Pompeii
Chapter 17
VesperChan

Sakura felt sore in a way she couldn't explain. Someone pushed a mug of hot cocoa into her hands just as the sun broke another layer of clouds apart and bled red across the early morning sky. She didn't feel the form of the mug between her fingers, but she was absently aware of the warmth spreading under her fingers. That helped. She tipped the mug back and sipped, not caring that it burned her throat. At least she could feel that .

Tobirama sat down in the chair across from her at the clinic. It had been the first place she asked for when they asked her if she needed to go home. Shizune looked Sakura over and said there was nothing externally wrong, but Sakura knew shock when she saw it in others and Shizune was no slouch. The older woman draped a warm blanket over Sakura's too stiff shoulders and chased off all the other visitors until Sakura could get a handle on all the leftover chemicals of shock and fear flushing out of her system.

"What the hell happened out there?" Sakura asked in a stiff voice. She didn't make eye contact. The feelings of agitation and fear were still inside of her and they weren't leaving .

"We have our agents looking into the situation and they are currently out in the field scouting for better answers. I can tell you we have a handle on the situation and nothing else is impacting the surrounding area or other people who-"

Sakura turned the mug back and took another searing gulp before slamming it a bit too loudly down on the table next to her. She fought to make her eyes as hard and alive as she needed them to be.

"What happened to me ?" she repeated.

He held up two palms, trying to placate her. "We're working on figuring that out, but I can't tell you anything for sure. All I can say is that it won't happen again, we're making sure of that."

Sakura knew she worked and lived in a unique town with unique people. She knew Pompeii was different and she knew Pompeii was amazing in ways that turned her mind and made her off kilter. Not a week went by when she didn't learn something new about her new home. She knew Pompeii was weird on any odd Wednesday, but this…what she went through…that wasn't weird, it was wrong .

"You have no idea what that was or how to stop it, do you?" she asked, voice a bit softer. She slouched in her seat. Her whole body seemed to sag in defeat. She was crashing.

Tobirama reached out to touch her shoulder and she didn't move or even react to his contact. He held his breath and then ran his fingers down her arm over the fabric of her sleeping shirt. Lightly with just the tips of his fingers, he tried to soothe her in his own Fay way.

"We're handling the situation and you have to believe we're on top of it. We have it under control and you're safe now, Sakura." He seemed desperate for her to believe him in a way he never had been before. It was rare for fay to ask for anything. They bargained and tricked their way into their own desires. Tobirama didn't even think to try that. He just said outright, forgetting his nature for a moment. "We'll keep you safe."

"Sorta hard to do that when you don't even know what you're trying to keep her safe from, don't you think?" a new voice murmured from the back of the room.

Tobirama snapped up, back ramrod straight and eyes hard with insight. There were few who could get the drop on him or pass by undetected. The hardness of his eyes grew even more intense as he noticed who was sitting at the other end of the room.

" Filth ," Tobirama hissed before he could guard his words in Sakura's presence. "What do you know to speak so boldly?" It wasn't really a question, but more so an insult.

Kakashi inclined his head and seemed to smirk through the mask he wore over the bottom half of his face. His eyes dropped from Tobirama's stiff form to Sakura's and seemed to waver a moment as he took in her deflated posture.

"Oh, you know, nothing good comes from me, but at least I'm honest and don't shovel bull shit around about being in control of matters I couldn't possibly comprehend."

"The leftovers of an Uchiha failure couldn't possibly comprehend much of anything, much less the insight of his better."

"Fay are worse than elves on these matters," Kakashi sighed, looking straight at Sakura and grinning with his eyes. "You're best just letting them blow all their air out at once and then ignoring it all."

"You are not invited to such places," Tobirama put in, standing in front of Sakura and sidestepping so that his form blocked her from Kakashi's view. Sakura sat up a little straighter at that, not understanding the animosity.

"Wait," she was looking around Tobirama at Kakashi. "What are you doing here? Are you hurt?"

Kakashi's eyes were blank with confusion before widening a fraction. In the next second he was chuckling into the palm of his hand. "Ah, what a cute little one you are. Shaking and stiff with your own fear and you ask me if I need help from you? I'm a bit touched, I will admit. I know your ordeal wasn't pleasant."

"Don't put on airs like you know more than you do, trash," Tobirama took another step forward, looming closer over Kakashi. "Anyone could see her state, you make no new claims."

Both of his fists were balled at his sides and the room seemed to quiver a bit. The floorboards seemed to groan as the moisture in the wood shifted. Tobirama's eyes flashed with something that warned Kakashi about speaking further.

"She'll want to hear what I have to say."

"You're legally not allowed to divulge such information as a stipulation of the ban on your private investigator's license. Anything more you say will be taken as a breach of oath and I will have the authority to arrest you." Tobirama seemed to relax a bit at that statement. "Please, give me a reason to put you in chains again."

Kakashi finally glared and leaned back in his seat. "I've not said anything pertaining to an ongoing investigation and I've not taken a case since you've stripped me of that privilege, thank you."

"Keep it that way."

Kakashi held the older fay's stare for another heartbeat and then looked down at Sakura, breaking away first. His eyes shimmered in a new grin and he raised a single hand. "I just wanted to see you and make sure you were okay. I see that you are better and that makes my spirit well. If you ever need a friend to talk to you can seek me out. I don't have many friends, so I'm never busy."

"You're leaving."

Tobirama took another threatening step but the back door shattered the tension and drew each person's attention to the figure in the doorway holding a potted evergreen with lights trailing off the branches. Hashirama blinked and then held up the pot. "I think there is something wrong with this conifer."

Tobirama rolled his eyes at his brother and turned to look back at Kakashi, only to find that seat empty. Fine. It saved him the trouble of chasing him off. There was no good to come of that man, and certainly not when it came to Sakura who needed nothing but comfort and reassurance.

"There's nothing wrong with it, I just left it unplugged." Sakura waved to the elder of the two brothers and held out her hands, asking for the tree back. "It's one of my Christmas trees."

"Ah-ha, I have heard you were the festive one spreading such traditions to the younger pups. We've not had an outsider bring their traditions into Pompeii in quite a while. I don't remember the tree being a part of…of…what did you call it?"

"Christmas."

"Ah, I have heard of it….I just don't remember. What are these for?" He held up the end of the lights.

Sakura took the tree from the older brother and set it down in front of an outlet. Once plugged in the tree bloomed into rainbow lights that twinkled. A few small balls reflected the light and the whole tree sparkled for it. Hashirama seemed delighted at the sight, and even Tobirama seemed to relax a bit.

"What a sight." Hashirama waved at his brother. "Look, look, do you see it?"

"I'm standing right here, of course I do."

"The little ones said they saw one of these in your room and were trying to make their own," Hashirama laughed. "Will you teach us how to ritually dress other trees?"

Sakura grinned in spite of herself. Some of the stress fell off her shoulders. "There's no ritual you need to follow. You can decorate your trees however you want. Some do it with beads, some with ribbon, some with strands of popcorn, and others like to use lights. Some do all of the above. You dress your tree up in a way that pleases you, but they're always this type of tree, the conifer type." Sakura pointed with her toe to the base. "On Christmas morning the presents that were laid down the night before are opened from under the tree. Some people save their presents until Christmas Eve and others put them out ahead of time."

"I am favoring to any holiday involving trees," Hashirama absently laughed, smiling wide and bouncing a bit. His cheeks were pink from the cold and with his huge grin he looked perfectly jolly.

"We should go to let you have some rest," Tobirama interrupted. "Thank you for your information, but we have work we must see to. Please get some rest before doing anything else. Shizune said she would mind the clinic."

"Promise," Sakura lied, grinning wide. In a few hours she would be back to work. Sitting alone and resting would do nothing good for her mind.

It was the next day when she got the call from the lab.

Sakura left the front desk area to take the call in the back room more privately when she recognized the tone on the other end of the line. Passing from the front room to the back there was a flash outside the window she rolled her eyes at.

Ever since her incident in the woods there was an invisible coalition of rotating guardians who watched over her from the shadows in addition to the black birds. Naruto was the easiest to spot, as he was the worst at hiding. His favorite color was bright orange and he wore it so often!

In addition to Naruto, Menma, and many of the other younger citizens of Pompeii, both Itachi and Shisui came by to drop in and say hi because they were 'in the neighborhood.' Gaara had come to visit and ask about her plants in an oddly stiff, distracted way, Ino had been by with Shikamaru. While the two girls chatted Shikamaru snuck off to set traps that would trigger if anything malicious passed through the shadows of her home. (She had caught him and made him tell her before they left.) Kakuzu had come by to inquire about her business, Sasori had accidently walked into her shop after confusing it for the saw mill, and even Kisame had been caught trying to hide in her bushes, (his was the worst effort in stealth after Naruto).

Sakura walked into a back room and eyed the cluster of red backed beetles that flew unnaturally out of the way-a token from Shino. They had popped up after Kiba ran in, chasing his supposedly run away dog.

"Yes?" Sakura asked, waiting for the woman at the lab to speak up. "Are my samples ready?"

"We regret to inform you that the samples have been lost in our efforts and so an analysis can not be completed."

Sakura paused, stuck in her thoughts before swelling in anger. "What do you mean? How could you lose them?"

"We're terribly sorry for this and hope that this will not deter you from doing business with our lab in the future. You can-"

Sakura slammed the phone down and stormed out of the room, crossing into her examination room to shrug off her white doctor's coat and exchange it for a nicer blazer.

She reached for the fridge at the back of the room and pulled out her own collection of samples from Lake Icarus, swabbed out of Zabuza's gills. She packed them away in a fashionable briefcase suited for official travel and toed out of her work flats. Under her desk was a shoe box with nude pumps she stepped into, cursing their design. They were the most comfortable of all her heels, but they were still heels.

She painted her lips at her desk and checked the rest of herself, taking an extra minute to pull her hair back into a perfect coil that made her glare all the more intimidating.

Good.

"Shizune. I need to run out to the lab and pick up some samples. I might be gone for more than just a couple hours. Will you be okay seeing to the patients?"

There were only two today, a Valkyrie named Yugito Nii and a naga she had seen before. Shizune was more than agreeable and Sakura sighed in thanks, grateful for the help. If she wanted to do this she had to be fast. She took another look in the reflection of her phone before heading towards the door.

"You look ready to break up a bank board meeting," Shizune laughed. "What's the dress up for?"

Sakura took a moment to feel confident before replying with a smile. "It always helps to look your best when you want to get your way with people who might fuck you up. I'm not planning on doing this half assed."

And with that Sakura slipped out the back door and found Shizune's car in the back. Once in the driver's seat she turned on the engine and pulled out of the familiar place she hadn't needed to leave in the car since…well, since she arrived in Pompeii. Everything was close enough to walk to and she had never wanted to travel so far in the other woman's car before. The only place she would need her car for would be a location outside of the town limits.

It felt odd to drive again after so long, and it felt unnatural to see so much of the town passing her by. It almost felt wrong, like leaving Pompeii would be a mistake, but Sakura knew in her heart she would be back, she wouldn't be gone for long, and that Pompeii was where she would always return to.

"It's okay," she said out loud, not knowing who she was talking to. "I'll be right back."

Sakura drove down the winds of the road, around the bends and towards the edge of the town's limits. She could see the farewell sigh for Pompeii on the side of the road coming up and she slowed down a bit, falling under the speed limit.

A popping roar echoed out from behind her and made her slam on the breaks, screaming. She skid a bit and stopped at the edge of the town's limits. Looking up she saw the cause of the noise in her mirrors and turned to see Zabuza dismounting his motorcycle and dashing towards her.

"What do you think you're doing?" Sakura gasped, stepping out of her still idling car. "You scared me!"

"Don't leave." He came to a halt right in front of her, close enough to touch. He reached for the frame of her car instead, boxing her in instead. "Don't go. It's not going to happen again, you'll be safe here, don't go."

Sakura frowned, not catching on. "I have to. The lab is outside the city limits." A second later his words made sense. "I'm coming right back."

Zabuza took a half step back and then a whole step forward. "What?"

Sakura nodded. "I'm just going to the lab where they were testing the samples you guys gave me. They called and said they lost them so I'm going there myself to make sure they run my backup samples. I'm not leaving Pompeii."

Zabuza seemed to deflate a bit in relief and Sakura found herself smiling in spite of her earlier fear. It was a little cute to think someone was so worried for her. He thought she was leaving Pompeii because she was scared.

"I'm coming right back."

"I don't believe you." Zabuza took a step to the side and then circled around her car to yank open the passenger's side door. "This is originally a matter we dragged you into. It would not be fair to let you solve it on your own."

Sakura looked back at his bike, left in the middle of the road. "Shouldn't you move that off to the side?"

"No one comes down this way, it will be fine. Don't try to stall with me. The sooner we leave the sooner we can make it back." He waved over his shoulder at the road and then glared at the stretch leading out of Pompeii.

Sakura thought about fighting it, but kept her words under her tongue when she imagined how much more intimidating she would be with Zabuza following her around. It might be easier to get her way with his help. A second later she slid back into her seat and sat up behind the wheel.

She gestured with her chin to his lap. "Buckle up."

The lab was half an hour away with the speed at which Sakura drove. The empty roads only encouraged her lead foot and Zabuza didn't seem to mind when they passed the speed limit more than just a little. If anything, he seemed to enjoy it in spite of himself.

Sakura could tell Zabuza didn't like being outside of Pompeii. His posture was different. His eyes were too fast and darted too often. There were more lines in his shoulders and his glare was sharper.

They parked in a reserved spot for visitors and walked into the lobby that looked like it hadn't seen many visitors in the past year. Sakura strut forward confidently, her heels making a sharp noise on the tile, while Zabuza loomed from behind her, following her lead and taking up a defensive walk.

There was no one behind the receptionist desk, but Sakura could head someone off to the side in the break room and grinned at her luck. She passed by the front counter and headed straight to the back like it was her business. She took every step with the utmost confidence, imagining herself as someone lofty, someone important. She was there for a reason and she was important.

In the hallway there was a door on her left that was locked with a key card and coming out of a bathroom just ahead of her with a keycard in his free hand was a kid who couldn't have been any older than 19, looking a bit shell shocked when he caught sight of her and Zabuza strutting towards him. There was frosting caked onto the corner of his lips from an earlier snack and his hair was a mess.

"You," Sakura called out, voice lowered an octave. "Open the door now."

She didn't show a badge and she didn't slow her walk, but she glared like it was her right and the boy fumbled with his card before he knew what he was doing. As soon as he swiped it and stood away he seemed to remember himself.

"W-wait, wh-who are you?"

Sakura didn't stop as she walked through the doors ahead of both him and Zabuza. She didn't look over her shoulder and she didn't break pace. "Doctor Haruno."

There was another door at the end of the first room, but this door was glass and see through just like the rest of the wall. It opened when it sensed her presence and another boy in a lab coat stood up quickly at the sound of her arrival. There was more powder around this one's face and he hastened to wipe it off. At least his hair was too short to be a mess. Sakura heard the first lab technician scurry in after her.

Sakura walked straight over to a counter and laid her briefcase down, unclasping the locks as she looked to the second boy who seemed a little older. The kid from the hallway was looking to him for answers, but this one didn't look away from Sakura. Good.

"You're going to run these samples right now."

"Who are y-n-damn it, Hershel, who is this?"

The kid from before stumbled around for an answer and Sakura didn't let him find one. Instead she came up to the first man and stopped just before breaching his personal bubble. With her heels she was nearly his height but she held her back straighter and looked down at him.

"You were the one on the phone with me earlier." She remembered his voice.

She saw the boy's eyes go wide with recognition. "Dr. Haruno. Th-the lab samples-I can't do anything about it and-"

Sakura cut him off by shoving her samples in his face.

"You'll run these and you'll be done in less than two hours. Anything less and I'll drag you into a lawsuit that will have you fired and stripped of any professional respect even if this lab doesn't suffer for it." She shook the bag when his attention started to shift off of her and leaned into his personal bubble. "You think they won't throw a couple of kids under the bus for a mistake like this?"

"I-your samples. I'm not supposed to-" he swallowed and then he seemed to realize something before stepping back. "I can't cut the line."

Sakura let him retreat, but she didn't look away and that was almost as bad for his nerves. Something in the way he recovered himself set her mind off. "You wouldn't have lost my samples on purpose because someone asked you to, would you? No. That would be illegal and highly unprofessional. Even when the Federal Bureau was so interested in these results as well that couldn't possibly have happened."

She smiled but it never reached her eyes. Her smile was a little stiff and just as sharp as her winged tip eyeliner. She extended the bag with the samples once more.

"You're going to take these now and you're going to run them."

Behind her Zabuza loomed.

A few seconds passed and then the lab tech extended his hand to accept the baggie. Sakura let him take it but didn't move as she watched him begin the process for running it. Every so often he would look up and catch her eyes like stones on him, and return to his work. Sakura stayed in the room like a statue until the process was complete, which took all of two hours.

At the end when the report was being printed Sakura put it back on the printer, not asking permission, and made a second copy for Zabuza to take back. The pair walked out, startling the older middle aged woman at the front desk with their appearance. Sakura didn't say anything though until they were back in her car.

"I don't recognize some of these compounds," Sakura mused, reading over the results she did understand. "I'm sorry, they weren't able to give us a very clear answer."

"No, that's fine. I have a feeling the old man will recognize some of the ones you don't." Zabuza took a breath that came out shuddered and then leaned over to the side and rested his head on the cold glass of the window, staring at her from the corner of his eye. He seemed to grin at her. "The old man is going to be so jealous once he hears about this," he murmured under his breath.

Sakura wasn't quite sure what there was to be envious about, but paid it no mind as she put the car back into drive and steered it out of the parking lot.

Somehow the drive back took half as much time and they were coasting back into Pompeii before Sakura realized. It was as if the town was pulling her back, anxious for her return. She couldn't help but feel giddy in her heart at the sight of the welcome sign.

"I'm glad to be back," she said out loud, not meaning to.

"That's good. We had thought you might have had enough of us and run off."

Sakura blinked, looking over to her side at Zabuza. "Why would you think that? I believe you…I mean, you looked scared for me when you stopped me at first, but I wouldn't leave Pompeii."

Zabuza shrugged as they drove past the place where he left his bike. He had explained to her back at the clinic that Kisame had gone out to pick it up and return it home for him and that they wouldn't need to stop for it on the way back.

"All the doctors at that clinic pack up and leave like it's a trend. Doctors don't stay long in our town, but no one's really cared about it that much until now."

Sakura felt her cheeks warm at the compliment. "Thanks."

Zabuza leaned forward, hands on the dashboard. "Really. You may think at times that Pompeii is scary, or it's not safe, but trust us when we say we're here for you. There are too many people looking out for you for something stupid in the forest to get to you. Nothing could touch you with so many different freaks caring for you, so don't worry. We'll keep you safe."

The warm feeling in her heart bloomed. "I know."

A minute later Sakura gasped in delight at the sight ahead of her. Zabuza snorted and leaned back in his seat.

"See? What did I tell you?"

Sakura inched along, taking in the sight of a dozen new Christmas trees sprouted up in the middle of the road down main street. Some where straight up through the sidewalk without a care for placement, others were in the middle of the road, and a few were on grassy patches off to the side. About half were decorated with lights and assorted decorations.

Sakura pulled into a parking spot not far from the clinic right outside Ino's hair salon. The evening was dim and her breath came out in a white cloud past her lips. All around her the town seemed to sparkle anew. Sakura spun, drifting out into the empty street and not caring. Some of the trees had toys in their branches, others had jewelry and beads. One was being decorated with all the shiny things that blackbirds could find. Sakura watched as a crow pinned something dazzling to a branch before flying off. A raven added a stream of ribbon previously carried in his beak.

Sakura felt her face grow wet.

Zabuza reached out to touch her just as a couple of kids around another tree spotted her and began the sprint over. It was hard to miss Naruto's orange and Sasuke was close behind.

"What's wrong?" Zabuza asked, turning her towards him.

Sakura laughed and shook her head. "Nothing. I'm just glad to be home."