-15-
„The man who has confidence in himself gains the confidence of others."
Hasidic Saying
„Everyone is a genius at least once a year. The real geniuses simply have their bright ideas closer together."
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742 - 1799)
„The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you're willing to work."
Oprah Winfrey (1954 - ), O Magazine
„Explain yourself!!" Tsunade yelled at Sasuke the moment she stormed into his office "why did you do an angiogram on a pregnant woman with a heart, pounding like a drum?!"
"Because I needed to look at her heart…?" Sasuke shrugged.
"Ok, I get this part. But…" Tsunade inhaled.
Not gonna end up good. Sasuke thought.
"WHY WERE YOU KEEPING HER ON CPR FOR THREE HOURS INSTEAD OF A BY-PASS?!" Tsunade shouted at the top of her lungs.
And there goes the roof, and bullet-proof windows. Oh man, not only huge boobs, but also a voice, enough to destroy skyscrapers in Tokyo.
"Because I didn't want the thing that's killing her to make itself cozy in her brain" Sasuke sighed "if you're going to continue yelling at me, I suggest you stop, cause…the longer you distract me, the more chance Naruto's love nugget will be disabled to come back from heavens"
"You're already late. The surgical team is now putting her on by pass" Tsunade sighed heavily.
"What?" Sasuke snapped and stood up from his chair, walking towards Tsunade "you gave them permission to do that?"
"Yes, I did. Now, either you find out what's wrong with her, or go and talk to Naruto"
"And tell him what? That his girlfriend with their child inside of her is dying God knows from what?"
"That's your last resort, I'm afraid. But before you do anything I want to get a report"
"Since when am I reporting my thoughts?" Sasuke scoffed.
"Listen to me, Uchiha. I get it that he's your best friend. But sometimes, you just have to accept that you failed. God is all-powerful for a reason"
"Yeah, He certainly does love to play dice with human lives" Sasuke looked at the whiteboard with differential for a moment. His eyes suddenly widened "could you…repeat the last line again?" he asked.
"What? Did you start believing in all-powerful God's will so suddenly?"
"He's all-powerful. That means…he can do whatever he wants with human body. And what if dice rolled out for Hinata to have something wrong with her heart" he turned to Tsunade "how long since you ordered by-pass?"
"Half an hour. Uchiha, what's in your head?"
"Big, loving, close-knit Uzumaki family" Sasuke smirked at his stoned boss and left the office in a rush.
I know that look. It means he already has such a crazy idea that I don't even want to know about it. Wouldn't be Sasuke Uchiha, but I still don't want another corpse on the table. Because if that happens…Naruto might never be the same.
-x-
Sasuke practically flew through the corridor and bumped into Sakura. Before she could say anything, he gave her a light kiss on the lips.
"I'm going to perform a…April Miracle. Wanna watch?" he asked, smirk riddled all over his face.
"Is there any particular celebration at the end of April?" Sakura asked, eyebrows frowned.
"No" Sasuke shrugged "but there will be. Come on" and he walked on, taking Sakura by hand.
"What's going on? Did you figure out what's wrong with Hinata?"
"Technically, not yet. But I need to bring her back to life and do another angiogram"
"What? But that's crazy!" Sakura protested.
"I know. But I sort of make my living on crazy, so…don't worry" the couple stopped in front of the ICU where Hinata was lying "even if I fail, she's dead. There is no underline condition that we could treat anyway. She's…just dying. And if my theory is right…they both may live"
"I can't decide whether I'd like to have you as a doctor, or not" Sakura smirked him back "you're just as much of a knucklehead as Naruto is"
"Hey, that's why he's my best friend. Well, here goes. Keep your fingers crossed" and he dived into ICU, where Shikamaru and Karin were monitoring Hinata's vitals.
"How's the fetus?" Sasuke asked the instant he entered the room.
"It's…ok, I guess. That is until we keep running by-pass" Karinr reported "why are you asking that?"
"It's a legitimate medical question, don't you think? Give me your stethoscope"
"Are you gonna listen to machine-filtered heart?" Shikamaru asked "you do realize that's gonna sound quite normal"
"If my theory is right, it won't" Sasuke noted and put stethoscope into his ears.
"Theory based on what?" Karin raised and eyebrow at him.
"Knuckleheadizm" Sasuke said and the cold metal on Hinata's chest. He listened to the beat of her heart for a while, then a victorious smirk arrived to his lips.
"Turn off the by-pass" he ordered to Shikamaru.
"Why? What did you hear?"
"Her heart will keep on beating. Monitor her for about three hours and then do an angiogram"
"Are you insane?!" Karin yelled at him "you picked some idiotic theory out of the blue and expect us to believe in it?!"
"Listen, I already had Tsunade yelling my ear drums out just a few minutes ago. If you don't mind, your lecture can wait" he walked to machines and pushed buttons.
"Sasuke, are you sure?" Shikamaru asked, looking straight at him.
"Absolutely. Look" he showed to Hinata: the by-pass was turned off just for about a second and she moved her lips a bit. Shikamaru and Karin's mouths fell open. Sasuke walked to Hinata and checked her pulse. The woman opened her eyes and slowly turned her head.
"Where…am I?"
"New York. You've been dead for a while though. Well, technically"
"How did you know?" Karin insisted, her eyes wide open, running from Hinata to Sasuke, then back to Hinata again.
"Her heart rate was faster and the beat was louder than it's supposed to be. That's what happens when you add additional heart to the tired heart she already had" Sasuke shrugged "I'll schedule the angiogram three hours later" and he left.
-x-
"That was…insane" Sakura stated when she and Sasuke were sitting in the hospital's cafeteria, two cups of coffee in front of them.
"It worked" Sasuke shrugged.
"But the angiogram…"
"Is dangerous, I know. But that's the only way to confirm her heart problem. Whichever she has"
"So you still don't know for sure"
"If I did, it wouldn't be as much interesting. And we wouldn't be sitting in this much suspense"
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Sakura smirked.
"D-d-duh" Sasuke stuttered in pretence.
"Does…Naruto know?"
"Well, I had Shikamaru talking to him. I won't go near him until the angiogram is done. Otherwise, I'll be put into hospital bed myself"
"Well" Sakura sighed and rammed her head into her palm "you kinda deserved it"
"If she died…then yeah" Sasuke swallowed some more coffee.
"But she won't, right?"
"Right"
"That didn't sound very…encouraging" Sakura bit her lower lip "what's on your mind?"
"Two things" Sasuke raised his hand with two fingers up "One, she'll be just fine. Two, you're trying to enter the field, where definition of art is a straight injection of scalpel on an open-whatever surgery"
"Ok, I get it, it's so dangerous I don't even want to know about it" Sakura sighed and took a gulp of coffee.
"Think what you want" Sasuke smirked "the point is that that procedure will be cool"
"In a way" Sakura sighed and checked her watch "do you want me to stay here?"
"You need to be someplace else?"
"Actually, yeah. And you're not gonna like it" Sakura warned.
"Let me guess" Sasuke made an expression, as if aiming for a target "you're going to meet Itachi someplace and say that nothing could ever happen between you and him, because his little brother turned out to be better of a man for you"
"Something like that" Sakura nodded.
"Seriously?"
"Except the part about 'better man'. You both are crazy, but at least your craziness saves lives…so far"
"No, I mean you seriously are going to meet him?" Sakura suddenly noticed a change in Sasuke's look: it became cold and unreadable, the way it always turns when Sasuke gets angry…or jealous.
"Yeah. Told you, you won't like it" Sakura leaned towards Sasuke and gave him a light kiss on the cheek "don't worry. I really am going to finish everything with him. That's gotta be done, right?"
"Right" Sasuke stroke his hand through her hair "see you at home then"
"Yeah. Just don't get jealous"
Another short kiss on lips and Sakura walked away. Sasuke watched her going for a while, then finished his coffee in one gulp.
Itachi, you better keep your nail away from her. Knowing you, it won't just end up like that. I suppose it means war.
-x-
2 hours later…
Sakura went to the Central Park and walked towards the direction of a first fountain. She found there who she was looking for. The woman stopped, starring at the back of a man with black pony-tail and light brown coat and felt her heart beating like wild. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a while.
Everything's going to be fine. Relax. If I see him starting to get angry, I'll have to tell that it's not Sasuke. That's all there is to it. Now, come on, Sakura, turn on your big fake smile and let's do it.
"Sorry I'm late" were the first words Sakura spoke when she approached Itachi. The man turned around and gave her a vague smile. The couple kissed shortly (Sakura almost screaming on the inside) and went on walking slowly.
"I haven't heard from you in quite a long time" Itachi said in a tone of complain.
"My friend got sick. I had to stay by her side. She's still in a hospital now and…hopefully, will get better"
"I see"
Silence for couple of minutes.
"Sakura, I think we should decide on what to do with us" Itachi started. Sakura suddenly stopped walking, making him stop too. She stared at the pavement for a while, then lifted her eyes to his black orb and sighed.
"Listen, that afternoon, it was…wonderful, but…I don't think there can be something more"
"Is there someone else?" Itachi asked. Although Sakura noticed that it wasn't a question. He now had the same cold and unreadable eyes Sasuke would get when he's angry…or jealous. In Itachi's case, it was both.
"Maybe. I…I'm sorry I didn't say anything earlier, but…I'm sorry" Sakura lowered her look, nervously biting her lower lip. Itachi looked at her and a little smile appeared on his lips. He softly took her chin and lifted so he could see her face.
"If it's somebody else and you love him, then I don't mind at all. You can't tell your heart who to love. If it's my brother…then you're about the only woman who can tolerate him"
"What makes you think-"
"I just know. And I know that he doesn't deserve you" he leaned down and kissed Sakura's forehead. Then, with a vague smile, he turned around and left her standing. Sakura watched him walking away, her eyebrows frowned.
What…did he mean?..
-x-
Itachi walked out of the park and sat into his car. His face was now angry and coldly cruel.
Well, little brother, looks like you stepped into a wrong territory here. But you already know what that means. War…
A/N: Gee, I'm so so so so sooooooo sorry I'm late with the upload! I was so goddamn bussy that I completely forgot about it!! Shame on me, I know. And this one turned out like crap due to my lack of sleeping hours and brain function. Life couldn't get worse. Oh well, I still hope there are some readers left….thanks for reviews guys and again, sorry.