#kuboshi hatake (oc)

[kuriquinn]

Fic Prompt/Request - Sakura Meets the Uchihas

aki--no--hana said:

Hi there! For fic requests thing - could you do an au/dimension travel where Sasuke's parents meet Sakura as his wife? I'd love to see their reactions and thoughts. Thank you!

Blanket Disclaimer:

AN: This started out really simple...and then became less so. So, I ask you to bear with me, it’s going to take a bit of lead-up to get to the main event, but this fic went and got plotty on me while I wasn’t paying attention. I promise it will be shorter than the last prompt someone gave me *eyes Penthesilea warily*.

“Hah!”

Sakura Uchiha gazes at the immaculate white-board in her office, beaming with pride at the perfectly organised schedule of surgeries, consults and intern rounds for the evening shift. On her desk, to pristine piles of paper dictate the admissions and discharges of the day.

“An hour left of my shift and for once, I’ve got everything done,” she announces, pumping her fist in the air. “Shannaro!”

“Everything to do with the hospital, anyway,” her intern, Ando, says glumly. “There are still a few other things you wanted me to remind you about.”

“Oh, yeah,” Sakura sighs, slumping for a moment. Then, she takes a deep breath, pastes a smile on her face and squares her shoulders. “Alright, what else do I have to do?”

“The clinic needs to be restocked, and you have to go over the budget for the civilian medical staff,” Ando tells her. “With all the new technology coming in, we need more technicians that are trained to operate them.”

“So put Isamu on the clinic and have Wakana call in the wait-listed candidates we didn’t accept last quarter,” Sakura says. “There’s bound to be someone in that group who’s trained on the new tech. What else?”

“You wanted me to remind you today about the meeting with the Hokage tomorrow,” Ando says, making notes on his clipboard. “It’s the one with all of the clan leaders?”

Sakura groans.

She is the unofficial representative of the Uchiha clan while Sasuke is away, meant to ensure that their interests are being served by the village. Given the tumultuous relationship between the clan and the village – and of course between her husband and the village – it’s a duty she takes very seriously.

She just doesn’t feel comfortable in it. 

It doesn’t help that the older clans in Konoha don’t see her as more than an Uchiha by marriage, not blood. The other leaders are polite and respectful, of course, but they always refer to her as ‘Tsunade’s student’ or ‘war hero’ instead of as the matriarch of the Uchiha. It’s a subtle snub, but one she feels keenly.

And then there are others, friendlier clan heads, that look and speak about her like she’s already a widow. The poor, destitute, overworked single mother to a seven-year-old whose husband abandoned her without an explanation as to why. She’s heard every variation of rumour – from supposed infidelity to a tortured soul unable to live a peaceful existence after so long removed from civilisation. Sakura shrugs it all off, but she dreads the day her daughter actually starts to listen to what people are saying.

And I can’t even tell her anything different!

She clenches her fists, trying to fight down the familiar pain of anger and longing. Even aside from all of that, she misses him so damned much!

Sakura glances back at her schedule to make sure she’s pencilled it in, and then groans.

“I won’t be able to make it after all,” she tells Ando, unable to completely hide her relief. “There’s a woman having triplets and she’s scheduled or a C-section tomorrow at the same time. Two of the babies are surgical, and I need to be on hand if something goes wrong.”

As important as the Uchiha clan matters are, Sakura is a healer first and foremost.

“Should I send a memo to Lord Sixth about this? Maybe he can delay it.”

“No, I’ll call him myself and explain the situation. But if you could send one to Naruto? Just to ask him if he can cover us.”

If there’s anyone else in the village who is a staunch defender of the Uchiha clan, it’s Naruto. Kakashi would be too, if his position as Hokage didn’t officially render him a neutral party.

“Of course,” Ando says, and leaves the office.

Sakura sighs and leans back in her chair, trying to remember the last slow day that she had.

There’s not much time to contemplate this, as another knock sounds.

“Come in,” Sakura says, hoping she doesn’t sound as weary as she feels.

A familiar orange-haired woman slips inside. Moegi may only be four years younger than Sakura, but still looks like a coltish teenager; today she is covered from head to toe in bruises and muck.

“I take it you’re just coming back from a mission?” Sakura asks warmly.

“Yes. There’s been a lot of follow-up needed on this one, I haven’t even been able to go home and shower yet,” the other woman sighs. “That’s actually why I’m here.” She reaches into her pack and extracts a wooden box the size of a fist. Various triangular patterns crisscross its form, while on top there’s a round seal that resembles a of Summoning Seal—though not one that Sakura recognises. “My teammates and I found this in the course of our mission. The nukenin we were tracking tried to disappear with it before we captured them, and they’re refusing to tell us what it is. Konohamaru already had Lady Hanabi scan it for danger, but she says there’s no chakra dangerous chakra that she can sense. Just a bunch of tiny, sealed bottles.”

“Then whatever’s in there is either valuable, poisonous or an explosive,” Sakura says.

“That’s what we thought, too. Udon asked Lady Manako to check for anything like that, but her tests came back inconclusive. So, we figured, if there is a poison in here, it makes sense for you to have a look at it.”

“Lady Shizune is just as well-versed in poisons as I am,” Sakura points out.

Moegi shakes her head. “I tried her first, since I know how busy you are. But she’s already left for Suna.”

Sakura sighs. “Very well. But does it have to be today?”

“We can’t submit our mission reports until we find out what we’ve brought back,” Moegi replies apologetically.

“Fine. I’ll take a look at it before I go home, just to give you an idea,” Sakura says, “but I’m not doing a full test until tomorrow, okay? Ebisu will have to learn to be patient.”

“I’ll tell him that,” Moegi says with a grin. “He’d never risk annoying you.” 

“Check back with me in two hours. In the meantime, go take a bath. This is a hospital, you shouldn’t be trekking mud through here.”

Moegi grins. “You’ve got it, Big Sister Sakura.”

She leaves the room, and Sakura reaches for the telephone on her desk.

It takes several rings before her mother picks up. “Hello?”

“Hi, Mom,” she greets. “How are things going over there?”

“Oh, just fine. Sarada’s in the living room doing her maths homework.”

Sakura frowns. “She hasn’t even started school yet. She doesn’t have homework.”

“Well, she’s calling it homework. It’s really just an activity book I picked up for her while I was out,” Mebuki chuckles. “I think she just wanted to sound impressive. You used to do the same thing—you wanted everyone to know what a big girl you were.”

Sakura scoffs lightly, but she’s smiling.

“Should I set the table for four tonight, or will you two be doing something together?” Mebuki goes on.

“That’s actually why I’m calling. I’ll be home a little bit later than expected and won’t be able to pick Sarada up until after supper.”

“Ah, alright. Supper for three then. And I’ll make up your old bed for her and she can spend the night.”

“No, Mom, I’m coming to pick her up. She’s already stayed with you twice this week.”

“You say that like it’s a problem!”

“It’s not a problem! I just want to spend some time with her before things get crazy around here,” Sakura replies. “I feel like I don’t see her enough.”

“Well, if you would cut your hours—”

“You know that’s not an option.”

“And if you hadn’t knocked down that nice house Naruto and Lord Sixth arranged for you—”

“That was an accident and you know it!”

“Or if that husband of yours was around—”

“Mother.”

Sakura says it with a single note of warning that her mother has by now learned not to press her on.

“Fine, fine…”

Sometimes the hardest part of knowing the truth about Sasuke’s top secret mission is keeping it from her mother, who has never been his biggest fan. Most of her resentment disappeared around the time Sakura and Sasuke walked through the door with Sarada—it was even getting to the point where she started snubbing neighbours who badmouthed her son-in-law. But then, Sasuke left on his mission, and ever since, Mebuki has been slipping back into her old, over-protective ways.

“I’ll probably be finished around seven o’clock, at the latest,” Sakura goes on, as if the last interchange didn’t happen. “And please don’t let Dad spoil her with too much candy? The last time she was bouncing off the walls for hours before she calmed down.”

“Well, I’ll do my best, but that man is sly,” her mother sniffs.

They exchange a few more pleasantries and conversation, and then Sakura hangs up. She groans to herself, not pleased with this course of action. She hates that she has to spend so much time at work, but her job is as important. At least as important as Sasuke’s, even if she does have the luxury of staying home to do it.

She presses her fingertips to her forehead, sparing a few moments to wonder where he is and whether he is staying careful.

Knowing him, the chances are about fifty-fifty. Sasuke doesn’t take unnecessary risks, that’s why he’s excellent at reconnaissance. But when he does…

It’s best not to dwell on it, considering there’s nothing she can do. She trusts him to finish his mission and return home.

Instead, Sakura picks up the box that Moegi brought her and brings it to one of the labs closest to her office. Reaching for a lab coat and protective glasses—even though she doesn’t really need those things thanks to her seal, it’s always best to model proper protocol to her subordinates—she begins her examination of the container.

The box itself has trace elements of something, although whether it’s soil or something else she isn’t sure. She takes samples, checking them through microscope for any irregular spores or dust. On closer examination, she realises it looks old—not just dated, but there’s something about the quality of wood and the workmanship of the box that jogs a distant memory from a history book. Sakura makes a note to have someone from Konoha’s Archive Library to reference the type of container and the bottles within. Perhaps if similar vessels can be found, she might find out the date and location of origin.

Done with the box, she starts examining the contents, which requires not only several delicate instruments but Unsealing Techniques.

And not easy ones, either, Sakura thinks, ignoring the sweat dripping down the side of her face from the effort.

Given how effectively the bottles are sealed, she decides Moegi was right to bring them to her. Whatever is in here is dangerous. As such, she cautions herself to be even more careful, because further study finds that the tiny bottles have age cracks in them. If those break completely, the protective seals will be rendered useless; she doesn’t want to find out the consequences.

The first bottle she opens confirms the poison theory; she recognises the make-up of the first right away. A toxin found in pufferfish, and in such a high concentration that someone must have gone through a long and painstaking job of collecting it there for a purpose. The next two are just as deadly—tree frog venom and ricin which, again, are highly toxic but not necessarily deserving of the strong seals that were places there. The fourth bottle—

Sakura frowns at this, surprisingly unsure. It looks like it might not even be a toxin, but possibly a simple coagulant, judging from the texture and—

Sakura hears a sudden crack, and her eyes dart toward the containers she has been handling; belatedly she realises that the cracks there are not from age, but from oxidation. They have been sealed away so long that the very air is breaking down the bottles!

Swearing, she reaches for several nearby jars that can be sealed, and quickly begins placing them within; the first two remain intact, but the third cracks just as she closes the lid on it, leaking poison into its new container. As she moves the fourth, it shatters in her hand just as she drops it into the larger jar.

A splotch of clear liquid falls on her wrist, turning the skin there black.

Before her eyes, veiny tendrils spread across her skin, following the path of her veins toward her heart.

Sakura’s mind whirs, her body snapping into action. The substance travels quickly, even just through skin contact. Her cell production speeds up, liver and kidneys stepping up to counter the toxins, and she concentrates on burning the substance from her body.

Black goop seeps out of her skin as she pushes it through her pores, but she can see that it’s not working fast enough. The veins continue to spread upward over her arm, across her body, faster than she can heal herself.

Her world shifts suddenly, the view of the room tilting on an angle, then juxtaposing with another—one of grass and trees—she hears yelling, and then she’s back in the skills lab, clutching the table and gasping for breath.

She stumbles to the speaker near the door and punches the intercom button.

“I need someone from Poison & Antidotes,” she chokes out in as strong a voice as she can manage. “And…quarantine…the room…!”

But then her lungs seize and she can’t get anymore air. Her knees buckle and her legs fall out from beneath her, and before she can find out if anyone has heard her message, the entire world goes black.

サクラ

“Sakura-sensei! Sakura-sensei, are you okay?

Sakura’s consciousness returns slowly.

Fighting to open her eyes, she is dimly aware of bright colours and movement, and the sound of people calling out for her worriedly.

“Sakura-sensei, wake up!”

She frowns – it’s rare that people call her that, even in the hospital, and she usually insists on them simply using her first name. Like both her teachers before her, Sakura has inherited a disdain for grandiose honorifics.

Her other senses fade in now, too; she smells freshly mown grass and rain in the air, and feels the grainy warmth of sand beneath her body.

That makes no sense…did someone leave the windows open? No…wait…the lab doesn’t have any windows…did they carry me outside?

That makes even less sense.

She finally manages to blink her eyes open and keep them that way, when someone leans over her, blocking out the too-bright sky.

“Sakura-sensei, don’t worry, okay?” the person says; not a fully-grown person even, but a child. Someone familiar to her.

Mirai Sarutobi, I think…

“We’re getting help,” the wild-haired girl tells her.

Help? Why do I need help? I’m the one who’s supposed to be helping people, not you…

Despite the high-pitched protests from the other children that are gathered around her – why are there children here? – she drags herself into a seated position. It’s harder than it ought to be, but before she can investigate why, she notices the familiar building in the background.

“The Academy?” she asks, confused. Gazing about, she realises that she is lying in the middle of the courtyard, surrounded by children the same age as Mirai. “What happened?”

The girl opens her mouth to answer, but there’s a sudden sound of air displacing and a chorus of surprised shouts.

“What happened?” a devastagingly familiar voice demands, and Sakura tries to maneuver around to see, because that sounds impossibly like—"

“She just passed out, Uncle Sasuke,” one of Kakashi’s twins says.

“It wasn’t us this time, I promise,” the other chimes in.

“Please don’t arrest us!”

“…again.”

And she still can’t see him, but she feels him close by, and on instinct she reaches out and throws her arms around him.

“Sasuke?” she whispers, utter relief and joy filling her.

“I didn’t know you were back! When did you get here? And how did I get out of the hospital?”

“Hospital?” he repeats, pulling away from her embrace. His eyes widen in an expression she has long since associated with anxiety, and yet it looks wrong somehow. “Why were you at the hospital? Is there something wrong with the baby?”

“Baby?” she repeats, and then laughs lightly. “Darling, I know you’ve been gone for a while, but Sarada’s hardly a baby anymore.”

Sasuke’s mouth thins, and he loops his arm around her back, intending to lift her. “We need to get you checked out. You may have a concussion.”

“Please, I would know if I had a concuss…” Sakura trails off in shock as several vital facts occur to her.

First of all, Sasuke is wearing a Konoha hitai-ate – an unblemished, freshly polished one without any of the nicks and dirt she has come to associate with the one her husband wears. Secondly, he is dressed strangely – instead of the long black cloak and dark clothes he usually sports, he is dressed all in grey and wearing a black flack jacket. It’s not the same thing the shinobi of Konoha wear, but all the same she recognises the uniform…

Konoha Military Police, her startled brain supplies. She hasn’t seen anyone wearing this since she was eight years old.

Third, she feels a lot heavier than she recalls being. In fact, the last time she was this heavy, she was –

“Pregnant,” she says dimly, staring down at her ample stomach. “I’m pregnant?”

“You’re only noticing that now?” one of Kakashi’s twins pipes up.

“Should we be concerned for the integrity of our education if you’re this unobservant?” the other wants to know.

Sasuke shoots them both a quelling look, and they shrink a little.

Sakura, in the meantime, focusses within herself and tries to dispel whatever illusion she is trapped in—because it has to be an illusion.

Except she can’t.

Even when trapped within one of Sasuke’s genjutsu, she has always had the ability to recognise it. Something about the air in an illusion tastes different, leaving an aftertaste at the back of her throat and a tickle in her nose.

But there is none of that here.  

Sakura is dizzy from all of the implications of what has happened, but one thing is for sure.

“This isn’t my world,” she murmurs to herself.

“What?” Sasuke asks her, frowning.

“Something happened,” she says, more to herself than to him. “I…there was that box, and the little containers and…and I passed out. In the lab! There must have been a slow-release hallucinogen in the container – probably didn’t activate until it was airborne. Or maybe I accidentally tripped a genjutsu ward when I opened the box – it’s a deterrent. Probably meant to immobilise the victim without emitting any chakra, so they couldn’t block it.”

Sasuke is staring at her now, wide-eyed in a way that she recognises as her husband’s worried face.

He snatches her hand and begins to pull her away from the children clamouring around her. “We’re going to the hospital. Now.”

“Yes, let’s do that,” Sakura agrees. “I’ll need Ando to scan me for irregularities in my neural impulses. Taking some blood samples wouldn’t hurt, either.”

“But Uncle Sasuke, what about class?” a Hatake twin asks.

“Go to Iruka and tell him I’m taking Sakura to the hospital. Other than that, she’s in charge,” he responds, pointing at Mirai.

“Aw, man, why does she get to be in charge?”

“She hasn’t burned down the school before,” Sasuke returns. “Twice.”

The twins open their mouths to argue, and then pause.

“Okay, fine, you have a point,” the one closest grumbles.

“We should also check my dopamine levels,” Sakura tells Sasuke as they move further and further away from the schoolyard. “It’s possible they’ve been affected, especially if I’m seeing you right now.”

Sasuke scowls. “You’ve been watching those medical dramas of yours again, haven’t you?”

“Medical dramas?” she repeats, insulted. “When would I have time to watch medical dramas? My life is a medical drama!”

He sighs, and for the first time, worry gives way to something like exasperation. “Sakura, if this is all some elaborate ploy to get out of tonight, you could just say you don’t want to go.”

“Go?” she repeats. “Go where?”

Now he definitely looks unimpressed. “That’s not funny.”

“I’m not joking!”

“You can’t have hit your head so hard that you forgot out dinner plans tonight,” he complains. “Especially not since it’s the first time since we got married that they’re acknowledging us.”

“Dinner plans with who?”

There’s a long pause and he eyes her searchingly, as if to gauge if she is joking with him. Then slowly, as if talking to someone very young or hard of hearing, he says, “My parents.”

Sakura’s jaw drops and her mind goes blank.

She has absolutely no idea what to say to this, but luckily, before she has to worry about it, the world suddenly spins on its axis and she loses herself once more to the darkness.

つづく

Is it a dream? Is it genjutsu? Is it a hallucation? Has she somehow crossed dimensions? Stay tuned!

クリ

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