K.L.K- I got a review saying the Ino thing was a tad bit much. I just wanted to symbolize that Sakura had changed drastically from what her former team thought of her. So that's the only reason in there, and there will probably be no mentions of it in the story, even though Sakura still remembers it dearly. She'd had enough with men- Sasuke, remember?- And so she decided to try it with Ino, who readily agreed. And apparently they'd clicked. Nothing more than that, alright? Not to mention Kunoichi usually were vague about thier sexuality, due to missions, and the fact they may die in one. Yare yare...
TITLE: Behind The Facade
SUMMARY: Sakura can't really be all that happy, now can she? You can see the sadness in her eyes, the bittersweetness of her smiles... When she finally comes to terms with what she's been denying to herself all these years, what could possibly come of it?
RATING: T
AUTHORESS'S NOTE: Sakura's stuck in one repetitive circle of a life, huh? Well, she's going to start realizing what she's been lying to herself about soon. Okees? And the comment about the grainy crap in the corners of your eyes when you wake up... well... It makes sense, right? I read what that stuff was once, but I forgot... Alright, let's get this moving.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Sakura, but I certainly own this plot. At least, I hope I do.
Her eyes cracked open, corners filled with that grainy crap that turned out to be stuff you blinked into the corners of your eyes mixed with the liquid on your optical sensor, dried up. she sat up slowly, back aching and head pounding. She felt positively awful. she crawled over to her bathroom, heaving whatever was somehow left in her stomach, hugging the porcelain throne as tightly as she could.
Someone knocked on her door, and she would've shot up in surprise if she hadn't felt like that might just send her careening into the wall. "C...Come in..." she called out weakly, and the person entered, Sakura's senses too screwed with the fog of the headache and the swirling of her thoughts due to the heaving she'd done before. In other words, she had no idea who the person was.
"Sakura?" a feminine voice called out in shock, and the pinkette nearly cried out in relief, if it wasn't for the dizziness threatening to capture her conciousness at that very moment. The busty Hokage bent over her, picking the slight woman up into her arms, then hurried out of the apartment, telling a passing Jonin- Hinata- to take care of it until Sakura returned.
As she bustled through the streets, Sakura's eyes cracked open from thier clenched position, a groan escaping from her lips. "Who...what...unnngh..."
Tsunade tutted, rocked the girl a bit, trying to bring her some comfort. "Shh, Sakura, relax. Soon the pain will be gone."
Sakura gave a tiny, grimacing smile. "Thank...you..." her eyes drifted closed.
The Hokage gazed down, bitter smile on her lips. The girl she cradled in her arms was the one person she would give it all up for. Even Sake and gambling. Her former apprentice was a daughter in the blonde's eyes, and she knew that Sakura had been in pain. Somehow. She was already on her way over, to apologize for not giving her training times lately, but she'd felt a thick shroud of dread envelop her heart, and she had positively flown to the small apartment Sakura used, and now she was on her way to the Hokage tower, to give Sakura medical treatment where she could keep a close eye on her.
with a quick probe of chakra- which the rosette twitched uncomfortably at- she noticed everything she'd been ignoring at once. The girl- no, woman- she held in her strong arms was exhausted. Worn down so much she probably would need a month's time to recover, if this wasn't Sakura. A few weeks, at the most. Her stomach was empty, and it was considerably smaller than she'd noted during the Haruno's checkup a few months prior. In other words, the stomach had shrunk, reducing in size, because the girl hadn't been eating very much. Her skin had a greyish pallor to it, probably from sleeping most of the day then going out to impossibly long shifts in the hospital, then long missions and not too much time on keeping herself healthy.
That and the pinkette had a killer headache, most likely the work of the slight dehydration, hunger, and the place she'd been sleeping. On the floor, most likely! Knowing Sakura, the Hokage reasoned, that the girl had been nearly working herself to death, pushing herself much too hard, resulting in the predicament placed before her. The headache wasn't serious, but Sakura hadn't been able to even get up or crawl to the door. That was pretty bad. Even for a tough kunoichi. It was obvious the pink-haired woman hadn't been getting enough sleep- the dark circles, bruises from busted capillaries' blood, constituted to that. It worried Tsunade, though, at the aspect of what could be ruining her favoured apprentices' quality of sleep.
The woman arrived in the doorway of the Tower, gratefully relatively unseen by anyone. It was very early, anyway. It could only be about five a.m, how the sun was just peeking over the horizon, making the sky light up with a dark blue glow. The air was clammy and chilly, bringing out goosebumps on the shivering pinkette. Tsunade strolled into the tower, immediately meeting face-to-face with Shizune.
"Tsunade-sama, You're supposed to be asleep!" she scolded, then her eyes flickered downward, widening as she saw what shape Sakura was in. "Oh dear..."
Tsunade gave a nod, grimly. "She's been pushing herself too hard... She needs to rest. I found her, too weak to even get up, on her bathroom floor."
Shizune squeaked, then started to run off, Tsunade matching her stride, trying not to jostle the dazed girl. "here, Tsunade-sama!" she opened a door to a room connected to her regular office, and it was outfitted with a medium-sized western-styled bed, the sheets and blankets all a shade of light, springy green.
"Thank you, Shizune." she spoke quietly, then carefully placed Sakura down on the sheets, covering her up with the blankets. Along with the headache, slight dehydration and empty stomach, she'd also gained a bit of a fever, out in the chilling early morning air. "Are there any important meetings today?" she asked absentmindedly as she started feeding a nuitrient-filled broth to the feverish rosette, the woman taking the spoonfuls easily.
"Well, there was to be a m-meeting with the Elders, Tsunade-sama..." she spoke softly.
"Cancel it. Sakura needs my care right now, and you know she'd just break out of the hospital." her eyes met Shizune's, who then broke her gaze and then squeaked, cheeks colouring with a blush.
"H-Hai Tsunade-sama! I'll tell them you have more important matters!" with that she rushed out of the room, to prepare things and to send out messages.
Tsunade turned back to the woman laying sick on the bed, coaxing her to take liquid medication for her head and fever along with the broth. "That's it... you'll be better soon..." she crooned.
-
a few hours later, Tsunade looked up from her paperwork- Shizune had insisted bringing her paperwork in here, since she refused to leave in case Sakura needed her- and she rushed back to Sakura's bedside, as the girl's eyes were wide and feral with fever and fear. "Sakura? Sakura, can you hear me?"
she started shaking. "D...Don't let it get me." she whispered, the tremors racking her body. "N-no..."
Tsunade let confusion slip onto her face. "Don't let what get you, Sakura?"
"N-No..." Sakura moaned, trying to raise her arm to fling over her eyes, but as she was still weakened she couldn't move it that far. her muscles tensed, and Tsunade startled her slightly by sitting down on the bed. She felt Sakura's eyes glide over her form, but she knew she couldn't see her, her eyes fogged with fear, confusion, and the thick daze of illusion the fever had unleashed upon her. She smiled- even though it was probably a lost cause, seeing as Sakura was in her own little world- and she then stroked her now long locks, humming a lullaby-ish tune to try and soothe the woman.
Shizune looked in, unseen with a warm smile on her face. It was good to have Tsunade caring for the rosette. Probably even better for Sakura, too. The last time they'd even spoken had been her checkup, months ago. And even then she'd been practically mute.
Tsunade lay a cold rag on the pale forehead of the woman she was looking after, trying to soothe her back to sleep. She returned to the piles upon piles of paperwork on the floor, trying to keep Shizune off her back about it. It wouldn't do any good to have Shizune nag her, thus disrupting Sakura, right?
-
Sakura's eyes cracked open, as she finally held onto a scrap of consiousness. Light. Smell. Some sounds. "H...Hello...?" she called out weakly, her voice barely above a cracking whisper.
"Sakura!" the female- whose voise she recognized faintly- cried out, and a fuzzy face with hazel eyes and a purply dot came swimming into her view. "Finally, you're awake!"
Sakura blinked once. Twice. She blinked until the world was clearer, while Tsunade propped her against some pillows. She was in a comfortable room with wooden floors, paneling, and a light green theme to it, obviously. She glanced out the window, and gauged herself to be somewhere in the village. Her mind still felt fogged, her muscles aching and her head heavy and pounding slightly, even now. Her lips were chapped, mouth slightly dry. "W...What..." she managed to get out, before a cold glass was placed on her bottom lip.
"Drink." Tsunade ordered her, and the rosette obliged by swallowing greedily- a survival instinct- and let out a groan of discontent when the blonde took the cup away from her to get her attention. "Drink slowly! Jeeze, you're going to make yourself sicker!" she placed the cool glass back onto Sakura's bottom lip, and this time the rosete paced herself, trying not to gulp the sweet water down. After she was sure to have gotten the last drop, her throat no longer felt like sand paper. She still felt out of it though.
"How...When...Did you..." she tried to form a sentence, but her mind was still muddled. Her body shivered from the stress the hot and cold flashes were putting the nerve endings under, and she knew and felt her stomach being empty yet wasn't hungry. She gave up on forming words and noises, so just conveyed what she wanted to know by the look on her eyes and pale, sweaty face.
"I found you collapsed on your bathroom floor." Tsunade sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed, making it dip towards her so that Sakura's body twisted toward her ever so slightly. "You were exhausted, mentally and physically. You're in the Hokage Tower right now." Sakura's eyes widened ever so slightly, and she strained her muscles. All she could think about was her apartment; without lock or her to protect it. Tsunade's hand anded on her wrist, calming her a tiny bit. "Oi! I left Hinata in charge of your apartment until you're better, alright?"
"T..Thank...You..." Sakura just barely got the words out, her body already trying to slip into sleep, due to the fact it had no reserve energy left and she hadn't had anything to eat in at least a day or so.
"No problem..." The busty blonde smiled, then scanned over the rosette's body, the girl under her skilled hands face twisting slightly in an uncomfortable expression. "Oh! you must be hungry. I'll get Shizune to get something for you to eat..." Shizune was, in fact, right in the doorway at that moment, bringing in more paperwork. "Oh Shizune... Sakura needs something to eat... and I have to stay here, in case something goes wrong. Watch," Tsunade got up, only making Sakura stir, but not wake up, and she stepped out the door.
Sakura's face twisted into a pained expression. She stepped back in, and her face smoothed out into a blank mask she had adapted over the years. Shizune blinked, gave her a stuttering question to which Tsunade replied an easy to eat favourite of Sakura's, and then Tsunade was back in a flash to Sakura's side, comforting the girl and doing paperwork as Shizune went to o get the rosette's favourite, nuitrious, easy-to-eat food that would make the pinkette more comfortable.
-
"Tsunade-sama! I'm back!" Shizune stepped in, a fresshly made container of miso soup in her hands. "They made this especially for her; the ingredients are sut up really really small." For once she wasn't stuttering, either. She must have felt that she was really helping the dear pinkette.
"Good, good, she needs all the nuitrients she can get." the blonde woman took the hot container, and then a spoon and nudged Sakura.
"H...Huu...?" the Haruno woman asked murmuringly, her eyes still pained but she had gained a little strength.
"Food, Sakura... Food." Tsunade held out the spoonful of soup to the rosette, who weakly opened her mouth. Tsunade put the spoon in and poured the warm food into the rosette's mouth, who swallowed it. Her eyes brightened, and soon she was taking spoonful after spoonful.
Shizune knocked on the door as Tsunade was scraping the bottom of the medium container for the ravenous pinkette. "T-Tsunade-sama... Kakashi-s-san, S-sai, and N-Naruto-k-kun want to s-s-see her...A-Along with S-Sasuke U-Uchiha...They J-Just brought h-him back..."
Sakura's eyes opened wide. "I...Have to... Heal thier... Injuries... Sasuke's... Dangerous..." she could finally speak full sentences, and her head was just a bit sore. Her lips were chapped, but not as severely, though they hurt to move, and not to mention her stomach was full of still-warm food. She didn't feel as frail but she still couldn't move very well. She tried nodding, and she could. And move her hands and her arms slightly, and wiggle her toes and move her ankles. She was better, actually. She felt a bit of chakra rushing to her head, but stopped it. She didn't know what would happen, and chakra could only soothe sometimes; not heal.
"T-They're f-fine, S-Sakura-c-chan!" Shizune placed a hand on her shoulder, forcing her back onto the pillows. She had leaned foreward in her attempt to get up and heal. "D-Don't s-strain yourself!"
Tsunade sighed. "Bring them in..."
A few minutes after Shizune left, she returned with the Team Seven boys. "H-Here they a-are..."
Naruto immediately ran to Sakura's side, flipping out. "Sakura-chan! Omikami what have you been doing to yourself?!"
Sai's eyes widened. "H-Hag...?"
Sasuke looked dumbfounded. "Sakura... what happened?" he walked up casually behind the blonde- who was still freaking out.
Kakashi's eye widened almost comically. "Ahh! Why didn't I keep a closer eye on her?! Graah, this is all my fault!" he pulled at his hair.
"OI! LET THE PINK-HAIRED HARUNO TALK!" Tsunade screamed, and they froze in thier spots.
"I...I was stupid..." she breathed. "I...I was...Working... myself... to death... It's none... of your faults..."
Naruto grabbed a hand and rubbed his fingers over her knuckles. "S-Sakura-chan... why...?"
She gave a weak, breathy chuckle. "Eh... I...don't know exactly... I guess I... was stuck in denial...Ha..." She was starting to gather some strength, but her throat was dry...again. "Tsu-Tsunade... Water... Please..." The blonde woman fetched another glass and held it to her lips.
"Don't gulp it down like you tried last time." she warned, as Sakura started drinking. When she was done she set the glass down on the side table with a clinking noise, and then took out a thing of balm, then smeared a little on Sakura's pink lips. "There. Your lips looked sore."
"Thank y-you Tsunade." she could talk almost normally, now. just a little weakly. "Now... Listen.. You dolts," she smiled slightly. "I-It's none of your faults, alright? It's my... fault. I was stupid enough to n-never take a break. And then I-I end up here... d-dehydration, hunger, and a k-killer headache to boot." she gave a cracked laugh. "I-I'll be f-fine..."
"She'll be here for a few weeks, boys." Tsunade spoke. "Maybe two if she recovers fast. But she needs her rest. It is her fault for getting this sick... but..." she turned to Sakura, her eyes sorrowed. "It...It's also mine. I had so much work to do that she... she slipped my mind... and I ignored her strange behaviour...I was stupid..."
Sakura shook her head slightly."It's mostly my fault... okay, Tsunade...I take full credit..." she coughed once, her throat dry yet again.
Tsunade stroked the rosette's hair from her pale face. "I...Thank you...Sakura." she gave a tiny smile. Naruto had let go of her hand, but he'd grabbed it again, Tsunade moving out of the way slightly.
He ran his thumb over her knuckles again. "Sakura-chan... if you need anything, anything at all, you can ask us."
she shook her head and gave a bittersweet smile. "You don't need to... do that. Really..."
he gave her a sad, worn smile before being shoved out of the way by Kakashi and Sai. "Ugly, we just want you to be happy." the ex-ROOT nin fake-smiled, and the Hatake nodded.
Sasuke looked down upon the rosette. "Can I talk to Sakura..." he coughed. "...Alone?"
everyone nodded but Tsunade glared as they left her in the room with him.
"Sasuke...why... are you back...?" she asked, eyes suspicious.
he sat down on the corner of her bed. "Because... I've found that my goals are... infantile. I returned to Konoha because I missed my life here... I missed... you. and the rest of the team." his eyes avoided hers.
"Sasuke... do not think... because you returned... that it will go back... to the way it was. I... am now the one with problems... I don't w-want to suck you people... into." when he gave her a piercing look, she mumbled something about it being secret.
Tsunade came back in and the guys left, and Shizune stepped in just as they had finished talking about what Sasuke had said. after that Shizune left some coffee on the side table for the hokage and water for her most recent apprentice. she left after that, with a wave and a smile for a goodbye.
The blonde was kneeling by the bed, just giving Sakura another glass of water before shewent to sleep. She then stroked the pink hair until the green eyes closed on the rosette's face, and the Haruno drifted into a slumber.
"Sweet dreams... Sakura-chan."
K.L.K-... Okay I know. First she was all fine for the most part and now she's sick, but she needs this. And we all know Sakura probably WOULD work herself to sickness, ne?
Sakura- I hate you. (dryly)
K.L.K- (sweatdrops)... just... Review.
