Little Piece of Heaven
Leanne Ashley

Chapter 3

"Sasuke?" she repeated, eyes nearly popping from her skull in a comical fashion. "I have to take care of Sasuke?"

"Until his probation is over." Tsunade picked up a file with Sasuke's name written on it: "When he first arrived he had a fractured arm, a broken leg, both wrists broken, a twisted ankle, 4 broken fingers, 6 cracked ribs, 3 stab wounds, internal bleeding, second degree burns, and a concussion. All that and he still insisted on being released early…"

"What happened between Sasuke and Nurse Hatsumi?"

"Well…" her teacher began trying to stifle a laugh. "He put up quite a fight when Hatsumi needed to give him a shot."

"Really? I didn't know Sasuke was afraid of needles…"

"It wasn't meant for his arm, Sakura."

"Oh…" Her eyes widened suddenly. "OH!"

"Uh huh," Tsunade nodded with an almost sadistic smile. "In the end Hatsumi had to pin him down to do what was needed. He has a larger range of profanity than expected."

Sakura was laughing loudly until a sudden look of panic crossed her face. "Will I have to…?"

"No, no, that was just the one time."

She breathed a quick sigh of relief. Announcing to Sasuke that she was about to stick a needle in his rear probably wasn't the most pleasant conversation to have. "So what do my duties consist of?"

"Check his chakra levels, change bandages, monitor his diet, make the special healing tea I prepared… Hmm… don't let him do any strenuous work either…"

"Gotcha. I think I can handle it. When do I start?"

"Let's say tomorrow. I was going to say today," she confessed, eyeing Sakura's kimono, "but I'd feel bad. You look far too glamorous to be puttering around catering to someone's needs… Plus it's your day off."

"But that means he hasn't been checked on all day…" Sakura shook her head quickly. "Don't worry about it, Tsunade-sama! I don't mind starting now. I was with him earlier and he seemed irritated about something. Maybe an injury is hurting him."

Tsunade shrugged. "Well, it's your decision. Just do a quick check-up for today then. Oh! Sasuke's been restricted from locking his doors so let yourself right in. All the equipment and supplies are in Hatsumi's bag on the floor behind you."

Taking her leave, Sakura picked up the white duffel and made her way to the Uchiha District. Years ago if given the opportunity to be Sasuke's nurse, she would've been giddy as hell; skipping her way to his house with the biggest smile imaginable. She probably would've stayed by his side 24/7; gushing shamelessly over him and fussing about his injuries like a fanatic schoolgirl gone Nurse Psychopath. And of course, she would've completely missed the onslaught of death-glares and cruel remarks that implied she was the most annoying thing to ever crawl through his house.

She closed her eyes and sighed as she stood outside Sasuke's front door. She wasn't that type of person anymore so there was nothing to be worried about.

Raising a hand to slide the door open, she stopped immediately and dropped her arm. Young Sakura would've certainly barged into Sasuke-kun's house without much thought. And even though she could've easily let herself in, she knocked anyway to be safe… and polite.

There was no answer.

Perhaps he had gone off to train after lunch?

She knocked again with more persistence.

Finally, footsteps could be heard inside and the door was violently slammed open.

"Tell the Hokage I don't need a goddamn nur—" Sasuke froze and obsidian eyes met emerald in shared surprise.

Sakura was surprised because she hadn't seen such an angry-looking Sasuke staring her smack in the face for so long. Given more time delaying his realization, she probably would've had a coffee table flying in her direction right about now.

And Sasuke… well, he was surprised Sakura wasn't a fat, elderly woman with arms bigger than his. In fact the complete opposite was standing on his front step, looking ready to duck as if the Uchiha Manor had 2 seconds left before it exploded.

"Sakura…" enraged expression quickly melting away. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm uh…" she couldn't help but giggle awkwardly, trying her best to shake the startled expression from her face when a brilliantly evil idea came to mind. Since there was no more worrying about what Sasuke thought of her, she was free to joke and be immature at will. "I'm here to work off my debt."

His eyes narrowed skeptically. "Your… debt?"

"You paid for my lunch, remember? I'm paying you back by being your own personal nurse. Now if you'll just hold still…" she said, shifting through the contents of her duffel "I'm to administer your shot."

A look of genuine paranoia crossed the Uchiha's face. "What are you getting at?"

"You'll get a lollypop, I promise!" Sakura said casually, holding up her syringe like a simple mail delivery. "Now turn around. I'm doing this for your own good."

"The hell you are!" he protested, quickly grabbing the wrist of the potentially deranged medic.

It was a dangerous amount of laughter she was holding in, and from her own expert medical opinion, it was best not to hold it. Sakura burst out in high-pitched fits of laughter, and the brief flash of panic in Sasuke's eyes faded rapidly to that of annoyance.

"Hilarious," he remarked dryly.

Upon having her wrist released, she returned the syringe to its casing. "Sorry, Sasuke…" she apologized, struggling to restrain her laughter. "I got the inside story on your last checkup. Didn't think you'd take me so seriously."

"What do you want?" Sasuke snapped, using a tone that actually meant: "I'm giving you 5 seconds before I slam the door."

She managed quickly to stop laughing. Obviously there was no cracking jokes with Uchiha Cranky-Pants today. "I already told you," Sakura said with a sigh "I've been assigned as your nurse since you shooed away Hatsumi."

"You?"

"Yes!" she answered brightly, making it obvious she was ignoring the ridicule in his voice. "Me."

He regarded her carefully before turning his back. "I don't need a nurse." And with that he disappeared into the darkness of his house, leaving the front door wide-open. She assumed, then, that his last sentence had been a statement rather than a signal to send her home. Taking advantage of the subtle invitation, she stepped in and removed her shoes.

It was her first time stepping foot into the Uchiha Manor, and it was made quite obvious that Sasuke hadn't dared to move or touch what he didn't have to since the death of his parents. This was evident given the layers of dust on some of the tables, chairs… and lamps it would seem since there wasn't a single light source in Sasuke's home at the moment.

"Sasuke?" she called over her shoulder. There was no response, but she could hear him sharpening his weapons in the next room. "Mind if I turn a light on?"

Still no response.

She sighed. "I'm turning it on! If there's some electrical problem you're not telling me about and this kills me, my parents will sue you for all you're worth and you'll probably have to move in with Naruto and eat ramen every day! EVERY DAY! And not the good kind either, that instant stuff he always—"

"Just turn it on, Sakura."

She jumped at the sound of his voice. Sasuke had suddenly appeared behind her. Casually reaching around the pink-haired girl, he pulled at the tiny chain dangling from the lamp she stood in front of. Light flushed the hallway and without a word, he immediately returned to the room he came from

Sakura smirked at his aloofness and grabbed her duffel to chase after him. The room where Sasuke sat sharpening his weaponry appeared to be his own. When she was younger, she wanted so much to step foot inside his room, his walls… to be in a place where the great Sasuke had spent so much of his time. Oh, to steal a pillowcase as a souvenir… Without all the hype however, all that was there to be seen was a single bed and dresser: a space very much reflecting that of plain toast and vanilla ice cream.

She sat on his bed next to him and began searching through her duffel.

"So why are you dressed like that?" he inquired, trying to sound uninterested.

"I'm just humoring my mother. She wants to get me married."

He raised an eyebrow. "To who?"

She giggled, pulling out a pressure gauge. "Oh, there's no one. She'd just like it if I were. Arm?"

"What?"

"Could you give me your arm? I need to check your chakra levels."

Much to her surprise, Sasuke held out his arm without arguing and with very little hesitation. She wondered if it was a sign that he was finally recognizing her skills as a medic.

More surprisingly, the compliance didn't cease. For the remainder of the check-up, Sasuke remained silent while Sakura chattered on about training with Tsunade and the hospitals she worked at in different villages. He didn't even utter a single protest when she asked him to remove his shirt.

Sakura had announced rather timidly that she needed to check the bandages around his ribs. She expected Sasuke to scoff and glare daggers, but he merely cleared his throat and pulled the black material off over his head.

Now just because you've given up on someone emotionally doesn't mean you still can't find that person to be the pinnacle of sexual eye-candy. That was Sakura's dilemma as her eyes involuntarily roamed over Sasuke's chest. Yes, he was built. Not massive, but close to godly nonetheless.

And goddamn. Goddamn it all.

She chuckled to the side.

"What?" he asked impatiently.

"Don't walk around like this infront of your fan girls," she giggled. "You'll cause a riot for sure."

He glanced at her with a frown. "Yeah, whatever."

She shrugged and continued her inspection. After several minutes, she realized she had stopped speaking as well. Humming wouldn't hurt the situation, and if Sasuke told her to shut it then at least someone would be talking. Letting a sweet, simple tune slip past her lips, she continued her work.

More silence from the boy, until finally:

"Sakura."

"Hmm?" she asked in mid-song. It would be fun if Sasuke told her to be quiet because then she could argue against it and they'd be conversing once again. Goodbye, awkward.

"You're different."

Blinking her wide green eyes in surprise, she raised an eyebrow. Well this was an interesting twist; perhaps her predictions on Sasuke's behavior were now expired and dangerously out of whack. The first response that came to mind was 'Huh?' followed by 'What?' and topped nicely by 'How…?' But a smart kunoichi like Sakura knew better. Obviously Sasuke wasn't accustomed to being around a Sakura that wasn't obsessed with him; one that didn't gush and beg and whine and worship and ultimately annoyed him out of his skin.

Like she reminded herself constantly, she was a brand new woman with brand new ambitions. Of course she understood why he didn't fully recognize her. With five years separating them, the only Sakura he knew was from his past.

She smiled softly before getting up to leave.

"Yeah… I know."

Author's Note: I love reviews… they make me so happy :DI don't have writer's block yet, but I seem to be working rather slowly on chapter 5 currently... gah! So much to do at school! Wow the chapters seem so short after I've uploaded them... I swear, they looked a lot longer as word documents. Anyway, I have no knowledge whatsoever on medical mumbo-jumbo... by 'pressure gauge' I meant... pressure gauge...? Some sort of device that wrapped around his arm. By the way, if the characters (Sakura especially) start to lose persona within a normal given situation, don't hestitate in the verbal kicking of my ass.