The sound of leather against sand sliced through the warm night air

Title: Life Blood

Rating: T

Pairings: SasuHina, slight NaruSaku

Summary:

Team 8 returns one night more dead than alive. They seem to be in a genjutsu, one that Sasuke is very familiar with. As Sasuke tries to unravel the mystery of the attack on Team 8, can love blossom?

I've decided to attempt a multi-chapter story! I apologise for any mistakes that I may have overlooked. I will try to update every week, but I might be taking a small break soon due to exams. And just to clear things up:

Rookie 9: 16 years old

Team Gai: 17 years old

Hanabi: 12 (she isn't playing a big role in the later chapters, but that may change.)

And Hiashi is a caring father in this story. :D

Warnings: Facts may be incorrect in this story as I only watch the anime and I don't read the manga.

Disclaimer: I own a Gaara plushie! Not this…

Note: I've replaced this chapter with the amendments after a mistake that was spotted. It's more or less the same, just a tweak of words here and there. :D

Special thanks to lightxdark for spotting my silly error.

The sound of leather against sand sliced through the warm night air. The sound never broke, never softened as it beat a steady tattoo.

A guard yawned.

"Why do we have to take the night shift? You and your big mouth…" he grumbled. To which his partner just gave a grunt of annoyance, and continued to fix his eyes to the manga he was reading.

A few minutes of companionable silence passed between them. The second guard was still reading his manga, and the first guard was bored to death. All of a sudden, a faint staccato sound reached the ears of the first guard. The first guard stiffened. Tsunade-sama hadn't said anything about any teams that might come back from their missions tonight. All ambassadors would have booked an appointment beforehand, and they never travelled at night. He hastily scribbled a note and passed it to his partner. "What, Hiroshi?" asked the second guard impatiently. "I'm getting to the exciting part and Ka…" A hand clamped over the mouth of the second guard and the note was shoved in front of his face. The second guard's eyes widened, and he put down the manga on the scrubbed wooden table gently. Nodding at each other, both of them unsheathed a kunai, the blades glinting in the pale moonlight.

Holding their breath in anticipation, the guards waited for what seemed like an eternity. Soon, the sound became clearer and louder. The guards' grip on the kunais' hilts tightened. Hiroshi, the first guard, sneaked a peek at the oncoming people. There were two of them, and they were huge. One of them had a body-sized package over its back, and the other was balancing lumpy packages on its back. They wore jackets that were a deep, rich red, but some parts of the jackets had already faded to a light, rusty red.

Hiroshi gulped. In all his years of being a ninja, he had never seen any village's ninjas who wore red. He ducked behind the gate as the staccato sound got closer than ever. He could hear pants and heavy breathing too.

As soon as the first sandal of the mysterious ninjas stepped into Konoha, Hiroshi and his partner stepped out and raised their kunais protectively, ready to kill if need be. However, who the ninjas were shocked them.

The two mysterious ninjas fell down face first in the sand, and their packages stayed on- barely. The grateful face of Hyuuga Hinata smiled up at them. "Team 8 reporting. T…tadayima…"

Before the guards had had any chance to react, the ex Hyuuga heiress' eyes were closed, as though dead. Hiroshi patted his partner's shoulders, and ran nimbly to the Hokage Tower.

The second guard was left behind. He performed a simple jutsu to check if the ninjas sprawled on the sand were henges, and when he had affirmed they were not, he squatted down and looked at them. Aburame Shino was in the sand too, and his package seemed to be squashing him. With his kunai, the second guard sliced through the bonds holding the package and turned it around to face him. His eyes widened as he saw the bloodied forehead on the dog-nin of Team 8. What exactly…happened? He touched the jackets of the Aburame and the Hyuuga. It was wet, and when he lifted his finger to his nose, he was trembling.

It was the unmistatakable scent of blood.

That night, the Hokage Tower and the Konoha hospital was particularly busy. Shizune had shaken Tsunade awake, and when she awoke, Hiroshi had told her quickly what he and his partner had just found. Tsunade had shrugged on her green overcoat, and she sprinted out of the room with Hiroshi and Shizune following on her heels.

When Tsunade reached the front gate, all business, and with her sleeves rolled up ready for healing, she found a visibly shaken Arashi, the first guard, squatting by the three bodies. She unzipped the three ninjas' jackets, and she sucked in her breath when she saw the injuries on their bodies. Their mesh undershirts were ripped apart, and she could see many open wounds still trickling blood. The wounds were fresh, so it was most possibly just made a few hours ago. Tsunade's stiffened. A few hours ago, Hyuuga Hinata had just sent a note saying that they would be back by that night, one day lesser than expected…Was Team 8 attacked on the way back?

Tsunade stood up and spoke in clipped tones to Shizune. "Shizune, get some medic-nins with three stretchers here. Get an ANBU team to scout the forests near the front gate, and two jounins here to take over guard duty. Two jounins, just in case whatever, or whoever hurt Team 8 came back. I expect it will be a formidable force. Hiroshi and Arashi, good work. Please stand guard here while I try to heal them,"

Shizune nodded and said, "Understood," before running off to find the people. Tsunade cracked her knuckles and focused her chakra. Pressing a palm on the chest of the most badly hurt among the three, Kiba, she healed the ripped skin and closed the open wounds. However, for some reason, she could not go on. The wounds refused to heal completely, with just enough pain to make the patient wince. The wounds also would not fully close up, and blood kept trickling out of the wounds. The same happened with Hinata and Shino. No good. She feared that if they lost anymore blood, they would die. Tsunade bandaged them as well as she could and wiped. her hands on a cloth. She then stood up and waited. She would try again with the medic-nins after these three were transported to Konoha Hospital.

The guards in front of the Hyuuga compound admitted Shizune into the compound. Kakashi stayed outside the compound, his hand stifling a loud yawn. One of the guards trailed in front of Shizune to lead her to the Branch House area, where Hyuuga Neji's quarters were.

A soft knock on his door made Neji turn from his scrolls. He tightened his white yukata and slid open the rice-paper door, to see the face of Tsunade's trusted assistant, Shizune.

"Shizune-san. To what do I owe this pleasure…?"

"Neji-kun. Tsunade-sama has requested for two jounins to be present at the main gate. I cannot say more. Kakashi-san is waiting outside. Please be ready, I will wait outside your room." Neji nodded, and slid the door shut. He quickly rid himself of the yukata and pulled on his training attire. He clipped on his weapons pouch and opened the door again. "I'm ready," he said. He and Shizune then walked to the entrance of the Hyuuga compound, where Kakashi was dozing off until Shizune gave him a kick in the shins. Together, they ran swiftly towards the main gate.

The medic-nins were already present when they reached the main gate, and the ANBU team was already running out of the village to scout the surrounding foliage, as instructed. Shizune, Kakashi and Neji approached the Hokage and the three injured ninjas. Tsunade saw Kakashi and Neji, and she waited for them to get closer to her before speaking. "Shizune has told you what you must do, I believe. Since you're here, I will tell you about what happened. I'll cut it short, as I don't have much time. Team 8 of the Rookie 9 has been found severely injured when they entered Konoha recently. I will be going to the hospital to heal them with the medic-nins, and you two are to be vigilant throughout the night, or at least until the next shift comes on." Neji's eyes widened. Hinata was in Team 8. As soon as Tsunade stopped speaking, he ran over to Hinata, and he could hardly restrain a gasp as he saw the wounds and slashes adorning her alabaster skin. As he was about to bend down to observe her wounds more carefully, the Hokage's voice rang out. "Horrible, isn't it. But please step away and start your shift. We wouldn't want any contamination now, would we?" Neji scowled and walked to the guard booth, where Kakashi was already waiting. They signed their names of the guard duty roster and sat down. Kakashi flicked Neji a sideways glance. It was going to be a long night, guarding this place himself. He knew for sure that the Hyuuga teenager beside him would not be able to concentrate on the job.

The sound of rolling wheels dominated Konoha Hospital at one o'clock in the morning. The Hokage was walking briskly in front of the trolley-beds, which was pushed by the medic-nins. She stopped in front of a door, and tapped in the code. Moving to one side, she allowed the medic-nins in with the trolley-beds before entering herself and shutting the door behind her. Soon, the orange 'OPERATION IN PROGRESS. DO NOT ENTER' sign flickered on.

Shizune looked at the guard booth to make sure the silver-haired jounin and the Hyuuga genius were doing their job. They were. She shuffled the papers in her hands. Now where was the Aburame compound again?

Three hours had passed since the operation had started. Tsunade and the medic-nins were perspiring profusely, and the medic-nins had been changed twice. Tsunade knew her chakra was decreasing, and she would have to rest soon, but not before she pulled Team 8 out of their critical stage and into stability.

Outside the operating theatre, the Inuzukas and the Aburames were in a silent state of panic. Hyuuga Hiashi and Hyuuga Hanabi were there, as well as Yuuhi Kurenai. Some of the Rookie 9 was present. Yamanaka Ino had come, and her brows were knitted in worry. Haruno Sakura, who was informed by Ino, had come too. And because Sakura came, Uzumaki Naruto came as well, but not without an unexpected person. He came with…Uchiha Sasuke?!

-flashback-

On their way to the hospital, Sakura and Naruto had stopped by the Uchiha compound. Brazenly, they had entered it and had found the village heartthrob sitting by the lake and skipping stones over the calm and clear water. Naruto had tugged said village's heartthrob, Uchiha Sasuke's arm in an attempt to bring him along with them, but Sasuke just shook his arm free from Naruto's grasp.

"Oi, Sasuke! Come along with us, Shizune said that Team 8 has been hurt!" Sasuke lifted his gaze from the water and stared into Naruto's cerulean-blue eyes. "Doesn't concern me. Ninjas get hurt everyday, no big deal."

"But…Hinata-chan, Kiba and Shino are important people to me!"

"Then you go. Don't drag me along."

"But…!"

Sasuke sighed. Was it so much to ask for some peace and quiet, in his own house no less? "Fine, fine! If I go, will you quit your whining?"

Naruto's gave him a big grin and pulled Sasuke up. He dragged the annoyed boy out of the compound and to the hospital, with Sakura following behind.

-end flashback-

Sasuke groaned. He should never have come in the first place. It was quiet here, but he was here waiting for news of people he barely associated with. What a waste of time.

He sat on a hard seat and leaned against the cool wall. Just as he was falling asleep, a frantic shuffling of feet woke him up. He opened his eyes to see people crowded around Tsunade, whose hands were bloodied, and her face was ashen. Tsunade pushed the press of bodies away from her and said loudly, "They're out of the critical stage, but they will most likely not wake up in the next few days. It was some kind of jutsu…but I'm not sure what type. I'm thinking it's genjutsu, because all through the healing, their body was unresponsive while their minds were so…active. Meanwhile, goodnight everyone, you all should get some sleep as well.

Sasuke was half-listening, until he heard the word 'genjutsu'. Whatever Tsunade had said sounded like what a certain genjutsu was like. A genjutsu that he was familiar with. Could it be…? Sasuke shook his head to clear his mind, and he left the hospital quietly shortly after four o'clock in the morning.

Neji could not concentrate, like what Kakashi had predicted earlier on. His mind kept flicking to his cousin's tortured face. Her eyes had been closed and ragged breaths came from her mouth while she lay in a foetal position.

And the blood, oh gods, the blood.

Haha…the last sentence is an adaptation of a line from Dean Koontz's book, Life Expectancy.

I would like to know if Sasuke has ever gone through the Mangekyou Sharingan genjutsu before, because the manga has advanced more than the anime.

Thanks for reading!