K.L.K- This is for Sakura. You see, I just realized something. Sakura can't really be all that happy in Konoha anymore. Not really. She's coddled uneedingly there, is probably mistreated by people due to her colouring, and most importantly she's a doctor with late shifts as well as a field medic. She's gotta be unhappy inside, knowing that these people hold her back every single day. So here it is... for Sakura.
TITLE: Behind The Facade
SUMMARY: Sakura can't really be all that happy, now can she? You can see the sadness in her eyes, the bittersweetness of her smiles... When she finally comes to terms with what she's been denying to herself all these years, what could possibly come of it?
RATING: T
AUTHORESS'S NOTE: Well, as it said above... Sakura cannot be all that content. Even though she has friends, you have to admit it woulod be rather strained. She works long, hard hours in a hospital, goes on missions, and is usually exhausted. So she wouldn't leave too much time for socializing, eh? Well, here we go.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Sakura, but I certainly own this plot. At least, I hope I do.
Green eyes darted behind closed eyelids. The woman who was barely eighteen caught herself against the white wall, scolding herself for falling asleep on the job. Again. It was three a.m- or sometimenear then- and she hadn't really slept in about a day. She was running on pure will and caffine from the cheap, disgustingly thin coffee in the lounge.
She wiped her tired, slightly bloodshot eyes with her hands, which had chipped black kunoichi nail polish on them. She sighed in her exhaustion, and was content slightly with the fact that her chakra reproduced quickly, and that Inner was there to talk to. The entity at least kept her awake. Usually.
She fumbled with the dropped papers; good thing nobody usually passed this hallway this late. She put them back in order- as best she could, and started reading her next patients' chart. She pursed her lips together in distaste. Kakashi. She tried to avoid her old teammates at all costs, because she was much too tired to deal with thier antics. Not to mention each time the rosette even met up with them, she was reminded constantly of how the team had fallen apart until she couldn't stand it anymore and requested missions away from them. It was terrible, really, but she didn't have the energy she used to.
Fact was, she was getting worn down. The Haruno was tired and dogged, almost as much as she wished she never would get, back when she was still niave and young. Every day now one of her patients died it seemed, only because she got the ridiculously hard-to-handle assignments. Some even the Hokage would throw her hands up at. Like the old woman with the gash nearly severing a flap of skin from several of her organs from a machinery accident, with a poisonous compound mixed in. The little albino girl who hadn't heeded people's warnings, and half-cooked herself by the sunlight. The young shinobi who lost his lower half- including his organs...She had only been able to keep him alive for him to finish his will and say farewell to his family.
And the cases got tougher. Unknown, fast acting destructive poisons. Unnamed diseases. And even unknown pregnancy problems that persisted due to the family's genetics. The apprentice of the Hokage sighed in distress as she realized he was clutching his stomach in pain. she summoned her green chakra as she focused her hands over his navel, scanning for the damage. Ah. It was a deep kunai wound, nothing she couldn't handle.
she focused the energy, and it healed the damage, stitching organ, tissue, and skin back together before her calm, unworried eyes. "There." she hummed, putting the hospital gown back down- thankfully they'd let him keep his boxers- and then pushed a hand through her now-long hair. "It's done. Hatake-san, you can sign out and go home."
he raised an eyebrow. "'Hatake-san'?" he mused, a tinge of humor to his voice. "Well, 'Haruno-san', I thank you for the care, but what's going on with you?"
she gave another sigh. She did that alot nowadays. "Nothing of your concern, Hatake-san." as she tried to leave, she allowed him to catch her wrist.
"Sakura... listen... We really miss you. We want you to come back. What do you say?" his eyes begged her, the dark depth of one as trembling as the sharingan one. "Please..."
"No." she spoke curtly. "Listen...Kakashi," she spoke his first name, trying to get him to listen. "I've gotten stronger, away from the team. I do not feel it to be... Right to continue on with you and the others like that anymore. Simply because I have grown up, out of your thick shroud of protection, and I know it would only see fit to return if I did."
he dropped her wrist. She was right. And he couldn't deny anything she'd said. "Will you at least train with the team sometime? They would be more than happy to just see you." his voice was so somber, it made Inner flinch.
"I will see if I can. But I may not be able to." she spoke in a clipped tone, and then exited the room, on the way to her next patient. A simple case of the cold, nothing to it but to rest and take antibiotics, as she told him as he left distraught. She made her way to the lounge, where a few tired nurses and thier aides puttered about, drinking cheap coffee and snacking on cold leftovers that most likely tasted like fridge.
She shot a glance to them, but grabbed a cup of the terrible tasting thin, watery coffee that tasted like tar. it at least had caffine, enough for her to get home. she downed it as she undressed in the women's dressing room, hanging her slightly stained- a few bloodstains, vomit, poisons and other unmentionable liquids from the human body- uniform on the hanger in her locker, changing back into her black Haruno zip-up top that had long mesh sleeves, and the tight black pants that had chains all over them on. The only reason she even really wore this in public was because she'd gotten lazy with the household chores and it was all she had to wear that was clean.
She'd thrown the last of her wet laundry into the dryer though, so she'd wear her normal attire the next day. She'd been wearing the same thing ever since she'd become a chunin, due to her lack of extra time to go shopping. Oh sure, every few years, she picked up a new pair of the clothing because the old ones had become too threadbare or worn, but that was the only way she got new clothes.
She quickly slipped on her shin-gaurding boots she usually wore with her regular onsomble, and then headed out the door and then out of the hospital itself, onto the dark, quiet streets of Konoha. She dragged herself home, then to her bed and after her perinoid nature forced her to spend her last bits of energy locking every concieveably entrance to her apartment. She then fell just short of her futon, falling into a somewhat restful sleep on the floor even as her stomach growled.
-
When she awoke in the morning, she shrugged off the nightmares she had periodically. Always of the same thing, but she was unable to determine the meaning of the intimidating, nameless, shapeless fear. But she hid it. Shinobi need not fear of things they didn't need to know. Or at least, that's what the Code said.
She shook the thoughts out of her head, rising from the floor with sore muscles. she hopped in the shower, ignoring the cries of her empty stomach. As soon as she was done, she sent a wave of chakra to her hair, drying it in a matter of seconds even though it was so long. The next step was her toilet. She relieved herself, then headed over to her terribly small kitchen, eating two ham-and-cheese sandwhiches, then drinking some extra black, extra caffinated coffee. she didn't even try hiding the dark circles. She was supposed to go to Tsunade to train with, and the Hokage had picked an early time. Seven a.m, to be exact.
She hurried off to the Hokage tower, entering without being announced. It was all the same to Tsunade, who looked at her and then waved her off.
"Go do something else, Sakura. An urgent matter has appeared."
Sakura ground her teeth. It isnt' that she didn't appreciate the chance at rest; Tsunade said that every time. Every single time. She knew the blonde was trying to deter her from exhausting herself, but she really had no choice. As she exited out the doors of the tower. She thought to herself. What could she do now? No training with Tsunade, her neighbors were excessively loud during the day, so no getting rest there...She then vaugely remembered the invitation from Kakashi.
'You're crazy for thinking about doing it... But it sounds good.' Inner commented.
With the guys there, she might even allow herself to sleep. Nah. Probably not.
-
she looked around the group cautiously. Nothing seemed to have changed. So, with that she mustered her bearings, and then jumped down from the tree's branch. "Uhm... Yo." she greeted quietly, raising a hand in a weak, socially akward guesture of a wave.
Naruto's eyes grew wide. "S...Sakura-chan!" He instantly jumped at her, but she sidestepped and he had to throw his arms over his head to avoid whacking his head on a tree trunk. Her face was a disguised shocked. "...Oomhf..."
She bowed when he finally got back up. "Gomen-nasai Naruto-san. It was a reflex." she straightened herself, only to see the others gaping. She realized her error. "Oops..." She never used to be that formal... With ANYONE.
"Woah... I would call you ugly, but it doesn't fit you anymore." Sai observed as he looked her over.
"Aa." she grunted. "Kakashi, you said I could train, correct?"
he swallowed then gave a nod. "Y-Yeah..."
she cracked her knuckles, then shot up, sticking to the underside of the branch in a crouching position. "Good. Shisou refuses to train me anymore, for some reason."
-
The boys collapsed in a panting, sweaty heap as Sakura stood, slightly huffing and with a sheen of sweat on her brow. "That was... far too easy." she spoke after they stood, causing them to sweatdrop. "Really. I might just have to use a B-rank mission as training from now on."
they blinked owlishly. "What?" Kakashi choked out.
she looked surprised. "Oh, you haven't heard...?" she gave a tiny, tired chuckle. "I'm officially a high ANBU level. But I'm just a special Jonin."
Sai looked like a fish out of water, and Naruto started shouting curses and the like out in shock. Kakashi took a step forward. "But... You... You're so--"
"So what?" she interrupted, eyes hard. "So young? So weak? So inexperienced? Pfft. Obviously you've fallen out of tune with me." she then rocketed up to the underside of the branch, this time only by her feet. "Listen, Guys, I've done some growing up and strengthening too. You'll be surprised to learn I'm so busy these days, I rarely get enough rest." she then felt a disturbance on the tree, and her eyes turned to slits. Ino.
"S...Sakura?" she asked timidly. "Can I talk to you?" her hand had touched the bark, and had alerted Sakura to her presence.
The pinkette sighed. "Fine."
they headed off a distance away, but Ino didn't know that the others could still hear them. Sakura did, but she didn't care.
"Sakura... please... Can you please go out with me again?"
"Ino... I told you it was over."
"Please... Sakura... I can't stop thinking about you--"
"NO. I've said no, and I mean no you damned annoying fangirl!"
with that Ino ran away, tears streaming, and Sakura looked more dogged and irritated than before. "Ugh... Annoying girl." she spoke quietly, a touch of tenderness to her voice. "Stupid, annoying girl."
Naruto blinked, as Sai spoke. "Are you attached to her romantically?" the blonde choked and Kakashi made a half-strangled noise in the back of his throat.
she gave them a cool look. "If you must know, we had a small... attachment back a few years ago. But no matter now, it has dissolved."
Sai looked just as cooly back into her tired green orbs. "You still have a soft spot in your heart for her, and vice versa, right?"
she just stared, then broke his gaze. Her silence was enough of an answer. "Farewell to you all." she bid her goodbye, then ran off, too fast for them to gauge where she went.
-
Sakura returned to her apartment. Time for sleep. As she slipped into unconsiousness, Inner reminded her that her chakra reserves needed at least twelve hours. She granted that, then fell into the darkness, with that inescapable, nameless, shapeless fear of a nightmare she always had.
K.L.K- Whaddya think? Good? Bad? Suckish? Please tell me in your review! (wiggles eyebrows) Hint, hint?