Title: Poison Brings Out the Best in Me
Summary: When Sakura is poisoned far out of the reach of any help, Sasuke is forced to question what he holds dearest to him.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, there would be baby Uchihas running around.
Rating: T
Words: 2,212
Warning(s): Language
Author's Note(s): Second multichap! I promise I'll get either this or Chidorilator before beginning a new idea (minus finishing the SSM2014 prompts). Prepare for a multitude of Protective!Sasuke. Eventually M (*waggles eyebrows*) but not yet.
When they arrived, Sasuke immediately decided "shelter" was a generous term. The shack had obviously been abandoned at least a decade, and the planks forming the walls were aged at best: gnarled, warped, and cracked. If it was looked at just right, eyes squinted and head tilted sideways, the shack stood straight, but head on there was an undeniable slant to the structure.
Thoughtlessly, Sasuke shifted Sakura in his grasp so that she was closer to him and glanced at Naruto. The arch to his eyebrow conveyed his message perfectly to the blonde who laughed nervously in response: Is this really going be enough to shelter Sakura?
Yes, they were ninja, and yes, they had made use of bad situations before. But surely he and Naruto could scrounge up something better than this, Sasuke wrinkled his lip in distaste, this-shack!
Sakura deserves better than this, chimed that same little voice that he had gotten so good at ignoring. Sasuke mentally shook his head to rid himself of the sentimental thought the moment it surfaced. It wasn't so much that Sakura deserved better, it was that any poisoned ninja deserved better. After all, they would probably have to attempt some mockery of medical procedures, and this hardly seemed sanitary.
"Hm, yeah, I knew it was abandoned, but this"—Naruto shrugged, but froze and Sasuke's stony glare—"Um, I mean, just give me a second, I can totally fix this."
A couple of hand-signs later, Naruto had filled the clearing with clones. The sea of orange proceeded to scurry around and in the house, generally cleaning up. One removed underbrush from around the walls, one picked the weeds that had begun to sprout through the wood floor. A pair of clones worked together—one clone perched atop the shoulders of another—to remove various animal homes from the overhang.
From the corner of his eye, Sasuke spotted a cluster of three clones struggling with a rotted hunk of wood lodged in the door. When they finally succeeding in wrenching it free, the hunk soared out of their hands and connected squarely with the forehead of the fake-Naruto giving extra support to the shaky structure—causing him to disappear in a cloud of smoke.
Still slightly bemused, Sasuke continued to watch the process unfold. Looking at Naruto's apartment, one would think he didn't know how to clean. His actions now demonstrated that it wasn't the knowledge that was lacking at home, just the desire. Despite himself, Sasuke smirked.
Sakura would have been proud. The thought shocked Sasuke back into reality, and although he had been amused by Naruto's antics, now he really wished he would hurry it the fuck up.
Wood pile after wood pile exited the house, and then it was being cut in half, leaving half oval log pieces scattering the forest floor. Finally, actually, only a couple minutes later, one final Naruto clone exited the shack and saluted the real Naruto with a dirt smirched hand.
"Awesome," Naruto declared, forming a couple more hand signs and crouching to slap one palm to the ground, "Stand back, Sasuke, we're almost set."
In a move he had only seen one person use, four large toads erupted from the ground as soon as Naruto's palm connected with the earth. Not a second had past after their materialization before all four toads were spitting copious amounts of mud onto the shack's walls. What the fuck was he doing? Before he could voice this thought, however, the mud toads disappeared into the ground they were summoned from, and Naruto called out to his clones.
"Okay, guys, finish it up!"
With an odd amount of synchronicity, the clones launched themselves at the mud-coated shack, all wielding cleaved logs. Each log was placed-flat-side on down-onto the shack's wall using the mud as a glue or paste to keep it in place. So that was his plan.
They put their superior speed and numbers to work-tossing logs back and forth, springing off one another to reach the higher spots- and soon had the walls covered in fresh wood. The final panel placement was greeted with raucous cheers from the clones, who all commenced in chest bumps and high fives. Even Naruto was smiling as he dispersed them.
Armed with completely new walls, the shack looked nothing like it had earlier. The distinct slant was gone, and the structure stood proud and tall. It didn't seem as if weather would be a worry now, either, as the new paneling on the walls was sure to provide plenty of extra insulation. Sasuke hadn't seen the inside yet, but if the amount of trash and weeds the clones had removed was any clue, it had probably undergone an intense remodel as well.
He observed Naruto from the corner of his eye, impressed, despite himself. The dobe had his legs braced wide, hands low on in hips, and a large smile on his face as he took in the finished product. Obviously, he was pleased with himself as well.
"One more thing, Sasuke," he announced, shooting Sasuke a grin before down to pat the ground again.
Another earth toad sprung from the ground facing the shack. When it opened its mouth, Sasuke half-expected more streams of mud, but instead a long jet of water escaped and pounded into the singular mud-smeared window the shack possesed. Really, it was a miracle the thing hadn't broken in all those years of disuse. The toad disappeared once all traces of mud had been removed, and Naruto moved closer towards the shack. He observed the house contemplatively, with his chin resting in his hand. In one smooth movement he used the material of his jacket to wipe the window clean and then stood back to observe his work.
He nodded decisively, "Okay, teme, it's ready!"
Ready for Sakura.
Sasuke didn't bother to reply before striding forward past Naruto into the shack, teammate in arms. Carrying Sakura bridal style didn't allow much opportunity to do other things, however, like grab his sleeping mat from his pack. He delicately shifted her so that she was in a "standing" position against his side, but so that the arm around her waist took all of her weight. His free arm quickly slipped behind his back into his pack, and he wiggled his fingers around blindly until he felt the soft, padded material of his bedroll. Once he had wrenched it free from its confines, Sasuke soon learned that unrolling a sleeping pad one-handed was easier said than done. It only took three tries, but as far as Sasuke was concerned that was two tries to long.
Sakura stirred against him, and for one heart-wrenching second he thought she was about to regain consciousness. Her eyelashes fluttered weakly against the exposed skin of his collar bone, and Sasuke searched desperately for a flash of the bright green eyes he was so accustomed to. Pink eyebrows furrowed and she lifted her head, but the effort seemed to be too much for the poisoned kunoichi, and she collapsed against his body once more.
Sasuke let out a long breath he didn't know he had been holding.
Stomping down his disappointment, Sasuke gently scooped Sakura back into his arms before gently laying her out on the pad. Her form barely took up two thirds of the roll-it was his, after all-and the contrast made her seem frail. Calling her skin pale would be a compliment, because the truth was her skin was basically transparent except for the blush on her cheeks and across her nose.
The realization slapped Sasuke across the face. Sakura hadn't been blushing at him this morning, she had been suffering from the first signs of a fever. Of course he wasn't the reason for her blush!-she hadn't loved him in years. What was wrong with him? He should be relieved that she had gotten over her childish crush, not looking for signs it still existed.
If he had been thinking with his brain instead of his heart this morning, there was a chance this whole thing could have been avoided. He shook his head in disgust at himself; he knew better than anyone the consequences of letting emotions take control.
Sakura quivered on the mat and curled up onto her side, as if trying to get warm. Hesitation seized him, and Sasuke was torn between trying to give her the comfort of warmth and letting her body fight the fever. She looked so miserable, sweating and trembling as her body fought-he refused to think succumbed to-the poison. His hand inched toward the blanket in his pack before common sense caught up with him.
Giving her a blanket would only aid the fever raging through her system, and Sasuke was disgusted that his hand still hovered over his pack. He wrenched his hand away without a second thought-his heart had caused enough trouble today. If Sakura was going to fight the fever she needed to cool down. He forced himself to take another deep breath, he needed to get his head on straight.
Behind him Sasuke could hear the faint clanging of the metal kettle they carried with them. Generally, he would yell at Naruto for starting a fire indoors, but he couldn't find within himself to care. He didn't particularly want to leave Sakura, even by only a few feet. Besides, they could deal with it by leaving the door open.
"Light this, Sasuke," Naruto soon called. Turning around, Sasuke found he was gesturing to the tea kettle, suspended by their usual traveling gear over smaller chunks of wood even than the ones outside. This was normal, but it was the location the caused Sasuke to do a double take.
Somehow, he hadn't noticed it from the outside or when he walked in, one of the clones had expanded the hut to contain a small fireplace and chimney. It looked like he had broken a couple of deteriorating planks of the wall to break outside of the original confines of the shack and then fenced it in with more cleaved wood and mud.
Forcing down the wave of respect and gratitude, now they really could attend Sakura full-time, Sasuke formed the signs that released a smaller form of his fire release technique. Untouched by mud, the dry wood crackled to life.
With Sakura safely laid out on his sleeping mat, and the water boiling, a notch of tension left his shoulders. He took in his surroundings, fully, and was mildly taken aback by what he saw. Not a cobweb marred the walls or ceilings. Running a finger down a nearby wall, Sasuke realized that applied to the dirt as well. The moisture on his skin and slight sheen to the wall meant Naruto had probably used some sort of water jutsu to cleanse the shack. At midday, enough light filtered through the window to clearly see everything, and one of their lanterns hung in the middle, ready for night.
An unexpected emotion filled his chest, for the second time that day, and Sasuke felt himself meeting Naruto's eyes evenly. He felt like he had to say something, but this sudden burst of gratitude didn't exactly come with a manual and Sasuke was left fumbling for the proper words. What was he supposed to say- 'you clean really well'?
And why did he even feel the sudden urge to say thank-you? It's not like protecting Sakura was a favor to him. They were teammates, taking care of each other was what they did. Naruto would look after Sakura with or without his guidance.
"Nice work, dobe," Sasuke eventually managed, the unfamiliar words falling thickly from his mouth.
"Yeah, yeah," Naruto responded easily, stretching out on the thick stump he had claimed as a seat, "I'm awesome, I know."
Any anxiety Sasuke had felt about expressing himself vanished with Naruto's flippancy, and the corner of his mouth twitched upward as he prepared to respond. It was only the slightest noise from Sakura that gained both the boy's attention, and at that moment all witty remarks were forgotten.
Cerulean and obsidian eyes narrowed in on the girl tossing against the wall. Sakura had uncurled from her feverish fetal position and instead stretched her limbs out as far as they would go in opposite directions. Her head tossed back and forth wildly before her whole body arched and she finally settled against the matt-still, with her eyebrows scrunched, and bottom lip placed firmly in her mouth.
The teasing Naruto and Sasuke had been exchanging seconds ago dried up, leaving a somber atmosphere. Good natured bickering seemed so out of place when their teammate was dying.
It was Naruto who broke the silence.
"She doesn't look good, Sasuke."
Mutely, Sasuke stood, reaching for his pack as he headed outside.
"Where are you going?"
Sasuke turned back, still lingering in the doorway, and met his cerulean gaze stoically, not even a hint of a smile decorating his fist. If Naruto were to look closely, he would have noticed the white-knuckled grip he held on the door, or possibly even the determined set to his jaw.
"Watch over Sakura," Sasuke eventually declared, "I'm going to sanitize my weapons."
...well that was quick. I seriously wasn't expecting those reviews that quickly. Sorry for the delay, but I'm in Ireland at the moment so time-zones. Also lots of things were happening in my lab. ENJOY. I'll post the third chapter once it's done being beta'd.