Change of Scenery

Chapter Four - Awakening

Yamanaka Ino? What?

Both of Sakura's eyebrows rose. Like every morning since she arrived in Cloud, her temporary supervisor had given her the regular sheet of patients to check up on. When she had found out there was actually not much to do until the exams started, Sakura had sought out the Raikage and offered to lend a helping hand at the local hospital. She knew that most Cloud ninjas specialized in lightning techniques, like all ninjas from lightning country. She figured they did not have many good medics and that they could use her help. She was right.

Sakura frowned at the paper. According to her chart, there were other people that needed her more and it would be selfish of her to forget about that. Her mentor's voice resounded in her head like a mantra: 'Highest risk of dieing equals first treatment.' Reluctantly, Sakura fixed a smile on her face and began her rounds. Luckily, only two people were on her list before Ino; a young man with a broken leg and an old, paralyzed woman that needed help taking her medication. Sakura fulfilled her duties and then hurried towards Ino's room. She checked her watch while walking in and closing the door behind her; she had a mere ten minutes.

Ino grimaced and propped herself up. "Hey..."

Sakura rushed forward to help Ino sit, checked her vitals out of instinct and plopped down on the edge of the bed. She took a good look at her friend. Ino looked like she was in pain, her blue eyes somewhat dimmed with fatigue. Sakura felt the urge to reassure her. "You'll be fine, Ino. Maybe a bit stiff at first, but that will fade away before nightfall. Promise. As will the headache."

Ino sighed, smiling weakly. "Are you sure? This really doesn't feel good." She reached up and rubbed her temples slowly, wincing.

Sakura made a mock-offended face. "I should know, of all people!" She dropped her hands and folded them on her lap. Her face softened. "What happened? I only know the medical stuff. How did you end up this way?"

Ino took a moment to gather her thoughts before replying. She felt like her head was stuffed with cotton balls. "A mission, of course. Tsunade-sama sent Naruto and me on a delivery-mission... It didn't turn out so well. Someone attacked us. We won the fight, but I used a lot of chakra while healing Naruto and interrogating the enemy we captured..."

Sakura's eyebrows rose high for the second time that day. "Naruto is here?"

"Yeah," Ino mumbled. "I wonder where he's at."

"Probably went to drop the guy you two caught off at ANBU headquarters. I bet he's been fretting about your condition." Sakura shrugged her shoulders indifferently, "You know how he gets when people harm his friends."

Ino nodded slightly. "Yeah..." They both knew. Sakura recalled the promise Naruto made her when the boy she loved had left. She still cared for Sasuke, but she had not seen him in so long.

"We're like strangers now..." Sometimes she wondered where he was. Almost three months after the time Orochimaru was expected take hold of Sasuke's body; the news had finally reached Konoha: Orichimaru was dead. Sasuke was not. Sakura sighed. It had been nearly four years since then, and they had seen Sasuke only once. They had been so close, when he had used Mangekyou Sharingan on the both of them without a glimpse of emotion in his eyes.

When she woke up, the earth had been trembling. She eventually found Naruto collapsed in the centre of a crater the size of the village. Tsunade told her Naruto had overused Rasengan (her rough estimate was twenty three in a row), and it would take him more than a year to recover. Of course, Naruto woke up four months after she dragged him back to the village.

"Sakura?" Sakura lifted her head in response.

"What?"

Ino smiled weakly, but her eyes were ablaze with her usual inner fire. "You weren't paying attention to your patient! Tsunade-sama wouldn't approve of that," she sang, taunting. Sakura grinned at that.

"Oh, shut up." She got up and pulled at her skirt, straightening her uniform. She held back a small sigh. "I've got to get going, Ino. Duty calls." Sakura reached out and wrapped her arms around her friend for a second. Ino smiled at her when she pulled back. "Thanks, Sakura. Could you-"

"I'll see if I can find out what Naruto has been up to," Sakura replied, winking. She made to leave the room, turning back once with a strict look on her face, "Ino, get some sleep." Only after receiving a nod from her friend did Sakura close the door.

He was at it again. Kicking the dirt in front of his feet, Naruto paced in circles in front of the hospital. He was ablaze with energy, wanting to do something, anything. He had always been horrible at sitting still, especially when one of his friends was involved. Ino, in this case. Stuffing his hands deeper into the pockets of his pants, he kicked at a rock and pondered what had happened. 'Stupid, stupid!'

Ino had wasted the last bit of her chakra that remained after using her family's technique on healing his wounds... Wounds, which were not life threatening. Naruto had already felt the familiar sensation of the Kyuubi's vicious chakra flowing through his veins in an effort to keep its container unscathed, when Ino offered to heal his cuts. And he had not tried to stop her. Naruto furrowed his brow and fought down the urge to hit himself with something. '

"Oh, Sakura-chan! Hey! What are you doing here?" His first smile that day spread across his lips at the sight of her. With all the business concerning the Exams, he had hardly seen any of his friends in the past month.

"Eating my lunch," She grinned, holding up the box. "I'm working here until the exams start. They need experienced medics... I bet you're looking for Ino, right?" Sakura asked, taking a seat on one of the marble steps.

"Is she okay?" He felt the worry eating away at his mind.

"Yes, she'll be fine," Sakura smiled. She took a bite of a sandwich, and his stomach growled noisily. He had not eaten in two days. Sakura chuckled and offered him a part of her lunch, but he shook his head.

'Food comes in second place right now.'

"Where can I-"

She reached up and ruffled his hair playfully. "On the hallway to your left, room 43."

Naruto was already on his way up the stairs. "Thanks, Sakura-chan!"

There were two shiny digits in the middle of the door. One of them hung by a single nail. Naruto raised an eyebrow at it as he threw the door open. Apparently, there was not enough money to keep up with the maintenance of the hospital. Suddenly, it didn't seem so odd that Cloud wanted to improve its alliances with other ninja villages, or that Sakura had gotten a temporarily job so easily.

'They want money. Greedy little bastards.'

Ino looked so vulnerable, wrapped up in the white sheets. Her hair was a complete mess. He could see in her eyes that she was in pain, but it could not be terribly awful since she was sitting up and smiled at him when he came in. Seeing her awake made him feel a little better.

"Hey, Ino... Look, I'm sorry! You got into this mess because of me, and-"

A pained expression appeared on Ino's face. "Naruto, please keep it down. My head hurts."

Naruto nodded and rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably. "Right..." He sat down on the end of the bed ready to open up is mouth and apologize in hushed tones, but Ino beat him to it.

"Look, it isn't your fault. I'm fine and it was my own decision anyway. We are friends; I know you would never hurt me on purpose. Just forget about it." He wanted to disagree but she reached over, took his hand and gave a little squeeze. He surrendered with a sigh. 'She's injured... Can't refuse an injured friend anything. Besides, if she's okay with it, I shouldn't blame myself.' He nodded to himself.

"How are you?"

She sighed. "I'm fine, honestly. My head hurts, I can't really think straight, and my body feels like cotton candy. But I'm fine," She grimaced. "Tell me about the mission."

"Well... It took less than a day to get us here from the moment that you collapsed. I took you to the hospital. They said you would be fine, so I asked for directions to the Raikage's office. He seems to be a good leader, but... He acts as if he's got something up his ass! And Baa-chan's office is prettier than his."

Ino raised an eyebrow. "You're insulting one of the most important people in the country, Naruto! You are jealous, aren't you?" He huffed.

"Am not! ...But he's still a pompous ass. I'd make a better leader." He flashed a confident grin.

Ino smiled back and nodded for him to continue. "Well... He told me to pick you up and stop by, but that can wait until tomorrow."

Ino chewed at her bottom lip. "What would he want to see us about?"

Naruto cocked his head to one side and thought about it. "Well, probably to talk about the Exams and all that, if there's anything else we can do."

"Great, more work." Ino frowned. He chuckled.

"You get really grumpy when you're not feeling okay, Ino-chan." Her glare as enough to make him shut his mouth about the subject. "Consider it a vacation. At least Baa-chan can't get onto our backs because we're not beating ourselves up hard enough."

Ino chuckled. "Where did you sleep last night?" She asked.

"I rented a room at a local inn. There's enough room for you too, once they release you from the hospital."

Ino raised an eyebrow. "Please tell me there are two beds."

Naruto pouted. "What's that supposed to mean?" She glared at him in a way that made him shiver gently. "Yes, there are two."

"Good," she smiled. "What happened to that bastard we caught?"

He gritted his teeth at the thought of the man. "I handed him over to ANBU, so he's got it coming for him." Ino gave a nod, accompanied by a chuckle that sounded quite evil to Naruto. There was a silence, but it did not last long.

"Okay Ino, you're free to go the moment you can feel your legs properly." Sakura explained, walking into the room. She checked her friend's vitals again and smiled pleasantly. Her eyebrows rose the umpteenth time that day as she saw the pair of hands lying on the sheets of Ino's bed, clasped tightly together. Naruto followed her gaze and shrieked inwardly.

'She is never going to forget about this...'

"Sakura-chan, it's not what you think!" He released Ino's hand and flailed his arms around, trying to find a way out. Sakura chuckled and Ino sighed, mumbling.

"Shut up, Naruto." He folded his arms across his chest and huffed.

'Women are mean.'

A/N: This is not filler, if that is what you are thinking. This is a chapter that I used to introduce Sakura, so it does have a purpose. I am not very much for shoving three new characters down your throats in one chapter, so you will just have to deal with me. I know, I am horrible. Thanks to Useful76, loaned, afa, Judicium, LightningFox101, Dark Hope Assassin, Lanse, PastSorrows and jere7782 for reviewing chapter three. An even bigger thanks and a gigantic hug go to Lanse for being awesome and helping me so much: I love you!

I am sorry for the crappyness of this chapter, but I am tired of rewriting it (this is version seven). Maybe I will come back later on once the story is finished, and edit it some more, but I am done for now. Look out for chapter five in a week or so.

-xx- Nika