NOVEL NEXT Chapter 20: Discovery in the hospital
Chiyo would not stop checking Sakura on her manners since arriving at the hospital. The doctor who introduced himself was well known for his philanthropist work. His resume was one to be assumed impressive. He had several golden leaves under his belt, and that made Sakura feel more off that she wasn't organically drawn to his kind demeanor. Feeling more skepticism than she should have.
Jakku hospital had an excellent reputation and Sakura was offered to intern here.
"I hear that Haruno has an excellent healing quirk and I would like to personally be her guide for this stay." He turned to the pink-haired girl, smiling behind his facial hair. "Perhaps she would like to demonstrate by healing a few patients-under my supervision of course."
Chiyo immediately protested. " Dr. Garaki, I'm afraid Haruno can be a little immature when it comes to taking instructions. If anything should happen, I'm afraid that it's the school who would be held responsible."
The heroine didn't intend to let her leave the school after Hosu, but this offer gave the possibility of leading to something more for Sakura who was so interested in the medical field. The girl was difficult but she was also brilliant. However, Sakura still didn't show any signs of being compliant if she simply wasn't interested. That's another area she differed from her classmates, who believed the adults knew best and even against their desires, they would listen to instructions for their own good.
She would happily bulldoze over them without care or proper justification.
"I have dealt with many headstrong students before, and I believe I will be able to manage." Dr. Garaki assured, with a hidden glint behind his glasses. "I assure you if there is any problem to call for you immediately, but I was hoping to personally witness Haruno's ability and skills. If she is willing?"
Sakura clapped her hands together and looked hopefully at the elder woman. "Please, Chiyo-san I promise I'll listen well and I won't step out of line."
With the head of the hospital, there could be useful information to gather from a source like him. For someone who wouldn't know her history or lack thereof and hence wouldn't suspect her if certain questions were asked. Sakura could also hope to gain access to the hospital's medical files and archives. It wasn't hard to work a civilian who didn't know her existence was made only months ago. The HPSC and heroes were harder sources to penetrate because it risked her current facade as a hero in training.
"It won't be a problem just to have her demonstrate her healing and it would help a lot of patients. Nothing critical of course, I wouldn't risk any lawsuits."
"I suppose that's fine," Chiyo conceded, but glared and pointed her cane at Sakura. "If you step out of line again, we're going back immediately and the internships will be the least of your problems do you understand?"
"Yes, ma'am." Sakura grinned so wide she looked jovial. Completely different from the aura she exerted when she took down Stain at that moment when no one else could move.
'I cannot keep up with this girl,' Chiyo sighed.
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The hospital tour was brief but thorough, Dr. Kyudai showed her the different hospital wards, where she would likely be for most of the day, that was the examination room for patients without appointments. She was also able to find where hospital records and documents were stored. Just as before, she asked for a break to go to the restroom and sent a clone to go digging through the files. She wanted to get an early start on her offense just in case anything happened, like Chiyo deciding to pull her out early. The heroine had gone to heal patients, so she would likely be too occupied to focus on what her charge was doing anyway.
Despite sharing general information on the tour, the doctor Kyudai seemed much more interested in probing Sakura with questions. About herself and more importantly her 'quirk'.
"Haruno, how exactly does your healing quirk work? If you're going to be using it on patients I need to understand the mechanics so we don't have any mishaps. If anything should go wrong with a patient, I would be held accountable."
Of course, Sakura knew this was coming eventually, but not in the manner she expected. It was just about her healing and not her super strength or anything else about her 'quirk'. In the beginning, she didn't know that much about quirks and their functions and she wasn't familiar with the territory of operation in this world, but now she had thought of the best solution should anyone confront her about it. But this was different.
"When I heal, I'm just stimulating a person's cells to repair the damage. It's very similar to Chiyo-san's, except I use my stamina when doing this and not the patients." She didn't bring up the chakra scalpels, or that various healing techniques stemmed from healing flesh wounds to extracting poisons, which were a part of her power, because who needed to know that?
Kyudai nodded, holding his chin "I see, so unlike Recovery Girl you would be able to heal more high-risk patients that were without enough stamina to heal themselves."
"That' right."
"When you say you can use your stamina, does that mean you are manipulating it to heal? Does that mean you could also heal your wounds?"
"I can."
"Being able to use your stamina to heal, is it also the means to increase your strength?"
She knew that the doctor was sharp to start linking the dots, but he wouldn't be able to see the picture clearly unless he knew exactly what chakra was and what it was capable of. No one in this world aside from her would know that of course. Sakura already conceded that she would have to eventually explain her 'quirk' again. At least it wasn't someone that would look at her like she was a criminal about to jump over the gates of the prison wall.
"That's right."
Better to confirm a half-truth now, she wouldn't give anything to the doctor that might be reported back to her teachers. Still, something was irking in the back of her mind and she had to push to see if it was anything of merit or just paranoia from being in this world. "Dr. Garaki, why did you decide to let me do my work-study here? The Sports Festival was so heroes could scout students for their agencies, but you called Chiyo-san and asked for me to come here. Going to a hospital for my internship was a request I made."
There was an odd smile on the man's face, but again Sakura brushed it off. Whatever this man was looking for from her, he wasn't subtle in interrogation techniques, on the other hand, she saw no sense in what he would want with information regarding her power. It was common practice in this world to blatantly ask about a person's power and how it worked.
"I knew you before the Sports Festival." He explained with a sheepish smile. "An old colleague of mine works at the hospital you were sent to and he told me about an incident with a girl who healed a burn victim to the point of complete recovery in under a minute. I'm always on the lookout for individuals with quirks like yours. But then I heard about your circumstances and later heard you enrolled in the hero course at UA, so I assumed you had chosen your career. Then I heard again from another colleague you were doing your work-study with Recovery Girl at her hospital. So I thought I'd try to recruit you."
"By poaching me?"
"Haha, you caught me. Don't worry I already cleared it with the other hospital before asking Recovery Girl if she would be willing to let you intern here. But apparently, Recovery Girl wasn't planning on bringing you back anyhow."
He let out a hearty laugh, but Sakura could only give a wry smile. She still wasn't used to the way information moved so fast in this world, literally the moment something happened, it could be recorded and spread worldwide. If her world had been that advanced, they would have saved a lot of hassle on missions. Heck, their radios had a limited frequency and that was some of their more advanced technologies.
"I see. I had no idea my hospital record reached this far out."
"About that," The doctor lowered his gaze on her. "You stated that you had been dropped from a great height but your injuries weren't severe, I'm assuming that was your quirk. Could you explain how you were able to heal yourself in that condition? Especially when it takes your own stamina? Or is it something you're able to do subconsciously?"
Sakura wasn't entirely sure how to answer this one but she didn't want to hesitate either. She didn't heal herself back then, or she would be aware of it. And her seal wasn't activated at the time when Kaguya sent her through that portal. She was supposed to die out in that place, yet somehow miraculously she recovered.
"Well, I wasn't able to completely heal myself." Sakura pulled a cheeky expression. "I still have a scar but I healed enough to survive."
"I'm sorry for whatever must have done that."
"It was nothing." Nothing that anyone in this world would believe anyway. She was a mystery that couldn't be unboxed unless you knew how to unfold everything. And she wasn't giving out directions that easily.
Garaki didn't say anything for a moment too long, and then he turned. "Well on with the tour."
The bathroom was on the fourth floor and the archives were on the second, so it was only a two-story run down the side of the building to reach the window, which opened easily enough. It was one of the more vacant areas of the hospital. Sakura's clone followed the explicit instructions to sift through the files, but before the files had been organized by name and it wasn't easy to look through thousands of folders just to spot out a quirk. The situation was going to be presumably the same this time. Even if the archives had the information she was looking for, it was a needle in the haystack.
The archives of Jaku hospital were vast in comparison and it was times like this Sakura wished she could make a thousand clones like Naruto or at least a hundred. The cabinets were marked with a letter, meaning she was going to be fortunate to make it halfway before the day ends. Even if Sakura chose to leave her clone behind to continue searching, the odds of finding what they were looking for was less than one percent because of the rarity of this quirk.
There was no one moving into the room, but there was light and enough space. Sakura already knew all she had to look for was the quirk designation, the details of the person would come after if she found what she was searching for.
'Let's get started,'
"And for our final stop the Pathology ward, this is where we study and diagnose diseases through the examination of organs and tissues. Our equipment is state of the art and can complete tests that would typically take days in only a few hours."
The ward had an entire floor of the hospital, everything well organized despite the bustling of people in lab coats. The hallway gave a clear view of the different areas of the ward through crisp glass, there was a strong scent of the sterilizer and a hint of iron. Rows of desks that stood with beakers, glass, sterile needles, and more machines that Sakura could place in a single sitting, though she tried to see what she could identify. A tissue processor, microarrayer, immunoStainer, ultra freezer, incubator, cryostat.
'More than I thought.' She worried that the technological advancements would make it harder for her to identify machines.
"Can you tell me more about this doctor? What can the machines do exactly? Could you tell me about the techniques you use?"
Dr. Garaki, showed no suspicion in her question and proceeded to tell Sakura all about the machines and their functions. Because of her own knowledge, Sakura was able to engage with the doctor and keep his attention on detail, more specifically what she was interested in discovering. Such as karyotyping a method of examining living cells, fluorescent in situ hybridization, chromosomal microarray analysis. The conversation extended quickly.
"These techniques are so advanced." Sakura admired.
"All we would need is a small blood sample and we can deduct nearly every strand of information from an individual." The doctor said with pride in his tone. "Haruno, I must say you are more versed in medical knowledge than I would expect from someone your age. You seem to understand more than the basics. How well versed are you in human anatomy?"
Sakura bit her bottom lip, "I think I've got a good handle."
She could perform an autopsy on her own in less than a day if she needed to. And in a ward like this, she would be able to examine her scar tissue. But she couldn't just do it because she desired it. There were too many loops to jump through to get something simple done in this world.
"If this is the level you're at, I think you could be a resident." He complimented.
"Thank you. Will we be handling patients soon?" She was a bit eager to do something familiar. Even if it was under unnecessary supervision.
Dr. Garaki spoke highly of healing quirks. Especially how having Recovery Girl here was going to clear more room and lessen the weight for the hospital staff. Even though the hospital was located in the mountains, it was the main medical center for Jaku city and there was a constant flow of patients. Especially with the variety of specialty wards available 24/7. It was a pillar of the community that was upheld by this elderly man. Yet Sakura still couldn't relax around him. He had given no reason for her to think he was off, but instinct just wouldn't let her sit comfortably in front of him.
But once Sakura entered the ward, full of awaiting patients, her priorities shifted quickly to the medical expert she had been trained into.
Wanting to see how well she would handle patients because there was more than just clinical analysis. Cold calculations and facts had to be handled properly with the right amount of humanity to keep patients calm and comfortable so that they would cooperate.
"I won't have you physically examining patients of course, but I would like to see how fast you can determine their symptoms," Kyudai said. "If I determine that you can heal their wounds, then you can do your own brief examination. But I have to receive the patient's consent to allow you to heal them. They might be skeptical about a child helping them."
"I understand." Even when she was in Konoha as a gennin she received strange looks from patients when they learned she was one of the surgeons that would be performing examinations and operations. But her headband usually fixed that surprise, because if you were able to become a ninja, then you were considered capable.
Sakura was eager to get started and this wasn't different from the work she had done when she started at the hospital in Konoha. However, she wasn't counting on the number of patients that recognized her from the Sports Festival and wanted to strike up a conversation while she was meant to be examining their conditions.
"Oh my! You're Haruno from the Sports Festival!"
"You were amazing in that final match!"
"I recognized you from TV!"
Despite the awkwardness she felt dealing with these over-excited patients, Sakura accomplished her well enough for Dr. Garaki to praise her accuracy and efficiency, despite not being allowed to properly examine the patients though to Sakura, the patients entering had symptoms that were like ink on their skin displaying their ailments. Most of them were distracted by her appearance and curious as to why she was even at the hospital. A few even asked for pictures with her. Including a dentist that had nitric-oxide poisoning and couldn't feel his hands or feet. Still was enjoying the aspect of healing patients.
"I'm sorry about this," Sakura said again after she was able to usher out the man who wouldn't stop requesting pictures of her. It was times like this that keeping a polite demeanor was difficult but that was the basics for doctors anyhow.
"You're the champion of U.A sports festival. Obviously, a lot of people in Japan are going to know you."
Sakura sighed, looking through the chart. "I thought I'd make a better impression than that." She knocked out two of her opponents in front of thousands of people and destroyed the stadium. Anyone who saw her strength for the first time was often shocked and called it monstrous, almost as if they were calling her that. Most of the time, Sakura took it as a compliment. She also liked people to know that she was a medic. Which was a difficult feat even for shinobi.
"Your quirk is being defined as a power-type for hero work, you simply have to show you're more than that."
'I just thought I could get away from this hero thing for a while.'
"You're still doing a great job, you handle the patients well and you've been accurate in all your examinations."
She looked at a woman who entered, slightly large, carrying a bag with a wedding magazine sticking halfway out and limping partially into the room. Sakura leaned to the doctor. "I believe she may have a torn ligament."
Kyudai moved the women to sit after Sakura's statement and went to further examine her, discovering that the first assessment was correct and started discussing what the women should do to repair the damage. However, the woman, Kayadai, wasn't happy with her prognosis due to the healing time that was prescribed.
"I have my wedding next week, I wanted to be able to walk down the aisle without a limp and dance with my family and husband."
That explained the wedding magazine and the running she had been doing to prepare for the ceremony. It was clear that there she had strained herself too much.
"Well, if you are interested in a healing session, we have this young lady with the quirk for it."
The women looked at Sakura, "You're from the Sports Festival. Can you really fix my leg?"
Sakura put on a smile, "Yes. And I could heal that tear for you if you'll allow me."
"Don't worry," Kyudai assured when he saw how his patient's face soured slightly. "I will be supervising her."
There were papers signed before Sakura was allowed to come near the woman to heal her leg, but it
was only a minute before she was smiling in relief with the pain vanishing and pinching loosened.
And that was just the start of her day.
All in all, the day turned out to be more pleasant than Sakura thought, certainly more considering the scolding she received last night. It was good to know that she hadn't lost her touch. Healing patients and sitting in a familiar setting had turned out to be exactly what she needed. Sometimes it was easy for Sakura to overlook the toll situations would put on her until she finally just burst, but now she was able to relieve some of that tension by doing what she does best. At the other hospital, she was only ever able to do general work and it only served to remind her of where she was and what she had lost by being in this world.
Kyudai, allowed her to deal with a fair amount of patients and she was able to show off her medical skills a great deal. Mostly handling people who were wounded enough to need stitches or mil surgery, he appreciated being able to send so many of them back in healthy condition without having to wait out the uncomfortable healing period.
Although the man was quite the chatterbox, wanting to hear more about her quirk and her abilities. Sakura, was subtle and vague in her answers, only when he seemed to nitpick for details that she would have related to more if her power was actually a quirk.
"Are you a first-generation holder of your quirk Haruno?"
"I am." Technically, her parents could use chakra, but they weren't trained as shinobi, and learning to control your physical and spiritual power to create this energy wasn't a simple feat that anyone could achieve, but everyone in her world did have the potential for it. In certain cases the was handled varied.
"Are you set on becoming a hero then?"
Sakura lifted an eyebrow, "Why do you ask?"
"I've seen many aspiring doctors, and very few had that glint you get when you're tending to patients. I know that being a hero is all the range in society, and it's a more lucrative profession-
"I haven't settled on a career, just because I'm in the hero course now." Sakura felt the need to interject. It was too common to praise heroes and the glamour that came with the title in this world. At the same time, she wanted to kick herself for even bringing it up because she had no intention of staying in this world so it didn't matter what path anyone thought she was taking. All she wanted was the find the one home.
"I think that you would make a fine doctor, and I have funded several scholarships for the purpose if you are interested. You're a little young but your potential is obvious."
Sakura beamed. "I'm flattered. And it's nice to remind people that heroes aren't the only ones who save lives."
Again there was an odd glimmer in Kyudai but Sakura didn't see it behind his glasses. "Well, before you graduate that's something to consider. I know that the system has put you in an awkward position due to your parental circumstances, that's why I wanted to give you an alternative you may agree on."
The Hero Public Safety Commission, didn't directly state that they had taken Sakura into their care. Rather it was now Hawks that had been assigned as her guardian and that was awkward considering the age gap and the circumstances that placed her in the hero course in the first place. This would at least give her something else to do if somehow she was still stuck in this world by the time she left U.A. but alternatives to leaving this world were not on Sakura's agenda.
She was going to find a way back to them.
Kyudai glanced at his watch, "It's nearly time for you to go, but there is one request I would like to make."
"What's that Dr. Garaki?"
"Your blood type is O correct?"
"Yes sir."
The man sheepishly rubbed his hands together, "Would you be interested in donating? You are aware how rare that type is."
Type O could be universal donors but they were rare, and Sakura saw no issue with offering a pint to the hospital that had made a week a little better in this foreign world.
"Of course."
The day had gone by too quickly for Sakura's clone, who had been sifting through files while having to make sure no one found the archives or arrangements disturbed. It didn't look like she was going to find anything new here either. But in the last hour, sometime finally emerged that caught her attention.
"Aihiko Ulnara. Quirk-type Teleport. Died during surgery at Jakku Hospital and was cremated after the discovery of infected tissue. Daughter Yinglo. Address….."
Sakura smirked, closing the file after perfect memorization. Once the clone vanished into a puff of smoke all the information recovered would become a part of the original's memories.
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Sakura didn't hide her change in color when she left the hospital with Chiyo. She told her about the scholarship Dr. Garaki mentions and his praises while she tended to the patients. That wasn't all though, Sakura finally found something that could help her leave this world and get back to her own. She just had to investigate it when she had the chance. Chiyo was just relieved that something had come out of this internship with Sakura.
Because what happened with Stain was still the highlight but at least it looked like the pink-haired girl was coming around. There was a difference of opinions to Sakura Haruno right now and she would at least have something positive to report back.
"It's a relief you were able to keep yourself out of trouble for the day."
Sakura sighed. "Chiyo-san, what happened with Stain wasn't intentional and I apologized for it already."
"I understand that, but you've been known for not following the rules. If you want to change that, you're going to have to start listening and stop going off on your own."
"I understand."
'But that doesn't mean I agree.'
Down the hall, in a discrete corner of the ward, the elevator doors close silently behind Kyudai. The air gets cold, and the whirring grows louder. It's dark when the doors open again, small luminescence of light bounces off the metal tubes and glass. It was almost lifeless in the room, even the specimens that sat in their containers silently, were almost like the dead. Although in retrospect, they were. Waiting to be awakened.
Up to the large monitor spread along the wall with others. A keyboard stretching far out into a crescent. Kyudai took the center seat like he had dozens of times over, and pushed a few familiar buttons until he was greeted by his master.
"Were you successful in your analysis doctor?"
"I believe so. Rather guarded about the specifics of her powers but even so, it is a useful ability."
"Healing quirks are so rare, coupled with the ability to enhance strength and make doubles. An all-around power like that should be put to better use than aiding the hero's endeavors."
Kyudai was never one to argue with his master and nodded eagerly. "An unusual specimen that one. But master, you are taking some unusual steps to obtain this quirk."
"Fighting Nomu, healing All Might, defeating Stain. It's not something a normal child could accomplish. A girl with unknown origins, appearing in an area that had briefly recorded an odd energy surge. Means that heroes have been overlooking something and I want to know what that is. If my hunch is simply speculation, then leave it at that. But right now I believe that Sakura Haruno maybe someone to keep an eye out for. What use she will have in the future to us, is yet to be determined, but I've already gathered her disdain for heroes and that can be a seed for something greater if we tend to it properly. Did you get a sample?"
Kyudai smiled then, "I've received a pint of her blood for analysis."
"Good. Now let's see if there's anything we can make use of with this."
When Sakura received missions, they were usually closer to home but sometimes special requests would come in to escort clients around the country or further out to different lands and the method of transport wasn't always comfortable for the shinobi who were acting as bodyguards. Even if the bullet trains were an efficient and comfortable way to travel, Sakura was not happy about getting dragged across Japan.
When the weekend came around, she was determined to go to the address that had been listed on Ahiko Ulnara's file. The man with the teleportation type quirk.
She knew that she couldn't ask a dead person for help but quirks were hereditary and that's why it was a relief when she found his daughter Yinglo at the same address. The interesting thing about this was that this family lived almost on the other side of Japan, far from Jakku city and it took Sakura three trains to get there. She wasn't even sure she wanted to take the trip back home to be at school.
'Why would you travel that distance just to go to that specific hospital?' Sakura wondered. It was listed that Ahiko had a heard chronic heart condition that required medication but there were other hospitals. And closer would have been better for someone with his condition. That was a thought she decided to put in the back of her head. Her priority right now was the chance she had been waiting for after weeks of being in this world.
A chance to find a way home.
The building had paint peeling off the corners of the ceiling, with a damp smell of leaks, but aside from the rough passageways, the apartment was decent, even without an elevator. Sakura stepped lightly on the staircase leading up to the third floor and came to 4B.
Her hand was lifting when she brought herself to a halt. Now was not the time to be hesitating in a dark hallway (some of the lights were fused), but Sakura was growing anxious. It was only a meeting, and a menial lead but it had been the closest she's come to figuring a way out of this world. Now she would have to hope that the person behind this door could help her achieve that goal.
While she didn't pay much attention to the lessons taught at U.A. there was a mention of how quirks were like physical abilities that grew and strengthened over time with training and how they could develop and evolve to do more than what a person initially believed. It was possible to push the boundaries. Sakura studied that further and learned the truth about how quirks evolved not just through genetics but environmental factors and even some studies about how emotional conditions could affect quirk users. That's when she came up with the idea.
It was a theory she was working on and hadn't quite determined yet. But Sakura remembered how Obito Uchiha had used her chakra to enhance his abilities and open the portals to the different dimensions when they were looking for Sasuke. She didn't know how well quirks and chakra would work together, but it was the only hypothesis she could come up with and her only hope so she would cling to it until her hands bled if that's what it took to keep going.
'No turning back.' Sakura knocked on the door and waited only two minutes before someone finally came and opened it. A middle-aged woman, with dark hair, her eyes lined with dark circles and exhaustion, but she had a welcoming smile.
"Can I help you, young lady?"
Sakura took a breath. 'Here we go.'
It was a flimsy lie, but it was enough to get her through the door and have a warm cup of tea handed over. Sakura had found Yinglo, Ahiko's daughter after asking if her father was available. Yinglo seemed surprised to hear about her deceased father and invited the poor girl in to explain what happened.
The springs in the old cushions squeaked under her weight, as she shifted and placed the cup down once she had taken a good sip.
"I'm sorry to tell you this, but my father passed away almost three months ago."
"Oh," Sakura feigned surprise and sincerity. "I'm sorry to hear that,"
"What is it you needed from him?" Yinglo asked as she took a seat in front of Sakura.
"I heard that he had a teleportation type quirk, and I've been looking for someone with that ability…..well, I suppose it doesn't matter now. You see, I really needed someone who could….take me home and this was my only option to my family." A young girl running away from home and not being able to get back wasn't unusual. Sakura came up with the story on a whim but playing the part of a helpless child was something she had done many times. When you were a kid as a shinobi it was especially useful when looking for information.
Yinglo seemed to by the innocent girl act, because she didn't ask or even get a rise of suspicion from Sakura about the details of her story.
"I'm sorry, but my father was the only one who had that quirk. And if he wanted to send you anywhere, he would have to have been familiar with the location first. We've gotten requests like this before, but unfortunately, that's how it is. I'm so sorry."
Sakura was smart, she knew that but there were plenty of times she would have to endure a heavy blow that made her question herself in every aspect and this was one of those times. Perhaps because she had truly gotten her hopes up more than she cared to admit.
"I see." She tried distracting herself from the tightening in her chest and the burning sensation in her throat.
Sakura left the apartment, saying goodbye with a polite smile on her face and it kept until she was down three blocks away from the building. Her eyes followed her feet with each step they took, crunching under the gravel and tar, the wind picking up, and a chill running through the air. She was aware of the presence of the people around her, the people she passed along on the sidewalk, but she couldn't hear them. It was like she had been pushed underwater, and her ears were clogged while she fought for air. Her chest just burned with her emotions, trying to contain them.
She looked up again at the darkening skies, with licks of the sunlight about to vanish behind the clouds.
This was failure.