#ssm19d3

A/N: I apologize for the lame jokes in advance

The wind felt refreshing against his face as he leapt from tree to tree, but he made a concerted effort to not out run the other ninja on his squad. It was one of Sasuke’s first missions on a team since he had returned from his journey, and he knew he had a lot of trust to regain. He was grateful, though, that Kakashi had made a team of people who he could tolerate and he knew were less wary of him than others: Lee, Chouji, and Shino.

They had completed their mission successfully and were on the way back to the village when they were attacked by a band of rogues, who quickly learned they chose the wrong group to mess with.

Except Chouji was, to put it delicately, as Sasuke had learned was best, a large guy and in the confusion of the ambush he had accidentally knocked Lee over with an expanded body part.

Lee was so high on adrenaline and his flaming power of youth that it didn’t bother him at first; he was more excited to really feel the extent of his fellow shinobi’s power. But as they kept going at the breakneck speed of seasoned shinobi, he started to feel the full extent of his injuries and eventually faltered behind.

Sasuke was used to being either alone, or only in the presence of team seven, so he was hyper aware of anyone new. The feeling of the team’s chakra was almost invasive and he noticed when Lee’s chakra seemed different than usual.

“Let’s stop here. We should rest and eat something,” Sasuke called when they reached a clearing. He knew as well as anyone how it could be embarrassing for a shinobi to be called out for injuries, so he didn’t mention how Lee was lagging. But they had hardly stopped to breathe after the ambush, so they could all use a break.

“Lee, I didn’t get you too bad with my expansion jutsu right?” Chouji asked as they all plopped down in a circle.

“I’m fine! Your strength is really incredible but my sensei has instilled great resolve in me, look!” He attempted to punctuate this by standing up quickly and giving a thumbs up, only to topple over, clearly in pain.

Shino spoke up, “What is it? If it’s an injury we should treat it now before we continue, or it’ll just slow us down.”

Lee looked embarrassed, “I think I will simply need rest when I get to the village. Besides, none of us know medical ninjutsu so I’m not sure what we can do.”

Chouji thought for a moment, “that is strange, we have a four man squad and no medical ninja.” “To be fair, they don’t teach medical ninjutsu in the academy, so there aren’t many medical ninja to begin with. And they need all the help they can get at the hospital right now. There’s some illness going around the civilian district,” Sasuke mumbled as he rummaged in his pouch.

Chouji laughed, “can you imagine if they taught us medical ninjutsu at the academy? Naruto would probably kill someone rather than heal someone! He’s come such a long way since his academy days.”

Lee laughed along with him at the thought of their younger selves trying to heal each other’s scrapes on the playground. Iruka would’ve been at his wits’ end. “They say laughter is the best medicine, I feel better already!”

“If that’s the case, Sasuke, why have I never seen you sick if you never have the best medicine?” asked Shino very seriously.

Lee was crying from laughter at this point, “oh Shino, perhaps instead of being a ninja you should consider a career as a clown?”

Sasuke held up the small silver tin he had been looking for the entire time. “Ah, I have Sakura.”

He opened it and chose a few items he felt would help the team best, “Lee, at least wrap your ankle until we get back. Everyone else, sanitize your wounds. There are bandages in here as well. This balm should help bruises and burns. Since the enemies didn’t seem to be using poison we don’t have to worry about these syringes.” Sasuke hoped everyone could trust him to heal and not kill, he’s come such a long way since the war.

Thankfully Lee, kind soul that he was, started crying even harder, “Sasuke you really are a village hero! To be half the shinobi you are would be an honor! I too will be this prepared next time I go on a mission—no! I will be more prepared! I will learn medical ninjutsu!”

As Chouji started wiping grime off himself he reminded Lee that he can’t use ninjutsu. “Then I will use taijutsu to ensure that none of my comrades get hurt and they will not even require medical attention! Thank you, Sasuke.”

Sasuke was uncomfortable to say the least, but thankfully they got back to a topic he could get on board with: Sakura.

“Sasuke, how did you learn about all of this? Does the hospital give you these supplies?”

“Sakura made the kit for me. Just in case.”

“The great and beautiful Sakura’s kindness knows no bounds! We should all try to be like Sasuke and Sakura!”

Yes, thought Sasuke, if everyone was a little more like Sakura, they’d all be a little more tolerable. Good thing he had the real thing waiting for him in Konoha. His injuries weren’t major, just a number of small wounds all over his body that would be a bit of a pain to avoid, but Sakura’s healing chakra felt so pleasant, he quite looked forward to seeing her at the hospital. Even if she didn’t bother using medical ninjutsu on him this time around. She’d given him plenty of medicine, plenty of healing since he returned to the village.  

---

Sakura was jotting down some notes on her clipboard as Sasuke seated himself for his required post-mission check up. “Did the kit come in handy?”

“Ah,” he nodded.

“You’re not seriously injured?”

“Ah.”

“You still want me to heal you.”

“Ah,” he gave her a slight smile and tapped his temples. Just his eyes.

Sakura set her clipboard aside and her hands started glowing green as she ran them all over Sasuke’s body to check for other injuries. She started softly, “you know I’ll always heal you if you ask. It’s not a problem.”

“I don’t want to inconvenience you.”

Still speaking quietly, Sakura laughed and moved on to a different section of his body, “I think we both know your presence is more than appreciated. Besides, I’m a medic, this is my job.”

“On the mission someone said laughter is the best medicine. I haven’t heard that in a long time. My eyes still hurt, so clearly it doesn’t work. But don’t people also ask for a kiss to make it better? Maybe that’s what I need.”

“In your dreams, Uchiha,” she rolled her eyes at him, but the green was brighter than ever, twinkling with joy. Once she got Sasuke all cleaned up she would certainly be giving him a kiss or two.

Or a million.

It was sheer coincidence that he would always catch a woman around his age almost always at the same spot in the library which was near his own spot. The sight was almost similar as always.

Pink haired tied up in a messy bun.

Determined face with eyebrows almost knitted together.

Emerald eyes focused with a certain glimmer to them.

Piles of medical books with varying thickness.

A wide array of highlighters with all the colors of the rainbow.

Yep, it's her.

Highlighter girl.

.

.

In his head, he named her as such because she was the only one he knew who uses so many highlighters. She was clearly a medical student, and it was quite rare to see one in the university library since the College of Medicine has its own. He could say the same to himself, since law students like him would usually use their own library as well. In his defense, this was his spot in his undergrad years and he is quite the sentimental person even if he won't admit it ever out loud.

The two of them were strangers, yes. But after weeks of mere coincidences, they came in an unspoken treaty to reserve the long table if one came earlier than the other. A simple nod was their greeting, and they were both off into their own worlds.

The months passed with not a single word shared between the two, until one day changed that.

Grogginess accompanied Sasuke throughout the day, but he still has a paper to make. Feeling a headache coming, he closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. With elbows on the table, he placed his palms on his forehead and tried to will the pain away. It was years of Uchiha upbringing that prevented him from almost jumping on his seat in surprise when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"What the –"

"Hi! I'm sorry to disturb you," highlighter girl whispered. "You're not feeling good right? Do you need anything?"

"Maybe some aspirin," he whispered back. She gave him a toothy grin and went back to her bag, rummaging for something. After taking out a small pouch, she came back and sat in front of him.

"The stress is just probably making itself known. How about you take a short nap on the couch? I'll wake you up in an hour or two. Sounds good?"

Sasuke let out a soft sigh. "Yeah. That would be great." He didn't fight back the pull of sleep and gravity and allowed his body to fall on the couch beside their table. In his normal state, he would be grumbling about how uncomfortable it could be. Now, it felt like a blessing.

Before he could fully succumb to sleep, the last thing he saw was a pair of concerned green eyes hovering above him, a comforting smile along with it.

.

.

He was so deep into sleep that he could almost ignore the nudges on his shoulder.

Almost being a key word.

A rather forceful shove was able to bring him back from the land of dreamless sleep. Sasuke wiped the corners of his eyes to remove the sand and he glanced up to highlighter girl beaming at him.

"Hey, are you feeling better? It's been two hours by the way. I would have wanted you to rest some more but I think you still have some stuff to finish, right?"

He sat up and stretched a bit. Guess his body just really need a nap. "Yeah. Thanks."

"I'm Sakura by the way. Haruno Sakura. You?"

Sakura.

'How fitting,' he mused. "Uchiha Sasuke."

They shook hands, and there was a certain feeling in Sasuke's gut that told him their dynamics will shift considerably after this. He wasn't sure if it was a good or a bad thing.

.

.