Here you go~! WARNING: updates will be coming slower now that school is approaching and I am cramming for stuff. Sorry children, but they will come, that I promise you ^__^
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In room 627 of the Recovery Building for Surviving soldiers stood two people. One, an ex-lieutenant, was standing rather awkwardly in the middle of the room; raven hair hanging over blinking eyes, right side leaning against a wooden desk; the young man was clutching an old worn teddy bear in his hand. Closer to the door stood a pink haired nurse whose green eyes were locked with onyx ones. Her already white face paled even more as she tore her eyes from the young man and stared at the stuffed animal in his hands. With a desperate cry, Sakura leaped forward and snatched the teddy bear from Sasuke's stiff hands.
"…why?" Though she knew what he was asking, Sakura wouldn't answer.
"…why didn't you tell me?"
"Tell you what?"
"Don't play stupid with me!" Sakura flinched at the sudden outburst.
"I know you could have given me mementos from my past…you could have done so many things to spark up a memory. But you didn't. Why?" The Uchiha grabbed the nurse's arms, infuriated that she wouldn't answer his questions.
"Answer me dammit!"
Enraged by the sudden attack, Sakura twisted away from Sasuke's grip and slapped his hands away, "Why should I? I haven't spoken to you in years! In fact, I'd rather have it that you didn't remember me!"
"You are no one to say what I can and can't remem—"
"Exactly! I'm no one; I'm the same no one I was ten years ago—"
"Hey, you were the one who left me—"
"—and I'd leave you again if I could!"
Stunned at her outburst, Sakura snapped her mouth shut and stared at the equally shocked Uchiha; her white anger was soon replaced by fear. Not once had the polite nurse ever said something so cruel and heartless to another person, and knowing Sasuke, his retaliation would surely be as harsh as her attack. An eternity seemed to pass as Sakura stared at the tiled floor, waiting for her patient to make a move; tentatively, green eyes looked up, only to be met by unreadable onyx ones. With an eerie calm, the Uchiha casually plucked the stuffed animal from her trembling hands; snorting, Sasuke threw the teddy bear onto his bed. Turning back around, his mask slipped for a moment as he gave Sakura a disgusted and—pained?—look and crutched his way out of the room.
The suppressing silence nearly crushed Sakura before she moved; shaking, her hands fumbled as she closed the door and turned the brass lock. On unsteady legs, she made her way to her patient's bed. As Sakura lay on the bright white sheets, she tenderly picked up the old teddy bear. Burying her face in the worn fur, the petite girl let out a deep sigh and cried.
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EEAAAOOO!
EEEAAAAOOO!!
EEEAAAAOOOO!!
The ear-piercing alarm sirens woke Sakura with a jolt. Still half asleep, the red eyed nurse scanned the empty room, wondering if it was some sort of fire drill that she had not been notified of. Only after the frantic yells and orders had reached her ears did Sakura realize this was no ordinary drill; the hospital was, for the first time in years, being bombed.
Nearly collapsing on her dead leg, Sakura hobbled to the door and opened it. She could hardly believe her eyes when she caught sight of the hoard of patients and staff rushing through the hallways. Doctors were ordering the nurses who weren't attending to disabled patients to grab equipment while they themselves emptied cabinets upon cabinets of files. All sorts of medication were being stuffed into duffel bags, backpacks, pouches made from bed sheets; everyone was in frenzy. It would take little to turn this slightly organized crowd into an crazed mob. Pushing her way through the crowd, Sakura headed for the nurses' office.
Most likely due to the fact that the direction to the nurses' office was the opposite of the one to the bomb shelter, Sakura soon found herself within touching distance of her friends. Ino, looking rather flustered, was carrying a giant lump of a duffel bag and Hinata was having a hard time trying not to hyperventilate.
"Is this for real?" Though Sakura knew the answer, she just had to hear it from her fellow staff members.
"It better be or I'm gonna kick whoever's ass that decided to scare the shit outta over a hundred people."
"I-Ino, I'm going to go get Naruto-san right now, m-make sure he is being taken care of," was Sakura imagining it, or was her shy friend actually blushing?
"Yeah, I need to grab Tenten—hey, Sakura, where the hell did that Uchiha run off to? I saw him walk by a few hours ago, but he wouldn't say where he was going…"
Sakura's heart skipped a beat as she glanced up at the clock; it had been almost 4 hours since her fight with the arrogant soldier. Sasuke hadn't been in his room, so where could he have gone? Surely someone would round up the patients who were in the bathroom. Still, Sakura couldn't help but worry; she left her friends to search for her own patient.
Skidding to a halt, she peered into the empty cafeteria, "Sasuke…?" When no answer came, Sakura decided to check the bathrooms, just in case. Not finding Sasuke in any of the restrooms, the nearly hysterical nurse raced to room 627 to see if the young man had returned; the room was empty.
"Shit—"
"Looking for something, Sak?"
Sakura nearly fainted as she spun around and caught sight of Osami leaning against the doorframe. The red haired nurse seemed to be at ease, even though there was still a mass of people rushing around behind her. After checking her manicured nails, she looked up at her breathless colleague and shot her a questioning glance.
"Hmm, you looking for Sasuke-kun aren't you?" With lips pressed thin, the pink haired nurse nodded.
"Do you know where he is? I…I looked everywhere."
"I suppose you checked the cafeteria didn't you? Hmm, how about the bathrooms? Maybe he's snooping around somewhere with a girl or—"
"Osami," Sakura gave the red head a pleading look. "Please…"
The red head sneered and turned to face the crowd. That SOB Uchiha had really broken her nose. She would make him pay for this. But for now, she decided, it was better to scare his precious nurse a little bit.
"Did you check the field? I could have sworn I saw the Uchiha there just a moment ago," smirking, Osami turned around, only to be thrown to into the mob by a pink lightning bolt. Numb to the bruises she would surely wake up with tomorrow, Sakura pushed her way through the crowd, with even more force than before. So distracted was she, that she didn't hear the faint yell of Osami. To anyone else, it would have sounded something along the lines of 'A joke, a joke, it was a joke!'
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She was running out of time.
These kinds of thoughts were running through Sakura's mind as she stood dumbly in the middle of the field, searching for the familiar head of raven hair. There were indistinguishable screams and yells of panic in the distance, near the crowded bomb shelters; staff members were jostling patients, trying to get all of them to fit in the cramped shelters. In some areas, violent fights had broken loose while others cried in despair, sure that this was the end of them. Overhead, though she couldn't see anything, there was the distinct noise of fighter planes roaring overhead. Absently, Sakura recalled being told once that military planes had their undersides painted to blend in with the sky.
Determined, Sakura ran across the field again; in vain, she searched for her patient. Under the trees, behind the bushes…she even climbed one to check if Sasuke had somehow gotten up into the thick branches. The first bomb landed just a few hundred yards away.
At first, there came a calm silence; she couldn't even hear her heartbeat as she watched the building crumble and burst in flames in front of her eyes. A gust of wind carried tons of debris and ashes directly at her, and nearly tore the nurse from her perch. Blinking back tears, Sakura scrambled frantically from the branches, only to fall ungracefully onto the bench beneath her. Managing to bruise her right foot and tear her uniform, she dazedly stared as another explosion occurred just meters away from the first.
Coughing from the pitch black smoke, Sakura staggered toward where she thought were the bomb shelters. Her sense of direction, of sight, of smell, her hearing…everything was just one confused blob. The ear piercing blasts, the gusts of wind, the debris that scraped her body and smoke that burned her throat…it was a wonder she could even walk. Just barely after the fourth, maybe fifth, explosion, she heard the distinctive call of her name. Dizzy, Sakura turned around.
A hundred yards away from the shelters, a familiar raven haired man was limping towards her. Somewhere along the way, he had thrown away his crutches and was jogging/hobbling toward the dumbfounded nurse as fast as he could. What looked like Naruto and Ino were chasing after Sasuke; they soon caught up and held fast to the struggling patient. All three of them seemed to be yelling something, but what, Sakura didn't know; her ears were ringing from the explosions. Shaking her head, she tried again to figure out what they were telling her.
Squinting, she could make out the shape of their mouths; Ino seemed to be yelling her name, while Naruto was waving frantically with his free arm. Her patient was red in the face, kicking and straining to break free of the blonds' hold. Her muddled brain figured out that the Uchiha was telling her to run just before an explosion like no other ripped through the field and sent Sakura flying.
There was the short moment of weightlessness as Sakura stared at the grass below her passing by at an impossible speed. Something hard hit the back of her head; slowly, she touched her bruised fingers to the injury and came away with warm, thick, red liquid. But before her befuddled senses could catch up with her, Sakura felt herself crash to the ground, skid for what seemed like forever and then some, and at last smack against something so hard that it bruised the whole of her bloody back.
Everything went quiet as she lay on her side, staring at the destruction taking place in front of her. Slowly, the vibrant colors dimmed as the corners of her vision turned black. Slightly annoyed that her eyes were growing heavy, Sakura tried to shake her head and gave a weak protest at the ruthless pain that sliced through her head. Whimpering, she closed her eyes and patted the grass as she slowly fell asleep under the debris and ashes gradually covering her wounded body.
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"Tsunade-sama, Tsunade-sama!" rather grumpily, the middle aged woman turned around and glared at the young messenger who had just rushed into her temporary office. She already had a headache from all her paperwork and the chaos, not to mention the empty bottle of sake lying haphazardly on her cluttered desk; she could deal without anymore trouble today.
"Dammmit, what the hell is it now? If it's another workout session your trainer so dearly wants to have, I'm gonna kick his ass, green jumpsuit or no green jumpsuit. Got that Lee?"
"Yes ma'am! Tsunade-sama, I have a report on the incident that occurred yesterday at the Recovery Building for Surviving Soldiers!" the blonde's gaze immediately snapped to the boy's face; suddenly attentive, Tsunade motioned for the messenger to continue.
"1700 hours yesterday first bomb landed due west of AREA 826; 1900 hours yesterday bombing completely ceased. 2000 hours yesterday civilians and patients were permitted to evacuate the bomb shelters; 600 hours today excavation proceeded. 1400 hours today excavation stopped. Wounded, dead, and missing were recorded. Wounded as listed: Akamu Oniguri, Soki Porijumi, Neko Hanakaruma…" Tsunade took notes as Lee listed each person one by one. Soon filling the first page, the woman took out a second sheet of paper and proceeded to scribble down the missing.
"Missing as listed: Tsukawaro Numikiwa, Fushigi Yuko, Okatama Havachi and…" Tsunade looked up as the boy hesitated upon the fourth, and hopefully final, name.
"Yes, Lee?" female intuition told Tsunade that she wasn't going to like this last name one bit; she waited patiently for Lee to continue.
"And," the young man swallowed audibly as he let out the last name, "Haruno Sakura."
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"Oh the cruel unjustice done upon our youthful generation! The chaos! The misery! Do not fear Lee-kun, all is not lost!"
"MY SAKURA-CHAN, MY DEAR DEAR SAKURA-CHAN! OH THE AGONY, THE PAIN, THE ULTIMATE SUFFERING OF YOUTH!"
"MY PROTÉGÉ I UNDERSTAND YOUR PAIN! YOU HAVE MY YOUTHFUL SYMPATHY LEE-KUN!"
"GAI-SEMPAI!"
"LEE-KUN!"
"GAI-SEMPAI!"
"LEE-KUN!"
"GAI-SEMPAI!"
"LEE-KUN!"
"GAI-SEMPAI!"
"God dammit, CAN IT YOU TWO!"
"YES TSUNADE-SAMA!"
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Hello my lovely reviewers~!
Updates will be slower, but they will come. I will warn you this time if they don't. ^__^
I love hearing your guys' thoughts. Please tell them (in your reviews! *wink wink nudge nudge bribes with cyber cookies*)