Medic
by Autumn's Wind
Summary: This time a different war approaches and its attack will be of two stages: 1. kill all the medics to disable Konoha's ability to heal; 2. destroy Konoha.
2. Chapter two
"Sakura-chan…where have you been?" the blond asked her as soon as she stepped on the bridge.
"Getting here, where else?" she replied with a small smile, while checking her teammates. They appeared to be normal, not wearing ruffled clothes or dirt spots on them, which meant they actually behaved until she arrived.
"So…are you going to tell me what happened last night?"
She hoped she would get an answer to her question and she didn't miss the glances Sasuke and Naruto sent each other. She stepped between them and stared at each other with a pointed look.
"Well? I want to know why my teammates are having problems again." Her hands moved to sit on her hips, giving her the attitude she wanted.
Sasuke then looked at her from under his locks of dark hair and before she could realize it he looked away. Seeing as Naruto was petrified, he released a sigh before answering her.
"We had several contrasting opinions…"
His answer came fluidly, as expected from someone like him.
"I realized that Sasuke-kun, but I thought you guys overcame that period of useless conflicts…"
He seemed to tense a bit as he replied her again.
"It's not like that…"
She didn't know what to say next. Just when she thought she would find some peace in her team, she had to find Sasuke and Naruto fighting again and she had no idea what was the reason behind it. She, now, thought them to be two matured men, and for that particular reason she couldn't understand why they were fighting again, not just verbally.
She sighed.
"I really don't understand you."
"Sakura-chan…" he glanced at Sasuke before moving his eyes back on her "we were only…"
"Shut up…this is pointless." Sasuke interrupted him.
"Are you going to fight right in front of my eyes? I don't know what happened between the two of you but I hope you'll get this over soon, since I'm not allowed to interfere." Sakura crossed her arms and immediately looked away from them, wearing a frown on her face.
"The bastard is the one that doesn't let me. He thinks it's between the two of us." Naruto angrily pointed his finger at his dark-haired teammate, who stared him in the eye, as a proof that he didn't change his mind and as a reminder that the blond should keep his mouth shut. Having already discussed this, he followed their agreement and stopped talking.
"Alright." She looked at them and smiled upon seeing they seemed to have come to a silent agreement and there was no 'hate' in their eyes. "I assume this is just a childish quarrel between you two…after all, you were always competing and all that…" she threw a smile at them, a smile that showed her remembering of the old times.
"Come on guys…friends again?" her expression begged them. The Uchiha and the Uzumaki threw a glance at Sakura before turning to stare at each other intensely. About a minute later, after many seconds of inner battles, Naruto extended his hand towards his dark-haired teammate, which grabbed it after a few more seconds, giving a firm shake. They weren't even startled when their pink-haired comrade grabbed their shoulders to give them both a half-hug.
While Naruto was more than happy that Sakura had given him a hug –or half of it- and quickly responded to it, Sasuke appeared to be disturbed by the invasion of his private space, as contact between the two of them was usually strictly professional. The people who knew him knew he'd rather not have his personal space encroached.
Yet, he couldn't find himself to deny the affections Sakura showed towards him, from time to time. Usually, after two or three seconds he would relax and maybe even respond a bit to all.
Just like this time, when he slowly dragged his arm to sit on her shoulder as well. Sometimes, it was curious to see that Naruto wasn't the only charismatic person he knew. The other person was in his team too. Or maybe it was charismatic towards him only.
He gave up these thoughts.
-x-
When the three ninja reached the Hokage Tower, Sakura had already told them they were required to have a conversation with the woman. That was the reason for her getting late that morning. She went to the Tower first to get speak with Tsunade, when the blonde told her that trouble might fall on Konoha once again. Before she gave any more details she dispatched Sakura to get her other two teammates, in order to give them important information.
So, when the three of them stood in front of their Hokage, said Hokage began speaking.
"Though it may not seem that important or risky, I assure you this has a high importance for us, and thus, the village. I have been informed of some strange happenings in a small village, north from Konoha. It is basically a farmer village but in the past, to avoid theft, their men began training as ninja, to protect their harvest. But their village is not a powerful military force. Their ninja were mostly trained the basics of our jobs." She took a pause to look through a scroll once again.
"Some of their best ninja appear to have abandoned the village with no apparent reason. Sure, one or two left a note to their family explaining how they were in search of new adventures and all that bullshit but I don't believe it all, neither do others."
"Yet, it could be possible for them to leave just like that if they weren't attached to their family or…" Sakura interrupted, not quite understanding what her mentor was trying to say.
"That may be so for one or two of them. But what leads me to believe that there were other reasons behind their 'disappearance' is that all those ninja left within short intervals, a week at most. Why would ten of a village's strongest shinobi leave like that? Perhaps it could even be said the strongest shinobi in that village, considering the fact that it is quite small and not so advanced."
The other three didn't speak as they contemplated their leader's words. It was strange for someone to leave like that, and then to be followed by the other strongest shinobi, leaving the village potentially vulnerable.
"Are you trying to say that you fear that village might be attacked in this condition?" Sakura asked.
Tsunade frowned.
"I don't think the target is that small, farmer village."
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked a bit loudly, which earned him a glare from both the Hokage and Sasuke, who then stared back at the woman.
"This village isn't the only one who was left without some of its best fighters. A village had three of their best shinobi leave just like this, while another one had one, and the best leave. How do you explain this?"
"I don't know, but it may be possible that they are gathering somewhere." Sakura replied, giving the problem more turns in her head.
"Or, more exactly, be gathered by someone." Sasuke gave his own response.
"Exactly." Tsunade shouted, slamming her hand on the desk, and then leaning over it to look more intensely at the three.
"Why would somebody want to gather ninja, this time?" Naruto wondered, his disagreement shown on his face. This question made everyone else turn to look at him, then at Tsunade. They had their own theories, obviously, but somehow the feeling that this time they were wrong, and something much tricky was happening, was slowly passing from a ninja to another. The atmosphere, the contrast between Tsunade's intense look and, sometimes, her distant gaze, spoke heavily of the gravity of the situation.
"Don't forget the world we live in, Naruto. As long as we are humans and, most importantly, shinobi trouble like this will always come. "
"Do you know who is behind all this?" Sakura asked.
"I'm afraid I can't tell you. I've sent a recon team and I hope to get more information from them."
"That means you're going to send us too?" Naruto asked hopefully, with eyes having a specific gleam in them.
Tsunade glared.
"Do you have any special skills to do reconnaissance properly?"
Naruto closed his mouth for a few seconds before opening it again only to admit his lack of skills in that area and to persuade his Hokage even more "I guess not…but still…"
"Shut up. We have shinobi born to be trackers and so on. That's why I've sent team 8 and Kakashi."
'What…Kakashi?" Naruto yelled. Kakashi was considered part of the team and of course, leaving on a mission, while Naruto still didn't get one made Naruto more than jealous.
"He left early today." Tsunade replied seeing Naruto fuming. "Now…until we receive more information about this situation I need you to stay in the village." Seeing as Sakura tried her best to calm Naruto, which eventually caused him to earn a punch from her, she hurried to continue "You are very important to this village. Your team is one of the best that I have; we need you to stay in the village. This whole ordeal of someone making an army looks dangerous to me. "
"But, have they made an appearance or something?" Sakura asked.
"Not yet. But this whole thing smells fishy. I don't like it, neither my advisors."
"So, you fear that Konoha might be attacked or something…" Sasuke spoke.
"We can't be sure. What annoys me is that this happens in the Fire Country. The whole area of disappearances revolves around the north and now we're trying to locate their position. That's why I need you to stay in the village. I've deployed several good shinobi away from Konoha and I can't afford leaving the village unprotected when there is an army who knows where, even if their target isn't our Konoha."
The others nodded. Even Naruto understood the implication of his Hokage's words.
"Fine."
"Do you need anything else, master?" Sakura politely asked, giving a pointed looks to Naruto.
All this exchange was not missed to Sasuke as he himself felt like strangling the blond man, sometimes. But most times, all he did was frown, glare or sigh. This time, he sighed. Not just because of his teammate but because he felt a bit relieved to stay in the village. He enjoyed taking a break from time to time, though this stay in the village was more like a mission, considering the recent events. That meant to never let his guard down, which was not a hard thing to do. He was always careful.
"Just stay alert and be ready for anything that might occur. Understood?"
They nodded again.
-x-
Due to a blond haired teammate's persuasion, Sasuke and Sakura found themselves at Ichiraku's ramen stand once again.
"I assume Sai and Yamato left too." Sakura broke the silence. Naruto's eyes grew wide.
"You're right. I haven't seen them."
"Can't a man have a break from you two?" Sasuke more like asked, playing the indifferent as always.
"I don't see you taking a break." Sakura replied back with a tiny smirk.
"Tch." He turned away.
Sakura giggled. "Sorry."
"Yeah. You must have grown tired of always picking on me." Naruto slyly interfered "You're the lucky man, now Sasuke." He continued chuckling unaware of the two glares positioned on his head, until a hand hit him in the head.
"S-Sakura-chan..." he whined, making Sakura 'forgive' him, as she resumed eating. He did not miss the tiny smile that tugged on her lips and which she fought hard to hide. Seeing this he smiled too, and then began laughing without an apparent reason. It was then that his contagious laughter was spread to Sakura too, who broke into a big smile, then a fit of giggles.
Sasuke was the only sober one, looking at his other two teammates as though they were crazy, ending up with an annoyed expression on his face.
"Did you forget what the Hokage said?" he asked behind his crossed hands.
Sakura was the first one to stop and realize her mistake.
Naruto, on the other hand, didn't give up that easily and with a frown on his face turned to Sasuke.
"I don't see why I shouldn't have a little fun. Besides, it's not like we're attacked at this exact moment. Granny Tsunade told us to be ready just in case something bad happens, that's all."
Sasuke huffed.
"What? You're jealous?" Naruto continued. Sakura froze.
"Shut up." Sasuke closed his eyes, leaving the hint that the conversation was to be over. Naruto didn't acknowledge that, but on the contrary; he was determined to realize what the dark-haired man was thinking, no matter what.
"Or what?" he stood up abruptly. Sakura stood as well turning to glare at him.
"Why don't you try to not pick a fight?"
Surprisingly enough, Naruto ignored her. He passed by her and, by reaching his friend's stool, he grabbed Sasuke by the shirt, lifting him up.
"Say it." he growled.
"I have nothing to say." The Uchiha didn't try to move and stood perfectly still in Naruto's hold. This only annoyed the blond even more as he shook the dark-haired man.
"Say it!"
Sakura tried to prevent a future fight.
"Guys…stop it…" when they continued to ignore her she used her strength to break Naruto's hold and placed herself in between. "What is the matter with you two?" With one hand on each of her friends' shoulders she kept them at a safe distance while glancing at each one in hopes of finding a clue. Naruto was visibly raging, while Sasuke's face wasn't that expressionless, as she could see just how annoyed he was.
"Naruto…Sasuke?" her head moved from left to right and then back to the right as she stared at Sasuke. It was then that he chose to look back at her, and pulling out some money from his pocket he slammed them on the table, all the while looking into her eyes. When he finally looked away from her, his eyes shifted towards Naruto, who seemed to have calmed down.
Then, he wordlessly turned away and began walking in the direction of his apartment.
"S-Sasuke…" his female friend tried to call, and he stopped in his steps. He turned his head towards the pink-haired woman, then towards the blond-haired man, appearing to want to say something. Turning his head back on the road he left with a simple "Nevermind".
"That bastard…" Naruto spoke as he crossed his arms. His eyes were still locked on the road Sasuke took when Sakura shook his arm.
"What was all that about? I really don't understand."
He looked at her, noting her confused expression. It was mostly the fact that she wasn't violent that surprised him. She must have felt something was different this time.
He just smiled at her. "If you, the smartest in the team, can't understand, how could I?" He chuckled when he saw her smiling.
"Don't worry."
"Yeah yeah…I have to go to the hospital. See you!" She waved her hand at him before disappearing out of his sight.
When she reached the hospital she flopped into an armchair, sighing. It felt tiring each time those two had a fight, but their recent fights were based on something they didn't want to share with her.
She wasn't stupid. Naruto was trying to tell her something that morning but Sasuke quickly interrupted. They were hiding something and it was getting more and more frustrating for her to be left in the dark.
But she couldn't just go and make them tell her. She wanted to make a wise decision and that's why she chose to let them tell her themselves; if they were ever going to tell her…
A / N : I apologize for the tardiness...inspiration had just recently struck me and I really hope you liked this chapter.
Reviews are much appreciated.