To love and to Love Again Chapter 3: Sasuke and Sakura

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER AND AUTHORS NOTE: I do NOT own Naruto. The awesomeness of the Naruto Manga and World is the creation of Masashi Kishimoto. This is Purely Fanfiction. All things Medical in this entire fanfiction should not be taken as serious medical advice or facts. PLEASE CONSULT AN ACTUAL DOCTOR FOR ANY MEDICAL INFORMATION/QUESTIONS. THANK YOU AND ENJOY!


Her heart was pounding so hard she swore she could hear it. There, sitting in the big leather chair right in front of her, was a man that looked eerily similar to Sai.

It was like seeing a ghost. Almost the same face, eyes, hair color and skin tone. If she didn't know any better, she would say that Sasuke and Sai could have been brothers. He was sitting at his desk and clicking something on his computer.

He heard her gasp and turned to look at her. He had almost the same reaction. The first thing that stood out aside from her pink hair was her eyes. They were the exact same shade of green as Suki. He slowly got up from his chair and made his way toward her.

She watched him come closer and couldn't breathe. She needed to snap out of it. "This man is not Sai! Sai died and he's never coming back. This man is not Sai!"she chanted to herself. She quickly recovered from her mental battle when she noticed that Sasuke was now standing right in front of her and staring at her just as much as she was staring at him. It was like he was trying to recognize her as well.

They studied each other for about ten long seconds before Sasuke finally decided to speak up. It got awkward quickly and there was so much tension in the air.

"You must be Dr. Haruno. I'm Sasuke Uchiha," he introduced as he continued to study her face. She fidgeted a bit before speaking up as well.

"Yes I'm Sakura Haruno," she confirmed. "Nice to meet you," she added as she shifted a bit. The stilettos were starting to get to her or maybe it was just his presence. "Not Sai, but he's just so similar. Focus here! Don't freak out!" she thought to herself as she tried to find her center.

"Let's get started then," he suggested as he walked back over to his desk. He motioned for her to sit down and reached for a file.

Sakura took a look around his office to distract her mind for a bit. It was huge, like everything else in the hospital. Two sides of the office were made up thick floor-to-ceiling glass, giving you a spectacular view of the city. There was a bookshelf that lined most of the third wall. On closer inspection, you could see that it was filled with encyclopedias, medical dictionaries, binders and binders of hospital codes and laws as well as some books on hospital ethics and business. There was another door next to the library that appeared to hold a private bathroom behind it. There was also a rather comfortable looking couch next to the double door. A few potted trees stood next to each door.

His desk was another thing. It was entirely black and had a sort of curved build. A computer, fax machine, intercom, telephone and a few picture frames that Sakura couldn't see because they were facing the other way sat on top.

While he was shuffling through the file, Sakura took the opportunity to study his face again. Now that she wasn't so flustered, she noticed that although the resemblance was great, there were a few things that were unique about Sasuke. For one thing, his hair stood up in the back reminding her of the backside of a chicken. She had to stifle a laugh at this. He had a strong build by the looks of it. Not too muscular but not thin either. He was at least a head taller than her and had an air of importance around him that was a mix of strength, business, and oddly enough, a bit of protectiveness.

He didn't look like the type to smile either. He looked like a smirker, or the arrogant smiler as Sakura liked to put it. He stopped shuffling through the file and turned to face her.

"From what I've read in your file, you'd be quite a benefit to our hospital," he began. "Your record is impressive and your references speak for themselves. Dr. Tsunade Senju is an automatic acceptance to me. She only takes the best of the best under her wing. What I'm curious about is how you managed to pull off skipping almost four years of medical school," he stated as he leaned forward and lacing his fingers together. He maintained eye contact with her the entire time he spoke to her.

Sakura leaned back on reflex, as if her personal space was being invaded even though Sasuke was at least three feet away. His eyes—as she just now noticed—were completely black. They were mysterious and calculating as if they were passing judgment on her. "Definitely not like Sai"she thought as she sat up straighter and began to explain.

"After high school I immediately enrolled in University studying medicine of course. At the same time, I proceeded to enroll at the Kyoto Institute of Diagnostic Research and Development. Believe me when I say it wasn't easy but I persevered," she chuckled. He just nodded indicating that he was following along.

"I graduated a little over two years later and got my degree in Biological Sciences. After I graduated I got married. I still had one year left of Residency when I found out I was expecting a child. So I finished my course, got my degree in Medicine and then I had my son," she finished.

Sasuke was impressed, and he never would have thought she was a parent on top of it all. He smirked.

Sakura reigned in her own smirk. "Somehow I knew he was a smirker,"she thought to herself.

"That's quite an accomplishment to achieve at such an age. Your specialty is in OB/GYN and Pediatrics. What made you choose those fields? From what I know, you've worked on several subjects. Why these two?" he asked with special interest as he went through her files again.

Sakura was quiet for a while. That question really did strike a soft spot in her and she knew exactly what she would tell him.

"I've studied everything I could in school, but nothing motivated me more than Obstetrics. My mother died giving birth to me. Her body couldn't handle the stress. So I dedicated my life to helping every expectant mom that I could. I know how hard it is to grow up without a mother. I just want to prevent that from happening to others. No child should be without a mother, and after I had my son I also took an interest in pediatrics," she explained with a softness that wasn't lost on him.

Now it was Sasuke who was quiet. Although he never loved Aya, he wished that there were something that could have been done to save her. Because of that, Suki had to be raised without her and Sasuke could only do so much himself. He looked up at the new doctor. Her eyes were somewhat downcast but as she looked up, Sasuke let his gaze wander from her, to the picture that was right in front of him of Suki as a baby. He couldn't help but think that their eyes are exactly the same. Her answer seemed to be all that Sasuke needed to hear.

"…You're right. No child should ever be without a mother," he agreed. "And if you're the miracle worker that this file says you are then welcome to Konoha Medical," he said as he stood up and extended his hand to her.

She smiled then. "Thank you. I look forward to working here," she returned as she took his hand. His hand made hers look small and weak. It practically swallowed her palm. His handshake was firm but gentle.

Sasuke couldn't help but take note of the softness of her hands as they broke the contact. He sat back down and thought about her references: Dr. Tsunade Senju as well as Neji and Tenten Hyuga. "So you're acquainted with a few of our staff; Neji and Tenten Hyuga to be exact. How exactly do you know them?"

"Tenten and I went to high school and university together," she replied. "We were roommates. We kept in touch over the years and I would visit Neji and Tenten occasionally. They're my son's godparents after all."

"You mentioned that you have a son. How old is he?"

"His name is Sora and he just turned five last month. Today is his first day at Konoha Leaf Academy," she answered, smiling as she remembered the light of her life and the accident-free morning they had.

"My daughter Suki attends that school as well. She'll be five this coming October," he shared as he tried to stop the smile that was making its presence known. As far as they were concerned, the meeting was over. Yet somehow he found himself wanting to talk to her.

"Oh so you have a daughter? I'll bet she looks just like you," she stated confidently.

Sasuke smirked. "What makes you say that?" It was true that Suki did look like him, but there must have been a reason why Sakura was so sure.

"I am Obstetrician, and Genetics was one of my favorite subjects. You have very defined and dominant traits that have a high probability of being passed on to your children. So let me guess, Suki has dark hair, your nose and lips and maybe even your eyes right?" she asked as she studied his face some more.

"Close," Sasuke answered as he reached back toward his desk to take one of the picture frames out. He brought it back to Sakura and showed her. Sakura took the picture and smiled.

"Ohhhhh she's precious and she really does look like you. Oh wait, except the eyes. She has beautiful eyes. Her mother's I assume?"

He simply nodded. "That's all she has left of her mother. She also died in childbirth."

This made Sakura look up at him. "His wife died? Now that I think about it I didn't see a wedding ring on him. I must have brought up bad memories," she thought. Her face softened and she gave him an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry about your wife. It must have been hard to raise your daughter without her," she said gently as she handed the picture back to him. Sasuke placed it back on his desk before turning to her again.

"I had help from my family. We managed to get though. Suki's doing fine," he replied.

"Well I only wish my son could take care of himself," she admitted with a smile. "He's the most accident-prone child I know. A cut here, bruise there, toothbrushes stuck in places they just weren't meant to be…" she drawled with a chuckle. "The boy is just as reckless as his father."

At the mention of her son's father, Sasuke wondered how he didn't notice it before. Her hand held no wedding ring. He vaguely recalled her saying she was married, though he wasn't about to press the matter.

"I see. Well if you don't have any more questions then we're all set. Just sign these documents here and you're done."

Sakura signed the papers and handed them back to Sasuke.

"You'll be getting your new scrubs from HR on the first floor. We'll also have a white coat ordered for you with our logo on it. You can also talk to Hinata in the Nursing Department about your schedule. You'll be starting tomorrow," he informed.

"Thank you, I'll see to these right away," she said as she stood up from her seat and extended her hand. "It was nice meeting you Mr. Uchiha."

"Sasuke," he corrected, surprising even himself as he took her hand. "You can call me Sasuke. And it was nice meeting you as well Dr. Haruno."

"You can call me Sakura," she returned with a smile. He had a strange feeling come over him when she smiled. It brightened up those green eyes. Getting back to reality, Sasuke smirked while they broke the handshake.

"I'll see you tomorrow to check up on things. The OB clinic tends to get busy around this time of the year. Can you handle it?" he challenged.

She, for once in her life, smirked at him before saying "To that I say, bring it on."

She turned and left his office. She didn't see the smirk that made its way on his face as she left.


After she left his office, Sakura got into the elevator and pushed the button for the ground floor. It was almost noon and she thought it would be better to get some lunch first and roam around for a bit to get used to the settings. The elevator was at the eighth floor when it came to a stop. As the doors opened she was surprised to see her friend Tenten walk right in holding a chart.

"Tenten!" she shouted as the doors closed. Tenten looked up in surprise before smiling.

"Sakura? Hey, what are you doing here?" she asked as she pulled Sakura into a hug. She wore a pair of dark blue scrubs and a white lab coat with her named sewed on the pocket. She had big brown eyes and her hair tied up in two buns. "Your interview was today?"

"Yeah I just finished. I was just going to go grab some lunch and then get my scrubs and stuff. I miss wearing scrubs and these damn shoes are killing my feet," she whined as the elevator stared to go down again.

Tenten chuckled. "Yeah well, at least it's only for today. So anyway, why didn't you call me and let me know you were coming? You never call anymore," she accused.

"Sorry, I guess in all the excitement I kind of got distracted. Plus Sora took up most of my time, what with his new school and moving here. I just didn't think about it," she admitted sheepishly.

Tenten's face lit up at the mention of her precious Godchild. She and Neji didn't plan on having kids so soon into their marriage. Ever since Sora was born and they were named Godparents, they decided that they could still experience the joy of a baby though their godchild, whom they loved to bits.

"Oh how is my godson doing anyway? Its' been over a year since I've seen him. Did he join a sport yet? He should try out for Soccer like I did, he'll totally kick ass. After all, he's bound to inherit your insane strength," she teased.

Back in the day, Sakura was notorious for beating the shit out of people that annoyed her. She kind of made a reputation for herself for having a split personality. One minute she's your friend, the next minute she'll have you on the ground in tears. Her victims mostly consisted of guys who—after being rejected for a date—would just not take no for an answer.

"Sora's doing great," Sakura replied. "He started Konoha Leaf Academy today. I just hope he doesn't get himself into any trouble. You know how he is."

"That I do. Hey since you're here do you want to grab some lunch with me? I'm on my break right now."

"Yes please! I'm starving. Is the cafeteria food good here or should I not even bother?"

"The one great thing about Konoha Medical is that we're not cheap," Tenten answered. "The food's great at the cafeteria so let's give that a try."

The elevator stopped again at the fourth floor. As the doors opened the Physical Therapist from before, Naruto, walked in while trying to balance a large stack of files in his hands.

"Hey Naruto, paper work catch up to you again?" Tenten asked knowingly as she watched him struggling to balance the weight of the stack.

"Obviously," he growled. "Why do I have to do this junk? I don't have time to fill out useless release papers. Seriously I think they just hate me," he whined while he let the stack balance themselves on the bar in the elevators. He turned around and was surprised to see Sakura there.

"Oh hey Sakura, how'd your interview with Teme go?" he asked.

Tenten looked between them curiously. "You two have met?"

"I met Naruto this morning on the way to the interview. Nice to see you again Naruto," she said while smiling at him. "And I still don't get why you refer to Sasuke so rudely. He was really nice. And he has the cutest little girl I've ever seen," she added as she rummaged through her purse.

"Oh so you've seen my goddaughter Suki? She's the cutest thing ever isn't she?" he asked while trying to balance the files as the elevator came to a stop on the first floor. The doors opened and the three of them stepped out.

"Do you want to come to lunch with me and Sakura?" Tenten asked Naruto. "We were just about to go to the cafeteria."

"You know I would, but those freaking nurses gave me all these," he said indicating the files. "Sorry Sakura, I know I said we could do lunch but I'm going to have to take a rain check. Maybe tomorrow? I know this awesome place called Ichirakus that'll knock your socks off. Believe it!" he shouted enthusiastically.

Just then, the overhead pager system went off: "Physical Therapist to the Nursing station, Physical Therapist to the Nursing station" making Naruto groan.

"Awww give me a break!" he shouted to the roof.

"That's fine Naruto, we'll do lunch tomorrow," Sakura promised. "I understand that you have a lot of work to do."

"He wouldn't if he didn't put it off till the last minute," Tenten reprimanded with an exasperated sigh.

After Naruto left, Sakura and Tenten walked into the cafeteria, or rather, the in-house restaurant. It was too good to be a cafeteria. There was a production line where you could have anything you wanted grilled on the spot and a salad bar with a build your own sandwich line. There were also ready-made dishes, a huge coffee machine and snack bar. They each ordered a Cesar salad with chicken and two iced teas.

They chose seats next to the window overlooking the traffic from the outside.

"So, how's life?" Tenten asked as they got settled.

Sakura shrugged. "I guess it's good. Sora's a handful as usual but other than that everything's fine. I'm fine Tenten. I know you worry about me but you don't have to. It was three years ago and I've moved on."

Tenten sighed. Sakura was always very sharp. She saw right though Tenten's attempt to get to bigger issues.

"Are you sure? You haven't been calling as much and I haven't seen you or Sora in over a year. It wasn't like that before so I'm going to ask you again: how are you really?" she pleaded.

"I'm fine Tenten. I'm okay and Sora… he was so young when it happened. I'm pretty sure he'll never remember his father and that breaks my heart but I will always make sure that he knew what a great person Sai was," she vowed.

"Well that's good and everything but what about you? Have you ever thought about... moving on?" Tenten asked hesitantly.

Sakura looked down at her salad and sighed. "…I don't know Tenten. I honestly don't know and today of all days is the wrong day to even be thinking about this," she said as she stabbed a piece of chicken in her salad. That statement seemed to confuse Tenten.

"And why is today not a good day to be discussing this?" she pressed. Tenten was worried about Sakura. She was never the same after Sai died and that was to be expected. But it's been three years and Sora's growing up fast. He was going to need a father and Sakura was going to need someone by her side.

Tenten would give Sakura credit for being a single mom and a doctor at the same time, but there was only so much a person could do. She was going to need someone to be there for her when she needed support.

"…Well I don't really know how to explain it. Today when I walked into Sasuke's office… I thought he was Sai," she confessed.

Tenten waited a beat before saying "What? What do you mean you thought he was Sai?"

"They just look so similar… and I can't believe you didn't notice it before. Think about it Tenten. Put Sai's picture right next to Sasuke and what do you see? A striking resemblance that's what," she concluded before taking a sip from her iced tea.

"So what does this mean? Sasuke look similar to Sai and you can't move on why? Sakura…," Tenten began as she placed her hand over Sakura's. "I understand that you loved Sai. I really do. But you have to move on eventually and you have to stop using every excuse you can to avoid the subject. Think about Sora. He's going to need a father figure as he gets older. And do you really want to spend the rest of your life alone?"

"No of course I don't… and I want Sora to have a father I really do but still I just can't. The idea of loving anyone else but Sai is just so… I don't know. All I know is that I'm just not putting that on the front of my mind for now. Sora is all that matters to me right now," she declared as she looked at her hands on her lap, particularly her ring finger.

After Sai died, she just couldn't wear her wedding ring anymore. Without Sai, it was too difficult to see it and then be reminded that the man that gave it to her was no longer with her. She placed her wedding ring in a small velvet box and stored it away. She wanted to save it for Sora to give to a girl when he was ready to get married.

But Tenten was right though. Sora was going to need a strong male influence in his life. Someone to play sports with, and to teach him how to drive, talk about guy stuff, and just someone to do all the things a father was supposed to do for a son. Was she being selfish? Was she depriving Sora of the opportunity to have a father at a time in his life when a father is needed the most? Was she forcing him to live with only a memory for a father? Sora was barely two years old when Sai died. He would never really remember him and it wasn't fair to make him live with a ghost.

Sakura sighed. She fell in love once and he was the only love of her life. How could she possibly do that again? No one can ever replace Sai. But she knew that at some point, Sora was going to need a father, and it was up to her to see that that happens.

The trouble is that it's just too hard to find true love… and it's near impossible to find it a second time around.