Chapter 2: Routine Days

"Haruno-sama, we have Code blue in room 34-02!"

Sakura swore as a brunette medic poked her head in her office. Am I the only one who knows how to do anything here? She ran her fingers through her hair quickly, smoothing the rosy tendrils from her face as she studied the medical chart of Patient 34-02 on her desk. Unexplainable collapse…Sakura blinked with worry and leapt up, hurrying to the room. She glanced at the other medics surrounding the patient's bed. One of the nurses had given the patient CPR and the patient became stable once more. Sakura checked his vitals as she looked back at the papers.

"No history of stroke or heart attack, and yet he collapsed this morning?" Sakura questioned disbelievingly. The other medic nodded fearfully. Sakura's temper was unusually short today. "Monitor him for the next two hours as I sort this out. Could be something odd." Sakura answered instead. "I'll be back."

Sakura made her way back to her office. She yawned. The impromptu reunion with Kakashi had been ridiculously taxing. She grabbed the coffee on her desk that her assistant had been kind enough to leave. Thanking her in her mind, she sipped the drink carefully as she pored through the patient's medical history. Perhaps there was something she missed…

Interesting. He had a family history of hypoglycemia. A blood test should sort things out and confirm her diagnosis. At least it should not be anything too serious. If not, she would probably have to examine and treat him herself. Sakura sighed, she would really rather not. The morning healing session with Kakashi had depleted most of her reserves, and she still needed to get through the day. Not to mention, she had not even eaten breakfast. It is all that insufferable jerk's fault. Sakura grimaced. But still, she mused, nothing wrong with being able to feel his face…

She shook her head abruptly, interrupting her thoughts. Was she seriously lusting after her sensei?

"Sakura!" A sharp voice jerked her out of her reverie.

"Hai, Sensei?" Sakura groaned audibly. What could it be now…The Hokage burst in Sakura's office, and in her arms was a huge bundle of patient charts. Tsunade balanced the pile on one foot, shifting her weight. She attempted to stack the pile neater before she looked up at Sakura.

"You okay?" Tsunade glanced at the girl sympathetically. Sakura looked pretty damn tired. Sakura nodded, brushing aside Tsunade's concerned hand which was making its way to her forehead.

"I'm fine," Sakura batted away her hand once more and dodged for good measure.

"Alright then, you might want to take care of those dark circles," Tsunade smirked as she placed the pile on Sakura's desk. "And…finish filing these before you leave." The Hokage sauntered out of Sakura's office, closing the door with a click as she left.

Sakura groaned and rolled her eyes, grabbed two sheets off the pile and scanned the patient IDs. She flipped through the rest of the stack and realized that there were at least thirty patient files to sift through. Dammit, she swore. Giving up, she grabbed her phone and dialed the number for her assistant.

"Moegi, get your ass over here." She immediately hung up and leaned back in her chair, rubbing her eyes. Today is going to be a long day. Sakura thought irritably.

"Sakura-sama, the tests you ordered for Patient 34-02 are completed, he tested positive for diabetes mellitus type 1." Moegi spoke softly. She seemed daunted by the ferocity Sakura displayed after having to file papers. A light flashed on Sakura's desk, the signal that she was needed at the Operating Room.

"Just as I though, we'll start the diabetes orientation and the treatment immediately. Get Akane to handle those. I'm off to the surgical room." Sakura snapped as she hurried to the Operating Room. "Finish the rest of the papers before you leave!" Sakura called back.

Moegi sighed. She respected and even idolized the talented medic-nin, but being her assistant was just plain exhausting. She would hate to be Sakura herself, who is stuck having to deal with much more...

Sakura glanced at the unconscious ninja in Operating Room 4. Tsunade had extracted most the poison, but the ninja was still in danger. Shizune would need to find or make an antidote to nullify the remaining poison. An eagle-like mask was on the table near the door. ANBU, Sakura thought. She walked closer to the prone figure. His face was obscured by a white cloth over his mouth and nose. Something about him looked strangely familiar.

"Sakura, I need you to heal his other wounds while I have Shizune make the antidote." Tsunade broke the silence. Sakura nodded, examining the body as she found another long gash on the side of his leg. The cut was jagged, as if someone had sliced him with a serrated blade. She placed her fingers on the opening of the wound and applied chakra. His leg glowed green momentarily before the skin stitched together, fusing. All that remained was an angry red mark that would fade in time.

The ninja twitched, causing Tsunade to glance up.

"Looks like he's coming around."

He shifted slowly and opened his eyes. Sakura recognized the trademark pupil-less eyes as she gasped. "Neji? What happened?"

He struggled to sit up and keep the cloth on at the same time. Needless to say, it didn't work. The cloth dropped silently on the floor, confirming that it was indeed the Hyuga genius.

He then stiffened suddenly and turned his head over the table and threw up on the floor. Sakura pushed him back down on the operating table, and then quickly examined his abdomen.

"Sakura, I think it is just a side effect of the poison," Tsunade replied to her unasked question. "I probed his gastronomical system but found nothing unusual…the poison is spreading faster than I thought."

Sakura completed the routine checks and glanced back at Tsunade.

"How…" She began.

"ANBU missions, Sakura. Unfortunately his target knew beforehand and set a trap. By the time he realized, it was too late. He completed the task and then suffered for three days with the poison in his system before finally making it back to Konoha."

Sakura checked his vitals. Injuries as severe as Neji's were commonplace amongst ANBU members, but very rarely was it combated with poison. As she moved on to his respiratory system, she found internal bleeding in his lungs as well.

"Shishou, did you miss this," Sakura asked. "He has a pulmonary hemorrhage."

"Crap. Run a full scan and fix it. I'll be at the lab. I didn't notice it earlier, so this might have something to do with the poison."

Tsunade ran out of the room, grabbing the papers from the printer as she left. Sakura sighed. She was left with the brunt of the work again.

Sakura rubbed her eyes. It was already night time; she had been at the hospital for a total of twelve hours already. Neji's condition had stabilized, and now he was in the Recovery room. Sooner or later he'd be fit enough to leave. Shizune had spent a hectic hour with Tsunade breathing down her back to make the antidote, and Sakura was left monitoring Neji's vitals, only to be occasionally interrupted by other medics asking for her help.

Ugh, and to think when I get home I have to check up on Kakashi…Sakura thought exhaustedly. She had forgotten to mention to Tsunade that Kakashi was back.

"Um, Sakura-sama? I finished the paperwork…" Moegi began hesitatingly.

"Oh, thanks, Moegi. You're finished for today then." Sakura dismissed her impatiently.

Just one more report to type up and then she would be done.

Coming back home would be different today, Sakura supposed. She unlocked her apartment door and peered inside, scanning the premises. Her eyes fell on an empty couch. Sighing, she took off her coat and hung it on the hanger next to the door. Typical Kakashi behavior, ignoring doctor's orders. Something smelled really good, something coming from the kitchen, she thought.

She made her way to the kitchen and found herself staring at the food on the dining table.

"Hey," Kakashi waved a hand in front of her face. "You alright there?"

In his other hand was a spatula, and he hurried back to the stove, where he flipped some eggs.

Sakura stared in astonishment. Not only would this be the first actual meal she would have this day, but the sight of Kakashi cooking? He might as well be wearing an apron!

"Um…yeah." Sakura answered, seating herself in her chair with a daze. A tantalizing bowl of udon stared back up at her. Kakashi wordlessly handed her a pair of chopsticks from her drawer somewhere—how had he known where it was?—and sat down opposite of her. He placed a fried egg on her noodles and another on his own.

She dug in eagerly, starved. The room was silent save for the sounds of her chopsticks clicking the bowl and her slurping eagerly. Kakashi watched her eat.

"I didn't know that my cooking was that good," He joked affectionately. Sakura paused long enough to glare at him, before finishing the rest of her udon soup.

"You can't be serious." Sakura looked pointedly at Kakashi.

"I can't eat under pressure!" He replied. "Don't you have something else to do than stare at your old sensei while he's eating?"

"Ah yes, I could help feed my old, helpless sensei."

Kakashi blinked, thrown off for a moment. "Not a chance!" He grabbed his chopsticks and the bowl of udon and turned away quickly. Sakura glared. He could feel her eyes boring into the back of his head as he ate.

Instead, she rolled her eyes and got up, placing her bowl in the sink. Kakashi wordlessly handed her his own emptied bowl. She took it and placed it in as well.

"If you eat to fast you could get indigestion, you know." She admonished. "It would be safer for you just to eat normally…"

He only crinkled his eye cheerfully in response.

"And miss the attention I get over my face?" He teased. "I'm not that special."

"Oh, who wants to see an old fart's face anyway? You'd scar my eyes forever instead."

"All the more reason not to see me then," He smiled. Sakura scowled.

"Get on the couch."

"Oh, being demanding now, are we?"

"Get on the couch before I pull that scarf off you and examine your wounds on the kitchen table." Sakura glared at him threateningly. Kakashi blinked. Was he really still wearing her scarf? A scarf IS much easier to pull off than his standard mask. Admitting defeat, he walked to the couch and lay down obediently. Sakura grinned. Now she was totally in charge here.

Kakashi blinked up at Sakura's face, which was grinning ever so sadistically. She frowned and placed a hand on his eye experimentally.

"What I didn't get was why your Sharingan was so strained last time." She explained. She began to probe it once more, double-checking. "Over the past years whenever I checked it, your eye was never that bad."

Kakashi sighed. He jerked his face away from Sakura's warm hand. He didn't want to think about the mission. Somehow it always came back to the mission.

"What did you do on your mission that caused you so much pain?" Sakura asked quietly.

"Nothing," He replied curtly. He turned away from her burning jade gaze.

"Kakashi…"

He sat up abruptly and pushed away her hand. Sakura sat down on the cushion next to him, worried.

"Just tell me, please?" She begged, poking him in jest.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan, but this is going to be another one of those things I never will tell you guys," He moved away and ruffled her hair affectionately.

"No!" Sakura snapped, pushing his shoulders back so that he was flat against the couch. She hovered above him, glaring at him. Unknowingly, she was sort of...straddling him at his waist.

Kakashi shifted and tried to ignore the fact that she was now pinning him down…although it was not too uncomfortable a compromise.

"Hey hey hey…I think I'm the one that's injured here…" He began playfully. Sakura only scowled deeper and got off him, much to his dismay. He groaned in his head. If only she knew how alluring she is…

Sakura started to say something equally flirtatious in reply before she switched tacks. She yawned. The fatigue was starting to catch up on her.

"Fine," Sakura said instead. "I'm tired anyway. I'll be off to bed then." She got off the couch and paused.

"You're sleeping on the couch." She tossed him a blanket from her cabinet. Kakashi eyed her retreating figure. He stared into the dark for a bit longer, contemplating.

A/N: This chapter is a lot longer...although I probably went over with the medical stuff...heh.

Oh well, questions, comments, concerns? Feedback would be great too!

I hope this sort of pacing is okay, let me know if it is otherwise :)

Thank you all who review and fav'd. It really made my day.

~Kyokoyuki