Disclaimer: I clearly do NOT own Naruto. If I did, I wouldn't be writing this now, would I?
It has been 5 months since the whole fiasco in Konoha Hospital.
To pay for the damages both public and private, the almost perpetually drunk, yet brilliant Hokage continually assigned Sai to various missions the moment he finally recovered from injury, again. These missions ranged from high-risk assassination missions to helping old ladies with their laundry. She could have just assigned him strictly to B and A ranked missions, but she couldn't resist giving the pale shinobi a bit of torment. A little revenge for her precious, damaged sake.
'Kami-sama, can't a guy get a break for once? I don't know which is worse: Almost getting killed in attempts to execute various targets or hand washing and hanging old ladies' laundry.' Sai cringed as he was hanging the last of the *cough* "delicates"
"Like what you see?" Out of nowhere, the old lady winked seductively at Sai as she was pointing to that particular garment Sai was holding.
'FUCK THIS SHIT! I'D RATHER DIE!' Sai thought. He quickly hung said garment and gave a polite, yet hasty bow. With a poof of a teleportation jutsu, he escaped.
"DAMMIT! HE GOT AWAY!" the old lady cried out, regretting the loss of a potential "conquest".
As Sai teleported into his bedroom, he noticed a note on his bedside table and read it. With note still on hand, he then collapsed onto his bed, lifting his cares up to the heavens and fell into deep sleep. Slowly, his fingers let go of the note, falling gracefully onto the floor.
"Sai. Present yourself for an annual physical examination tomorrow. –Godaime Hokage"
Though Sai was the reason behind the aforementioned destruction of property, this does not change the fact that the one who caused said destruction was held accountable as well.
'KAMI-SAMA! WHAT THE HELL DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?! SHANNARO!' Inner Sakura screamed and cried out to the heavens.
When Tsunade said that Sakura would be "working-her-ass-off-until-her-eye-bags-have-eye-bags", damn, she did not exaggerate! Out of the 7 days in a week, Tsunade got said pink haired medic working a 6 and a half day shift. The remaining half day was her only allowance to sleep peacefully. Basically, the past 5 months consisted of emergency surgeries here and there, daily check ups and rounds, supervising new medics, organizing various medical files and improving her medical techniques. With her hellacious schedule, she practically lived in the hospital!
'My eye bags really do have their own eye bags' Sakura thought as she inspected herself in the mirror.
"Just another day in the hospital" sighed Sakura
What more can you say about the love that seemingly would last forever?
Chapter 10: IT'S OVER.
Time flies when you're having fun... or when you're too damn busy saving lives to even glance at a damn clock. Sakura's day consisted basically of 1) assissting in an emergency surgery, which necessitated amputation of both legs; 2) remedying a chicken pox epidemic in the pediatric ward, which spread due to the negligence of a neophyte medic; 3) archiving some medical files; 4) assissting in a delivery of twins; 5) annual shinobi physical check up; and 6) rounds in the intensive care unit.
As she proceeded to do her rounds in the intensive care unit, her thoughts began to drift toward what had just transpired during the annual physical check up. She has three regrets.
After conducting a physical examination on the jonins present, she was packing her things, preparing for her rounds in the intensive care unit.
"So does this mean I get to reschedule some other day?"
Taken by surprise, Sakura's head whiplashed towards the door, to find Sai standing in the door way.
She could have just told Sai to come back some other day. But no! That was her first regret.
"No it's fine, come in" Sakura gestured towards the examination table.
Nothing remarkable happened during the physical examination as Sakura tested Sai's hand-eye coordination, muscle functions, reflexes and the likes.
'He seems a bit distant. Like something's bothering him' Sakura thought
She could have just kept quiet and proceeded with the examination. But no! That was her second regret.
"What seems to be the problem, Sai? You seem a bit troubled" asked Sakura
Tip #10: Breaking up is hard. Be gentle.
Tip #11: Take some responsibility.
Tip #12: Be flexible and mature.
Looking straight into her eyes, Sai said "It's not you. It's me. Really. I'm the one who wants out of this suck-ish relationship. Of course we can still be friends! We'll be the kind of friends who throw up a little every time they see each other. What are those called again? Oh yeah. Enemies. But I still love you though, in a very special way. Hate is just a very special type of love that we give to people who suck."
She was drawn back to reality as she neared her last patient for the day. Three veins immediately popped in her forehead as she opened the door.
On the hospital bed, there laid Sai, attached to a ventilator, in yet another full body cast. Somewhere in Konoha Hospital, workers were hastily patching up newly made damages in the physical examination room. That means another five months of hellacious servitude.
That was her third regret. Well not really.
AN.: Please R&R. Thank you!