Chapter Text
CHAPTER
I
Haruno Sakura was half-way through the fluffy, pink-frosted donut when a loud knock on the door interrupted her. She stared at the pink thing in consternation. An adequate and healthy diet was something reserved for people who did not work in a hectic environment such as Konoha General Hospital. It seemed however, that stealing just a moment to stuff her face with sugar and butter would be out of the question today. Sighing heavily, she swallowed her bite and wiped the sugar from her desk with her pinky. "Enter!" she called.
"Haruno-sensei," Hinata said as she stuck her head around the door. A blush formed on her cheeks as she noticed Sakura's disgruntled state and the half-eaten treat balancing precariously on top of her pencil holder. "Sorry for disturbing you."
"It's fine, Hinata. What can I do for you?" Sakura asked while cleaning her fingers with a napkin.
Hinata stepped inside and closed the door behind her. "It seems the eldest son of one of the board members has fallen ill. He was admitted an hour ago. Senju-sensei specifically asked for you to treat him."
"Of course," Sakura said, rubbing her temples in short circles. Tsunade knew how much she abhorred tending to board members and their families. In most cases, people were brought in with a nasty toe infection or the common flu. She wouldn't mind – normally – if not for the fact that most of the people brought in by board members inevitably felt like they owned the place and deserved world class treatment.
Today, however, she was not a very patient person.
Eyeing the remains of her donut longingly, Sakura stood from her chair and pulled on her coat. "What room is he in?"
"Room B-303," Hinata said, stepping out of the way as Sakura opened the door and stalked into the busy hall. Sakura deftly dodged a crash cart as it passed her and waited for Hinata to close the door behind her.
Sakura pushed through the navy-colored double doors and nodded at the nurses at the station. Quickly deciding between the elevator and the stairs, Sakura began the climb to the third floor, Hinata following behind. "How is Naruto?" she asked as she circled to the second staircase. "I trust he's helping out with the wedding arrangements?"
"Oh absolutely," Hinata said with a smile, catching up with her. "He's been really involved in the planning. It's been a hectic time, but it's better now that he's back and helping."
"Good," Sakura said. "I was worried he might leave you to plan the whole thing."
"Oh no, not at all."
They exited the staircase on the third floor.
"Temari," Sakura said in greeting. The sole nurse sitting at the station greeted her, with an eye roll as she gestured toward a room down the hall. Two nurses stood before the door, giggling softly. Sakura cleared her throat loudly as she moved into the hallway. The two women flew apart, and quickly withdrew, heads ducked as they passed her. Sakura stopped in front of the open door. '303. Of course,' Sakura thought.
Squaring her shoulders, Sakura pushed open the door and stepped inside.
Waiting for her inside was not one, not two, but three men that looked like they had just stepped out of a movie set. Taken aback, Sakura faltered in her steps, fighting to regain her composure as three sets of dark eyes focused on her immediately. Her eyes fell to the youngest looking man, and met a spark of recognition in his midnight gaze as they swept over her pink hair.
"Good afternoon. My name is Doctor Haruno. I'll be your attending physician," Sakura said, tearing her eyes off the familiar man to introduce herself properly to her patient. She briefly made eye contact with the man in the hospital bed before moving to grab his chart… His mostly empty chart. Her brows furrowed as she glanced over her shoulder at Hinata, who raised her shoulders almost imperceptibly in apology.
"Nice to make your acquaintance," the man in the bed said softly. Uchiha Itachi seemed to be his name. She swallowed thickly at the sound of his deep, dulcet voice. No man had the right to sound that delicious.
"And you are?" Sakura inquired as she looked at the two men standing beside the bed. The younger one she recognized, especially now that she had a name to associate him with. Uchiha Sasuke. They used to go to school together. The man standing beside Sasuke looked to be the oldest of the trio, with short unkempt hair and thick long lashes that gave him cat-like eyes without even trying.
"Uchiha Shisui. I'm Itachi's cousin," the older man said pleasantly, though a hint of worry laced his voice. Shisui gestured to Sasuke beside him. "This is Uchiha Sasuke, Itachi's younger brother."
Sakura nodded, glancing at Sasuke. "We used to go to Konoha High together. Good to see you again Uchiha-san, though the circumstances could be better."
Sasuke nodded slowly in acknowledgment. "Sakura."
Her eyebrow twitched in the obvious lack of respect or manners. Shisui had caught on and side-eyed the youngest Uchiha before making eye-contact with Itachi on the bed.
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask the two of you to please step out for this part. I'll need to speak to Uchiha-san privately and make a diagnosis. Afterwards you're welcome to step back in," Sakura said, pushing a strand of pink behind her ear.
"I'm not going anywhere," Sasuke said, brows pinched as he stared defiantly at her, crossing his arms.
Before she could open her mouth, Shisui had wrapped an arm around Sasuke's neck and pulled him down, rapping his knuckles over his skull. "Yes, we are, you little shit. Doctor's orders." Shisui began hauling Sasuke to the door, flashing a wide grin. "Sorry about that Haruno-sensei. We'll be right outside."
Feeling her lips twitch in amusement, Sakura stepped aside to allow the two struggling men to leave the room, Hinata closing the door behind them. She could hear her assistant try to calm Sasuke down and explain proper procedures and turned to her patient.
"My apologies. Sasuke can be a bit… overprotective of me," Itachi said with an embarrassed smile.
"That is what younger brothers are for, I suppose," Sakura quipped. She looked over Itachi. He had long raven hair that reached just past his shoulders, but looked a little mussed and mostly pushed to one side. Dark eyes with long lashes set above a straight nose from which a nasal cannula protruded and perfectly sculpted lips. He looked extremely pale with dark lines under his eyes.
Yeah, he was handsome and absolutely her type.
'He's everyone's type,' Inner Sakura interjected dreamily. 'That's why the girls outside were staring. I'm not sure what they're feeding the boys in the Uchiha family, but damn.'
Blocking out the voice of her inner persona, Sakura reached for a pen in her breast pocket. "Can you please describe your symptoms to me?" Sakura asked, clicking her pen.
Itachi sat up a bit straighter. He looked uncomfortable. "I have had several coughing fits and the occasional fevers. I am very tired as of late. My vision becomes discombobulated from time to time." She jotted everything down.
"Why were you admitted to the hospital?"
"I coughed up blood," Itachi said, lifting a white handkerchief with red splatters. Sakura frowned. This was a bit more serious than a stubbed toe.
"Have you done that before?"
"… Yes."
"Why have you not checked in with a physician?" Sakura asked.
"I thought it was because I strained myself coughing," Itachi said calmly.
"How often had you coughed up blood prior to this?" Sakura raised an eyebrow.
"Never."
"So you assumed a very clear sign of you being possibly unhealthy could be chalked up to a phenomenon that rarely occurs?" Sakura shook her head. Itachi's eyes widened just a bit at her admonishment, but he had the sense to almost look rueful as he gave her an apologetic smile.
"I suppose so, yes."
"When did these symptoms manifest first?"
"Four or five months ago. I assumed I had the flu."
"Another assumption," Sakura said, lifting her eyes to meet his. She smiled cheekily at him, hoping to reassure him that she was simply trying to keep him in good health.
"When we believe in lies, we cannot see the truth, so we make thousands of assumptions and we take them as the truth," Itachi said smoothly, laying his hands in his lap.
Sakura smiled. She knew the author he was quoting from. "He also said: Don't make assumptions. Find the courage to ask questions."
She had surprised him once again, his eyebrows lifted before he broke out another gorgeous smile. Sakura admired his perfect white teeth and the dimples that formed in the corners of his mouth, while fighting down the heat that slowly crept up her throat to her cheeks.
"English teacher?" she guessed.
"Ethics professor," Itachi said.
She nodded. Part of her wanted to continue the conversation but another part of her was very much aware that they were slowly straying away from his poor health and into more flirtatious territory. She cleared her throat. "You mentioned being tired lately. I assume you typically sleep well and eat healthy?"
"Correct," Itachi replied. "My sleeping and eating patterns have not changed these last few years."
"Do you feel anything prior to a coughing fit?"
"My chest burns… though it's not just during a fit."
"All the time?" she frowned.
"Yes."
She wrote on the chart, clicked the pen, and laid the clipboard aside. "I'm going to listen to you breathe for a moment. Could you please pull up your shirt for me?"
She reached for her stethoscope and held the diaphragm in her hand to warm the cool material as Itachi hitched up his hospital issued shirt. Her mouth went abruptly dry as bit by bit of tantalizing skin was exposed to her gaze. The dark line of hair that trailed below the sheets was exposed first, followed by his ridiculously sculpted abdomen until he finally exposed his rock hard pectorals.
'How was he hiding all of this?' she thought as she stepped forward almost mechanically.
Sakura leaned forward, ignoring the cute little beauty mark that sat in the middle of his chest and the faint smattering of dark hair. "Take a deep breath," she instructed, hoping he wouldn't be able to detect the slight croak in her voice. Careful not to touch his skin as he inhaled, Sakura listened to his breathing, ignoring the warmth of his breath that washed over her as he exhaled.
She moved the stethoscope. "Again please," she said. As he inhaled followed by a deep exhale to heed her instructions, a lock of dark hair spilled over his shoulder, tickling her knuckles. Struggling not to let his silky hair distract her from her job, Sakura straightened and returned her attention to the chart, furiously scribbling the last of her notes.
When she turned back to Itachi, he had thankfully hid his unreasonably good-looking body from view and stared at her expectantly. "I'd like to do some tests. One of the nurses will stop by later for a blood test. Later today we'll plan for an EKG and a CAT-scan to be done."
Itachi nodded as he listened to her. "Thank you, Haruno-sensei."
"I'll be back after the results come in," she said, turning to the door. The corners of his mouth lifted into a smile just as she left.
Outside, Shisui and Sasuke stood waiting for her along with Hinata. The two Uchiha men looked anxious. "You may go back inside. We'll be running some tests but he'll be in good hands here," Sakura said, directing her gaze at Sasuke. The younger Uchiha rushed back into the room without so much as a word.
Shisui sighed. "Sorry about that. He's a bit overprotective."
"So I've heard," Sakura said with a smile. She waited for Shisui to enter Itachi's room and close the door, then turned to Hinata. "EKG, CAT and have someone take his blood too. His symptoms look like tuberculosis but I have a feeling it might be something else."
"Of course, Haruno-sensei."
Watching as Hinata rushed off, Sakura pocketed her clammy hands in her coat as she stood in front of the closed door for a moment longer. She exhaled a breath she didn't know she was holding before making her way back to her office, intent on finishing that donut and taking her mind off a certain handsome dark-haired man.
A/N: So when a friend suddenly reminded me of Denny Duquette and Izzie Stevens in Grey's Anatomy, this little plot suddenly crept into my head and absolutely refused to let me get back to my WIPs until I wrote it down. Honestly, I'm not sure if I'll continue this or just leave it as a one-shot.
Some notes:
- Sensei in Japanese is also used for doctors, hence Haruno-sensei!
- This modern AU is based on Japan rather than the US (b/c I've hardly spent any time in the US and lived in Japan haha).
Big thanks to Nolongerbehind for beta-ing the chapter!
Let me know what you guys think.