"Started Without You" - Chapter 1
Breaks were always a complicated thing when working in the hospital. Sakura Haruno had been doing this for so long now she learned to live with the unexpected emergencies that came through on her shifts and just rolled with whatever punches that were thrown her way.
The most unpredictable patients always seemed to be the ones that came into the maternity ward. It amazed Sakura to no end that something as small as a baby had the power to change a person. She watched many of her regular patients become parents over her years as a medical ninja, finding it astounding how much one could be metamorphosized from panic at the realization that she didn't have the stomach flu like they thought to the ability to surround their lives around caring for their newborn.
No one had a say on when a child would decide to make its way into the world, which always kept everyone in L&D on their toes. Even once they made their appearance, there was no telling when something could go wrong.
Babies were the hardest for Sakura.
They can't speak, and the parents (especially the new ones) seemed to always panic to the point where they weren't able to quiet their minds or mouths long enough to tell if it was just gas or something much more major. Sakura's job was too quiet the things around her and focus on nothing more than the child she was examining.
Like she was now.
"I just fed him, then put him down so he could sleep!" A hysterical mother was hovering over the pinkette. "Then I went to check on him a few minutes later, and his lips were blue. Ren told me that I was just seeing things, but then when he felt of him, he was cold. We rushed here as fast as we could."
Sakura clenched her teeth together as she continued to perform CPR on the tiny infant. She didn't know what was going on, either, but she couldn't show the parents that. She had to remain composed.
The patient is four weeks old, male, born at term via spontaneous vaginal delivery. She mentally went over in her head as she bent over the child to give him air. Discharged on life day 2 with no complications. Sleeping and eating patterns are normal according to parents' knowledge.
"Please, Doctor! Save our Hiraku!"
Sakura shot a glance to one nurse that was assisting her, signaling her to deal with the parents.
"You need to give her some room to work." She gently stepped between the parents and lead them to the side.
I've been at this for thirty minutes now. Sakura swallowed hard, as she ran more chakra through the still child's body. No, I can do this!
She felt a hand on her shoulder, knowing that it was Ino coming in after hearing of her issues of reviving the child.
"Sakura."
"No, I can do this." She quietly whispered, never ceasing her efforts.
"You've been at this for long enough. The attending had been at this 20 minutes before calling you in. You need to-"
"I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING, DAMN IT!"
Ino gently put her hand over Sakura's that was on the baby's chest. She knew her best friend better than anyone in Konoha, so she knew how hard it was for Sakura to come to terms with losing a patient.
"Call it." Sakura quietly ordered another nurse in the room.
She removed her hand from the lifeless baby's body and quickly retreated from the room, refusing to look at the sobbing parents.
Ino called after her to no avail, the young medic had shut off all of her senses. The only thing she felt was a tightness in her chest that she couldn't relieve in front of her subordinates.
Everything was a blur as Sakura made her way to the wing of the hospital where the day clinic was located. Since it was so late in the night, all of the lights were off. She knew this place like the back of her hand, allowing her to make her way to her office in an effortless manner.
She flung the door open, then swiftly shut it and locked it. The young ninja slid herself down the door to the point that she was on the floor, hugging her knees to her chest. She began to cry out to the open air, letting out her anger and frustration.
It wasn't fair. The baby was perfectly healthy. She had delivered him herself, so she knew for a fact that he had a long and healthy life ahead of him... Just like the others she had lost before.
Lady Tsunade always insisted that losing patients would get easier, but Sakura had thought that to be a lie. Every time that she couldn't get a pulse to return to a body, she felt a knife twist somewhere within her, bringing a pain that no one could heal.
After her night shift was over, she was called to the Hokage mansion for a mission request.
Sakura knocked on the office door and entered.
"Ah. Sakura, come in." Kakashi greeted her.
"Good morning, Kakashi-sensei. You said you wanted to see me?"
"Yes." He nodded, shuffling through some papers. After finding the desired document, he held it out to her. "I take it that you remember the unknown traveler that was found in labor a little ways north from the gate."
Sakura took the paper and read through it.
The incident he was talking about had happened a few days ago, on her day off from the hospital. No one had known who this woman was, or why she was out and about as close to the end of her pregnancy like she was. Ino had told Sakura that she was filthy, and had shown no signs of ninja training. She had multiple teeth missing and cuts all over her body. After she had given birth, the nurses had taken the woman to be cleaned up, and they ended up having to cut most of her hair off because of how matted it was. When given a psych evaluation, she had bitten two nurses and tried to swing at the doctor when he got close to her.
The last thing that Sakura had heard about this woman was that when she was asked about her baby, she became hysterical and had to be sedated.
"This is a request written by my head of neonatal care," Sakura said, handing the paper back to Kakashi. "Is this about the baby the lady from the forest gave birth to?"
"I'm sure that you are aware that she is currently not mentally stable enough to care for the child. She doesn't even know her own name or where she is from. Ino has reported that when she examined her mind, she couldn't piece anything together. It's obvious that this isn't a terroristic threat, but this still needs to be treated with the most care possible."
"Of course." Sakura nodded.
"I want you to watch over both of them closely."
"Yes, sir. I'll start the paperwork to get her transferred to the rehabilitation wing. As for the baby, I'll make arrangements for it to be ta-"
"You, yourself, will attend to the baby." Kakashi interrupted her before she could finish.
"Wh-what?"
"Sakura, here." He handed her another piece of paper. "This is a DNA test result done on the baby."
Sakura's eyes scanned over the paper. Her chest tightened when she saw the paternal data results.
"She's an Uchiha? But how? Sasuke is the only-"
"Sasuke isn't the baby's father. We checked the DNA profile and it didn't match."
Sakura let out a sigh of relief. "But that doesn't make any sense. Who could the father be?"
"I'm not sure. Sasuke may have an idea, but..."
"You haven't told him yet?" Sakura guessed.
Kakashi nodded and gave a half-hearted laugh. "I was hoping you would know a way to tell him."
Sakura bit the inside of her cheek. She didn't blame her former teacher for not telling the Uchiha. Hell, Sakura knew Sasuke better than anyone but even she didn't know how to break the news to him.
"I'll do it, Sensei." Sakura sighed.
"Thank you, Sakura. As for right now, go ahead and rest up at home. Your assignment will start tomorrow."
Sakura didn't know what to think as she walked to her apartment. She had done occasional babysitting for family and lower rank missions. It didn't make sense why Kakashi was asking her to take care of the Uchiha baby, though. It made sense that it would be a target for anyone that knew her lineage, but there was another capable ninja to protect a child.
She ran her hand through her hair, feeling the dampness of sweat that pooled at the roots. She had been running around all night at the hospital and knew she needed a shower.
"Sakura, wait up!"
Sakura looked over her shoulder and saw Ino waving at her to catch her attention.
"What the hell, forehead! You avoided me the whole shift!"
"Sorry..." Sakura hung her head, remembering the fiasco of losing the baby from before.
"Look, you did your best. You're still a kick-ass doctor." Ino gave her a tight hug. "That's what I wanted to tell you. No one can beat SIDS, not even Lady Tsunade."
Sakura swallowed hard. "That's what the ME ruled it?"
"Yes. There wasn't anything you could have done for him, Sakura." Ino had placed her hands on Sakura's shoulders and was looking into her eyes. "Now tell me you understand that."
Sakura nodded. "I understand."
"Good." Ino beamed. "Now, what do you say about having some breakfast before heading off to bed?"
"Actually, I have a mission I need to prepare for. Maybe some other time."
"That's weird. You never get assigned to missions unless they're really important."
"Kakashi-Sensei thinks that it is." Sakura sighed. "I can't give many details right now, but I'll tell you all about it. I'm still going to be around, just not as much as I'd like to be."
"Ah, well, it's the life of a ninja right?" Ino laughed. "I'll see you later, Sakura."
Sakura smiled as she and Ino went their separate ways. She had been so busy lately preparing for her wedding, so time spent with her was rare these days. After last night, though, it was great of Ino to make sure to check on her.
Yes. Everyone was becoming more domesticated as time went on and the village recovered from the war. Naruto was about to become a father, Shikamaru and Temari recently had a child of their own, and Ino and Sai were to be married in a little over a month's time.
Yes... It seemed her friends were moving forward in their lives, while she threw herself into her work. It was all she really could do at this point. She promised Sasuke she'd wait, and he was holding her to that promise. It was just becoming more and more irritating that he rarely paid her any attention these days.
He had been back for a few days to restock and rest before leaving again on his "Journey of Redemption" as Naruto called it, and she still had yet to see him.
Sakura unlocked her apartment door and blinked a few times when a nice aroma hit her. Someone had been cooking in her kitchen.
The medic nin warily put her backpack down after removing her shoes in the doorway before making her way into the room. A light was left on, and she knew it wasn't one she forgot to turn off before leaving for work.
The first thing Sakura saw was a steaming meal next to a hot cup of tea, then she looked to the man that was casually sitting in another seat, sipping on a cup of tea of his own.
"You know the last time I checked, breaking and entering was a crime." Sakura sighed as she took the place that was set for her.
He gave her a smirk. "I don't hear you screaming, and since you haven't thrown any punches, I'm taking it that you don't care that I'm here."
Sakura gave him a small smile. "You know you're always welcome here. I just wish you would stay longer than a week at a time."
His dark eyes met with her green ones. "You know I can't. There's too much I still need to do before returning indefinitely."
Sakura looked down at her food. "Did you make this?"
He nodded.
"Thank you."
She sat and ate in front of him in silence, trying to think of how to bring up what was on her mind. He could tell something was up. She wasn't as animated around him as she normally was.
Sakura laid her chopsticks down and hummed at the pleasant feeling of being full from home cooked food.
"Kakashi-Sensei assigned me to a new mission."
"Ah."
"A few days ago, one of the gate guards came across a woman in labor. She was out of her mind, and still is." Sakura explained. "Kakashi-Sensei wants me to look after her and the child. She's going to be in the psychiatric unit until she's lucid and can speak. I have to bring the baby home with me."
She watched his face, seeing the same confusion she had in why she was assigned to babysit.
Sakura took a deep breath. "There's something you need to know..."
She swallowed hard, knowing that he was waiting for an answer. "Sasuke, the baby has Uchiha blood."