Anesthesia: a numbing drug, inducing an inability to register pain.
The blasting whistle sounded, signaling an approaching train. The two women on the platform quickly stepped back, talking quietly as the 7:30 subway pulled in.
One of the women wore a light blue dress and black shorts. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, a single stray lock left to hang over her right eye. The overall effect was that of the prom queen, someone who was completely put together. Even her baby blue eyes matched her outfit.
"It's too early," Yamanaka Ino argued, her fair hair flicking back and forth in her annoyance.
"They shouldn't start transferring doctors until they know that Suna Hospital is going to close for good. We're too crowded as it is – what will happen when they start sending the trains back to Konoha with patients aboard, instead of doctors? How many more can we take?"
Dr. Haruno Sakura just smiled tiredly and stepped through the metal doors as they opened. Her friend continued to rant as they left the station behind. Luckily, the car they were in was empty. Or rather, unlucky, because this was the third time this week they had been called in for the eight o'clock shift.
The charm bracelet on her left hand jangled as the tiny silver cross hit the Star of David, and the pentagram in quick succession. She sighed, shifting the canvas bag on her right shoulder so that its weight was across her back as well.
Her friend Akimichi Choji and her admirer Rock Lee would never forgive her if she injured herself with something like a bag. Although, she was certain that both chiropractors would cheerfully volunteer to work out any kinks.
YOU SHOULD DO IT. WE DESERVE TO BE PAMPERED.
YOU CAN'T LIE TO ME.
Shifting her pink locks out of her eyes, Sakura decided to sit down. Her warm bed had been all too enticing that morning, and only her waiting patients made her leave it.
YOU'RE SUCH A KILLJOY.
Lately Inner Sakura's voice had shifted from voicing her real thoughts to telling her the greedy, selfish and bad things to do. It was a struggle just trying to pretend she didn't exist.
She slid her bag under the seat and reapplied her makeup. Copious amounts of cover–up were needed to disguise the bruise–like circles under her eyes; even now, she was still afraid that it would rub off and her boss would see the extent of her exhaustion.
Lacing her fingers and stretching, Sakura looked up when Ino fell silent.
"Hm?" she questioned, having missed the last sentence while rubbing her eyes.
"Earth to Dr. Haruno! I said, 'What do you think about the doctor transports?'"
SHUT UP, INO. I KNOW EVERYTHING YOU DO. QUIT WHINING AS IF IT'LL MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
Inner Sakura thundered in her head, but Sakura promptly ignored her.
The pink haired woman seemed to consider it for a moment.
"I agree with you."
This put out Yamanaka Ino's fire somewhat. She sat down beside her best friend and sighed, just as tired as she was. They had both been working double shifts for the past three weeks, and the influx of doctors just meant that there were more patients to look after. Eventually, one or both of them would drop from exhaustion, and Sakura fervently hoped it wasn't in front of Dr. Tsunade or Dr. Shizune.
Tsunade and Shizune had known her since high school, when Tsunade had accepted the position of principal. The blonde haired woman was imposing, but fair, formidable in every way.
In fact, other than Shizune, Sakura was her only student who knew about her real problem: drinking. However, she didn't drink all the time, and when she was sober, Tsunade was one of the smartest people you would ever meet.
Sakura's mentors understood that her services were widely required, and that there was always work for her. However, if she was too tired to read a patient's chart, then they sent her home with orders not to come back until she could walk in a semi–straight line.
If Sakura fainted, she would probably be exiled for a week or two, and there were people who needed her. She would just eat an energy bar once she got to work.
The train halted several times, but only a few people got on and off at each stop. The odd hours kept by KonoHos staff meant that by the eight o'clock call, most people were already at work or wouldn't leave until later.
Sakura shifted in her worn jeans, rolling the sleeves of her green Beatles shirt up past her elbows. Although it was chilly this early in the morning, it would soon warm under the same sun that lit Suna, Konoha's sister city of the desert. Similarly attired in calf–high boots and denims, Ino leaned her head back until it rested on the quivering glass of the window.
The train pulled into the station across the street from Konoha Hospital. As soon as they got off, the train moved, heading south to Suna. The trains ran every four hours to the other city and back, hauling goods, tourists and new patients for the medics of KonoHos, as it was affectionately called.
As they climbed the steps up from the station, they passed some their coworkers, who were just getting off their sixteen hour shifts.
"Morning Naruto," grunted Ino as they scaled the stairs. "Shino, Hinata – go get some sleep. We need you alive for tomorrow."
The blonde man stretched and patted Ino's arm.
"Have fun out there. There was a bad fire in the East District early today, and they're still getting calls for help. We'll probably be back in a few hours." Both women winced, and then Ino nodded her thanks.
As a part of an emergency response unit, Ino knew that extra warning could mean the difference between life and death for burn victims. They had all grown up together, before Ino and Naruto began working together as paramedics in the emergency department of the Konoha Hospital.
Naruto was tall; taller than either Ino or Sakura by at least half a foot. His lanky form and sure movements offset his height, making him catlike instead of gangly. Once, in high school, Naruto had expressed an interest in Sakura, but she had politely turned him down with a fist to the face.
SERVED THE IDIOT RIGHT! WHY WOULD YOU HAVE GONE OUT WITH HIM WHEN THERE WAS SASUKE TO ADMIRE FROM A DISTANCE? YOU KNOW HE LOVES YOU DEEP DOWN–
Outer Sakura squashed that thought and continued on. Sasuke is my friend, she thought.
Inner Sakura sulked. WELL YOU WOULD LIKE IT.
The two women walked out onto the dark street, saying goodbye as Ino walked to a different building. Ino's office was around the side of the hospital, where ambulances departed and were unloaded. Sakura headed towards the cool glass doors of the main hospital and the E.R.
While entering the sliding doors, she nodded to Momochi Haku, a friend and neighbor. She sighed unconsciously upon seeing him; his brown hair was so beautiful, any woman would have given a limb to have it.
How did this man, barely three years older than her, get such gorgeous hair?
He and his adoptive father Zabuza volunteered occasionally at the hospital, relieving the overworked staff for an hour or two. Most of the relieved doctors or nurses spent the time sleeping, or eating something for the first time in days.
"Just stepping out for a second," he said, by way of explanation. "Zabuza's inside, helping Suigetsu."
He winked at her, but she could see the shadows under his eyes. The presence of bloodstains on Haku's usually crisp scrubs was also a bad sign; it meant that things were so bad that Tsunade wouldn't turn down an extra pair of hands, even if they were unlicensed.
The noise level in the emergency room pounded her eardrums.
"Dr. Haruno!"
She heard some of her colleagues motioning for her to move out of the way. Seated along the hallway, burn victims sat in groups, some with crude bandages wrapped around appendages. The latest ambulance run had brought sixteen people, forced to sit or lie down by the sheer pain of standing.
Suigetsu, a pediatric surgeon and Zabuza's nephew, ran past her, blood spattering his front, and sweat running down his cheeks. Amid the perspiration, Sakura noticed tears. Sui had always been sentimental when children were hurt; it was his motivation to becoming a pediatrician. She saw his silver head of hair duck around a corner, then came back to her senses.
Sakura hurried by as people moaned in agony, trying to ignore the smell of burned flesh and hair. She grabbed a lab coat from a rack, praying that it was hers; sometimes she wished she wasn't private practice, and had to wear regular scrubs.
As she passed through the next hallway, she saw a man with brown hair and purple tattoos supporting a blonde woman. She was soot streaked and had a roughly bandaged torso, which she gripped in pain. A red headed man sat next to them, his head wrapped in a makeshift bandage and an icepack on one leg.
He looked up as she went by, his cool blue eyes meeting hers for just a moment.
SABAKU GAARA.
She froze mid–step, recognizing the Sabaku siblings: Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari. She'd gone to high school with them for a year, and it was a shock to see them here, bleeding in KonoHos.
She opened her mouth in a silent 'o', unable to say a word for fear of screaming.
IT'S BEEN A WHILE.
Then someone called her name, and she turned to help the woman scoop up a burned child, ignoring the impact on her own clean clothes. She ran him down to pediatrics, delivering him into Zabuza's strong arms, trying not to shout her frustration.
In the confusion, she forgot about the siblings sitting in the hallway.
WHY DIDN'T THE FIRE DEPARTMENT GET THERE SOONER?
WHY DIDN'T SOMEONE REPORT THE SMOKE?
WHY ISN'T THERE SOMEONE ELSE TO HELP THESE PEOPLE?
She was jogging by then, clean shoes a steady tapping on the linoleum.
SO IT'S GOING TO BE THAT KIND OF DAY, HUH?
THE DAY WHEN EVERYTHING GOES WRONG?
THE DAY WHEN EVERY PATIENT IS HANGING ONTO LIFE BY A THREAD, AND THEY WANT TO LET GO?
She nodded to Karin, who was the nurse on duty at the front desk, before rushing behind the counter to retrieve her file.
Sakura walked her fingers through the files until she found the pink 'H' for Haruno. Her eyes scanned the sheet, taking in the staggering figures.
She looked away.
WE SHOULD HAVE STAYED HOME THIS MORNING! MORON!
Too many burn cases to count, and she didn't have time to try. As she stood there, people were dying.
"Dr. Haruno!"
Sakura heard Shizune's frantic shout from down the hall and dropped the file, ignoring the burgundy haired nurse's mutter of annoyance as she and Tsunade's assistant ran to save lives.
WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE FIRE?