AN: Well. Three days in and I'm updating. Surprise right? But I got really into it so yeah :) hope you guys enjoy! Lots of thanks to everyone who reviewed/favourited/followed/viewed :)
Flowers of Candid
"...and if the symptoms continue after five days feel free to come and see me again. Any questions?"
The parents shake their head, the mum smiling in relief as she pats her little toddler. "Thank you Sakura-san. We were very worried."
Sakura pens them their prescription and hands it to them, giving them one last smile as they leave. It's been a tiring day - the flu season's just starting - and she's had no TV for the past week, but Sakura is feeling good. Sakura is feeling great.
"Perfect timing," Sakura whispers, grinning as her clock ticks over to 12:10 - her lunch break.
Sakura shakes off her doctor's coat, swings her stethoscope off and heads straight for her goal – the coffee machine.
She prods it frantically, hitting random buttons, but it doesn't matter. The coffee is made and that's all she needs.
Behind the desk, the receptionist arches an eyebrow.
"In a rush?"
She waves at him non-committedly and grabs her coffee, rushing back to her office and locking the door.
"Finally," she breathes. She closes her eyes and steadies herself, sitting down quickly into her chair before placing her cup of coffee onto her desk.
"Alright," she reassures herself, "You can do it. Remember the order..."
She thinks back to one of her hallucinations and her hands form a shaky seal from the memory - tiger. Then, breathing in deeply, she tries to grab the feeling within her and continues - snake, rat, snake, tiger.
"Suiton: Suijinheki," she whispers.
Her cup begins to tremble, rattling on her desk before tentatively, the coffee begins to rise from her cup.
And it works.
The coffee forms a wall.
Sakura grins, breathing heavily as she tries to maintain the wall. A bead of sweat rolls down her forehead. But then the water starts to tremble and Sakura curses-
Her door slams open and Sakura jumps. The wall of coffee falls limply back into her cup.
"Ino," Sakura says, trying to bring her heartbeat back to normal, "You broke the lock. You need to pay for that."
Ino waves her comment away. "I'll talk to Papa. Your new TV's coming, by the way. I saw the guy downstairs."
"Right," Sakura says sheepishly. A bit of coffee has spilled over her notes and she hastily brushes them aside. She clears her throat, finally calming herself (that was a close call) and invites Ino to sit down.
Her friend does so graciously before shooting her a cheeky grin.
"You wanna know why I came here?"
Sakura grins back. "Let me guess. Bitching 'bout Shikamaru?"
"Cute," Ino says sarcastically, "But actually no. It's about Uchiha Sasuke."
"Really?" Sakura says distractedly. She begins to run through the order again in her head - tiger, snake, rat, snake, tiger - absentmindedly running through the hand signals under her desk. Honestly, Uchiha Sasuke pales in comparison to this -plus, her visions are coming less and less frequently ever since she's started experimenting with her new found power.
"Hey," Ino says accusingly, "You abandoning me? You're not interestdc in Sasuke-kun anymore?"
Sakura snaps out of her trance. "Sorry Ino-chan," she says sheepishly, "Just... tired. Go on?"
Ino pouts at her. "Anyway, like I was saying, Sasuke-kun changed his schedule! It was completely last minute but he's going to be performing at Hinani Stadium next week!"
"Hinani Stadium?" Sakura says skeptically, "The tiny one? Uchiha Sasuke?"
"I know," Ino says with a shrug, "I don't know why he picked that - I mean it's tiny -but who cares? It's a ten minute walk. A ten minute walk Sakura!"
There's a sharp knock on her door.
"Haruno Sakura?" A voice calls, "I'm here to install your TV."
Sakura gives Ino a smile. "I'll call you later okay?"
Ino rolls her eyes. "'Course. I'll go talk to Hinata then. Kicking me out already."
Sakura chuckles and opens the door, letting Ino out. The blonde gives her friend one last wave before turning to the TV installer.
"Weird," she mutters, "I could've sworn he was shorter. And blonde. Oh well!"
Sakura smiles at the man, letting him in before shutting the door behind him. He's wearing a large hat, hiding his face, but the little wisps of hair visible are a stark grey. He's in the customary uniform of Tsuzuki Co. but a large necklace dangles over his chest – it's bold and gold. A rosary perhaps?
He continues to work for a few minutes, but the silence is awkward and strained.
"So..." Sakura says quickly, uncomfortable in the silence, "That's a nice necklace you got there."
The man removes the wires from the box. "Yeah," he says, "It's for Jashin-sama - my religion."
"Oh," Sakura says, "That's great." She quickly drops the subject - she's never been a firm believer in anything, and she's always found such conversations to be awkward and out of her comfort zone.
"So," the TV man says casually, "How did you break your old TV?"
Sakura chuckles sheepishly. "I slipped and my cup flew and shattered it completely."
"Hmm," the TV man murmurs. "Interesting. Interesting. You see, I had the pleasure of disposing it, and the fracture pattern doesn't quite match."
Sakura frowns. "That's impossible. Tsunade-sama threw it out."
"Whatever lets you sleep at night..." the TV man murmurs quietly.
Sakura gulps. She's beginning to feel uncomfortable, scared even. She takes a quick glance through the window at her door. The hallway's empty - everybody having gone out for lunch, she supposes. Suddenly the air has become much more hostile and she's feeling a lot more vulnerable.
"What's your name?" Sakura asks slowly, inching towards her desk and her pocket knife.
He turns around and looks at her, crossing his arms, and that's when she notices his bulging muscles. The cap too is covering all of his distinguishing features and how- fuck. He's not from Tsuzuki Co. is he?
She lets out a small sigh of relief as she reaches her desk, grabbing her phone and her pocket knife.
"My name?" the TV man answers back with a chuckle. "You know me."
Sakura swallows harshly, sliding her pocket knife out of the holder and hiding it behind her.
"Oh really? Take off your cap."
He chuckles softly before he begins to shake, his chuckling turning into harsh laughter.
"Sakura, Sakura..." In a flash, he removes his cap.
And oh kami Sakura knows that face – that sleek silver hair, those sharp red eyes. That's-
"Hidan."
He grins.
"You've been watching the news?" he asks, stalking closer to her. His muscles are taught against his shirt and Sakura realises that he could probably pummel her in a second.
"Yes," she says cautiously. "Stay back."
"They still haven't caught Deidara you know," Hidan continues nevertheless. He begins to make his way towards her faster, feral grin on his face.
"Yes," she repeats. "And stay back. Stay back. I- I have a knife." Sakura waves it in front of her, her heartbeat quickly rising. Blood rushes through her and the adrenalin fills her, familiar and terrifying at the same time.
Hidan puts his arms up innocently, but his smile continues to twist and contort. Sakura shudders and grips her knife harder.
"They'll never catch him," Hidan says casually. Suddenly, he lunges at her, and a long-dormant instinct awakens in Sakura and she dodges, gathers up that familiar feeling in her fists and punches.
Hidan flies back and crashes into her shelf. The wood splinters and flies, cutting into his skin. And then he smiles.
"You've still got it bitch," he says with a laugh.
Sakura shakes, and she knows that he's going to get up - attack her - and her battle instinct kicks in and she lunges. Incapacitate the enemy before they incapacitate you, she remembers hearing.
So she lunges forward with her knife while Hidan just sits there waiting, laughing,and stabs him. Once, twice, and over and over and over.
"Stop princess," he finally says, grabbing her arm. "I'll never die."
Sakura screams and her head begins to pound. "No no no..." she murmurs, "Don't do this to me. This is real. I am real."
"Listen," he hisses, "You don't belong here. None of us do. And Deidara's going to get us out. You, me, Sasori, Kakuzu that bastard, even-"
He freezes. Sakura's chokes and trembles, distorted cries bursting from her lips.
"Uchiha's in the area," Hidan growls, followed by a string of curses.
"You're improving though," he says, "Good work with your chakra."
He drops her arm and Sakura drops to the floor, still shaking. He pulls the pocket knife from his chest - his heart - and drops it by her feet. "Keep on practicing," he says, "Good work there, you would've killed me if I were anyone else. Your memories will come back soon, if you keep playing with your chakra - knock down that barrier in your mind. Anyway, I'll be leaving now, your friends are here. Praise Jashin."
He stands up, grabs a few of her tissues and wipes the blood off his shirt. Sakura stares mutely at the floor, the stained blood dripping and staining her carpet. Her pocket knife lies next to her, little bits of Hidan's heart still caught in the handle.
Hidan grabs his cap from the flood and slides it on, obscuring his face once more.
"See ya later Sakura," he says calmly, "All hail Jashin."
He closes the door on her, leaving her shaking and trembling on the floor.
"That went well," he muses. As he exits the building, he passes by the girl from before and a Hyuuga.
"Hey! Thanks for installing Sakura's TV," the blonde calls.
Hidan smirks.
"The pleasure was all mine."
In the middle of an interview, Uchiha Sasuke curses. The interviewer looks completely affronted but Sasuke doesn't care. He felt that - that was Hidan and Sakura in the same room.
Looks like he'll need to move that concert forward a few days.
Chakra, Sakura muses, holding her cup of hot chocolate close to her face. Is this feeling... chakra?
She's directed it to her fingertips, and she's managed to move the water, but what else can she do with it? She tries to reach back into her visions and pluck out other hand signs or techniques, but she can't remember any specifics.
Growling, she places her cup back onto the stand. Maybe she should practice the water wall again...
No. Sakura shakes her head. She needs to broaden her horizons. Hidan said...
Why is she even listening to what Hidan said?
It's stupid, it's irrational, it's fanatical-
It's true.
Sakura growls. Inner Sakura needs to fuck. Off.
She grumbles and adjusts her position on the hospital bed. She's been in here for a day already, but the doctors aren't letting her out. She wasn't harmed for goodness sake, and she's perfectly fine mentally. At least she hopes so.
Sakura glances at the clock – 10:00. Ino would be coming over soon. In the meantime…
Sakura takes a deep breath and directs her... chakra... to her ears.
Suddenly, all sounds are enhanced. She can hear the footsteps in the hallways around her and the rustling of leaves and birds outside her window. Tsunade's voice floats in from a room down the hallway.
"...and the blood's still unidentified. We've figured out that it's a Caucasian male though - probably early twenties."
"So you can't figure out what happened?" That was Ino, sounded like.
"Not if Sakura doesn't talk."
"Damn. Well he didn't um... he didn't..."
"No."
"Thank god. This is all my fault. I noticed he was different - and the cap - I should've known-"
"It's not your fault Ino." Hinata. She was there too it seemed.
"She's right. At least all the blood was his."
"Yeah... no luck with CCTV footage? Facial recognition?"
"...sorry Ino."
There's a beat of silence then some shuffling, and Sakura hears the door close.
"This sucks," Ino murmurs.
"Yeah," Hinata agrees, "And right after the good news."
"Oh that's right," Ino says, "Naruto's doing a joint campaign with Fish'o'Fill right?"
"Yeah," Hinata says softly, "And he'd just met with Hoshigaki-san too. He'd even got Uchiha Corp. interested in his project."
"Mmm," Ino agrees.
Their footsteps stop outside her door and Sakura quickly mutes her chakra.
"Sakura?" Hinata calls softly, knocking on the door. "Are you awake?"
Sakura sighs, sinking into her bed. "Yes."
The door opens quietly. Hinata's head pops in and she gives her friend a small smile.
"How are you feeling?"
"Good," Sakura says quickly. Her eyes flutter to her hot chocolate and absentmindedly runs her fingers through the movements of the water wall again.
"Well," Ino says quickly, dragging a chair next to her bed and plonking down. "I've got some good news."
She slides over the newest issue of Kunoichi Weekly. Uchiha Sasuke is emblazoned on the front – and this time 'Competition' is emblazoned over the cover in large font.
Sakura arches an eyebrow. "What's this?"
Ino smirks. "Uchiha Sasuke's holding a raffle – and being the lovely friend I am, I've bought us ten tickets!"
"Oh?" Sakura says softly, mustering a smile for her blonde friend. Honestly, Uchiha Sasuke is the last thing on her mind right now. "How many winners?"
"…five," Hinata says softly.
"But that doesn't mean we don't have a chance!" Ino says quickly, "And it'll be great – if we win, we get to go to his house - his house! - before his concert to meet him personally - the Uchiha Sasuke!"
Sakura cocks a small smile. "When's the raffle being drawn?"
"Tonight. And I've even gotten permission from Tsunade to discharge you from the hospital to come over so we can watch it!"
"Great," Sakura says softly, "Great."
"Coffee? Again?"
Sakura smiles sheepishly. "Yeah. Thanks. Sorry about all that before though - I didn't mean for it to... yeah."
The receptionist raises an eyebrow, eyeing the shattered coffee cup on the floor.
"Yeah," he echoes, before sweeping up the broken fragments. "Don't worry about it though. After all the contributions you've made to this hospital Doctor Haruno, I'm quite happy to help out. That's why Tsunade-sama sent me over to help you."
"Thanks," Sakura says, giving him a small smile as he exits.
A certain attempt at "Suiton: Suiryuden no Jutsu" hadn't had the best effects. A dragon's head had emerged before the cup shattered, collapsing under the high pressure.
She would try again soon, but in the meantime she would work on another she had found - "Doton: Doryuheki" - which, from what she had managed to gather, performed a rather similar function to the water wall. But her list of repertoire to call on was diminishing - after she had beginning to experiment with her chakra her visions had decreased drastically.
Taking a deep breath, Sakura swings her legs over her bed, closing her eyes in concentration as her hands form those familiar seals - Tiger - Hare - Boar-
"Sakura?"
Sakura's eyes snap open before her chakra falters.
"Yes?" she asks with a sigh.
"Can I come in? It's Karin. I'm bringing you your coffee. The receptionist- ah... He can't make it at the moment."
"Alright," Sakura says, swinging back onto the bed to look like a dutiful hospital patient. The earth wall will have to wait.
Karin comes in with a friendly smile and Sakura tries to smile back. Even though the main feud is between Ino and Karin (caused by a certain incident during a barista course the three girls had attended), Sakura cannot help but feel a bit uncomfortable in the red-head's presence.
It's no matter though. She mutters a small thanks as she grasps the coffee cup, Karin looking at her in a peculiar way, arms crossed and glasses glinting.
"What are you doing here?" Sakura says, trying to fill the awkward silence with some conversation. "Is it your break?"
"Mm," Karin murmurs, continuing to eye her steadily.
Well... this is awkward, Sakura thinks. She raises the coffee cup to her lips to drink - anything to avoid continuing the conversation - when suddenly, the receptionist bursts through the door.
"Sakura," he says quickly, and then immediately he's by her side, coaxing the coffee cup from her fingers. Karin scowls.
"You can't have any more coffee," he says.
"Yes she can," Karin says, pinning him with a steady glare.
"No," he maintains, "she can't. I'll get you water. I'll get you water."
Karin glares at him before turning tail and fleeing out of the door.
Then, the receptionist turns to Sakura.
"Sorry," he says with a shrug, "Tsunade's orders."
And then he leaves.
AN: So - second chapter completed! I was so excited about this I did it in three days - as you can see. I'll try to update in a few days, but I've been pretty busy so it might take a week :(
Anyway, anyone have any ideas about what should happen next? Which character do you want me to bring in next? Hidan's had his go... and who's the receptionist? How did Hidan get in? Ideas? Theories?
Let me know and review :)