A/N: Revised April 3, 2018
Chapter VI: Into the Woods
The first time Sakura realized Sasuke was visiting her parents' grave was shortly after he tried to kill himself.
He'd been re-released from the hospital just a few weeks prior, and according to the rumors at the time the Uchiha had been on house arrest and living with Naruto. Sakura had been staying with Kakashi, as her own mental state—so soon after her parents' death—had not been the greatest. In an effort to get her away from the booze and the constant, sleepless nights of crying herself into a stupor, her former sensei had suggested that visiting their memorial on a frequent basis might bring her some closure. He'd done the same with Obito and Rin, and that had helped.
Sakura had followed his advice, walking to her parents' grave the next afternoon with her heart in her throat and her nerves in tangles. I'm stronger than this, she'd thought as storm clouds had built overhead. I can get through it.
Only when she'd arrived Sasuke was already there.
He'd been dressed in hospital scrubs, an ID bracelet still wrapped around his too-thin wrist. The Uchiha hadn't moved from his spot when she'd approached, nor did he flinch when the rain started to come down in torrents. He'd simply sat there, kneeling with his forehead pressed to the dirt, his pale clothes sticking to his even paler skin and his black hair plastered to his neck with rainwater.
Sakura had felt rage. Blind, encompassing fury, followed by confusion and terror. Out of all the people she knew, he had been the last one that she'd ever expected to see there. Sasuke wasn't supposed to be kneeling in front of her parents' grave, looking so alone and frighteningly pitiable; bowing over and over again, with his arms curled close to his chest.
Poor Sasuke-kun, the old Sakura would have said, but the new Sakura was far too brittle for that. That had been her space and her parents, and Sasuke wasn't their son. She hadn't been willing to share.
She'd wanted to hit him, then. She'd wanted to scream and make him hurt. Sakura had wanted to push Sasuke's face into the ground so hard he choked on the mud, but before she could do just that Kakashi had been there, pulling her into the shadows beneath a tree before she could try something foolish. When she broke into tears he'd held her, muffling her sobs against his chest. Sasuke had stayed motionless, huddled before the grave.
"They're my parents," Sakura had sobbed into Kakashi's flak jacket as he's smoothed his hand over her hair. "They-they're mine, why's he—"
"There, there," Kakashi had said in that serious-not-serious way of his, trying to make light of the situation. "Sasuke's just working through some things, alright? He'll be gone soon." This was followed by a muttered, "He wasn't supposed to be out today." The comment hadn't been directed at her.
"He killed them," Sakura sniveled, casting a look at her former teammate as she'd clutched at Kakashi's arm. The Uchiha continued kneeling, shivering and senseless to everything beyond the stone memorial in front of him. Kakashi dropped the happy act, his entire form deflating like a wet gray rag as he'd wrapped his other arm around her shoulders and rested his head atop hers. "He doesn't, he doesn't get to—" Sakura could barely get out the words.
"He's trying," Kakashi said simply, and he'd sounded so, so tired in that moment. "You don't have to forgive him if you don't want to. It's alright."
Sakura leaned against him, crying beneath the tree as the rainfall picked up. The patter of raindrops between the leaves had been deafening, the sky above them rumbling and dark. Sasuke remained in front of the grave, oblivious to all.
When Naruto finally came to pick him up, the last Uchiha had been soaked to the bone and thoroughly sick.
"Oi, teme!" Naruto snapped, stalking up to the shivering Sasuke with a furious scowl. Kakashi had quickly masked their chakra signatures upon his arrival, for which Sakura was grateful. Unfortunately it had the unintended side effect of forcing her to watch the rest of the scene play out. Naruto hadn't known anyone else was there. "Think you can give me the slip, do you?" the blond ninja spat. Sasuke hadn't moved. "Fuck you, you bastard. Do you want Baachan shoving you back in the hospital? Five minutes. You said five minutes. We were supposed to be inside ages ago!"
When Sasuke still didn't move Naruto came to a halt. He'd stood there for several moments, looking down at the Uchiha with a blank expression. When he spoke again his words were sad.
"Come on," he'd said with a soft sigh. Naruto leaned down, gently prying Sasuke off the muddy ground as he'd slung his arm around his too-thin back. Slowly, he'd helped the catatonic Uchiha to his feet. Sasuke had slipped in the mud and sagged against him. "You've done enough for today," Naruto assured him. Sasuke stared blankly into space, wet to the bone, and Sakura watched as Naruto leaned his head against their former teammate's, pulling him into a hug. "Okay," Naruto murmured into his hair, making shushing sounds as he'd rubbed his hand across Sasuke's bony back. "Okay, let's go home. I'll get you some tomatoes and new pyjamas, alright? Bet you'll like that." Sasuke remained unresponsive.
Naruto re-slung his arm around the Uchiha's shoulders and dragged him off. "It's okay, Sasuke," the blond ninja had said as he'd pulled him away. "Everything will work out. You'll see."
Sakura felt sick just watching.
"Want to go back?" Kakashi had asked her in the awkward silence that followed. Sakura nodded. When the two of them reached his apartment, Sakura had shucked off her wet clothes and crawled into her makeshift cot in the corner of his living room, huddling beneath the covers.
After that, she stayed in bed for a week. She didn't visit her parents' grave for even longer.
There was no talking after the argument. Sakura followed Sasuke's orders to get ready and gear up, but even then it was only because she wasn't willing to risk her anger getting anyone killed in the process. She and Sasuke? They could go down in a blaze of glory for all Sakura cared. But the others were innocent in this situation, and she was going to fight tooth and nail to protect them. She didn't trust Sasuke to do it. Not again.
Sakura stayed away from the LSF for a time, cloistering herself between a cluster of giant mushrooms as she bit down on her bottom lip in an effort to muffle her cries. Don't scream, she told herself, don't let them hear you, but the ache inside had turned to agony. In an effort to distance herself from the pain in her chest and the horror in her head, Sakura ended up digging her nails so hard into her left arm it began to bleed. It brought her some relief, but not enough, and for a few seconds she was consumed with the urge to whip out her kunai and dig deeper. The nebulous despair and helpless anger that she felt whenever she thought of Sasuke was eating at her insides like a worm.
Sakura didn't have long to herself: less than five minutes after storming away, Hanabi was sent to fetch her. Sakura knew she'd been sent to fetch her, because Sasuke—in all his infinite wisdom—had probably decided the Hyuga was the least likely to get her head bit off, barring Juugo. The woman was too close to Naruto, however, and too connected to everything in Sakura's past that mottled her recollections like a bruise.
Hanabi stood there, about six feet away with her hands hanging at her sides. She eyed Sakura's bleeding forearm—the way her blunt nails were digging grooves into her flesh with miniature chakra scalpels—then met Sakura's frenzied gaze with her own. Her eyes were pale and haunted, the skin around them shadowed.
"Are you alright?" she asked. Beyond the tree line past the sea of grass that blanketed the horizon, there was a whale's cry, but Sakura didn't flinch this time. She was too upset over other things to do so. Closer though, she could hear the crackle of what sounded like fire, burning low and moving across the field. Whatever had attacked them was finally catching up, although Sakura didn't know what the flames were from, exactly. They had to move.
Get it together, Sakura told herself, biting down harder on her bottom lip in an effort to contain the screams. Get it together. Just like the war, don't think about it. The others need you. Quickly she deactivated the scalpels and healed her arm, but her chakra control wasn't the greatest at the moment. The job was so sloppy that it actually left a scar.
"Sakura?"
"Yeah," she finally choked out in response to Hanabi's question. "Yeah, I'll be alright." Then, coughing slightly to clear her throat, "I'm sorry you had to see that."
Watching another nin crack under emotional duress was horrible for team moral, especially if that nin was the medic; the one who was supposed to be fixing everyone else. I shouldn't have screamed, Sakura thought. I should've just walked away, and said nothing. Then the others wouldn't have known about it. Hanabi did not respond. The woods around them were silent except for the rumble of thunder across the fields. Smoke was beginning to make its way amongst the gnarled mushrooms, and the scent of burning grass was clogging Sakura's nostrils.
"Don't tell him what you saw," she warned the Hyuga, shivering hard and desperately wishing for her jacket as she ran her hands up and down her arms. It had been left behind in their mad scramble across the dead zone.
Hanabi blinked once at her request, her voice flat and dead. "He already knows," she said. Sakura nearly choked on the bile that flooded her throat at the news.
"Does he, now?" she snapped, shaky and full of rage. Hanabi's expression would've been sad if she didn't appear so exhausted.
"He's always kept tabs on you," she said. "You're you." Hanabi turned around and walked back towards the others. Sakura felt like she was choking. She was drowning in everything Sasuke and there was no way to escape him except through death. She couldn't take the stress, nor a repeat of what went down during the war or what happened afterwards.
Remember the others, Sakura told herself, but it was so, so hard to do so when Sasuke was pushing everything else into the trash.
Scrubbing her hands across her eyes Sakura finally managed to get a hold of herself long enough to walk back to the LSF. Almost immediately she stumbled sideways, hit by a dizzy spell so strong she was forced to stop and rest. There was a weird jumping sensation beneath her ribs were her heart was located. Sakura put her palm there, flooding her chest with chakra to try and will away the sensation. With her other hand she braced herself against a nearby mushroom, her fingers bony-looking and insubstantial.
Remember the others, she repeated as she finally pushed herself off the giant tuber. You can think about yourself later. Forget Sasuke.
When she made her way back to the platoon the rest of the LSF were already assembled into much smaller versions of their individual squads. Sakura discovered—much to her horror—that Sasuke was making good on his promise to force her and Juugo to travel with him in the vanguard. The decision was unbelievably stupid and uncharacteristically lacking in judgement. Juugo was far too weak, and Sakura knew that one wrong move could send him spiraling into septic shock. Aya was at the front, as were the twins. As Sakura passed, slinking back like a wounded animal, Sora and Shun watched her with puppy dog eyes and expressions chock-full of anxiety, but she didn't acknowledge them. Susumu was lingering somewhere farther back, but Sakura didn't look at him either. She didn't think she could stand his kindness. It hurt too much.
The minute she was in place the platoon moved out; silent, miserable, and far too trigger happy as they slipped deeper into the forest. Sasuke was just as angry as she was, but seemed to have even less control over his emotions than her. His chakra was spiking badly and it made it impossible to concentrate. Even though Sakura had slapped him before storming off—even though she'd made it clear to everyone that she wanted nothing to do with him—Sasuke couldn't seem to take no for an answer. He refused to give her the space she so desperately craved, and Hanabi's words echoed endlessly in Sakura's head.
He already knows. He always keeps tabs on you. You're you. What did he know? How long did he know it? Oh gods, just how long had he been watching her? Sakura thought of all the sleepless nights that she'd had since the war—those nights filled with paranoia and perimeter sweeps, where she couldn't shake the sense that someone was stalking her—and her constant fear took on a whole new meaning. Sasuke and Naruto were close, and Naruto was one of the few people that knew where she lived. But if Sasuke had asked Naruto, if he'd expressed even the slightest amount of interest about her well-being… oh fuck, the Hokage had probably told him her location.
Calm, Sakura reminded herself as they wound their way deeper into the woods. Stay calm, don't scream. Sasuke was walking no more than ten paces away. The left side of the Uchiha's face was stippled with bruising, and in the low light of the forest those bruises nearly looked black. Juugo's last remaining arm was slung around his shoulders as he all but dragged the other nin through the forest. His expression—from what Sakura could make of it—was angry and defiant, his posture tense as if he were waiting for her to comment on Juugo's treatment. She said nothing.
Sakura traveled no closer to Sasuke that was necessary. When the anxiety and loathing became too much to handle she fell back a good twenty paces, determined to walk behind. Immediately Sasuke took note. He handed Juugo off to Aya, who received the injured nin with a surprising amount of delicacy and nary a word of complaint. Sakura had barely registered the transfer before Sasuke was slowing down to walk beside her, hovering just out of reach like some sort of malevolent cloud that clung to anything with pink hair. Sasuke was in such a foul mood that the rest of the LSF were upset right along with him, especially the twins. His platoon made no untoward comments about the situation, but seeing how they tiptoed around him made it clear to Sakura that they were used to this sort of behaviour; that they had kept silent about it and let that behaviour persist. The Uchiha was acting only marginally better than he had after the war, and if he were back in Konoha it would've been enough to get him placed under house arrest and doped up on meds.
He should've never been put back on active duty, Sakura thought savagely. She cursed Naruto for his desire to mitigate Sasuke's aggression at any and all costs. Fuck the Hokage and his reasons. Their former teammate was too dangerous, and Sakura had lost her ability to deal with the Uchiha's obsessive focus ages ago.
Again, she tried to draw away from him. Again, Sasuke changed course to steer her back towards the center-front of the group. This time there was nothing subtle about the way he herded her from place to place. Nothing innocuous about how he made it clear she was on a short leash, and he wasn't letting her go anywhere.
He already knows. He's always kept tabs on you. You're you. The words continued to haunt her, and rather abruptly Sakura was reminded of a conversation she'd had with Karin years ago, just before the other kunoichi had left.
"Sucks to be you," the red-haired sensor had said, adjusting her glasses along the shallow bridge of her nose. She'd palmed the small cup of sake in front of her, before downing it in a single gulp and waving her hand in front of her face. Sakura had simply stared at her, and the other kunoichi had looked away, shamed and almost apologetic.
"Sorry," she'd mumbled, and she'd sounded like she meant it. "But I don't envy you. Really, I don't. He's too dangerous."
"He's Sasuke," Sakura deadpanned, wanting to be anywhere other than there. Karin had looked like she'd felt the same.
"Exactly," the redhead had said, and then she'd left.
Karin was right. Sasuke was too much for anyone to handle, but that's what happened when you came from an incredibly aggressive, warlike clan with a propensity for madness. Simple things like no and give me space never factored into the equation.
The LSF traveled deep into Kusa, moving farther into the mushroom forest until those mushrooms gave way to giant, moss-covered trees. The trees were close together, their canopies so thick the entire area was cast into shadow. Across the ground, gnarled roots snaked every which way, blanketed by emerald green moss and a thick undergrowth of ferns.
Kusa had always been a quiet place, in that there was little indication of human civilization outside the hidden village itself. Only now there was no sound, except for the slight crunch of dead branches breaking beneath their feet as they walked. No chirp of sparrows, nor the drilling of woodpeckers; not even the whirr of cicadas, even though they were in the heart of the woods.
The silence was terrifying. They were traveling too slow, and it made Sakura want to bolt. At first Sakura thought this was because of Juugo, but then she looked to her left and realized Sasuke was setting the pace of the entire group to match hers. Rage filled her, followed quickly by shame. Of course Sasuke would know she wasn't feeling well, and of course he would draw attention to her weakness by letting them walk at a snail's pace. The shame was quickly replaced by terror when Sakura realized that by walking so slow she was putting the squad in peril. Without a word she sped up, running as fast as she thought Juugo could manage. Her chest began to ache as she did.
They ran then, for several hours at least. Still there was nothing. No rapid beating of wings as birds flitted amongst the trees, nor the rustling of animals rooting around amongst ferns that blanketed the forest floor. There was just silence. Dead silence. Everything was where it should've been, except all the fauna was gone. Not once were they stopped by Kusa nins, nor did they pick up on any foreign chakra signatures. After three hours of running Sakura was finally willing to admit that something was horribly amiss. Kusa was much smaller than Konoha, but not undefended. Where was everyone? Why hadn't they been stopped, especially with Sasuke's chakra leaking everywhere?
It can't be that bad, Sakura thought, but a part of her knew that it was.
She tripped, then. Not in an overly dramatic fashion, but her chest was hurting and she was having trouble breathing. As a result the minor deviation sent her tumbling to the ground. Sakura's fear of the silence was so acute that she didn't actually feel the crippling shame that had accompanied her first fall in front of Susumu. A moment later she felt a warm hand on her arm; slim, callused fingers circling her bicep as they started to pull her off the forest floor. Sakura fought the urge to snarl as she reached over to violently slap Sasuke's hand away.
"Don't touch me!" she said. Sasuke stopped immediately, his movements jerky as if he hadn't expected her to protest. Then he was letting go and stepping back.
"Hanabi," he murmured. Sakura felt a muted chakra presence next to hers. A pair of milky hands went to her shoulder and forearm as the younger Hyuga helped her up. Sasuke turned around and kept walking, but at a slow enough pace that the two women were not far behind.
"You don't need to," Sakura began, but Hanabi was so tight-lipped and the forest felt so wrong that Sakura immediately dropped the subject. The Hyuga stared straight ahead as they walked, her byakugan activated as they followed the rest of the group. They had fallen behind a bit, but if Sakura had thought Sasuke would leave her alone because of it, she was sadly mistake. He simply moved to the back as well, traveling no more than fifteen paces in front.
"How's Hotaka?" Sakura asked. Her chest was hurting badly. Hanabi didn't look at her, her brow furrowing deep enough that stress lines were beginning to form.
"Not good," she admitted quietly. "He's with Ai and Etsuko." Then rather abruptly the woman leaned sideways to whisper into Sakura's ear, gripping her forearm. "Your heart's worse." Sakura could detect a note of fear to her tone. "I mean it. You need to stop running. Please."
Sakura immediately looked towards Sasuke to see if he'd heard, but the Uchiha kept walking, his sandal-clad feet moving silently across the mossy ground. Sakura could feel sweat dotting her brow.
"I'm fine," she said, and then added more truthfully, "I have to be. We'll make it." Hanabi didn't seem convinced, but pressed her lips into a thin, angry line and finally withdrew. All around them the silence continued: thick, oppressive, and endless.
The LSF walked for another ten minutes before they slowed down and came to a complete halt. This time it was because of Aya. She stood at the front, Juugo's broad arm slung across her shoulders, her posture wary and alert. Her long black hair hung like a dead weight, her three-pronged gunbai glinting dully in the low light of the forest. In front of the platoon there was nothing but trees and the stillness that lingered in-between. The emerald green moss was soft and slightly springy beneath Sakura's sandaled feet, the bark of a nearby trunk rough beneath her palm as she braced her hand against it. None of the LSF moved as they waited for their next order.
Sasuke walked to the front to stand beside Aya, tilting his head just the slightest bit to observe the darkness. Their voices were slightly muffled by the distance, but Sakura could hear them well enough.
"We shouldn't go this way," Aya said, her words blunt and firm. "It's too quiet."
"Do you see anything?" Sasuke asked.
Aya shook her head. "No. That's the point." She was utterly fearless around him, and even though Sakura resented the woman for the way she'd treated Susumu she couldn't help but admire her backbone when dealing with the Uchiha.
"Hanabi," Sasuke said. The Hyuga stepped forward at the sound of her name, walking up to stand beside him. While she and Sasuke began to converse Sakura leaned against a nearby tree, her head and shoulder thunking against the wood so she could free her hands and bring one to her chest. Thump, thump, ba-thump went her heart in the silence; loud enough that Sakura could hear the muffled beating of it in her ears. Gradually she clued into the presence of someone above her. Susumu was clinging perpendicular to the tree, hanging by chakra threads several feet over her head like a spider.
Sakura didn't say anything, nor did she look in his direction. She felt the nin slide down the trunk and land on the moss all the same. His breath wafted ever so slightly across her bare shoulder as he slid his fingers carefully between hers, clasping her hand from behind. Around her the world seemed to expand and contract in a rush. Sakura's senses narrowed to the singular sensation of Susumu's fingers twining with hers. He was physically cooler than Sasuke, but also gentler. He's too kind, she thought abstractly.
Then Sakura thought of his sister in Konoha, and Sasuke as a child: all alone in a mildewing estate after Itachi had slaughtered their family. The creature came from the sides, Sasuke said. It came from the flanks and swung around to cut off your escape. Sakura was consumed by terror then, but none of it for herself. It wasn't Susumu's fault he was part of the LSF, or that he was loyal to Sasuke first. She shouldn't have pushed him away.
Before she could lose her nerve Sakura returned Susumu's gesture, squeezing his fingers in turn. She felt him shift his weight, his breath rustling the pink hair on the top of her head before he fell still. They stayed like that for several moments, with neither of them acknowledging the other beyond a clasping of hands.
Suddenly Sasuke stepped back, rocking on his left heel as he seemed to come to a decision. Before he could turn all the way around—before Sakura could register that Susumu's hand was no longer in hers—the other nin was withdrawing, crawling back up the tree as if nothing had occurred. Sakura's gaze briefly went to his direction as he moved. When she turned Sasuke was looking towards the rest of the group, but not at her directly. Aya was however, her lips pursed in a thin line as she trained her eyes to a point just above Sakura's head.
A little ways off Hanabi talked to her cousin Hotaka. He was standing beside Ai and shaking so hard his tremors were visible from a good twenty feet away. Shit, Sakura thought, pushing herself off the tree. Mentally she began to go through her list of supplies, trying to think of what to give him without knocking the other nin unconscious. He was going to break. She knew it.
"Five minutes," Sasuke said. He turned to Ai and ordered her to do a perimeter sweep. The kunoichi darted off without a word. The rest of them settled down for a brief respite; all except for Hotaka, who was pacing back and forth and clutching at his head. Sasuke began to eye him with interest. Sakura hastily unsealed her bigger bag of supplies from a scroll. As she did Hanabi darted over to her cousin and put her hand on his shoulder, speaking to him in low, hushed tones as she tried to convince him to sit down.
Aya made a tch sound with her tongue as she took in the scene. "Hozuki!" she snapped. Suigetsu melted out of a nearby tree and made his way towards her. When he reached her the kunoichi handed over Juugo, before she turned back and glared at a spot directly above Sakura's head.
"Ueda," she said, gesturing with a quick jerk of her chin. There was the slightest displacement of air as Susumu dropped to the ground and walked past Sakura to speak to Aya. Sasuke ignored them both, turning around to talk to Michi, so Sakura ignored Aya too. With one of her hands still pressed to her chest, Sakura made her way towards Hotaka. The forest seemed even more stagnant than before, the trees looming upwards into the darkened sky. Sakura was painfully aware of the lack of noise that permeated the woods. Even the mulch rustling beneath her feet seemed far too loud in the silence.
When she reached Hotaka Sakura saw just how badly he was shaking. Hanabi had managed to get him to sit down, but it wasn't enough. The Hyuga's dark brown hair was matted, his skin so pale it was the color of bone. There was fresh blood on his fingers, and Sakura didn't remember seeing any when she'd handed him the pills, hours before. His byakugan were activated to the point where spider web veins were snaking their way across his face and down his neck in an effort to maintain his bloodline.
Sakura quickly crouched and pushed Hanabi to the side, dragging out her pack and rifling through it for the right type of meds. She wanted to put him under—she knew it was the best course of action, given his head-space—but couldn't risk it at the moment. They couldn't carry the dead weight, especially if they were going to fight. Sakura needed to conserve her chakra.
"Was he prone to anxiety before?" she asked Hanabi. The other woman pursed her lips and shook her head. Sakura focused all her attention on the other Hyuga, making sure to stay close but not too close in case he lashed out. "Hotaka," she said softly. He sat there, shivering and shaking with blood on his teeth. When he didn't respond Sakura spoke more firmly. "Hotaka," she repeated. He bit down on his lip, his head jerking up as he looked in her direction.
"Do you remember who I am?" she said, as a way to distract him. Hotaka grit his teeth, sucking in a shaky breath as his eyes watered. He nodded.
"Y-yeah."
"What's my name, Hotaka?"
"H-Haruno S-Sak-kura."
"Do you remember where we're going?"
"K-Kusa, then Iwa."
"Are you going to be alright?"
Hotaka nodded once, then more vigorously, his teeth chattering audibly. He was small for a Hyuga. Fine boned and aristocratic-looking, if you took away the blood and the dark circles of insomnia around his eyes. The nin was still cognizant, which was good, but the anxiety…
"F-fine," he answered. "I-I'll b-be fine. It's just," He paused, his pale, pupil-less eyes shutting tight for a brief moment as he jigged his leg up and down on the log. "It's just the s-s-screaming. It w-won't s-s-stop—"
Sakura didn't want to bring up bad memories for him—it was a dangerous thing to do, especially now—but she had to know in order to assess just how deep the damage really was. She needed to mitigate it in future encounters. "How close did you get, Hotaka?" she asked him gently. The nin moaned. Sakura finally found the pack of pills she was looking for and drew them out.
"It was r-right there," he said. "R-right there, and it w-was r-ripping them. Their s-s-skin was mel-melting—"
"Tell me about Konoha," Sakura said, making sure to keep her voice nice and even. "Tell me something good. The things you like best, alright?"
"I w-w-want—but the jubi—"
"Tell me about Konoha," Sakura insisted, reaching over very carefully to free his hands from his hair and hold them gently between her own. "What's your favourite part?" In one of his palms she placed the pills, folding his fingers over the medication and keeping his grip steady.
"T-the Hokage M-Mountain," Hotaka began, his hand trembling violently as Sakura helped him swallow the pills. Once he did she quickly reached to her side, grabbing her water flask and uncorking it to let him drink from it. "O-on the m-m-mountains, you can s-s-see everything." Abruptly Hanabi stood, crossing her arms and quickly walking away. Sakura wanted to punch her for it. She needed her here with her cousin.
"Tell me about the mountain, Hotaka," Sakura soothed, massaging both his hands between hers. She could feel deep contusions along his palms, and realized the blood on his fingers came from him digging his nails so deep into the skin that it bled. The Hyuga whimpered and began to rock back and forth.
"Y-you can s-see the village," he began, choking on his own words. "A-a-and when you s-see the s-s-sunrise, it m-makes everything look g-g-gold."
"Do you like going there, in between missions?" she asked. Hotaka nodded, but then he made a whining noise like a dying dog. He began rocking harder.
"It's n-nice, going back," he said. "This time, I t-t-told Aoi h-he c-c-could come with me. I s-said he could come, but it got him. It d-d-dissolved his leg, and there was s-s-screaming—"
Sakura realized he was talking about one of the LSF who hadn't made it. She wanted to cry for him, then—for the loss of those who didn't survive the assault—but she could do that later. "Hey," Sakura said, shuffling close to try and keep his focus on her. Hotaka withdrew one of his hands and started clutching at the side of his head. From somewhere behind them Sakura could hear Aya's voice rising as she snarled something at Susumu, but she couldn't make out the words. "Shh, Hotaka." He whimpered and shut his eyes tight, rocking even harder. "You made it, alright? We're going to go back. The screaming will stop."
"It's c-coming," he gasped, rocking forward so far he nearly hit his head on Sakura's shoulder, before rising up and completing the motion again. Sakura heard the snap of a twig as someone began walking rather quickly in their direction. "It's coming, and the s-s-screaming—"
"Hotaka, shh, shh, it's okay."
"The s-s-screaming, there was s-s-so much s-s-screaming, and the s-smell."
"Hotaka—"
And then Sakura felt Sasuke's presence right behind her. She saw his shadow as he leaned over her and felt his hand on her arm as he quickly pushed her out of the way. Sakura recoiled, all thoughts of Hotaka gone in an instant, but she regained control when she realized that Hanabi was with him. Sasuke reached forward, roughly grabbing Hotaka's chin and forcing his head still.
"Hotaka, look up," he said. The Hyuga did. Then the sharingan was spinning, the eternal mangekyō spiraling to life and expanding across Sasuke's eye as Hotaka stared straight into the center of it. Almost immediately he went slack, his posture limp beneath the Uchiha's grasp.
Sakura let out a shout of fury and stood in a rush, violently pushing Sasuke away from the nin hard enough to break eye contact. Sasuke stumbled, but didn't go down. Hotaka remained slack and dead-eyed atop the fallen log.
"What are you doing?!" Sakura demanded, so shrilly that the rest of the LSF turned to look towards her. Sasuke glared in her direction, the rinnegan swollen shut from the force of her earlier slap but the sharingan still bright and angry. It was the first time they'd looked at each other head on since she'd hit him. Sakura wanted to hit him again. Oh gods, she wanted to pound his face into the dirt.
"Keep your voice down," Sasuke began, but Sakura was having none of it.
"How dare you," she said, her hands curling into fists and chakra flooding across her palms as she strode into his personal space, stepping between him and Hotaka. Sasuke looked down at her, leering like some sort of bloody god of death, but Sakura wasn't afraid. "How dare you use it on him. He needs help."
"He's unstable," Sasuke spat. His chakra flared even worse than before, absolutely suffocating in its sheer weight as it blanketed her and everything else in the surrounding area. It made him seem even taller. "The mangekyō will keep him calm until we get back."
"It will hurt him," Sakura said, and she couldn't believe that they were having this conversation. She was absolutely flabbergasted that Sasuke didn't understand this fatal flaw in his plan. "You use the mangekyō too often on him, especially when he's like this, and his mind will crack."
"I've done it before," Sasuke said, his hands curling into fists his lips pulled back in a snarl. Sakura had to crane her head all the way back just to look him in the eye.
"Are you serious?!" she demanded.
"It works," he said defensively.
Sakura turned to Hanabi, aghast. "And you let him?" Hanabi looked away guiltily, rubbing at her arm, but said nothing. Then there was a low moan as Hotaka began to whimper. Again.
"T-the s-screams," he said, as if no time had passed at all. "T-the s-s-screams, I can still, it ate h-h-his leg, and it m-m-melted—"
Sasuke blinked, his expression shifting to one of alarm. He quickly pushed Sakura out of the way despite her protests, grabbing the Hyuga by the chin and repeating the entire process. Sakura turned around, reaching out to pull him back, but Hanabi stepped in this time, stilling her hands with a painful expression.
"Wait," she said. "Please."
Again Hotaka went slack, and again there was nothing for a moment or two, before his senses cleared and he began whimpering as if nothing had happened. His sentences picked up from the exact same moment that they had left off.
"It's not working," Sasuke said slowly, as if he was in a trance himself. His face was blank with shock. "It doesn't stick."
Sakura didn't want to ask why, but she did. She was the only medic there, and she needed to keep track of what went wrong and when.
"How close did you get exactly?" Sasuke blinked, dropping his hand from Hotaka's chin and stepping back. The other nin curled up and began clawing at his head. Hanabi quickly stepped forward to comfort him. "Sasuke," Sakura repeated, but he didn't answer, seemingly still in a trance. And Sakura couldn't resist. The spite that was building inside her was too much to hold back.
"So this is how you do it?" she asked. Sasuke finally turned to her. Sakura kept going, heedless of the consequences. "Is this how you fix people without a medic? By using the mangekyō?"
Sasuke glared fiercely, sharingan still spinning, but Sakura didn't look away. She wasn't afraid of his eyes anymore, only the sound of the birds. They stood like that for a moment, squaring off, but Sasuke didn't dignify her question with a response.
"We need to move," he said, turning away, then added "Hanabi, with Hotaka." He glanced briefly at Sakura. "Same as before."
Sakura decided she was literally one comment away from screaming. She couldn't handle him anymore. Without delay, the remaining LSF moved out.
Deeper into the woods they went, until the trees were over two-hundred feet tall and so closely spaced there was barely a meter or two between them. The bottoms of their massive trunks and the ground beneath were entirely covered in moss. They didn't change course, but they moved much slower than before, walking with trepidation and almost all of them with their weapons drawn. Sakura traveled between Sasuke and Aya, but the two of them were so intense that she didn't know which one made her more uncomfortable. The twins traveled right behind them.
About half an hour into their resumed walking with still no Kusa nins in sight, Suigetsu melted out of a nearby tree and ambled over to Sasuke.
"What do you think happened to them?" he asked. Everyone knew what he meant. Sasuke deigned to respond, and Sakura decided she didn't want to know. Up ahead there was darkness between the trees. The Uchiha was still leaking chakra like a sieve, his control over it almost as bad as Naruto's had been when they were kids. Suddenly there was a soft cry of alarm from Hanabi. Everyone stopped.
Sakura turned to look at the other woman and saw her frozen still with what looked like terror. Her byakugan were activated, her hand clenched around her kunai. Beside her, Hotaka was shaking.
"Chakra void, dead ahead," she said in a trembling voice. "Can't see anything about three-hundred yards away."
Immediately everyone turned to look at the forest.
Ahead of them there was nothing but trees and silence. The woods were so thick that Sakura lost sight of what was between them less than fifty yards away. It felt like before, though; like that time several nights back, when she'd been sitting by herself in the bamboo grove and had been overcome by the sensation that something was watching them. Beside her the Uchiha tensed, his hand going to Kusanagi's hilt and the other twitching in agitation as if he wanted to form a series of seals. In front of them there was no movement. Not even the hint of chakra.
"Fall back," Sasuke said quietly, his chakra suddenly muted. Everyone followed his order without question, slowly backtracking en mass through the trees. Where are the Kusa nins? Sakura wondered again. In the back of her mind she knew the answer, but still didn't want to acknowledge it.
Up ahead there was the sudden snap of a branch from somewhere deep in the woods.
And with that, Hotaka bolted.
He made a strangled sound, darting out ahead of them towards the sound instead of away from it, scrambling like a madman across the moss as he swerved between the trees.
"Hotaka!" Hanabi cried, but Sakura was already ditching everything and bolting out after him. Because fuck, fuck she knew it, she knew he was going to snap. The Hyuga was disoriented and Sasuke using the mangekyō on him had probably made things worse.
"Sakura!" she heard someone call out—a man, it sounded like, and probably Sasuke—but she didn't heed him, nor did she care. Her chest hurt as she darted into the forest after the Hyuga, her feet tearing up the too-soft moss before she finally began ricocheting off the tree trunks with chakra to increase her speed. Sakura didn't want to use her chakra for something like this, but Hotaka was fast as fuck and the terror was making him quicker. She wouldn't catch him otherwise and if Sasuke got to him first she knew he would use the mangekyō again.
Hotaka's path was erratic as he darted towards the void, going straight for a bit before veering wildly to the left and then leveling out once more. "Hotaka!" Sakura pleaded. "Hotaka, wait!" There was the flash of the kunai at his hip as he darted between two trees, the shimmer of his glossy hair, and then he was gone.
"Shit!" Sakura cursed. She sped up to try and catch him. The farther she ran the thicker the silence became. There was another snap from somewhere up ahead in the woods, but Sakura couldn't tell if it came from Hotaka or the creature.
Then Sasuke was there, his chakra flaring as he looped his arm around her waist and violently yanked her back. The two of them tumbled to the forest floor with the force of his gesture. Sakura barely had time to realize that Sasuke was there before the Uchiha was scrabbling towards a tree, dragging her with him. It was only then that she clued into other noises; a wet shuffling sound from somewhere in front of them, followed by a large crack that came from wood breaking.
Just ahead, one of the massive trees began to fall.
Down it went, groaning as its roots ripped up the earth. As it fell several other trees went with it, toppling like monolithic dominoes to hit the ground with weighted thuds. Each time a tree hit, Sasuke's arm tightened around her waist with the force of the impact. The Uchiha's arm curled over her head and the other went to her back. For a moment Sakura didn't care that she was pressed against him. She turned her face into Sasuke's shoulder to protect it from the falling debris.
They stayed like that for the next several seconds, and when the last tree fell there was silence, intermingled with the whoosh of stray, drifting bark as it floated lazily to the forest floor. Sakura could hear her own ragged breathing as her chest heaved with exertion. She could feel Sasuke's arm go around her waist as he pressed his forehead to her neck. His own shoulders rose up and down with the force of his gasps.
Then Sakura realized that Sasuke was touching her. He was touching her, and Hotaka was still out there. She tried to pry him off, but immediately Sasuke slapped his hand over her mouth and pulled her flush against his chest, shrinking deeper into the space between the tree roots where they had fallen, his legs on either side of hers.
"Stay still," he whispered in her ear. Sakura heard it: a wet-ish sound, like raw meat being dragged across a chopping board. The noise was followed by bubbling, as if there was some sort of liquid frothing within a fleshy container. Sakura could barely see in the gloom, but she could make out basic shapes well enough.
Less than twenty feet in front of them a massive something rose up on the other side of the fallen trees, roiling like a wave and undulating as it moved. It was nearly thirty feet high and immeasurably long as it snaked its way across the forest floor. Sakura thought she spied something pink as it slunk beneath a small patch of light. There were a series of spiny thorns jutting out from the top of it. Around them there was the overwhelming smell of sugar, like taking a deep whiff of overripe fruit.
The creature was huge. Oh gods, it was endless, and Sakura could already feel her chakra draining just by being near it. Sasuke's arm tightened around her waist as the creature passed. Without meaning to Sakura gripped his hand in reassurance—the one over her mouth—her fingers clutching his as she pressed herself against his chest. Neither of them dared to move as the thing meandered on, seemingly unaware of their presence. Finally it turned away, ambling deeper into the woods.
Hotaka, Sakura thought abstractly. Oh gods, Hotaka. He's still out there. Sasuke had already begun to inch backwards, scooting over the ground and dragging Sakura with him. His never removed his arm from her waist. Sakura let him at first, because the thing was right there and it hadn't seen them yet, but once they got far enough away she tried to break free without making too much noise. Sakura dug her fingers under his to try and pry them off her face, but Sasuke was too strong to defeat without chakra.
"Hotaka," she whispered when she finally managed to free her mouth. The arm around her waist remained firm. Sasuke never stopped dragging them back. "We have to get Hotaka—"
"Not now," he said against her ear. His voice was so deep it caused vibrations to rattle through Sakura's skull. Still she kept picking at his fingers, even as Sasuke dragged her off. He was warm against her. If she hadn't been terrified, Sakura would have sobbed in relief at the respite that his heat brought. She was always cold.
"Hotaka," she insisted, but then there was another sharp snap of wood breaking from somewhere up ahead, followed by a wet reedy moan. Sasuke's arm spasmed so tightly around her middle it nearly knocked the breath out of her. She went quiet.
"Not now." There was the undercurrent of desperation to his voice, his breath ragged against the shell of her ear. "Later. I promise."
Sakura bit down on her bottom lip and felt tears of impotent fury prick at her eyes, but nodded silently as she let Sasuke drag her back to the LSF. Her former teammate was a suffocating, ever-constant reminder of her past, but when he made a promise he kept it, for good or for bad. She knew he'd come back to try and find Hotaka.
When they made it to the rest of the group Hanabi was crying, silent tears coursing down her cheeks. She looked at the two of them in despair. Only then, in the presence of the others, did Sasuke let go of her. His withdrew from Sakura and stepped back. Without a word the Uchiha took Juugo from Suigetsu and then they were off, running as fast as they could without their chakra. They fled into the forest, back the way they came. It was the only practical decision they could make at the moment. Sakura tried not to linger on the hopelessness of it.
Author's Note
A huge thank you to everyone who reviewed/favorited/followed. Once again, I'm completely awed by the level of feedback I've gotten. There's many guest reviews. I will try my best to answer them all:
Sasusaku4ever: I find it hilarious that people are voting for pairings, considering the third wheel of this whole thing is an OC. Mo: And the dark side is strong with this writer. But Star Wars jokes aside, I love tension. Guests (who are addressing the rest of the reviewers): I'm not sure if you're asking me those questions as well? But if you're on tumblr you can just tag stuff as "Monomoth" or "Ohtze" and I'll try to answer anon questions as best I can through there. Or just ask me a question directly. That goes for everyone, really. Second Guest: Your review was so sweet! It made my day. It's heartening to see that my OCs are as well liked as the canon characters. Guest (wondering about Sasuke and what he's thinking): I know, I know, everyone wants a Sasuke perspective. I haven't ruled it out yet! All I ask is that people trust me when it comes to the narrative, and know that I will put one in if I think it benefits the story.