Keep Me Close

.: Chapter 7 – Relief :.


Suigetsu threaded his way through the tumble of boulders along the beach, his lavender hues flicking up to survey the sea cliff looming overhead. Rain draped over him and his team in heavy sheets, and although he enjoyed it, he could sense their discomfort and urgency boring holes into the back of his shirt. He shifted the weight of his blade to relieve some pressure from his shoulder blade and pressed on, expelling discomfort in a long sigh.

He had only ever been to this Sound hideout on one occasion, and at the time he hadn't made an effort to memorize the location of its entrance. It concealed itself somewhere among the boulders fractured off from the cliff above, and the hideout itself was set into the cliff face itself, its windows gazing out over them yet invisible to prying eyes.

At once, the silvery-haired shinobi pulled himself around a corner, and found himself in front of a singular white stone amongst the ebony. A particular loud wave roared in the background, its dregs rushing past his ankles and tugging at them as it receded. He barely noticed, his long fingers instead lacing together in a series of signs before pressing themselves firmly against the white.

A deep rumbling shook the ground in response, and Suigetsu slanted his gaze toward the cliffs just as a darkened entrance materialized along its surface. A tiny smirk flickered across the edge of his lips before he cast a glance to his team, huddled together at his back. He put the straw of his water bottle to his lips as his eyes fixed upon the pink-haired girl's expression. Her viridian eyes were dewy and bloodshot, violet circles hanging beneath them, with dried crimson smeared across her collarbone and staining the front of her shirt. Her irises never left the face of his former teammate, still draped over Juugo's back, as if he might disappear into the harsh air around them if she made to look away.

Such a pain, he thought to himself.

The Mist shinobi looked away sharply, and motioned for the group to follow. He ground his sharp teeth together and picked at his nails as he walked through the entrance, flicking on a light switch immediately to his left.

The stairway lit up before them, each stair made of rich oak, light fixtures made of ornate silver along the wall. He made his way up them, his chakra scraping at the dregs to keep him steady. Although he loathed to admit it, fighting his way through all of those samurai had exhausted his resources, especially after the last few years of living combat-free. He made a mental note to double down on training, after the completion of this mission.

Unlike many of Orochimaru's hideouts, this one was built more like a home than it was a sunken laboratory. It was set into the point of a small cape, and the main living room, which revealed itself before them now, opened out with floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the sea. Sunlight brightened each corner, swimming over the untouched carpets and furniture with what dappled light shone through the clouds overhead. Rain pattered against the windows, and the kitchen tucked into the corner hummed with ready appliances.

Suigetsu turned away from the view and took them down an adjacent hallway, kicking open the first door he came to.

"Put him here," he muttered, so quietly that he wasn't sure he'd said it at all. His eyes darted around the master bedroom before him. A large bed took up the majority of the space in the middle, flanked by bedside tables and one large armchair. One wall was made entirely of windows, and beyond that a small deck greeted the sea. Somewhere to the left, a doorway led to the private bath. When Suigetsu had stayed here last, Orochimaru had claimed this room and hadn't let his experiments set foot beyond the threshold.

Juugo brushed by him and lowered the bundle of blankets from his back onto the bed. He stepped away without a word, allowing the female teammates to tend to the following steps. The giant's auburn eyes flickered up to catch Suigetsu's, and they exchanged looks of apprehension. They were both trained to kill, not to heal, and in this room, the powerlessness was suffocating.

"We'll get supplies," offered Juugo finally, his voice soft as he lumbered toward the exit. Suigetsu eyed the pink-haired kunoichi again, who's hues never lifted as she peeled back the layers of blankets and towels from her patient.

Had she even heard them? He tilted his head to the side, unable to dig up his usual humor. This tenacity, the care that burned like liquid flames in the core of that gaze – he was unfamiliar with it. It made him uncomfortable. And as he slunk after Juugo, he wondered if he would ever feel such urgency. He loosed a fatigued sigh and crammed his hands in his pockets. What did it matter, anyway? They disappeared down the hall.

Back in the room, Hinata reappeared from the bathroom, damp hand towels in each hand. Sakura took one from her without looking up and folded it over the dark-haired youth's forehead in attempt to cool him down.

Sweat beaded along the porcelain features of his face, his high cheekbones flaring pink with fever. Although his vitals had remained stable during their sea crossing, his breath now came in short gasps and deep creases winced between his brow from the effort. At times, soft moans forced past his teeth, his eyes rolling back in their sockets beneath closed lids.

Sakura peeled back the last blanket and tossed it to the floor, exposing his torso and examining the wounds that crisscrossed his pale skin. Her stomach twisted as she took the other towel from Hinata and began to gently pad away the blood, unable to see the full extent beneath the grime. She drew back, choking back a sob as she sent a steady flow of green chakra into her fingertips.

"Why did they do this to you?" she whispered, her voice trembling as she pressed her hand against the nearest wound and pulsed her energy through the tear in his flesh.

He had been stabbed, over and over again. Many of the wounds had been healed – albeit poorly – only to be replaced by a new one. Three were open now, one clearly infected, the others close to it. A flowering of violet bruising over one side of his abdomen indicated internal damage, and Sakura watched in mute horror as the area over the bruise continued to swell before her eyes, the bleeding spreading beneath the surface. Burns flared across his chest, the skin pink and dotted with blisters.

"W-where should I start, Sakura-chan?" whispered Hinata, her delicate hands now glowing green with her own medical ninjutsu.

"Check his extremities," the rosette kunoichi forced through gritted teeth. She could feel Sasuke's chakra now, as she sent her own exploratory waves through his system, and her emerald hues widened. She'd never had to search for his aura before – it usually crackled and burned in the air around him, wild and ominous and black as night. Now, she could feel it pulsing feebly within his frame, compacted along the key pressure points in his chest and darting away from her touch like some sort of caged animal.

Sakura sent a wave of soothing chakra through her finger tips, and felt his chest cavity ease into her touch. She exhaled, her own green chakra flaring past her wrists as she concentrated and began.

First, she traced the streaks of infection from the largest of his wounds – a knife wound just below one of his floating ribs – and found that it had clawed its way deeper than anticipated, leaking dangerously into his bloodstream. She inhaled, closed her eyes, gathered a ball of chakra into the palm of her hand, and forced it into the wound.

Sasuke's body convulsed beneath her, lashing his head back and forth in an effort to get away from it, and Hinata held him down as Sakura worked, shooting nervous looks at her counterpart. They could see him grinding his teeth, a groan rumbling through his throat.

"He's septic," said Sakura evenly. Then, quietly, just so he might hear, she whispered. "I'm so sorry, Sasuke-kun."

She sent the ball into his own chakra network, tugging the infection into it as she went. The work was painstakingly slow, each movement of the ball beneath his skin causing pain to flare across his expression, and Sakura found herself looking away as she worked, unwilling to see him writhe when she was at fault.

At least, she removed the chakra from his wound, surveying it in the air before her. The infection wavered like a black mist within the energy sphere, and she hurried to the bathroom to dispose of it in the sink.

Sakura exhaled, and took a moment to assess herself. She had a little less than half of her chakra reserves left.

Next, she and Hinata split the task of mending his flesh. Sakura pressed her hands against the largest, willing her chakra along each layer of tissue, pulling them together like sutures. Her eyes fluttered shut as she felt the cells aligning one by one until, finally, all that was left was a rigid scab.

She moved to the next, Hinata still toiling at her first, distantly aware that the sun had set in the window to her back.

When nothing remained but a network of scars, Sakura moved seamlessly to the internal injury across his lower abdomen. Her hues narrowed as she determined the cause – one of the stab wounds had nicked a major artery, filling the cavity with blood that was preventing one of his lungs from filling, which explained his trouble breathing, and had also damaged one of his kidneys.

"I need towels," she said to Hinata mutely as she dug through the medical pouch at her hip. When her fingers closed around the hilt of her scalpel, she quickly pressed the blade to the Sasuke's skin just above the point of swelling.

Although she had only made a small cut, the blood gushed from the opening into Hinata's waiting towel. Sakura dropped the scalpel to the side and pressed a chakra-infused hand to the wound, watching as the swelling went down before her eyes. She sent a pulse of healing chakra through, focusing as she knitted together the walls of his artery and then moved to address his kidney.

A sound brought her attention out of the healing and to her patient, and her eyes fluttered to watch as Sasuke replaced his gasps with a single, deep breath. Then another, deep and unwavering. Sakura finished her work on the kidney and sealed the slice she had made.

Hinata lifted her hands from the table, the green aura around her hands sputtering and fading. The rosette flickered a glance up to the Hyuuga's face, noting the paleness of her cheeks and the glassy spell of exhaustion in her silver hues.

"You should stop, Hinata-chan," said Sakura, offering her teammate a small smile as consolation. Hinata frowned and glided across the room toward the pile of supplies that the boys had left at the door. She fished out a stack of gauze pads and bandages, as well as a bottle of salve that looked promising, and returned to hover at Sakura's side.

"Sakura-chan, you must rest too," she said gently, touching a hand to her friend's arm. Sakura lifted her gaze, eyes narrowing as she slanted a glance at the dark-haired kunoichi. Anger flickered through her expression. Hinata pressed the supplies against Sakura's hands.

"If we do not replenish our chakra, we will not be able to work tomorrow," Hinata continued, biting her lower lip.

Sakura tore her gaze away from the kunoichi, and back onto the face of their patient. Of her teammate. Of the man whom she cared deeply for.

The pain in his expression had eased, and he seemed to be resting more peacefully now. His matted raven locks fluttered with each breath. Sakura felt her throat close up and pressed her lips firmly together. She nodded once.

"Help me dress this," she murmured, nodding towards his chest, and together the women dabbed the burns with salve. Then: "Tell me of his extremities."

"His right knee is blown out," Hinata started, her expression even as Sakura layered out the gauze and gently lifted Sasuke's upper body from the bed so that they could wrap it with bandages.

"And he's got a wound to the femoral artery on the same leg, although it was patched. His… arm–" she gestured to the stump of his left arm, "–could use attention as well, but nothing too urgent."

Sakura nodded slowly, the energy to respond not quite there. The knee would be the hardest of those – she didn't have surgical supplies, and he was far from ready for transport. She sighed and lowered herself to sit on the edge of the bed so that she sunk into its feathery surface. She buried her face into her hands for a moment, breathing. She had less than 10% of her reserves, and the unsteady lilt of lightheadedness had begun to cloud her thoughts.

"Thank you, Hinata," she managed finally, wiping the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. "Go get some sleep. I'll be right behind you."

Hinata looked her over with a furrowed brow, not quite trusting her rosette teammate to leave the Uchiha's side, before nodding and slipping out the door.

Sakura turned to look at Sasuke, drinking in his features with a level expression. While the signs of fever lingered, he appeared to be sleeping soundly, his cheek resting across the pillow to expose the sharp ankles of his opposite jawline.

She stood and replaced the damp towel over his forehead, then gently pulled the blankets out from underneath him, settling them atop his slumbering form and tucking them around his chest. She tried not to look at his abdomen, the ripple of muscle and chiseled nature of his body type brought flutters to her throat.

Though, as she looked at him, she noticed just how lean he'd gotten. He'd lost a lot of weight – too much weight – so that the skin grew taught around what muscle he had left, his skin grayer than it had once bean. She made a note to herself to find him proper nutrition for once he was conscious, and an IV supplement in the meantime.

Finally, Sakura pulled the armchair closer to his bedside, settling into the deep leather so that she could rest her forearms on the blankets, propping her chin up against her knuckles. She stifled a yawn, and reached out to take his hand in hers.

She traced lines across his rough fingers, finding solace among the warm that clung there. She moved to his palm, its size dwarfing her own, and swirled her fingertips along the creased. She wondered briefly of the future they told of, and her eyes fluttered shut to take a moment of rest.


Hinata stirred from her slumber on the couch, her silvery eyes fluttering open. She hadn't meant to sleep in the living room – there was a perfectly good bedroom down the hall – but the exhaustion had taken her moments after Juugo and Suigetsu had drifted off to their own rooms. She looked out the windows surrounding her, the distant rush of waves in her ears and the gleam of the moon on the room around her bringing comfort.

A foreign chakra prickled suddenly into her peripheral, and she sat up quickly, closing her eyes as she concentrated on it. Her heart hammered against her chest. At once, the tension she held in her petite frame relaxed, for the chakra was one she recognized.

Hinata turned toward the dark hallway to see a figure approaching. A small smile swept across her lips.

"Oi, Hinata-chan," greeted Naruto, grinning sheepishly as she rose to meet him. "It's good to see you."

He tucked the dark-haired kunoichi into his arms, kissing her forehead before pulling back. He searched her face, his bright blue eyes speaking for the fear and concern bubbling within his aura. Both shinobi held exhaustion in their glances, swimming with a touch of relief.

"He's in there, Naruto-kun," breathed the kunoichi, gesturing toward the first doorway down the hall. He turned and approached the door, opening it quietly before disappearing inside. Hinata remained where she was, clutching her hands to her chest. He needed to be with his teammates right now, and she understood that.

Naruto felt the air leave his chest as he surveyed the room. The room was dimly lit, one lamp on the bedside dousing everything in a warm yellow glow. Blood-soaked rags littered the floor.

Sakura draped over the side of the bed from her chair, eyes closed in deep sleep, her coils of rosette locks tumbling over the blankets around her. She held one arm tucked beneath her cheek, the other outstretched, fingers laced with Sasuke's.

Naruto looked away, eyes falling to his own hands which he gathered in front of him. He felt uncomfortable, seeing his friend like this. The two had spent a lifetime as rivals, threatening to beat and kill each other more times than he could count, but this seemed different. There was never really any malice between them, at least from Naruto's side. The blonde shinobi's memory flitted briefly to that moment at the bridge, when he'd snatched Sakura away from the chirp of Sasuke's chidori just in time.

Naruto winced. The memory brought him a discomfort that he hadn't quite reconciled. Sasuke had once fallen so deeply lost within his revenge that it drove him mad, and Naruto hadn't been able to protect him from that.

Naruto felt the weight of someone's stare, and glanced up to find a mismatched pair of eyes regarding him coldly. One dark ebony he recognized, the other its usual haunting violet.

"Sasuke," he breathed in surprise, taking a seat at the end of the bed as he met his friend's gaze.

The Uchiha's dark hues roamed from his face to the rest of the room, taking in his surroundings with a tiny flicker of bewilderment. His gaze finally fell upon the kunoichi at his side and his eyes seemed to widen slightly. He twitched his fingers within hers, as if uncertain that the touch was real until he could feel them move against his. He exhaled sharply, observing several strands of her strawberry hair fluttering, then rolled his head back to meet Naruto's watchful stare.

"You look terrible, Teme," offered the blonde, grinning cheekily. He caught the miniscule tug of a smirk at the corner of his friend's mouth, although the dark eyes did not relent in their iciness. Sasuke parted his lips to speak, but instead of words, he turned his head to the side as a hoarse cough rattled his throat. He screwed his eyes shut for a moment, his breathing hitched.

"Dobe," he muttered finally, breathing heavily. He turned toward the window, eyeing their reflections before lifting his gaze toward the gleaming crescent moon. Naruto followed his gaze, grinning.

Sasuke slanted a look in the blonde's direction, his expression suddenly serious.

"How?" the Uchiha asked.

Naruto tilted his head, finding a small amount of comfort in the sudden crackle of chakra he felt emanating from the raven-haired man. He nodded in the direction of the kunoichi sleeping peacefully between them.

"Sakura, of course, with Hinata and your Taka guys," said Naruto, his blue hues glittering as he took in their female teammate. "She's really something," he murmured, sneaking a sideways glance at Sasuke to gauge a reaction, his expression sheepish.

Sasuke shrugged, but his glance flickered down to Sakura, her shoulder blades rising and falling as she breathed. Violet half-moons hung with exhaustion beneath her lids, matching the ones on his own face. He turned over his hand beneath hers, sliding his thumb back and forth along her fingers. They felt so soft and delicate against his calloused grip.

He exhaled, and let himself sink a little deeper into the blankets. Sleep tugged at his eyelids.

"I'll let you rest," he heard Naruto say. He flicked open one eye, watching as his teammate rounded the bed and scooped up the kunoichi in his arms. She shifted, mumbling something against Naruto's collarbone, but did not wake as he carried her out the door toward one of the adjacent bedrooms.

"It's like one big sleepover," said Naruto cheerfully as he reentered the room a few minutes later, beaming as his hand moved to the light switch. "Night, Teme. Try not to get abducted again while I'm gone."

The lights switched off, and Sasuke listened as Naruto padded out the door and pulled it closed behind him. His eyes floated shut, allowing his shoulders to relax back into the pillows as he exhaled. He loathed the unknowns hanging in the air around him, and loathed even more being unable to do anything about them.

However, a small part of him also trembled with relief.

His existence would no longer be fleeting moments of consciousness between his cell and the torture in the lab. All of that was over, and he could feel the pulse of his teammates' chakra scattered about the different rooms around him. Sakura's peridot aura drifting about her like a gentle wave as she slept, Naruto's crackling red chakra mingling with Hinata's silver in the main room.

So, when sleep moved to overtake him, Sasuke allowed it to, trusting that he would awaken in the same place. A brief smile passed across his features into the dark.


A/N

Our girl coming through in the clutch! I cannot wait to put these two in the same room, but both conscious. xD Do you ever write/read SS fanfics just to get to the fluff…?

*raises hand*

Just kidding, just kidding. I definitely love writing those kinds of scenes, but I actually have a very clear plan for where we're going with this. It's not where you expect! And I cannot wait.

In other news, I rewrote some of the first chapter because I'm habitually unsatisfied with it. If you have any ideas for how you think I should improve it, I'm all ears.

I've also decided I'm going to Comic Con this summer in Denver, CO, and I've never been to one before and I'm already really excited! Maybe a bit premature. I don't think I'm going to go in full cosplay (maybe next time) but I'm going to wear an Uchiha sweatshirt at the very least. :3 Maybe I'll see some of you there!

Thank you all for reading! I love you all and really appreciate the reviews. 3

xoxo

Indigo