A/N: Yayz!!! Back again and bringing in another update. I'm currently still ill and still need my tablets for my killer migraine but I'll live. Thank you so much once again for reading and reviewing which gave me the strength to write more! I've been working quite hard lately for this chapter to look decent since I know the last few chapters were abit confusing.
On a happier note, I'll give a little reminder of the story so far so everyone keeps up with it…
Sakura has just moved in from her old town, she's found a good paying job at a electronics company called Suna Corporation. The head president of the company is Sabaku no Gaara, who with his brother Kankuro and sister Temari is working hard to keep it running smoothly. Our favourite red head loves to tease and play around even though he's a hot head and decides to put his new secretary to the test. She survives through the fiascos and creates a little chaos of her own until one morning… Gaara calls them all to a meeting…. He announces the Uchiha Corporation; a medical company that based in the Oto area has announced its interest to be part of Suna Electronics. Uchiha Sasuke, the owner of Uchiha Corporation sends his men inside of Suna and tries to take it over from the inside. Meanwhile, in the home front, a group of women hurts Hinata causing Sakura to slap the leader…
Wow… that's long right? Lol, I'll skip the disclaimer this week since we're all so intelligent to know that Naruto is sooooo not mine… Even if I tried to buy it. I own the plot and the group of evil people though… My evil OCs.
PS: This chapter is done mostly in Hinata's view. (It's not POV but it's the way she sees things.) So basically it's pretty Hinata-based.
Chapter 8: Snow Red and the seven nobles
She blinked her lavender orbs quickly as she sprinted down the other end of the hallway, the marble stairs only a few more steps away, she looked back at her companion, her pink hair in a slight mess and a few hair sticking out where they shouldn't be, her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were still wide from shock. After all, she just got dragged off at top speed away from Hisuma-san.
"Hinata-chan! What's wrong with you? I could have sent her straight to-"
"-Hospital" The dark haired woman finished for her before she dragged her up another 2 flights of stairs. It was 9am already and still he showed no signs of consciousness, being one of the few people in Suna that has taken a medic course she knew that Gaara needed medical attention.
Immediately.
Flashback:
Knock
Knock
Knock
"Gaara-sama?" She whispered; her voice small and unsteady. Of all the people in the whole of Suna Corps, it had to be her. Fugato Hisuma, her superior in the Circulatory Department had 'told' her to wake Gaara. Temari was on the verge of breaking down Suna Corps to wake her little brother and sent an order to everyone that she wants someone to wake her little brother up. Hisuma was the first to volunteer, or rather volunteer herself but make Hinata do it. It was a universally known fact that Sabaku no Gaara doesn't sleep. When he actually gives in to the Sandman the unlucky person that stumbles him in the morning to wish him a good morning or wake him up would either end up in the nearest hospital or rushed into surgery. It was as if God was against her. Ever since her first day here it was as if a rain cloud hovered above her head. Her beloved cream coloured car broke down 5 miles away from the office, her mobile phone went dead, and she tripped while walking through the door. Her hair was a mess; she missed her first meeting and spilt coffee over Fugato Hisuma, her head supervisor in charge of the Circulatory Department in Suna Corps.
The said woman had the nerve to even try to flirt with her cousin Neji who came by to drop off some documents she left in the main house. Hisuma had wickedly commented after Neji left that Hinata was a shame to the Hyuuga family, not being able to be as beautiful as everyone else was. The room was silent at the time; no-one would dare to usurp Hisuma and no-one stood up to her. She ran out the room in tears and refused to come back until Shino, a member of the research team had fished her out of the girl's toilet and walked her back home.
"Gaara-sama… Temari-san sent me… I'm…I'm Hyuuga Hinata of the… the Circulatory Department… Ple...Please... attend the meeting in Room M5…" She tried knocking abit louder and her hand shook as she bit her lip nervously. She wasn't afraid to die but she couldn't help but be nervous about exactly who is behind the door.
Sabaku no Gaara.
The world renounced millionaire that had a fiery temper to match his amount of power over everything. Politics, Military, Medical Science. Him and his siblings were known as the Economy Royalty and gained useful contacts on their way to making Suna Corporation, making the company a place that is both safe and trustworthy. Underground organizations would stay out of the way of the siblings and provide help if by some way their business fails.
He was also the world's most stubborn person. He would never back down once he was set on a goal no matter how much you tried to rip it away from him. He was the same stubborn self when he's not in the office. Temari had once come in to work complaining so badly of Gaara that the whole media got involved; making documentaries of the legendary Sabaku no Gaara. He was a damn light sleeper and would complain so much in the morning even his own siblings separated their mansion to 3 parts and carefully avoided him in the morning like he had a disease.
"Gaara-sama….Are you alright?"
She stopped twitching and put her small hand on the bronze door knob. According to her senior 'wakers' Gaara would have normally had a good go at her by now. Something just didn't seem right…
She swallowed her saliva and blinked hard. It was now or never. Hisuma's probably going to barbeque her if she doesn't wake Gaara soon.
She turned it anticlockwise and pushed softly onto the door. She whacked off the door and she huffed. She was such a baka sometimes... She mentally slapped her head and turned the knob the other way. A rather loud creak met her ears and she slipped pass the door and carefully shut it, trying hard not to traumatise the red head when he wakes up to find someone in his office looking at him.
Boldly, in Hinata's case she stumbled to open the curtains in the room, letting the light flood the room and fill it with a healthy glow, the jade coloured desk shone and an un-miss able flare of red hair sprayed on the desk. His usual soft greenish blue eyes were covered by his dark eyelids, his breathing was unusually unsteady and the raven haired woman gently placed her fingers on his forehead. She flinched and backed off.
He had a fever.
His forehead was burning and his face was too pale, carefully she lifted his eyelids to check his eyes and found that he was unconscious and his fingers twitched. Quickly she ran around his office to find something she could make into a wet towel so she could try and cool his fever down. She noticed a door to his right and opened it, she found a small luxurious bathroom and found a row of different towels hung up on a towel rack close to the shower and toilet. Quickly she grabbed one and looked at the sink. The tabs were so complicated, there were buttons to set the temperature of the water and others to choose what kind of water the user needed, quickly she tried the default button and stuck her hand in the water's current.
HOT
She flinched and set the temperature to a cool 5 degrees and put it on her hand as well as the small towel she picked up from the towel rack. She switched the tap off and glanced around the small bathroom.
I gotta say that he has taste…
She shook her head at her own baka-ness and ran back out of the bathroom. Gently she moved him from his chair to the couch and cringed at his weight. He was heavier than her but not overly heavy but still, when she got up this morning she didn't expect to have to look after her boss. She put him in a comfortable position and moved his fringe back, leaving his pale forehead. He was sweating and panting, his arms struggled against the sofa underneath him. His closed eyes cringed as if he was about to wake but he just wouldn't.
Quickly she ran out of the room to get the only person that could help him right now…
"Haruno Sakura-chan…. Correct me if I'm wrong but did you take a degree in Medicine before you came here?" Hinata asked as she ran through another flight of stairs.
"Hai, I did a degree in it… but why?" She furrowed her eyebrows at her as they slowed down and occasionally Hinata would glance at the end of the hallway and sigh in relieve when she finds that Hisuma wasn't there running towards them with a knife.
"Sakura-san… I told the others… I was...told... to wake Gaara-sama because we think he has fallen asleep… I opened the door and Gaara-sama had a burning fever… It seemed too abnormal. He was shaking and shivering even though he was sweating… I remember when I checked through the staff records that you had a degree in Medicine and you also did a first-aid course when you left university… Please… Sakura-san… Please help Gaara-sama…"
Sakura opened her mouth to speak but she was silenced by Hinata.
"Sakura-san… I know that you're not keen on Gaara-sama and neither are a lot of people… I…I would… I would have never… got a job if it weren't for Gaara-sama…" The raven haired woman looked down and shuffled her feet. This was the very first time that she has ever told anyone about this. Her family didn't care about her and even her little sister Hanabi ignored her when she said that she has found a job, they simply turned their head around to talk about Hanabi's job at Marianna's Grammar School which was the leading school in the whole of Konoha.
"He knew Neji-oni-san and found out that I needed a job. He didn't care if I was Hyuuga Hinata. He only cared that he found someone to work in his company; I've been here for 5 years now, ever since the start of Suna Corporation. I can't let him down. Please… Onegai…"
Shaking softly she shed a few tears. He was almost like family. Distant family. He had taken her in and the pressure at work helped her to get over the things at home. She would stay at night sometimes in the office to work night shifts, a few small cups of coffee and Gaara as her companion. Sure, he didn't speak much when they went over paperwork but the familiar 'Goodnight' was enough to show that the work she did was appreciated. Hisuma never did nightshifts and always left the work to her, in a way it was appreciated and helped her avoid the craziness at home.
A hand shook her on the shoulders and a tissue was pushed gently into her face. She looked up and saw Sakura gently smiling at her. She took the tissue and wiped her eyes; the pink haired woman straightened her suit and looked back at Hinata.
"You must think I'm useless Sakura-san…. To be able to cry just like that…" She hiccupped and she turned around, her back facing Sakura.
Annoyed slightly Sakura turned the woman around and glared at her.
"Hinata-chan. You're NOT useless. Don't tell me that. Please don't ever say that. If you were useless would Gaa-chan hire you? He gave me IQ tests before I even stepped half way through the door."
She smiled back at the raven haired girl and hugged her tightly before she let go of her and ran off ahead.
"Hinata-chan! I thought you wanted to get to Gaa-chan quickly!!! Hurry up or I'll leave you behind!" She ran up ahead and pulled her eyelid down in a childish manner. The small woman grinned and followed suit.
Gaara-sama… Take good care of her… She's worth it…
His messy hair was towelled on the soft sofa and she gently touched his boiling forehead with the underside of her hand. She reached for the small towel in the wet water bath that she had asked Hinata to find; carefully placing it on his forehead and the red head visibly flinched at the contact. She felt his pulse and checked his temperature, it was abnormal. Too abnormal for a fever. She glanced at the nervous Hinata that was fidgeting with a piece of her raven locks and sighed. They don't have much time left before Hisuma comes along and not long after that the media would get a hold of this. She needed to act fast.
"Hinata-chan, try and delay Hisuma-senpai and the others while I try and find out his symptoms. This isn't an ordinary fever. It seems more like…-"
"POISON!"
The door burst open and a small group of around 9 people came in, including Temari and Kankuro who looked at the unconscious Gaara quickly and ran over to his side.
"Gaara! Gaara! Wake up you baka!" Temari was screaming down Gaara's ear and Kankuro pulled her off briskly, calming her down by sitting her down on Gaara's chair.
"Temari, look. Do you remember this secretary? It's Haruno Sakura. She's been to the Royal University of Medicine and was taught only by Tsunade, the founder of medical science today. Gaara may be unconscious right now but we need to act fast. The media has somehow caught slight wind of this and are heading here now. We need to-" Temari pushed her brother off and stepped off the chair, her hands shuffling her skirt to make it neater and immediately Kankuro backed off and walked out of the room, followed by Temari who strolled past Sakura and stopped in front of her muttering:
"I trust you. Don't let me down. Gaara's life is in your hands. Use whatever you need and get him back up by 12 noon."
She followed her brother and the whole room was silent for several seconds, the remaining 7 people; the main leaders in departments in Suna Corps. Hinata stood in a corner, observing quietly while watching Gaara from the corner of her eyes while her gaze fixed of the leaders of the Suna Corps.
"Hinata-chan would you be so kind as to refill the water bath with fresh cold water, around 1 degrees and hopefully if you can find another tub please bring one with water around 28 degrees please." She turned her head towards the 7 people standing idly while watching Gaara intensely. They were all women and seemingly from a distance the pink haired woman could sense a certain atmosphere around them, like they would devour Gaara if they were left alone with him.
"Mina-san, could you please-" She was cut off by no other than Hisuma and the tall dark green eyed woman that towered over her by around 10 inches.
"Sakura. We give the orders here. Don't you forget that." Both women glared openly at her while the other 5 stood by the door, unable to either stay on neither Sakura's side nor Hisuma's. The green eyed woman looked at Hinata who emerged from the bathroom with a tub of cold water and immediately she glanced over at Hisuma who had the same feral grin. The raven haired woman looked nervously at Sakura and began to make her way towards her side when a voice stopped her from the left.
"Hyuuga. Who told you to get that water? She's probably going to drown my beloved Gaara-kun. Put that tub down or you'll be facing punishments from both me and Hisuma-chan." The green eyed leopardess hissed as she walked towards Hinata; her hands were shaking and the look on her face pleaded for help from Sakura.
"Ano-sa. I never knew that Hisuma-san and you are doctors. If you are then come and treat Gaa-chan right away. I don't need to be here then if there are two well known doctors here." Sakura said as she pulled her hair back into a neat bun and ruffled Gaara's hair in a child like manner.
"We're not Haruno. I am Fuusaki Ruka, the director of the 'People's department at Suna Corporation. I seem to have looked through your file before. May I remind you that you are still under Probation and we have to right to take you out of this company in less than an hour after we decide it?" The leopardess growled back and her green daggers glanced back to the place where Hinata was and found it empty.
"Ah. As you have rightfully said I am under probation, but you can't sack me Ruka-san. Only Snow White over there on the sofa has the right to. So save it for someone who cares and that's not me. Either you stay here and are quiet or I kick you out of here faster than you can spell Gaara." She snapped back and glared at the two women.
"Hinata, I believe that Gaa-chan has been poisoned, his temperature is ranging from normal 37.8 degrees to 41 degrees and the toxins involved are not yet known but are sensitive to heat. I've never seen this kind of poison before but I can try and make an antidote if I can take some of his blood for a quick analyse." She reverted to her medical attitude and payed not the slightest attention to the fuming pair of women that decided to glare from a distance.
Quickly the raven haired woman rushed into the small bathroom and looked for a medic's case, since Gaara used to have a tendency to have blood lust when something went wrong they used to have a whole closet full of medical supplies for the poor unfortunate people that happened to stumble across an angry Gaara.
Quickly, she fumbled through the mountain of supplies that was placed in a neat order in a cupboard inside the small bathroom and found a stack of small tubes and hurried out and handed them hastily to Sakura who got a needle, disinfectant and a small amount of cotton wool ready on the small coffee table next to the sofa.
The rosette coloured haired woman squinted her eyes and found a pale vain running down his arm and carefully inserted the needle in; after a few seconds a small amount of blood trickled into the first bottle and quickly she handed it to Hinata who handed her a second one. Taking the needle out carefully she placed the small cotton wool on the wound and would some tape to hold it in place; taking the blood from Hinata's hands she made a quick note of the average temperature, carefully she placed the small tubes in a makeshift rack and wiped Gaara's forehead which was increasingly warm.
"Hinata, do you by any chance know what he ate or drank in the last 24 hours? It could be that he had some toxins injected into his bloodstream through poisonous foods." She brushed back a curl behind her ear and continued to watch the red head's laboured breathing and slight coughing as she just stared at his pale face, his hair making a drastic contrast to his deathly pale face.
"Eto… I think he had some Tomato soup and a roll of baguette for dipping…later he had a lemon tart I think with Temari-sama…. He usually has some coffee as well late at night-"
"Coffee" She repeated and looked at the machine that sat at on the small table by the door, Gaara had recently brought this due to his workload and has been taking night shifts to a new level- Crazy. He could type faster than any one in Suna Corps and could work at around 3 times the work load than he normally would.
Swiftly she walked towards the guilty machine and carefully lifted it around the back to see the sockets and screws. Muttering a quick 'Byakugan' she checked the insides quickly and a soft gasp was heard in the room. A small vial, no longer than an average boiling tube held a sustainable amount of a certain liquid, slowly dripping onto the main mix of coffee that was being brewed constantly. Lessening the tension from her eyes she released the Byakugan and looked back at Sakura who ran up to Hinata and quickly found out that there was something in there that may have caused Gaa-chan to be deathly ill. With a sigh and a few cracking of fingers she flicked the top of the machine and with a loud bang the top opened and the group of women standing leisurely by the door gasped at her show of strength and with only just a slight flick the screws came off like blue-tack.
Standing a safe distance away she stood, in awe of the woman in front of her. With a single flick she could break a complicated machine like it was made of rubber, with one fist…..
The woman shook her head.
She didn't want to find out.
Quickly she used her hands to fan the smoke that emitted from the machine away and poked at several components in the machine, taking out some parts and throwing them far too close to the group of woman who was dodging the parts of the machine with their outfits on the line. After several short minutes she gently took out what seemed to be a red coloured tube that leaked into the main tap of the machine, causing some of the red liquid to travel down into the coffee.
"This is deliberate. Someone tampered with the machine and put this tube in… And from the looks of it, someone very able in mechanisms." She said, while she shook the tube and watched it fizz and bubble.
"Hinata, this kind of poison…. It takes a full hour to kick in and from the looks of it Gaa-chan isn't in any life threatening situation but we need to get him back up and shouting by noon and its-"
"10:45 Sakura-san"
"I'll try and use acupuncture to stimulate his nerves, this should be able to wake him up for awhile but he'll need to have treatment straight after that meeting at noon. Get some disinfectant and disinfect some needles in the box, I'll just make Sleeping Beauty over here abit more comfortable…."
With that she picked him up as if he was a bag of potatoes and laid him on desk, his pale cheek pressed onto the cold jade surface as she turned him on his left side and unbuttoned his polo shirt, leaving his chest bare to everyone in the room. She glanced back at the spectators and mentally laughed; about half of them had a nosebleed from seeing Gaara's chest, another one had fainted just watching Gaara being striped. She quickly wiped a dribble of blood off her nose and poked at a few places on his chest, relaxing his muscles while Hinata disinfected the needles needed to wake Gaara.
"Hey!" She shouted at the remaining spectators that were eyeing Gaara like a piece of meat.
"He needs to strip down so those that can't handle it should get out before you all die from lack of blood." She finished and watched as the remaining 3 shuffled their feet and made their way out the door.
Hinata looked back at Sakura who smirked and eyed the door with interest. If they thought that they can listen in to their conversation than they are dead wrong. The pink haired medic moved closer to the door and shrieked:
"Oh my gosh! Gaa-chan wears pink boxers!!!"
There was a moment of silence but was broken quickly by 3 audible 'plop' on the marble floor. The raven haired smiled slightly at the other girl's antics and looked at the red head with pity.
Poor Gaara-sama… This will definitely spread around all of Suna…
She giggled slightly and watched as Sakura walked back over to the table and poked him in the hip, he flinched and shuffled; making the girl burst into laughter.
"Awww…isn't that cute? Gaa-chan is ticklish!!!" She gently placed her fingers on his hip and moved them slightly causing him to shuffle away from her fingers. She continued poking his hip when a soft mumble was heard:
"Ugnnn…. Unyuuuu…"
Quickly switching places the two women gently inserted the small needles into the places Sakura had pointed to; knowing that Gaara had responded slightly this was the chance they were looking for.
His eyes fluttered slightly and the two breathed out, he was waking. Sakura smirked, looks like even Sabaku no Gaara has secrets that the world doesn't know about….
Haha… If he makes it out of hospital tonight I'll make sure he knows that I know his secret…
His eyes opened, everything seemed blurry and a splash of pink towered over him, wiping his forehead with a towel. He blinked, the room stopped spinning and he saw- Her.
His eyes were wide with shock, he was half naked; on a desk and there were needles sticking out of him.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!" he shouted at the top of his voice and watched as his secretary tut at him and whack him in the face with the soft wet towel.
"Tut tut Gaa-chan… You should know better than to shout at people and especially the people that just about saved your career." She winked and pulled Hinata out of the bathroom who was poking her fingers together nervously.
"Ohaiyo Gaara-sama… You have a meeting in 15 minutes… You…You have to get ready…" She rushed out of the room at top speed, carefully stepping over Hisuma and Ruka as well as the other women who were plastered over the floor.
"Oh dear… it's that late already? Time to get some lunch… There's abit of a mess outside… errr… The heads of the departments made me strip you and collapsed outside…hehe… Oh by the way Gaa-chan, I didn't know you whimper in your sleep…" She ran out of the room as her boss shouted at her from the top of his voice while fixing the buttons on his shirt:
"SAKURA!!!!!!! I DON'T WHIMPER!!!" The pink haired smiled and shouted back to him:
"Yeah right! Tell that to your 'ugnnn…and unyuuuu….'" She skipped over the bodies and stuck her tongue out, leaving her red head boss to sulk in the privacy of his own office.
A/N: Wow… A finished chapter… TT hmmm… I've been ill and busy for the last couple of weeks and my b-day was alright but I'll try and do my best to finish this story soon since I'm losing the will to write… Sorry Guys, I have ideas but no time to type it out…
BlueSkyHeaven