Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Chapter 5: Shaken

It was a long time before Naruto opened his eyes.

"Shikamaru?"

No reply. Slowly, the blonde got up and looked around in a daze. In the corner of his eye, he spotted a small form by a tree.

'Hinata-chan? What's she doing there?' Naruto wondered as he approached the shy figure, who took a step back in a startle.

"Na-Naruto-kun! I-I wasn't t-trying to w-watch you s-s-sleep – I-I mean…" Hinata stuttered madly as a wave of rose colored her pink face. "Oh! That's right! I was looking for Kiba-kun!" Her face brightened up at the relief of safely changing topics.

The blonde grinned and offered, "I'll go look for Kiba with you, Hinata-chan." And as he picked himself off the ground, he thought, 'And there, maybe I can check up on Sakura-chan too.'

. . .

The pink medic was back in her office and sorting out the paperwork that was due past yesterday. Unfazed, Sakura went straight to the big pile and started filling it out when an approaching storm of stomps loudly interrupted her midway. The door banged open.

"SAKURA!"

"Huh? Oh, Kiba-kun… What's wron – "

"It's Akamaru! Can you take a look at him?"

Stopping herself from rolling her eyes, Sakura bit back her irritation.

"I'm not a vet, Kiba-kun. Anyhow, can you please sign up for an appointment or –" The medic stopped midsentence when Kiba held out Akamaru to her.

Sakura's green eyes softened considerably as soon as she saw Akamaru with several fractured bones and a deep gash of blood across its back.

"I'll take a look at it."

. . .

Sakura had told Kiba to stay in the waiting room. After a final glow of green, Akamaru was back to its healthy state – playful, even – as it fumbled with Sakura's pink hair. When Sakura put it down to clear away the scraps of bandages, Akamaru jumped over to the door.

Sakura vaguely noticed the stains of Akamaru's blood on her left arm as she opened the door and walked after the dog over to the waiting room.

Perfectly recovered, Akamaru had already gone past the corner and Sakura hurried after it when she came to a startling stop. Someone had grabbed her arm.

When she looked up, it was Sasuke, gripping her left wrist and eyeing the blood on her arm.

Thump thump thump

As soon as he lifted up however, he sensed that nothing was wrong with Sakura for it wasn't her blood.

Thump thump thump

'Why isn't he letting go?' The seconds dragging on felt like hours and Sakura was sure the Uchiha before her heard her heart wildly beating despite her silent protest.

Slowly, in a meticulous gesture, Sasuke loosened the grips and Sakura's slender wrist slid down. Their fingers touched for the briefest moments as it did so.

As Sasuke continued on his way and walked away, Sakura realized that those seconds haven't been long actually. In fact, it had been over too fast.

'Wait! What am I thinking? Snap out of it, Sakura!' The pink medic's left hand hung trembling by her side while the other reached up slowly to pinch her face. 'Snap. Out.'

The tingling from Sasuke's touch still lingered in her hand, her eyes, and her heart.

It took a few minutes before Sakura calmed herself and headed for the waiting room.

. . .

Inside, the pink kunoichi found Kiba and Mayuri laughing, together with Akamaru between them.

When Sakura faked a cough, the three turned around and greeted her cheerfully. Then, suddenly alarmed as if remembering something, the brunette started.

"Ah! Uhm, I was waiting for Sasuke-kun while he gets a check-up done, Sakura-san…" Mayuri peered out curiously from underneath her curly brown bangs.

"I see…" Sakura trailed off as she realized Mayuri studying her face. "Uh… Is there something on my face?"

"Huh? Oh! No, not at all! It's just…"

The pink kunoichi waited patiently for her to go on.

"…nothing." The brunette finished lamely.

"Oh, Mayuri, do you mean when Sasuke was talking in his sleep or something?" Kiba continued for her instead.

Mayuri looked up at Kiba and fidgeted as she cautiously nodded.

"You told me, so I think it's okay to tell her." Kiba spoke out thoughtfully, then gave a reassuring smile at Mayuri. "In fact, if anyone needs to know, it's her."

Sakura stood by curiously, with a small fear at the mention of Sasuke at the same time.

"Is… something wrong with his wounds?" Sakura started, then asked the question with a mix of hope and fear. "Should I take a look?"

"Oh! No, it's not that at all…" The brunette took a peek at Kiba, who gave a nod for her to go on. "Well, I was watching over Sasuke-kun yesterday while he was recovering… and he started mumbling a name."

The pink medic held her breath.

"To be exact, your name, Sakura-san."

Mayuri continued the next bit in words so fast Sakura almost missed it. "He was sweating and it looked like he was having a nightmare – I really don't know – so I just woke him up and it was fine after that."

When the awkward silence followed, Kiba smiled softly and patted the brunette's head.

"You did good telling her, Mayuri."

The brunette squeaked out a "yeah" and Sakura – in the middle of her heart beating frantically – caught the blushing Mayuri.

'Wait… Blushing?' Sakura had no time to think however, when Kiba got up and Akamaru jumped around as they made their way out.

"I'll see you guys later. Sakura, thanks a lot for Akamaru."

When the door shut and Kiba's waving hand and Akamaru's barks were long gone, Mayuri whispered softly to herself.

"Kiba-kun's so nice…"

In her face held a silly grin like she was in some sort of a dreamy state.

Sakura broke into a small smile as the blushing brunette reminded her fiercely of Hinata.

"Do you like him, Mayuri-san?"

"Huh? I-I-well, Kiba-kun's really nice and…" The next part was barely a whisper. "… and cute…"

'Oh gosh, she likes him.' Sakura giggled in her thoughts then halted instantly when she thought of Sasuke.

Based on their situation, it didn't seem possible that Mayuri would like Kiba, but if she did… Then what did it mean?

To be continued.

a/n: A wave of apologies: I was at a camp so I'm sorry for this late chapter. Now, in the story, I wasn't sure what kind of honorifics I should use when writing any of the character's parts (especially Kiba), so if anyone could point it out, that would be greatly appreciated. Ok. Now, about the bit of Mayuri and Kiba... I'm ready for any flames _ I had planned this out from the beginning so it wasn't too much of a spur of the moment. I know the story doesn't flow well especially after not having written for a while, but I hope you can overlook this! Finally, an apology for this long a/n LOL