This story was created after a prompt from Fest-no-Jutsu-2023. It is a long one, and I still haven't sorted out the hard story line. But it is for a dear friend, who has been supporting me while writing for more than a year.
Thank you, hun (kisses)! And Merry Christmas :)))

Chapter 1: A Meeting

Sakura opened her door and rushed into the small room, which was actually her whole living space for the last and upcoming few years. The first thing she did was drop her heavy bag on the old desk, decorated with all kinds of signs and messages carved in the wood that once might have made sense. Then she threw herself on the bed with a pained sigh. She was dead tired. Her head was filled with muscle assertion points, names of arteries, veins, and lymph vessels; ligaments and fascia; and all those little formations on the various bones and organs. Even her dreams at night were flooded with Latin terms. And not only that, but she was seeing vivid images from her anatomy classes and the exercises in the autopsy hall. Scratch that. Even closing her eyes without falling asleep tortured her brain with the very same.

Her whole body twitched, recalling one particularly revolting preparation. It smelled so awful that some of her colleagues felt nauseous. The mere memory, even if fleeting, of the stench caused her nose to scrunch in disgust.

Sakura rolled on her back. She had started to peer at the truth some time ago; she wasn't either stupid or incompetent, but if there was anything she shone with, it was denial and beating herself over impossibly high estimated goals. Still, it had proven out, even for her, that she overworked herself because of the too many classes she had taken on. This year she wanted to do more—much more than the previous one. All of this was, of course, driven by her desire to finish earlier than the regular course and become a doctor sooner. And there was still the moment she couldn't wait for — picking her specialty. It would be a lifelong dream come true. But… There was this "but" that was ruining everything and making her feel like losing her footing.

"But" going through all the classes, reading, doing homework, and preparing for the exercise classes couldn't be technically squeezed into the hours that a seven-day week offered. Unless she started to sleep less — like about two hours and a half per day. Yet her strong determination and motivation couldn't blur Sakura's strong common sense, so she tossed the sleep-reduction idea aside like the very senseless one that it was.

"But" only three weeks into the new year, and she already needed a break.

Or a hobby.

Or both.

Sakura used to write short, humoristic stories in the past, but somehow she couldn't bring herself to do it again. Decoupage? Same thing… It was simply repulsive in terms of time and effort when it came to searching and picking napkins and decoupage papers, cutting details, glueing them with multiple layers, and so on. She really used to enjoy it. That didn't seem to be the case anymore.

Maybe she could dive into sport and exhaust her body physically, so…

Naruto! it suddenly popped into her mind, and she sat up.

He was already here, right? Maybe it was about time Sakura called him, her oldest friend, and pleaded with him to take her out for a coffee or something? Whatever distraction he could offer...

Naruto had been gone for a year after finishing school but arrived in Konoha for his first year in college just a few weeks ago. He hadn't lost a single moment staying home. Sakura remembered that she saw him off the next day after the graduation ceremony — he took off early in the morning with only a backpack and a madly wide smile. Naruto had been living his life to the fullest: travelling to exciting destinations, working questionable but interesting jobs, and learning a lot of things one could only learn if one were... there. At least those were Sakura's thoughts, judging by all the cards she had been receiving during the last year.

She helped him settle in and buy a cellphone because, weird enough, he had refused to buy one until now. And then they didn't have a chance to hang out again afterwards. It was a shame, since it wasn't like he lived far away. He had chosen to study to be a nurse, so he was in the same building as her, just… into the next entrance.

Sakura fished out her phone from the pocket of her coat and clicked on Naruto's name. It was first on her list of quick dials.

"Hellou!" sounded his joyful voice over the line after just two rings.

"I need you," she said straightforwardly, sounding much more desperate than she thought she would.

His tone was suddenly serious, hinting at concern. "Ok… What's up?"

"I need a break... A distraction. Can you take me out for a coffee?" Sakura hadn't realised that she practically begged him until the words left her mouth.

"On my way. Be ready in two." Then he hung up.

Sakura sighed and covered her eyes with both hands. It felt like she pressed on her face for just a few seconds when loud thuds shook her door and forced her to sit up with a jolt. She quickly came to her senses and hopped on her feet to open it.

"Are you alright?" Naruto asked, instantly pulling her for a bone-crushing hug.

She snaked her hands between their bodies and pushed back, gasping for air. "I'm fine! I just need a distraction, not to be squashed into pastrami."

"You want a distraction? Gonna give you a distraction!" He frowned and shook her. "You got me really worried, Sakura!"

"I'm sorry… I do feel... kinda... desperate, though…"

Naruto eyed her and squeezed her tightly once more before letting her go. "I have a meeting with a buddy in a nearby cafe. Do you mind joining him, or do you prefer to be just the two of us? I can call off the meeting right away." To emphasise his words, he pulled out his phone, ready to click on the screen.

"Ah, no problem." Sakura waved her hand dismissively, instantly flooded with guilt about ruining her friend's plans. "The more, the merrier, they say…" She shrugged and grabbed her wallet, then stuck it in her jeans' back pocket.

Naruto looked around. "No pink purse?" He raised an eyebrow. "You used to have a little one covered with flowers. It was cute."

"Nah." She laughed. "I gave up on it in favour of this…" Her finger pointed sharply at the big, shapeless backpack. It was dark green.

"It's ugly," he stated unperturbed.

Sakura slapped his shoulder, frowning. "Well, thank you!" she exclaimed, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Your opinion makes me feel so much better—"

"I've always been honest with you," he cut her off.

She pursed her lips, then sighed and gestured to him to get out, grabbing her thick cardigan on the way. "I know you have. And I hold it in high regard. It's just… I also liked my pink purse covered with flowers. The problem is I can't fit anything I need for classes in it."

"We aren't going to class now," Naruto pointed out.

"I know… But I left it at home… "

"Why?" He insisted, knowing she needed a harder push in order to admit what the real issue was.

"I look light-headed and not serious with my teenage pink, flowered-embroidered purse," she blabbed out in a breath. "And the last thing I want is not to be taken seriously because of a... bag."

Naruto only blinked rapidly, not even being able to comprehend how it was possible for anyone to overlook Sakura because of something so mercantile like the look of a bag. It was just an item, after all.

"So, when you reminded me about it and insulted my new, practical, not-so-pretty bag, I felt worse." She took a sharp breath. "I know you didn't mean to do that."

Her too formal, and even apologetic, tone made him chuckle.

"I love you too," he replied with a laugh, placing a noisy kiss on her forehead.

Sakura blushed with relief and honest delight. It felt good and calming to have her oldest friend around with his strong shoulder to lean on when she needed it. It was the best place to sob and whine freely; he never complained about it or behaved condescendingly. In a sudden surge of affection, she clung to his arm, giggling.

"Thank you for coming," she said honestly.

Naruto grinned and ruffled her short, pink hair. With a smile, he imitated their maths teacher's voice from school and said, "You're welcome, kiddo."

So little was needed for both of them to burst into laughing fits.

"You remember that guy I wrote you about in my letters last Christmas? Sasuke?" Naruto asked, winding an arm around her shoulders.

"I have a vague memory, yes." Her nose scrunched reflexively in an attempt to cope with the chilling outside air. "What about him?"

"I ran into him a week ago on my way to go jogging. Can you imagine?!" he exclaimed.

Sakura gave him a look of doubt. "Sure… Why not?"

"It turns out he studies Computer Science and lives just two blocks away." Naruto grinned and opened the door of the cafe for her.

She entered, rubbing her frozen hands together and blowing a few times on them. Her nose was impossibly red. There was a memory about an old animation where the main character got a frozen nose, and when he pinched it, it sang like glass. She wouldn't even dare touch her face before it started to defrost.

"So he must be smarty, yeah?" she asked, looking around to take notice of the location of the counter and the lavatories. Sakura might have lived here for a year, but she was very ashamed to admit that she didn't visit the nearby cafes. Especially not those more than five minutes away from her building.

"He's pretty smart, yeah. Although he is a bit sulky, he isn't half bad," Naruto added matter-of-factly, as if he were excusing him.

"And you're telling me this, because…?" She left the sentence hanging so her friend could fill it in.

"Because we're meeting with him," he said, finishing with a wide smile at the same time as he grasped her small shoulders. With a smooth movement, he turned her ninety degrees, with a yelp on her side, and pushed her forward.

She staggered forward. Angry green eyes peered over her shoulder; she hissed, "Naruto!"

"Sorry." He shrugged but looked unfazed.

They stopped in front of a secluded booth table with one occupant. He had settled beside the wall with his laptop placed on the table in front of him. There was a headset on his ears, isolating him from the world around him, while his dark eyes were staring at the screen. His right hand was lying on a mouse with more buttons than Sakura had ever seen.

"What the hell!" Naruto shouted and reached to hook his finger under the man's headband and pull the headset down from his dishevelled, raven black hair. "I told you we ain't playin' today! Plus, I brought company!"

The man beat Naruto's hand aside with a loud slap and gave him a warning look.

"I told you not to touch me," he half-hissed. "Just because you 'ain't playin', that doesn't mean I also won't."

"Come on, step out of being gruff as a bear. Be nice for a change?"

The look Naruto received brought cold shivers up Sakura's spine.

With an emphasis on reluctance, the man took the headset down and left it around his neck. He turned to Sakura and gave her an open, assessing look. A brief curiosity sparked in his onyx eyes. Or at least that's what she thought it was before he frowned with unhidden hostility, making her blush in deep red. He wasn't shy, all right. He wasn't particularly pleased or happy, either.

Naruto's nudge on her shoulder snapped her out of whatever she had fallen into. She shot a hand up, offering it to him for a handshake.

"I'm Sakura. Nice to meet you," she said right away. Words that had been said so many times, she didn't have any trouble pronouncing them one more time.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever." He didn't take her hand; instead, he crossed his arms over his chest. "Your hair is pink," he stated.

"Yeah?" She raised her eyebrows, uncertain.

"Why is it pink?" His tone was judgmental. "It's like you have cotton candy on your head."

"Beg your pardon?" Sakura stammered, her eyes widening.

"It's been like that since I can remember her. It's her natural hair," Naruto interjected, patting her head. "And by the way, I hate to remind you, but you never told her your name."

"What's the point? You've surely told her my name, who I am, and probably everything you ever heard about me," he countered, bitter.

"Nevertheless… It's polite to do it yourself."

"Bring me a latte. Double the sugar," the man demanded, closing his laptop more forcefully than was required. "Sasuke," he said, moving his gaze to Sakura.

She forced a smile and slipped into the booth opposite him.

"Sakura, right?"

She nodded.

"I've heard a lot about you," he said, squinting his eyes. "Much more than I'd like to."

She pursed her lips. Despite his good looks, something deep inside her disliked this man before she had even given him time to prove worthy of her liking. "Honestly, I haven't heard much about you," she replied in an equally pungent tone, but she still managed to squeeze a polite smile on.

Naruto's grin wavered for a fraction of a second, but he regained his composure immediately. "Ok, I'm just gonna grab drinks and'll be back before you start missin' me." He stepped backwards, giving them a warning look, and dashed for the counter.

The lack of Naruto presence fell down like the blade of a guillotine, cutting the illusion of the eventual "pleasant" to simply "awkward." Sakura started to look around the booth, avoiding meeting the man's eyes. Sasuke was staring right at her face, too collected and intense to be pleasant.

"Why are you here?" Sasuke asked quietly when her gaze drifted to his face by accident and his eyes sucked in hers like two little black holes.

She swallowed. "Erm… I'm having coffee with my best friend?" She paused, uncomfortable enough to say something more. The look he had on demanded information, so she forced more words out. "I needed a distraction, really. My head's gonna explode."

He huffed, and something resembling sympathy flashed on his pale face. "Lectures?"

"Yeah… And a lot of homework and reading in between."

He nodded and sealed his lips, firmly pressing them together and making them look like a thin, pale line. His arms remained crossed over his chest. Sasuke's message was more than clear: for him, the conversation was over.

Sakura felt the urge to leave. She really didn't like the little, cold needles crawling up and down her body. It was as if he not only didn't like her but even resented her. And she had no idea what had caused that, because... Simply put, Sakura had always been in that special category of people that other people just liked.

"Here's your hot chocolate," Naruto chimed in, placing a steaming cup in front of her. "That's your latte." He carefully pushed a tall glass towards Sasuke.

"Thank you!" Sakura beamed at Naruto.

Sasuke only hummed and pulled his phone out. His attention sank into whatever was on the screen, while he fully ignored both Sakura and Naruto.

Sakura sighed with relief and took her cup with both hands. Taking a deep breath, she relished the hot chocolate's wonderful warmth and scent, which rose with the steam. She breathed in deeply again, her eyes closed.

"Tell me. What's troubling you?" Naruto took his own steaming tea and inhaled with a pleased expression.

Sakura shot him a glance, wondering for a brief moment if she should just jump on the problem at hand or beat around the bush first. But... that was Naruto, so... "I think I took on too many classes at once. I thought I'd be alright, but... it's just too much," she whispered, not wanting the other man to hear. "I feel I'm starting to fall behind, and no matter how much effort I put in, I just can't catch up."

"Well, you can always drop a few classes and leave them for one of the next terms, right?" he suggested.

She cringed. It sounded so logical and easy that it was simply frustrating. "But that would be like... quitting... failing. I want to become a doctor, and dropping a class or a few feels like I can't handle being one."

Naruto looked at the side of her face with a worried expression. "No, Sakura... Listen to me! It's not quitting, nor is it failing. 'Failing' is only in your head. No one who knows you would think that." He caressed her forearm. "Really often, taking a step back is needed to wrap your head around something. It's called 'following your common sense.' You ain't quitting; you're just slowing down in order to be able to go on. It's a marathon, Sakura, not a sprint. You gotta measure your energies to keep the pace."

Sakura stared unblinkingly into his blue eyes until the image of them started to blur.

"You look... unwell," Naruto admitted. "You want to be a doctor and take care of people's health. Why don't you start by taking care of yourself?" His tone was very soft and loving. And had those words been said by someone else, she would have pricked up and gone into defensive mode. But that was her best friend. He wished nothing but the best for her; they both knew it.

"I thought about my mental health…"

Her words trailed off and sank into an unnaturally long pause.

Naruto leaned in closer to her. "And?"

"I actually think of dropping two classes…" She hid her face in her hands, ashamed. But Naruto could easily catch it, together with her desperation.

"So your common sense is still not lost." He grinned, patting her back.

Sakura peered at him. "And I think I need a hobby," she said, giving him a crooked smile.

He nodded enthusiastically. "Then get one!" He pursed his lips. "Didn't you do something with colourful napkins at some point? Glueing them everywhere? What was it called?"

"Decoupage?" she suggested, frowning.

"Yes, that one. You used to have fun with it, didn't you?"

"I used to... For now, I'm not so sure. I mean, it'll fill my room with various napkins, glues, brushes, other items, and... Nah, I need something else," she concluded, tapping her chin with her pointer finger. Her hand stopped moving, and she eyed Naruto. "What do you do for a hobby?"

Naruto didn't rush with his answer. Instead, he looked at her face, assessing. "I play online games." He omitted any details, but his eyes drifted to Sasuke, who was fully focused on chatting with an unknown person or persons.

"What games?" Sakura asked more out of courtesy than genuine interest.

At the same moment, Sasuke hummed in contentment and spoke without taking into consideration that he might interrupt a conversation. Or he just didn't care. "I found a tank for Stratholme," he said, setting his phone screen down beside his drink.

"Oh!" Naruto's face lit up immediately, and a wide grin blossomed on his lips. "Do tell!"

Sasuke pressed his palms on the table and leaned forward with a smug half-smile. "Do you recall the PvP guy I told you about? Neji? The one that I play pool with every Thursday evening?"

Sakura frowned and attempted to ask what "PvP" was, but decided against it. She could do that later on.

Naruto narrowed his eyes in an attempt to create an image, responding to the name Neji. "The one with the missing eyes?"

Sakura winced. Her nose scrunched at the poor description because she was more than certain that "missing eyes" didn't mean someone without eyeballs. And she really hated it when Naruto allowed himself to be insulting about medical conditions. She was ready to bite. "How come his eyes are missing?"

Both men turned to her: Naruto with a nonchalant smile and Sasuke with a pissed-off expression. It was written all over his face: How dare you interrupt me?

"They aren't actually missing," the former said quickly. "Their whole family has those weird, whitish-lavender eyes. Looks like there are no pupils. It's kinda creepy, to be honest."

The gears in her head turned and clicked immediately in place, helpfully supplying her with the needed memory. One of her teachers, Kurenai, had told her class about the most curious eye mutations at the end of last year. The condition Naruto was talking about was called "idiopathic eye albinism," and contrary to ordinary albinism, which was characterised by red eyes due to a lack of melatonin that would usually colour the iris, in this condition, the eyes remained white-purple. It looked like they had a cataract in the advanced stage, except they didn't. And not only this rare mutation didn't impair the sight, but it was giving some benefits, like higher resolution of the eye. Sakura felt heat creeping inside her chest, and her pulse accelerated. She was excited to stand in front of an uncertain chance to eventually meet someone with a rare mutation. If Naruto knew him, she was sure she could pester him into introducing her to this Neji-guy.

Sasuke's irate exhale made her reconsider saying anything more; she stayed quiet instead.

"Anyway," he pronounced slowly, with emphasis on every syllable. "It's Neji's cousin."

Naruto blinked, and his face fell. "That's it?"

"Well, yeah." Sasuke snorted with derision.

"I expected something more... explosive?" Naruto explained; disappointment was evident in his voice.

"Sorry," Saskuke hissed, irritation peaking in his otherwise low voice. "How many tanks have you found?"

"Don't try to play that card on me," Naruto fought back, frowning. "You were the one chasing our last tank away!"

"How come?" Sasuke jitted back. He sounded surprised. "He was a loser, and you know it."

"He was a bit slower but was a fine tank. He left because of you. 'Sasuke's an ass. Can't stand him.' That's what he told me." Naruto frowned further and leaned in, whispering, "I believe him."

Sakura couldn't hold back the laughter that bubbled from her chest. She slapped both her hands over her mouth to muffle the sound under the angry look she received from Sasuke.

"I'm sorry," she tried to say, unable to fully stifle the remaining chuckle. "But you two are so funny arguing over something totally imaginary."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and bore them in Naruto's face; his voice lowered in warning. "Seriously, get her out of here."

Naruto crossed his arms. He appeared absolutely undaunted, even amused, as his lips twisted into a sly smile. "No." Then he turned to Sakura with a softer expression. "See, even if all of this is imaginary, the people behind each character're real. They all have feelings, history, and a reason to turn to the game," he explained.

"Some are not people," Sasuke interrupted. "There're bots tha—"

"Don't you start!" Naruto snapped at him, and for Sakura's wonderment, the dark-haired man shut up and leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest with a frown.

"There're people who suffer from social anxiety, and the game's a way they can communicate but remain comfortably hidden at the same time. There're many sick people who shouldn't physically be around others due to compromised immune systems, and the game is their way to socialise." Naruto paused and added, after a short moment of contemplation, "Often the only way, actually."

Sympathy had started to show all over Sakura's face. "I never looked at it like that."

"There're many people who just have fun with friends, replacing the standard gathering for drinking and card games with online ones. But there's more to it," Naruto assured. "People move to different towns and continents. Gaming together with their friends is a way to keep in touch. Or meeting and becoming friends with people you'd never meet otherwise from across the world."

He paused and shot a glance at Sasuke. "There're also people who use online games for relieving stress," he said while pointing at the other man with an open palm. "Like our friend over there, who relaxes by being an extra ass to other people not only in the real world but in the game too."

Sakura grinned at Naruto's last words, while Sasuke growled something unintelligible. He snatched the headset from the table and put them on with a clipped motion. Casting an irate glance at the other two, he opened the laptop back up, intending to outright ignore them.

"Leave him be," Naruto shrugged. "He doesn't have it easy either."

"What's wrong with him?" she asked, whispering.

He shook his head. "He will tell you himself when he feels ready... If he feels ready..."

Sakura smiled, placing her hand on Naruto's shoulder. "I keep forgetting how much you've grown," she praised him.

The man's cheeks flushed in an instant. "Don't say such things just like that!"

"What do you mean?" She blinked. "I'm paying you tribute, and you're unhappy about it?"

"It's like I've been just mindless and super inconsiderate before. It's simply embarrassing," he whispered loudly back at her.

Sakura's jaw dropped. She really wanted to tell him how proud she was of him, but it had come out a bit dismissive and, more or less, wrong. But there was one thing that she was adamant about when interacting with Naruto: no matter what went wrong with the communication between them, she always tried to come out clear.

"You never fail to impress me." She leaned in and kissed his cheek.

His eyes opened wide and started to sparkle oddly. His nose scrunched in an obvious attempt to hold in a sob.

Sensing that she had hit a tender string, she decided to play hard. "You've always had a good heart when we were younger, and now I can see that you've turned into a really kind adult."

When he was about to start crying, her pointer finger shot in the air against his nose, forcing his gaze to focus on her hand.

"When you were younger, your thinking wasn't very considerate; you can't deny that."

He opened his mouth to protest, but reconsidered and only shook his head with a smile. Naruto quickly blinked away the tears, welling up in his eyes, and squeezed his pink-haired friend in a bear hug.

Thank you, girls (jtoo and Kavi_Vu_ from the r/NarutoFanfiction Discord)