VII.

The next morning Naruto showed up with flowers.

"Hey-hey Sakura-chan!" He grinned hugely at her. "Look what I found!"

Found might be a of an understatement, because she was pretty sure that those orange and pink irises didn't grow anywhere but the Yamanaka back yard and that the purple orchids were native to the Forest of Death and-

"Eh! Naruto! Did you touch those?" Sakura was on her feet in an instant- the books she had brought to study falling to the ground. The bouquet of flowers fell to the ground as she grabbed Naruto's palms, turning them over to see the small red welts already rising.

"You idiot!" She smacked him on the head, "What were you thinking? Konoha Day Lilies are poisonous on contact!"

"Whaaaat!" Naruto seemed genuinely shocked, "but they were in your book of flowers!"

"In the section about poisons!" The red welts were getting bigger and Sakura had no idea how Naruto had managed to make it all the way here without noticing the pain. Luckily, the Konoha day lily was non-lethal. The simple antidote pill in the Genin Standard Issue Med Pack would be fine to tame the reaction. Sakura dug into her day pack, only to realize-

"Oh crap!" She stared down at the empty pack and a very clear vision filled her mind: her med pack, laying on her bed, ready to be repacked after she fit her books on flowers, then looking at the clock and realizing she would be late.

"Am I going to die!" Naruto was jumping up and down and waving his arms around as though he could shake off the rash.

"Naruto- do you have your med pack!"

"What's a med pack!"

"What do you mean what's a med pack!"

"Here." A med pack was shoved in her arms and Sakura hastily took out the packet of basic antidote pills. Snapping them into her palm she pulled Naruto into a head lock and shoved the pills into his mouth.

"Swallow." She commanded and he did. Sakura let out a breath of relief.

"Am I going to die?"

"No. Idiot." She smacked him on the head again and let go. "Unless you ate some of the root." She looked at him, because there were some things she expected of the normal Konoha citizen that didn't extend to Naruto. But he shook his head and she relaxed further.

"The root," She continued grabbing a roll of bandages from the med box, "is lethal if ingested within four hours, even more so if it is concocted into a tincture with the vine of the Fireleaf. But the antidote is pretty common, so it's not a favored assassination poison. Take your jacket off."

"So I'm not going to die?" Naruto repeated, shrugging off his bright orange jacket. Underneath he had a much more ninja appropriate black shirt. "Good, that would have been embarrassing. The next Hokage can't die because of- Hey-" He protested as she grabbed his arm and began to wrap the bandage around his forearm. They had all learned basic first aid at the Academy, but Sakura could never remember if you went clockwise around the arm or counter clockwise.

"No. The Konoha Day Lily only caused welts, irritation, and pain with dermal contact." Sakura recited, "But you can rub the oils onto other people or parts of yourself which is one of the reasons I'm-" She was cut off as Sasuke rudely snatched the roll of bandages from her and unrolled all her work. Sakura flushed.

"Well, why Sasuke is bandaging your hands." She concluded lamely. Admittedly it wasn't her best bandaging job- but Sasuke went much quicker and neater. He even knew how to bandage the palm and fingers so Naruto had full range of motion.

"What's the other reason?" Naruto examined his bandaged hands with fascination.

"The pain." Sakura said bluntly. "Didn't you notice?"

Naruto laughed weakly and then cried out as Sasuke released the seals on the bandages. "Oh gross! Why did they get all wet!"

"That's the medication," Sakura snapped, "To prevent infection and scarring."

"Huh." Naruto considered his fingers again, "I've never scared before."

"Really? Never-"

"You should have a medical pack." Sasuke interrupted the conversation. Sakura was surprised to see that he was looking at both of them and hadn't retreated to the far end of the bridge like he normally did during their conversations. When his dark eyes fixed on her, it was her turn to laugh awkwardly.

"I-I'll remember next time." Sasuke dismissed her without another glance.

"Hey-hey- Sakura- where do you get one?"

"They handed them out at the Academy," Sasuke answered for her, picking his own up. "You refill them at any Shinobi clinic."

"Oh. And if, uh, I never got one?" Sakura took this to mean he had lost his somewhere and rolled her eyes. Sasuke clearly agreed with her because he turned from them with a muttered "tch" and retreated to sulk in silence.

He tolerated their presence for the rest of the day, at least that was how Sakura interpreted his curt answers to direct questions, refusal to join in her and Naruto's rambling conversations, and tendency to stand at least three feet further away than social custom dictated. While she lectured Naruto on the uses of the flowers he had picked and their dangers, Sasuke perched on the edge of the river and stared a thousand miles away. But he did check on Naruto's bandages once that afternoon after they were hired to clear a field for a lazy famer (strength training, she told Naruto, and he stopped complaining as much).

They finished later than she wanted, mostly because Naruto wasn't allowed to do too much work with his hands in bandages, and she had her backpack on and was heading towards the village before Naruto could ask his now traditional question:

"Hey- Sakura-chan want to go on a date?"

"Not tonight, Naruto." His face fell and she continued, "My dad just returned from his latest assignment and I want to spend some time with him."

"Oh." She was expecting more of a scene, honestly. But Naruto just smiled at her, "That sounds nice. Have fun!"

"Oh- ok. Have a good night? Careful with your hands!" She called back over her shoulder as she began to speed back to the village.