Chapter Text
“Okay, now look down for me, please.” Sakura gently takes Niko’s head in her hands, slim fingers sliding through her hair and feeling along her skull, pressing softly as she makes her way to the back of Niko’s head, one hand cradling her neck.
Niko tries to not let herself sink into the comforting touch.
It’s just a medical exam, stop it.
But it’s so hard not to.
Sakura’s so gentle, and the experienced air the medic speaks with makes Niko feel uncharacteristically safe. It’s both an unfamiliar and a comforting feeling.
Sakura finishes whatever inspection she had been conducting on her head, moving her palms down to rest on Niko’s shoulders, chakra flickering between her fingers.
“Deep breath now.” Sakura instructs, her gaze trained on the hollow at Niko’s throat. She seems to see through her, slightly narrowing her eyes as she flexes her fingers, focusing on whatever she finds there, and Niko can feel it.
Sakura’s chakra is…clean. It seeps into her body, starting at her shoulders, blissfully relieving the tension she hadn't known she was holding, before spreading further. Like the tightness in her shoulders, Niko only realizes that her heart has been racing when the warm touch of chakra flows over her, slowing it to a pace that has her breaths coming slower and less shallow.
The calming effect is immediate, and Niko takes another deep breath just to experience the novelty of it again.
So this is what it feels like.
Despite herself, Niko slumps forward, her forehead falling into Sakura’s shoulder as both the nervous energy and tension that always fills her body is swept away by soothing chakra.
“Sorry–” Niko begins, pulling back, but the medic hushes her. “It’s fine. Just try not to move, okay?”
Niko doesn't know if nodding would count as movement, so she just hums in confirmation, silently pleased that Sakura hadn't pushed her away. She just rests her head there, inhaling the fresh linen and slightly herbal scent from Sakura’s medic coat, the junction of clavicle and the muscle of Sakura’s shoulder making the perfect hollow place for Niko to rest her head.
She feels her eyelids falling closed as the ever constant churn of nausea in her gut is soothed over, the discomfort leaching from her until all that remains is a mild awareness of hunger. In the next breath, the matching perpetual headache that has plagued her for as long as she can remember is gone as well.
It’s almost disconcerting how quiet her body is now.
By the time Sakura is finished, Niko feels like she’ll fall over if the other girl moves, her body completely boneless, like it doesn't know how to hold itself up without the rigid support of tension and pain it's so accustomed to.
Sakura, as if anticipating this, pulls back, hands sliding to support Niko’s upper arms, keeping her upright. There's slight weariness in her eyes, as if the act had drained her a bit, but she smiles at Niko with a look of understanding. “How long were you holding on to all of that for?” She asks gently.
“I–” Niko can’t remember. It’s just always been like this for her. “I don’t know.” She confesses honestly.
“I’m surprised you’ve managed like that for so long. I’ve treated shinobi who’ve come crying to me for less.”
Niko just shrugs, momentarily distracted by how the gesture feels on her loose shoulders. Then, just because she can, she does it again, wiggling them experimentally. Sakura laughs.
“What I just did is more of a temporary fix to help with all of those symptoms. You’ll have to come back so I can work on the more complex issues. In the meantime, I’m going to write you up a care plan, it’ll help you adjust to the changes you’ll experience. Make sure to follow it, ya?”
The ninja pulls a notepad and pen out from her coat pocket, jotting down her notes, and Niko watches the way pink strands of hair escape from her headband, slipping over her forehead. Sakura absentmindedly pushes them back, only for them to fall again, and Niko reaches up to her own bangs without thinking.
She slides the red glittery clip from hers into Sakura’s hair, gently pinning the stray hairs away from the medics face. “Thank you, Sakura.” Niko tells her, hand still at the other girl's forehead. “Truly. Even if I never feel this good again, it’s worth it just to experience it for a bit. You don't know the gift you've given me.”
Niko pulls her hand back, tucking her own now loose hair behind her ear. She meant it. These moments of pain-free clarity are more precious to her than anything. She feels like herself again, hadn't even realized she had been buried beneath the haze of her symptoms for so long.
Sakura’s hand lingers on the clip and she gives Niko a sad smile. “It’s not something you have to thank me for. I’m happy to help. I’m sorry you had to deal with that on your own.”
Niko looks down at her feet. She doesn't know how to feel about Sakura's words. Of course it's something to thank her for, but before she can linger on it any longer, Sakura continues.
“Now, after a session like that, you need to eat, hydrate, and rest. Someone will be by in a few to collect you, in the meantime, just lay down. Don’t worry if you fall asleep, in fact–” She pauses, a soft pop, and then a plush looking pillow and blanket appear in her arms, “–I’d encourage you to. Even with what I’ve done today, your body still needs to repair itself.”
Sakura fluffs up the pillow, sliding it beneath Niko’s head, gently draping the other girl's body back down onto the padded exam table. She covers her with the blanket, and with a pat and a soft smile, backs out the entryway, dimming the lights on her way out.
Niko can barely remember closing her eyes before she's sound asleep.