WARNING(S): Non-graphic injury, AU-typical violence

A pounding on her door in the middle of the night startled her awake from a very dim slumber.

Sakura turned, squinting in the darkness at the alarm clock and its bright-red glare. One in the morning. Grumbling to herself, she rolled her eyes and swung her feet over the side of her bed and into her slippers.

The pounding started again as she yanked the robe she'd tossed carelessly over her computer chair on the way to the door. Irritably, she called, "Hold your horses, for heaven's sake, I'm coming!"

By the time she made it and cracked it open, glaring tiredly at whoever was disturbing her much-needed sleep, whoever had woken her had slumped against the side of the doorframe. She could hear their shallow breaths from behind the door.

She took one look at him and heaved a sigh. "I thought I told you I don't do house calls anymore."

The taller man standing before her, arms folded, face creased in concern, answered, "This is urgent - and it's not my fault this time."

"Whatever. Just- just bring him in. And be quiet about it, will you? I don't need a noise complaint."

She could hear the old hero scoop up his protégé in his arm and make his way into the apartment after her, shucking off his shoes as he went. When she turned, she noticed him yanking the younger hero-in-training's boots off, and the sight was so unexpected it actually made her crack a smile.

Gesturing towards the living room, she slid the hair tie off of her wrist and messily pulled her hair back, brushing some stray hairs out of her face as she knelt before the couch. The hero obediently lay his student down, the blond's pinched expression of pain making her frown in sympathy.

"Okay, so, first off. What the hell happened to him." She gave him a pointed look as she got to work, healing green light hovering over his chest.

"One of his friends ran into a villain and called for backup. I got the distress signal a little too late."

Clearly, she wanted to snark, but held her tongue. Sasuke was stressed out enough as it was, and the little blond boy's hitched whimpers of pain as she inspected the shredded material of his sleeve was only making it worse.

"Mild lacerations to the abdomen and right bicep," she muttered to herself. "Did he break anything?"

"Just his brain, if he thought not telling me first was a good idea," he groused under his breath. "No, I don't think anything's broken. He did mention it hurt a little to breathe."

"Potential rib fracture," she noted in that same quiet tone, brow knit together as she finally got to his legs. She paused, then added, "fracture along the tibia."

The little hero gave another groan, and with a start, he cracked his eyes open.

"Wh…at…?" He breathed, searching until he landed on Sasuke's face. "Oh… Mr. Sasuke, where are we?"

"You're at a very good friend of mine's place," he answered tersely. "She's gonna fix you up, and then you're grounded from patrol for a week."

"What?!" That sure woke him up. Sakura had to push on his chest to keep him from sitting all the way up, earning a wheeze.

"Make that two," she added, casting the youth a frown. "You really roughed yourself up, y'know that? You fractured your leg and you've got a cracked rib."

"B- but…" he helplessly stumbled over his words as he turned to his mentor for sympathy.

Sasuke gave none. He was no doubt wearing his "extremely disappointed" face, and that got the boy to wilt back against the couch.

"What happened out there, Boruto?" She finally asked, leaning back to wipe the sweat from her brow.

"W- well, Shikadai was walking home from the convenience store and this guy just- he told him he was gonna rob him," he explained, a little shaky. "So he texted me and I… I just wanted to help."

"You should have alerted me," Sasuke scolded.

"I didn't think about it!" Boruto protested. "I'm sorry!"

"Well, what's done is done." Patting his good leg, she got up from the floor with a grunt - as well as a few popping noises from her limbs. "Do your parents know you snuck out to save your friend from a villain attack?"

Boruto's wide-eyed gaze slowly went down to the upholstery, and that was enough of an answer for the both of them.

With a sigh, she shook her head. "Sasuke, do you wanna drop him off?"

"Yeah, I got him." Nodding, the one-armed man scooped up the teenage boy, earning a tiny yelp of surprise, and his gaze swept over her with something soft. "Thank you for taking him so late."

"Yeah, well, don't make any habits of it," she groused, cheeks going pink as she planted her hands on her hips. "I've got a shift to make in less than three hours."

With a hum, he turned - and Boruto waved with a meek goodbye - and after the door shut with a soft click, she heaved a sigh and leaned against the wall.

"Damn it, so much for a good night's rest," she mumbled to herself as she pushed off and headed to the kitchen. "Might as well get started with my morning."

"Doctor Haruno, you're needed at the front desk," a nurse called out to her as they passed each other.

"Thank you, Morino," she answered, scanning the clipboard in her hands before handing it off to the worker at the desk and making her way towards the elevators.

It was a rather busy shift, as she'd feared - but the power-nap she'd taken during her lunch break had proven enough to help her get through the rest of it. Now all she had to do was make it through her last few patients, and she was home until someone inevitably needed an emergency procedure.

The elevator let out a soft chime and the doors slid open, and she powerwalked through the hall to the front - and stopped short.

"What in the world are you doing on that leg?" She fussed, rushing over to the blond boy holding a bunch of flowers in his hand. She looked him up and down before poking his mentor in the chest. "Sasuke, you know he needs to be taking it easy. Does Naruto know about this?"

"I made a point to head over when they woke up and explained everything," he answered, a slight amusement to the crinkling of his visible eye. "Hinata isn't happy, but I promised her I wasn't taking him out for training any time soon."

"You'd better not. If he fully breaks that leg I will personally see to it that you keep a wide berth of the Uzumaki residence." With a warning glare towards the adult, she turned to the child with a more calm demeanor. "What do you have?"

"Flowers, for, uh, last night." The teenager's cheeks were bright red with embarrassment, something that reminded her amusingly of Hinata's own flush around her then-boyfriend, now husband at that age. "And- I'm sorry. I should've checked with Mr. Sasuke before running into danger."

Taking the flowers, she looked them over with an appreciative hum and handed them to the receptionist at the counter, who hurried off to find a vase. "Well, thank you. They're lovely. But you take it easy after this, okay?" She wagged a finger at them both. "I don't want to have to see you walking out of here with crutches and a cast!"

"Yes, Dr. Haruno," he said, chastised. Above him, Sasuke nodded his head.

"Good." Then, with a smile, she folded her arms over her chest. "Make sure you say hello to your parents for me."

"I will."

"We'll see you after your shift," Sasuke added, scooping the kid up. Thankfully he didn't hoist him over his shoulder, instead letting him sit on his arm.

"It better not be for new injuries." She narrowed her eyes. "If you really wanna say sorry, you'd have an easier time if you bought me lunch!"

He chuckled, the only answer she'd get as he turned to walk out of the hospital.