"Hey, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura chirped as she bounced over toward Sasuke, who was lying in a motionless heap on one side, his back to her. Naruto caught her hand to stop her from reaching him. She glared at him, tugged out of his grip and continued over to Sasuke. She realized with a jolt he was something she'd never seen him as before—vulnerable. There were lines marking his face, lines she didn't recognize. Lines from dried tears. And on his arms and chest, under his ripped shirt, lines of blood. Gashes. Naruto had sensed this and hoped to stop Sakura from freaking out and leaving him to deal with the body. As Sakura collapsed, he rushed forward to catch her. He took one last glance at Sasuke and tossed Sakura over his shoulder.
What the hell happened to the guy? Looks like he got beat up pretty bad…Naruto shrugged and headed back to the main square, ignoring Sakura, who was now hitting him recklessly and kicking him in the stomach as hard as she could. He dropped her in the dust, not caring that she would definitely pitch a fit later, and wandered off.
