Sakura woke up, disoriented when she saw the bright Konoha sun shining through her open blinds.
What the?
She got up and rubbed her sleepy eyes. Thoughts of last night came to her and she smiled.
Of course, it was only a dream. She stifled a cry of pain upon realizing so.
She sighed and got up, dragging her feet along the floor as she walked over to her bathroom. Running the water on the sink, Sakura looked at her reflection. Her pink hair was tangled and unkempt as if she had slept fitfully; her eyes were glazed over and flat, like she had been crying. At the thought, she narrowed her eyes, shaking her head furiously to get rid of the intrusion.
I didn't cry myself to sleep. She told herself firmly, though she was doubtful of the truth behind those words.
It was then that she noticed her lips. They were a shade darker than usual, something that didn't accompany tears.
My dream. She remembered how Sasuke had entered her room through the window and had kissed her.
The moment was a fantasy that could only occur in her dreams and she sighed again. Sakura then began vigorously brushing her teeth, determined to rid herself of any impurities the dream had left her with.
Sasuke? In my dream? Loving me? Ha, I'd have a better chance of Naruto quitting on ramen. She tried to laugh, but it came out forced.
She then splashed water on her face, hoping to clear her head to no avail.
"Ugh, I need a shower." She said, drying off her face and stepping into her shower.
The kunoichi turned the water icy and stood getting pelted by the harsh and unforgiving water as she breathed in the cold air. She shivered, though more from the refreshing feel than anything. She mechanically washed her hair, feeling her fingers catch in the knots that she still hadn't untangled. After she was finished, she reached for the body wash and began to scrub her skin raw, still feeling unclean no matter how hard she tried to clean herself. Finally giving up once the cold water ran warm, Sakura stepped out of the shower. Her skin was red and abraded, revealing her inner turmoil.
Stupid Sasuke. Can't I get away from you anywhere? She cursed, feeling hopeless as he had invaded her inner sanctum.
The medic-nin then padded over to her closet, pulling on her work uniform to get ready for the day.
-o0o-
Sasuke woke up with a jolt, memories from last night impaling his consciousness.
What the hell? He touched his hand to his forehead in confusion. No, not a dream. Damn.
He got out of bed and quickly headed to the bathroom. Raven hair lightly tussled proved a slightly uncomfortable sleep, though not too much. Obsidian eyes glowed more dangerously, more powerfully. And Sasuke almost enjoyed the look had he not remembered what had happened the previous night. He brushed his teeth and fluidly stepped into the shower, a routine that had yet to be broken. Turning the water to a desirable chill, Sasuke stood, feeling like he was outside with the rain pelting down his back. He remembered the day he fought with Naruto at the Valley of the End; the rain had been sharper, colder than usual, then. He remembered the feeling of recklessness when he joined up with the Sound Ninja 4, the lust for power beating out any sense he had. He remembered the feeling of killing Itachi, the great war going on within him finally ceasing. All the power he had ever known was revealed to him then and the raw emotion was enough to cast him into a world of insanity. He remembered coming back to the village, the feeling of hopelessness and void once he saw that even his closest friends didn't trust him, Naruto and Sakura being the exceptions. He remembered looking at Sakura for the first time in a long time, really taking her in. She had grown up and looked more like a woman, her increase in strength only making her more beautiful. He remembered last night, feeling that she was tangible and that she wasn't a dream. He remembered how he had tricked her into thinking that it was nothing more than a dream. He could feel her heart, seeming to have been connected to his as he felt her emotions for him. He remembered all this while water streamed down hard muscle, pooling in the dips. His breathing became ragged as he took in more bitter air. He then remembered something that finally gave him the will to move. He remembered Sakura's smile as she was teasing him yesterday, he saw the way her eyes sparkled and her whole face lit up. Sasuke then finished his shower and stepped out, eager to begin his intense training with Neji. The Byakugan master was the only true way to test out his Sharingan and Sasuke was intent on winning.
He pulled on a navy Uchiha shirt and white training paints, and outfit he hadn't worn since he was a genin. Grabbing a pear before leaving, Sasuke remembered another thing; his meeting with Sakura at nightfall. Scowling at this, he chucked his hastily-eaten fruit in the garbage. It was the closest thing he could do to throwing yet another kunai at his defenseless wall.
-o0o-
- Room 216
-Room 306
-Room 115
-Room 223
…
The list Sakura held in her hands contained at least ten different room numbers, all of which were her responsibility for the day. Whether it was administering medicine or just making sure the patient was comfortable, she was accountable for every single one of them. And the young medic-nin couldn't have been happier. She was in her element. With the rustle and bustle of the hospital, Sakura could concentrate all her time and energy into doing what she was best at. The bonus was that it left no time to think of Sasuke. She smiled as she walked into the first room.
Room two sixteen. She gently knocked on the door and a "Come in." was heard. She turned the knob and walked in, wondering who she was going to treat first. Her eyes widened in astonishment as she saw who lay on the bed.
"Kiba?" she asked, incredulously.
Kiba looked surprised to see her too, his eyes widened. "Sakura, oh hey! I didn't know that it'd be you here." He said, flashing her a fang-baring grin. Akamaru sat by his bed, barking in greeting.
"Hey Akamaru! And well, I'm always here. So what exactly are you here for?" she asked, looking at his chart.
Three broken ribs and a fractured leg? What has he been doing?
Kiba laughed uneasily. "Well I was training with Shino and we got a little intense." He explained unconvincingly.
"Oh really? Huh, for some reason I don't believe that." She said skeptically.
"And maybe I was training with Akamaru." He continued unwillingly.
"Uh huh." She said, still looking at his chart.
"Ok, so I fell out of a tree while running away from Naruto! I stole his ramen as a joke and he hounded after me. I thought I was gonna be able to dodge him, but I forgot about his shadow clones! I managed to ditch most of them, but one of them, or maybe it was the real Naruto, I'm not sure, followed me. I was in the forest jumping through the trees because Akamaru and I train there all the time. I figured that if I couldn't shake him, I'd just tire the guy out. Everything was going fine until he started gaining on me. We had to keep going higher and higher, until we were practically touching the sky! Damn that kid has some energy. But anyways, end result is that I lost my footing and fell. Are you happy now?" Kiba asked.
Sakura laughed. "Now that sounds believable." She said. "But anyway, how are you feeling?"
"It's not too bad. The pain when I hit the ground was something else, but right not it's not too bad. Then again, who knows what they put in my system." He chuckled and Sakura smiled.
"Well that's what I'm here for. Excuse me Akamaru." she said to the large canine.
"Arf!" he moved out of the way to allow Sakura to work.
"I'll need to ask you to remove your shirt." She began professionally.
Kiba chuckled. "Careful, Sasuke would have my head if he heard you saying that."
Sakura turned red at the statement. She didn't know that anyone was aware of their 'relationship'. She quickly looked over his rib cage and determined that there was nothing to be worried about.
"We just have to change the bandage." She said. "I'll be back in a minute." And she gently shut the door.
Once she had grabbed the supplies, she quickly hurried back to Kiba's room.
"Ok, let me just change the bandage and I'll be on my way to give you some privacy." She said, walking into his room.
"Heh, well the sooner we can get back to training, the better." He smiled, his fangs prominent.
Sakura quickly cut away the old bandage to reveal a toned stomach and lean, but muscular form.
"Someone's been working hard." She commented, wrapping the fresh bandage around his torso.
Kiba laughed again, a playful sound in her ears. "Yeah well, I have to keep training if I want to be as good as Shino." He said speaking of his teammate. "And Hinata's only getting stronger so I have to really keep up my game."
Sakura couldn't help but hear the sound of longing when he said the Byakugan-wielder's name. It was in the same tone that she had used when talking about Sasuke and she raised her eyebrow in amusement.
"It sounds like someone has a little crush on their teammate. Naruto won't be too happy to hear that." She laughed as Kiba turned pink.
"Yeah, well. Whatever, you're one to talk Sakura!" he replied defensively.
"Ok well I'm finished now." Sakura said, tossing the old bandaged into the trash. "I have to go see other patients now, but I have your room today, so don't hesitate to ask for anything." She told him.
"Yeah, sure thing. Thanks Sakura." He said as Akamaru trotted back over to his side.
Sakura smiled and patted the dog on the head before leaving.
"Good job, Uchiha." Kiba lightly laughed.
-o0o-
"Is that all you've got? Come on Uchiha, I thought the Sharingan was better than that." Neji taunted as Sasuke failed to land a hit on him.
However, Neji had been relying heavily on his Byakugan for most of the match and therefore wasn't able to say much.
"You wish, Neji." Sasuke retorted, dodging as the Hyuga tried to hit him with his Gentle Fist. "You can't keep up either."
"Hn." Neji aimed another blow at the Uchiha, but was unable to make contact due to Sasuke's own kekkei genkei.
Both shinobi were now breathing heavily, their match had gone on for hours with neither side being able to move much in the end. At first it seemed that Sasuke had the upper hand, but when Neji started playing more defense than offense, he began the spiral downwards. It was true that he had been able to defeat the infamous and notoriously strong Itachi, but Neji was still plenty a match for the young ninja.
"Let's take a break. You fought well." The Hyuga acknowledged him.
Sasuke nodded. "You too. I never imagined that someone would be such a match for me." He told him.
Neji nodded as both boys walked over to the deck area by the Hyuga compound. Hinata arrived a moment later and set down a tray of tea for them.
"Uh here you go Neji and you as well Sasuke." She bowed as Sasuke nodded in acknowledgement.
"Thank you Hinata." Her cousin replied placidly and she quickly hurried out.
"Has she gotten any stronger?" Sasuke wondered, looking at the older jounin.
"Yes, she has. We've been sparring together actually and I have to admit, she is improving fast." Neji informed him, taking a sip of his tea.
"Hn." Was Sasuke's response as he drank the tea.
"So how have your team been?" Neji inquired.
"Naruto has been as annoying as ever. But he's getting better. As for Sakura, she's improved a lot since we were genin, but she still isn't as strong as I would have hoped." He narrowed his eyes at the thought.
Neji nodded slowly, finishing his tea. "You really don't give her enough credit, Uchiha. I was in the hospital once after a mission and she is very good. She has great ability as a medical ninja and I think that you should give her some respect in that." He told Sasuke.
"Hn. Well how has your team been?" Sasuke asked.
"Lee is often out training with Gai, but I see him every so often and it seems as if he only gets stronger. His tai jutsu is incredible now, in fact, even without nin jutsu or gen jutsu, I'm sure that he would easily be a match for me. All those years that I said that he wasn't good enough, I take those words back. Through sheer hard work and determination, he has been able to achieve a level of greatness that is beyond me. Tenten is good as well. Her strength never falters and she never backs down even when in the face of adversity. She keeps a cool head, even able to beat out the most difficult of opponents. As well as being a master at handling weaponry, she is an important part of my squad and I can see that she's constantly improving." The stoic boy replied.
Sasuke was surprised at how easily Neji talked about the kunoichi. He could never say the same about Sakura because in reality he wasn't sure just how strong she was. Being a medical ninja was different from being a shinobi in the aspect that medical nin weren't expected to fight. How could he be sure about her abilities if he never got to see them?
"You seem to speak highly of your squad. How sure are you of their abilities?" Sasuke asked critically.
Neji looked at the boy for a moment, trying to figure out if he really didn't trust his own squad.
"They are very important people to me, even more so because of all that we have been through together. You may want to take a look at your own squad, Sasuke. Even with your Sharingan, you don't see the greatness that Team 7 is." Neji said.
Sasuke scoffed, though he took the older shinobi's words of advice.
"I must go now. I have an appointment with Tenten." Neji said suddenly.
Sasuke nodded. "And I have to meet with Sakura. I look forward to our next match." He told him.
"Right then. And good match today. Hopefully next time we meet you'll have learned something new." Neji replied.
He then saw the Uchiha out and the two parted ways.
-o0o-
"I finished everything that needed to be done. Just one more check up on Kiba Inuzuka and I'll be done for the day." Sakura reported to Shizune.
"That's great! You're really coming along fast, Sakura. Soon you'll be giving Lady Tsunade a run for her money!" the older woman praised.
"Well thank you." Sakura said graciously before slipping away to room 216.
"Kiba," she knocked on the door before coming in. "How are you?"
"Oh hey. I'm pretty good. A little pain in my ribs, but other than that, I'm ok." Kiba greeted, sitting in bed still.
Sakura reached the bed and stopped by his chart, checking to see if anything new had occurred.
"You seem ok. How's the pain?" she asked.
"Steadily getting worse." He answered honestly, petting Akamaru.
"Oh you poor thing. Hang on one sec." she said as she left the room to grab a pain killer.
Once she had filled up a syringe, she headed back into his room. To her surprise, Hinata was in there as well, standing next to his bed and managing to make him smile. Sakura smiled at the sight of the two.
"Hello Hinata. Ok Kiba, this should ease the pain for a while." She said, brandishing the syringe.
Hinata turned to face her. "Oh hello Sakura." She said softly. "How's Kiba doing?" she asked.
Sakura smiled. "He'll be better once I give this to him." She said, motioning to the liquid.
At the sight, Kiba jumped, causing Akamaru to yelp.
"Are you hurt Kiba?" Hinata asked worriedly as she turned to her injured teammate.
"I hate needles." He said seriously and Sakura laughed.
"Everyone does. But what can you do, right?" she asked.
"I'd rather sit through the pain than get a shot." He said firmly.
At this Hinata looked at Sakura and smiled.
"It really isn't that bad Kiba. I mean, if it's going to help you in the end you should go through with it right?" she asked, trying to soothe him.
"No way, Hinata. You don't understand. There's nothing in the world that could make me take that shot. Heck, I'd rather jump out of this window and break the rest of my bones before doing that!" he told the two kunoichi.
Sakura sighed in exasperation. "Honestly Kiba, I would really like to get home, so if you would please just sit still for a second, I could do my job and we would both be happy."
"No way. Right Akamaru?" he asked, checking to make sure his companion was still on his side.
"Arf!" Akamaru barked, letting his master know that as long as he was in the room, nothing was going to hurt Kiba.
"Kiba please, Sakura is only trying to help you. In fact, I'll be right here if you want." Hinata said shyly.
Kiba looked at her incredulously. "You'd do that for me, Hinata?" he asked, the red marks on his cheeks hiding his lightly flushed face.
"Yes, if you want. I don't want you to be in pain, Kiba." Hinata said.
Sakura suddenly felt light-headed. This moment was too perfect. She could see that Hinata really cared for Kiba and vice versa. She wished that her and Sasuke had been that close. He would have told her to just suck it up and deal with it. Kiba's uneasy laugh broke her out of her trance.
"Ok fine. You win. But honestly, I'd still rather take the fall." He said, looking out his window to make the point.
Sakura rolled her eyes as she took Kiba's arm. Hinata sat down gently next to him and took his other hand in hers. Sakura could feel the heat rising to Kiba's face and she stifled a laugh. How could Hinata not see what was right in front of her? Well, she was dating Naruto, but still. Suddenly, she felt bad for Kiba, knowing exactly how he felt.
"Ok, I'll count to three. One, two, three." On three she stuck needle in his arm and quickly pulled it out. "We're done. See? It wasn't that bad." She smiled as Kiba let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness it's over." He said and Hinata giggled.
"See? It wasn't too bad, Kiba." She smiled at him and Kiba chuckled.
"That might knock you out for a bit, Kiba, so don't worry if you start feeling drowsy." Sakura told him.
The dog nin nodded as he felt his head get heavy. "Thanks Sakura." He told her.
"No problem. Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow, ok?" She replied as she closed the door.
Once outside, she couldn't help but hold her breath and listened in on the two.
"Hinata, will you stay here with me until I fall asleep?" she heard Kiba say.
"Uh, sure Kiba, if that's what you want." Replied Hinata's gentle voice.
Sakura felt tears prick her eyes. Really, if only she and Sasuke had been that close.