Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto. I DO own Youshi Garukin (Yes, he's back! It's the prequel silly.) Ai Mizuri (now known as Kaori) is owned by xEMOtIoNaLLyCOnSTipaTEDx-

Chapter Four - Konoha Downtime

Sakura was pulled from her own personal darkness by the strangest of sounds coming from the opposite side of the room.

"Oh Kami! Sasuke-kun!" a female voice gasped, pleasurably.

"Hold still Kaori! It's almost in." the gruff male responded huskily.

"Oh Kami! That feels so good! Oh! OH! I can feel it! It's going in!"

"I know!" came Sasuke's heavy pant. "I am the one doing this to you!"

Sakura's eyes clenched tightly. If she could have moved her arms, she would have covered her ears. Hell, she probably would have ripped them off!

Sakura's inner self, however, was about to explode. 'What the fuck?! How DARE they?!'

'At least he's finally happy.' Sakura tried to mentally reply.

'Oh no you don't!' screamed her inner. 'That son of a bitch KNOWS how much we love him! And as for that so called friend of ours Kaori?! Fucking WHORE!'

'There's nothing I can do though.' Sakura inwardly sighed, defeated.

'Coward!' snapped her inner. 'Nothing you can do? Maybe! Nothing I can do? Bollocks!'

Sakura fought against her inner trying to take control of her. A loud cry of relief was heard from the other side of the room. Inner Sakura won.

Sakura's eyes snapped open, her head turned to the direction of the sounds and her mouth flew open, her rage and jealousy flooding the room.

"What the FUCK do you think you're…"

Sakura's words died in her throat as her eyes locked on to the two, fully clothed, shinobi at the next treatment bed. Kaori was laying on her stomach, her face turned to the side. On the opposite side of the treatment table stood a slightly red faced Sasuke, clearly not enjoying himself, with Shizune standing next to him.

"And that's how you relocate a spinal disk." smiled Shizune, patting Sasuke's shoulder. "Well done, Sasuke. Oh, and welcome home."

Sasuke let out his infamous "Hn." and quickly left the room, his face still slightly flushed.

Sakura felt the heat flooding her own cheeks as the truth of the situation dawned on her. Inner Sakura hid in the farthest corner of Sakura's mind, overwhelmingly embarrassed at what had happened.

Shizune quickly checked on Sakura. Her glowing hands quickly passing over Sakura's many injuries. She smiled happily as she spoke. "You're healing up brilliantly. Gave us quite a scare though. The way Sasuke burst through the doors carrying you…" Shizune paused, her hand quickly covering her mouth to stifle the laugh threatening to come out. "Three nurses fainted. They thought he was a ghost, come to claim your soul."

"Yeah." added Kaori from across the room. "He has to do some care work now. To make up for all the doors he smashed trying to find Tsunade-sama."

Sakura's blush deepened slightly. "How many did he…"

"Five! Turned them into firewood and splinters." grinned Kaori. "Or so Naruto told me."

"Where is Na…"

Sakura's next question was cut off by the answer himself.

"SAKURA-CHAN!"

The blonde blur sped into hospital room and had to be physically held back by Shizune before he could crush Sakura in a hug. Sakura giggled slightly at the pouting face of her team-mate as he tried whimpering as a way round Shizune.

"Don't even bother." said Shizune sternly. "Sakura needs to rest. Her body took a lot of damage and you hugging her to death, is not going to help her recovery, is it?!"

Naruto bowed his head, finally understanding. "Gomen." he murmured.

"You can see her later." Shizune announced, dragging the reluctant blonde back out of the room. "Right now, she needs to rest."

Sakura giggled lightly to herself as she heard Naruto's complaints echoing down the corridor outside.

"He's quite a character, that one."

Sakura jumped slightly at the sound of Kaori's voice. She had forgotten the other woman was there. Sakura fought against the scowl that was trying to take over her face. She was still annoyed about the noises she had heard.

"What happened to your back?" she heard herself ask.

"I caught up with Itachi and Kisame as they tried to get away." Kaori stated calmly, although disappointment could be clearly heard in the tone of her voice. "Kisame is going to be limping for a while but Itachi launched me into a tree."

Sakura gasped. Kaori had taken on both of them?! On her own?!

"I know." laughed Kaori, knowing exactly what that gasp meant. "Stupid or what?!"

Sakura stayed silent. It wasn't as though she could comment. After all, she had deliberately sought out Itachi on her own, with the intention of avenging Sasuke, even though she knew she didn't stand a chance against the older Uchiha.

Kaori stretched sighed heavily in relief. "Well, I better get going. Lady Hokage wanted my report as soon as I was healed." She twisted herself round to a sitting position and jumped down from the table.

Kaori sighed as she caught sight of herself in the full length mirror by the door. She slowly shook her head and tutted loudly. "Nope." she announced. "This just wont do."

Sakura looked over at Kaori. The long black Akatsuki cloak was torn and ragged at the bottom, her blue hair was tangled and the clothes beneath her cloak were twisted, slightly ripped and more than a little dirty.

Kaori grabbed a small bag from the bottom of the bed she had been in and drew the curtain around the bed, shielding her from view.

"Hey Sakura-chan!"

The sound of Kiba, Lee and Sai calling to her as they entered the room, tore Sakura's attention back to reality.

Lee rushed over to her and thrust a large bouquet of red roses into Sakura's face causing Sakura to gasp, Kiba to laugh and Sai to frown. Lee immediately pulled the flowers back and set about the task of putting them into a vase for her, all the while apologising profusely for startling her.

A contented sigh from behind the curtain caught the boys attention. Lee almost jumped the height of himself when said curtain was suddenly thrown back and Kaori stepped out.

Kaori was still letting out a sigh of contentment as she threw off the Akatsuki cloak, revealing her true appearance.

Her long straight blue hair was tied in a high ponytail with side bangs. Light blue eyes gleamed menacingly. Her top half was covered by a fishnet shirt over a dark blue spaghetti strap top with the Konoha swirl at the back. Her lower half was barely covered at all. Short booty shorts and fishnets covering her thigh, stopping just above the knee. Her forehead protector rested gently on her forehead and she had a piercing on her right ear, very similar to Konan's. Blue ninja sandals completed her look.

Kiba and Lee were instantly lost. Their jaws seemingly racing each other to the floor. Sai just frown at them all over again. He added this to the growing list of things he was yet to understand.

"See ya, Sak." smiled Kaori as she slung her bag over her shoulder. "I'll let Lady Hokage know that your back with us again. She's been asking for hourly updates on y…"

Kaori paused as she finally noticed the heart eyed Lee and the now drooling Kiba. She sighed and glared at them. "Perverts!"

Sakura laughed as Kaori flipped her hair, spun round and swaggered out of the room.

***

It had been a month since Sakura was released from the hospital. She was due back on shift in an hour but, for some reason, Naruto had convinced her to meet him for ramen.

Ichiraku's was packed. Sakura tried to see through the crowd to find Naruto but it was too thick.

"Hn."

Sakura barely suppressed the nervous jump. She, as casually as possible, glanced up to see Sasuke's towering form beside her. A shiver of delight tremored its way down her back. Inner Sakura was happily turning to mush at the sight of Sasuke in his ANBU Captain's uniform. She just wanted to drag him into a secluded corner and…

'NO!' snapped Sakura mentally. 'Can't be thinking like that!'

'Why the hell not?!' demanded Inner Sakura.

Sakura chose to ignore her Inner. Those kind of thoughts were not healthy. Or helping! Since being back, Sasuke had given her no sign that his feelings about her had changed. Sure, he had rescued her from Itachi, carried her all the way to the hospital and even smashed down several doors trying to get her some help, but that didn't mean anything, right?

After all, he had always been protective of his team. That didn't mean it meant anything though.

"Where's Dobe?"

Sakura ripped herself back to the present at the sound of his question. "Not sure. Can't see him through the crowd."

"Hn." replied Sasuke, nodding. "DOBE!" he suddenly shouted, making Sakura, and half the patrons of Ichiraku, jump.

"Hey guys! Over here!"

Sakura sighed in relief as the crowds finally parted. Naruto was sitting at the counter, waving frantically at them. Sai, Kakashi, Hinata and Kaori were seated around him. Two empty seats where to his left.

Sakura gasped, very quietly, as she felt Sasuke take hold of her wrist and lead her toward the counter. Inner Sakura was squealing like a child on Christmas and leaping for joy.

"So," came Kaori's voice as they took their seats. "How's it feel to finally make Captain?"

Sakura looked to Sasuke, clearly interested in the answer as well. Both women were left disappointed when Sasuke merely shrugged and turned his attention back to the bowl in front of him.

Sakura's jealousy flared up less than half an hour later when Kaori announced she had to get back on patrol and Sasuke went with her. She scolded her Inner self for being childish but couldn't hide the annoyance as she stormed down the street toward the hospital.

***

Sakura sighed heavily as she finished the last of her paperwork. Being the head medic of Konoha hospital and a member of the ANBU squads was taking its toll on her, both mentally and physically.

She slumped her head down on her desk and sighed again.

Sakura's eyes snapped open at the sound of her office door. Her head shot up just in time to see a figure moving away through the frosted glass. She was just about to call out to them when something on her desk caught her attention.

Sitting on her desk, just next to where her head had been resting, was a basket. Sakura lifted the lid and smiled brightly at what lay inside.

A bowl of freshly cooked rice, a small tub of fresh salad and another tub of sushi, greeted her eyes. A small flask was inside and as soon as she opened it, Sakura sighed contentedly as the cinnamon tea greeted her.

It was all of her favourite things, carefully prepared, and hand delivered just for her.

"Naruto." Sakura sighed happily.

Sakura chuckled to herself as she tucked in to the meal her friend had lovingly prepared for her. 'Don't forget to thank him for this' Sakura mentally noted.

***

"NARUTO!"

Naruto spun around at the sound of his name being called. The second he spotted Sakura, a beaming smile erupted all over his face.

"Hey Sakura-Chan!"

"H-Hi, Sakura." stuttered Hinata from her place beside Naruto.

"Hey Hinata!" Sakura greeted back warmly. "Naruto!" Sakura's smile was beaming brightly as she wrapped her arms around Naruto and hugged him tightly. "Thanks for last night!"

"P-pardon?" gasped Hinata.

Naruto eased himself out of Sakura's grasp. He smiled but his face shone with confusion. Hinata was glaring slightly at both of them, her lower lip trembling but her eyes demanding an answer.

"Em… Sakura. I have no idea what you're talking about." came Naruto's quiet reply, his glace shifting uncomfortably between the two women before him.

"The meal!" Sakura beamed. She smiled happily to Hinata and pulled the basket out from behind her back. Hinata's eyes widened in shock. Sakura gripped the handle of the basket as she continued her explanation.

"I was working really late last night. Had way too much paperwork to catch up on. Anyway, I was working so hard, I didn't get a chance to eat. I even dozed off on my desk, I was that exhausted."

"S-sakura…" came Hinata's voice.

"Sakura-Chan…" Naruto tried.

Sakura didn't seem to hear them. "When I woke up, I caught a glimpse of someone leaving. Then I saw the basket, which I knew straight away was your Hinata, and when I saw all my favourite food inside, as well as my calming cinnamon tea! I'm really touched, Naruto! Thank you so mu…"

"SAKURA-CHAN!"

Sakura was startled by Naruto shouting at her. She gasped and took a step back. Naruto took a step forward, took the basket and handed it to Hinata before speaking.

"Sakura, although that is something I would do, I wasn't in Konoha last night."

"You weren't?" gasped Sakura. Naruto shook his head. Sakura then looked at Hinata. "But… it's your basket!" she looked back at Naruto. "And… who else would know my favourites?" She looked back at Hinata. "Was it you?"

Hinata face was starting to tint a bright pink colour. "Y-yes. I-it is mine. B-but it w-wasn't N-Naruto-kun who borrowed it f-from me. A-and it w-was empty when I l-loaned it."

"Who was it?" asked Sakura and Naruto as one.

Hinata blushed deeply and looked like she was about to faint. She took a few calming deep breaths and steadied herself before she continued.

"S-Sasuke-san."

A loud thud echoed through the streets of Konoha. Naruto cried out an leapt to the woman's aid.

Sakura had fainted.

To be continued…