Breathe

How had this happened? How could things have gone so terribly wrong?

Sasuke gritted his teeth, his hands clenching into fists as he sat on the side of the bed in the hospital room in which he was confined. He had been admitted for minor cuts and bruises, and Naruto had also been assigned a room with injuries similar to his own. But Sakura...

He ground his teeth together again and swung his arm to collide with the headboard in frustration, causing it to tremble beneath his fist. How could he have been so careless?

Minutes earlier, Team Seven had returned from what was supposed to be a simple escort mission that they had been assigned a few days prior. The destination was a small village just outside of Fire Country, and the journey there had been relatively uneventful, though with Naruto's constant babbling and eye-roll-inducing antics, it had hardly been dull.

That morning, after bidding farewell to their client,- a fairly wealthy merchant who made his living selling perfumes and spices- Team Seven started back home to Konoha with Naruto bounding ahead of Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke in his eagerness. The three less exuberant members of Team Seven elected to stroll along at a more leisurely pace than their blonde counterpart; because the journey there had gone without a hitch and they were now freed from having to travel more slowly for their client, they had ample time to make it back to the village before nightfall.

When they were a little over two hours out from the village, Kakashi called for a short breather so they could refill their canteens at the small stream that ran beside the forested path they were taking. They took turns kneeling by the stream, one person filling up their canteen while the other three watched the surrounding trees for any threat, just as a precaution.

"Ok, Sakura," Kakashi motioned to the kunoichi as he straightened up from his position by the stream. "You're up."

"Hai," Sakura replied, moving from her place in between Sasuke, who was staring detachedly down the path which eventually disappeared into the trees, and Naruto, who despite his seemingly boundless energy, had decided to adopt the slower pace of his team rather than face the tedium of solitude. For nearly half an hour, the boisterous blonde had whined about the simple nature of their mission, only pausing in his complaints to conjure up various fantasies in which he could show off his "totally awesome" skills and prove he was better than his stoic rival.

"Dobe," Sasuke had muttered.

Their impending argument had been cut short when Sakura shot a deadly glare at both of them, effectively silencing Naruto. Once Naruto shut up, Sasuke deemed it unnecessary to argue further; that, and he had been a little taken aback at being on the receiving end of Sakura's wrath. She had been irritable and quiet for the majority of the trip, a rather drastic change from her normally bubbly and cheerful demeanor. Her teammates had noticed these changes, and snuck sidelong glances at her now and then. Kakashi had advised them to just let her be, however, so they left it alone.

One reason for her odd behavior was their client. From the moment they set out from Konoha, he had virtually attached himself to her side, chattering nearly nonstop the entire trip. He had walked beside her when they traveled during the day and sat beside her at meals. Because they had to travel at a slower pace so he could keep up, the journey there, which would have normally lasted only a day, had taken them three days to complete. There were no villages in between Konoha and their destination, which meant they had had to spend two nights in the wilderness. They housed their client in the only tent, leaving the team to sleep on bedrolls exposed to the elements. And whose bedroll had he insisted the tent be pitched beside? Why Sakura's, of course. The first night, he sat at the opening of the tent and attempted to strike up another conversation with her. She had sighed inwardly, feigning interest, but was soon rescued by Kakashi when he suggested they all turn in for the night. She'd thrown him a grateful look and he responded with one of his eye crinkling smiles. The next night, Sakura had laid down in her bedroll before anyone else and pretended to be asleep when their client called her name. When she had not answered, he had given up and turned in for the night.

She was relieved to finally be rid of him. Sure, he was nice, but he was close to forty, and he was just a little too creepy- er- friendly for her liking.

His behavior was the main cause of her foul mood. But aside from that, she was just plain tired. She had gotten almost no sleep the week leading up to their mission because she was nursing her mother who had been extremely ill with a high fever. Thankfully, her mother was recovering nicely, but the entire process had been draining for both of them.

All Sakura wanted now was to get home and get a good night's sleep.

As she lowered her canteen into the stream, Naruto launched into another loud monologue, this time about hurrying back to Konoha to get his ramen fix at Ichiraku.

"I miss my ramen, 'ttebayo!" he concluded, whining dramatically.

"It's only been four days, dobe," Sasuke replied. He never moved his glare from the shadowed path that curved into the distance, but you could practically hear the eye-roll that would normally have accompanied such a statement.

"That's four days too many," Naruto pouted, emphatically crossing his arms.

Sakura sighed quietly as she finished screwing the lid back on her canteen. 'These two never change,' she thought tiredly. She reached down and brought some water to her face, relishing in the feeling of the cool moisture on her flushed, sweaty skin. Maybe a nice long shower before she collapsed in bed and slept for three days straight...

She abruptly broke off her musings and froze, hands still placed against her cheeks, as the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw first Kakashi, and then Sasuke stiffen as well. Always the worst at reading the mood, Naruto was last to notice his team's heightened awareness.

"Wha-"

THUNK!

He was cut off by a kunai which landed directly in the middle of the four of them. There was a moment of complete silence, then:

"Down!" Kakashi's order split the air. Sakura barely had time to turn her head and register the explosive tag attached to the handle of the kunai when-

BOOM!

The boys of Team Seven had managed to duck in cover, but Sakura, still in her crouched position by the stream, was flung headfirst into the water by the force of the blast. She managed to duck her head and roll, skidding to a stop in the middle of the stream on her back. She swallowed the urge to cry out as the sharp rocks in the stream tore through the fabric of her red dress and into the flesh of her back.

The air was suddenly filled with the shouts of the enemy as they took advantage of the momentary confusion their explosion had caused. Sakura sat up as about ten rogue ninjas came bursting through the trees and brush. Most of them set their focus on Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi, who had recovered quickly after the blast and were crouched into defensive stances. However, one of the nins attacking from the trees noticed Sakura in her vulnerable position and leapt from the branch he had been standing on, plummeting towards her with his tanto raised, poised to strike a fatal blow. Sakura, still in a sitting position in the middle of the stream, frantically reached for her weapons pouch and whipped out a kunai. With no time to get to her feet, she raised the kunai in front of her defensively as the rogue nin's tanto came flashing down towards her face, just managing to block the deadly strike. The enemy sneered down at her, his face just inches from her own as he used his leverage to bear down on her, pushing his blade against her own in a battle of strength.

A battle she was rapidly losing.

She registered metal clashing against metal and her teammates' voices as they shouted out jutsus, battle cries, and each others' names. Her name. She felt something inside of her solidify. Her entire focus snapped back to the man above her and determination took over her features. She would not be weak. She would not be the same useless little girl, the weak link of the team who always had to be rescued and protected. When the nin above her saw the change in her features, his eyebrows rose slightly in surprise before the sneer crept back onto his face and intensified until he was grinning at her mockingly. She felt anger boil up inside her and prepared to counter attack.

She thought back to Kakashi's tree-climbing lesson in the Land of Waves. As she was the best at chakra control on her team, she had completed the training with ease. Keeping the lesson in mind, she channeled chakra to her feet. Then, gritting her teeth, she took advantage of her sitting position and abruptly dropped onto her back, doing her best to ignore the burning pain from her torn skin, and brought her legs up, knees bent at a little over ninety degrees. In his surprise, the nin looming over her briefly lost his balance and began to fall on top of her. Just as the man was about to right himself, Sakura brought her knees nearly to her chest and then shot them forward, making solid contact with his chest with both of her chakra-infused feet. The man flew back several feet before colliding painfully with the tree he had been standing in a few minutes ago.

Sakura used this time to quickly get to her feet and slip into a defensive crouch. The rogue was also quick to regain his footing, and Sakura deflated a bit at how easily he had recovered from her attack. She was given no time to dwell on the fact, however, for the man promptly unleashed a flurry of kunai and shuriken, sending them hurtling her way. She hopped backwards, deflecting as many of the weapons as she could. Her actions granted her a brief glance of Naruto, Kakashi, and Sasuke, and she released a grateful sigh when they all appeared to be mostly unharmed. They had cut the number of attackers to three, four including the nin she was currently facing.

She felt a spark of relief; they would be alright! They would win this! She quickly returned her full focus to the deadly weapons whistling towards her, inwardly cursing herself for her brief mental lapse as she felt the sting of metal grazing her right cheek and left bicep. She continued to block and dodge, engaged in a deadly dance with the razor-sharp weapons; one misstep would mean her death.

Just as the last of the projectiles clattered to the ground, the rogue nin appeared directly in front of her. Sakura had been distracted with parrying his weapons, and he had taken advantage of that time to inch closer without her noticing. His tanto flashed towards her again and she, just like before, raised her kunai to block his attack. He was trying to draw her into close combat, she realized. But why? A second later, she got her answer.

As the nin once again leaned into his blade, two small pipes popped out of the ends of his sleeves, pointed directly at her.

'What the-'

PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH HHHHHH!

Her thoughts were cut short when a foul smelling, dirt-colored gas shot out of the ends of the tubes, straight into her face.

Sasuke and Naruto, who had just teamed up and finished off one of the remaining rogues, spun around at the sound of Sakura's startled yell.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto bellowed. He took off towards his pink-haired teammate with Sasuke on his heels, leaving Kakashi to deal with the remaining two enemies they had been fighting.

Sasuke quickly took in the situation. By tricking her into thinking she was safe because his hands were occupied, the nin Sakura was facing had surprised her with a hidden attack. Now he was keeping her trapped in the noxious cloud by using his weight to his advantage and pinning her down, his tanto pressing heavily onto her kunai.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried again, preparing to fling himself at her attacker.

Sasuke managed to grab him by the arm and throw him back a few feet.

"Idiot! You see that gas? It's probably poisonous!"

"You're the idiot! That's why we have to help her!" Naruto yelled back, his voice and expression somewhere between fury and panic, as he started towards the kunoichi again.

"What good will we be if we get caught in it too!" Sasuke hissed back. "We have to attack from long-range."

Naruto halted, struggling with his emotions. His instinct was to fly to Sakura's aid without a second thought, but he knew that Sasuke was right.

"What should we do?" he finally grit out through clenched teeth.

Just as Sasuke opened his mouth to reply, another cry rang out from the pair ahead of them, only this time, it was a male's voice.

Both boys immediately zeroed in on their teammate. Sasuke's eyes widened and his eyebrows shot up and a second later, Naruto, who had been momentarily dumbfounded, uttered an awed, "Sakura...chan."

Though she was still trapped inside the cloud of most likely poisonous gas, Sakura had managed to retrieve a second kunai from her pouch with her left hand as she continued to defend herself with the kunai in her right. She had just sunk the second weapon deep into the right thigh of the man in front of her, causing him to emit the cry they had just heard. They watched, shocked, as she grabbed the blade of his tanto with her left hand, holding him in place as she drove her other kunai into his remaining good leg. With another loud exclamation of pain, the man sank to the ground. Sakura then delivered a swift kick to his head, rendering him unconscious, before jumping backwards, away from him and the rapidly thinning cloud of deadly fumes.

She turned to look at them, cheek, bicep, and back slowly seeping blood while her left hand dripped with it. They relaxed as she gave them a small smile and took a shaky step towards them.

The moment of relief lasted only a moment, however, before first confusion and then pain swept across Sakura's face. Before the two boys could even blink, Sakura brought her hands up to clutch at her chest before falling to her knees in a violent coughing fit.

Naruto and Sasuke were momentarily frozen in shock. Only after she ceased coughing and slumped sideways to the ground did they remember themselves and rush to her side.

When they reached her, she was curled in on herself, both hands gripping her throat and both eyes screwed shut. She appeared to be having trouble breathing. Her shoulders heaved up and down as her gasps for air increased in speed and intensity.

'She's hyperventilating!' Sasuke realized, his shock quickly being replaced with alarm.

"What's wrong with her!" Naruto asked in horror as he knelt beside the struggling girl.

Instead of answering, Sasuke reached down to grab her wrists and pulled her hands away from her throat. He then turned her over on her back, trying to give her lungs as much room to expand as possible. When her breathing only became more laborious, he cursed under his breath and grabbed her shoulder, shaking her to get her attention.

"Sakura! Oi, Sakura! You need to calm down! You've got to try to regulate your breathing!" he commanded urgently.

Sakura finally cracked one eye open, taking a few moments to successfully focus on him because of the pain.

"Sasuke...(gasp)...kun...(gasp)." She shifted her gaze to her blonde teammate. "Na...(gasp)...ruto."

"Shhh, don't try to talk too much Sakura-chan," Naruto tried to reason with her. "Just hold on, we're gonna get you out of here." He looked up and caught Sasuke's gaze, panic barely concealed in his wide blue eyes

When Sasuke looked back down, Sakura was once again looking at him.

"You-" she started to speak again before she was cut off by another round of coughing.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto pleaded with her.

She was stubborn, however, and managed to get out between her gasps and coughing, "You...(wheeze)...you all...(gasp, gasp)...ok...(cough, wheeze)...?"

Sasuke had to force himself to not roll his eyes. Here she was, bleeding, immobile, and struggling to breathe, and she was worried about them.

He let out a sigh. "We're fine," he assured her a bit tersely.

The corners of her mouth lifted in the slightest of smiles before pain reclaimed her features.

"Sorry... (wheeze)," she whispered pitifully. "He...(gasp)...got me...(wheeze, wheeze). The...(gasp, cough)...the gas."

"Sakura," Sasuke growled out, preparing to scold her for talking again. He never got the chance, however, because Sakura was suddenly coughing and hacking so violently, the force of the attack caused her to sit up and double over, arms wrapped around her torso as if she were trying to hold herself together. This continued for several moments before she gave a final, great, shuddering cough and froze. Her hair created a curtain around her face, shielding her from their view.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto called tentatively, reaching out a hand towards her.

She slowly raised her head to look at them. Sasuke felt panic wrench at his gut when she turned to face him fully. Blood was staining her lips red, rolling down both sides of her mouth before dropping off her chin onto her arms which were still wrapped tightly around her stomach.

She slowly reached up to touch her wet lips before looking down at her fingers, stained crimson with her blood. Wide-eyed, she raised her gaze back to Sasuke's face, green irises locking with black. For one second, all Sasuke could see were her eyes, wide, fearful, and pained, but bright. Impossibly bright. Then her face drained of all color, her eyes rolled back in her head, and she collapsed, unmoving, into his arms.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Hello FF world! This is my very first story! Huzzah! It will probably be either 2 or 3 chapters, depending on how long it takes me to wrap it up (I actually have most of it written already). It takes place sometime in between the Chuunin Exams and Sasuke's desertion. You could think of it as a sort of filler episode I suppose. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I had writing it! Let me know whatcha think and I'll put up a new chapter soon if people are interested :)