A/N: Well, I replaced the chapter because, when I reread chapter two, I didn't much like it. Well, I liked it, but, when I thought about it and read the reviews (thanks, by the way! *kissus*), I realized that it was much too soon for it. You'll definitely be seeing some of that chapter later on, but, for now, enjoy this remade chappy! n.n
The mission had been a success: Sasuke had been found and captured; he would live; he would (eventually) recover and then would be up for sentencing. But, with the memory of Sasuke's face in her mind, the pain in all of her joints and the exhaustion that was weighing her down, Sakura found no success. She found only weary resignation and reluctant acceptance of Sasuke's reappearance in her life and she wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel about seeing him once again.
"Hey, Sakura-san!" Ritsu called as Sakura all but dragged herself through the village toward her apartment for a much-needed shower and some even more-needed sleep, "Sakura-san? Can you hear me?"
Sakura turned to Ritsu with weary impatience and asked, "What is it, Ritsu?"
Said male chuunin reared back as though a snake had just lunged at him and exclaimed, "Whoa, Sakura-san, you look horrible!"
"Mm," she grunted.
"D-Do I even want to know what happened to you during the mission?" he asked timidly, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, "Do I want to know how the mission went?"
"No and it was a success," she answered tiredly, "Naruto and Neji are taking Sasuke and Shikamaru to the infirmary and then they're going to see Tsunade to confirm the success of the mission. I'm going home."
"Uh... okay," Ritsu murmured, "Good to see you back and... alive?"
"Mm," she grunted again, turning around and once again starting toward her home. She was exhausted, covered in caked-on blood that didn't only belong to herself, she felt dirty and grimy, her feet hurt and she just wanted to lay down for the next twenty or thirty hours and sleep. "Later, Ritsu."
"See you, Sakura," Ritsu hollered after her and she turned the corner, walking down the street that her apartment sat on.
She walked into her home, kicked off her shoes, dropped her bag on the floor and headed toward the bathroom, peeling off her most likely unsalvageable clothes on the way down the hall. By the time she was in the bathroom with the door closed, she was completely nude, her pale skin stained with blood that she couldn't wait to get off.
She turned on the water, not bothering to feel how hot or cold it was before stepping in so that the water burned her skin. She didn't care. She just stood under the spray and watched the dried blood melt away with the water and wash down the drain. She wasn't completely sure whether it was the sight of the blood or just her exhaustion, but she was filled with a deep sadness as she watched the water turn redder and redder as she rid herself of the horrible, crusted substance.
Tears stung her eyes and her jaw quivered, but she refused to cry. She was so tired, she was in pain, and she wasn't going to allow her sorry state to control her mood. She quickly washed up and left the bathroom, but, when she did, she realized that she had scrubbed her skin raw, the water had burned her skin till it was red and the cool air was painful.
She sighed and walked into her bedroom, still completely in the nude and changed into an overlarge T-shirt Kakashi had lent her on a mission and she hadn't bothered to return. She fell into bed, hissed at how the feel of the fabric irritated her sensitive skin, but crawled under the covers anyway.
She was asleep within moments.
She awoke to the sound of her phone ringing, but she didn't bother to get out of bed to answer it. She had found the right position in which to lay without it hurting her abused skin and she didn't dare move for fear of losing that comfort.
"Shut up," she growled to the incessant ringing, but, as she had expected, it didn't stop.
Then, it went to voice mail and Tsunade's grim voice echoed throughout the empty apartment. "Sakura? Are you there, Sakura? Hm, well, I had thought you would have come with the others to confirm that your mission was a success, but I suppose you were tired. I'm just calling to say congratulations on the success of your mission and I would like to know if—"
"Tsunade-shishou?" she called when she picked up the phone, "Sorry, I was asleep."
"It's alright," the Hokage answered, "I'd just like to know if you would be willing to continue the mission even further."
"Even... further?" she asked with some confusion, "How can I take the mission any further?"
"I need a talented medic to heal the wounds you gave him during your fight," Tsunade told her dryly, "He's lost a lot of blood and, although your transfusion did keep him alive during the trip back here, he's still too weak to start generating his own blood and his wound apparently reopened while Naruto was holding him. He's in serious need of help."
"He's dying?" she asked with a small satisfied smile. Good, she thought wryly. The bastard deserves it.
"Yes, he's dying and quickly. Shizune did what she could to close the wound, but she's got so many patients that she doesn't have the time to take him on permanently, I am absolutely buried in paperwork and I don't quite trust the other medic-nin to do as good of a job as I know you will."
"Well..." Well, I'd much rather Sasuke die, but... "Okay."
"Thanks, Sakura, if you could head over to the infirmary as soon as you can, you know I'd appreciate it."
Sakura hung up after agreeing and changed out of the T-shirt and into her uniform. After quickly running a comb through her hair, she drew in a deep breath and left her apartment to go to the infirmary, thinking, You should feel lucky, Sasuke, if I hadn't been on a mission that called for me to bring you back alive, I wouldn't have brought you back at all and you'd be dead. But now you're going to live... for awhile, anyway.
A/N: Ooh, I like the sound of that: "for awhile, anyway". Foreshadowing or just wishful thinking? I'll never tell... X3
