Chapter One: Yang

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Sakura slumped in a chair exhausted after scrutinizing the charts of the last six patients she'd seen. She was careful not to make any mistake. Tsunade Senju, the administrator at the hospital, was a very strict woman, constantly riding the doctor's arses with threats of potential lawsuits and horrifying stories of vengeful family members.

She glanced up at the clock and sighed. It was late as usual and she had been working for twenty hours straight with cup after cup of coffee to make sure she stays awake and cautious on the job. Sure it wasn't fair at all, even insane by human standards, except for the ever angry lady Tsunade.

Not that she had any complaints. After her divorce, she was a mess. She rarely left home and spent plenty of time in bed. At some point she even stopped paying taxes; therefore all her connections were cut off from the outside world. She literally lived in darkness, from time to time she lit up a candle only to read the same book for what felt like the thousandth time. Eating infrequently and devoting most of her thoughts thinking about how she regretted every decision she had made thus far, were the cherries on top of her problems.

Then she woke up one day and saw that not only five months of her life had turned into ashes but also...

She was dead.

On the inside, she didn't feel her heart beating, she didn't feel anything. Not even regret or sorrow, she just felt an empty hole inside her chest, an eternal abyss that swallowed every trace of emotion only to suffocate them. That day she decided to go back to the real world which was working as an ER doctor in Konoha Hospital under Tsunade's supervision.

Now her times in the hospital were solid, as they seemed to be a relief especially with Ino around, her best friend since childhood and now one of her colleagues.

Ino let out a visible sigh to draw Sakura's attention as she threw her chart on the desk and stretched her back, unlike Sakura it was Ino's night shift.

"You know, I was thinking that a party wouldn't be that bad."

She would say so from time to time, trying to encourage her into meeting more people other than the patients and hospital staff, the only problem was that; Sakura wasn't interested. She knew Ino meant well and she deeply cared for her but she wasn't really into it so she often shrugged it off, this time though Ino was more persistence than ever.

"I mean New Year's Eve would be a good time to throw a party, right? To dance and drink and have fun- hm? What do you say, Sakura?"

Her jade eyes never left the chart in her hand even once, "Yeah sounds good, I suppose." She was too tired to verbally spar with her right now.

"So you're coming?" From the corner of her eye she saw Ino, getting up from her chair and putting her hands on her hips.

"No." Sakura didn't need to think twice. It was her answer all those times before, what could change her mind now?

"C'mon Sakura! It's just one New Year's Eve party, you can't reject this!"

"I have-" Sakura clicked her tongue, "I have other plans."

"And what, would those 'plans' be, I wonder?" Ino raised her brow and cupped her chin sarcastically, "Sit in a corner and sob over fictional characters from a god-knows-what novel and eat unhealthy greasy foods, maybe?"

Sakura's eyebrow twitched, she couldn't believe Ino was starting this conversation all over again and it didn't matter how much she tried to ignore her and act cool, Ino, was once again getting on her nerves. How dare she insult, her favourite play.

"First of all Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare is actually a famous play and the characters are not fictional, their story is based on the life of two real lovers who lived in Verona, Italy who both died for each other. Second of all, not everything that doesn't have green in it is unhealthy!" She shook her head in anger, "And yes, Ino, that is exactly what I've planned to do on New Year's Eve."

"Blah-blah-blah, whatever, those things make you fat, but that's not my point! The point is that I'm not going to let you ruin your New Year's Eve day, slouching back in your apartment, it's not just sad but, staying in a closed space for long and not taking showers make you smell like a rotten cherry!" She reconsidered for a second before pulling a face in disgust.

Rising from her seat, Sakura didn't plan to stand down, "I'm not changing my mind, Ino-pig!" she gazed into Ino's eyes.

"I'll make you, billboard-forehead!" Ino leaned closer.

"Go ahead and give it a try you toothpick!"

"Who did you just call toothpick, five-head!"

"My forehead's totally fine! You're just a jealous pig!"

"Jealous, of what, your gigantic forehead?"

"Well I'm prettier." Sakura smirked.

"You're a mess!" Ino finally said.

Sakura's eyes widened before she cast them down. "Yeah I'm a mess; tell me something I don't know." She murmured, but still managed to smile and when she lifted her head to look at Ino but, much to her surprise Ino's eyes were glittering with tears.

"I'm sorry Sakura but I...I just don't want to see you like this," She bit her bottom lip, "The way you're acting...even now… "

"Wh-what do you mean Ino?" Now she was completely lost.

"Acting all strong like you care less about anything or anyone," And that was just a flicker that awakened Sakura. For a second she thought she just had a heart attack when she felt her chest tightened and she was unable to breathe. How could she be so selfish? Thinking as long as she put on a mask she could bury her vulnerable self somewhere deep down, out of reach. But oh wasn't she so wrong?

"Just tell me, for how long are you going to grieve over some bastard who broke your heart and ran away? It's already been six months you have to move on now. You've never been a girl like this before, remember how you attended every party, danced, drank and laughed like there was no tomorrow, you were a happy girl, how can you forget your true nature?"

"Ino…I…"She was speechless, she didn't know what to say, how to respond, she was shocked, and scared. To go back to whom she was? Wasn't that a bit much? That person was so naïve; that person could love anyone unconditionally but, what good was in it for her? The fact that she was cheated on; betrayed and was left alone? No, she could never return to her old self ever again. Everything was different now.

"Sakura, please do this for me, there's still light in this world, things that are worth living for. Please trust me, don't build up walls around your heart again." Her voice was soothing though and melted her resolve. She nodded tentatively. She couldn't believe for the first after all those months she was forced to bring her guard down and give up.

"Yeah, okay." Still, she rolled her eyes."Only this once."

What Ino did next wasn't that surprising at all; she screamed and jumped over the desk to hug Sakura as she giggled hysterically. Sakura smiled at her as brightly as she could manage. As heartbroken as she really was, she still didn't want to break anybody else's heart.

Just then the door to their room burst open and the firm figure of none other than, Lady Tsunade, appeared at the door, "Sakura, Ino, just what the hell is going on here? This is a hospital for Kami's sake! Keep it down ladies, or I'll be forced to do something about it!" She yelled irritatingly.

The two girls looked stunned, "Y-yes, Tsunade-sama."

"How old are you now?" Ino asked out of the blue.

She and Sakura took a taxi to a club downtown where Ino had invited all of their friends to for the New Year's Eve party.

It was still a few hours till sunset. Since Ino was the host, she wanted to get to the club sooner than the others for further preparations and because she didn't trust Sakura to come to the party on her own, she dragged her along with her. She might as well have gotten a leash for her since she would sneak away any time.

"Younger than your grandma!" Sakura snickered, still feeling a bit resentful about accepting Ino's offer.

"Ha-ha, well, aren't you a funny little girl Sakura-chan!" Ino brushed it off right away, "I'm just saying we're young and single and tonight there are a lot of opportunities for both of us."

"Opportunities? What kind of opportunities are you looking for granny?" Sakura teased her, amused.

Ino waved her away, "I mean to meet new people, some young gentlemen to be exact and we could actually, you know, communicate." She smiled, crossing her legs and threading her fingers into her blond hair playfully.

"Thank you but, I'll pass." Sakura responded flatly, "I'm done with communicating with gentlemen." She pronounced the last word bitterly. She had only accepted Ino's offer for Ino, nothing more than that.

"Want to dance?"

"No thanks, I'm fine."

"You sure, baby?"

She was leaning back against a wall next to the bar when this inebriated man approached her. Feeling his eyes rake down her body. She frowned and shouldered her way through the crowd making sure she kept a good distance away from others.

In the past two hours, she hadn't seen even one familiar face and the worst thing was that even Ino was nowhere to be found. She had completely ditched her. Sakura should've know better than to trust her, she always did this at the parties; running off somewhere with some guy to only get busy and forget about her friend. But, no, Sakura never learned from her mistakes and now, here she was stuck among all these strangers she had never met before in her life and if there was only one thing she was sure about was that: none of them were actually gentlemen.

That damn, Ino-pig.

Blast it! She was even running out of drinks, feeling a bit drunk under the dizzy lights Sakura ended up walking back to the bar to get more when she bumped into something, to be more specific, someone.

A tall raven-haired figure in a fine black tuxedo was holding her slender shoulders firmly and looking at her somehow, worriedly. His lips moved slowly.

For a moment, Sakura felt the crowd around them fade; there was only the mysterious stranger and her in the middle of the room. Even the sound of loud music was gone.

Only silence. As if she was pulled out of really, into a dream.

She could see that his lips were moving but, she didn't hear anything. Her eyes were locked on his dark ones when something bizarre happened. Something Sakura never expected to happen at all.

Thump…Thump

The sound of her heart, her heart was beating.

She was alive.

And it scared her.

...

TBC...