Sakura-chan's Homemade Meals


3. Chicken Broth


It was a universally known fact that Uzumaki Naruto was the strongest Ninja alive in the whole shinobi world. The legends all but portrayed him as invincible. It was close to the truth enough anyway. Lesser ninjas could only marvel at the sheer level of stamina he possessed. There wasn't a single shinobi in the whole world who could match him in that area. On top of that, considering his own skills, there wasn't a lot of shinobi who could even lay a finger on him (unless he allowed it). And with the recuperative power that the Kyuubi chakra bestowed upon him, he was practically immune to everything.

Except food poisoning, apparently...

It was one Sunday morning when Naruto was rushed in by a stoically alarmed Sai, who methodically listed the food Naruto consumed last night at the boy's get-together hosted by Sai. And to summarize the disastrous event in one sentence, in his determined (bordering on desperate) attempt to be a gracious host, Sai had managed to overfeed the blonde ninja to whom self-restraint was an alien concept, and thus the current predicament.

Sakura wasn't sure if she should feel angry or sorry for them. Probably both (with a little touch of condescension, seriously, why were boys always like this?).


After making sure Naruto was admitted and properly taken care of, it took her two more hours to convince Sai that his friend would be fine in due time, and that his social standing (if he had any before) had not been too adversely impacted by this unfortunate (but expected) accident and then sent him off on his way. Then, retreating to her office, she slumped in her chair tiredly before noticing that someone had followed her inside.

"Long night, Forehead?" Ino unceremoniously dropped a large pile of documents on her desk. "You had the night shift last night, yeah?"

Sakura nodded, her eyes still closed. "Yeah, my shift officially ended an hour ago, but I stayed to get Naruto admitted for food-poisoning."

"Then go home already!" Ino towered over her chair and hauled her best friend out of it. She took a look at the roster hanging on the wall and said, "Go get some rest now. You'll end up here again by the end of the night anyway."

Without further ado, she made a grab at Sakura's bag, pushed it into her hand, and ushered her out of the hospital promptly.

In the cold winter air, Sakura was once again thankful that her place was so close to the hospital. A walk of no more than ten minutes, with everything she needed on the way home. A slew of restaurants, shops, and even fresh food market made this area the most convenient place she could have picked. (Granted, she had to pay higher rent, but considering her pay grade, it would hardly bankrupt her anytime soon.)

With her thoughts turning to fresh food, she took a turn into the fresh food market. Her own fridge at home was nearly depleted and it was nigh time for restocking. Unthinkingly, she made her routine through the market as was her custom, until a sign caught her attention.

Special price for whole chicken today! Freshest in the market!

It was a typical thing to see in the market, of course, but something made Sakura stopped. A spark, an idea, entered her mind as she stood there watching the shop-owner calling to passerby, hoping to attract customers.

Well, Sakura thought to herself. He just did.


When he awoke, Naruto found the new day to be nothing short of tedious.

Firstly, he woke up to sharp pangs of headache and stomachache, the worst that he had had in years.

Secondly, before he could properly get his bearing, he found himself suddenly smothered by an overly concerned nurse (whom he didn't know) who tried to touch him at every opportunity that presented itself.

Thirdly, after he managed to rid himself of that perverted nurse (who promised him to return again later), he found out he wasn't allowed to eat anything.

Not even hospital food.

It was true that he despised hospital food (Kami knew why they thought patient should eat tasteless food, Naruto would never know), it was still better than being restricted with IV drip, which was Naruto's ultimate bane of existence. While Naruto was no glutton who was married to his food like Chouji, he liked his food as well as the next man (real food anyway), and being prohibited to use his kami-given right to eat them was completely unfair, in his opinion.

And he was determined to let the world know it.

"I want some foooooood!" His howling could be heard from his room to the end of the corridor. "Food, food, food, food, fooooood!"

A few minutes later, an angry-looking Ino stormed through the door with murderous intent on her face.

"Keep it down, Naruto!" Ino raised her fist at her patient, with two other nurses holding her back. "You are disturbing other patients, idiot!"

"Gahhhhhh, I want to eat something!" the blonde shinobi yelled tiredly with a disappointed look on his face. He wasn't up to rolling and thrashing around just yet, as his strength wasn't fully recovered. "Can I have solid food, pleaseeeeee? And not hospital food! Some ramen-"

"Naruto, remember how you got yourself into this mess in the first place!?" Ino screeched at the knuckleheaded ninja. "From eating something you were not supposed to! Just like what you are asking to do, again!"

"But I'm sure that whatever poisoned me, it wasn't Ichiraku, and, and-"

"Stop pestering already, baka!" Ino would dearly like to box his ears, but she wasn't allowed to do that to a patient (even if she deemed it justified). That didn't stop her from being tempted to do it anyway and damn all the consequences. Well, anyone who ever had to nurse Naruto back to health had this urge to hit him at least once, and if they did not, well, they were probably beyond salvation.

"You'll be on IV drip for tonight, no way around it!" Ino concluded, taking his patient profile from the foot of his bed and jotting down a few extra notes before putting it back in place. "Now be a good boy and rest!"

And with that, she took off to finish her round at the hospital, leaving the blonde grumbling in her wake. He was tired and his stomach still hurt, but he still felt like eating something.

He tossed and turned for a while, ignoring his growling stomach and tried to think of something else. He wondered where Sakura-chan was, and why he hadn't seen her yet. Of course, if she were here, she would also be angry with his whining and childish displays. But if that got her to spend the time with him, he thought that was okay…

With that thought plus his own exhaustion, he was slowly drifted into slumber.


When Naruto woke up again, the sun was already setting and the room was almost dark since the lights were turned off. That didn't bother him though, since bright light would have hurt his eyes more. He sat up, feeling a little better from his aches until a growl echoed from his stomach.

He sighed, and was almost startled when he heard a giggle from across the room. His eyes lit up instantly as that figure walked toward him in her white doctor coat.

"Sakura-chan~!" He croaked out from his parched throat, and as if by second-sight, she already had a glass of water and promptly handed it to him. He gratefully took it and gulped the content down eagerly, earning a chiding from Sakura for him to slow down.

When he finally put the glass down, she pulled a wheeled patient table over the bed and set a steaming bowl in the middle. Naruto salivated at the smell as he exclaimed excitedly.

"Chicken broth?! Yay~! Sakura-chan, you're the best!"

It had become a ritual that whenever any Team 7 member was admitted to hospital and restricted to IV drip or liquid diet, Sakura would make them the chicken broth so that they could have something that didn't taste like paper to tide them over until they could have real food (well, unless she was the one being admitted, but that rarely happened, seeing how protective Team 7 was of her, despite her occasional protests when they went too far).

For Naruto, he had always found Sakura-chan's chicken broth to be a heaven-sent, as it was a lot tastier than what they usually gave him at the hospital. He knew she always went out of her way to get extra herbs from the market to put in the broth, which she left to slowly simmer in a weird-looking pot for hours so that all the nutrients from the chicken and herbs were in the broth. Even Kakashi would attest to the taste of Sakura-chan's chicken broth (seeing how he always cleaned out his bowl the last time he was here).

"Help yourself, ne, Naruto. My shift is about to start now." Sakura turned to leave for her new shift when she felt her hand being grasped from behind.

She turned to see the blonde with his eyes downcast, his cheeks tinged with an almost imperceptible pink, before he whispered so quietly she almost couldn't hear him.

"S- Sakura chan," he stuttered. "Feed me."

"What!?" Sakura automatically retorted, as was her usual reaction to such request. While it wasn't the first time he made such a request of her, she still felt her face heating up. She fought to stop the reaction and replied immediately. "Your hands aren't hurt, you can do it yourself, baka! My shift is about to start anyway!"

Sakura caught the disappointed look in his face before he hid it with a smile. Naruto was always good at covering up his feeling with his signature smile, but since she was Sakura, she could tell straight away that it didn't reach his eyes. She felt a pang striking her like lightening.

It was guilt, she surmised, as she looked at his less than bright smile aiming at her. Naruto, as was his wont, was trying to cover up his own disappointment, so that it wouldn't bother her. He was trying to hide the longing he felt, but since she was Sakura, she could tell straight away what he was feeling. He was feeling weak, and maybe even in pain, and just like a child, he reached out to her for comfort.

Would she deny him that? She asked herself.

With no hesitation, she grabbed a chair and sat down next to him, much to his surprise. She grabbed the spoon and took the lid off the bowl while Naruto could do nothing but stare at her.

"J- Just this once, alright?!" she said, her voice a pitch higher than she intended. "Open your mouth already!"


Sakura decided that it was totally worth it to see his blue sky eyes lit up so brilliantly, and to see simple happiness oozing from him being with every mouthful he took from her hand.

Even if she ended up being half an hour late to her shift and had to endure another hour of lecture from her Shishou with threats of pay cut if she was ever late again.

Totally worth it.


Author's Note

My duties as inquisitor took me away from writing the new chapter, so I make no apologies.

LOL I just wanna try and say that and hopefully look cool.

For those who didn't get it, a new game called 'Dragon Age: Inquisition' was released toward the end of November, and I've been hooked since. Between real life work and gaming duties, I completely neglected this chapter.

(Please forgive me T-T)

That, and I also ran into a bit of writer's block. I'm not sure how I managed to push this chapter out, so if it is not good, please comment so I can improve on writing quality! I would really appreciate constructive criticism so I can improve as a writer.

Also, I'm running out of ideas for the new chapters! Please, please, please help give me some ideas for Chapter 4! Help critically, desperately needed now! Especially when the news of new Naruto the last movie doesn't help to inspire me at all!

And before I forget, thank you all who commented, faved and followed! Love you guys! You make me happy!