DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Naruto universe but I do have an imagination of my own. I will end up using it, I promise!
Thinking
Emphasis
Biju, etc. speaking
Biju, etc. thinking
Sakura walked into the room with eyes twinkling, holding a clipboard over the lower half of her face. She assessed the room, rolling her eyes in fond exasperation of what she found. It was pretty much the usual: when her patient wasn't being attended to by nurses or physical therapists, her blonde teammate was just finishing up a staring contest with Bull, one of her sensei's ninken - something she found absolutely ridiculous yet highly amusing. Her former sensei, the Hokage, was sitting in a makeshift desk and chair with a pile of paperwork on another chair, frequently flitting his eyes to the blonde woman sitting in the bed, before shaking his head and going back to what he considered his horrible task. The head of medicine leaned against the wall, glad not to be noticed, and drank in the scene for the last time.
"Who's a good boy but totally sucks at staring? Huh, boy? Huh?"
"Maa, maa, how many times do I have to tell you not to tease my ninken? So mean to Bull," drawled the Hokage.
The man's largest ninken let out a loud, low sound that was a mix between a moan and a whine as it laid its huge head on the young woman's shoulder. "Poor baby! I think he's my baby boy now, right Bull?" The ninken responded by walking forward and putting all of its considerable weight on the blue-eyed blonde, giving her no choice but to lay back against her pillows, the dog's paws sprawled across her arms and legs while she laughed softly and rubbed his neck. She kissed the dog's head and baby-talked him to the amusement of those who watched.
"Maa, so unfairrrr…" Kakashi whined. Sakura cleared her throat loudly. "Oh! Look who snuck up on her former sensei. If it isn't little Sakura-chan."
Sakura rolled her eyes. Yes, she was very glad that Kakashi-sensei was in a much better place mentally since Naruto was back - in whatever form - but the man was back to being the teasing juvenile that he used to be and she couldn't say that she had missed that side of him too terribly. Well, maybe a little. She thought part of the reason he was saying this nonsense so often, though, was because she constantly caught him fawning over their blonde teammate who had somehow come back from the dead. He seems really smitten. Squee!
"I have some news," Sakura sang. She handed her clipboard over to her superior and watched his expression move from concerned, to validating the materials he was given, to what she could only describe as a smirk on his face - which she had to admit worried her a little - and waited for his response.
"She can leave? Is this for real?" Kakashi asked.
"Hai, she'll still have to do her therapy and of course she will still have appointments to keep. There's no reason for her to be hospital-bound any longer, however, and..."
"YES!" The Hokage jumped up out of his chair, straightening his paperwork with a bang on the table, "Let's get the hell out of here."
"Sensei!" Sakura chastised, "I still need to go through everything with her and whoever will be staying with her; we need to get her checked out… it's going to take a while. Do you even know where she's going to be staying?" Sakura had offered up her guest room but Kakashi had shot that down immediately. He told her that Lee wouldn't be able to keep his mouth closed about his house guest - which Sakura thought was highly unfair. He was ANBU after all and had kept all kinds of secrets, even from her she supposed. Lee was even on the roof protecting them at this very moment and didn't that make her heart flutter. I need to bring him lunch today - and I guess bring some to Shino, who's stuck up there, too.
"She'll be staying with me at the Tower. I've had a room made up for her and everything is taken care of." Kakashi replied. Would he allow her to stay anywhere else? Hell no! She wasn't getting away from him again. At his request for assistance, Kurenai and Hinata had tastefully, (not to mention excitedly,) put together a room for the unknown woman they thought would become Kakashi's bride. As far as Kakashi was concerned, they were right: he wanted to marry her. He just had to figure out how to make that dream of his come to fruition.
"GROSS! Can someone help me here, please? I'd like to… breathe. Mmm, I suppose you can have your dog back." Kakashi and Sakura looked over to see little more than blonde hair sticking out from under Bull's happily panting form. The Hokage quickly pulled him back, and the two laughed at the drool covering the young woman's cheek and neck. "I've gotta take a shower!"
"Yes, it's time to get in," Kakashi said happily.
"Not with you, pervert!"
"Mou, so mean! And I was even going to tell you that you're getting out of here today. Oops, I just told you." Sakura rolled her eyes again, especially as Kakashi had what could only be described as a big stupid grin on his masked face. He obviously loved being called a pervert again by her blonde teammate, and considering his favored reading material: yeah. How exasperating. Along with pregnancy hormones, these two were going to drive her crazy.
The patient - they still hadn't come up with a name yet and were doing their damnedest not to say, "Hey you" when they wanted her attention - was collecting clothes to take into the bathroom in order to shower and change. Kakashi had sometimes called her "sweetheart," which earned him odd looks for the first week or so of her stay, but those looks became increasingly fearsome glares as time went on. Apparently, it was not a nickname she liked. He tried some others and even got punched for one. "Darling" had made her actually gag and Kakashi had even begun laughing as soon as the word passed his lips; it just felt so wrong.
I shouldn't have said that about that pervert wanting to shower with me. He knows it was… Nrgggg. He's so frustrating! She washed her long blonde hair - there was so darn much of it - before rinsing it out and putting in a special conditioner and rinse that Sakura-san had given her. Sakura had the prettiest, shiniest hair. So unfair. How did I get dealt with this crazy clumpy-ass hair that sticks up all over the place? At least this stuff makes it even softer, and it smells good… She continued to clean up before turning the water off and opened the shower curtain. The door was ajar. Did that pervert come in here? I'll kick his Hokage ass! She wrapped the fuzzy towel around herself and opened the door with a glare. Kakashi sat looking at her with an eyebrow raised, somehow looking smug even though so much of his face was masked. She growled at him and slammed the door closed again.
He broke down chuckling. Such a fierce little thing. He only went in there to give her the towels that she forgot to take in. It wasn't like he went into take a good look at the water droplets running down her beautiful nude body… down her breasts, down, down... He shook his head and stood up quickly, stretching his back. Smacking his face with his hands - something he had been doing a lot over the past few weeks - he thought about the whole idea of it. That was something he would never do, uninvited anyway.
Pshh - he was the Hokage! If he wanted to see a woman naked, it would be pretty damn easy! He had money, after all, and using that for alcohol with so many (bad) pick-up lines he knew, he could probably be seeing a whole lot of one or more right now. But he wasn't interested in that. He wanted just one woman, and he wanted her for keeps. How to obtain that? A relationship? He had to admit he might just be a little clueless. Crap.
She walked out of the bathroom as his thoughts were swirling and he stared. The top of her hair was pulled back into a partial ponytail, but she still had bangs "flying everywhere," something she always complained about. He loved her hair. What don't I love about her? She was wearing an off-the-shoulder top that hugged her arms and body, cute shorts, plus ninja sandals. He had to look away and wipe the blood from his nose. She looked drop-dead gorgeous.
"Is something wrong?" she asked anxiously, looking down at herself.
"Uhhhhh, no. You look…" Kakashi made a strained sound and smiled.
She wasn't sure what that meant, but she felt her face heat up. On the one hand, it seemed like he looked at her appreciatively, but he didn't say that he liked how she looked, did he? Plus, she had a weird body: her breasts were too big, her waist too small, and her butt was just too tiny. Without considering the company in her room and just feeling so self-conscious, she turned to her mirror, pouting, and moved her hands eagerly around her bum. Kakashi fell gracelessly over on the bed.
"You are way too ass-obsessed! I've told you, with physical therapy and conditioning you will get in better shape but you have to be patient and work towards it every day," Sakura told her with a hint of amusement. "You've gained back a good amount of weight from when you first came in. You still sleep a lot more than average, but you're still recovering, and you need that sleep. As you know, we think it will also help with your memories and… skills. I know it's frustrating, and that frustration is also part of the process. If it gets too much for you - too much for either of you," she said looking over at the Hokage, too - "make sure you tell me right away. There are changes we can make and other things we can do to deal with that effectively. Damn it! Are you even listening to me?!"
"I'm hungry!" the blonde said, bouncing on her toes.
Sakura grunted and bowed her head in defeat. Once an idiot, always an idiot; or maybe the bottomless pit that is Naruto has finally resurfaced.
"Me, too, let's ditch this place and get some real food," Kakashi agreed. Sakura sent him a look of betrayal as he grabbed the blonde's hand and whisked her away from the med-nin, quickly casting a genjutsu on her to hide her more distinguishing features before finally leaving the dreaded hospital room.
