Stranger by angrypixels
Summary: He was back. He was not a monster, for that would mean someone she knew had just forgotten what he used to be. He was not a traitor for that was a name for one who had betrayed something that had once existed before. She did not know him. He was a stranger.
Rather than waste time by asking questions and getting non verbal responses, Sakura requested her dark haired patient to write down all the answers with his right hand while she drew blood from his left arm.
There were times when Sakura loved being a medic. Moments like these were precious and always priceless blackmail material.
No matter how he tried to hide it, Sakura saw the minuscule twitch of his eyes the moment she placed a needle near his vein and the momentary pause of his writing when she began the process of drawing his blood.
Some stoic, world weary ex-avenger indeed.
"You have to write more than water and food in that column, Sasuke, or this questionnaire would be redundant." She reminded him and his eyes immediately darted to the clipboard and the scratching sound of the pen continued with a tinge of ferociousness.
After taking enough blood from her patient, Sakura watched with amusement as multiple expressions flashed through his face as he completed the rest of the questionnaire. He frowned, he twitched, he glared and at times, he looked slightly confused.
Sakura was feeling pretty happy with the fact that a mere questionnaire would put the great ex-avenger at a loss.
Finally, Sasuke finished it and handed the clipboard to Sakura with a slightly sour expression.
"Now that's done, let's proceed to the physical examination. Please strip." She said lightly and stood back and gave him an expectant look.
Sakura swore she saw some unknown emotion from Sasuke's eye streak past before sinking back down into the quiet black sea. He then proceeded to follow her instructions.
If Sakura didn't know better and if her patient was someone like Gemma, the slow and casual way her patient started to pull off his shirt and pants was surely an attempt at strip tease and to fluster the pink haired medic. However, given that she knew very well that her name did not appear on this person's very short list of people to care about, Sakura mentally skipped through all possible implications and quietly waited for the show to finish.
Besides, Sakura thought quietly to herself as her eyes roamed his body unashamedly, although he did have a toned body with well defined muscles, the countless shinobis she had to lay her eyes on each and every day made her quite apathetic to any show of quality male flesh.
She was no blushing virgin. She was a trained, bloodied kunochi.
With Sasuke sufficiently naked with minimal cloth covering essential clan building parts, Sakura coolly and proficiently measured his height and weight and scanned his body both by the naked eye and with her chakra to check for abnormality. She pressed and stretched muscles and tendons with practice and ignored the nervous shudders and glares her patient gave. After a quiet examination, Sakura scribbled her findings on her clipboard and soberly requested Sasuke to clothe himself and wait while she analyzed her findings.
Fifteen minutes later, Sakura obtained the blood test report and was just about to knock and enter the examination room when she froze. A split second later and with years of practice of battle silence and grace, she stepped forward lightly and gazed through door's small glass window.
There stood the tall, dark haired avenger, facing a window with his hands tucked into his pockets. She could not see his face with his back facing the door, but she knew that he was watching the scenery outside intensely.
She had a good guess of what had caught his attention. After all, this was one of her favorite rooms in the hospital. On many tired and exhausting days, she would stand at the exact spot and watch her beloved village. Be it broad daylight or at night, it was breathtaking and quietly satisfying. Situated on the fifth floor of the hospital, this particular room had a panoramic view of Konohagakure. The towering green trees, the haphazard buildings and electric lines strewn all over the place, the main streets and the Hokage mountain. From here, you could see the life of Konoha, where both nin and civilians lived in harmony. Despite the destruction caused by Pein's invasion, the village had been rebuilt again by its occupants. Facilities were replaced and homes were relocated.
Although from appearance it was a very different scene five years ago, it was the same place Sakura shed blood and sweat to keep safe and sound.
Sakura knew that he was staring at this foreign view with his stoic eyes, thinking that it was so different from what he might have remembered. The academy had been moved, parks were rebuilt. Even that stupid bench was gone.
Sakura mentally stabbed herself with a kunai to bring her thoughts back to reality.
All that was in the past, she thought bitterly to herself. It was not as if a stranger like him would know or care anyway.
After taking a deep breath, she plastered a polite smile on her face and opened the door.
"Sorry to keep you waiting." She said as he turned his head to look at her.
"Ah, beautiful view isn't it?" She continued as she sat down on a chair and beckoned him over. "Ever since Pein's invasion, we have done a pretty good job with rebuilding everything. It was a great chance to remap our village outlay. Some of the electric wiring was done horribly. Everything is fresh and new now. "
Sasuke ambled forward slowly and sat down on the bed while he seemingly listened to Sakura ramble on about the new and improved Konohagakure.
"It was as if the old village had never existed at all." She exclaimed after a few moments of retelling the successful reconstruction. A strong surge of pressure immediately surged through her body and caught her throat painfully.
However, Sakura did not let this faze her.
"But then, I guess you wouldn't remember." She smiled sweetly without missing a beat, staring straight into his dark eyes.
And he stared right back at her, unmoving.
Sakura blinked and looked down, flipping through her notes nonchalantly.
"Right, shall we start then?"
Sakura quickly went through the results and briefly summarized each finding.
"At first glance, your body condition seems fine. However, after doing a chakra scan on your body and reading your blood test report, it would seem that you have been straining your body for a long period of time."
She gave a polite 'hmm' before glancing up from her notes to look at her patient.
"Have you been on a rigid schedule without stopping to rest or eat properly?" She asked innocently.
Sasuke stared back stoically without saying a word.
"Your white blood cell count is pretty low and my chakra examination showed slow cell regeneration rate and response to stimulus. You may not feel it, but your body is breaking down. See?" Sakura pointed to the duly completed questionnaire with the head of her pen.
"You mentioned here that you have trouble sleeping with low appetite and occasional muscle spasm. It's pretty obvious that you have been forcing your body to work harder than it can."
She then tsked loudly and shook her head dramatically as she read on loudly.
"Oh dear, a meal a day at most? Some fruit and bread? A few hours of sleep every few days? My my, you must have been under pretty stressful situation to be unable to eat proper meals or rest. No matter, it is a nin's life to undergo dire missions with time constraints. Many nins somehow manage to treat their bodies without a care and come back half dead expecting me to patch them up as good as new. That is, if they do manage to come back at all." With an easy laugh, Sakura gave him a look loaded with feigned pity.
"Don't worry, I don't blame you at all."
And yes, she did see the twitch of his fingers gripping the bed sheets.
Briskly continuing without a pause, Sakura then pointed her pen at his hands and feet.
"All that pale skin, cold limbs and tense muscles does not constitute a part of any personality trait, despite the general female population's assumption." She flashed a brilliant smile with her teeth. "I am sure that you have been feeling dizzy and weak after exerting yourself for too long or after concentrating strongly. I can confidently tell you that if this situation continues any longer, you may find yourself suddenly losing conscious and falling into a coma. It's as if you really don't care about living past eighteen. "
Sighing loudly like a medic with a stubborn patient, Sakura closed her notes with a snap turned to watched Sasuke with a critical expression.
"Now we wouldn't want that to happen, do we? As your medic, I have already drawn up a plan on which you can base your day to day dietary needs with suitable exercise. We have a long and tough way ahead and I expect you to follow my plan rigidly in order to take in all those nutrients and proteins you have sorely lacked all these years. "
Sakura stood up, placed her hands on her hips and arched an eyebrow at her silent but definitely brooding patient. "Unless, of course, you have some urgent mission to complete or some life or death wish to fulfill?"
After another moment of loaded silence, Sasuke slowly stood up and shook his head.
Sadly expecting some explosive reaction, Sakura hid her disappointment and gleefully clapped her hands. "Good. Since the Hokage has discharged all of my usual duties, I shall be able to cater solely to your health needs until otherwise instructed. Let's start right now and head to the food market."
She gave him a sweet smile, turned her body around, flipped her shoulder length pink hair in the air and marched towards the door without a backward glance.
Kami, that felt good, she thought to herself in satisfaction as she strolled with purpose towards the exit of the hospital with her ward following closely behind.