Killed or Be Killed
Chapter 2
"Bastard," Sakura said as soon as she woke up, spotting Naruto asleep on the chair beside her. "Hey, baka!" she said loudly, causing him to jerk awake from his slumber. "Aren't you meant to be conscious when I wake up?"
Naruto instantly sat up, responding to Sakura's killer intent. "Oh, you're awake…" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes and yawning. "The medics said it'd be a few hours until you woke up." He checked the clock on the far wall which read four o'clock. "It's only been an hour, those liars." The Uzumaki muttered his distaste for the medics at the Konoha Hospital. He had been impounded so many times and it was so long ago that it was hard to remember them all. There had been a medic-in-training a few years back who he had especially disliked. 'Doctor Youth', renown for his obsession with using the word 'youth'.
Sakura's eye twitched, "A few more hours?" She yelled," You let them drug me?"
He was in fact Maito Gai, the leader of former Team Gai. Concerned with the low levels of ninjas who were being trained to be medics, Gai had signed up to be a medic while he wasn't on missions – hoping to encourage other youthful ninja to join the medical field. The fad hadn't exactly caught on, but despite that, Gai was still employed as one of the hospital staff – to many patients' annoyance.
He had volunteered to nurse Sakura back to health, to show his gratitude for how she had healed almost every ninja in Konoha.
The very same medic appeared frm behind the gleaming white curtains of another patient. With both hands in the air, he yelled, "I am Doctor Youth and yet another youthful person shall be saved! No one in this room is being left behind; I shall save all you youthful ninja!"
Sakura's eye twitched again. "You," she glared at the grinning blonde, reading to cut his eyes out with the kunai… that she no longer had. "You're lucky I can't move my legs."
"It's a youthful to remove all weapons from patients being operated on." Naruto grinned even wider, "But thank the medics that they drugged you…"
"Did someone call Doctor Youth?" the green jumpsuit-clad asked, instantly appearing at the end of Sakura's bed. Naruto, startled, yelled and fell out of his chair in surprise.
They both shook their head, hoping that if they didn't make conversation, he would leave. Mistake number one.
Unaware that he wasn't welcome, Gai continued. "I swear on my youthfulness that I just heard someone say 'youth'… Maybe I have the wrong patient… Oh, Naruto!" he shouted, seeing the blonde haired boy cringing at him. "So the stories were true! You're back, and well, it seems."
Naruto nodded his greetings, regretting the fact that he had not made a quick getaway. Even if it meant he had to face Sakura's wrath afterwards. Mistake number two.
"Not like the last time I saw you," Gai said, reminiscing.
Naruto recalled that last time, he hand somehow angered Sakura, landing him in the hospital for a week.
"You. Sedated. Me." Sakura glared, "You. Drugged. Me."
Gai-sensei shrugged, "I had to. You almost killed one of my assistants. We had to send her to the ER. It's a shame really, the number of youth-filled ninja, though none as filled with youth as me, who want to become medics is gradually decreasing… We can't afford to lose even one of them." He moved his hand downwards, "Though it is more of a plummet… it's quite, concerning. "It is you youthful ninja to blame, of course. Your success on the battlefield is encouraging more and more young genin to chose the path of the fighter." He looked at the two irritated jounin and wiped a tear from his eyes. "I admit, you cannot be held responsible. Those roles must be filled, and the missions are better when completed. But influencing the younger generation down such a path of death and destruction, that I cannot forgive."
The strange medic drifted away, to the relief of Naruto and Sakura, whose eye was still twitching.
"Ah, good old times," Naruto said, rolling his eyes. "I could have lived the rest of my life without hearing the word 'youthful' again." He shook his head and studied his pink-haired friend. "…Who knew you were such a violent sleeper? You always seemed peaceful as a cherry blossom…" He stood up from his chair, only to fall back onto the ground to avoid an incoming bouquet of flowers and a 'get well soon card'. "Almost," he added.
He sighed and shook his head at her temper. "Well, I'll go see if I can get you checked out." Naruto dodged another card and caught a box of chocolates.
"Geez," he said, "But thanks for the chocolate."
With Naruto gone, Sakura was able to ponder on the dream she had had. The events of the previous fight mixed in with her dream played back in her head. She could see the kunai headed for her chest but instead of dodging it, she had let it pierce through her.
She remembered the blood in her dream as she had continuously failed at healing her wound. She remembered the cherry blossoms imbedded in her bright red blood.
…No wonder she had been so violent.
Sakura let her former teammate lead the way as she followed a few steps behind. Her recovery had been quick as it was Tsunade-sama who had healed her, not 'Doctor Youth'. Having thanked her lucky stars for a quick recovery, she let herself relax knowing she was safe in her hometown.
She embraced the gentle breeze that often accompanied springtime and breathed in a long breath of air. Feeling refreshed, she realized that she had been subconsciously glancing at Team 7's old training grounds, a habit that she often scolded herself for.
Ever since Sasuke had left, Kakashi's death and Naruto's disappearance, the training grounds had only brought up old memories of their team and how it had use to be back then. As much as she liked to wade in the good times, she knew it wasn't going to do her any good, having her head stuck in the past. She often felt that the memories she exaggerated, making them happier than they were. She wanted them to be more than unwanted memories, but they weren't.
"Why'd you leave?" she asked, her voice breaking through the silence.
Naruto heaved a sigh, relieved that she had asked the question that had been dragging him down. He had waited for her to bring up the inevitable topic and wondered why she hadn't up until now.
He shrugged. Despite having thought about this moment for many times, he never had figured out how to respond. He shrugged again under Sakura's intense gaze.
"Tell me what happened."
Starting from the beginning, Naruto recounted, "So Konoha was under attack. Somehow, Orochimaru had infiltrated the village's defense and snuck his way into the Jounin exams and managed to kill the Third Hokage."
Sakura stared at him, "I know that."
Ignoring her, Naruto continued. It was easier to start with something that they both knew.
"Sasuke had fled with the bastard and Anko had led a team to go on a mission to find him."
"She hasn't come back."
"You and me were stuck in the village but you didn't care. You tried to stop me but I didn't care. I tracked Orochimaru but he was already dead. Sasuke had killed him. I'm not the hero everyone thinks I am." Naruto took a breath, relieved to have had told someone, something about that night three years back. "I didn't kill him."
"The day after, I went to tell the Elders that you had left," Sakura said, "They organized a Root search party and they found Orochimaru dead, and managed to find traces of your chakra around the place. They told the rest of us that you had died, and you were digested whilst trying to kill him." Naruto raised an eyebrow. She took a deep breath, "We had a funeral for you."
Naruto felt his heart jump. A funeral.
"I fought with him. That's why my chakra was… everywhere. I lost," he mumbled ashamed, "I let him get away and now he does this to you." He waves his hand at Sakura, gesturing the injuries Sasuke had caused.
"…And for three years? Don't tell me you trained," she asked, shaking her head.
Naruto shrugged, "Yeah, basically. I won't let him get away next time."
Sakura flinched at the evil intent that her formerly nonchalant friend was emitting. It was nothing like his old self. Was it possible that the once ecstatic ninja had changed while he was away? She imagined the Uzumaki boy training all day every day for three years and rolled her eyes in disbelief.
"So why did you come back?"
"Well, I heard you were playing a game," he grinned, "Can I join?"
