After staying at Kiba's house all day post-party, Sakura gathered her things and kissed her lover goodbye. He stood in the doorway, waving down to her from the steps to her wearing only sweatpants unbothered by the chill of night against his toned bared skin.
"Good luck tomorrow with Examination Day." Kiba encouraged. "Half the precinct is gonna be there. You'll probably see Sasuke, too."
"Thanks. I'll watch out for him." As she stood on the sidewalk, smiling up at him.
Sakura forgot that it was in fact Examination Day for the hospital tomorrow. That meant Sakura was going to have a full day with Tsunade, doing physicals for a large group of people. It was required for every department of the police precinct of Yomi-no-kuni to get physicals done every six months or so, so they sent in different departments during designated times so as not to overwhelm the hospital; those days being marked as Examination Day. Since Kiba was part of the K-9 Unit, they already had the pleasure of getting their physicals done so Sakura wouldn't have the privilege of seeing him tomorrow. It was the Tactical Force's turn to be examined and according to Kiba, Sasuke would most likely be there. That was Sakura's chance to ask for help and learn more about who she was. Sakura made mental note to scan for Sasuke during Examination Day.
Sakura blew Kiba a kiss goodbye before walking away down the few blocks to her house. The streets were alive with people and cars during the mid hour of the night, even more so than in the day time. Cars zooming by and honking, people riding bikes with bells, and groups of people laughing over a couple drinks could be heard in the crisp air. Even children could be seen playing around on the sidewalks.
Sakura embraced the liveliness of the outside, subconsciously, as she bunched hands in her jacket. She looked over into a shop with its neon signs blaring at her as she passed. Just beyond the window, Sakura could see a couple eating pastries with their child who looked to be no more than 8 years old as they sat at the window table in front of her. Sakura stopped in her movements. They smiled and laughed as they ate happily together. Sakura's heart wrenched suddenly at the sight. She wished that could be her. She had no one. No parents she could claim as her own. No one she could go home to every day and share everything with.
The child, noticing Sakura standing in front of them, waved to her enthusiastically. Sakura waved back with a sad smile before continuing on back to her apartment. Within five minutes, Sakura was rounding the corner to her apartment building and running up the stairs into the warmth of the lobby. Sakura took the stairs up to the top floor, not bothering to wait for the elevator.
The silver orb that was the moon pooled it's radiant light through Sakura's window, illuminating her living room in a soft glow. Sakura unlocked her door, slowly stepping inside. She sighed, kicking the door closed behind her and locking it. It felt so empty, so devoid of life. She didn't bother to turn on the light, preferring to bask in the light of the sliver moon. Sakura slipped off her jacket, throwing it on the counter with her keys and made her way to the grey leather couch of her living room. Dropping herself on to her back, she stared at the moon through the window.
It was so calm. It had no cares, nothing to worry about. It held no pretenses. The moon decided when it wanted to glow and when it didn't. It lived the life it wanted. But could Sakura say the same about her own life? This wasn't the life she would've wanted for herself or anyone else. She was without parents. She had no origins to speak of other than the orphanage she partially grew up in. Sakura felt she had no place to run to. She felt like her life was a facade, hiding behind meaningless smiles and believable yet false happiness.
Sakura rolled on to her side and adjusted the purple throw pillow under her head. She looked over at the shelves of pictures across from her, settling her eyes on a picture of her with a blonde, honey-eyed woman. Tsunade. She was like her mother for the past 12 years but it still wasn't quite the same for Sakura. There was still a hole in her heart where Sakura longed for her real family to be. She had to find her family regardless of what everyone else had to say. She deserved the truth, even if her parents turned out to be dead.
"Aaah!" Sakura furrowed her brows at the noise. She listened intently for a moment. Not hearing anything more, Sakura deduced it to being her imagination.
"Uggghh! Get OUT!" Sakura shot up from her position on the couch, looking around her. She heard a splashing of water and the squeaking of the tub coming from her bedroom door which cause the pinkette to be even more confused. Staring at the wooden barrier, Sakura slowly stood to her feet. She began to hear more grunts of pain coming from her closed room as her hand neared the door handle. Sakura slowly opened the door.
What she saw was not her magenta walls with a four poster queen-sized bed covered in gray bedding in the middle of white carpet flooring. The walls were now white with the floor covered in white ceramic tiles. There was a tub sitting under a large window that held an agonized woman inside. She had short blonde hair that was drenched in what could have been water or sweat maybe even a mixture of the two. Her face was red and clammy. She was leaning against the back of the tub holding her swollen belly with her knees bent as she breathed heavily, panting. The only light came from the moon that shown especially bright, bright enough that Sakura could see clearly. The woman before her was the same from her dream a couple nights ago, the woman who Sakura could only assume was her mother...hopefully.
The woman threw her head back in pain as she gripped the sides of the tub tight enough to turn her knuckles pasty white. She groaned as she looked back down at her belly.
"Please! Please come out of me!" The blonde begged. She inhaled deeply before scrunching her eyes closed and pushing with all her might. All Sakura could do was stare in shock at the scene before her. Sakura somehow how couldn't make sense of it all. The room that was supposed to be her bedroom was now a bathroom holding a woman going through the birthing process. It was all unreal and yet it felt like this was reality for the pinkette. She was at a loss of what do. Sakura subconsciously made a move to step forward towards the woman, still watching the soon to be mother, but found that she was stuck in place. Her body wouldn't budge as the woman screamed for the baby to exit her body. A few more pushes later, another voice was heard.
"Mebuki?" Sakura heard a male voice call out from behind her causing said woman to turn her head with a hint of relief flashing through her eyes. Sakura recognized the name the masculine voice called, having heard the same name once again from her previous dreams. Sakura tried to turn around but again her body forbade her.
The Mebuki groaned and scrunched up her face again in an effort to push before grunting in a strangled manner. In a quick motion, she reach in front her with wide eyes. Sakura heard a splash of water and then a wailing before seeing a tiny baby in the woman's hands. The new mother smiled and exhaled a sigh in relief as she stared at the flailing baby. Mebuki held the child close to her as she cupped some water from the tub, into her left hand and dribble it down the baby's pink hair. Sakura unmistakably recognized it to be herself, widening her eyes at her infant self. Suddenly the man, who had called out to the woman before appeared in front of Sakura. He knelt down next to mother and child, reaching a hand out to the babe. His hair was an odd color that Sakura couldn't quite make out and his face was cloudy, making it impossible for her to identify him.
"My daughter.." The man said in what sounded like amazement. Sakura felt tears forming at the back of her eyes at the feeling of desperation that was tugging at her heart. Oh how she wished she could see exactly who the man was, claiming to be her father.
"Our baby. Our love. Our Sakura." The woman said.
"Sakura.." The man repeated.
"Sakura..." A voice that didn't belong to either of the couple whispered. Sakura stumbled forward, the force restricting her releasing its hold on her. Suddenly the floor opened up beneath her just as she was about to step closer towards the couple, ignoring the voice that had called her just seconds ago. Screams erupted from her mouth.
"No! Wait!" Sakura called out to no one in particular as she tried to reach for the hole that only got further and further away as she fell deeper into the blackness.
"SAKURA!"
Sakura jolted awake with a startled gasp, throwing herself forward on the couch. The new day had begun as the light of the sun shone brightly in Sakura's living room. Sakura was panting with beads of sweat lined at her forehead and her clothes stuck to her body like a second skin. She looked around herself, realizing that she wasn't falling through a hole in the floor anymore. She took in a deep breath of air before letting it go in relief however she was still left with a feeling of apprehension from the, for the most part, harmless dream. She swung her legs down on to the wood floor as she ran a hand down her face. Once again Sakura had a dream that felt just as real as the one prior and she just couldn't shake the feeling that she was somehow these dreams were the key to getting closer to the information she wanted.
Sakura's phone went off in her jacket pocket, causing the pinkette to flinch at the unexpected trill of her ringtone. The pinkette got up and walked slowly to the counter where she left her article of clothing, still riddled with exhaustion. Taking the phone out and seeing that it was Ino, she answered the call and put her speaker, leaving the phone on the counter. Sakura leaned over the phone cover her eyes with her hand as she waited for Ino to speak.
"Sakura! It's about time you answer your damn phone! Where the hell are you!" Ino questioned in a hushed manner.
"At home, why?" Sakura answered, her voice not betraying how tired she actually was.
"Do you have any idea what time it is? The hospital is packed because of Examination Day and no one knows what to do because Tsunade is no where to be found, Shizune is on vacation, and you, second in command when Shizune's not here, aren't even at work yet!" Ino yelled into the phone in obvious frustration. Sakura winced at the device relaying Ino's voice to her. She leaned away from the phone.
"You're really loud, Ino and beside I'm pretty sure my shift doesn't start for another hour." Sakura replied.
"Sakura it's 10:08 in the morning. Your shift started three hours ago..." Sakura stared at the clock across the room on the wall. The clock indeed have its short hand on the 10 and the long hand a little after the 5. With a rush of energy, Sakura ran towards her room, calling out to Ino on the phone.
"Oh my gosh! I'm coming, I'm coming!" Sakura slammed the door shut behind her.
"You better hurry! I don't how much longer people are going to wait!" Not hearing a reply, Ino looked at her phone. "Hello? Sakura? Hello!" Ino kept calling out, not realizing that a patient had closed up behind her.
"How much longer do you think we'll have to wait, Yamanaka-san?" A smooth baritone voice asked. Startled, Ino turned around as she slid her phone into her pocket, not hanging up. A tall, fair skinned man with black eyes stood before Ino with his hair pulled back into a low ponytail. Behind him stood two men who looked to be the same height as him. One had spiky hair that defied gravity and a more porcelain skin complexion while the other had short, unruly hair with equal skin tone to man in front. They wore black flak jackets with grey shirts underneath and black pants with black combat boots, their standard weapons absent from their persons.
"Oh Itachi-sama." Ino bowed. "I'm not exactly sure. Tsunade is unavailable at the moment and we're waiting for her assistant."
"Tch. Unprofessional." Ino looked at the man behind Itachi that had spoken and frowned, crossing her arms.
"Oh come on, little cousin. I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for all this." The unruly haired man reasoned with a grin as he slung his arms around his shoulders.
"By all means, Sasuke, why don't you take the reigns and get things underway." Ino challenged.
"I believe my little brother has enough of his own shortcomings to worry about, Ino." Itachi stated casually, ignoring the glare that Sasuke directed at his older brother. Sasuke turned around, shrugging his cousin's arm off his shoulders as he shoved his hands in his pockets before walking away. Itachi glance at his cousin from over his shoulder. "Shisui, if you don't mind..."
"Yeah, I got it." The said man replied as he tailed after Sasuke. "Hey grumpy wait up!" Shisui called out to his younger cousin.
"Pardon him." Itachi apologized. "I'll try to make things more manageable with police force while we wait." he reassured.
"Oh! Thank you, Itachi-sama. Again I apologize for the wait" Ino reassured.
"No, thank you, Ms. Yamanaka. I know this one of the most stressful days for you and the hospital." Itachi said simply with a gentle smile as he turned away, his ponytail swaying behind him. Ino waved at his retreating back before turning around to speak into her phone.
"Sakura you better hurry up or else I'm kicking your ass into next week." Ino hung up the phone and exhaled before charging down the hall
"Oh my gosh, I can't believe this. I'm so-" Sakura burst into the lobby of the hospital an hour later red faced from the cold nipping at her skin on her way to work.
Too focused on the fact that she was so unacceptably late for work, the green-eyed woman didn't even realize that she had bumped right into someone on her way in. Ino, seeing her best friend rushing in, finished her conversation with an orderly before running over to Sakura.
"Late! You are so unbelievably freaking late." Ino chastised as she pulled Sakura by the wrist. "You have 150 patients that need to be examined by night's end and I have no idea how you're going to do it but you had better start thinking of something now."
"I know, I know!" Sakura replied struggling to keep up with Ino's fast pace.
Ino ducked and weaved around patients and staff alike, not slowing down for anyone. Making it to the west wing of the hospital, Ino stopped in front of the two double doors with a plaque above that said "Examination Day".
Facing Sakura, Ino stood in waiting. After taking a minute to catch her breath, the pinkette stared at the blonde confused.
"What?" Sakura asked.
"Hello! Examination Day! I don't know why that's not sticking in your head! What are we gonna do?" Ino said in a hurry.
"Oh, right!" Ino looked at Sakura quizzically. "Uh...I need as many staff, who are cleared to perform exams, as possible...what?" Sakura asked, noticing the blonde's stare.
"Are you okay?" Not really sure how to answer, Sakura shrugged her shoulders hesitantly. "You just seem a bit off."
"I'm fine...it's just a rough morning for me. We'll talk about it afterwards.." Sakura dismissed the conversation before Ino could ask anything more.
Sakura handed Ino her belongings and fixed her white coat on her body without another word. She rubbed her hands together, mentally preparing herself. This was going to be an even longer day than she anticipated. She turned towards the double doors, pushing them open. 150 policemen halted their conversations at the opening of the doors, staring at the pink-haired assistant. Over in the corner, an orderly wearing teal scrubs with short red hair that was pulled into two low pigtails, stood flirting with Shisui. Ino glared at the girl, pointing.
"Hey you! Didn't I tell you to get lost like an hour ago?" The girl looked embarrassed as she tucked her head down. "Get lost! There are patients in need your attention...that aren't in here." The girl quickly shuffled towards the door without another peep from her mouth, handing the clipboard in her hand to Sakura as both women watched her retreating back.
Ino shook her head as she patted Sakura's shoulder, leaving the girl to perform the task the pinkette asked of her. Sakura stared at her patients as they stared back with stoic expressions.
They all shared similar physical traits; dark hair, even darker eyes, intimidating persona. A chill ran down Sakura's spine feeling the somewhat tense atmosphere. Sakura cleared her throat in preparation to speak.
"Before we get started, I'd like to apologize for the unanticipated delay. I can assure you something like this will not happen again." Sakura explained in a professional tone. Not receiving any feedback from the group in front of her, Sakura continued on. "Why don't we get right into things, shall we?" Sakura look down at the clipboard the orderly had given her. "Shisui?"
Shisui raised his hand, walking towards Sakura with a large grin and a glint in his eye. The pinkette identified him as the one who was flirting with the female orderly just minutes before. Sakura stood much shorter than him, her head reaching his shoulders. She smiled at him before gesturing to a door to the right of her that lead to a private exam room.
"This way." Opening the door and letting Shisui in first, Sakura made her way over to the sink to wash her hands. She called behind her. "You can remove your flak jacket and your shirt."
"Oh, that's how you want to do this?" Shisui said with a chuckle, the rustle of his clothing signifying that he was complying with Sakura's order.
"I'm not sure I understand what you mean.." Sakura said as she dried her hands and walked over to the opposite wall. She took the sphygmomanometer off its hook and wrapped the stethoscope around her shoulders. Shisui smirked at Sakura as she stood in front of him.
"Most women ask for my number first before asking me to get naked." Sakura snickered finding his comment laughable. As if she'd want anything to do with him.
"Your right arm, please." Sakura requested, choosing to ignore him.
Doing as Sakura asked, Shisui extended his requested arm so she could wrap the sphygmomanometer around it. She placed the ear pieces of the stethoscope in her ear and placed the chest-piece on his artery. She pumped the bulb, periodically stopping to listen to his blood flow. Gathering Shisui's blood pressure in her head, Sakura removed the chest-piece and the sphygmomanometer from his arm and rested the earpieces of the stethoscope around her neck. Sakura placed the sphygmomanometer back on the wall. Picking up the clipboard, the assistant wrote down his blood pressure. Sakura proceeded to perform all the required procedures of the physical and recorded information before collecting the clipboard to sit across the from Shisui on a medical stool.
"Have you noticed anything abnormal in your body lately?" Sakura asked, beginning to ask standards questions of the exam.
"Well my heart sped up when I first laid eyes on you. Does that count?" Shisui winked flirtatiously.
Sakura eyed the dark-haired boy wearily. "I'll take that as a no." Sakura wrote on the clipboard again. Shisui grinned.
"Are you sexually active?"
"Why, you wanna take me for a spin?"
Sakura scribbled on the clipboard again, once again ignoring his inappropriate comment. "When was the last time you had sex?"
"5 minutes ago..in my head..with you.."
Sakura stood up, slamming the board down on the counter. A vessel poked out her forehead in irritation at the man in front of her. "I believe you're due for a shot, Mr. Uchiha."
"Last I checked I was up to date." Shisui stated, unbothered. "Unless you're giving me a shot of aphrodisiac to expedite the love making process between us."
"First of all..I have a boyfriend. Second of all, your charts say you need a shot."
Knowing that she was lying about the last part, Sakura opened one of the cabinets that had been stocked with syringes and medication. Picking up a small bottle of magnesium, Sakura filled a syringe with the liquid and turned around.
"That's never stopped anyone before." Shisui replied slyly, referring to the first part of Sakura's comment.
"Could you stand and pull your pants down with your rear facing me, please?" Sakura asked as she actively tried to restrain herself from man-handling the Uchiha in front of her. Shisui did as he was told.
"Ooh, I like women that are kinky."
Shisui didn't expect the sharp sting of the needle to hurt as much as it did. He shot back up, holding his behind.
"There, you're all set." Sakura smiled, not betraying her devious action, when he turned to look at her quizzically.
Shisui pulled his pants back up and reached for his shirt, slightly uncomfortable with the pain now in his rear. Sakura disposed of the syringe as she smirked to herself. As soon as Shisui pulled his shirt down, he felt a strange feeling that made him pause. Sakura glanced at the black-haired boy from the corner of her eyes, at his stilled countenance. She inwardly laughed as his expression changed from confused to mortified but kept her own face blank. Shisui clenched his butt.
"I need a bathroom!" He yelled hopping from one foot to another.
"There's one down the hall you can use." Sakura offered, acting as if she didn't know of his current situation.
Shisui ran out of the room, slamming the door open. Just as he was exiting the double doors, Ino was coming in with a group of doctors ready to perform physical examinations on behalf of the pink haired assistant. She jumped out of the way, looking at him like he was crazy. The blonde looked at the doctors and policemen who looked just as confused before looking at Sakura who stood in the doorway of the private room staring back and feigning innocence. Ino instructed the doctors of what to do before walking over to her best friend.
"What happened?" Ino questioned as she looked at where Shisui had exited in a hurry.
"I may have shot him up with 200mg of magnesium..." Sakura answered casually.
"What!" Ino stared at Sakura with a look of incredulity. "You do realize that's half of the daily recommended allowance in one sitting, right? Plus whatever's in his system now."
"Of course I do. He's not gonna die...he'll be all right." Sakura replied. She shrugged her shoulders carelessly, looking at Ino.
"Sakura...you poisoned him." Sakura rolled her eyes.
"I didn't poison him, I just disrupted his bowel movements..a little."
"A little? He's gonna be sitting in the bathroom for days." Sakura walked in front of the policemen again, ignoring Ino.
"So...who's next?"