Promise
By: Missysillivan
Dedicated to: AvaAnna
Summary: She begged him not to go; but he went anyway. It was his job. It was what he had to do. Now there he lies, barely hanging on. [SasuSaku OOC [Implied NejiTen; NaruHina; ShikaIno One Shot
A/n: So this story just kind of came to me, well not really. I was reading A Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemingway (who is by far my favorite author only second to Michael Chriton) and I was thinking 'I could do a really cool and deep war story' which then led to 'what would happen if...' and then I some how came to this. Originally I was going to make it a tragedy, but I was in a good mood and also, I made a promise to write a happy ending story for my all time favorite author and reviewer AvaAnna. So, here' to you, dear! F.Y.I. It's rated for some language (albeit not horrible) and violence.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. But I really, really want to.
"Do you really have to go?"
"Hn."
"Why can't they send someone else? You're not the only person capable of doing this mission!"
"We've been over this."
"But its suicide!"
Onyx locked onto jade and hardened considerably.
"Sakura."
Tears swelled up in her eyes as she tried to fight against them. Sakura dropped her chin and glared at the ground. "I still don't understand-"
"I'm the only one who knows the complete layout of the base. It's suicidal enough. If we didn't know the area then we would all be dead."
"Sasuke-"
"That's enough Sakura." Sasuke voice was cold as he turned back to his pack and finished checking for all of his weapons.
Sakura let out a small growl and snapped her head up as she sent a deadly glare Sasuke's way.
"Fine. Kill yourself." Sakura bit out before turning on her heel and walking out of the room.
Sasuke let out a sigh before pulling the pack on and grabbing the white cloak and porcelain wolf's mask.
He exited the bedroom and headed towards the kitchen, where he set his things on the counter before heading into the living room where the pink haired kunoichi sat, glaring at the wall.
Sakura didn't look up when Sasuke sat down beside her. She continued to glare at the wall until she felt a strong, gloved hand grasp her own fisted one. Jade eyes fell to the floor in front of her feet as silence passed over the two.
"I'm a captain. We both knew the dangers when I accepted." Sasuke said quietly, breaking the silence.
"I know." Whispered Sakura. "But I don't have to like it."
Sasuke stood and gently pressed his lips to Sakura's forehead before walking in the kitchen and putting on his mask and cape. As he walked to the door, he was stopped by an embrace from behind.
"Come back, alive or I'll find you, bring you back to life, and kill you myself." Sakura snapped as she continued to fight off the tears.
Sasuke smirked, successfully suppressing a chuckle, and turned in Sakura's embrace. He tenderly kissed Sakura's lips before pulling away and exiting the small apartment.
------
"Are you ready, Teme?" Naruto snickered as he playfully punched the Uchiha in the arm, fox mask in hand and black cloak draped over his shoulders and pack.
Sasuke rolled his eyes and turned to the other two members of their team.
"Hyuuga. Aburame. Are you ready?" Sasuke asked emotionlessly.
Both males replied with a sharp nod before following behind the Uchiha with Naruto taking up the rear as the dashed through the trees.
"It will take two days to get there. We'll stop once the sun sets for the night." Sasuke informed the group.
"What is the exact objective?" Shino's voice replied.
"Take out any enemy shinobi in the base. We're ending this war before it starts." Sasuke's voice was cold and solemn.
They all knew the risks. Four ANBU taking out a Sound base that could hold anywhere from five to a five hundred enemy shinobi didn't offer great odds of returning in one piece. But it had to be done.
Since Sasuke had returned two years ago, when he was sixteen, after killing his brother, Tsunade had been sending out team after team to dispose of any Sound bases that were rebuilding themselves. Unfortunately, Kabuto was still out there, and there was no doubt in any one's mind that he was going to rebuild Oto to its former "glory" and take all the power for himself. He had already attacked Konoha three times in two years with small militias of shinobi. But now, word had come in that Kabuto had succeeded in setting up bases through out the Rice Country and was slowly building his armies. If Konoha didn't stop the Yakushi soon, then there would be an inevitable war between the two countries.
This is how Sasuke, Naruto, Neji, and Shino had wound up on this mission. A mission report from Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba, and Hinata from when they returned from their "recon and destroy" mission from deep within Sound's borders, had stated that there was an unnamed base that was being operated within Fire Country's boundaries. It stated that there were many high level ninja there, but there was not an exact amount. The report had gone on to talk about the advance security measures and training that was being done inside the base, and the it was supposedly where Kabuto was staying, for now, as he worked on his plans to attack Konoha once again. With further recon, Sasuke led a team, which consisted of Tenten, Kiba, and Rock Lee, and found that the base did in fact exist and that it was actually an old temple that had been abandoned a long time.
Lucky for Konoha, it was a temple that Sasuke new very well from his childhood.
So, Tsunade put together a four man cell to send in to terminate the base.
Neji, Shino, Naruto, and Sasuke were the only people qualified for the job.
"We'll stop here for the night." Sasuke finally called out as he jumped down in to the clearing while the three other males followed his lead. "Set up camp."
The only voice you could hear was Naruto's as he attempted to start a conversation with the three stoic shinobi.
"Naruto. Stop. Talking." Neji finally bit out. He was on edge. Neji, especially, didn't like the odds of them not returning.
"We'll take turn for watches. I'll call the first." Sasuke informed the males.
"Second." Shino put in.
"Third." Neji said next.
"That leaves me with the last." Naruto shrugged.
"We leave at dawn. That would be nearly ten hours. Each shift will be two and a half hours." Sasuke commanded.
Three simultaneous answered replied before they went on their way making dinner and finishing the set up of their camp.
-----
"Hey, wanna go get lunch?"
"Sure."
Sakura filed away the last report before taking off her white lab coat and following Tenten out of her office in the hospital.
"Where are we going?" Sakura asked as they walked past the ramen stand that she usually went to for lunch.
"I found the cutest little café up the block that I wanted to try." Tenten smiled as she led the way to the restaurant.
Tenten and Sakura had gotten extremely close over the two and a half years that Naruto was away. They, along with Hinata and Ino, had often trained together and went out from brunch on shared days off and after missions. Both Sakura and Tenten found it nice to have a female to hang out with; it was a nice get-away from their male comrades who, more or less, where either emotionless, or just a plain pain in the ass.
After they had been seated, both girls immediately ordered their food and waited for it to come.
"I heard that Neji was on the team that went to take down the base Kabuto had set up." Sakura started after a moment of silence.
"Yeah. I all but got on my knees to beg him not to go. But, you know Neji. I swear that husband of mine has the biggest stick up his ass. It could probably rival the size of his ego."
Both girls laughed at Tenten's comment.
Tenten and Neji had married only a year earlier at the age of eighteen, just after Hinata denounced the title of clan leader and passed it to her cousin, officially ridding the Hyuuga of the branch family. Neji, at first decline the title, but after Hanabi reassured him that she didn't want the responsibility, Neji accepted and then got married.
"Yes, well, I'm almost positive that it's smaller then Sasuke's." Sakura sighed as the waitress came with their tea.
"Then there's Naruto. I feel bad for them. Naruto can get to obnoxious sometimes." Tenten snorted as she took a sip of her tea before adding the right amount of sugar and honey to it.
"I agree. But at least there's Shino. I'm sure he would keep Naruto in order." Sakura laughed.
There food was brought to them soon after and, for the most part, they ate in silence.
After their lunch was eaten, Sakura and Tenten paid before slowly walking back towards the hospital.
"You know, I'm really worried." Tenten finally confessed.
"I know. So am I."
"Do you think they'll make it?"
"They better. All four of them better."
-----
"Naruto! Behind you!"
Naruto quickly spun on his heel and stabbed his kunai into the enemy's chest before yelling a 'thanks' to Sasuke, who was busy with his own opponents.
"Sasuke! Twenty more are on route!" Neji yelled across the clearing as he kicked another dead shinobi to the ground below him.
"I sense them." Sasuke replied.
In the morning, they had set out once again. By mid-day, the base had come into sight and the team began to formulate a plan. Unfortunately, by mere coincidence, one of the Sound shinobi came across them and so began the assault. More and more enemy shinobi were coming from the temple turned base, and Sasuke was starting to wonder if there really was five hundred ninja.
"Last wave. Ten more on route!" Neji reported.
"Don't leave to greet them. They'll come to us." Sasuke commanded.
"Right."
"Here they come!" Naruto yelled as the swarm stampeded into the clearing and began their endless attacks.
-----
"Hey." Sakura looked up as Tenten walked into her office and took a seat on the couch.
"Hey. What's up?" Sakura asked as she continued writing out a report on one of her patients who had a hemorrhage on his inner thigh.
"Nothing. I just came from Hinata's. She's a mess; unbelievably worried for Naruto and stressing out way to much. Ino was there, but I don't know if she was doing any good. Shikamaru has been away the last three weeks and apparently is two days over due." Tenten reported as she laid back and closed her eyes.
"Sometimes it makes me wonder why we chose this for ourselves." Sakura sighed.
"What do you mean?" Tenten asked confused.
"The ninja lifestyle. Endless killing, always unsure if you are going to be alive the next day. Loved ones go missing for days, even weeks, at times and you have no idea where they are. It difficult."
"That's why there is only a select few who are able to do it."
Sakura nodded her head before closing the file and setting it in her desk.
"When do you think the boys will be back?" Tenten asked as she opened one eye to look at Sakura.
"Soon, hopefully." Sakura replied as she heard a commotion coming from outside her office.
Suddenly her door burst open and a frantic nurse appeared.
"Haruno-san! You're needed in surgery immediately! An ANBU team returned and their badly injured!"
"Shit!" Sakura took off with Tenten hot on her heels.
In the lobby was a picture nether girl would ever forget. Sasuke was supporting Shino while Naruto had collapsed and Neji was being loaded onto a gurney. They were all bloodied and cut up. The worst off was probably Shino.
His skin was a deathly pale and strange red rashes were appearing all over his body. A long gash ran across his stomach up to his right shoulder and his cat mask dangled off of his chest armor.
Naruto was probably better of then the others. He was cut, bruised, bloody, and had a nasty gash above one eye, but for the most part, it didn't look like he was severely injured. The biggest toll on his body was the chakra depletion.
Neji was grimacing in pain at the large stab wound that was in his stomach. His left arm was twisted in a way that shouldn't even be possible and he was covered in blood. Even his long chocolate hair was matted with dirt, sweat, and blood. In his right hand was his eagle mask clenched within his fist.
Sasuke looked the worst, only second to Shino. He was breathing heavily and was extremely shaky on his legs. Massive amounts of blood was still flowing from a horrific head wound on the right side of his skull and there was a deep cut that ran from his right shoulder down to the bottom of the left shoulder blade, on his back. There was a clear impression that his right shoulder was dislocated and he, too, was a deathly pale.
Sakura didn't miss a beat in getting the situation under control.
"Call Tsunade and Shizune and have them in here stat! Send Hyuuga to O.R. 1, Aburame to O.R. 2, and Uchiha to O.R. 3. Have Uzumaki be sent to examination room 7 and have him checked immediately." Sakura rushed to Shino's free side and took him from Sasuke, who looked like he was ready to pass out. "I need three gurney's stat!"
The three gurneys were brought over and each male was placed out one. The moment Sasuke had laid down he lost consciousness while Neji still groaned in pain and Shino was wavering in between.
Tenten stood completely frozen with horror at the sight of what was happening.
As Sakura passed her as she was going with Sasuke to the operation room, she couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Sakura knew how it felt to not be able to do anything. "Tenten go get Hinata and tell her that Naruto is in the hospital and I personally promise that he will make it. Neji and Shino too." Sakura called out to her, deliberately ignoring to say that Sasuke would be alright. Deep down, Sakura knew that Sasuke was fighting for his life and that that may not be enough to save him.
Once inside the operation room, Sakura immediately got to work healing all of Sasuke's injuries. "I need four bags of AB blood." She commanded.
A nurse ran out of the room to get the blood bags as ordered while Sakura continued to push her chakra through Sasuke's body.
"Come on." Sakura chanted as she began to heal the wound on Sasuke's head, which seemed to be the worst.
"Haruno-san! Aburame-san's heart rate just plummeted." A nurse said frantically as she rushed into the operation room.
"Shit. Where's Tsunade and Shizune?" Sakura demanded.
"On their way." The nurse replied.
"Take over." Sakura commanded one of the doctors as she ran into the next room.
She immediately began to send her chakra through Shino's body to find what was wrong with him. It appeared that one of his ribs was shattered and he had a punctured lung. Then Sakura let out a horrified gasp.
"His bugs are eating him alive!" Sakura nearly shrieked.
"What?" The doctor closest to her nearly had a heart attack. "How can that be?"
"Send enough chakra through with the proper jutsu and you can rewire the bugs' way of thinking." Sakura replied as she did rapid hand signs. 'Please work.'
She slammed her hands down on Shino's chest and for a split second his entire body flashed green. A second later, his heart rate stabilized, but was still not beating fast enough, and his breathing began smoother.
Sakura began to heal the damaged lung and fixed the rib as best as she could under the circumstances.
"What did you do?" The doctor asked confused.
"Rewired the bugs." Sakura replied in a flat voice as she continued to heal the damaged organs. 'Well I guess I figured out where the rash came from.'
"Sakura, I'll take over." Sakura turned to see that Tsunade had entered the room. "Shizune is covering Neji."
"Alright." Sakura quickly briefed Tsunade as she walked towards Sasuke's room.
Once she was back in Sasuke's room, she had the nurses roll Sasuke onto his side so Sakura could heal the nasty gash on his back. After nearly an hour she was ready to move onto his should and relocated it.
Finally after nearly four hours, Sakura stumbled out of the operating room, almost completely depleted of chakra, and made her way towards the waiting room in search of Tenten. Instead, she found a worried Kakashi, Naruto, and Hinata.
"Naruto, aren't you supposed to be in a…bed….somewhere?" Sakura asked as she rubbed her temples.
"I wanted to wait." Naruto replied completely seriously. "Shizune already came out and said that Neji would be okay; Tenten's with him now. Tsunade hasn't come out yet. How are they?"
"Sasuke's alive." Sakura smiled weakly as Kakashi and Naruto both looked like they just had a load taken off their shoulders. "I don't know about Shino. I think he's fine. When Tsunade-sama took over he was stable."
"That's good." Naruto sighed loudly.
"Are you okay?" Kakashi questioned as he watched the wary girl.
"I'm just low on chakra. I'll survive." Sakura once again smiled weakly before turning around. "You guys can visit Sasuke once he's been moved to recovery."
-----
Three more hours passed before Tsunade came out of the operating room, with help from Shizune and a nurse, stating that Shino was alive but in bad shape. "It'll just take him time to heal." Was what she said.
Naruto and Kakashi had come into see Sasuke, who had not woken yet, while Hinata went to see her cousin and teammate. Tenten was ecstatic that Neji was alive and wouldn't stop thanking Shizune. Neji was the only one other then Naruto who was awake.
After a while, Kakashi had decided that it was time for Naruto to leave the hospital, so he stupidly treated the young man to ramen at Ichiraku. Hinata and Tenten had decided to join them; the former only going because she was going to get some from her husband.
While they went out to eat, Sakura stayed planted beside Sasuke's bed, gripping his hand as she silently cried and prayed for him to wake up.
"Why didn't you just listen to me, you stupid man." Sakura growled as she gripped his hand harder.
"'I'm the only one', my ass." Sakura stood up and then sat on the bed beside Sasuke. "You better wake up. You remember what I said."
Sakura felt tears running down her cheeks as she brushed raven locks from Sasuke's forehead. "I love you. Please don't die." She whispered as she kissed his forehead gently.
"I…won't…" Sakura jumped off the bed when she heard the words that Sasuke barely whispered.
"You're awake?" She asked happily.
"Hn." He groaned.
Sakura embraced him in a tight hug, completely forgetting about his injuries. You scared me. Don't do that again." She commanded.
"I'm sorry." Sasuke whispered in turn.
"You should be." Sakura whipped away the free tears and gently kissed Sasuke's lips.
"I love you."
"I love you, too. Promise you'll never leave me."
"I promise."
I don't believe that this is my best work, but I like it none the less. Please review!
iMiSsY!