-Modern AU-
Warnings: Mentions of cancer, death, and brain tumors
Rating: T
Obligatory warning: I am not well-versed in medical matters in any way, shape, or form, and I have done my best to do my due research on the topic.
"Okay then, here you go. Small sips, okay?"
"Thank you, Doctor Haruno ma'am!"
Sasuke's ears perked up as he heard his daughter's happy voice, and as he walked back into the room his eyes widened slightly as he saw an unfamiliar pink-haired woman in a knee-length white coat hold out to her what he swore was the largest plastic cup he'd ever seen and a straw poking out the top of the lid.
"What is that?" He questioned, pointing at the drink.
Sarada's sweet little face beamed up at him, and she proudly grinned as she stated, "Strawberry milkshake!"
"You can't have that, you remember, right?" His voice turned stern as he took several steps towards the bed. Almost immediately her shoulders drooped and she looked sadly at the cup. "You're-"
"Lactose intolerant, I'm aware," the doctor's cool voice interrupted him, and as he looked up at her, her own face was set in a disapproving frown. "I read her charts several times, sir. I made sure it was made without dairy."
"Doctor Haruno says that I can have some because I've been a good girl," Sarada chimed in, looking up at the woman as if she was a superhero in the flesh. "Right?"
"Of course, sweetheart." Her face immediately softened and she reached out to pet his daughter's straight black hair. "You've been a very good girl, letting my staff run more tests on you."
Sasuke watched the interaction, his heart painfully squeezing in his chest as he noted how tenderly the woman treated the little girl. Sarada's fragile frame was puffed up in pride as she patted her head, adjusting her glasses and helping her hold the cold cup.
Had it only been two years since his wife had died, leaving him with his then three-year-old daughter? It still didn't seem real; every day he went back home, expecting to see her standing at the door with a bright smile and a hug.
Sarada had seemed to bounce back from the loss well enough - though he knew he shouldn't expect a child that young to feel such a loss as keenly as he had. Even now, as she grew sicker, she seemed her usual cheerful self.
She certainly didn't get that from me, he noted as she slurped the drink with delight in her eyes.
The doctor flipped through the clipboard she held, scanning the pages before looking back up at him with a faint smile. "I apologize for my rudeness. I'm Doctor Haruno, overseeing your daughter's treatment."
"Ah." He nodded slowly, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I'm Sasuke. Her father."
"Uchiha Sasuke, pleasure to meet you." Her voice was warm, much more so than it had been only a minute ago. As she stuck out a hand, he was struck with how calloused and rough it looked.
He stared at it for a second before taking out his left hand and grasping it in his bigger hand. Her skin felt as rough as it looked - and he mentally winced at the feeling.
What, does she not moisturize? He thought snidely for a fleeting moment. But as he observed her more, he tucked that thought away as he noticed the bags under her eyes and the pale, almost sickly quality to her skin.
"I trust my daughter isn't too ill?" He said instead, choosing instead to try and not think about the pretty woman standing before him, just barely level to his chin.
The polite smile wavered for a moment, but she reinforced it as she shook her head, going back through the papers on the clipboard. "Not that we know of so far. We seem to be observing a bit of a disturbance around her occipital lobe; we'll need to do some more scans to figure out just what it is."
"What do you think it is?" He challenged quietly, dark eyes flickering between the little girl and the doctor.
Doctor Haruno paused, eyes widening a fraction in what seemed like surprise. It almost seemed like nobody had asked her that question before.
Her vivid green eyes looked back down at the paper for a moment, before she straightened and turned to Sarada, giving her a sweet smile.
"Sweetie, your dad and I are going to talk by the door." Her voice grew softer, more gentle as she spoke to the little girl. "We aren't going anywhere, okay?"
"Okay!" Her impossibly-bright face made the woman chuckle, fondly patting her head again.
With her shoulder she motioned to head away from the bed, and Sasuke gave her one last smile before following Doctor Haruno until the privacy curtain shielded them from the girl's view.
The pinkette's smile dropped almost immediately and her eyes shone with a seriousness that made the man's pulse stutter.
"You want to know what I think?" She asked rhetorically. "Well... based on the symptoms described upon admission - visual disturbances, irritability, headache, nausea, gradual loss of sight," she paused and grimaced, "seizures - I believe we may be dealing with a tumor."
The news struck the father like a stone. His heart seemed to freeze in his chest as he fought the urge to peek around the curtain back at Sarada - and only the doctor's hand on his shoulder kept him rooted to the spot.
"We deal with brain tumors in children more than you'd expect, Mr. Uchiha," she explained with a sympathetic quirk of her lips. "My staff is the best trained in the country to deal with this. I believe- no, I know your little girl with be walking out of this hospital tumor-free."
Her hand was warm, though all he felt was cold. "How could this have happened?" He asked before he could register the words tumbling from his lips. "I thought... we were... she's healthy. Sarada is healthy."
"You don't have to be diseased or already injured to figure out you've got a tumor on your brain," the woman answered quietly, tapping her temple. "You did nothing wrong. Sarada is just as healthy as she was before she began manifesting symptoms."
"Healthy with a brain tumor," he spat, and the words felt like acid on his tongue.
"Mr. Uchiha," she started, and the stern look on her face made his heart squeeze again. "What Sarada needs right now is for her father to be strong. She's just five; she has no idea about what this means nor what's happening to her as a result. For all she knows, she's very hurt, she doesn't understand why or how, and her father is scared of something he knows that she doesn't. That's terrifying for someone so young."
He tried to speak. His lips felt glued shut as he stared into her face.
"I've had plenty of children with brain tumors - hell, I had one little girl with brain cancer that ended up dying as a result of it. Nothing we could do could save her; she was too far gone by the time we were able to begin treatment." Angry tears pricked the corners of her eyes, and she didn't even skip a beat as she wiped them with her sleeve and poked him in the chest. "If you can't even show her that she's gonna be okay, you're only going to make it worse in the long run. You can be upset - I've had parents who have had full breakdowns when I gave them the diagnosis. But don't let it consume you. Don't let her see you break."
She poked him again for good measure, and after a moment her eyes softened and she patted the spot.
Sasuke could only close his eyes, head tilting downwards.
"I really am sorry for what she has to go through, Mr. Uchiha," Doctor Haruno murmured. "There's a much higher chance for the mass to be benign rather than malignant. Luckily it's still small enough that she will suffer minimal consequences. Don't think of it as a death knell. Think of it as another challenge to hurdle."
His former wife's face flashed through his mind's eye at her words, and he took a shaky breath. He could feel the emotion rising in his throat and the last thing he needed was to break down in front of someone he had only met several minutes prior.
"Sarada... you told me she was a fighter, right?"
He nodded, not trusting his own voice to remain steady.
When he opened his eyes, Doctor Haruno's face was set with a determined smile.
"Then mark my words: I don't see her losing this one."
His heart flipped again, and as he parted his lips to speak but was interrupted by Sarada's call, "Doctor Haruno! I finished my milkshake and boy my head hurts!"'
The comment was so out of the blue that it cut through the tension like a knife. After a second of surprise, the woman held a fist up to her mouth as her shoulders began to shake with silent snickering.
The peals of laughter began to grow louder as she staggered her way back into the room, and at the sight of his little girl giggling back at the sight of her nearly doubled over in front of the hospital bed, he began to relax.
Maybe things would turn out alright.
