Sakura took a deep breath and looked worriedly at Naruto's front door. She really didn't want to do this.
It had taken her an hour to get up this morning. Not because she liked to sleep in (she did, but usually she forced herself to get up at dawn anyways), but because she had to build up the momentum to walk over and heal Naruto's child.
The pinkette was fine with actually healing the actual child. She liked healing people. It was the fact that she needed to see Naruto again that she was fearful about. How would the blond react to her presence?
She was aware of the fact that the love for his child would probably prevent the blond from lashing out. Heck, he might even usher out a thank you to her. So, in a sense, the medic really shouldn't have that much to worry about.
But she did worry.
Because she knew that, even if the blonde seemed alright on the outside, he would probably be seething at her on the inside. At least that was how he had acted before (except then he didn't even give her the luxury of hiding his hatred). And since Sasuke obviously hadn't changed, she didn't think that Naruto had done so either.
Her gaze turned once more to the door. Might as well get this over with. Sakura raised her first and knocked lightly on the door. Within seconds she heard someone unlocking the handle and the door slowly opened. Hinata blessed the pinkette with a warm smile. "Sakura, thank you so much for coming." Naurto's wife never really had much issue with Sakura, however, she always had to hide this whenever her husband around. The blond got angry whenever he saw someone treating the pinkette kindly.
Sakura smiled. "You're welcome." She wanted to add 'even though I didn't have a choice' but her friendship with Hinata prevented her from doing this.
"Come in." Hinata insisted, opening the door wider and moving aside to make from for the other woman. Sakura walked inside the house.
It was a lot nicer and neater than the medic expected it to be considering the fact that it was Naruto's home. But then again, Hinata also lived here. The Hyugas probably didn't want any member of their clan to be living in a pig sty (which was what Naruto's old home looked like).
As they walked into one of the hallways Hinata told Sakura. "Oh, I'm sorry but Naruto isn't here right now. He's...doing things around the village today."
Ok, Sakura was now in a worse mood. She had to travel here from Mist and face people who constantly treat her like crap just to heal Naruto's baby and Naruto didn't even have the decency to show up? Why that little douche bag.
The medic could see why he did it. After all she wasn't really excited to see him either. Still, they were going to face each other eventually, so he might as well show up and act like he was at least a little appreciative for her saving his kid's life.
Despite her new anger, the pinkette tried to appear calm to Hinata. After all, it wasn't her fault Naruto decided to leave. Sakura simply nodded. "I see."
The pair was silent until they came into a large room. At first glance Sakura decided that it was a nursery. And when she saw a smile child in a crib, the medic knew that she was correct. "Her name is Lorita." Hinata told her. The little girl was beautiful. Already she was gifted with a mane of blond hair and Hinata's button nose. Sakura knew that the child would grow up to be a very pretty girl.
However, the baby also looked extremely fragile and sick. Her breathing was slowed and ragged, it was quite thin and its skin appeared almost paper thin and stark white. Sakura was almost scared as she slowly reached out and touched it. As she examined the child she did it in the lightest and most careful way possible.
The medic had decided earlier on that for her first day she wouldn't do much healing, just any essential work. For the most part she'd just be running tests to learn more about the health of the child.
One hour later she was just about finished with her tests. There were a few things that she wasn't sure of that she would ask Tsunade about later. However, for the most part she was able to see the problem and the affects it was having on the child. She also cleared up the baby's lungs so that it could breathe a bit easier.
Sakura smiled up at Hinata. "Alright I think I'm finished for the day, I just need to talk with Tsunade later about a few things."
Hinata nodded. "Thank you so much for your help Sakura. It means a lot to me."
"Well at least it means something to one of you." The pinkette mumbled under her breath, thinking about Naruto.
"What was that?" Hinata asked.
Sakura shook her head. "Nothing. Anyways I think I'll head home now."
"I'll see you to the door." The two walked in silence until they went to the entryway of the house. "Thanks again Sakura." Hinata told her as she opened the door for the pinkette.
"You're welcome. Have a nice day." Sakura replied as she left. I wish that you would be this happy when Naruto was here.
Sakura decided that she might as well go and talk to Tsunade about those problems now (partly because she was interested in her old mentor's thoughts about them, partly because she didn't really have anything else to do that day). She started on the way familiar path towards the Hokage building.
There were two roads she could take to get to the building. One was through the marketplace; the other was a back road. Since the pinkette wasn't planning on talking to anyone and she highly doubted that anyone was going to talk with her, she chose the latter. Unfortunately, that meant that she had to pass by the training grounds. So she planned to walk quickly pass that area in case any of her old comrades happened to be there.
Little did she know that was going to happening that she wasn't planning on. She was speed walking past the grounds, trying to get away from them as quickly as possible when she heard a familiar sound. "Is that all you got Sasuke?" It was Naruto's voice.
Sakura whipped around to see Naruto happily training with Sasuke. Her eyes went wide and before she registered what she was doing she ran away from the scene.
Once she was a large distance away from the pair she sat down on the sidewalk. How could Naruto be so friendly with Sasuke when he was so hostile to her? After how the blond treated her, she was sure that he would have treated Sasuke the same way. Apparently she was wrong. Despite all the anguish, all the pain that the Uchiha put both her and Naruto through, Naruto was willing to be friends with him again while he wouldn't even see her when she healed his child.
Suddenly she wasn't in the mood to see Tsunade. All she wanted to do was to go back to her house. So that's what she did. In fact she bolted her way back to the safe haven.
The pinkette ran up to her room as soon as she entered the house and screamed into the nearest pillow. How could Naruto forgive Sasuke and not her? Sasuke was the reason why Naruto had come to hate her and now the blond was acting like nothing ever happened, like the Uchiha had never left.
This wasn't fair! Her life was not fair. It wasn't fair that she was stuck in a village that hated her. It wasn't fair that Naruto hated her and Sasuke wouldn't help her. And it wasn't fair that a year and a half ago the pinkette had attempted to do a good deed only to become detested and despised because of it.
A sound made Sakura stop. She heard the wind. The medic lifted her head to listen to the direction of the sound, only to realize that it was coming from the front of her house. She had forgotten to shut the door. Smart.
Sakura got up off the bed and walked over to the front of her house. She reached out and was about to shut the door when something caught her eye. There was something sticking out of her mailbox. Something white. She plucked it out of the box and discovered that it was a letter.
That's odd. Why would someone send her a letter?
She flipped it over and read the back. It was from Mist. Ok, that made more sense. She was starting to think that people in Konoha were beginning to send her hate mail. As she continued reading the back she saw that it was from Hayden, a friend of hers from back home. The kind gesture brought a smile to her lips. With the letter in hand she stepped back into the house and shut the door behind her.
After opening the envelope with a letter opener she took out the letter and read its contents.
Hi Cherry,
First off, I'm really sorry I wasn't there to say goodbye when you left. Unfortunately, I was unable to finish my mission until the day after you left. So to make up for it, I will say my goodbyes now: Bye, I will miss you and will eagerly await your return.
Ok, now that that's done I do wish you luck for your mission. I know what it was like for you when you lived there before. Thinking about the way they treated you makes my blood boil. They really don't deserve someone as wonderful and caring as you.
I know that by the time you read this you'll probably have been in Konoha for at least a day. So, as much as I'd like to think that it's nice there for you and that people are being friendly, I know that it's probably the opposite. I hope that this letter brightens your day a little.
Not much has happened here since you left. Omali is pretty much living in the hospital (as usual) and Loretta and Shune have broken up (and gotten back together) for the fourth time. In other words, not much has happened since you left. In fact, it's been rather boring. So, you should hurry up and get your cute butt back over here (preferably with the rest of your body attached to it).
However, when you do come back, you should spend a little less time in the hospital. I know you love working there, and I'm not trying to be pushy. But seriously, you almost spend as much time there as Omali does. And she has her own bed there!
In closing, everyone misses you, please hurry back as soon as you can, and good luck.
Your friend (I hope anyways, after all we do spend a great deal of time together)
Hayden.
Sakura smiled once more at the letter. Suddenly her day felt a little better. Leave it to Hayden to make her feel better. She reached over for a pen and paper and began to write a letter to him.
Dear Hayden,
Thank you so much for your letter! It made a crappy day a little brighter for me. Your letter means a lot to me.
It was a little odd to see your goodbyes in the letter, but I guess it's better late than never. So, I guess I will say my farewells to you as well: I will miss you Hayden, goodbye.
As much as I'd like to say that your assumptions were wrong, you were correct. People are treating me as hostilely and badly as they did before I left. To make things worse Sasuke has returned. Now, before two days ago I would have been excited about that. A year and half ago I would have loved that. I remember how Naruto and I used to be so determined to bring him back to Konoha. If he hadn't returned, maybe we'd still be set on getting him back to Konoha. Or at least, one of us would be...
My first thought when I heard about his arrival was how he could make things better for me here (actually, that was my second thought. My first thought was how he had returned and I had heard nothing about it before. But that's beside the point). This dream was shattered when I met up with Sasuke and I found out that he feels no responsibility for me becoming an outcast. The nerve of that jerk! Ihe chances of him helping me are little to none.
Believe it or not it got worse after that. Today I began healing Hinata's and Naruto's child (oh, and by the way, because of the baby's health I unfortunately won't be back for at least a week). Naruto decided to not show up. Apparently the fact that I was saving his daughter's life was not enough reason for him to show up. But, looking back, I guess it was alright without him. I mean, we'd probably fight the entire time. And Hinata was a lot nicer then she would have been if he was around (please don't get mad at her, Naruto can be very forceful to others when he wants to be).
The check up went over well and I think I made some progress in the baby's health. As I was leaving Hinata's house I walked by the training grounds and I saw Naruto and Sasuke training together. That hurt. A lot.
So, that about finishes my rant, I'll stop complaining now.
It's funny that Lorette and Shune have broken up/gotten back together again. Those two should stop being an on and off couple and just realize that they are meant to be together. They're so cute together (even though they seem to argue quite frequently).
And I so do not go to the hospital almost as often as Omali. Well, maybe I do, but at least I try to have somewhat of a life outside of that building. Besides, what's wrong with being in the hospital all the time? I like helping people. Also the patients and other medics are grateful for it.
Thanks again for sending me the letter. I miss you too and will try to get back to Mist as soon as I can.
The Cherry, Sakura.
Sakura smiled as she sent her letter in the post office. She hoped that Hayden would reply back to it. Maybe the two could become pen pals for a few days. It would be fun, and it would make her days here a little better. And right then, that was all she really wanted.
Hey everyone. First off, I'm really sorry for not updating in a long time. I've had a lot of tests and things like that lately. Also, I've had to force a lot of this chapter (and it probably shows), so I'm sorry if this chapter isn't the greatest, hopefuly the next ones will be better.
Also, does it feel like I'm beating you guys over the head with the fact that people in Konoha hate Sakura? If so please tell me and I'll tone it down in future chapters.
Thanks for reading this, please review.