Chapter 2

He awoke to the heat of the sun streaming across his face and the sound of medical trolleys being pushed through the hallways. He stared up at the ceiling, trying to console himself from his misery but thinking about Sakura coming to bring him lunch. Wait he was consoling himself by thinking of Sakura? He shook his head a bit too vigorously and hissed in pain from an upper shoulder injury he had irritated. A nurse came in to change his dressings rushed in alarmed."Sir are you alright? Do you need some painkillers?" Even more flustered now that he had done this to himself he lightly shook his head and laid still as she went to work in his bandages.

He hated having other people touch him. He only really knew touching in the context of combat and the only medic he didn't mind was Sakura. Why wasn't Sakura attending to him? She always came to him on her own accord, always nagging about being more careful, always chatting about nothing extremely important. He had become accustomed to her, yet this time, she didn't come. Perhaps she was very busy with other patients and couldn't take time to just dress wounds. Perhaps she... was caring less about him? No, that couldn't be it. But what was his mind doing racing over these useless thoughts? It was clear laying in bed was already affecting him. He needed to train to clear his head. Damn these wounds!

"All done! I'll be back tomorrow sir"

"Aa" he frowned. Unsure of what to do to keep his mind from fixating on his pink haired teammate. At that same instant, the girl in question waltzed through the door bearing two large bags. One had inside a large bento box full of what she had promised the day before, and the other she had yet to reveal.

"Sasuke-kuuun! I found these varieties of cherry tomatoes that were yellow and orange! Aren't they cute?" He found it quite odd, but since they tasted the same he made no comment on them as he picked up an onigiri. "Ne, we should spruce the place up a bit if you're going to stay here for a while. Having a nice environment is important for healing, or just living in general." She finished her portion and walked round the room, her eyes sparkling thinking about what she could do.

"Please no girly stuff." Sasuke actually didn't know what Sakura's decorating style was since he had never been over to her place, but he made the warning just the same.

She giggled, "Trust me, it will be tailored to you. Do you want to me to come by again quickly tomorrow for the same lunch? I know hospital food can be icky."

"Are you busy tomorrow?" His mind focused on the word 'quickly'.

"When am I not busy?" she sighed, "but yes, tomorrow by appointments are almost back to back."

"Don't bother then." Turning his head towards the window, "I'll be fine."

"Are you sure? Well, ok. I'll try to come by the day after. Oh shit, I've got an appointment soon. See you later Sasuke-kun!" She hurried out into the hallway, forgetting the second bag she had brought.

Curious he opened it and peered at the contents - a calligraphy set. It was a dark mahogany box with matching brush handles. The ink stone had never been used and was in the shape of a tear drop. There was thin practice paper inside along with fancier paper with small gold flakes peppered throughout. A small note inside had Sakura's medic-nin scribbles:
I know you'll be bored since you can't go out, so why not learn the zen art of calligraphy? You'll need to be a master at everything to keep up the Uchiha mantle!
-Sakura

A little affronted that she implied he was not good at the art, he laid out all the tools and quickly learned that he indeed, was terrible at the art form. He tried to remember the techniques taught in primary school, he wrote idioms, and sometimes just doodled. He was so absorbed in the ink and paper he hadn't realized that the sun had set. He was pleased at his days work and fell asleep already feeling rested.

It was already the weekend nut she hurried from one room to the next, strained from chakra depletion. She finally had a 30 minute break and willed her legs to rush over to Sasuke's room, pulling a large, heavy suitcase. He raised and eyebrow at her when she came in, questioning the case. She smiled brightly as he was bent over the calligraphy set she had brought. "Do you like it?"

"Hn" was his only reply. She smiled even wider and proceeded to open the suitcase and reveal a large black sheet with the Uchiha crest in the middle and hung it up on the wall opposite the window. "I thought I would try and make it feel more like home." She continued by putting his weapon set box against the wall under the sheet, a bowl of fresh fruit on the table, and a stack of books right next to that. "What do you think? Not too shabby for 10 minutes huh?"

"Aa..." He was a bit stunned on how much he liked everything. The items were simple, but the gesture felt large. He was about to mumble out a 'thank you', but before he could utter a word, she was zipping up the suitcase and racing to her next appointment.

He felt a bit ashamed there wasn't anything he could do for her. Perhaps he could talk Tsunade into giving Sakura a vacation. She was in dire need of one. He continued his newfound love of calligraphy, which had replaced his daily training, as he contemplated the ways to show his appreciation, since he obviously wasn't quick enough or comfortable enough in everyday conversation.

She crept into his room early the next morning to leave some fresh tomatos in his fruit bowl, knowing well that he had definitely eaten all of the ones from yesterday already. But like a mindreader who knew she would come refill the bowl, there was a golden peppered paper draped over top. It said "arigato" in lovely strokes, with a small Uchiha fan drawn in the corner, used as a signature. She felt a little overwhelmed at such a sweet gesture from him. Was this... Romantic? Were they people who were romantic now? It was always hard to see the line between good friend and lover, but in Sasuke's case it was almost impossible to tell. As they were communicating through this secret code she supposed, she took the paper, rolled it up carefully and tucked it in her pocket, leaving behind the tomatos.

He awoke to a bowl overflowing with tomatos and a feeling of satisfaction. As he took a tomato in his hand, he felt sure that she had liked his small token. Sakura seemed to line those kind's of things. Also, him saying 'arigato' was almost this strange thing in itself - their inside... Not joke, but something special between them.

He spent the next few days reading and writing, Naruto sometimes came by to bother him, but Sakura had been too busy to come by. Suddenly Tsunade pushed through his door. "Uchiha, you can go home now if you'd like" Sasuke squinted his eyes, it had only been two weeks. "Don't look at me all suspicious, you came to talk yo me a few days ago remember?" He thought back to their conversation where he requested to be discharged as early as possible, and if Sakura could get a break from the hospital for a little while. "So i thought of a way to actually do it. You can't heal yourself alone, you also need monitering to make ymsure you dont go spar and open your wounds, she can't technically be taken off work right now, so she will be your full time in home caretaker until you have completely healed. It's a job that is less demanding since there is only one patient. What do ya say Uchiha?"

It was logical when she put it that way, though the thought of living with Sakura for two weeks made his cheeks tinge pink. It had been a long time since they had slept in close quarters and she had become such a beautiful woman... He shook his head before his thoughts took him to a dangerous place.

"You don't like this plan? Didn't you say you wanted to leave here badly?"

"Ah, no, I do. I just have a headache"

Tsunade gave him a look, "alright Uchiha, Sakura's is ready when you are. Call the hospital if you need anything." He watched her leave and put his face in his palms. The second time he has shook his head to clear out thoughts of Sakura leading to embarrassing situations. Why was he getting so flustered? He sighed and started packing his things.

"Wow!" She exclaimed. The Uchiha manor was quite large and had a beautiful wooden staircase with and open kitchen and living room. Over the fireplace was a large Uchiha crest, next to a large red sofa and black coffee table. Everything looked new and clean. She had both bags and hesitated at the stairs since he was still in a wheelchair. "There's a guest room downstairs I can use." Listening to his direction she pushed him into a small yet sunny room with a low queen sized bed And a simple wooden desk. She helped him onto the bed where he sighed in relief. She giggled, "Feels better than those cheap cots huh?"

"Aa" he answered weakly.

She laughed Again, and unrolled a futon by the wall. He tensed as he realized her intention. As if reading his mind she said "I know it's weird but you technically should be in a hospital where nurses are on call. This is the best decision I can make as a medic-nin to provide you with the best and quickest care. And we used to sleep in the same tent all the time Sasuke!"

He did realize it seemed irrational to get worked up, but the times she was referring to was when they were twelve, not nineteen. He tried his best to hide his swallow, but his eyes were blinking more than usual and his cheeks tinged pink trying not to think about Sakura in compromising positions on his bed.

Not sure if she pretended not to notice or genuinely missed the slight distress on his face, she hummed lightly to herself as she unpacked her things. They settled in for the night, all the while he tried not to think impure thoughts.

The next morning, Sakura got up and found Sasuke still asleep. Odd, she thought, since he usually is an early riser. She decides it is because he is healing, but in reality, it took him hours to fall asleep with her mere presence making him sweat.