-20-
„What you risk reveals what you value."
Jeanette Winterson
„If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn't part of ourselves doesn't disturb us."
Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)
„'Tis the most tender part of love, each other to forgive."
John Sheffield
--
Ring, ring… Ring, ring… Ring, ri-
"Go to hell" was the way Sasuke answered the early (it wasn't even dawn) phone call.
"You better wake up, sleeping beauty, cause The Queen of Terror wants your ass here" Shikamaru's also sleepy voice echoed in Sasuke's mist-covered head.
"Why? Did she get pregnant or something? If I can mock her then I'm on my way"
"No, if it was that, I would be asleep myself. New case, Tsunade wants you to look at it personally. The patient is somewhat important to and so she called us to call you"
"Troublesome, don't you think?" Sasuke complained, rubbing his eyes "so, what's wrong?"
"Well, the patient had a sudden kidney and then lung failure and is now on oxygen"
"Why not dialysis?"
"Because only the right kidney failed. The lung that failed was also right"
"Interesting" Sasuke suddenly sat up "do the MRI. Look for anything that can appear as abnormal"
"Roger that"
Sasuke flipped and cell phone closed and looked at Sakura, peacefully sleeping by his side. He sighed and carefully placed a kiss on her cheek.
"Sorry, babe, but the duty is calling" he whispered "I love you" and slowly stepped out of the bed, walking out of the room.
Sakura suddenly opened her eyes and looked at the door, which Sasuke has just closed. A tear rolled down the same cheek, where she could still feel his warm lips. Looks like, I really made a right choice, huh?
-x-
"You're resigning?" Tsunade looked up at Itachi, who was standing in front of her desk, hands in pockets of his black pants.
"Yes" he confirmed in steady, sure voice.
"Why? Did Sasuke do something? You know better than anyone that it's better to ju-"
"Tsunade, I know. And don't worry, I'll keep funding Konoha hospital as a part of my charity partners"
"I don't get it? You wanted to work here, among the doctors and you literally begged me to get you into position of the board. What's changed?"
"Nothing. I just…decided that I'm ok with working with you remotely. That's all" and he turned around to leave.
"That explanation are for idiots, who doesn't have a clue about Uchiha bloodline" Tsunade stated, leaning back on her chair "I sure hope that whatever's going on won't have an effect on both of you"
"Quite the insight" Itachi smirked "now, if you'll excuse me. I have places to go, things to pack up….people to say goodbye to" and he left with a soft bang of the door. Tsunade sighed, still looking after him.
Well, Sasuke will surely be happy about this.
-x-
Sakura was slowly packing her things into big luggage, stopping every now and then….trying not to cry. This was the moment when she stopped again: looking at beautiful nephrite earring that Sasuke gave her. Tears fell on her palm and stained the beautiful green stones.
I'm an idiot, right? Doing this to him…leaving, lying…not talking, being all strange of a sudden. But Itachi may be right about him: the way he ran out this morning…it's as though no other world existed except that of a medicine. Maybe he won't miss me that much while he's involved with those cases and all. Maybe…it's not that bad for him.
It's all for him after all.
Sasuke put the earrings into box and into the luggage. She stood immobile for a few minutes, trying to stop tears flowing from her eyes. When she managed to calm down a little, she took her cell phone and found the right number…
-x-
Sasuke's cell phone rang just when he was looking at an X-ray of his current patient. He flipped it open without even looking at the caller.
"Uchiha here"
"Sasuke…hey" Sakura's voice (NOT voice, sweet music, people! I mean, come on, take a wax out of your ears and listen…this woman is my own personal Barbara Streisand without even singing…she'd probably suck at it, so I just love hearing her talk).
"Hey. Look, sorry for that early run-away thingy, but I've received some very bizarre case, so…oh well, you know me"
"Obsessive jerk" Sakura said as ironically as she could.
"Obsessing bitch" Sasuke shot back.
"Right…erm, listen, Sasuke, I…ammm…I meant to talk with you about something. Something important"
"Can't we talk at home?" Sasuke cocked an eyebrow, suddenly taking his eyes off the X-ray.
"No…no, I need to talk to you now. Erm…you see, something came up and…I gotta go away"
"Away like…leave?" Sasuke frowned his eyebrows.
"Yeah. Sorry to throw this at you so suddenly, but…I need to go away for a…while, I hope" Sasuke could almost see her crying now.
"Sakura, don't give that crap. What happened? If there's someone bothering you, then I-"
"No, no, it's nothing like that. I just…have to go. I don't know when I'll come back, but…please, could you…try and understand?"
"Understand what? That you're leaving me? Oh yeah, that's pretty obvious now"
"I…I'm sorry. I really am. I love you. And…I don't think I can ever forget you…"
"Sounds like you're really leaving for a LONG time" Sasuke noted "what's going on?"
"It's…nothing. You will understand soon, so…goodbye…I love you"
Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep….
Sasuke slowly lowered his phone and stared at one dot for a while.
Wait a sec. Something's not right here. It's not like her to just leave like that: even if I did something to offend her, which sounds definitely like me, then she wouldn't just run away, she would…say it to my face and strip my all hope of not apologizing. Smells fishy, really. Who would-
"Sasuke, toxin screen is back. Nothing abnormal at all" Karin reported when she entered his office. Sasuke simply looked at her with empty eyes, as if he didn't hear.
"By the way" Karin continued "did you hear? Itachi's resigning"
"What?"
"Shocking, I know, but he talked to Tsunade this morning and he's really…"
"Now that would be interesting" Sasuke whispered.
"What would? What are you talking about?" Karin cocked her eyebrow at him "are you sure you're ok?"
"That patient of yours. The one who cut her veins. Is she still here?"
"Yeah. Room 305. Why?"
"Even more interesting" Sasuke walked past Karin, not even paying attention to her attempts to ask him about the current patient.
What's gotten into him?
-x-
Sasuke slowly pushed the glass door of a ward and closed it behind himself. The blonde woman sat up and looked straight at him with her baby-blue, sad eyes.
"So, you're Itachi's ex, right?' Sasuke stated, walking closer to her bed and leaning on the end of it.
"And you're his infamous brother" Ino smirked "why did you come here?"
"Don't worry. Suicidal people hold no interest for me" Sasuke kept looking at her "what interests me is why did you helped Itachi to get into this hospital even though he dumped you"
"How do you-"
"Not me. How did you end up so low?"
"I…" Ino let out a sad laugh "I don't know why I did it. It's not because I wanted to screw with you, not because would pay me or anything. I did it….because, I guess, I still love him"
"Right. Sad sob story. Yet, you did it, didn't you? Well, I have bad news for you: he's resigning. Any ideas why?"
"I…don't know. He said he wanted to teach you a life lesson. That's pretty much I know"
"Right" Sasuke pushed himself away from the bed and headed towards the exit.
"Aren't you mad at me?" Ino asked.
"I could be, but…turns out you simply fell for his charm. Girls who do should be medically declared being addicted to Itachi. That's pathology, so…you just need to find someone else. Oh, and he's been sitting here for quite a while now"
"Who?" Ino's eyes widened.
"Sakura's paper-face friend…you know, the artist guy"
"Sai" Ino whispered, putting hand on her mouth.
"Oh, I'm sure you two have lots to discuss, so…I'll send him and…be on my way to…kick my brother's ass" and he left, leaving Ino crying and in shock.
Then, the door opened again and Sai walked in.
"See you're doing better…Ino" he said softly.
"Yes"…
-x-
Itachi walked into his office and froze in the middle of the doorway: Sasuke was sitting in his chair, legs all over his table.
"You're leaving" Sasuke stated "that's quite unusual for you, especially when I'm still working here"
"Well, think of it as another opportunity to show how good you are in medicine"
"Everybody already knows that. And you know that they know" Sasuke kept watching his brother's face "what's really interesting is that you're not the only one who's leaving" Sasuke stood up and walked to Itachi, stopping about three feet from him "what did you tell her"
"Nothing" Itachi calmly stated "if she chose to leave you, then I have nothing-"
"Don't give me that crap" Sasuke stopped him "you never resign without a good reason and seeing as I'm still working here, I'd say you made a deal with Sakura"
Silence.
Then Itachi let out a soft, creepy laughter.
"Your deduction skills are as always amazing, little brother. You're right, I did make a deal with Sakura. And you know what? It worked. And now she should be flying out of New York, leaving you behind. Forever"
"In exchange you promised to leave me unharmed. Noble indeed"
"I did what is best"
"You don't know what is best!" Sasuke shouted "all you know is how to make profit for yourself! That's all you are, Mr. Itachi Uchiha, always looking after his own ass"
"You asked for it" Itachi stayed calm.
"How? By trying to move things along in my own personal life? Please. Just because a woman chose me over you doesn't mean…"
"Yes, she did. And I didn't want her to be unhappy"
"What the hell? You don't even know what she thinks of as being unhappy! You don't know her!"
"Well, I don't suppose you did too. Because if you did know her, you'd have pushed her away, because you'd know she can't be happy with you"
PUNCH!
Itachi fell on the ground, a little stream of blood rolling down his lip.
"Stop. Talking. About. Her." Sasuke panted out, rage flaming inside "you've won. Now get out of this place. Business-men like you are not welcome" and Sasuke flew out of the office.
Itachi smirked when he brushed the blood away form his lip. Well, that's my little brother. You learn. That's good. For all three of us.
-x-
"What happened?" Naruto ran to Sasuke and joined him on walking through corridor "I could hear you screaming at the other side of the hallway"
"We talked. Happy now?" Sasuke shot back "now go away, I need to get drunk" Sasuke angrily opened the foor of his office "take over my case and try not to kill the patient" he took the backpack and was about to leave.
"Is it because of Sakura?" Naruto asked, making Sasuke stop.
Damn Hinata's cards! Can't they just…NOT peak into my personal life?
"Yeah, it is because of Sakura. She left. Happy now too?"
"Left…why?"
"Later" Sasuke cut him off "if I won't get drunk now, I'll go crazy" and he stormed out. Naruto sighed sadly.
This is what happens, when you have an asshole of a big brother. Sometimes, I'm actually happy I don't have any siblings, cause looking at Sasuke's family…well, it literally is falling apart. And now…I guess I'll be going to pick up the pieces.
-x-
Later, the same night in New York and an early morning in Paris…
Sakura picked up her luggage at the France Airport in Paris and headed towards the exit. She caught a cab and told the address in French. As Sakura watched the narrow streets of the city, her eyes again filled with tears.
Still can't believe it. I left. I left him, all alone. And said goodbye. What shall I do now? It's like…I don't know how to live without him. Will he know how to keep on going without me? Will he be fine?
God! What the hell did I do? I love him so much! He's the one, always was, always will be…always, since that rainy night, when he saved me and took me it.
I simply…wasn't strong enough…for him.
Forgive me.
-x-
Naruto bravely opened the door of Sasuke's house, where the light was still on, even if it was way past midnight. He sighed at the sight of Sasuke, sitting on the floor, leaned against the sofa, an almost empty bottle of Jack Daniel's in his hand. Naruto walked over to him and took the bottle away, placing it next to another empty one on the table.
"Ok, up you go" Naruto threw Sasuke's arms around his neck and lifted his friend from the floor. They slowly moved the kitchen, where Naruto turned on the water and pushed Sasuke's head under it. Uchiha shivered and grunted, but then calmed down and just stood there by himself. Naruto waited for a while, leaned onto the cabinets.
"Feeling better?" he asked. Sasuke emerged from the cold stream and turned off the water, still hanging over the sink.
"Hilarious" he noted sarcastically.
"Obviously" Naruto scoffed "so, why did she leave?"
"Like you don't know" Sasuke complained in low, weak voice and slid down to the floor, leaning onto cabinets
"I could guess" Naruto sighed "what are you going to do?"
"Nothing I can do" Sasuke forced out the words, rubbing his eyes "she flew to Paris. Checked her e-mail"
"Wow, that's…off the charts"
"Yeah"
"How do you feel?"
"Well, after I knock out another five of Daniel's…then I'll be fine"
"No, I mean now" Naruto insisted.
"I have no wish to explain it to you" Sasuke sighed "I love her, ok? And now I…lost her because I wasn't able to protect her from my asshole brother. How do you think I feel?"
"Like crap" Naruto sighed.
"Worse"
"Well…want me to hang out here? So you wouldn't drink till your liver shuts down"
"Yeah. Thanks"
"Well then" Naruto took a bottle of mineral water from the fridge and handed it to Sasuke "drink"
Silence for a while.
"Will you forgive her? For leaving?" Sasuke swallowed another large gulp.
"There's nothing to forgive" he said and stood up, holding onto cabinet "it's my fault entirely, not hers. She left to protect me"
"That was successful"
"Right" Sasuke turned around to leave the kitchen, his steps unsure and careful "it should've been the other way around"
Well, the fact that you're telling me that you feel worse than crap is…the proof you're actually crying inside…and the proof you've given up. Sasuke, you can't imagine how painful can be your sincerity.
-x-
Sakura Haruno…my little bitch that I am obsessed about…my own personal Barbara Streisand. The nightmare of conscience in my head and my most beautiful dream that came true.
And the love of my life.
I simply would have given up my carrier here and gone with her to Paris if wherever she wanted.
And now…
I'm stuck in misery, with Naruto taking care of my hangover and holding a napkin…while making sure I don't need a tablecloth.
Welcome to the ninth circle of hell…The Complete Misery Circle…
--
OK, next chapter, the VERY VERY last. That's right, no more stories people…oh well, maybe I'll throw in one or two one shots for Christmas and Valentines Day, but that would be all ;)) thanks for still sticking with me ;)))