Yes! Finally!
I am able to write the next chapter of "Hidden Love"!
Ugh, school's really taking my times these days…it's so crazy!
But yeah, I hope all of you are doing well in school and getting along with your teachers and such =)
Anyway, let's get started!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters in any way, shape, or form.
Chapter 6-Getting Rid of the Formalities
Sakura was working early in the morning at the hospital, like always, when a ninja came to give her a message that the Hokage wanted to see her urgently. So now, she was on her way to the Hokage Tower to meet with her sensei.
"I wonder what she needs me for?" thought Sakura as she climbed up the stairs and opened the door to the Hokage Office.
When she went in, Tsunade looked up wearily from the stacks of paperwork on her desk and suddenly look at Sakura with eagerness and excitement.
"Shishou, I heard that you needed to see me?" said Sakura.
"Hai. I have an important mission for you, Sakura," said Tsunade, folding her hands underneath her chin, meaning to look serious. But of course, Sakura didn't understand the enjoyment in Tsunade's eyes.
"What is it Tsunade-sama?" asked Sakura.
"Well, Sakura, I know you're not gonna be really happy with this mission, but…"
"But…?" said Sakura, now wary at where this was going.
"Your mission is to look after Uchiha Sasuke for around 2 weeks while Naruto is gone on a mission with Kakashi," said Tsunade, eager to see Sakura's reaction.
Sakura opened her mouth wide in shock, "WHAT?! I have to do what?!"
"Don't worry about him running away or doing something suspicious. We have ninjas stationed all around the village to watch for any suspicious activities, especially by Uchiha Sasuke. Now this is where you come in. He's not listening to my commands to stop any aggressive training for his health. Naruto brought him in just yesterday to treat some wounds. You are going to check on the Uchiha regularly everyday to make sure he's not killing himself with his definition of "training". Because of your hospital shifts, you're probably gonna have to check him at night," said Tsunade.
"But why me? Why can't anyone else do it? There are a lot of experienced medic-nins in this village!" said Sakura, desperate to find any way out of this.
"Naruto specifically wanted you to do it. He felt that since you were Sasuke's doctor, you'll know his conditions better than anyone else. He also told me that he couldn't trust anyone better to take this job than you, Sakura," said Tsunade.
"When did you ever listen to what Naruto said?" said Sakura bitterly, finding no way out of this.
"That doesn't matter. I think you're up to the job. So Sakura, I command you to take this mission," said Tsunade, annoyed at Sakura's protests.
"…Hai, Tsunade-sama," said Sakura, looking down at the floor in despair.
Suddenly Tsunade's motherly side kicked in, "Sakura, why are you so desperate to get out of this? Is it because of the Uchiha?"
"…Hai…" said Sakura, sighing.
"What about him?" asked Tsunade.
"I don't know. Whenever I see him, he looks so familiar to me, yet I have never seen him before. Because of that, just being near him makes my mind twirl with no end. And he acts like we've known each other in the past. It's mind-boggling," said Sakura.
"…Well, I don't know what might be the cause, but Sakura, maybe you'll be able to get close to him through this mission and be able to ease your mind," said Tsunade, finally understanding Sakura's point.
"Yeah, hopefully," said Sakura, returning back to her regular self.
"Oh, and Naruto wanted me to give you this," said Tsunade as she handed Sakura a piece of paper with an address on it.
"He wanted you to come to that address at noon," said Tsunade as she dismissed Sakura back to her hospital duties.
As Sakura walked back to the hospital, she couldn't help but think back to Tsunade giving her the mission and replaying it over and over in her head. Then suddenly, her thoughts switched to yesterday's events: Sakura bumping into the large man, Sasuke stepping in front of her to protect her, and the look that Sasuke gave her before he departed.
"Ugh, I don't understand! But maybe Tsunade is right. Maybe this mission will help me," said Sakura.
Later that day at Noon…
"Dobe, where are you taking me? And why are all my stuff gone?" said Sasuke with his hands in his pockets, glaring at Naruto, who was smiling brightly to no end.
"You'll find out soon, teme," said Naruto as he bounced around in front of Sasuke.
Sasuke was too irritated to realize that they were on their way out of the bustling areas of the city and into the cool, suburban area, where all the distinguished clans had their estates. When he finally realized where they were going, Naruto stopped in front of him.
"Teme, you're gonna be sooo happy when you see this!" said Naruto as he moved to Sasuke's side and let Sasuke look at whatever he was hiding.
And Sasuke could only open his mouth in awe. In front of him was his beloved home, the Uchiha Compound, looking fresh and clean as it was many years ago.
"D-Dobe? Did you do this?" said Sasuke, looking in awe at his best friend smiling at him.
"Nope," said Naruto, still smiling.
"Then who?"
"Sakura-chan," said Naruto, enjoying the surprise on Sasuke's face when he heard Sakura's name.
"Don't worry, teme. I'll explain," said Naruto.
"You see, a few months back before Sakura-chan and I met you at Orochimaru's hideout a year ago, she had a great idea that she shared with me. She felt that you would return back home one day and decided to fix up the Uchiha Compound. She gained enough money from her missions and hospital duties, and began the renovations of the compound. All the rookie 9 and I, of course, helped her with the renovations, and so did a lot of other ninjas. But 5 months later, the compound was almost done, when Sakura-chan and I received the mission to retrieve you from Orochimaru's hideout. You couldn't imagine the joy in Sakura-chan when she could finally show you her "welcome home" present. But after that mission, since Sakura-chan didn't remember anything, she couldn't finish the renovations. And since I was too busy taking care of Sakura-chan, I couldn't finish the renovations either, until recently, after you came back. So you shouldn't thank me, it's all Sakura-chan," said Naruto, seeing the quick tenderness in Sasuke's eyes at the mention of Sakura.
"I-I see…" said Sasuke, thinking about Sakura when she was younger, and how she always wanted to help him in every way.
"Oh, and your belongings are all in the house. I had them moved there while you were sleeping," said Naruto, smiling at his best friend.
"Dobe…thanks," said Sasuke, looking at his friend with a ghost of a smile on his face.
They opened the gates and walked through the courtyard and up the steps into the mansion. Sasuke stared in awe at how perfect everything was in place, exactly like it was many years ago when the Uchiha clan lived here. Sasuke and Naruto took Sasuke's belongings and took it up to the master bedroom, where Sasuke's parents used to sleep. While on their way down, Sasuke heard footsteps outside in the courtyard and looked outside.
"Holy crap! Is that Sakura? What is she doing here?" thought Sasuke as Naruto and he walked out to the courtyard to greet Sakura.
"Hi Sakura-chan!" yelled Naruto.
"Hey Naruto," said Sakura, smiling.
She turned to Sasuke, "Good afternoon, Uchiha-san."
"Hn."
"Sakura-chan, isn't Sasuke's house amazing?"
"Yeah, it is," said Sakura as she looked around and met eyes with Sasuke, and then turned back to Naruto.
"So why did you tell me to come here?" asked Sakura.
"Well, Sasuke's moving back to his old house, so I thought you should know the way to the place, since you're coming here everyday," said Naruto, like nothing was wrong.
But oh, there was something wrong.
"What?! Dobe, what are you talking about?!" yelled Sasuke.
"Uh…oops…We'll be right back Sakura-chan!" said Naruto as he dragged Sasuke back into the house.
"Umm…okay…" said Sakura, realizing that Sasuke had no idea and smiled at Naruto's stupidity. She then went back to admiring Sasuke's house and thinking about the mission while Naruto slammed the door shut.
Sasuke turned around to face Naruto, "Dobe, what are you talking about? Sakura? Coming here everyday? Why?"
"Teme, just give me a chance to talk," said Naruto, sheepishly, not really wanting a purple bruise on his eye.
"…Go ahead."
"Okay. Well you know how I told you that I'll be going on a mission with Kakashi-sensei in a few days, right?"
"Hn."
"Yeah…and you know how you hate hospitals, right?"
Sasuke was getting both confused and irritated, "Dobe, what does that have to do with anything?!"
"Okay, okay, sheesh. Well since I'm gonna be on a mission for around 2 weeks, there's really no one to look after you, especially with you nearly killing yourself with training and those mysterious nightmares. And as for the nightmare, I have no idea what was going on or if it's gonna happen again. So, instead of you going to the hospital you hate with a passion, I'm bringing the hospital to you…everyday. The best treatment you'll ever get from the best medic-nin of Konoha. I personally asked Tsunade-baa-chan to assign Sakura-chan on this medic-nin duty," said Naruto, still scared of Sasuke giving him a black eye.
But instead, Sasuke didn't move. He didn't do anything. He just stood there looking at Naruto.
"Uh…Teme? You okay?" asked Naruto, afraid that his best friend went into shock.
"Dobe…what have you DONE?!" yelled Sasuke, almost loud enough for Sakura to hear, but thankfully, Sakura was engrossed in her own thoughts.
"W-What do you mean? This is a perfect opportunity for you to bring back our Sakura-chan! You can get to know Sakura-chan and bring back her memories! Oh cmon, Teme. You can do this!" said Naruto.
Sasuke suddenly quieted down and regained composure, "I can't do this, Dobe. Bringing back Sakura's memories are difficult enough--now I have to see her everyday and see that I'm just being a burden to her. I'll try to find another way; Sakura doesn't have to watch over me."
Naruto suddenly turned serious, "Teme, why are you backing down? I've never seen you like this. Why are you so nervous to be around her? You've been near her for years as teammates. And why do you think you're being a burden to her? Sure, she has to take time to visit you everyday and check up on you, but she doesn't know how much it's gonna help her."
"…Naruto, how do you know that she doesn't like the life she has right now? Without remembering me? She seems happier. All I've done was bring the doom and gloom in her life," said Sasuke, telling the truth to his worries.
"Ugh! How many times do I have to tell you?! She NEEDS you, Sasuke! She needs YOU in her life! I know how you feel about her, Sasuke. I know how much it's hurting you that she doesn't remember you. I KNOW," said Naruto.
"What?"
"I know you have feelings for her. I don't know if you're in love with her, or when you started to like her, but I know you really care for her. I can see it in your eyes when you look at her," said Naruto, suddenly looking out the window to see Sakura just standing there, looking at the door that the boys went through 5 minutes ago.
"……How do you know that this is gonna work? Her coming over to check on me everyday?" asked Sasuke, changing the subject quickly and now giving into the whole "Sakura-coming-over" thing.
"Well, being the Sakura-chan we know, she's probably gonna try to talk and get to know you more. But Teme, you just can't sit there every time she comes. You're gonna have to try too. I don't care what you do, just try to talk to her more and get close to her. I know you can do this, Teme. That's why I arranged this," said Naruto.
Sasuke sighed, "Hn, fine. And remember, I'm not doing this to help you, Dobe. This is all to bring Sakura's memories back," said Sasuke as he opened up the door and walked towards Sakura.
"I know, Teme. I know," said Naruto following Sasuke to Sakura, fighting back a smile at the fact that Sasuke didn't deny that he had feelings for Sakura.
"What took you so long?" Sakura asked Naruto when he finally caught up to Sasuke.
"Haha, I'm sorry Sakura-chan. I forgot to tell teme about you taking care of him," said Naruto sheepishly.
"I see," Sakura turned to Sasuke, "I know this is something abrupt, Uchiha-san, but I'll probably be visiting you at night after my hospital shifts. It's hard for me to give you check-ups during the afternoons because of all the patients, so I'll try to come as fast as I can every evening. I hope we can get along well," said Sakura, finally forcing a small tint of a smile on her face as she looked up into the face of the mysterious man.
"I also hope we can get along well, since you are gonna be taking care of me. But I must also add something onto the abruptness," said Sasuke, simply.
Naruto looked over at Sasuke and gave him a warning glance, which Sasuke ignored and continued to look at Sakura's puzzled face.
"Yes?" asked Sakura.
"Starting from now, we're gonna get rid of the formalities," said Sasuke, simply, once again.
"What?" asked Sakura, taken aback.
"Sakura, we're not seeing each other at the hospital. This is outside of your job. From now on, I'll be calling you Sakura, and you can just call me Sasuke, none of that 'Uchiha-san' crap," said Sasuke, secretly enjoying the shock apparent of Sakura's face.
"I-I can't do that. You're my patient-"
"Yes, I'm your patient. But no one's gonna reprimand you for not calling me Uchiha-san," said Sasuke.
"Okay…S-S-Sasuke," said Sakura, not understanding the butterflies fluttering away in her stomach.
"Hn," said Sasuke, turning around and walking back into the house, enjoying the moment.
Sakura could only stare in shock at Sasuke's retrieving form.
Before entering the door, however, Sasuke turned his head slightly just so that Sakura could see his face, "I'll see you tomorrow, Sakura," and he stepped into the house and closed the door.
Naruto looked at Sakura and smiled sheepishly at her, who wanted some explanations from him.
"Naruto, I don't understand why you put me up for the job," said Sakura, wearily.
"Didn't Tsunade-baa-chan tell you? Since you're one of the greatest-"
"I heard all of that, but what's the true reason?" asked Sakura impatiently.
Naruto sighed, "All the other reasons are true too, but I also want you and Sasuke to be closer. You guys are my two best friends in the whole entire world, and I want you guys to be friends too."
"I'm forever lying to Sakura-chan, aren't I?" thought Naruto in his head.
Sakura softened at Naruto's proclamation, "Naruto, for you, I'll take care of Uchi- I mean –Sasuke while you're gone. Don't worry about anything at all. So when are you leaving for the mission?"
Naruto was back to his cheerful self due to Sakura's positive attitude, "I'll be hopefully leaving by tomorrow afternoon, if Kakashi-sensei comes on time, which is NEVER," he said as Sakura laughed.
"Okay then. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then," said Sakura, ready to leave and go back to the hospital.
"Yeah I'll see you tomorrow. Oh and Sakura-chan?"
"Hai?"
"Ah, nevermind. I'll talk to you tomorrow," said Naruto, smiling.
"Okay then, see ya," said Sakura as she teleported her way out.
Naruto watched her leave and then walked back to Sasuke's house where he would have to talk to Sasuke about how to act when Sakura checked on him.
"Yes," he thought, "everything is gonna work out."