Disclaimer – I do not own naruto
Thanks to all that reviewedTearsofSadness17
– yeah, my Gaara's different then the one your going to see in
the beginning of the show, but the essence of it will be there. Like
I said before, this is like 8 years later, so he changes, at least
towards Naruto and Sakura hehehe.
Monster
Envy
Gin-inu
deaths little angle
shadowhawk00
FallingDarkStar
kakashisninjadogs
Skylara
EnV – HAHAHAHA. Hehehe. Ah. Yeah, he's so depraved. That's where Sakura comes in.(evil snickers)
Kurenai Chinoumi
moonscout11
Gozarunoda
beadlety – well. From the places that I did research on, it said that small pox is a virus. Even the Center for Disease Control and Prevention states it as a virus. Maybe you could tell me where you got your information so I can see into this more.
kamilog
The Maiden of Light
GaaraSakura Luvers 4Evah
Dustbunny3 – yeah, I think its messed. Oh well. Ill try to be better.
Midnightfoxkaori
ying yang dragons
MyLittleCougarPaws
inuyashaHELP
LoRmiXx – thanks a lot. I didn't realize it was that good.
To the ficcie
Sakura and Temari stepped out of the Kazekage's office, both perplexed by what had just happened.
"You'll be staying a few floors down", Temari nearly whispered and she walked off in a daze.
Sakura noticed the blonde disposition almost immediately. The pink haired medic ran up beside the woman and looked into her face. A small fake smile was trying to stretch itself on Temari's lips but the sadness in her eyes was overwhelming.
"Temari-chan? What's the matter?" Sakura asked in a low voice.
Temari seemed to shake off her daze when Sakura spoke, looking back at the younger woman with a wide smile.
"Nothing. What would you think is wrong?" she asked in mock playfulness.
Sakura wasn't convinced.
"Temari-chan?" she asked again.
The blonde looked back over at Sakura. Sakura wasn't the type to give up. She was a medic trained under Tsunade and a friend of Naruto: A trio of stubbornness.
The two Kunoichi reached the stairs and Temari began her decent, Sakura in tow. A sterile silence had swept over the two of them, like the plague that had infected the city. Sakura twirled a strand of her pink locks as she looked at Temari's back. 'What is she hiding?'
Temari sighed, 'I might as well tell her'
"Well. I was just surprised that Gaara let you rest"
Sakura looked curiously at Temari.
"What do you mean?"
Temari looked away. "It just that… Kankuro… he's still in the hospital"
Sakura gasped, "W..w..what?"
"He was one of the first to catch small pox and now he might die"
Temari kept her face away from Sakura, but the pain had been building up. She needed an outlet. One of her brother may die and she could do nothing about it. She was the oldest. She was supposed to take care of them. But now, she could nothing while her younger brother wasted away.
A tear slide down the normally composed Kunoichi's face, her eyes narrowed as she stared at the ground in front of her. Overwhelming emotion shook her sturdy frame as the tears slide down.
"Temari" was the small comforting voice Temari heard before feeling a pair of arms wrap around her.
"Come on. Lets get inside"
Temari struggled with a nod before being pulled into Sakura's guest room.
--------
In the Kazekage's office, Gaara was sitting hunched over behind his desk. With two hands, the red head messaged his temple's as to rid a headache.
'Why is this happening?' Gaara thought as he remembered the way he seemed to not function when Sakura walked into the room.
Growling to himself, the Kazekage went back to work. His hand brushed against the rough material of an envelope. Looking down, Gaara felt his throat go dry.
"Kankuro"
Flinging himself over his desk, Gaara pressed a large red button on his intercom.
"Sally?"
"Yes Kazekage-sama?" answered a young woman's voice from the speaker.
"Has my sister left yet?"
"No sir"
Pausing for a brief second, he added, "If you see her, could you ask her to go to guest room 694"
"Yes sir"
"Thank You"
Clicking the speaker off, Gaara rushed out of his office and down the hall. Sliding around the corner and into the stairwell, Gaara jumped off the railings as to quicken his decent to the next level.
Gaara speed-walked down the hall to room 694, Haruno's guest room. Gaara knocked on the door.
No answer.
Gaara knocked again, just a bit harder
No answer.
"Haruno!" He yelled at the door as he waited for the pink haired leaf Nin to answer, yet non-came.
As Gaara was about to rip the door out as to get in he felt someone tap his shoulder.
Whipping around, Gaara came face to face with none other than his sister, her dark green eyes looking questioningly at him.
"Gaara?"
"Where's Haruno?" Gaara grunted out.
"huh?
"Where is Haruno Sakura?" Gaara gritted out, his patience wearing thin.
Temari looked sheepishly at her brother. "Well… I sort of… told her about Kankuro and she ran off to the hospital."
Temari waited to hear her brother yell at her about not listening to orders but instead heard a sigh. Looking into her brother's opaque eyes, Temari saw relief reflected in them
"Good… good" Gaara responded in an almost whisper before turning to face back towards his office. His brother was in safe hands and that was all that mattered. Looking up, Gaara found himself faced with the perplexed looks of a few chunins and some of his advisors.
Straightening his robes, the Kazekage strutted forth with confidence and a mean glare, dispelling whatever negative thoughts of him had been wavering in that hallway.
Temari looked at her little brothers back with a small smile, happy with the knowledge that without a doubt, he did care.
----------
Sakura sped through the Suna streets.
Looking up at the sun, still high in the sky, Sakura surmised that it must have been around one in the afternoon. Looking away from the sky, she could make out the tall sandy structure that was the Suna hospital.
As she walked, Sakura noticed how bare the streets were. From her previous visits, Sakura had learned that the people of Suna usually had a break from noon to two. It was when the sun was at its highest and the day at its hottest. The merchants would pack up and the people would usually go inside for lunch and a nap.
Looking back up at the sky, Sakura could feel the sweat collecting on her forehead.
She made it to the hospital in a few minutes and gladly walked through the large double doors into a nice air-conditioned building.
The medic-in-training behind the desk smiled as she saw Sakura rush her way up.
"Haruno-san. I'm glad to see you," said the auburn haired woman with a tired smile.
"Oh. Hello Yukimura-san"
"You go right in. Ill page Dr. Frun for you"
"Thanks. Oh. And do you know where Kankuro-sama is?"
"Yes. Just let me check"
Twirling her chair around, Yukimura opened a large cabinet. After rummaging for a few moments, she turned back around with a large manila folder.
Opening it, the medic scanned over the contents for a few moments before finding what she was looking for. A frown found its way onto her face.
"What is it?" Sakura asked in a concerned manner.
"Hmm. I'm afraid Kankuro-sama is in emergency room five. Seems that he isn't doing to well"
Handing Sakura the file, Yukimura turned towards the paging system as to get the doctor. Sakura took this as a dismissal as she walked around the desk and towards the main workings of the hospital.
"Wait a second Haruno-san"
Sakura turned around to find Yukimura running towards her.
"Sorry. I'm so forgetful. You'll have to put on some protective gear. The virus is something passed on from contact so you should put something on too reduce the risk of you catching the disease"
Sakura nodded and followed Yukimura over to her desk. There, the auburn haired woman pulled out a large white coat, gloves, mask, and boots for Sakura to wear. It seemed they were pulling out all the stops on this one.
When Sakura was done getting dress, Yukimura was back at her desk talking to a tall, sliver haired man in a white medic coat.
As Sakura walked up to them, both stopped talking to watch her.
"Haruno-san. This is Dr. Frun. He is our best medic. He will fill you in on the situation here, OK"
Sakura nodded at Yukimura before she and Frun walked off.
Taking a good look at the medic, Sakura found that he too was dressed fully in protective gear. The only thing she could see was his silver hair and one golden eye. His bangs were pulled over his left eyes, hiding it from the rest of the world.
As both medics walked, Frun began to talk.
"So let me fill you in. So far, about 50 percent of Suna shinobi and 10 percent of the citizens have been infective with smallpox. The first case started on Monday, four weeks ago.
"From what we have been able to gather, it's a virus, so no cure. The only thing we can do is try and formulate a vaccine for the rest of the population so as to stop this from happening again.
"There are a few forms this virus comes in also. The first, major one is more severe, while the minor one is, well, minor.
"From what we can tell, it has a pretty big incubation period, maybe a week or two.
"Next, comes the fever in the more common versions. Usually it ranges from 101 degrees to 104-degree fever. This happens to every patient. Then comes the small stuff that differentiates. Ill name them in order of often occurrence.
"There can be Headaches, Chills, Backaches, Vomiting, Diarrhea, Delirium, Abdominal Pain, and Convulsions.
"All this stuff happens in the beginning stages. During the next stage the fever goes down quite a bit. Next comes the visible lesion. These first form on the tongue and in the mouth. There's about a 24-hour period before the rash forms on the skin. The rash appears as macules, usually on the face"
Sakura nodded, though the quirk of her eyebrow showed a bit of confusion. 'Err. Macules?'
Dr. Frun noticed. "A macule or macula is a discolored spot or area on the skin that is not elevated above the surface"
Sakura nodded.
"Ok. In the next stage, the macules become raise papules. A Papule is a small, solid, usually inflammatory elevation of the skin that does not contain pus. Ok then. After that the papules then fill with puss. First starting transparent, but then becoming a milky white.
"Then the fever raises again, and the disease end with the scabbing period. The patient is contagious until the last scab falls off. Any questions?"
"No… I think I got it"
"Ok then, time for the harder stuff. Now then, there are a few different occurrences of small pox that we have seen. There are the raised postulates, the flat, and the hemorrhagic. The flat and hemorrhagic we have had no survivors so far. I hear that you were interested in Kankuro-sama's condition"
Sakura nodded, slightly fearful.
Frun just shook his head.
"Unfortunately, he contracted flat small pox. He has survived the longest but we aren't sure if he's going to make it"
Sakura looked at Frun, horrified by what he had said.
"But that's why you were brought in. Hopefully you teaching's from the godaime will help in keeping Kankuro-sama alive"
Sakura nodded, a bit overwhelmed with the responsibility placed on her shoulders by Suna.
Frun stopped in front of a pair of doors at the end of the hallway.
"This is where the epidemic starts. All patients infected with small pox have been placed on the other side of these doors so to protect the rest of our patients. Are you ready to enter?"
"Yes" Sakura nodded. Time to put her medic skills to work and show why she is called the best medic, already passing Tsunade.
With a nod, Frun opened the door, leading Sakura into the small pox part of the hospital.
Sorry for not updating sooner. I had this finished for like 5 days but I felt like adding more. I decided to just put this out because it seemed to end where a chapter should end.
Also. Does anyone beta good. I feel like I should get someone to beta my work but I don't know anyone. Thanks.
-Marise signing out.