Title: scraped knees and bruised cheeks
A/N: For the NaruSaku zine! And for my sister, the biggest NS shipper, her original OTP.
Summary: If there was one good thing about getting into fights, it was that Sakura was there to patch him up after.
…
…
…
…
Naruto winced as he rubbed his cheek. It stung like a bitch and he didn't have to check his hand to know there was blood. Hopefully it was a shallow cut—he could pass it off as him goofing off again, or doing some other stupid shit. Something innocent that no one would think twice about. Sitting on a grassy hill, overlooking a small creek, he quickly inspected his clothes. Shirt, dirty but intact. Pants, not so much. He stared pointedly at the hole at his left knee, the frayed edges covered in blood and dirt, and muttered, "The hag's gonna kill me."
"If you call her that, definitely," a familiar, feminine voice commented dryly behind him. "Why can't you have good nicknames for people?"
Naruto's hair stood up, surprised, and slowly he turned around to find his classmate and sorta friend standing behind him. At least, he liked to think they were friends. He was never sure with her. "Sakura-chan?"
A hand on her hip, a small metal box tucked under her other arm, and exasperated look on her face, Sakura just stared at his bruised face for a long moment before rolling her eyes. "What'd you do this time?" she asked, carefully tucking her legs beneath her as she sat down next to him. Without even waiting for a reply, she unclasped the snaps on the metal box, revealing a first-aid kit.
"Hey, it wasn't me!" Naruto grumbled, crossing his arms and looking away. "They started it."
"They always do. And then they finish you." With a strong grip, she grabbed his jaw and forced him to look her way. Her brow knitted as she scrutinized his wounds. "If you keep going like this, you won't have a face left."
There really wasn't much he could say to that; with the way his cheeks ached, he had to begrudgingly agree with her. Still, if there was one positive to his almost-weekly fights, it was that for a few, glorious minutes, Sakura's fingers were on his face. And then the rubbing alcohol hit and he swore.
"Quit being a baby." Sakura kept a firm grip on his head, her other hand gently dabbing away at his cheek. "You've got dirt in the cut, it's going take a minute."
"Are you a sadist, Sakura-chan?" Naruto yelped as the cotton swab pressed not-too-gently onto his skin. "That was on purpose!"
"That was for a stupid question." She pulled back, letting go of him long enough to grab a band-aid. Holding it up, she compared it to his cheek before switching it for another, larger one. "And if anything, you're a masochist."
Naruto's jaw dropped. "Am not."
"Tell me that the next time I do this." Sakura pressed gauze onto his cheek, then sealed it on with the large band-aid. Inspecting her work, she nodded and then tapped on his leg. "Alright, next."
"That's ok," Naruto protested, covering his ripped jeans with his hands. "I don't need—"
"And you want Tsunade to do this?" Sakura swatted his hands away. Clicking her tongue at the damage, she started to roll up his pant leg. "Do you even have pants without holes?"
"I can do that!" Naruto quickly yanked his leg free, his ears burning. It was one thing for Sakura to touch his face, yet another for her to touch his leg. It felt far too intimate for whatever they were. He peeked out the corner of his eye, but she didn't look the least bit embarrassed and he wondered if he just looked like another one of the little kids she took care of in her life-guard job. "There." He grimaced at the sight, freed from his jeans, his knee looked even uglier than before. "That…that's not bad, is it?"
"Probably not." Sakura gently prodded at it, taking note as he flinched. "Yeah, it's just a shallow cut." Pulling out more cotton swabs, she asked, "So, what was it this time?"
"What?" Naruto blinked, not understanding the question.
"The fight," Sakura clarified, looking up at him. "Why'd it happen?"
"It was…" Naruto idly pulled the grass beside him. "Nothing important."
"So someone was getting bullied." Sakura turned back to his wound, completely missing his surprised stare.
As far as he knew, Sakura wasn't a magician. Or a mind-reader. A ninja? "How?"
"You always say nothing when you're helping someone else." She brushed a stray lock behind her ear and he followed the movement, swallowing. "You'll whine if it's about you, but otherwise…" Sakura looked back at him, her expression unreadable. "I don't know if it's foolish or brave."
"Brave," he answered quickly.
"Both," she decided, ignoring him. "And maybe a little idiotic." Finished, she moved back beside him and snapped close the first-aid kit. "I'll need to refill this at this rate."
Naruto's eyes widened and he rubbed the back of his neck, a sheepish smile on his face. "I'm kinda broke, but if you're running out, you don't have to—"
With a snort, Sakura punched his shoulder lightly. "That wasn't a complaint, you moron. Besides, if I didn't take care of you, who would?"
No one, he almost replied, the words on the tip of his tongue. He didn't have parents. He didn't have friends. He just had a cranky old lady and her perverted on-and-off boyfriend and he was pretty sure they were tired of the messes he was in.
No, that wasn't right. He had the girl sitting next to him, eyes closed as she enjoyed the breeze. Her hand was next to his, so close he could just touch it. A gap between them so small he could just lean over and kiss her. Would she smile at him, if he did? Or would she run away and this would be the end of their little relationship. Sakura barely talked to him in school as it was, though she'd smile at him when no one was looking, when he made of his stupid jokes and Iruka-sensei was torn between laughing and kicking him into the hall.
A small gap. Naruto pulled back before he gave into his impulse. He'd rather have this than nothing at all. Brushing the band-aid on his cheeks, he muttered, "Thanks."
"You want to really thank me?" Sakura opened her eyes and turned to him. In the late afternoon light, her normally pink hair was almost red. She held his gaze, her expression serious. "Stop fighting."
"Huh?" Naruto stared at her, unable to tear away from her bright green eyes. Stop fighting. It'd be so easy if he could do that. "I…"
She sighed, looking back at the river. "Yeah, I know. It's impossible for you." Sakura rested her head on her left hand, her teeth worrying her lip. "You wouldn't be Naruto otherwise."
"You make it sound like that's the only thing I do," he pouted.
"I don't think I've seen your face without band-aids." Sakura cracked a smile. Tapping the first aid kit with her right hand, she glanced at him. "Just make sure you come to me whenever you get hurt. No matter what."
That surprised him. A warm feeling settled in his chest. "If I find you—"
"No matter what," Sakura cut him off. Sitting up straight now, she pulled out her phone. "Even at school." Tapping on her screen quickly, she held out her phone. "You can text me."
"Text you?" Naruto's jaw dropped. He quickly pinched his arm but the sight in front of him didn't change. Sakura's phone. Sakura's phone number. All of his luck was spent on this one day. Scrambling in case she took it back, he fished his phone out of his pocket.
Sakura frowned, her cheeks flushing as she realized what she was doing. "This is for emergencies, okay? When you're hurt and nothing else."
"Nothing else," he repeated, already trying to figure out what the limits of an emergency was.