Stream of past

Recovery

Sakura sighed tiredly as she laid on the hospital bed. After the battle against Gaara was done, team 7 ran all the way back to the leaf. Once they arrived, Iruka-sensei met with them and ushered them to the hospital. The hospital was a mess to put it mildly. Everywhere nurses and doctors were running around, trying their best to help the injured. Both civilians and shinobi alike suffered from the attack from sand.

Luckily for team 7(and unluckily for the civs), shinobi took priority so the 3 of them were given a private room. Sakura honestly can't wait for Tsunade to become Hokage so that people can get priority because of the severity of the injury, not their status. She's pretty sure she saw an old lady bleeding to death in the waiting room while a shinobi with a minor cut got ushered in to get treated. Honestly, the nerve of those nurses.

Sakura wishes she can be out there, helping patients, but her chakra was too depleted. So for now she was stuck in bed. On the bed to her left Naruto was snoring. He woke up a little after they arrived at the hospital, just enough for a nurse to patch him up, before falling asleep again. To her right, Sasuke was looking blankly out the window. The moon was up in the sky, illuminating the room with a soft glow. Sakura wishes she could tell what was going on through his head right now...

"Hey..." said Sakura, getting his attention. "Are you alright?"

Sasuke looked at her with a blank expression before returning his gaze to the window. Sakura thought he wouldn't answer, but he surprised her. "Yeah just...thinking about what happened. When the hell did Naruto get so strong?"

Sakura sighed softly. "He got apprenticed to Jiraiya of the Sannin. I'm pretty sure that's how he got the toad summoning contract."

"I see...If things are going this way, I might never succeed..."

"What?! What are you talking about? Sasuke you're one of the strongest members of this team!"

"Am I though? Naruto keeps advancing so quickly and that summoning jutsu...Even you have been so far ahead of me for so long...How can I catch up?"

Sakura blushed slightly at his half praise before sobbering quickly. She knew how it was to feel left behind by teammates and she wasn't gonna let Sasuke go down the same road as her. 

"Sasuke everyone evolves at their own pace, you shouldn't beat yourself up over this...If you feel you are getting left behind then train more with Kakashi, experiment with jutsus. You're a genius, I know you can find a way to improve yourself. As for the summoning jutsu...I can introduce you to Anko. Oh don't make that face, she's actually really cool once you get to know her and she has a contract with the snakes. I already have Lady Katsuyu, Naruto has a contract with the toads, if you get the snakes we could be like the next Sannin or something." Sasuke still looked unconvinced so Sakura continued. "She was apprenticed under Orochimaru, she knows a lot of things. And Kakashi-sensei has a flee on sight order for multiple villages, if not all of them. He can teach you many things. One doesn't get a title like "the man who knows 1000 jutsus" without being powerful. Also..." She knew she was gambling with this but she had to say it, it might be the only way Sasuke will remain in the village. "...he used to mentor your brother."

Sasuke's chakra flared in response to her mentioning his brother before it calmed suddenly. It was dead quiet in the hospital room, the tension so thick you could cut it with a knife. After a while he finally answered her. "...You're right. If I ever want to understand my brother I should probably ask Kakashi. He probably has the highest chance of knowing what went through his head....Thank you, Sakura."

The pinkette smiled as he turned around to face her. "Any time, Sasuke."

They spent the rest of the night in comfortable silence before they fell asleep.

...

Next morning, team 7 was greeted with the sight of a very worried Karin and an impassive Kakashi. Karin immediately tackled her cousin in a crushing hug before trying to persuade him to bite her arm to get healed. He refused, as he knew his injuries weren't that severe and he didn't want to rely on his cousin everytime he gets hurt. Karin begrudgingly conceded before turning her attention to Sakura and Sasuke.

"Hey you two, how do you feel?" asked Karin.

"Been better." answered Sakura while Sasuke merely grunted.

"I can't believe the 3 of you went after the sand shinobi. That's so reckless!"

"We know, we know, but we couldn't let Gaara get away." said Sakura.

"Yeah! I can't become Hokage if I can't protect the village. I refuse to run away! And besides, everything turned out fine. So there's no need to worry Kar-chan!"

"You idiot..." mumbled Karin before hugging the blonde again. "Of course I'll worry about you! We're family!"

Naruto's eyes filled with tears before he hugged his cousin back. "Right...Sorry, I'll try to be more careful from now on..."

Sakura looked at the pair fondly before turning her head to Sasuke. This must be hard for him, especially after our conversation last night...His face was completely blank as he stared at the duo. She desperately wanted to do something for him, but didn't know what. Luckily Kakashi was on the case, he softly put his hand on Sasuke's head. The Uchiha starred up at him in confusion while Kakashi gave him a signature eye-smile. Sasuke huffed and turned his head away but made no move to remove the hand on his head. Sakura giggled quietly at the interaction before laying on her back once more.

Sasuke will be fine, he had no curse mark and thus no reason to leave. Team 7 was closer this time around and they will help Sasuke achieve his goals.

Watch out Akatsuki, Konoha's future Sannin are coming for you!