Izumi jumped and sucked her finger again for what seemed like the millionth time to stop the bleeding. Mikoto gave her a sympathetic smile, although her eyes danced with mirth. She handed her daughter-in-law a scrap of alcohol-soaked fabric to clean her finger again. The poor scrap had dots of blood everywhere from each of Izumi's unfortunate battles with their day's mission. For a such a competent kunoichi, Izumi was quite terrible at needle work.
Izumi looked over her needling to make sure she hadn't gotten any blood on the starch white fabric that made up the bottom of the uchiwa and sighed in relief when the garment remained as unblemished as when they'd bought it from an older aunt's store. She'd have cried if she needed to start over again! She'd already ruined one uchiwa with her clumsiness, and while she struggled to complete a few, Mikoto had already filled half of her basket with the meticulously sewn emblems that would be embroidered to Sasuke's wife's clothing. Thankfully, Mikoto had taken charge of the task of sewing all of the uchiwas for special occasions since her needle work was impeccable, but Izumi still wanted the uchiwas she sewed to look somewhat presentable.
Despite the stress sewing brought her, it was actually a calming activity for Izumi to sit with her mother-in-law in the sunroom. Mikoto was a patient teacher as she gave instructions on how to tighten this stitch or reinforce that thread line. It was customary for the groom's mother and immediate female family to sew new uchiwas for the bride as a welcoming gift. It symbolized the creation of new family bonds through marriage, but also the strengthening of their initial family bonds as a clan. Any blemish on an uchiwa made by the groom's family was seen as a bad marriage omen: a loose stitch meant the marriage would unravel, dirt or blood meant pain and tragedy, a crooked stitch meant fighting and disagreements, any uneven balance of the fabric meant childlessness, as the two chakras would not come together into one being. Izumi would be lying if she said that as she and Itachi struggled to conceive, she hadn't checked over every single uchiwa Mikoto had presented her with during her engagement party. But with the same scrutiny she now paid those for Sasuke's wife, Mikoto had sewn every uchiwa immaculately. Izumi hadn't found a single error, and now Mikoto was making sure that she didn't transfer negative wishes onto Sasuke's marriage with any error in technique. If anything was less than perfect, Izumi had delicately cut the thread and started over, careful to thread her needle through every single hole save the incorrect one as she went.
Looking down at her work now, Izumi felt an odd sense of pride to see that she was making fewer and fewer mistakes that needed to be repaired.
"I'm telling you, Itachi. The little runt has a good pot going already! Tell him to never get married," Shisui entered the sunroom laughing boisterously. He held a long scroll and had a brush tucked behind his ear. Itachi followed after his cousin, his presence like a calm wind after Shisui entered like a gale storm. Seeing the pair together always made Izumi's heart fill with happiness; they were quite the unlikely pair, one quiet and reserved like a moonlit night, the other exuberant and inviting like a bright spring day, but it was clear for anyone to see that the cousins loved each other very much. Itachi and Shisui had been inseparable since the day they'd met. Behind the duo entered Fugaku with a handful of scrolls himself.
"What? Are people betting on Sasuke's marriage already?" Mikoto asked her nephew eagerly. She'd been waiting for gossip on who was on Sasuke's marriage list since her youngest had received the scroll, but she hadn't heard anything from him; Sasuke had been busy with ANBU missions…and avoiding her so he wouldn't have to face her wrath over his apparent relationship with Sakura.
"Yup! Top three bids are on Kiyoko, Reina, and Aita. But Yayuna is mounting a strong challenge, Oba-san. You in?" Shisui wagged his brow. Nearly the entire clan had some money on this cousin or another. All the fervor wasn't for actual money but more pent up energy since no one had gotten to bet on Itachi's marriage list. The Uchiha clan was reserved with outsiders, a holdover from the long years of war and persecution, but within the clan, they enjoyed a good game. Their enjoyment of gambling was in part a reason they'd found a sense of even footing with the 5th. On a purely business matter, she'd been informed of Sasuke's scroll to initiate clan heir protocol: he would be assigned less long term and far away missions until his engagement period ended. On a personal matter, she had placed her bet early.
Fugaku set his scrolls down on the glossy wood table and began to organize his workspace. Shisui took the brush from his ear and dipped it into the ink well, waiting for his aunt's bet.
Mikoto gasped and took out her wallet. "Place a bet on Reina. 10,000 ryo!" She looked over to her daughter-in-law whose hands gripped her embroidery hoop a little too tightly. "Izumi you should place one too!"
"I don't think that's a good idea, Mikoto-san. I'd feel a little bad if I won, betting on Sasuke's future and all," Izumi smiled shyly. Itachi met his wife's eyes and could easily tell that her true smile was absent from the usually glistening orbs.
"Of course it's a good idea! Shisui put down 5,000 for Izumi," Mikoto handed the coins over to her. Shisui began to write down her choice when his uncle held up his hand.
"You are not placing a bet on the marriage," Fugaku gave a pointed glance to his wife and then turned to view the police records from the last month. Mikoto narrowed her eyes and puffed out her cheeks.
"Well if I knew who was on the list, I wouldn't have to make bets. Imagine, a mother not knowing who was deemed appropriate for her own son! I only just pushed him out of my womb after 18 hours of labor… a labor in which my husband was recovering from fainting… a labor which my five-year-old handled better than said fainting husband…" Mikoto sighed dramatically, clutching the uchiwa she was working on to her chest. Fugaku didn't spare her one glance, used to her waiving his fainting as a trump card after so long of marriage. It wasn't his fault he'd been weary from a mission and meetings and hadn't had time to mentally prepare for watching his wife give birth…again.
"Scratch her bet, Shisui."
"Fugaku!"
"You'll be seen as having inside information, Mikoto," He warned as if it was the most obvious response. Inwardly, he was laughing at his wife's antics, but he couldn't let her know that.
Shisui scratched out the bet and returned her money, while Mikoto glared at her husband furiously and went back to sewing, stabbing her needle through the silk with added ferocity. The conversation turned to the cooling weather, the new ninneko kittens whose paw prints were added to the Paw Encyclopedia, the upcoming due date of one of their pregnant cousins. Before long, Mikoto left the sunroom to begin preparing dinner, tasking Izumi to organize the best sewn uchiwas to be used on the wedding kimono and festival kimono and yukata, and the others to be used on everyday clothing. Fugaku waited until Mikoto was out of ear shot before addressing his nephew.
"200,000 ryo on the woman he marries," he slid the coins quietly across the table.
"Isn't that cheating if you don't actually pick a name, Oji-san?" Shisui grinned and added his uncle's name to the betting pool scroll.
"Is it cheating, or just showing why I am the Head of the Clan?" Fugaku crossed his arms and nodded smugly… "Don't tell my wife," He added hurriedly, breaking some of the illusion as a tough clan head. Izumi bit back a chuckle.
"Secret's safe with me, Oji-san," Shisui's grin widened even further. Itachi slowly blinked in his characteristic show of exasperation and shook his head. Uchiha Mikoto found out everything, from every attempt of Sasuke's to have a snacking tomato before dinner to Itachi forgetting to study for an Academy test the night before, which he still passed with a perfect score, he would add. Surely his father knew the futility by now of trying to hide something from Uchiha Mikoto.
Sakura sat in her office analyzing pediatric patient files for warning signs of mental health issues. She organized the files into 3 groups based on the documented severity of each of their cases then color-coded the files for quick reference later. She could barely look at the stack of red files: children and teens who had been placed on suicide watch or had mental break downs after an extremely brutal mission resulting in the death of their teammate or sensei. If she really took in the growing stack of those files, she'd break down and cry, and crying wasn't going to help them. She'd let herself cry after she knew they were safe.
The yellow and orange files were obviously easier, and yet brought little comfort. The orange files were characterized by youth who had had some counseling and were recovering from their trauma by establishing healthier coping mechanisms. The hospital still kept tabs on them, but the services for them were lessened to make room for more immediate concerns. The yellow files were the lowest risk patients at the moment; Sakura refused to label those files blueish-green as if there was still nothing to worry about. These files contained patients who were starting to exhibit signs of mental health illnesses: reoccurring nightmares about their friends getting hurt, periods of tightened chests and heavy breathing, itchy and sweaty palms at the mentioning of certain activities or situations.
As she looked at each file, Sakura also made detailed notations of the way the children described their symptoms. Of course a young genin might not know the term anxiety, but they knew that their stomach cramped furiously and they felt nauseous even though they hadn't eaten anything suspicious. They knew that their bodies began to shake so badly that they had to hide their hands from their teammates. They knew that they had trouble falling asleep because their brains were constantly running. The extremely young children knew that they played certain games similar to situations that frightened them. If she could document some of the common ways the children described their feelings, all of the nurses could make notes when doing initial evaluations before doctors walked into the appointment rooms. Until the children's hospital could be built, hopefully this new resource would allow the current hospital to catch more patients at yellow levels before they escalated to orange or red.
Once she had the files labeled, she created 3 separate scrolls, one for each pile, to log each child's name, shinobi registration ID number, and a quick blurb about their symptoms to help reference their file again. At the next hospital staff meeting, Sakura would distribute her compilation of symptom descriptions and would have nurses start adding the names of children who showed such symptoms to the scrolls. They'd all start to build a database for Sakura to pull for case studies.
Satisfied with her work enough to leave it at that stage, she began to draw up a draft of a guardian consent form to study the children. She knew it was risky telling a guardian that she wanted to study their children's mental health, most would assume that she was trying to remove their children from active shinobi duty, so she had to make sure the consent form was worded perfectly and that she created the perfect elevator pitch to put their minds at ease. She'd have Shizune look over the form to identify any unclear or misleading language that the children's guardians might struggle with; out of embarrassment, they'd never ask the meaning of a term or phrase they didn't understand. And it was imperative that they felt comfortable or the younger children themselves would never feel comfortable, thinking they would be in trouble if they told Sakura or any of the other doctors and nurses how they really felt. That reminded Sakura that she probably needed to stock up on lollipops and stickers: a simple, but effective trick. Even the older shinobi raided her stash of the sweet treats after their physicals.
Lastly, she needed to draft a mission scroll to send to Lady Tsunade for the children's case studies. Even if she did have to take her research to Suna, she at least wanted the guardians to think their village cared and were a part of the information gathering process if not the actual building and administration process. Sakura laid out a fresh scroll and dipped her brush in the ink pot, watching with some pleasure as the stiff hairs of the brush waved through the dark ink. She wiped off the excess liquid and set about her task, careful to use her best penmanship.
The sun had moved to its late afternoon position, signaling the end of her 14-hour shift, but Sakura was too engrained in her task to notice the shifting sun. A tapping at the window shook Sakura out of her writing and she looked up to see a brown and white hawk sitting patiently on the window seal. Sakura placed her brush in the pot and walked over to the window, searching her hands for any ink that might stain the white wood and stone. Satisfied that her hands were clean, Sakura lifted the window and the bird flew in and perched itself on her coat hook. The hawk held it's left foot up for her to take the tiny scroll attached.
Sakura brushed her fingers over the hawk's head as a greeting and carefully untied its message. She unraveled the scroll and pressed a tiny amount of her chakra to release the sealing jutsu and a mint green box pop out. Sakura squeaked and dropped the scroll to go for the box. The hawk squawked at her awkward attempt to catch the package before it hit the floor, earning a stuck-out tongue at its clear show of amusement. Balancing the box in one hand, Sakura reached down and grabbed the scroll to dispose of it. She walked over to her desk and set the box down before carefully opening it in case its contents had shifted around in its brief freefall. The mint green box opened to reveal its delicious prize: umeboshi dango with extra sweet plum sauce. Sakura's eyes lit up as she recognized the packaging and distinct shape of the dessert from her favorite dango stand. Taped to the top of the box was a note written in Sasuke's utilitarian handwriting.
'Go home,' his note read, and Sakura laughed at his bribery. He knew she wouldn't be able to keep working past her shift if the sweet treat was waiting for her to indulge; she'd learned long ago that sticky, syrupy goodness and paperwork were a terrible combination. Sasuke's hawk cooed on its perch, drawing her attention to what she guessed was her last order of business for the day. She smiled and retrieved a thick leather bracelet and a meat snack decorated with sunflower seeds from her desk drawer. She placed the bracelet on her arm and held the meat snack out for the predator to swoop in for. The hawk gleefully snapped up the treat, shaking its feathers in a sign of appreciation.
Sakura smiled and brushed her fingers over the bird's head, back, and belly. "We won't tell, Sasuke, will we, pretty bird?"
The bird cawed in response and preened at her attention, puffing out its illustrious feathers for more of her gentle touch. The bird would gladly keep the secret. All the hawks in Sasuke's arsenal preferred flying to Sakura; she always gave them snacks.
"Tell him I will," Sakura placed a kiss to the bird's head as she walked the bird back to the window. She held her arm out and the raptor took off towards its master.
On the ANBU training ground, Sasuke heard the cawing of his hawk through his meditative state. He stood from the lotus position and tilted his neck to the side, giving the bird plenty of room to land on his shoulder. The bird dove low and sunk its sharp talons into the reinforced shoulder of its master's shirt, picking up its talons to settle into a more comfortable position. The hawk brushed its head against Sasuke's cheek to relay Sakura's affection and then cawed again and settled down, happy with a job well done… until Sasuke poked its stomach with annoyance.
"You landed heavy. If she doesn't stop feeding you snacks, I'm putting you all through extra training rounds." Sasuke walked towards the Uchiha compound. The hawk cawed and flapped its wings in offense.
Sakura stepping through her apartment door and tossed her keys into the ceramic bowl on her end table. She toed off her sandals for comfy slippers and cracked her neck as she made her way towards the bathroom to run a relaxing bath. Just as she was about to unzip her top, a pack of dogs came barreling into her living room, bulldozing her over for kisses and pets.
"Oh good, you're here." Kakashi came out of her bedroom as if this was a completely normal occurrence, which bless her life, it semi was. He watched her flailing her arms for help but turned his attention back to the newest installment of Icha Icha.
"Okay, okay. Everybody down," Sakura called to the eager swarm of ninken trampling her intestines with glee. The boys barked loudly but finally allowed her some space to breathe. Sakura pushed herself off the floor, glaring at her completely unhelpful sensei and went to the cupboard to grab treats for the pack. Once each pup was gnawing satisfactorily on a bone, Sakura turned expectantly to her sensei, tapping her toe in impatience.
"What do you want, Kakashi-sensei?" She crossed her arms as he leisurely turned the next page.
"Can't an old man just want to visit his favorite student?" Kakashi covered his mouth and giggled slightly at the action on the page. Shaking her head, Sakura walked into the kitchen to start fixing tea.
"You must be getting senile in your old age, sensei; Sasuke isn't here," Sakura tossed back over her shoulder.
"Mou Sakura-chan, so mean." Kakashi pulled out a chair and slouched down into it, feeling a creak in his back. He really was getting too old for this. Sakura set the container of sugar on the table, knowing that he'd never risk his image by asking for it himself but would also never drink tea without a generous spoonful. Sakura set both cups of tea on the table then waited for the water to cool a bit so she wouldn't burn the tea leaves. When the water cooled enough, she poured two cups and passed one over to him. Kakashi sprinkled a teaspoon of sugar into the green liquid, nearly salivating in anticipation.
"Let me guess; you have a physical due."
"Yup."
"And are avoiding the hospital and Tsunade-shishou."
"Bright as ever," Kakashi took a sip of the hot tea, almost burning his mouth. Sakura rolled her eyes but grabbed the extra physical forms she kept in a drawer for this exact scenario. Kakashi was notoriously wily when it came to hospitals, and Tsunade-shishou had long run out of patience with his constant escapee routine. Sakura had been formally cleared to perform his physical in her house if it would prevent the Hokage from having to track him down.
"Ridiculous. One day the great Copy-Nin Kakashi will be felled by the common cold, and I will not stop lamenting how you would have survived if only you had gone to the hospital. I'll make sure your story is told to every Academy student."
"I'm sure you'll put a heroic spin to it and campaign for a monument in my honor," Kakashi's eyes crinkled into a smile, happy to have gotten his way.
"Hardly," Sakura scoffed, rolling her eyes, then pulled her chair in front of him to start his physical. Her house was filled with his breathing, her soft instructions, the gnawing of bone in the living room, and her pen scratching to ink out her uncharacteristically neat penmanship onto the form: a strange mix of sounds but comforting nevertheless. Sakura signed the form and ripped off the top copy to hand to him; he would need to keep it for his records. The bottom copy she placed in her work bag to log into the hospital computer on her shift tomorrow. Kakashi thanked her but didn't make his usual speedy getaway after anything medical.
He grew quite serious, studying her face for a moment. "How are things going with the children's hospital?"
"Better, I think. I feel like I'm making some headway. Though, I may have to threaten to take my research to Suna. I mean, I wouldn't think it would be so hard to see the need for a children's hospital in Konoha, but apparently it's a great difficulty to do so." Sakura took a sip of her tea but longed for something a bit stronger; she really should start hiding sake in her house like Tsunade-shishou advised. Her day had been good overall, she had a new direction for her research and new organizing methods, but she was also tired of having so little to show after months of researching and observation.
"Why not build it on your own with private funds?"
Sakura shook her head. "You know that wouldn't work, Kakashi-sensei. If it's a private hospital, patients would need to pay for care, and I couldn't do that to the families; they'd never be able to afford it. So many see it as a luxury already that they could never justify it as a necessity. I know they couldn't set aside money for the visits." Sakura worried her lip. She couldn't blame the hard-working families; so many of them were doing the best they could to provide the basics physical needs of their children. And since mental health issues could take a while to be a manifested problem, many wanted the adult hospital to deal with it when shinobi were no longer able to do their job.
But that thinking was flawed, ridiculous even! Why fix a dam after the water was escaping in droves when it could have so easily been patched when the issue was only a small crack? And Konoha's medics didn't have the resources to help all of the shinobi in the way they needed. Even with Tsunade-shishou's mandate of every genin being tested for medical affinity, it took time to build skilled, competent medics, and the council barely spared money for what little mental health training the certified medics received now. But Sakura couldn't let all of this deter her. The children were counting on her; the future was counting on her. She couldn't give up just because things had gotten a little frustratingly difficult. She had a path now thanks to Ino and Shikaku; she just had to walk it.
"Seems the only way is to go around the council then," Kakashi took a sly sip of his tea and narrowed his visible eye in a conspiratory glance.
She shook her head good-naturedly: "Something tells me that is illegal, Kakashi-sensei. I'll be court marshalled." She attempted to take a sip of her tea but chortled so hard she nearly spilled the liquid all down her shirt. What would be the punishment for going behind the council's backs to do good? She could almost see Naruto and Ino clamoring through the gates of the T&I unit to bust her out. Maybe Sasuke would let her hide out in one of the newly renovated homes in the comnpound until the hospital was well on its way. Kakashi would even bring her his beloved Icha Icha series to keep her company. 'Maybe it wouldn't be so bad,' she chuckled inwardly, then mentally shook her head at her silliness.
Kakashi shrugged and went to rinse his teacup out in the sink. "You've been thinking like a doctor, Sakura, looking through the archives for data collection and science, but you can collect anything you would find there yourself. Maybe you have to approach the problem with the council as a negotiating political leader. Suna's a start, but if they don't take that bait and Suna doesn't agree with your assessment, you're back to the beginning in Konoha. As unsavory as it might sound, you may need to bypass the council entirely…legally, of course."
Sakura looked up from her cup to eye her sensei skeptically. But the more she thought about it, the more it made perfect sense. "Legally bypass the council?" Sakura thought long and hard until… "The clans! The clans have retained political autonomy in negotiations with Konoha since its inception. If I look through the agreements between the clans and the village, maybe I can go through the clans and won't even need the council's approval at all. Thanks Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura kissed his cheek and fled into the living room to grab her bag, avoiding tripping over the dogs with a ballerina's grace. Sakura grabbed a number of storage scrolls and her keys.
"Glad I could help," Kakashi smiled at her hurried rush. The dogs looked up from their bones, confused at her sudden flurry of activity.
"You're still not off the hook! And lock up when you leave out the window!" Sakura shouted as she dashed down the stairs and out towards the Hokage tower. Kakashi shook his head at the eagerness of the youth then grabbed his book and whistled for the dogs to disappear back to their homes. Once he'd made sure Sakura's front door was secured, he shuffled out the window, satisfied to have shucked yet another year of those God-forsaken hospital physicals.
Author's Note: To everyone who reads, gives Kudos, leaves favorites, leaves reviews, follows/subscribes, bookmarks, or any other way you show your interest, a huge thank you. I'm glad that you are receiving something from me telling the story I want to tell.
Story Recommendation: "The Valley of the End" by SouthSideStory and companion piece, "Outside of Love"