Catfished

01. "Swipe Right"

It had been several nights since Sakura had gotten a good night's sleep. It was patient after patient coming into the hospital, with wounds ranging from minor bruises to broken limbs. Whenever her head would hit the bed and she would begin to doze off, a summon would be given and she would be in the hospital again within minutes. She didn't mind; she loved working in the hospital. Sakura just wished they would give her at least a few hours of sleep to recuperate before summoning her back in. It wasn't as though they were short of staff.

Ever since the war ended, Sakura had helped Tsunade and Shizune train the next generation of medical shinobi. Their numbers were expanding slowly and Tsunade's goal was steadily being reached. Her mentor had more time to spend at the hospital now that she relinquished all her Hokage duties to Kakashi. Rumor has it that she was going to retire from the hospital soon too.

The pastel pink-haired woman undid the bun holding her hair together. She wanted nothing more than to gather her things and jump right into bed. Nothing was going to disturb her tonight; Shizune made sure she was getting the weekend off.

But when she felt a familiar blonde's chakra signature from inside her office, Sakura turned herself around to hightail it out of there. Too bad the other person sensed her chakra signature and before she could take another step, she was pulled into the room by her coat collar.

"Don't think I didn't see you try to run, Forehead!"

Sakura let out a defeated sigh as she slumped to the floor. Ino stood over her, arms folded across her chest and glared down at the pinkette.

"Why are you here?"

"You know exactly why." The blonde strode over to Sakura's desk and planted herself on top. "I'm gonna make an account for you."

"Ino!"

"Shut up, Sakura! It's been way too long and you're already twenty-two!"

"In case you haven't noticed, Pig," She pinched the bridge of her nose and sent mild chakra to ease the oncoming headache. "I'm busy. I'm either at the hospital or I'm training with Naruto and the rest of them. I don't have time to date."

"I've heard this all before."

"Then why do you keep asking?"

"Oh, I'm not asking anymore. I stopped asking a while ago. Like I said, I'm making an account for you whether you like it or not."

The pink-haired medic turned red. How dare she do that without her permission?!

"Give me your phone." Ino held her hand out in a beckoning manner.

"No." She gripped the phone inside her coat pocket tighter.

"Okay. Fine. I'll just create it on my phone and pretend to be you."

"Here." She chucked the strange contraption to her smirking friend. Phones were pretty much something new that were created in the recent years Kakashi became Hokage. Sakura didn't really have a use for hers; she used it mainly to text Ino, Naruto, other nurses at the hospital and occasionally members of Team 7. She mostly used it for music. The music player was her favorite part.

Expert fingers danced over the screen and returned it to her within minutes. Sakura glanced over her online dating profile, pleased to find that Ino had uploaded a flattering picture (the one of the night they went out with the girls and Sakura was sporting a sea-green dress) and wrote a nice, short bio. She half-expected the blonde to write something completely bombastic. After scrolling through her own profile, she figured she didn't really know how to use the app.

"I don't know what to do, Ino."

"It's easy! Here, I'll show you." And she did. The blonde spent the next ten minutes explaining what each button did and what each symbol meant. She spent time showing how Sakura could access the 'explore' tab to find people and the 'requests' tab to accept or reject prospective...lovers.

"Remember: swipe right to accept and left to reject."

"This feels weird, Ino. What if this ruins their confidence?" It sure as hell would ruin her own confidence if she reached out and the person rejected her. It was another reason why she didn't want to use dating apps.

Ino rolled her eyes. "Nobody really takes it to heart. There's more to it than just looks, y'know. If they're rejected, then it just means you didn't share the same hobbies or interests. Maybe his personality doesn't appeal to you." She shrugged. "Like I said, no one really takes it to heart."

It seemed a little contradictory to Sakura, but okay. Whatever her best friend said.

Like hell.

"If no one takes it seriously then why am I doing this?" She wanted to toss the blue electronic device out the window and watch it hit some sucker in the face. That would cheer her up. But then she'd probably have to heal them. Tch.

Kami, she was turning into Tsunade.

"Sakura!" The pinkette was starting to grate Ino's nerves. Well, she always managed to somehow, but this time Ino was just downright impatient. "You know that's not what I meant!"

She paces the room, tossing her long, pale ponytail behind her back as she stared at the medic.

"Look, it's not like you're gonna marry the person — even though you can. It's supposed to be a dating app, Forehead. A fun and easy way to get you to meet new people and maybe find someone who's right for you." Her teal eyes softened. "I know a part of you want this too."

Sakura felt her shoulders slump in defeat. Of course she did. How many years has it been since she shared a bed with someone or looked forward to seeing their face the next morning? How long has it been since she was able to just let go, laugh and be carefree. How long has it been since she felt butterflies flying around in her stomach?

It's been looooooong.

"Alright. I'm sorry for giving you a hard time, Pig."

Ino perked up, decidedly choosing to ignore the way Sakura referred to her. "Apology accepted. Now, I've got a date with Sai tonight that I have to prepare for."

"He's taking you out?" Sakura's green eyes widened. The dark-haired man never took the initiative before. Then again, their relationship was relatively new.

She snorted. "Like he would. I'm taking him out." She finished with a 'hmph!' and a cross of her arms as she strode over to the door. "You'd think after a month he would take initiative."

Sakura waved to her disappearing friend, slumping down in her revolving chair to collect all the necessary documents to bring home. She needed to review all of her patients by Monday. Who said a weekend off meant she didn't have homework? It just meant she didn't have to wake up at dawn to complete them. She frowned at the stack of patient profiles in her lap.

She just didn't have time for anything else.

The sounds of Naruto's slurping would usually grate her nerves, but today it was warmly welcomed.

How long has it been since she had seen her favorite blond male out of the training grounds? She wasn't even that mad at him for knocking on her door at nine in the morning — she planned on sleeping until two in the afternoon — to go get breakfast together. She wasn't that mad when he, unsurprisingly, pulled her into a booth at Ichiraku's Ramen. Much to Naruto's delight, they had expanded their establishment to better seat their customers. She wasn't even mad when he ordered for her, a steaming bowl of her favorite Yuzu Shio Ramen. In fact, she was endeared that he remembered.

After they finished, the two of them went on a long walk around the village. Sakura looped her arm casually with Naruto's. She wouldn't deny that she copped a feel of his bicep when she thought he wasn't paying attention. He knew when he felt the tight squeeze of her hand, his face lighting up in smug confidence.

That earned him a swift punch to one of his ribs.

Sakura listened to him talk. She listened to his voice, reveling in how deep it sounded now that they were older. She studied him from the corner of her eye, but he didn't seem to notice as he recounted his and Sasuke's last mission together. His hair had grown out. The pinkette decided that she liked this look better than the experimental short cut he sported a year ago. She outlined his jaw with her eyes, before landing them on his chest. She took in small changes that she hadn't noticed about him from their short training sessions. He really did grow up, something she once thought was impossible because this was Naruto. But when he turned and gave her the same bright smile that was reserved only for her, she was reminded by the fact that despite how much he had changed on the outside, he was still very much Naruto on the inside.

Her heart seemed content and eased from its quickened rate.

At the end of the road stood a disgruntled Sasuke. Sakura easily slipped her arm from the loop that she and Naruto had created. With both of his hands stuffed inside his pockets, he walked ahead of her to greet their broody friend.

"We went for a walk after breakfast." Naruto told him.

Sasuke replied with a grunt. "Could've told me." He turned his attention to Sakura. "I would've came out with you two."

She couldn't help the small giggle that worked its way up her throat. "You don't like waking up early."

"Neither do you," he retorted.

She shrugged. "Naruto doesn't live with me. He wouldn't have to worry about facing my wrath later on in the day."

"Hn."

If she didn't know any better, she would think that the Uchiha was sulking. Naruto seemed to have caught on and returned her coy smirk.

"I'll call you up next time." The blond placed a light hand on Sasuke's back. Seemingly placated by his words, Sasuke nodded.

"I'm going back inside." Then he paused and turned to look at the pink-haired girl. "Are you coming?"

She opened her mouth but quickly closed it. Sakura looked at both of her boys — they were hers as much as they were each other's — before shaking her head.

"I have some work to finish up. Maybe another time?"

Sasuke nodded, but Naruto was more hesitant to let her go.

"You can leave that for later! You haven't spent time with us lately." He pouted.

"Naruto, I see you guys every week."

"Yeah, but that's when we're blowing holes into each other's heads. When was the last time you relaxed with us?"

He had a point. She didn't remember the last time she had been over to their apartment nor the last time they did something that wasn't physically straining. Nonetheless, she didn't change her answer.

"Next time, I promise." She went to give Naruto a hug before giving one to Sasuke.

"You better keep that promise, Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled as the two of them walked away.

She smiled at their receding backs, having seen it multiple times before but never getting tired at the sight of Naruto's arm slung over Sasuke's shoulders. The Uchiha didn't try to avoid the gesture anymore. Everyone already knew anyway.

Sakura turned around and walked in the direction of her own apartment. As much as she wanted to curl up on their couch with them flanked at her sides, she wouldn't disturb them. They had just come back from a mission and even though Naruto came knocking on her door with vigor, she knew he was probably tired out. That was why he didn't want to wake Sasuke. The two men needed some time together before she went and added herself into the equation. They were hers as much as they were each other's.

But they were each other's first.

Sakura stretched her arms above her head, shaking off the small tightening inside her chest and the ugly thoughts that had threatened to come up again before a ding! caught her attention. She pulled out her phone and swiped across the screen to open up the app she had been dreading to use. Her emerald orbs followed the movement of her thumb as she swiped left at three requests. She read the next's description, again swiping left. With a sigh, she thought about closing her account until two more notifications popped up.

"Oh."

She quickly scanned their bios. One of them worked as a novelist and the other a photographer. Deciding that getting to know them wouldn't be bad, she swiped right for both. She placed her phone back into her back pocket before chuckling to herself. The moment she swiped right, she felt tingles on her arms and fingers. A week ago Sakura would've rebuked herself for it. She would've told herself to delete the account as soon as Ino handed the phone back to her. She would've slapped herself mentally and physically for the butterflies that formed in her stomach as she read their bios.

Now...

Sakura couldn't deny that she was a little excited.