Sakura pulled off her rubber gloves with a snap. She had just completed one of the most satisfying procedures in her entire career. A young boy had been brought in, having suffered a bullet wound to the head after a shooting at a local supermarket. He was as good as dead, the paramedics had told her. One had even advised her to let him be and save herself the heartache. She pressed ahead anyway, and after two and a half hours in theatre, the bullet had been extracted. The boy was alive, and remarkably responsive. More checks were still in order after he awoke, but Sakura would be pleased to inform his mother that her son was alive and well. It was an exhilarating feeling, saving somebody's life. Making a difference. She never got tired of the warm feeling that would envelop her every time she exited the operating theatre. Her work was truly her passion.

Tsunade scrubbed down next to her. The older woman was clearly also overwhelmed by the procedure they had just performed together. Her forehead still glistened with sweat, and her hands shook slightly. Sakura frowned. Tsunade was once the steadiest hand in the hospital, but now that title belonged to her. Tsunade had changed. She was quieter, withdrawn. A noticeable change from the loud-mouthed mentor Sakura had come to know quite well during her year at Konoha Hospital. Sakura knew she had to get to the bottom of it one day soon. She missed the old Tsunade, who she knew would be scolding her right this second about some aspect of the near-flawless operation she had just performed, if not for the mysterious change in her mood. Sometimes Sakura felt as if her whole life was changing, turning sour like old milk. Her mentor's chirpy mood and her marriage had both suddenly been poured down the drain.

Her marriage. The sadness hit her again, like a crashing wave rolling around her head. And suddenly she was lost in it. She wasn't in the hospital any more. Instead, she drowned in a sea of self-pity. Tears began to well up in her eyes, and she blinked hard, trying desperately to hold them back.

"You did an amazing job out there, Sakura." Tsunade spoke, and as quickly as the misery had come, it was gone again. She snapped out of her reverie. "Bullet extractions aren't easy, and… even in my prime, I don't think I could have performed like you did. I'm proud of you." Though her expression was sombre, Tsunade's amber eyes were smiling. Sakura was taken aback by this sudden show of emotion. And Tsunade continued to lay the praise on thick. "You're the best of the best. It won't be long before I hand you the neurosurgery department."

Sakura giggled, trying to ease the conversation a little. "Come on Tsunade, we both know you'll be hanging around bothering me for years to come."

Tsunade grinned at her, eyes glinting. A hint of her usual sparkling personality. "For sure. You won't get rid of me that easily!" They shared a laugh before Tsunade spoke again. "Did you hear about Orochimaru?" Orochimaru, the head of the heart surgery department. He and Tsunade were professional rivals, and personal enemies. Sakura had to admit she understood why. He was extremely creepy. Swanning about the hospital in his doctor's scrubs, he almost resembled a ghost, his long dark hair and pale skin contrasting sickeningly under the glow of fluorescent lighting. Patients often asked if the hospital wards were haunted, and Sakura was pretty sure his unusual appearance was the reason.

"What about him?"

"He's planning to retire." Tsunade untied her apron strings before pulling it off over her head. "And he's already picked out a replacement. I didn't get any say in it - typical - but he's a real talent. Orochimaru's favourite protegee."

"Really?" Sakura feigned interest. She never paid much attention to hospital politics as she knew they wouldn't affect her in the slightest. Though she was to inherit the neurosurgery department from Tsunade, her real ability, her real love, lay in operating. But she listened politely out of respect for her mentor.

"Orochimaru says he's more skilled a surgeon than you."

Tsunade, she was sure, was saying this on purpose to rile her up. But it worked anyway. She was irked. Everyone, including Orochimaru, knew she was one of the most talented surgeons seen in a long time. Perhaps he was just jealous that his replacement didn't have the apt skill Sakura possessed. This thought made her smirk slightly, but she still felt the need to trash-talk that cardiac bastard and his obviously extremely conceited protegee.

"A heart surgeon more skilled that a neurosurgeon?" She almost scoffed. "That's unheard of. The heart is just a pump after all - the brain is what gives us personality."

Tsunade smirked. "And I've heard Orochimaru's protegee has a terrible one." She walked toward the door, her thick black heels clicking on the floor. "Watch your back around him, Sakura. He's ambitious."

Sakura almost laughed. He sure couldn't be more ambitious than she was. Her whole life had been dedicated to medical science, and she wasn't proud to say she had cut down many peers in order to secure the prestigous internship with Tsunade. But she couldn't suppress the feeling of apprehension bubbling away in her abdomen. What would he be like? She hid this worry from Tsunade, as she knew she'd get an earful.

"Don't worry about it. I'll wear him down before the first week is over."

Her shift had just ended, but Sakura didn't have time to change out of her scrubs as she rushed outside, cigarette packet in hand. She was gasping. Lighting up, she took a deep drag and sighed in relief. The taste of smoke filled her inside and out, and she relaxed almost instantly. It had been a busy day. Hours passed as she rushed around the hospital wards. The work was so consuming that she had no time to stop and think, or even eat. And perhaps it was a good thing. Now that she was outside, alone, she had time to think. And the first thing to come into her head was always Naruto.

He had left that morning for a game in Sunagakure. It was one of the biggest games of his career, he assured her - he was no longer playing as star substitute, but had been asked to play a full match by his manager. He was over the moon, but she couldn't summon up any positive emotions at the news. A feeling of bitterness, of annoyance, crept up on her all too fast whenever Naruto talked about football. She had given him a forced kiss on the cheek, and a far-less-than heartfelt "I'm so happy for you". How could she ever pretend to be pleased when the very thing he loved the most had destroyed all they had ever shared. He had changed too much. His life was all about glitz, glamour, celebrity. Hers was blood and guts and sickness and death. They were worlds apart.

But he was still important. She couldn't explain it, the connection she felt towards him. She still cared for him, but in a twisted sort of way. Her passionate love had been warped into something much less pleasant, but still just as enduring. She felt she couldn't leave him, because without her, he would be torn apart. Sakura knew he still loved her. And she knew her distance was hurting him deeply. She was caught in an impossible situation, and she didn't know the way forward. Either way, she was hurting him, and so either way she was desperately unhappy. Sometimes she wished she had friends to confide in, but her pride held her back. Especially around her workmates. She felt the need to put up a front: the perfect, pretty, intelligent doctor with a fairytale husband. Nurses fawned over Naruto, and told Sakura daily how lucky she was, how jealous they were. She almost scoffed every time. If only they knew. Her life was a mess.

The revving of a motorbike snapped her out of her reverie. And she heard it just in time to hurl herself out of the monstrosity's way. A big black Harley, lightning blots and flames engraved on either side. The leather-clad rider took no notice of her near miss at death, nonchalantly parking outside the hospital's front entrance and dismounting as though nothing had happened. Sakura found herself shaking with anger, and she couldn't control it. She'd reached the end of her tether, with Naruto and with her unhappy, unsatisfactory life. And this dickhead was about to feel the brunt of her fury.

"Hey, you fucker!" She shouted as he began to remove his helmet. "Watch yourself! This is a hospital, there are all kinds of people around! What would you do if you hit someone, eh?" She stuffed her hands in her pockets, trying to disguise the way they trembled. The rider removed his helmet, revealing...

Even Sakura's mind trailed off in the face of such an unbelievably beautiful man. It was as if he was carved from marble, as he had white skin which almost shone with an ethereal glow. His black hair and sparkling obsidian eyes contrasted sharply, stunningly. Sakura held back a gasp. Adonis had descended.

Reminding herself that she was a married woman, she managed to summon back some of the anger that had dropped away at the sight of the rider, and glared at him in annoyance. He simply smirked back, and spoke, almost lazily, with a deep, rumbling growl.

"If I hit someone, they'd be in the right place."

And with that, he walked purposefully into the hospital, leaving Sakura, cigarette in hand, gaping with frustration. Why, she asked herself, were the most horrible men alive always blessed with suck good looks? They were wasted on such a foul personality. She hoped the man wasn't a relative of one of her patients as she certainly didn't want another run-in with him. She stubbed out her cigarette against the wall she lent back on, before standing up, straightening out her uniform, to head back into the hospital. She wanted to take off her scrubs and head home.

Naruto wouldn't be there. And that was just how she liked it. She'd cook herself a nice dinner, watch a movie, maybe call up Ino and have a girls night in. She needed some human company, some inane girly chatter that Ino was so well-versed in, to help forget her strenuous day. She couldn't be alone, or she knew she'd brood over Naruto.

As she reached the door of the staff locker room, she heard commotion. Voices, Tsunade's the loudest, muffled by the closed door. Sakura opened it apprehensively, wondering if one of the nurses was having a birthday she'd inevitably forgotten about. As she entered the room, she noticed Orochimaru standing in a corner, long greasy hair draping over his face like a slick curtain. A few nurses stood next to him, whispering and clamoring as thy stared at a dark-haired, leather-clad figure. Sakura did a double take. It was the rider from the parking lot. What was he doing in the staff room? Annoyance welled up inside her again, and she tried to suppress a strong urge to punch him in his pale smirking, oh-so handsome face. Perhaps, she thought with a sort of dark pleasure, she could rearrange it a little for him. But before she could even move, the rider was being frog-marched toward her by Tsunade, who had his arm in a vice-like grip.

"Let me introduce the two of you." By the sound of her voice, Sakura could deduce that Tsunade wasn't all too happy with this mysterious man's presence. And then she figured out why. "This is Sakura Haruno, my student. Sakura, this is Sasuke Uchiha. He's Orochimaru's boy." She was smirking in mirth. "Sakura here was telling me just this morning about how heart surgeons aren't as skilled as brain surgeons."

Sakura frowned at Tsunade in annoyance. The damn woman was already trying to cause a rivalry in the next generation. Sasuke wasn't at all impressed either, judging by the deep-set frown on his face. But, Sakura decided, it was too late to take the comment back. And he had proven himself to be an asshole not more than ten minutes ago when he almost ran her down. So she decided to put salt on his wounds, to get him back from leaving her gasping for a comeback earlier.

"Well, it's true, isn't it?" Sakura giggled a little. The icy look in Sasuke's eyes was making her regret going along with Tsunade. "The heart's just a pump after all. You can't live, you can't really be human, without a brain."

Sasuke emitted a derisive snort. If looks could kill, Sakura thought, she'd be on the ground surrounded by chalk. And he spoke, in that same husky voice, with a a slightly snide tone. "How about I cut out your heart and hold it in my hand, and see if you can live?" He had her again, just like outside the hospital. She didn't know what to say. "The heart is more important than the brain," he continued, "because you can't actually survive without it. Brain surgeons are just so far up their own asses that they can't appreciate the value of other organs."

Tsunade cackled. "I could say the same about heart surgeons, my boy!"

The atmosphere was thick with tension. Tsunade's attempt to sow the seeds of dislike between Sakura and Orochimaru's protegee had been successful. And then she walked away, leaving the two of them to stare daggers at each other. Sakura spoke first, trying to ease the tension. "I'm sorry about that." She spoke with a warm smile, surprisingly easy to summon up despite Sasuke's dark expression. "We've gotten off on the wrong foot, haven't we." She didn't want an inter-department rivalry like Tsunade did - she just wanted to do her job, and do it well. Bickering with the head of the heart department would only detract from her ability to work well. "How about we start again?"

His surly expression didn't change. "Hn."

Irritation sparked up in her again. She was trying her best to be nice, offer an apology, and he threw it off like a teenager. But inter-departmental relationships, she repeated to herself like a mantra, were important. She tried again.

"Come to my house for dinner tonight." She'd caught his attention now, his handsome face full of curiosity. He stared at her, obsidian eyes, boring into her skull, and she almost blushed under the intensity of his gaze. "Let's get to know each other a little better. We're going to be working closely together, it's probably important for us to get along." She giggled. "Tsunade and Orochimaru have shown me how hard life is at the hospital when you're constantly bickering with your colleagues. I don't want to end up old and sour like them." She drew a deep breath, wondering what his answer would be.

He ran a hand through black hair, unconsciously ruffling it up a little. He looked best, Sakura thought to herself, when he was thoughtful, free of snarky or snide expressions. He really was wasted as a doctor. He should have been a model or an actor or a singer in a band. Or, she thought to herself, a football player. She realized she was glad he wasn't.

"Okay." His reply surprised her. She had expected to be shut down straight away. But she found that, though he seemed impossibly irritating, she was looking forward to male company where the conversation wouldn't revolve around sport. She couldn't hold back a grin as she answered him.

"Great! I'll just get changed." She tried to ignore the blush that crept up on her cheeks, the quiet hammering of her heart. It was nothing, she told herself. Just a schoolgirl reaction to a handsome face. She'd get used to him soon, and she was sure he would prove to be even more repellent than he already seemed.

hey there :)

introductory chapters are like dental appointments - excruciating but they must be done. i still hope you guys enjoyed it. i'm really sorry for the slow update but i did struggle with this chapter as i felt there isn't much in it. but i promise there's heaps of fun stuff coming - i'm really excited about this story.

thanks for reading, please let me know what you think :)

xoxoxo claire