Syncope
Chapter 2
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All conversations were cut the moment Uchiha Sasuke strode into the hospital as if he owned the place. The focused, dangerous aura around the man was intimidating to say the least, especially to those who didn't recognize him.
Sasuke ignored the wary looks sent in his direction and without wasting any time stalked to the main desk, cutting in front of a waiting line.
"Where is she?" he asked.
"Sir, there's a queue, you can't just..." the foolish receptionist attempted to obstruct him but one menacing glare had her properly cowed.
"Where is my wife," he repeated himself. "Uchiha Sakura. She works here. You may know her."
He observed with satisfaction as the receptionist turned white as a sheet.
"You-You're Sakura-sama's husband! I'm terribly sorry!" The woman's fingers flew across the keyboard as she quickly checked information on her computer. "She's in room 205, second floor."
When she raised her eyes, Sasuke was already gone.
He came in without knocking. Tsunade's other student was there, but he paid her no mind. His eyes were only on Sakura as he crossed the distance to the bed. She was still passed out and deathly pale, with a compress on her forehead.
"Ah, you're here already," Shizune noticed. "Sakura's going to be okay, she only blacked out. She should be fine after getting some rest."
"Why does this keep happening to her?" Sasuke asked.
"What do you mean? I thought the last time she fainted was when she destroyed your house," Shizune inquired in alarm.
Sasuke spared her an irritated glower. She called herself a medical jonin and she had no idea about the repeating incidents? As Sakura's friend and coworker, she should have noticed it sooner than him.
"She faints often. I think she did this morning before going to work," he explained briskly.
"How often? Can you describe those fainting spells?" Shizune asked professionally, but a genuine worry was reflecting in her eyes.
Sasuke briefly summarized what he knew. When he finished, Shizune looked livid. "There's nothing about this in her file! How could she hide something like this, from me! Tsunade-sama taught her better!"
But beneath the anger, there was a sliver of fear shining through the cracks. And what scared a veteran medic had to be a cause for real concern.
"Do you know what's wrong with Sakura?" Sasuke asked directly.
"No. Not yet." Shizune sighed and deflated. "I'd like her to stay for observation for a few days. I'll run some tests on her," she explained. "She's got a spare toothbrush and a change of clothes in her office, but anything else you'll have to bring her from home."
Sasuke nodded and took a seat on the bedside, watching his unconscious wife. Her chest rose and fell in a steady breath.
"If you're staying, change her compress every fifteen minutes," Shizune instructed. She stopped by the doorway, then looked at him. "And Sasuke... don't worry, we'll figure this out," she said reassuringly before leaving. The clicks of her sensible heels on the linoleum faded in the distance.
Sasuke would've liked to believe her, but he wasn't a naïve optimist. If there was a medical condition Sakura hadn't cured herself from by now, he should definitely worry. Sasuke leaned closer to her to brush a stray piece of pink hair out of his wife's face.
He was changing the compress when the door behind him opened.
"Papa?" his daughter asked, lingering in the doorway. She always hesitated when she thought she was interrupting a private moment between her parents.
"Come in, Sarada," Sasuke invited her calmly as he put the fresh compress on Sakura's forehead with precision.
Sarada took a second chair and seated herself next to him on Sakura's bedside.
"How is Mama? Is she going to be okay?" she asked, the fear in her voice making her sound less like a skilled kunoichi and more like a child that needs her father to make everything better.
Sasuke wanted to reassure her, but he detested lies, so he chose a third way. "Probably. They're going to figure out why she's sick," he said.
Sarada nodded with obvious relief. "That's good," she said. "Why didn't she tell us anything? I thought her fainting was normal."
Sasuke was asking himself the same question. He looked at his daughter. She bit her lip, struggling with something she wanted to say, expression dark as she gazed intently at her mother's unconscious face as if trying to read her mind.
"Today when I came home and no one was there, I thought she had to take another shift, not that something dangerous happened to her," Sarada said quietly at last. "Papa, she could have fainted in some alley and I wouldn't have thought to look for her. I only called her office because I wanted to know what groceries to pick up for tomorrow's dinner," she confessed guiltily, eyes shiny with tears.
Sasuke drew her in a careful embrace and Sarada clung to him as she fought the emerging sobs. She wasn't winning.
"Sarada, you had no reason to expect something bad would happen to any of us. We have peaceful times now and your mother is a powerful kunoichi. She's capable of keeping her secrets if she wants to."
"But I should have noticed something was wrong with her!" Sarada cried out. "I live with her all my life, I should know what's normal for her or not!"
"And I'm her husband. I know her since we were children," Sasuke pointed out. "In my memory, she fainted only once because of genjutsu and it was when we barely made genin. I knew fainting wasn't like her and I did nothing. So I deserve the blame far more than you."
That got through to Sarada who gaped at him in disbelief and then a flicker of understanding.
"Papa, no... that's not fair," she said in a subdued tone. "But I see your point." She sighed.
Sasuke was satisfied that he stopped her from the downward spiral of pointless self-recrimination, a destructive path he knew too well for travelling it himself too many times. He didn't wish this on his daughter.
"Papa, what do we do now?" Sarada asked. "I'm not even a medic ninja... It's so annoying. Mama needs help the most now and I can't do anything for her..."
He definitely could relate to his daughter in their mutual frustration over this. He mulled her question over. Curing Sakura was in the hands of the qualified medics, but there were other things they could do.
"We could work on improving your perceptiveness, if you want. And you should be able to learn medical ninjutsu quickly, you have your mother's chakra control," Sasuke told her with pride. What he came up with wasn't much, but it was only supposed to give Sarada a measure of comfort. Bettering skills one thought were lacking was a useful way to cope with feelings of uselessness.
Sarada brightened at his suggestions. "Thanks, Papa."
Sasuke had never been more pleased with receiving a surprise kiss on the cheek.
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Sakura woke up in the early morning, disoriented when the first thing she saw was the hospital ceiling. Did I stay up doing paperwork late again? She wondered in confusion. She had stopped doing that when Sasuke had returned home.
A movement at her side caught her attention and there he was, her husband sleeping in the chair. He was leaning back, almost sliding off the seat, but he managed to still look dignified with his hand elegantly resting on his stomach. Then he shifted a little to find a more comfortable position and emitted a soft snore.
Sakura's light giggle woke him up. Sasuke cracked his eyes open, then rubbed his face groggily, stifling a yawn.
"Good morning, sleepyhead," Sakura said, smothering another giggle.
Like an elite ninja he was, Sasuke quickly became fully alert. He met her eyes confidently in an intense stare as he stretched out languidly and sat up in the chair in a smooth, cat-like move. Sakura blushed a little at this display and he smirked. He could make the simplest things look so hot just by the virtue of him doing it and she absolutely loved him for it, but this wasn't a time to get distracted by her husband's magnetic moves.
"Um, darling, why are we in the hospital?" she asked.
All playfulness drained away from his demeanor and he gave her a flat look. "For the same reason you're always fainting. Why didn't you tell me that you're ill?" It wasn't quite accusation, but his tone belied his displeasure.
Sakura met his gaze levelly. "It's nothing to worry about."
He said nothing, but his expression said it all. He didn't believe her.
Sakura pinched the bridge of her nose and tried to explain. "I have everything under control. It's not even contagious. I checked. Sometimes I just get tired, the blood doesn't flow well into my head and I get dizzy. I heal myself, get some rest and everything's okay then."
Sasuke remained unconvinced. "You should tell someone if there's something wrong with your health. If not me, then Shizune. She's a medic," he insisted.
His tone was measured, but she knew these words coming from her stoic husband gave testament to how affected he was by her condition. He was imploring her to listen and take care of herself.
"Sarada came here last night too. She would have stayed up all night with me but I sent her back home to sleep. She didn't want to leave you," Sasuke added with a hint of rebuke.
All at once, Sakura felt shamed by her own negligence. She didn't realize that her actions meant specifically not to worry her family could cause even more worry to them.
"Oh god... I'm so sorry," she whispered with a stricken expression. "I was so stupid, wasn't I, Sasuke-kun?" she asked, smiling through the film of tears in her eyes.
"So stop being stupid. It's not like you," he replied with a grumble and poked her forehead. The upward arch of his mouth suggested he wasn't angry at her.
Sakura found Sasuke's steady presence comforting when she went through the barrage of various examinations issued by Shizune. Her blood was drawn and her body was scanned by multitude of machines. The tests took the whole day and by the end of it she was sick of it. She vastly preferred to be on the other side of the poking and prodding procedures.
She felt well enough, so there was no reason to stay overnight. With enough persuasion, Sakura managed to get released from hospital under the promise of taking a few days off work.
"We're home," she announced cheerfully, slipping off her sandals in the entrance.
"Mama?!" Sarada exclaimed in surprise, then ran out of the kitchen and excitedly hugged Sakura. "You're okay!"
"Yes, I'm fine. Sorry for worrying you." Sakura stroked her daughter's hair lightly. "Do I smell dinner?" she asked, sniffing.
"Yeah, come and eat. Papa, you too!" Sarada tugged Sakura to the table, chatting about things while Sasuke watched them fondly as he hang his coat, then followed.
Sarada served the food alone. She had forbidden Sakura from helping.
"This looks amazing! Did you cook it all by yourself?" Sakura asked her daughter incredulously.
"Actually, Papa cooked it yesterday. I just heated it up for us," Sarada said modestly.
Sakura gave Sasuke an appreciative look. "Well then, we can't let it go to waste. Itadakimasu!"
They all dug in and for a moment, everything was perfect for the Uchiha family. The delicious meal shared together as they chatted in high spirits became a treasured memory in the times to come.
Sakura put away her chopsticks and wiped her mouth with a napkin. "I'm stuffed. This was delicious, dear. Thank you both," she complimented Sasuke and Sarada. "I'm going to turn in now."
Sakura stood up, then swerved dangerously, grabbing the table for support. Blood gushed from her nose and she choked, then spat out more crimson on her hand. She stared at it in shock, like she didn't understand what she was seeing.
"What the..." Sakura didn't finish, because her eyes rolled to the back of her skull and she lost consciousness.
Sasuke and Sarada cried out for her in alarm and jumped out of their seats to the rescue. Sasuke, who was closer, managed to catch her body before she hit the ground and hurt herself more. He shook her lightly. "Sakura, wake up! Sakura!" But she wasn't responding, only blood continued dripping from her nose and staining the front of her red shirt.
"What's wrong with her?! What do I do?!" Sarada asked frantically, looking to her father for direction.
He made a split second decision as he stood up, lifting Sakura into his arms. She seemed light like a feather to him.
"Call the hospital! I'm bringing her there!"
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The waiting room was bright and cold. Sarada was sitting in a plastic chair, leaning forward, almost bowing, forehead resting on her hands clasped together, so that her face wasn't showing. Not that Sasuke needed to see it—he knew it was pale and drawn with a terrible worry. His daughter was scared for her mother's life. They both were.
He was too keyed up to sit in one of those small, uncomfortable chairs, so he remained standing with his back to the wall and eyes trained on the emergency room. His scattered thoughts inevitably wandered into one direction he preferred to avoid. The last time he lost someone so precious to him that even after all these years he still felt the empty hollowness in his heart in the shape of him.
This is completely different. Sakura isn't like Itachi, Sasuke told himself stubbornly, glaring at the closed door. If his Mangekyo was activated, he could've incidentally combusted it.
Sasuke glanced at the clock. The hand barely moved from the last time he checked the time, but it felt like it had been ages. Sasuke clenched his jaw in irritation and kept waiting.
After what seemed like eternity, though in reality only a little over one hour passed since he'd brought Sakura to the hospital, the door of the emergency room opened. Both Uchihas snapped their heads up in anticipation.
Shizune came out of the room and in a flash they were both right before her.
"How is Mama? Did you heal her?" Sarada asked.
"She's stable... for now. But she'll have to stay in hospital for more treatment."
"So you know what's wrong with her?" Sasuke demanded.
Shizune shook her head regretfully. "I'm not sure. It's something new. I've never seen anything exactly like this before. I need to get those test results first to make a better diagnosis."
"I don't care how sure you are, you must know something. Just tell us what it is," Sasuke ordered.
Shizune took a step back. "Alright..." she gave in after a pleading look from Sarada. "From what I observed, it works in a similar fashion to autoimmune diseases. But in Sakura's case, it's chakra-based."
"Speak plainly," Sasuke said with a frown.
"In layman's terms, Sakura's chakra is attacking her own body," Shizune explained with a grave look. "And if we don't find a way to stop it, it's going to kill her."
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AN: Thanks for reading!
Please review, I'd love to hear your thoughts :)