Pressure Points Chapter 3: broken news, a naruto fanfic

Pressure Points
Chapter 2 – broken news

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto

Sakura woke in the dim light of early morning hours from loud, obnoxious knocks clashing against her door. Quickly throwing on a jacket to help keep her body warm after she got out from under the blankets, she rushed to the door and found one of her medical 'students' frantically standing there and yelling for her.

"What is it?" Sakura grumpily asked.

Sakura's student looked at her in fear, knowing too well the temper that the Haruno could bring when she was grumpy, tired, or all in all, in a bad mood.

"S-Sakura-senpai," her student began, "Yuri – she's – she's nearly going to –"

Before her student could finish, Sakura rushed out the door and ran towards the clinic, her heart racing and her mind praying for Yuri to hold on until she got there.

Her heart is unbelievably unstable.

The echoes of her mentor ricocheted all over her mind, reminding Sakura over and over about her client's medical disability and why she was there. Her lips were pursed in a frown, her eyes narrowed in deep concentration and thought.

This was why the Haruno was in a league of her own.

Before her client could die, before her client could tell her what was happening, before her client could tell her why it was happening and what he or she had done, she was already thinking of a cure. Her success rate at this, thus far? One hundred percent.

After five minutes, Sakura burst into Yuri's crowded room, the standby doctors and nurses doing everything they could until Sakura and Tsunade arrived.

"Get the hell out of my way!" Sakura yelled over the loud, panicked yells of the doctors and nurses.

Everyone turned and moved out of the Haruno's way, all knowing that if the girl were to survive, it was either because of Sakura or Tsunade's intense medical care. Sakura rushed to Yuri's bedside and quickly scanned her heart monitor and noticed her heart was beating unbelievably fast, as if she was hyperventilating and crying.

"Yuri, Yuri-chan?"

There was silence around the room, and Sakura quickly noted how Yuri's heart was beginning to slow down back to a stable rate.

"Why were you crying? Get some rest, Yuri-chan."

There was more silence, but Sakura noticed how Yuri opened her amethyst eyes and smiled.

"I – I saw brother."

Sakura's eyebrow rose.

"Brother?"

Yuri nodded and closed her eyes again.

"I was so happy, I forgot that crying made me feel really funny..."

Sakura smiled and ran her fingers through Yuri's long, jet-black hair in motherly affection, taking a seat beside Yuri to make sure her heart remained stable for the time being. The doctors and nurses were in awe as to how strong words could be, if they were spoken in the right affect. Sakura smiled at them and motioned them to move out of the room, which they complied, still awestruck at the amazing spectacle.

"Get some rest, Yuri-chan," Sakura whispered.

She leaned down and kissed Yuri's cheek, and smiled when Yuri's lips moved up in a small, shy smile.

Perhaps not everyone sees me as the miracle medical student.

Perhaps that if I open my eyes to see, I'll have people around me that see right through this medical coat.

Unknowing to the medic, a pair of onyx eyes disappeared from the doorway, a small, genuine smile present on pale lips. Yuri blinked for a few seconds, which did not go undetected by Sakura.

"Yuri, Yuri, what did you see?" She curiously asked.

Yuri smiled and shook her head.

"Nothing."

Sakura quietly wandered through the busy halls, doing her best to avoid ongoing traffic between her and her colleagues. Tsunade once again summoned her to the office from one of the lecture classes, much to Sakura's appreciation. She knew already that the topic of their discussion would be Yuri's dilemma which had taken place earlier today; the doctors and nurses present in the room never were quiet.

Her mind was lost in a trail of thought, thinking about all the newspaper headlines she had seen talking about her and talking about her father. She remembered all the taboo articles and media reports, remembered all the awestruck readers who, when she was recognized, instantly asked her questions and invaded her personal bubble.

Her personal bubble, a space where nobody daredto venture, unless crowned either a princess of Konoha Med., or a Prince of Konoha Justice, was a very private and enclosed one. She realized that there was yet a man she could speak with at Konoha Med, all of them either too full of themselves or too jealous of her. Her mind wandered to her old friend, Sasuke, and wondered if he too, were like that.

"Sakura."

She tensed and stopped, not realizing that she was already standing in Shizune's office – the receptionist desk. Her eyes were met with dark pools of onyx, her lips pursed in a small smile.

"Hello, Sasuke."

An awkward silence reigned between the two friends, both not knowing what to say or what to do.

"Sakura –"

"Sasuke –"

Both stopped in embarrassment when they realized they had spoken at the same time, and Sakura couldn't help but to explode in a fit of laughter.

"I – haha – it's – it's been so – haha – long since – hahahaha – I've seen your – your face!"

Sasuke looked at her, almost flabbergasted at her sudden outburst. Sakura's fit of laughter soon died down into coarse giggles from laughing so much, and wiped her eyes from tears.

"I'm – I'm sorry, Sasuke."

She didn't know why, but she blushed.

...And he couldn't help to realize that even though she did not look the same, cute girl of their younger years, she didlook quite...

(Dare he?)

...Beautiful.

"What're you doing here, anyway? Not everyone gets called to Tsunade-shishou's office," Sakura said, attempting to break the awkward silence that had rooted between them.

At this his eyes noticeably darkened, and Sakura looked at him skeptically.

"It's none of your business," the Uchiha coarsely replied.

Sakura offered him a small smile.

"Sorry, I guess it isn't."

Another awkward silence reigned between them, before Tsunade's irritated voice boomed through the walls.

"Sakura? Are you here yet? Hurry the heckup, will you?"

Sakura let off a sigh.

"I'm coming, Tsunade-shishou!"

She turned to Sasuke and apologetically smiled.

"Sorry, wish we could talk more. I'll see you later."

He nodded in reply, and quietly watched as she walked into Tsunade's office and closed the door behind her. He sighed and left Shizune's office, hands stuffed into his pockets.

If only she knew.

There was silence in the office as Tsunade quietly read over the reports that the doctors and nurses had left on her desk early in the morning, skimming through the comments and carefully reading the details. Sakura waited patiently, basking in the comfort of the chair she was currently resting on.

"So, they said after you started talking to her, everything slowed down? They wrote that the nurses were trying to calm her, said the same words you did, and nothing happened," Tsunade said, breaking the comfortable silence and looking at her apprentice intently.

"You just need to know how to say it," Sakura replied indifferently, "And you need to know the right way to say it."

There was silence as Sakura stared out the office window, almost in a detachment towards the person who trained her to be who she was.

"So, I suppose that proves my theory then," Tsunade said, once again looking at her student intently.

"Theory?"

"I suppose she doesn't have any family, does she?"

Sakura leaned back in her chair and her eyebrow rose with interest, the air of profession and seriousness surrounding her.

"She mentioned seeing her 'brother'. Which made her hyperventilate and make her heart go nuts. So obviously, her 'brother' must have been on the medical staff or some random passerby."

"That's interesting. She was in an orphanage before she was brought here, with no accounts of a mother, father, brother, sister, nothing."

Sakura managed to smile and began to rise from her chair, her mentor eyeing her curiously.

"Maybe it was better having no mother or father. She seemed perfectly fine from seeing her brother," Sakura said, gathering her things and making her way towards the door, "And she won't have any of those expectations and taboo thrown onto her."

She offered her mentor a genuine smile before opening the door and closing it behind her.

At least she has sight of who she is.

Sakura quietly sat in the corner of the café, her laptop before her as she continued her latest assignment and research. The hustle and bustle of the regular café hours were fading, many of the students returning to their dorms to research and rest, which allowed Sakura to remain in the small store and concentrate in the soothing atmosphere. The employees had long since allowed her to remain there a few hours past closing while they cleaned up and prepared for the next day, used to her studying habits and detached personality.

"Sorry, sir, we're closed," Sakura glanced at the poor employee at the door, and raised her eyebrow when she saw the brooding Uchiha standing there, "Miss Haruno is only allowed in here after hours."

"It's okay," Sakura stood up and walked towards the entrance, her boots clicking on the café tiles, "We're studying together. Would it be alright, Taro?"

Both men looked at the Haruno skeptically, knowing that such kindness and gentle nature was rarely seen in her nowadays.

"I suppose so, Sakura."

"Thanks, Taro!" Sakura smiled and returned to her seat in the corner, the sound of her fingers tapping the keys becoming part of the atmosphere once more.

Sasuke followed her and sat at the table, quietly placing his laptop on the table and turning it on. There was another awkward silence between the two, before Sakura's typing stopped, and her eyes were on the boy in front of her.

"What brings you here?" Sakura timidly asked, taking a sip of the tea beside her.

"Studying," he grunted, "It's too loud and noisy in the dorm."

Sakura laughed and shook her head, continuing her assignment.

"Sakura, you're hiding, aren't you?" Sasuke quietly asked, eyeing his friend carefully.

There was silence between the two medical students, before Sakura moved her knees so they were under her chin, and held her face there for moments on end, soaking in the quiet atmosphere and gathering her thoughts.

"It sucks, you know? Having to live up to a name that's almost like a god."

"You're not the only one, Sakura."

Sakura looked at Sasuke quietly, and offered him a sheepish smile.

"I guess you're right."

There was more silence until a lightning-quick boom reverberated through the café walls. Sasuke turned around, and Sakura visibly twitched, when Tsunade stormed towards the table, holding a phone in her hands. Sakura noticed that she had the look of urgency, a look of almost sympathy, when she handed her the phone.

Tsunade cast Sasuke an apologetic glance, and both turned to face Sakura's paling face.

"...Mom?Mom,I can't understand what you're saying!" Sakura began yelling into the phone, almost in desperation.

"S – Sakura, your father – he's – he's dead."

Sakura dropped the phone, which broke as it made contact with the café floor. Tears began to stream down her eyes, her fingers beginning to tremble from the trauma's shock. The latest news of the legendary medical doctor, Haruno Satoshi, began popping up in the news articles online.

He's dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.

Sasuke quickly moved to her side, gently holding her in his arms as she broke the cold façade and sobbed, breaking the hearts of everyone that saw her tears begin to drown the atmosphere in sorrow.

"Oh my god. He's dead."

"Can you stay with me tonight? I'm really sorry."

There was silence, before a light shuffling. She found herself being carried bridal style to her dorm, to which she was thankful. Her strength had been drained the moment her mother broke the news.

He's dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun."

The two didn't fail to realize that she had uttered the suffix of their childhood, which she had used in friendly intimacy.

A/N:So, uhm, don't ask me about this chapter, because I honestly don't know.
I'm sorry, I'm trying hard to work off this writer's block, and ... er ... yeah. XD;

I hope you enjoyed it, at the very least.