Pompeii
Chapter 11
VesperChan

There was an abundance of vehicular transportation in the town of Pompeii, as is the case with most towns, but for the most part people liked to walk and take the long ways. Pompeii was a place set aside from the busy strain of time and space. What did a creature who lived two centuries care about the time it took to walk.

Sakura had grown used to the quiet of the street outside her clinic. There was a small parking lot around back, but most of her patients walked in and the road out front was never too noisy.

She jumped when she heard another pick up truck full of laughing boys rumble past, towing something that rattled. A quick glance out the side windows told her it was a flatbed with a flapping blue tarp concealing the items underneath.

"What the heck, that's the fourth or fifth one in the last half hour. Why are there so many of them?" Sakura huffed out loud, not really expecting an answer.

"Sakura?" She turned to see Shizune's confused expression. "What are you talking about?"

Sakura ran a hand through her slightly wavy hair, still soft from the shower. "Nothing important. There have just been a lot of trucks and trailers going down and it's louder than usual. It's nothing worth getting worked up over. I'm sure it's nothing."

But as soon as the words were out of her mouth another loud puncturing sound cut through the still and Sakura turned with Shizune to see a smaller delivery truck with metal poles sticking out of the back. The windows were down and loud music was blaring. Sakura groaned, rubbing behind her ears.

"It's not a big deal," Sakura repeated, more for herself than Shizune.

The older woman smiled knowingly and chuckled. "Oh, I had forgotten how they like to get rowdy in the set up. They're starting early this year."

Sakura turned to look over at her coworker and frowned. "What?"

Shizune's eyes went wide and she made a small O with her lips as she was struck with a thought. "You don't know about it! Oh, no one ever told you and you haven't been here that long."

"No one's ever told me what?" Sakura felt uneasy. "What are you talking about?"

Shizune laughed and touched a hand to her mouth, as if that would help keep the sound trapped. "Oh, no, nothing that terribly important. It's a Pompeii thing. In over a week we will be celebrating our Founder's Day. It's…a small silly little celebration, or it was supposed to be. The kids make it into a big and bigger deal each year. I hardly recognize it, but there's games and events and food."

"Founder's Day?" Sakura echoed.

"It used to be a simple picnic. Now…ah, there's even a reenactment." Her eyes drifted in a fog and it was as if she was remembering something from long ago. "They even used glitter last time."

Sakura didn't want to interrupt Shizune if she was busy reminiscing, but she still felt a bit uneasy at the idea of a celebration for something she didn't understand or know anything about. She was still new so it would be okay for her first time if she just kind of observed, right? She was sure they had their own traditions and customs she wouldn't know about. The mention of glitter was only a little bit disconcerting.

"Should I be worried?" Sakura asked.

Shizune looked to Sakura and her eyes widened before she tried to cover up her surprise with a smile. "Well, I don't think it's anything worth…worrying about. Our celebrations might be a bit different if you're used to living in a secular or mixed environment, but if there's something that you don't understand we'll be there to help." She paused and Sakura saw the thought behind the other woman's eyes before Shizune mentioned the next part. "And the Volcano sacrifice hasn't been decided yet, so there's still a chance you'll be just an observer."

"The way-wh-what?" Sakura staggered, taking a step backwards. "What do you mean a sacrifice?"

"Oh, not a literal one. It's just a reenactment trick they love to pull. You see, Founder's Day is all about how the town of Pompeii was founded, and the story is as old as dirt, even if some of us are older. There were once five individuals who set out to make a place where people of their kind could be safe. They found this land and it was guarded by a volcano god. They fought it and won in the end by throwing in their 'sacred maiden' to the volcano's opening."

"Okay, that sounds fake, but okay…." Sakura was hesitant to even say that much. It was Pompeii, but the whole over the top action story seemed a little too story like.

Shizune nodded, agreeing. "The story's changed a bit over time, but yeah, that's how the elders remember it. Their maiden defeated the volcano from the inside and was shot out in the end to help her group found the town. So she's not really a sacrifice, but Haku was whining about it so much two years ago the name just sort of stuck. That boy's too pretty for his own good, considering how much he whines."

Sakura's uneasy feeling came back to her and she decided it was probably better she was new and too unknown to be properly dragged into the heart of preparations. "Can this sacrificial person, actor, maiden chosen against their will?"

"Yeah, the elders take a whole year to decide who gets sacrificed as the maiden on Founder's Day."

Sakura let a breath she didn't know she had been holding go. Okay, maybe it would all pass without dragging her into the center of attention and she could just relax and enjoy from the sidelines. The whole idea of a holiday with games and food and activities to watch was actually sort of interesting. She hadn't been to anything like that since Coney Island when she was just a child.

"Is there…" Sakura felt silly as she shuffled her feet. "Do you think there is something I could do to help out? I want to participate and integrate myself into the community. What do you do?"

Shizune laughed, settling her hands on the curves of her hips in a knowing way. "I bake, of course. You have any idea how many pies we go through? And mine are nearly as famous as the Akimichi ones."

"Maybe I could donate something baked."

Shizune reached out and pat down some of Sakura's wild hair before rubbing a thumb over the girl's cheek. "Yeah, that's a fine idea. Whatever you want, we'll take on Founder's Day in a week and a half from now. We're still just getting ready for it, you know. Until then, keep helping out this community the way you already do."

The door leading to the back parking lot rang and Sakura remembered the bell was working again. She had thought it broken when Tobirama had visited her yesterday, but it worked perfectly for everyone else. She figured it was a fay thing and resolved to investigate it later on in the files…if only there were files on fay patients.

"Wow, speak of the devil, or angel, you pick," Shizune snickered, leaving Sakura to go back to her desk and check the visitor in.

Sakura left her desk duties behind to pull on her white coat and pull her hair free before crossing the room around the wall to see who Shizune was checking in. Sakura had a few other appointments at the end of the day, but the morning looked free for walk ins until she met Ino for lunch.

"Dr. Haruno," the young woman greeted, smiling sweetly. "I'm glad to meet you after all the good things I've heard." She extended her hand and Sakura shook it firmly, surprised by the strength of the grip.

"Thank you, that's great to hear after so short a practice here," Sakura joked. "Are you here for a walk in?"

She nodded and then looked to Shizune who was putting papers together on a clipboard. "Just fill this out, Haku, we'll be with you in a minute."

Haku pouted and Sakura struggled to keep a straight face as her memory went back to several different conversations. Haku took the papers on the clipboard and Sakura discreetly went behind Shizune for Haku's file that had already been pulled. It was thin, not many visits, and very clear about his sex.

"No wonder they chose him as the maiden," Sakura barely whispered to herself when she looked from the picture in the file to the boy in the waiting room. He was way too pretty, it made her a little envious.

"Is that all?" he asked, standing a little too close for how little she heard of his approach. Sakura staggered but righted herself and smiled easily.

"Yeah, why don't we go into room one and I'll have us start with the basics?"

"Of course," he answered easily. He seemed to glide as he moved, walking ahead of her. Sakura remembered hearing about Haku from both Kisame and Zabuza, but seeing him in person was a new matter. But all that aside, he's her patient and she had a job to do.

Sakura made herself a perfect doctor that didn't get distracted as she led Haku through the first few steps of the physical; height, weight, eyes, ears, throat, and lungs. All of it looked good. But then Sakura noticed an odd shimmer to Haku's arms and asked him if she could inspect the site. When he flinched and looked away she wondered if she had asked too much.

"It's…actually the reason I wanted to come in," he admitted without meeting her eye. "The scales won't go away like they should. It's never happened before, but Kisame and Zabuza both had issues so I thought I might benefit from a second opinion."

"You've been swimming in the same lake." It wasn't a question.

"It's the only lake big enough to be worth swimming in. I don't have another option."

Kisame and Zabuza both said they would try to stay out of it as much as possible, I suggest you do the same, but not to the point where it is detrimental to your health. Have you showered or cleaned this area since leaving the lake?"

"I tried, but it didn't help all of it. I mean, there was a lot more than this, but I was able to get those patches to go down. This is all that's left." He swallowed and then added. "All I used was regular water, though."

Sakura nodded and left to get some different things out of the cabinet. "Let's see if we can clean that area and make the scales go back down. Did Zabuza and Kisame tell you about their own conditions and what happened to them?"

Haku smirked and it was a deceptively beautiful thing. "You had to clean out their gills."

Sakura didn't know if she was supposed to be unnerved by his smirk, but she was too deep into her doctor mode to be moved out of it. She had a job to do. "Yes, there was residue that was making them sick. I'm going to check for the same on your scales and try to clean them a little more thoroughly."

"Sure, they don't hurt and it's not really that big of a deal…" Haku began to say, but shut his mouth when he saw how determined she was. "But I appreciate it," he finished.

Sakura coated a cotton swab in disinfectant and began to clean the site. As she expected, the residue that didn't come off with soap and water began to break up and peel away like dried silly putty. Sakura was careful to remove the once invisible coating to prevent any of it from settling in between Haku's scales. It was a slow process, but Sakura was hyper focused on keeping her hands steady and her work neat.

Minutes later, the last of Haku's scales seeped back into his skin and melted into flesh, completing his transformation. He gasped in delight, running a hand over his skin to feel the lack of scales. It was smooth to the touch.

"You did it."

Sakura hummed in agreement, keeping a baggie with the residue inside. It was very much like what she pulled from Zabuza and Kisame, but it came away differently and she had a bad feeling in her gut that she should have this tested as well. She wrote down the date Haku had told her he had last been in lake Icarus as well as the date of his visit on the baggie. When she looked up, Haku was watching her.

"I'm sending these samples to the lab as well. I want to get to the bottom of your lake problem as quickly as possible. This time it was something minor, but if you keep swimming in that lake you could actually start losing scales. There have been documented cases of this happening before in cities outside of Pompeii. Can I assume that you're going to tell this all to Zabuza and the others?"

Haku's smirk was back in place. "Yeah, I guess I'll eventually tell them I came to visit the new doctor. They'll be put out to hear I didn't invite them along, but that's enough for me. I'll let turtle face know about the samples."

Sakura grinned at the endearing nickname and only assumed Haku was strong in the youngest child complex. He acted like one. "I'll get you set up to leave. I won't take up much more of your time."

Haku hopped off the counter and followed her out, staring at her strangely while she drew up the finishing paperwork and readied a copy for him to take home. When she turned around he was closer than before, invading her personal bubble. She backed up half a step and he followed.

"I was curious about the girl who made both my seniors so star struck. It would be easy to do with Kisame. He's not used to anything or anyone being kind to him. I could see how your attention would make someone like him so entangled. But Zabuza's nearly raised me and he's a stone pillar of emotions. I never see him so much as crack a smile around anyone but our group…unless he's trying to scare them. And then there's the boss. I don't want to even think about how you got old turtle face wrapped up so nicely."

Sakura snorted, thinking back to Sasuke's silly little squabble. Haku was no different. Sasuke was jealous for the attention of his older brother, and Haku wanted the attention of the man that nearly raised him. She picked up his papers and bopped him lightly on the nose with them.

"It's a phase, honey. Don't get so worked up over it. I'm here to do a job and make sure you guys are safe and healthy in Pompeii. You don't have anything to worry about or feel intimidated by." The thought almost made her laugh. Haku was too pretty to ever be jealous of someone like her.

The taller boy flushed a pretty pink and took the papers, blinking fast. "I-I know that!"

"I've included a prescription for you to fill. Take it to Chiyo and she'll give you want you need."

Haku's eyes were roving, searching for something. "You-you're not flustered at all. What are you?"

"That's not polite to ask." Sakura tapped his papers and started to turn back to her desk. "You're free to go. I have a lunch date I need to get to so if you need me you can find Shizune and make an appointment."

"You call me?" Shizune asked from the other side of the room, beyond the wall that divided the two waiting rooms.

Sakura chuckled and turned back to her desk and turned the monitor for the computer screen back on. She had a new patient file to update before Ino came to pick her up.

Haku watched her with a light blush still dusting his cheeks before he took a step back, and then another. He backed away slowly like she was a great and terrible animal that could rip him apart in a moment. His eyes were so fixated on her as he backed out that he backed right into a small trash can and stumbled with arms flapping to grab onto the counter and keep himself upright. Sakura looked up, ready to ask if he was okay but Haku jumped back up with a eep sound and scurried the rest of the way out.

"Was that normal for Haku?" Sakura asked to Shizune.

The older woman laughed. "Not since he was a little mer boy. I don't think he's used to such straightforward treatment. You know he's so pretty he's used to a little more… flattery."

"I can believe that."

Ino came a little later and together the two of them found a food truck that liked to hide in different places all over Pompeii, leaving behind cryptic clues as to it's next hiding spot. Ino was a sleuth that always knew where it was.

"I wouldn't try so hard, but their food is to kill for." Ino handed Sakura another napkin as the pair sat with legs dangling off the ledge of the wall they sat on.

"I was craving pot stickers, how did you know?" Sakura laughed, tearing into one.

Ino's smile is all knowing. "I know these things." She popped an egg roll into her mouth, chewed, and swallowed before washing it down with tea. "What I don't know is how you're doing. Tell me stuff. Your life is super busy now."

"Not really," Sakura mumbled over her foot before swallowing and going on to tell Ino about a lot of different things that have happened when she's not treating others. She ended when she got to the part where Shizune and her were talking about the upcoming Founder's Day celebration.

Ino licked a couple of fingers before squinting at something in the air. "They're pitching the tents not far from here if you want to peak and have a look. It's slow business but they have ten days."

"Why are they getting started so early?" Sakura asked before taking another sip of her tea. It was still warm and she loved how it coated her insides all the way down. She was more interested in food than anything else.

Ino shrugged. "Maybe they want to show off and make it bigger and better. They grow every year, you know."

Off in the distance something dull echoed before a resounding crack drew Sakura's attention to the far sky, in the opposite direction of where Ino said the tents were being pitched. Sakura saw a dark bruise crackle in the sky before expanding and then shrinking to a pinpoint. Thunder rumbled in reply.

Ino huffed. "The black spot in the sky is Kakuzu and I'm pretty sure Pein's playing with the thunder again. Those two are such cocks, I swear. You can't leave them alone in the same room without one fighting the other. I have no idea how they do business together."

Sakura felt her eyes widen. "That's Pein and Kakuzu? What are they doing?" The noise was so loud and the dark spot in the sky was close. If she had to guess they were between the gas station and then renovated business offices operating out of a decommissioned light bulb factory. That was maybe two blocks away?

"They're fighting again."

Sakura felt her throat go dry. "What?"

Ino nodded, nose wrinkling. "Yeah, they haven't done that in a long time, but I remember seeing it once. They must be arguing about their cults or something. I hope they don't raze the Shell Station, that's the cheapest place to get gas in town. Eh-Sakura! Hey, Sakura!"

But Sakura had left her food behind and was already sprinting back up the way they had come, gaining ground easily. She heard another crack and more thunder rumbled as a roaring made the sky shake. She thought of Pein, a fearsome old god who was used to getting his own way, and Kakuzu who was an eldritch beast in his own right, breaking scales and frightening doctors. She couldn't think of two people more likely to do damage and harm if engaged in a fight. It would be more than cuts and bruises. She could only imagine the things she couldn't heal and it made her heart pound.

She saw the gold light of a rotating shell sign and pushed herself to run the last bit of the way until she saw the two of them standing on opposite sides of the pumps, looking fierce. They were far away from the gas stands, but Pein was still crackling with wind and lightning while Kakuzu loomed in his own fierce way. Behind him fissures of dark yawned open and closed, each one providing her a window to a netherworld full of horrors.

Sakura didn't stop running, even when she heard their energies charging around them. She passed between the pumps and her footsteps drew their attention at the same time, both paused to look to the side and reacted in ways all their own. The wind fell away from Pein and Kakuzu collected his threads back into himself as Sakura stumbled and fell onto her knees between them. Both rushed over to help her.

"Sakura!"

"What are you doing, silly girl?" Pein chastised, kneeling down alongside her while Kakuzu did the same. She was breathing hard.

"Stop…fighting." Sakura sucked in air and remembered how to breath again. She wasn't out of breath anymore. "You're going to hurt someone, or yourself. Stop the fighting. I don't want anyone to get hurt."

"You needn't worry for something as trifle as this squabble," Pein replied, looking across her to where Kakuzu still glared. Pein's eyes still flashed dangerously, but he wouldn't try anything in front of Sakura.

"It wouldn't have been a big deal," Kakuzu tried, unsure of what to say. He had never had anyone interfere or even worry enough to care about him before. This was new to him. "We weren't going to not recover from any of it. You know we're hardier than that."

"That's not the point!" Sakura huffed. "I didn't want either of you to fight because I didn't want either of you getting hurt. I-I don't like it when people get hurt. It's my job to help them heal but I have my limits, and I can't always help as much as I want to. You can-no, just…no, don't hurt each other. I don't want to see either of you getting hurt regardless of how strong or durable you may be."

She could see it too clearly in her head, bodies cut open, left open, lives lost, empty eyes. She's seen men and women die plenty of times, but in the city she saw some of the grizzly ways people can die and some of the ways they can suffer before they die. She didn't want that for either of them.

Pein reached out and touched her face. Sakura flinched at the contact, but blinked in question when she saw his fingers come away wet. Tears. Had she really been crying? She never used to cry over her patients, it was one of her best traits. From her other side she heard Kakuzu suck in a breath. When she turned towards him he was watching her with green, glowing eyes. They were captivating, just like Pein's.

"You were so worried about us?" Kakazu asked in a whisper while Pein watched the tears collected on his fingertips.

"Of course, who wouldn't be? I was afraid you guys were going to get hurt!" She wiped her face with the back of her wrist and was grateful when her voice never wobbled. "Don't scare me so much ever again. I thought you were both going to be in real trouble."

Pein laughed, still holding her tears like treasures. "What an idea! I doubt true harm could be done over such a silly squabble." He shifted his focus to the other man and his voice dropped. "Kakuzu, keep the grain percentage. I've attained something more valuable than currency for an offering.

Kakuzu looked to Sakura first and then he nodded. "I'll back off today as well. I don't see it as worth the effort anymore." His voice was softer when he spoke to Sakura. "I won't abuse your worry for me."

Sakura felt herself deflate a little. "I'm sorry for overreacting, if that's what you think I was doing."

Kakuzu chuckled and Pein's sly smile as he dropped her tears into a glass vial from inside his pea coat pocket made her feel all the more silly. Kakuzu seemed hesitant to move, but he touched the fabric of her jacket and brushed a thumb over the wrinkles at her elbow.

"I would never think that of you," he answered, voice soft.

Pein made a sound like a huff before the glass vial between his fingers vanished with a trick of magic. "As if any man or woman on this earth would find issue with being worried over by such a kind hearted goddess. Save your apologies sweetheart, we're not worth it."

"Just, no more fighting over silly things."

"Promise."

"Of course."

Yes…of course. This was Pompeii after all.