After nearly a month of careful inquiries, disappointing viewings, and unreasonable prices, Sakura found an apartment. The process had been about what she'd expected, though the selection left a lot to be desired. Sakura had wanted somewhere closer to the hospital than her parents house, but in a different building from Kazuko's. She'd formed an uneasy truce with the man over the past few weeks by ignoring what happened between them. There had been no more dinners or mixed-up, alcohol-fueled kisses in the dark, only professionalism.

Sakura found it easy to shift from budding friendship to simple coworkers, and Kazuko didn't question it. She was thankful for that much at least, because, regardless of their extracurricular problems, Sakura and Kazuko worked well together at the hospital. She didn't depend on him as much as she might have before things changed, but at least it wasn't awkward any longer.

The majority of Sakura's free time had been spent looking for an apartment, then getting her life in Konoha settled. She had taken Naruto out for ramen one night and was surprised to find that the boy had matured in the time they'd spent apart. He'd been busy with missions in an attempt to bolster his number of completed missions. Naruto needed to catch up if he wanted to be considered for Hokage in a few years when Kakashi retired. It was nice to know that his dream hadn't faded, especially when so many other things had changed.

Naruto and Sakura's conversation had turned to Sasuke at one point during dinner, but Naruto read the situation and dropped it after a couple of awkward questions. The night had gone better than Sakura thought it would, and they'd agreed to meet up every few weeks to stay in touch. Naruto spent a lot of time in and out of the village with missions these days, but he promised to make an effort to see Sakura, especially if it involved ramen. Some things would never change.

Smiling to herself, Sakura fussed over the pillows on the couch. They weren't the color that she would have chosen, but they complemented the rest of the room. Mebuki had picked them out on their latest shopping trip. Her mother's touch was obvious in each of the rooms, but Sakura hadn't resisted, even when she disagreed. Mebuki needed to feel like she still had a place in Sakura's life and the colors didn't bother her that much. Besides, she could "lose" the pillows later if she wanted to.

A knock on the door drew Sakura away from her contemplations. Taking a deep breath, she finished adjusting the cushions and went to answer. Sakura was both looking forward to having Ino over, and nervous about it at the same time. The girls had talked only a couple of times over the past few weeks, mostly commiserating about how hard being an adult was. Then, they'd laughed about being considered adults. Rebuilding her friendship with Ino felt natural, normal even.

When Sakura opened the door, Ino stepped into the tiny space and looked around with a telling curl on her lips. When her gaze came back to Sakura's face, however, the blond's smile was falsely bright. "It's cute."

Sakura groaned at the fake optimism and closed the door. "Is it bad?"

Ino didn't answer for a long moment, looking around the room with a calculating expression. Then, she nodded as if she'd reached some decision. "Are you allowed to paint?"

"I think so," Sakura answered, raising her shoulders in a shrug. "I'll have to check the lease."

True to her promise, Mebuki had helped Sakura decorate when she moved in two days ago. Candles, photographs, and trinkets filled the space in a way that Sakura never would have considered on her own. It almost felt like a home, or would soon enough. Only a few hours before Ino arrived, Mebuki had appeared with half a dozen bags in hand. The new throw pillows on the couch and the towels in the bathroom were a reminder of her mother's attention to detail.

It wasn't until Sakura moved her things into the larger space that she realized how few personal items she'd accumulated over the years. Thankfully, the apartment had basic furniture; Sakura didn't own any. A picture of her much younger self and the rest of Team Seven grinned at Sakura from a table beside the door. Half a dozen other snapshots surrounded it. Medical textbooks that Tsunade had gifted to her were tucked into a basket beside the couch. A bowl of bright fruit sat on the table.

"We can fix it," Ino declared, placing her bags beside the couch. After a moment, the blond turned to face Sakura, a devious grin sliding onto her lips. "So, who is he?"

Frowning, Sakura tried to follow the mental leap from talking about the apartment to whatever this was. "Who is who?"

Ino reached into one of the bags and pulled out a bottle of wine and matching glasses. As she walked toward the kitchen, she called over her shoulder. "It's not Sasuke again, is it? He wasn't good for you the first time, and he won't be any better the second."

Once Sakura finally caught up to Ino's reasoning, she rolled her eyes and followed her friend to the kitchen. "What makes you think there is even a him to begin with?"

Affecting a gasp, Ino covered her mouth and waggled her eyebrows in Sakura's direction. "Well then, who is she?"

Ino's question ended in a strangled gasp when Sakura smacked her with one of the questionably colored tea towels that Mebuki had selected. The girls dissolved in a fit of laughter that left them with red faces and aching sides. Still chuckling, Ino poured two glasses of wine, then followed Sakura back to the living room. As they settled on opposite sides of the creaky couch, Ino tipped her head to the side to study Sakura. "Seriously though, why the sudden urge to move out if it wasn't to get a little action? You said it's been months since you got some. How do you stand it?"

Sakura tried not to let herself flush at the memory of the almost dalliance with Kazuko as she shrugged. "There are more important things than sex. Besides, work keeps me busy."

"Riveting." Ino mimed a yawn, then her lips contorted into a wicked smile. "Speaking of work, I've heard that there's a good-looking, young doctor at the hospital these days. Would you happen to know anything about that?"

Sakura grinned, forcing the thoughts of Kazuko as far from her mind as possible. "I am pretty cute."

"Ha ha, very funny." Ino rolled her eyes then tossed a pillow at Sakura. "You know, I also heard that this handsome young medic had dinner with a certain pink haired kunoichi who you might also know."

Fighting down the blush that threatened to stain her cheeks, Sakura kept her expression neutral. She had already started to regret going to eat with Kazuko for fear of the rumors it could spawn. If she had to deal with it from Ino as well, Sakura wasn't sure that she'd make it. "Don't you have better things to do than gossip?"

The blond laughed. "I am Head of Intelligence in Konoha. It's pretty much my job to know everything."

"You don't have to be so good at it," Sakura grumbled, realizing that she'd been beaten before her mouth opened. Ino probably knew more about Kazuko than Sakura did. Though, maybe not, since he wasn't a shinobi. Accepting that Ino wouldn't leave it alone, Sakura settled on a version of the truth to feed the woman's curiosity. "We'd had a shitty day and were just decompressing."

"Together." Ino drew out the word with a suggestive flair, eyebrows waggling.

Huffing out an annoyed breath, Sakura nodded. "Yes, together, and that's all there is to it. He's a civilian."

Ino hummed under her breath, considering the words from multiple angles before speaking. "Does that mean you have to go on a certain number of dates before you can fuck him? I can never remember."

Laughter burst out of Sakura before she could stop it. "I don't think so, but it wasn't an issue. What about you? Who are you sleeping with these days?"

For the first time in a long time, the color on Ino's cheeks had nothing to do with makeup. Sakura's mouth fell open at the unexpected reaction. "Oh my god, who is it?"

"Nobody," Ino answered, draining the remainder of her wine in one long pull. "I think it's time for a refill. It's hardly a housewarming party without a little alcohol."

Narrowing her eyes at her best friend, Sakura held out her glass. Perhaps the drink would loosen Ino's tongue about whomever it was that made her blush like a little girl again. And if not, Sakura had sources too. Ino wasn't the only person who could dig up a little gossip.

Moving into her own apartment had given Sakura a modicum of freedom that she hadn't known she'd been missing. At least, in some respects. On the first night that Sakura worked, Mebuki had brought dinner by, and there had been enough leftovers to last several days. When those were finished, Sakura realized that she'd have to add a grocery trip and meal preparation to her routine, not to mention laundry. She hadn't recognized how much her mother still helped her until she had to do everything herself.

Even so, Sakura was thankful to have a place to call her own. She could have the occasional glass of wine without her mother's disapproving looks, sleep late on her days off, and have people over whenever she wanted. Not that Sakura had many opportunities for the latter. Apparently everyone else was busy doing adult things too.

Sakura hadn't found the time to take Naruto out for ramen a second time. Their schedules made it difficult, but she hadn't put as much effort into it as she should have. Sakura simply didn't have time to do everything that she wanted to do with all of her responsibilities. Not to mention, constantly being on alert for Anbu who might need her. Over the past week, she'd only treated one shinobi, a genin who'd gotten over enthusiastic with his shuriken training.

The situation with Kazuko had settled down, though Sakura hadn't talked to him about anything. They had gone their separate ways like adults, working together when necessary and separately when possible. She thought that time would eventually smooth it over. Now, if she could learn to control the blush that crept in whenever an unwanted memory sprung up in her mind.. Maybe Ino was right. Sakura just needed to get laid.

Not much chance of that, Sakura mused as she settled in bed after a long day. Her shift at the hospital hadn't been so bad, it was the running around after work that did her in. But, at least she had enough fresh vegetables to make food for the next several days. Contemplating which dishes she wanted to try her hand at first, Sakura drifted to sleep..

The onions were too large to be considered diced, and Sakura couldn't get her eyes to stop watering long enough to correct her mistake. She grumbled under her breath and continued to chop the pesky vegetables. A pan bubbled and hissed; steam rose in tantalizing waves that wafted the scent of meat and garlic across the room. Sakura nodded to herself, shoved the onions into a smaller bowl, and moved back to the stove.

Focused on the food, Sakura didn't hear the soft footfalls behind her until arms snaked around her middle. She squeaked and suppressed the urge to lash out with chakra. Soft kisses burned a trail along the shell of her ear as she swatted the hands. She tried to complain that she was too busy for the man's attention, but they both knew it was a lie.

When Sakura turned, the man's face was indistinct, a face that she could have seen hundreds of times during her day. She didn't have long to study his features before warm kisses made her forget everything else. Nimble fingers worked at the apron that Sakura had secured around her midsection; his hands drifted lower as the string came loose.

Beep, beep, beep. Sakura squeezed her eyes shut as the hands pulled her closer in a dizzying rush. The kisses along her neck were gaining heat, burning through her attention span. "Don't you need to get that," an unfamiliar voice husked by her ear. Beep, beep, beep. Sakura reached for the oven behind her, frowning at the numbers slowly ticking down. Beep, beep, beep.

The buzzing of Sakura's pager drew her from the warm confines of sleep. She blinked, trying to capture the remnants of her dream, but the urgency of the noise drove them from her mind. Sakura peered at the tiny digits indicating the time, then groaned. Why couldn't Anbu have emergencies during normal business hours?

Throwing off the blankets, Sakura climbed out of bed and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She stripped off the oversized t-shirt and reached for standard issue jonin blues. Sakura couldn't be bothered with the complicated snaps and buttons of her normal attire while half asleep. Tying off the pants, she grabbed a bag that held everything she'd need for an emergency consultation from beside the night stand and headed toward the door.

The streets of Konoha were eerily quiet in the deepest hours of the night, deserted except for the occasional flicker of unseen protectors at the corner of Sakura's vision. The fluorescent lights of the hospital glowed in the darkness, drawing Sakura like a moth. When she stepped through the doors, the same blanket of silence that cloaked the village enveloped the reception area.

Sakura turned away from the serenity, preparing for chaos. She'd barely reached the shinobi wing before Chiasa hurried toward her. Blood splattered the woman's scrubs as she indicated one of the rooms. "This way, Haruno-sensei."

Chiasa had already attached monitors to the patient while awaiting Sakura's arrival. The machines beeped an urgent rhythm that forced the last vestiges of sleep from Sakura's mind. Her eyes darted to the heart rate, lips pulling into a frown. The number was higher than Sakura wanted to see for someone as physically fit as an Anbu.

A flash of silver caught Sakura's eye; armor littered the floor. A chest plate tilted haphazardly against the leg of a chair. Metal arm guards and black compression gloves piled in a corner. Streaks of mud brown and dappled crimson looked like a macabre art display against the crispness of the bed's sheets.

Shaking her head to clear the image, Sakura moved closer to the bed. She noticed the man lying on it for the first time. Familiar brown hair stuck up in a dozen directions, pushed there by the faceplate and mask that lay beside his hand. Despite the chaos of the scene around them, Yamato's face looked markedly untouched by whatever injuries had brought him to the hospital.

The man's black compression shirt had been cut away, baring Yamato's chest to the light. Minor cuts and gashes decorated his arms and shoulders, each one in various states of healing. On his left side, a bloody bandage clung to the skin, mud and dirt covering it. The edges were too saturated to bond well; it had reopened at some point, allowing debris into the wound.

Sakura dropped her bag into a chair and dug out the tools she needed. One hand came up with a stethoscope that she draped around her neck, and the other held a pen light. Sakura thumbed open Yamato's eyes to check his pupil's reaction and was surprised to feel the burn of fever beneath her fingers. "Yamato? Can you hear me? Do you know where you are?"

When the man didn't answer, Sakura tucked the light into her pocket and turned to Chiasa. "What do we know? Do we have any information? Where is his team?"

Chiasa glanced down at the notes, though Sakura knew the woman hadn't forgotten any of the information from the intake. The nurse nodded to herself. "A member of his team brought him in while he was unconscious. The girl didn't stay around to check on his status."

Sakura frowned at that addition, wondering if friendships in the black ops meant so little and who the girl was. She didn't have time to answer that question now. Chiasa offered a shrug as if she could read Sakura's thoughts, then continued. "I was told that I don't have clearance for the details of the mission, so your guess is as good as mine on what happened."

A flash of fury burst in Sakura's chest at the words, but she forced it away. With a sharp dip of her head, she moved closer to Yamato and sighed. "I wish I had the time to be gentle."

Bracing her hands against Yamato's shoulders, Sakura pushed her chakra through his semi-conscious defenses. The man arched, a soft growl ripping free from his throat as she probed the injuries. As she'd expected, a dozen or more smaller wounds vied for her attention. They were minor compared to the one on Yamato's side. Another significant cut crossed his thigh, undoubtedly wrapped and hidden by the fabric of his pants, but that would need attention as well.

Ignoring the inconsequential details, Sakura focused on the most threatening injuries. Both the chest and leg were infected. She eased chakra into the wounds, lessening the body's strain to heal itself. A sluggish pulse of blood caught her attention; a tiny laceration on Yamato's liver. Sakura's forehead knit together in concentration as she pushed healing energy around the wound, forcing the body to speed its repair. She spent as much chakra as she dared, but the infection presented another problem.

Sakura lifted her hands away from Yamato's warm skin and wiped them down the front of her pants. It was only then that she realized that she hadn't bothered to don her lab coat, another detail that hardly mattered. She turned back to Chiasa. "Let's start with a broad spectrum antibiotic. Has he been coherent since they brought him in?"

Chiasa shook her head as she turned to the medicine cabinet to find the items needed to start an IV line. Sakura tapped her fingers against her thigh as she chewed her lower lip, mumbling to herself. "Where is your team? Why didn't they stay? And, what the hell happened?"

Grumbling under her breath, Sakura swiped her hair away from her neck in a messy ponytail as she considered the options. Trying to purge infection was trickier than poison; it was a body's response to stimuli instead of foreign invaders that she could isolate. It would be better to clean the wounds with traditional medicine and drain the infections, especially since Sakura wasn't sure what she was dealing with yet.

Sakura released her chakra when Chiasa appeared at her side, holding out the medicine. She nodded and made the notation in Yamato's chart. The page was empty except for Chiasa's intake notes. Sakura resisted the urge to throw the file against the wall as she checked the numbers. Yamato's blood pressure and heart rate were higher than she wanted them to be, especially after healing. Had she missed something?

Kneeling, Sakura picked up the discarded chest plate that she'd noticed earlier. A puncture in the side correlated with the injury to Yamato's chest. Whatever hit him had to have been moving at incredible speed to crumple the armor that way. Sakura placed the item on the chair, then collected the arm guards to join it. She reached for his mask, brushing her fingers over the green and red stripes on the cat's cheeks that had kept his features free of wounds. Sakura wondered if the animal had been assigned, or if Yamato had picked it himself.

After placing the mask with the rest of the armor, Sakura crossed the room to pull a blanket from the cabinet. Since the rest of Yamato's team hadn't stuck around long enough to see how he was doing, she had no idea what to do with it. The man had essentially been abandoned, and it infuriated Sakura. Was that the way that all Anbu treated each other? She couldn't imagine bringing Naruto or Sasuke to the hospital in this condition and leaving them there.

Sakura sighed, watching the efficient way that Chiasa worked. The nurse had already gotten an IV line started in Yamato's wrist and was buzzing around the machines connected to his body. Sakura glanced at his heart rate and blood pressure again, frowning. "I want vitals checked by hand every twenty minutes for the next three hours," she decided aloud.

"If there are no changes after that," Sakura glanced at her watch, startled to find the time so late already. "After that, I'll be back on shift and can reevaluate him myself."

Chiasa nodded, familiar with the expectations. "Do you want any blood work?"

"Yeah, let's get a cbc and blood culture to see what we're up against." Sakura paused, then nodded to herself. There was nothing else that she could accomplish tonight. "I'm going to try and catch a couple of hours of sleep in my office. Wake me if there are any changes."

Gathering her bag from beside the bed, Sakura slung it over her shoulder and walked from the room. The silence of the hallways made her uneasy. She was used to the hustle and bustle that predominated day shift, but more emergencies came through the doors at night. Sprains and stuffy noses were replaced with broken bones and heart attacks. Sakura didn't envy the men and women who worked while everyone else slept. She'd done more than her fair share of night shifts when training with Tsunade, mostly because the woman liked sleep more than she liked her student. Or, so Sakura thought.

A ratty couch tucked into one corner of Sakura's office, a new addition for these late night Anbu surprises. It was hardly long enough to stretch out on, even for someone of Sakura's height, but it worked in a pinch. The room was blissfully dark at least. Sakura tossed her bag onto the floor, then tried to get comfortable on the lumpy cushions. Seconds ticked by, then minutes. Despite the exhaustion nagging the back of her mind, Sakura's body refused to rest. Sighing, she moved back to the desk and flipped on the light.

A dozen charts waited for Sakura's attention, but she couldn't focus enough to deal with the tiny details that they required. Her mind refused to settle enough for sleep, but wouldn't let her work. Sakura had assumed that the worst missions, the ones that left shinobi broken and battered like Yamato, had become an exception now that the world was at peace. She berated herself for that naivety. The current political situation was tenuous at best, forced by fear or respect for Naruto and Sasuke. Anbu continued to put their lives on the line daily and would do so until something major changed

Sakura's frown deepened as she considered Yamato, still trying to reconcile the fact that he was Anbu. She had wondered why she saw so little of him after the war, but hadn't thought to comment on it. Sai had never mentioned the man in relation to Anbu either, but that wasn't surprising considering the security around them. Sai wasn't one to gossip, anyway. Sakura tapped her fingers against her forearm, then checked her watch, less than an hour had passed.

Giving up on the idea of sleep, Sakura pushed to her feet and left her office behind. The halls were still deserted and silent as she walked back to Yamato's room. Chiasa had gone, dimming the lights before she left to help her patient rest. Beside his bed, the alarm on the monitor flashed, but it had been silenced for being constantly out of normal parameters. Yamato's heart rate and blood pressure remained elevated.

The healing, push of fluids, antibiotics, and rest should have lowered the number by now. Sakura stepped closer and captured Yamato's wrist in her hands. Her fingers pressed against his pulse point, surprised to feel the rapid beat through the skin. She had wondered if the machine was getting a false reading somehow, but her physical count came up with the same number or close enough that it made no difference. Sakura laid his hand back on the bed and frowned. "Why aren't you stabilizing?"

As Sakura expected, Yamato didn't answer. Chiasa had cleared away the tatters of his uniform, then cleaned and wrapped the wounds. Yamato's armor remained beneath the blanket where Sakura had left it. The man looked different without the jonin uniform and usual head protector. She brushed her fingers over his forehead, feeling the warmth of fever. Yamato's temperature was up, but not high enough to force his body to shut down. "Did I miss something," Sakura wondered aloud, mentally cycling through the dozens of medical textbooks that she'd read over the years.

Lowering her hands to hover above Yamato's chest, Sakura eased her chakra into his body. The echo of the man's life force ruled out chakra exhaustion. Sakura had tended to Kakashi after battle enough times to know what that felt like. Yamato's chakra brimmed with energy and life.

Sakura quested deeper, reexamining the injuries and looking for something that she could have missed. It was exactly as she'd seen earlier, minus her healing. Huffing, she broke the connection between herself and Yamato. When Sakura opened her eyes, she was startled to find Chiasa at the end of the bed with a stethoscope in hand. The woman was coming back to get the next set of vitals. Sakura dipped her chin in greeting. "Have we gotten any results yet?"

"Not yet," Chiasa answered, pulling the file from the box at the end of the bed. "We should have part of it back in the next couple of hours, but the culture will take longer."

"Yeah," Sakura agreed, humming thoughtfully. Her eyes swept over Yamato again, then returned to his heart rate. "Draw a tox screen as well, and put a rush on the results."

If Chiasa was surprised by the unusual request, her face didn't reveal it. She nodded and made a notation in the chart. "Anything else, Haruno-sensei?"

Sakura shook her head, wondering if any of the tests would help her fit the pieces together into an image that made some kind of sense. She rested a hand on Yamato's bare shoulder. "We'll get to the bottom of this soon, I promise."

Sleep came easier the second time, drawing Sakura into a confusing dream. Sasuke had joined black ops, and she'd followed him there. Team Seven were on mission together, all wearing the grey and black of Anbu as they crouched in a cave. Sakura had the vague sensation that Yamato had been the one leading them, but she couldn't see him anywhere. Then, Naruto started complaining about checking the prices of ramen while Sasuke scoffed in the background. The scene shifted to an all too familiar campsite, and warm hands fell on Sakura's shoulders. She turned in the embrace—

The pounding of a hand against the office dragged Sakura back to reality. She opened her eyes, and the dream skittered beyond her reach. Sakura knew a moment of disoriented longing that she didn't understand, but it took only a few seconds to remember why someone was looking for her. Throwing off the blanket that she'd dragged over herself, Sakura opened the door. The girl on the opposite side dropped into a quick bow. "Sorry to disturb you, Haruno-sensei, but your patient seems to be coming around."

Sakura didn't need to ask which patient; she only had one. The girl, Kimiko, bobbed into another nervous bow. Not for the first time, Sakura wondered why Chiasa thought Kimiko had what it took to become an Anbu nurse. She seemed more like a frightened child than anything else. Pushing that thought away, Sakura nodded and blinked to clear the sleep haze from her eyes as they hurried through the hall. Shift change wasn't fully underway yet, which meant that Sakura had been asleep less than two hours.

They passed a couple of windows on their way to Yamato's room. The darkness outside hinted at grey, but it was still too close to black to pass for predawn. A yawn crackled Sakura's jaws before she could stop it, but she kept moving. When they stepped into the hospital room, the iridescent glare pierced Sakura's sleep deprived eyes. The lights had been turned back to full brightness, and Chiasa stood beside the bed with her eyes trained on the monitors.

Yamato groaned and twisted on the bed, body tensed beneath the thin sheet that covered him. Not for the first time, Sakura wondered if the man was in pain. She hadn't found any reason beyond the obvious wounds, but she didn't think they would elicit this response. Could he be responding to a genjutsu of some type, something that she couldn't see? If so, the pulse of her chakra across his during healing should have been enough to break it.

The silenced alarm began to sound as Yamato's heart rate climbed over a hundred and ten. Fishing the penlight from her pocket, Sakura opened each of Yamato's eyes in turn. His pupils responded sluggishly to the flick of the light, but they responded. His breathing became more ragged as he jerked to the side, knocking Sakura's hand away. "Yamato? Do you know where you are? Can you hear me? Yamato?"

The groan that escaped the man's lips could have meant anything, or nothing. Sakura repeated Yamato's name, dropping her hand to check his pulse against the machine's reading. It continued to climb, the alarm growing more urgent with each passing second. She frowned, considering which pain medication or sedative would be the most effective in regulating his vitals.

Yamato jerked upright on the bed, eyes flashing open. He looked around the room without comprehension, panic and fear obvious in his gaze. Sakura caught his shoulders, ready to force him back to the bed if he became combative. Yamato blinked several times, then focused on Sakura's face. "Sakura?"

A relieved sigh slipped out before Sakura could stop it. "We have to stop meeting this way," she teased, releasing Yamato's shoulders as he sank back onto the pillows. "How do you feel? Do you remember what happened? Do you know where you are?"

Yamato ran his tongue over his lips, then nodded. The drone of the monitor changed, and Sakura glanced at the numbers. Her eyebrows rose as the heart rate began to dip toward a more acceptable rate before her eyes. Yamato drew another deep breath, then put a hand over the wound in his side, wincing at remembered pain. "We were ambushed," he mumbled, shrugging with one shoulder.

When the man didn't offer any additional information, Sakura frowned. "There were no reports of casualties or other injuries, so the rest of your team must have made it out unscathed."

Yamato's face scrunched in pain as he shifted into a more comfortable position. Sakura waited for several heartbeats for the explanation to continue. When it didn't, she rolled her eyes. "You had internal bleeding, again. Bruising and lacerations on your liver this time, not to mention two significant wounds. Both of which were infected, by the way. I think I deserve more information than 'we were ambushed'."

"You don't—"

Sakura cut Yamato off mid-sentence with a sharp gesture. "Don't try that line again. I have full clearance for Anbu mission details when there are injuries involved. I've already taken that up with Hokage-sama. So, start talking."

Yamato's gaze slid to the side of the bed where Chiasa and Kimiko stood, watching the exchange in silence. Sakura exhaled and nodded toward the two women. "Could you excuse us please? I'll call the nurses' station if I need anything."

Kimiko bobbed into a sharp bow and turned away. Chiasa was more subdued, eyeing Yamato with a lack of patience that Sakura felt in her soul. The woman understood the subtext; while Sakura was cleared for more information, the nurses weren't. After a long moment, she nodded and followed Kimiko from the room.

When Sakura turned her gaze back to Yamato, his expression was so foreign that she wondered if she'd ever known him. His brown eyes were lifeless and flat, without a trace of the laughter that she remembered. When they were alone, he shrugged again "We'd just won a battle, and I thought it was over. I got careless."

Sakura had to bite her tongue to keep from saying that careless was quite possibly the last word that she would have used to describe Yamato. She still recalled their first mission together, when he'd sat her down and explained that he could never lead Team Seven the way that Kakashi did. He didn't have the luxury of pretending that they would all come home alive or that everything would work out for the best. Though she hadn't realized it at the time, Sakura had gained a tremendous amount of respect for Yamato that day. That memory was at odds with the man before her.

"Something hit your side hard enough to puncture your armor," Sakura pointed out, indicating the still tender wound. "I've seen you put mokuton shields up faster than I could begin to react, but there were no splinters in the skin around it."

"I didn't have time," Yamato countered, eyes fever bright as he watched Sakura like an animal waiting for a trap to spring. "Anbu missions are complicated; it happened too quickly for defense."

Sakura almost rolled her eyes at the sentiment, then decided that it was probably true. She had no idea what Anbu missions were like. It bothered her that his reflexes weren't as sharp as they had been, though. "I've healed as much as I can until your body is stronger and we see what the infection is. Are you in pain?"

"Nothing I can't handle." Yamato's voice sounded strained as he folded one arm over his eyes to provide temporary reprieve from the overbright lights. Sakura crossed the room and lowered them to a more comfortable level now that she knew her patient was crashing. Yamato didn't remove his arm when he spoke again. "So, how long am I here for?"

"We'll keep you for a couple of days for observation and to make sure the infection is under control. Once I get your blood culture back, we'll get you on a better antibiotic regimen." Sakura picked up Yamato's chart from where Chiasa had laid it at the foot of the bed. The woman's notations were painstakingly neat. Sakura compared the numbers on the page to Yamato's current heart rate and blood pressure, then nodded. "You seem to be stabilizing, finally."

Yamato's lips tightened when he found out that he'd be in the hospital for a few days, but he didn't complain or argue. Sakura could respect that. He brought his hand away from his face, but rather than meeting Sakura's gaze, Yamato focused on the pile of armor still lying in the chair where Sakura had stashed it. "I didn't know what to do with your things. I can put the armor in my office, if you'd like. Do you want me to find some blues for you to change into?"

To Sakura's surprise, a smile curved Yamato's lips. "So, you noticed that, did you?" Sakura wondered if he meant that she'd noticed Kakashi trying to cover up the fact that Yamato was black ops the last time they met, or something else. Before she could figure it out, he nodded. "Thank you."

"It's late, and it's going to be a couple of hours before we have any results," Sakura remarked, closing the chart and placing it back in the holder. "Try to get some rest, and I'm going to do the same."

Nodding, Yamato pulled the blanket higher over his chest and closed his eyes. Sakura wondered if it was that easy to fall asleep or if he was faking it. In the end, it didn't matter. She made a mental note to stop by the nurses station to ask Chiasa to continue monitoring Yamato's vitals. She wanted to know if they spiked again, for any reason.

Sakura watched the soft rise and fall of Yamato's chest for a moment, then padded out of the room and closed the door behind her.

When Sakura's alarm went off, she had a moment of disorientation at her surroundings. The memory of the previous night came crashing in once she realized where she was, however. Groaning, Sakura glanced down at the watch on her wrist, then rubbed the grittiness of sleep away so that she could read the time. Sakura had been at the hospital for almost six hours, and her shift was just starting.

Nobody would raise an eyebrow if Sakura took the morning off to get more sleep. In fact, it would make sense, but she hated to admit weakness. Instead, she pushed her hair out of her eyes and made her way to the cafeteria. The opening workers nodded in greeting as Sakura filled a cup with something that resembled coffee and picked up a bagel. Not the healthiest start to the day, but it was better than nothing.

Breakfast in hand, Sakura walked back toward her office to get prepared for the day. She considered checking on the shift change, but she was certain that Kazuko had it under control. Since the night they'd almost slept together, things had been in an awkward holding pattern. They worked together daily, so there was no time to be short tempered or embarrassed about what happened. Still, the lighthearted banter that they'd shared when she'd been an apprentice had disappeared. Sometimes, Sakura wondered if she'd imagined it in the first place.

In hindsight, Sakura couldn't help but wonder if some of Kazuko's comments had been flirty or if they had only ever been friendly. Civilians were much harder to read than shinobi in some respects. Their relationship rules were drastically different. At least, Sakura thought they were. Kazuko had raised some objections that she hadn't thought worth considering when they'd parted ways that night.

The cold, logical way that Kazuko had detailed the reasons that he and Sakura shouldn't be together, even for one night, made her question herself. She'd always known that shinobi didn't experience the same luxury of emotion that civilians did, but she hadn't considered herself emotionally stunted, either. Had Kazuko stopped because he thought that she didn't want him or because he worried that Sakura couldn't make that decision in the heat of the moment? Had he halted their momentum because he wanted it to mean something more than a one night stand?

Sakura had more questions than answers, but she didn't seek them out. Kazuko had pulled away, and that was simple enough to understand. Civilians and shinobi didn't have enough in common to make a relationship work, anyway. Sakura didn't have time for that kind of distraction right now, not if she wanted to settle into her new job properly. Besides, she was still getting into the routine of having her own place.

The caffeine dissipated the haze hanging over Sakura's thoughts, reminding her that she still hadn't found any clothes for Yamato to change into. When she'd been an initiate, Sakura had found it odd that they had a cabinet almost entirely filled with shinobi uniforms. Now, she understood why, and she couldn't believe that she'd overlooked something so obvious. It would have been easier to treat the Anbu at their own facility, but as far as Sakura knew, such a thing didn't exist. They had to share, for the time being at least.

After finishing her bagel, Sakura brushed the crumbs off on her shirt and began rummaging through the uniforms. She found one that looked likely to fit Yamato. It even had that fabric that he used to cover his neck and chin. Tucking it under one arm, Sakura paused to straighten the shelves that she'd disarranged and closed the door. She turned to find Kazuko walking down the hallway toward her. Why did he always have to be exactly where she didn't want him to be?

Kazuko's lips rose in a smile as he brought up one hand in a half-wave. "Good morning, Sakura."

Sakura wished that she could shunshin to her office without speaking or dealing with any of the awkwardness that existed between them. But, she convinced herself that the more she worked through it, the quicker the discomfort would pass. Sakura dipped her head in greeting. "Takeda-sensei."

The man frowned at the formality in Sakura's voice, but she didn't soften her tone. He glanced at her rumbled clothing and her exhausted features, understanding what it meant. "Is everything okay?"

"It's been a long night," Sakura admitted, savoring a sip of her coffee. The liquid had cooled enough to taste bitter on her tongue; it needed more sugar. Realizing that Kazuko was waiting for her to continue, Sakura shrugged. "It was nothing I couldn't handle."

Kazuko's jaw tightened like he wanted to say something, but Sakura didn't ask what it was. He probably wanted to lecture her on working too many hours, caffeine intake, or Kami knew what else. The man's shoulders dropped as he forced them to relax. "How long have you been on? If you need some time, I can handle things."

"I don't need special treatment." Sakura bristled at the suggestion, unsure why it bothered her so much. A headache pressed at the back of mind, an indication that she needed more sleep or, at the very least, some water to offset the coffee she'd drank. But, such was the life of a medic. Exhaling, she moderated her tone. "I'm fine."

"Haruno-sensei!" Kazuko and Sakura both turned to the call from Kimiko as the girl hurried down the hallway, flat shoes slapping against the floor tiles. When she noticed Kazuko's presence, the girl dropped into a second bow. "Takeda-sensei."

Sakura waved her hand, waiting for the girl to get to the point of her interruption. Kimiko held out several pages with a third, deeper bow. "I have the results that you were waiting for, Chiasa said you wanted them right away."

"Thanks," Sakura answered, flipping open the first page of the report while bunching the bundle of clothes onto the crook of her elbow. Now that Yamato had woken up, Sakura didn't expect to find anything unusual in his blood work. The first test revealed an elevated white count, exactly what it should show when his body was fighting an infection. Everything else looked well within range.

Sakura flipped to the second page, skimming over the readout. She paused and stared at the totals a second time, then studied them until the silence became uncomfortable. Kazuko cleared his throat. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes," Sakura answered, closing the report with a sharp nod. Her mind was already working through a dozen possibilities, problems with Kazuko forgotten. "If you'll excuse me, I have a patient I need to attend to."

Without waiting to see if Kazuko answered, Sakura turned and strode down the hallway. She tossed her coffee cup into a trash can on the way to Yamato's room and shifted the clothing she'd brought to her free hand. The other gripped the results in a tight fist, crinkling the pages. She told herself not to jump to conclusions or overreact before she got the entire story. She didn't listen.

In an effort to show maturity in her new position, Sakura had been working on keeping an open mind. But this—she couldn't begin to fathom an acceptable reason for the numbers that she'd seen, unless the test had been contaminated somehow. The miniscule chance of that happening made a hell of a lot more sense than the alternative.

Despite every effort to calm her annoyance, Sakura pushed open the door to Yamato's room with more force than was strictly necessary. Her glare settled on the man in the bed. "What the hell are you—"

Belatedly, Sakura realized that Yamato wasn't alone. Her attention shifted toward the flash of red and white beside the bed, and she followed the colors up to Kakashi's face. His eyes were creased with a familiar eye smile. "Ah, a ray of sunshine as always, Sakura-chan."

A low growl slipped out before Sakura could stop it, the diminutive irritating her more than it should have. She leveled Kakashi with a flat stare every bit as dark as the one that she'd given Yamato. Anger burned hot in her chest as she pushed the door shut behind her. It would have closed on its own, but the slow hinge irritated her too. She huffed out a breath. "I'm glad you're here, Hokage-sama. This way, I'll only have to do this once."

The laughter disappeared from Kakashi's eyes. "Do what?"

Kakashi turned toward Yamato, but the man had become interested in picking at a loose thread in his blanket. Sakura suppressed the urge to smack him over the head with the papers she held. As it was, she stalked closer to the bed. Kakashi took a step backward without seeming to realize that he'd done so, but her patient had nowhere to go. Sakura threw the papers onto Yamato's lap. "Explain."

Yamato picked up the pages and frowned at them for several tension laden moments. Then, he shrugged. "I don't even know what this is. How do you expect me to explain it?"

"Well," Sakura began, pulling the papers away with a lilt in her tone that fell just short of mocking. "When a patient comes in unconscious, it's standard practice to run blood work to rule out a variety of things. Sometimes, we run a drug screening as well."

Yamato shifted, his gaze darting away before Sakura could get a read on his expression. A hint of pink rose in his cheeks, but it could have been from shame, annoyance, anger, or something else. Did he know what the test said? Sakura waited for him to own up to it, but Yamato remained stubbornly silent.

Kakashi broke the spell, looking between the pair of them like they'd grown second heads. "Okay? What am I missing?"

Inhaling sharply through her nose, Sakura waited for Yamato to speak. Her gaze shifted between the two men, convinced that Yamato knew what the test had shown. When she finally spoke, she addressed her patient rather than Kakashi. "There were incredibly high doses of stimulants in your system when you were brought in."

Yamato didn't meet Sakura's eyes. Instead, he rubbed the back of his neck and focused on the wall behind Kakashi. Sakura clenched her teeth to keep from snapping at him. She glanced toward the monitors beside the bed, wondering if the man's heart rate would climb from the stress. It remained annoyingly steady.

Kakashi frowned, his mask pulling downward enough to suggest the expression. "So? Anbu use soldier pills all the time."

Sakura ignored Kakashi, focusing on Yamato. He still hadn't met her gaze. "Not just evidence of usage," she continued, "but nearly triple the expected amount."

"While genin, chunin, and even jonin use them sparingly, Anbu don't always have that option." Kakashi interrupted. The heat in his voice surprised Sakura. "Yamato did what he had to do in order to get home. What are you implying?"

Sakura wasn't sure, but she knew that the results were problematic at best. She exhaled, annoyed that Yamato still hadn't spoken. "Using that many soldier pills could lead to permanent damage."

"So could dying," Kakahsi quipped, chuckling under his breath. His light tone made a joke out of the situation.

Sakura looked at her former sensei turned hokage and wondered if her power extended to throwing him out of the hospital. Probably not. Before she could determine which channels to use to receive that power, Yamato interrupted. "It was a bad mission. I had to take more than normal to make it back without being a burden to my team. It happens."

"Well, it shouldn't," Sakura snapped. She hated the idea of shinobi pushing their bodies so far past the natural limit. Nothing good could come from it. "You were unconscious when you were brought in, so it doesn't seem all that useful."

"Unconscious, but alive." Kakashi's words carried a weight that Sakura hadn't expected. He was right, which meant Yamato probably was too. These kinds of things happened with Anbu, especially those who had some kind of god complex that suggested that their bodies were no longer bound by human laws. Yamato had never struck Sakura as the type, but perhaps she'd been wrong about that.

Waving a hand, Sakura shrugged and picked up the chart to make notations. "Fine, but I'm going to keep you here for a few days to make sure that everything works out of your system." Yamato opened his mouth to argue, but Sakura snapped the file shut with a metallic clank. "If you'd like to try for a full week, go ahead and finish that thought."

Yamato swallowed visibly at the threat, and Kakashi's mouth tightened to hold in his laughter. Both men held their tongues as Sakura stomped out of the room.