FicWad

(8.4)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"/Why did you do it?"/

Tsunade and Sakura took their seat in the living room while Mebuki prepared tea.

"I am a perfectionist.", Tsunade started. "I am very demanding and hot tempered. I have no patience for wannabe doctors who expects to be spoon-feed during their formal training. I don't have time to waste on an apprentice who will not be able to react properly and intelligently every time I throw a tantrum. And I throw a lot of tantrums. Whenever I get angry, it is often due to something going badly wrong at my hospital. Something that I can easily fix except, I can't personally handle each and every case myself. I want to train an apprentice who will be able to think like me and act like me. No. Better than me when situations where I can't be available arise. Someone I can trust to cover what I can't.

Out of all the previous applicants there was only one who was worthy to be my apprentice. Her name is Chizuru. She however, had reached the limit of her full potential. Proud as I am of her, she was not the one who would become my successor. I've long given up on the idea of finding one. I can't imagine anyone else coming close to what Chizuru had achieved.

Until, I came across a peculiar candidate, recommended by none other than my mentor himself. His recommendation letter came with an essay. According to him, it was supposed to be a part of a Tokyo U Biomedical Engineering student's practice thesis."

"You can't mean…"

Mebuki returned with the tea and the snacks then.

"I took the time to read it because… it was my mentor who sent it to me. My initial thought was; it's not bad/." Tsunade shrugged. "In fact, it was brilliant. It wasn't perfect but… it was brilliant nonetheless. But then again, it's expected of a student studying at Tokyo University. I myself wouldn't have any trouble writing something like that given what information was available to me as a student. At least that's what I thought /until/… I learned that it was /not written by a student of Tokyo U. It wasn't even a college student. It was written by a senior high school student studying in a small town in the rural area."

Tsunade looked at Sakura intently.

"Eh? You mean my daughter?", Mebuki was surprised.

Tsunade nodded at Mebuki. "I'm familiar with the Uzumakis being the most prominent medical lineage in these areas but… I looked into Sakura and… she is not related to them whatsoever. Then, I realized something else. I figured out why I thought that her essay was something I could've written myself."

Tsunade turned back to Sakura. "Sakura, did you by any chance use a book written by Senju Hashirama as your reference?"

"Y-Yes. I did."

"He was my grandfather. When I was still a child, I told him that my dream is to be a Cardiologist just like him. I was still too young then. By the time I would be old enough to start learning, he would already be too old to teach me. So he, with the aid of his most promising student at that time, wrote that book for me. He originally intended that book for my use only. To pass on his knowledge down to me. But a book written by the great Senju Hashirama himself, publishers couldn't resist.

That book wasn't successful though. Just like any other book, its contents start with a lot of basic things but then… as you go on it gets… extremely complicated. It contained advance information that only committed members of the Senju medical lineage is expected to understand. Tell me Sakura… What was it like? The experience you had when you were reading my grandfather's book."

"I- Uhm… T-To me… it never felt like I was reading a book at all. The procedures that was being explained in that book… It felt like I was performing it first-hand. Every time I encountered the word cut or incision, I felt my fingers twitching. I could smell the iron coming from the blood. I… I can't really explain it but… It's like I'm in a different world where all this valuable information is available to me and there's just so much I could do with it."

"You understood the book without the initial exposure to the Senju medical methods. And you even applied it to a biomedical study in a way that a Senju would as well. I can only imagine my mentor's surprise when he noticed it upon reading your essay. That's probably why he thought it was necessary for me to see it for myself."

"I'm sorry but… who is your mentor again?"

"Oh right. My mentor is Dr. Hiruzen Sarutobi. He helped my grandfather wrote that book we were talking about. He was the only person, who is not a member of the Senju clan, to ever successfully learn from two of the best Senju doctors in the family."

"Dr. Sarutobi? The resident cardiologist at Uzumaki General Hospital?"

"Yes. Ah. I've also heard about the case of the man who had a sudden cardiac arrest by the way. Hearing that made me even more impressed with you."

"Oh. Erm… I didn't realize that Dr. Sarutobi had connections with the Medical Faculty at Tokyo U?"

"Dr. Hiruzen is actually also an alumnus of Tokyo University."

"I see, so that's how he came across my- Wait. You said… 'supposed to be' a part of a practice thesis. You meant the version that Sasori didn't use. But… how could he have had access to it? There's only one hard copy and I still have it."

"According to him, a nurse showed it to him. She asked him if he could offer you an endorsement for a scholarship grant given your potential."

…

/"Anyway before I send Sasori an e-mail, I thought I'd ask Nurse Rin to take a look at it. I wanted her opinion on whether I was able to write a convincing piece. But I have no way to know when she's around or not busy so I thought I'd ask Karin to hold onto it and hand it to Nurse Rin when they see each other."/

/"I can hand this to her during lunch for you? You have to report to the faculty for your make-up quiz right?"/

/"Well, if it's not any trouble?"/

…

"Nurse Rin."

"That would be the same Nurse I met back at your high school.", Tsunade recalled.

"Y-Yes. That's her."

"She must've made a copy and it found its way to me.", Tsunade concluded.

"That's the only explanation.", murmured Mebuki.

"So, Sakura… As I said earlier, you were a potential candidate to be my apprentice. But now that I got to personally meet you, I am now more than willing and very eager to offer you an internship at Senju Hospital. All I need is your dedication and the promise to not disappoint me."

"Err… as mentioned before… College is... I'm not sure we can afford-"

"Oh, that's not going to be a problem. By my endorsement, Tokyo University will provide a full scholarship covering your academic fees. Plus allowance."

"Just her academic fees? What about her accommodations and other miscellaneous fees?", wondered Mebuki.

"Okaasan!"

"It's a relevant question.", said Mebuki. "How will you properly attend school if you don't even have a place to stay? And what about projects, seminars, workshops and other off-campus programs you will encounter while studying?"

Tsunade smirked. "Your mother has a point. I'll see what I can do about it. With that in mind, are you interested in becoming my apprentice?"

"I…"

"Yes!", Mebuki beamed.

"Err…" Sakura was surprised by her mother's eagerness to agree.

"Dr. Tsunade, I promised you will not regret doing this for my daughter.". Mebuki told Tsunade.

"I'm looking forward to supporting your daughter and helping her reach her full potential."

"Yes. Thank you very much. Our family is very grateful." Mebuki lowered her head in a bow and had Sakura follow suit. "You too."

"T-Thank you very much.", said Sakura as she bowed as well.

"Very well, this is all the time I have for now." Tsunade stood up.

Sakura also stood up.

"Sakura, I'll be contacting you again soon. For now, good luck with your studies. Do your best to get through your senior year in high school then… let's talk about finalizing the arrangements for your scholarship okay?

"Y-Yes. T-Thank you."

Sakura and Mebuki walked Tsunade out.

.

.

.

"Thank you for coming.", said Mebuki as Tsunade left. She then turned to her daughter. "Isn't this great Sakura?"

Sakura was silent.

"Sakura? What's wrong? You look… unhappy."

"And you're too happy."

Mebuki closed the front door. "Is that a bad thing? Sakura, the solution to our problem just knocked on our door. With that scholarship, your future is set. You can relax now. All of this… family feud between us can finally end. We don't need to argue about which is more important. Now, we can use your grandmother's money to renovate the bath house and you'll still be able to go to college. Become a doctor. Isn't this what you always wanted? Not only do you get to study in the university of your choice, you're also pretty much guaranteed an internship at the biggest hospital in Tokyo. This calls for a celebration! I- I…"

Sakura rolled her eyes.

Mebuki looked at Sakura and realized that she's upset. "I'm doing something wrong again aren't I? Nothing I ever do is right to you?! This is how it's always going to be! I'm always going to be the bad mother!" Mebuki started yelling.

"You still don't get it do you?"

"Then tell me! Talk to me! Make me understand! I've been trying for a while now. I- I thought that this is what you wanted. Don't you want to be a doctor anymore?"

"YES! I want to be a doctor! I've wanted to become a doctor since I was young. But the 'me' right now wants it /more than ever/. As I got older and more matured… I realized that this is really what I want to be and… I just can't see myself becoming anything else. But… there was a young, stupid and miserable version of myself in the past who had only wanted to become a doctor just to spite you."

Mebuki was taken aback.

"You were always comparing me to other girls when I was still a kid! 'Why can't I act more feminine like this girl? Why can't I make an effort to be prettier like that girl? Why can't I be more like Yamanaka's daughter? Ino this, Ino that. She's everything you wish I would be; beautiful, charming, smart~ Smart is good but… she wants to be a doctor when she grows up. Smart and successful woman have a hard time raising a family. What husband would like a wife that's more successful than him anyway? I should just aim to be a plain housewife. If I'm lucky enough, I'll bag a millionaire for a husband and we'll be set for life. But that's probably not going to happen because who would want someone so unladylike and edgy as me. I'm just a smart ass. I'll never be good for anything.' Yada yada yada!", ranted Sakura.

Mebuki looked appalled.

"I made up my mind to prove you wrong. I was resolved to showing you that I could be good for something. I decided that I was going to become a successful doctor. And then… I'm going to be a good wife to the kindest and most caring man in the world and he would not be threatened by my desire to prove my worth. That was the plan! I- I… worked so hard. I agreed to grandmother's deal thinking that… with this situation, you would watch me closely. First place or not, you would see my efforts. And you did. You saw my /pathetic efforts/. Still, I was determined to do better… to work harder.

But now… someone comes here to offer me a scholarship and you're… you're suddenly very supportive? You're just relieved! The truth is… Who or what I become is irrelevant to you. Whether I succeed or not doesn't matter. You just didn't want to be financially obligated. You wouldn't have really minded me pursuing my dream to become a doctor as long as you didn't have to pay for it."

Mebuki felt her knees get weak. She stepped back and leaned on the getabako.

Sakura saw her mother's crestfallen face. Overwhelmed with guilt, she rushed out of the door and ran away as fast as she could.

.

.

.

'04:59 pm / Sat, Sept 05'

Sakura sighed and put her phone into the pocket of her three-quarter sleeved denim shirtdress. Good thing she made an effort to dress for Tsunade earlier this morning otherwise, she would've ran out of the house wearing only her pajamas.

Sakura tried to stay inconspicuous as she walked pass schoolmates who were leaving the school grounds at that hour.

.

.

.

-Sunset-

Kakashi just stood still while looking very un-amused. "Feeling better I presume."

Sakura was just ahead, holding onto 'his' bike while looking at him with a weak smile on her face.

Kakashi sighed.

.

.

.

Sakura sat on a bench near the school parking area. On the next bench about two meters away from her, sat Kakashi.

"You know Sensei, I was really determined to move on to college whether I win that deal with my grandmother or not. In the event that I don't get first place… I was prepared to run away after graduation. I'll support myself if I have to. That's what I decided.", shared Sakura.

Kakashi remained silent.

"When you became our acting adviser and introduced the pairing system, I seriously thought that I had the chance to win that bet. Neji got Lee so… I thought, whomever I get paired with pretty much guaranteed me a higher credit than him. I actually got a chance to pursue my dream without having to run away from home. I could still save my relationship with my family. Sure my mother will be bitter and it'll take a while before she accepts it but at least they won't have to disown me or something."

Sakura sighed. "But then... I got paired with… the guy that I have tried to avoid for the most part of my freshman and sophomore years. I thought 'ah, what the hell'… my best friend doesn't like him anymore and I'm… I'm into someone else myself at that time. It's all for the sake of a high grade anyway. That's all it was, I told myself. I wasn't aware of the… chaos I was diving head first into. /And you tried to stop me too. /You told me to leave Sasuke-kun be. I… I didn't listen. I never listen. I was so stubborn. I wanted to earn that extra credit no matter what. I knew that I was doing most of it for my own sake but…

I was really serious about wanting to help Sasuke-kun as well. /I was/. I swear I was. I wanted to help him with school… I wanted to convince him to go home… I wanted him to be with his friends and family. /I didn't know anything/. W-When you told me that he changed school… And I realized that the previous semester didn't benefit him in any way at all, I suddenly felt… /irrelevant/. In the end, I couldn't do anything for him at all. He never needed any help to begin with. I was the one who ended up being saved by him. But I couldn't even thank him properly.

Still I was doing my best. I was slowly getting better. I was in the middle of cleaning up my mess. I was starting to accept the reality of my situation. I was re-evaluating my resolve and establishing my priorities. I wanted another chance. I was going to work harder this semester. But… Dr. Tsunade comes and brings me great news… and… my problem's suddenly solved… just like that. I didn't know how to take it. My mother was very happy. But… I wasn't. This is what I always wanted. This is what I've been aiming for so… Why?!"Sakura started crying/. /"I feel bad. I feel horrible. I feel like… I only got a consolation victory? This isn't how I wanted it to end. My grades, my efforts, everything else I've been through. None of that matters to my mother anymore. I'll never know if she could've been proud of me. I'll never get to prove myself to her."

Kakashi looked up at the sky. "First of all, I hope you are aware that even if you weren't offered that scholarship you would've won that bet anyway. After all, you finally figured out what you were doing wrong right?"

Sakura wiped her tears and looked at Kakashi. "I wasn't paying enough attention to my own studies."

Kakashi nodded. "As for what happened with Sasuke, why would you feel irrelevant?"

"Because… I… wasn't able to do anything for him at all."

Kakashi looked at Sakura. "You became his friend."

"…"

"Haruno. Remember on the day I declared that your class was now my class. I told all of you that you were now my team and in my team…"

"The worse kinds of people are not the ones who can't keep up. It's those who let their teammates fall behind.", supplied Sakura.

"Exactly. I asked you to leave Sasuke be. You refused. Even when you misunderstood me and thought that I was going to bribe you with credits just to leave him alone. Credits that I knew you badly needed."

"I still did it only for the credit. I just didn't want a scripted one."

"And the credit you preferred was one that wasn't guaranteed. You were prepared to not get anything out of it."

"I still got something out of it though. Even though I didn't deserve it."

"Because you weren't able to help him the way you wanted to?"

Sakura lowered her head.

"Remember that I also asked each pair to help each other out. It just so happens that, you were not expecting to be the one who ends up getting helped the most. So what though if that was the case? The both of you still made a great pair, wouldn't you say? Everything that Sasuke did for you, weren't you also the one who brought the effort out of him in the first place? Besides, it wasn't the way you planned but… you did end up helping Sasuke as well. You brought him and Naruto back together."

"I supposed." Sakura looked up and smiled weakly. "That counts for something right? After all, his friendship with Naruto is what he values the most."

"I think it's time to bring that up with you now."

"Hm?"

"Do you know why I insist on the 'pairing'?"

Sakura shook her head.

"Some students often make the mistake of thinking that the grade means everything. They become competitive and focus only on proving themselves to be better than others. It's not entirely their fault. Sometimes it's the pressure from having parents with high expectations…"

Sakura could relate.

"Sometimes it's the educators fault for leaving this wrong impression on the students.", continued Kakashi. "I wanted to create a means to counter that. My objective has always been to support my students in achieving a certain quality that will benefit them not only through the learning process but even after you graduate and as you move forward in life. After all, after high school, after college, after getting your license… it's no longer going to be about the highest grade. You could be the smartest person in the world but that doesn't mean that you'll be good at your job.

You know Haruno, you were actually the one I was most worried about in that class. At first it seemed like you were only concerned about getting the highest score and being on top. I didn't know how to tell you that that kind of motivation can only get you so far especially since you want to become a doctor. You'll never be a good doctor unless you understand the value of /helping others/. I didn't want you to aim to be better than others. I wanted you to aim to be someone who can help everyone. You want to save lives after all."

Sakura carefully considered what Kakashi had said.

"I supposed I was wrong about you in a way. It was your circumstance that made you way too concerned about grades and proving yourself to other people. So let me tell you this."

Sakura listened intently.

"Instead of feeling undeserving because you hadn't done enough or worrying that you haven't proven anything yet, just think of it like this… Consider that scholarship as your way out of this self-induced prison that you're in now. Use it as an opportunity to close this chapter in your life and… open a new one. Move forward. You still have a long way to go after all. I hope that in time, you can gradually grow out of your insecurities. The good news is, no one needs to explain to you how important helping other people is. You already possess a caring personality to begin with. You just have to learn how to properly project it." Kakashi smiled gently. "Haruno. I think you're going to become a great doctor."

"I…"

"It's probably too early to say this but… Even though I'm only a sub, I'm glad to be your /year advisor/.", said Kakashi as he stood up. He then picked up his bike and started slowly pushing it towards the exit. "It is my honor to be the one who will send you off to the world for the beginning of your adult life."

"Kakashi-sensei… I…" Sakura bolted up from the bench. She then bowed down and yelled loud enough for her moving teacher to hear. "/Thank you/! Thank you so, so much! For listening to me! For putting up with my nonsense! For everything! I won't disappoint you!"

"No!", Kakashi yelled back to her. "Don't disappoint yourself by setting unnecessary expectations! Stay strong! Cheer up! Enjoy life!"

"H-HAI!" Sakura was determined to retain her position for a bit longer.

She straightened herself when she noticed that she was not alone.

Rin who had just arrived at the parking grounds was surprised to find Sakura at school. "Sakura?! I thought you were sick. What are you doing here?"

.

.

.

Rin blinked away from the road to glance at Sakura who was sitting on the passenger seat. "So, did you accept her offer?", she asked.

Sakura kept herself busy by looking out of the window. "Yes. I did. Thank you for… doing what you did but… Why did you do it? Why did you even make a copy of my work in the first place?"

"Cardiology isn't my forte so I called Dr. Sarutobi to make a few inquiries. He asked me to read it to him over the phone. After he heard what you wrote, he asked if he could have a copy. I told him that I have to ask for your permission first but for some reason I never got the chance to."

"But you already made a copy anyway?"

"I didn't hand it over to Dr. Sarutobi immediately. I held on to it for a while. But after what happened with Obito… I became very determined to help you. Besides, Sasuke-kun had asked me even before then to use my connections in Tokyo to find you a scholarship grant."

Sakura slowly turned to look at her. "He did?"

Rin nodded. "I- I… wanted to win him over. Dr. Sarutobi is way more credible than me anyway. So~"

"Nurse Rin."

"Yes?"

"That night that you offered to give me a lift to the bus stop. Did he- He called you and asked you to pick me up, didn't he?"

Rin smiled gently. "I think you already know the answer but, Yes. He did. And in exchange, I asked him to have dinner with me and Obito the following day – the day you saw us together in the supermarket. We were shopping for ingredients then."

Sakura blushed and lowered her head.

"Oh. Here we are.", said Rin before making a right turn.

The gates decorated with a paper fan insignia automatically opened as the car approached. Rin drove pass the open gate and into the Uchiha property.

Sakura looked ahead as they got closer to a huge mansion.

.

.

.

They passed by a red car on their way to the carport. Rin parked her car beside a white one. Sakura then noticed the very familiar black car a few feet ahead.

Rin turned the engine off, opened her door and made a move to get out of the car.

Sakura followed suit. As soon as she got out of the car, she couldn't help looking all around her.

The sound of the front door opening made Sakura look towards it. She saw five familiar people. The twins from before held the french doors open while Obito was walking Nagato and Konan out.

"Rin. You're here.", noted Obito. "And… Sakura?"

"We just arrived.", Rin told Obito.

"Good evening.", Sakura greeted everyone.

Rin turned to the other two. "Are you two leaving already?"

"Yes we are.", answered Nagato. "Good night." He then turned to Sakura and gave him a slight nod before walking towards the red car.

Konan also smiled at Sakura before following Nagato to his car.

"Thanks for your hard work. Have a pleasant evening.", said Rin.

The two bowed to Rin before getting into their car.

"Come on in." Rin motioned for Sakura to follow her into the house.

Obito stepped aside to let them in.

Sakura took a moment to nod at the twins before stepping into the house.

They smiled to her in response.

Obito followed behind her and Rin.

As soon as everyone was inside, the twins closed the door.

.

.

.