(Act 3 – Amidst the Pain)

"Ah, Sakura!" Yamato smiled at the pink-haired kunoichi who just entered the room, "Boy, am I glad to see you!"

"And I'm glad to see you too, Yamato-taichou!" Sakura smiled as she pressed her two fingers near Yamato's throat and set the stopwatch to 60 seconds, "I'm just here to check on you. I'm going to get your heartbeat rate, so just breathe well and relax."

She then began counting his heartbeats. Afterwards, she wrote her observations on the clipboard and wore her stethoscope, "Now I'm going to see how your heart's doing."

Sakura placed the other end of the stethoscope on Yamato's chest and listened to his heartbeat, while she instructs, "Breathe in, breathe out… breathe in, breathe out… breathe in, breathe out…"

She removed the stethoscope and draped it over her neck and wrote down her observations.

"You really are taking this job seriously, aren't you?" Yamato snickered.

"Well, yeah." Sakura replied, "It gives off a good pay, you save lives, you learn new and interesting things about patients, it gives you more experience, you can make new friends, you can feel like a kid again when the patients are kids, you can slack off if you want to… actually, I love this job. There are more things than those I've mentioned on why I take this job seriously... The only part I find hating about this job is the afternoon until midnight shift. There's nothing to do during the night!"

"Well, now I know why you're quite honored in Konoha lately." Yamato raised an eyebrow at her, "Not to mention partially because you're the Hokage's student."

"Haha, that's true." Sakura giggled, "Do you need anything, Yamato-taichou? Like do you want something in particular to eat?"

"I hope hospital food here doesn't suck." He scowled, "You're not going to feed me seaweed patties, cabbage bread and seawater soda, are you?"

"No, we're not. Just broccoli sausage, radish pancakes and carrot-tomato juice. But if you want the stuff you mentioned, I can tell the cafeteria staff." Sakura told him.

Yamato looked grossed out and said, "Is there anything edible to HUMANS here?"

"I was just kidding. We don't have those kinds of gross foods in the cafeteria. If you want something in particular, you can go ask a nurse and we'll get it for you." Sakura said, "You're in good shape. You can be released by tomorrow."

"You know Sakura," Yamato suddenly changed the mood to serious; "I think it was a good decision that you didn't come with us."

Sakura smiled, "For the reason, I shouldn't know, right?"

Yamato nodded, "For the reason, you shouldn't really know."

"I'm tired of putting myself in dangerous situations outside the medical field." Sakura sighed, "I'll just be concerned with that if Tsunade-sama would send me out on missions."

"Right." Yamato remarked.

"Well then, I need to go now." Sakura waved goodbye and left the room.

She went to the next assignment, which was to check on Sai. She got inside his room and found that he was still asleep. She did what she needed to do and immediately got out.

Next, she was going to check on Naruto.

There was a note on his door, and she smiled as she noticed that it were his scribbles. The note on the door says, "No visitors allowed!"

And on the benches near the room of the upcoming Rokudaime, were baskets of fruits, bouquets of flowers, get-well-soon letters, and instant ramen packs, and lots, lots more. She assumed that these gifts were from his supporters. She slid the door open and told Naruto, "Ehh? Not accepting visitors lately?"

Naruto waved at Sakura. He was busy eating ramen.

"Yeah, because of them, I couldn't get my well-deserved rest! I heard you were the one who told the good nurse, who brought me these ramen, to buy them?" Naruto asked, piling his second bowl of ramen on his bedside table. He took another bowl from the plastic bag seated beside him, "You don't how much I missed this!"

"Well, you were really injured a lot, so you'll be staying here for quite some time. Tsunade-sama planned to move your inauguration as Hokage next week. She wants you to rest for this week." Sakura took a chair and sat beside him, "Do the wounds sting?"

"Nope, not really!" He replied, grinning, "The ramen makes me feel better! I feel like my wounds are getting better with each bowl!"

She rolled her eyes, "Oh, hooray… Ramen can heal wounds, what a medical breakthrough."

"How's one month without us guys?"

"Trouble-free." Sakura smiled, "…But kinda sad, too. I missed you guys."

"I finally fulfilled the promise, Sakura-chan." He said rather seriously, "And now, I can take the title as Rokudaime."

Her smile turned upside down and looked away, "Yeah."

"Aren't you happy to see Sasuke-teme?"

"I am." She lied, "I really am."

"Nah, you're not." Naruto sensed, "But at least he's back now. And I made sure he won't be able to get away from Konoha… most especially that I'm going to be Hokage!"

"I'm very happy for you, Naruto." Sakura faked a smile, "But what you said… yeah, I'm not really happy to see Sasuke again… but what I meant is- ah, forget it. I don't know what my reaction was when I saw him. I… I moved on already! All of you guys are here, home, safe and sound. That's what really matters most to me now."

Naruto piled his third bowl of ramen on the bedside table and took the other bowl, emptying the plastic bag.

"Are you going to be okay with him around?" He asked, "I know he's got more injuries than I did. So obviously, he's going to stay longer than I do… and knowing that you're a regular here already-"

"I think I can move around, despite the fact that he will stay longer than you would." She interrupted, "In fact, he's got the most injuries from all of you! You're only second to that!"

"Hehehe, I did that to make sure he won't run away while we journey back to Konoha… The others beat the crap out if him, too!" He sheepishly grinned.

She sighed, "Now how am I going to perform a checkup on you when you've eaten so much!"

"Why? Can't you do your checkups while I'm eating?"

"Nope. Your heartbeats might change while digesting. So I'll be back here after 2 hours." Sakura stood up as she wrote down on her clipboard, beside the name of this assignment, that she'll be back in this room after a couple of hours.

"Ooh, okay!" Naruto nodded, "See you later!"

She nodded and exited the room.

That night…

Sakura had been watching the clock mounted on the wall again. She was sitting groggily on the receiving desk. It was already late at night, so most of the medic nins, nurses, doctors, visitors and specialists have left the building to sleep in the comfort of their homes. She was only one of the few – the unfortunate few – to be working in the hospital in late hours. And because it was late hours, nothing much of a fuss should be going on in the hospital, as all of the patients are asleep. When emergency happens, the few staff of the hospital will be there.

She was lucky enough that her work was in an afternoon to midnight shift. She could still go home and sleep while it's still dark. Unlike the few others, who have to report to the hospital late at night, or at midnight, and stay there until morning.

And because there isn't that much to do, she can't help but watch a boring clock tick tock until midnight, when her shift ends.

Right now, it's 10:30 P.M. She still has to wait an hour and a half before she could go home. And she was hoping that no emergency will happen, so that she doesn't have to go home in the morning. Just like the incident last night-

She snapped out of her reveries when she sensed someone walking. She stood up and looked in the hallways to see who it was.

"What are you doing here? Go back to your room!" Sakura scolded.

"Don't be so mean." It was Kakashi, flashing a smile, noticeable even under his mask, as he cautiously made his way to Sakura, "I was just looking for my book."

Sakura sighed and asked, "You walked all the way from your room until here just to look for your perverted book? And your legs are injured! Kakashi-sensei, those wounds are not yet fully healed, even though I used medical ninjutsu to heal them!"

"Well, sorry for that." Kakashi scratched the back of his head, "But I couldn't sleep. So I need the book-"

"How about reading today's newspaper?"

"You know Sakura, the day is about to end, what good would I read on today's newspaper-"

"You have been gone for a month. Today's newspaper is still good as it looks, most especially for someone who has been gone for quite sometime. It will lull you to sleep more effectively than… than that book of yours."

Kakashi sighed, "I haven't been reading that book for quite some time-"

"Then why did you have it with you during the trip?" Sakura countered.

"I read it when we have to rest! It's like a relaxation technique, to free myself from the troubles-"

"Relaxing when you should be strategizing?"

"That's Yamato's job-"

"Even so! You and Yamato-taichou have the most experience in the team, so it's your responsibility to strategize!"

"Okay, I give up." Kakashi sighed defeated, "I'm going back to my room!"

Sakura smiled, "I was just playing mind games with you."

She went to the storage room just near the receiving desk and found a bag labeled with Kakashi's name on it. She found his beloved orange book and gave it to him, "Now go back to your room and sleep afterwards."

"Yes Ma'am!" Kakashi saluted and made his way back to his room.

After a while, Sakura had been feeling a little bit sleepy.

"I should walk around to shake off the sleep." Sakura thought as she started to walk around the hallways of the hospital.

She stopped by every room, peeking through the glass windows on the doors, making sure that they're asleep. To the few that weren't asleep, she would knock on the door and remind the patient to sleep and then walk off.

She stopped in front of Sasuke's room and decided to peek anyway. Her eyes narrowed when she found out that Sasuke wasn't in bed.

TBC…

--- --- --- --- ---
Sakura enters Sasuke's room and looks for him. A deep masculine voice startles her and she abruptly turns around to see who it was. Much to her surprise, it was Uchiha Sasuke, with Sharingan eyes staring sharply at her. They had a small conversation, which then leads to a horrific repeating of a memory to Sakura. Is it the power of the Mangekyou Sharingan?

Act 4: Hemophobic

"One of the countless reasons I find Konoha a much better place without you."
-Haruno Sakura

A/N: Ah, the story is getting better, neh? Anyway, in case you're wondering how Sasuke got the Mangekyou Sharingan, I have no idea as well. I decided to make Sasuke have the Mangekyou Sharingan. In the manga, Kakashi also possesses the Mangekyou Sharingan although it wasn't pointed out how he got it. So I just had the idea of doing the same to Sasuke here. Fear not, dear readers, the story still progresses on!

Review and tell me what you think.

+Releina Artemis+