A/N: Surprise! Another chapter! I'm so excited that I got this one completed. I'm guessing it's just a slow time right now because I didn't get a lot of response from the last update. I apologize for any grammar mistakes.
Standard Disclaimer applies
Enjoy!
Chapter 7
Sakura never thought she'd be so relieved to complete a mission. Of course, they haven't actually finished it yet. They still had a few hours to trek before reaching their final destination.
'Drats," Sakura thought wistfully.
They did not run into any enemy ninja yet and everything had been going along smoothly, besides the constant killing intent she felt. Sasuke did not lighten up at all. Every time Riku came into close proximity to her, she could almost feel Sasuke's raging glare. It was stifling and she didn't think she could handle another day of it.
While she was surprised to find that she was quick to forgive Sasuke for his alpha-male possessive remarks, she knew that she would need to speak to him. She would not tolerate being claimed in such away, especially in the public's eyes. She had to admit that he actually did have the right to stop Riku from pursuing her, but she could take care of herself, thank you very much!
Her only refuge was the innocent sweetness that was Nobu. Oddly enough, he stopped prodding her about marriage proposals of the like but he kept at her side. His constant questionnaire of her interest gradually ceased and he began to talk about himself more often. Sakura wondered about this sudden change in behavior and it did not take her long to find out.
"Sakura-san?"
"Yes, Nobu-kun?" She was currently patching the boy's scrapped knee. Just moments before, he had stumbled- just as many kids his age do- and gained a minor injury due to his fall.
"I like talking to you."
"I like talking to you, too."
"Riku-san tells me that I talk a lot and he said that not a lot of people like it when someone talks a lot," he pouted.
Sakura gently shook her head. "That's not always true."
"That's what my kaa-san says, too and that's why I like to tell you things. You remind me of kaa-san."
Sakura could only smile at his statement when her body froze midway as she was wrapping a bandage around Nobu's knee. It had only been a split second, but she felt it. Enemy shinobi. And they were coming towards their location.
Carefully so not to alert Nobu of her sudden awareness, she finished patching him up and told him to go to his father.
When he was out of earshot, she addressed her teammates. "Did you guys feel that?"
"Yes, two squadrons," Sasuke was quick to give orders, "Naruto, use your clones and flank them. Make them cluster in one location. Sai, attack them from the air and split them up. Sakura, remain with our charge. I'll intercept the ones that try to get to you."
All replying with affirming words, they set out to carry out their orders. Sakura needed to inform them of their situation. Before she could do so, Riku intercepted her by grabbing her arm.
"They're coming, aren't they," it wasn't a question.
Sakura was in mid-nod when she realized something. Turning a suspicious eye towards him, she inquired, "How did you know?" Sakura had barely been able to detect the spike in chakra. How could Riku have felt them as well?
"Not important," he released her and ran towards the two older men.
Sakura watched as Riku informed Osamu and Mimura. The daimyo's expression contorted into one of fear as he clutched his son closer to his body. And then Riku went to their horse, and to her shock, retrieved a sheathed katana. What?
Sakura appeared at his side, "What is the meaning of this? Why do you have a weapon?"
Riku did not look at Sakura as he unsheathed his weapon. He spoke in a rush of words, "I'm not just a stable boy. I was trained at a young age to defend the daimyo and his son."
"This is a breach in protocol," she hissed through her teeth, "This sort of information is something we need to know. This can put the mission at risk if we're not fully prepared!"
Riku finally looked at Sakura. "Well, now you know."
Sakura clenched her fist, but pushed her frustrations down. It didn't matter anymore. She needed to focus. Lives were at stake. "Come in, Sakura!" Naruto's voice reached her ears.
"Sakura here." She retrieved her gloves and pulled them on.
"It was a diversion! Another squadron is now flanking you!"
"Roger that."
Sakura didn't quite trust Riku now, but nonetheless, she relayed the information to him.
The two got into a makeshift formation, their backs to each other. "They're coming."
"Understood. Mimura-dono, Osamu, get between Sakura-san and I." They did as they were told, Nobu clenching his fists into his father's pant leg with fear in his eyes.
Sakura got into crouching position, one hand lightly touching the ground. "What is the status of our enemies?" she said into her speaker.
"Missing-nin, Chunin and Jounin level," Sai informed.
"And they don't have any village insignia-whoa!" he was abruptly cut off.
"Naruto? What is it?" He did not respond, "Come in, Naruto!"
"That was unexpected!" Naruto said slightly breathless. "These guys can work together. They use different elemental jutsu combinations."
Sakura felt a shift in the air and a thud of a single kunai in the center of their formation. She spun quickly to find that there was an explosive tag attached and it was ignited. Quickly forming a series of hand signs, Sakura called on an earth based jutsu. A dome of rocks covered the explosive tag just as it exploded. Sakura shielded her eyes as debris scattered. The force of the blast was still strong enough to throw everyone except Sakura and Riku off their feet.
"Mimura-dono, are you alright?" Sakura appeared beside him helped him to his feet, her eyes darting around for incoming attacks. They used their own strategy against them. Flanking them so that they would cluster together so it would be easier to separate them.
"Yes, we're fine!" Mimura quickly gathered Nobu in his arms. "Nobu, do you remember what I told you about the bad people we may run into," he nodded, "what did I say?"
"You said that I need to stay very close to you at all times and that I need to be quiet."
"Will you do this for me?"
He nodded. Mimura patted his head before turning to Sakura. "Do what you need to do."
Without answering, Sakura grabbed Osamu's arm and pulled him next to Mimura and Nobu. "What ever you do, do not move." Turning so that her back was to them, she raised her fist and punched the ground. The earth beneath her crumbled and some erected from the ground. With hand signs, Sakura made all of debris disintegrate into smaller particles around them creating a cloud of dust. Moving quickly, she cast a Genjutsu on the specks of dust to conceal their position. It wouldn't last long, but it would be enough.
Sakura turned around to lean in closely, speaking to them in a hushed whisper. "I'm going to put a Genjutsu on you three to cloak your presence. You must stick together, if you step out of the boundaries I set, you will be seen. You must remain silent. Right now we can't be seen or sensed, but once the debris settles, we'll be open to them. After I cast the jutsu, they won't be able to find you." Forming hand signs she set the jutsu and their image began to blur then disappeared right before her eyes. Sakura then made three shadow clones of herself. Each of them did a henge jutsu on themselves and turned into Osamu, Nobu, and Mimura.
Hands poised to cancel the jutsu on the cloud of dust she yelled, "Kai!"
The cloud cleared revealing the four figures. Sakura pulled a kunai out and yelled back at her clones. "Run to safety! I'll hold them off! We'll find you! Go!"
Without another word, the Osamu, Nobu, and Mimura clones scampered away. Sakura needed her enemies to believe they had left the area.
Running at top speed away from both her clones and her charges, she made sure that the real males wouldn't get caught in the cross fire. Using her chakra senses, she took note that there were four foreign signatures around them. One of the signatures spiked, which meant they were about to use a jutsu. She skidded to a stop just a flurry of senbon were sent her way. Sakura leapt aside, evading, dodging every weapon that was sent her way. The attack ceased and Sakura landed on all fours in a low crouch.
Looking at her upper arm, she found that one senbon made contact. A small streak of blood slithered from her injury. Hissing, Sakura grabbed the weapon to pull it out, only to find that it melted to a purple liquid in her palm. 'What is this?' She looked at all the other senbon that planted themselves where she had been. They had disintegrated as well. With gritted teeth she realized that they were senbon constructed by pure poison.
Sakura was poisoned. A fucking medic and she got herself poisoned.
"Guys," Sakura said into her intercom, "I'm going to need you to hurry up."
"What is it?" Sasuke replied.
"I've been poisoned and I don't know how long I'll be in action before it fully affects me."
There was silence then, "Hold them off as long as you can."
Before she could reply the enemy revealed themselves to her. Taking in his appearance Sakura realized he was a shinobi from Amekagure. Only Ame shinobi wear gas masks and wield umbrellas. 'They also had a knack for poisonous senbon,' she thought sardonically.
Sakura channeled her chakra throughout her body to break down the concoction before it could fully affect her when she realized that it was spreading faster than she could metabolize it. She already began to feel the affects of it. It was going to paralyze her, she noted, it was seeping into her muscles and in a few moments time, she would be unable to defend herself. Sakura refocused her chakra to constrict her blood vessels.
While this method would slow the affects down, it also restricted the amount of oxygen being distributed throughout her body. She didn't have long. A second shinobi appeared before her and sent a swift kick to her abdomen. She moved her arms with some amount of difficult and caught the attack. Raising one arm up, she slammed her elbow into his thigh and hurt a sickening crack. She ignored the man's painful scream and without another thought, she pivoted and threw him aside. She followed up with a single senbon. With a flick of her wrist she sent it into his neck, killing him instantly.
For a moment Sakura lost her footing due to the momentum and lack of coordination of her limbs. A third shinobi was quick to take advantage of this momentary opening.
"Sakura-san, duck!" Riku shouted
Sakura collapsed to the ground without question just in time to see Riku's swift blade cut in a horizontal motion above her. Riku landed beside her in a crouch. Grabbing her hand with his free one, he pivoted while pulling her to her feet. His target had dodged the attack and was quickly countering.
"Riku! Throw me!"
Tightening the grip on her arm, he did so.
The enemy threw a flurry of shuriken at Sakura but she contorted her body mid-air to evade it. Reaching into the pocket in her flak jacket she retrieved the flowers Nobu gave her. With a smidgen of regret of what she was about to do, she launched the flowers in at kunai fashion with ninja precision.
The man cut through the flowers believing it was a weapon. He was surprised when flowers floated in front of his face and to the ground.
With this distraction, Sakura was close enough to make contact. Planting both hands on his shoulders, she flipped herself and settled her thighs around his neck. Twisting her body backwards, she brought him down and the sound of his neck breaking reached her ears even before he hit the ground.
'Two down, two to go,' Sakura thought as she rolled to her feet and regrouped by Riku's side.
"Nice," he commented.
"I do my best."
The Ame shinobi returned and sent out another barrage of poison senbon.
"Don't let those touch you!"
"Already a step ahead of you."
Leaping away from the attack, Sakura tried to maneuver herself closer to the Ame shinobi, but found that he kept sending attacks forcing her to keep her distance.
'I can't get close to him,' Sakura gritted her teeth, "he knows I fight by close combat. I can't touch him.'
Riku had gotten into combat with the fourth enemy who also appeared to be a swordsman. He seemed to be able to hold his own. Sakura returned her attention on the man before.
But to her dismay, she began to feel light headed. The adrenaline sent her blood pumping and it could not flow properly with her constricted blood vessels. Allowing her veins and arteries to dilate, she also noticed that her chakra was fluctuating rapidly. She stumbled to her knees as the poison began to spread again, but twice as fast. Her breath came out in harsh pants.
"Any day now, guys," she panted through gritted teeth.
"Hang in there, Sakura-chan, I'm almost finished!" Naruto shouted back.
'I don't think I can,' she thought wearily as she barely caught herself from falling on her face with her arms.
Unable to lift her head anymore, Sakura heard the man beginning to walk towards her. Based on the sound of his footsteps he was approximately fifteen feet away and there was nothing she could do.
Suddenly he let out a shout of pain.
On will power alone, Sakura forced her head up. Her eyes widened. Nobu stood beside the male and had stabbed him in the leg with a stray kunai. From a distance away, she saw Mimura running towards the two, his arm stretched out. He called out his son's name, but the little boy only looked up at the man with fierce eyes.
"I won't let you hurt Sakura-san!"
"Nobu!" Sakura screamed, "What are you doing?!"
"You little brat!" the man grabbed Nobu's arm and threw him in Sakura's direction. He landed a few feet in front of her and let out a cry of pain.
"Nobu!" She had to move! She needed to move! "Nobu! Get away! Now!" Sakura became even more desperate when her enemy began to make hand signs.
Nobu looked at the man with wide eyes seeing the danger right before him.
"Nobu!" Sakura screeched. Where was Riku? Where was Naruto? She couldn't do this! She can't save him!
"We're coming! Hang on!"
Poisonous senbon flew towards Nobu and he hid his face with his arms.
"I want your word that your first priority will be to protect my son."
"This mission was entrusted to my team and we will not fail."
"We will protect Nobu-kun with our lives."
Sakura bit her lip to keep from crying out in pain.
Nobu whimpered, but when nothing happened he moved his arms to be face to face with the person he tried to protect.
"Sakura-san!"
Somehow Sakura had managed to move and she threw her body in front of Nobu, her back taking the brunt of the attack. She felt the stinging pain as each senbon pierced her skin. Seconds later they liquefied and seeped into her wounds.
Tears fell from his eyes. With trembling hands, she wiped them away and gave him a weak smile. "Don't cry, Nobu-kun. I need you to be strong for me."
His lip quivered and a hand reached out to touch her cheek, "but you're hurt!"
Sakura's eyes fluttered shut, "I'm fine."
Nobu opened his mouth to refute, but his eyes widened, "Sakura-san behind you!"
'I can't move' Sakura thought wearily. She felt someone grab her shoulder to turn her around. With dazed eyes, she watched as the man grabbed the front of her vest and pulled her to her feet.
"Even a skill medic such as yourself, can't hold off the affects of my poison forever," the man taunted as retrieved a kunai. He twisted the ring of the weapon on his finger as if to prolong the moment.
Finally he gripped the handle and raised his hand to swipe the killing blow.
Sakura shut her eyes. She did her job. She bought her teammates enough time to defeat their enemies. By the time he killed her, they would be here and Nobu would be safe.
There was a shift in the air and the familiar scent of someone she was well acquainted with drifted to her nose. How strange. When the strike never came, Sakura had to wonder if her body was so numb that she wouldn't have felt it. Opening her eyes, she found the man in front of her stare with frightened eyes, but he wasn't looking at her. He was looking to her right. Her mind finally computed that someone's hand was wrapped around his neck. To her right, Sasuke stood his hand squeezing the man's neck dangerously.
The shinobi didn't even know what hit him as he was immediately thrown into a Sharingan induced Genjutsu. The man's face was frozen in a silent scream just as Naruto appeared to her left and delivered a harsh punch to his face.
"Asshole! Don't you dare lay another hand on Sakura-chan," Naruto shouted enraged. The man was now crumpled on the ground unconscious. If Sasuke hadn't gotten to him first, the man would be wishing for death at his hand.
Through barely concealed rage, Sasuke seethed, "Tie him up and I'll send a hawk summon to return him to Konoha for interrogation. He won't be waking up for a very long time." He made sure the man would suffer under his Genjutsu.
Sasuke turned towards the pink haired female right as she began to fall forward. He quickly caught her in his arms and panic coursed through him. "Sakura!" He lowered her to the ground and with one arm around her shoulders, he held her upright. One hand touched her cheek to find that her face was pale and her skin cool.
"Sasuke," her voice was soft, "the poison."
Ready to do whatever was necessary for his wife, he urgently spoke. "Tell me what to do."
Sakura could only stare at Sasuke. Her vision was beginning to blur, but she forced herself to concentrate. She knew what kind of treatment she needed, but with fear, she realized that none of her teammates would be able to successfully accomplish the tasks necessary. "Sasuke," she droned weakly, brokenly.
Sasuke knew what that tone meant. Sakura had used that tone plenty of times in his presence. She only used it when she had lost a patient, when there was nothing she could do as she watched the person die before her eyes.
Sai dropped from the sky and his ink bird disappeared. "The area is clear. All enemies have been terminated." He took in Sakura's weakened form and a feeling that he had become familiar during the Fourth Shinobi War weaved its way into his chest. He feared for Sakura's life.
When he had been apprehending his fair share of the missing-nin, he could hear the panic in Sakura's voice as she admitted that she needed them as back-up. His fist clenched tightly, but his face did not give anything away. Sakura need them and they were unable to come to her aid. He had never felt so useless.
Mimura quickly ran to his son and scooped him in his arms, Osamu trailing behind him. Nobu broke down in tears and his father gently shushed him. The relief for his son's well being over weighed his initial anger at Nobu for running out into danger. He had moved so quickly that his grief stricken father could not stop him.
Riku retrieved his katana from the now dead corpse of his enemies. He had seen Nobu run out towards Sakura, but he was unable to send aid. He walked up to Mimura, "Are you alright, Mimura-dono?"
The daimyo spoke in a shaken voice, "I'm fine, but what about Sakura-san?"
Riku looked at the scene before him. Sakura was cradled in Sasuke's arms with a half crazed look in his eyes.
"Come on, Sakura," Sasuke gently shook her, "Tell us what to do."
Naruto spoke quickly and with badly concealed panic, "There's not another settlement for miles and Sakura won't last long enough to get there without treatment," his teeth clenched together as he continued in a lowered voice, "and we don't know anything about poisons." Yet another time in his life where he regretted not being able to help his female teammate. When it truly came down to it, Sakura was the most important. As a medic and as a person.
Riku shoved past Sakura's hovering teammates. "Stand aside. I can treat her. I'm a poison specialist."
Sasuke growled at the man's approach and Riku frowned. "Uchiha-san. Your resentment for me cannot get in the way. Every minute counts."
Seeing Sasuke's conflicting emotions flash through onyx eyes, Mimura spoke to reassure him, "You can trust Riku. I trust him with my life. We did not mean any harm by hiding Riku's ability to combat. Riku has been trained to protect my family and he remains undercover so that if we were attacked we would have the element of surprise."
"I knew there was something off about you, Riku," Sakura mumbled softly to herself.
Sasuke was silent as he stared Riku down. Naruto placed a hand on his best friend's shoulder. "Sasuke, we have to let him treat her. I believe the old guy's words. We can trust him."
Sasuke had to fight every one of his instincts to not let this man touch the woman in his arms, before giving a curt nod.
Riku approached slowly and cautiously to show that he did not mean any harm. He felt like he was approaching a feral animal that was protecting its mate. He supposed that's exactly what was happening.
Kneeling opposite of Sasuke, he addressed Sakura, "I began my training at an early age when there was a failed attempt at poisoning Mimura-dono," he glanced at the older man, "We got lucky that day, so from then on I swore to myself that I would do everything in my power to avoid that possible situation."
Sakura let out a weak laugh. "So that's why you have that scar. I wondered how you managed to get treatment."
Riku's blue eyes met Sakura's for a moment before her focused on the task at hand. "I treated myself, yes."
This confused Naruto, "Scar? What scar?"
Sai was the one to answer. "Riku has a specific type of scar that's left by a poisoned weapon."
Everyone stiffened when Riku retrieved a knife from his possession. Sasuke's hand shot out and with a strong grip, he stopped Riku's movement.
Sharingan still activated, he hissed, "what do you think you're doing?" If this man dared to think he was going to harm Sakura, and right in front of his eyes, Riku would see a thousand deaths before Sasuke mutilated his body beyond repair. Not even Tsunade or Sakura would be able to put him back together.
"Sasuke-kun," her soft voice brought him back from his killing rage, "it's alright," emerald eyes closed slowly and a moment passed before they opened again. "He has to make a suture to drain the poison." Sakura groaned. "Hurry, Riku, I'm starting to hallucinate."
'Is that why you finally used that suffix,' Sasuke thought before pushing it aside. It wasn't important.
"Uchiha-san," Sasuke's head snapped back towards the man, "please release me. We can't waste anymore time."
Slowly and reluctantly, Sasuke's released his grip.
Riku immediately ordered Sasuke to remove Sakura's flak jacket and turn Sakura's body over so that he would have access to the various injuries in her back. That was where the highest concentration of poison was. Sasuke did as he was told, Sakura now sitting across his lap, her head cradled in the crook of his neck. With one hand, he coaxed her long pink strands aside and over her shoulder. He watched with weary eyes as Riku immediately jumped into action. With a flick of his wrist, he made a shallow cut about six inches in length through her black tank top.
Immediately blood began to seep and along with it a purplish liquid.
Collecting chakra into his hand, Riku placed his palm against her back before forcefully pulling out the poison from her body. Sakura stiffened and she let out a whimper.
Sasuke had seen Sakura extract poison from people plenty of times to know that it was a painful process. He pulled her closer to him and brushed his lips against her ear. "Does it hurt?"
Sakura hummed softly. "S'not so bad," she mumbled.
"Sakura-san I'm going to pull out as much as I can. Luckily for us, the poison didn't reach any of your organs except your heart."
This caught everyone's attention. "Ne," Naruto spoke, "the heart is kind of important. Will she be okay?"
"Yes, Sakura-san managed to metabolize enough of the poison so that it's not potent enough to cause permanent damage. I don't have enough extensive knowledge to know exactly what affect it had on her heart." Riku's eye brows furrowed. "I won't be able to make an antidote without any herbs. Since that shinobi was from Amekagure, there's not telling what kind of herbs I'll need."
Sai interjected. "Sakura carries a scroll for herbs for every mission, does she not?"
Sakura smiled softly when he didn't call her hag as she nodded. "My jacket."
Sasuke looked at Naruto and gestured with his head to retrieve the scroll.
Riku let out a relieved sigh, "Then Sakura-san is going to be fine."
With their close proximity, Sasuke could feel the soft beating of her heart. One of his hand grabbed Sakura's arm as if to anchor himself down. She was going to be okay.
"Ne, Sasuke-kun."
"Hn."
Bleary eyes looked at him, "When we got married," a shaky breath left her, "was it raining?"
Sasuke pulled back surprise in his eyes. "How did you know that?"
Her eyes misted as if seeing something not entirely in the present. "I don't really know." With that she closed her eyes and lost consciousness.
XxXx
It was another ten minutes before Riku finished extracting enough poison to stabilize Sakura.
Unfortunately, he admitted, he could not manipulate chakra well enough to close her wound or fix any extensive damage. This is where Sasuke took over. Forming the appropriate hand signs, he placed a glowing green hand against her back. He watched as her skin stitched itself back together leaving bruises that indicated her former injuries. He could not heal those. His hand hovered across her back to heal all the other pinprick injuries she sustained when taking the attack in place of Nobu.
Sakura let out a soft sigh in his arms and her warm breath blew along his ear.
Riku announced that it would take several hours for him to analyze the poison and make an antidote to counteract the poison, but he wouldn't be able to do so until they found a safe place to settle for the night. He needed a quiet environment.
Sasuke sent Sai on his bird to scope out the area for the closet village. Fifteen minutes later, Sai reported, via radio, that there was a village fifty kilometers south. Deeming it more effective to travel swiftly, he ordered Sai to return so that he could transport Osamu, Mimura, and Nobu to the village. After pinpointing the location of the village on a map, Sai set off.
Riku placed two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly. A few moments passed when his horse emerged from the woods. It had been spooked when the first attack came and ran away. Riku would ride the horse while Sasuke and Naruto would travel by the trees.
Seeing Sakura shiver, Sasuke retrieved his spare long sleeved shirt and gently slipped on her body. He tucked her vest into his pack and then told Naruto to carry both their packs because he would be carrying Sakura. He positioned Sakura on his back since he didn't want to disturb the tender bruises on her back any more than necessary.
XxXx
They stayed at a local inn and paid for a two bedrooms side by side with two queen sized beds in each room. Mimura, Nobu, and Osamu would stay in one room, with someone on night shift to guard (this varying between the three leaf shinobi). Sakura, Riku, (Sasuke wasn't too happy with this arrangement, but he relented eventually. Sakura needed to be in proximity of Riku so that he could cure her) and whoever wasn't on shift would stay in the other bedroom.
Sasuke announced that they would be leaving early at dawn (to Nobu's dismay) because of the time they lost.
Sasuke did not sleep. In between checking on Riku's progress and Sakura's condition, he laid by his wife's side fully conscious of her vulnerability. He wouldn't fall asleep until he knew she was going to be okay. It was around eleven in the evening when Riku finally broke down the formula and made an antidote in a form that Sakura could ingest. The pink haired woman didn't make a sound when Sasuke propped her on his body and allowed Riku to give her the solution.
Sakura did not awaken by the time they were ready to head out again. When they continued on the road, Sai traveled by air, while Naruto and Sasuke traveled on the ground, this time alongside their charges. By noon they finally reached the daimyo's palace.
Upon entering his home, the leaf shinobi were escorted to their room. They each had their own and were placed in the same hall. Sasuke and Sakura would be staying together. It didn't take a genius to know that Sasuke would not settle for anything less.
After profusely thanking them for their service, Mimura allowed them to their own agenda. When Naruto finished ingesting enough food to equal his own body weight, he passed out in his room for the rest of the day. Sai wondered the palace and took in the intricate architecture. Times like this, he would be inspired to paint.
Sasuke did not leave Sakura's side. Immediately entering the room, he placed her in their bed and tucked her in.
After a few minutes, Mimura returned and told Sasuke that maids would be available to bathe Sakura for her comfort. Sasuke did not seem too willing to allow strangers to see the medic while she was not conscious, but after taking note of Sakura's grimy state, he conceded.
Now Sasuke stood outside the balcony of his room, arms crossed and face devoid of emotion. He had removed his vest and shirt, leaving him in only his pants. From his place in the palace he had a view of the courtyard. No one was currently wandering the area so Sasuke was alone to ponder his thoughts. His eyes didn't stray from the sakura tree that sat in the middle of the courtyard.
Sasuke did not want to admit that seeing Sakura in this condition once again terrified him. He didn't know if it was just Sakura's luck or his inability to protect her, but her life was grasping at straws. He didn't want to think about losing her next time.
A soft moan came from their bedroom and Sasuke returned to find Sakura struggling to sit up. Her hitai was removed and was placed in her pack. Her clothes had been removed leaving her in a black kimono appropriate for sleep with sakura branches embroidered on it (courtesy of Mimura). He quickly came to her side and helped her sit up.
Sakura combed her fingers through her long hair to find that it felt softer than usual. She looked around and found that she had no idea where she was.
"Where-?" Sakura's hand flew up to her parched throat.
"The daimyo's palace," he answered while handing her a glass of water. Taking it with her hands, she drank it while she deduced her current state. She passed out and she must have remained under the rest of their journey. Looking at her clothes she concluded that they probably bathed her, too. But who? A blush appeared on her cheeks at the thought of Sasuke seeing her naked.
Seeing that she finished the drink, Sasuke took it from her and placed it at her bedside while taking a seat in the chair that he placed. He noticed her flustered state and looked at her expectantly.
"Who," she gulped, "changed me?"
Sasuke smirked, "The maids."
At this Sakura's body deflated in relief.
"I don't know why you're so embarrassed," his deep voice spoke, "It's nothing I haven't seen before."
Sakura's eyes widened and her blush spread across her whole face. "Sasuke-kun!" she exclaimed aghast before flinching, her hand flying to her chest.
Immediately Sasuke's smirk fell and he moved to sit on the bed next to her. Taking her hands in his, he looked her in the eyes. "What is it?"
Sakura shook her head. "Just an ache in my chest." She pulled one of her hands away and with glowing chakra she prodded into her chest cavity. She recalled Riku mentioning that her heart would be injured and she needed to inspect it quickly. Closing her eyes so that she could focus, Sasuke could only wait, albeit impatiently and with worry, until she diagnosed the problem.
A few moments passed when her chakra flickered then faded. Sakura let out a sigh when she finally completed her self examination. Sasuke tugged on her hand and with his eyes he asked about her health.
"I'll be fine. The poison that I took in was mainly used for paralysis. Since it got into my blood stream very quickly, my heart was the first target organ and just as Riku said it wasn't potent enough to affect any of my other major organs. Since the poison deals with mainly muscles, it affected my cardiac muscles so it'll be beating a bit irregularly for awhile." A moment of silence passed. "I promise you it's not as bad as it sounds."
Sasuke stared at her and then spoke "and what does that mean for you?"
"It means that I'll suffer from the occasional light headedness. Since my heart isn't beating as strongly not enough blood will reach my brain," Sasuke stiffened at her words, "But it's only a few seconds. No permanent damage will be done."
"Treatment?"
Sakura rolled her eyes, "No strenuous work or anything that'll cause my heart beat to speed up. Happy?"
"Hn."
"I'll be fine in a day or two," she reassured him.
The hand that still held hers tightened. This made Sakura look at Sasuke, really look at him. She took in the dark circles under his eyes and the way his hair was in disarray probably from running his hand through it so much. "Sasukeā¦kun." She didn't know why the suffix returned, but it felt right.
At the sound of his name, Sasuke's left hand traced its way up Sakura's arm until it cradle the back of her head, long fingers tangling in her pink locks. Onyx eyes looked into emerald. His right hand then followed the same path on her other hand but instead it stopped over the place where her heart is.
Sasuke felt her heart beat. He felt it falter for a moment before continuing its rhythm. This made his heart clench. "Sasuke-kun."
The hand over her heart then moved down her body and around her back where it traced the place that she had been cut to be healed.
Sakura knew that should be keeping her heart at a calm beat, but damn it if it wasn't Sasuke's fault that she felt like she could pass out in any moment. Her body froze when both his hand pulled her to him. She let out a soft noise surprise as her face was being cradled in the crook of his neck. The hand that had been in the back of her head moved to wrap around her shoulders and then Sakura realized that Sasuke was hugging her. He held her tightly and his presence completely overwhelmed her.
Then he brushed his lips gently against her hair.
Sakura didn't know how to handle this Sasuke. This Sasuke, who cared for her and showed it to her, she didn't know what to do. This Sasuke made Sakura want to fall in love all over again. With trembling hands, she wrapped her arms around Sasuke muscled torso and buried her face even deeper into his body. Her eyes began to sting with the familiar burn of tears. "Sasuke-kun. I don't think I was hallucinating earlier. I think," she swallowed thickly, "I think I was seeing my memories.
Onyx eyes widened.
A/N: Ohoho Sakura starting to remember! What's going to happen next?
I've been listening to a Korean song the whole time I've been typing this. It's really catchy and I love it. Unfortunately it's from a horror movie where the song was cursed and everyone DIED. You know, all that good stuff. So I'm slightly paranoid haha
Anyway, if you're curious the song is called "White" by Pink Dolls and the movie is also called White.
Tell me what you guys think and I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.
Reviews are appreciated!
Til next time!
