Pressure Points
Written by BokchoiBaboy
Chapter 1 – Meeting
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
A/N: Thanks for your reviews and for putting this story on your alert/fav list. :)
Sakura quietly walked down the crowded hallways of the dorms, her textbooks held in one hand, while her free hand held a half-eaten sandwich. She took a bite of the sandwich and continued on her way, cursing the long assignment that Tsunade had assigned her. She had only gotten three hours of sleep last night, which wasn't good, because she had a lab to perform and a surgery to assist in.
Damn it, Tsunade. If you want me at my best, don't assign me these crap assignments.
She took another large bite out of her sandwich and continued on her way, students weaving out of her way, noticing her dismal mood and lack of sleep. Sakura paid no mind; she didn't ask for special treatment. It was their own will to give her such privileges, and nobody was complaining about it. Nobody bothered about messing around with her anyway; everyone knew of her smarts and her talent. Simply, Sakura was intimidating.
"Haruno Sakura, please report to Tsunade's office. Haruno Sakura."
Sakura sighed in irritation and quickened her pace, not even halfway to the office, yet. She heard the students' taunting sneers, but she once again paid no mind. She wasn't one that dealt with useless situations such as those. If they hated her, fine. As long as they stayed out of her way, she had no problem with that.
"Oi! Sakura!"
Sakura turned around and found her three best friends, Tenten, Ino, and Hinata running after her. She gave them a soft smile and politely waited for them to catch up before continuing on her way to the headmaster's office. The three, plus Naruto and his group of friends who attended a different university, were probably the only people she could truly rely and lean on. All were the top students in the school, all great doctors in their area of science. Tenten majored in a specialized area of Toxins and Poisons, her expertise and fantastic memory of what type of toxin and poison came with what animals and the sort. Ino was specialized in psychiatry, her ability to assist in people's disorders of life and other such cases amazing and renown. Hinata was specialized in biomedical engineering, her great skill to create antidotes and create the best medicine and cures for diseases and such cases renown as well. All in all, the four girls were dubbed 'The Princesses of Konoha Med.', all the shining example roles to the students studying along with them.
"Why do you think Tsunade wants to see you?" Ino asked, as the four began to walk together.
"Eh. She assigned me a huge assignment last night. She probably wants me to turn it in."
"Naruto was looking for you," Hinata softly added.
Sakura shrugged and continued walking.
"Naruto always seems to be looking for me. And the fact that he's going out with you, tch! What a shame."
"It's not a problem, Sakura."
The two girls smiled.
"Hm. You know, it's no fun being such great students here. We never get to hang out with the boys," Tenten thoughtfully added.
All girls agreed. The other part of their soul, or perhaps just the other people that they truly trusted, attended Konoha University of Criminal Justice. Naruto, Neji, Shikamaru, Shino, Kiba, and so many more of their loyal friends attended the university, all working their way up to become private investigators. They too, were the shining role models of the university, and had been dubbed 'The Princes of Konoha Justice'. All of them had marvelous skills of solving nearly impossible cases. Coincidentally, the universities were only a mere ten minutes apart, making it easy for the two groups to see each other when both found the time to do so.
"Well, the weekend's coming up, so we should be able to find some time to hang out," Sakura said.
The girls nodded.
"We'll see you around, Sakura."
Sakura nodded, barely noticing that they had arrived at Tsunade's office.
"Bye."
She waved her friends off and entered the office, and gently put the stack of her assignment papers on Tsunade's desk. Then she moved to take a seat, not noticing the other student present in her mentor's office.
"Well, I assume you completed your assignment?"
Sakura's eyebrow rose to her mentor's reasonably harsh voice, and shrugged indifferently, her emerald eyes watching as her mentor took a seat at her desk.
"It was too much work."
"That's just the beginning."
"Of course I know that," Sakura said, irritation flooding out of her voice, "But I'm still in a position to unreasonably complain about it."
Tsunade let off a strained laugh at her student's antics. Sakura was always so witty and bright, it was a pleasure to be present when she had found time to be humorous. Sakura smiled in return, and sunk deeper into the chair she was sitting in, comfortably taking in the softness of the cushion.
"Anyway, we have a new client today."
"Oh?"
"She's seven. Her heart is unbelievably stable. You'll be missing out on your classes for a few days to watch the girl and make any reports you notice."
Sakura shrugged. Not that she missed anything in her classes, anyway. She had already memorized all the medical books that she had found in her father's study (which was an insane amount of medical books), making it hard for her to remain focused in a lecture she had already learned.
"Her heart becomes abnormally fast or slow, depending on what kind of situations take place around her. We find her too young to put her on anti-depressants, so please take note of that."
Sakura nodded. She heard a silent cough, and turned to her right, finding a stoic, raven-haired teen around her age sitting there. Tsunade let off a silent 'oh', and began rubbing her head in embarrassment. Sakura let her eyes linger at the teen for a moment longer, and returned her gaze to the aging woman before her.
"Ah. This is Uchiha Sasuke. He transferred from that other medical school around here."
Sakura's eyebrow rose with curiosity, and she once more looked at the boy. He, too, turned to look at her, and emerald and onyx clashed for the first time in what seemed like an eternity.
"We'll be the best doctors there are!"
"Don't worry! The best doctors work together!"
"Have you seen the new student? He's sexy!"
Sakura grunted as Ino continued ranting about how 'hot and sexy' the new transfer student, Uchiha Sasuke, was. She had yet to tell her that Sasuke was the young boy that she promised to become one of the best doctors with. Sakura still had no clue if he was as great as her, as he was excused from classes the first day to settle in his dorm.
"Ino, I don't think Shikamaru will appreciate what you're saying, hmm?" Sakura said, having heard too much about how great Sasuke looked.
Ino looked at Sakura and shrugged indifferently, but stopped rambling nonetheless. Sakura smiled gratefully.
"Well, this is my stop. I have a new client today."
Ino frowned.
"So much for hanging out this weekend."
"I'll try."
Ino nodded and waved, continuing on her way. Sakura waved to her retreating friend, and opened the door to the infirmary and made her way through the labyrinth of hallways.
Room 202.
She gently knocked, and heard a gentle 'come in', before turning the doorknob. Sakura's eyes softened when she was met with an innocent little girl of jet-black hair and amethyst eyes. A few tubes of life support ran from her arms, and the gentle beeping of her heart monitor seemed to give the room a somewhat dismal feel.
"Hello, I'm Sakura," Sakura said gently as she took a seat next to the girl's bed.
Her amethyst eyes gazed at her for a moment before she turned away and closed her eyes, a gentle smile playing on her pale lips.
"H...hi. I'm Yuri."
Sakura smiled and pulled out a clipboard from the nightstand beside her bed.
"Nice to meet you, Yuri."
"Sakura?"
"Yes?"
"I like your eyes."
Yuri's precious amethyst eyes were shown again, and Sakura was met with an innocent smile.
"Thank you. Yours are very beautiful."
Yuri once again smiled.
"I...I won't die, will I?"
Sakura's eyebrow rose, and she shook her head softly.
"I won't let you die, I promise."
"Thank you."
Sakura walked down the empty hallways of the dorms, her eyes drooping from her lack of sleep. Her textbooks became heavyweights on her tired arms, cursing herself for not dropping by her dorm to drop them off before meeting with Yuri. Sakura sighed. It was much nicer to walk during the empty hours of the dorms; only few students awake every time she returned from an assignment. She liked it when there were no sneers or students to worry about.
Her mind was so concentrated that she had failed to realize that if she didn't swerve to the right, she would run into someone. When she had finally noticed the person, it was too late. They collided, and she fell forwards, her textbooks flying out of her hands.
"Ugh. Sorry," Sakura whispered.
She got off the person and held out a hand. She was surprised when the person took it and pulled himself up, and knelt down once more to pick up her scattered textbooks.
"It's fine."
Sakura looked at the person, and in the dim light, she realized it to be Uchiha Sasuke, the new student, and the boy from her childhood. Sasuke, too, seemed to notice who he had run into, and quickly gathered her books and handed them to her.
"Here."
"Thank you."
Sakura took the heavy books out of his hands, and almost fell forward due to the sudden impact of the weight. Sasuke eyed her carefully.
"You need more sleep."
"Tch. Does your voice ever stop sounding harsh?"
Sasuke smirked and shrugged indifferently.
"Same as ever, I guess. You picked a weird time to transfer here, Sasuke."
"I have my reasons, like everyone else here."
Sakura smiled and nodded.
"Of course. I'll see you tomorrow."
Sasuke nodded, and he continued on his way.
"Wait, Sasuke?"
He stopped, and patiently waited for the girl to continue.
"Do you mind not telling anyone about...the promise? I'm sure you already picked up a few hordes of fangirls on your way to the dorms...and...I don't think..."
"Yeah."
Sakura gratefully smiled and nodded.
"Sakura?"
Sakura looked at him, eyebrow raised with curiosity.
"Did you...hear what I said before I left?"
"...No? Was it important?"
Sasuke let off a sorrowful smile that was hidden from her, and continued walking, his baritone echoing through the empty hallways.
"...No. Good night."
"Good night."
A/N: Not much to say about this chapter. I apologize for the seemingly too much dialogue in the last part. XD I hope you liked this chapter, though I'm not sure what to say about it, personally. Hopefully, the next chapters will be more seriously written (well, like, you know, no fluffy-fluffy)
Next time! Will Sakura ever tell her friends that Sasuke is the boy from her childhood? Why is it that all those girls are giving Sakura death glares? How good of a doctor is Sasuke? And what's up with the new client, Yuri?
Thanks for reading!