title: Born to Be Three
prompt: SASUSAKU MONTH 2015
rating: K-M
summary: o19: Sakura tells little Sarada about the life of a doctor.
dedicated to: my baes on tumblr - i love you all!
NOTE THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE MONTH: I wanted to add Sarada in many of these prompts, because she's a part of this beautiful family too /sobs forever at my babies having babies/ but sometimes I either couldn't find a way to fit her in and, to be honest, I have little experience writing about her! Hopefully that will change
.o19.
Blood
.
Sakura tells little Sarada about the life of a doctor.
.
Sakura, despite ineffective efforts to wash every trace of trauma from her clothes, comes home bathed in gore and smelling like sorrow.
But sometimes, Sarada notes, Mama wears the scent of gratitude and pride. There are still flecks of red speckled near her collar. They appear faint in color, only noticeable next to the paleness of her pink hair.
Mama tries not to show her daughter she's tired. After all, Sakura is a warrior—she, of course, knows this—and she won't let that façade fall just for a few moments of rest.
"How was your day?" Sarada asks as she prepares a cup of tea for Mama. Sakura tucks her hair back with a bobby pin and takes the tea gracefully with a smile as warm as the liquid. She kisses Sarada's forehead and strokes her hair.
"Busy, as usual," Sakura says. She doesn't mince words, doesn't pretend that things are all dandy in a cemetery for the sick. "We—" Sarada knows she means her and Tsunade-shishou, "—had to perform a really important surgery today. The patient was a fifty year old man, very sick for a long time."
"Wait a minute," Sarada interrupts. "Was?"
Sakura's eyes look down. She grasps the teacup with two hands and avoids her duaghter's gaze. "Unfortunately, we couldn't save him, despite our best efforts."
Sarada notices the crime scene splattered all over Sakura's body. Besides the red on her collar, there's some near the elbow, or over the heart, and even down as far as her big toes.
"Mama, you have to be careful. You know that blood is highly dangerous, and you need to wash yourself right after to prevent infection—"
"Don't worry," Sakura smiles. "I'm safe, I promise. Thank you for looking out for me." Her voice quiets significantly, and she whispers, "Yes, he didn't make it. He lost a lot of blood and…passed."
Sarada notices the sadness in her Mama's eyes, and the glistening of tears pooling near the tear ducts. Mama is a strong woman, stronger than anyone she knows she'll ever meet, but full of emotion and sympathy as well.
"It's not your fault, Mama," Sarada says. "You and Auntie Tsunade are the best in the village—no, the country. If you couldn't save him, no one could." Sarada gives her a hug. "You did your best."
Sakura sets the teacup down on the table next to her and brings Sarada into her lap.
"My darling girl," Sakura murmurs. "What did I ever do to deserve such a precious sweetheart like you?"
Sarada snuggles into her Mama's full chest and stays there, breathing steadily for a few minutes. "You need to take care of yourself, Mama. A doctor is useless to her patients if she can't even cure herself, you know that?"
"Mm. Thank you, Dr. Uchiha," Sakura smirks. Sarada's eyes glitter with recognition. "I'll keep that in mind."
updates come regularly on tumblr for each day. I'm lazy at uploading on ff, but rest assured everything will be up by the end of this month. XD
note: chapter 12, white flag, has been replaced :)