Title: Sheer Bribery
Summary: They always said actions were better than words anyway.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Prompt: Late
Warnings: None
Comments: Ehh... I'll edit this later. It's late, and this is my second prompt of the night.
"No, no, no," Sakura muttered as she hurried to the hospital café. 5:59. They couldn't close right on time… right? She could totally make it. "Come on…"
"No!" Rounding the corner, her heart sunk to see the wiry gate surrounding the café's counter. One lone employee was cleaning up for the night, and Sakura ran to her desperately. "Excuse me, miss, but do you think I could order some food?"
The woman shook her head firmly. "I'm sorry ma'am, but we're closed for the night."
"Please," Sakura pleaded desperately. "I skipped lunch today, and there aren't any good takeout places near my house. I don't want much, just—"
"If I let you order food, I would have to warm the stoves back up," the woman interjected impatiently, "and we would be here for another hour. I'm sorry. We're closed."
Sakura's shoulders slumped. She turned to go, mind running through all the nearby restaurants. Her other alternative was to grab stale anko dumplings from the vending—
"Sakura?"
Hearing her name, Sakura looked up. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw Sasuke down the hallway. "Sasuke-kun? What are you doing here?"
"Community service," he grunted, as Sakura walked towards him.
"Oh, that's right! Shishou somehow heard about what you said the other day. I heard you got a serious scolding from her," she said serenely. "Well, we do need all the help we can get so that everyone can be attended to. And what do you think, now that you're actually hands deep in burnt flesh and screams of agony?"
Sasuke said nothing, but looked away. Instead, he shoved a bento box in front of her.
"Eh? What's this?" she asked, peering into it.
"Onigiri. I packed myself dinner, knowing Tsunade would give me the worst shift possible," he muttered. "We can share."
"Ah, no that's fine, Sasuke-kun! That's yours! I couldn't possibly—"
"Sakura." She looked up at him. "Just take some," he said through gritted teeth.
She stared at him for a moment longer, taking in his tensed stance, the way he refused to look her in the eye, and then, the blood on his sleeves, the new callouses forming on his fingers. Realization dawned on her, and she grinned slyly before taking a rice ball. "Apology accepted, Sasuke-kun."