Thank you to all my lovely readers who've read this far into the story! I was surprised by the response; many of you just click on story alert and don't bother to review! Well... do you feel like reviewing now or later? It's your choice. Choose wisely. Kidding! Ha ha, what a comedian I am. Read on, do!
DISCLAIMER: All of the sexy characters in here are owned by Masashi Kishimoto and TV Tokyo and Funimation Animation Studios. Well, except Dr. Fujioka. He's all mine. :)
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Dr. Fujioka had worked at the hospital for some years before being appointed second-in-command by Tsunade personally. He was not a ninja anymore because of a rare disease that eventually caused the body to cease chakra production, which Konoha was still studying fervently. However, he still studied and worked with ninja-related diseases, wounds, and mental health; dealing mainly in medicine, not surgery. Sakura had worked with the man before and was impressed by how much he knew about a ninja's body, even though his body was no longer built like one.
"Please, come in quickly," Dr. Fujioka said in a rattled, high-pitched tone. Apparently, he was frightened of the insects that had invaded the office walls.
His elbow bumped Sakura's collarbone as he passed her, and he turned on the spot, hopping up and down with anxiety, his hands clasped near his sternum.
"Sakura! I'm so sorry. I didn't… thought you were with… this young man here! Are you the one who the Aburame clan sent?" Dr. Fujioka's voice was picking up speed and pitch. Sakura, who had never seen the doctor this nervous before, was feeling a tad jumpy herself.
Shino nodded smoothly while slowly turning his head on the spot, scanning the walls and listening for the tell-tale thrum of the tiny intruders.
"I heard them, right over there! Over there, right! Next to the cabinet!" Dr. Fujioka swung a long, trembling arm to the left of the oldest, dirtiest filing cabinet, pointing at a spot marked with a water stain. With his other hand curling fingers into his mouth, his wide, powder blue eyes fixed almost with a horrified look at the place. Sakura could only stare at him. Shino turned his attention to the section of wall Dr. Fujioka was gesturing to.
"Dr.—" Sakura began, only to have her response cut off by Dr. Fujioka's palm slapped over her mouth. His other hand twisted itself into her hair.
"Shhh! Sakura, they might hear!" The man whispered loudly into her ear, breath coming in short, faint puffs.
Shino walked over to the wall, unconcerned. He stopped in front of it, then, with the terrified pair watching him, knocked three times and cocked his head, listening intently. Dr. Fujioka's hold on Sakura tightened. Because he did not have any chakra, Sakura barely felt his arms, but noted that they had slipped down from her face and encircled her torso. One of his fingers was resting on the dip in her clavicle.
Shino shook his head, as if clearing it of something. He looked to Sakura and the doctor. "There is nothing behind this wall. No honey-bees, Doctor Fujioka."
Before Sakura had time to exchange a bewildered glance with the doctor, he picked her up and with surprising strength swung her around in a weird kind of victory dance.
"Oh happy days!" he cried, setting Sakura on the ground after she kicked him in the shin. "It must have just been my imagination. You may go now, young Aburame. Oh, but wait! The Hokage respectfully asks you to take this to your clan leader…Aburame Shindoh, yes? Oh, and please, give my regards to your cousin Aburame Shinsa. Her leg is healing up nicely?"
"Yes. Shinsa thanks you for your medicine and healing prowess," Shino said, affecting a soft, indifferent tone. He took the scroll from Dr. Fujioka. "In the name of my ancestors before me, I respectfully accept this scroll, from the Godaime, to deliver to Clan Leader Aburame Shindoh."
'With all of his formalities,' Sakura thought, 'it's a wonder he slouches when he walks. But only a little bit. I guess the Hyuuga Clan and the Aburame Clan are more similar than I thought.'
Shino left quietly and closed the door. Sakura heard his faint footsteps until they reached the stairwell. Then… her hearing needed a check-up.
"Sakura! I'm glad you're here today!" Dr. Fujioka startled Sakura by placing his hands on her shoulders and steering her into a seat, then wheeling the seat up to his desk. She openly stared at him while he picked his way to the desk chair and seated himself. He returned her stare for a minute, then laced his fingers together under his chin and began tapping his foot.
"Dr. Fujioka, where is Tsunade-shishou? She told me she would be here today."
"Ah, yes, that. The Hokage is here, she's just in surgery. One of those ANBU injured himself quite well. Snapped his femur clean in half. Both of them, actually, I think…"
Sakura watched as Dr. Fujioka played with a long strand of his hair before reaching for a stack of files and a thick book.
"She asked me to remain here until you arrived, kind of late," he surprised her by wagging his finger at her. Usually Dr. Fujioka was not so cavalier. In fact, though he was extremely competent at his job and had earned Sakura's respect long ago, the man barely smiled or joked. Tsunade once told her that though he wasn't a social butterfly, he got his job done, and that's all that was important to her.
"But now you're here and I can go home~" This last syllable was drawn out and up, his voice taking on a singsong tone. Sakura wondered if Dr. Fujioka was drunk. Also, she was pretty sure that his shifts for the week started early in the morning and ended late in the night. There was no way Tsunade would have let him off.
"Dr. Fujioka, I don't think—"
"Nonsense, Sakura! All people can think! Why, I tell Tsunade every day that you have mental abilities that are on par with that young Nara boy… you're very smart!"
Sakura could feel heat creep up her collar. Dr. Fujioka gazed at her dreamily, a far-off look in his eyes.
"You remind me of someone I like very much, you know. And I just realized who you looked like a couple of hours ago." Dr. Fujioka said, his voice soft, fluid; like slow-melting caramel. He reached across the desk to bring Sakura's hands into his own.
She was startled by his behavior but only reacted by shooting him a puzzled glance. Then she looked at their entwined hands. It was awkward, because his hands were so much larger than hers, and so soft, too. Her hands were rough, and she wasn't wearing her black gloves that she was fond of donning in combat.
"Do you know who you remind me of?" Dr. Fujioka asked, eyes becoming half-lidded, thick blond lashes fluttering against the bottom of his violet eyes.
"No," Sakura said, wanting nothing more than to jump up and run from this office. Some alarm in the back of her mind was ringing, and she sensed something lurking beneath Dr. Fujioka's exterior. Something dark…foreboding. Dangerous.
"My nephew, Kabuto." Dr. Fujioka tightened his grip on her hands as she tried to gently pull away from him. "You know my nephew Kabuto, yes?"
It had been years since she had heard that name, but she said instantly, "Yakushi Kabuto?"
"The very same! So you do remember him!" Dr. Fujioka now leaned close to Sakura, hovering over the desk. Because he was so tall, she had to crush herself into the chair to avoid his long tendrils of blond hair.
"It's very sad, really, what he did. My brothers and I miss him very much, you know. He's such a bright boy," he said, suddenly sitting back into his chair and bringing Sakura with him. Now she was almost pressed against his chest, the ends of her short pink hair touching the collar of his jacket. He let her go not a minute later and she hastily sat back in her seat.
"Dr. Fujioka, I'd better go—"
"No, dear girl! The Hokage has very important business to attend to, she told me to… to study with you! Yes, that's it! Let's start with… which chapter are you on in this book?"
For five hours, Sakura sat down with the scarily overenthusiastic Dr. Fujioka, trying to convince him that she had not studied the chapter about muscular dystrophy while he demonstrated a child limping and moaning about because of painful muscles and other such muscular diseases, which shinobi did not commonly get.
Finally, Tsunade arrived and Sakura tried her best not to run up to her master and fling her arms about her waist. By this time, Dr. Fujioka was having Sakura write a medical report about the workings of tendons in the arms and legs, something she found very fascinating, but was not able to enjoy properly because of the inadequate explanations of Dr. Fujioka and the boring textbook.
Tsunade seemed surprised to find Sakura in her office, though, and told her so. Sakura replied that Dr. Fujioka had kept her there all day. He had now been gone some twenty minutes doing rounds.
"He's been acting so weird, Tsunade-shishou," Sakura said, stretching her arms above her head and rotating her wrists, sore from two hours' worth of writing.
"Weird how?" Tsunade asked as she unloaded fifty pounds of beakers onto one of her assistant's desks. It was a new shipment from the Wind Country. When frustrated in the lab, Tsunade tended to take her anger out on the scientific instruments around her, resulting in many purchases from a happy Sunagakure, pleased to provide the finest (and most expensive) quality of glass made from the sand there.
"He's been in a great mood all day. He's been smiling, Tsunade-shishou. I don't think I've ever seen him smile."
Tsunade half turned from the beaker box to stare incredulously at her student. Bright as Sakura may be, she was a worry-wart, and that often distracted her from her work. Tsunade gave her a half-shrug and then split open the tape of the box with one sharp painted nail.
"I don't see any cause for concern, Sakura. Now, what have you been doing all this time?"
Sakura shifted guiltily in the office chair. She looked down at her half-finished medic report.
"Studying muscular diseases. And Dr. Fujioka asked me to write a report for him about some of it."
Tsunade started unpacking the beakers. "Thought you hadn't reached that chapter yet."
"I…I haven't. That's another thing about Dr. Fujioka today, he seems really… jittery." Sakura stood up and walked over to Tsunade. She took some beakers out of the box and placed them on the desk. "Like, flighty."
"I don't think you should worry about it, Sakura. Here, could you take these charts down to room 421 and get the patient's blood sample? After that, come back to my office and we'll go down to Training Ground Number 5. Kakashi and I are going to test your genjutsu abilities today. Be ready." Tsunade smiled at her student and handed her the charts. Sakura gave her master a weaker smile in return and quick-walked out the door.
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Isn't Dr. Fujioka a strange guy? Do you like him? I know there are bunches of bishounen in 'Naruto', but I figured we all could use one more. He's nothing compared to Itachi though... mmm... Uchiha... *drools*