Sacred Flower

Thanx to those who bothered to review and/or read the story. You guys are my inspiration and determination for updating faster.

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Tsunade sighed. She has been under a lot of pressure lately. It was just all the paperwork itself, but now Sakura’s in the hospital, Itachi could terrorize Konoha, etc. She sat back in her chair and reviewed the words of the doctor. Her heart ached when she heard those words. No woman could bear this kind of treatment, and Sakura still had her future before her. Now, most of her future may have been erased. The doctor’s words echoed in the back of her mind.

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“Doctor, is it as I’ve feared?” asked Tsunade. She wasn’t so sure if she wanted to hear the answer. The doctor dwelled on his answer, as if he’s trying to find a more sugar-coated term for what he was about to say. “Hokage, Sakura isn’t pregnant.” Tsunade let out the breath she never knew she was holding in. “But,” continued the doctor, “Sakura might not be able to bear children.”

Those last few words shook Tsunade to the core. No woman could ever bear this, even if they were given all the time in the world. Sure, women with menopause dealt with it because it was their time, but Sakura had her whole future before her. All she had left were her skills on chakra control and her intelligence. Other than that, Sakura had nothing else going for her.

“Hokage, it’s not as bad as it seems. We’ve created a drug that repairs the damage to the female reproductive system, but we haven’t tested it yet.” Tsunade gave up. She knew she shouldn’t take this huge gamble on Sakura’s future children. After all, she knew that she has a losing streak when it came to gambling. Tsunade didn’t care about money, she could gamble that away. But taking this risk in this kind of situation put her in a bad position. Either Sakura survive this without the drug but never have children, or give the drug to her, giving her children and unknown side effects. Tsunade had no idea what to do.

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Tsunade suddenly woke up. She must have dozed off, thinking of the doctor and Sakura’s state of being. She found herself sleeping at her desk. ‘Well, sleeping isn’t gonna make all these papers go away.’ She got right to work, keeping Sakura at the back of her mind.

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The next morning, Sasuke found himself in the same hospital chair with a sore back. ‘Man, I’m never sleeping upright again.’ He looked over to Sakura who was still sleeping. He left for a few minutes to grab a cup of coffee. He came back just in time to see Sakura wake up.

‘Damn, I knew I should’ve gotten some tea for her or something.’ Luckily, Sasuke’s prayers were answered when a nurse walked in to help Sakura change out of her bandages. Of course, Sasuke had to leave, but he used this opportunity to get her some tea. When he entered the room, he offered her tea with a smile on his face and he noticed his pink bouquet for her was gone. ‘They must have died,’ he thought.

“Would you like some tea Sakura?” he asked, holding out the cup. She didn’t do anything. She stared at a spot on the wall and didn’t bother to acknowledge his presence. He placed the cup on a nearby counter and continued drinking his coffee in silence. Only the slightest sound of paper rustling from Sasuke’s magazine was heard in the room.

‘I hope something breaks this awkward silence.’ Everybody knew the Uchiha boy never starts conversations. All he ever started were fights and conflicts with others. His wish was fulfilled when Tsunade came into the room with a smile on her face.

“Good morning Sakura, how are you today?” Her response was a blank stare and silence. “Well, I’m glad to hear that! Sasuke, can I speak to you for a second?” Sasuke put down his magazine and stepped outside before taking a glance at Sakura.

“Sakura can be discharged tonight. Are you confident that you’ll take care of her?” Sasuke nodded, he made everything perfect. Sakura would sleep in his bed and he’d sleep on the couch. He stuffed all his clothes into boxes and bags and replaced his empty closet with Sakura’s clothes. What more is there to do?

A nurse brought in Sakura’s breakfast. Some scrambled eggs, toast with jam, crackers, milk and dango pudding (AN: this sounded yummy at the time I wrote this). Tsunade tried her best to get Sakura to eat this but Sakura refused to move, let alone make eye contact, unless you were right in front of her and your eyes connected. Sasuke decided that maybe he could get her to eat. He sat down onto a chair he pulled up beside her and made her look into his eyes.

“Sakura, can you eat this for me please?” Sakura didn’t do anything for a minute, but she complied. She began to pick up her utensils and began to eat. Sasuke, satisfied with his work, pulled his chair away and continued reading another magazine he picked up on the table.

Tsunade was shocked. Sakura was eating! And what’s even better, the Uchiha boy said “please”! Never in her time being Hokage had she ever heard Sasuke say “please”. She was content to see Sakura slowly getting better, but the fact that she may not be able to bear children tore at her heart. A lovely young lady, broken by an Akatsuki. ‘Did Itachi have to take this from her too?’

Sasuke noticed Tsunade’s space outs. It was almost a heartbroken look. ‘Is there something wrong with Sakura? There can’t be. She has to be okay.’ He chased that thought right out of his mind. ‘She will be okay. She is okay.’

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Soon, the sun started to set and Sakura was discharged. “Tell Sakura to take one of these and one of these twice a day.” Tsunade handed him two bottles. One bottle contained red pills and the other contained white pills.

“The red ones speed up her recovery and the white ones are antidotes to neutralize the small amount of poison in the red pills. Don’t worry, the red pills will work, it’s just that we haven’t created a pill similar to the red ones without poison in them,” she explained. Sasuke nodded and shoved the two bottles into his pocket. Sakura sat in a chair just outside her room.

“I’m asking you one last time, do you think you can handle her?” Sasuke paused for a moment. “Is she gonna be okay?” he finally asked. Tsunade gave him the most honest answer she could give him.

“Her body will recover just fine, it’s her mind that I’m not quite so sure of. This has been traumatizing for her and she may never really get over it.” Sasuke nodded again and took Sakura by the hand.

After the receptionist and Tsunade bid them farewell, Sasuke held her hand while they were on their way home. Sasuke was blushing furiously and it took a lot from him to conceal it.

On their way to Sasuke’s apartment, they both ran into Naruto. “Hey!” he exclaimed, “Why are you holding Sakura’s-”

“Shut up loser!” he shouted back. “If you must know, go ask the Hokage.” Sakura tightened her grip on Sasuke’s hand while this little situation unfolded itself. ‘Is this her distress signal?’

Naruto ran off, yelling, “GRANNY-HOKAGE!” in the streets. Sasuke led the way to his place, fumbling with his keys. After he got the door opened, he held it for her while she made her way inside.

“Sakura, do you need to shower?” Sakura nodded numbly. He led her to his bedroom where she’d be sleeping while she was with him.

“Here’s where you’ll be sleeping, okay? And your clothes are in here, and the bathroom’s down the hall, to the left.” Sakura gathered up her clothing and walked towards the bathroom. ‘Damn, the towels!’ he thought and ran like mad to the linen closet.

Sakura was already inside the bathroom, the shower audibly turning on. He slowly opened the door so he wouldn’t disturb her. ‘Alright, here’s the plan: get in, drop off the towel, get out. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT look at her naked body.’ ‘Yeah, do not look at her naked body. Her naked, supple body with the creamiest skin colour, perfectly shaped figure…do you really wanna miss that kind of sight?’ ‘You’re not helping!’ Sasuke dropped off the towel where the hangar was, and he was about to execute the last step of the plan when he caught a shadow moving in the corner of his eye. It turned out to be just Sakura. Sasuke could see her shadow through the shower curtain, and from the looks of it, she really did have a supple body.

Her breasts looked like they were in perfect proportion to the rest of her body, and her hips were the same width as her shoulders, giving her that perfect hourglass shape. Sasuke was so tempted to reach out and push the curtain aside so he could see all of her. He was so close, just a few inches more…when he noticed his pants getting a little small and he felt pressure in his lower stomach. He was almost at the shower curtain, ready to push it aside when the sound of water hitting the bathtub stopped. Sakura was getting ready to get out. Sasuke swiftly ran out and gently, but quickly, pulled the door closed.

‘What the hell was I just thinking!?’ he thought. ‘Well, you were only fulfilling your needs, surely it’s not our fault…’ ‘Damn it, I’m no better than Kakashi now, maybe even worse.’ Sasuke mentally cursed himself for trying to peep in on Sakura in the shower. ‘I bet I’m even worse than Naruto.’

To occupy his time and forgetting about Sakura, Sasuke started to prepare dinner for them both. He made beef chow mein with extra sauce (AN: yeah, I wanted some of this at the time) and some soup for afterwards. He set the table and filled the glasses with water. Sakura came out of the bathroom, her hair damp from the shower. ‘Maybe I should buy a blow dryer for her,’ he thought. Sakura sat down on one side while Sasuke loaded her plate.

“Are you hungry Sakura? I hope this helps,” he said. All of his words and actions were so foreign to him, and yet he continues to do this. ‘Oh well,’ he thought, ‘what’s done is done.’

Sakura slowly picked up her chopsticks and took a small bite out of her food. These past few days, she started feeling comfortable with Sasuke. She would always see him at the hospital, protecting her from possible threats. He placed his hand on hers once or twice, and when she thought he’d leave, she’d hold onto him and never let go. His reassuring voice made her let go, but he always kept his promise; he did come back in a little bit.

Sakura finished her food and Sasuke took her plate. He dumped everything into the sink. ‘I’ll deal with them later.’ He held Sakura’s hand on the way to his bedroom where she’d be sleeping (AN: I said that already, didn’t I?).

“Sakura, can you take one of these red pills and one of these white pills tonight? And take some tomorrow after lunch, okay?” Sakura slowly nodded, waiting for his next move. ‘Well, at least she’s acknowledging me,’ he thought. He put both the red and white pill into her hand.

“Wait here, okay Sakura? I’m just gonna get a glass of water for you.” He left her alone for 30 seconds and came back to find her looking at a framed photo on his nightstand. It was Sasuke’s family portrait with Itachi cut out.

‘Whoops, must have forgotten about that.’ He grabbed the photo and shoved it to the back of the nightstand’s drawers.

“Please don’t look at my personal belongings.” Sakura nodded and took the glass of water from him. She downed her pills and the water. She placed the glass on the nightstand and proceeded to go to sleep. Sasuke helped her get adjusted to his bed and he kissed her forehead.

“Goodnight Sakura,” he whispered softly. Sakura smiled at him before going off into a deep slumber. Sasuke tiptoed out the door and gently pulled it shut. ‘Why did I kiss her goodnight?’ ‘Why wouldn’t you?’ All these emotions felt new to him, and they all wanted dominance. He felt happy to see her safe, devastated that she barely remembered him, lustful from seeing her shadow in the shower, guilt for thinking of her in a perverted manner.

He went back to the kitchen to do the dishes and the entire time, he thought of Sakura. ‘Does this mean that she doesn’t hate me? Will she be alright in the end? Do I love her? Wait, what? Of course I don’t love her.’ ‘Sure you don’t.’ ‘You shut the hell up and you stay that way!’ After he was done, he went to bed (AN: or couch, anyway you wanna see it XD).

He retrieved an extra blanket from the linen closet and settled into the couch. ‘I wonder how long Sakura will have to stay with me…’ Turning out all the lights, he was engulfed in darkness, save for the moonlight shining through the crack in the window curtains. ‘Sweet dreams Sakura…’ he thought, and he fell into a deep sleep.

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And that’s all she wrote, ladies and gents! Hope you enjoyed chappie 4 of my little story. For those of you who don’t know, menopause happens only in old women. It’s when women stop producing eggs, therefore, they stop having their period. If any of you are thinking this, yes, women only have a limited number of eggs she can produce. I have no idea how that is, but it’s something I learned a looong time ago in Grade 9 science class. Plz R&R!