A/N: O…m…g…! Wow! I love you guys so much! And I mean that sincerely too. When I left for school the morning after I posted this story I was expecting to come home from school and find only two reviews sitting in my inbox. Imagine my surprise when I come home and find eleven and the number increasing throughout the day! I wanted to post this sooner, being touched by you guys reviewing and all, but I wanted to rake in a few more reviews before posting. Sorry! But here's the second chapter. Also there was a slight delay as I was researching people's names… I hope I got the last names right.

p.s. I know that Asuma dies later on in the anime/manga, but I haven't gotten there yet. So for all intents and purposes of this fic, he's alive. Deal with it :p

Chapter Two: Beneath the Blossoming Cherry Tree

"Let's stop for a break," Asuma announced as he held out his arm, causing his team to stop.

"What, again?" Kurenai exclaimed impatiently, sighing heavily, "This is the third time since we've finished the mission. We should rest after we've informed the Hokage of the completion of the mission!"

Asuma cast a glance at her as he took out a cigarette from the package he always seemed to have on him. He hopped down to the ground and leaned leisurely up against a tree, "There's no hurry."

"Another cigarette?" Kurenai rolled her eyes despairingly, her shoulders sagged, "You know, you should really quit."

"Well, it didn't get in the way of our mission, did it?" Asuma replied, a lazy grin on his face as the cigarette hung from his mouth.

"No, but I would assume informing the Hokage of our success is more important that your nicotine addiction," Kurenai retorted, but only got a shrug from her teammate. She groaned loudly and looked over at Kakashi who had been silent during the ordeal, "A little support would be nice, Kakashi."

"Just relax, Kurenai," Kakashi commented, hanging from the bottom of a tree branch by his feet, "Enjoy yourself while Asuma smokes himself into an early grave. We have a lot of time to get back, we don't need to be hasty."

Kurenai narrowed her eyes suspiciously and peered at Kakashi in a distrustful manner, "I know you don't mind stopping—it gives you a chance to get a few more pages read from that stupid book."

Kakashi was holding said book in front of his nose. He gave a little shrug, "I'm just not putting the time of this break to waste, that's all."

Kurenai groaned in increasing frustration, appalled at her companions' laziness, "You know what, I'm going to go out an scout the area."

"Whatever for?" Kakashi inquired, looking up from his book and down at Kurenai, "Nobody's chasing us."

"I'm not putting the time of this break to waste, that's all," she retorted smugly, using Kakashi's own words. She leapt up to a branch in a tall tree before pausing and turning to her companions, "I'll contact you on the radio if anything happens to me."

"Like anything's going to happen," muttered Asuma to himself, as Kurenai left the vicinity.

"She should take up a hobby," Kakashi commented thoughtfully, "Like knitting. I've heard it calms the nerves. Honestly, scouting the area is such a waste of a lovely break."

Asuma took a long drag from his cigarette, nodding in mute agreement with Kakashi's statement.

Sakura walked home after another long day of work, wiping the sweat from her brows. She had met Ten Ten at lunchtime and spent her break chatting with her friend, asking how the ramen dinner was the previous night. Apparently they had all had a wonderful time, even though Naruto ended up spilling Hinata's tea all over the countertop. Sakura had smiled then, that was your typical Naruto—so clumsy.

Ten Ten had also said that it was too bad that Sakura couldn't make it and expressed concerns over whether they were working her too hard at the hospital. With a warm smile and a shake of the head Sakura replied that the workload wasn't too bad, and also said that she would come for ramen the next time they all went out. Truly she was touched by her friend's concern for her, and she felt a little guilty about using work as an excuse, seeing as she hadn't been kept late at all at that hospital yesterday at all.

Tsunade had actually let her out early in order for her to replenish her chakra—healing the Konoha ninja earlier the previous morning had drained her considerably. But despite her fatigue, she had not gone home to rest, but rather had wandered around town the rest of the evening, letting her depression envelop her. She found herself wandering to places where she had strong memories of Sasuke—where they had first fought Kakashi to become genin, the academy where she watched him practice throwing shuriken, and the path that led out of Konoha…the place where she had failed to stop him.

Despite her wanderings, she automatically avoided the ramen shop like the Black Plague, fearing that she may be spotted, and draw on unwanted company. Lost in thought, she found herself drawn to the Uchiha complex, where other residents had long moved in since the terrible massacre nine years previous. Only the Uchiha manor, where Sasuke's family had lived, and where he himself had lived alone after the tragedy, was left untouched by the changing neighborhood. Sakura had heard, though she could not remember where, that the building was to be sold if Sasuke failed to return and atone for his crimes within five years of his departure. Looking up at the beautiful building, she swore to herself that she would buy the house if need be; she would never let anyone else inhabit it—for that would confirm that he was gone forever.

Gloom had clouded her eyes as she looked up at the traditional architecture; three years had passed already since Sasuke left, and time had taken its toll as the fine-looking construction was falling into disrepair. Without even thinking about it, Sakura had waited until nobody was paying attention to her before slipping quietly around the side of the house, to find a back entrance. The reason behind her desire to enter the empty house eluded even her, as she clambered through the overgrown garden and onto the back porch.

Eventually, with a piece of stiff wire, she managed to pick open the lock on the back door and enter the empty structure. There had been a thick layer of dust on everything, showing that the house had remained untouched since its owner's leave-taking. Having never been inside the old house before, Sakura found herself drifting about the house, looking at the different things in the deserted rooms, but not laying a finger on anything.

It wasn't until that she found an old broom in the corner of the kitchen that she laid hands on any of Sasuke's belongings. Grabbing it slowly, she had begun to sweep out the thick layer of dusk from the kitchen.

'For when he comes back,' she had told herself silently, knowing that he would never return.

It was the broom that had started it—sweeping the kitchen had soon become sweeping out the whole house, and when she found an old rag hanging on the lip of a bucket, she proceeded to dust every shelf and object she found. When that task was finished, she washed all the dishes of dust, and cleaned out the cupboards, getting rid of the food that long since spoiled and sorting the non-perishables into canned and packaged groups. After that she came across the dusty sheets in the hall closet and promptly washed it all and even went as far as to remaking the beds.

After the whole house had been cleaned, Sakura hauled herself home and collapsed into her bed, exhausted. She had done it: she had cleaned the entire house. And it wasn't until she had fallen asleep yesterday night, that she had done the enormous chore for no one.

Kurenai hopped from tree to tree, making a rough perimeter around the area where she had left her two comrades lying around lazily. In all honesty, she couldn't believe them sometimes—sure they had completed their mission, but that gave them no reason to wander lazily back to Konoha, taking the time to smell the flowers along the way. Sometimes they reminded her of a couple of schoolboys.

Alighting neatly on a sturdy branch that was several feet above the ground, Kurenai surveyed the area. There was absolutely nothing to hint that there was a remote possibility that they'd be attacked by anything. Looking about she wondered dimly why she was even bothering—the setting was completely off for an attack, what with the sun shining brightly overhead, and the birds twittering cheerfully. Two butterflies had even fluttered by her while she scouted for an enemy that clearly didn't exist.

This was ridiculous; they should have just kept on going, Asuma's nicotine addiction or no.

Inhaling deeply in order to let out a heavy sigh, Kurenai caught the fragrances that hung in the air. There was a heavy scent of wildflowers, mixed with a splash of fresh green grass, containing the smell of new leaves on the trees. She paused in the middle of her sigh and simply smiled; how she enjoyed the season of spring—but unlike her two teammates, she was willing to ignore it until the mission was officially over.

About to leap into the air again, she halted briefly…they were still on break, and there was time left—there really was no point in continuing scouting, so she might as well do what Kakashi said: relax. If she had been made team leader, this never would have happened. Looking about the area again with her crimson orbs, she made sure they were not in any danger—though it was already obvious they weren't—before resting down on the branch, her legs dangling. She decided to let herself be pampered by the break, though she would never hear the end of it if she let Asuma and Kakashi find out.

Focusing the chakra in her nose like her pupil Kiba did, her sense of smell became enhanced, and she let the delicate scents wash over her like a perfume. It was the smell of spring and she marveled at the acuteness at which she could distinguish the smells. She was even able to pick out the names of a few individual based on the fragrances she smelled, and probably would have been able to name more if she had known what the flowers were called.

The cool breeze shifted slightly in direction and a new wave of smells washed over Kurenai—the smell of new leaves on the trees, a touch of moist earth, and faintly, the unmistakable smell of a flowering cherry tree. Slowly, a new odour wove its way into her chakra-enhanced nose—an unpleasant, metallic-like odour. It was so sharp in comparison to the other smells that she wondered why she had not noticed it earlier. A deep frown creased her brow, her crimson eyes narrowing. She knew that smell only too well. It was the stench of blood.

Sakura's night after the talk with Tsunade had been filled with nightmares from the Forest of Death during the chuunin exams. The next day, thankfully, had been entirely uneventful, allowing her tiredness not to interfere with any serious work that she would have maybe needed to tackle. Of the patients that came in that day to be seen, Sakura had only healed the scraped knee of a little boy, dealt with a sprained ankle and helped an old lady who had fallen and fractured her hip. As Sakura trudged home from the hospital she felt hardly tired. Her chakra hadn't even come close to running low, and she then understood the feeling that Naruto felt when was given a 'lame' mission to work on.

The sky wasn't even dark as she left the stinky hospital—Tsunade had told her to go home early again, and get some rest, as they were expecting a group of jounin returning that evening. She wanted her apprentice available in case there was anything nasty when they returned. Sakura had debated with herself whether to return to Sasuke's house, but decided against it. The house was clean; there was nothing for her to do there.

Dragging her feet, Sakura wandered home, going mostly on autopilot; as there was nothing to do, there was nothing to keep outer Sakura distracted from joining Inner Sakura in the emo corner. That was where she was now, in the deepest recesses of her mind, despairing over the loss of Sasuke.

"Sakura?"

Sakura looked up with a smile on her face, ready to fool whoever was greeting her into thinking that she was not as miserable as she felt, but her face quickly fell again as she found out the caller of her name. It was Ino, standing outside the flower shop, taking down the display of flowers that stood outside the door.

"What do you want, Ino?" she asked heavily, not in the mood for arguing.

Ino gave a smirk, "Sorry, bill-board brow, didn't know I wasn't allowed to ask what was getting you down."

Sakura sighed and rubbed her temples, a slight headache coming on, "It's nothing…nothing I'd expect you to remember anyways."

Ino rested her hands on her hips and frowned a little, "Care to share?"

"Not really," was Sakura's blunt reply before she started walking again.

"I'm betting it has something to do with why you're wearing black," Ino remarked snidely, as Sakura drew level with her, "Who died?"

Sakura came to an abrupt stop, her feet suddenly refusing to move. Petal pink bangs dangled in front of her eyes, hiding the tears that were forming as her head was hung dolefully.

"Nobody died," Sakura whispered quietly, refusing to look at Ino, "Just please leave me alone today."

Stepping nimbly in front of Sakura with her arms stretched wide, Ino blocked the path as Sakura took a step forward. "Tell me, Sakura."

Again, like Tsunade's tone, it was an order, not a request, spoken in a way that could not be argued against. With a quiet exhalation, Sakura replied quietly, "It's three years to the day, as of tomorrow, that Sasuke-kun left Konoha."

Ino, whose arms were still stretched out wide, slowly dropped them to the side, looking worriedly at the girl whom she had once called her best friend.

"That means that Orochimaru will have the ability to take over…Sasuke-kun's body," Sakura continued without being asked to do so, "His body will no longer be his to control, even if his soul still lives… He is as good as dead the world."

A tear fell off the end of her nose and landed with a quiet drip on the ground. Hugging her black covered arms, she tried to let the midnight folds encompass her—make her disappear.

"I need to go home, Ino," she said shakily, "I need my strength for tomorrow, you know?"

Ino did not even raise a finger to stop Sakura as she passed by, but stared after her, not sure what to do, if there was something she could do. Quietly and quickly Sakura headed up the street, slipping past her mother in the kitchen unnoticed, and up the stairs to her bedroom. Ino would probably cause her a world of trouble now that she had revealed the reason behind her mourning, but Sakura simply failed to care.

Gingerly she picked up the octagonal frame that held her picture of team seven. It was the only picture she had of him, the only reminder of a happy time long past. She hugged the photo close to her heart, and lay down on the bed, letting the tears run silently down her face.

Kurenai had quickly leapt to her feet at the smell of the blood, and made her way across the terrain quickly, following the scent as quickly as she could before the wind changed directions. The chakra that she had concentrated in her nose was dismissed as the smell became overwhelming—now, even without her enhanced senses, she could find the odour distinctly in the air, and soon a small thin trail of blood could be seen on the forest floor.

Leaping branch to branch she followed it, noting how it was straight in direction, like something had dragged the injured being. The straight trail then ended in a pool of blood, and Kurenai dropped down to the ground, touching the red liquid experimentally. It was sticky and partially dried; whatever had been there had only been there a few hours earlier. The trail of blood then continued through the forest, except it was splattered in a wavering line. Whatever had been bleeding had either escaped, or had been left to die and had struggled onward regardless.

Despite the age of the blood, and the amount lost, there was still a small chance that whatever it was, or whoever it was, was still alive somewhere. Of course it could be the blood of an injured animal, but it was good just to be sure—it might save someone's life.

Quickly she ran after the trail of blood, following it for a while on the forest floor; it was thinner than before, like some of the bleeding had stopped, and the blood only pooled where the thing had stopped to rest. Kurenai jumped over a tree root, side stepped a branch, and almost tripped as the forest seem to cut off abruptly before her into a clearing.

The trail of blood continued into the clearing, where Kurenai saw it disappear into the grasses. She looked about the clearing for anything that was potentially dangerous and marveled at the sight. A large, full-grown cherry tree grew in the middle of the field on top of a smallish hill—this must have been the tree that she caught scent of earlier, before she smelled the blood.

Having decided that there was no immediate danger, Kurenai crept forward, brushing aside the grasses, keeping an eye on the trail of blood. Whatever it was, despite the severe injuries it had suffered, had managed to haul itself up the hill. Kurenai trudged up the side, and saw the path of blood disappear around the trunk of the tree, where it most likely continued down the other side of the hill.

She walked slowly up to the tree and laid her hand on the thick trunk, feeling the bark under her skin as she walked around the tree. Peering around the old trunk, she jumped back in surprise—the trail of blood had ended, to reveal crumpled figure at its base. Kurenai clutched at her beating heart—she had not expected there to be anything at all.

Throwing aside her fear, she quickly knelt down next to the figure. A boy—no, a young man—around his mid-late teens was sprawled out at the base of the trunk, leaning against the strong bark. His dark hair was matted with blood, along with the clothing he wore. His chin was resting on his chest, and his longish hair covered his face. The left arm was broken and bent at a grotesque angle; both arms were covered with numerous cuts and burn marks and his clothing was torn to shreds. Some of the blossoms from the cherry tree had drifted down and landed on his unconscious form, creating a poetic and grotesque juxtaposition. Kurenai felt pity in her heart—he was so young to die so soon.

A slight movement caught her eye, as she was about to leave, feeling grim from the sight—she thought she saw the young man's chest rise and fall faintly, like taking a shallow breath. Perhaps it was just the cloth fluttering in the wind, but nonetheless Kurenai reached out to find a pulse at his neck. Much to her surprise and wonder, she found one, thumping weakly against her fingers—it was a miracle he was alive.

Raising a hand to her ear, she turned on the emergency radio, adjusting the frequency nimbly and quickly, "Asuma, Kakashi—there's something you should see."

"Gotcha, what's up?" came Asuma's voice.

"Just come!" Kurenai replied frustratedly, "I'm northwest of your position by about a click. Look for me at the base of a flowering cherry tree in a clearing."

"We'll be there soon," came Kakashi's voice, the lazy tone dropped.

Putting the radio away, Kurenai turned and lifted the boy's right arm. Her healing abilities were limited at best, but at least she could bandage the wounds on his arms and legs while she waited. Maybe if the two of them did not come quickly she would set his arm in a sling. Taking out a small salve out of the pouch at her hip, and opening her water bottle, she began to clean and dress his wounds. She wished Kakashi and Asuma would hurry—again, it was almost a miracle that the young man was alive after how far he dragged himself through the woods. But miracle or no, if she did not hurry to assist him, he could die regardless.

A rustle came from behind her and Kakashi and Asuma appeared at the young man's side, bending down to examine him.

"Glad you came," she said turning to them, "He's still alive. Asuma, you have some basic medical training. Help me set his arm."

Asuma nodded dumbly as he took the boy's arm gently in his. He held the two parts of the arm in his hands before speaking, "He could be beyond hope still—if we get a reaction from setting his arm then there's chance he might live, opposed to no reaction, which would mean he's a dead man."

Kurenai nodded as she readied a long bandage while Kakashi found a branch to use as a splint. Asuma turned the broken arm in his hands, bringing the two pieces together—Kakashi and Kurenai watched the young man anxiously for a reaction, and both breathed a sigh of relief as a painful groan came from the unconscious figure. His head lolled slightly to the side, and rested on his right shoulder, a cherry blossom drifted down and landed on his forehead. Kurenai blinked at the state of his face.

A long gash ran across his eyes, and the blood from that wound had run down his face and dried. There were burns and cuts on his forehead and cheeks, and they looked dirty and painful. The fabric of his tattered shirt shifted as he moved, revealing a darkish mark on his neck. Kurenai's eyes widened as the boy's identity became apparent to her. She opened her mouth to speak, but Kakashi beat her to it.

"Good gods," he remarked quietly in shock, "It's Uchiha Sasuke."

It was 1:00 a.m. when Sakura's mother shook her hastily awake. Sitting up groggily, she murmured an incoherent question as she winced at her sore back. The position she had fallen asleep in had been very uncomfortable and as a result she was stiff and sore all over. Her fingers had also evidently stiffened as well as she had trouble prying them off the frame that she was still clutching in her arms. When she set the photo aside, she faced her patient mother, who was standing worriedly above her.

"What's the matter?" Sakura asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"It's the people from the hospital," her mother said in a serious tone, "They were given specific instructions to come and bring you to the hospital. Apparently an emergency case just arrived and Tsunade-sama requires your assistance."

In an instant Sakura was awake and running down the stairs, taking three at a time. Her mother was yelling something after her from the top of the stairs as Sakura pulled on a black jacket.

"They said they wouldn't have come if Tsunade-sama hadn't specifically requested—" her mother was abruptly cut off as Sakura slammed the door behind her. She did not stop moving as she exited, but signaled for the medical ninja to follow after her. As she ran hurriedly down the street, the head of the squad matched her pace.

"What's the situation?" Sakura asked, not wanting to waste any times on explanations. If it was emergency enough to call her awake at night like this, she could not afford to waste any time. She had only been called out twice before in the previous three years, and she knew she had to be ready the instant they called. She had understood this before she became the Fifth Hokage's pupil—she had to be able to sacrifice her own well being for the sake of someone else.

"We don't know," the medic replied uncertainly, "We were just dispatched to get you, and were not informed on current events. I do believe it has to do with the jounin team that came in a few minutes ago."

"Which jounin?" Sakura asked as they began to run up the hospital's front steps—each patient was different and she had to adjust her chakra flow accordingly.

"Sarutobi Asuma, Yuuhi Kurenai, and Hatake Kakashi," replied the medic, then added as Sakura ran for the stairs, who ignoring the slow elevator, "Second floor, room two hundred twenty one!"

Sakura practically flew up the stairs and down the hall, rushing noisily into the designated room as she flung the doors wide. The sight before her had her worried—not only was Tsunade bent over the patient in deep concentration, but Shizune and another advanced medical ninja were working on the patient too. As soon as Sakura entered, Shizune looked up sharply at her.

"Sakura, help me heal the wounds on his legs," she barked quickly—Tsunade was in deep concentration, and Sakura realized that she was not to be interrupted.

Quickly she dashed over to Shizune's side and began peeling away the makeshift bandages that had been applied, gasping at the sight. There were deep gashes and dangerous burns all along the left leg, and glancing over at the work that Shizune was doing, the other leg appeared in the same condition. Without a second thought, Sakura began to cause the chakra to form in her hands, guiding it and controlling it with a slight twist that she had added as her own technique. The cuts and burns were easy enough to heal, but the patient seemed near death.

She glanced up towards the head and torso of the figure for a brief moment, seeing how severe the rest of the wounds were. The other medical ninja was working on repairing a broken arm, while Tsunade held both hands extended over the patient's head. Her long sleeves dangled down, making it impossible for Sakura to see the face. Turning her attention back to her task, she focused on restoring the wounds. The quick glance she had taken also revealed a bag of blood hanging near the head of the bed, dripping the red fluid into the patient's veins. Sakura knew if she could heal the wounds, the patient would lose less blood.

Slowly she moved her hands up the leg, healing each wound with care, being sure that there was not a scar left on the patient's body. When she reached the knee, the other medical ninja, who had just finished mending the broken arm, took over. Sakura took a split second breather before taking the newly mended arm, getting rid of the cuts and burns there too.

Hours dragged by, but to the apprehensive Sakura, it seemed to take years. Sweat beaded her brow, but she remained committed to her task—she felt that if she were able to heal as many people as she could, get stronger as a medical ninja, then perhaps one day she would devise a method of extracting Orochimaru's soul from Sasuke's body. She had to save this young man, even if she did not know who he was, because each life saved strengthened her, and for each life lost, she strove harder the next time.

The group worked tirelessly over the young man, and eventually Shizune, the medical ninja, and herself finished healing his body. Only the Hokage remained, her chakra focused on the young man's head.

Sakura left the bedside, knowing there was nothing more she could do to help. Splashing cold water on her face, she knew that only Tsunade could fix whatever wounds remained. Shizune came and stood beside Sakura as they watched the Hokage work.

"What happened?" Sakura asked, rubbing her face dry with a paper towel.

"I'm not sure," Shizuna murmured quietly, "But Asuma's team came in with him in that terrible state—barely alive. Apparently they found him on the way back from their mission."

Sakura nodded dumbly and hoped that whoever the young man was, that he would be okay.

"Come," Shizune said, beckoning Sakura to follow, "We should not disturb Tsunade-sama. There's nothing more we can do to help, so we had best leave her in peace."

Sakura nodded dumbly as she followed the Hokage's young assistant from the small room, feeling utterly and completely exhausted.

A/N: That's chapter two people! I hope I'm not progressing the storyline too quickly. And I'm sorry that Sasuke's thoughts were not in this chapter—but he was unconscious for the entire thing…it's kinda hard writing the thoughts of an unconscious person. Definitely Sasuke's thoughts will be in the next chapter, so just you wait patiently now.

Please review! I love getting them; they give me warm fuzzies.

Drieldwin