Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any quoted materials, to which credit has been given below.
Note: AI stands for Artificial Intelligence.
CW: this chapter contains physical violence and references to potential sexual assault.
Hereafter
hereafter:
adv. from now on; after this in sequence or time; in some future time or state
n. an existence beyond earthly life; life after death
Chapter 1. Mourning
"If heaven's grief brings hell's rain
then I'd trade all my tomorrows
for just one yesterday."
Just One Yesterday, Fall Out Boy
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. BEEP—
"Good morning, Sakura-san. It is 5:30 am. The sky is overcast with a 60 percent chance of rain. Air pollution is high this morning, so a mask is recommended. Traffic is slow, so I've woken you 30 minutes early to account for travel time. It is recommended..."
Sakura slowly creaked her green eyes open, greeted by the usual sight of pipes and metalwork above. The dull orange glow of the fluorescent neon lights emitting from strips in the walls filled the air with the feeling of citrus, and she sighed, turning under the blanket to the wall flush to her bed, clicking the keypad to silence her incessant alarm; she many times wondered if the apartment AIs had personalities and if hers was a chattering aunt who could never seem to get off the phone no matter how many excuses were made. But, she knew that wasn't true; too often, she prescribed characteristics to her assistive AIs, and she knew it was a sign of her continuously growing loneliness. Being a resident of New Rain provided such loneliness in spades, it was hardly surprising she'd become a quiet kind of desperate for companionship. Bonds were frowned upon here; bonds could lead to camaraderie, and camaraderie could lead to resistance. And Lord Pain knew better. She found some solace with her boyfriend—romantic and sexual relationships were about the only thing permitted with high regulation—so their situation was...complicated, to say the least. But, she didn't have time to think about that; she had to get ready for work.
Her bed was shoved between two grey, sheet metal walls, and above it where she imagined a window should have been, a screen displayed an image of a serene lakeside, teeming in green and earth. Birds flew by in the screen, twittering softly. As she sat up, she turned to watch it, resting her head on her knees and sighing. She hadn't seen such a sight as that one since she was a child. There were a lot of things she hadn't seen since then.
"Sakura-san, would you like to begin your morning breathing exercises?"
She had to resist rolling her eyes. "Can I opt out this morning, Riku?" Riku was what she had named the entity; it wasn't too unusual to name the ones in the apartments, since they were a bodiless voice sounding from nowhere and everywhere at once. Listening. Watching.
"You've opted out of breathing exercises two times this week." Did she sense annoyance from the voice? No, probably not; it couldn't care enough about her to be annoyed. "You are required to complete five exercises per week. If you refuse, a report will be sent—"
"Yes, of course," she cut off the AI. "Commence breathing exercises."
"Commencing breathing exercises. Please find a comfortable position to sit." Sakura did as instructed, sitting lotus style towards the industrial kitchenette that was barely a foot from the end of her bed. Her apartment was hardly large enough to stand in, let alone do much else. She thought it resembled a coffin. "Now inhale for 1...2...3..."
She listened and followed the sequence, inhaling for five seconds, holding it, and exhaling for an equal length. In between each breath were the incantations that used to make Sakura balk with disgust, but now she hardly noticed. "New Rain is on a new horizon, and this is a brand new day, Sakura-san. Inhale. And Lord Pein has secured your safety for yet another bright morning. Exhale. Breathe out the suffering of the past, let it flow out of you like a gentle breeze. And inhale the new age of Lord Pain."
She used to wonder if the government of New Rain really believed its people were so stupid that they wouldn't see the hardly disguised attempt to brainwash. But, she figured out quickly after the Fall of Konoha that if you didn't complete the state mandated exercises and follow the AI's commands, which regulated everything from breathing to portioned meals to using the correct amount of toilet paper, a report was sent to...someone. And then men in white masks showed up to drag the offender away to...somewhere. But often not before they received a severe beating for other residents to see. Immediately after the Fall—after barely surviving because of her skill set and being assigned a role under the new regime—she witnessed such events every day for weeks; Sakura and most others fell in line. Take a couple deep breaths or get beat half to death? She chose the former.
"Thank you, Sakura-san. That concludes our breathing exercises for the day. What will you be eating for breakfast?"
She wanted to tell the AI to keep its hypothetical nose out of her fucking business. But, the last time she replied with a curse word, a report was sent, and she was required to go to therapy for two months; she didn't favor a repeat of that whole ordeal. "I have to check what's in the fridge," she decided to answer instead.
"You have...four eggs, eight slices of bread, approximately 1/3 carton of orange juice, a cup of broccoli, leftover miso soup, a—"
"I think I'll make a veggie omelette," she gritted through her teeth. Most days she could ignore the way her blood pounded in her ears with contempt for the nagging entity. But some days...some days were harder than others.
"I'm sensing an elevated heartbeat, Sakura-san. Are you distressed?"
Fucking shit. Lord Pain was so intent on maintaining control of the people, he even regulated their feelings. She took a deep breath, hearing the echoes of the exercise in her head and it's accompanying mantras. Exhale the suffering of the past. Maybe that brainwashing thing was more effective than she thought. "I apologize." She had learned to speak softly, too, when all she wanted to do was throw her head into a fucking wall. "I'm a bit stressed this morning. Quite a few patients on my mind."
"I see." The automated 'human' responses left something to be desired. She held back her scoff while scooting off her bed and directly into the kitchen. "Would you like to review some simulations while you prepare for work?"
As she stepped onto the floor, she shook her head; it was eery how she knew the AI picked up the gesture; she couldn't even masturbate without the AI knowing. But, luckily, Lord Pain didn't care too much about that. "Very well," Riku answered.
She turned to the closet of a bathroom to her left, which barely contained a standing shower, toilet, and sink. Lord Pain emphasized utility over comfort; each of their apartments were something like this, little gray boxes stacked on top of one another like animals in kennels. Not that she'd ever seen more than a glimpse inside someone else's. Well, except for her boyfriend's, and his, while quaint, felt like a luxurious hotel by comparison. But, those were the privileges afforded to government workers.
Turning the faucet, she splashed cold water on her face, and she reminded herself to keep steadying her breath. Above the sink was a small mirror, just large enough for her to see her face. Her short, pink bob needed a trim up. Her reflection otherwise seemed haggard, heavy bags under eyes, and quite pissed off. Stop it, she urged herself. Stop it right now. Wipe that shit off your face. Smile. Now.
She softened the muscles, rubbing her eyes to make it appear as though she was just sleepy, not like she wanted to punch the mirror out. Her muscles softened until she believed her face was a passable, sweet smile. Pleasant. She always had to be pleasant. Or the men in white masks could show up. Or the Akatsuki guards. And, she wasn't sure which was worse.
"Riku...I'm still feeling a little stressed. Perhaps we could repeat the breathing exercises this morning?" She hated the girlish lilt in her tone. Despised it. "Is that alright?"
"Of course, Sakura-san. It's important to enter the workplace with a clear mind. Commencing breathing exercises. Inhale for 1...2...3...4..."
Sakura stared at herself in the mirror as she underwent the sequence once more; it was a trick she figured out when she got exceptionally irritated; not only did the breathing actually kind of help, but it gave the impression that she wanted to hear the bombastic messages about their current government.
"...Breathe out the suffering of the past, let it flow out of you like a gentle breeze." She exhaled, hands gripping the edge of the metal sink so tightly that her knuckles turned white. "...And inhale the new age of Lord Pain."
After freshening up and a quick breakfast, Sakura was out the door with her purse, pressing her palm on the outer keypad to lock up the apartment.
Riku spoke from the box. "Have a nice day, Sakura-san."
"You too, Riku." She knew that was weird to wish the bodiless voice a good day, but she thought it was funny; she took her humor where she could get it. She adjusted the too-tight straps of her mask; the contraption was a heavy hunk of metal with a translucent, green-tinted covering over the mouth and chin; they always had to be smiling, after all. The thing suctioned the lower half of her face to the point of discomfort, but the vents filtered out the pollution in the air. At first, she thought it was a ruse by Lord Pain to try to gain the trust of the people, or further scare them into submission, but she'd actually managed to disassemble the parts at work to see that it was a truly functional piece of equipment. They'd even started using a similar model at the hospital for operations.
She waited patiently for the eletube to arrive for her at the 103rd floor. They were singular, clear pods that moved at impressive speeds since most of the buildings in New Rain were between 50 to 200 stories tall. Stairwells were only allowed in specific buildings, and she never quite understood the logic; maybe in case they ever tried to flee from an Akatsuki guard? She only needed to go to the 100th floor to catch the air trolley, so it felt a bit ridiculous. Lord Pain allowed stairs at the hospital simply for emergency purposes, so she was used to running up and down 10 flights at a time. She could certainly do three floors. Residents had initially been concerned about what to do if there was a fire, but over time, they all learned that dying in a fire was the least of their concerns.
The eletube arrived, squeaking open and allowing her in; squished inside the tube, she wondered why every single damn thing had to resemble a coffin.
"100 please. Air trolley."
The plastic squeaked shut, and in a fraction of a second, she was at the 100th floor. She stepped out into the bustling hallway, dropping in line with a train of people heading towards the air trolley platform. Most had their eyes fixed down, and few spoke to one another. If they did speak, the their faces and tone filled with an over enthusiastic bubbliness.
"How you are you, Akira-san?"
"Great, what a beautiful morning. All thanks to Lord Pain. Did you hear they rounded up another group of terrorists?"
"Yes, I heard on the news! Very exciting."
She couldn't judge them for the gross performance of gratitude; the drones hovered above them as they shuffled towards the platform, listening and watching as intently as the apartment AI. What unsettled Sakura was that she didn't know who was performing and who wasn't anymore. All they could do was play along, smile; whisper positive things to one another about their government; go to work, smile more, keep up the appearance of contentment. Go home, still smiling. Fuck their partner with the AIs for an audience, sleep. Wake up. And repeat. Smile. Keep smiling. Breathe. Inhale. Exhale. Smile.
Keep people in a rat race for survival, and they won't even notice that you're pissing on them anymore.
She stepped onto the platform, suspended on the side of the building, looking out over the city just as beams of early morning sun were breaking through the dreary clouds. The city stared back, defying gravity with its hundreds of monstrously tall buildings that stretched into the clouds, their dark appearance tattooed with bright neon lights still buzzing from the night before. Air trolleys and taxis zipped between the buildings, along with the government issued hovercrafts given to a select few. The air was thick with smog, and she wondered if there were any birds hidden in the clouds like the ones on her apartment screen; if there were, they'd likely die from the pollution.
As another horde of people packed into the air trolley and zoomed away, Sakura stepped up to the platform's edge, and looked down over the railing at some of the smaller buildings below; she couldn't even see the ground due to the height and density of the structures.
You could jump. It was the quietest voice in her mind, the one that used to scream for everything that had happened, but even that voice had been broken long, long ago; it only sought a way out. You could jump. You could be free.
But, there was an Akatsuki guard standing a few feet away, wrapped in the telltale black cloak smattered with red clouds, reminding her of blood. His arms were crossed over his chest, but she could see the flashes of metal; like many of the guards, his arms and perhaps even other parts were likely bionic and weaponized, and because of her work specializing in bionic limbs and artificial replacements, Sakura could easily spot and identify them. But, she didn't know this specific guard. They rotated the guards every week. Akatsuki liked to affiliate themselves with the women, which used to be forbidden in the early years. Now, almost a decade later, the powers that be were more lax with the guards. But, they certainly didn't want them to develop any type of compassion for the civilians. Better to let them have their fun, then move them along. Sakura had only been lucky to avoid their attention.
She couldn't jump. The guard would stop her before she even lifted her foot.
The air trolley zoomed up to the platform like a bullet, stopping and sliding it's metal doors open. She shuffled inside with the rest of the commuters until everyone was packed in, shoulder to shoulder, chest to back. She didn't know why they so deliberately tried to limit their space, from the apartments, to the eletubes, to the trolley. Maybe it was a matter of practicality. Maybe they were testing to see who would snap first. Or maybe...maybe they really wanted them to forget what freedom ever felt like.
The doors closed, and the transparent display windows along the walls of the car flashed scrolling advertisements and the regular propaganda news announcements as the trolley took off, zipping through the buildings. They made a couple of stops at various platforms, people shuffling on and off. Thirteen terrorists detained in a surprise ambush, currently awaiting trial. Suna shows aggressive behaviors towards New Rain by establishing military posts directly along the border. Investigation shows they could be mounting for an attack—
The window screens lit up red, and the overhead speaker crackled to life as a talking head of a female reporter appeared on all of the windows, blocking their view of the outside world.
"Breaking news. One of the head terrorists of the violent group known as the Hidden Leaf Shinobi, Sarutobi Asuma, has been convicted of treason, murder in the first degree, attempted murder, blackmail, fraud, acts of terrorism, and the list goes on and on! He has been sentenced to death, and we are going live to his execution."
The screen flashed, and there was a man with dark hair and tan skin, bound and kneeling in the middle of a grey but otherwise description-less room. The somewhere that people were dragged off to. A few black cloaks came in and out of view, their faces obscured or cut off, giving the appearance that the man was being swallowed by red clouds. The camera zoomed in towards his face, revealing a few small scars here and there, and he had a scowl directed straight at one of the black cloaks. He muttered something inaudible at them, and there was a brief confusion as a foot flashed across the screen and into his jaw, sending the man careening to his side. But, another black cloak quickly lifted him back to his knees to make sure all viewers had a good look of the traitor. He spat out blood, and it dribbled from his chin, but he had that hard glint in his eye, a curl to his lip. It had been so long since Sakura had seen that on anyone's face, it took her a moment to register the expression for what it was.
Defiance.
"Will you repent and atone for your sins? Will you follow the Path of Pain?" The execution was formulaic; to give the appearance of fairness, the Akatsuki guards always offered the option of redemption. Submission. Once, they actually did allow someone to live based on such a promise, perhaps to impress the idea to civilians that it was possible to survive if you kept your mouth shut and did as told. Smiled. But, of course, there was no way to know if anyone really came out alive after being accused of a crime.
But, the man—Sarutobi Asuma sounded familiar but she couldn't quite place where; he had the same surname as their old Hokage, so maybe that's how?—looked up at the unseen Akatsuki guards and smiled through the blood. Except it wasn't just a smile, not like the false ones she saw everyday. No. It was a shit eating grin, a fuck you to the red clouds, as he answered, "Do you know who the king is?" He received silence before he chuckled. "Didn't think so...Where tree leaves dance, one shall find flames..." Sakura's heart stopped; she hadn't heard that since the war, before the Fall. "The fire's shadow will illuminate the village...and once again tree leaves sh—"
There was another blur as he was punched across the cheek, and she heard a distinctive crunch, knowing that the bone shattered from a super-charged bionic arm. There were several more thwacks and grunts before they once more dragged him to kneeling, his face split with blood and early signs of swelling.
But, he still had that wild grin on his face as he barked at the men, "You can kill me, but you cannot destroy the Will of Fire!"
He was cut off as what appeared to be some kind of large, three bladed scythe swiped across the screen and straight into the man's chest, effectively silencing him. Sakura's hand twitched to cover her mouth in horror, but she knew better than to outwardly express something like that; it could easily be misconstrued as sympathy.
Sarutobi Asuma's eyes stretched wide in shock, and he coughed, sputtering out blood. But slowly, his expression softened; it appeared as though he was passing out. Sakura thought that was good; the blades definitely punctured his heart and lungs; if he was conscious, it would be quite painful as he died, and either way, he was going to die. At least this way, it wouldn't hurt so much.
The man collapsed still impaled with the scythe, and the display screen quickly changed again to an automated message from Lord Pain: his pale face pierced with metal along the bridge of his nose between large, violet all-seeing eyes beneath a bright swath of orange hair. "We are sorry to show you such disturbing images, but we must be vigilant against these perpetrators or suffer the consequences. We must remind them of what it means to attack New Rain..."
Sakura was so caught up in the violence of Sarutobi Asuma that she almost didn't realize the trolley had arrived at her stop. The Hospital of New Rain. She shoved through a few people to escape outside before the doors clamped shut behind her, the trolley zooming off, still blaring Lord Pain's message. His voice echoed in the air from all the screens in and out of the buildings. An overlord, a god. Listening. Watching.
"Hey, pretty girl, lost in the clouds?"
The call from her right made her stomach turn. She glanced to see an Akatsuki guard approaching her on the platform among the people milling about. The man was a large, oafish creature with pale, blue-tinted skin and a smirk on his face seen through the green material of his mask; his eyes were round and almost completely white. Piercing and predatory. "I don't think I've see you before, pretty girl," he growled as he drew nearer. "What's your name?"
She grinded her teeth, one part anger and one part paralyzing fear. Before the war, when Konoha was still standing, she would have easily dismissed these types of advances, made an excuse, or told him to fuck off. But, this wasn't Konoha anymore, this was New Rain. And, he was an Akatsuki guard. She couldn't do much of anything. Except play her part.
"M-my names Sakura," she whispered, keeping her eyes down and praying she could manage to not offend him long enough to get away. "Wh-what's yours?"
"Kisame, pretty girl," he answered; he was now standing directly in front of her, much too close, and the only thing behind her was the railing of the platform. She felt that familiar suffocation. Small coffin apartments, small coffin elevators, small coffin trolleys, even in the wide space of the hospital platform, she was trapped. "Maybe I can take you out some time?"
Her chest tightened considerably; no one could refuse the guards. No one. She'd heard a story from one of her female coworkers that a guard had taken an interest, and she couldn't say no. Couldn't say no to the "date." Couldn't say no to anything.
She heard later that the same coworker had died under mysterious circumstances. To this day, Sakura still didn't know how or why. If she killed herself. Or the guard did.
Lifting a shaky hand to brush some hair behind her ear, she smiled sweetly at the man, Kisame, every alarm in her body telling her to run. To scream. "Th-that sounds lovely, but—" She sighed like it really was a disappointment. "Unfortunately, I have a boyfriend; he might be a b-bit upset with me if I went out on a date with you."
Kisame's sharp toothed smile turned to a scowl; from his cloak, he pulled out a translucent pad and clicked it to life, glowing blue with the last document he had opened. "So if I look you up," he countered, daring her, "it will say that you're in a relationship?"
Her knees wobbled, and she tried to keep the terror out of her high pitch as she answered, "Of course! I wouldn't lie to you."
"Hm," was all he said in reply, and Kisame began clicking through the files on his tablet, typing and swiping until her image popped up in one corner. It was an old hospital photo, from when her hair was much lengthier. "I like the long hair," he commented. "Much prettier."
She sheepishly twirled a short, pink lock in her fingers. "Maybe I'll grow it out again," she chirped.
That seemed to satiate him as he flashed a grin; her performance was working well enough until he grunted. "Nara, Shikamaru, Coordinating Strategist for PD," he read from her file. "Serious intimate relationship with Haruno Sakura. Hmph." He turned off the tablet and stowed it away in his cloak. "I've met him a few times; seems like a lazy bastard if you ask me."
Sakura laughed, a bubbly giggle, pressing her luck by reaching out and touching his bicep; she'd read in a magazine years ago somewhere tips for flirting, and hoped he would gobble up the ridiculous display; her move paid off as he laughed with her. "He can be sometimes," she whispered like it was their shared, dirty little secret. "But what can I say? I'm very fond of him."
She truly didn't know what would happen next. If women were single, they didn't have any "valid" excuse to refuse the guards, but if they were in a relationship...she wasn't sure. Shikamaru was in the Police Department, but she didn't know how much privilege that gave him in comparison to the Akatsuki guards. Could this man, Kisame, take her from Shikamaru if he wanted? Could he play with her like a toy and then give her back? Or could she just disappear, die into nothingness, like her coworker? She didn't know.
She waited.
"Well, Nara does a lot of good work, wouldn't want to be disrespectful," the sharkish man finally answered as he reached up to twirl her hair around his finger like she had, deliberately caressing the lobe of her ear. "But let me know if it doesn't work out with that loser. Name's Kisame, remember?"
Sakura released the breath she didn't know she was holding. "Of course! I'd never forget." A dazzling smile. The one she practiced in the mirror.
Satisfied, he released her, turning to walk towards his original spot on the platform. "Hopefully I'll see you around, pretty girl."
"Hopefully!" He gave his last sharp toothed grin before returning to stand his post, making an unheard comment to one of his fellow guards.
Keep smiling. Move. Move.
The muscles of her legs forgot how to work. She took a few trembling steps forward, keeping the smile plastered on her face even as tears pooled in the corners of her eyes.
Keep it together. Keep your shit together, Haruno.
She followed the path on the platform to the staff entrance, a scanner flitting over her eye to allow her in. She hustled through the already busy hallways of the hospital towards her office, greeting whoever happened to greet her on the way. She clicked the sliding door open with a code and leaned heavily into the door after it shut. Her whole body was shaking.
"Good morning, Dr. Haruno. How was your commute?"
The office AI sounded through the room, and she wanted so desperately to curse. To yell. To cry. To have a single fucking second to herself without observation.
"Dr. Haruno, I'm sensing an elevated heart rate, perspiration, and shortness of breath. Are you feeling well this morning?"
Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale—
"I'm fine, Roku," she answered, urging her breathing to return to normal. Another strategy to deal with AIs was to tell partial truths. Partial truths were just believable enough. Besides, there were drones on the platform, and she believed the network of AIs somehow cross referenced information to determine inconsistencies; it was almost impossible to completely lie. "There was a man who...flirted with me. I guess I just got...I got a little nervous!" She forced her laugh to prove the point.
She imagined the AI was nodding. "I see. Was he harassing you, Dr. Haruno? I can notify PD immediately."
"No, that's not necessary," she quickly replied, pushing herself off the door towards her desk. She had to force it out of her mind. Had to forget his predatory eyes. And stop wondering what could happen if he kept pursuing. "It was just some innocent flirting. I'm just not used to that kind of attention."
"I see. Would you like to review your schedule for the day?"
"Please."
The voice carried on, and she compartmentalized that toothy grin to somewhere in her brain; it was the only way to function. She undid the mask from her face, dropping it on the desk, and unpacked the necessary items from her bag, a thermos and a few case files, as she glanced around her office. The hospital was larger and had a much more sleek appearance than the apartments, and everything was white. White walls, white floors, white ceilings. The furniture was an iridescent kind of plastic, and all had the unsettling effect of creating a big white void that threatened to drown her in blankness. It was lit up by bright white lights spaced in long strips on the walls; from her keypad on the desk, she adjusted the tone of the lights to a pale green, and the color reflected off the surfaces of the room, giving her a much calmer sense of floating inside a green bubble. She liked it most because it reminded her of trees. Like the lakeside image on her apartment screen.
"...Uchiha Sasuke..."
She hadn't really been paying much attention to the AI when her ears perked up. "Wait, I'm sorry, can you repeat that?"
"Uchiha Sasuke has requested a meeting with you. Your schedule is completely filled for the day, but he insists it's quite urgent. Would you like me to cancel an appointment to accommodate?"
She blinked for several seconds until her thoughts caught up to her.
Uchiha Sasuke.
She'd been severely infatuated with him when they were children, and the mention of his name still made her heart flutter. But then...then the war happened, and the war molded them into different people than they used to be. They were friendly now as adults, but Sasuke was extremely busy as Chief of the Police, and Sakura was just as busy running her department at the hospital. They only saw each other once every few weeks, usually in a work related issue, and he had...he had quite a different view of their ruler than she did. Not that she ever expressed it.
The war ended when they were 17, and Sakura didn't really have a choice; she was detained, and she only survived the initial takeover because her skills as a medic combined with her speciality made her valuable enough to keep around. She could fall in line. Or die.
But Sasuke...Sasuke defected from Konoha before the end of the war. Years before. He chose Pain, and she never understood how he could do that: betray their home, their families and friends. Was he forced, somehow? Did Pain offer him something? Maybe Sasuke saw that the war would not end in their favor and decided to get the hell out of dodge. But, she knew she would never be allowed to ask such questions without raising suspicions about her loyalty. Yet, she still had the inclination to give him the benefit of the doubt. There had to be reason. Everyone had a reason.
Besides, she couldn't judge him. She couldn't judge anyone. By choosing to fall in line, to not fight back, she had done horrible things as well. Things she would never forgive herself for.
"Yes, please cancel only a non-urgent case and reschedule as soon as possible. I don't like to keep patients waiting." For just a moment, she let her mind wonder about Sasuke, and this was a dangerous place to go. Wondering what his work was like, what his apartment was like. She was with Shikamaru, after all, even if their relationship was mostly out of habit. She did have strong feelings about the Nara man, but they were complicated by the circumstances of war. She didn't know if she loved him, or if she was terrified of being alone, and on especially somber days, she could at least admit it was probably the latter.
Sakura pushed all Uchiha and Nara related thoughts out of her head as she sat to review her case files for the day. No major surgeries, which meant she could leave at a decent time. One man who needed an adjustment on a replaced arm. A guard who was upgrading two bionic limbs with weaponry. A smattering of other fix up appointments. And one of her favorite patients that brought her right back to the Uchiha name, Sasuke's niece. Mikasa.
The young girl had cystic fibrosis, and though Sakura didn't specialize in pediatrics, she was assigned the case because Mikasa was a viable candidate for a lung transplant, and Sakura had extensively studied artificial lung growth and transplantation; she wasn't technically an expert in the field, but the original expert in the field had died years ago. Or that's what she assumed "missing" meant. She was sure there were probably more qualified candidates in other countries, like Suna in the Land of Wind, but Lord Pain staunchly refused a peace treaty allowing for such an exchange of resources. So, Sakura was the next best choice. She was still a damn good bet, and Mikasa was high priority because of her family relation.
"Dr. Haruno, I've canceled your last appointment for the day, which was diagnostics for a knee replacement for Shimura Danzo. I will reschedule."
"Good," she snorted without thinking; she knew it was selective, but she had a lot less sympathy for that bastard than Sasuke, weaseling his way into the upper ranks of the new regime after betraying Konoha in a pivotal battle; she often thought it was the turning point in the war. Sakura still didn't know what exactly he did in the government, but fuck his knee replacement. Wait. Shit. Fuck fuck— "I mean good that it worked out so well. Thank you Roku."
"You're welcome, Dr. Haruno. You have approximately 7 minutes until your first appointment."
Relieved that the AI hadn't picked up on her distaste for the man, she leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. The morning had already fried her nerves. She nearly made a deadly slip up, and it wasn't even 7:30 yet. This was going to be a long-ass day.
Keep it together, Haruno. Keep your shit together. Breathe.
Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.
Inhale.
AN: Don't want to talk too much because I always do. TOTAL Cyberpunk AU. This idea has been buzzing in my head because I wanted to practice building my own narrative world. And I've been watching too much Black Mirror and Handmaids Tale. What do ya think so far?
I was going to wait to post until I had a few chapters written, but I just got excited because I've enjoyed writing it. Given the length of the chapters (lol this one is TWELVE pages), I will try to consistently post every two weeks if my daily life allows me time. To be honest, my other stories will probably be on the back burner for now. And because I'm still creating this world, I might come back to this chapter to edit for any plot holes.
Also, just to be clear, I am not going to write anything that contains explicit sexual assault. I wanted to establish that this world definitely has a hierarchy, and women definitely don't have a high status (unless they are very high in the government) through the things about the Akatsuki guards. Sakura will not be assaulted, nor will any other characters.
That's all. Let me know what you think!
