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Satsuki's been a chunin for a few months now, and as a result has formed a very reluctant, but sadly intimate connection with Konoha's general hospital.
She thinks she knows this place from top to bottom, mainly because each and every floor is a carbon copy of it's siblings. She's still not fully convinced the staff aren't just shadow clones of one another.
It's because of the monotony of the building that she's caught off guard when, in stark contrast to the drab greys and browns of the patients she's usually situated beside, she instead finds a girl wearing a fluorescent pink hospital gown, with matching hair to boot.
She seems to be no older than Satsuki herself, but beyond age and gender, their similarities are scant.
Her skin is fair, where Satsuki's is littered with scars.
Her body is lithe and stiff, but without the sturdiness Satsuki's carries. The pink girl closely resembles a glass pane, in that she appears rigid, but is just as likely to shatter from the lightest touch.
Upon directing a risky glance up at her eyes, Satsuki finds herself getting sidetracked in yet another difference between them.
The pink girl's eyes don't look threatening in the slightest. They're trademark civilian eyes; brimming with innocence, but in spite of this, she still feels herself getting lost in them. She could take a stroll through Konoha and find thousands of eyes just like the girl's, but she doubts she'd find herself as stranded in theirs as she is in hers.
It must be the drugs, she convinces herself, and wilfully ignores the fact that she hasn't been given a drop of hallucinogens.
"Miss Uchiha?"
The masculine voice doesn't immediately snap Satsuki out of her trance. It's only when the pink girl's eyes flash away from the window and towards her that she hurriedly averts her gaze to her bedside, and notices the nurse standing there.
Satsuki fights down a blush. She's not sure whether it's embarrassment at being caught off guard, or plain irritation at having her attention stolen away from those enchanting jade eyes.
"What is it?" She tries to keep her voice level, but a hint of venom must've slipped in if the nurse's flinch is anything to go by.
"W—well, your blood results just came in." He clears his throat and recomposes himself a little as he holds a letter out to her. "You should be good to go."
Satsuki doesn't brother with the letter, and makes for the door. It's likely just a summary of her results that she'll end up binning anyway, and evading embarrassment takes priority over collecting scrap.
The pink girl is there when Satsuki finds herself back at the hospital.
Which, she's ashamed to admit, is the next day.
For as skilled and talented as she is, she'll be the first to admit she isn't perfect, and is just as susceptible to human error as anyone else.
She just wishes her error was a little more remarkable, like getting stabbed by an enemy Kunai, as opposed to cutting into her finger while chopping tomatoes.
The only reason she didn't suck it up and opt for the first aid at home is because she's got her first A-rank mission tomorrow, and an infection, however unlikely, is something she'd like to avoid at all costs.
So, as Satsuki's perched atop the same hospital bed as the previous day awaiting her results, her attention is once more zeroed in on the pink girl, who this time, instead of vacantly staring out of the window, has her nose buried deep in a novel.
Satsuki's never been much of a reader, so she doesn't bother activating her Sharingan to get a better look at the title. Instead her eyes are drawn to the hands clutching at the cover.
They're smooth, like the rest of her skin, but they carry a delicacy that seems almost unnatural. Even as a civilian the girl should have the odd scratch or two, yet Satsuki can't spot so much as a blemish on the skin, with perfectly clear nails accompanying them.
The girl's left hand tenses, and Satsuki's initially worried she caught onto her staring, but those worries are swiftly put to rest when the hand moves over to her ear, and tucks a stray strand of hair behind it.
Satsuki struggles to believe this girl to be real. She has to be made of porcelain, with an S-Rank puppet master manipulating every single one of her perfect actions.
She's flawlessly perfect; from her dainty hands to her impossible hair, and everything in between.
She's perfect all the way to her lips, that, now that she's really looking at them, seem to be moving as if she might be about to say something—
"Is there something on my face?"
Satsuki blinks and it's as if the trance collapses wholly around her while she's stuck staring the pink girl down.
She intends to respond coolly. Something like a silent shake of the head, or even a suave dismissal, but her mouth acts faster than her brain.
"Your eyes."
Before Satsuki can consider tearing at her own scalp, the girl scrunches her nose adorably, which unlocks a whole new emotion within her.
"Should they be somewhere else?" She mutters this under her breath, but Satsuki's trained ear can pick up on it, and she does everything in her power to fight down the embarrassed red rising to her cheeks.
"I just meant that—that they look unique."
Satsuki diverts the rest of her energy to suppressing her blush, instead of beating herself up for managing to stutter in a single sentence, but finds herself instead distracted by the soft giggle the girl chirps out.
"A bit rich, coming from an Uchiha, but I'm never one to turn down a free compliment."
The girl takes a final glance at her book before shutting it, presumably to take a mental note of her page, before placing it on the bedside table.
"So, what've they got you in for this time?"
Satsuki ignores the way her stomach flutters at the thought that the girl remembered her from the previous day.
"Training accident." She seamlessly lies, lifting her bandaged finger. "Ended up slicing my finger down to the bone with a Kunai."
Pink girl's eyes widen, with her complexion going a smidge paler. "Seriously?" Satsuki nods, and the girl sighs. "God, I don't know how you Shinobi casually deal with that sorta stuff."
Satsuki shrugs. "You get used to it, eventually."
She feels a little guilty for lying, but still prefers it much more than admitting she fell victim to a simple kitchen slip-up.
"What about you?"
"Just anaemia." She casually shrugs. "Fainted in class like 2 days ago, and the hospital's got a stupid rule that forces civilians to remain for a week after fainting spells."
"Class?" Satsuki tilts her head inquisitively. "You're a student?"
"Not all of us are brave enough to run into minefields." The girl chuckles. "Konoha's got a half-decent high school, which lets me waste my time till I decide what I wanna do with my life."
Satsuki wants to know a little more about her, but is interrupted by the sight of a nurse entering the room in her peripheral vision.
"You're good to go." He calls out to her, barely looking up from his clipboard. "Though next time I'd say to be a little more cautious while preparing food."
Satsuki's heart sinks to her stomach.
"Preparing food..?" The girl mutters, and Satsuki can practically see the pieces clicking together in that head of hers.
The nurse, in his socially inept glory, just continues. "It might've been a bit more tricky if you were slicing red meats or poultry, so I guess you should just count your blessings—"
"I get the point." Satsuki barks out, and when he finally looks down at her from his clipboard to catch the glare she's fixing him, the nurse jumps. "Go find someone else to bother."
"R-right." The nurse doesn't hesitate to bolt for the exit, leaving Satsuki alone with the girl, and a shedload of shame.
"So." Satsuki can practically hear the grin in her voice. "Training accident, huh?"
Satsuki averts her gaze petulantly to the side, biting the inside of her cheek in what's definitely not a pout.
"Shut up."
The girl laughs, and the bubbly sound allows her to momentarily forget her embarrassment.
"What's your name, Uchiha?" She asks, and though her laugh has dissipated, her smile remains.
"Satsuki."
"Damn." She blinks. "That's a cool coincidence."
Satsuki raises an eyebrow at her. "Your name's also Satsuki?"
"Oh no— it's Sakura." She chuckles. "I was just thinking that the names are a little similar." Sakura shoots her a wink. "Gotta be a match made in heaven, right?"
Satsuki's beginning to think she might be deftly allergic to this girl's…everything. She doubts she could go any redder if she tried.
"I—" Satsuki squeaks, and has to clear her throat to preserve what little dignity remains. "I need to get going. Early start tomorrow, thanks to a mission"
"Oh." Sakura's smile withers slightly, and it's enough to make Satsuki feel as if a needle's pierced her heart, and as a result she feels compelled to continue.
"I'll be back tomorrow though." She assures. "Post-mission check ups are mandatory."
Sakura shoots her a smile, and the setting sun chooses that moment to magically peak through the blinds to engulf her in an almost ethereal glow.
The scene before Satsuki is too picturesque, and a small part of her feels like she isn't deserving of the sight before her.
"Well in that case, good luck on that mission tomorrow."
Satsuki rises to her feet and doesn't wave back, instead making sure to briefly activate her Sharingan to capture the sight before her, only waving her goodbye when she turns to walk out.