Chapter 1

There was no other feeling like this. Every inhale of smoke she took warmed every last inch of her. The warm stick between her fingers felt right and even the smoke that blew out of her mouth looked right. Oftentimes Sakura envisioned all of her stress and worries vanishing into thin air as she saw the smoke in front of her.

While seldom, smoking was her greatest guilty pleasure and oftentimes Sakura went to great lengths to conceal this, after all she was a doctor. If her mentor or any staff ever heard any of this she would not hear the end of it. 'What a fucking hypocrite.' They'd say. Because of this she would wear an old plain sweater that was free of any design or logo that could be traced back to her. Her baggy grey hoodie was a favorite. While sometimes itchy, she made sure her ash-brown wig covered every strand of her rosette pink hair. Thankfully, she dyed her eyebrows regularly so there was no need to worry about something as silly as body hair giving away her secrets.

Working in a large downtown hospital gave her plenty of hiding spots. Not that she could go far, a block was often more than enough. There were usually others, typically businessmen who worked in the fancy skyrises, huddled up against a building to not inconvenience others.

"There is strength in numbers." Her mother once told her at an aquarium trip while she saw fish school for the very first time. Sakura exhales smoke at the thought, her mother was right; they were great company, no expectations, no demands, no need to talk. Only the comfort that a homogenous group could bring.

She closed her eyes enjoying the feeling of the nicotine cruising through her body-until something, rather someone, bumped into her causing her cigarette to fall.

"Fuck-"

"Sorry." She heard a deep voice say as he walked away.

A part of her hoped that even through her sunglasses the suited man could see her glare.

She briefly glanced at its remains lying on the floor before the faint vibration of her watch reminded her it was time to head back if she wanted to use some deodorizing spray to further hide her shame.

On her walk back she removed her wig and sweater, placing them in a reusable bag. Mentally preparing for what lies back in her concrete prison.

She's no stranger to stress, quite the opposite she thrives in, caves the adrenaline. When she first started her career even her dreams revolved around it. It was finding the newest and best treatment that could give her patients a whole new way to live. Using the newest technologies in their prosthetics, learning the newest language so she could make every alternation that best suited her patient.

That was years ago, now the patient comes second. She sometimes even finds herself calling them clients. There is no thrill, everything is so well made now-a-days it's rare a case stumps her. Now she spends most of the time on the phone with an insurance company or hospital administration trying to manage the smallest logicalical issue. Getting her patients the most they can while their insurance tries to cover the bare minimum.

'I already need another cigarette.' She thinks as she sees a nurse walking towards her office. That was never a good sign.

Sakura usually kept to a one cigarette a week policy but she could see that wasn't going to be enough. 'Every three days at most' She thought while her hand subconsciously gripped trighter at the handle of her bag.

"Dr. Haruno, I'm so glad I caught you! I just emailed you another request to transfer your 8:00AM's patients medication to another pharmacy."

Walking into her office she sat at her computer. Quickly pumping some disinfectant hoping it'd hide any smells that could have remained on her. Using her newly cleaned finger to scan and autolog into her email.

"8:00Am….Ao? Pain medication for his phantom pain right?"

The nurse looked down with shame as she replied. "Yes I just got off the phone, this is the only pharmacy that would accept his insurance."

Sakura could feel her eye twitch, "Very well then, I guess it can't be helped." Sakura could hear the tiredness in her own voice as she e-signed. Her thoughts drifted off to Ao missing an arm and a leg making his way across town just to get pain medication.

It was pretty much the same dream every night. Sasuke was back in the war. He'd wake up in his bunker. His skin felt sticky, a light layer of mud or dust covered him. He felt disgusting and no matter how much he'd scrub at his skin in the shower he felt dirty. The water that pooled at his feet was red. An ominous symbol for what was to come.

After this Naruto would always come in with his bright blonde hair unmarked from any dirt, sweat, or grime. His loud voice would make his ear drums buzz as he asked him to train.

All of a sudden he was laying on the floor, blood projecting out of his arm. In his dreams there was no pain, all he could do was watch with horror as gallons of red liquid seeped out of his body. It was almost as if he was finally paying back for every drop of blood he had once spilled. Oftentimes he was too focused on his own to notice Naruto's arm mirroring his.

The next thing he knows he's in a hospital bed. The sounds of the machines that surround him sound almost rhythmic. Like a lullaby, even though he knows he's dreaming. Sasuke can't help but to wonder if he will die.

He's certain he comes close to death. Sasuke was never a religious person but he thinks he must have prayed in his delirious state because at the foot of his bed there is an angel taking care of him. She's usually reading his clipboard that stays by his feet looking at him with the most surreal green eyes he's ever seen. Out of all colors that the universe could have picked her hair is pink.

The Angel asks him how he's feeling. Sometimes, if he's lucky, her soft delicate hands will graze his skin. If he's feeling particularly bold he will even reach up and hold her hand. All he can think of is how much they feel like the petals of cherry blossoms and he's scared that if he squeezes too hard they will tear just as easily.

The end of his dream once again mirrors reality as he's back in his childhood home. He can tell months have passed because the cherry blossoms in his parents back yard have begun to bloom. His mothers sits next to him on the patio chair and holds his hand affectionately. He can feel every ounce of love she has to give being transferred to him. It's hard for him to gauge how long it happens for but it always ends with the phantom pain of his arm waking him up reminding him that; that never happened because the very hand his mom was holding is no longer there.

Sasuke no longer wakes up dry heaving trying to replay the events that happened. Instead he calmly makes his way to the bathroom ready to start his morning routine. He tries not to think of all of the mistakes he made on that day. It was downright embarrassing how they both lost their arms.

Sasuke hasn't even been at work for an hour and he can already feel his temple throb. When Naruto announced his campaign for Mayor, Sasuke had been under the impression his daily visits would stop. He was wrong. Two months later he was still here eating up half of his day with his persistent rambling.

"You know I've been thinking I should change my campaign colors to orange." Naruto rambled on. "Orange and black would look super cool; my catchphrase has to be good too. How does 'Believe it sound'?"

"That's the stupidest thing I've heard in my whole life." Sasuke replied in utter boredom not once looking up from his computer screen.

As expected, Naruto's cheery smile changed to pout, "Shut up. You wouldn't know what's good even if it hit you in the face." Even though they both knew that Naruto secretly valued his constructive criticism. That's the way it had always been with them two. They had a brotherly blond that transcended this life.

"'Believe it' cannot be your catchphrase. It sounds ridiculous. I can overlook the orange since it'll bring attention to your campaign."

"I knew you'd like the orange. 'Believe it' is an inspiring message, I can't think of anything better."

Sasuke could think of hundreds of reasons why 'Believe it' was a bad idea but he had had enough of this he needed a smoke. He was already an hour behind in the company reports and fifteen extra minutes wouldn't do much more harm. Without much hesitation he stood up. "I'm going to take a smoke break. Wanna tag?" He asked fully knowing the answer would be no.

"Nah, you know I can't. It could mess this bad boy up." Naruto flashed his robotic prosthetic that was stealthily hidden under faux skin. To the naked eye the prosthetic was invisible, many people knew Naruto for years before they discovered it wasn't his arm.

"You really need to keep up with the times and get yourself can't keep safety pinning your sleeve!" Sasuke heard him say for the hundredth time as he made his way out of the office. He didn't know how smoke affected a metallic arm but honestly didn't care. After their accident it felt wrong to get a prosthetic, he had genuinely tried one for physical therapy but he couldn't shake off the discomfort he felt while wearing it.

With intent to minimize his time gone Sasuke doesn't bother pushing his arms though the sleeves of his jacket. Instead he throws it over his shoulders as he heads out the front lobby.

Thankfully the walk to the smoking section wasn't long. There were several others there before him. Sasuke couldn't help but notice that they were from all walks of life. Many like himself donned a suit that reflected the prestigiousness of their jobs. Others dressed in much more business casual clothes, even the occasional homeless man would join them without much fuss from others.

Today what caught his attention was the hungover girl who inhaled from her cigarette like her life was on the line. Not even the hood of her oversized sweater could hide her messy auburn hair and the frown lines etched on her face.

'What's bothering her?' He briefly wonders but doesn't let himself think much on that. Instead his mind drifts back to the hospital room after his accident. Where a pink haired girl is taking care of him. Sasuke likes to daydream about her life, what she did do out of work when she wasn't nursing him back to health, what her favorite color was, what type of music she liked.

'She probably likes pop' He thinks. There was no way someone as colorful as her could stand listening to anything depressing.

'Does think about me as much as I think about her?' The thought is quickly shaken from his head. Sasuke can't help but wonder if this is a subconscious way to get over his loneliness but then he remembers he can't be lonely when his best friend is waiting for him back in his office.

Without much hesitation he starts to head back, only to feel his shoulder bump into someone.

"Fuck-" A dainty feminime voice says.

"Sorry" Sasuke replies quickly, quickening his pace back into the office to not piss her off any further.

It's hard for Sakura to sleep these days. Sure she comes home exhausted both mentally and physically but every time she lays down one thing or another demands her undivided attention. So it's no surprise to her when she's called in for an emergency consult a little past midnight.

'Can't let me sleep two nights in a row like a regular person, huh' She thinks as she hastily buttons up her lab coat to hide as much of her pajamas as she can before making her way into a private consultation room.

"Hello Mr. Uzumaki, I'm Dr. Haruno. I'll hear you have some severe pain in your...right arm. Let's take a took"

A pair of bright blue eyes stare back at her with a joyful smile she rarely sees these days. Normally Sakura couldn't help but be smitten by the handsome face. But at the moment all she can focus on is the wires sticking out his arm. In her typical work mode she quickly re-reviewed his files on her tablet as she pulled out a stool to sit next to him.

"This looks well healed. How long have you had it?" Sakura asked as she looked at the prestinely healed skin. Carefully cradling it in her hands making sure it lacked the faintest bit of discoloration or redness. As this ruled out the possibility of his body rejecting the wires that were attached to his nerves.

"Wow Hi. Um, you're hot- I think it's been like five or five or six years."

"No uncontrolled movements?" Sakura tried to hide her blush. Her patients on pain medication tended to be a big unhinged. As flattering as their advances may be, she had to remain professional. Thankfully whatever they remembered of their interactions would be a foggy memory.

"No, ma'am. It feels better than my regular arm most of the time." He exclaimed. Sakura could believe this, her world had changed so much in the past couple decades. It was only in their parents' lifetime when science had advanced enough for prosthetics to do complicated motions. The most exciting of which included the ability to feel.

"Is it fine if I download its history? I'd like to manually review it to make sure it's nothing serious." Sakured tried to keep a poker face as she was honestly slightly stumped. Today most errors lie in the host of the prosthetic rather than the equipment itself. This left Sakura stumped as his model seemed to have no reason to be acting up, it was up to date as well as well maintained. His preliminary testing had done more than fine. This was one of the most top of the edge prosthetics that had been personalized to perfection by her mentor of all people. There was no outstanding reason for it to malfunction the way the notes had described.

"Yeah, do it! What did you guys give me? I feel SO good right now?"

Pursing her lips together to try to refrain from giggling she tactfully opened his arm to download its history. This process never took long, it was only a matter of seconds before a small green notification appeared at the top of her screen letting her know it had been successful.

"Ok we are all done now. Do you have any questions?"

"Will we meet again?" He asked with a dreamy voice.

Sakura couldn't help but to giggle, "I'll have my staff call you when we figure out what's happened, you may need to come back in again." Sakura said with a smile on her face. There was something about Naruto that drew her to him.

"Awesome, it's a date!"

Sakura lips curled upwards in a slight smile, resisting the urge to shake her head.

"Ok, Mr Uzamaki. I just heard back from your emergency contact. They're on their way to pick you up..." Sakura heard a nurse say as she made her way out of the emergency department towards her lab.

On her walk back she couldn't help but to shake off a feeling she had at the pit of her stomach. 'Stop you're being paranoid' She told herself as she sat down ready for a long night of work she had ahead of her.

"I'm telling you Sasuke she's so hot and she's going to call me for our date." Naruto rambled on for the second day in a row. Normally Sasuke would shut down this conversation a long time ago but due to recent events, that would be the most heartless thing to do.

Sasuke hadn't been at the rally Naruto had that night as he was behind on work. (Late work that was mostly due to Naruto's constant visit.) So his concern wasn't too suprings as he had seen the way he doubled over in pain as he made his way off the stage. It had to have been excruciating pain. Sasuke was sure of this as he had seen him get his literal arm blown off with a much lesser reaction than that.

"What was her name again?" Sasuke asked, trying to sound interested. By the time Sasuke had made his way to the emergency room Naruto had already been seen by the doctor. Naruto had been at the height of his drug induced euphoria to the point where Sasuke had a hard time believing anything he saw.

"...that doesn't matter, but I can tell you what her name will be!" Naruto quickly replied, wiggling his eyebrows. That conversation doesn't last long as Naruto is interrupted by a phone call. It must be serious as Naruto transforms into his serious work mode and sits down with a piece of paper and pen in hand. Sasuke can only guess it has something to do with his campaign management of his hospital stint. 'We can't let the people think their future mayor is weak.' He imagines them saying.

Taking it as his chance for momentary freedom Sasuke grabs his packet of cigarettes to make his way down for a quick smoke.

Sasuke would like to say that the regulars were there but he doesn't quite know the noon crowd as well as he should have. Minus the hungover girl that is until she walks into the scene. She's breathing heavily, moving quickly to pull a lighter out of her pocket before she leans against a brick wall.

She pushes her brown hair behind her ears as she begins to frantically look for her cigarette. Sasuke assumes she's on break, most people who are out here are. Every minute counts so it'd be cruel of him to not offer her a cigarette especially after what happened yesterday.

"Here, for the other day." Sakura hears a deep voice say as they present her with something that looks more like a joint than a cigarette.

"No, thanks I only smoke cigarettes" She politely declines waving her hand out infront of her.

"It's a hand rolled cigarette."

"Oh...thanks." Sakura says as she grabs the cigarette from Sasuke's hand. She dwells on the possibility that it's a lie but quickly dismisses it. This handsome well suited man has nothing to gain from it. 'Stop being so paranoid' She reminds herself for the millionth time.

She decides that she should take incitive after accepting his olive branch. "I'm Sakura."

Sasuke stares at her polished hand before engulfing it in his own. "Sasuke"

They could easily spend the rest of their time in peace and quiet but Sasuke's intrigued. He hadn't noticed before but the girl standing next to him is not who she seems to be. Her pants are well tailored underneath her ridiculously large sunglasses. She looked fine, pretty even. With her impossibly green eyes, high cheekbones, soft looking lips. Sasuke can't ignore the fact that she looks so much like the girl from his dreams but he doesn't want to think about it too much. 'It's just a dream' He reminds himself.

"Work nearby?"

"Yeah, at the hospital, how about you?" Sakura said hoping he'd buy it. In any other situation than the one she was in she would happily tell him her title. She was very ashamed of her habit especially when she had long discussions with her patients about stopping the very thing she couldn't stop. Her costume was enough proof of that.

"Nurse? I work right here." Sasuke pointed at the building they were leaning against.

Sakura giggled, "You could say that-" But her sentence was cut short by the timer on her wrist. It was time to head back. "-sorry I gotta go. I'll see you later" She finished flashing an apologetic smile.

"See you" Sasuke said he watched her quickly walk away.

"Sakura, I just spoke to Katasuke and he said you stopped taking consults after lunch today. It's almost midnight, what are you still doing here?"

"Sakura." Ino repeated as she took in the state of disarray before her. Sakura looked beyond exhausted. Her hair looked greasy and the numerous cups that surrounded her made Ino worry about a caffeine overdose.

"Hello. Earth to Sakura." Ino said waving her hand in front of the screen Sakura was staring at until a pair of sunken in green eyes stared at her.

"Oh hey Ino." Sakura said in a tired voice as she took her ear buds out.

"Hey? What's going on? Look at this place. When was the last time you got some sleep?"

Sakura was rubbing her eyes, they were straried from the LED screen before she looked at her clock.

"A while ago. I just have a super important case I need to figure out before I can go home." She justified, ignoring the slight whine in her tone. This of course perked Ino up, she along with the rest of the city had heard what was going on. Ino watched it happen live so of course she had to find out as much as she could and where else could she get her information than from his doctor.

"Well I'm all ears Sakura. Fill me in."

"Ino you know it's against hospital policy."

"Who am I going to tell? You're the only one I talk to outside of work." Sakura scoffed at her reply. She knew Ino was lying but she was honestly too tired to care. So she began talking, she told her of all of the testing that had been normal. That this case had been eating at her for days now without any real progress being made.

After hearing what she needed to hear, not to mention; reminding Sakura of the importance of sleep. Ino couldn't help but to just take a look. "A new set of eyes can maybe see something you've missed," Ino said.

Ino felt any ounce of information she had ever learned exit her body when she looked at Sakura's work. The screen might as well have been written in another language. All Ino could do is francily search for patterns that Sakura had brought up during her mini-crash course. It was overwhelming and suddenly Ino understood how Sakura had let 12 hours pass without as much as a decent meal.

This lasted for minutes before Ino spoke.

"What about this?" Ino said, highlighting several identical rows.

"That's just how he's moving his arm Ino." Sakura said, unsure of what Ino was trying to point out as they looked at lines that dictated how he moved his arm up and down.

"Yeah but look Sakura. It's been happening for a while, don't you think this could have caused the malfunction?"

"If that was the case then most of my patients would have malfunctions..."

"Why?"

"Ino seriously?"

Sakura tried to hide her laugh as she gestured vaguely with her hand to further emphasize the point.

"I don't get it..." Ino replied with a deadpan expression.

"Ino, he's jerking it." Sakura exclaimed as she burst out laughing.

Her laughing only intensified when she saw all of the blood drain from Ino's face and a look of disgust appeared. As annoyed as she might be at Ino's interruption, Sakura recognized she was right. She needed to get home to sleep.

Sakura found herself in what she would consider her spot now. She decided that a quick smoke break before getting home wouldn't hurt. Sakura debating forgoing the wig as the cover of night would have made it harder for people to notice but decided against it at the last minute. It felt disingenuous to her character.

She was grateful she had found a cigarette in the bottom of her pocket because the last thing she wanted a repeat of the previous day. Although it wasn't so bad, since she had the chance to talk to a super hot guy. 'Even if wore his coat like a cape.' Her thoughts were interrupted by a polite cough beside her.

"Sasuke-Hello again." Sakura said, trying her best to not blow smoke between both of them.

Sasuke isn't sure why he approached her. The first thing he notices when he sees her is that she looks tired, but who isn't at this time of night. However, she's not in her usual hoodie. Instead it's replaced by a chic blazer. She looked completely different, almost put together hardly anything like the hungover girl he first spotted weeks ago. 'What's next she as fake hair' Sasuke jokes to himself.

"Late night?"

"Mhm, like you wouldn't believe." Sakura said with a sigh. She didn't want to think much about the case with Naruto because she had no idea what to do next. Something was wrong, she was sure of it. Much like the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. She stops her thoughts before she can think more on it, she doesn't want to drive herself mad with worry.

"You too huh?" Sakura says in an effort to distract herself.

"It wouldn't be as bad if my friend wasn't dropping in all the time to distract me." Sasuke thought back on the past couple hours he had spent once again catching up on work he missed while Naruto was visiting.

A giggle interrupted his thoughts, "aha-yeah my friends the same way. It's great to have them around, especially at work but sometimes it's a little too distracting." Sakura said as she crushed the butt of her cigarette in the wall behind her. She was exhausted to say the least but the copious amounts of caffeine cruising through her system were going to make it hard for her to fall asleep. Plus she's really hungry, Sakura can't think of the last time she brought groceries home. She doesn't even know anywhere that's open at this time of day.

"Sorry if this is too forward but do you know of any good places to eat open right now?" Sakura asks. She can see his jaw clenched as he thinks over her proposal. Hopefully he doesn't think she's asking for more. It's hard for people to know each other's intentions and in an effort to be more transparent Sakura rambles.

"Just as friends, you can say no it's not a big-" Sakura's words are cut short by a hand on her wrist pulling her even further away from the hospital.

"Stop, common I know a good ramen place nearby" Sasuke says as he tactfully naviages through the crowd until they reach a quaint little restaurant.

It's busy but the moment the hostess sees him her eyes light up. "Sasuke! Nice to see you again. Come right this way."

Sakura thinks that's a good sign as they make their way over to their table. It's small, crowded and hot so the first thing she does is remove her blazer. She fully expects Sasuke to do the same but he doesn't. Heat Strokes are a very real threat regardless of season. 'A little weird,' She thinks but she's bothered him enough asking him to be here so she'll just make sure he's not showing any symptoms.

They both order the house special, Sasuke orders it out of preference and Sakura orders it out of convenience.

"Do you come here often?" She asks.

"More than I'd like to." Sasuke admits as he watches the hostess place his bowl of ramen in front of him. The smell makes his mouth water; he hasn't had dinner yet. As annoying as Naruto may be sometimes, he is right about Ichiraku's Ramen being the best.

They eat in silence as they watch from a TV that is conveniently placed so they can both see it. It's nothing interesting, just reruns of the news. Due to the mayoral election all the ads are of the candidates so it's no surprise when Naruto comes on the screen. Sasuke can only feel his eyes twitch in annoyance as he hears his voice over the tv. 'I can't believe he used that stupid phrase,' he thinks.

Sakura looks at the same commercial in a trance. No matter how hard she tries to distance herself to regroup her thoughts it's almost like she's being haunted.

"It's unfortunate what happened to him." Sasuke says thinking he's reading her mind. He remembers that she works at the hospital he was at. He thinks about asking her if she saw Naruto in the ER but his attempts are interrupted.

"Tell me something interesting about you." Sasuke can't help but to raise an eyebrow. Her efforts to change the conversation are so obvious but oblegies at her request. The last thing he wants to do is make her uncomfortable.

"I know how to drive." He says a moment of thought. It's not the most exciting tidbit about him but definitely his favorite.

"Driving? I don't think even my parents had to learn how to drive. I thought it was an obsolete skil." Sakura says partly in awe thinking back on her childhood books having pictures of people driving their cars. "Did the car have one of those circle-things up front? How does it feel?"

"There is no such thing as an obsolete skill." Sasuke retorts smugly, propping his elbows against the table. "It feels amazing, you can control every move with the steering wheel."

"That does sound very liberating." Sakura says with a dreamy sigh. She can't help but to think of Sasuke driving down a road like the clips of old films she's seen online.

"Well what about you, what special skill do you have, Sakura?" Sasuke says equally amused.

"I'm abnormally strong. Like, I could easily carry you if I wanted to." She replies in between bites of the remains of her meal. There is a seriousness in her tone that makes Sasuke believe her.

Despite this, he laughs. He leans his head back and almost drops his chopsticks. Sasuke can't recall the last time he sat through a meal like this. One that wasn't plagued by his job where either party had ulterior motives. He likes how this feels, but he can tell despite her lively personality she's exhausted. He sees it in the way she looks down at her plate focusing on opening her eyes when they're not talking. He doesn't blame her; he's tired too.

"It's getting late-" He begins hoping to not make things awkward.

"I already paid for our meals-" Sakura interrupts as she reaches for her blazer. "-thank you for keeping me company. I had fun."

She stands up ready to leave when Sasuke's voice stops her, he's holding out his phone in front of her.

"I had fun too, we should do this again."

Hi- So, I have a good idea of where to take this story. Hopefully I can churn it out quickly. I will probably go back and edit my first couple chapter so they better suit my plot if needed. Sorry in advance.