Chapter 13: Faces New and Old
It was not Sasuke who met them at the gates, as he was not currently in the village, though expected back that same day. Sakura wasn't sure what she thought of that. They were a little early – not expected until that evening, at least – so she wasn't annoyed or insulted. But Sasuke not being there meant the anxious bundle of nerves in her chest was still present, even as the ultimate confrontation with her erstwhile teammate was not upon her quite yet.
She – and the other three medics and two seal-masters with her – had been shown to a residence not far from the hospital and left to rest from their journey. They were given permission to do as they please for the time, and when Sakura asked if she could see the current state of the hospital – rooms, supplies and the like – she was surprised to learn no escort was needed. She could go at her convenience, and check on anything she found necessary. This was how, fed and bathed about two hours after their arrival, she found herself in the building she will spend most of the next few months in, moving through uninhabited rooms and scrutinizing half-stocked shelves. There was much still missing, and she couldn't help a small glare at yet another near-empty cabinet.
"We didn't have much beyond bandages and some herbs, so this has been a work in progress. The last of it should arrive by tomorrow, though." She didn't even need to turn. She recognized that emotionless voice. Had recognized it post-pubescence after three years of no contact. Compared to that, it hadn't changed much.
She was proven right when Sasuke stepped beside her with a long scroll. She watched him summon the supplies sealed in it – medicines, syringes, surgical instruments and the like – and start arranging them in the cabinet she was scrutinizing. Once finished, he turned to face her.
Sakura had been imagining this moment since she first learned this meeting would come. Both anticipating and dreading it, for weeks she has had scenarios running through her head of any possible outcome. Situations where he will be as cold to her as their last disastrous meeting, others where he will be completely professional as if they were strangers, ignore her, welcome her, or outright refuse to work with her. She had imagined herself hugging him, hitting him, screaming at him, giving him a cold shoulder – hell even her feinting was on the table. But Sakura never thought she would react quite like this. She honestly thought that she was past this.
She never expected to just start crying.
It wasn't outright sobs yet, thank god. Just tears flowing down her cheeks as her face got all scrunched up and weepy. She had no idea if they came from sadness, joy, anger, relief, confusion or a psychotic breakdown... she felt like they were all viable options. Maybe it was an amalgamation of all of them. She couldn't hear her own thoughts...
"Sakura?" His eyes were a little wide, one eyebrow raised, and the tone mildly inquiring. But she knew him. Sasuke was freaking out. For some reason, that made her giggle through the tears.
And here are the sobs. Great. Also, when did she move, exactly? Because, right now, Sakura was heaving sobs on Sasuke's shoulder, her arms wrapped around him like a vice and trapping his. But at least she was talking... yelling... mumbling... same thing.
"You selfish bastard! What the hell were you thinking? Just going away like that to run to a psycho? And when you promised me you wouldn't! You promised me... And nearly killing us! Of all the stupid, idiotic things... And what the fuck do you mean 'thank you'? Huh?! What kind of parting is that, even? The nerve... I should punch you right back to Konoha! You vanishing... self-absorbed bastard... Uchiha... asshole!"
A sigh. Then, "Been spending a lot of time with Naruto, huh?"
He didn't even have the decency to hide his mocking! Immediately, she let go and stepped away only to backhand him (gently) on the chest. "Jerk."
But she was smiling. And even though she only felt relieved at seeing it... she kinda missed that self-important smirk. She took the time to study him. The seals on the edges of his eyes, just as dark but less haunted than she remembered ever seeing them. The aristocratic face, framed by long bangs. His hair grew, but the tie clearly failed in taming it as it still stuck out wherever allowed to. He was always good looking, even as a boy, and always appeared unapproachable, but there was a slightly different air to him now. Something lighter. She had to agree with Naruto – he really did look well.
It was he who broke the silence first, much to her surprise; "It's been a while." How have you been? Her mind translated automatically, and she was relieved he appears to be closer to his 13 rather than 16 year old personality.
She beamed through drying tears. "Yeah, it has." I missed you, too.
Then, because her brain had apparently short-circuited at some point and disconnected from her mouth altogether, she stated: "I'm dating Lee."
He blinked at her non-sequitur. Then gave a single nod and said "Good."
It was her turn to blink because, sure he was never interested in her or seemed to want anything to do with her at all, they hadn't met in anything nearing amenable circumstances for a long time, and her statement itself was odd, but... still... "Good?"
"Yeah. I mean, sure he's kind of... much. But, from what I remember, he seemed like a decent guy. I don't think he'll do anything to hurt you. If he does, though, he will learn what is so special about tsukuyomi."
She blinked. "Did you just threaten my boyfriend over my virtue?"
"I figured I'm sort of obligate to."
Sakura wasn't sure what exactly her face was doing right now, but she was sure it involved a whole lot of twitching. Why you... Obligated, really? What even gives you the right? You arrogant little... If there's anyone that's hurt me... What are you, my father?! Even Naruto wasn't this much of an idiot! He was so right, that stick up your ass is clearly putting pressure on your brain! "You are like my little sister." You arrogant... Wait, what? "Sasuke-kun. I'm older." she deadpanned. Yeah, her mouth was clearly disconnected from her brain.
"Like a few months mean anything." Then, he had the audacity to roll his eyes at her! If anyone's eyes deserve to be rolling here, they are clearly not his! "You are loud, nagging, overly emotional, perpetually concerned over the smallest issues, kind, caring, violent, kind of precious and all out annoying. Therefor – little sister."
It was a confusing list of compliments and insults, and while she understood what the underlying sentiment was supposed to be... well... it wasn't the one she heard loudest. She hadn't felt this vulnerable in a long time. Not since training with Tsunade. "I know you missed the memo, but I'm not a weak little girl anymore, Sasuke-kun. I don't need you protecting me."
"I know. This was never why we protected you, anyway. With the three of us, you were the only thing around worth protecting. Regardless of your ability to protect yourself."
"Oh."
"Anyway, I can finish showing you the place. If you have any questions or there's something else you need – just tell me. We will go about acquiring it as soon as possible. There will probably be a few electronic analysis devices you will have to do without – we will not need them regularly, so for now we decided to wait on those and turn to allies in the case of emergency. Secondly, I want to consult with you at some point about medical jutsu you think are basic enough to integrate into preliminary training, if any. I also have the files of your future trainees. You can review them at your leisure if you want, see if they can handle it."
Right. This is why she was here. Professional stuff. She could focus on that, until her emotions settle. Feeling her confidence and determination coming back, she gave him a resolute nod. "Can I see the files now?"
"Sure. But it could wait for tomorrow."
"I'd rather not waste time."
"Of course. I'll drop them off in your room."
"Thank you." He turned to leave when her voice stopped him: "Sasuke-kun?" and this was his friend talking again, not the medic. "Lee has far more of a right to kick your ass."
"Heh. That's probably true. Wouldn't recommend it, though." He left, and the smallest of smiles tugged at the corners of her lips. You were right, Naruto. Definitely the same bastard.
This was her first official day in Oto, and although "classes" will not start until tomorrow it was a busy one. Throughout the morning she occupied herself with supervising the last shipment of medical supplies, arranged for further necessities to be added, improved on the layout and furnishings of some of the examination rooms and insured the classroom – as it was dubbed – was suitable for the lessons' requirements.
If she was honest, she was rather impressed with the last one. The room itself was spacious, the acoustics so fine she suspected another auditory jutsu. The students' stations were arranged in a half-circle, taking advantage of the small number of future-medics, to ensure equal ease of visibility. Each of the necessary books was not only present in multiple copies, but contained within seals etched into the wood of the tables for easy reach and storage.
Perhaps she should have been less surprised by that last one, however, as Oto seemed to be using seals a lot. From very basic ones like the containment seals, to the more complex such as the auditory genjutsu at the village entrance, and up to the unique personalized aids helping to control the adverse effects of Orochimaru's curse-seals she heard about... they were everywhere. The village almost felt like a shrine of practical knowledge, and she couldn't wait to set foot in the library since the moment she saw it and realized Naruto was not, in fact, exaggerating. She understood, now, why Konoha's own experts were sent to study here.
She had also made sure to make herself available for medical aid while the other three medics conducted personal interviews of the ten future iryo-nin. Unfortunately, she did not seem to have many patients. Or... any. Despite of having been warned of the probability of this, as well as intellectually understanding the suspicion of medics – and ones who are strangers, at that – from people whose previous closest examples of the profession were the likes of Orochimaru and Kabuto, she was still a little hurt. Sakura had dedicated her life to helping people even over being a shinobi, and the mistrust stung, especially as she knew she was probably needed by someone that just refused to reach out. Even knowing it was likely temporary, that the patients will come once they got to know her... it did not help much.
Lunch was spent in the large meadow rather than at the residence with her colleagues, catching up with Sasuke in a more relaxed setting now that the initial shock was waning. She also hoped that seeing her among them will help ease the villagers' minds as to her personality and intentions. Afterwards, she had gone over the notes from the morning's interviews, reread the information she had already gone over the previous day, and gave her final approval of her future students. A more business-oriented discussion with Sasuke, and they decided that the only iryo-nin techniques feasible for general training would be preliminary diagnostic ones, and even then as an advanced course. They also managed to finalize the list of students and the classes' timetable, as well as the teachers' and medics' rotations.
Now, in the early evening, she could finally sit in her office and wait for her first patient - her confidential patient Tsunade had talked about.
She didn't have long to wait when a knock sounded at her office' door. At her admittance, it opened, and a red-eyed redhead entered, shutting the door behind herself before sitting down in front of Sakura. She was wearing barely-descent shorts with overlong sandals and a green long-sleeved blouse.
That wasn't what gave Sakura pause, though.
"You are one of the trainees."
"Yes."
The answer was dry, almost toneless, and after years of Tsunade's eyebrow and Sasuke's glares she could practically hear the 'Your point?' hidden in it. She gave her brain a mental shake to refocus. "Sorry. I just didn't know that, is all." One deep inhale. Exhale. "Anyway, we should probably not waste either of our times. Tsunade-sama explained the situation to me, but I would still rather take a look before starting with anything else, maybe go deeper. If that is alright."
"Sure." Karin smiled at her. It wasn't much of a smile, really, but Sakura got the feeling it was mostly for her own benefit, and that was... well... "You may be surprised, but I actually trust you, if only due to reputation. Besides, I don't think I would have if you just started treatment immediately."
Sakura felt her own lips curving. Karin's tone was still dry, matter-of-fact and with more then a hint of sarcasm. I could like her, she thought. "Well, to be honest, I doubt we will start today at all. Like I said, I want to do a more thorough preliminary, and then get some medical history from you. The last thing we want – in any kind of treatment – is to make a patient worse because we didn't feel like asking them some questions." Hey, it never hurt to start lessons early, right?
At Karin's nod, Sakura got up and had her lie back. She started with the same procedure Tsunade had previously performed and gulped. Her teacher hadn't been exaggerating any more than her friend had. In fact, she suspected Tsunade may have downplayed the severity of the situation. Sure, it was treatable... but that was about where the good news ended. She could see why this was given to her, specifically.
She inwardly lamented not having better machinery. An x-ray was useless for this type of imaging, and while Sasuke assured her they had close enough connections to civilian villages to be cleared for use of their hospitals' facilities, her patient's wish to keep things under wraps meant she couldn't post the request. She will have to do it old school, and carefully. The state of her patient's pathways was such that, even just in diagnostic levels, the foreign chakra could cause further harm to her system.
Luckily for Karin, she didn't have to know that, and Sakura was more than capable of insuring she never will.
She pushed deeper, proud of her natural control more than ever before, and tested the edges of the dead-ends, the flexibility of the narrow points, and the stability of the blood vessels and organs around the areas she will need to treat. She was both thorough and careful, taking care to be as exact and as unobtrusive as possible. But even so, she knew it wasn't painless.
While barely a shadow of what was to come, the pain of the procedure itself, this tentative poking was already taking its toll. She wasn't making a sound, not moving away or trying to top the examination, but Karin's pain was clear in the bulging of the vain in her neck, and the tightening of the muscle under her jaw, as she tried to keep from gritting her teeth. It was a sign to both of them of things to come, and even as Sakura mentally commanded her resilience and dedication, she also lamented the final confirmation that no, the stubborn woman will not be changing her mind. Duh. Didn't Tsunade-sama tell you she is an Uzumaki? Why the hell did you think she would?
Finally, it was over, and both women could breath easier at the relief of tension, Sakura scribbling her findings in an empty chart. "Okay. This will take a while, and like you already know there are no guarantees, but I think we have a real chance of fixing this. Your chakra network will never be perfect, and the treatment could use up some of your own stores, but nothing you won't be able to manage. I agree with Tsunade-sama that moral support could actively help you, but that is still ultimately your decision. I think we can start as early as tomorrow afternoon if you are available, but for now I would like you to answer some standard questions for me. Be accurate, leave nothing out, and don't worry – nothing you say will leave this room."
"Of course, doctor."
"Sakura is fine!" she said, feeling strangely flustered, "Besides, we will practically be colleagues eventually, right?" Karin nodded once, and Sakura cleared her throat. "So, first of all..."
A.N.: I really wanted to show the importance and amount of skill required by medical ninja. I always felt like it was mostly pushed aside and rarely shown, and I personally believe that as helpful as it is to punch the ground and cause an earthquake, Sakura's true skill and uniqueness lay in her healing rather than fighting, and she wasn't given enough REAL credit for it in what we were shone.
I hope you liked the interactions. Please let me know if you think something feels out of character or contradictory, that initial Sakura-Sasuke meeting took some time and I still wasn't sure, so I appreciate any feedback.
'Til next week. ^_^