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(4.2)

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"/Is it really okay to stay this way?"/

Sakura and Ino quickly made their way inside a building with a sign that said; 'Uzumaki General Hospital'.

Once inside, Ino led Sakura through a hallway, completely ignoring the nurse at the reception that was alarmed by their hasty intrusion.

"Excuse me! You both!", the nurse called to them.

Ino just pulled Sakura onwards until they arrived at a ward. They could hear Naruto's boisterous laughter from the hallway long before they reached the door.

.

.

.

They found Naruto trying to persuade Sasuke that the anime program on the television was a good one.

The two boys occupied the stool and the bed closest to the television as if they were in the comforts of their own home.

Naruto was even munching on some junk food as he lay on the bed. "Sakura-chan! You came.", Naruto greeted her. "Ino's here too."

"Eh? What the-? You two! Karin told us to come quick. We rushed all the way here and what do we find? ... The two of you having a picnic!" Sakura was mad. "What makes you think that you can just loaf around in here like you're in the comforts of your own home?!"

"But Sakura-chan, we're not loafing around. We're patients. See our bruises!" Naruto pointed at his own face. "Besides, this is my home. I live here remember?"

"Don't you be smart with me! Not in this part of the building you don't! This is just you abusing your privileges. You should be more considerate of the patients." Sakura pointed beyond the curtains.

"What happened to you anyway? Why do you look like that? Did you two fight again?"

"Whoah! Calm down Sakura-chan! We didn't fight. At least, not one another.", stated Naruto as he opted to just seat on the bed instead.

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, we fought together. Against other guys.", he explained.

"What? Why?"

"The letter."

"The letter?"

"It wasn't a love letter was it?", Ino joined.

"No. It wasn't.", said Sasuke. "It was an invitation to a fight. With a hint of blackmail."

"Is that why you didn't want me to see it?!", Sakura realized

"Aa."

"Seriously!" Sakura sighed. "Then- The reason Naruto- You went after Sasuke-kun to help him?", she asked Naruto.

"Yup!", Naruto answered proudly.

"Without even saying anything about it to each other?" Sakura started rubbing her temples. "You're friendship is amazing. You two are amazing!"

Sasuke looked away and Naruto rubbed the back of his head. Both boys were bashful.

"Anyway, are the two of you really okay?", asked Ino.

"Oh this is nothing. You should see the other guys." Naruto had a smug smile on his face. "Right Sasuke?"

"Aa.", Sasuke smirked.

Sakura and Ino looked at each other.

"Do we want to know?"

"They'll live.", Karin spoke from behind the curtains.

Sakura and Ino just learned of her presence in the ward. The two girls peeked beyond the curtain and found Karin tending to one of many passed-out boys lying on the hospital beds. She was wearing the hospitals prescribed scrubs.

"Are these the guys you fought?", Sakura wondered.

"...four, five... Six?!", Ino counted. "The fight was six against two! In their favour. How is it that they're the ones-?!"

"It was stupid of them to challenge Sasuke-kun.", said Karin. "To make matters worse for them, Naruto here joined the fight."

"I originally went there just for moral support. But Sasuke was rusty.", Naruto implied.

"Hn." Sasuke admitted with a nod.

"Come on you two. Take a seat. I'll tell you the whole story." Naruto motioned for the two girls to seat on the stools beside the bed across the one he was sitting on.

Sakura and Ino took their seats and let Naruto tell the story.

"So... Sasuke went to them and... after a few mocking and provoking comments from those thugs the biggest of them all, challenged Sasuke. He even said; he didn't need help from his friends.

Anyway, he smacked Sasuke here and there. At first he and his friends found it funny since Sasuke wasn't doing anything to defend himself or push him off. But then, he started to notice that Sasuke wasn't the least bit affected.

Sasuke in fact asked him if that was all he got. He told them, he didn't have time to entertain them and he just came there to-"

"Dobe."

Naruto paused. He looked at Sakura and Ino.

"Just the summary would be fine.", said Ino.

"Er... Okay... Sasuke was just measuring the enemies strength so he had to let them hit him first... just to have an idea of what they were capable of.", Naruto continued.

"Wait? What?", Ino pardoned.

"Sasuke-kun let them hit... him?", Sakura echoed.

"You know?! He had to know how much power his opponent has before he could fight them fairly. He had to adjust his punches but he made a wrong call and knocked the guy out in one hit."

Sakura and Ino's eyes widened.

"After that, he was suddenly reluctant to fight anyone else but those guys were just too eager to make him pay for what he did to their boss-dude. That's when I stepped in." Naruto raised his thumb towards himself. "I thought I'd show him how it's done."

"But you also misjudged your opponent and put him out in one punch." Sasuke noted.

"Well. I overestimated him. ... So, I had no choice but to let the rest hit me too. I adjusted my punches but I still knocked the third guy out cold. … Then it became a contest between me and Sasuke to see who could do a better job at holding their punches. It resulted in two more guys going down.

We realized it was down to the last guy but he passed out all on his own as soon as both our attention was on him.", Naruto finished the story.

"The bastard even peed his pants.", Karin shared.

Sakura and Ino were dumbfounded.

"These street thugs, never stood a chance against Naruto and Sasuke-kun.", Karin explained. "These two have been competing against one another since they were kids. They challenged each other to the different fields of martial arts to determine which one of them was better than the other. They even learned Krav Maga."

"Krav Maga?!", gasped Ino. "You guys are dangerous!"

Sakura was suddenly pale. "I can't believe I stepped in between these two when they we're about to fight."

"You did it twice too.", Naruto reminded her.

Sakura turned a whiter shade of pale. "I never thought I'd be so happy to have ended up just being shoved into a wall."

Sasuke flinched at the memory and Sakura suddenly felt guilty for bringing it up.

['Uh-oh! He's feeling guilty again.']

"Why would you go through so much trouble just to measure your capabilities anyway? And why martial arts?", questioned Ino.

['Nice save Ino! Way to go changing the subject!']

"We were both planning to become a soldier.", answered Naruto.

['A soldier? Is that really what Sasuke-kun plans to be?']

"Soldiers?! I can't imagine the two of you with shave heads.", said Ino.

Sasuke and Naruto both looked like they had just realized that they'd have to get a haircut if they really intend to join the army.

"You didn't really think they would let you keep those long spiky hairstyles now did you?", Ino raised the question.

"A-Anyway." Naruto seemed like he brushed off the thought as something he would have to deal with, when the time actually comes.

"That was a decision we made back when we were kids. And now that I think about it, I forced Sasuke into making that decision. Back then, I thought we were best friends so we should do the same thing."

['Eh? ... Just like me. So that's why he is able to empathize with me.']

"But so much had happened and after spending a long time apart from each other, I realized we are our own person. Sasuke's probably realized that he doesn't really want to be a soldier now and that he doesn't have to."

Naruto turned to Sasuke. "Isn't that right, Teme?"

"A-Aa." Sasuke nodded at him.

"Hm. I thought so." Naruto nodded back at him. "I still want to become a soldier though. I want to serve our country. Just like my late biological father." Naruto rubbed the back of his head feeling a bit embarrassed.

Naruto grinned "So, Teme. What is it that you want to do now?"

['I also want to know but...']

…

/"To play one last game with my brother."/

…

Sakura noticed Sasuke's discomfort at being placed in the hot seat.

['He's still not ready to talk about it after all.']

She started looking around for inspiration. She needed to change the topic.

Just then, Karin moved away from the patients and decided to join them.

['That's it.']

"By the way!... Karin? Why are you tending to the patients?"

"Huh? Oh. This hospital is understaffed so they let me help.", explained Karin.

"Eh, that's so cool.", Ino commented. "You get hands on experience on handling patients even before going to college."

"I'm only making sure their faces don't get too swollen. The faster they heal, the less this hospital has to clean up after Naruto!", Karin glared at Naruto.

"Hey! I'm not the only one who did that. Sasuke is just as guilty as me.", Naruto retorted.

"You took down more than him!", She shot back.

"Still." Sakura spoke. "They leave the patients to you even without an attending physician. Is it because of Nurse Rin's influence? She works here too right?"

"I guess."

"It must be nice to be Nurse Rin's assistant. I wished I had volunteered to help in the infirmary as well."

Everyone suddenly turned to Sakura with puzzled expressions.

"Assistant? Volunteer?" Karin crinkled her nose. "Sakura, is that what you thought I was all this time?" Karin snorted as she seemed to find something hilarious.

"Huh?! Why are you all looking at me like that? Is there something I don't know?"

"Sakura." Karin chuckled. "I'm not just Nurse Rin's assistant. I'm her apprentice. But it's an informal apprenticeship. My Dad assigned her as my pre-college mentor, because he believes that I shouldn't wait till I'm in college to start my training. He had a point. Look, how much I am able to help out here in the hospital.", Karin explained.

"As expected of Dad. He'd only want to make sure he raised Karin to be good enough to replace him one day.", added Naruto.

"Dad?" It was Sakura's turn to be puzzled.

"Didn't you know Sakura-chan? My late mother and her father are siblings. After I lost my parents, Dad became my legal guardian and he adopted me as his son."

"Then Karin is an Uzumaki.", Sakura just realized.

"Yeah.", Karin and Naruto confirmed in unison.

"My father is 'the' Dr. Uzumaki. He owns this hospital.", Karin stated.

"And you're Uzumaki Karin. The Uzumaki heiress.", Sakura concluded.

"Are you seriously finding this out just now, Forehead?", even Ino was surprised.

Sakura was embarrassed of her ignorance. "So-Sorry." was all she could say.

Everyone but Sasuke laughed at her.

"Are you coping up with the pressure though?", Ino asked Karin.

"It's no big deal. I've been helping out in this hospital since I was a little girl. I grew up in this environment and I'm my best right here.", Karin answered confidently.

"No wonder you're most comfortable when you're inside the infirmary.", Ino noted.

"Ino!", a man called from the hallway. "So it was you. The nurse on the reception told me they saw you come in here."

"Dad." Ino stood up.

"Dr. Yamanaka." / "Yo Doctor!"

-Karin and Naruto greeted him.

"Oh. I didn't know you two were also here." he looked around the room and saw Sasuke. "Uchiha-kun. Is that really you? My, you've grown so much since I last saw you."

Sasuke stood up from the stool and bowed at the man. "Doctor."

Then Sakura put the pieces together.

…

/"We had the same child psychiatrist."/

…

"Good to see you boy. How have you been? I've heard about-" The man stopped himself as he remembered her daughter was there. He cleared his throat. "Sorry. I hope you've been well."

"Yes Doctor. Thank you."

['Everyone here is connected to each other in some way. I feel so... out of place.']

"Anyway, you guys can't stay here. You're disturbing the other patients. Karin. Naruto. Move your guests to the residential area."

"Right." Naruto got off of the bed and led Sasuke out of the ward "Let's go Teme. You haven't seen my room in a long time. I've got some new games I've always wanted to play with you."

"Aa." Sasuke followed.

Naruto looked back at Karin. "Karin, you're inviting Sakura-chan and Ino as well right?"

"Yeah.", she yelled at Naruto who was already in the hallway with Sasuke.

"There's actually something I wanted to discuss with you.", she told the other two.

"What about?", Sakura wondered.

"I'll tell you later. For now, you two follow Naruto and Sasuke-kun back there. I'll join you as soon I'm done here."

"You kids stay out of trouble." Ino's father followed behind after Sakura and her daughter. "And Ino, don't stay out too late."

"Yes Dad.", Ino told him before following Naruto and Sasuke along with Sakura.

.

.

.

Sakura and Ino admired their own reflection in the mirror. Karin had let them changed into her spare scrubs. They even wore lab coats and stethoscope to complete their look.

Ino started taking pictures of herself while Sakura continued to check her reflection in the mirror.

"Looks great on you Sakura-chan.", said Naruto from the living area.

He and Sasuke took a moment to pause their game to look at the three girls making a huge fuzz over donning hospital apparels.

"Isn't it?", Sakura tried her best to pose like a professional. It didn't even take her a couple of seconds before she felt insecure and broke out of character. "Just kidding! And you're lying." she pretended to be upset and held her braids. "I bet my braids ruined the look."

"Maybe if you change your hairstyle." Karin came up behind her and gently pulled her braids over her shoulders and held it together to imagine a ponytail look.

"Yeah?" She replaced Karin's hand with her own and examined her reflection once again. "What do you think Sasuke-kun? You saw how I look like in a ponytail?"

"He did?", Naruto wondered. "Didn't you always wear your hair like that?"

"Usually.", Sakura told Naruto then turned to Sasuke again. "So, Sasuke-kun... ponytail or... is it better if I just let my hair down?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Anything is fine I guess.", he said before looking back at the television and continuing the game.

"No fair, Teme! I wasn't ready!", Naruto complained as he quickly grabbed his controller.

Sakura's gaze returned to her reflection. Soon, her smile fades away.

From her reflection, her eyes wandered to Ino's reflection behind hers...

Behind Sakura, Ino and Karin were chatting about similar experiences about having a doctor for a father.

['Is it really okay to stay this way?']

…

/"Don't forget the real reason why you're working so hard for."/

/"We're best friends so she decided we'll both be doctors."/

/"My mom. ... She wishes for me to become more like Ino minus the wanting to be a doctor part. ... I think the real reason I decided that I would become a doctor was because that was the only thing about Ino that she didn't like. I think I had just meant to spite her."/

/"All this enthusiasm to move to Tokyo and go to college. You're not even that passionate about being a doctor! You're just doing it to impress a boy!"/

/"It was after Sasori commended her for it that she really started wanting to become one."/

/"Then I met Sasori. He was the first person who ever praised me. He was the only one who really appreciated what I did. Since then, he was the only one I cared enough to please."/

/"It will be just you, me and Sasori. Like always!"/

/"Is this boy going to support you? Or are you going to depend on Ino for the rest of your life?!..."/

…

['Regardless of what the real reason is, my decision to become a doctor was influenced by being friends with Ino and Sasori.']

Sakura glanced at Naruto.

…

/"I thought we were best friends so we should do the same thing…But so much had happened and after spending a long time apart from each other, I realized we are our own person."/

…

['But... As my own person. As just me... Haruno Sakura... Was there ever something that I wanted for myself?']

Sakura's eyes wandered towards Sasuke.

"Aargh!", Naruto growled and Sakura's attention was pulled back to him. "How are you so good at this when it's your first time playing?!", He said frustratingly.

Sasuke smirked.

Naruto scowled and put down the controller. He stood up "Let's take a break. I'm getting hungry." and walked towards the kitchen.

"Hungry? You were just eating Dobe.", Sasuke reminded him, also putting down his controller.

"That was almost half an hour ago!", Naruto yelled back from the kitchen. He started checking the cabinets. "How about you guys stay for dinner? Karin- ne~ what should we have?"

"Ne~?!", Karin sneered. "Don't call me 'ne' just because you're planning on asking me to make you food! You're not cute at all!"

['Naruto and Karin treat each other like real siblings.']

…

/"...She's worried about you!..."/

…

['Was she the girl Naruto was talking about back then? ... Of course Naruto's aware of Karin's feelings for Sasuke-kun.']

…

/"Can you do me a favour and not mention this to Naruto."/

…

['It makes sense. Naruto would definitely want his sister and his bestfriend to end up together... I think. He'd be upset if he found out Sasuke-kun and I went out together on a d-

Ie! Ie! Ie!... That was definitely not a date!

Anyway. Karin likes Sasuke but Sasuke obviously isn't dating Karin now so... that means he's... single.

Uh-oh!

If Ino figures this out, she's gonna start worrying about my feelings for Sasuke-kun again.

Sakura glanced at Ino.

Wait! My feelings?!']

"Is everything okay?", Ino wondered why Sakura seemed absent while looking at her.

"Huh?! Yeah! Just spacing out.", Sakura looked around. Sasuke was still on the couch, texting.

Karin and Naruto were still discussing dinner.

"You know, I only know how to prepare instant ramen. You always tell me how bad that is for my health."

"Go ahead and help yourself to instant ramen tonight."

"Are you serious?!... Karin, Sasuke's right there. Don't you want to impress Sasuke with your cooking?!"

"As much as I want to, I'll have to wait for another opportunity to do that. You and Sasuke-kun are gonna have to figure dinner out or yourself tonight."

"What about you guys?"

"The three of us are going out."

"We are?", Sakura and Ino looked at each other.

Karin nodded at them. "With that said, you ready to change into another outfit?"

.

.

.