All Sakura could do for a few breaths was stare in stunned horror at the wound on Sai's ankle. She blinked in hope that what she was seeing was just her imagination or perhaps a trick of the light. To her dismay, it wasn't either. Every time that she opened her eyes the teeth marks became clearer and more pronounced.
She sat still as she inspected the area. Internally she was screaming at herself. How? How did that happen? Did Ino get a hold of him before she got there? No, he was standing in the kitchen just fine when she pulled her off of him. Then again, adrenaline did do wonders to the body. She tried to remember if it was there then, but everything happened so fast. She didn't even think to look him over to see if he was bitten. She was more concerned with getting Ino away from him.
She shook her head and focused on him again causing her breath catch in her chest. Her eyes grew wider as she stared at the bloody punctures. When she pulled her off of him. That was when it happen. When she fell backward when Ino was on her stomach, in that brief moment of resistance it must have been when it happened. Shit! Shit! Shit! Gnashing her teeth she tore her eyes away from the offending flesh and looked up to Sai's anger twisted face.
Sakura could feel her stomach begin to clench painfully as it hit her: she was going to have to kill another friend.
No. She shook her head quickly, she wasn't going to let him die. It was still possible to save him. The infection might be slow moving. If it was, all she would need to do is separate the infected area from his body. She would do everything she could do to save him. She knew that Ino would never forgive her if she let him become a monster like she had. Taking a sharp breath she quickly and clumsily lunged forward to try and grab his leg.
"Get away from me! You fucking murderous bitch!" Sai spat as he kicked his leg away from her as he began to crawl backward. Her mouth twisted into a grimace as he continued to kick at her, but she wasn't going to let him stop her. He didn't understand what was happening and what needed to be done.
"Sai, I need to look at the wound on your leg. Just sit still!" She growled at him as her fingers began to circle around his ankle. He tried once more to throw her off as he scrambled back. His movements stopped for a moment as his back hit the trunk of the tree he was previously propped on.
"Don't touch me!" He screamed as her grip began to tighten. He snarled as he looked at her before releasing a mouth full of spit into her face.
Sakura blinked for a moment as she felt the warm liquid run down her skin. Her eyes tightened into a glare. A growl rumbled in her chest as her mouth moved into a tight line. She had to remind herself that he didn't know what was going on. That he didn't understand the situation. Taking a deep breath she pulled his leg toward her. He flailed trying to get away, kicking his free foot to the side of her face. The shock of the hit caused her to loosen her hold on him as black dots began to fill her vision. Clenching her jaw she shook her head to clear her sight and again reached out and found her target.
"Calm the fuck down! I need to look at your leg!" She yelled but Sai continued to flop around like a fish out of water. There was no way that she would be able to assess his situation like this. Not to mention the fact that the more he moved the faster his heart beat would go. That meant the faster his blood would carry the infection through his body. She needed him still, she needed him calm. She knew she only had one option.
Digging her fingers into the flesh of his leg, Sakura quickly pulled him towards herself. His body jerked as he was drawn closerto her over the uneven ground. He screamed and spat at her as she began to climb over him. His fisted hands moved wildly as he hit her over and over again. He hit her all over, never landing a punch in the same place twice. His legs kicked up and down as he attempted to buck her off. She ignored it all and continued to struggle to reach his neck.
"I am going to fucking kill you!" He screamed through clenched teeth as she began to straddle his waist. Kneeling over him she caught his wrists in the air and slammed to the ground. He glared up at her as her face hovered over his.
"Not if you don't live," she said softly as her face softened. His eyes grew wide at her response as his body stiffened even further under her.
Before he even had a chance to respond she quickly released her hand from his wrist and touched two fingers to the base of his skull releasing a burst of chakra into his brain. Immediately she felt his body go lax under her as he went unconscious.
Sakura straightened herself as she took several deep breaths. She reached up and shakily attempted to run her fingers through her hair, which immediately she was met with resistance. Ino's blood had dried to it leaving it stiff and tacky. A few black flakes fell in front of her eyes as it cracked off of her shafts. Pulling her hand from her scalp she then shook them to her side, attempting to calm her quivering muscles. With another deep breath, she looked down on Sai. He laid under her peacefully. Just as if he fell asleep when they had made camp on the way home. His eyes were shut, and his entire face relaxed as his lips parted slightly as he took in deep breaths of slumber.
She shook her head. Sakura needed to focus on what had to be done. She needed to inspect his wound and see how far the infection had spread. She didn't have time to look at him. With quick movements she crawled off of him, settling into a kneeling position next to the afflicted leg. She reached into her bag and pulled out a kunai and brought it to the bottom hem of his pants, slicing through the cotton material until it was separated to the mid thigh. Once she had the fabric rolled back she reached into her pack again and pulled out her canteen of water. She ran the liquid over his pale skin. It as dark, but with the light of the moon, she watched as it went from a vibrant red to a dull pink as it washed away the blood. His hair follicles raised as his skin rippled with goose bumps at the temperature difference. Once she was satisfied that most of the area was clean she leaned back.
She stared at the dark wound. It was much too dark for her to see. She frowned as she realized that she needed to get a fire started. That was more time then she wanted to use, but she didn't have an option. So she quickly gathered a few dry pieced of wood and built a small fire next to him. She didn't waste a moment once the fire was started to turn her attention back to Sai.
Gently she ran her finger over each of the punctures. They weren't clean holes, but that was to be expected, seeing as she had torn Ino off of him. The teeth marks were clear, and ragged from the pull. She inspected the area where Ino's top teeth went in, then moved towards the bottom of the bite. She cringed a bit as she realized that the bottom of her teeth had gone under the skin, the layers of fat and muscles and down to the bone.
Gingerly she lifted the skin flap to see if the tissue had become discolored. Instead of the bright red that one would expect, it was blue like the blood that had not been exposed to oxygen. Furrowing her brow she looked up his leg. The discoloration was not evident through his skin, perhaps she was right and it was slow moving. Then again neither Shizune nor Ino had discolored skin.
She placed the skin back over the wound and chewed her lip. How was she going to know where to cut? How was she supposed to know what was going on without chakra? Tsunade said that it made the infection spread faster. How could she possibly do this without using chakra? She didn't have anything that she needed. There was nothing out here but her small medic pack. No diagnostic machine, no monitors, nothing. She glanced up at Sai's face. He still looked peaceful as he laid there. She could attempt to guess where the infection ended, but if she was wrong... No, she could not lose him too. He may hate her for killing Ino, but she couldn't let him go. Not without a fight.
Letting out a breath that she didn't realize she was holding, she decided what must be done. She would use her chakra to find out how far it went. She had the best chakra control around. Tsunade would often tell her that it even rivaled her own. She could do this, she would just have to make sure that she was in and out of his body as quickly as possible. Shaking out her hands, she grimaced. She already used chakra on him, in his brain. Letting out a hiss she once again looked to his face. What if she... No, she couldn't think about that now. She had to see where it spread first. It was only a chakra burst. It couldn't do that much damage. Could it? Pushing aside the thought she placed her hands on his ankle. One thing at a time, she reminded herself. First, she had to see what tissue had been infected. Releasing a slow breath, she let her chakra seep into his skin.
She held back a gasp as she came into contact with the virus. It felt as if it was drawing the chakra out of her body and greedily consuming it. She furrowed her brow as she pushed to examine the area. The feeling of this virus truly was terrifying. She could feel each of her chakra strings getting smaller as it was being devoured. She knew that she had even less time than she thought she would. Sakura squeezed her eyelids shut as she forced her chakra to speed through his limb. Quickly it traveled through the fibers of his muscles, the strings of nerves, the hard surface of his bones. With every second she could feel herself becoming weaker. Though, she also did notice as her chakra traveled the virus seemed to speed up. It was following her movements as if she had opened up floodgates. It was using her as an accelerant for its domination. Clenching her jaw tighter she pushed her chakra once more. She knew that if she couldn't find and unaffected area with this last push, she wouldn't be able to find any. Her chakra was being pulled from her too quickly and the strings were becoming much too feeble to move much farther up.
"Come on," she growled as her chakra was thinning. She felt beads of sweat rolling down her face as she kept pushing. "Please, just a little bit farther," she pleaded. Who she was pleading to, she honestly didn't know. Herself? A god? A spirit? It didn't matter as long as she could reach viable flesh. She had to reach it, but there was none. None at all. She began to feel the tingling sensation in her nasal cavities, the sensation that always happened before she would cry. Furrowing her brows down further, she tried to ignore the sensation. She would keep on working. Though, the creeping thought that the infection had spread throughout his body was nagging at her mind.
"No," she said through clenched teeth. She kept on pushing. Her chakra was weakening to the point where she was losing the ability to read it. It also began to slow as strings began to snap from the virus eating at it. Her hair felt wet once more, but that not from blood, but from the perspiration that was coating her whole body. She attempted to keep on pushing more but was moving at such a sluggish pace. This was it. It was over. There was nothing that could be done. She swallowed hard to push down the bile that was threatening to come up. Just as she was about to pull her energy out of his body, that was when she felt it. There was healthy tissue. Her eyes sprang open just as the last string disappeared. Frantically she looked down at the pale leg. All of that fighting and pushing and her chakra only manage to go three inches under his knee. She grimaced down at him as she began to check her own chakra supply. She frowned as she felt that she had used up more than seventy-five percent. She would have to make this fast and efficient, otherwise, she would have to release her stored chakra. She really couldn't afford to do that right now. No, after releasing her seal she would need time to recuperate, and that just wasn't going to happen. She looked back down at his leg.
"Taking one off should be much easier than putting one together," she sighed. While she was an expert at healing, this was one thing she had never done. She had never had to amputate anything. She always put people back together. She never wanted to take a limb from another shinobi. That was death to their career. A shinobi that still had years ahead of them, to take away an appendage that would make them less than capable. It was also death to their spirit. Running her hand over her moist forehead she looked down once more. No, this wouldn't be Sai's death. Not in spirit or career. She would fix it. She could just grow him a leg like they had for Naruto's arm. It would be fine.
With that, she began to formulate a chakra scalpel over the top of her pointer and middle finger. She forced it to circulate in an almost wild and chaotic rhythm. She wanted as much friction with his flesh and bone as possible. She wanted her blade to not only cut but to cauterize as it did its work. Once she was satisfied with the speed, that is when she brought it down just below his knee cap.
The moment her chakra came in contact with his skin she could hear the sizzle of the skin. Moments later the air was engulfed in the sweet acidic smell of burning flesh. It was an aroma that she had smelled before but had never grown accustomed to. There was something so instinctively wrong about experiencing such an odor. Something that said no matter what, you shouldn't smell another human being cooked. She had to hold back a gag as the fatty smell clung to the back of her throat and filled her nostrils.
She moved her blade quickly but it was as if time had slowed. Each second felt like hours as her chakra tore through the leg. She could feel every muscle fiber snapping, each vein trying to push blood through, the layers of bone cracking as it split. If this had been an enemy, she knew that she wouldn't have an issue. She had plunged blades into people that had tried to kill her with no hesitation. But right now, she was dismembering someone she loved. She also knew that more than likely, when he woke up, he would completely hate her. She had killed his wife, he would more than likely think the child in Ino perished because of her and now she was taking his leg. Sai was a rational man, but she knew this was something were his emotions would win over.
The moment she made her way all the way through his leg she leaned forward and retracted her chakra. She panted as she looked at the black line between his thigh and calf. Right now, it just looked as if he had tied a ribbon around his knee. Sitting straight she gingerly picked up his lower leg and tossed it to the side. Now, she had a complete view of his burned stump. She didn't have much chakra left, but she quickly moved her hands to lay on his chest. Letting it out once more she searched his bodies for impurities, all while pleading that she does not find any.
Letting out a sigh of relief, as she finished cycling through his body a fifth time before letting her chakra dissipate. Nothing. Everything was normal. She had a bit of extra chakra to spare, so she used it to heal a part of his stump, mainly focusing on numbing the nerves so there wasn't much pain when he woke. It only took a few moments, and as soon as she was finished she sat back and slumped over.
The adrenaline rush caused by worry was now fading and she was beginning to feel the exhaustion set in. At that moment there was nothing more she wanted to do then sit down and collect herself. She looked up to Sai's sleeping face as she took a deep breath in. She couldn't do that, though. They were in the middle of the woods open to all attacks. Sai wouldn't be waking up anytime soon, but she would need to find shelter for them for a few days at least. Pulling in her bottom lip, she tried to formulate a plan. The thought of camping out for a few days was quickly checked from the list. The fact was they had just returned from their mission would make that impossible, while she did have some food and supplies, she was sure that it was not enough resources for such a break. Not to mention they still have to travel to Suna There was also the fact that it was early spring, the night was going to grow cold and that was not a good environment to have someone who just had gone through what Sai had just been through. They had to find shelter, a place that was warm. Not only for Sai, she needed it also. She would have to rest for a night, gathering as much chakra as she could, then she would carry Sai the rest of the journey. She nodded to herself as she began to settle on the plan.
"Try not to use chakra. It seems when the infected go into the final stage, it draws them in like honey to bees," Tsunade's words rang in her mind. Quickly, her nodding movement dissipated as she began to shake her head. Don't use chakra. But... All the infected were burned when Tsunade destroyed Konoha... Right?
As if answering her silent question there was a twig that suddenly snapped off in the distance. Sakura whipped her head in the direction of the noise as she squinted her eyes. It was well into the night at this point, and the moon and her tiny camp fire only offered enough light for her to see a few yards in front of her. Quietly she began to pull herself from the ground. A few more snaps of wood and the rustling of leaves filled the air. She prayed that it was just an animal, or maybe a traveler but she wasn't going to take her chances. She quickly put out the small fire and sat still hoping whatever it was would just pass without taking notice of them. Her prayers went unanswered as she watched two dark figures moving in a jerky manner out of the shadow of the trees.
Tsunade wasn't able to destroy all the infected.
She moved silently as she stood then began to crouch over Sai's body. She wasn't sure if these people were infected, even though they were moving in the same manner that Shizune and Ino had moved. She held onto the hope that the part of her that was screaming they were infected was wrong. She stood absolutely still as she prayed that if it was quite enough that they would just move on. But, After the day she was having, she should have known it wouldn't be that easy. Nothing would be easy again. Holding her breath she kept a keen eye on the figures as they began to stumble forward. She could hear the hiss of breath as it was being drawn in quickly through the nose. They were infected! Her mind kept screaming at her. She couldn't bring herself to move, though.
Slowly they crept forward, and slowly the blue light of the moon began to reflect off of their skin. She narrowed her eyes as faces began to appear. The moment they were bathed in the moonlight, Sakura felt her stomach twist sharply.
"Konohamaru? Moegi?" The names fell softly from her lips before she could stop them. The heads of the two young ninja's snapped in her direction, and all she could do was stare at them with wide eyes. Just like Shizune, just like Ino, they were them but also not. First, her eyes inspected Konohamaru. The moonlight filling his milky eye as he glared in her direction. Everything else was the same on the boy. Except that there was a large dark spot on the right side were his neck and shoulders met. His clothing on that side was also stained darker than the other side. Sakura quickly put together that it must have been a large wound and his blood had stained his clothes. His teeth chattered as he looked at her and continued to draw in deep breaths.
Quickly she flickered her sight over to Moegi. Her body had not fared as well as Konohamaru. The clothes that she wore were stained also looking entirely black along with the exposed skin of her arms and legs. Sakura was keenly aware that if she was able to look at Moegi in daylight that more than likely the girl would have been completely red. She let her eyes trail up to her face. Moegi's jaw was completely disconnected from her skull. It swayed with her movement as it hung almost down to her chest. On the left side of her face, there was a gaping hole that ran under her eye down to her hanging jaw. Light blue highlights flashed, while she attempted to chatter her teeth, as the pieces of the shattered jaw bounced in and out of the mutilated skin. Her tongue, bathed in the dark stain of blood, rolled from side to side and her head jerked up and down as she looked at Sakura with a menacing eagerness. Sakura couldn't help it, her hands began to form tight fists as her blood began to race. The tiredness that she felt just moments ago began to dissolve as a flood of anger began rolling over her.
"WHAT THE FUCK!" She screamed at her two fallen comrades. "HOW MANY FRIENDS DO I HAVE TO KILL!?" She screamed, not necessarily to them, just at them. Her breath hiccuped as she said in a broken whisper "it hurts". The infected teen's movement ceased as their milky eyes stared at her. They looked surprised at the sudden outburst and the look they had on their faces made Sakura feel a strange mix of sorrow and rage. In her chest, it felt as if there were wild rapids whirling violently in her.
Tightening her lips she stared at them. These two... These two were like siblings to her now. After the war, Konohamaru was constantly around team seven. He was like an annoying little pest that wouldn't go away, but she had grown fond of him. It was much like the fondness that she had for Naruto. And wherever Konohamaru went, his team was sure to follow. All three said that they would take the title of the new Sannin's from them. Moegi had even started to train under her. Now... Now she was going to have to kill them.
They stood still for a few moments staring at each other. For those brief seconds, Sakura held on to the small hope that they wouldn't attack, that they would just stumble on by. Of course, that was a pipedream. Without so much as a warning suddenly Konohamaru and Moegi were running at her. Their movements were no longer jerky, but that of a trained shinobi. Sakura crouched lower as the two began to flank her to attack from the sides. Quickly pulling out her kunai she threw one from each hand. They didn't hit but they did cause enough of an obstacle that they were now unable to strike at the same moment. Konohamaru was the first to reach her. That wasn't a surprise, he was always the quickest on his team. Just as he was about to reach out for her she landed a blow to his stomach. The kick was nowhere near as strong as she would like it. She didn't let herself use chakra at all. Though the force was enough to have him stumble back a few feet.
Once he had fallen back she turned her attention to Moegi, but what she saw, she didn't expect. She had thought that they were flanking her so that they could both deliver blows simultaneously. From what she saw with the infected they just struck, there didn't seem to be much strategy with them.
She was wrong. As she was dealing with Konohamaru, Moegi had her sights set on Sai. Sakura growled as she lunged at Moegi as she was diving for the sleeping form of Sai. Their bodies collided and hit the ground with a thunk. Sakura quickly tried to get the advantage on Moegi by flipping her to her back. The younger girl fought against her grip as they rolled over each other. The sour breath poured out of Moegi as she grunted and growled at Sakura as she attempted to fight her off.
Once they came to a stop Sakura quickly looked over to Sai to see Konohamaru quickly approaching him. Cursing under her breath she scrambled to her feet giving Moegi a swift kick to the head. Her red pigtails whipped violently in her face as her head snapped from the force of the blow. Sakura hoped that it broke her neck, but was almost positive that it didn't. Not even checking to see if Moegi was alive or dead, she set upon Konohamaru.
"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HIM!" She bellowed as she rushed into the boy shoulder checking him. The hit had him thrown into the darkness. She thought that he must have hit a tree a few meters away as the air was filled with a sharp crack. She heard him hit but didn't look to see where he had landed, instead she quickly scanned Sai's body. He seemed fine, she knew that she could not guarantee it but it didn't look like he had any fresh wounds. Darting her eyes she looked to where she had left Moegi. The girl was beginning to stand up, her brows furrowed low glaring at her as a growl gurgled through her gaping jaw. Sakura carefully stepped over Sai to once again stand over him. This was going to be more difficult than it should be. How was she suppose to fight when she couldn't use her chakra and had to stand over Sai? For the first time in her whole life, it felt that using chakra was more of a handicap then and advantage.
Everything moved too quickly. She didn't have time to formulate a plan. Konohamaru and Moegi just kept coming at her and Sai without a break. All she could do was to keep pushing them back, but it was going nowhere. There was no way that she could leave Sai unprotected, all it took was one bite from them and then it was over. Well, maybe not over but she really really didn't want to have to amputate anything else from him.
As they kept trying to take her over, she began to unleash a series of aerial weapons, but even when they met their mark and sunk into the skin, it didn't stop them. They moved as if a leaf had blown into their bodies, not that there were weapons sticking out of them. She gritted her teeth as once again Moegi came rushing at her. All along the girl's shoulders and arms kunai stuck out like the quills of a porcupine. Sakura reached down into her hip pouch to retrieve another weapon but found that she no longer had any blades left. What she felt under her fingers instead was the long straight needle of a senbon. She sighed as she took one out. How was this suppose to do any damage when not even a kunai stopped them?
Sakura pulled the needle weapon out and was just about to throw it when she heard a noise that made her hair stand on end. The air was filled with the whistling grinding noise, that at one point would have comforted her. Not now. No. Not at all. She quickly whipped her head in the direction of the noise to see Konohamaru creating a ball of energy in his hand. The moment she saw it she was cursing Naruto.
Sakura turned her attention back to Moegi who was closer to them and looked into her mutilated face. That's when she knew that she wasn't fighting correctly. No, she was fighting them as if she could let both survive. There wasn't anything she had to move quickly for. It wasn't like killing Shizune, were Tsunade was telling her what to do. It wasn't like killing Ino when she was well aware that there was a literal ticking time bomb counting down. Was she thinking that maybe they would stop? Was she thinking they would magically get better? She didn't know, but since they had begun to use chakra, she had to end this quickly. She had to be brutal and just finish it. She could feel her mind clearing as she knew what had to be done.
She scooped her hand back into her weapon pouch and pulled out another senbon. She couldn't leave Sai, but perhaps if Moegi couldn't see it would give her enough time to deal with Konohamaru. Narrowing her eyes she let a senbon fly, which was quickly followed by another. Each weapon had embedded itself right where she wanted them. Steel clashed with the orbs of Moegi's eyes with a sharp popping noise. It was soon followed by gurgles of rage as Moegi's hands went quickly to her eyes. In her haste, Moegi accidently pushed the senbons in further before she attempted to pull them out. Sakura took the momentary distraction and jumped through the air to kick the young girl in the chest. Both of her feet made contact as she threw Moegi back a few dozen meters.
"That should give me time," she muttered before turning to Konohamaru who was mere feet away from Sai and approaching quickly with his wind. She began to rush towards the two. She had to use chakra. She would use chakra, dispatch them and quickly move Sai. She had enough to take care of this. All she needed was two good shots. She kept on running quickly pushing chakra into her feet. Just as Konohamaru was winding back preparing to shove his Rasengan into Sai, she wound back her own fist to slam it into Konohamaru's jaw. It met the flesh with a loud crack as he was thrown into the shadow of the trees. That had to have snapped his neck, she thought to herself as she watched his body get engulfed into the shadows. There was a large crack as his body collided with an another tree. There was no way someone could have lived through that.
She stood and turned to where she had thrown Moegi. Now was the time to finish the girl off. She looked up to her and heard her gurgling growling. The pigtails that had once withstood gravity lay limply to the sides of her head. Sakura looked at her face that was light with the moonlight. Both senbons were still embedded in the eyes, but now there was one orb that was hanging out, the optic nerve taut with the weight it was supporting as the eyeball swung back and forward like a pendulum, with the tip of the senbon dangling from it. Moegi stood there taking deep breaths of air as she searched for a scent. Gurgling noises followed as she released the intake as it passed through her mouth. Sakura stood there for a few moments watching her. She was smelling out chakra... How could that be? Chakra had no odor, not unless it was used with an element.
Sakura tested her theory as she began to gather chakra into her fists. Almost instantly the girl turned towards her, breathing in harder. Sakura pushed a bit more. That was enough to have Moegi rushing to her. She definitely smelled it. But how? How was it possible? Shaking her head she pushed the thought out of her mind. That was something to think about once her and Sai were safe. Now was the time to get rid of the threats. So with that thought, she rushed to Moegi and landed one chakra filled punch to the bridge of her opponent's nose.
Her hand went into Moegi's skull with a crunch. Sakura closed her eyes as she felt the warm spray of blood hit her face as she carved in Moegi's skull. Sakura cringed as the warmth of blood and brains gushed around the sides of her fist as it was pushed all the way to the back of Moegi's head. Immediately the girl's body went limp taking Sakura down with her. Sakura girl fell to her knees, her hand still embedded in the young girl's face, and panted.
It was over.
They were both gone. Slowly she withdrew from the head cavity, a wet suction noise following her movement. Once her hand was freed she slowly opened her eyes and looked down at the damage she had inflicted. Her friend no longer represented a human. Instead, her head looked like that of a rotten melon that had caved in upon itself. The brains in scrambled pieces falling to the side. Eyes no longer visible, but Sakura could still see the glinting metal of a senbon wedged in.
"I am sorry," the words fell softly from her mouth as she ran a hand over the girl's hair. "I will fix this," her voice came out stronger as she looked down with resolve. She stood and let out a sigh of relief. All she needed to do was to get Sai and find shelter. Wearily she turned her body to the direction of her slumbering comrade. Her muscles instantly coiled as she turned to see Konohamaru crawling to Sai. Her stomach tightened as the boy was a mere foot away. How in the hell was he still alive? Not taking one more second to think she pushed chakra to her feet and ran towards the broken boys. She got there just as Konohamaru was about to reach out. Sakura quickly grabbed onto his ankle. Using her chakra pulling him from the ground, and swung him quickly until his head collided with the trunk of a tree. His life ended with a pop as his head exploded on impact. Once more warm blood sprayed against Sakura. Letting go of his ankle, the rest of Konohamaru's body fell onto the ground of the forest.
She didn't take the time to apologize to him, instead, she began to rush back to Sai. She was almost positive that she had got to them in time, but she didn't want to take the chance of not checking him. She didn't complete her task, though. She had only taken a step towards Sai when suddenly something wrapped itself around her wrist. Quickly her arms were pulled behind her back, then she was pulled to the ground with such force that she was slammed to her knees. She ground her teeth as her back arched and her hands were forced to the forest floor behind her.
"Are you kidding me?!" She yelled as she tried to pull against her restraints. They didn't budge, maybe if she used chakra, but she had used enough during the fight and healing Sai. Her chest heaved in anger as she tried once again to free herself. Giving up on the restraints for a moment she furiously looked around the open space. If this was an infected person she was going to scream. But there was no sound of leaves under a foot, no twigs snapping. The whole area remained deathly silent as she skimmed what she could around her. No noise. This probably meant that it wasn't one of them. Granted she was just exposed to them, but in the fights today there wasn't a time when they were silent. The didn't seem to bother with stealth. This must be a shinobi who wasn't affected. "Who's out there?" She demanded as she kept her eyes roaming. She wasn't sure what was binding her, she wasn't sure who's jutsu this could be. Ally or Enemy?
"Sakura?" A voice questioned through the darkness. A VOICE! None of them seemed to be able to talk. This must be an ally. She also knew the voice that was calling to her. The sound of her name had all her muscles relax. Well, as much was possible in the current position that she was in.
"Yamato?" The question came out with a small laugh. The laugh wasn't from any humor that she found in her situation, but one of utter relief. Suddenly the man appeared before her. His dark eyes wide as he looked at her then to the area around her.
"What is going on here?" He asked as he looked from Moegi's carcass to the remains of Konohamaru, then finally to Sai. "What have you done?" He questioned as he snapped his attention to her.
"You need to let me go. We need to get out of here. We need to find some sort of cave or something," she said as she struggled once again with the restraints. "I can explain everything once we get out of here," she stopped struggling and narrowed her eyes at him. Stupid. She never even made sure that he wasn't infected. There was an incubation period. "Has anyone bit you?" She asked as she scanned his body.
"What?" His eyes grew wide for a moment as his head tilted back.
"Bit," she snarled at him as her patience was beginning to wear thin. Her brow rose as she looked at him with a frown waiting for the answer. Quickly he shook his head then glared back down at her.
"No," His tone was stern as his face became flat. "What happened here? Who are they?" He asked as he gestured to the three laying on the ground. Sakura followed the movement of his hand and ground her teeth as she looked to her fallen comrades.
"Konohamaru and Moegi," she said softly keeping her eyes on the sandals that were covering Konohamaru's feet. When did he start wearing black instead of blue? She mindlessly wondered. At that though she knew she was beginning to unravel. Besides her, there was hiss of breath as the names fell from her mouth.
"You... You... You killed Konohamaru, Moegi, and Sai?" His words were laced with utter disbelief. Quickly she snapped her head to look up at him. He looked down at her with horror twisting his features.
"No!" She yelled at him. "Not Sai! I saved Sai! We have to get out of here so I can get him safe!" Yamato's lips pursed as his brows drew down. He shook his head keeping his eyes glued to her face.
"No. No, we have to get back to Konoha. I have to get you back, then we'll figure this out," it seemed that his words were meant to be strong, but confusion was thick on every one. Sakura began to struggle once more. They had to move and they couldn't go back.
"There isn't a Konoha to go back to!" She yelled as she tried to pull her arms up again. The vines that had bound her were digging into her skin. She looked back up at him to see him staring at her with that blank face again. "IT'S GONE!" she growled at him. "There is nothing to go back to, I know you had to feel the earth rumble. That was because the Leaf was destroyed. Tsunade burnt it to the ground." The bite in her words softened as she looked up. "Yamato, please. We can't go back but we need to get out of here. Please.. You can leave me bound, but I need to get Sai to some type of shelter. I need to get him somewhere warm, he might be going into hypothermic shock. Please. Please. Please, Yamato, help me," She began to cry as she sunk back. Breaking. She knew that she was finally breaking. Everything that had happened on that horrid day was beginning to catch up with her. She tried to stay strong, but now it was as if she was a twig, snapping easily. She tried to shake her head to stop the flow of tears that were beginning to spill from her eyes, but it didn't help. There was no way she could dam them up. Sighing, she looked back up to Yamato. Her lids were filled with liquid that distorted his face so that she couldn't read the expression. She fought to keep her breath steady. Please, just a little longer she pleaded internally. A little longer, just until they were somewhat safe.
Slowly she felt the vines began to retract from her wrists. That was enough let her calm down, making her able to push her emotions down again. The moment that she was free she leaned forward with a sigh and closed her eyes tight. "I... I... Don't know that I believe you. But, you have never lied to me before. Sakura, I just, I just don't understand. But if what you are saying about Sai is the truth, then we need to tend to him." Slowly she opened her eyes and looked up. She wanted to smile, she wanted just to lie down and sleep. She pushed all that to the side as she wearily pulled herself up and stood in front of him. She nodded her head and began to turn to Sai. How was she going to move him? Everything in her protested as she bent down and attempted to pick him up without the use of her chakra.
Heavy. He was so heavy as she hoisted him up. She turned her body to look back at Yamato, who was looking at her cautiously. "Do you know where there are any caves around here? I wasn't paying much attention to where I was running," She said as she grunted to repositioned Sai's weight against her.
"Why aren't you using your chakra?" He asked as watched her struggle. She sighed as she closed her eyes. Her lids felt as if they weight a hundred pounds each as the exhaustion was catching up.
"We can't. So please don't use yours either. I already told you that I promised I would explain it all. We need to focus on finding some place to go right now," she replied as she turned to his direction. "Do you know of somewhere around here that has shelter? It doesn't have to be a cave, just something. It would be nice if you could just jutsu a house, but like I said we really can't use chakra." Yamato stood there and watched her carefully before sighing and looking around the area. His lips pursed as he looked into the sky and scanned around once more.
"I am pretty sure that there are some caverns to the east of us about a mile away," he said as he pointed in the direction of the shelter. Sakura followed where his finger pointed then looked back to him, she gave him a curt nod before turning and started to walk to the destination.
It was more difficult than she expected, carrying Sai. He was heavier than she thought and not having the use of her chakra was taking a toll. She had never really thought about how much she depended on it. Her chakra was alway there for her. From healing a wounded comrade to picking up the couch to vacuum under it. Not being able to access it as freely as she wished was like having someone cut off her arm. She kept going, though. She didn't have a choice but to drag Sai and get him to safety. Behind her, she could hear the soft steps of Yamato. If this was a normal mission she would have strained to make some type of small talk to help pass the time. At the moment she had no interest in talking. She just wanted to get to the cave, situate Sai and fall asleep.
"Here let me take him." Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin as she felt the large hand of Yamato land on her shoulder bringing her to a halt. She turned her head to see him blankly looking at her. It was a blank look that every shinobi that had been in ANBU had mastered. She hated the look. "You look exhausted. I can take him. We'll get there faster," He said flatly as he released her shoulder. All she could do was nod at him as she turned her body so that the man could have better access to Sai.
The moment Sai's weight was taken from her she let out a relieved sigh. She didn't notice, but her back was becoming stiff and sore as she had been holding him at an unnatural angle. Her hand went up to her neck and shoulder as she began to rub out the tight knots that had formed. Even though she was no longer hauling the dead weight of Sai, she continued to walk at a slow pace. Yamato was right, she was exhausted. She really should not have been, she had fought in battles and in wars that went on for days. She knew that it was the emotional stress that was taking its' toll on her. Without a word she let Yamato take the lead as she stumbled behind them. It was only a mile or so, and even if they weren't running they would be there soon.
It took only twenty minutes for them to find a cave that had enough room for the three of them. The moment she walked in she just wanted to fall to her knees, but she resisted the urge. There was more to do before she could claim any rest. Sakura watched as Yamato gingerly placed Sai down on the ground. After she was sure that he was in a proper position she began to go through her bag.
"You mind gathering some wood? I'll get Sai all set then make the pit. It's important that we keep him warm for a while," she asked Yamato not even bothering to look up. She heard him grunt then the footfall of sandals on rock. Pulling out the thermal blankets that she carried, she wedged one under Sai, then placed one on top of him. That would have to do, there wasn't much else she could do to ensure his warmth beside using blankets. She had thought that perhaps she should clean him off first, but the temperature was dropping quickly and she didn't want to chance him getting the chills.
She ran her hand over his forehead. He was warmer than she would like, there was also a thin sheen of moisture that made his skin slick. She stared at him for a moment, his features were difficult to make out in the deep darkness of the cavern. Though light highlights appeared along his nose and forehead. She sat there staring at him trying to make the best treatment plan possible. He should receive antibiotics and painkillers. She did have both in her rucksack, but not nearly enough for something of this magnitude. No, what she carried was basically good for a small infection. Though, she did have some grade A narcotics for pain. She breathed in as she as she fished through her bag attempting to find the bottle by touch. She was almost sure that she gathered the right ones and gave them a light shake. It sounded as if each only contained a few pills. It was all she had, she would need more, but she would have to make due. Opening the bottles she poured some from each onto the lids. She didn't want her soiled skin making contact with them. She wasn't sure how contagious this virus was, or how long it could live outside a host. Carefully she places the bottles next to her sack, reminding herself that she would need to sanitize them when she could see better. Once she placed them down she shuffled her body to the side of Sai. Placing her fingers on his chin she gently she pried opened his mouth and poured the pills into it. She hated to try and give an unconscious person pills. Though, it was a better option than attempting to wake him up. He still didn't understand what happened. All Sai would know is that she killed Ino and took his leg off. Just as she was massaging Sai's neck to get a reflexive swallow Yamato walked into the cave with an armful of wood.
"Sorry, I didn't get to make the pit yet. Give me a moment." She said softly. It only took two attempts before she could feel Sai's throat muscles move letting her know that he had swallowed. Once again she opened his mouth and tried to look in it. She didn't want to have to fish her fingers in it, not with all the dirt and blood on them. Once she was sure that he had ingested the pills she stood up and scavenged for small rocks to make the barrier to the fire. She could feel Yamato's eyes on her every movement but didn't bother to look up. She didn't want to look up at him, she didn't want to see the fucking blank face again.
Once she set the stones into a circle is when she finally made eye contact with Yamato. She didn't say anything just raised her brow. He nodded to her then proceeded to place the wood in the pit as she went through her sack to retrieve her flint and some lint that she used as kindle. Once more she was avoiding eye contact with him as she pushed the kindle under the wood. She picked up her pieces of flint and attempted to get a spark.
There was a problem, though. Her hands had suddenly begun to shake. She couldn't get them steady. She tried to strike the stoned off of each other, but her angles were off and the spark were landing nowhere near their intended target. She tried to internally yell at her body, she screamed in her mind to get a grip but the shaking just became worse. She had hit her wall.
Large hands covered hers as she attempted to bring the stones together once more. She breathed out as his grip tightened over hers. Her hands relaxed in his grip. As she did he took the stones from her hand. Closing her eyes she moved away until her back hit a wall. It was a small space so it only took her a moment to crawl back. Her shoulders slumped as she let the wall bear all of her weight. She moved so that her legs were stretched out in front of her. There she sat silently as she watched the sparks of the stone fill the area with a flash of light.
It only took Yamato a few tries before he was able to light the lint. Closing her eyes again he listened as he blew on the small flame to encourage its growth. She could tell the moment the fire took to the wood as the smell of a campfire filled their small shelter. A few moments later the crackling and popping sound confirmed that the fire was greedily burning away at the wood. She sat there with her eyes still closed and only focused on the fire and the noises around her. She didn't want to think. She just wanted to sit there. She heard Yamato move around the cave for a moment. It didn't last long, though. Sakura figured he had found a place to rest. So she sat there for a few long moments before slowly opening her eyes.
Directly across from her sat Yamato. His eyes were narrowed as he stared at her figure. Normally such scrutiny would have had her blushing, but she really couldn't bring herself to care at the way he was looking at her. Sighing she took her eyes off of him and let them land on her hands that rested in her lap. They were completely red, and a few pieces of Moegi's flesh and hair hung from them. She cringed as she thought that her hands handled Sai's medication. A soft cough from the other side of the cave brought her attention back to Yamato.
"Sakura, what happened?" Yamato asked slowly keeping his intense gaze on her. Sakura sighed before she swallowed thickly. She opened her mouth only to have no words come out. Instead, a sob escaped as her eyes were flooded with tears. She shut her mouth in hopes of regaining control. It didn't work, instead, the sobs came out stronger as the tears flowed from her cheeks like streams. She bowed her head down not able to look at Yamato in such a state. She sat there as wretched sobs rang through her, as the pain of the day began crashing down like a lightening bolt. She was sure that she sounded like a wounded animal that was dying, but she couldn't stop. Her lungs burned from not being able to properly breathe and her stomach twisted in a manner that made her feel like she was going to vomit. The worst feeling was it felt as if her chest was cracking. This was heartbreak. This was heartbreak beyond comprehension. The day that Sasuke left when she was younger she thought she knew the feeling, but that was nothing compared to what she was feeling now. She wanted to die again. She wanted this pain to end. She wanted to wake up from this nightmare. She wanted Ino. She wanted Tsunade. She wanted a home. She just wanted to go home.
Big hands covered hers once more as she slowly looked up to Yamato. His face was no longer stoic, but he looked at her with worry and despair. She shook her head as he applied more pressure. "It's gone. It's all gone," she hiccuped as her hands went into fists under his. She then forced herself to fight through the sobs and hiccups as she told him just what had become of their home.
