Konan: Kitty-san does not own Naruto.
Chapter 3
Beep . . . Beep . . . Beep . . .
Sakura reached out to shut of her alarm, but found that her arm was caught by something. She groaned in discomfort.
Damn that stupid alarm . . . she thought to herself, furrowing her brows in frustration.
You're an idiot, Inner sniggered.
I am not. Why would you say that? Sakura whined angrily.
Think about it: Do you remember coming home last night? Inner asked. Sakura thought about it.
Beep . . . Beep . . . Beep . . . Beep . . .
Suddenly, flashes of what happened while she was at work crowded her brain, the images and feelings racing faster and faster under her eyelids in pace with each beep from the heart monitor that rang in her ears. She heard a shriek, a guttural sound that chilled her to the very bone. It only took a second to realize that she was the one screaming, the one letting out that loud blood-curdling shriek.
"Make it stop!" she yelled, the words clawing at her throat on their way out. By this time, a few nurses and a doctor had rushed into the room to see what was going on.
"Make what stop, dear?" one of the nurses asked frantically.
"Tell us, so we can make it stop," another demanded.
"You think it might be post trauma?" she could hear another nurse ask from somewhere else in the room.
"Make it go away! The noise! It hurts!" Sakura shrieked, tears spilling out of her tightly closed eyes.
Suddenly, the beeping stopped, the images faded away, and the pain disappeared. She sighed in relief as she faded back into the black.
~(^-^)~
When Sakura woke up again, she was completely and utterly confused. She had no idea where she was. She wasn't in her room she knew that for sure.
Where am I? she thought to herself.
You're in the hospital, dumb ass, Inner grumbled tiredly, seeming to have gotten up earlier than she had wanted.
Then why is everything so quiet? I mean shouldn't there be some kind of humming or beeping from the machines? she asked.
You freaked out the last time you woke up because of the noise from the heart monitor. Once you were put to sleep, they made sure to mute everything in your room. They didn't want to take any more chances of you losing it. Once you were discharged, they came in here immediately and took out all of the machines. You're free to go whenever they get back,' Inner explained helpfully.
Sakura nodded and sat up in her bed. She sat there for a while, waiting for someone to come and tell her it was okay for her to leave. When it looked like no one would be coming in for a long time, she sighed and pressed the 'call' button on the remote sitting on the nightstand next to her bed.
"Yes?" a timid voice answered.
"I would like to leave now," Sakura answered, her voice sounded hoarse and her throat hurt terribly.
"The doctor will be there in a moment to escort you out," the nurse replied, sounding relieved.
Why a doctor? Wouldn't that usually be a nurse's job? Sakura thought to herself.
It wasn't long before a doctor hurried into the room, a man in a suit following close behind her. Sakura observed the business-looking man quickly before looking at her hands in her lap. The man was taller than the doctor, being male and all. He had dark skin with a scar across his nose, had dark brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, and plain brown eyes that blended in with the rest of his features.
He's nothing special . . . Inner mumbled, sad that the doctor was female and that the businessman—probably a social worker or a policeman—wasn't cute either.
"Miss Haruno, this man would like to ask you a few questions before you leave," the doctor said cautiously, brushing some of her short back locks out of her onyx eyes. Sakura sat in the bed, not moving, not saying anything. The man cleared his throat.
"Miss, Haruno, last night—we need to know—what happened to you?" he demanded.
Sakura said nothing . . .
"Is there anything at all that you remembered from what happened?" he tried a new approach since the last one failed.
Still nothing . . .
"Who did this to you? The cameras were down; do you know who did this?" he asked, starting to get a little irritated.
Nothing . . .
"Is there anything you'll say that will help us find the culprit," he tried again in a final attempt.
. . .
"You're not protecting yourself by keeping quiet," he sighed, giving up. Fishing into a pocket on the inside of his jacket, he pulled out a small white card and held it out to Sakura.
"Here's my card. If you have any questions or remember anything about the attack, or if you just want to talk, please don't hesitate to call," he sighed, then, turning to the doctor, he nodded his head and left.
The doctor gave Sakura a quick check-up before handing her a pair of fresh hospital scrubs—her clothes had been ruined—and telling her she could leave when she had changed.
It was already dark when Sakura started walking toward the nearest bus stop—that meant it could've been any time after six. She walked slowly and quietly, picking at her new bandages. The events of her attack dredged up memories from her past.
"You'll always be a freak. Pink hair . . . humph!"
Mom . . .
"You're not my daughter. How can you be? You look nothing like me."
Dad . . .
Tears threatened to spill over.
You're never going to be happy if you don't learn to let go of the past, Inner's voice snatched her from her thoughts. The dam broke, and her tears spilled down her cheeks. She sat down on the nearest bench next to the sidewalk she was walking on and cried.
Come on. Quit crying you baby. You need to toughen up; don't let those bastards bring you down, Inner replied, cheering Sakura up a little.
Thanks, Inner . . . Sakura sniffled, pausing momentarily, You know, for once I'm actually glad that I have you . . .
Right . . . Now get your ass moving, I'm starving, she whined, and Sakura rolled her eyes and chuckled quietly.
You know, if people catch you like this, they might think you're crazy.
They already think I'm a freak, what else can they call that can be any worse?
Well . . .—
Never mind. I don't want to know.
Sakura sighed, standing up and making her way to the nearest bus stop.
~(^-^)~
Sakura could tell it was really late when she made it home. The bus had taken longer than she had expected. When she reached the door she spied a note taped just below the knocker.
'Sakura . . . Brought you your work . . . Sasori,' it read. Sakura paused.
"That jerk! He could've asked how I was or something else stupid like that! Ugh!" she screamed, crumpling up the paper and shoving it in her pocket. She looked around for her work, spying a manila envelope lying at her feet. Suspecting that that was her work, she picked it up and went inside.
Man, I need a shower . . . she muttered, tossing the envelop onto her couch and making her way to the back of the apartment to her bathroom.
After a quick shower, she was fully dressed and climbing into bed. She was just about to fall asleep when she remembered Sasori's note.
Wait . . . Work? her eyes snapped open. How could I have that much work? I was probably only out of school for one day.
She hopped out of bed and ran upstairs to check the clock on her stove. The small green digital letters said: Sun 10:38 P.M.
Sunday? That means I missed all of Friday, she thought to herself.
Well, you did lose a lot of blood. To regenerate would take at least a few hours, Inner supplied, And then you freaked, so they gave you enough anesthetic to keep you asleep for a while so you could rest.
Sakura's mind was in total chaos. She fell into the nearest chair, trying to sort everything out.
School starts tomorrow . . . How am I supposed to finish all that work? she cried. I need to go get started!
She jumped up and rushed downstairs.
'Yea-Wait! What?' Inner shouted. 'NOOO!'
Sakura returned to her room, grabbed the manila packet, and with a gulp slid all the papers out. On top of the stack of eight papers was a sticky note.
'Just copy the work. I did it for you. You're a bright kid; you should be able to understand it. S,' it read.
Sakura smiled and Inner heaved a big sigh of relief.
'Next time you see him, tell him I love him,' Inner cried. Sakura giggled and blushed slightly.
For the next hour Sakura looked over all the notes and copied answers onto the worksheets given to her.
'Sasori is actually really nice,' Sakura declared tiredly.
'Either that, or he's a stalker,' Inner giggled, now at the point of exhaustion to which she became even more delirious then she was to begin with.
'Don't say that . . .' Sakura trailed off, placing all of her notes and papers in the correct binders and turning off her lamp on her nightstand. She snuggled under the blanket, smiling softly as she drifted off to sleep.