Gentle but never weak

Which is why it took her so long to figure out what on earth to get Sasuke for his birthday. Years of experience told her she could’nt just get him anything that she just saw that caught her eye. But at the same time, it happened so often how could she not accumulate a few items for him?

As comfortable as they were, Sakura wanted to simply leave it a surprise and imagine his expression on her own. So she left a large blossoming tomato plant and catnip pot right outside his door. On top of a pale purple present box with a simple ribbon wrapped around it. Inside she hopped he would like the Navy blue rosewood sweater she had nabbed from the college shop. And the simple silver and black watch that showed not only the time, but also the constellations by the design  the face of the watch. Two smaller hands pointing to what point the sky was in. At night, the face could light up the little stars and numbers for easy visual. Something to help him be on time for work and tell him what days would be best to go stargazing. 

Sakura felt embarrassed having brought so many things, so she hastily retreated to her apartment after ringing the doorbell. 

“Hn... Maybe...” Sakura frowned and sipped her latte, peeking at her phone one more time as the screen remained dark, no response yet. All she wanted was to go ride the ferris wheel with him.... was it a bad thing to ask? Was he annoyed? Did she not ask it as though she wanted him to go with her?

It was a testament to his own growth that he simply huffed, nodding as Haruno spoke to him. The talk of her own strength made him smirk, perhaps a little cocky, but hey, his pride was two-fold. 

“Not often I get my ass sent flying by a human,” he complimented. “I could sense it was some kinda…I dunno, magic, energy, or somethin’ powerin’ you up. Caught me by surprise too with that kinda control. Knew a couple demons three times our age, and they couldn’t do that kinda subtle shit.” 

He leaned forward at her offered palm, plopping his chin in her grip and sighed with a grimace. It was gonna hurt like hell, but whatever. 

“Spar, huh? Feh, that was a killshot, woman!” His glare was only slightly genuine, but between the banter, the fact that he was still alive, and–and her words–

You’re not a monster.

–well, he wasn’t as pissed as he could have been. 

“You want an actual spar, you let me know before you go bustin’ up my favorite tree and callin’ me names. More than happy to get trainin’ in.” He twitched his ears curiously. “Haruno your first name?”

TW: Blood and broken noses

Sakura couldn’t help but laugh, ok so he wasn’t that bad when he was ya know... Completely in his right mind. “It’s called Chakra, no tricks.”

“I would actually like that. But I will admit it was a little exciting, I don’t very often get to use my full strength anymore. I paid for it though.” Sakura took a moment to look at his nose up close, the precise angle and way it had been twisted versus the way it had been when they met. 

“It’s Sakura actually. Pink hair? Ya know?” She twitched a brow at him and sighed. “You might feel a little pop.” 

Bringing her other hand up to gently hover over his face, her palm just barely touching the tip of his nose, her chakra funnled into her hand and glowed the tell-tale green as she focused on first isolating the pain before adjusting the placement. Her green eyes focused and firm until she heard the pop of the bone being moved back into place.

“There we go.” She yanked her lower hand away in case there was a second flow of blood from his poor nostril and grabbed some tissues from beside the bed to offer him. 

Sakura mindlessly fingered the rim of her mug and watched the down pour outside, her eyes drooping as the caffeine started to wear off. Glancing at her companion she eyed his mug as well and stood. 

“Sen- Kakashi can I get you another cup? I don’t think we’ll be getting out of here anytime soon.” 

“It’s fine.” Sakura bit out, the blood in her mouth already no longer bleeding due to her abilities. Wiping her chin with her wrist she glared at the stain on her skin, irritation settling in her chest having let Sasuke get that blow in. 

“I didn’t mean to!” Sakura yelped, threading her hands together in front of her and lowering her head in shame, red staining her cheeks. She had gotten so used to having Naruto around and being able to punch him in the arm without thinking.... 

Sakura looked around at the dark streets, the moon hanging above and most importantly, the girl in front of her who had woken her up. 

“Uh.... You’re right.” She said lamely, patting her pockets to make sure she had everything still before heaving herself off the bench. Stretching her arms high above her head she figured she should thank her. 

(TW: injury mention, blood mention, violence mention)

Being literally dragged off the field and into the clinic felt like a waste of time. Sure, Inuyasha had been beaten quite literally black and blue with some red all over, but he was fine. A couple of broken bones and some punctures in his chest? Feh! He’d been pinned to a tree, disemboweled by his brother, and once Kagome had sat him thirty seven times in a row. Those were injuries. 

But stupid humans didn’t get that it always looked worse than it was. His fire rat robe was in tatters around his waist, patches soaked to a dark near-black with his blood. Despite the dramatic damage done to his attire, Inuyasha himself looked moderately fine–except for the massive bruising and swelling taking up his entire left arm, and the way it was propped oddly at his elbow. Still, better than being the bones being snapped completely in half. 

The worst part, he groused quietly, staring at the steel door and tapping a claw against the paper sanitary sheet, was that his nose had been broken. All he could really smell was his own blood. He hated being robbed of his crucial sense of smell. 

His fluffy ears twitched twice as he heard the door open, a soft and pleasant voice greeting him as ‘Doctor Haruno’. But when he saw who it belonged to–well, listen. He’d had his ass kicked by women enough to know when to feel fear. 

“Aw, fuck!” He scrambled backwards, ears flattened to his head as his hair puffed up like disturbed fur. “Not you again!” 

But then he listened further, and felt his fear-spiked pulse start to…ease up. Inuyasha was no master people person, but he could guess that this ‘Doctor’ was…actually sincere when she apologized to him. Bringing up her own injuries made him flinch as if he’d been struck, and a canine whine just barely squeaked out of his throat. 

An instinctual noise of guilt. 

“I…fuck, woman,” he grumbled gruffly. His uninjured arm came to rub at the back of his neck, ears still flattened against his scalp. “I…feh. I…shoulda kept better control of my demon blood. I ain’t–I ain’t gonna attack you. I’m not, not a monster,” he added, desperately defensive. 

Sakura watched him carefully as he frilled and winced, his attitude key in her decision if she really would tend to his injuries. To be fair, they had not had a great introduction, so his response was completely fair and in no way insulted her. She hadn’t worked her butt off to not be a little intimidating. But his Kiba like response made her feel nostalgic for her old friend back home. 

She slowly blinked at him eventually, a wry smile forming on the corners of her lips. “I never said you were. And I’ve seen worse. I’ve seen real monsters.” She said simply, setting her clip board down and finally fully entering the room, not hesitating to walk right up to him and peer at his broken nose. 

“However I will admit you got me good. It’s been a while since I had a good enough spar. Let alone where someone could have beaten me in hand to hand. My strength usually gives me enough of an edge.” Sakura openly praised, her time to cool off in a jail cell allowing her to be humbled by her former opponent. 

Sakura bit her lip, her feet stumbling as she tried to follow the slow rhythmic pulse of the music. A small spin out and back in, and she gasped. “I-I’ve never tried dancing Sasuke.” She whispered, her face turning tomato red as she gripped his hand tighter, eyes widening as her heel caught once more, throwing her off balance. 

An involuntary yelp escaped her, and her hand tightened once more before she forced it to release, not willing to take the poor Uchiha down with her.

When she hit the ground however, her head was cushioned from the floor, and she slowly opened her eyes to find Sasuke had dove down to protect her head from connecting with the floor. Her hands slapped over her face and she wanted to melt into the floor, her heart hammering in her ears at the predicament she had gotten herself in. He was probably pissed, thinking she had tripped on purpose. 

@boyofmiracles

Sakura slowly blinked at Naruto, her ice cream sandwich just inches away from another bite. “Uh... First responders?” She answered lamely. It was true. Herself in the service of medical care, Naruto now in the fire department, and Sasuke in the Jax PD. They had all gone from powerful shinobi (And genin for Naruto) to everyday responders for emergencies and public care. 

The look on his face however, told her the obvious answer was not at all what he had been asking for. So she sighed, taking a bite and swallowing quickly before trying to salvage their lunch break. 

Sakura bit her lip and set her groceries down, the overhang of the storefront protecting them for the moment. A good gust of wind however and they would probably be soaked.