Naruto's

The Kinjutsu

Little Japanime Girl

A/N: Woot! I'm on a roll! This chapter has been revised on 10.13.2013. Some grammatical and dialogue changes have been made. If you read this before, it's worth another go. If this is your first read, then welcome! Feel free to point out any concerns, suggestions, or ask questions. :) Enjoy!


Just Breathe.


"Shit shit shit!"

Sai startled from his position in the bathroom threshold and rushed over to the tub. He slipped from the overflowed bath water on the ground and he leaned toward Sakura in the middle of his fall, hitting his ribcage against the rim of the tub.

"Fuck. Shit, shit. Sakura!"

Despite his rigorous training in the past on stifling emotions, his mind could not wrap around the idea of Sakura's body underwater and the possibility of her lungs being filled with water. Don't do this to us, Pinky!

He hastily pulled her up through her underarms expecting her to cough out water as her face surfaced but she did not react. In fact, his heart pounded within his ears loudly as he noticed her bruise colored lips. Panic shook his movements as he hooked his arms under her in the water and lifted her up with a huff; her dead weight scaring him into the reality of her unconsciousness.

"Don't…!"

Don't…. don't…. Just don't….

Water seeped through his clothing as he cradled her nude figure close to him and moved her out of the bathroom and into her bedroom. Once he laid her down on the floor, he began cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Pump. Pump. Pump. Pump. Pump...25 more...

Tilt head. Open and check mouth.

Pinch nose. Open mouth. Deep breath. Breathe out into her mouth.

Listen.

Faint pulse. Not breathing.

Again.

Nothing.

"Again!"

Nothing.

Fear began to show through his trembling fingers as he desperately decided to try something else in hopes of forcing water out with the help of gravity. He turned her on her stomach over his lap and angled her so that her head hung lower than her body and tried again.

Just breathe dammit!

He gave her back five blows and then paused to lean over and listen for any signs of breathing.

One more time!

Five more thrusts came harder than the first set. Sai's chest started to hurt as he realized his efforts were in vain if she was not responding. "Come on, work with me, Ugly," he begged.

Suddenly, in the uncomfortable position they were in, Sakura's body slipped down a little and in lightening speed, Sai caught her with one hand on her collarbone and the other on her shoulder. He struggled as he sat her up in his lap and noticed something glistening on her lips.

His thin fingers felt her lips and felt relief wash over him. Water gushed out slowly passed her lips but she was still unconscious. Still choking with fear, he placed her on the bed and wrapped the thin, wet sheet she lay on around her and lifted the bundled Sakura into his arms. I'm getting you into more capable hands! Sai ran across her room and jumped out her window, taking rooftop shortcuts to the hospital not caring if anyone saw them. Throughout his fast sprint to Konoha Hospital, Sai kept replaying the memory of her blank face as it surfaced through the soapy water. His throat tightened and he shook with anger as he realized Sakura might be dead by the time he would reach the hospital.

Why would she do this? What about our bonds…


"No!"

Naruto awoke with a cold sweat and shook in fear in his dark room. His hard breathing was all he could hear in the quiet night. When he slightly calmed, he heard a soft rustle.

"…I-I'm sorry."

A gentle hand on his back soothed him a little and he realized he simply had a bad dream.

"Want to talk about it?"

"I…" Naruto wanted to protect her from his grief but he recently learned better, "It felt so real."

Hinata slowly sat up in the dark and held his hand, "What did?"

He shook his head and whispered, "But it makes no sense… It's impossible… I would never…"

Concerned, Hinata squeezed his hand, "What happened?"

Remembering back, Naruto took quick breaths as his throat kept choking up a little, "I… He… The way things were… There was no choice… and…"

Hinata held him and whispered, "Take it easy. It was just a dream, right?"

Reliving the emotions from his dreams, he squeezed her and said, "Then why did I see myself killing him?"

Hinata swallowed her surprise and realized this ran deeper. Instead of admitting this, she patted his hair and soothed, "We know what already happened. Nothing can change that…"

She knew he thought of Sakura when he whispered, "I hope not…"


Sai lifted the small plastic door and took out the packet from the vending machine shoot. He felt restless and desperately needed that packet at the moment. He hastily opened it and pulled out a cigarette, placing his on his lips. As he padded himself in search for a lighter, he remembered leaving it in his apartment before going to Sakura's apartment. Great…

"I'll light that up for you."

Tsunade held the lighter up to his cigarette and he gratefully leaned into it. Once he straightened up, Tsunade snatched the pack from his hand and pulled one out for herself, "I'd normally tell you not to smoke in here but given the circumstances, I'd say I'm as guilty as you are right now."

After the two shared one long drag from their respective cigarettes, Sai turned incredibly serious, "So—"

"You broke her ribs you know."

Frowning, Sai replied, "I could give two shits about her ribs right now. I want to know—"

"You did okay. I mean we had to revive her but, since you managed to get water out of her and provided some oxygen, it helped a lot. She's stable."

"Then when can I—"

"You can't yet. She's in isolation."

Sai took a step forward, "I don't care. I need to—"

Tsunade turned completely serious, "What you need to do is tell me off the books what the hell happened. Don't skip any details."

"You know as much as I do. She obviously tried to—"

Tsunade shook her head and said lowly, "That's what's on record but that's not what I want to hear."

Sai took another pull from his cig, "What more do you want from me? I found her that way."

"Yes, but I cannot contact her parents or Naruto yet until I have a better understanding."

Sai put his cigarette out, no longer finding it calming, and stepped closer to her, "Hokage… The only person that can answer—"

"Is unable to right now. She cannot speak for herself at the moment. I need you to tell me something…"

Sai furrowed his brows, "Do we really need to do this now?"

Anger and frustration crossed her pretty face as she suddenly pinned him against the wall behind him with her forearm across his collar. Her cigarette maintained pinched in the corner of her mouth as she slowly spoke. ,"Sai, Sakura is in a coma and I need you to tell me why. I have a feeling that you can tell me. All of her chakra had stopped flow except her mind."

Sai looked away, "Don't you know by looking at her tattoos?"

Tsunades narrowed her eyes, "...Tattoos?"

Looking back at her with surprise, he replied, "Didn't you see them? They were all over her body. I had asked her to wash them off but I guess they didn't wash off by the time she…"

Tsunade suddenly released him and put out her cigarette. She looked uneasy when she looked him in the eye, "Sai, I need you to keep this a secret. I know Naruto will take this hard and Kakashi might do something like go over to Suna…"

Suna? Does this have to do with Gaara?

Tsunade noted his silence, "Just let me handle this, okay?"

"Naruto should know she's here."

"I will call her parents since they are her proxy. But, we will wait until tomorrow to know what to tell Naruto. He cannot handle this right now."

Suspiciously, Sai asked, "Handle what, exactly?"

"What we have to put on record for her safety: her attempted suicide."

Sai caught on, Something must have gone wrong with her experiment. He looked past her to see a doctor coming their way; "Then at least let me see her myself."

Tsunade thought about it for a moment, "I don't think this is good for you to see either."

Looking back at her he said, "What could be worse than me finding her and doing what I had to do to bring her here?"

"I don't want you to see what's worse than that."

Sai looked at her for a long time in silence until the approaching doctor interrupted, "Excuse me, Lady Tsunade, I would like to speak with you for a moment."

Tsunade stepped away from him and went to the doctor. Before the two walked away, Tsunade looked back at Sai, "Do what I told you. That's an order."

After that, she left, whispering with the doctor about Sakura's condition. Sai waited until Tsunade and the doctor rounded the corner before he hit the wall behind him in frustration. What do I do…?

Sai decided to go to the family lounge. There, he drank a cup of hot tea and soon drifted into slumber on a couch.


Crying woke him from his brief rest. Sai got up and went toward the source. Outside of the lounge were Sakura's parents; her mother crying into her father's arms. The sight made him disobey Tsunade's direct order...


Later that morning...

Naruto and Hinata both woke suddenly from their sleep. They felt someone's chakra within Naruto's home. Hinata put on Naruto's large t-shirt over her tank top and she followed him quietly, despite his silent plea for her to stay within the bedroom. Naruto stealthily walked down the dark hallway and into his kitchen where he noticed and open window and presence. The presence was not malignant, but he still kept Hinata behind him just in case. Hinata had already used her eyes in the dark by this time and squeezed his shoulder, signaling him that it was okay.

Naruto flicked on the kitchen light, causing his and Hinata's eyes to painfully adjust to the sudden change. The blurry black figure slowly became recognizable and the couple quickly regretted exposing their underwear to the unexpected guest.

"What's going on? Why didn't you knock?"

"Put some clothes on, I need you to come with me. Now."

"What?"

Sai's serious and urgent eyes alarmed him. Hinata volunteered to get him a set of clothes while she went to change so that he may speak with Sai.

"What's going on, Sai?"

Sai hardly moved his body when he spoke, "It's Sakura."

His blue eyes widened, "What happened to her?"

"She's in the hospital."

Naruto closed the distance between them and grabbed his shoulders demanding, "What happened? Is she okay?"

"I don't know really. She's stable."

"Stable? The means she was worse before… Talk to me, Sai!"

Suddenly, Sai was not certain what to tell Naruto. He wanted to tell Naruto what he thought had happened, but Tsunade wanted to tell him what was on record.

He'll be more hurt if he is lied to. And well, I'm not 100% sure what happened either... "I will but not now."

Naruto tightened his grip in anxiety, "Tell me now!"

Sai's eyes widened slightly in reaction, "I can't. Sakura's in danger and I need your help now."

Hinata, now dressed, rushed into the kitchen with a pair of shorts and shirt for Naruto to put on. "Naruto, we should go with Sai and see what's happening. We're wasting time here…"

Naruto glanced back at Hinata and then looked back at Sai, "I thought you said she was stable."

"…Her parents want to kill her."

Naruto dropped his hands and stepped back in shock, "What…?"

Sai shifted his weight and frowned, "Look, if we don't hurry, they might actually kill her. I need your help to convince them not to. Please trust me. I'll tell you when we get there."

A stunned Hinata slowly made her way to Naruto and handed him the clothing. He didn't bother leaving the room to throw the clothes on; it didn't matter since Sai already saw him only in underwear. He nodded at Sai and grabbed Hinata's hand as they all poofed out of the apartment.


Hinata could not fight the blush across her cheeks as she realized Naruto was naturally including her in moments such as this one. Her flush didn't last long, however, as they reappeared in the hospital and she was reminded of the danger Sakura was in. Sai led the couple and they noticed guards at Sakura's door from afar. The Harunos exited Sakura's room in tears and walked down the opposite end of the hall. Naruto started to walk ahead but Sai held him back.

"Wait, no one is supposed to know about her stay here as per Hokage's orders. Especially you."

"But—"

"I will explain later. Just follow me."

Sai led them out to the courtyard where they could sneak in from the outside through her window. Naruto paused halfway through the window once he saw Sakura in her bed. He then forced himself to move again so that he could let Hinata in after him. Despite this, he was too shocked to help her in as he normally would have; lucky for him she was ninja too.

Sakura look ashen in her bed, intubated and wired anywhere possible. Her bland and pale skin almost blended into the white sheets and the only color noticeable was her now dull pink hair. Naruto would have given anything to see her green eyes again- even if they were sad ones. Hinata rushed over to her bedside with teary eyes and noted all the machines sustaining Sakura's life.

Naruto did not move further and did not blink as he slowly spoke, "This is what you meant by stable…" he turned to Sai who was behind him, "What made her this way? And how can her parents kill her when she's like this?"

As he spoke, Hinata had been reading Sakura's chart at the foot-board and a gasp escaped her lips. It was barely heard amongst the beeping and whirring of her friend's life support. Both men looked at Hinata who took two steps backward and covered her mouth in shock. Naruto looked concerned while Sai looked expectant.

"Why? It can't…"

Naruto could not bring himself to move to her bedside still, "What is it?"

Hinata looked tearfully to Naruto.

"What…?"

"This wasn't an accident…"

Anger bubbled inside his chest as he asked her, "Then someone did this to her?"

She shook her head, unsure how to respond more clearly. Confusion and desperation reigned over him and it showed in his voice when he spoke next, "Can someone please just tell me what the hell is going on here?"

When Hinata saw that Sai was not certain, she mustered her courage and approached her beloved. Appreciative, Naruto met her halfway.

"Naruto, Sakura… It says she… She did this to herself."

His eyes widened and he shook his head, "No… Why…?"

More courageous, for the sake of Naruto, Hinata continued, "Her chart says she drowned herself in her bathwater."

Tears brimmed his brilliant blue eyes as he held Hinata's offered hands and he looked at Sakura in disbelief, "Sakura wouldn't do that. No. She.."

Hinata let go of his tight grip and held his shoulders, getting his attention, "Let's be happy Sai found her okay? The chart says that Sai performed CPR; if he hadn't done that before he brought her here…"

Letting the information sink in, Naruto turned to Sai for an explanation. Sai finally moved forward and looked to Naruto, "What's important this very moment is saving her."

"But why would the Harunos do that to her? How?"

"Tsunade said they were her proxy; meaning they make medical decisions for her whenever she is not able to. If Hinata had read further into the file, she would have known that Sakura's in a deep coma where the chance of her ever awakening would be close to a miracle. Nothing in her body is functioning. Strangely enough, her brain is flat but the chakra there is still circulating. She should be declared medically dead. However, there is still chakra... This leaves her parents with a hard choice and they'd rather she be unplugged than live for who knows how long this could be."

Feeling week in the knees, Naruto let Hinata guide him to a chair nearby. A long moment passed as he stared at the ground in thought. Sai moved over to Sakura and inspected her skin. Hinata found it strange of Sai to do that but she chose not to bring it up.

Finally Naruto spoke up without looking up, "Sai, I have to agree with her parents. If what you and that file says is true then it might be best for Sakura."

Hinata quietly cried, "Naruto…"

"Something is amiss," Sai softly spoke through his inspection.

Upon receiving silence, Sai looked up to see their grief stricken eyes looking at him. He stood up straight and spoke in a low voice so that no one else would hear him speak, "Naruto, Tsunade had decided to declare this a suicide attempt officially to protect Sakura should she ever wake from this. But I think this is something else and you might agree if you remember what happened earlier today. Tsunade might already know; Gaara too."

"What are you saying?"

"Do you remember what you found in Sakura's apartment today? The argument and… research?"

Thinking back, Naruto realized what Sai was referring to; "But how would you—"

"I found her too; after you left."

"But she didn't do anything after that. Besides, Gaara knew it didn't work. He assured me."

"I know, but when I found Sakura, she still had those tattoos on her in the bath. They never even smeared in all that soap. But by the time Tsunade had seen her, the markings were gone before she was able to even notice anything."

"Gaara said—"

"I know. But she still tried something. I think she's still here, alive. Just trapped in her own body by accident."

Letting the theories and pieces fit into place, it made more sense than suicide and it would explain why Tsunade would be concerned for her safety should anyone know she attempted kinjutsu."So there's a better chance for her to be brought back to us. We just need to undo her seal."

Sai nodded, "Yes, that's why you need to speak with the Harunos so they do not make a mistake. They won't listen to anyone but you. Just don't let Tsunade become aware that you know anything."

Hinata asked, "Why would she hide this from him?"

Sai answered, "This is for Naruto's safety as well. Considering things that have happened plus the possibility of either Naruto or Kakashi going to Suna to speak about this…"

At the mention of Suna, Hinata remembered Gaara's role in this from Naruto's narrative to her; "Shouldn't Gaara know about this?"

Naruto formed a tight fist on his leg as he regretfully spoke, "We can't tell him. He will be prosecuted for sharing the scroll. Not to mention how crushed he will be, knowing he played a part in Sakura's situation."

Sai added, "He may very well be executed if an investigation is launched and her condition is proven to be caused by the kinjustu. The investigation would also proved Sakura guilty and she'd be punished if this gets reversed; that is if the elders don't pull the plug on her themselves."

Hinata placed her hand on Naruto's tense shoulder and looked fearfully at Sakura, "Then what are we to do?"

Naruto replied, "I will talk to Sakura's parents privately in the afternoon. Sai will have to speak with Tsunade since he is the only one supposed to know. And I will have to make sure Gaara will never hear of this."

Sai asked, "How can you protect Gaara from a danger you are not supposed to know about? You can easily choose not to tell Gaara anything but, if Tsunade decides to include him in her own investigation, then you going to or messaging Suna would surely be suspicious."

"I don't know but I have to try something if it comes down to it."

Naruto looked at Sakura, I have to try. I am not losing anyone else.


A/N: There you have it! I bumped this all out in one day so I hope you liked it. Sai's CPR and back slapping scene was supposed to be sloppy. Few people who are trained in CPR (and I assume ANBU/ROOT would have basic medical training) would rarely keep up to date with such things. These ninja cells had medic nins in their groups so I am certain that Sai would be rusty in something like CPR. He did seem a little emotional, loud, and panicky but that's what I wanted. He was alone, no one was there to witness it, and it was his friend who might have been dead in a sad uncharacteristic way. So, hope that helps you understand where that approach came from :)

Please leave comments, suggestions, and constructive criticism in a review. I appreciate and take all into consideration!

Until next time.

LJG