Chronic Love(On Hold)

2

Sakura's POV

I couldn't believe my ears. Not only would I have to interact with that asshole during class but I would also have to meet him outside of school. I don't have enough time to be dealing with this jackass that wants nothing to do with me. I really wish I would've had Shikamaru as a partner instead. How would I plan meetings outside of school? I spend all of my time with Ino and Sasuke when I'm not at that place. I doubt he would even try to come up with a plan with me. He doesn't seem like the type to do things with others. Shikamaru's pleasant voice brought me out of my troubled mind. "Do you care if I sit here with you?" He saw the hesitant state of my face. "Don't worry, it's just me." I smiled, feeling relaxed. "If you want, I'll try my best to make sure you both complete the project." I waved him off. "It's clear that he doesn't like me so I'll stay out of his way. If he actually wants to work together then he can tell me himself." I watched as Shikamaru looked at me with a new profound interest. "Sakura, I like you. I think you'll be good for Naruto." I rose a brow, making it obvious that I was really confused. "You like me?" I gave a hard laugh. "You barely know me and what do you mean by good for Naruto?" He shook it off not wanting to talk about it anymore. "So Sakura are you more of a camera artist or a pencil and paper artist?" It piqued my interest that Shikamaru was actually talking to me. "Both. I suppose I'm better with pencil and paper." He put his hand on his chin. " That's perfect." He sure is a weird one. At least he's pleasant and treats me as something other than 'trash'. I suddenly remembered something important.

"Shikamaru!" I saw him jump ever so slightly. "What's the date?" He took out his phone. "August 30th, 2030. Is there a date you have to go on today or something?" The fact that he was also straightforward somehow brought me relief. "Something like that." I couldn't tell him that I was going there. Not even Ino and Sasuke know about that. I racked my brain to remember what time I had to be there today. Oh no. "What time is it?" Out of the corner of my eye I saw the blonde get up and go to the front but I didn't pay any more attention after that. "It's almost 10:30. Does your date know that you have a college course right now?" No. I forgot to tell them I had classes starting soon. "Sorry I need to leave." He didn't try to stop me, instead he waved me off with a smile. Briefly telling the professor why I needed to go, I turned to hurry out the room, not wanting to see the pity on her face. I was going so fast that I didn't notice I was about to crash into someone before it was too late. The pills slipped out of my bag. Shit! "I haven't seen these meds before. What are they for?" I noticed a hand holding onto some of my pills. I looked up at the person's face. Why him of all people? I quickly snatched the bottle away from him and shoved it in my bag. "None of your business. Why would I tell you anything? Just so you can ridicule me some more? Fuck off. Now if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere to be." I zipped up my bag and ran out the building. It's gonna take me at least thirty minutes to make it there. I'll be late.

I pulled into the parking lot and parked. Not the greatest parking I've ever done but it didn't really matter right now. I have never been more grateful for automatic doors before now. I slowed down, getting dizzy again. "Is Tsunade on call right now?" I was lucky that the nurse working at the desk recognized me. While she paged Tsunade I rested my body against the front desk. I should take it easy. Suddenly I fell to the ground. " Code G40 front desk. Code G40 front desk." I could feel my limbs go bonkers as I felt my consciousness deteriorate. Great I was having a seizure.

"Hello to my favorite patient ever. How are you feeling?" I craned my neck as I saw Tsunade filling out charts beside my bed. "I'm sorry." She took off her glasses and put her pen in the side pocket of her coat. "Why are you sorry?" She pressed her forearm to my forehead. "You don't have a fever. I don't understand why you're saying sorry." She had always been like this. Never fully understanding what I meant when ever I would tell her something. " You were probably busy dealing with sicker patients and I interrupted you." The smile she gave held a deeper meaning to me, though she probably wasn't aware she was doing it herself. "Like I said, you are my favorite patient. There's no need to be sorry. Though we do need to discuss something." I held my composure as I prepared for what she was about to say, knowing I wouldn't like the answer very much. "Do you remember the day I diagnosed you?" I nodded my head, refusing to subconsciously relive that moment. "When I was eight," I responded. 

"Right and you know that with Batten's disease, there is no cure. The life expectancy also isn't that long. Late teens or early twenties is the life expectancy. That being said you're twenty right now, correct?" I nodded while making a subtle gulp. "March 28th, 2031 will be your last birthday. I want to run more tests so I can determine stronger meds to give you. Are you sure you don't want to tell any of your friends?" She looked at me long and hard. Like she wanted me to really think about it. "If I tell them now, they're only going to constantly worry about me. They'll have pity in their eyes every time they look at me. When ever I feel a little bit of nausea they'll think I'm about to go on my death bed. We're in college, Tsunade. We're suppose to be worrying about our studies and frequently going to parties that last all night. We're not suppose to be worrying about when one of us is going to die. I'll tell them when it's too late for them to worry. You think I like hiding this from them? Hiding something so important from the only two people I trust? Well, I don't. Please don't ask again." She had looked taken aback. I'm usually a good patient, always accepting of what's to come and never showing her that I'm scared. I blame that asshole for this. 

"Okay. Let's take you to CT and also do an MRI." She left the room while I got prepped. Tsunade had always been the one to take care of me. Ever since she was surgical resident. That was a while ago. "Okay, you know the drill." I laid down and stayed still. "Oh no, sometimes I hate being right. What are we looking at here?" She didn't realize that she had left the intercom on. "Tsunade-" It was probably an intern that had started talking. "Looking at previous scans, this patient was stable. It looks as if the nervous system is finally starting to deteriorate. The longest she'll live is mid or early June. Did you say she was taking college classes? I don't see a point. She'll only be able to complete a year. I wouldn't waste my time if I knew I only had a year left." I finally had enough. 

"Tsunade, you should warn your interns when the intercom is still on. I'll note your advice, intern- who-is-incapable-of-knowing-when-to-not-say-anything. Though I'm sure that by my one year of medical courses is over, I'll be able to do more than you. Tsunade, what are you teaching them? Geez, even I know better." I heard the snickers coming from the intercom and I smiled to myself as I had finally got to put someone in their place today. "This is why you're my favorite patient. Let's get you back to your classes." I had gotten back into the clothes I came here in and left. Before getting into my car I was stopped by a voice. " I'm sorry." This must be that intern. I smiled at her. I knew she was just stating her opinion. "There is a switch for the intercom. When it's orange that means the intercom is still on. when it's red then you can speak your own opinions. Look for that next time." She didn't have anything else to say so I drove away as I saw her just standing there in my rearview mirror.

I decided to stop home to grab my phone before going back to campus. When I checked my phone I had forty miscalls from both Ino and Sasuke. I decided to call Sasuke back, knowing he would be more calm and wouldn't yell at me over the phone. "Hey." I said nervously. I could feel the look he was giving me over the phone. "You know I hate when you leave without telling us. How do you have your phone? Did you go home? Are you okay?" He asked in a calm matter but I knew he was slightly pissed. "I umm started my period and came home for a sec. My phone was dead and it just got fully charged." I could tell he was skeptical. However, when I used my period as an excuse he would just drop it. "Okay, well Ino has two more classes but I'm done for today. What about you?" I put him on speaker phone as I scrolled through my photos to find my schedule. "I have one more class. Do you want me to bring you home or are you just going to stay on campus?" I felt bad about him having to wait around for both of us. "I'll stay on campus. I'll meet you at the front when you get here. Drive safe." With that he hung up. I love that he doesn't ask a shit load of questions, unlike Ino.

Word count: 1,743