Green eyes met onyx. Sakura wasn’t one for staring contests, but there was no way she’d stop eye contact with Sasuke. She pursed her lips. “Sasuke-kun,” she started. The teen grunted in response. “When was the last time you saw a doctor?”

“Excluding you?” he said. She nodded. “Kabuto was the only medic in Sound, although he didn’t do anything for me.”

Sakura sighed heavily and sat behind him. The minute she placed her hands on his back, she recoiled. “You’re like a brick wall!” she snarled.

“Thanks,” he grumbled.

She tentatively touched his shoulders and tried to work her hands around the knots. “I have never,” she said, pushing hard against him, “seen someone so tense in all my life. When was the last time you had someone ease the tension out of you?”

“…never.” He winced, feeling her fingers dig into his neck. It hurt immensely. He hadn’t known his back was so full of knots.

“My god, Sasuke-kun. Haven’t you ever felt any pain?”

“Not really.”

She sighed again and forced him to lie down on the strange contraption one of the helper nurses had brought in. He placed his face between two cushions and felt her cool hands pushing against him. “Your upper back seems to have the most tension,” she stated, rubbing a particularly sore area. Sasuke bit his tongue when she used both hands to press down hard. On instinct, he tensed up even more. “Sasuke-kun, I can’t help if you do that,” she said irritably. “Loosen up.”

He tried to, but the more she pushed down, the more he resisted. “Okay, take a deep breath,” she ordered. He did so and felt her push down hard. He heard something crack. “There. That’s one.” The more she did, the less tense he felt. In fact, he felt lighter. Sakura was working on his lower back now, rubbing at the spinal cord. “You’re not as bad down here as you were in your shoulders, but I do need to fix this one thing…there!” He winced as she used her strength to push down and felt a loud crack. “Now doesn’t that feel good?”

“Hn.” She told him to get up and had him sit down in a cushioned chair. Sasuke sat straight up and tensed immediately when her hands started touching his neck. He was a ninja; it was only natural to be wary.

“Sasuke-kun, you have several knots right up here at the base of your skull. I need to get them out. Relax, and don’t help.” She started to move his neck back and forth between her hands, rubbing where he could now feel the so-called “knots.” He didn’t like her moving his head without his guidance. He started to resist and Sakura glared at him. “I mean it. Don’t help. I know what I’m doing.” He tried to relax and closed his eyes. Sakura moved his neck at a most awkward angle before pushing down. He heard a sickeningly loud crack. “Well, that sure was a big one,” she muttered.

Sasuke felt a little better suddenly. She cracked his neck a few more times before she was satisfied she had gotten rid of all the knots there. He flexed his shoulders and neck a few times as he stood up, feeling the best he’d felt in years. He’d never let anyone get so close to him like that in a long time. Sakura had the magic touch.

“What do I owe you?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she replied with a smile. “I’m just glad I could help.”

He frowned. “Sakura.”

“What?”

He looked away. “Nevermind.” He turned and walked towards the door.

He was about halfway, when he turned back around swiftly and, catching the pink-haired medic off-guard, he pressed his mouth against hers roughly. Sakura muffled a moan as he knocked her to the bed. Sasuke had never felt so full of energy. The tension was gone from his shoulders and back and he felt like he could do just about anything. He pulled back with a smirk. “Thanks,” he purred against her ear. With one last chaste kiss to her lips, he stood up and left, pulling on his shirt.

Sakura, with wide eyes, got off the bed touching her lips. Her cheeks were pink. She grumbled to herself as she fixed up the work room. A small smile lit her features suddenly. “You’re welcome, jerk,” she whispered.