Alright everyone here it is..The new and inproved chapter one. Now just so you know updating will take me a bit longer becaue the old chapters that i had i forgot to send to my beta before i deleted them so i am going to rewrite them as best as i can but as a result there will be some seriouse changes in the plot and i also figure i will change a few things in the story and add some new chapters. my beta OGRO was correct my story didnt flow all that well so i am going to rewrite the chapters okay so please be patient with me and as you read the first chapter of my story please keep in mind that my beta did all the great editing so lets give him a round of appluase YEAY! k well PLEASE PLEASE READ AND REVIEW FOR ME MKAY
She always had one question on her mind
She always had one question on her mind... "What if?"
What if I never chased him around?
What if I was just stronger?
What if I was able to protect the ones I love?
It's been three years since he left. She couldn't go back in time and fix things but the 'what if' of it all made her want to change for the better; for the chance that if another person she cared about was in trouble she would be able to do something. She wouldn't have to sit on the side lines and just watch... no, she would help. She would be able to save that person.
During the three years she trained under Tsunade, their new Hokage. She had become the best medic-nin around. Well, almost. Tsunade was still the best. Her jutsus had also become increasingly good over time and she became an amazing Kunoichi.
She left her hair cut short, and no longer wore her pink dress. She wore tight black shorts and a tight red halter top, with knee high crimson boots. She was the most desirable woman in Konoha, with the exception of Ino-pig. They had both grown into magnificent women, but Ino wasn't quite as scarred and beaten up as Sakura. Ino didn't go on as many missions—she had decided she wasn't quite cut out for it anymore. As such, the men found her more feminine. That didn't bother Sakura that much though, she didn't want men anymore.
She tried so hard to open her heart again after Sasuke left, but she always feared that if she did find another, then he would just leave her, too. There were times when she would find men that were suitable—she would give them a chance but in the end she just couldn't do it.
Her heart belonged to Sasuke…
Naruto and the others tried various times to get Sasuke back but no matter what, no matter how hard they tried, Sasuke would never come back. He only attacked them.
Three days ago, Tsunade sent Naruto, Neji, Lee, Kiba, and Shikamaru out for one final time to retrieve Sasuke. Sakura could hardly contain her excitement; she had hoped so much that this time they would come back with Sasuke. It had been three days and now they were back. However, they came back in a way Sakura was shocked to see.
Sakura was first to know of their return, she ran to meet them at the gates only to see them all being lifted onto stretchers and rushed to the hospital. Her eyes widened as she felt her blood turn cold. Sakura's feet started to move as she ran to Tsunade's office immediately.
"Tsunade-sama, what happened to them?" she yelled as she slammed her hands on the desk and stared straight into her eyes.
"Calm down Sakura," she said firmly, her eyes staring straight into hers, sending her a challenging gaze. It was almost as if it were another lesson.
"No! I will not calm down until you tell me what happened!" She was very determined to know what happened and why Sasuke was not with them.
"Sakura, I don't know. Right now I'm very busy reading over their charts." Sakura couldn't immediately tell, but the Hokage seemed mildly disappointed in her. The pink-haired girl was forgetting to keep a level head.
"Uh…oh…I'm sorry… can I help?"
"I'll tell you what. If you want to head on over to the hospital, I'll let you tend to Naruto and Neji."
"Thank you so much, but if I may ask…why those two?"
"Sakura, here are the medical charts. I believe you're our best medic—other than me you're the only one capable of dealing with them." She grabbed the charts and read over them quickly and began walking toward the door...then she stopped.
"Tsunade, what happened with Sasuke?"
"Look as much as I know that this will hurt you, I have to tell you." Sakura held her breath for what was to be some of the worst news since Sasuke's leaving. "Sakura, Orochimaru is dead. Sasuke killed him. But it seems that he is now after his brother, but what you need to understand is that by killing Orochimaru, Sasuke has become nearly as powerful as me in my prime."
"How is this bad news?"
"It's bad because he's still is against us and he is the reason Hyuuga and Uzumaki are in such bad shape, and because of how bad they are, I am afraid I can no longer send anymore of my Shinobi or ANBU after him."
Sakura took a moment to process this before the realization hit her.
'He's not coming back he's gone and there nothing I could do, and I never did anything to help,' she thought fruitlessly.
"Thank you, Tsunade-sama. Thank you for telling me…" She turned around and ran towards the hospital and swore she would not cry.
-
-MEDICAL CHARTS -
NEJI HYUUGA
External and Internal Damage: Three puncture wounds to the left lung.
Left arm: Cracked Ulna and shattered Radius
Right arm: Severe cuts and bruising, 5 cracked ribs.
Left leg: Fine
Right leg: Severe 3rd degree burns down to the bone. Cracked jaw and severe bruising.
Mental damage: Mangekyou Sharingan used between 4-7 times. Patient suffers from hallucinations.
Chakra levels: Extremely low.
Estimated recon time: between 5 to 25 days.
NARUTO UZUMAKI
External Damage and Internal Damage: 4 cracked ribs, both Tibias broken, left Femur broken in 2 places, 2nd degree burns on upper body, and severe bruising.
Mental Damage: Beside the damage that already was there, there is no other damage.
Chakra levels: Minimal.
Estimated recon time: between 4-15 days.
-
At the hospital (Naruto's room)
Sakura entered the room and saw Naruto on his bed. She grimaced at the condition he was in. Sakura soon walked up to the left side of the bed as she checked up on his injuries.
'Poor Naruto. He looks terrible. I'd better get to work before he wakes up and feels the full extent of the pain he's in.'
'Maybe you should stop talking to yourself and get working then, huh?'
'Hey, I never asked for your opinion… and where have you been?'
'Watching you make a fool of yourself.'
'Oh, and when have I been making a fool of my self?'
'Well you are right now, you're talking to yourself instead of healing Naruto…'
'Oh…shut up!'
'Make me. Oh, that's right, you can't.' The voice seemed to boast.
'Oh inner self of mine, the things I would do to you if you were real.'
'Okay, well that's nice but you still aren't helping your boyfriend.'
'Uh, my boyfriend?'
'Well yea, he's lying right in front of you suffering.'
'He is not, now shut up so I can help him and then Neji!'
'Fine, be that way,' it said, the tone of the voice clearly indicating that it chose to end the conversation.
'Finally, some peace and quiet.'
She began healing Naruto's major injuries first, then the things that would be less painful. She would have healed him up more if it were not for the fact that she still had to take care of Neji.
Neji was in the worst condition, after all, and she only had so much chakra.
The clock read a quarter to eleven o'clock, as she had been there with Naruto for a little over four hours now. She really had to get to Neji. She was sure the other medics did a little work on him by now but not one of them would be skilled enough to take care of him. She quickly gave Naruto a peck on the cheek and ran off to Neji's room.
When she got there, the room was filled with medics, including Tsunade.
"Tsunade-sama, what's going on?" she cried.
"Sakura, we can't heal him," she said as calmly as possible.
"What? Why? How come you aren't doing anything?" she panicked.
"Sakura, don't you think I want to? We just can't, he's not letting us." She pointed to Neji, who was wide awake and very pissed off looking, and in very bad shape.
"How? How can he just not let you?"
"Because for whatever reason he keeps blocking off our chakra points and preventing us from healing him!" said Tsunade as she sent a glare towards Neji, who glared back full force.
"He shouldn't even be awake, and where is he getting chakra from to be able to do that?"
"Don't you think if I knew I would stop it or figure something out!?" Tsunade was beginning to get very annoyed with Sakura's constant questions and about to kick her out of the room when...
"Let me." Silence filled the room.
"What?!" said Tsunade, her mouth hanging open wide.
"You heard me—let me do it. Let me take care of him, alone."
Tsunade thought for a moment on this but decided to give Sakura a chance. They all stared at Tsunade for a moment as if to say, 'Well, are we leaving it to her?'
She nodded and they all left but not before she gave Sakura a, 'You had better be able to do this,' look.
Sakura walked over to Neji and sighed.
"You know, I don't know you all that well, but in the little time that I have know you for, you never struck me as the type to want to die."
He mumbled something unintelligible in response.
"You are so much like him. You know, that's too bad."
"Like who?" he questioned, looking up at her with his pale eyes, showing a fraction of interest.
"Don't play dumb." She smirked as she pulled up a chair to the bed, figuring she'd be there for a while.
"Are you calling me dumb?" he asked her.
She looked at him and smiled. "No."
He shot her another glare. "Then tell me, who?"
"Sasuke," she said quietly as she shifted her gaze to the window.
"Why would you think that I'm anything like him?" She looked back at him and sighed.
"Neji, you need to let me heal you, especially now that you're trying to talk. This conversation could kill you."
"I said, why." She grabbed his hand tightly and stared straight at him.
"Please Neji, let me heal you." Neji's head quickly snapped at Sakura. If glares could kill, Sakura would have been dead that moment.
"Then tell me." He said firmly. "Then you can heal me..." Sakura's eyes flickered to the ground as she gave a deep sigh and looked up for a moment, then to her hand and started fidgeting with then. His breathing was ragged... He wasn't even supposed to be able to breathe at this point!
"Sasuke gave up, he wanted so much to be strong and be able to kill his brother and he got better and better, then his jealousy of Naruto overcame him, and he gave up and went to Orochimaru to gain power. So you're doing the same thing now, you are giving up. I'm not sure why, but I know that you're giving up living for some reason, and that's how you're like him. So let me heal you now, okay?" She rushed through her words, intent on having her patient survive.
He then relaxed and set his arms to his sides and stared off into the distance as to think about what she had said. She slowly put her hands above him and began healing, hours went by and her chakra was running at an all time low. She wouldn't stop though because he was still not healed enough to make it through the night so she promised herself that she would not give up. That was a promise she had made to herself after they lost Sasuke. He gave up and she was hurt and she didn't want anyone to suffer because she gave up like he did.
Neji glanced over at her for the first time in the many hours. He knew how low she was on chakra. He could see it, but why didn't she just stop and ask for another medic to help? Was she that dumb, or was there another reason? He couldn't imagine her being that dumb, because honestly, who would want to use up all their chakra just to heal somebody, especially him?
"Haruno-san, you're about out of chakra, you won't last much longer. So why don't you get another medic's help.?" She smiled at his sudden interest in her well-being.
"Neji, its two thirty in the morning; Tsunade is definitely asleep and there is no other medic qualified to handle you."
He grunted in response.
'Well I guess I'm in good hands, but still, she should get help, I don't think she can last much longer…' he thought, his brow furrowing slightly.
His thoughts were interrupted by Sakura and a comment he would never expect out of her as far as he was concerned. She was a pathetic weakling—well, that's what he used to think, anyway.
"Oh, and I don't give up—you're my patient, and I know I have more chakra in me. So if I don't keep going until I'm really all out of chakra, I would call that giving up and I don't give up."
He stared at her for a moment and then smiled. "You are really something else, you know that, Haruno-san?"
"Thank you, Hyuuga-san" She responded just as politely. She smiled and began healing him again.
"Sakura, you say you will never give up, why is that?" A saddened expression appeared on her face as she looked away from him and her tone of voice seemed to lighten.
"Because when you give up, the ones you care about most get hurt, and I never want to be the reason why somebody gets hurt, whether it be physical, mental, or emotional. I could never live with myself and I don't see how anyone else could."
Her words shocked him. She really cared so much about others that she would never give up on anything just to prove it. She really did amaze him, reminding the Hyuuga of a certain blonde-haired ninja. He slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out a little shining orb and handed it to her.
"What's this?" she asked, her emerald eyes locking onto the orb.
"It's where I got the chakra to use my Byakugan. I stole it from Uchiha in battle. He was using it to give himself an even greater advantage. So when I saw the opportunity to steal it, I took it. So I want you to have it, I would hate to be the reason why you had to give up."
A small tear rolled down her face as she smiled and took the small orb from him.
"Thank you Neji-san, you are a wonderful person…so how do I make this work?"
"Don't mention it. Hold it tight in your hand and it works," he said as he slowly closed his eyes. He was obviously really tired and the pain was probably getting to him.
"Thank you," she said quietly as she once again resumed healing.
She soon felt chakra running through her system and she continued healing him. Then the thought came to her…
'What happens when this thing runs out, and how do I know when it does?'
It had been another hour or so and Neji had fallen asleep, so she didn't dare ask him now. But she soon received her answers anyway. The little orb just popped and she started feeling really depleted. Her vision stared to blur and she knew she was out of chakra. She sent one last glance at Neji and she realized it was okay because other than a few scrapes and bruises he was going to be fine and she knew she had not given up. Then as if somebody turned out all the lights, everything went black and she fell to the floor.
"Neji..." she murmured quietly.
Oooo..the excitement! please review and i will have the next chapter up asap