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His knuckles fall against the door, deliberately; twice, thrice. When there's no shuffling or movement from the other side, he slides a hand into his coat. Fingers brushing against the well-worn, folded paper taking up residence in his pocket, out comes the key. He opens the door with the slick silence of one who routinely moves in and out of spaces without notice, and steps into the office.
While he hesitates to think of the routine as comforting, he does find it methodical and at the very least, it's free of dread. He sets down a pile of pristine, white coats, hears the familiar sound of them hitting the chair. The hospital is quiet, unusually so. The daffodils on her desk are thirsty and look vaguely neglected, and the tiniest crease folds itself into his temple, bothered.
She does not return in ten minutes. She does not return in twenty. After watering the flowers, avoiding the chaos of her desk, opening the blinds, and brooding, he is plenty irritated in a way he cannot explain.
He starts looking for clues: Things look haphazard, untouched. The latest paperwork might offer insight, though it is a rule not to pry into medical information that does not concern him. It's only when he sees that her coat that she left in this morning is still here, but the rest indicates absence—
"Saaaaaakura-chan!"
Naruto jumps when his greeting is met with the sullen Uchiha's frown. Screwing up his face in exaggerated disgust, he mumbles, "Gross, was definitely expecting the prettier one."
"Where is she?"
"Sakura? How should I know? Isn't that what you do, meet her here most days?"
Naruto's eyebrows wiggle obnoxiously. Sasuke shakes his head, waving away any implied routine. "Idiot, weren't you here to see her too?"
Naruto nods with conviction. "She's usually here! We're still getting dinner, right?"
Naruto watches Sasuke walk around, making faces at seemingly random objects in the office. Without warning, he turns on his heel and walks out the door.
"Wait!" Naruto has to jog to keep up with his pace down the hall.
Sasuke feels bothered; something nags at him. A tear in the fabric, an unraveling string. Something doesn't add up and a thought crosses his mind, you could be paranoid, but no, the routine has been interrupted and she would let him know. And only now he's noticing what he hadn't when he walked in: People are conversing quietly, behind hands, like they're watching over the dead. Nurses he normally sees in the same places, every day, are not present. Whispers sweep across the clean, tiled floors, twitching the ends of coats, razor-edged against the click of heels. Naruto keeps up the robust babble, a touchy, out of tune radio in the background.
"—Because between you and me, she puts too many vegetables on my plate! I get plenty of exercise and I'm strong, I don't need all those roots in my diet—"
Sasuke stops on a dime, standing in the middle of the patient receiving room. It's deserted. As if his heart takes a deep breath, teetering, it emits a strong beat that shakes his bones.
Naruto finally falters. "Sasuke . . . are you worried? What are you thinking?"
Sasuke's expression is static. "Something's going on. Don't you feel it?"
"Now that you mention it, it's really quiet, yeah?"
Their eyes meet. Feeling lost, they look around at the empty front desk, the chairs lined in rows. Nothing emerges to clear the fog, except—a flash of blonde.
Ino is coming down the hallway with Sai, both with hands shoved deep into their pockets. They aren't speaking, and when they realize they're facing two-thirds of Team Seven, they glance nervously at one another. Sai's gaze lingers one extra beat on the Uchiha's, and it does not go unnoticed.
"Where is she?" he asks, asking the top of Ino's head.
"Wh-what are you talking about?"
Ino falters, avoiding his eyes, then seems to shake her head with renewed resolve. Lifting her chin, she rephrases: "Who?"
"Sakura-chan," Naruto supplies. "Her office looks weird and empty and we're all 'spposed to go to dinner."
"She might be researching in the main library," Ino smoothly says, almost rehearsed. A statement that could be checked on, but would take time do to so. An obstacle.
"I'm sure she was busy and it slipped her mind," Sai politely adds.
Naruto makes a doubtful expression, and Sasuke bristles. Ignoring him, Sasuke asks, "There's something going on. What is it?"
"Maybe if you wait until she's back, you can ask her then," Sai responds.
Sasuke's eyes take on a steely glint. "I wasn't asking you."
Back to Ino's eyes. She's trying to convey something without clearing the fog, without breaking the glass. Don't ask. Please don't keep asking.
Tap. Tap.
The doors separate gracefully and lift the muffled sound into a clear ring; her heels announce her, and better that they do, as her head hangs low and her eyes seem, hollowed, dull. Sharp, sand-weathered beryl pieces of glass. It takes her a moment to get her bearings. She straightens, trying in vain to reach for the sun, pressing all her joints back into place to cement her existence.
Sasuke doesn't move. Naruto is already bounding to her, trying to relieve her of the sheaf of papers in her hand. Sasuke's preoccupied by her paper-white skin, the tense tendon running down her neck, pulling at her jaw. Her knees bending in, tired, like bowed tree trunks. The pink puffy skin lining her eyes.
"Naruto, I'm fine." She waves him away, discomfited by the eyes of Ino and Sai, glossing over Sasuke's with barely a skip. "Yes, we can still go to dinner, just let me stop in my office."
"Where were you?"
"Busy." Sakura's answer is swift and sharp.
"You left without your coat or bag."
"I didn't have time to bring them."
"What happened?"
Sai steps up to the plate, placing himself in front of Sasuke: "Why are you so concerned?"
Naruto's frown deepens. "Sai . . ."
With a quick twist of the head, Sasuke says, "I wasn't – fucking – asking you."
Sai's expression glazes over as Sakura's thin fingers appear on his shoulder. He shivers; in an instant, he could be writhing on the tile with a crushed clavicle.
Pushing him out of the way, she extends her hand to Sasuke, palm facing up. He sees the dried blood under her fingernails, a thin layer of red soaked into her fingerprints, and the crude slash across the lifeline.
"I was humiliated!" she hissed. He feels angry heat, directed at him, suffocating, her jagged eyes boring into his. It's weak to do anything else but stare right back. "They came and dragged me out, in front of my students. Now the whole hospital knows. They took me in the shadows and threw me in a chair, and I was just thrilled to have to listen to my past transgressions. I had to answer questions I've already answered, making sure I don't slip up and get a detail out of place."
He feels lightheaded in the wake of her anger, aware of the eyes on them.
"I had to be reminded of how stupid I was to offer to go anywhere with you," she continued, voice low. "They asked me over and over if I thought I was in the right state of mind, if I would betray my village for you."
Sasuke brings his palm underneath hers, putting a thumb on her finger to stare at the red stains.
"They were trying to figure out if I'm just stupid, or insane. And now it's all on record, sealed with blood."
"Did Tsunade know about this?" Ino's eyes are wide with fear, but Sakura's stare blankly in response.
"It doesn't matter," Sakura snaps, snatching her hand back from Sasuke. "We don't know if she's still in charge. They'll come for everyone eventually."
An uncomfortable ripple passes through them, a chill. Ino's eyes become unfocused, trying to remember if there's anything that wouldn't add up, anyone she protected or covered for. Naruto seems lost in his own thoughtful spell. Sai's expression is blank.
"Sakura-chan, none of us would—"
She doesn't say it, but Sasuke knows her thoughts: This is your fault.
Shoving her papers at Sasuke, he feels the air leak from his lungs. She hisses, "Get your own dinner."
He stares at her retreating back, wishing he could say it out loud.
I didn't tell them. I lied.