Before I get yelled at, I know that the substance Sakura used on Kunkoro wasn't water, but for the life of me I don't know it by name...so she is using water.
Cherry Blossoms:
A Shadow in the Mind
Chapter Four: Wake Up Call
Sakura stood outside of the manor before her. It was three stories tall and had a traditional look to it. There were wild flowers all over and birds sang as they danced with each other in the sky. The manor looked welcoming and friendly, despite the country it presided in.
She looked down at herself and adjusted her black mini dress. There were slits on her sides that reached her hips and a circle on her chest that resembled her family crest and revealed a generous amount of cleavage. The sleeves were loose and hung off her shoulders, black mesh was set into random parts of her body; on the top part of her left arm, her right forearm, and her entire right leg. She still wore her cloth mask to cover a majority of her face and neck. Her hair was just lazily put in the same style she always wore it in, a messy bun with four red and black hair sticks holding it in place.
A servant walked by and looked at her suspiciously, but kept walking by.
Well, I suppose, Sakura thought as she walked up the stone path and put on her professional face.
She hadn't even made it to the stairs when she heard a loud crash followed by shouting from somewhere inside. Sakura ran in to the manor and bolted into the direction the noise came from, not paying attention to the startled stares from the servants or the exotic wall art. There was another loud crash as Sakura stood outside of the room; without hesitation, Sakura slid the door to the side and entered the room.
There must have been eight servants standing in the room, holding down a man who was thrashing violently and groaning from pain. In the corner were unconscious men, bruises marring their faces and blood freely flowing from their noses.
Sakura crossed the room to the bed and dropped her pack. She pulled out her flashlight and pushed her way to the man on the bed. Whatever Sakura was ready for, it certainly wasn't this; on the bed was man with short dull black hair and paling skin, his eyes were squeezed shut and blood trailed down his face. His lips were swollen and held a blue tint under the dried blood that was encrusted to them.
Sakura placed a hand on his forehead, he was burning up.
"Hold him down," she commanded as he jerked away from her touch.
She placed her head to his chest and listened to his ragged breaths and racing heart beat. Sakura smirked; he was drenched in a cold sweat with a high fever and violent seizures – he was poisoned.
Sakura straightened and set on her calm face before turning to the servants.
"Get me a large bowl, some rags, and some water." She barked out. "I'll also need four of you to hold him down, this won't be pleasant for him."
The servants scattered while Sakura cleared the table next to the bed and emptied her bag of her medical scrolls, mortar and pestle, and herbs. She began mixing herbs with water and it aside to heat with a weakened flame jutsu that emitted from blowing through her fingers after making a series of hand signs.
One of the servants returned with a bowl full of warm water. Sakura motioned for him to set it on the table before her, next to an empty glass.
Sticking a hand in the bowl, Sakura focused her chakra around a small amount of the liquid to create a sphere above her palm.
"Ok, keep him still." Sakura lowered the sphere to her patient's chest and forced it into his body; doing to him what she had done to save Kunkoro all those years ago. Instantly, the man began twisting and thrashing, but Sakura ignored him while she surrounded his heart with the water and withdrew a majority of the poison. She stretched the water throughout his body and slowly began tugging at the toxin, removing the worst of it and pushing it out of his skin. At the same time, she carefully pulled out the sphere of water from his body, a swirling dark green substance in the center of it.
Gasps filled the room like a tremor as she moved the sphere to the empty glass and allowed the toxin to dip into the glass. Afterwards, she dropped the water back in bowl and turned back to her patient who was breathing heavily and his eyes fluttered. Drawing chakra to her hands, making them glow a brilliant green, she searched his body for any series damage that could have been done to him. After a few moments, she had healed the torn tissue, but as she moved lower, shock struck her.
"What the…" She began saying, but wasted no time fusing her chakra into his stomach.
Glass…her breath caught. As little poison as there was in his system. I had no idea anyone would ever put glass in it…
Slowly, the powdered glass began to disintegrate, once it was all gone, she healed the damage in his stomach and intestines. Sighing heavily, she soaked the rag in the water and cleaned off all of the remaining poison and blood from his exposed skin. Sakura furrowed her brow as she looked at her patient while she whipped his skin clean; he seemed so familiar to her…
Murmurs of surprise filled the room as the patient's breath slowed to an even pace and his body relaxed.
Sakura smirked through her mask and turned her attention back to the antidote. She took a dropper, sucked up a little bit of the antidote, took another dropper and sucked up that substance as well. She then dropped the toxin in the circle of a medical scroll and followed that with a drop of the antidote and let out a small squeak as it disappeared into a puff of smoke. Turning to her patient, vial in hand, she lifted his head and eased the liquid into his mouth, using her chakra to guide it down into his stomach and let it do it's job. Carefully setting his head back down, she looked at his face and held her breath as she caught his intense gaze before he closed his eyes.
Those…eyes…she thought, stunned.
Everyone stared at her in awe, completely impressed with her. A wave of applause broke out, causing Sakura to smile weakly as she swayed slightly. She was exhausted from the amount of chakra she had lost.
"You must be Dr. Haruno," an elderly man entered the room. "I'm pleased that you have saved my son, Ita."
Sakura looked at the frail old man; his skin was aged, wrinkled from his days and his long gray hair was tied back into a long braid that reached the middle of his back. He wore a long white robe with a red sash across his chest and a strange gold symbol that resembled a knot was embroidered on his sleeves. She noted that he walked with a limp as he came closer to inspect his son and his breathing was shallow.
"I'm Lord Takagashi," he smirked. 'I hadn't expected you to be so…"
"Young?" She offered, placing a hand on her hip and leaning into it.
"Beautiful." The old man chuckled at her shock. "I always thought kinoichi were suppose to be rather masculine and marred with scars; then again, I guess that's why you wear that silly mask."
Sakura furrowed her brow at the old man, but said nothing.
Takagashi wiped away an invisible tear and shook his head. "Nearly a century to my life and I've still got it." Seriousness gripped him and his body stiffened. "If you'll follow me, I can give you information on Ita."
Sakura followed him out of the room and into the well-decorated hall.
"He's been sick for so long." Takagashi muttered to himself. "We had medics from about every village to try and heal him, but to no anvil. May I ask, what was he ill with?"
Sakura sighed. "He was heavily poisoned. There wasn't much of the toxin, but it was glass based and it tore apart his internal organs, which I already healed over before giving him the antidote. Forgive me for intruding, but would you happen to have any enemies?"
Takagashi stopped before a dark mahogany door and let out a shaky breath as he opened the door. Inside was a small study with a wooden desk to one side, bookshelves covering the walls, and a fireplace beside the only window in the room that overlooked a small garden. Once inside, Takagashi closed the door and walked over to the window.
"As a wealthy lord, I have many enemies." He spoke without taking his eyes off the window. "But Ita has many and all are powerful shinobi, like yourself."
Sakura sat silently, tensing by his every word.
He walked over to his desk, picked up his pen, and began writing while he spoke. "If you haven't recognized him yet, you will in time. Though, I must beg of you to refrain from attacking him and reporting him to your Hokage. I know he is innocent of his crime and in time, you will see it too."
Sakura's eyes narrowed at the old man. She had to bite her tongue to refrain from screaming at him. "Why would I do that?"
He looked at her straight in the eye, his pale blue eyes glittering with wisdom. "If you do not give him a chance, then I cannot give Konoha their payment and they will have to suffer more than it has. However, provided he opens up to you, you can decide to report him or not from there." He paused and continued writing, stopped to look it over before sliding it over to her. "Now, Dr. Haruno, do I have your word?"
Sakura looked at the document, it had contained everything he had just said and stated that she would not report him until she learned his story and if she did not believe it then she was allowed to do as she wished without consequence. At the bottom of the page, Lord Takagashi had signed his name, so she grabbed the pen and signed her name as well.
This has got to be the dumbest thing I have ever done, Sakura thought after handing him the contract and sitting back, a stoic look on her features.
"All right, so I won't report him," Sakura paused. "Provided he convinces me that he is innocent. In the mean time, I will need directions to the hospital here. I need to get some supplies for your son's recovery."
"Very well," Lord Takagashi stood, obviously amused by something, "I will arrange an escort for you."
Sakura stood and followed him out of his study. He pointed her into the direction of the front of the house and without glancing back; she made her way to the exit. A young man was standing at the bottom of the steps with his hands in his pockets.
The man wore all black with a white knot crest embroidered on his back. His hair was platinum blonde and held back in a loose ponytail, contrasting his dark tan skin and light green eyes.
"Dr. Haruno," he bowed, his voice was smooth and sounded a bit arrogant. "I'm Kouki, I will be your escort to the hospital."
Sakura reached his side and nodded. He led the way off Lord Takagashi's land and straight into a busy city.
Itachi groaned as he tried rolling on his side. His entire body seemed to be on fire, but not as much as it had been before she showed up.
There was a shuffling sound near the door; Itachi didn't have to open his eyes to know who it was.
"Old man," his voice was raspy and his throat raw as he spoke.
"It's probably best if you don't talk." Lord Takagashi chuckled before sitting beside the bed. "Nice to see you're finally awake. The doctor should be back soon; she had to pick up some supplies from the hospital."
Itachi sighed.
"Just looking at her, you would never guess she was a doctor." He sighed. "Pink hair, of all things."
Itachi froze, so he hadn't been dreaming. He only knew of one female ninja who was a genius with medical jutsus and had pink hair. He turned his head and glared dangerously at the old man, his vision darkening.
Takagashi laughed, not phased by Itachi's glare, and set his hand on the youth's head. "Don't fret, I made her sign a contract saying she wouldn't turn you in. You have to tell her what happened and if you convince her, you'll be fine."
Itachi still said nothing and looked at the ceiling. He heard the old man stand and walk towards the door.
"Besides," the old man's voice bled amusement, "she really is quite beautiful; she'd be breathtaking if it wasn't for that damn mask." Takagashi laughed. "If I was sixty years younger…"
Itachi groaned loudly to drown out the rest of that sentence, though he could still hear that perverted old man laughing down the hall.
Sakura raised a brow at Lord Takagashi, who was laughing like a man gone mad. He passed her with a wink and continued on his way. She pinched the bridge of her nose and adjusted the rather heavy box on her hip.
Sighing, Sakura paused before entering her patient's room. The man was still sleeping, or so it would appear; his breaths were short and even, but his chakra flared dangerously the closer she got. Ignoring his threat, she set the box on the floor and took out her stethoscope to check his vitals.
Just as she began pulling down the blanket, to expose his bare chest, a hand squeezed her wrist. Sakura met red eyes as she glanced up and soon found herself pinned to the bed, a kunai to her throat and a very deadly Uchiha on top of her in an extremely embarrassing position.
The Sharingon user's eyes narrowed, but did not dare move or speak.
Sakura leveled her breathing and kept her composure calm and professional, void of all other emotions. "Uchiha-san, if you do not remove yourself, I cannot do my job."
"I do not remember you ever wearing a mask, Haruno-sama." His voice was equally calm, but no less dangerous.
Sakura's smirk was hidden by her mask, "Uchiha-san, my appearance is the least of your worries. Now, will you please let me up before a servant walks by and gets the wrong impression?"
Sakura saw him contemplate it before removing his kunai from her throat. With more grace than she knew she had, Sakura slipped out from beneath him and stood beside the bed and adjusted her clothes. She could feel Itachi's intense glare burn her flesh as she turned around slowly.
"It's amazing you can move that quickly after being poisoned with a glass-based toxin." She lowered herself to check all of his vitals, amazed by his sudden recovery. Sakura set aside her stethoscope and took out her flashlight from her medic's pouch. "You'll gave to deactivate your Sharingon while I check your eyes."
While she spoke, Sakura's emerald eyes locked onto Itachi's heated gaze. She hid all of her emotions and allowed her courage to surface, knowing it unnerved him that she was not the least bit intimidated by him.
Sakura scowled, as he did not listen. "Please deactivate your Sharingon, Uchiha-san."
Itachi smirked as his blood red eyes faded to black.
"Thank you," Sakura mumbled in her sweetest but darkest tone.
She set to work by flashing the light in his eyes, his pupils reacted accordingly, if not a little slower than they should have. Sakura also caught a glimpse of his enhanced retinas and chakra flow.
"Fascinating," she whispered before placing her flashlight in her medic's pouch and pulled out a thermometer. "Now say 'aah'."
Itachi glared at her, but opened his mouth to allow her access. Sakura had to suppress the urge to giggle as she stuck the thermometer under his tongue before turning around to the box on the floor.
She pulled out bits of a metal stand and screwed it together. Sakura then pulled out a bag filled with yellow liquid and a long tube that was clamped at the bottom. Lastly, she pulled out a small box that contained different IV needles of various sizes; Sakura giggled at the idea of shoving the biggest needle in Itachi's arm. Deciding against it, she choose a small needle and closed the box before turning around, only to be stopped dead by a pair of red eyes blazing with…something Sakura couldn't identify.
Sakura suppressed yet another urge to fawn over an increasingly attractive, half naked Uchiha with a thermometer in his mouth as she rubbed his forearm with some cotton. A loud short series of beeps made her freeze as she remembered the thermometer; hesitantly, she turned her head and grabbed the meter without having to look him in the face.
"No fever," she sighed. "Remarkable…you heal so quickly, almost as fast as Naruto-kun."
Sakura was lost in her own thoughts, nearly driven to tears by the mere mention of her dear friend's name. Her heart wrenched painfully as she thought about how she had left, what he felt when he read her letter, what he was feeling now…
"Doctor Haruno-sama," a low, calm voice pulled her from her thoughts.
Sakura blinked several times, unaware of the single tear running down her face. "I'm sorry…"
Without a word, she set about prepping Itachi to stick the IV in him.
She positioned herself above him. "It will help if you relax, it won't hurt as much." She felt his tension ease. "Take in a deep breath—" he did "—now let it out." As he let out his breath, she carefully pierced his skin with the needle.
In the blink of an eye, Itachi had medical tape strapped to his arm, keeping in the needle that pumped fluids into his system.
With a heavy sigh, Sakura backed away from the bed and collapsed onto the ground, unconscious from exhaustion.
There is my attempt at the Uhicha's humor...wait til he finds out what's in her pocket *evil grin*. Please leave your reviews ^^