Chapter 12
Tsunade had seen her fair share of difficult patients; she wasn't old or even close to retirement. She just entered her thirties, but that didn't mean she could tell you how many men, woman and children she has had the displeasure of treating.
They all thought there was a pill or medication for all problems in their lives.
Got a cough, they want a pill.
Suffer from headaches, where's the treatment?
My son won't listen to me, is there a medication for unruly brats?
No.
Her answer would always be… treat them like the plague. She would suit up; gloves, masks, googles even, you name it. Instructing her patients to give every single piece of information to her most patient staff and drag them on until she would go see them and ask those questions all over again.
Only to end with a recommendation for a therapist, a nutritionist or even a counsellor. You waste my time for a cold that must run its course and your own body knows how to fight it, I will waste your time and hope there is an understanding over what really requires medical treatment and what doesn't.
She has real patients to tend to, people who are in pain and need medication, treatments and constant check-ups so they can live another day as others scramble the world for answers to many problems a simple pill cannot fix.
Those days she would deal with people asking to speak with a doctor about their life and how much they suffer from problems they caused to themselves… yet won't change their lifestyle; those days are a break from reality.
A break from the constant flow of bad news and suffering patients who bring along their families and loved ones to see from afar how they waste away from a disease they can't treat.
Sadly, those patients who really need her don't seek help until it's too late. They rather not bother anyone and hold off the warning signs, letting their loved ones clueless and ashamed they never noticed what was going on.
Honestly… if there wasn't a system of nurses and medical personnel filtering the cases before, she got to them, her time and energy would have been wasted on those who don't need her.
Doctors aren't the answer to everything.
Hard pills to swallow. That is what you'll get.
Don't get her wrong, it wasn't always like this. She was once young and naïve enough to think people knew when to ask for help. She grew up in a family of healers and warriors, it was natural for them to take care of their bodies and save lives.
Even if some of those lives had a bad attitude. - "Do we really have the same problem as yesterday?" - she grumbled.
- "I'm sorry Doctor, we tried to convince him and keep him calm." - the nurse began. - "We have contacted the next of kin, but they are out and will arrive soon." -
Her brown eyes scanned the electronic tablet, many words and numbers she didn't want the loved ones to read. Bad news is always hard to interpret once the results get to her hands.
Vitals dropping, worrying results and inefficient treatments over the harsh symptoms. The man she had been treating over the last few months was holding on a thin rope. She knew his time was running out and he would be buried along his fallen comrades.
Just like many have.
She signed. - "I'll go see him." - her words carried her to the ugly reality they faced. - "Is he stable?" - the small nod of the nurse was enough. - "Make sure to keep the family updated, I'll do what I can." -
"Do whatever it takes."
For what? To prolong the inevitable? To keep a man suffering in her hospital from the condition known as "Black Ink". The doctor could not promise a miracle, everyone who read the news or watched the broadcasting knew there was no cure.
Just treatment.
A lie to calm the population into thinking we know what we are doing, to give hope when there isn't any. If they only knew they could only help with the pain and restrain their activities to avoid incidents.
Incidents like this one…
- "Why are you acting like this?" - she scolded. - "You know it's worse if you go home." -
- "I don't want… to go home." - the man struggled to answer. He was held by a bigger nurse who was able to sedate him from getting up and running out of the hospital.
- "And where are you trying to go?" - she kept her distance, just a few meters keeping her from the man in the small makeshift hospital room.
The hospital wasn't capable to house all the sick who suffered the plague, they had built special quarters from an old hotel near the hospital. It wasn't ideal but they had to provide a quarantined area.
Not to mention, only the worse cases get these rooms. All the other suspected cases and less grave ones had to stay in the tents.
Since it was still unknown how to contract it, they used all they knew to keep the staff safe and conducted routine check-ups in order to avoid sending a doctor with symptoms to a hospital filled with patients who hadn't contracted the plague.
And so, there she was. Keeping an eye on the man laying on a hospital bed fitted into one of the many brick prisons as nurses rushed from one patient to another in hopes to ease their suffering until they were no longer responsive.
Until they had passed.
Then… they tended to the next patient.
One after another; women or men; younger to older; from any background and social or economic standing. There were no special circumstances that brought the condition, only bad luck.
- "I will die anyways." - he continued. - "Why does it matter?" -
She secured the tablet in her lab coat before taking a few more steps. - "Because." - she warned. - "You could expose others." -
And with that, the man became quiet and turned his gaze. He wouldn't continue the conversation and she was glad. It bogged her how people could be so selfish in believing they did nothing wrong by hiding their condition and still exposing others just so they could do whatever they wanted.
That is not how things should go.
- "I will be back. Your cousin returns soon and would like to visit you." - her words barely made him react; patients could be stubborn.
She continued her rounds like usual, face after face of pained victims and their loved ones, assuring they worked tirelessly to give them comfort and everything they needed.
The hotel was big enough to house plenty of patients who couldn't care for themselves anymore, but they were understaffed and relied on others who has the condition in the early stages to aid the overworked staff.
Though, not all agreed to help. Most of the time she had to deal with people being selfish or even racist against the different clans and groups that lived in this town.
One family had a disagreement with another family one hundred years ago and they still held that grudge or just by being from a different background… whatever excuse they had not to lift a finger.
Her back hurt, her neck was stiff, and her feet ached, but she had to keep going. Her staff needed her instructions, and she needed them to continue their hard work. A warm bath sounded amazing right now.
- "Doctor, we have new arrivals at the quarantined sector. They encountered a heavily contaminated person." - a nurse informed her.
- "So? I don't need to know every time someone gets in close contact with the ink. Just document it like we always do." - she brushed it off.
The nurse however, followed her through the corridor. - "It's Madara, he requested you." - she insisted.
Tsunade scrunched her brow in disapproval. - "Did he say what he wanted?" - the nurse only shook her head in denial. - "Is it urgent?" - the nurse nodded in approval. - "Fine." - she grumbled. - "Get someone to cover for me." -
It was protocol to enter the town through one of the four large gates, each one with a team of guards and some workers performing the necessary security precautions. Two of those entrances, the East and the West, are strictly for special scout groups and mostly used by warriors before and after missions.
Just to be safe.
No one wants a group of tourists seeing a warrior in full gear and ready to jump at the threat of danger. They wanted to see guards in shiny armour and well-dressed people asking for their identifications.
Heading to the West gate, Tsunade entered the quarantined zone to find the tall Uchiha cradling a small woman in his arms.
He stood tall and angry in the front entrance of the quarantined building, another small hotel turned into a makeshift medic bay, and he searched for her.
Clearly, something was up.
She marched towards the man in the half empty building entrance and noticed how tense he was. His shoulders were squared, and his jaw was about to pop from the pressure. - "Uchiha, what is the meaning of this?" - she pointed at the small woman, her eyes fluttered close and her cheeks a little too pale.
He moved his weight on the other leg and jerked his chin to the left wing. - "We need privacy." - he walked towards the receptionist and the doctor took the key from the desk. They arrived at a small two-bedroom room, and he carefully laid the woman on the bed near the window at the end of the room. - "Have you ever seen this before?" - he turned to her and held his gloved covered hand to her.
A large and almost translucent crystal shined in the small room, it's beauty akin to a raw white quartz that swallowed the sunlight. It was ethereal.
- "Where did you get that?" -
- "She did." - he glanced at the woman. - "She doesn't know where it came from." -
- "What do you believe?" - the doctor couldn't keep her eyes off the crystal.
The tall Uchiha turned to her. - "I believe she made it." - he held the crystal higher to the rays of sunlight, turning it to show a dance of colourful lights coming from it. - "I believe, when she touched that man covered in Black Ink, she created the crystal." -
Tsunade scoffed. - "Have you gone mad? That doesn't happen." - she crossed her arms and searched those eyes for an ounce of humour. Nothing. - "You're serious." - she concluded.
He only gripped the crystal tighter and gave her a sharp not. There was no doubt, he was sure of it.
- "I will investigate it further." - she provided. But he wouldn't hand over the crystal. - "If you planned to keep it, why call for me?" - she singed in annoyance.
The man tilted his chin towards the sleeping woman. - "We encountered a team of infected rouge men. She was exposed to toxic gas and attacked by one of them." - his tone was stern. She knew how much they pride themselves in keeping others safe and never hurting those who can't defend themselves.
He was furious at the men for hurting a woman.
- "I'll do what I can." - the doctor called for a nurse and began to inspect the woman. She was sound asleep, and her breathing was normal. - "It could have been a sleeping gas; however, I'll need to take samples from both of you and all the members of your team who were exposed. If there were any symptoms from the plague, we won't see them until a couple of hours." -
And that was a maybe. They had to narrow it down to the harshness of the disease once it started, but it wasn't always the case.
Inconsistencies are a doctor's worst nightmare.
Her body felt laxed and comfortable over the soft material, her eyes fluttered open to the intense stare of a man. - "Dara?" - she mumbled.
She noticed he breathed in deeply before relaxing his shoulders. - "You're finally awake." - he stated.
Her arms popped lightly as she stretched on the mattress and hugged the pillow. - "Maybe in a little bit." - she mumbled back, ready to sleep some more.
- "Sakura." - he called for her. - "You need to wake up." - she mumbled back some incoherent words before turning over, blinding herself with the sun. - "You've been asleep since yesterday.
She huffed. - "I was tired." -
A warm hand landed on her shoulder and turned her to her back. - "You can't sleep for days." - he scolded from his leaning position over her. - "You breathed in sleeping gas." -
The pinket was confused, she didn't remember any gas- oh! - "The fog?" - she scrunched her nose, remembering the ugly scene at the forest and how she was so dizzy from the jump that she eventually passed out. - "Is everyone ok?" - her heart skipped, they all had been attacked and the gilt gripped her heart.
He softened his tone, once again remembering she was still recovering and could hurt herself. - "They are warriors." - her eyes searched his, honesty shined in those dark eyes. - "You are the only one who received injuries." - it was hard for anyone in charge of the safety and wellbeing of others to admit their failures. - "I didn't take good care of you." - he whispered in the small room.
She blinked a few times before her mind clicked. - "But I'm breathing." - she countered. - "But…" - her eyes wondered around the room, nor recognizing anything. - "Where are we?" -
- "It's a checkpoint." - he shifted off from her and sat back on his own bed. - "We must be given approval to enter as a preventative measure." -
The pinket sat up, holding the soft sheet closer as she digested the information. To her, he used words that only confused her even more. What was a checkpoint? Why did they need to enter? Where did they need to go?
- "I still don't know where we are." - she protested. - "I know you have people to protect and I'm just a thorn in your life for now, but that doesn't mean I will let you drag me to God knows where." - she threw the sheets off and stood, suddenly unsteady. Her hands reached to the windowsill, gripping tightly as she found herself stunned.
The window was like a portal to a different world, tall structures and smaller ones surrounded her in a jungle of wood, bricks and stone homes and businesses. The stone streets filled with people living their daily lives, all dressed in colourful attire and their carefree smiles made her wonder.
This was a town. This was his town. A few trees decorated the streets along with a few shrubberies with colourful flowers and fruits. - "This place…" - she found her mouth had hung open from her amazement. - "Is beautiful." -
- "Thank you." - his sudden and very close answer surprised her; he had approached her without making a single noise. - "We must follow the quarantine protocols to ensure the safety of my people." -
Hey brows scrunched up. - "They seem healthy." - her eyes searched for his own. - "Are you saying we are a danger? Is it because of that guy with the ink?" - she wondered if he thought she was infected or if both had. Her mind only concluded one thing. - "That is not how it's passed on." -
His gaze was sharp, shoulders tensed up at her words. - "What do you mean? Passed on?" - he pressed, tone once again hash.
She realised they both had a misinterpretation of their own words and actions, the pinket just wanted to help and he just performed his duty… both trying to keep a tall wall to protect themselves.
- "I am not your enemy. I just want to help." - she hesitated. - "That man, he was being consumed by the darkness of his own lifeforce." - he tilted his chin slightly, a silent request to continue. - "It's in all of us. That energy that keeps us alive and dies down at the end." - her hands gathered in front of them, palms exposed as a small glimmer began to form. - "Look, it's pure and steady." - the small glimmer turned into a smaller crystal.
He had been right. She made it.
- "Our lives have many twists and turns." - she continued. The crystal seemingly floating over her small palms as it turned and reflected the light from the window. - "Those dark emotions we all feel can overwhelm us… and that is when the darkness starts to eat us alive." - she glanced at him. His tense jaw and clenched fists made her nervous, her memories were still jumbled and confusing… but once she knew it, she felt even more grounded to her surroundings.
Simple things like the natural colour of the sky to the knowledge of how sharp a knife can be just flowed through her mind aimlessly as she began so see and experience everything around her.
And yet, she couldn't tell you how she knows that.
There were no faces, no names or even the memories of her own past experiences to give her an idea of where this information came from. Who told her she was named Sakura? When did she learn how to speak? Had she ever experienced anything at all?
Her frustration grew with every second. - "You think I've gone mad?" - her voice waivered. Was she going to have to find a way out of here? Go find people she doesn't even remember? Stop with all these questions!
- "I don't." - he assured her; his tone still tense. - "I can see clearly you have no answers as to how you know what you are saying." - he has already tried to obtain information from her. That same look on her face tugged at his heart whenever she seemed so lost and grasping for a reality. - "But I do know one thing." - He pointed at her hands, still holding that small crystal. - "What you can do… is something I've never seen before." -
The Uchiha suspected her abilities came from being a keeper, she could be speaking out many secrets she once protected in front of him. He would remember every single world she said.
With both hands, he grasped at hers and held them gently, keeping the crystal protected between them. - "We can't let this be seen by just anyone." - his eyes searched hers, she was concerned. - "Do you know what the crystal can do?" - he whispered, hoping she would answer back the same way.
She leaned closer to him, her small breaths tickling his skin. - "Yes." - she hesitated slightly at her next words. - "They can purify the darkness." -