This is just a feel good romance. Sakura and Lee are now in their early twenties. Lee is currently in the hospital recovering from his last mission. Sakura works at the hospital full time and mostly keeps to herself these days. Her character is different than in the anime series, she is quieter and keeps people at a distance.

Sakura entered the room quietly to check on her new patient. He had just returned from a dangerous mission and was sleeping already. She took the chart that hung on the wall to see what the nurse had written for her.

Hmmm, he's been treated for broken bones, internal bleeding, and minor head trauma...wow he took quite a beating, Sakura thought to herself as she continued to read through. The place where they make a note about the patient's mental state only said he was unconscious upon arrival.

She hung the chart back on the wall and quietly paced over to the bed to examine him. His arm was in a massive cast and bandages wrapped around his head with familiar black hair sticking out of the bandages. She looked at his face and her eyebrows raised at the sudden realization of who he was. She quickly went back to the chart and snatched it off the wall to look at the name. She felt a little pang of guilt that she didn't even look at the name. When did she become so cold towards people?

Rock Lee. It was definitely him. She felt her hands tingle as she hung the chart back and turned to him. She approached his side slowly and began checking the monitors. His vitals looked good. Very strong heart beat, she noted to herself.

She sighed from exhaustion as she took the chair next to his bed. It was the end of her double shift she just worked. They had been short on doctors the past couple of weeks because some of them were sent on an important mission. She was looking forward to their return next week so she could get back to her normal routine. She had been overwhelmed with long hours and taking on extra patients.

She smiled and chuckled quietly to herself as she looked at Lee. It had been a few years since she had spoken to him. She had seen him in passing from time to time at a distant and she always smiled politely as he greeted her. He hasn't changed much, she thought to herself as she leaned forward. He was always such an odd guy, but he was the type that would do anything for his friends. She was old enough to see beyond his weirdness now and appreciate him for the good guy he is.

She smiled at the memories of her friends when she was younger as she reached out to run her fingers through Lee's hair. It felt soft and welcoming as she continued to comb through it with her fingers. It was weird seeing him so still and quiet.

She sighed and whispered, "You'll be your usual energetic self again soon."

Hopefully he'll be awake tomorrow and I can examine him more thoroughly, she thought to herself, knowing Lee he'll be awake when I come back tomorrow...and he'll be doing his best to get out to go train.

"Sa-sakura?" Lee's hazy voice called to her.

Sakura froze a moment as their eyes met, her fingers still in his hair. She cleared her throat and regained her composure as she slowly withdrew her hand.

"I was checking your bandages." She said coolly. "You're in the hospital."

He tried to sit up, but Sakura stop him with both hands on his chest. "You need to rest, Lee. You got beat up pretty bad. They healed you the best they could, but nothing is a substitute for good rest." She smiled professionally at him. "Doctor's orders."

"You're my doctor?" Lee looked dazed as he blinked up at her. His vision was still a little fuzzy. How hard did I get hit in the head? He asked himself as he blinked a few more times. In any case, he counted himself very lucky to be with Sakura when he woke up and he could have sworn she was stroking his hair. It felt nice waking up like that.

"That's right." Sakura took a pen out of her lab coat. "How are you feeling? Any ringing in your ears?" She twisted the pen to reveal it was a small flashlight on one end and begin examining his eyes. So far, everything looked good she thought as she clicked the light back off.

"Nope no ringing." He smiled with fake bravado. "You're the best doctor. I'm actually feeling awesome right now!" He flinched when he tried to get up again.

"You need to keep still." Sakura said sternly, her expression matching.

"If that is what you wish that I do, then I will." Lee smiled as he settled back down.

"Thank you." Sakura sat back in the chair and sighed. At least Lee was cooperative unlike most of her other patients.

"You look tired." Lee observed the dark circles under eyes.

"I'm fine." Sakura crossed her arms and forced a smile. "So what happened?"

She already knew the story from what the nurses had told her, they just failed to mention it was Lee. Then again, she can't really get mad at them for that. None of them could have possibly known he used to be one of her classmates and in some instances a comrade in battle. She never gave any of them the chance to get to know her.

"Well," Lee said thoughtfully. "We were ambushed." His bushy eye brows shot up suddenly in a panic. "Is everyone ok?"

"Yes and thanks to you from what I hear. You sustained the worst injuries. Your teammates only had minor ones and they've already gone home to recover." Sakura rubbed her eyes.

"I'm very glad to hear that." Lee was visibly relieved for a moment before looking up at Sakura with concern. "You should really go home and get some rest."

She half smiled. "Stop worrying about everyone else. You need to focus on getting yourself better." He always did put others above himself.

"And part of me getting better is my doctor being well rested." He smiled, clearly proud of his wit.

Sakura laughed, she wasn't sure if it was the complete lack of sleep she had the past few weeks or it was actually Lee making her smile.

"Well," Sakura stood. "I guess you got me there. I'll be back in a little to check in on you, in the mean time, I expect you to stay in that bed and rest."

"I will respect your authority." Lee agreed.

Sakura gave him a small nod before turning to leave.

"Hey, Sakura-chan?"

She froze, she hadn't heard him call her name like that in years. She turned around, "Yes?"

"It makes me very happy to talk to you again." He gave her a big toothy grin. "Maybe I should get beat up more often."

Sakura sighed and shook her head, masking a smile. "Goodnight, Lee."

"Goodnight, Sakura-chan. I hope you rest well."

…...

Sakura sat up in bed, alarm beeping obnoxiously loud before she it the button. She thought about the dream she just had about Lee as she pushed her hair back from her flushed face. She wasn't even sure why she was so worked up, it wasn't anything that crazy. She had only dreamed that he was hugging her. She hugged her knees to her chest and thought to herself, well when was the last time I touched anyone other than to examine them? She shook her head and wrote the dream off as just a sign she missed her friends.

She looked over at her nightstand and picked up the frame that was laying flat down. It was the picture of her, Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi. She smiled nostalgically as she touched the picture.

"Can't stay children forever I guess." She said wistfully before touching Sasuke's face. A few years ago, she had finally excepted the fact that he's never coming back. For a long time she looked at this picture every night and cried herself to sleep. Now when she looked at it, she just felt numb. Naruto had moved on, he and Hinata were happily married. She smiled and thought to herself, at least one of us got a happy ending. Well, Kakashi was still doing what he did best, reading those dirty books and training future shinobi.

"Time to go to work." Sakura set the picture back on the nightstand, face down in its usual place. She was showered and changed into her work clothes in less than 20 mins.

The night was beginning to fade away as she walked into the hospital. She greeted everyone politely as she made her way down the hall to Lee's room. She slowed down at the door when she heard him talking to someone. Normally Sakura wasn't the type to eavesdrop, but something made her hesitate on going in. She recognized Tenten's voice.

"I wouldn't worry about her. She's tough." Tenten said in a frustrated voice. "Don't you remember?"

"That may have been in the past, but she seems different now..." Lee clearly sounded worried.

Sakura got the feeling they were talking about her and decided she should probably go into the room. She opened the door the rest of the way and stepped inside. She wasn't surprised to see Nenji here as well. He and Tenten have been a couple for awhile now from what she had heard.

"Good morning." She gave them all a professional smile and looked to Lee who was sitting up. "How did you sleep?"

"Great!" Lee cheered.

Sakura cleared her throat, she concentrated on his chart to mask how awkward she felt.

"Sakura!" Tenten greeted her excitedly. "How have you been? Its been awhile!"

Sakura looked up from the chart with a small smile. "Great...uh it has been awhile. How- how have you been?"

"Things have been great! I have a team of my own now." She grinned. "I'm training them for the upcoming exams."

"That's great Tenten." Sakura smiled as she hung the chart back up. "Well things look in order here. Just be sure not to move that arm around too much. It was a monster to reset those bones so that they heal properly. You don't want them growing back together crooked do you?"

"No...unless you think it would give me a unique advantage over a future opponent?!" Lee perked up.

Sakura shook her head. "No it wouldn't."

"Hey, Sakura." Tenten spoke up. "You look like you could use some coffee. How about it? Want to go get some with me?"

Sakura smiled apologetically. "I wish I could, but I have to make my morning rounds now."

"How about after that?" Tenten wasn't going to take no for an answer.

Sakura could feel her temper begin to rise, she had difficulty keeping that part of herself in check when she was growing up. Tenten was just trying to be friendly, she told herself, even if its really annoying.

"I don't know." Sakura shrugged. "It's been pretty crazy around here lately."

"Well, it seems quiet this morning. Even you need a break at some point today." Tenten insisted with a stubborn smile.

Sakura smiled in defeat, may as well get it over with. "Um, ok. I'll meet you in the cafeteria in a couple of hours for a quick break."

Tenten looked like she just won the lottery. "I'll be there!"

Sakura nodded and left the room quietly.

"See?!" Lee pointed at Tenten.

"What happened to her? That's not the Sakura I remember." Tenten said.

"Maybe she's just tired?" Nenji shrugged.

"I don't know." Lee looked out the window. "Whatever it is, I don't like seeing her like that."

"Now that I think about it...she's really been quiet the past few years." Tenten tapped her chin thoughtfully. "She's really kept to herself."

"I should have noticed sooner." Lee's shoulders sank with guilt. "I've been so wrapped up in training that I didn't notice. I promised I would always protect her...I'm the worst friend in the world!"

"Keep the dramatics to a minimum Lee!" Tenten warned him. She hated it when he got all dramatic and gave a speech. "I'll see if I can get her to talk to me. I can fix this."

"Yeah, Lee. You need to stay calm." Nenji teased.

"Don't worry Nenji, you're going to stay here with Lee when I go to talk to Sakura later." Tenten patted his shoulder.

Nenji sighed. "I'm going to go find some cards or something so we don't die of boredom."

…...

"Hey." Sakura greeted Tenten as she sat across from her.

Tenten slid her a cup of coffee. "Hey! How's work going?"

"You were right. It's actually been kind of slow today." Sakura smiled.

"Glad to hear that." Tenten took a sip before adding with a smile. "Lee is going stir crazy. Its kind of funny."

"It hasn't even been 24 hours!" Sakura exclaimed.

"I know, right?" Tenten giggled. "He talks like he's been in here for weeks. He's always so dramatic."

Sakura thought about how he made her laugh last night and smiled to herself.

"So..." Tenten leaned in. "Anything new with you?"

Sakura came out of her daze and looked at Tenten, puzzled. "Like what?"

"Oh...you know...hobbies...maybe a boyfriend?"

Sakura choked on her coffee. "No...no no."

"So what do you do when you're not here?" Tenten shrugged.

"I research and study to improve my healing skills." Sakura answered quickly.

"Really? You don't ever do anything fun?" Tenten raised an eyebrow. "We should do something together soon!"

Sakura tried to think of an excuse and couldn't so she settled on shrugging.

"Sakura..." Tenten said quietly. "Are you alright?"

"What do you mean?" Sakura laughed. "I feel fine. I'm just a little tired from working over lately."

Tenten thought about being blunt with her, but decided to just drop it. Ambushing her at work with a discussion about life isn't exactly a smart thing to do. So she decided to just let it go and turn to a lighter conversation. They talked about funny training stories from when they were children.

Sakura was actually enjoying talking to Tenten long enough to let time get away from her.

"Oh, I need to get back to work. This was fun." Sakura stood.

"Yeah it was. We should hang out again soon." Tenten stood.

"Ok." Sakura nodded before walking away.