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Isn't that simple?

A Cup of Cocoa

Sakura groaned inwardly as she paused to take a short break. Her short break consisting of five large and labored intakes of air, that is. She was sore and exhausted and the constant stream of stress in her head were starting to form a headache.

She winced as she looked ahead, the massive blanket of snow around her blinding as the sun flew higher up in the sky. But going blind was the least of her worries.

She squinted, trying to focus her eyes on what she hoped to be the front gates of Kohona. When she caught sight of the watch towers, also covered by a mountain of white, she nearly squealed in delight. But to save her breath and energy, she simply looked up to the cloudy white sky and sent a mental prayer of gratitude.

She quickly nudged her limp companion, her mouth opened to whisper blunt words of encouragement, "Sasuke...Sasuke, we're almost there. Only a little while longer." There was a little trace of plea in her voice that she hoped he didn't notice.

She trudged slowly against the pure and vast snow bank in front of her, supporting the last of the Uchiha line with her right arm. He was leaning on her, his mind barely conscious and his eyes were uncharacteristically blurred and dazed.

"..Hn.." A rough grunt made its way out through his throat in response. She smiled, happy to know that they were soon to be in good hands.

To keep her mind occupied and away from doubt, Sakura mused over their brief mission. They had been journeying back from a successful and surprisingly easy mission when they were ambushed by regular rogues. She clenched her teeth in annoyance. They hadn't been a problem; it had been the last guy. Apparently he, out of the earlier bunch, had been told to go after the scroll which had been stolen - the ending result had been ugly.

She glanced down at Sasuke's poisoned wound and took in another gulp of air to calm her nerves. The bleeding pus was oozing with great ease, mocking her and increasing her overall guilt. The very evidence of it made Sakura sick; it was entirely her fault, after all.

Past POV

Tsunade had ordered the two on a relatively simple mission to venture into the Land of Sound and retrive a suspicious document. They were to be back within three days at most. It was late fall and early winter when Sakura and Sasuke were returning from the smooth trip and two ninjas were eager to get back home. They had been finishing up their lunch break in a far off distant and calm meadow when Sasuke had suddenly detected a faint presence in the trees; in their surrounding environment of a forest. Automatically, he cursed himself for choosing such a spot in the open, even if it was just for a break.

"..Sakura..." Sasuke quickly warned quietly. His onyx eyes were darting from tree to tree around them, scanning for the slightest movement or sound. Besides him, Sakura stopped nibbling on her sandwich and looked up, alarmed.

Immediately acknowledging it, she nodded and sighed. Using the same soft tone he had used, she replied, "Yeah, I know."

Now the rustling in the nearby bushes around them grew louder. Both fully alert and cautious, the two each began to stragetically plan their own technique to use to lure out the enemy. But then suddenly, it was uncomfortably silent. The air was crisp and cool; slowly, Sasuke and Sakura looked at eachother, confused and puzzled at what they sensed. Or, to be exact, what they weren't. The large amount of aura they had both sensed had suddenly evaporated.

Sakura glanced around, tense. She waited in silence for a few moments before she quickly began packing up her lunch leftovers and calmly stood up, ready to go. She pulled out a kunai from her weapon pouch and scanned the area around her. Her footsteps slowly paddled through the fresh snow, and soon she heard Sasuke do the same.

"Mm." He muttered, still a bit amused how quickly the large amount of aura had been masked.

It wasn't until ten minutes later did an unfamiliar loud grunt echo across the meadow to announce the presence of the hidden, mysterious men. Immediately once their aura was revealed they stumbled out of the trees, surrounding the wary Kohona ninjas.

They were thugs. Common desperate bandits that lurked in hopes of luck.

After a swift analysis of the bandits, Sasuke sneered. Sakura scoffed besides him. This was certainly an unneccessary delay.

Finally, they made their move.

"...!"

Bandits came from all sides and attacked; but they were prepared. Based on their horrible aim with knifes and lack of proper swordmanship, it was obvious these were ordinary theives who lacked sense of training or skill. It didn't take long for Sasuke and Sakura as they knocked them all out with practiced ease. Sakura was the first to respond with her sigh of relief, "And here I thought I was paranoid." She raised her arms out and stretched, satisfied of such a nice warm-up. It was almost like sparring with Naruto back at home. She grinned. If they were lucky, Sasuke and her would be back in Kohona eating Ramen at Ichiban's with the idiot tonight.

Sasuke himself looked around them one last time and also relaxed. His shoulders slightly slumped back from the tension and he slowly unclenched his fists. He too had overanalyzed the enemy.

Sakura lowered herself back onto the snow crusted ground and set down her backpack again. She had just stuck her hand in to reach for a water canteen when Sasuke yelled out her name. On impulse, she turned around only to see three dark and polished kunai flying towards her. Eyes wide, the young teenager acted through instinct and ducked, barely dodging them. She saw Sasuke quickly deflecting the last one with his own kunai.

With wide eyes she looked at Sasuke; a growing smirk on his face as his thoughts were clear on his face. He had almost let his guard down. With an entertained expression he thought, 'So there was one more…'

"Sakura, that was stupid," He didn't bother to turn around and look at her when he muttered that. She gave a nervous smile, muttered back a grateful thanks, but soon detected yet another presence from the trees. Could it be that the bandits were divided into two parties?

She shook her head, answering her own question. The three kunai had been too sharp in her direction; it had took definite skill to throw them. She was sure none of the rogues had such a steady hand. It had to be another ninja.

"Sasuke- the one to my left," Sakura warned in a low tone. Without further thought, she recklessly directed her own stars in that direction. They fastened themselves onto tree trunks; only to have a number of dead leaves fall from the impacted branches. Raising an eyebrow in curiousity, the pink haired girl quietly stared at the scenery before her.

After several minutes of standing their ground, the atmosphere became chilly and Sakura impatiently turned around, irritated. She started, "Sasuke, lets just..."

Suddenly several kunai came flying at them, keen and aware of the two. "Sakura!" Sasuke winced as he forcefully pushed his legs against the snow to reach her. He darted into position in front of her to block and guard at the last second.

Behind him, Sakura was meek when she whispered, "S-sorry Sasuke..." She looked down, feeling ashamed at herself for being caught unguarded twice.

"Tch. Pay. Attention." His words were a bit harsh and though his back was turned to her, his heaving torso indicated to her that he was breathing hard.

With a questioning look mixed in with a terrified expression, Sakura discovered that a leg of his was injured with one of the kunai gorged deep inside. She let out a small gasp, instant guilt and fear flooded her. But before she could say anything, the Uchiha pulled it out with ease, leaving a large gaping wound with a faint abnormal color around it.

After blinking and examining it for several moments, both realized that the kunais had carried poison within them. Sakura was quick to reach out to touch his leg but the deep haunting voice of his stopped her. With a determined look towards a tree in front of him, he warned, "Don't. Enemy's still here. Protect the document."

Tiny little flakes spiraled down around them, making their way down upon the dry landscape, working their way through freezing the entire ground.

A bit irate, the Uchiha noted with disdain that his left leg would be useless to him soon enough. He would need to depend on his sharigan eyes for this battle against the unknown enemy. He couldn't afford dying; not with just a handicap. The very thought of using his family talent for such a intent sent shivers through him in anticipation. Obediently, Sakura lifted up her bag and clung to it as she slung it over her shoulders; where in it, lay the document they had stolen.

It took only minutes to observe Sakura's actions from a distance and decipher it. The hidden ninja grinned, truly pleased that the scroll was in the girl's possession. She seemed to be an easy target.

He carefully pulled out more kunai from his pouch and from his position on the sturdy tree branch, directly aimed another round of kunai at her, hoping to paralyze her the same way he had poisoned the boy. But bracing for the attack, Sasuke had locked target with the hidden ninja on the tree branch to his far right, his awareness of chi enchanced with his sharigan. He dove straight at the distracted Sound Ninja with three kunai tucked between his cramped fingers. Despite his poisoned left leg, the skilled prodigy was still able to run with practiced agility and the Sound Ninja was attacked by surprise as he fell from his concealed spot.

With a ungraceful and loud landing, he was now in the opening of the meadow, already planning for a retreat. As Sasuke stood towering over him, the Sound Ninja was no longer smiling. Sakura watched in concentration as she made no attempt to move. She could see the shine of Sound Ninja's headband, the fear in his eyes, and his quivering lips through the mask as he looked up.

The assassin was almost pitiful. Sasuke's dark eyes trailed up to the man's headband; in acknowledgement, he muttered a sarcastic comment at the weak Sound ninja.

"Music to your ears." As he sadistically scraped the pointed edges of his three kunai against the Sound Ninja's skull. A sickening and abrupt crack rung and a thud followed. A large puddle of dark red and fresh blood leaked and gathered at the spot.

Watching from the background, the pink-haired kuniochi frowned at the goriness and method Sasuke had chosen to defeat the messenger Sound Ninja. She shook her head and rolled her eyes as she finally regained her thoughts; she rushed over to him, worried about the poison. And immediately, as soon as she reached him, the Uchiha's entire body slumped, leaned onto a tree trunk, and stared at her blankly. The poison had put a strain on his body stamina along with his injured leg.

'This should have been my injury,' Sakura thought bitterly. She slowly lifted his body, testing her own limits when she allowed him to throw his weight on her. Her steps out of the clearing were heavy and burdened as she trudged onward back to Kohona. Her thoughts and concerns were endless and unforgiving, like the dancing white flakes that fell continuously from the hazy sky.

Back to the Present

"The hospital's not that far from the gate," Sakura murmured. She was hoping that her soft words would calm his agitated state. The weather had gotten worse and it was below freezing temperatures as she treaded down the familiar mountain path back to Kohona's gates. After a long and limping two hour travel, Sasuke had started gasping through his shortage of breath. She could feel his eratic heartbeat pressed against her side, stamping itself to near exhaustion. Her only real fear was when the poison would begin to enter his main vitals. She frowned, praying to no one in particular, she hoped that she could make it in time. But she knew, sometimes, time had its own way.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was trying his best to stay awake; trying to retain his groans of pain and discomfort; a high fever was developing.

'Damn, when did the village get so far away?' Leaning onto Sakura for dear life, he wanted nothing more but to rest his aching body and drift into a deep sleep of oblivion.

"..Sakura," His voice was strained as he tried to make out the last of his incoherent thought. He struggled for a bit more before he slipped into unconsciousness entirely. In wonder, Sakura waited for Sasuke to finish his request. But when only silence met her ears and she felt his entire body shift, she realised he had passed out.

"Sasuke!! Sasuke, wake up. Wake up!" For once in her life, Sakura was glad for the tone her voice took when she panicked. It became shrill and highly annoying to even her own ears. It was the very thing that irritated Sasuke the most; ironically, because it sounded just like her fangirl squeal. If this didn't wake him up from his deadly slumber, she knew nothing would.

Tears were gathering at the rims of her eyes and threatening to spill onto her numb and reddened cheeks as her visible puffs of breath clouded and formed in front of her. He couldn't die like this.

"I will make it. I swear I will." Innocent snowflakes and the deafening stillness surrounded the two, along with a shadowing threat of death that followed.

End of Chap 1

Woooot. Hope you liked that.