In the living room, the silly dog on the couch lifted his head when he heard the door open.
The hallway was lit by a long, narrow beam of orange light, casting a neat line on the wall. The rustling of clothes could be heard as Naruto yawned and entered.
"Why are you back so late?"
"Late? How late can it be…?" He turned his head to glance at the clock on the wall. It was almost midnight, close to twelve, 'Yeah, it was pretty late.'
"Why do you care so much?" Naruto wasn't in the mood to explain to Kurama. He was just a silly dog, and he must have no good intentions if he suddenly pretending to care about him so much.
"Just asking, nothing serious." Kurama shrank back into his spot.
While on the way back, Naruto had already remembered what he had forgotten. But thinking about how Sakura had hidden things from him before, his enthusiasm dropped, and he decided to leave her hanging for a few more days.
"I'm no savior, damn it." He cursed under his breath and went straight into the bathroom to take a shower.
Knock, knock, knock.
The bathroom door was knocked on.
"What?"
Naruto was a little irritated. He was in the middle of washing his hair, and the shampoo was stinging his eyes. He wanted nothing more than to kick that dumb dog, as he's already got so many interruptions today.
"Uh…" Kurama said cautiously through the glass bathroom door, "That pink-haired woman said she'd bring me some sake, but she didn't come today."
Even though he was a little speechless, Naruto still calmed down and suppressed the frustration that was bubbling up inside.
"If she didn't come, then she didn't. Maybe tomorrow."
"Oh." Kurama turned back to the living room, jumped onto the couch with a thud, and looked up at the ceiling.
Knock, knock, knock!
"Now what?" Naruto asked, still in the shower.
"What if she doesn't come tomorrow?" Kurama asked with a hint of concern in his voice.
'Dumb dog is indeed a dumb dog.' Naruto didn't even bother responding this time, staying silent. But Kurama knocked on the door again, a bit more urgently now.
"And what if she doesn't come the day after tomorrow?" Kurama had already begun considering all the worst-case scenarios. Well, maybe he's not a dumb dog after all.
"I don't know." Naruto replied.
"What if she never comes again? What about my sake, won't I…" Kurama's voice trailed off in despair. It was the first time that this dumb dog had been stood up, so now he was completely broken.
"If she doesn't come, she doesn't come! Now stop bothering me!" Naruto, covered in steam, pulled open the door and went straight to his room.
With a click, the bedroom door was shut tightly, and the living room fell back into silence.
Not long after, the door opened again.
Naruto, wearing slippers with his hair still wet, grumbled as he made his way to the entrance.
"I really can't stand you, dumb dog! Stop bothering me so much! I can't even sleep! I swear, I'll give you to her! None of you are ever any peace."
With a loud bang, the front door slammed shut.
…
Konoha Hospital.
Sakura sat at her desk, the ends of her hair still damp. Her gaze was dull, and she couldn't make any sound. It wasn't that she had cried until her voice was hoarse, but her emotions were just so suppressed that no sound could come out.
She planned to sit there and slowly digest her feelings, 'Everything would be better once the sun came up. It wasn't a big deal, just too much pent-up emotion. I still had to do what needed to be done.'
'Go to work, then get off work.'
The clock on the wall ticked softly, second by second. The silence of the duty room was abruptly broken by a rapid knocking at the door, snapping Sakura back to reality.
The heavy atmosphere instantly shattered, as if someone had pulled her out of the water.
She opened the door coldly, only to be met with a lazy face, dead-fish eyes looking at her with a hint of helplessness. He stood straight, but still somehow managed to give off a slouchy vibe.
"A patient needs emergency care, and you're just hiding in here?"
Sakura froze for a moment. She looked at Naruto, who was wearing slippers and still had wet hair. She opened her mouth, trying to say something, but after uttering one syllable, she didn't know what to say next.
'What the hell is that line? A patient needs emergency treatment?'
'In this empty hospital hallway, there wasn't a sound. Where would a patient come from? Besides, if it were an emergency, they wouldn't be looking for me… My specialty wasn't even in that area.'
"Where's the patient?" Sakura opened her mouth, but her voice was a little quiet.
"Have you been crying?" Naruto frowned, reaching out to poke her forehead in his signature Itachi-style forehead flick. "I'm only a few hours late, why are you crying?"
"I didn't." Sakura turned her head away, but her reddened eyes gave her away.
He was actually in no mood to comfort anyone. Playing the 'gentle guy' role didn't suit him. He glanced around the small duty room, a space full of ambiguous memories.
There is actually nothing beautiful about it, and all the memories are filled with dirty talk and black stockings.
Thinking about it like that, his heart softened a little. Waving his hand, he spoke, "Let me in first."
"Alright." Sakura obediently moved aside, though her mood was clearly low.
Seeing her still dragging her feet, Naruto didn't react much. He sat down where she had been sitting earlier and ran his fingers over the teacup on the table.
With a clatter, the pink teacup slid across the surface, making an abrupt noise.
"Pour me some hot water."
Sakura nodded, obediently took the cup and went to the corner to fill it with hot water. Then, she walked slowly towards Naruto and handed it to him reluctantly.
No matter how Sakura was sulking, he already had a general idea in his mind when he saw Sakura went to get the water.
Naruto didn't take the cup, acting as though he hadn't asked her to get it in the first place. He shifted the conversation entirely, "Have you thought it over?"
"Huh?" Sakura's attention was diverted as expected. Her hand holding the cup of hot water felt a little sore, so she switched hands.
The warmth of the cup slowly seeped into her body, bringing clarity back to her mind. She quickly remembered what Naruto had said the day before.
[I don't have time to guess what's on your mind right now. When you've made up your mind, we'll talk.]
"Have you thought it over?" Naruto repeated, his tone much less gentle this time.
He had shifted back into his usual assertive self, impatient, fearless, and willing to do whatever it took. Even five years ago, he wasn't afraid to flip tables in higher-ups' meetings.
A large part of that was his personality, but another part was that he genuinely didn't care about many things. Whether it's the higher-ups or Konoha, none of it mattered to him.
As long as he didn't lose his life, he could lose anything else. That was his flexible moral bottom line… low, but undeniably real.
Now, his life had more things to care about, but... he hadn't reached the point where his soul was cleansed by those things. He wasn't the type to be led around by love or devotion. If Sakura didn't listen to him, he'd just let her go.
No one likes dealing with trouble, and as for flirty nurses in black stockings, he could always find someone to replace her if he wanted.