.:To Trust Again:.
Chapter 3
The muscles in her hand were wound, tense with abuse as the pen in her hand became harder and harder to control as it skritched against the ink subjected paper. The medical report in front of her lay open, three pages full of her doctors scrawl with another seven pages left of thoughts and ideas to go. Her neck bowed over the mandatory paperwork of a medic while her elbow rested on the polished wood of her desk, supporting her weary head.
"Sakura-sempai?" a nurse peeked in from behind the door, cautiously peering around the room. At the inclination of the medic's head she began to explain herself. "The patient in room 208 is complaining of pain and wishes to see you."
Sakura let out a tired breath then stood with a smile.
"Thank you, Kyoko-chan. I'll go see him now."
The younger medic nodded and left the room to tend to her own duties. Sakura followed her out the door, turning in the opposite direction and strode down the halls. Absentmindedly, she stretched out her arms over her head, hearing a distinct popping noise from her shoulder before skirting around a frenzied group of medics who were wheeling a gurney to the ICU. Ino was already in the room, prepping for the oncoming surgery. Sakura let out a sigh of relief.
After Ino had taken apprenticeship under Tsunade as well she had become a highly capable medic. Sakura trusted her with the other patients and knew that Shizune and their Shishou did as well and could rest easy, knowing that she wouldn't be called in to perform her fourth emergency surgery of the day.
Sakura continued down the halls, counting off the room numbers until she reached the right door. It was the patient who had been impaled by the plank of wood while building his shop, the one she had lost almost all of her chakra on while performing his emergency surgery before her big blowout with Sasuke; Osameru Yusei.
She gave the door two sharp knocks before twisting the knob and pushing it open. The man lay on the starched white hospital bed, propped up by a small stack of pillows. He was clad in standard hospital garb and his wavy brown hair sat in a frizzled mess above his head. His tanned skin held a pallor, though it was comparatively less than when he had first arrived.
He cracked open a forest-green eye and a small smile played across his face.
"So there's the angel who saved my life." his voice was gravely, like he had been asleep for a long while and was in desperate need of a glass of water. Sakura smiled at him and grabbed a Dixie cup from the dispenser by the sink, filling it with the cool substance.
"Just doing my job." she handed him the cup, which he drank from greedily, drowning it until there was but a drop in the bottom rim.
"Your job saved my life," he flashed her a charming smile, showing off the dimples in his cheeks. "And for that I am grateful."
A pretty pink blush crawled across her cheeks until she remembered just who she was and what she was doing there.
"How are you feeling?" she was back in medic mode, not minding at all that one of the cutest twenty-something year olds she had ever seen was semi-flirting with her.
Nope, not at all.
"My stomach's killing me," he grimaced, indicating where the splintery plank had driven itself through his abdomen. "The pain killer stuff that the nurses have given me isn't doing the trick."
She spared a glance to his bandaged middle, remembering that the last time she had seen it the flesh was stitching itself back together. She didn't heal it completely, though. It was usually best to let the body repair itself whenever possible. If she didn't, sometimes the cells would continue to rapidly regenerate, even after the healing was completed, causing an abnormal or detrimental amount of scar tissue.
"I can prescribe a stronger dosage, but chances are its still going to feel pretty sore." she explained, stepping towards the foot of his bed to look at his charts to make sure he wouldn't have an allergic reaction to any differentiation in medication. When she had assured herself that all would be well, she spared him a quick smile before making her way to the door. "Well, I'd better get going."
"Wait!" his voice froze her in place. She turned to look at him, noticing a miniscule amount of color in his cheeks. "what's your name?"
An amused smile lifted the corners of her mouth before she left.
"Haruno Sakura,"
"Do you understand the hand seals?"
"Yes," Sakura's mind ran them though over and over in a never ending rotation. 'Ton, I, Uma, Saru, Ton, Ushi, Hitsuji. Ton, I, Uma, Saru, Ton, Ushi, Hitsuji. Ton-'
"Then try it." Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest, watching the medic nin concentrate. He was trying to teach her some basic Genjutsu, as Kakashi had instructed the previous day, and she was picking it up fast. Much faster than he expected, really. Their sensei's intuition about her affinity for that particular ninja art were spot on.
His attention was focused solely on her as she performed each seal, slowly at first but with gaining speed. Eyes closed in concentration, she hit the final seal and he was plunged into a different world, if it could really be called that. It was more like a never-ending gray space, void of any walls or objects. If it wasn't for the fact that he could no longer feel the ground beneath his feet he would have thought that he had merely closed his eyes.
He halted his chakra flow, dispelling the jutsu only to be met with the stare of curious jade eyes.
He cleared his throat awkwardly, "You understand the basics of it, but the Genjutsu itself was relatively plain."
"Plain?" her defenses were back up, but her desire to learn continued to twist its way into her voice.
"Hn," he had her full attention and it was somewhat unnerving. "With this Genjutsu you have to control you chakra flow to your opponents brain in such a way to create an image in their mind and sensations they must feel, but it is you who decides those sensations. It takes a certain amount of creativity, I suppose."
That one sentence had an amused grin splitting across her face. 'Uchiha? Creative? Ha!'
"Creativity?" her amusement made him look vaguely uncomfortable.
"Hn," he looked off to glare at a nearby tree, unable to stand her jovial grin at his expense. "You have to think of an image you want your opponent to see, and it has to be able to bring out some form emotion which will stop them for long enough to take them out."
Sakura almost wanted to laugh 'Sasuke talking about emotion?'
"So, what should I do?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "Just think of something, an image or a scene and manipulate you chakra so that I can see it."
Sakura nodded, amusement draining from her face as she began to concentrate. His gaze returned to her as he waited for her next attempt. Her teeth unknowingly chewed on her bottom lip until, finally, her determined stare was back in place and her hands back in motion.
Sasuke found himself on a stone-paved street leading to nowhere. Cherry blossom trees in full bloom loitered on either side, illuminated only by the pale glow of the moon. A gust of wind tore some of the pale petals from their branches, swirling them in eddies around his body, brushing against his exposed arms and face.
Their fragrance hit him along with a wave of melancholy. This had been the path that team seven walked down every time they were to leave the village for a mission. This had been the place where he had left Sakura on as he continued on his quest to gain power, but the bench was gone.
Guilt and self loathing bubbled in his gut along with a grim sense of achievement. He had gained the power that he had long since desired and had completed his goals. In a way, it had been worth it.
He cut his chakra flow once more, and the image before him faded into oblivion. The new view in front of him, however, was lacking in the pink-haired medic department, so he attempted to turn around too look for her.
It was then that he realized that he was sitting on the grass, tied to the very tree that had oh-so often become the victim of his glares.
"Oh, you're back?"
He had to crane his neck to see where she was lounging on one of the branches, a few meters above his head. On her lap lay a thick medical scroll, opened to the center and her pen was poised above its surface to underline important bits of information.
All self-loathing forgotten, white hot anger coursed through him. He attempted to break the bonds that held him with strength alone by moving his arms away from his side but found that the rope only bit into them painfully. She had thought to use chakra.
"Untie me, Haruno." he grit out, to which she sighed and began re-packing her scroll and pen into her medic pouch.
"You were taking too long, its been nearly fifteen minutes since I performed that jutsu. Seven since I tied you up." she hopped of the branch and squatted down behind the trunk. Her fingers nimbly picked through the rope, loosening the series of complex knots she had used. "You had said that it would be enough of a distraction to take out your opponent. Since that wasn't really an option, I figured that 'capturing' you would be a good alternative."
The ropes went slack around his arms and he quickly stood, turning to glare at her with full force. She shrugged him off.
"And it worked, didn't it?" she flashed him a smile, looking almost apologetic. "You're such a good teacher!"
Momentarily distracted by her sudden use of flattery, he froze. It was almost like the old days, when everything he did was right in her eyes. When she would give out her praises like free candy and her smiles were only meant for him. When she didn't tie him to trees.
"Hn," he looked away from her and she took that opportunity to wipe the nervous sweat from her brow. She hated being the victim of his death-glares.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto came bounding up to them from out of nowhere. Kakashi was following a small distance behind him, nose buried in one of his books. "Lets go get ramen!"
Her eyes lit up at the sight of him as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. Sasuke leaned against the tree which had only moments before been his prison, scowl adorning his face.
"Ramen again? You know, one of these days you're going to die from all of the sodium in that stuff," she berated him but a grin split her face. Naruto pouted and crossed his arms behind his head as Kakashi finally caught up to the hyperactive ninja.
"But Sakura-chan!" he whined. "Ramen is so delicious and magical! How could it possible do me any harm?"
They all began walking in the direction of Ichiraku's, Sakura criticizing Naruto's eating habits as he began to helplessly defend his food of choice. Sasuke and Kakashi took up the rear, watching their animated argument.
"Dobe," Sasuke sighed under his breath, causing his sensei to chuckle.
"You should have seen the first time Sakura accepted his proposal to go out on a date," he laughed just thinking about it, noting the deepening of Sasuke's scowl. "During that time, Tsunade had been teaching her about nutrition and the effects certain foods had on the body. She nearly screamed his ear off when he asked if she wanted to go to Ichiraku's and made him take her to a tea shop instead, saying something about the anti-oxidants in the tea or something along those lines."
They walked in silence after that. Kakashi had pulled out his book as Sasuke realized just how many little things of their lives he had missed. He remembered how Naruto would always ask Sakura out on dates and how she would blatantly refuse him before trying to ask the same thing of Sasuke. He could scarcely imagine her actually accepting. Things really had changed after he left.
When they had finally reached the infamous ramen vendor, Sakura and Naruto had reached a stalemate and were both pouting and refusing to look at each other. They all took their respective seats at the bar as Naruto boisterously greeted the "old man" and Ayame, much to their amusement.
"What can I get for you today?" Ayame asked the four of them.
"Miso!" both Naruto and Sakura declared at the same time as Sasuke and Kakashi simply stated their orders in a much more sedated fashion. They spent the next few minutes talking about their lessons and Sakura told Naruto about how she had bound the Uchiha to a tree, leaving the blonde howling in laughter. Sasuke scowled, glaring off at some unknown object.
"Sakura-chan?" upon hearing her name, the medic nin turned from her animated conversation with Naruto and looked out to the street, seeing the couple who had called out to her. The woman was petite and held onto the man's bicep with delicate pale fingers, clad in a petal-pink sundress and light colored sandals. Her waist-length rose tinted hair cascaded down her back, unperturbed by decorative pins or ties. The man was several inches taller with short, gray peppered hair which had only just begun to recede at the top. His green eyes stared at the medic nin with a warm sense of recognition.
A smile played across Sakura's features.
"Okaa-san, Otou-san!" she greeted, standing from her place at the bar and moving towards them for a hug. Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi turned to stare at the newcomers. Naruto and Kakashi had seen them on a few rare occasions, but this was the first time Sasuke had ever associated Sakura with people other than her teammates or her patients. The topic of her family had never really come up in a conversation, though he supposed that was her way of being considerate of her orphaned friends.
"How was training?" her mother inquired, grasping the medic in a quick embrace.
"It went well," Sakura smiled, released from her mothers grip.
"Yeah, Sakura-chan totally kicked the teme's ass!" Naruto hollered from his seat at the bar, not one to be left out. Her mother laughed as Kakashi reached over and bonked the blonde on the head.
"Please, excuse my tactless student," Kakashi said, scratching his cheek sheepishly.
"It's nice to see you again, Hatake-san." Sakura's father greeted him, to which Kakashi returned the favor.
"And who is this?" Sakura's mother kindly noted the fourth person at the bar, tilting her head in hopes to get another look.
"Ah, right!" Sakura exclaimed, glancing back to her other teammate. "You guys have never met Sasuke."
Her mother's face lit in recognition as Sasuke turned to face them, she remembered his face from that picture that Sakura had gotten all of those years ago. Sakura's father's face, however, darkened at the sight of the tall brooding male. His name was one that he couldn't forget. It was one that he had, on countless occasions, heard Sakura cry out as he attempted to comfort her from some of her most vivid nightmares. He found he could only associate Sasuke's name with his precious daughter's tears.
"Hello, I'm Uchiha Sasuke." he bowed as he introduced himself, his strict formal upbringing coming to the surface. His good manners only heightened Sakura's father's dislike for the boy.
Uchiha Sasuke was every fathers worst nightmare, complete with rugged good looks and cool air of indifference.
Sakura's mother, however, was delighted as she remembered hearing that this was her daughters childhood crush. She had always taught Sakura to aim high and was proud to see that she had followed her mother's advice, even at such a young age.
"Pleased to meat you, Uchiha-san, I'm Haruno Nozomi," she said, bowing to strapping young lad and feeling something akin to giddiness at his etiquette. "This is my husband, Haruno Ryoku. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Hmph," Ryoku grumbled, glaring off in a different direction as the Uchiha bowed to him as well. A painful jab to the ribs from Nozomi forced his attention back to the boy and the threat of another had him bent at the spine. Not bowing. He refused to bow to the one who made his daughter cry.
Sakura let out a silent laugh at her parent's antics and Sasuke's formal behavior. Who knew he could be such a gentleman?
The clunking of porcelain against polished wood had all of them turning back to Ichiraku's.
"Ramen!" Naruto bellowed, causing Nozomi to giggle as she watched her daughter bonk the blonde on the head, yelling something about noise levels.
"Well, why don't we get out of your hair so you can enjoy your dinner?" she laughed, drawing the attention of her sulking husband.
"You're more than welcome to join us," Kakashi offered, motioning to the empty bar stools, but Nozomi shook her head in declination.
"We still have some shopping to do," she explained, tightening her hold on her husbands arm. He glanced down at her and received a powerful look.
Let it be known that a Haruno's look can outclass an Uchiha's glare any day.
"It was nice meeting you," he forced out, sounding half strangled and receiving an approving smile from Nozomi who then proceeded to drag him away towards the shops, chatting amiably about "charming young lads" and the "sale on apples" two blocks down.
Sakura's warm green eyes watched after them until they turned the corner, acting as if she were the protective mother watching over her children, before she took her seat beside Naruto at the bar where he was already noisily slurping down his ramen.
She barely got to take a bite before she was interrupted again.
"Sakura-sempai!"
Sakura stared sadly down at her barely touched bowl before turning to see Megumi dodging through crowds, hurrying in her general direction.
"Someone's popular this evening," muttered Naruto in-between mouthfuls. Sakura sighed and dropped her money onto the counter and pushing her bowl towards the blonde, who accepted it gratefully.
"Sakura-sempai," she skidded to a halt in front of the medic, shoulders heaving with her pants. "Another team came in. It's really bad, Tsunade ordered you to come immediately."
Sakura nodded, face set into a grim line. If Tsunade was called away from her duties as Hokage to help out, then things must really be bad.
"Leaving so soon?"
Sakura turned to see all of her teammates eyes on her, Kakashi having been the one who spoke. She managed a weak smile at them, more of a quirk of the lips than anything.
"Hai, I'll be leaving now."
She turned to leave with Megumi as Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi watched her retreating form, barely catching the younger nurse's mischievous comment before they rounded the corner in the direction of the hospital.
"I hear Yusei-san has been asking for his angel agai-"
"Shut up, Megumi."
Only when they were completely out of sight did Naruto practically explode.
"Yusei? Who the hell is that?" his chopsticks nearly broke in his tightened grip as the blonde stood his seat, sending ripples through the broth of his half-eaten ramen.
"Calm down, Naruto." Kakashi commanded, nose once again buried in his orange covered book of smut.
"B-but!"
"Sakura's a big girl now. She probably wouldn't appreciate you butting into her affairs." he flipped the page, eyes roving over lines that would make Sakura flustered and violent.
"But we should still check it out!" Naruto pleaded, turning to the once-avenger. "Right, Sasuke? You wouldn't want some scumbag coming onto Sakura, right?"
Sasuke grunted and turned back to his ramen.
"Oh come on! Aren't either of you in the least bit concerned for her well-being?" he exclaimed, throwing his arms into the air in exasperation.
"I don't believe her well being is in jeopardy." Kakashi commented, only to fall up short. Another plan began to form in his head, one that would, in no way, help the Sasuke-Sakura trust situation, but would serve to amuse him immensely. "But if you're really that concerned…." his book snapped shut. "Sasuke and Naruto, why don't you both check it out?"
"Thank you!"
Sasuke glared at his sensei, unbridled resentment burning through his onyx eyes, making it very clear of his opinion on his sensei's brilliant plan.
Sensing the Uchiha's heated gaze, Kakashi decided to clarify his previous statement.
"And by 'why don't you,' I mean 'do it.'" he sent Sasuke a leveled glare, turning his voice low and dangerous. "Both of you."
Fed up with his sensei's antics, Sasuke decided to speak out in his usual, monosyllabic way.
"Why?"
Kakashi glanced up at the ceiling, apparently pondering an answer to his question.
"Lets call it a team building exercise," the copy nin finally decided. "You and Naruto need you work on teamwork, stealth in particular," he sent a pointed stare at the blonde before continuing. "and I believe that you two should take this chance to see just how hard Sakura is working when she's not with us. And to make sure that this 'Yusei-san' isn't some scumbag." he finally concluded, gaining a thoughtful nod from Naruto and another heated glare from the Uchiha.
"That's stupid,"
"That's an order from your superior."
Silence and more glares ensued.
Naruto was near bouncing out of his seat.
Kakashi and Sasuke were locked in a battle of the glares, both fighting for the dominance and pride of supremacy.
Naruto cleared his throat.
Sasuke looked away with a grunt.
Smiling beneath his mask in victory, Kakashi gave the final order.
"Now, go find out who this Yusei-san is and report to me tomorrow morning before training."
"Hai!" bellowed Naruto, saluting the jonin as Sasuke glared all of his hatred into his half-empty bowl of ramen.
"Hn,"
Naruto was already bounding off in the direction of the hospital, some how having been able to down both his and Sakura's ramen, and left a handful of Ryo on the counter. He was soon followed by a sulking Sasuke, hands shoved deep into his pockets, back slouched in both defeat and defiance.
Before they got too far away, Kakashi imparted on them one final piece of advice.
"Don't get caught!"
Naruto hesitated for only a moment, receiving a vivid flashback of flying nearly fifty meters away from the pinkette after her punch met his face. But that was only for a moment, and he soon found himself hurdling in the direction of the hospital, the once-avenger dragging behind.
Yatta! Third chapter is out! Sorry it took me longer to update this, but with school coming up and college applications needing to be in... Priorities, my friends, are a b****. But anyways, thank all of you sooo much for the reviews! Last week had its own league of problems and all of your feedback got me through it with a smile on my face :) so, really, thank you guys! I try to get back to you guys as much as possible, but if I didn't message you back then I must apologize profusely! I read all of them and I love hearing from you!
So, I mean, if you want to... well, I mean, the buttons down there :)