scrawl she knew. Her brow furrowed, but she stepped closer. Steam was rising from a thermos, and the smell rising from it she identified as her favourite coffee blend. On a plate next to it was a fresh bagel with a few packaged packs of cream cheese, and a small bowl of fruit—altogether, one of her typical breakfasts. Gratitude and relief filled her as she reached for the paper, unfolding it to see the note written on the flip side.
"Sakura-chan,
Teyumi-san told me you didn't eat breakfast, so I brought you some. I hope it's good enough!
-Naruto"
By the time she was done reading, a grin had broken across her face.