A sasusaku blank-period snippet. I got the idea for this one from @ni23ku's beautiful artwork! Here is the link to it: https://twitter.com/ni23ku/status/1487107540731437056?s=21
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It was in the early morning hours and Sakura found herself yawning, a large mug of coffee in one hand while the other lifted up quickly to cover her mouth. Tiny, dark bags rested underneath her eyelids and her hair wasn't as pristine as it had once been while her clothes were a wrinkled mess but she pushed herself to keep going because Sakura Haruno only had one more patient left to see that day before her long shift had ended and this one particular patient was (in her opinion at least) one of her most important ones.
The blossoming kunoichi took a brief reprieve to shake off her physical exhaustion before shifting the clipboard from underneath her arm. 'Just one more... then, I can go home and get some rest.' Her eyes scanned the name scrawled in neat penmanship on the front and a tiny smile settled on her lips. 'I wonder how he's feeling today?'
She had reached his door by then and knocked once on it before entering; as was customary, she never waited for a response from him. After shutting it behind her, she turned to see that he was once again staring longingly out of the large, picture window adjacent to his bed as the sun began to peak over the horizon. He didn't really acknowledge her at this point, but she knew that the line figure was aware of her presence.
She cleared her throat to gather his attention and when his gaze landed on her, she couldn't fight the involuntary blush that rose to her cheeks at the sight of him. She had to look away for a second to gather herself. 'He's gotten so much more handsome since the last time I saw him...'
The pinkette ignored the tingling sensation in her belly and walked over to him before placing her clipboard and coffee down on the swivel table normally used for his meals. She opened it briefly to glance at his chart before turning to him once more. "Good morning, Sasuke-kun," she said softly.
"Sakura," his voice was still deep and thick with sleep and she realized he must have woken up not that long ago. It set the tingling sensation off again in her gut and she tried to ignore the best that she could in favor of moving forward with her real reason for visiting him at this early hour.
"I see you have been having more phantom pains... is that correct?" Sasuke reached his remaining hand instinctively to the broken remnants of his left arm and winced slightly as he wrapped his digits around it.
"Hn."
"Okay, let me take a look." She tentatively reached for him and a small blush began to bloom outward across her skin once again as the woman came to the conclusion that she wouldn't be able to see anything, unless he—
"Uh, I'm going to need you to... take off your shirt... so I can, umm, well..."
He didn't ask, just nodded and slowly reached for the hem of it, his gaze focused fully on her reaction and she tried to school her expression the best that she could as he lifted the fabric up and over his head before tossing it to the side in a messy heap upon his bed. "Okay, let me check." She placed her focus on his injury (unaware of his intense gaze on her the entire time) and a warm, soft green glow began to surround the scarred appendage while she healed it a little bit more. "There," she said after a few minutes. "How does that feel, Sasuke-kun?"
He flexed his arm briefly and his lips tilted upwards slightly when he turned to look at her. "Better. Thank you, Sakura."
"It's my job after all," she teased with a chuckle. "Now, are you ready for the rest of your health exam, Sasuke-kun? I just need to check a few of your vitals." When he nodded, she grasped her stethoscope in one hand and brought it up to his now bare chest, stepping into his personal space a little more in order to reach him better.
Sasuke's masculine scent surrounded her and she could feel her pulse pounding an erratic rhythm though she tried to tamper it (and the tingling sensation) down. There was nothing sensual about what she was doing, yet—
"Sakura...," she heard him say softly and tried to clear her throat. "Are you okay?"
"I-I fine. Trying to c-concentrate. Hush now." But her pulse wouldn't stop pounding and the tingling wouldn't cease no matter how hard she tried. Especially when she realized, with a startling clarity, that Sasuke Uchiha's own heart was beating just as frantically as hers.