Needles Are A Ninja's Worst Enemy

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That's The Trouble With Love

Chapter 3

By: iNaji

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."-Franklin D. Roosevelt

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Green eyes fluttered open, and a pale hand came to wipe the sleep from her eyes. She internally groaned, wishing it could be dark for a few more hours. All she wanted to do was sleep. Especially after the events that took place a couple days ago.

She pulled back her blankets and sat up on her bed, letting the cool morning air envelop her body, causing goosebumps to arise on her skin. She quickly slipped a jacket over her white tank top, and slipped her tiny feet into fuzzy green slippers before walking into the bathroom to take care of her morning appearance.

After her hot shower she went down the steps to her kitchen and prepared herself some honey toast and scrambled eggs. It was one of her favorite breakfast dishes. And ya know what? She deserved her favorite breakfast once in awhile.

After munching down the food, she drank her morning coffee and grabbed her ninja gear, pocketed her apartment keys, and walked out the door towards the hospital. Her second favorite place in the world, her first being Team 7's training field.

Shortly after training under Tsunade, it didn't take long for Sakura to realize that she had a natural talent for medical jutsu. Her above average chakra control and intelligence had allowed her to become a quick learner, and Tsunade had no doubt in her mind that her apprentice had surpassed her. Being far more brilliant than she ever was. But she didn't mind, she was old believe it or not, and it was time for the new generation to start taking over.

"Good morning Sakura-san!" "Good morning Sakura!" "How are you, Sakura-san?" Sakura smiled at the civilians that greeted her as she walked through the village. She was very well liked and respected, and being the apprentice of the Hokage, she was held in high standing. She tried to be nice and fair to everyone, and her whole presence could lighten up your day.

It wasn't all that uncommon to see fan boys come up to Sakura either. She usually rolled her eyes at them, declining their advances, as they were such a nuisance. She could kind of sympathize now with Sasuke and his fan girl problem.

Sasuke. The name left a bitter taste on her lips, as just the thought of him caused her to knit her brows together, still clearly very hurt. Yesterday was a huge shock to her, suddenly seeing her old teammate again after six years.

After all this time, countless tears, and promising herself she was over him, it seemed like all her hard work had crashed and burned the instant he showed up again. Looking as tall, dark, and handsome as he always had to her. She was mad at herself for still getting those butterflies in her stomach like she used to as a Gennin and a skip of her heart when their eyes connected, forcing her to look away.

It was infuriating because she was hurt and angry. She felt betrayed, and she isn't supposed to let him wiggle his way back in so easily. She wasn't going to of course, but that didn't make it any easier in the least.

She wanted to make him suffer. To make him feel what she felt. She wanted to see him in agony.

With a shake of her head to rid herself of those thoughts she walked into the hospital where she instantly felt at ease. She felt like she belonged here, like she was helpful, needed, and important. And she was, but to be the best medic in the hospital it felt good.

She looked up to see Shizune coming towards her. She smiled and waved at her Shishou's right hand woman. Who was also a good friend to Sakura.

"Ahh Sakura-Chan! Just the woman I wanted to see. Tsunade-sama asked me to give you this, she said that you were the only one who could handle this appointment." Sakura's eyebrows raised at that, knowing that it was rare for Tsunade to just assign her a solo case. Normally if it was complex she would also have Shizune at her side to help.

"Sure, Shizune-Chan. Let me see the file..."

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Sasuke hated the doctors office. He hated checkups. They were a nuisance and the nurses always tried to come on to him (which he denied the advances of every time) and he had to get his shots. And if there is one thing that Sasuke Uchiha hated more than anything, it was needles.

He shuddered at the thought. They were so...metallic...and, and pointy...they scared him. Which seeing as he was a ninja who faced life or death situations every day, shouldn't.

He wouldn't ever let anyone know of course, he had his pride you know, and if anyone did find out they would never let it go. CoughNautoCough.

Anyway, the reason why he was even here in the first place is because Tsunade demanded that he be checked up immediately, since his last checkup officially at Konoha Hospital was when he was twelve. Now 18, the records were a little out of date.

He walked with his hands in his pockets, ignoring the looks and whispers he was receiving. He was a missing nin a couple days ago after all. And he knew he would be hated and talked about for quite sometime.

It had been two days since his and Hinata's return, and he had yet to get Sakura and Naruto to even speak civilly to him. They definitely iced him out, which hurt him more than he cared to admit. They were his teammates after all.

He could remember the first day he walked to their training field to train with them, the air was tense and awkward, each not really knowing what to say. And Kakashi was late as always, which didn't help the matter.

Sakura had also surprised him that day with how much stronger she had truly gotten. She nearly scared him half to death too when she basically broke up the whole training ground in one punch. He wasn't expecting that, and it definitely caught him off guard. No matter, she was still considerably weak compared to him, but she had mildly impressed him.

She wasn't the weak fan girl he once knew, but a well distinguished woman. Who, he had no doubt could kick anyone's ass to mars and back if she wanted to.

He finally arrived at the hospital, already dreading the next hour of hell, and checked in at the reception desk. The receptionist told him to be seated and that a nurse would escort him to the exam room. He nodded thankfully and sat down in one of the waiting room chairs, leaning his head back against the wall, and just closing his eyes to relax for a moment. He was suddenly jolted from the code blue alarms going off, signaling someone was going into cardiac arrest.

God he really hated this place.

---

Hinata peaked out the peephole in the door of her apartment, sighing in relief when she discovered that Naruto was nowhere in sight outside. Somehow she had managed to not run into him the past two days, positive that he didn't know she was living next to him. He couldn't know until she could get Naruto okay with her again.

Ever since the day of their return, all Hinata could think about was Naruto. He was on her mind 24/7, plaguing her thoughts, dreams, and fantasies. Which wasn't anything new, but more so than usual.

To be honest, she wasn't expecting such a harsh reaction from them all. Sure, she knew they would be angry and hurt, but, to completely ignore her or say as little to her as possible?

She was at a loss.

Hinata turned the knob of her apartment door, and slowly pulled it open, peaking her head out to look to her right and left, seeing no sign of Naruto. She hurriedly shut the door behind her, and started to jump from rooftop to rooftop. She was on a mission to buy more clothes today, seeing as she had barely any that fit her.

And she needed to pay her good old father a visit. It was time to take care of things once and for all. Now that she had grown stronger, she felt confident she could show her dad just how much he underestimated her.

She smiled. Let the games begin.

---

Naruto heaved in and out, having just slammed his Rasengan into the tree in front of him. He trained 24/7. It was one the one time he was truly happy, not a care in the world. Not having to deal with the civilians hesitant attitudes towards him (no longer filled with hate, but not quite sure) and he didn't have to worry about enemies. He could just focus solely on himself.

That and if he didn't then he'd probably kick the crap out of Sasuke, giving him what he deserves. After nearly killing him and Sakura multiple times, he deserved a good kick in the ass.

And then there was Hinata. HIS Hinata-chan, who had gone off with Sasuke for six years doing god knows what. He was hurt. Why did she have to leave? Why couldn't they get stronger together? Was he not good enough?

All his life from the academy onward he was always in competition with Sasuke. Naruto considered him his rival, best friend, and brother. What ever Sasuke did Naruto HAD to do better. He had to show that no for good Uchiha that he wasn't the only strong Shinobi. He may have been dead last, but that didn't mean he wasn't strong.

And then there was Sakura. Naruto used to have a crush on Sakura in his early Gennin days but had long since abandoned that when she came crying to him to bring Sasuke back to the village. He knew then and there that he'd never have a chance with her. At first he was jealous of Sasuke, too, because he got Sakura's attention without even trying, and it was always about Sasuke-kun. But eventually he had grown sisterly feelings for her, and would do whatever he could to protect her.

Because he had developed a sisterly bond with Sakura, it allowed him to open his eyes to others around him. Mainly Hinata. When he really thought about it, she was always nice to him. She never hit him, called him names, or discouraged him. She did everything she could to cheer him on, even giving him the courage to fight Neji in the Chuunin exams.

He had come to grow fond of her, that cute blush she always had, and her habit of tapping her fingers together when she was nervous. He was always looking for her in the crowd, wanting to talk to her.

And then she had left. When he had heard the news his heart had stopped. And then she went with Sasuke, and that completely broke him. How could she just leave? How could sweet little Hinata leave the village? Leave him?

He was hurt.

And then, after six long years, there she was in front of him again, looking more beautiful than ever. He also noted that she had matured in all the right places, having curves that most women would die for, and tried very hard to hide his blush.

Seeing her again, it opened up his old wounds, and he couldn't bare to look at her because she was tearing him apart just by standing there. He wanted to hug her and yell at her at the same time. He wanted to know why she left with Sasuke.

With another grunt he formed a Rasengan in his hand and blasted another tree. He didn't like being mad at people, especially those he cared for, but he didn't know if he could be so forgiving either just yet.

Maybe some more training would help.

Sakura stared slack jawed at the file, growing extremely angry. The first words she saw were Sasuke Uchiha. She wanted to set the file on fire, to be honest. She couldn't believe the nerve of her Sensei. Of all the important cases in the hospital, she gives her a check up? For a traitor no less. She wanted to walk right into her office and give her a piece of her mind. He was the last person she wanted to see. Let alone check up.

She sighed and walked down the hallway to his room. Deciding to just suck it up and get this over with as soon as possible. The quicker she got rid of him the better. She walked through the waiting room door for the well patients, eyes scanning the room for Sasuke. It didn't take long for her to find him, seeing as he was only one of three people in the waiting room today. With an inner resolve to stay tough, she looked down at her clip board again.

"Uchiha Sasuke." She called, looking up to meet his eyes. He stood up and walked in front of her, stopping at her side. She motioned for him to follow her, leading him into one of the open exam rooms. She ordered him to sit down on the exam table and to wait while she went prepped the equipment.

"Remove your shirt and lay down on the exam table." Sasuke nodded, internally flinching at her harsh tone. He slowly removed his shirt, showing off his well defined abs, those of a Shinobi. Sakura tried so hard not to blush, steeling herself to remain professional and impartial, even if her hormones we're telling her otherwise.

She walked over to him, putting the stethoscope into her ears and placing the round part over his heart. She counted the heart beats. The "Lubb-Dubb" "Lubb-Dubb" sound which was the expanding and contraction of his ventricles. She wouldn't admit it, but she found the sound soothing. She loved the sound of a human heart beat. The reason she was checking his heart beat first was for any heart murmurs or abnormalities. She found none, and noted so on his chart.

"Sit up and breathe in slow deep breaths." Sasuke once again complied, sitting up as Sakura moved around him, moving herself behind him and putting the stethoscope to his upper back. He took in breaths, Sakura paying close attention to his breathing. He checked out to be good and told him to lie back down.

She walked away from him, turning around and wrote more down on his chart. Her reason for this was because she had to let her blush go, she wasn't blind, and as much as she hated Sasuke, the guy was sexy.

After calming herself down, she turned around again and allowed her hand to glow green with healing chakra. "I'm going to examine your internal organs and your chakra pathway. You may feel a slight tingle, but that's only the chakra." Sasuke nodded, trying not to get turned on by the feel of her hands all over his stomach and chest, and how hot she looked in her lab coat.

No. What was he thinking? He couldn't be having these thoughts. He shouldn't be having these thoughts. He mentally slapped himself. The sooner he got out of here the better. There's no telling what he might do, if she kept roaming her hands around on his chest.

She found no abnormalities, and noted that on his chart, again. As far as she could tell he was as healthy as a horse. The only thing left to check was his height, weight, eyes, and to administer his vaccinations. He was LONG overdue for a tetanus shot and his Hepatitis B shot, as he had his A shot when he was twelve.

She finally moved her healing chakra away from his abs and up to his eyes. She told him to close his eyes as she placed her hands over them. She gasped at what she felt, quickly pushing more healing chakra into her hands. His eye nerves were completely shot. How could he even be seeing anything right now?

"The nerves in your eyes are really torn up. Can you see at all?" Sasuke nodded, besides some eye pain when he used the Sharingan he could see just fine. "I can see fine. My eyes only hurt when I use the Sharingan." Sakura nodded and wrote that down into her chart.

"The nerves that allow your Sharingan to activate are shot. They require immediate fixing or you may never be able to use the Sharingan again." Sasuke furrowed his brows at that, not liking the sound of it at all.

"Is it fixable?" Sakura nodded, not liking this fact, for the sole reason that he would have to come back here again. And she really didn't want to see him again.

"Yes. It's a two hour long procedure where I go into your optic nerves and essentially reconstruct them, using some regenerated tissue, I will lay it over your nerves as a graft, and it will aid your nerves into regenerating new tissue, and within two weeks you should be good as new." Sasuke nodded. At least it was fixable.

After explaining the course of action to him, she ushered him over to a scale. Where she checked his height and weight. He was tall, at 6'1" and he was spot on for his ideal weight. She ushered him to sit back down on the exam table, and pulled out two vaccine's from the little refrigerator in the room. Sasuke's eyes immediately widened, recognizing what those were. He was going to get a shot.

Sakura noticed him tense up out of the corner of her eye and grinned. So he hated shot's eh? Well then, this calls for a bigger needle. With this new found information she opened up a drawer and pulled out the two biggest needles they had, which were a good 4 inches in length.

She peeled back one of the packages first, sticking the needle into the tetanus bottle and pulling the syringe out, measuring the correct dosage. She pushed the syringe in a little, watching some liquid squirt out of the needle. With a nod she turned around and walked over to Sasuke needle in hand. He was sweating bullets now, though he was trying desperately to hide it. That sure was a big needle.

"I'm going to inject you with two shots, one in each arm. Your arms will feel weak for about a day, but that's just the vaccine working." Sasuke nodded, turning his head the other way. He couldn't look at that thing any longer. She disinfected the area with a cotton swob before administering the shot. For sanitary purposes.

She grinned evilly, jabbing the needle into his arm a little harder than necessary and without warning. He let out a low hiss, hating the pain. Shots were an invention from the devil. After she had injected the needle, she pushed the liquid into his blood stream and then placed a barbie band-aid over his arm. They had regular band-aids and they only used the barbie band-aids for little girls, but, Sakura couldn't resist. It was just to comical. And he deserved it.

Taking out the other needle and checking it to make sure it worked she moved to his other arm, and he turned his head to the other side, this time a little more prepared for the pain. She once again jabbed the needle into his arm a little more harder than necessary, and though he didn't hiss, he still clenched his fists at the pain. He was a baby when it came to needles, he always had been.

"Alright. Your free to go Uchiha. Come back in three days for the procedure. And don't use the Sharingan unless you absolutely have to, the more damage that's caused to your nerves, the harder it will be for me to fix it." Sasuke nodded, putting his shirt back on and hopping off the exam table. He bid a small goodbye to Sakura, which she ignored, writing away on his chart, before he exited out the door.

Once she was sure he was gone she let out a huge sigh of relief, and allowed her rapid heart to beat wildly. She was amazed she kept such a great resolve. It was extremely hard being in his presence, not to mention he was topless. And her inner would not stop commenting about his well defined abs. It took all her willpower not to blush.

She was mad still though. He wasn't supposed to have this affect on her damnit. She was better than this, she was no longer that weak little Gennin girl who fawned and followed Sasuke's every move. She wouldn't give into Sasuke no matter what.

She finished writing on his chart and walked to the filing room. She definitely had a bone to pick with Tsunade.

---

Tsunade sighed and rubbed her temples, allowing a bit of healing chakra to slip around them and sooth her headache. This Danzo business was a mess. She had discovered that Root had never disbanded and has been conducting their business in secret. Not only that, but it seems Danzo has fled the village, hiding somewhere.

Then there was Madara and Tobi. According to the hawk Sou and Harumi had sent Tsunade, they were at this point in time remaining idle. Which didn't surprise Tsunade, as she knew that both Danzo and Madara we're patient men. It could be months before they attacked.

Her tactics team wasn't having much luck either, having only minimal information to go on at this time. Tsunade's main focus, however, was attaining allies. For she knew that she couldn't fight this war alone, and it wasn't just the leaf village that was at stake but the whole Shinobi nations. When Pein had attacked the leaf, he had spoken of a master plan. A new world where there was only peace.

If this was true, then the whole world was in trouble. Not to mention that before the Akatsuki we're killed off, they had acquired all of the tailed demons except for the Eight and Nine tails. It was clear that they we're trying to resurrect the Juubi. Then ten tailed demon who had created the world. (A/N: I am petty positive he did, it kind of all went over my head in the manga, so if I'm wrong or you have a clearer understanding of this, please correct me.)

Those two absolutely under any circumstances could not be caught. It would spell trouble for the whole world. Tsunade was at a loss. She hadn't the slightest idea what to do other than gather allies.

"Hawk-san, get me Shikaku Nara. I'm going to call a meeting of the five Kage's." Hawk nodded, shunshining out of the office in a swirl of leaves. Maybe the other Kage's could help.

Taking out a blank scroll and pen, she started to write a letter requesting the meeting, which she would send after discussing it with her current head of tactics Shikaku Nara.

She opened her bottom drawer and took out a bottle of Sake. Another Shinobi war was on the horizon, and this time it didn't look pretty.

---

Hinata had successfully managed to buy an array of new clothes that fit her nicely, as well as some new Kunai and Shuriken. After quickly depositing the bags at home, she decided to head out to Ichiraku ramen.

Sure there was a chance she could see Naruto there, but she had been craving ramen for some reason, and well no wonder Naruto lived on the stuff. Ichiraku ramen was the best ramen in the world. And she always liked talking with Ayame. She was super nice.

Approaching the medium sized stand, she ducked under the flaps that hung from the roof of it and sat down at one of the bar stools. It didn't take long before Ayame came out from the back room, grinning at Hinata.

"Hinata-chan is that you? I heard a rumor that you and the Uchiha had returned, but I didn't think it was true!" Hinata nodded and smiled. Relieved that her friend did not hate her.

"Hai, I am back for good. It's nice to be back. I had started to miss Konoha." Ayame nodded, pen and pad at the ready.

"Well we're glad to have you back! Now what can I get for you? It's on the house today, consider it my welcome back gift for our favorite female ninja." Hinata blushed at the complement and grinned.

"Hmm tell Teuchi-oji-san that I'll have a pork ramen, with extra pork please." Ayame nodded and headed back into the back room, handing the order to Teuchi. He grinned as Ayame whispered into his ear, and his eyes widened as he peered out the door and waved to Hinata. She gladly returned it, smiling and waving back.

At least she was accepted here.

She froze at the next voice that reached her ears seeing someone walk into the stand. That someone being Naruto. Hoping she wouldn't be noticed right away, Hinata stayed quiet. But Naruto, being the dense boy he is, paid no attention to anyone that was around him.

"Hey old man! Gimme three pork, three beef, and one shrimp ramen Dattebayo!" Ayame giggled at Naruto, he may have grown up, but he was still a kid when he ate here, using his old catch phrase.

"Hungry today are we Naruto-kun?" Ayame asked, watching him rub his tummy and drool at the smell coming from the back room.

"You bet! I'm extra hungry today, I've been training since this morning." Ayame shook her head at him. Same old Naruto, all he ever did was train. It didn't take long for him to receive his order's as Hinata had already received hers not to long ago.

He happily dug into the ramen, devouring it at inhuman speeds. Once Hinata initially got over her shock, she accidentally let out a slip that she was here.

"Naruto-kun..." Naruto suddenly froze like a deer in head lights, recognizing that soft voice anywhere. He slowly turned his head to the left, noddle hanging from his lips, eyes wide.

Ayame couldn't help but giggle at his expression, the lone noodle just hanging there.

After what seemed like an eternity, he finally slurped up the noodle and spoke. "Hinata?" Hinata just stared at him, lost in his blue eyes. She couldn't help it, he was and always has been the love of her life after all.

"What are you doing here?" Hinata tried to hide her hurt at the tone of his voice. He still sounded so hurt and angry. It pained her to see him like that.

"I was hungry so I decided to get some noodles." Naruto nodded, trying to contain his anger. All he wanted to do was yell at her and ask her why she left. But he also couldn't deny his attraction to her, being enchanted by her full lips, they just screamed kiss me.

"Did you train?" Naruto merely nodded at her question, going back to eating his ramen.

"Since eight this morning." Hinata's eyes widened at that. Eight in the morning? That's 9 straight hours!

"That's good. Getting stronger every day." Hinata said, watching Naruto eat. He nodded, having not looked her directly in the eyes since she had called his name, and ended the conversation.

She sighed. It was an awkward silence that had ended up surrounding them, and she hated it. How could she get Naruto to talk to her again?

But, at least she made some progress today, right?

She could only hope.

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Thoughts, comment's, critiques, etc, are always welcome! Let me know if you like it, hate it, or think it just flat out sucks. If you have any questions, leave them in acomment or PM  and I will answer them as best as I can for you!