Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Strawberry Secrets ❯ Chapter 4

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

In the morning, Sakura had been excused from the missions to buy clothes to accommodate the
changes to her body. It was exhaustive but eventually, she was able to abandon the scrubs she
had been wearing since the previous night for a comfortable pair of black pants, a pink sweater
with white five-petaled flowers adorning the hem and a larger pair of closed toe shoes that were
more suitable to the cold weather. Along with her new clothes, she purchased a winter coat, hat
and mitts.

She bound her calves tightly in bandage, along with her left thigh where she placed her trusty
pack containing scrolls, kunai and shuriken. After her shower, before she went shopping, Sakura
had tamed the mass of pink hair in a thick braid. The hitai-ate had always served the purpose of
keeping her hair from her face, seeing how it was now long enough to be caught back in a braid,
she found merely tying it around her neck sufficed.

On her way to the hospital, she remembered the chakra storage mark and quietly fed more energy
into it, making an effort not to squirm as the mark itched. She scratched at the Bandaid as she
entered the hospital, immediately met by Maki-sensei. The doctor gave her a small stiff smile, a
far cry from his friendliness last night, and gave her a list of chores to do. The two nurses that
had helped her out with Kakashi gave her knowing smiles as Maki-sensei introduced her as
'Haruno Naoru'. They reciprocated the play-acting by introducing themselves as Akiko and
Tami.

After a thorough reintroduction, Sakura set about her chores. First, she quietly slipped into
Kakashi's room to find out how he was. Sometime during the night they had taken the tube from
his mouth and only a thinner tube in his nose remained. The heart monitor still beeped, showing
a strong and even heart rate. The I.V of blood had been replaced with saline, which was a good
sign.

She walked deeper into the room, looking for his bag of clothes. It sat in one of the closets at the
very bottom in a paper bag. Most of the clothes had been cut off, something that she had
remembered doing. She found his mask and brought it over to his bedside. When he woke up,
she assumed that he would want it immediately. She set it on the night stand but not before
stealing a look at the lower half of his face. She didn't know what it was that she was looking for
but she wasn't disappointed either. There was a scar on his slightly cleft chin that was old and
faded, but still there. Could that have been the reason for why he clung so fastidiously to the
cloth around his mouth? No. She couldn't see him being that vain.

He had a beautiful shaped mouth, thankfully no bucked teeth or fat lips. Although most women
could say that his mouth was a bit too wide, which accompanied with the small scar on his chin,
threw off the surreal beauty of his perfectly sculpted cheekbones, the straight nose and angled
jaw. Despite the dark bruises that smeared down the right side of his face, his skin was
something that any girl would envy. Everything about this man, Sakura thought dazedly, was
perfect.

"Naoru-san!" Akiko said as she walked into the room. "Maki-sensei is on the prowl! You haven't
started your chores yet, have you?"
"Oh!" She turned to look at the woman, blushing profusely. "I-I just wanted to... make...sure..."

"He's handsome, isn't he?" Akiko cooed, looking at the unconscious man appreciatively.

"Y-yes. He is." She stuttered, embarrassed that she'd been caught fawning over her ex sensei of
all people. Worried about where her train of thoughts would have headed if Akiko hadn't
interrupted her, she let herself be ushered out of the room by the matronly nurse.

Sakura desperately busied herself, occupying her mind to keep thoughts of Kakashi at bay. She
scrubbed bedpans and withered backsides with equal ferocity, earning herself a few comments
from unappreciative patients who had suffered her ministrations. At least the bedpans were shiny,
she thought with a sigh after hearing her last patient complain.

"Where is Sakura? I would like to speak with Haruna Sakura, please!" A familiar voice echoed
down the main hallway of the hospital that led to the front reception desk. Sakura walked down
the hallway to investigate. "Oh, Hana-san, how can I help you?"

The Inuzuka turned, apparently miffed by the sudden appearance of a stranger, "I'm looking for
Haruna Sakura. She helped take care of Kakashi." She sniffed noisily and her gaze narrowed on
the woman, "You are a relative? You know her? I can smell her all over you."

Obviously, Sakura had forgotten about the Inuzuka's uncanny dog-like abilities such as a
sensitive nose. She fleetingly wondered if they, the Inuzuka clan were colour blind like dogs too.
"Oh-er-yes, she's my cousin. I'm here visiting. Unfortunately, Sakura is away at the moment."

"Your visiting and she's away?"

"Uhm, well you see... I'm house-sitting while she goes to meet up with her parents."

Hana sighed, "Well, if you talk to her can you tell her that I appreciate what she did the other day
to help out Kakashi-san?"

"Oh, no problem." Touched by the other woman's comment. "Have you seen him?"

"Yes. I was talking to him earlier."

So he was awake. And had probably heard her conversation with Akiko. She felt anger and
embarrassment flood her mind, leaving her face flushed. "I went to visit, Sakura left me strict
instructions to check up on him. He was sleeping while I was there."

Hana nodded absently before snapping her fingers and saying, "I know where I saw you! You
were at the bar! Kakashi picked you up that night!"

"Picked me up...?" she frowned, unsure of what the term implied. "He picked me up, yes. And
carried me home. I had too much to drink." She blushed.
Wiggling her eyebrows suggestively, Hana nudged Sakura, "So how was he?"

"You saw for yourself. He's fine. Awake, obviously." She answered, completely missing the
dog-woman's innuendo.

"Oh coy girl, you!" The other woman laughed. "Whatever you did, you made quite the
impression. Kakashi kept talking about you during the mission."

Weathering the ribald remarks from the Inuzuka clanswoman, she finally excused herself twenty
minutes later. "Better be going now." She said, feigning regret. "I've got a million things to do!"

"Oh, well if ya want to, you can come to the bar with us and meet the rest of the gang. I'm sure
everyone will like you." Hana smiled.

"Thanks for the offer. I'll think about it." Sakura called to the woman's retreating back.

Thoroughly agitated by the thought of being caught by Kakashi, ogling him, she stomped up to
the hospital room and glared at the seemingly unconscious man. His mask was on, obviously he
had been awake sometime between when she had left up until now. Thinking of many ways to
get him to drop his ruse, most of which would cause more bodily damage, she opted for a more
subtle approach. "Thank goodness no one is here and Hatake-san is sleeping." She acted, her
eyes fixed on his face as she added, "I'll just change here since I poured apple juice all over my
shirt." An eye popped up and if she hadn't been looking, she would have missed it when it
immediately closed. With a triumphant 'Ha!' she nudged him with one steely finger on his right
bicep, the only place that wasn't injured.

"Oh, Konayume-saaaan!" He said pleasantly.

"You were listening in on my conversation."

"And it was such a good conversation, too!" Kakashi grinned but the corner of his eyes were
pinched, in obvious pain. "But don't worry, I agree with you I am handsome."

"Insufferable, perverted..." She opened her mouth trying to think of something suitable to call the
man. "Pervert!" She spluttered.

Kakashi chuckled, "I'm an insufferable, perverted pervert? How cutely redundant, Konayume-
san."

"Okay! And my last name isn't Konayume!" She blurted, "It's Haruna!"

"Ooooohhhh? Like Haruna Sakura, Haruna?"

"Yes! Like Haruna Sakura, Haruna!" Sakura snapped.

He smiled at her before closing his eyes, "You two look alike. You could be her sister, like a hot
older sister."

"Kakashi!" A voice interrupted their conversation, Sakura turned to the door and smiled at Iruka.
"And who is this? Is this the girl you picked up a while ago?"

"--He didn't pick me up!"

" Yes."

"Mou! You are so annoying, Kakashi-seeeaaan!" She drew out the prefix, almost saying -Sensei
instead of -san. "I'm going to get you a doctor to give you painkillers." Sakura said before being
chased out the door by weird looks from Iruka and pained, stilted chuckles from Kakashi.

"She's a bit odd, Kakashi."