The sun struck Naruto's eyes harshly. The light divested the colors of the hospital bed, drove them away with fierce strength.

Naruto covered his eyes, squinting. "Hey! I'm trying to sleep—" he complained, straightening from his half-sleep and looking toward the window.

"Up and at 'em, idiot," a voice remarked. A figure, silhouetted by the sunlight, stood near the doorway, setting the curtain rod to one side.

Naruto sat up. He scowled. "Hey, I'm supposed to stay in bed longer—" He stopped, eyes wide, as he stared at the pink-haired girl in front of him. "Sakura-chan?" he questioned in a trembling voice. He wiped sweat off his forehead. "Oh, wow. You—how long has it been now?"

Sakura rubbed the back of her neck. "Took you long enough," she remarked in a weary tone. "About five years, if you want to know."

Naruto leaned back against the bed, his brow furrowing. "You weren't in the chūnin exams. And you weren't watching, either. So—yeah, about five years." He nodded briefly. "I didn't even see you around."

"Yeah." Sakura nodded. "It's. Well, I had things to do, you know—I envy you, you know." She looked at Naruto. "I really do." She leaned against the wall, her green eyes glimmering.

"Because I'm in a team with Sasuke—" Naruto stopped himself from adding the honorific, sure that Sakura wouldn't approve of his choice of wording. "Is that the reason?" he went on after a long pause.

Sakura's face flushed. "That too. But that's not it." She stood beside the blinds, her hands clasped together. "It must be fun, going out and doing things. Fighting people for the sake of fighting. Enjoying yourself." She punched her arm briefly through the air. After a pause, she gathered up the herbs, grinding together the pieces into a thin, gooey paste.

Naruto's eyebrow twitched momentarily. He stared at Sakura. The image of Sakura in class, claiming that 'it's not proper' or 'that's wrong' sprang to mind. "That—that really doesn't sound like you," he admitted after a long hesitation. He sat upright. "Really, though? You're envying me?"

"I know. Believe me; I know how that sounds coming from me. Honestly, I don't care!" Sakura spoke in a low, angry tone. "I've spent three years stuck in this hospital. Sure, I've learned some interesting things, but you—you go on missions all the time." The pace of her grinding accelerated.

"Not right now." Naruto pointed at his waist. His expression grew dark.

Sakura sighed. "Shannaro. Sure, but you've been out there. People know your name. You do a lot of good things—save the world and all. I mean, we keep hearing about things Team Seven did. Team Seven saved Gaara's life through quick action. Team Seven went after Kūkyo and survived. Team Seven prevented a diplomatic incident in Wave." She snorted. "That one the entire class couldn't shut up about. And all of it more interesting than trying the Clone Technique again." She sighed heavily.

"The entire—wait, you repeated a year of ninja training?" Naruto demanded. He sat up, grasping the side of the bed.

Sakura's eyes narrowed. She leaned closer, her eye twitching.

Naruto laughed, covering his mouth with one hand. "Hah! You didn't make it and I did! I got to genin before you!" he cackled loudly.

Sakura's fist clenched. She glared at Naruto. "If you weren't a patient right now, I'd punch you in the face."

Naruto's laughter faded. He reclined further on the bed. "So you didn't end up as a genin yet?"

Sakura shook her head from side to side. "No, I did. It just took me an extra year. You guys passed the bell test?"

"Yep." Naruto nodded. "Barely." He thought back briefly. "Well, we nearly beat the guy straight out, I think. He made ours tougher."

"Hehh." Sakura nodded. "Nice job. We didn't. Partly because one of the guys kept hitting on me and I wanted to punch the bastard in the face; partly because we got teamed up temporarily with Izumo; partly for other reasons. Whatever reasons they had, we got screwed over."

"How bad?" Naruto asked. His brow furrowed. "There must have been something, right?"

"I got tossed into the creek twice, and didn't have any dinner for a couple of days." Sakura shrugged her shoulders. "Over and done with, now." She moved the tray toward the table with her free hand.

Naruto blinked. "I didn't think you were taking it that seriously."

Sakura shook her head. "I wasn't." She looked toward the visible river from the window, her face briefly turning green. "I got some of the water in my mouth."

Naruto remained silent for a second or two.

"What?" Sakura demanded. She adjusted her fingers on the paste. "That oughta do it." She drenched her fingers in water, clearing off the residue of the paste.

Naruto rubbed his chin. "And you want to get into combat, after that?"

"Well." Sakura cleared her throat. "Isn't Ino a pretty stunning kunoichi?"

Naruto shrugged.

"I think she is." Sakura nodded after a long moment. "No, I know she is, because she trained with me under Tsunade-sama. So I know she's pretty remarkable, and she got a leg up on me, right? She started off sooner than me." She gathered up some of the paste and spread onto the gauze on the table.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I guess I get that. So it's a rivalry?"

"Yeah." Sakura nodded. She leaned back against the wall. "You have a problem with that?"

"Heh." Naruto grinned. "That's why I'm working so hard to change myself. You know—if it wasn't for being laid up—" He fell motionless, his fist clenching as he stared at the base of his bed. "I'd be challenging Sasuke even now."

Sakura turned back toward the wall. Her eyes narrowed. "Have you seen Hinata lately?" She stirred up some of the ground herbs, letting them form a paste at the bottom of the bowl.

Naruto shook his head. "Not since that whole family heir situation."

Sakura rolled her eyes heavenwards. She gripped the tray lightly with one hand, her eyes light as she sat the bowl of paste.

"What?" Naruto tilted his head to one side.

"You're an idiot." Sakura picked up one of the herb compounds. "A complete and total idiot. But even so, bearing in mind her personality, she'll probably forgive you." She rubbed the herb compound into Naruto's chest.

Naruto growled. "Hey, I'm not that stupid. I made it to chūnin!"

"Really?" Sakura questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"No," Naruto admitted after a long pause.

Sakura nodded. "That's what I thought."

"I'm the man who's gonna become Hokage." Naruto shouted, his fist clenching. "There's no way—"

"And?" Sakura raised an eyebrow.

Naruto blinked. "You—wait, you're taking me seriously? You've never done that before."

Sakura's hand fell still. She turned. "Yeah."

Naruto frowned.

"I know you've got the ability to make it there now. That's not an issue. But a good Hokage has the ability to be aware of the situation around him. They get the feelings of others." Sakura paused. "Right now, that's not you."

"My power isn't there yet," Naruto muttered. He touched the base of his stomach.

"Power isn't going to be a problem. You managed to fight through the Sound Five, right?" Sakura shrugged her shoulders. "That's a pretty big deal. We're not talking about something minor."

"Yeah." Naruto's face darkened. Though I lost to Tayuya. He clenched his fist, thinking of the hardships she put him through.

Sakura nodded. "There you are, then. The situation is pretty straightforward. You… your feeling in this situation is about the same as mine—you want to get stronger. Difference is." Her hand fell still again.

Naruto's eyes widened. He stared blankly at Sakura.

A footfall, lithe as a cat's whisper, echoed through the room.

Sakura turned around, her eyes narrowing. "Oi. Root doesn't need to be in here."

"It is my assignment. If you do not like it, I apologize." Sai smiled at Sakura. Her ink-like eyes did not share the smile.

"I'm not going to strangle him." Sakura paused. "Probably. At least not to death—"

"Hey!" Naruto sat up, his expression indignant. "What do you mean?"

"I have to cover my bases." A faint grin crossed Sakura's face.

"You—" Naruto started, struggling upward from the bed and standing upright. His hand stretched toward Sakura.

Sakura raised her fists. "Bring it! Shannaro!" she bellowed in a loud voice.

The pair faced off, fists raised as they prepared to battle.

Sai spoke in a quiet voice. "I can't understand it."

Naruto and Sakura turned toward Sai, their eyes both surprised by the interjection.

"These bonds of yours. What do they bring you? Peace of mind? Simplicity?" Sai shook her head slowly from side to side. "It's easier to simply trust in yourself and live alone. Isn't that the better path? You may be betrayed, or distrust may benefit you in the first place."

Sakura shrugged her shoulders. She looked down at the table. "I don't have some big speech," she stated quietly. "But I bet even someone like you has somebody like that, right? A mentor, a teacher? Someone you trust? Maybe the head of Root."

"Yeah." Naruto nodded. "Family, or people you think of as family." He glanced toward Sakura. "Sometimes she's annoying."

"Oi, you bastard." Sakura's fist clenched. Her lip twitched. "What are you saying?"

"But at the same time, I think I'd have trouble knowing she wasn't around. I'd feel unhappy." Naruto's brow furrowed. "Speaking of which, why haven't you stopped by our team any time recently?"

"I've had a lot to do. Medical-nin work is mostly practical, and usually at inconvenient times."

"What about Kōju?" Naruto persisted.

"Kōju's a genius by anyone's standards. Don't compare me to her. Plus, she got plenty of practical experience patching you idiots up." Sakura shrugged her shoulders.

Sai watched from the side of the group, her expression distant. "He's dead," she stated after a long pause.

Sakura's eyes widened.

Naruto blinked. He shifted his foot back, his eyes wide. "Eh? What did you say?" he demanded.

"Well, I suppose you don't care. I shouldn't either. He's in the ground now." Sai smiled, the smile not reaching her eyes.

Naruto gritted his teeth. "Who do you think you are? You should miss him, right?" he went on.

Sakura nodded. "You should," she agreed, looking Sai in the eye. "If he meant anything to you to begin with, you should care about his loss."

Sai shrugged her shoulders. "Perhaps. But I don't. It's just—He's gone now, right? So why would I worry about him?"

Naruto gritted his teeth. "Come on, Sakura! Let's get out of here!" He hurried toward the doorway.

"This is your ward." Sakura sighed heavily. "I'll have to ask you to leave, Sai." She waved her hand.

"Don't worry, I'll go." Sai smiled again. "I can see when I am unwanted." She slipped out of the door, her movements like the stirring of ink, all smooth and measured.

Sakura sighed heavily. She glanced at Naruto. "That person really does have an attitude problem. I'm sorry she got assigned to your team."

"Wait, what?" Naruto's horrified expression darkened. "You're joking, right? Sakura?" He leaned closer, tilting her head to one side.

Sakura shook her head grimly from side to side. "Unfortunately, I'm not. She's your teammate—sooner or later you're going to have to put up with her. I heard Tsunade complaining about it."

Naruto screamed loudly, his hands pressing against his cheeks. "NO!" He dragged his fingers down his cheeks.

"On the plus side, you're also with Sasuke. He's not so bad, right? I'm sure you get along good with him." Sakura's cheeks flushed as she thought about her old crush.

Naruto did not have the strength to retort. Groaning aloud, he stared at his palms. "What am I going to do now?"

"Sleep would be a good start." Sakura smiled tentatively, her green eyes glinting as she regarded Naruto.

"It's not going to look better after I sleep. I'm going to have that freak on my team." Naruto buried his head in his hands.

"No, not really," Sakura conceded. She sighed heavily. "But maybe you'll recover more of your strength as a result, right?"

"Recover? I'm losing it because I'm going to have to put up with that idiot." Naruto groaned. "You talked about insensitivity to other people's feelings?"

"For what it's worth, you're clearly better than she is." For the most part. Sakura wrapped the bandages around Naruto's chest. Her brow furrowed. He's really gotten into shape, she mused, studying the chiseled muscles on Naruto's chest.

Naruto winced. He rubbed his chest. "Ouch. Be more careful, Sakura-chan!"

"Sorry. I'll loosen up the bandages." Sakura adjusted the bandages, her fingers brushing along Naruto's back. She stared steadily at the muscles. After a long pause, she started out of the observation. "Well. Work to do. Got to head over to train with Tsunade again." She smiled half-heartedly at Naruto. "Bye."

"What were you going to say? Difference is—" Naruto started. His eyes grew serious.

Sakura turned and walked toward the door. Her head turned back as she came to the door. "You remember what I said about you being insensitive to people's feelings?"

Naruto nodded. His brow furrowed.

"Yeah, you need to work on that." Sakura waved offhandedly as she exited the room. "Bye bye."

Naruto sighed heavily. He stared at the bandages. "This is different. Wait, why didn't Kōju do this?" He straightened, attempting to walk out the doorway. He tripped. Straightening, he glanced to one side.

Kōju lay motionless on the side of the hospital doorway. Her chest rose and fell quietly in sleep.
Naruto grinned. He pulled the cloak of Kōju up higher around her body. He turned back and hobbled into the room.

A wind passed through the window. The sun poured through, sending light to strike the bed, casting the sky in golden light.

A/N: Regular chapter posting will resume next week. As usual, thanks for reading.