Pompeii
Chapter 5
Vesper Chan

Kankuro was a riot, and a part of Sakura believed he was only so chummy and outgoing because it made Gaara all the more uncomfortable. Kankuro acted as if it was a real treat to do anything with Gaara, making the younger brother bluster and blush.

"I'm going to take this upstairs first," Gaara ground out, glaring at his brother. He paused when he caught Sakura watching him and then ducked his head. "D-do you want to show me where you want it?"

Sakura nodded, taking the stairs two at a time until she was on the landing outside her room. The door had been left empty for the brothers to move in and out of easily. Sakura slipped in first and waved Gaara in behind her. There was a space under the windows she wanted the mattress set. A folded set of sheets sat off to the side, ready to be applied.

"It'll be nice right under the windows," Sakura commented, feeling a little nostalgic for when she used to have a similar arrangement in her childhood home.

Gaara surveyed the room, nodding at the cleaned off floor. "You have a lot of room here." His eyes settled on the succulent she had put under the nearby window and Sakura watched his eyes soften. "You kept it."

Now it was Sakura's turn to flush. "Yeah. I…I know it's super cheesy, but while I like plants and flowers I feel like the desert breeds are the only plants that can survive me. I remember for high school graduation I got so many flowers and even the potted ones. I tried to take care of them but they all died." She glanced back at the succulent on the window sill. "A friend gave me a small barrel cactus in a pot apologizing for being so prickly all year long. I took care of that guy for my entire college life. It's a nice feeling, when something stays with you for so long."

"They are strong," Gaara agreed.

Behind them the sun was setting and filtered gold started to streak in through the windows to the west. It made his face and hair just glow.

Sakura blinked, "Will you and your brother be okay carrying the mattress up?"

Gaara snorted, shaking his head and making his hair sway. "Kankuro is unnecessary."

Seconds later a snake of sand slithered mid air, followed by a coil around the mattress. Kankuro was lying on the mattress with a saucy smirk, letting Gaara carry him and the merchandise to the designated spot. He winked at Sakura as Gaara set the mattress down. Gaara's sand smacked Kankuro as it left the mattress like hands leaving a child.

"A little showy, don't you think?" the older brother asked, adjusting the black cat hood he wore as part of his outfit. In addition to a set of all black he also came with an impressive design of face paint traced across his face. At least Sakura guessed it was face paint.

"Are you truly necessary?" Gaara asked in a droll tone, eyes half lidded.

"Yeah, cause I'm the one in charge, duh." Kankuro hopped up and slid up alongside Sakura. "Speaking of which, my boss wanted me to ask you about the invoice. Someone already tried paying for it and we wanted to ask-"

"Don't accept his money!" Sakura's reaction was knee jerk at best. Both brothers blinked owlishly at her. "Ugh, no, it's just someone trying to be welcoming. I don't want to do anything that could be construed as taking a bribe so please don't deposit their check or whatever they used. I have the payment already made out for you to take back."

Kankuro smiled, causing Gaara to flinch. "Ah, no worries there. Temari is a force all on her own. She'll turn down their payment if you tell her to. But is that okay with you? It might piss the party off."

Sakura felt her shoulders and rolled them back, adopting the look she took on when addressing business. "That may be unfortunate, but I stand by my decision."

Kankuro laughed. "Oh man, the old lady is going to love you. Ah, I better get out of here before I get in too deep. Gaara looks ready to murder me."

Sakura turned and looked back over her shoulder at Gaara, but his face only flushed a brighter shade of red under her scrutiny. He looked more embarrassed than anything. Kankuro was a tease.

"Come on little brother, you can't sleep here. Let's leave Sakura to her rest, it's getting late enough."

Outside the sky was caught between the ghost of gold and budding night. In a little while the first stars would probably twinkle into view. It got dark so fast, like the sky was a drain and all the gold had fallen through to a place Sakura couldn't see.

Sakura wrote the check and a note to Temari, thanking her for being so understanding, before seeing the boys off at the front. By the time they were out the door there was silver in the sky. Gaara turned to wave her goodbye and the moonlight caught in his pretty green eyes. Sakura nearly froze at the way he looked back at her. It was an image she didn't believe she could ever forget.

"I hope you sleep well tonight," she said, not knowing if he heard her.

Gaara's lip quivered before pulling upwards. "You too."

Then they were gone in a swirl of sand.

Sakura scratched at the seal on her underarm, hyper aware of the invisible presence that couldn't even be felt anymore. Minato had told her she would get used to the feeling in a day or two, and if it was still bothering her after that to come see him and he would fix it for her. She didn't doubt his words, but knew that until she got used to it, her habits would be no different than those of a child running their tongue over the absence of a tooth.

Shizune caught Sakura staring and frowned before Sakura could hide her exploration.

"I'm sorry, but if there was an emergency we'd like a way for you travel back in an instant to help," Shizune had explained, showing off a patch of skin on her wrist that glowed blue with a matching seal before fading invisible again."You'll almost never have to use it, though. I'm here most of the time."

"I'm not worried. Besides, I agreed to this, didn't I. You're right when you say there should be a way I can know about emergencies. I had wanted to explore the woods and maybe go hiking later on. This will give me peace of mind."

"I'm glad. I don't want this work to be terrible for you, but I'm afraid our clients have been some of the more colorful variety." Shizune laughed and shook her head, black hair slapping her pretty pale cheeks. "Don't give up on us, you'll warm up to the oddities before you know it."

"What, oddities? What ever are you talking about?" Sakura mock asked, batting her eyes comically. It was enough to make Shizune laugh. "Don't worry, Shizune. I'm from the city, remember? We had plenty of colorful characters and scenarios to deal with. I'm used to being adaptive."

"I believe you. I just worry for when you met some of the younger ones." Shizune tapped the underside of her chin and Sakura remembered how old the woman claimed to be. 'Young' was a pretty vague term. Was 100 years young? She exhaled and shook her head like an exasperated mother. "Some of these kids….really."

"Shizune?"

The called upon woman looked up, eyes wide and waiting. "Yes?"

Sakura felt her cheeks flush. "Sorry, I just thought for a moment you sounded like a mother. I was wondering if you've seen a lot of these kids grow up." Sakura bit back the part where she wondered if Shizune ever had kids of her own. It seemed too forward of a question for only days of knowing each other.

"You could say that. I helped bring many of these kids into the world," Shizune answered, looking down at a pile of files. The names of several were recognized: Kiba, Ino, Shikamaru…even the Shino boy's name was there. "A lot of the citizens found our city to be a safe haven for them, but others don't know any better. Pompeii has been their home for as long as they can remember."

Sakura looked away from her own folders and files to stare out the window to the lobby. It was a nice day, cool and sunny. "It's a good place to call home."

"I think so to. I'm so excited for you to see more of our Pompeii. Speaking of which, you said you never finished your errands from the other day. Where else were you going to go?"

Sakura still had the cards Ino had blessed her with. "I still need things like a table in the kitchen and maybe one for in front of the couch. Once I get a bit more foot traffic I'll spring for some nice bookshelves too. The room upstairs is actually a lot bigger than I thought it was the first time I saw it. It just seems to grow."

Shizune laughed but Sakura wasn't sure why.

"Well, you have your first scheduled appointment coming in for a yearly. After that there's nothing on the books. Would you like to take off for lunch and shopping? I'll call you back if you need it. I think it's fair since you're giving me the day off tomorrow when I haven't even finished training you on our method of running."

Sakura suddenly felt like she was in an odd position. She was younger, less experienced, and almost a fish out of water in comparison to the rest of the town, but she was still the one with the fancy title calling the shots. She set the hours, she did the main labor, she was the superior. But at the end of the day, she felt like she would always look to Shizune for guidance. Would that change? Would there be a day where she felt confident to stand alone? "This isn't my first rodeo. I think I can manage one day on my own, and you need a day to yourself. Let me know if you want to take late lunches or extra breaks. The paper can wait."

Shizune smiled knowingly. "If you say so."

Sakura first 'regular' came in right on time and Sakura had the file prepped and read so she knew what the expect. She ran through the exam for the Jorōgumo and sent the spider woman on her way with a clean bill of health and a hearty 'thank you' for the appointment.

Shizune shooed Sakura out the door and nearly cackled at the wounded look Sakura sent back over her shoulder, too hesitant to fully enjoy herself when she knew there was work she could be doing. It was as if the people of Pompeii didn't care about deadlines. When you live for centuries, it made sense not to care about such a trivial thing, Sakura figured.

"First food, then furniture."

There were plenty of places to go for food in Pompeii, but Sakura wanted someplace close to where she would be looking for furniture. One of Ino's cards had a small map with several chain locations and another had a recommendation for a small sit down place. Between the two of them, Sakura knew she should be quick and efficient, but the sit down place had all day breakfast and it had been too long since she had a hearty breakfast stocked full with sugar.

Sakura shuffled the cards and then picked one with her eyes closed. When she opened her eyes she knew she had made the right choice.

"Waffle Shack it is."

Sakura didn't doubt the Waffle Shack had been inspired by otherwise named waffle houses across the nation, but apart from the frame of the building and menu, there was nothing not unique about the place.

Stepping through the front door the windows that should have been full of sun were cut and framed to see into what looked like different patches of drifting space. Sakura blinked, looking sideways out a window to where a nebula pulsated like a glittering green purple bruise across a starry sky.

Another sky was choked with pastel clouds. Another was heavy with rain and Sakura could smell the moisture from that window when she got too close. The hair on her arms stood up when she felt the echo of lightning electrify the cells of her skin. She didn't know she was staring until a girl with red hair and redder eyes brushed past, huffing about leaving the isle clear.

Blushing, Sakura turned away from the window and set her purse down at the silver bar in the center of the room. Most of the booths were taken and she was only one person, she didn't want to possibly deprive another group of seats together.

A woman with blue hair and sharp cheekbones high enough to be an angel's was taking orders. She nodded to Sakura before writing something down and passing it back behind her into the kitchen.

Sakura could see the menu written in chalk across the blackboard overhead, but already knew what she wanted before reading anything there.

"What can I get for you, hun?" the woman asked with a voice like honey. "Something to drink?" Nothing she said was rushed or oddly paced, but Sakura felt like her words went on forever.

"Water please. I'd also like to order the Cinnamon Roll Waffles with Cream Cheese Glaze." Sakura saw the gold badge with the woman's name. "Thank you, Konan."

The blue haired woman blinked and looked up, a bit off set by the sound of her name. A second later she smiled easily. "I'll have those out for you in a few minutes."

Sakura smiled and nodded her thanks. Konan turned to clip Sakura's order to a metal wheel half between the kitchen and the outside when something loud fell on the other side of the room, just out of view. There was a ripple of displeasure among the other diners, but no one else moved or said anything against it.

Moments later a boy in black leather and jeans tumbled over himself, slamming against the wall. His lip was bleeding as it curled into a scowl, blue eyes sharp and piercing. Sakura felt her breath catch in her throat while she watched him rise to his feet. His nose was bleeding too. The boy, dressed in chucks, faded wrangles, a white tee, and a black leather jacket stood, running both his hands through his black hair, only for it to fall back into his face, black and wild. His cheeks were scarred like whiskers.

The boy looked around him and saw the stares and cursed. He grabbed a napkin off someone's tabled and wiped the blood off his face. His eyes caught on hers, snagged like a cloth on a barb wire. His eyes were the heart of a flame, a flickering blue that would burn the whole world down one day.

Sakura heard him curse as he stalked out, footsteps pounding. The door slammed behind him and Sakura heard the far off motor of a motorcycle rev.

"Pein," Konan's voice was sharp enough to make Sakura flinch. "I told you no fighting."

Sakura looked behind her to see a man, tall and willowy, stalk out from behind the corner that Sakura couldn't see beyond. His jeans were black and slim, seeming to go on forever as he stalked over to a free spot at the bar. He sat down one stool away from Sakura, as far as he could be from anyone and everyone else.

"That wasn't fighting, that was teaching a pup a lesson. He knew better."

Konan's voice was full of frustrated exasperation. "I don't support your claims, you know. He can come here if he wants."

The man made a laugh and something like fog seeped from between his lips. Konan shook her head and slipped back into the kitchen."

Sakura didn't know why, but she didn't want to be caught staring, so she turned her head back and glanced sideways at the window with the never ending rainfall, the one that smelled like wet soil and air. Still, in the glare of glass she could see another angle to the man's face, the angle that was decorated in metal.

"Here's your order hun."

Sakura turned around to see Konan drop off a plate of sweet smelling waffles with her water and a jar of maple syrup. Sakura smiled to herself before reaching for her silverware and digging in. It was so delicious she was almost able to ignore the weight of a person's stare on her, watching her as she ate. Halfway done, Sakura swallowed and set her fork and knife down.

"Can I help you?" Sakura turned and faced the man with a face full of artful metal.

He didn't say anything, just continued to stare at her openly as if it was his right. It was the first chance she had to see his face straight on, and she noticed a few things beyond just the piercings down the bridge of his nose. Firstly, his face was strikingly handsome with sharp lines and definitions that drew her eye in, in, in, in. His eyes were gray storm clouds lined multiple times around a knifepoint pupil.

The same mantra that kept her cool in a heated situation and made her an excellent doctor kicked in and Sakura mentally willed herself not to be shaken. She pretended she had a job to do. When there was work that needed her she could steel herself through anything.

"Do you need something from me?"

The man named Pein leaned back in his seat, hanging off the bar stool like it was a throne and not some dinky hunk of metal and plastic. His eyes were wide enough to see all of her and Sakura had to fight to keep her back straight. She could see he was dressed like a punk with black nails, leather bracelets, and a black torn tank held artfully together with half a dozen oversized safety pins the same color as the metal under his lips. His hair was a mane of trimmed amber hair.

"I'm still deciding…" he breathed, fog ghosting over his lips. She felt like she was sinking in his stare. "It's been awhile since someone looked me in the eye without flinching. Are you stupid or brave?"

"I'm hungry," Sakura quipped before turning back to her waffles.

"Are you some other pagan god I don't know about? You're new here."

Sakura chewed another mouthful of waffles. "What?"

Not caring for personal boundaries he reached out and held her face, forcing her to turn back towards him. It was easier to look at him this time since she was glaring. "It's been so long since we were worshiped. Do you remember it?"

Sakura slapped his hand away. "I don't know a lot about this new town, but Shizune told me not to be rude by making assumptions or asking a person what they were."

"You don't want to hear your praises sung in song and blood?" his hand reached out and ghosted through the loose strands of her hair, making her scalp tingle. He hummed and his throat made a sound like far off thunder. "Hmm, maybe I could be your altar boy, no?"

"You're too familiar."

"I'm Pein." He said it as if it explained everything. It didn't do anything other than make her more frustrated with the individual who was, admittedly, too good looking for his personality. What a tragedy.

Sakura dragged the last piece of her waffle through the syrup before biting it off her fork. She reached into her purse and grabbed a fistful of bills that would cover her meal and a tip. She pinned the bills under her plate and then pushed it forward before slipping off her stool and standing.

"I'm Doctor Haruno. If you need medical assistance you can see me at my office during business hours. Otherwise make an appointment with Shizune."

Pein's eyes glowed silver. She thought they almost turned purple but decided that was a trick of the light. "You're the new doctor."

Sakura saw Konan watching the exchange from the other end of the bar. Sakura raised her brows and pointed to her money, mentally hoping she was okay to just walk out. Konan smiled and nodded to Sakura before waving. Sakura turned back to Pein.

"Like I said, I'm the doctor here. If you need me you'll know where to find me, otherwise I'll take off."

"You're not going to ask anything of me?" His head tilted all on it's own, eyes searching hers. "You can, you know. Ask and I'll favor you, healing god."

"I'm not a god, I'm just a doctor."

His hum was in her bones and she felt it shake her when he chuckled. "I don't think you're just anything."

"Regardless, I'm not your lesser. I don't need anything from you."

When his lips curled the metal studs above his chin caught the light wickedly. "I think I'm looking forward to having a new doctor in town." He leaned forward but Sakura refused to step back or give up ground. "Don't think you shouldn't expect me sometime soon, healing god."

The fog from his breath wasn't unpleasant when it ghosted over her skin, but she refused to let him see that. Sakura swallowed but decided she was done and needed to move on. She she nodded curtly in his direction before turning towards the door and leaving the Waffle Shack behind her.

The Wood Shop she wanted to visit was unexpectedly closed with a handwritten sign on the door stating the 'master' would be back by 4:30. In the windows were tables and chairs on display, but puppets and dolls hung on string dangled behind glass.

Sakura made a mental note about the time and headed back to the office to help Shizune with files and do her own work on the computer. Closing came at five but Shizune went home at four, giving Sakura plenty of time on her own to work as she pleased and even slip away for a change of clothing. Something more casual was in order for the evening trip. Skinny jeans that fit over her hips like hands and a graphic tee with a Ghostbusters logo paired nicely with her jacket.

It was starting to cool down and she knew it would be colder by the time she made it back, so Sakura hurried, locking the doors behind her on her way out. The Wood Shop wasn't far to walk to from where her office was, and Sakura noted that her place of work was ideally situated in what was probably close to the center of the hub of Pompeii. It made sense. Access to a doctor was important.

When Sakura got to the Wood Shop she saw that the sign in the door was gone, but bits of the paper still stuck to the tape remained on the glass door, as if someone had torn the sign down angrily. But if someone had, there was no sign of them when Sakura stepped in. Turning around she took and saw that, while the outlet was large enough to be cluttered with a variety of furnished pieces, it was empty of customers.

Sakura let herself stroll, knowing she only needed two or three things for the time being. Her room was abysmally decorated and lacked a great many things, but until more people started showing up she had to watch what she was spending.

Sakura looked and found a number of coffee tables, some of which she just adored. There were plenty of dining tables to choose from as well. She double checked the prices but saw that for custom work everything seemed pretty inexpensive. If it was so cheap she might be able to spring for a bookshelf or two.

Sakura took a couple of photos and sent them to Ino, asking for her friend's advice. Ino agreed with her on the end table but wanted Sakura to get a bigger kitchen table for hosting. Sakura wanted the tiny one meant for two (maybe four) people. The larger one would be more practical if she wanted friends over for dinner, but it would mean the bookshelves were a for sure no go until much later.

That's fine.

Sakura agreed on the two pieces and then turned to find the manager or teller but there was still no one to see. She went up to the counter and checked every corner of the store to no avail. The only clue she had was the not so far off humming of something outside.

There was a door leading out that Sakura followed, noting the sound from earlier growing louder. A final door to the outside wasn't fully closed but was thick enough to muffle sound. Sakura shoved it open and froze on the threshold, blinking rapidly.

'Don't ogle,' she mentally screamed as she observed the sign before her.

There was a log standing upright being carved into an animal of come sort. He was wearing protective goggles, loose wrangler jeans tucked into combat boots, and nothing else. For being cool enough for a jacket, his naked upper half was glistening with sweat as he angled a chainsaw into the wood.

Don't ogle, don't ogle, don't do it, be a professional, don't ogle.

It was hard when he was that tone and a redhead.

The chainsaw was too loud to be heard over so Sakura started to edge into the man's line of vision, keeping a good distance away from the carving and the chainsaw. There were wood chips and debris flying out she didn't want to get hit with. She knew when he saw her, since he switched his saw up and pulled it away from the wood. The man took a step back and pushed up his goggles into his hairline. Sakura though he had sort of a baby face.

"What?" he barked almost rudely.

"I-I wanna buy your stuff. This is your shop, right?" Sakura replied, pointing to the door she came out of.

The redhead looked between her and the door and then cursed. "Where is the blond idiot?"

Sakura swallowed. "The shop's empty. Should I come back?"

He groaned, setting his chainsaw down and pulling off his gloves to throw onto the ground next to it. "I'm going to kill that little punk." He stomped up to the door and then stopped to look back at her. "You said you wanted to buy some stuff?"

Sakura was quick to follow, suspecting he wasn't the type of guy that liked to be kept waiting. His steps were heavy as he traversed ahead of her and turned sharply behind the teller's counter to grab a mobile scanner. When he turned she was there.

"What do you want?"

Sakura showed him the coffee table she wanted as well as the kitchen table. He scanned both and began punching in information to be processed.

"Do you get a lot of traffic in here?" Sakura asked curiously, feeling awkward for just standing around in front of a shirtless guy who wouldn't stop scowling.

He looked up sharply at the question, his scowl already in place. "Where have you been, living under a rock? No one shops here." He squinted at her, almost making her take a step back. "Hn, you do look out of place."

"I'm the new doctor. You haven't heard the latest gossip?" she tried to joke.

"No."

"Oh."

He went back to typing in more information while Sakura bit her bottom lip. "Um, if you ever need a doctor just ask for Dr. Haruno. That's my name in case you need to know."

"I don't."

Sakura stopped biting her lip, and quit her worry about being awkward around the still shirtless man with a boy face. "You don't think that's an arrogant thing to say? What if you get sick with something you never had before?"

The redhead stopped and looked up slowly. "You really are new, aren't you?" he dryly commented. He held up a hand that was seamless and smooth and perfect and then brought it down so fast Sakura heard bones snap when it hit the nearby table. Not once did he blink.

Sakura cursed, rushing forward to help, holding his wrist and keeping it from jostling as he stared blankly on. "Wh-what is this?" Sakura's hands almost trembled as she saw into the interior of Sasori's body. No blood seeped, but from his wooden bones a less recognizable emptiness stared back. "You're hollow."

"I will never need a doctor. I am not like the others. This isn't even a real body, no matter how smooth the skin is stitched together, it's still a witch's dream."

Sakura still didn't let go of his hand. "Aren't you in pain?"

"I feel nothing. There will be an additional charge for delivery or do you have a means of picking it up yourself." He blinked. "What are you doing?"

"Your bones are out of order, I'm putting them back into place," Sakura whispered, staring down at the hand made up of torn skin and broken wooden bones. Little parts, the parts that made up the joints in his wrist and fingers were slid too easily out of place, but Sakura coaxed them back with a careful eye that had reshaped too many broken people.

"Why?" he asked, sounding neither upset nor delighted, only curious.

"I'm a doctor, it's what I do."

"But I am not someone for you to treat. I'm a homunculus you silly girl. An alchemist grew me up in a little pot and put me together like this. I'll live forever."

"How sad." This time she did feel him react to her words, it wasn't a sound, but a flinch of his body.

"I will live forever, that is art."

"Maybe, but that sounds lonely. Regardless of how long or short true art is, what value is there in it if it's never acknowledged by others? Ah, there, I pushed the last bone back in. Hold still." Sakura pulled a bandana out of her back pocket and began to tie it around his hand. The open parts of his flesh were covered by red and white stripes. "It matches your hair."

"I didn't ask for your help."

"Well you got it, tough darts. You're just going to have to deal with being helped every once in awhile without asking for it."

"I never ask for help."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I figured as much."

He watched her a moment before saying, "My name is Sasori. If you want to address a check you can just fill it out to Sasori Akasuna. You may come back for future purchases at a discount after your initial transaction. I will remember to honor any future purchases with the discount."

"Sasori," Sakura tried his name out. "Thanks. I think I'll come back for some more pieces."

"You said you were new. It was logical to assume you would need other items. Also, if there is no blond idiot at the front I am usually creating commissioned artwork out back. Find me there."

"Isn't that what I already did?" Sakura joked, watching as his scanner processed and spit out a thin invoice. "Hey, I didn't tell you if I was picking it up or getting it delivered."

Sasori ripped the thin invoice free with his bandaged hand, blinking at the renewed mobility before turning the paper around and handing to Sakura. In the section for shipping the extra charge had been waived. "The Wood Shed will deliver. Don't feel the need to leave your address if you are staying above the clinic. We all know well were it is located." He paused and then rushed to add in a almost haughtier tone. "My grandmother manages the pharmacy."

Sakura remembered hearing a name before from the Suna siblings, a woman Kankuro worked for, someone from the desert…Chiyo! She nodded, theorizing that Sasori was also likely familiar with Temari and her brothers. "Eh, really? Wow, then it really is a small town."

Sasori nodded before looking down at his bandaged hand. When he lifted his head his eyes seemed to open for the first time since their meeting. His eyes had always been open, but it felt like, to Sakura, that he hadn't actually seen her until that moment. She doubted it was longer than a couple of seconds, but his stare went on forever.

"Yes, small enough that we will see each other again." He never looked away from her. "Please look forward to my deliveries and thank you for your business."