Author's Note: Surprise! New chapter out much, much earlier than I had anticipated. 10 pages, too. Everyone should thank these reviewers: brenda sianipar, theborutosdadtrashanime, mcornilliac, caroacunas, LIMH, Crystalstarize, and rivercocytus, because they have been pretty consistently, if not always, reviewing or commenting on this story. I have been a slow roller with Approaching Sun, especially in taking too long with the whole romantic progression, and there have been several times when I thought it's just going to take too long to write this properly and I just don't have that sort of time anymore. So thank you guys, because your support has kept me wanting to finish this story. And to everyone else who takes time out of their day to show their support, I'm doing it for you!

P.S. Sasuke will make an appearance shortly, I promise 3 It's time for my girl to shine!

Pairing: SasuSaku

Chapter 24: Sicknesses

When Sakura spotted Isao slouching tiredly in an olive chair across from the welcoming desk, she almost stumbled in her happiness. Across the room, she offered the boy a friendly expression as he met her direct gaze and he blushed shyly and looked away from her and down at his feet. When she announced his name to come back, the boy nervously rubbed his wrists as he stood and then placed his hands behind his back in a manner of such mature politeness that had Sakura smiling widely at him. As they walked to the exam room, Isao continued rubbing at his wrists and Sakura frowned at the behavior because it was the first time she was seeing him do so.

"Is everything okay, Isao?" Sakura asked, wondering why he was suddenly exhibiting nervousness in her presence. Just like today, Isao had been weary when she saw him last, but this time, his tiredness didn't hide the anxiety.

"Yes ma'am," he responded after a second's hesitation. Sakura had the gut wrenching feeling that everything was not okay. When they entered the assigned room, Mako was waiting for them with the child's chart; Sakura assumed this meant he wanted to be present for the child's examination. After checking vitals, she wasted no time before diving into the assessment.

The child was half-asleep by the time she finished checking his blood pressure and Isao snapped awake when she spoke.

"We missed you yesterday, but I am glad that you could make it today."

To Sakura's disappointment, Isao only nodded and did not offer up any more information, so Sakura tried a different question. "How have you slept the past couple of nights?"

Isao yawned ironically before saying, "Not good. I've had an episode each night." The boy looked away from Sakura then, embarrassed, as if admitting this truth to her was shameful in some way. Sakura looked more closely at his facial features, noting the dark circles under his eyes. It wasn't just that he was waking up in the middle of the night; from the looks of those dark eyes and his exhausted state, it seemed he was staying awake throughout the night.

Sakura wanted to immediately send him home to get more rest, but she was afraid that if she did so, she might not get him back to the clinic again. The child was practically falling asleep in the chair across from her and when she asked questions, he'd rub his wrists nervously. She noted how they were starting to chafe now but had been untouched during his last visit. This was a new behavior, which told Sakura that there was a new variable to this sleepless situation.

"Isao," Sakura asked, casually writing this observation down on a clipboard on the counter beside her, "It says on your record that you had a sleep study done with us. Who did this study?"

"I did," he replied immediately, "Or, well, my dad did after we were shown how."

Sakura couldn't help but look over at Mako who narrowed his eyes too at the child's words. Isao's primary care physician hadn't told them that the sleep study was self-performed. When Mako had finally found Isao's doctor, the man said that "stress" had been the deciding factor because the sleep study had ruled out other medical factors. Sleep studies were sometimes done this way, but in this particular case, Sakura believed that it was necessary for her to complete another. Maybe removing him from his home for a night would help the child sleep anyway.

"Isao," she began, already making up her mind about the situation. "Would you like to stay here for the night? We need to do another sleep study in this facility with our doctors."

The child's eyes widened, and he gawked at her as if she had just requested him to commit murder. He stumbled over his words as sweat began to bead on his forehead. "I don't... uh... think so," he stuttered, "I don't think that would be… good. My dad," he began, but then stopped himself instantly.

After a minute of not receiving anything else from him except shaking, Sakura made eye contact with Mako, silently communicating to him her wishes. Sakura wouldn't force Isao to stay, but she wanted to emphasize the importance of the suggestion. But if Isao was displaying such nervous behavior around her, then perhaps this negative response to the idea was because of her too. She was a foreign ninja after all; maybe there was mistrust there. Isao did mention something about his father. Maybe if Sakura stepped out of the room for a moment, Mako could help him understand. As if reading her thoughts, Mako nodded and Sakura stood to leave.

"I'll be right back," she spoke softly. "I'll give you a few minutes to decide while Mako-san finishes up your chart."

Again, Isao bowed without a word. He only continued to rub his wrists and tap his foot. Sakura frowned to herself and exited.

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A message had been sent to Isao's absent father after Mako was able to convince Isao that an overnight stay was in his best interest. Mako had informed her that the child had been anxious at first for unknown reasons, but Mako had explained to the adolescent that Isao would barely see them during the night; they just wanted to re-check his heartrate, blood pressure, and breathing while he slept. When insured with a good night's sleep, the child finally conceded.

Sakura had Mako write down everything during the conversation, so she could look at it on her own later. The child was definitely stressed, but Sakura couldn't yet pinpoint why. Maybe these notes would help her put some puzzle pieces together.

In the meantime, she prepared a room for Isao in the children's clinic. Sakura had helped pick the design for these rooms. She had explained to Gaara and the other head medics that it would be best to have quarters that didn't look like the exam rooms in the hospital. Children were often afraid of hospitals, so Sakura described that these apartments should be made to look like common Sunagakure living spaces that these children were used to seeing frequently. It was always best to help kids feel like they weren't in a medical facility. When the decision was unanimously in favor of this idea, Gaara had ordered it to be so and had toys and book shelves brought in. They decorated these rooms as calmly as they were able: flowers in a large windowsill, white curtains and matching bedspread, a Sunagakure rope rug on the floor, and small pastel paintings of the village on the walls. Besides the newly invented machinery in the corner needed for medical purposes, the rooms were relaxing and varied slightly depending on age.

Isao's room, one of the bedchambers for young adolescents, had books with legends and entertaining stories instead of small toys; even in the Leaf, Sakura wanted the spaces to be free from historical documents or anything else that might trigger an emotional disturbance due to the warring past. Sakura wanted children to feel like regular kids when they were here, because most of the time, it was the shinobi life that was affecting them in some way.

Sakura believed this might be true for Isao as well. The child of 11 was beginning to pursue being a ninja here in Sunagakure. Maybe it was this change that was causing Isao anxiety. If his mother had died in the war, maybe he associated her death with the ninja way of life; perhaps his father pushed him toward this goal. This was all speculation of course, but Sakura didn't have much to go on here; she hoped she'd learn more during Isao's stay.

Mako had escorted Isao to his room and told him to make himself at home. When Sakura had brought him dinner, the nervous behavior began again so she set the tray down and departed quickly with a kind smile.

"He's cautious of me, I think," she told Mako after making her way down the two stories of stairs and back into the reception lobby.

Mako looked up from his work at the tall, ivory counter with an expression of worry. "No miss, I'm sure it's just nerves."

Sakura leaned over the counter next to him and reached for a small jug of water that had been given to her at the beginning of the day. She took a long drink of refreshing water before replying dejectedly, "He only displays that jumpy behavior when I'm near."

Mako started to shake his head, but Sakura waved a hand in dismissal. She knew Mako was just trying to reassure her. The entire staff treated her as if she were a miracle worker and Mako didn't want her upset while she was working with them. Perhaps he was afraid that she might not return again after she departed Sunagakure, or maybe it was because she was a guest of the Kazekage's. Or, she thought again, he just genuinely liked her and didn't want her to feel out of place here.

"I have a suspicion that it might be because I'm not from this village," she announced, tapping her fingers on the counter in thought. "Do we know anything about his family? Their sentiments towards other villages or outsiders? Anything about his mom?"

"I will look into it immediately, Miss," Mako replied, and then with a comforting beam, announced, "I am certain that the boy will warm up to you soon."

Sakura wanted to tell him he wasn't being much help while trying to spare her feelings, but she only grinned back in return as he worked.

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This was day three in Sunagakure, and Sakura's routine was still rather busy. After dinner, Isao sat up in bed trying to read a book despite how tired he was. Mako stopped by in the hours between sunset and nightfall, making sure the machinery was functioning properly in preparation for his sleep. From what Sakura was witnessing in the brief check-ins she was conducting on the youth, he appeared to be much like a toddler that was fighting sleep. Sakura sent Mako in before seven o'clock with some hot tea that Sakura hoped would soothe the boy. He wouldn't drink it, but the pink-haired medic refused to try the sleeping concoction she had made for Isao. She didn't want to try anything new until after the study was completed; using it now would hurt their efforts instead of helping because they needed to observe his typical sleep habits, however bad they may be.

While Sakura waited for Isao to fall asleep, she worked with the machine expert to monitor the data that was being sent to a very large box that took up an entire wall in the observation room. The device was printing out various numbers on ivory pieces of paper that the machine was spitting at her feet. All these numbers were telling Sakura what she needed to know about Isao's sleep such as his sleep stages, body and eye movements, oxygen levels, and breathing rate. Mako was by her side throughout the entire process and collected and organized the papers for her while she evaluated some new information Mako had gathered for her.

Mako had investigated Isao's family through sources in the village and Sakura went over his hand-written notes after he had explained them to her. Both Isao's father and mother, Tokoro Souta and Tokoro Rina, were shinobi in the last war. Souta, Isao's father, had been injured during the war but had made a recovery. Rina, on the other hand, had been one of the many that had lost their lives in the war. Sakura wracked her brain desperately for any recognition of the name. If the Sand kunoichi had been sent to Sakura in the war to be healed, wouldn't Sakura have seen her? Or for that matter, if Souta had been healed, perhaps Sakura had treated him in the war. Both of the names were unfamiliar to her; Sakura had helped thousands of patients in the war.

The longer that Isao fought his sleep, the more concerned Sakura became. It was almost like he was afraid to sleep; didn't want to sleep. Maybe he had lied to her about dreaming during the night terrors. Perhaps he did in fact have nightmares that he didn't want to face. Nightmares of his mother? Something else?

Sakura decided that the child needed to be reassured considering that he might be fearful, and so she made the two-story climb and knocked lightly on his door. Mako had insisted on coming with her, but she asked him to stay behind to evaluate any data her interaction with him might reveal.

"Isao?" she called softly, "Do you mind if I come in?"

"No ma'am, please come in." Sakura recognized the hitch in his voice and resolved herself to be patient and kind to this confused child who treated her with such uneasiness.

"Isao," she began, pouring him a cup of tea from the kettle that he had yet to touch, "we cannot help you if you refuse to sleep. Why are you frightened?"

Without a second of hesitation, the child asked, "Is my dad here?"

"No," she responded calmly despite being taken aback by this question. "He is not."

"Does he know that I am here?" he asked immediately after her response.

Sakura couldn't help but tilt her head at his concern and answer honestly, "We sent him a notice that said you were going to stay with us tonight. He hasn't responded."

Isao began rubbing his wrists again, and whispered, "He won't like that I am here."

"What do you mean?" Sakura inquired quickly, worried that he might shut down at any moment.

"He won't like that I am in a hospital. It means that I am being 'weak.'"

Sakura's motherly instinct kicked in at this confession, and she couldn't help but reach towards him. She felt foolish the moment she did so, because Isao pulled back from her in terror and flinched as if she might do him harm.

Raising her hands in front of her in apology, Sakura did something that she recurrently did in circumstances like this. Instead of leaning towards him in a chair, she adopted a spot on the floor, a tactic to make her appear less threatening and more humble. Frequently, when people are anxious, having someone stand over them or talk down to them—even if that person is being humane—causes more involuntary stress for the individual. It was a basic, inherent instinct that many people weren't even aware was in play. Touching or any sort of physical contact would also not work for comfort. When Sakura witnessed children have negative reactions to certain behaviors, it was often safe to conclude that they were reacting negatively because they were recognizing the pattern of behavior that lead up to the treatment they were often used to receiving. Sakura realized that Isao must have often dealt with someone of authority standing over him and possibly engaging in bodily contact. This meant that in order to reach him, Sakura would have to do the exact opposite of that.

She crossed her legs, leaned her back against the side of his bed, and broke eye contact. She yawned and took a drink from the glass of tea that she had offered to him. She could feel the shock radiating off of Isao at her unusual behavior, and so she decided to address his confession and wait for him to make the first moves of opening up.

"You know Isao," Sakura began, taking another calming sip of tea, "There are many sicknesses. Sicknesses of the body and many sicknesses of the psyche, or a person's mind. And it certainly doesn't mean that you are weak."

"Really?" he murmured tiredly in question at the back of her head.

"Actually, it means the opposite," she continued, "It means that life has dealt you something that others do not have to struggle with and that battle makes you stronger. You are having to fight every day against something that many people are free of."

There was a small silence before Sakura recognized the clinking of the teapot behind her. Sakura smiled as she heard Isao finally reached for the kettle at his bedside and poured himself a cup of the steaming liquid. He reached over her shoulder for her cup too, refilling it to the brim before handing it back to her.

When he readjusted himself on the bed, Isao sat with his back against the headboard and admitted, "You remind me of my mom. Before she died, she was compassionate like you. And knew a lot about things."

Sakura briefly made eye contact again, just long enough to show him her sympathy, and then looked back into her tea as she replied to that statement with: "I am sorry that your mother died in the war. She must have been a very brave woman."

"She was," he confirmed after taking a very long drink of tea and leaning his head back against the headboard.

Sakura took her chance to say something else before the effects of the tea took its course on his body; he was so very tired, and it wouldn't take much of the hot beverage to lull him into a doze. "Just like sicknesses of the body," she began, "sicknesses of the mind are sometimes caused by something. Our bodies fight against viruses, against things that it has been exposed to."

In her peripheral vision to her right, Sakura could see him nod in understanding. She continued. "We want to help you, Isao. But to beat a sickness, we have to figure out what it was caused by."

Sakura paused, but there was no answer. She kept her head down as she asked calmly, "Do you know what's making you have these terrors? What is making you sick, Isao?"

She waited a long a minute, a very long minute. Sakura almost thought that the boy had fallen asleep. When the kunoichi rotated her back to look at him, she realized that she was mistaken. There were silent tears sinking down his cheeks and a few of them dribbled into his half-empty cup. Through his shaking sobs, the boy choked out the words: "My father."

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Sakura was able to get the rest of the information out of Isao before he slipped weepily into slumber. The child hadn't rested in two days. His father had punished Isao for going to the hospital on his own for his night terrors by keeping him awake. Souta had articulated to Isao that if he really wanted to be cured, then he just wouldn't sleep at all and had forced the child to stand awake the previous two nights. It was why Isao hadn't arrived at his appointment yesterday; he hadn't wanted to make his father angrier. The child had changed his mind this morning, it seemed.

Isao had also confessed to her that his father hated Leaf Shinobi. This particular detail explained why the 11 year old had displayed concerning conduct when she was near. Before she parted from the room, Isao said, "My father believes that the last war was Konoha's fault. If the Kazekage hadn't been so close with the ninja called Naruto, then Sunagakure wouldn't have gotten involved and Lord Gaara wouldn't have played as big of a part as he did. He blames the Leaf for mother's death."

Everything was beginning to make sense to Sakura now. Everything except the night terrors themselves. If Isao believed that his father was making him sick, then in what way? Obviously, his father was the stressor in his life, but the unjust discipline that Isao received was after the night terrors began. Sakura supposed that it didn't really matter in regard to finding the cause; however, in order to develop a treatment, she would need more information.

The last thing Isao confessed before slipping into sleep, was that, "When he finds out, my father will come to get me. He knows about you and that you are a Leaf medic. You must not let him see you Miss, or my punishment will be worse."

Over my dead body, Sakura thought to herself. She wanted to offer this man a piece of her damn mind. She wanted to give him a thrashing that he deserved for treating his son in such a beastly way. But Sakura had to remind herself that it wouldn't be uncommon for resentment to exist after the war, especially concerning lost loved ones. Oh, she'd be ready when he came. He would either have to talk to her—or fight her if he tried to penalize Isao for seeking medical attention. It was time for peace to begin for everyone: children and adults.

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Sakura had stayed up all night to conduct Isao's sleep study. The terror had happened early on and witnessing the episode broke Sakura's heart. There was no dreaming that occurred according to the data; the attack happened in NREM sleep where dreaming did not occur. Isao had not been lying about not recalling dreams. Mako had insisted that they let the night terror run its course, so they could have the most complete data, but after 10 minutes of non-stop screaming and thrashing, Sakura concluded that it had been long enough for their purposes.

When she finally woke him, Isao clung to her and sobbed afterwards, questioning her repeatedly "What's wrong with me? What's wrong with me?" and Sakura had rocked him back and forth, whispering soothingly that nothing was wrong with him and she would figure this all out; she would make the terrors stop.

Sakura realized after she positioned him back down on the bed and secured the blanket around him, that perhaps he was always punished for these episodes after they happened and never got any real sleep. Sakura decided to sit next to him on the floor for the rest of the night, holding his hand as he fell back asleep. The night terror didn't come back.

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When she woke the next morning before sunrise, Kankuro was crouching down in front of her grin`ing. Mako peered down at her too, standing just behind Kankuro's shoulder. Sakura realized that she must have fallen asleep here on the rug beside Isao's bed. The child's arm hung off the bed, his fingers brushing the rug where Sakura's own hand had been. They had held hands with each other and had let go at some point in the night as Sakura, too, had fallen asleep.

Kankuro was whispering something to her, obviously not wanting to rouse Isao too. When he offered her his hand, Sakura took it appreciatively, allowing the puppet-master to raise her onto her feet. When the door was closed behind them, Mako passed a mug of Sunagakure coffee to Kankuro, who in turn, fit it snug in-between Sakura's sleepy palms as if he had done so a thousand times.

"You really do over-do it don't you?" Kankuro probed entertainingly, tossing her a laugh over his shoulder as they made their way down the stairs to the lobby. One of the female medics—a well-mannered young girl named Hisa that reminded Sakura of her own apprentice Kirai—fetched the kunoichi a chair.

After she planted herself onto the stool with another yawn, she groggily explained to Kankuro what she had been up to recently and even articulated to him everything she had learned about Isao. This included the treatment he was receiving at home and his father's sentiments towards Konoha. Kankuro frowned, clearly forming a mental picture of the man described.

"The man you speak of was sent on a mission just yesterday," Kankuro informed her, "I'll let the Kazekage know what you have found out about this situation. He might not be able to change that man's opinions about the Leaf, but he certainly won't tolerate abuse. In the meantime, let's keep the boy here until his father returns."

"Yes, sir," Sakura promised him, somewhat hopeful for the boy's future. At least something would be done about this.

Kankuro crossed his arms as he turned to lean his back against the counter beside her. "I came to tell you that I am being dispatched on a mission of my own just outside of the village. I'll be gone for a couple of days and wanted to make sure that you would be okay here without an escort."

"Oh," Sakura started, "I'll be fine. I'm in my element here."

"I can see that," he replied in kind, standing and making for the exit. "We cannot tell you how thankful we are for the role you have played in our facilities."

Sakura smiled in response but then scowled when Kankuro placed a hand on Mako's shoulder and proclaimed, "I'm passing duty on to you. Make sure she rests please."

Sakura wanted to say, "hold on just a minute" but the words couldn't come out before Mako bowed with a "Sir!" and Kankuro left with a slight wave.

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Sakura spent the day checking on Isao. It seemed that the child needed to catch up on a lot of sleep apparently, because at noon, he was still out of it. Sakura didn't dare wake him. If he was in deep sleep, Sakura would not disturb that since the REM sleep cycle was free from terrors.

Isao had been right about his father, because at around four o'clock, Satou made his intense appearance. Mako had been updating Isao's chart while Sakura demonstrated how to create gelatin capsules and pack them with herbs to create "prescriptions" that patients could take home. Sakura had packed twenty-four pods with powdered chamomile, valerian root, and magnesium, all of which would help Isao sleep and hopefully help the boy pass on to REM sleep more quickly; maybe they could try it while Isao was staying at the clinic, so she could observe the medicine's direct effects for herself.

Just as she finished labeling the prescription bottle, Satou slammed open the doors of the children's mental health clinic. Seeing Hisa first, Satou growled and made a beeline for her, shouting, "WHERE IS MY SON?"

Hisa, the youngest staff member of the clinic, gaped up at the man in astonishment as he bellowed down at her. Sakura had always been respectful and polite when talking to her elders and had wished that when she did finally encounter Satou, she would be able to receive the man with some civility. But witnessing him charge in with the same mannerisms she had been envisioning him using with Isao, made something in the kunoichi snap. Sakura was usually the calm and collected one in situations like this, but when it came to children, inner-Sakura sometimes took the stage. Sensing this shift in attitude, Mako instinctively placed himself in front of Sakura, but Sakura scooted him out of her way and yelled back, "If you've got a problem, you take it up with me!"

When Satou revolved his head in her direction, a glower permanently stitched to his face, and stomped his way over to her, Sakura bared her teeth in response. What a bully! How could such a mature, kind-hearted child come from such a terrible person? Sakura tried to get a grip by reminding herself that this man too had been affected by the war. Maybe things had been different before the death of his wife. Maybe he used to be a loving father to his son and a caring husband to Rina.

Or maybe not, Sakura thought as he came to stand over her, steam practically coming out of his nostrils and curling across the planes of her cheeks. Sakura squared her shoulders and glared back at him with equal venom, saying nothing with words but with body language alone. Sakura had faced giants; had defeated foe after foe in the Fourth Shinobi World War and had even stared into the eyes of Kaguya herself; she sure as hell wasn't afraid of him. Sakura would be damned if she let this man past her and up the stairs to where Isao slept.

She noted suddenly how Mako and the other staff stood around them in a semi-circle, ubale to be anything but spectators as the two ninja narrowed their eyes at one another. Sakura wouldn't be harassed by him here. How could she ever expect Isao to stand up to this jerk, if she didn't model that now?

"Sir," she bit out between teeth, "I suggest you have a seat, so we can talk."

A big meaty finger jabbed her in the chest, hard enough to bruise, but Sakura didn't flinch. The fury and hatred in Satou's voice rang in her ears as he snarled, "I want my son back NOW, and I'm not going to talk to a Leaf Village bitch about it either."

Sakura was tempted to break the man's fingers that dug sharply into her chest. She could feel the chakra vibrating beneath her skin in response to her own emotions, but she tried to stay level-headed; she really did, but her inner-self was cursing in rage at this sort of disrespect. Thankfully, Sakura didn't have to teach him a lesson because someone else broke his fingers for her.

Blinding sand abruptly encased the man's fingers that were jabbing into Sakura's collar bone. The crack was the sound that precluded Satou's blood-curdling scream at the sudden unexpected pain of his joints being popped out of place. The brute of a ninja fell to his knees in pain.

Sakura spun to see Gaara, the Kazekage dressed in all his regalia, standing in the entrance of the clinic, his voice unusually calm despite the wrath that flashed in his eyes. "Touch her again," he drawled in that raspy voice of his, "and you'll have more than your fingers to worry about."

"Lord Kazekage," Satou hissed out through his pain. "This woman-she took my son-"

"From my report," Gaara interrupted collectedly, "your son came here on his own looking for medical attention."

Satou regained himself and stood up straight despite still holding his injured hand. He started to say something, but the Kazekage spoke again. "Sakura, Sunagakure's honored guest, was generous enough to treat your son personally and has gone above and beyond for him. The only thing you should be doing is thanking her."

But Satou did not thank Sakura. He glared at her instead, a look of more malice than he had shown her a second ago.

Sakura expected the refusal to enrage Gaara; it certainly would have made Naruto fuming mad. Naruto would have twisted his face up and pointed a finger Satou's face with impractical threats. But like many kage, Gaara was wise and had quickly checked his emotions, reigning with calm again in this situation. Sakura knew the type of Kazekage that Gaara was. He certainly wouldn't allow Satou to treat her with insult (that's what the broken fingers were for), but he didn't have to use fear to govern his people or keep them in order. Gaara had proven himself over and over again to the citizens of Sunagakure and they loved him for his sacrifices and devotion. They also knew of his unmatched power and skill, and as a whole, respected him as their leader.

Even though Isao had told her about Satou's particular feelings toward the Kazekage, Satou did not hesitate to obey when the Kazekage ordered, "Have a seat like she asked, Satou. We need to talk."