People who are Important: Book Two

 

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Chapter 10: Part Two

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"I'm sorry but Uchiha-san is not allowed any visitors at the moment. You should come back later," the young girl at the information desk to the Hosptial said to the two teens in front of her.

"Why not? Is he okay? What happened?" Naruto blurted out immediately. Hinata placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed lightly.

"Only the doctors assigned to Uchiha-san's case know the details of his condition at the moment. I don't know if anything happened with him, but I can tell you that the Hospital was put on lock down for a little while due to an incident involving the Sand Convoy," she said. Blue eyes widened.

"Was Gaara with them? Is he hurt?"

"I am not at liberty to disclose any more information about the incident. I've already said too much. Please come back later, I'm sure everything will be better in a few hours," the secretary said.

"BUT!"

"Naruto-kun…we can come back later. It's fine, besides I kind of wanted to go to the waterfall today to train for a little bit," a soothing voice said from beside him. The blond blushed bright red which confused his shy companion, but she decided she'd ask later.

"Alright Hina-chan, let's come back later," he said. She nodded, and they both said goodbye to the receptionist before leaving.

Sasuke's Room

"Tadashi-sama has begun the evaluation of the Clan, and says that you shouldn't worry about anything. He asked me to tell you to leave everything to him. He'll find the traitor," Baki informed his Kaze-hime. She sighed, but didn't look any less relieved.

"I know what's best, but I'm so angry now I can't think straight," the girl said quietly.

"That's why Sakura-san needed you to stay here. You can't leave Uchiha-san alone, and in your condition anything to do with the Akatsuki would be way too dangerous. You just need to stay calm until everything is sorted out. I'm sure that Gaara-sama will be okay, and he wouldn't want you to worry," the Sand-nin explained.

"It doesn't matter how much he doesn't want me to worry. I'm still going to. He's still my husband, and they were afraid to move him," Shia pointed out.

"Worrying isn't going to heal him any faster, or do you any good. Try to focus on something else," her patient's calm, deep voice said from next to her.

Shia looked towards the dark haired boy in the hosptial bed, and then to the clock. It was about lunch time. She needed to get him fed, check on his shoulder and send a brief report to Tsunade-sama. The removal process was fastly approaching. All five of the elements had practiced alone, and the very first group rehersal would be commencing in two days. Every day either Shia or Sakura would be preparing Sasuke's body for the difficult, and strenuous procedure. He'd need to be as stable as they could get him in his current condition.

"You're right. Let's get some lunch into you and I'll take a look at that shoulder," Shia said, rising from her chair to go call down for food.

"Fine, but you're eating to, or else I refuse to cooperate," the Uchiha said in a cool tone.

Shia nearly laughed at his orders, but didn't have the energy or tempermant to at the moment. All she could really think about was Gaara. Was he okay? Would he survive? Of course he would. Sakura was down there with Shizune healing him. Their skills combined would save him. Oh how she wished she could be down there offering her own expertise to save her husband's life. But…she knew it would be too taxing, and too stressful on her body, which in turn would hurt her unborn child. She sighed, hanging up the phone after placing the lunch order and walking back over to the Uchiha's bed with the medical chart. He was already on his belly waiting for her to begin.

"He'll be okay Shia. You have to believe that," Sasuke said with his dark eyes closed.

She let out a shuddering breath as she forced back her tears. He was right. She had to believe. Besides, she was a doctor, and being that, the most important thing to her at the moment needed to be her patient. She conciously blocked all thoughts of her injured husband in favor of assessing the damage to her patient's shoulder. The once pale, smooth skin there was now a purplish, black and blue color due to the Seal's degeneration of the tissue there. 'I need to focus on him right now. There's not much time left. We've only got one shot at this removal and his body needs to be ready before the day comes. Gaara will be fine….Gaara will be fine….'

...

Nara Complex

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"Have you heard anything about my brother?" Temari asked her fiance.

"He's in the Emergency Room with two of the best medics in the Country Temari. He'll be fine," Shikamaru answered, combing a hand throught her loose honey blond locks. She snuggled into his shoulder trying to snuff the worried tears.

"You see? This is exactly why I didn't want to leave. If only I'd been there…if only"

"No Temari. There's nothing you could have done. He would have come anyway, and all your presence there would have done was give him another person to protect," the genius replied. Emerald eyes glared at him.

"I don't need to be protected. That's what those idiots he protected were supposed to be doing for him. I would've helped…I would've"

"Been in danger and your brother would have forced you to stay back while he protected you. You know him better than I do Temari. You know that's what he would have done," Shikamaru said, tightening his arm around her waist. She glared for a couple of seconds but didn't have the energy to stay angry. She was too worried.

"I know. I know…it's just that I'm his older sister and I can't help but worry," she said quietly as she fingered some of the soft blood red locks on her sleeping nephew's head.

"It'll be okay. They'll find the person responsible for this and they'll be dealt with no doubt by Shia herself. As for Gaara, he's in capable hands," Shikamaru comforted.

His wife-to-be sighed and closed her eyes. He wrapped both arms around the blond and the little baby. Yea, kids sounded okay to him. If he got to see Temari like this, all curled up against him with their son or daughter cuddled in her arms then he was fine having a few kids. Well, of course Temari would really do the brunt of the work when it came to having the children, but there was something he learned about people with difficult pasts. A lot of them sought to right the mistakes of their own parents through their children.

It could be seen in the way Gaara interacted with his son. He doted on the boy. He loved and cherised the little chibi. No matter how busy he was, he always found time to see his son at least once in the day. If he was too busy he'd simply take the kid to work with him. Shikamaru had heard the interns and secretaries twittering away about how cute the Kazekage and his identical little son were together. Gaara strove to make sure his child would never feel the lonliness that he had once felt. Temari would be the same. She would make sure all her children felt the same amount of love from her. Though it was still a while off, the wedding that is, he could honestly say that children with Temari wouldn't be too troublesome.

The pregnancy would most definitely be though; but again the wedding was still a while off. They decided to live together for another year to make sure they were ready to wed. By the end of the year, Shikamaru will have inherited the Nara Clan, and their marriage will be held in celebration of that. Temari shifted a little bit, cuddling closer into his chest with the sleeping Senji-chan in her arms. Shikamaru chuckled. Never would he have thought, four years ago when he fought that vibrant, fiery girl with the deadly fan, that he'd be sitting on a couch cuddling with her…engaged to be married. Fate was a funny little character…that she was.

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Konohagakure Hospital

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Shia had just finished healing her patient's shoulder. The healing session was now a three time a day thing. After every meal, because with his condition terminal, his body just didn't have the energy to fight the dark energy of the Seal at all times. In turn, the damage spread faster, so in order to make sure that if he did live through the procedure; 'Which he will,' Shia thought; he would be able to have full use of all his limbs. She looked down at the sleeping boy. He slept a lot nowadays. She supposed it was just too painful to bear along with the heavy painkillers that Shia had prescribed that's main side effect was drowsiness. There was a soft knock on the door to which she called out for the person to enter.

"Shia-sama…I have news of Kazekage-sama's condition," a nurse said. Shia turned so fast it was difficult to see.

"And?" she asked in a desperate whisper.

"He has been stabalized. He has not come to consciousness yet, but Shizune-sama has been placed on his case," the nurse finished.

Shia sighed a breath of relief. He was stable. That was a good thing. Now all he'd have to do was survive the night without falling into a coma. The first twenty four hours after a severe injury was always a critical time. But…she had to believe. She had to believe he'd pull through, because he needed her support more than ever now. She dismissed the nurse quietly before checking the clock. It was around seven now. Sasuke had eaten dinner, had his healing session, and fallen right asleep. Shia was tired. Usually she only did two or at most, three shifts a day, before Sakura came to do her part. The Akito Head had expended a lot of energy, chakra, and a flood of emotion for one day. She needed to rest, so she took a seat in the chair next to her patient's bed. Before she knew it…her eyelids had grown droopy…and blackness engulfed her.

...

Hokage Tower

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"Well why do they want Gaara anyway? I don't understand!" Sabaku no Temari cried out inidgnantly with a sleeping Senji at her hip. Her fiance sighed. Shikamaru had tried to convince her to leave the issue alone, but she was vehement.

"Listen…Akatsuki's last target is Naruto-kun…I guess they figured if they kidnapped him again our idiot friend would rush out to save him. You have to understand that their numbers are severely depleted. They will take any chance…any bait they can get to lure Naruto-kun to them," Tsunade answered quietly. Temari's green eyes narrowed.

"So he's to stay here then? How do we know no one will find out he's here? What if they come for him?" the irate, worried Eldest Sabaku sibling asked.

"Chances are they hadn't even planned on this. They probably just came upon him and took the chance," Shikamaru droned. The Hokage nodded.

"Correct…he is no longer a key player in their plans anymore, therefore, he will not be in danger for more than one to two weeks. They'll most likely think of something else and forget all about Gaara by Friday.." she added. Temari seemed satisfied with that. Tsunade pressed on.

"Now…since you're already here, we need to discuss the Akito situation. A traitor has been found in their midst. Shia is most likely furious, I want you to do your best to keep her from doing anything stupid. We don't need a repeat of the last pregnancy," the older woman said. The wind-user nodded.

"Hai!"

...

Hyuuga House

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Naruto walked up to the main entrance of the Hyuuga Main House. It was big, beautiful, and slightly intimidating. It was a lavish Japanese style mansion befitting Konoha's oldest and strongest Clan. The door opened before he knocked, a bowing maid holding it for him as he entered. She smiled, ushering him into a beautiful sitting room to await Hinata's arrival. He'd actually come to tell the Hyuuga Heiress that they wouldn't be able to see Sasuke for the rest of the day. The hospital was still hectic, and when he'd seen Sakura she just said that the teme was probably asleep already. He sighed…he'd really wanted Sasuke to meet his soon-to-be girlfriend. The bastard was his brother after all.

"Hinata-sama will be down in just a minute Uzumaki-san…" the maid said with a bow. He blushed at her formality. He really hated being addressed formally…he wondered if he could pass a law when he was Hokage, requiring everyone to call him Naruto instead of "Hokage-sama".

"Call me Naruto, and please…you don't have to bow like that…it's fine..really!" he said nervously. He jumped at a deep voice behind him.

"Are you trying to downgrade my carefully trained staff Uzumaki?" 'Damn Hyuuga's and their damn Hyuuga witchcraft!' Naruto thought quietly.

(Maybe if you actually paid attention to your surroundings you'd have sensed him come in Kit…seriously…get it together..) Kyuubi growled in his mind. The blond pouted.

"Something the matter Uzumaki?" Hinata's scary father asked. Naruto flushed and swallowed hard.

"No! No! Everything is fine Hyuuga-sama!...mutter stupid fox.." he said. Hiashi almost grinned at the kid's antics. He was reminded quite suddenly of the Fourth Hokage with that beaming smile, but shook the thought off just as quickly as it had come.

"O..Otousama! What are you doing here?" Hyuuga Hinata stuttered. Her father was supposed to be at a Hyuuga Council meeting. Why was he back so soon?

"The meeting let out early…" Hiashi said as if he'd heard his daughter's thoughts.

"Welcome home Otousama," Hinata said with a bow. The man nodded at his daughter, white eyes glancing between her and the fox-child. He glared at the young man, enjoying in that fatherly way fathers do, as the boy squirmed in his seat lightly.

"I'll be retiring Hinata…have Uzumaki out of the house by eleven," he said quietly before turning and walking down the hall to his room.

Naruto breathed a long sigh of relief. He'd wanted to hang out with Hinata alone tonight, but he supposed that wasn't going to happen any time soon. They went to her room to watch a movie or something, and Naruto hesitated slightly at the thought. Her father was home. Wouldn't he kill him for being in Hinata's room? The Hyuuga Heiress laughed off his worries and told him not to worry. Her father wasn't a stupid man, Naruto noted, Hiashi knew that the blond wasn't going to try anything. The man could see through walls for god's sake….

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Konohagakure Hospital

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Sakura nearly smiled at the scene she walked into when she made her way to Uchiha Sasuke's private room. Sasuke was huddled up in the thin sheet of the bed, sleeping with his mouth slightly open and the softest of snores issuing from his person. His raven hair lay splayed against the stark white pillow; his bangs messily hanging in his closed eyes…a bit fluttering from his even breathing. That's not all though. To his left lay a mass of long, brown curls that halfway covered the sleeping face of Akito Shia. Shia's fist was clenched in the sheets tightly, and she seemed to be murmuring in her sleep.

The Hokage's apprentice knew she should probably wake Shia and send her home, but she just didn't have the heart. The Akito Head had been through a lot today, and was probably exhausted. Sakura opted to pick the sleeping girl up and deposit her in the empty, extra bed in the room. After tucking her friend in, she walked over to the phone to make a call. It was only about nine, but Temari had to be wondering why Shia handn't been to pick up her son tonight. She deserved an explanation.

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Phone Conversation

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"Moshi moshi, Nara Residence," Temari's voice said from the other side of the line. Sakura smiled.

"Temari-san…"

"Sakura?"

"That'd be me," The pinkette said. Temari's question was almost to quick to hear.

"How's Gaara?"

"He's asleep for now. The first night is always the hardest, but he's strong. I have faith that he'll revover," Sakura said. The relieved sigh was nice to hear.

"How's Shia-chan doing?" Temari asked. Sakura took a breath.

"Well, she definitely exhausted herself today. Her chakra is really low, and she passed out at the side of Sasuke-kun's bed," the medic said.

"Oh…is she okay?"

"She'll be fine. But…send Kankurou over in about an hour and a half to pick her up. I don't want to risk waking her right now. She needs the rest," Sakura explained. She heard a grunt of agreement.

"Alright. I'll tell him"

"MOMMMA!" the loud, shrill cry of a baby wailed in the background. There was some shuffling and then what sounded like glass breaking.

"Sorry Sakura…take care okay? I've got to get this kid to bed somehow," the eldest Sabaku's frazzled voice rushed out. Sakura almost giggled, but held back as to not further agitate the wind mistress.

"Goodnight Temari-san," she said.

"Good night Sakura…Senji-chan! No...(Click)"

...

end phone conversation

...

Sakura made sure her fit of giggles was as quiet as it could be. Senji-chan was quite the handful when his parents weren't around. He was a good kid, but so far there hadn't been too many days where one of his parents wasn't with him. It was probably a new and unwelcomed experience for him. Sakura walked over to her friend and did a brief check up to make sure everything was really fine. Her bloodline had been activated, she noted, because the Akito Head's chakra passages showed the remnants of the rise of temperature.

With that noticed, she immediately checked the fetus or should she say fetuses, but as expected everything was fine. She wondered if Shia knew she was going to have twins. Knowing her friend the way she did, she figured that the Akito wanted to leave it a surprise what gender the child was. However, she would need to know she was having twins. Of course she knew. Shia wasn't stupid. In fact she was annoyingly perceptive and come to think of it, she'd been on a rather strict diet that if properly analyzed could be seen as a good diet for a woman pregnant with twins.

"Sakura…" a deep voice said from behind her. She jumped a little, turning swiftly to meet a pair of pitch black eyes. She hadn't expected him to be awake so soon.

"Sasuke-kun," she acknowledged, "is anything wrong?"

"Iie, I didn't expect to see you here," he said. She walked over to him, lifted his medical chart and scanned over it.

"Shia did everything before she passed out," Sasuke informed her quietly. Her green eyes glanced over his face to check for any proof of deceit. She found none, and allowed herself to fall into the chair at the side of his bed.

"How are you feeling Sasuke-kun? Have you eaten?" she asked.

"I'm as comfortable as I can possibly be. Shia forced food down my throat a little over an hour ago," he answered quietly, averting his eyes from her bright green gaze.

"I see," she said, glancing down at her nails awkwardly.

It's not that she didn't want to talk to Sasuke. It's just that she really didn't know what to say to him. He wasn't a talkative person. Even if he did look like something was on his mind. Even if it did look like he needed to get something off his chest. How would she go about asking him? Would he push her away? Would he call her annoying? Tell her she wouldn't understand? Tell her to mind her own business? That's how the old Sasuke-kun would have reacted to her asking any questions about his state of mind.

This new Sasuke-kun; the subtly supportive, silently repenting Sasuke-kun, was different. She really didn't know what to make of it. She wanted to believe that it was all solid truth. But…a part of her still doubted him. It's only natural for her to be cautious of him. Sakura still had a barrier up against him, no matter how friendly she acted towards him while they were together. He knew it, and she knew he did. As she looked at him; his black eyes staring into the night, he seemed lost in thought. Sakura didn't have a clue what he could be thinking of.

The past? The massacre? Itachi? Though she supposed she didn't know much about him to begin with. It was rather sad to think about. The person she claimed to love more than life itself was the person she knew the least about….well except Kakashi-sensei of course. She sighed and crossed her legs, leaning her chin on her palm as she leaned her elbow against the side of his bed.

"Douka shita no?" Sasuke's deep voice asked quietly, breaking the silence. Green eyes snapped up to lock with his. Sakura smiled, but he'd already seen the doubt and confusion running through the jade pools.

"Nandemo nai," she answered quickly. He wasn't convinced.

"Just say it. I don't have the energy to pry," he said monotonously.

"Why do you care?" she countered. Onyx eyes narrowed.

"I thought I already made it clear to you I would not be repeating myself," he said coolly. That's right…he had said that…the night he'd told her he couldn't live without Team 7. They glared at each other for a few seconds until Sakura sighed. 'It's worth a try,' she thought.

"I guess I was just realizing how little I know about you," his eyes widened. She continued.

"I mean I know that your family died, and I know your brother was responsible. But…you never talk about your past. It must be painful to keep it locked away like that all the time," Sakura said with a sad smile.

Sasuke was taken aback by her statement. He hadn't realized she'd been paying so much attention. He'd always assumed that people knew about the Uchiha Massacre. That it was not necessary to go into details; or express what it was like to experience it live action. Nobody had ever wanted to know how HE felt. They just fawned on him and called him a hero for surviving. They called him a genius when in fact…compared to his brother's achievements, he was nothing. Compared to the Sannin…the Yondaime Hokage…and even Kakashi-sensei…he was nothing. He was just a weak little boy whose family was dead, and was spared by the whim of his older brother. A weak little child who could not let go of his pain, even to better himself….he was nothing.

"Even the strongest people feel pain Sasuke-kun," Sakura's voice said, breaking him out of his dark thoughts. He looked at her to see a pensive expression lighting her pretty features.

"Tsunade-sama hurts because Jiraiya is dead; along with her other loved ones. Jiraiya-sama hurt because Orochimaru left him…" she trailed off. The Uchiha was hanging off the words coming out of her mouth. It was as if she'd been reading his thoughts. Another morbid smile lit that face in a way that was both beautiful and painful to look at.

"Kakashi-sensei hurts for reasons we don't understand yet…but do you wanna know a secret?" she asked, turning her green eyes back on him. He just nodded.

"The real reason he's always late is…that he spends so much time at that Memorial Stone…." She said. Her face grew thoughtful again.

"Pain is a natural part of life…only the strongest can survive it. Only the strongest can persevere…" she trailed off again, locking eyes with him pointedly this time.

"…But…even the strongest can not bear it alone…" Sakura finished.

Sasuke's heart stumbled drunkly in his chest for a few moments as the beating sped up. Was she reaching out to him? Even after all he'd done…was she offering him her comfort? He felt strong, unfamiliar and frightening emotions well up inside him. A hollow feeling came over his heart as he thought of those memories he'd tried so hard to forget. The memories of his clan….of his mother and father…and of…of that brother he looked up to as a hero. The man he practically worshipped his entire young life who'd betrayed him and left him all alone.

Was he ready to face those memories? The pain inside him seemed to grow just thinking about speaking of his past. A strange stinging sensation prickled around the corners of his eyes, but nothing happened. For you see…Uchiha Sasuke had forgotten how to cry a long time ago. He looked to the comforting jade gaze of his female ex-teammate…dare he say friend? She wanted to be there for him…just like she'd always wanted to be there for him. This time…he would not push her away…

"Itachi was my hero for as long as I can remember before the Massacre…he was always kind to me…always helpful. We were a pretty normal family. Mom and Dad loved us both…and I know they loved each other as well…it was only those last few weeks before it happened that Aniki started to act strangely….."

Sakura sat quietly, listening to him unload years of pain and sorrow….if he was willing to be so honest…to drop his barriers…perhaps it was almost time for her to do so as well..

TBC