Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.
Prologue
For Dr. Sakura Haruno, the hospital is a second home. It is the place where she feels she is helpful and most comfortable. One could say that the term "hospital" defines her. Her hands on work ethic and vast knowledge on the numerous diseases and ailments that can harm the human body makes her very sufficient in all areas of medicine. Although she specializes in allergy and immunology, Dr. Haruno's favorite area of work is in the pediatric ward. With her bubbly personality and kind smile, the children enjoy her presence making her a perfect candidate for the job. Also, to the amusement of the children she has pink hair which aids Sakura in distracting her young patients long enough to figure out why they are in the hospital in the first place without them getting scared of all the equipment one has to use.
As per usual for hospitals, today was one incident after another. So far they had multiple cases of broken bones, deep cuts requiring stitching, and her current case is one of child malnutrition. The later being what put Sakura in such a foul mood. She had seen this particular boy three times in the past year. His name is Kyo and at the moment, looked absolutely miserable.
"Hey there Kyo," she said with a smile on her face, "What's the matter with you today huh?"
"My tummy hurts."
He's complaining about the same thing since the last time I saw him, which was a little over a week ago. He's still being malnourished. Sakura thought with a disappointing look on her face.
"Have you been feeling like you are weak?"
The little boy just looked at his mom. Sakura followed his gaze and repeated her question.
"Has he been complaining of feeling dizzy at all? Has he fainted?"
"He fainted yesterday. " The mother replied. Sakura hated to admit it, but this woman standing in front of her sounded fake. She is acting as though she cares but the boy's actions speak otherwise. He had been withdrawing from his mother's caresses and hugs the entire time she had been in the room.
"We'll need to run a few blood tests to check his iron and sugar levels." She notified the mother who obliged and left the room to fill out some paperwork. Sakura took the opportunity to ask Kyo a few more questions.
"Kyo, did you eat breakfast this morning?" He replied with a no.
"What about last night? What did you have for dinner?"
"I had rice and bread." His answer just proved her theory. Sakura left the room and informed the nurses of their tasks.
She was only a little surprised to see their village's Hokage, Tsunade, had beat her to the test results. Tsunade was a fearless leader who watched over Konoha. She is also their head medic and Sakura's mother. The bodacious blonde currently had her head bowed over Kyo's folder and was reading the content when Sakura arrived to retrieve it. She merely leaned up against the counter and waited for her mentor to finish.
"This boy," Tsunade started, "is the same boy who came in not too long ago correct?" A head nod was all she received in return for an answer.
"And his results have remained the same." Sakura's voice was one of concern. She really did have a soft spot for children and hated seeing any one of them hurt or not feeling well.
"Very well then. Because Kyo's legal guardian, his mother, neglected to heed our persistent warnings and nourish him sufficiently, I have no choice but to call Konoha Child Care Services. He will be taken away and put in their immediate care."
"Yes my lady. I will inform the mother."
Honestly! How can people neglect children like this? They're human beings! She thought as she left Lady Tsunade to inform the mother.
To have their children in such a bad state that we are forced to take them away from their family to protect them is ridiculous!
Konoha Police showed up soon after to arrest the mother under the charges of child neglect, and Sakura was left to inform little Kyo of what was to happen to him. Just as Konoha Child Care showed up to fill out necessary paperwork for the boy, the page system went off.
"Dr. Haruno to the Emergency Room. Dr. Haruno to the Emergency Room."
Sakura sighed. Today is going to be a long day.
As Sakura was leaving from her shift she noticed she had a message on her cell phone and clicked to listen.
"Hey Sakura Chan! Its' Naruto. Meet me at Ichiraku after work I want to talk to you about something. Ok BYE!"
She couldn't help but smile at her childhood friend's throaty laugh at the end of his message. Naruto had been her friend since she was very young. They were only five years old when she found him on the swings all by himself at the local park. As she had approached she noticed he was crying.
"Why are you crying" she asked.
The boy before her looked up at her and began in vain to wipe away the tears only to have more replace them.
"Come on stop crying. Boys aren't supposed to cry."
The boy sniffled a little before asking a question of his own.
"W-Why are you being so nice to me?" She looked at him with a dumbfounded face and returned with a question of her own.
"Well why not? You never did anything bad to me. Why can't I be nice to you?" The two just stared at each other for a while before he broke the silence.
"I'm Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki and I'm gonna be Hokage some day!" The boy said in confidence. The girl giggled a little at his change in attitude and stated her own name.
"Sakura Haruno. Nice to meet you! Wanna' play with me?" Naruto's face lit up at the question and he nodded his head excitedly.
She had received disapproval from her parents once they found out their only daughter had befriended the troublemaker of Konoha.
"You are not to see that boy again!"
When she asked why they did not want her to see him again they simply told her it was because he 'did not belong with us'. To the chagrin of her parents, little Sakura refused to believe them and continued to see and play with Naruto. Their friendship only grew closer with the village's disapproval but soon people began to come around. More villagers accepted Naruto for who he was and the condescending stares had stopped for the most part.
Unfortunately for Sakura though, the arguments with her parents had yet to come to an end. Alas, on that one fateful day when she was twelve they decided to finally approach their only daughter in hopes of corrupting her view of the blonde boy their village finally began to accept. Her parents had sat her down at their kitchen table to discuss the topic of Naruto Uzumaki with her.
"Sakura," her father began, "by now you are old enough to make your own decisions in life and we think this is the proper time to have this discussion."
Sakura's mother continued on, "About that boy you associate yourself with-"
"Naruto. His name is Naruto."
"Do not interrupt your mother when she is speaking!" Sakura glared at her father. Her relationship with her parents had really taken a turn for the worst. She just could not understand why they did not accept Naruto. Everyone else did.
"As I was saying before you interrupted, that boy you associate yourself with, Naruto," her mother's voice was filled with disgust as she spoke Naruto's name, "is the reason so many people criticize you. You have no idea the rumors I have been hearing about you lately."
"Well they are rumors. Ignore them."
"That is not the case! You are dishonoring this family just by disobeying us!" Her father's eyes had turned a hard green, indicating his frustration with the situation. "We told you to stay away from him, yet you refused. Now, your mother and I have come up with an ultimatum." Her parents turned to each other then, sending one another hard looks before her mother continued.
"Our proposal to you is this: End your friendship with that, that thing, or abandon this family."
Sakura could not believe it. Her own parents are willing to disown her because of a friendship she had with a boy? They were mad because she was 'dishonoring the family name'?
It did not take her long to realize her decision. She wanted nothing more to do with her parents.
Slowly, Sakura rose from her place at the dining room table and stated her decision without hesitation.
"I choose Naruto."
Naruto had been furious when he found out. He demanded Sakura take back what she said and go back to her parents. She merely smiled and hugged Naruto. Silently thanking him.
When Sakura was officially disowned the only thing she kept of her old family was her last name. Konoha's Hokage and Sakura's mentor, Tsunade, legally adopted her and, at the young age of thirteen, began to study medicine under her mother.
Thinking back on her past Sakura realized if she was able to do it again, she would not change anything. Befriending that blonde knucklehead was the best thing that could have happened to her. Because of Naruto she had grown into the smart, independent woman she is today with plenty of friends and a loving mother to support her.
Thank you Naruto.
Thanks for reading! Please review, okay? :)