Neighbours

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Summary -

Sakura knew that life without him was bearable and she worked hard to make that all come true. But now that he was sitting there in that hospital bed with a dark smirk, she knew it would take a lot from punching him in his pretty, pretty face. (It also didn't help that they'd be neighbours sooner or later...)

Clinical appraisals were a bitch to complete. And Sakura knew that all too well when she was on the last component of the piece that was related to 'Patient Safety and Advocacy'.

"I will raise the side rails and make sure the call bell is in reach." She recited to herself. "I will wash my hands--for the hundredth time--and pull the curtains around for privacy."

All the students had to complete these appraisals and even her, being the brightest of the bunch, was expected to complete fifteen pages of this nonsense.

Hospital life was interesting. She was interning as a nurse at Konoha's General Hospital under the watchful eye of her mentor, Tsunade. Her life as a medic-nin had been just nothing short of incredible, she saved lives, healed hearts and was absolutely angelic when she worked. Countless praise was in her life. Tsunade even said that there was nothing she couldn't do. The staff respected her hard work and dedication. And yet she stared blankly at the stack of paper she just went through and wondered why it was necessary.

Sakura knew Tsunade wouldn't read all twenty of these appraisals. She'd probably get away with writing down the lyrics of Konoha's anthem and still get a check mark of completion.

Nonetheless, Sakura took a swig of the cold coffee and wrote down the last bit.

She had been writing since 9 am and parked her butt at Rosemary Cafe a few houses down from her new apartment. Sakura cringed looking at the flower shaped clock on the brick wall as she read 2 o'clock.

Throwing down the pen in a dramatic act of celebration, Sakura let out a sigh of relief and stapled the stack of papers together and stuffed it into her side bag.

"Damn right," She grinned, "Just in time to meet with Naruto."

Naruto and Sakura had been as close knit as ever ever since he left. They'd go out for drinks and ramen, she'd pay when he 'forgot his wallet' then smack him across the head every time he did. She'd laugh and he'd smile.

Life had been well, especially when she managed to keep her mind off of him. Because he was far away and he had no intention of coming back home, there was no reason why she should keep him in her thoughts. But they came anyway at random and Sakura would bite her lips hard until the thought passed.

Sakura was eighteen years old. Lovely and beautiful. Tsunade was right, there was nothing she couldn't do.

After smiling sweetly at the gentleman behind the counter, she left the cafe and let the warm breeze sweep through her shoulder length hair.

Quickly scanning her itinerary for the day, Sakura made her way to Ichiraku's and found her seat at the counter beside Naruto who was already starting on his
bowl.

"Naruto! Don't you even have the decency to wait for me, at least? Sheesh, you're such a crook!" Sakura scolded letting the flap of the restaurant banner hit her
back.

"Oy, oy, Sakura! You made it! I was starving. Forgive me, please?"

Sakura shook her head and smiled. Tapping her fist on the wooden counter the rosette voiced, "pork ramen with extra broth please!"

Naruto sipped the rest of his broth, "I was training with Lee all morning. He busted out some new moves today and I was so stoked, I used my rasengan five times! You should have seen the look on his face-"

"Naruto!" Sakura sighed, "I always tell you not to strain yourself, you're not going to live to forty at this rate."

"Aha! Nothing will stop me, Sakura. You know that!" He flashed a peace sign and the brightest smile she's ever seen. Chuckling softly to herself, Sakura rubbed Naruto's back and laughed with him.

"Plans for the day?" Naruto asked sincerely, "I'm going right back out there to whoop Lee's ass."

"That's great," Sakura quipped, "I'm swinging by Tsunade's office to hand in these awful appraisals. Such a drag to do. I'm not sure how many times I mentioned handwashing... before gloves after gloves, during patient care, after patient care, at the nursing station. Watch me, I can keep going."

"I'm alright," Naruto laughed, "I get it."

A brief silence washed by them until the blond spoke up, "I'm really proud of you, Sakura. You focused so hard after Sasuke left and now you're Tsunade's top student. Smart, you're such a babe and nice...sometimes."

Sakura laughed, "Don't sell yourself short, Naruto! You have surpassed every expectation that I had of you. You're such a goof ball but I'm so proud of you and you know that. But hey, after you're done whooping Lee's ass let's grab some drinks tonight."

"Sounds like a damn plan!"

Sakura didn't know why she was in such a good mood. Knowing that she could hang out with Naruto at nightfall meant it was excuse to postpone her readings on alterations in neurological function. Great stuff.

She worked hard. Night's without sleep were the norm. But it was prideful work, much respected and needed. Sakura was ecstatic to be contributing to Konoha's development in health care movement. She worked as a patient advocate, was often at council meetings to acknowledge the need for more nurses and was the implementer for patient controlled analgesics.

After lunch, she made her way to Tsunade's office and knocked twice before being summoned by her mentor.

Tsunade was scary sometimes; intimidating, loud and always on her neck, the woman knew her way around and Sakura followed suit, not taking or giving two shits about the things that bothered her. There was no time for that. People needed her help and as a medic-nin, unnecessary bullshit can take a backseat to her work.

"Completed already?" Tsunade questioned, pouring another shot of sake. The blush across her mentor's face was evident that she had been drinking since the sunrise.

"Tsunade, maybe you should take it easy with the sake..." Sakura motioned, setting the stack of paper on the desk. "You know this isn't good for you! You're going to be in emerg one day and we'll both know your liver had given up!"

"Nonsense!" Tsunade bellowed, "Tell Shinuze to order a new crate but I want you to listen to me Sakura, we have a special order for you today. You'll love this."

The rosette pushed a piece of pink hair behind her ear nonchalantly. Tsunade handed her a heavy folder with a red line through the name. While leaning against the window, she flipped through the stack of records and found the date of day.

"New patient?" Sakura questioned as her focus landed on a name that was terrifying familiar.

Tsunade deadpanned. "I've called Naruto to meet you in emerg. Kakashi is on his way as well. Do you think you can you handle this?"

The shock across her face had disappeared as soon as it came.

"Tsunade, is that even a question?" The rosette said sweetly and smirked.

"I'm not surprised."

"What should I know aside from what's here on his chart. Should I sedate him?"

"He's stable. Has a bit of an attitude but don't we all?"

"It talks?"

"Be nice. I'm counting on you, Sakura. The others were saying that someone else should look after him but I pushed to have you as his nurse."

"Why's that?" Sakura asked focusing on his records, "why me?"

"Don't want to look after him?"

"I do. I just want to know why you choose me to be his sole care provider."

"It's good experience for you, Sakura. You'll learn to gather your emotions; your feelings and control them. You have knowledge. I just want to see if you'll be emotionally stable to deal with Uchiha Sasuke. After all, a reunion of team seven would be nice to see, wouldn't it?"

"I'll be fine. I'll head on over to the hospital now. Thank you for this opportunity." With a quick bow, the rosette left her mentor's scrutinizing glare.

Sakura swung around the corner and placed a hand over her chest. The pounding of her heart was hard like a jackhammer to the concrete. The rosette steadied herself against the wall of her office as she tried to steady her thoughts.

Tsunade's assumption had been correct. The moment she saw his name, the emotions, like raging fire, filled her body until her cheeks turned pink. The sweat accumulated in her palms.

"Damn it, calm down." She told herself, "he'll just be like other patients. No extra treatment needed. Just go down, do his vital signs, check his level of consciousness and you're out."

Was it a crime to shove some drugs into him and make him sleep for a month? Only until she was ready to see him, of course.

But most of all, she was angry. There had been two accounts that he tried to kill her. Was she going to welcome him back with open arms? Hell fucking no.

Her pager went off and her heart jumped a second time. It wasn't fair that Uchiha Sasuke made her heart pump twice it's normal rate in one day. She hadn't even seen his damn face yet. Shit.

But it was time for her to put on her big girl pants now. No crying, no screaming, no punching his damn face in. It was all about control. The less she seemed to care, the faster she could get on with her day.

Sakura checked her reflection in the small mirror on the wall. She could do this. Her eyes were iridescent green. The pale skin and pink hair made her strikingly beautiful especially when a coat of mascara darkened the already dark lashes. She tasted her lips, surprised that she did not taste any blood. Biting her lips all day since hearing about his return had contributed to the deep hue of her lips.

Sakura left her office, his chart in her hands. She took the back stairs down to a room in emergency.

A grey blur appeared in front of her. Kakashi met her at Sasuke's door.

"Sakura." The sensei said quickly.

"Is Naruto here yet?" Sakura asked, looking as disinterested in Sasuke's folder as she possibly could.

"Yes, he's in there. Do you want to take a moment?" He asked, mildly surprised at her lack of enthusiasm.

Did they think she was going to cry at Sasuke's feet? Beg for him to stay? Was she still that love-sick twelve year old in their eyes?

The very thought of it pissed her off... Which was kind of good because anger always seemed to propel her forward. You don't fuck with Haruno Sakura when she's pissed. Aw hell no.

Sakura smiled at her sensei as she put a hand on the door knob. "Coming in?" She chirped sweetly.

Kakashi chuckled, "Hm, I've seen the boy. I'll drop by later tonight to see how he's doing but for now I'm off to do some very... important business."

"Icha Icha Paradise doesn't count as important, Kakashi." She spat. "But I'll see you later. For drinks maybe? Naruto and I are meeting at the Grill House tonight if you're down."

"Ah, I'll try to be on time!"

This made Sakura smirk until she remembered who was behind the other side of the door.

Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke which left her to do the inevitable.

She took a breath, pushed down on the handle and let herself in.