An Arranged Marriage { A SasuSaku fanfic }

Chapter 8- Poison

The next day after school, I decide to go straight to the hospital, despite my fathers' warning. "Sakura-san!" Shizune exclaims.

"Shizune-san!" I respond, smiling.

"Lady Tsunade is in the IU... She might need your assistance." Shizune says, and I nod.

"Thank you, Shizune-san!" I start running up the stairs and slip my uniform on. I calmly walk inside to see the tense atmosphere in the room.

"If only Sakura-san was here... She would know how to fix this one..." A doctor says.

"Yeah, how are we supposed to extract an unknown poison?!"

"Did someone say poison? That's my specialty." I say, throwing my hair up into a ponytail while they all stare at me, incredulous.

"Sakura!" Lady Tsunade smiles. "This boy has been poisoned and it is beyond my knowledge. Hopefully all the research you've done can help."

"Hai!" I respond, hurrying over to them. And the lengthy process begins.
~
"Let us see our brother!" Two voices roar outside.

"I'm sorry, but he's still in intensive care." A doctor says.

I finish up and take my gloves off, wiping my forehead, then take the rest of my uniform off. "And we're done. He should be well enough to move into a hospital room, but should be watched for three days and prescribed to this medication." I hand to a nurse, who nods and wheels the patient out. "Just your luck. He's being transferred to a room now." I poke my head out to the people at the door, only to realize it's Temari and Gaara... So that means I just saved Kankuro's life.

"S-Sakura?! You're a doctor?!" Temari asks, and I nod.

"She's my apprentice, who has just been offered the position of assistant head of the ICU." Lady Tsunade says behind me, and I gasp, looking at her.

"L-Lady Tsunade..."

"Consider it, Sakura. It might also help your problem." She says, smiling and walking away.

"Wow, Sakura." Gaara says, and I smile. At that exact moment, my exhaustion catches up on me, and I yawn. "You must be really tired. I'll take you home." Gaara offers.

"Nah, I can drive home." I respond, despite my body's protests.

"Your eyes are drooping. I'm driving you home." Gaara says, and I nod, knowing that nothing gets past him.

"Alright. Let me get my bag." I head back into the ICU and grab my bag in a separate room. I come back moments later, Temari and Gaara talking.

"Alright. See you, Temari." Gaara says, and she waves.

"Bye Temari-san!" I respond, walking away with Gaara. We enter his car and it's silent for a few minutes, before I start to speak up. "Just so you know, Kankuro will probably be in the hospital for two weeks, minimum. He must've consumed something poisonous, as there were no exterior markings, and luckily we managed to stop it just in time, but he needs medications to completely destroy it."

"Thanks, Sakura." Gaara says, digesting all the information I've just given him.

A few moments pass. "Gaara... Do you know what happened to him?" I ask.

"He just told me he was going out. And then, we got a call from the hospital and we rushed here as soon as possible." Gaara responds, and I start to think.

Poison... Poison... Poison...

The news have had some disturbing things about a group called the Akatsuki... And I'm certain there was one who used poison.

Chills run down my back as I just think about that criminal organization.

"You okay, Sakura?" Gaara asks, and I hesitantly nod. "What's on your mind?" He asks, and I sigh, knowing that nothing gets past him.

"I can't get the thought out of my head... What if the Akatsuki was behind this?" I ask, and suddenly notice Gaara go tense. "G-G-Gaara?"

"Nothing. You could be right." He calmly responds, but I know something is up. I decide not to press it as Gaara pulls into my driveway.

"Well... Thanks for the ride! I hope to see you tomorrow."

"Yep. See you, cuz." He says, ruffling my hair. I smile at him, then pick up my bag and walk up the stairs to the front doors.

As soon as I open the door, Alice is on me. "Hurry up and go to bed; your father thinks that you're sleeping, and I told him not to disturb you." She whispers.

"Thank you, Alice." I hug her, then quickly climb the stairs and sneak into my room, undetected.