do not owns the nahrootoe

Phobia

by Riverhaze

Chapter Eight

Sasuke Uchiha was pretty chill. Or at least, he liked to think so. There once was a time when all he felt was anger, it practically swallowed him whole and deluded his mind. Nothing mattered to him, and he was sure he did not matter to anyone. Of course he had been wrong, when he went into that deep dark abyss Naruto and Sakura were one of the few to remain loyal to him. Even when Sakura tried to kill him, and she could have annihilated him, she did not.

It was the little things that counted.

So Sasuke was trying to reason with himself, why he was keeping tabs on the annoying Haruno. The Dobe just wanted him to make sure she wouldn't leave again, but here the Uchiha was, prowling around her hydrangeas at the crack of dawn, making sure she was getting up for work. He did just finish his morning run, he always made the excuse that he was on his way to finish up his training anyway, so why not stop by here? It'll only take a few minutes.

A pool of light flooded the yard as Sakura turned on the light in her bathroom. A shadow passed by as her figure crossed through the room, distorted by the privacy glass.

Good, she was awake.

Line Break

There was an ominous shudder from the desk when Sakura placed the thick volumes of medical text books on it. Ino's eyebrows shut up to her forehead, she barely had time to move her things from the counter top when she came barging in there.

"What are these?" Ino asked as she slowly opened one.

"These are the medic books Tsunade-sama made me memorize front to back." Sakura said, crossing her arms.

"I have to-?" Ino looked at them with frightful eyes.

"Take your time, I'll be busy getting my journals ready for the trial. But I expect you to be up to speed with every medical book and pamphlet in the library by the time I'm done." Sakura cracked her knuckles, for once relishing in the fact that she wasn't on the opposite end. She had to whip Ino into shape if she was going to help her run the hospital. Sure, Ino was a superb field medic but the hospital was a completely different monster. Sakura wished she had paid more attention last time she worked there.

"Gee, can't wait. Ya know, things were a lot more laid back before you took over." Ino grumbled.

"You haven't seen anything yet!" She wagged her finger threateningly, a little serious but she couldn't help but grin.

"So that means you aren't going to abandon ship once the trial's over?" Ino asked, looking straight down at her lap. Sakura could tell by her tone that this possibility had been eating away at Ino for some time and she was trying to be casual about it. Why was everyone being so after school special? First Sasuke, and now Ino? What next, Naruo would come crying at her in the rain?

"Wish I could but no." Sakura winced, flashing her headband with a wry smile. She didn't wear it any more, she had gone back to ribbons and silk scarf's to keep her hair in order. A few weeks ago she came home and found it on her coffee table after throwing it out the first time. A note had been attached but she couldn't recognize the handwriting, anyway it was from the Hokage's office, but it basically explained that while she was head of the hospital, she was also a shinobi of Konoha. Technicalities and all that. So she was stuck with it for a while.

Ino gasped but didn't say anything. Sakura back peddled out of the room before she started crying or giving a speech. She returned to her office, a neutral feelings zone, to collect her papers. The trial was in a few days, it would be conducted in the civilian's court since the man who created the disease was a civilian. As morbid as it sounded, Sakura couldn't wait to meet him. Maybe she could ask him a few question, probe his mind a bit and find out just how he thought of the formula.

Humming to herself as she moved around the room and organizing her mess, Sakura did not notice the Anbu nin sitting on the ledge. Turning around she almost leapt out of her skin, seriously, what was with people and not using the door? Also, she had to pay attention more often.

"Miss Haruno?" The Anbu asked her, he wore the mask of the boar and the traditional plain black cloak.

"Uh, yes?" She asked warily, eyeing his movements.

"I'm here to escort you to the trial." He revealed in a quiet tone.

"Today? Right now? I thought it was in two days!" Sakura gasped, almost dropping the files in her arms.

"It was moved to today by order of the Hokage. We were supposed to leave two minutes ago."

A little over five minutes later, Sakura found herself standing outside the Anbu interrogation room feeling a bit more irritated than usual. She had asked her escort for a few extra minutes to get ready, but he practically kidnapped her. She wondered what stupid idea had possessed Naruto for him to move the trial up so suddenly, she didn't even get a chance to prepare her testimony. Also, how on earth were they going to conduct a fair trial in here?

Grumbling her way inside, Sakura paused to observe those in attendance. Ibiki was up front, talking in a low whisper with the judge, a weathered looking old man. Naruto of course was there, standing a few feet to the side and chatting with the Mizukage. Before he could make eye contact with her, Sakura spotted Sasuke and Kakashi sitting near the back, Kakashi's nose buried in a familiar red book. She walked over to them and took a seat without asking, taking the time to sort the chaotic mess of papers she brought with her.

"Hello Ugly, it's good to see you made it." Sai walked by with a few of the Anbu members, he stopped to nod his regards at her.

"Shut up, Sai." Sakura retorted, not even lifting her head to look at him.

"I wish this thing would hurry up." Kakashi sighed heavily next to them, his book slowly drifted up to his face as he flipped a page.

"Good, Sakura-chan is here. Sai, what are you doing!? You're supposed to go get Taro!" Naruto buzzed over to them, his eyes wild with exhaustion already.

"Oh, was I?" Sai teased, but quickly left. Naruto gave them all a look like he wanted nothing more than to jump out of the window. Sakura almost laughed. Almost.

"Do you guys know why they changed the setting?" Sakura turned to face Sasuke, he was sitting so still she thought he had fallen asleep for a second.

"Anbu claimed since the disease was made to kill shinobi then he should be tried like a shinobi. Naruto and the rest of the Kage agreed." He spoke up, surprisingly in full sentences. Sakura glanced back up front where the Kage were sitting. Naruto was nearest the bench, Gaara sat next to him reading over a piece of paper and next to him sat the Mizukage, who may or may not have been eyeing both of her young counterparts. The Tsuchikage actually had fallen asleep, he had tried to hide under his hat but it was starting to slip off.

"All rise!" The judge boomed with a sudden impressive volume. Everyone shuffled to their feet as the door opened once more to the sound of chains dragging on the ground. Sakura finally got to see Taro as he was being drug in, his arms and legs chained behind him. He wasn't much older than her, maybe five years tops. He had grizzled rusty red hair tied into a small pony tail, his face was brick shaped and sagged at the edges, and his eyes. They were dark black with no depth to them, like they had no life.

The three Anbu guards plus Sai sat him down next to the makeshift bench, re-chaining him to the chair to sit comfortably. Taro's eyes scanned the crowd several times, squinting through the light until they landed on her. He grinned.

"Taro Nishimura, you are charged with high crimes against humanity, illegally, willingly and knowingly creating a jutsu to cause harm against your fellow man. How do you plead?" The judge asked. Taro smiled broadly, as if smiling at a lover. His eyes kept flickering back over to Sakura's, as if they were both sharing some sort of elaborate joke.

"Guilty." He said, his voice light and boyish. He reminded Sakura of Orochimaru, not as cynical or smart, but just as evil and twisted. "I waive the right to representation." He giggled, giggled. Sakura was already creeped out not even five minutes in.

"If convicted, you face the death sentence or life imprisonment. Let's begin." The judge said, slamming his gavel down with resounding finality. The group of prosecutors assembled for the occasion looked excited, like they knew this was going to be a breeze. There was at least one representative from every nation there, for both the civilian casualties and ninja. They started by trying to interview Taro, but he proved to be too creepy and incompetent to hold a full coherent conversation for long.

"Perhaps we can have someone explain the nature of this sickness. Our very own Sakura Haruno will do the honors, as she was the one to cure it." When Ibiki called her name Sakura was thrown out of her daydreaming about lunch. Everyone in the room swivelled their head to look at her, and for some odd reason Sakura was reminded of being called on in school.

"Miss Haruno? Would you like to take the stands to testify?" The judge asked when she didn't get to her feet fast enough. Her response was picking up the humongous stack of papers and shuffling her way up front. She didn't like how everyone stared at her with wide eyes. It made her uncomfortable, as if she was on trial.

"Now, is it true that you discovered the cure for the disease?" Ibiki asked. Sakura inwardly sighed if he was going to ask these hum-drum questions.

"Yes, so to speak." Sakura said, leaning back in her chair.

"So to speak? Can you explain?"

"Well, only people with a chakra system can contract it since it is technically a jutsu. It actually mimics a disease and manifests itself as a common cold, but in less than twenty four hours the minor symptoms rapidly advance. Once it progresses to a flu like state, boils and bruises develop on the skin which progress to necrosis, that is, the skin starts to eat itself and rot as if you were a corpse. We have seen this stage decay a patient to a skeleton in less than three hours. If the afflicted somehow manages to fight off this stage, the brain swells and inflames, other major organs start to fail rapidly, such as the lungs or kidneys, even the nerves go haywire. The person will die of suffocation of the lungs, blood, brain, or all three. The disease is powered by your own chakra system, so basically, you kill yourself." Sakura explained, pulling out pictures and medical files as evidence.

In the silence that followed which echoed like war drums in her ears, everyone in the room looked shocked or disgusted or both.

"How many have been lost by this disease?" Ibiki found his voice.

"In Konoha, three hundred-and-ninety four, over all, five thousand or so. But this is only an estimate on what we know, there are at least five years of undocumented deaths that can now be attributed to this disease." Sakura said, feeling like the reaper of death as she relaid the news.

"You said this was a jutsu that mimicked a disease? How is that possible?" One of the other prosecutors asked, his expression jammed in self confusion.

"Well the jutsu itself is an unnatural hybrid of ninjutsu and genjutsu. When you try to heal someone afflicted using a conventional medical jutsu, nothing is done because technically, nothing is there to heal. At first we could only cure a patient using one method, you would have to go into the person's chakra system with your own, then flood the chakra system with normal chakra. This process however is extremely dangerous, we only have the top of our top doctors performing this at the hospital. You could cause the patient to go into shock and die if you are too forceful or contract the disease yourself. Using a sample provided from patient zero, I isolated the main strain and was able to produce a 'vaccine' type cure." Sakura explained, wheeling out more evidence to back up her claims. Now she felt like a teacher of academy students, the way the room hung on her word. Even Taro was paying attention intently.

"Personally, I think it is ingenious. I've never seen anything like it before, and probably never will again. Its a shame to think what Taro could have created if he put his talents to good use." Sakura glanced down at her rendering of the disease. Jolly. She glanced over at the man in question, he was beaming proudly like a child at their birthday party.

"How could a civilian with no prior knowledge of the shinobi arts create such a thing?" The same man from before asked, this time his voice was just a bit quieter.

"Well, you'll have to ask him that." Sakura nodded over to Taro. The room turned its undivided attention to him, and this seemed to feed some sort of innate craving within Taro. He had done this before, made a room hang on his every word.

"Because I wanted to kill you all before you killed all of us." A shrug of the shoulders and roll of the eyes, as if they should have known already. Now Sakura was in on the joke.

"Are there any more questions for this man?" The Judge asked, leering at Taro like he couldn't wait to convict him. Sakura went back to her seat, clutching her research to her chest. Now they all knew just how insane the situation really had been, and that pink haired medic in Konoha knows all about it. She did not trust some of the looks she was being given.

Less than fifteen minutes later there was a swift crack of the gavel and the judge dismissed them. Immediately the Anbu surrounded Taro to take him back to his cell. Sakura was never as eager to leave a place as then as she made her way toward the exit with Sasuke.

"Sakura-chan." A quiet voice said picked her out of the crowd, she looked over to see Naruto. "May I have a word?" He asked. Everyone was looking at Sakura with expectant eyes and she cursed a thousand times inwardly.

"Uhm, okay." She grumbled in defeat. They stood by the doorway as the hall outside was filling up, Sakura leaned back against the wall reluctantly. As Nartuo began to talk, something about how clever she had been, Gaara appeared next to him with more stern expression than usual.

"We need to talk with the other Kage about the nature of what we just discovered." He said, grabbing the Hokage and dragging him away.

"Do you need me there?" Sakura asked.

"Oh, no, no, no!" Naruto waved his hands and sort of bobbed his head. "Meet me in my office Monday, and I'll make it an order if you don't show." He added wisely.

"Yeah, yeah." She grumbled under her breath, stomping out of the room.

Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke had actually waited for her, they were chatting with a grim faced Ibiki. But then again, didn't he always look like that?

"Ah, there she is. You did good work Haruno, good work." The interrogator nodded warmly at her, he even gave her a pat on the shoulder.

"What's going to happen to Taro?" She asked, tucking her hands into the deep set pockets on her doctor's lab coat.

"We're going to execute him tomorrow morning. Unanimous decision." His scars seemed more deep set than usual by his tone. After a few more minutes of chit chat, Ibiki bid them goodbye. Sakura did not feel like returning to work just then, so she decided to be charitable and took her old team mates out for lunch.

Sitting on the porch outside of the barbecue place, under the warm butter yellow sun and aquamarine sky, it was sort of easy to forget about the man with the creepy eyes and boyish giggle locked up somewhere in Konoha. For once she had a nice conversation with two of her closest friends, but the strangest thing of all was that she felt like she belonged again. And Sakura did not know what to make of that.

edit 7/18/15