After spending the previous day sparring with her best friends and then, surprisingly, finally fulfilling her sensei fantasy, Madara had picked Sakura up from her MMA gym and taken her out to celebrate her graduating medical school. He had taken her to a nice dinner at the Akimichi's famous restaurant downtown (luckily they had stopped by her place to change into clothes that weren't soaked in sweat and the scent of sex), where they had eaten their fill of breads and pastas. Before leaving, he had bought a bottle of wine from their menu to take home. A bottle that, between the both of them, hadn't even lasted until the end of the night.
After getting wine drunk at her apartment, they had fallen into bed together in a haze of fuzzy warmth and gentle sex. After an exhausting day, she had fallen asleep in his arms, nude and contented, only to wake up late that next morning to his warm, broad hands lovingly mapping her body. It hadn't taken any coaxing for her to fall back into his arms for more love making although it had taken quite a bit of coaxing to finally drag them both out of her bed.
Neither of them had made it far. Instead, they took a warm shower together, this time a functional shower interspersed with sweet caresses and helpful hands (hands that only became that much more affectionate when Madara, to his horror, discovered the bruises splashed across Sakura's wrists from his too rough grip during their sensei play the day before).
Afterwards, they hardly had the desire or the energy to fully dress themselves, Madara only dragging his favorite fish print pajamas onto his hips and Sakura pulling one of his shirts over her head and a pair of panties onto herself.
After setting the coffee pot to brew another pot, they had fallen onto the couch together in a heap of limbs, neither finding the motivation to even gather a cup of coffee after the pot was finished brewing. Instead, they remained sprawled out on the couch, Sakura grabbing her newest novel from the coffee table in front of her to entertain herself with while Madara busied himself with replying to the messages and emails on his phone.
Sakura was happy to have a lazy day with her lover, especially after the hectic few weeks she had had. She was hard pressed to move from her comfortable nest on her couch, especially with Madara absent-mindedly massaging her foot as he tapped away at the screen of his phone with one hand. She allowed herself to get drawn into the story in her book as she basked in the dream like sensation of her cozy environment.
She was finally drawn out of her trance when she felt Madara's weight settle onto the couch behind her as he laid down next to her. Sakura hummed contentedly at the sensation of Madara's hand sneaking beneath her shirt to caress the skin of her belly, shivering when he began to press gentle kisses to the back of her neck.
It appeared he had finally gotten bored of playing with his phone and had decided to give her his full attention. She had thought that she would be able to get through a few chapters in her newest novel but it appeared she had overestimated the amount of time his phone would hold his interest.
"You're insatiable," Sakura sighed happily as he continued to press affectionate kisses to her neck and shoulder, the heat of his bare chest seeping through her stolen shirt and warming her back.
"You're impossible to resist when you wear my shirt," Madara teased, pulling at the neck of her too-large shirt to expose more of the skin of her shoulder to give attention to.
"Aren't you needed at the clubhouse today?" she hummed as she closed her book and set it off to the side. She rolled over to level him with a wry look before he leaned in close with a smirk.
"They can wait a little while longer," he whispered against her mouth before pressing a kiss to her lips.
Sakura made a noise of agreement as she wrapped her arms around Madara's neck, her eyes sliding shut as she melted into his embrace. He moved so he hovered over her, one hand on either side of her body as he deepened their kiss. Their lips moved against each others', unhurried. Their affection was slow and meticulous, the lovers carefully building the passion between them.
Only to be interrupted by a knock at the door.
They broke their kiss with a curious look at Sakura's front door, both confused by the sudden interruption.
"You can ignore it," Madara suggested, leaning down to place a peck on his old lady's forehead.
As if to shoot down his idea, another knock, this one louder and more impatient, sounded.
"Heh, looks like that's not an option," Sakura chuckled as she rolled out of the Uchiha's embrace, running a hand down his arm affectionately as she did.
As she headed towards the door, she failed to notice Madara sit up on the couch or how his hand lingered near his cut, tossed over the back of the couch, where he had hidden his pistol.
After looking through the peephole, Sakura pulled back, surprised. She grabbed her sage green robe off of the coat rack next to the door, tugging it on and tying it shut before cracking open the door. She peeked out at her unexpected visitors, keeping the door mostly shut to hide her half naked boyfriend from prying eyes.
"Long time no see, forehead!" Ino greeted with a wide smile from the other side of the door, her arms filled with a bouquet of flowers and a delicious smelling box decorated in purple wrapping paper.
Sakura peeked out even further, peering around Ino and spotting Hinata, Tenten, Temari, and Karin behind her, their arms all full of boxes and grocery bags. Sakura's mouth popped open as a realization hit her.
"Oh shit, that was today," Sakura blurted, still hiding behind the door.
"Way to forget about all of us, beast," Karin scolded, her finely manicured eyebrow quirking up as a smirk tugged at the corner of her painted lips, "What, are all those studies fogging your huge head? I thought you, y'know, graduated?"
"Yeah, yeah, fuck you to, psycho," Sakura greeted, shaking her head in amusement at her rough-around-the-edges friend, "Er, just, uh, let me…"
"Well, what's the hold up!? We're carrying all kinds of shit, let's get a move on!" Temari, who carried an armful of towering pizza boxes, announced as she barged her way in.
Sakura squeaked as her friends pushed their way into her apartment, the pink haired woman shooting her curious lover an apologetic look as she stumbled out of the way of the door. She made sure that the sleeves of her robe kept the accidental bruises on her wrists hidden. If her friends discovered the marks and got it in their heads that Madara was abusing her, even he wouldn't make it out of her apartment alive.
"Oooh," Temari gasped as she came face to face with a shirtless Madara still lounging on the couch.
Madara immediately tensed under the gazes of the five strange women.
"Er… Ladies," he greeted awkwardly, a smile that was more like a grimace spreading across his lips.
"Holy crap, forehead! He's almost as sexy as Sasuke!" Ino declared loudly, Madara's expression contorting even farther.
Sakura's returning cry of "He's way sexier than duckass!" and Karin's growl of "Sasuke's way sexier than his old man of an uncle!" overlapped one another as the other women filed in.
"He's what!?" Sakura and Karin both yelled, whipping around and glaring at one another for insulting each others' boyfriends.
While the other invading women openly checked out the Uchiha, Hinata was the only one with any sense of respect. She politely averted her eyes from the male to afford him some vague sense of privacy among the sudden horde of intruding women.
"Well, I'd say that's my cue," Madara quickly decided, hurriedly standing from the couch. Scooping his cut, which contained his pistol, off of the back of the couch, he made a beeline into Sakura's bedroom to gather his clothes and his things.
With the Uchiha finally gone, the women surged farther into Sakura's home and began to deposit their supplies on the living room table and in her kitchen. As Tenten and Temari dropped off the pizzas and a twelve pack of beer on the coffee table, Ino headed into the kitchen to find a place for the bouquet of flowers.
"Hi, Sakura," Hinata politely interrupted, breaking the glaring contest between Sakura and Karin. Karin rolled her eyes before meeting with Tenten and Temari in the living room and deposited a six pack of craft beer onto the quickly filling table.
"Hey, Hinata. I'm glad you guys could come out. I'm sorry I forgot about today..." Sakura apologized, fidgeting with the hem of her sleeve, embarrassed.
"This is your party, so I think you get some leeway," Hinata replied with a gentle smile, adjusting the grocery bag filled with two liter soda bottles and the gift wrapped box in her arms, "Congratulations on graduating. We made sure to stop at that pizzeria on the east side that you like as a present."
"Oh, you're the best! Did you get the cheese filled crusts?" Sakura asked, an excited smile spreading across her lips.
"We remembered," Hinata answered with a bell-like laugh as she made her way further into Sakura's home to drop off the items she had brought.
"So you're dating Madara Uchiha?" Tenten questioned curiously from her spot lounging on the couch next to Temari, both of them already armed with fresh beers in their hands.
Karin curiously looked on with a quirked eyebrow, popping the top off of her favorite craft beer with the bottle opener on her keys.
"Yeah, how do you know him?" Sakura replied, surprised that her friends were aware of who Madara was.
"Are you kidding? He's one of like five people in the region that is ranked as high as he is. He's pretty much a local legend, right next to Hashirama Senju, Gai-sensei, and a couple others," Tenten explained excitedly, leaning forward in her seat in the way she always did when she talked about martial arts.
"He's still pretty famous even though he doesn't fight in the tournaments anymore," Temari added on, still lounging comfortably on Sakura's well worn couch, "Neither him or Hashirama fight anymore though. Not since they were paired to fight each other a while back."
"A problem that could have escalated into a very dangerous situation, as one can imagine," Madara tacked on, finally emerging from Sakura's bedroom, now fully dressed in fresh clothes.
Sakura noticed that he had changed into one of the outfits that he had left behind in her closet. A part of the small hoard of his clothes that were slowly accumulating in her closet the more and more he stayed over at her apartment.
"I don't know, it would have sold a lot of tickets to see you two beat each other to death," Temari joked darkly, her humor just as dry and macabre as ever.
"Very true," Madara agreed with a thoughtful nod, "Although I was more concerned about the lives of those who would attend the fight rather than my own in the ring."
"Ah, good point," the blonde conceded with a shrug, taking a pull off of her beer.
Sakura leveled her boyfriend with an apologetic frown. "I'm sorry, Dara... I completely forgot that they were throwing me a congratulations party today."
Madara just smiled. "That's fine, love. You have fun. Will I still get you tonight?"
"Yeah, you will. I won't drink so I can make it to the clubhouse."
"Alright, I'll see you then," the male replied, leaning in to press a farewell kiss to his old lady's lips.
"Until then," he continued, turning to face the crowd of women, "It was, er, nice meeting all of you. I hope the next time is a little less... revealing."
Temari snorted in amusement, earning a scolding kick from Tenten at her side, before stating, "You as well."
"Take care! And I hope you come back into the ring someday!" Tenten declared with a grin, drawing a smile from Madara as well.
"It was nice meeting you. I'm sorry for the intrusion," Hinata apologized gently.
"Tell Sasuke I said hi, Mr. President," Karin replied with a smirk, giving the Uchiha a lazy salute with her beer.
"And tell the single men in your family that I'm around!" Ino piped up from the kitchen as she worked to find a vase to put her flowers in.
Madara shook his head in amusement as he turned to leave, giving Sakura one last parting smile before closing the door behind him.
"Well, that was a horrible way for you to meet Madara," Sakura started, decidedly ignoring Ino's call of "That was a great way to meet him!" that sounded from her kitchen.
"I'm going to go put on actual clothes now," Sakura continued, striding into her bedroom.
"But we were all loving seeing your panties, beasty!" Karin taunted before sipping at her expensive beer.
Sakura glanced down at her robe, eyes wide, before she realized that Karin was just teasing.
"Shaddap, you can't see my underwear!" Sakura yelled in return from the hallway as she entered her bedroom.
After slipping into a long sleeve top and a pair of shorts (and woefully tossing her stolen shirt into the laundry hamper), she returned to the living room to find all of her friends already gathered on the couch. Temari, Tenten, and Karin already had slices of pizza in their hands while Ino sipped on a diet soda. Hinata was the only one who had waited for Sakura to arrive, the dark haired woman passing Sakura a soda as she sat down on the couch between her and Ino.
As Tenten jabbed at the remote to the satellite TV with a glare, trying to figure out how to bring up the pay per view, Sakura's eyes fell upon the suspicious shaped present that she had noticed strapped across the brunette's back when her friends first arrived.
"Damn, Sakura. So how did you do it?" Ino commented with a smirk, drawing Sakura's attention.
Sakura's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Do what?"
"Hook a guy like him? Duh. His abs are perfect," Ino sighed dreamily.
Sakura glared at her oldest friend before grunting, "Stop ogling my boyfriend, pig."
"What can I say, all those Uchiha are gorgeous. I want one of my own to! I mean you and psycho both have one, why can't I?" Ino scoffed, gazing at Karin from the corner of her eyes.
"You probably scare them all away the second they hear your shrill voice, harpy," Karin taunted in return, a smirk tugging at the edges of her cherry lips.
"Sasuke must be going blind to have ever looked at you twice, rat's nest!" Ino shot back, jabbing a well manicured finger at the red head.
"Knock it off you two! We're here to watch Tenten and me fight, not you two twigs!" Temari reprimanded, crushing her already finished beer can in her hands before reaching into the twelve pack at her feet to grab a fresh one.
Sakura laughed, amused by the antics of her friends. "I thought this was supposed to be to celebrate me graduating?"
"That to. No shame in killing two birds with one stone," Tenten answered shamelessly, "Besides, you're always so busy that this is the only time we'll all see each other for another few months."
"I guess you have a point. Although I know it's just because you and Temari want to show off," the pink haired woman guessed.
"That to!" Tenten repeated, grabbing another slice of pizza from the open box in front of her.
"Sakura?" Hinata started.
"Hmm?"
"I'm really happy for you. You've seemed a lot happier lately and if Madara makes you this happy, he must be a good person," the dark haired woman pointed out, drawing a warm smile from new doctor.
"Thank you, Hinata," Sakura thanked sincerely before turning to face the others, "See? That's the proper, decent, sane thing to say. You should take notes, you damn lunatics."
"Hey, you shouldn't go throwing around insults until you see what we got you, Dr. Haruno!" Tenten teased as she grabbed the suspiciously shaped, intricately wrapped present from the floor and foisted it into Sakura's hands.
"We all got you presents to congratulate you," Hinata explained simply, revealing the reasoning behind the presents.
"That's so sweet, everyone. You didn't have to do that..." Sakura stated as she gazed at the present in her hands, trying to figure out where to start to open to artfully wrapped gift.
"Yes we did. Now hurry up and open your presents so you can get to mine already!" Karin affirmed impatiently.
Sakura smiled, embarrassed by the gifts, before shyly beginning to tear off the wrapping paper from the present Tenten got her. A present that was beginning to look suspiciously like a sword and... yes, of course it was a sword.
"Tenten... Did you really buy me a sword?" Sakura asked in disbelief, unsheathing the blade to see if the katana in her hands was real. When sharpened metal glinted back at her, she found that it was, in fact, very much real.
"No, it's from my collection, I thought you'd like it," Tenten answered, a undertone of distress in her tone.
"You're actually giving me one from your collection?" Sakura gasped, her viridian gaze snapping up to the brunette as shock that the weapon's master would part with any of her toys rushed through her.
"It's not every day that your friend gets her PhD," Tenten shrugged off, her cheeks flushed as she fingered the edge of her paper plate.
"Thank you so much. It must have taken a lot to part with one of your pieces. It's beautiful..." Sakura thanked sincerely, sheathing the blade with a dull click and lovingly setting the weapon aside, "This really means a lot to me."
Tenten's returning smile was bright even if she was interrupted by Ino before she could reply.
"My turn!" Ino cheered as she passed Sakura the delicious smelling box from before, "You already saw the flowers, I put them in that hideous vase with the frogs on it and put them on your kitchen table."
"Hey, that vase came with flowers that Naruto got me for my birthday a few years back," Sakura defended as she began tearing off the wrapping paper of the warm box.
"That explains it then," the blonde chuckled, shaking her head.
When Sakura tore off the wrapping paper and saw the Akimichi family's logo on the side of the box, she hurriedly flipped off the lid to her present. She drooled at the sight within, nearly moaning at the sight of the Akimichi clan's signature fudge brownies. The incredibly rich kind that Chouji made at his bakery and the kind that melted in your mouth.
"Ohh, you spoil me," she gushed as she immediately popped one of the treats into her mouth, "I even went to Chouza's restaurant last night to."
"Did you try the champagne shrimp and pasta this time?"
"Er, I uh... I got spaghetti."
"Ugh, you have such poor taste in food. Try expanding your horizons a bit, forehead!" Ino huffed, crossing her arms across her chest as she leaned back against the couch.
"Hey, Sakura. Trade you," Temari offered, pointing at the box of brownies in Sakura's hands as she twirled a envelope in her between her fingers.
"Gladly," Sakura agreed, trading the box of brownies for the envelope.
She tore open the top of the paper and peered within, grinning at the season pass to the MMA tournaments. Based on the color of the pass, it was for the whole year.
"Oh wow, is this for all year?" Sakura asked as she reached within, surprised to find two passes instead of just one, "Oh, there's even two!"
"Yup!" Temari confirmed through a mouthful of brownie as she passed the box to Tenten who greedily snagged up a slice of brownie, "For you and your boyfriend. I figured it'd be something to actually get you out of your apartment, hermit."
"Hey, I go out plenty," Sakura retorted, pouting at her friend.
"Yeah, to go fuck your biker boy toy and go to work," Temari teased, drawing a hot blush from Sakura.
"I still can't believe you're dating Sasuke's uncle, you pervert," Karin laughed, presenting Sakura another envelope with an elegant flourish, "Shouldn't you be dating someone closer to your age? You know, like Itachi or Shisui? I thought Shisui had a crush on you."
"He did? Huh, that's the first I'm hearing of it," Sakura replied as she became thoughtful, wondering if that was the reason behind why he had been acting so standoffish when she first came to the club as Madara's old lady, "Doesn't matter either way. I'm very happy with Madara, he treats me really well. He's the first guy whose ever made me this happy."
"Doesn't change the fact he's like twenty years older than you," Karin retorted with a crooked smirk.
"I think it's sexy," Ino sighed dreamily, smiling widely, "Older men are hot. And you said there were more single Uchiha?"
Sakura snorted out a laugh, "You guys are freaks."
Tearing open the envelope, she wasn't surprised to find a beautifully hand drawn coupon for a free tattoo of any size and color at Karin, Suigetsu, and Jugo's tattoo shop in Oto.
"Nice. What if I wanted a full color back piece, huh? Neck to ass?" Sakura inquired with a grin.
"Then I'd finally get to put more color on you! All you have is that tiny little cherry blossom on your hip!" Karin exclaimed, pointing a black painted nail at where Sakura's one tattoo was hidden beneath her shirt, "Besides, your old man is covered. Don't you want to match him as his old lady?"
"You just want to hurt me more, don't you?" Sakura leveled her with a knowing look.
Karin huffed out a laugh, dropping her head to hide her grin behind her curtain of fiery red hair. "What's the shame in that?"
"Thank you, Karin," Sakura laughed, shaking her head even as she contemplated what tattoo she would want to get from her friend.
Hinata, who had waited patiently until last, handed her a gift wrapped box with a gentle smile. "I know it's not very fun, but I hope this will be helpful when you're working."
Sakura unwrapped the box and opened it, finding a brand new, high end stethoscope within. The sage green instrument had an ID tag already clipped onto it, a single cherry blossom printed onto the decoration.
"Oh, this is gorgeous! This will be very helpful. I've had the same old one since I graduated nursing school. And this one is so pretty. Thank you!" Sakura genuinely thanked, carefully rewrapping the delicate instrument and returning it into its box for safe keeping.
"I'm happy to hear it," Hinata replied, relieved, before adding on, "Congratulations, Sakura. We're all very proud of you for finally accomplishing your dream. You're going to be an incredible doctor."
Sakura felt like she could cry under Hinata's praise but was, thankfully, interrupted by the eldest of the group of women.
"Yeah, yeah, congratulations, Dr. Haruno. Now let's watch some fights!" Temari cheered, snatching the remote from Tenten's hands and earning a rough shoulder butt from the brunette.
Sakura's smile warmed as she settled onto the couch with her friends, grateful for the distraction lest she start to tear up from her happiness. As Temari pressed play on the fights and as both her and Tenten emerged into the ring on screen, Sakura's eyes drifted across those sitting on her couch. It had been so long since she got to see them all and she hadn't realized how dearly she had missed the women's presence in her life until they were all gathered together once again.
In that moment, she made a promise to herself that she would make sure to spend more time with her friends. And not just her girlfriends but Sasuke and Naruto as well. It seemed like her life had been inundated with Uchihas the moment she got involved with Madara and realized that spending time with people outside of the MC was something that brought a great amount of relief to her heart.
When the box of brownies finally made its way back to her, only one of the treats left in the box, she couldn't even find it in her to be upset. Instead, she just shook her head in amusement, finishing off the final brownie before grabbing a slice of pizza from the box on the coffee table.
Only to promptly cringe in sympathy as she watched Tenten take a incredibly painful looking roundhouse kick to the face from Temari on screen.
"Holy crap!" Sakura yelped through her mouthful of brownie, immediately sucked into the fight on screen as Temari remorselessly cackled from her spot on the couch.
After an afternoon spending time with her friends, something she hadn't realized she had sorely needed, Sakura felt as if a weight had lifted off of her shoulders. Spending time with her closest companions, without the ever pressing concern of a secret life or hidden crimes, was the reprieve she had needed.
She loved Madara with all her heart. She also loved the Uchiha family like her own (if not more). The amount of secrecy that was weaved into all of their interactions and the hidden war the club waged, however, was a heaviness that always weighed at the back of her mind. Spending time with people who had no deadly secrets, who lived no secret lives, was a welcome reprieve.
When Sakura finally found herself back at the Uchiha clubhouse, she had felt recharged. Despite being back with the Uchiha MC and with the weight of her concern still a heavy cloud that lingered around their interactions, she was able to relax and enjoy herself. She was able to put aside thoughts and fears of their war and the secrets they kept from her enough to enjoy the interactions she shared with her lover's family.
Sakura sat in her customary place in Madara's lap, both of them perched on one of the couches that made up the makeshift living room in the clubhouse. While she refrained from drinking, having driven her stick shift jeep over from her apartment, the trio Izumi, Itachi, and Shisui happily sipped at their own glasses.
After hearing from Ino earlier that day that Shisui had fostered a crush on her, it made it easier for Sakura to understand why the curly haired Uchiha had been acting so standoffish. It seemed now, however, that his displeasure had dissipated, or at least he no longer showed it. He drunkenly and happily conversed with her, even with her perched on the Uchiha MC president's lap.
Izumi acted much the same as always, her cheerful personality a warm light in the generally stoic group of Uchihas. Sakura noticed that Itachi, however, seemed somewhat on edge. She didn't pay it any mind, knowing that his unease more than likely stemmed from the fact that Sasuke wasn't present at the moment.
"I can't believe you're going to be making a song with Tayuya and the Sound Four! I can't wait to hear it," Sakura commented with a wide smile, excited for her friend.
Izumi grinned widely, tapping her feet on the ground in an excited motion. "Me either! I never thought they'd get back to me when I sent them my offer but it seems they liked my music! Tayuya herself even commented on that song where I included the flute."
"Oh? What did she say?"
"She said, 'fucking kickass'," Izumi squeaked, delighted.
Sakura laughed aloud, throwing her head back in amusement. "Of course she would. She's so awesome."
"See, I told you someone would notice all the hard work you have been doing! You're so talented! Don't forget about us when you're famous," Shisui crowed, throwing an arm around Izumi's shoulders and dragging her into a hug.
"As if!" Izumi hooted back, leaning into his embrace.
"We're all very proud of you, Izumi," Madara complimented with a smile, absentmindedly running his fingers across the soft material of the unzipped hoodie Sakura had thrown on over her long sleeve.
"Thanks, boss," the female Uchiha replied, giggling as Shisui refilled her glass from the bottle sitting on the table in front of them.
"So when are you going to be meeting with-" Sakura began before being interrupted by the jarring sound of the front door to the clubhouse slamming open.
"Goddamnit, fucking move! Shit!" Sasuke roared, an vividly clear undertone of panic in his command.
Sakura immediately whipped around to face Sasuke's voice, his form hidden behind the crowd in the clubhouse. Concern immediately shot through her after hearing the very real alarm in her best friend's tone. Her action was mimicked by all of the officers sitting around her, Madara carefully moving her off of him as he began to stand.
Sakura rose to her feet, slipping off of her lover's lap. The entirety of her attention was focused on the shifting crowd so, when the Uchiha's and hangarounds finally parted and revealed Sasuke, Obito, and Izuna, she gasped in shock.
Sakura's eyes took in the scene in front of her, her lips parted and eyes wide. She saw how Sasuke, who scowled deeper than she had ever seen, had Izuna's arm thrown over his shoulder. He carried the older male, Obito pushing through the crowds of Uchiha and hangarounds alike and making a path for them both. Her eyes flicked across Izuna and how he heavily leaned into Sasuke, clutching his side as he grimaced. Blood oozed from in between his already stained fingers, soaking the front of his shirt.
What had happened?
The relaxed atmosphere from before now long gone, she watched, stunned, as Obito swept all of the glasses from one of the tables in the clubhouse onto the floor with a loud crash. Sasuke carried Izuna over to the table before dropping him on it, the elder Uchiha cussing as he was jostled.
As Izuna laid out across the table with a grimace of pain, Madara was already surging forward.
"What happened?" Madara growled in a fierce tone that Sakura had never heard come from her lover before.
"The fucking Senju happened, of course," Izuna grunted from the table, scowling at his brother.
As Sakura watched the scene unfold in front of her, her heart raced in her chest. Her focus narrowed until only the space where Izuna, Madara, Sasuke, and Obito lingered occupied her focus.
She failed to notice as Kagami, Izumi, and Shiui worked together to force anyone who wasn't an officer out of the clubhouse. Even patch holders were removed with a brief apology given at the treatment quickly followed by a demand to keep the outsiders silent.
Sakura didn't even notice as Itachi pulled Sasuke away from Izuna's side and how the youngest Uchiha sagged against a nearby table like he had lost his will to stand.
Her hands shook at her side, her mouth hanging open in shock, as she stared at Izuna laid out on the table.
There was so much blood...
Sakura had spent so much time around the Uchiha MC but she had never seen anything like this. She had heard stories from Sasuke. She had heard a confession from Madara. She had even had her suspicions when Shisui had refused to talk about his sudden limp.
To be faced with Izuna, bleeding out on a table in the clubhouse, felt like a punch to the gut.
Fueled by the adrenaline flooding her veins and her years of training, Sakura rushed forward. Even though her heart thundered in her chest and even though she rapidly drew breath into her lungs, she ran to Izuna's side, needing to help somehow.
"Izuna, move your hand, I need to see," she commanded as she came to a stop at his side.
The vice president hissed as he pulled his hand back, Sakura ripping up the edge of his shirt to gaze at the wound. Even through the blood coating his side and concealing the injury, she could recognize that wound anywhere.
Izuna had been shot...
Blood gushed from the wound without the pressure of the Uchiha's hand. Grimacing, Sakura ripped her unzipped hoodie off of her shoulders and balled it up. She jammed it up against the wound, applying enough pressure to staunch the bleeding but dragging a cry of agony from Izuna as she pressed down far more heavily than he had.
"He needs surgery. He's bleeding too much, he's not going to make it if we leave him like this. We need to get him to the hospital!" Sakura urged, frowning in dismay as blood soaked her jacket and began to seep in between her fingers.
Izuna's blood stained hand shot up and he roughly grabbed her upper arm, leaving a macabre handprint on her long sleeve shirt. His grip was bruising and demanding even though his hand trembled.
"No. Hospitals," he choked out even with his face twisted in pain.
Sakura's wide eyed gaze flicked up to Madara and Obito, the Uchiha MC president scowling as he gazed down at his younger brother. His attention couldn't be drawn away from the mortal wound in his sibling's side. Obito frowned at Sakura's pleading gaze.
"He can't go to the hospital, Sakura," Obito began to explain in an almost gentle tone that he reserved for her, "Izuna got shot. If he goes to the hospital, the police are going to get involved. He already has a strike. If the cops find out what happened, he could go to prison. We could all go to prison."
It was unspoken that they would all rather die than be locked up. Izuna would rather die here than go to jail or to bring down his family.
"Hospitals are out of the question," Obito finished.
Sakura stared down at Izuna with wide eyes, her mind racing as she took in the situation. Izuna's face was contorted in pain, his eyebrows furrowed deeply, and the hand that wasn't still gripping her arm was trembling. His normally light skin was sickly pale from the blood loss. She could see how his chest rapidly rose and fell with his frantic breathing and she could feel his irregular pulse underneath her hands. He had already lost too much blood. If he lost much more, he would go into shock and die on this table.
She looked up, her gaze falling upon Sasuke wilted against a nearby table. He stared at the blood coating his hands with a fearful expression on his face. She hadn't seen that look since they were just children fighting those Oto kids. When they had watched Naruto sag like a puppet whose strings had been cut after his head had been smashed against the pavement with a haunting and sickening crack. She hadn't seen that expression since they both had thought that they had watched Naruto die.
Itachi and Izumi were at Sasuke's side, their attention drifting from between the young Uchiha they were trying to comfort and their vice president dying on the table in their clubhouse.
She spotted Kagami and Shisui rushing around the building, locking doors and closing blinds as they went, trapping them all in the clubhouse and keeping everyone else out. Even as they worked, she could see the panic etched into their features.
Sakura's eyes flicked back to Obito and, even being the stoic man he was, she could see the concern in his expression. She could recognize the look of understanding on his face and knew that the sergeant at arms also knew that Izuna was dying.
Finally, her gaze fell upon Madara. He appeared calm on the surface but the tension in his shoulders, how his hands were fisted at his sides, and the line between his brows betrayed him. More than anything, she could see the fear in his eyes, hidden behind a false layer of composure. He was watching another one of his brothers die in front of him.
This would break him.
Sakura looked back down at the wound beneath her hands as a thousand scenarios played in her head. Her heart raced as her head swam with all of the possibilities. All of the thousands of endings to the situation in front of her. Izuna dying. Sasuke blaming himself. Madara losing his mind after losing yet another brother. More bloodshed. A war that only got worse. A war that never ended. More deaths in the clubs. Obito dying. Sasuke dying. Madara dying.
She pressed down on the cloth staunching Izuna's wound harder, Izuna's hiss of pain drawing her back into the present. Her palms warmed as more blood seeped from out of the cloth and soaked her hands.
Her hands.
Her eyes widened.
As her thoughts raced, one single realization shot through her like a bolt of lightning. Everything became clear as one thought coalesced in her mind, whisking away her fear. Her heart still pounded but her panic faded. Her thoughts raced but her mind was no longer muddled. The trembling in her hands stopped as one thought cleared away the fog in her mind.
I can help.
Sakura had trained her whole life to be a surgeon, to be a healer. She had spent years as a nurse and years training to become a doctor. She was going to be a surgeon. She may have never performed a surgery like this, but it appeared that Izuna would now be her first case.
She knew what to do, she knew how to save his life. She would not fail. She wouldn't let Sasuke or Madara or any of her friends fall apart. She wouldn't let this war get worse, she wouldn't allow those she loved to be put in even more danger.
Most of all, she would not let Izuna die.
"I need you to grab whatever medical supplies you have. Anything. First aid kits, sewing kits, alcohol, gloves, towels, bottled water, anything you have!" she commanded, immediately taking control of the situation.
The gazes of everyone in the room shot up to her in shock. It was only a heartbeat later before everyone flew into action, rushing around the clubhouse to gather the supplies that Sakura had demanded.
As they worked, Sakura focused on her new patient. She needed to assess his wound, to figure out what she needed to do.
Freeing one bloodied hand, she pressed her fingertips against his belly, feeling for firmness. She could feel how the muscles in his stomach clenched with the pain and with her prodding but could feel that his abdomen was still soft. She thanked her lucky stars, unbelievably grateful that the bullet hadn't perforated his bowels. She wasn't sure that even she could help if he had sustained such a traumatic injury.
She quickly leaned down, pressing her ear against his stomach. She listened closely for a dozen seconds before the comforting sound of bowel sounds reached her ear. Withholding a sigh of relief, she pulled back, certain now that his GI system was not only intact but still functioning.
Her gaze snapped up as Madara dragged another table over to Sakura with a jarring screech. The other members of the club rapidly deposited their finds onto the table which would serve as Sakura's workstation. Her calculating eyes flicked across the supplies she had been given, taking in what she had to work with as the table was slowly filled with the officers' finds.
Towels, bottles of water, a bottle of rubbing alcohol, and a box of gloves all got tossed onto the table. Sakura was shocked, however, when Kagami dropped off a cardboard box filled with a loosely organized supply of professional medical equipment. A startlingly large number of syringes, sterile needles, gauze, dressings, IV tubing, IV catheters, surgical tools, tape, gloves, and even a few fresh bags of saline stared up at her. Sakura's eyes flicked up to Kagami and he grimaced before glancing off to the side and leaving to gather more supplies.
At Kagami's guilty look, she realized that this wasn't the first time that the club had tried to take care of an injury like Izuna's.
"Obito, Itachi. I need your help," Sakura called out, both Obito and Itachi immediately appearing at her sides.
"I need someone to staunch his bleeding while I prepare my supplies. I also need to roll him over to check for bruising and to see if there is an exit wound."
"I've got it," the sergeant at arms replied, stepping forward. When Sakura pulled away, Obito pressed down on the blood soaked jacket stopping Izuna's bleeding.
"Fuck, Obito!" Izuna cried out as Obito bore down on him, "Try to be a little more gentle!"
"Quit your whining. You were dumb enough to get shot, you can tough out a little pressure," Obito chided with a quirked eyebrow, unsympathetic.
"You're a fucking sadist," Izuna grunted, his hands gripping the edge of the table.
Sakura wiped the blood off of her hands and onto her shirt, not caring that she had ruined her clothes, before tugging up the stained sleeves of her long sleeve top. She reached out and dumped the contents of the cardboard box of supplies onto the table before her, her sharp eyes taking in the contents. She pulled a pair of bandage scissors out of the pile and foisted them into Itachi's hands.
"I need you to get his shirt off," she instructed curtly, Itachi answering her command with a nod.
As Itachi worked to slice off Izuna's shirt, carefully avoiding his cut, Sakura called out, "Izumi. I need something that can work as an IV pole. I need to hang this about five feet off of the ground."
"On it," Izumi replied immediately, disappearing into the back hallway.
Sakura dug back into the supplies on the table, setting aside a bag of saline, a catheter kit, a roll of tubing, an alcohol pad, a tourniquet, and a roll of tape. She tugged a clean pair of gloves onto her stained hands, careful to not dirty the fingers of her gloves. Turning back to Izuna, she grasped his arm and straightened it out, forcing him to release the edge of the table.
"I hate needles," Izuna panted, dropping his head back against the table as he frowned at Sakura.
"Hey, you got shot. A little needle stick shouldn't be too bad," Sakura joked halfheartedly, trying to lighten the mood like she did in the hospital.
Using the rubbery tourniquet, she tied a slipknot around his arm. She pressed her fingertips against the skin at the crook of his elbow, searching for a vein. Despite his veins being so thin and his pulse so thready, she was just able to find a suitable location.
With the skill of a practiced nurse, she disinfected his skin with the alcohol pad and started an IV in Izuna's arm, drawing another hiss of discomfort from the Uchiha. She screwed a saline lock into the catheter before taping the equipment to his stained skin. She didn't see a saline flush in the box and prayed that her IV was not only patent but wouldn't infiltrate.
"See, not so bad," she commented before adding on, "This next part though... Might sting a little."
Sakura took one of the hand towels off of the table and cracked open a fresh water bottle to wet it.
"Alright, roll him over," she commanded as she returned to the injured Uchiha's side.
The two Uchiha rolled Izuna over onto his side, the eldest man hissing in agony at being moved. Sakura wiped away the blood that had gathered on his back and his side, her eyebrows furrowing at what she found. Izuna's lower back was clear of bruising but his side, near where the bullet had entered, was colored a deep purple. He was bleeding internally and bad. Luckily, however, it appeared that his kidney was unharmed.
Even more than that though, there was no exit wound.
"Roll him back over," Sakura instructed as she returned to her work station, the two men obeying and returning Izuna to his back.
Izumi returned from the back rooms, a standing lamp and a coat hanger in hand. "Will this work?"
"That's perfect, thank you," Sakura answered as she took the coat hanger and hooked the bag of saline onto it.
She hung the bag from the top of the standing lamp before tugging the cap off of the spike at the end of the IV tubing and spiking the bag of saline. She unrolled the clamp on the tubing and allowed the saline to fill the line and drain onto the floor before connecting it to the saline lock in Izuna's arm and allowing the liquid to flow.
She nudged Obito's hand, lifting her jacket pressed into his wound to investigate the injury. She was concerned when she noticed that the amount of blood that drained from his wound this time was less than when she had revealed the injury earlier, indicating to her that he was losing too much blood. She prayed that the saline she was pumping him with now would help bring up his blood pressure before he crashed.
"Okay, Izuna? Are you still with me?" Sakura started as she gently palpated around the wound, trying to see if the bullet was near the surface of his skin. She couldn't find the unmistakable feeling of the bullet beneath the skin and frowned.
The vice president's half lidded eyes fell upon her as he panted, "Yeah?"
"I'm going to need to do an exploratory laparotomy on you to see where the bleeding is coming from, okay?" she explained as she pressed her balled up hoodie back against his wound.
"Fucking English, Sakura," he groaned back.
"I'm going to need to make a large incision and open you up to stop the bleeding," she rephrased.
"Gods, at least give me a shot to prepare myself."
"You can't drink anything. It will thin your blood even farther and make the bleeding worse."
"Won't cutting me open make the bleeding worse than me taking a drink?" Izuna argued, his half lidded eyes staring into hers as he gazed at her through his sweaty bangs.
"Can you promise to hold as still as you can if I let you take a drink?" Sakura finally acquiesced, knowing this surgery was going to be exceedingly painful without any anesthesia to help.
To help keep him calm, it would be worth the risk.
"Cross my heart."
Sakura frowned but glanced up at Kagami, mouthing the word 'one' at the curly haired Uchiha. The bartender disappeared behind the bar as her gaze locked with Obito's.
"Hold this down for me?"
Obito nodded in response, coming forward to take over the job of staunching the bleeding while Sakura returned to her supplies. She quickly located a scalpel, forceps, hemostatic clamps, retractors (shockingly enough), a curved needle, a needle driver, a pair of bandage scissors, and a roll of suture, all wrapped up in sterile packaging. She wished she had vascular sutures on hand and, even more, wished the sutures were of a higher gauge.
She would make what she had work. There was no other option.
When Sakura turned back to face her patient, she watched as Kagami handed Izuna a glass filled with a shot of clear liquid. Izuna threw back the shot with a grimace before dropping his head back against the table with a shaky breath.
"Okay... Let's do this," he huffed, putting on a brave face as his gaze settled on the ceiling.
"This will work, Izuna. I promise," Sakura vowed, the elder man locking gazes with her for a long moment and nodding.
When Izuna's eyes returned to the ceiling, the tension wrought through his body had lessened incrementally. "I trust you."
"Everyone, I need you to hold him down. This is going to hurt... a lot. And I can't have him moving around," Sakura declared, the tension in Izuna's form returning as all of the Uchiha in the room came forward to pin their vice president against the table.
"Sorry, VP... Maybe this will help?" Shisui apologized with a deep frown before holding out his leather wallet for Izuna to take.
Izuna hissed through his teeth in displeasure before taking the wallet in his hands. "Thanks..."
"Stay strong, brother," Madara spoke as he pinned down his younger brothers shoulders, Izumi taking position at his arm.
Kagami and Sasuke settled at Izuna's waist, trying their best to hold him down while also giving Sakura the space she needed to work. Shisui pressed the vice president's leg into the table while Itachi did the same with the other. Obito remained at his side, keeping the cloth tightly pressed against his wound.
Sakura laid out a clean towel as she began tearing open the packaging on her tools and trying to maintain sterile field as well as she could with what she had. She knew this surgery (gods, her first surgery on a living human) would be far from sterile and would have a high rate of infection but knew that it was better than him dying on that table.
She tore off her old pair of gloves before slipping on another pair. Grasping the scalpel in her hand and a clean towel in the other, she took a deep breath and turned back to her patient.
"Okay. It's time. Obito, you can let go. Please help hold him down," Sakura informed, her tone measured as she gazed down at her patient.
The sergeant at arms pulled away, allowing Izuna to stick Shisui's wallet into his mouth and bite down before pinning down his free arm. Sakura tossed her blood soaked hoodie to the floor with a wet slap before wiping off what blood she could from the now freely gushing wound. She dropped her now stained towel onto the floor. She pulled the heavily bruised skin of Izuna's side taut, positioning her scalpel against the edge of the wound.
"Brace yourself," she announced, feeling as the Uchiha tensed underneath her hands.
When she cut, Izuna's teeth sunk into the wallet with a cry.
Sakura watched in muted awe as her finely sharpened scalpel cut through skin, fat, and muscle, the flesh parting easily. She was unable to make the incision in one cut and it took multiple slices to carve through the layers of skin, his abdominal wall, and then his peritoneum and into his abdominal space.
She cut a large incision, using the puncture from the bullet as a guide for centering her cut. Blood gushed from the wound more freely now, the pocket of blood that had already escaped his circulation flowing out onto her fingertips. Even more than that, he bled from the use of a simple scalpel and not a cauterizing, electrosurgical scalpel. Once done, she set the bloodied instrument back down next to her other tools before coming back with a pair of retractors and hemostatic clamps.
"Keep him still," Sakura directed once again as she sunk the teeth of one of the retractors into the incision.
Izuna tensed but, when she squeezed the retractors and the tool forced open the incision, the only thing that muffled his scream was the strip of leather in between his teeth. When Sakura repeated the same process with the other retractor, opening up his wound wide enough for her to see within, she felt as Izuna suddenly sagged, turning limp underneath his hands. His head lolled to the side, the teeth-marred wallet falling out of his mouth, as he lost consciousness from the combination of blood loss and agony.
Sakura paid it little mind, focusing entirely on the task in front of her. With the wound opened so wide, she could finally spot the source of the blood loss hidden among the folds of his large intestine: a torn vessel bled freely, more than likely torn open by the bullet that had disappeared into his body.
The doctor knew better than to go searching for a bullet. The hunks of metal tended to become pretty harmless once they stopped moving. She would only hurt Izuna more and risk killing him herself if she went digging for it. It wasn't presenting an immediate danger so she would leave it be.
More than anything, Sakura was grateful that his intestines had miraculously been undamaged. An incredible wonder that she thanked the gods for as she reached into his abdominal space to reveal the bleeding vessel.
She took a pair of hemostatic clamps, clamping shut the vessel on either side of the damage. As the bleeding immediately stopped, she used a clean rag to sop up the blood from within the wound to see what she was doing.
Reaching into her workspace, Sakura popped off the lid to the cassette full of suture before pulled a foot of suture out of the case. Using the scissors, she cut off the unclean portion of the suture, letting it fall to the floor. She wrapped a length of suture around her hand, trying her best to keep it as sterile as possible, before cutting again. She grasped the curved needle and the needle driver off of her workspace, quickly threading the needle twice. Grasping the needle with the needle driver, she took another steeling breath.
She returned to the open wound in Izuna's side, grateful that the man had lost consciousness. She was about to perform a very delicate operation and any movement could result in more damage. Leaning in, she carefully began to suture the gash in the vessel in Izuna's side. Careful to avoid damaging the vessel even farther, she gently sewed the hole closed, expertly maneuvering the suture in her hands and tying meticulous knots to prevent any leakage from the stitching.
Once done, she carefully cut the excess suture and finished her knots, carefully analyzing her work for any mistakes. Once satisfied, she checked her work by unlocking the hemostatic clamps pinning the vessel shut. She allowed herself a smile when she saw no blood seep from her work, breathing an internal sigh of relief.
Using the prongs of the needle driver to carefully maneuver his viscera, Sakura searched for any additional signs of bleeding, for any damage to his intestines that she may have missed, and to see if she could locate the bullet for easy extraction. Finding nothing unusual, she unclipped the locks on the retractors and allowed the opened wound to close to a loose slit. Dumping her tools on the table, she grabbed a clean washcloth and her opened water bottle from the table. As gently as she could, she cleaned off the bloody skin around the wound, revealing pale, but bruised, flesh around the incision.
Changing her gloves for a third time, she repeated the process of gathering suture onto her hands and threading it through her curved needle. She began to sew Izuna's peritoneum and layers of muscle back together, careful to avoid puncturing his viscera with the curved needle. After skillfully sealing up the first layer, she gathered another handful of suture before finally stitching up the layer of skin and sealing up the slash in his side.
Sakura knew that, despite her expert suturing, that this wound would leave a nasty scar.
Once finished, she stood up straight for what felt like the first time in hours. A smile pulled at the edges of her lips as she gazed down at her handiwork, incredibly pleased with her work. Wetting another washcloth with the last of the water from her water bottle, she cleaned the blood off of her freshly sutured incision.
She had done it. Looking at Izuna now, she would say that he would live.
He would live!
Sakura hadn't felt this much joy since the first time she had brought someone back from death with CPR. She hadn't felt this incredible since she beat Kakashi in a spar for the first time. She hadn't felt this on top of the world since she got her grades back from her tests in medical school and realized that she had earned the title of doctor.
She had saved Izuna's life. He would live. Not only would he live, but the Uchiha's wouldn't be broken by his loss. Madara wouldn't lose his brother, Sasuke wouldn't lose his uncle, the club wouldn't lose their vice president.
She had helped prevent an escalation in the war. She could have saved dozens of lives. She had made a difference.
And the joy behind that realization made it so she couldn't drag the smile off of her face.
"He should be okay," Sakura finally declared as she tore her gaze away from Izuna and up to the others for the first time since she had begun the surgery.
Her eyes widened and her lips parted in shock as she took in all the awed faces staring at her. Even Obito, a man who played his emotions close to the vest, stared at her with an expression of unmitigated astonishment.
"Sakura..." Izumi gasped, her hands gently resting on Izuna's arm since her assistance hadn't been needed since the man had lost consciousness.
"That was incredible!" Shisui cheered, finally breaking the dam of withheld emotion in all of the Uchiha with his declaration. They all sagged with relief.
Sakura just laughed, dropping her head to hide her widening smile.
She had done it.
As Sakura began her cleanup, gathering all of her used and blood stained supplies into a pile, Shisui, Izumi, Itachi, and Kagami all gathered Izuna up and carried him into the back room as carefully as they could manage. She watched as Sasuke, who appeared as if the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders, and Obito crossed the room to converse quietly among themselves.
Just as she finished pulling off her gloves and dropping them onto the table with the rest of the waste, she felt as a strong pair of arms wrapped around her from behind, crushing her against a warm chest. She grasped the muscled forearms looped around her as her lover nuzzled the crown of her head.
Madara's voice was quiet and strained and, even though she could feel his breath against her skin more readily than she could make out his whispered words, she could still hear his praises. "Thank you, thank you, thank you. You're the most incredible woman, the most incredible person, on this earth, my amazing hellcat. You're a goddess. I love you. Thank you, thank you, thank you..."
Sakura's smile warmed as she leaned back against Madara's chest, sighing as the stress from the surgery finally melted away. Her eyes slid shut as she relaxed in his embrace, finally feeling as her heart began to settle in her chest and as the adrenaline pumping through her blood burned away.
As the excitement rushing through her body melted away though, so did her euphoria from success.
When her eyes snapped opened once again and she finally took a hard look at the bloody scene in front of her - at the filthy surgical instruments laid out on a stained towel, at the blood splattered across the room, at the sight of the Uchiha clan crest, smeared with crimson, staring out at her from the table – her blood ran cold.
Sakura could lose her license for this. She could lose everything she had spent her life working for for performing a surgery like this outside of a hospital. More important than that, she had just become an accomplice. She had saved the life of a criminal who had been shot, she had made herself an accessory in a crime. She could go to jail for this...
Sakura had finally, well and truly, tied her life to the club. And she hardly knew a thing about them...
What had she done?
She gave Madara's arm one last squeeze before quickly pulling away. She refused to face him and, as such, she failed to catch the confused expression on his face.
"I... I need to keep an eye on Izuna. In case he gets any worse. He lost a lot of blood and he's going to need more saline when the first bag is done," she explained weakly, averting her eyes from the scene in front of her and her lover.
"Of... course... Is there anything you need?" Madara asked, a thread of concern in his tone as he tried to meet her eyes.
Sakura glanced up, briefly gazing into his eyes, but immediately looked back to the ground as a sensation of wrongness settled in her chest.
"I'll make a list and give it to Izumi..." she decided as her gaze fell upon the blood stained table in front of them, her expression torn.
Madara's gaze followed hers, settling on the table where Izuna's surgery had occurred, before looking back towards her with a grim understanding in his eyes.
"I have to go," Sakura mumbled as she turned away from the scene before her, hesitantly grabbing a bag of saline with a bloody hand print coating it's surface before hurrying into the back room to continue to tend to the injured Uchiha.
What had she done?