Chapter 7
A Piece of the Puzzle
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Sakura did not make plans to go home that night; not that she, or anyone else for that matter, could; the third floor ICU wing was locked down. Instead, she roamed the ICU wing with her hair loose and clip board in hand, shuffling restlessly between the newborn's and her sensei's room.
Her senses were on high alert: if anything were to happen, she was ready to pounce. There was no point in her trying to sleep; her mind would not let her, let alone her whirring anxiety. It was obvious after the first couple of hours that there would be no point in her trying to quell the alarming fears that continued to invade her thoughts and mind.
As relentless as they were, they fueled her into action. She would wait for the two blood samples to be analyzed and screened; if the virus was there, as Kakashi feared it would be, she would take it from there. One step at a...
Time, she finished quietly to herself, the word leaving a bitter taste in her mouth. Time was against her. The thought alone sent another burst of icy adrenaline to course through her veins.
How much longer did they have to live? When would they be cured? Or was this something else entirely?
Still deep within her thoughts, her mind failed to register the figure who had suddenly stepped in front of her. Sakura gasped at the unexpected- and slightly painful- impact to her face, clumsily stepping back and losing her balance in the process. Firm hands grasped her shoulders as she began to sway back, steadying her small frame.
"Oh," she hummed, dizzy. "I'm so sorry, I didn't even see you-"
"Sakura," Sasuke scowled, sighing. "What are you doing up so late?"
Heat swelled to the sides of Sakura's cheeks at the sound of Sasuke's voice.
Of all the people to run into... He already considered her inadequate as a ninja, she was sure, she didn't need him to add 'inattentive' to the list as well. In an attempt to fight the embarrassing flush to her face, Sakura settled for sounding angry instead.
"What do you mean? I'm making sure my patients don't die on me."
Sasuke stared at the woman in front of him, the scowl only deepening. If he saw the blush on her cheeks, he didn't show it, and Sakura felt a part of her metaphorically sigh in relief. She had enough to worry about as it is, and the last thing she needed was for her mind to focus on things she'd rather not dwell on.
"So then what are the other medics here for?" He asked, unimpressed.
Like Sasuke, she mentally noted, and his smart-ass responses. Nothing ever got past him, then or now. Dimly she wondered why she even thought she could best him with deception when he practically gave the word its very meaning.
"For the very same reason," Sakura said, crossing her arms over her chest indignantly. "And to page me if anything goes wrong."
"You should be resting."
"No, I need to be here, where I belong and where I can be of some use." Sakura felt a flicker of anger flare within her. Did he really not understand what was at stake here?
"You can barely stand on your feet," he commented dryly, already turning to walk away from her towards a lone cushion chair in the small waiting room.
"Because I ran into you!" Sakura countered, her anger sending a wave of warmth to flow into her chest. She bit her lip to stop herself from saying more. As stressed and embarrassed as she was, this was not the time nor the place for her to lose her temper. She was better than that, she told herself sternly.
A loud snore across the hall caught her attention. Peering past Sasuke, Sakura caught a glimpse of ruffled blonde hair mixed with orange and black. There, siting on the bench outside of Kakashi's room, was a sleeping Naruto.
Picking her clipboard up from the ground, Sakura turned on her heels with a soft sigh escaping her lips, reluctantly making her way to an on-call room across the hall and away from distractions on the other side of the wing. Specifically Sasuke.
She needed quiet; she needed to isolate herself so she could think and concentrate on her current situation. Unable to go back to her office, Sakura closed the door to the darkened room and sank to the floor with her back resting on the wooden surface. She sat there with her eyes closed, breathing in the sharp anesthetic scent of the sterilized room, the smell bringing back reminiscing memories to the surface of her conciseness.
Dimly, she could hear the tick of the clock on the wall above her, but she didn't really pay any attention to it. Her mind was somewhere else, which she was happy about. Daydreaming wasn't a luxury she really had.
Glancing up at the window, Sakura waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room before her eyes traveled to the perfectly made bed in the corner. She eyed the bed apprehensively, cursed softly, and made her way towards it. After making herself comfortable, Sakura propped the pillow behind her back and rested the back of her head against the wall.
She then began to absentmindedly push chakra into the palm of her hand, allowing the soft green haze of her chakra to fill the room before she pulled it back again. Meanwhile, her mind drifted back and forth between Kakashi and the infant. What did those two have in common? They both arrived in Konaha from the same place, for one... Kakashi didn't look sick when she saw him a few days ago, nor did the infant... Did Kakashi bring back a virus that was meant for another village? Or was this all part of an elaborate trick?
What they needed more than anything was a way for medics to identify the virus. If they isolate it early, they may be able to prevent the disease from spreading. Grabbing the chart next to her, Sakura used her chakra as a light to read the messy scribbles on the lines below when a knock on the door interrupted her.
"Come in," said Sakura.
A dark figure stepped in through the cracked door. Sakura squinted at the light from the hallway, blinking away the speckled spots in her vision.
"We have the results from the two physicals," said a light female voice.
"Good," Sakura said, still trying to focus her eyes on the slender silhouette. "Did you find anything relating to the disease?"
"We found a number of things that the two share in common, ma'am."
Sakura shook her head at the papers the woman held for her take. "Thank you," said Sakura, "But I'd like to see for myself."
"Of course," the woman nodded, stepping aside. Sakura quietly followed behind the nurse towards the other side of the wing.
In the room, Sakura closed her eyes, forming a seal with her hands. Her green chakra slowly began to encase her small body so that she looked to be trapped inside a glowing green bubble. The nurse stare wide-eyed at the display, unsure of what to make of it. A few seconds passed before the bubble suddenly popped, leaving behind a glittering skeleton of its former shape.
A small sigh escaped Sakura's lips as she released the jutsu, feeling satisfied at the cleansing feeling that remained in her system. Although the two rooms were sealed off by sterile plastic casings, Sakura needed to be sure that her system was clean before she approached Kakashi's bedside. Not only that, but she needed it stronger and more alert than ever. The jutsu was an old one that Tsunade had taught her when she first began training under the Sanin- and what better place to practice such a cleansing jutsu then in the presence of an unidentified illness?
"Here," Sakura said, making her way towards the nurse. Placing her hands on either side of the nurse's head, Sakura pushed her chakra into the woman.
"What are you doing?" asked the nurse, watching as a bubble quickly began to form around her body, just as it had Sakura's. She could feel the rippling pull of Sakura's chakra on her body, starting from her head and moving down to her feet.
"I'm cleansing your body of toxins and other foreign organisms..." she paused, releasing the jutsu and smiling. "Just a precautionary measure."
"Of course. Thank you. Now then..." The nurse pulled back another plastic casing, revealing the body protected underneath. Sakura felt her chest tighten at the grim sight of her sensei, now reduced to such a weakened state. It was unnatural for her, to see him in this fashion, and so very ill.
He was propped up in sheets with his mask secured against his lower face, minus his nose; a nasal cannula was fastened behind his ears. IV bags hung delicately next to him alongside a bundle of wires that connected to the screens in the corner. There, Sakura could read Kakashi's heart rate and blood pressure, along with the thermostat that betrayed the mild fever raging inside her sensei's body.
Pinching the inside of her palm, Sakura took a step towards the still unconscious figure, brushing some stray hairs away from Kakashi's pale and sticky skin.
The nurse went around on the other side of Sakura, her eyes glued onto her own clipboard. The results from his physical she presumed.
"First thing we noted was his dilated eyes...," She began, taking a small light from her pocket and flashing it into dark pools of Kakashi's eyes. Sakura could barely separate the iris from the pupil, even with the blinding light in his eyes.
"Both of them have severely blown eyes. We think the fever they both experienced somehow damaged the iris sphincter muscle, meaning the irises are unable to contract with exposure to bright light. Another thing we found was this rash," she continued, gripping the sides of Kakashi's wrists and turning them over, "Kakashi's symptoms appear to have progressed father than the infants as of now. We have researchers and the forensic team attempting to put the dots together."
Sakura stared wide eyed at the small red speckled dots clumped into pools under Kakashi's pale flesh. Even in all of the articles and books she has read over the years, never had she ever come across a rash that looked quite like this one. Pressing her fingers unto the affected areas of Kakashi's arms, Sakura felt her eyes widen when the red speckled dots under his skin failed to whiten with added pressure.
The nurses voice was softer when she spoke next. "One more thing, Ma'am. We have the blood test results completed..." The nurse trailed off, suddenly feeling light headed. She swallowed, wiping the gathering sweat from her brow. Was it her, or was it suddenly getting hot in here? Sakura's gaze fell intently on the woman, noting the sudden change in the nurse's skin color. It was quite paler than she remembered it being a few minutes ago.
"And?" Sakura prodded, urgently. Surely the results couldn't be that bad, could they?
The nurse swayed, placing her hand along the side of the wall for support. It was burning up in here. She needed out. She needed some fresh air. Sakura suddenly reached out with concern.
"Hey, are you feeling okay?" No sooner had Sakura made contact with the nurse had she recoiled in horror. "Oh no..." she whispered, cursing. The woman barely noticed Sakura's sharp withdrawl as she suddenly hit the floor, knees first.
"There's a virus running rampant...in their system..." The nurse whispered. Sakura watched, petrified to move, as the nurse fell face first onto the tiled floor. That same unnatural chakra presence was all around her, practically engulfing her; almost like the virus was claiming her power as its own.
There was no time to react. Sakura pulled out a mask from the cabinet next to her and placed it firmly over her nose and mouth. She stumbled backwards, her heart hammering in her chest. Swallowing her shock, Sakura felt along the sides of the wall, pressing the small button along under her fingers.
"Code red!" Sakura yelled into the intercom, not waiting for a reply. Sakura stared at the semi-conscious figure before gently hefting the nurse up off the floor. Immediately, a cart rushed into the room, to which Sakura placed the nurse before allowing the other medics to hook her up to the heart and BP monitors.
"I'm okay..." the nurse whispered faintly, even as her chakra signature spiked and then plummeted sharply. Her chakra system was fighting, she realized. Only this time, it was with an invisible organism, not a ninja. Sakura didn't waist another second. Thrusting her hand into the cabinent, Sakura produced a handful of masks, passing them to the medics next to her.
"Put these on," she ordered, "We don't know how the pathogen spreads."
"I'm okay..." the nurse repated, voice soft. "The heat..."
"Yes," Sakura soothed, coming to her bedside, "You have a pretty high fever. But we can bring it down."
The nurse reached with her other hand to wipe her brow, only to have her hand snatched by Sakura. It was the same rash that she had begun to examine on Kakash. Only the one on the nurse's arm was lighter; small, almost invisible, red dots were beginning to gather under her skin.
"How do you feel?" Sakura asked, pushing levers on the side of the bed to prop the woman up into a reclining position. Gently, Sakura rolled the nurse's sleeve up, holding back a gasp when she saw the rash spreading along the nurses shoulder blades, neck, and upper back.
"I don't...understand...I was fine just a minute ago."
The medics around her stood cautiously behind Sakura, waiting for her orders. Taking a syringe from her pocket, Sakura pressed the needle into the woman's flesh, drawing blood into the clear vile.
"Take this to the lab next door and start an analysis on it, quickly," said Sakura, passing the vile to a medic behind her. He took it, careful to have a tight grip on the tube before walking out of the sealed room. Sakura glanced at the nurse one more time.
"What's you name?" she asked.
The nurse briefly met her eyes. "Mio," she whispered.
"Mio," Sakura repeated, "I need you to tell me everything you did yesterday and today."
Mio pinched her lips together, thinking. "Yesterday started out normal. I woke up, ate breakfast, took a shower and brushed my teeth..."
"Did you feel off at all? Notice anything abnormal?"
Mio paused. "No, not at all... Everything was fine until just a few minutes ago."
"What about today?"
"Same thing," Mio commented, her face grimacing in discomfort, "I started my shift around 12 hours ago."
"Did you work yesterday at all?" Sakura asked, flickering her eyes to a medic behind her, "Set her up with an IV bag for fluids- she's dehydrated."
"Yes, same time as today. I worked yesterday in the pediatric ward, today with you Ma'am."
"Sakura!" A voice called behind her, grabbing her attention. "We have two more patients who need your assistance. Both of them have high fevers and a rash. Blood results show sign of a viral infection."
Sakura felt her heart plummet sharply into the pit of her stomach, leaving her with a bruised feeling in her chest. "Who are they?" she asked, throwing an apologetic glance towards Mio before rushing out of the sealed room and into another.
"A couple of kids," the medic replied, handing her a chart.
Sakura skimmed it briefly, stopping when a flash of blonde as white as silver entered her field of vision.
Her head reeled as flashbacks flickered across her eyes, stitching together seamlessly the past with the present. She remembered the loud burst of a bomb going off, a high pitch scream, the heat of flames as they attempted to consume her whole. And then she remembered the small girl she had gathered in her arms; she remembered how her hair was practically glowing with the reflection of the flames around her.
It was as if her heart had skipped a beat at the sudden realization that burst within her. There, in the bed before her, was the same girl she rescued only a few weeks ago; only this time, she was lying flat on her back with her temperature and chakra set a blaze. Next to her was a boy not much younger than the little girl. Sakura cocked her head at the sight of him; he looked familiar for some reason.
"What should we do?" the medic asked next to her.
It took Sakura a second to find her voice. "All we can do is treat the symptoms," she finally replied, blinking out of the trance she was momentarily caught in. Walking over between the two beds, Sakura placed her hand on the girl first, then the boy. It was that same damned chakra presence. They all had it: Kakashi, Hana, Mio, and now these two.
Turning to the sleeping boy behind her, Sakura pulled out her small flashlight from her lab coat and gently lifted one eyelid. As she suspected, the pupil was dilated. Sakura could easily see all the way into the back of the eye.
"For now, just try and make them as comfortable as possible," said Sakura, sighing. She wanted so badly to do something, but this wasn't something her chakra could fix. Her fists clutched at her side, then slowly she raised them to rest on the boy's stomach.
I just want to try- one more time.
Sakura took in a breath and then slowly released her chakra into the small boy's system. Her chakra traveled through the boys circulatory system; there, she could almost feel the spiked heat of his blood, rushing through his body and veins. She traveled through his veins for a moment, noting the thinning walls of the cellular membranes that held the blood captive. It felt, she realized with a start, that the walls could burst at any moment.
Sakura bit her delicate lips, feeling somewhat chilled despite the warmth of the ICU room. I might be able to strengthen some of his veins... if I just increase cellular division, I can make the cell membrane thicker... perhaps stronger.
Carefully, Sakura spread her chakra into the bloodstream, enticing the cells composing the veins to begin multiplying and dividing where she felt the walls already beginning to falter. The process was slow at first, but soon she found the cells reconnecting small rips and tears at a satisfactory pace.
While she was working, it suddenly occurred to here that the rash was the result of blood leaking from the small capillaries and veins. That was why the skin failed to whiten when pressure was added; the small dots were blood droplets gathered under the skin.
Fatigue was slowly beginning to sink into her system just as Sakura pressed her chakra into the boys nervous system, feeling for the heart of the unnatural presence.
There was a burst of resistance at the slightest touch of her chakra; similar though not quite as strong as Kakashi's barrier. She cursed softly, pulling her chakra back a bit.
Just as I suspected...
Closing her eyes, Sakura dropped her hands from the boys flesh. The fever was still there, but at least he didn't look as pale as before... atleast, she smiled to herself, she had figured out one small piece of the puzzle... she knew what was cause for the rash...
But everything else was a complete mystery.
Sorry for the little Sasu/Saku :( It's been tricky trying to fit in some fluff in this chapter, but don't give up on me yet. They will get there I promise(: In the meantime, hope you enjoyed the chapter!
-colani
