Chapter 29

Sakura fell back into her routine almost too easily, waking up before the sun had. Making her presence known at the hospital, Sakura worked dutifully. It had been an incredibly slow day—which, for a hospital was really good news. It gave the kunoichi time to delve through her notepad and retrace old entries.

She was going to find out who poisoned Sasuke, after all.

Her pencil balanced between her nose and upper lip as she flipped the pages of her book. She'd exhausted every source, every lead. Sakura had been the one that destroyed the poison herself, and her notes were very vague and riddled with unanswered questions. In fact, if Sakura had to make her venom again, it would take days of trial and error—and poison was pretty much her specialty.

Ino walked into her room without pause, plopping down a thick booklet of reports. "That old lady from the night crew keeps "forgetting" to write down her shift details. If she does it again, I'll drop that hag."

"Oh, stop," Sakura replies and pulls the elastic out of her hair. Her head and began to hurt from the tightness. "She's been doing this a lot longer than we have. It's a bad habit, I'm sure, but I don't think she means to piss you off. Show a little respect."

"Yeah, well, we also stopped restraining people and forcing pills down their throats. I don't think you'd have the same nonchalance if she started doing that!"

Sakura rolls her eyes and unlocks the key to her desk, throwing her booklet inside. "I'm trying to figure out who tried to kill Sasuke. Leave me alone."

Ino leans on her desk, ignoring the last bit. "Like, in his entire lifetime or just from the other day? Because I can tell you, you might be here for a while." When Sakura groans, Ino continues. "Why don't you just go to the surveillance sector and flex your superiority? I'm sure they'll let you in."

Sakura hadn't thought of it, really. There were cameras everywhere that sent recordings directly to the Hokage Tower—even her office was watched. She takes a sip of her coffee, wondering how high her standing was with her former sensei.

Would Kakashi let her delve around without writing an official report? The man had fallen back into his "rules this, rules that" ways from before Sakura had known him. Which was probably why she, Naruto and Sasuke were still having to participate in these stupid Jonin Exams when they were all practically ANBU level, if not more.

Che.

"I guess I can try."

A gentle rapping on her door sent both eyes to the entrance. Slowly, Amu poked her head in and waved a mild "hello". "My…uh…someone wants to see you, ma'am."

"Well, send them in, kid." Ino barks authoritatively, taking on Sakura's position. Said woman shakes her head and waves to her apprentice in a much gentler manner.

His shoulders are the first to enter—broad, defined, well built. Yuma Hojo carefully steps into the office, creasing a slip of paper between his thumb and forefinger. His hair has grown longer in just a few weeks, now sweeping just above his dark eyebrows.

"G-Good morning," He says with a bow.

Sakura hasn't seen him since, well…since he tried to kiss her. Honestly, she rarely saw him, anyways. It was odd that he would show up at her office this early in the morning, and it wasn't such a good surprise. I hope it's not another love letter…

She carefully stands, gesturing to the empty seat beside a very intrigued Ino. "Go ahead and sit. What can I help you with?"

His steps are long, and in three he's already to her desk. With a polite nod of his head and a careful plop, he adjusts himself into her wooden chair and places his paper face down. "I…want talk to you about the results on my physical."

Seeing that this was personal rather than play, Ino gathers her stack of reports and drifts out of the room with a flip of her hair, huffing all the way to the lounge. Sakura holds the sheet in her hand now, scanning the familiar details.

The words may have confused some, what with the advanced vocabulary and vague diagrams. But Sakura was well versed, mostly because she'd helped design the lab scanner herself. Everything seemed normal, except for the heart murmur diagnosis, which didn't intrigue her very much. "What's the problem?"

"I asked the lady at the desk what a "murmur" was, because no one said anything to me about it. I found the nurse that did the physical and she completely blew me off. You're my last hope. Can I still participate in the exam?"

His murmur was innocent. On a scale of 1-6, with 6 being the loudest, it was rated a solid 2. Still, Sakura thought she'd better hear for herself before commenting on the severity. A staff meeting was due—everyone was to explain any and all results to a patient with the upmost respect. Especially if they practically followed them around!

The woman went through the usual routine, checking his skin for any blue tint and running through a list of non-symptoms. Placing her stethoscope back firmly around her neck, the doctor explained carefully. "A heart murmur is an unusual sounding heartbeat. However, it sounds very faint and it shouldn't affect you at all. More than likely, you were born with it and you just hadn't been properly diagnosed. Just because I like to double-check everything I do, let's walk down to the X-Ray station and have a closer look."

"What if it's bad? What does that mean?" Hojo asks, standing to follow her out of the room.

Sakura tried her best to reassure him.

"So, you know who poisoned you and you're not going to tell anyone jack shit?" Naruto asks, walking through the automatic doors of the hospital. "That's dumb A F."

"Stop talking like a fucking teenager." Sasuke grunts, following the man to front desk. "It's not like it will make a difference, anyways."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? What if that psycho tries to kill other people, too?"

Sasuke knew that was a moot point. He was the intended target, after all.

Really, though, he felt sorry for the girl. Whatever deed he'd done to earn her hatred would never be appeased until he died, probably. And Sasuke really didn't plan on dying for a while. What did Naruto usually say? Sorry not sorry? Tch.

"I just can't figure out why you let it happen, too. It's not like he could sneak up on you," The blond says, assuming it was a male that had contaminated Sasuke. "You had to have known what was going on."

"Hm,"

What would be the point of snapping her wrist, though? Sure, in hindsight Sasuke had almost died, but at the time he didn't think any half-assed venom would cause him so much damage.

"Well, I hope you're regretting it, because now you have to get stabbed all over again and this time with a real vaccination."

"Whatever,"

Naruto leans over the desk once the last patient walked off. He smiles at the elderly woman who had her silver hair tied into a high bun, and more than a few crow's feet creasing the sides of her eyes. "Can you tell me who gave this guy his shots last time?"

Sasuke shook his head at the woman. "Don't do that. I'm here for my vaccine."

"You think I'm an idiot?" Naruto whispers with a sideways look as she taps on her computer. "I'm no sleuth, but if I put one and one together, whoever was supposed to vaccinate you…"

"Here you go, sir Naruto," the woman says with a smile.

She has the name scribbled onto a thin sliver of paper, folded only once lengthways. Before Sasuke can snatch it out of the Kyuubi's hand, or pound him into the floor, the familiar voice of Sakura Haruno trickles around the corner and causes his whole body to tense.

"Everything was fine, just like I told you." She says, smiling sweetly at Hojo. She pats his shoulder reassuringly.

In her lab coat and with her hair messily tied up at the crown of her head, she looked completely different from the swollen-lipped woman from last night. Sasuke finds that he can't keep his eyes off her over movements—the clipboard that she presses to her breasts, the hand that finds its place on the swoop of her wide, appealing hips, and finally to the gentle curve of her mouth as she spoke.

Her hand sweeps across some man's upper bicep. It lingers.

The guy wasn't anything special—just plain-looking with floppy brown hair and muddy irises (who was a bit on the taller side). Sasuke narrows his eyes as she turns her head, finding their presence easily in the lobby of her hospital. Gaudy orange and blacker-than-black stuck out in stark contrast against the whiteness of the room.

"Uh…hey…guys," She sputters, ignoring their frozen stance. Her face his hot, seeing Sasuke for the first time since… Ahem. "W-What are you doing here?"

Naruto triumphantly holds out his paper. "I've got some information you might like."

Sasuke was rarely slow to react But Sakura's arrival had thrown him for a loop. (Really? Sakura, a doctor, in a hospital? Shocking.) Before he can stop Naruto, Sakura glides towards him and slips the note into her fingertips.

It's just a name, scribbled quickly onto a torn piece of a hospital form. "Amu Hojo?"

"Amu?" Hojo says, peering over Sakura's shoulder. His chin brushes against the slope of her neck, and she turns quickly from the touch. His nose slides against her cheek. With heated cheeks, he says: "That's, uh, my sister."

Sasuke opens and closes his fist and flicks his eyes towards the hallway.

Hearing her name, Amu rounds the corner. Her ears were synced to her teacher's familiar voice, after all. Hair falls from its braid in her haste, cascading around her shoulders like a halo.

Halos were meant for the innocent, though.

When she runs into the group of four, her face falls immediately, feeling the sudden pressure. She snaps her eyes to the floor, finding more interest in her bleached nursing shoes than the piercing looks ahead. "Yes ma'am?"

Sakura does not ignore the shamefaced behavior.

Once summer, the pink-haired kunoichi had been assigned to work under Ibiki Moreno in the Konoha Interrogation Unit. Tsunade had explained that being a healer meant people were keener on trusting and confiding in them. There were obvious signs of guilt—refusing eye contact, nervous attitude.

What is this about?

Naruto takes a step towards her, leaning low so brown eyes clashed against blue. "You're Amu?"

A thick silence follows as the teen sweeps from Sasuke to Sakura, and then to her own brother. "Y-yes, can I help you?"

"Don't play innocent." Naruto calls out. Suddenly he's towering above her flipping from his previous charm to that of an angry authority. He bares his teeth, showing off sharp canines. "I see right through you."

The guests in the lobby all turn towards the quintet, curious of the sudden loudness.

Sakura slaps her hand against Naruto's chest, pushing him away from her student harshly. All sorts of things run through her mind as she steps in front of Amu. She opens her mouth, preparing to discipline.

But it's not Amu she barks at.

"What are you going on about? Don't come into my hospital and create such a ruckus!"

"Tell her, Sasuke," Naruto replies, looking at the onyx man. His sternum stings from Sakura's force but not enough to halt his words. "Tell her what this chick did!"

Sasuke sends his frostiest glare to Naruto, though the fire of the Uchiha clan roared to life within him. "Drop it,"

"Tell me what?" Sakura asks. "Why are you acting so hostile?"

Her calming, seafoam irises are just as healing as the glowing chakra that falls from her hands. Sasuke doesn't want Sakura to know.

It wasn't as if he were the type to needlessly keep secrets. There were certain things the man simply did not want out. He was a private person for good reason—Sasuke was not ignorant of the fact he was either loved or hated. The less people knew about him, the less they had to make a correct judgement about.

In this situation, the Uchiha did not blame this young woman's reasoning, whatever it may be (petty or justified). He was well aware of his misdeeds. For her to attack in such a small, enclosed environment… he probably deserved it.

Sasuke sighs.

"That that little schemer over there," Naruto begins, inhaling a deep breath of antiseptic laden air. "She is the one that stopped his heart the other day."

Really, he would have expected just about anything from Sakura.

He would have expected the linoleum to crack under her rage, or for her to jump onto the girl like a hellcat. As a Genin, she would flex her claws towards any woman that so much as glanced in his direction—enemies usually got it worse. She'd spent two days keeping him alive, after all. This girl wasn't going to get away unscathed.

His body coiled and his eyes throbbed from the chakra that tried to ignite his sharingan, because he actually suspected one of the two to happen. What would Sasuke's plan of action be: jumping away from her earthbound fist or saving the teen that had just tried to off him?

Flowing, sugary tendrils of pink hair fall from Sakura's high twist and drift towards the soft curve of her petal-red lips; she captures the stray and tucks it behind her ear.

After a few blinks, she laughs.

It's a sound that reminds Sasuke of their youth—the noise that popped out when Naruto did or said something so idiotic she couldn't hold back. It was normally an understandable chide. Naruto hadn't been an immature kid growing up, and that left them trapped in all sorts of stupid situations.

The plummy chortle was almost nostalgic—he hadn't heard it in a very, very long time. It was reserved, only coming out when the dumbest thing she's ever heard was topped.

"That's ridiculous."

Amu was a teenage mother, after all. She'd been married young and lost her husband during the war, leaving her to raise the child by herself.

Sakura had seen her own passion in the girl's eyes—late nights studying thick textbooks and raking her brain for plausible diagnosis from unsolved diseases and illnesses. Amu didn't have the luxury of chakra control, but she was smart and cunning in her own right.

She wouldn't jeopardize her integrity or her infant daughter's livelihood over something…like this. Not to mention that the notes Sakura had left behind were too advanced for the 15-year-old, anyways.

Amu simply wouldn't commit such a crime.

Sakura turns away, waving to all of the people that found their argument worth their time. She bows politely and crumples the sliver of paper in her hand, shoving it down into the pocket of her coat. "Sorry, sorry, please excuse us."

Naruto was dumbfounded.

If this wasn't the right person, Sasuke would have stubbornly denied his accusation. He growls, taking a heady step forwards. Amu wraps her arms around Hojo's middle like a frightened, blameless child.

"Who else could it have been?" Naruto questions. He wasn't some dumb child anymore. He resented being treated that way.

"I don't know." Sakura says between her teeth, growing tired of the nonsense. "Just look at her, you're scaring her to death. There's no way she'd do anything like that, and believe me, Sasuke is a lot more menacing than you are! Stop talking to me and go do something important."

For some reason, her demeanor strikes the wrong cord with Sasuke. She's treating Naruto like an idiot. Sasuke sees a flash of her younger self—the conceited, haughty, fake little Genin that didn't know what the hell she was talking about.

"Just ask Sasuke!" Naruto barks back in defiance. "There's no way he would make up something like this!"

Sakura looks at Sasuke again—really looks at him. In the way Sasuke hated, like she was peering deep into his soul and trying to drag out his innermost thoughts. But CYLAN was not connecting them, and as hard as she dug, she would not find what she was looking for. His walls, though damaged, had not fallen.

So, she resolves to simply asking. "Alright, entertain me. What's your say on this, Sasuke?"

Entertain her? His eyebrows draw together at her hauteur. "Do I look like a fucking monkey?"

She rolls her eyes at his attitude. This is the first time she sees him since last night—since he left her in her bed and never came back. Now, he's accusing her most prized student of attempted murder.

Still…Sasuke wasn't the type to lie or even bend the truth.

He was the type to push someone away when they got too close, however.

Was this his intention? To hit Sakura at her weakest point—when she was still drunk from his touch—and turn her away for good?

Naruto speaks this time, feeling the tension draw tightly between the two. "Sasuke got a summons this morning after we were done training. It said that his results showed there was no vaccination in his system." He explains, remembering brown hawk that had flown onto the man's arm. "It said he wouldn't be able to participate in the last exam if he didn't get them."

"I know this," Sakura says. She'd been the one that went through his file and sent the damned hawk—she assumed he'd left before Amu had had the chance to administer them.

"He was injected with something, right? Whoever was supposed to give him his shot, shot him up with something else. Why is that so hard to believe?"

Sakura looks at Amu now, taking in her friends words. The woman distinctly remembers Amu's fervor—her sudden urge to practice injections as soon as she'd laid eyes upon her teammate.

"Look at the records, Sakura. I just asked this lady over here and she said Amu Hojo is the one that—"

"Is it true?"

Sakura does not ask Amu. She looks directly at Sasuke.

He was stern and intimidating against the harsh lights of her lobby. Anyone else would have been afraid, but she'd seen his glare far too often to shrink back from the aggression.

Sakura certainly wouldn't put it past him to allow this young girl her peace by means of endeavored assassination. Especially if he knew he couldn't die from it.

But, that's the thing!

If Sakura hadn't had found him when she did; he could have. He had stopped breathing and gone unconscious, and without her chakra outpouring continuously to his chest, death was a very real possibility.

"This is none of your business."

Sakura crosses her arms and looks down at the girl that had followed her around for the last half-year. The girl who, in some strange way, acted like a borrowed sister—she was bright and intelligent and worked hard to get where she was at. With a heavy, resigned exhale, Sakura makes her decision.

"Leave,"

Hojo jumps at this, coming to his sister's defense as Naruto's eyebrows dart up from Sakura's harsh tone. Sasuke glowers.

"Sakura," Hojo begins, catching his sister from falling to the ground. Her knees have buckled. "You can't be serious. There's no proof, there's—"

"I will be going to the Konoha Surveillance Sector to find my proof. Until then, Amu, you're suspended."

Sakura looks at the girl deeply, never moving her hands from their folded position. "I genuinely hope this is all just a misunderstanding. It will be very bad for you, if it isn't."

With one last fleeting sweep, Sakura turns on her heel.

But, she is followed.

Before she can slam her door shut, Sasuke is in her office.

He takes in the small room, filled with stacks of paperwork and bookcases lined with various manuals and texts. It smells of lavender and vanilla, unlike the rest of the surrounding hospital.

There's a tall window that outlooks the facilities garden, where various patients walk alongside nurses to enjoy some of the rainy, wet weather.

"I'm busy." Sakura hisses, wiping her eyes discreetly.

Sakura has never used such a tone with him. Sasuke's heard her berate Naruto like that, and even Kakashi, once. Her bark is much larger now, but her bite is definitely worse. Sasuke was an Uchiha, though. And rarely did they bow down. He was tired of Naruto and Sakura delving into matters that didn't concern them. Their obsession was starting to wear him thin, just like it did in his youth.

"I told you to stay out of it."

This time she crosses her arms to him. Perhaps it was a warning, especially when her left hip swung out and her right foot pointed to the side. "I know what you said, and frankly, I don't give a shit."

His chakra flares and he cuts his eyes. He knows she can feel the warning of his spirit. That simple spark used to leave her cowering, but now it seemed she was waiting for it. She was no longer the young woman that kept her mouth shut at his beck and call.

"You're too busy chasing after me to think properly." He accuses, piercing her with downcast eyes. He knows it's a petty accusation, but a true one nonetheless.

She's seen his disapproving look before. It made her stomach flip. This feeling was the last thing she could handle right now. She inhales, letting fire consume her.

"It's always about you. Do you…really think I wanted to get rid of her? Better yet, do you think I suspended her because…" She walks towards him, looking directly into his odd eyes. "…because you're the goddamn dumbass that can't dodge a little girl and a needle?"

Sasuke's eyebrows dart up. He's been called a few things by her—"coward," once, in the Forest of Death, and not so long ago, "idiot" as she healed his freshly dismembered arm. The "goddamn dumbass" was certainly…new.

His perceptive eyes notice the tremble of her lip.

"This hospital is under my control. Every ass that's wiped, every shot that's given—it's all recorded in these stacks upon stacks of binders for me to read at the end of every. single. shift."

As if to make her point, she grabs a handful.

"I'm the one that makes the decisions around here. It was not Amu's place to put your life in her hands. If she truly did that, there is no room for her in my hospital! I don't care if it was an elderly man that looked at her the wrong way or if it was some…some notorious Missing Nin that she was put in charge of. She broke her contract. She broke my trust. It doesn't have anything to do with you."

Sasuke turns to leave, no longer interested in her argument. But she's not finished.

They are breaking now—fragile would-be lovers with so much between them. Their ties are frayed, and slowly they unravel.

"So that's it? You bring this out of me and I'm left to pick up the pieces. So typical of Sasuke Uchiha; go ahead, run away. I hope you find what you're looking for."

His teeth grind together almost painfully. "Do you want me to leave, or do you want me to stay? Make up your mind."

"I already told you what I wanted last night."

Sasuke kicks her chair out of his way, not being able to properly express his disdain for this entire situation properly. He was never good with words. "I can't stay! Even if I wanted to!"

The noise forces Ino's feet to run to Sakura's office. Naruto is leaning outside of the door, glaring at eavesdropping employees as they dutifully, and timely made their rounds. He puts his arm up, successfully blocking Ino's entrance.

The blonde blinks her dull blue eyes at Naruto. "Why don't you stop them?"

"Because they need this,"

Ino had been there for Sakura when Sasuke disappeared. She'd seen the light in her eyes flicker slowly into a lackluster glow as months, and then years passed with no word of the boy she'd fallen in love with so deeply. Her heart was disintegrating.

Sakura did not allow herself much time to grieve. For three days she confined herself to her bedroom—no food, no water, no sunlight. And on the fourth day she stepped out into Konoha wearing all black. Naruto left soon after the event, which meant that Sakura...

Sakura truly was alone.

The seventh day was Sakura Haruno's enlightenment. She decided that she would not rely on anyone, and that she would save Sasuke. She loved him—she would not forsake him, because he was alive.

"Every time something good happens between us," the woman begins, swallowing the knot in her throat as she squeezes tears from glassy eyes. "You try to leave me behind. Just when you start to accept my love and heal from it, you turn away."

"I don't want to be healed!"

Ino and Naruto share a glance. Sasuke's voice was decrepit. They've never heard such a tone. He may have said the words, but he certainly didn't believe them. Naruto bit his lip.

"I know what you're trying to do, Sakura. I feel it." Sasuke says, grabbing his chest. She watches as his frown deepens and his eyes crease into small slits. "Since I was a boy, your emotions have tried to stab their way into my soul and it's not…your love is not my cure. It's my affliction."

The sight is almost heartbreaking. They were destined for this, the tragedy of the century. A woman who loved and a man who would go crazy because of it. "What else can I do? I won't turn my back on you."

Heat spreads across Ino's face and neck as she hears the intimate exchange. She gnaws her inside cheek, closing her eyes picture the scene playing out just beyond the slightly ajar door.

"Just kiss me." He replies in undertone.

It's so soft that Naruto isn't quite sure he picked it up. He turns slightly, just in time to see Sakura stand upon her tiptoes and press against mouth. It is a bitter touch, exchanged between a plagued couple.

Sasuke will leave in a mere months' time.

Sakura will be left behind yet again.

Sakura's mind thrashes. He will fall in love with someone else—a real woman that can bear him his offspring and pass the baton of power. That's what he wants, isn't it?

Sasuke's does too. She will find a man that can love her wholly—she'll have the family she deserves. That's what she wants, isn't it?

How very wrong they both were.

Her tears stain his cheeks as he pulls away, still tasting the salt from her lips. "I need to go."

With one final, fleeting look, Sasuke moves past Ino and Naruto with an emotionless reserve. He could handle this, after all. He had to.

Or else everyone would be damned.