To Love and to Love Again Chapter 8: Stressed Out
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER AND AUTHORS NOTE: I do NOT own Naruto. The awesomeness of the Naruto Manga and World is the creation of Masashi Kishimoto. This is Purely Fanfiction. All things Medical in this entire fanfiction should not be taken as serious medical advice or facts. PLEASE CONSULT AN ACTUAL DOCTOR FOR ANY MEDICAL INFORMATION/QUESTIONS. THANK YOU AND ENJOY!
Tenten was peacefully sleeping in her tank top and her husband's black boxer shorts. Her hair was let loose from the everyday buns that she normally had during the day.
She was having an interesting dream.
She was in the middle of a forest, armed with all sorts of exciting weaponry. Apparently she was a ninja in this dream and she was busy hunting down a certain someone hiding in the forest. She leapt though the trees as if she were flying and slowly caught up to the mystery person.
As she got closer she realized that the mystery person seemed familiar. Long dark brown hair tied at the bottom, tall stature, and eyes that put the full moon to shame. She was chasing Neji. In a dream, one does not normally question why they do the things that they're doing; all she knew was that she needed to catch him.
After throwing various weapons at him with remarkable accuracy, Tenten had failed to nail him. She froze as he disappeared and reappeared right behind her. He wrapped his arm around her abdomen and whispered in her ear.
"Tenten… you don't want to hurt the baby now do you?" he asked as his hot breath tingled in her ear.
Her eyes widened and she looked down, and her once flat abdomen was now fully pregnant with Neji's arm stroking her belly lovingly. She turned around and met his heated gaze; the veins around his eyes were pulsing and her whole body felt as if it was being penetrated. It was like he could see right through her.
Neji Hyuga was barley waking up from his sleep. He turned from the window and faced his wife, who was still sleeping. He pulled her into his warm embrace. As soon as he was settled, Tenten woke up screaming "Holy Crap!" and officially startling her husband.
"Tenten, what's wrong?" he asked as he looked at her with concern and annoyance for jump-starting his heart rate so early in the morning.
She quickly turned around to face him. Her eyes were wide with surprise before sighing in realization.
"Neji… I just had the most bizarre dream," she said as she snuggled closer to him. She buried her face in his chest as he wrapped his arms around her and played with her hair.
"Do tell," he mumbled, inhaling her scent. He loved playing with her hair. The fact that she tied in up during the day and only let it down at night for him was one of his guilty pleasures.
"We were ninja and I was hunting you down with a load of bad-ass weapons," she recalled as her breathing started to calm down somewhat.
"…Why would you hunt me down?" he asked exasperatedly. She mumbled something into his chest that he couldn't quite make out. He opted to just ignore it and continue to snuggle with her. He played with her hair and moved it out of the way, slowly planting small kisses on her neck and working his way up. He was getting closer to her lips… closer… closer… one more kiss and he's there.
Tenten was anticipating the kiss when suddenly, her world turned green. Her eyes widened and she quickly jumped out of bed, running straight to their bathroom and shutting the door.
She leaned over the toilet and threw up like there was no tomorrow. She held her hair back and let it all out. She had been at it for weeks now. She wasn't slow to think that she might have been pregnant. She and Neji had lightly tossed around the idea of having kids sometime in the future, but now it seems like their plans have been one-upped some. She confirmed she was pregnant a month ago via home pregnancy test, and if she calculated it just right, she was around three months along by now. Lucky for her the morning sickness started only a few weeks ago.
After she figured there was nothing more to empty out of her stomach, she flushed the toilet and went over to the sink to grab her toothbrush. She figured she might as well get in a shower now that she won't be able to go back to sleep. She and Neji had to be at the hospital in two hours.
She flung her clothes to the side and stepped into the shower. She felt much better after throwing up. The shower only helped make her feel more relaxed. After lathering her hair and brushing her teeth at the same time she rinsed herself off and grabbed a towel. Wrapping it around her, she secured the towel and walked out of the bathroom to find Neji up and about in their room wearing only his scrub pants and a towel in his hand drying off his hair.
"Must have showered in the other bathroom," she figured. She went over to their walk-in closet and grabbed a pair of scrubs as well.
She proceeded to dress herself in the closet. Ever since she knew for sure that she was pregnant, Tenten had been just a little more self-conscious. At three months pregnant, she was already starting to feel huge. After she had slipped on her pants, she noticed that Neji was standing in the doorway of the closet, leaning on the side and observing her. His eyes were super concentrated on her abdomen for a moment before their gaze trailed up to meet her eyes. At this point, Tenten was barely dressed in pants and a black bra with her wet hair down.
He walked up to her and just stared into her eyes. She couldn't take it anymore.
"Alright… I'm pregnant. Not that you didn't know already…," she grumbled.
Neji leaned in and kissed her gently. He knelt down before her and pressed his ear to her slightly rounded stomach. From up above, she could see that he was smirking. His arms came up to encircle her waist as they stayed there like that for a while. She played with his long hair and sighed.
"How long have you known?" she asked curiously. He kissed her stomach quickly before standing up again. He took her into his arms and mumbled into her hair.
"Since the minute you conceived."
"WHAT?" she shouted.
Neji just chuckled. "Tenten… it was obvious. You've been throwing up almost every morning for the past few weeks and before that, you've been more temperamental than ever. You also left the positive home pregnancy test in the trashcan," he added.
"Smart ass," she huffed before snuggling back into his embrace.
After his mom dropped him off and left, Sora met up with Akio at the front of the school and the two of them walked in together.
They entered the classroom and looked around for Akira and Suki. Sora had only known them for a week now but it was enough time for the four of them to form a close friendship. Sora and Akio now considered themselves best friends. Suki and Akira were already best friends, Akio and Akira were brother and sister and Sora and Suki got along well enough.
Together the four of them spent as much time together as possible and sometimes even more so after school. Now that they all knew that their parents were all friends, it somehow made their bond a little more special.
After spotting the girls sitting in the middle of the rug, Sora and Akio sat next to them.
"Hi Sora," Suki and Akira greeted together. The two were previously discussing none other than their upcoming recital tomorrow and couldn't seem to talk about anything else.
"Hi guys," Sora returned. No one bothered saying hello to Akio since he wouldn't even mutter a response.
All the kids were excited this morning. Today was "Show and Tell". Every two weeks or so would be show and tell day. Everyone was eager to present their own goodies. Kurenai Sensei came up to the front of the group and sat down in her chair.
"Alright class, it's time to begin show and tell," she announced. "Does anyone want to go first?"
Almost everyone's hands went into the air. She chuckled a little before finally choosing a boy from the front row. Show and tell was going by pretty fast. Soon it was Suki's turn to go up and show her object to the class.
She went up to the front and pulled out a small tiara.
"My show and tell thing today is my tiara," she said while holding up the small crown for everyone to see. All the girls were "ohhh-ing" and "ahhh -ing" at the shiny tiara that seemed to twinkle when it caught the light.
"My grandpa gave it to me after one of my ballet recitals. He said that it meant for princesses to wear only," she beamed.
"Very good Suki," Kurenai praised. "You can sit down now."
Suki took her crown and sat back down next to Akira who had already shown her necklace to the class. Kurenai scanned the class for the next presenter.
"Okay who hasn't gone yet? Ah… Sora, your turn," she said as she pointed at him on the rug.
Sora got up and shuffled through his backpack and pulled out a piece of paper. He walked up to the front of the class and held up the picture. The whole class was really amazed at his drawing.
"This is a picture that I drew yesterday," Sora explained. "It's a ninja shooting fireballs from his mouth."
All the boys in the class were shouting about how cool that picture was. The drawing was in color. The ninja in the center had dark hair but was wearing a black cloak with red clouds on it. The cloak covered up much his face so you couldn't see much of it except for his eyes.
Sora colored his eyes red. Fire was coming out of his mouth in a gigantic flame that surrounded most of the picture. It wasn't drawn to perfection but for a five-year-old to draw something that good was amazing.
Even Akio was moved by the image. "That one is cooler than the other one Sora," he commented.
Everyone else was complementing him. Even Kurenai Sensei told him he did a great job. He blushed at the praise. His mother and grandfather always told him he did a great job on all his drawings but he never really showed them to anyone else.
After he was done, Sora went and sat back down next to his friends.
Suki leaned over and whispered "It kind of looks like my daddy."
Sora looked at his picture again. He didn't realize it before, but it did look a little like her dad. Sora smiled at her but on the inside he was frowning.
He must have been thinking about Sasuke when he drew this picture. After dinner a few nights ago, Sora felt a little on edge about Suki's dad. He hadn't seen him all week but the thought of him was still upsetting for some reason.
When Sora first saw Sasuke, he felt like he had seen him somewhere before. He had a very familiar presence.
And when he saw Sasuke talking to his mother, he felt undeniably protective all of the sudden. It confused him because there was nothing really wrong with the guy. Until he didn't feel that way anymore, Sora decided that he just didn't like Sasuke.
He looked over at Suki and couldn't help but feel a little guilty about not liking her daddy. Suki was always saying how great he was so he must be a good guy right? Sora really didn't want Suki to know that he didn't like Sasuke because he knew that she would get hurt and he felt like it was his job to protect Suki too. He remembered when she came up to him yesterday and told him something interesting.
The kids were having their recess indoors today. Sora was just sitting at his desk and drawing when Suki sat down next to him.
"Hey Sora, guess what my daddy told me!"
Sora stopped drawing and looked up at her. "What?"
"Daddy said that since my Aunty Tenten and Uncle Neji are your aunty and uncle too, we could be like cousins," she shouted, flailing her arms in the air with excitement.
"Really?" he asked skeptically. Suki nodded her head vigorously in response.
"Isn't that great? You and me are family now!" she declared, hugging him.
Sora blushed in embarrassment. Hugging a girl was something other kids could tease you about and that was something Sora would like to avoid. Suki pulled away from him and her face was a little less energetic this time.
"… But … I kind of wish you were my brother," she admitted quietly. "You know, like Akio and Akira."
Sora didn't like seeing Suki sad. "Whenever it's just you and me, we could say that we're brother and sister," he offered with a small smile. He felt better when her face lite up.
"REALLY?" she screamed.
"Yeah!"
Suki screamed again and hugged him tighter. She spent the rest of the day calling him "Onii chan".
Suki and Akira were talking to each other about their recital tomorrow. Apparently, Sora would be attending, along with his mom if she could go. He wanted to go and to see Suki and Akira dance but at the same time, he knew he would see Sasuke again. He was Suki's dad after all so he would definitely be there. He only hoped at this point that his mommy wouldn't be able to go.
Sakura was standing in the elevator with her coffee in one hand and a blueberry muffin in the other. She had just gotten to work and over the past week, she had made it a routine to grab a quick breakfast from the cart outside the hospital for the elevator ride up to her office.
The elevator stopped on her floor, which contained the maternity ward, the nursery, the labor and delivery room, as well as her office. After only one week at the hospital, Sakura had already handled numerous high-risk pregnancy cases that had cemented her reputation as a top-notch pupil of Dr. Tsunade Senju.
She stepped out of the elevator and made her way down the hall. Her office was fairly large and had a great view of the city. Granted the view wasn't as nice as the one from Sasuke office but it still showed the city in all its glory.
She stopped in front of her office door with a label that read "Sakura Haruno M.D". She flipped through her key chain and unlocked her door. She went around to her desk and placed her purse underneath. She already had a stack of patient reports to see through on her desk. She picked up a couple while biting into her muffin.
There were a few patients that she would be consulting about possible modes of delivery for their babies and more pediatrics cases too. She didn't get too many of those. The hospital staff pretty much considered her the head of Obstetrics and didn't try to bother her with the pediatric cases. But she wanted to do it. She loved working with the kids more than anything.
A knock on her door interrupted her report analysis.
"Come in," she shouted. The door opened and in walked Tenten. Her hair was tied up in the usual two buns and she was wearing scrubs.
"Hey Tennie!" she greeted happily. It was a nickname Sakura used when she was excited.
"Hey there Sakura… whatcha doing?" Tenten asked as she took a seat in one of the chairs in front of the desk.
Sakura casually watched her for a bit before taking another bite out of her muffin. "Nothing much. Just having breakfast and looking over some patient files. What's up?"
Tenten fidgeted a bit in her seat. She was never one to crack under pressure but the hormones were really getting to her. Being pregnant was throwing her off completely.
"Well… actually I wanted to tell you something and… damn it's hot in here!" she declared suddenly as she began to fan herself with her hand. Sakura looked over at the thermostat. The air conditioner was on full blast and the room was a cool seventy degrees.
"What do you mean? It's practically a freezer. Are you okay Tenten?" she asked with concern.
"I'm fine," Tenten replied as she continued to fan herself with her hand.
Sakura looked over her appearance once again. Even though she claimed she was warm, Tenten looked fine. As a matter of fact, there was a certain glow about her lately. Sakura knew exactly what it was. It was a mother's glow. She noticed it the first day she came to the hospital. Tenten's notoriously flat abs were now rounded and barely noticeable to the untrained eye. The scrubs also hid it well.
"Tenten, you said that there was something you wanted to tell me?" Sakura reminded. She was looking at Tenten, expecting to hear confirmation on what she already knew.
"Yeah. I'm… I'm…,"
"Pregnant?" Sakura supplied. Tenten sighed in defeat.
"Dammit all!" she cursed. "Why can't I surprise just one person? Everybody knows! Most of them knew before I did! I lack the element of surprise don't I? That's why I couldn't stab Neji in my dream!"
Sakura gave her a startled look. "Why would you stab… never mind," she said shaking it off. "First of all, you really expected an Obstetrician not to notice when someone's pregnant?" Tenten just pouted at her. "Second of all… CONGRATULATIONS!" she shouted as she got up to give Tenten a big hug.
"Thanks," she choked as Sakura released her. "And of course Neji and I wanted to ask you if you would be the baby's godmother."
Sakura gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. "Of course I'd love to be the Godmother. Oh this is so exciting Tennie I can't wait until this baby is born!"
Tenten simply smiled as Sakura hugged her again, all the while chanting "I'm going to be a god-mamma!" over and over.
"Alright calm down. I can't have my Obstetrician in a tizzy," Tenten teased.
Sakura smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I'm just so thrilled for you guys. You and Neji are going to make such great parents I just know it."
"I hope we are. I know Neji will be great, but I'm a little nervous. I have a strange feeling that this baby is a boy. Don't ask why I just have a feeling."
"Oh please. I had the same feeling when I was pregnant. I knew Sora was a boy even before I had the ultrasound. It's called a mother's intuition. It's an upgrade from women's intuition," Sakura explained matter-of-factly.
Tenten chuckled. "Well I was hoping you could do an ultrasound just so that I can at least see the baby today. These hormones are driving me crazy and I just want to see what's going on in there. I've been holding out on getting a check-up until you started working here," she confessed.
"I would love to examine you. But can it wait until after lunch? I have patients to see right now."
Tenten nodded. "Okay. You want to have lunch together today?"
"Sure. I'll page you when I'm out."
Tenten left after that. Sakura grabbed her files and stepped out of her office. She had to go down to the second floor first to pick up some reports from the nursing station.
When she arrived she went straight to the desk to pick up the reports and spotted Hinata.
"Hello Sakura," Hinata greeted.
"Hi Hinata. Have you heard the news?"
"Tenten's pregnancy? I knew," she answered with a chuckle. "Almost everyone knew before she did. Poor Neji, she'll be taking out all her frustrations on him."
"He's the one that knocked her up so he can take it," she said, making them both laugh. After saying bye to Hinata, Sakura went back to the elevators and pushed the button to go up. The light went off and the elevator doors slid open.
Sakura was about to step inside when she looked up and saw Sasuke in the elevator looking right at her. She jumped a bit in surprise.
"… Hi Sasuke," she breathed as she stepped into the elevator. The doors closed soon after that. She pushed the button for the tenth floor and noticed that the top floor was already highlighted.
"Sakura," he said, nodding in greeting. He was wearing black slacks, black shoes and a blue office shirt with a darker blue tie around his neck. He also had the ever-professional black jacket. Over all, he looked ready for the office. The elevator started to go up.
"How have you been these last few days?" she asked.
He shrugged. "Not much has changed. How has your first week been here?"
"Great. My office is organized now and I've familiarized myself with the area. The patients are wonderful and I pretty much love it here," she answered.
"Hn" he replied. They both didn't say anything for a few seconds. They were barely at the fifth floor, and it was already getting awkward.
"So," she continued. She was never really one for silence. "How's Suki doing? Has her finger healed yet?"
"She's doing well. The Band-Aid came off two day ago. She insisted that she be allowed to keep it as a memory."
"Aww, she is just the sweetest thing. Oh I hope you didn't let her keep it though. Used Band-Aids are breeding grounds for bacteria," she warned.
"…Of course I didn't let her keep it," he replied.
"Good," she said nodding. "The last thing you need is for Suki to obtain an infection from playing with a used Band-Aid."
He remained silent. "I have to get that Band-Aid away from Suki,"he thought. He fell victim to her puppy dog eyes again and let her keep it. Of course he would never let Sakura find out about that.
The elevator was on the eighth floor now. Silence continued for another few seconds.
"So…," she drawled, trying to keep up the talking. "Are you going to the ballet recital tomorrow?"
Sasuke looked down at her while she looked up at him. He was at least a good head taller than her. The lights that lined the elevator made her eyes seem just a little greener if that was possible. Sasuke briefly wondered if Suki's eyes would turn out like Sakura's when she got older.
"Are you okay?" she asked when he remained silent. He was staring at her without saying anything.
"I'm planning on it. It all depends on what I've got scheduled," he answered, looking away from her.
Sakura looked thoughtful for a moment. "Can I just give you a word of advice?" He gave her sideways glance before nodding his head. "Go to the recital no matter what."
He looked down at her again. She was looking at the top of the elevators where the light flashed on the tenth floor. The elevator gave a ping and the doors slid open. She started to walk out and then turned to face him.
"A girl's father is her biggest fan," she stated as the doors began to close. The last thing she saw was his face become a little softer, though she couldn't be sure.
As soon as the doors were closed, Sakura headed straight to the designated patients room. Inside, there was a little boy who was awake and talking to a man who Sakura guessed was his father. She knocked on the door and walked in.
"Hello I'm Dr. Haruno," she introduced.
The man stood up to shake her hand. He was pretty tall with a very rugged appearance. His hair was short, brown and spiky and he had two red tattoos on his face that looked like fangs.
"Hi Doctor Haruno, I'm Kiba Inazuka. This is my son Jun," he said, indicating the boy.
"Hi Jun," she greeted as she went up to stand by his bedside. The little boy looked like his dad minus the tattoos. He looked a little pale and had a high fever. He was admitted into the hospital yesterday after he collapsed at home.
"Hi," Jun replied. Sakura smiled at him. When dealing with children, you really had to be careful when you spoke to them. They wouldn't understand anything you said medically but you had to look positive.
"I'm going to check your temperature really quick and then give you some more medicine. You should get some sleep after that," she suggested while pulling out the thermometer from the tray next to him. The boy just nodded. After she was done taking his temperature, Sakura asked if she could speak with Kiba outside for a minute.
They went outside the room and stood next to the window where they could see Jun falling asleep.
"So, what's up with my son?" Kiba asked hesitantly. Sakura flipped through Jun's chart.
"Mr. Inazuka," she started.
"Call me Kiba," he offered with a wolfish grin. She smiled at him.
"Okay then, Kiba. The test results came back from the blood we sampled yesterday. Jun has a parasitic infection," she informed.
"What like a bug? How could that happen?"
"Well this particular infection seems to have been transmitted from animal contact. Do you have a dog or any other pet at home?"
He looked sheepish and scratched the side of his face. "Well, yeah a few. We have a dog at home and I'm a dog trainer. My family runs a training center and my wife runs the veterinary office in down town. Jun's pretty much always hanging around the animals," he said, glancing at his son through the window.
"Okay, well then I think that it's pretty much safe to say that he contracted the infection from one of the two places. This also means that the infection is probably still there in one of the animals, so you should get that checked out," she suggested as she wrote something down in Jun's chart.
"Okay then. Um… what does this mean for my son?"
"Well right now were going to give him some antibiotics. After the fever has broken down, were going to give him some more medication to kill the infection itself. If it's all cleared up, he'll just be under observation for another day and if he's passed the final blood test then he can go home."
Kiba let out a breath. "…Good. I don't want him to be here longer than he has to. I hate doctors and hospitals." He began to stutter when Sakura raised an eyebrow at him. "Uhhh… what I meant to say was—"
"It's okay Kiba," she chuckled. "I get it. Hospitals do tend to make some people a little squeamish."
After exchanging a few more words, Sakura left to finish off her rounds. When she had finished off all her assigned patients for the day, the rest of her time at the hospital would be on-call for the emergency room if she were really needed.
"I guess I should page Tenten then," she mused as she dialed the number on her phone.
"Dr. Hyuga speaking," Tenten answered quietly.
"Tenten, its Sakura. Are you still up for lunch?"
"Yeah… I'm in the NICU (ICU for babies) right now but you go ahead and grab your lunch and I'll see you there as soon as I can," she whispered back. You had to be quiet in the NICU.
"Okay then." She hung up and went to the elevators.
The elevator doors opened and she walked in without looking first. For the second time that day she jumped when she saw, or rather ran right into Sasuke. Sasuke on the other hand just grabbed her shoulders to prevent her from falling.
"Oh… jeez," she breathed as she put her hand over her heart. She apologized before stepping away from him.
"Why were you rushing?" he asked as the doors closed.
"I just had a clumsy moment," she replied sheepishly. "Are you heading out to lunch?"
"No time. I've got a board meeting in a half hour."
"But that still leaves you enough time for lunch now."
"I need to prepare."
"You should start by eating."
"I'll survive."
"Do you skip lunch often?" she asked swiftly.
"Sometimes," he returned.
"Are you aware that the mind functions with more clarity and precision when properly nourished by eating three times a day including lunch?" she stated.
"Are you aware that my eating habits do nothing to affect my performance regardless of whether or not I've eaten beforehand?" he returned in a calmer but nonetheless equally rapid pace as he caught her eye.
They shared a semi-glare contest for about five seconds.
"… It may not affect you now," she said after a beat. "But you have to think long term Mr. Uchiha. It can and will catch up with you sooner or later."
"Along with all my 'stress' right Dr. Haruno?" he mocked recalling her demand that he get a physical the other day.
"Absolutely! So I take it that you got the memo."
"What memo?" he asked suspiciously.
"The physical exam," she answered. She laughed when he furrowed his brows. "What? Did you think I was kidding when I said I'd have you scheduled for a physical?"
"All this because I won't eat my lunch?"
"All this because it's my job," she replied. "The best medication is prevention. In today's society we see more cases of high blood pressure and stress related injury in younger generations. I would hate to see you waste away. You don't have to be a doctor to see that you are clearly overworked."
"You seriously want to give me physical," he stated somewhat incredulously. She simply looked him in the eye and uttered a simple "Yes."
"Well I can't exactly march right into the GYN department can I?" he said dryly.
"Who said you had to come to me? Why not schedule an exam with your own doctor?" she asked.
Sasuke just looked away from her. "I'd rather not get it done here."
"Why wouldn't you want testing from the best hospital in Japan?"
"It's not the facility I'm concerned about."
The last time he got a physical, a good portion of the female staff went crazy when they found out Sasuke would be taking his shirt off. They went from highly trained professionals to idiotic schoolgirls in less than a minute. It took everything he had not to fire all of them right then and there, not to mention covering up their carelessness from destroying the hospitals reputation.
Just then, the elevator came to a stop on the ground floor. The doors opened and the two walked out together until they reached the center of the lobby.
"Well it seems that we have reached an impasse but it means nothing. I will find a way to get you to take a stress test Mr. Uchiha."
"Is that a challenge Dr. Haruno?" he asked with his signature smirk. She looked him over once before settling her gaze on his eyes.
"Yes," she confirmed as she turned to walk towards the cafeteria. "Eat some lunch," she ordered as she walked away. Sasuke continued to smirk as he watched her walk away.
She really was something else. He hadn't seen much of her throughout the week but it seems like she's settled in well. Her commanding attitude and assertiveness were a little on the annoying side, yet somehow they only managed to make her all the more interesting. That was the only word he could use to describe her.
Tenten and Sakura walked together towards the GYN department. They had just finished their lunch and as promised, Sakura would do a sonogram on Tenten to check on the baby.
"You nervous?" she asked as she got the machine ready. Tenten was already prepped in the stir-ups and hospital gown.
"About the baby… sort of, about that probe in your hands about to make it way up my womanhood, yes," Tenten replied as she stared at the device in Sakura's hand.
Sakura laughed. "Suck it up Tennie. It's not that bad. Besides, it's the best way to see your little bundle of joy this early in the pregnancy. I'll do another sonogram that's less invasive when you're further along," she said as she began to insert the probe.
"Ohhh this is unpleasant," Tenten squirmed. She turned her head to look at the image on the screen, trying to figure out what she was seeing.
Sakura on the other hand knew exactly what was going on. She was absolutely shocked and positively overjoyed at the same time.
"Tenten…," Sakura said slowly.
"What? What's wrong?" she asked worriedly.
"Remember when you said you wanted to surprise Neji?" Tenten nodded. "Well now's your chance," she claimed as she pointed to the screen. As Sakura explained and pointed to the screen, Tenten's eyes widened.
"Holy Crap!" Tenten shouted for the second time that day.
Sasuke was consumed in paper work. Not that that was anything new. The presentation in December regarding Shikamaru's research in medicinal dosages was still three months away but Sasuke was already making preparations for that.
He looked over at the clock. He sighed, realizing that this would be his last day picking up Suki from her ballet practice. His parents were coming back from their trip soon and would resume that duty. On the plus side, he could spend more time at work getting more paper work done. On the down side, he would be spending more time at work… getting more paperwork done. He mentally sighed again. It was a lose/lose situation for him and he knew it.
Suki was really happy this week because she got to spend more time with him when he picked her up. Now she would have to wait until the evenings to see him again. He shuffled through the papers on his desk and foraged for the picture of Suki at the beach.
When he found it, he looked at her little smiling face holding a mini shovel and bucket in a bright pink swimsuit. They went to the beach last summer with his parents. It was Suki's first time there and she loved it, including all the floaties that Sasuke insisted that she wear. He smiled at her picture.
Just then, he heard the intercom go off. He went around to his desk and pushed the button.
"Mr. Uchiha, Naruto is here," his secretary informed. He also heard the juvenile 'Hey Teme' in the background.
"Send him in," he said as he released the button. Naruto came in through the door shortly after that.
"Hey Sasuke, do know if… what happened here?" he asked as he scanned the office.
A good portion of the books from the shelves now lay open at random pages and sprawled all over Sasuke's desk accompanied by tons and tons of paper work. Sasuke looked over them at the blond.
"What is it Dobe?" he asked uncaringly at his outburst. He just continued with his work.
"I just wanted to know when Suki was planning on having her birthday party," Naruto answered as he dumped a pile of papers off of one of the armchairs uncaringly and slouched down in their place. Sasuke glared a bit at the unnecessary mess but figured it was a lost cause anyway.
"Her birthday is next month, and the day after yours," Sasuke added. "How did you forget that?"
"I did NOT forget. She's my only godchild," Naruto huffed. "I just needed to know so that I could get started on her present."
Sasuke looked up from his work to stare at the Dobe questioningly. "What do you need a month for? You better not be getting her something stupid like a damn pony!"
"Relax it's not a pony. It's going to be homemade," Naruto said secretively. "Oh, and Hinata wants to bake the cake again. She says she's got the perfect design for Suki this year."
"Fine. Was that all?" He slammed the book shut and tossed it into a pile near the floor. He let out a sigh and picked up another one.
Naruto watched him work, wondering how the guy could live doing one mountain of paperwork to the next. Give Naruto a stack of files and he'll flip. Give them to Sasuke and watch them grow. Maybe that's why Sasuke isn't so keen on talking to people much. He spends so much time with himself that human contact is troubling. Okay maybe that wasn't exactly the case but whatever, he needs to take a break once in a while.
"Do you ever, I mean really ever leave this office unless it's to go home?" Naruto asked in an over exaggerated voice.
"Naruto, can't you see that I'm busy?" Sasuke asked in an annoyance.
"Yeah, so busy that you just called me by my actual name. That proves that you spend too much time in here. All that stress isn't good for you. I would know."
"You would know how to start stress is more like it."
"I'm serious. Have you ever heard of something called 'Stress related Injury'?"
"I think it's pretty self-explanatory, but yeah I know what it is," he replied, briefly remembering Sakura say something about it earlier.
"Okay then. You'd be surprised how many people I have in my sessions trying to recover from broken legs, arms, backs, hips and junk from stressing out too much and hurting themselves. Take a break man, even you're not invincible," he pressed.
Sasuke figured that if he ignored Naruto long enough, he would eventually go away. Naruto, not liking the lack of attention sighed and stood up.
"Fine but seriously, loosen up sometime. Get out of the office once in a while."
Sasuke may be a bastard, but he was still his best friend. Naruto didn't want him to waste his life away behind a bunch of paper. Then there was Suki to think about. What affects Sasuke affected her too and the last thing she needed was to have Sasuke stressed out.
Naruto left Sasuke's office and headed toward the elevators. He pushed the button and waited. He really wished there was some way that Sasuke could get a life. He was wasting the best years of his life consumed in work and nothing good can come out of that for him or Suki. Her grandparents were practically raising her and Naruto knew that somewhere down the line, Sasuke would regret not spending enough time with her, if he didn't already.
The elevator light blinked and the doors opened. Naruto stepped inside and the doors closed. He pushed for the third floor to go back to his station. He was lost in thought as the elevator went down.
He remembered the day back in college when Sasuke told him the he would be getting married. At first, Naruto freaked because he didn't even know that Sasuke was dating anyone. Then he found out that it was an arranged marriage. Sasuke's claim that it was better than wasting time on dating didn't sit well with Naruto, but he supported him nonetheless. He was too much of an antisocial back then to even talk to girls, much less date them.
His wife wasn't all that bad. It was clear that they didn't love each other at all despite their appearances. Then she got pregnant and died in labor. Naruto was really troubled by the fact that even though the mother of his child just died, Sasuke seemed indifferent to it all. He really pitied the child, Suki, and had no idea how her life was going to turn out. Sasuke was a good man and a good father, but Naruto knew that someday Suki was going to need a mother and that was all on Sasuke. Chances of that happening are slim to none considering that he barricades himself in that office of his all friggin day.
If only there was someone that Sasuke would accept. Someone that can turn his life around and be the wife he desires and mother that Suki needs. If only there was one woman that could change their lives for the better.
Just then the elevator stopped on the eighth and the doors opened to reveal Sakura.
"Hi Naruto," she greeted as she stepped in. The doors closed and went back down.
"Hey Sakura."
Over the past week, they had gotten to know each other better over the pediatrics department. Some of the kids that she was attending to needed therapy after an injury and thus, she had to spend some time with Naruto in the therapy room.
"Where are you coming from?" she asked.
"From Teme's office," he muttered grumpily.
"Oh… has he eaten anything?" she asked with interest.
Naruto raised his eyebrow. "…Uhhh I don't know, why?"
She just shrugged. "Well, I told him to eat some lunch this afternoon when I ran into him. He told me he was planning on skipping and I just couldn't resist trying to coax him into eating. I even went so far as to bust out the whole stress related injury tidbit."
"Same here! I don't think he's left his office for a while though. He's just swimming in a pool of books up there. It's pretty disastrous," he sighed. "I kind of wish he'd go home early or something. The guy can do whatever the hell he wants to and he decides to stay here until sundown wasting his life away."
"I advised him to get a stress test done. He clearly needs one but of course he blatantly refused," she grunted before sighing as well.
Naruto frowned before saying "He just needs to relax. If he doesn't do it for himself, then he should do it for Suki."
At the mention of Sasuke's daughter, Sakura suddenly got the urge to go right up to Sasuke's office and demand that he take a stress test. Suki was a precious child that needed her father to be healthy. She reminded Sakura of herself as a young girl. She knew what it was like to grow up with only a father to care for you and she didn't' want Sasuke's stress to ruin the bond that a father and daughter should have.
"You're right Naruto he should," she declared as an idea popped into her head. She had some time, so she might as well do something about him.
Sasuke sighed for the hundredth time today. He slumped in his chair and placed his head in his hands. The workload was finally finished but there were still papers scattered here and there. He hadn't eaten all day was beginning to regret it. But he was so drained he just wanted to fall asleep right at his desk, when a knock on his door interrupted him.
He unwillingly got up to answer it. If someone had to knock, that meant his secretary had gone home for the day.
He opened the door and was surprised to see Sakura standing there in her pink scrubs with what appeared to be a lunchbox in her hands.
"I hope you're not busy because even if you are I'm still coming in thank you!" she sang quickly as she walked past him into his office.
Sasuke just looked at her with a strange expression on his face.
"Sakura, what are you doing here?" he asked exasperatedly.
She just placed the lunch box down on his desk and turned to face him. The wall behind her was just a bunch of glass and the setting sun outlined her whole body in a warm orange glow. She smiled at him and looked around his office.
"Are you finished with your work?"
"…Why?" he asked, still looking at her curiously.
"Because Naruto told me that you're a wreck and I'm here to insist that you get a stress test done and eat something which is why I brought you this," she said pointing to the box on his desk.
"Stupid Dobe" Sasuke internally growled. "I appreciate your concern but don't take the Dobe too seriously. Besides, don't you have patients to see?"
"I'm concerned about you because I consider you my friend," she replied curtly. "Sure you're my boss but whatever, as your friend I'm insisting that you take a little more care of yourself. And don't bother arguing," she said when it looked like he would interrupt. "I've come with back up. I can always conveniently report to HR that your yearly physical is way overdue."
Sasuke just touched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "First the Dobe, now you. I appreciate the concern but I'm perfectly fine Sakur—,"
He didn't get to finish what he was saying as she quickly shoved a piece of stir-fried beef and tomatoes into his mouth when she saw the opportunity.
He just glared at her for a bit before he started chewing and swallowed. He would admit his stomach felt a bit better and the stir-fry was delicious. Sakura just laughed at his expression.
"Sorry, but I figured once you try my stir-fry, you wouldn't be able to resist it," she admitted as she handed him the box, which he surprisingly took from her.
"…Thanks," he conceded as he walked back to his desk. He was a little stunned when she pulled out a bottle of tea from out of nowhere.
"You need something to wash it down," she explained with a small smile. She sat down in the armchair Naruto was sitting on earlier. Sasuke began to eat her food.
"You made all this?"
"Yeah, I didn't really get to eat it today. I had lunch in the Cafeteria with Tenten. Is it good?"
He nodded. "You shouldn't have gone through all this," he said, making her sigh. Everyone seemed to be doing a lot of that lately.
"Never mind that," she ordered. "You need a physical and a stress test. As a doctor, I'm telling you that you should get it done as soon as possible. And I'm using the kid card on you so do it for Suki if not for yourself."
"If I say yes will you and Naruto get off my back?" he asked as he took another bite from the box. She looked at him and smiled.
"Well I can't guarantee anything from Naruto but, yes we will be happy and we'll stop popping in on you."
"Fine, but not a word of this to any of the staff," he demanded.
"Okay… but why? Not that I would leak out patient information but you said earlier that you didn't want to get a physical here. You never really answered me back then."
"Long story and maybe one day Naruto will tell you against my will. But regardless of that, I'll do it here as long as you keep up your end of the deal," he bargained, giving her a pointed look.
"Refresh my memory of that please."
"You will be my physician for that exam. Let's see how well you can multitask," he dared.
She sighed "Again, you challenge me. When will you learn that when I'm challenged, I always rise to the occasion?"
"I'll learn after you've proven to me that I have stress issues. Only then will you be acknowledged by me," he said while finishing off the last of the stir-fry.
They talked a little more about random stuff. Sasuke was surprised to find that it was easy to talk to her about things he normally wouldn't care to discuss. She had a pleasant aura surrounding her and he found he liked when she smiled. What really intrigued him was that she wouldn't ogle him like most women do. She was approachable but demanding, and he liked that about her. What he probably liked the most was that she was a parent, just like him. So naturally, they talked about their kids.
"So are you going to the recital tomorrow?" she asked again.
"I can't let my daughter perform without her biggest fan can I?" he asked. "Are you going? Believe it or not, Suki's been asking about you."
"She really wants me to go?" she asked, genuinely surprised. "Well I hope I can. I'll certainly try to be there. Ino's daughter will be performing too and it would really bring back good memories."
"You danced?"
She nodded. "Ino and I took ballet together back in the day. It's been years since I've put on a pair of ballet shoes," she reminisced. She looked at the clock and gasped. It was 4:20 pm "SORA!" she panicked as she stood up abruptly.
"Oh no, I have to pick up Sora is ten minutes!" she wailed as she started to leave Sasuke's office. "Let me know when you want to schedule the exam and we'll take it from there," she shouted as she shut the door behind her.
Sora was finished with his karate club for today. So far, he had only managed to crack the small, but was nowhere near breaking it yet. His Sensei was always an encouragement though.
Now he was waiting outside the school with Akio, who surprisingly decided to join the karate club as well. When asked why, he said that it was better than watching his mom's ballet class for the rest of the day.
"Mommy's late," Sora noted. He and Akio had taken to just sitting around in front of the school. They were both in their karate uniforms.
"My dad's always late. I think it's because he takes too long to get here," Akio thought out loud. He looked up and noticed a car pull up. "Hey, is that your mom?"
And sure enough Sakura came out of the car and ran up to them.
"Sorry sweetie," she breathed as she came up to Sora to hug him. Sora was a little unenthusiastic about the hug but only because Akio was there. It's not manly to hug your mom in front of your friends.
"Am I really late?" she asked as she bent down to be eye level with Sora. Sora just shook his head no.
Sakura smiled at him and then turned to Akio. "Is your daddy picking you up Akio?"
"I think he is," Akio murmured. "I don't know. Last time he was supposed to pick me up, he forgot about it."
"For a five-year-old, he pretty nonchalant about the whole thing"Sakura thought before saying "Let me call your mom," and took a seat on the steps in between the boys.
"Hey Ino," she greeted through the phone. "Isn't Shikamaru supposed to pick up Akio after school today?"
"Well, yeah,"Ino replied."Don't tell me he forgot. Is Akio still at school?"
"Yeah, I just came to pick up Sora and I didn't want to leave him here," she said. "Do you want me to drop him off at your studio?"
"That would be a life saver Sakura. Thanks."
"No problem. I'll see you later," she said before hanging up. "Well, looks like we're going to the studio. Get in the car boys."
"Aww, I thought I was done with the studio," Akio whined as both he as Sora got up and followed Sakura to the car.