3.
- S -
"Pig, you're truly living in a fantasy world."
"Come on Forehead, you spend every day with him, and you told me about how he looked at you when you teleported him back with Obito. I think you've got a shot…this time." The blonde winked at the last part and started laughing at the expense of her friend.
Sakura flushed red and smacked Ino on the shoulder before crossing her arms and sinking lower in her chair. "Not only are you wrong, but we're in public. Shut your big mouth before I start getting involved in crazy rumors." Ino rolled her eyes while taking a drink from her coffee and scanning the outdoor seating at the café.
"It's just a bunch of civilians."
"And they gossip the most because we're treated like celebrities after the war!" Sakura dragged a hand over her face while glaring at her friend. "So, how's seducing Sai going?"
It was the blonde's turn to flush red and she began to sputter. "I don't know what you're talking ab—terrible. He's so oblivious. He barely has emotions so he's never going to notice mine." Sakura gave the blonde a sympathetic smile. There was no denying what the Ino said so there was no use giving her fake contest. "I swear men are on this planet to piss me off."
Both girls broke into laughter at that comment.
"Anyways, I'm organizing a little reunion night out tonight. You're coming."
Sakura blinked in confusion before asking, "Why?"
"You don't get out enough. You spend all your time either at the hospital or doing shit for your teammates. It's 'respectable' and 'noble' and all, but it's boring."
"Not all of us focus our energy on our makeup." Sakura shot back.
"It shows." Ino had to duck another incoming hand for that comment. "Don't be lame, give me this one night to dress you up. I'm bored and you could use a makeover. Perfect combo!"
"Fine."
Hours later found Sakura scowling in the mirror at Ino's apartment. "Why the hell do I have to look like this to get drinks."
"Because if you're going to sulk about Sasuke instead of doing something about it I'm going to find you someone else. I invited some nice ANBU along with our friends."
"I'm going to murder you. Slowly, painfully, and with glee."
Despite attempts to protest, Sakura found herself in Bourbon Street bar wearing a ridiculously short black dress and chunky cream heels. It was a small step up, or more accurately down, from the mile-high stilettos Ino had tried to get her in. The cold air nipped at their exposed skin and both girls were grateful for the warmth of the bar.
"Ino! Sakura!" Both girls turned to find Kiba calling them to a large circular booth where a wide collection of people were gathered. Lee, Kiba, Sai, TenTen, Neji, Hinata, Naruto, , and Sasuke? were all seated at the table. Milling nearby were the ANBU Ino had invited along with Shikamaru, Genma, and Kakashi.
Poor Hinata looked ready to faint from sitting directly beside her long-time whiskered love. Naruto leapt up to hug both girls giving Hinata a second to inhale deeply.
"I had to drag Teme out of the house, but now we have a good group of the old teams!" Naruto was grinning ear to ear and it was clear he and Ino had worked together to make the event happen. He handed the girls nameless mixed drinks and the three fell into casual conversation. Sakura caught a glance of Sasuke over Naruto's shoulder and Sasuke looked absolutely furious while staring down a coke and whiskey on the table in front of him. Yikes.
Sakura zoned back in just in time to hear Ino tell Naruto, "Alright wonder boy, go talk to Hinata. I'm going to introduce Forehead to some nice ANBU who are hopefully packing." Sakura turned a shade perfectly matching her hair.
"Ino!"
"Shup up and fix your dress." Ino moved to expose more cleavage in Sakura's dress and the pink haired girl smacked her hands away. "Fine, fine. Current appearance will do."
Ino pulled her friend along and introduced her to the three ANBU. "Everyone, this is the famous Haruno Sakura. Sakura, this is Tsuga, Yoshioka, and Tsiboike." Ino gestured to the different men during the introduction and Sakura gave a small wave. How do you even greet people your friend wants you to sleep with?
Work was a neutral topic so the group quickly fell into discussion of missions, but Ino was clearly not pleased with the talking and redirected the conversation. "Sakura is an amazing medic, she's especially good with massages." The blonde winked and then followed with "Oh I think I hear TenTen calling me!" and with that she threw the pink haired girl to the wolves.
After that comment the conversation moved to a more sexual tone and the ANBU were not short on compliments for Sakura's appearance and skills – though they definitely were more often about her looks. Tsuga seemed to have taken the lead with chatting her up, though the other ANBU continued the conversation. While Sakura was able to break off a few times to talk with others like Lee and Kiba, the man made a habit of appearing in her circles.
He was generous in his offering of drinks and Sakura found herself drunk less than a couple hours into the night. It was barely clocking midnight and she felt the pull of the drinks on her eyelids. Wood from the bar acted as her support and she allowed her back to lean up against it while her elbows rested on it leaving her facing Tsuga. His energy never wavered and he kept talking, but he'd also drank less than her.
Naruto had always teased her for her shockingly low tolerance despite being the apprentice of Tsunade who was infamous for her drinking. Oh well, not like I'll ever measure up to Shisuou. Drinking could bring out the cynic in her and, despite the man in front of her telling he she was "absolutely stunning" and "so smart", she was throwing a bit of a pity party. Why did I come out again? Ino is a witch with her persuasion.
Sakura managed to pull a smile for Tsuga after not hearing a word he'd been saying. Women smiling always appealed to the male ego and she was certain she could slide by on that alone.
"Can I get you something else?" Tsuga offered, moving closer to the bar and in turn her. Poor guy, Ino probably made him think this was going somewhere.
She opened her mouth to politely turn down the offer when Sasuke appeared in her line of sight behind Tsuga. "She's fine." A spike of anger ran up her spine and she glared at the man, infuriated he dared to decide her drinking choices.
"I don't think he asked you." Alcohol also removed her barely existent filter and she found herself snarling at her teammate.
"You'll be useless in training if you're hungover. I don't like having my time wasted training with you sleep deprived." Bow down to the wishes of the all mighty Uchiha! Oh how lucky I am to train with him! Fat chance.
"Good news – you're not training with me. I'm training you." Tsuga looked nervously between the clashing teammates before excusing himself.
"I think Tsiboike is calling me. I'll see you later, Sakura-san!" The man all but ran back to the main group.
Sasuke was clearly pissed at her comment, especially since she had made it in front of a stranger. "I get you're probably insecure socializing with everyone after missing out on years, but that doesn't mean you should compensate by being a dick." His eyes narrowed further and she saw tension in his shoulders. I struck another nerve, he's making it too easy.
"I didn't know you were so aggressive when you drink."
She blinked in response, caught off guard by his remark. Stunned didn't last long and quickly transitioned back into anger. "There's plenty you don't know." Immediately after saying it she regretted it. The sentence implied he would have any interest in learning, and she knew that to be far from the truth. "I'm tired, tell Ino I went home."
Quickly striding out of the bar in an attempt to retain an air of confidence, Sakura had to stabilize herself against the exterior wall of the bar the moment she shoved out through the front door. She was way too drunk, dizzy, and embarrassed. Plus, her heels were killing her feet. The heels were the only thing that could be modified, so she made quick work of the buckles and began her trek home barefoot. Nausea prevented her from taking to the rooftops, so she had to deal with stumbling along the cobblestones and jamming her toes every dozen feet.
The front door of her house looked like a godsend by the time she arrived, and she let herself in before stumbling up the stairs to her room. Stripping off the clothes Ino had provided, she made a beeline for her bathroom. She grabbed a few makeup wipes from under her sink and flicked the shower to the highest heat when she stepped in. Making quick work of her makeup, she took to massaging the hairspray and product from her scalp with a sigh.
Things between them still felt so off and she couldn't pinpoint why, but that didn't matter. Her resolve to just be someone in his life he could rely on was tried by his attitude with her. Is it really too much to ask for civil co-existence, even just for the sake of the team?
- SU -
After weeks of monotonous training, Sasuke received a scroll from Sakura notifying him that the arms for he and Naruto had matured. The transplants could be performed at any time. He was surprised she hadn't come busting down his door with the news, but it didn't make much of a difference how he heard.
Naruto arrived at the hospital at the same time as Sasuke indicating they had both received scrolls as the pink haired medic was nowhere to be found.
"Sakura-chan called us, where is she?" Naruto asked the receptionist who looked terrified when she noticed the Uchiha.
"Um-m… she's in the basement research lab." Naruto saluted the girl in thanks and bound off towards the elevators with Sasuke in tow. Both men hurried down the stairwell to the access code locked door. Naruto banged his fist on the door while calling out to their teammate. "Sakura-chaaaaaan! Let us in!"
Receiving his wish, the door swung open in front of him. Unplanned for, however, was the furious medic standing in the doorway whose voice was scarily low, cold, and controlled. "Naruto. There are other people in this hospital, people who may be sleeping or even dying. Shut! Up!" She punctuated each sentence with a clipboard smack across the side of his head.
"Sakura-chan, owwwww!" Naruto dodged her last swing and cowered away from her. Patience was not on her agenda apparently from the deep breath she took before beginning to explain the procedure with arms tightly crossed to control her urge to hit Naruto.
"Both arms have matured and are ready for transplant. The initial work will take time to mend bone and muscle together – hours. I'll send you home for a day before we begin connecting the nerves. This means for that rest day you still won't have sensation or control of the arm. If either of you damage this precious piece of flesh so help me Kami I will send you both to Ibiki and Anko immediately after I attach the nerves. Clear?"
It would be a long time before Sasuke wouldn't feel annoyance at seeing other people cross their arms. Then again, once this transplant was completed, he would be able to strike his comfortable post again. "How long after the transplant can we start training?"
"Just like before all training will be overseen by me. You'll start training almost immediately, but there's going to be a good bit of backtracking. The strength you've built up will be useful, but the balance you'll be starting from scratch which we expected." She flipped through pages of notes on her clipboard as she spoke. "Tsunade and I will be both working on you one at a time, this is a very delicate process and you'll have to be sedated so you don't interfere even with minimal muscle contraction."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes at this bit of information. While he saw the logic behind it, being unconscious was never ideal for a ninja. It didn't matter what he knew of Sakura's skill nor did it matter that she was likely the only one who could give him the new arm, he still felt unease at leaving himself unconscious and vulnerable to any medical procedure.
"Sasuke will go first. You will follow soon after."
"Sakura-chan whyyy!" Naruto whined, tugging at her traditional white lab coat.
"Being blunt, it's better for him to be the pilot transplant recipient. Any issues we face can ideally be resolved before Tsunade and I work on you." Wow, that really makes me want to let you cut me up while I'm dead to the world.
"…..oh. Can't you just fix everything before you start at all?"
"Naruto, of course I've exhausted every possible issue that could come up, but the human body isn't simple and we've never done this before. This decision was out of my hands, it was thought it would be….it would be worse if something happened to you in surgery." Her eyes had shifted to the floor and a redness coated her cheeks. She's….ashamed? She's bothered I'm seen as lesser than Naruto by the village?
"But—"
"Naruto, this isn't my choice. I'm just telling you how this is going to happen. As for training –" She certainly has become good at re-directing.
Sakura went on to explain the complexities of the surgeries and recovery, most of which seemed to fly over Naruto's head, but Sasuke appreciated the detail. Detail including that Naruto's surgery would begin as soon as the women's' chakra was restored after Sasuke's surgery. Their recovery period would only last a few days and then Sakura wanted to start immediate sensation testing followed by strength exercises before slowly building to proper training.
"Is there a risk of the arm not being viable and damaging surrounding nerves?" Doubt couldn't be kept from Sasuke's voice, hearing that this was an entirely new procedure made him uncomfortable.
Sakura's face slipped into a frown momentarily at the comment. Shit. Recovering quickly, she replied "Tsuande and I are the best medics in the known world. With Shizune's support I have full confidence this will work."
"Can I get it done today?" She blinked at his question to start the procedure coming moments after questioning her ability to do the procedure.
"I could have an operating room ready in an hour?"
"Hn."
"Sakura is gonna give us arms! That's so cool!"