Always read the bottom commentary, I answer questions and inquiry there.
Words from the Wolf:
-Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power. – Lao Tzu
-I believe that if life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade... And try to find somebody whose life has given them vodka, and have a party. - Ron White
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I sure do love it.
Hollow
He hesitated, but he hugged her back gently, careful of her obvious wounds. He tried to calm her down, as she kept repeating softly that he was alive and real, and not a dream. The others said nothing, keeping their eyes mostly away from the two of them. He could smell her normal scent under the sweat, blood, and smoke, and her body clung to him tightly, she had been shifted to sit in his cross legged lap.
After several minutes she shifted back a little, putting her hands on his face, her smile still bright as tears rolled down her dirtied face. She inquired,
"Are you alright? Do you have injuries the fox can't fix?"
This seemed to take Naruto a second to understand, but he replied incredulously and with a lace of anger, his grip around her waist tightened in reflex,
"Sakura-chan, you look like your about to pass out from blood loss! You need to take care of yourself. Isn't that a rule for a medic?"
He had said the last part with such force it made her blink. She checked herself mentally, going over her list of injuries, and noticed he was right. The morphine was still in her, so she hadn't really noticed any distinct pain. She concluded that she needed to do as Naruto advised first, otherwise she'd be of no help.
She moved out of his lap reluctantly, missing his arms already. She plopped down right beside him, and went through a few seals before the barrier Shikamaru had taught her went up, covering her and the others. It wouldn't last long, but it would be enough to heal herself and a few others quickly. She silently swiped blood on her exposed left wrist, releasing one of many seals on her body.
It brought forth a small scroll, and she unrolled it to show more seals inside it. Picking one, it showed a plethora of bandages, medical alcohol, and other utensils. As she began cleaning her head injuries first, she asked nonchalantly,
"So what are they like? Do they always stop camp this early in the day?"
Neji was the quickest to respond, his tone matter-of-fact and indifferent, "They start at sunrise, unless there are orders to…question us. Then we go on through the day, and end an hour before sun down." Sakura looked up at the Hyuuga, noticing his hair had been pulled back into a high ponytail. He didn't have an apparent need for treatment, but she would diagnose him as the others. She finished with both her head injuries and worked on her abused ribs, hands glowing with green chakra.
"Questioning? If they call that questioning, then they need some remedial training. They are amateurs at best."
She breathed a little easier as the cracked rib was fixed and the bruising swelled down. Chouji spoke up next, she saw his eyes widened, though the emotion conveyed was hard to figure in the darkness and the flickering of fire,
"Amateurs? How do you mean, Haruno-san?"
She froze up, not having heard that name in a long time. Of course they didn't know, she can't blame them for not knowing the gossip of Konoha. Her voice wavered only slightly, but a thickness of emotion could be heard.
"Never call me that. Just call me Sakura, please, all of you…as for why they are amateurs, they do more torture than questioning. And even that is mediocre. They're not very imaginative, are they?"
She'd have to deal with her back another time, as no one here could do anything for her. Staunching the blood of the cuts and welts from the whip on her arms, she reached under her shirt with a towel and cleaned the others haphazardly. She ignored the questioning looks purposefully as she finished with her own administrations. Cleaning her hand with water, she asked offhand,
"Any of you need critical medical attention? I can't keep the barrier up long, so it'll have to be quick."
Tenten, Kiba, and Chouji raised their hands, and she stood and went over to them. Chouji was having a hard time breathing, and she found 3 cracked ribs, which she hastily fixed, amazed none of them had punctured his lungs. He also sounded like he was getting pneumonia, as did the other two. She did what she could to pull out the phlegm and liquid from his lungs, which she repeated on the other two, but she knew it was only a quick solution. Once they got back to Konoha, she would put them straight on bed rest.
Kiba had a broken wrist, dislocated shoulder, and a sprained ankle. Tenten had a bad knee, dislocated discs in her back, and when Sakura diagnosed her, she had to contain her fury before she stormed out of the cave and killed all of the shinobi ahead of schedule. Tenten saw the pinkettes eyes, and she said nothing as Sakura healed her, gently and kindly.
Done with the three, she began diagnosing everyone. All the same, old and new injuries, evidence of torture, malnourished, and the poisons in their systems. Everyone had remained silent for her, to let her concentrate, to which she was grateful. She knew that her time was about to run out, so she finished with Shino's arm, and went back to her self-designated spot by Naruto. Pulling out some more supplies from the scroll, she tossed everyone a vial of small purple pills, a canteen, and ration bars.
"Eat the bars first, then take a pill. Hide the vial in your boots. Remember, one pill a day, everyday."
They did so quickly, scarfing down everything, and she hide away the empty canteens, everything sealed away in her wrist again. She let go of the barrier slowly, making sure not leak out the chakra to alert the shinobi outside the cave. While everyone still seemed unable to broach conversation, Sakura took the step,
"It's been a year and four months since Akamaru got back to Konoha. How long have you been held in this caravan?"
It was slow to start conversation, but Tenten offered up an answer, her voice hoarse from lack of use,
"About a month a half. The rest of the time we were held somewhere off to the south west of Earth Country. This section moves slowly, as we walk on foot, and no use of chakra."
Sakura nodded, knowing that their systems were in need of flushing out the poisons. That was another item on her list of chores when they get back home. The pills would help, but fixing chakra pathways would take some time. She started to plait her hair, hoping to get it out of the way for a bit.
"How often is questioning?"
Kiba replied this time, "Depends on their moods. For each of us, it's usually once a week."
"But you seem to have invoked some kind of anger, Sakura-san. What is it that you did?" Interceded Shino, eyes on her, analyzing her. Everyone's attention had been on her since the beginning, but now it was undivided. They really needed to get out more often.
"Oh, the usual." She waved it off, not wanting to explain herself, or the things she had done. To be judged. She decided then that it was time for her to rest, knowing she had need for her chakra to maintain its steady stream. She quietly lay down on her side beside Naruto, discreetly taking hold of the back of his shirt. She would not let him leave her, not again.
She quickly fell asleep, her even breaths flicked with fire at every exhale, and it danced higher than before. Naruto didn't know what to do, and no one had a comment, sarcastic or otherwise. Sakura's dismissal for rest had signaled to everyone to do the same, and Naruto would have moved away, but her grip on his shirt was tight, even in her sleep. He contemplated taking off his shirt, but a part of him he tried to keep away won out the second he looked at her face. So, he settled for turning his back to her, but staying close, and as sleep took over, he felt her forehead rest on his back.
They were all startled awake when the jounin leader of the camp paraded into the cave sometime after midnight, a smug expression on his face marred by the burning resentment he felt as his eyes fell upon Sakura, who held no expression as she sat up from her sleeping position. Her eyes were blank, no fear on her face. She knew he wanted nothing more than to make her suffer. And he would do his best trying.
He stomped over to her, kicking or stepping on the others to get to her, and without pause he grabbed her by the shirt, lifting her up to his height, and slammed her back into the wall. Sakura was glad his attention was solely on her, because Naruto was held back by Lee and Neiji, who was ready to spring up at any moment. She didn't need him to complicate this more than it already was. The jounin glowered,
"What, got nothing to say?"
She smiled, her face still blank, "Oh, I do, but let's see what colorful barbs you got today. You get a point for every one that's original."
He growled, "You bitch!" He punched her in the jaw, and her head snapped with the motion. She glanced back at him, "Really? That's kindergarten level."
The jounin was not amused, as he slammed a fist into her stomach. No armor buffered the blow, and she coughed. He glared, his voice rough with emotion,
"I'd kill you now for the crimes committed against Iwa, if it wasn't for orders."
She laughed lightly, as if this was a joke, "So righteous you are, ne? What? Did I kill your lover?"
The hand clenching her shirt moved to choke her, her air being cut off. "You have no right to speak, you monster!"
She exhaled, "I did, didn't I? Did they scream? A lot of them like to scream."
He was holding a firm grip on her and his control, he hissed dangerously, "You will die by my hands, Hollow Sakura."
She smirked, barely able to get out, "Not if I get you first."
He was ready to break control, but someone called from the entrance, and he let her go after punching her again in the stomach. She stood her ground firmly, not looking away from his retreating form until he was out of the cave, and she took a deep breath again. Tenten came over to her, the guys all trying to remain lax. The other girl's hands were tender as she touched Sakura's throat, a bruise already forming on Sakura neck.
"Why did you egg him on?"
Sakura's brow raised, "It's how I work." Tenten seemed fearful, "But then he'll…"
Her sentence dropped off, but Sakura understood the brunette's terror. Sakura had faced it many times, but had managed to not become its victim. She put a hand on Tenten's shoulder, squeezing a little. She said softly,
"I will do whatever it takes to fulfill my mission, Tenten."
Neji's voice wafted over to them as he asked, bringing the males back into the conversation, "And what is your mission, Sakura-san? Why were you wearing an ANBU mask?"
She snorted, "I thought it was pretty obvious."
Before anyone could say anything, she felt his approaching presence as his cry rang out when the hunters had dumped him outside the caves as she had been yesterday. It was all too familiar to her, and her heart clenched. She wondered what they would do, but it seemed they didn't want to bother with his welcoming. As the shinobi came forward with a form between them, she stayed back as he was thrown into the dark cave of captives, stripped to only his shirt, pants, and sandals.
When the enemy shinobi left, Sakura whistled low, and the shadow moved lazily, standing to limp over to the waiting group. A voice whispered, "Sakura?"
She stepped over to him and pulled his arm around her shoulder, and he gratefully took the weight off his leg as he followed her steering. She chided, "Really, Shika, must you always come find me? I've been behaving very well with the other kids. Chouji can attest to it."
She felt Shikamaru tense up, he asked, uncertain, "They're alive?"
She rolled her eyes, "They gave you some drugs, didn't they?"
"Yeah, but, Sakura-"
"First, let's get you cleaned. Then, you join the others. Got it?"
He grumbled, "Troublesome…"
She put him not to far from the group, settling him on the ground so he was within the firelight's range. She went to work after raising the barrier, poking and prodding him, and had to fix his dislocated knee and cuts. She pulled out another two vials from her boots, and her pineapple headed teammate laughed after he swallowed down the second after throwing up the first.
"I knew you had alcohol. Ino owes me 50 ryu."
Sakura laughed softly, "You can get your girlfriend to pay you later. What of the others?"
Shikamaru sat up, a little more aware, but still drugged, "I split from them after the retreat, and managed to keep them away from the others by heading south. You were right about them being scattered. Got caught by another section, and waited while they brought me over here."
She nodded, still crouched beside him, disinfecting a nasty deep laceration on the side of his other leg.
"Good, if it's just me and you, I can live with that."
Shikamaru eyes narrowed at her even though his head still lolled every once in a while, he tried to keep his gaze on her, assessing her words and manner. He came to the usual conclusion,
"Ah. What's the plan?"
She tied the bandage on his leg, fingers deftly working as she explained her concocted escape plan, "Remember the time in Bird Country. With the mercenaries? Mix that with the usual."
Shikamaru nodded, letting his fuzzy head drop to his chest so he could rest his eyes, "How many did you count here?"
"About 125 or so. It's already started."
Her teammate smirked, "Bastards won't know what got them. When will you begin story time?"
She answered with a yawn, "In a few hours. Since you're here, I won't have to waste as much chakra protecting them. Chouji-san, I'm leaving Shikamaru with you. I need to sleep. Wake me in three, Shika."
"Hai."
With that, she released the barrier and went back to her spot by the fire, though everyone else was wide awake, standing near Shikamaru. Chouji came over first, and hugged his friend briefly. Shikamaru smiled at Chouji,
"Ah, I see she's already taken care of you."
Chouji asked, confused, "What's going on, Shikamaru? Why are you both here?"
The pineapple headed male looked around at all of them, dark eyes sparkling in the light of the fire. He licked his bottom chapped lip, unsure how to start.
"I thought she would have told you, then again…We're here to bring you home."
This surprised all of them, Kiba managed to spit out,
"But how? She's a medic, you're a strategist."
Shikamaru concentrated his blurry vision on the Inuzuka, "There is a difference between a medic, and what Sakura is. A very huge difference. I am not just a strategist. We are ANBU. And as of now, she is acting Captain until we get back with the others."
Neji almost sputtered, "Acting Captain? When did you become ANBU?"
Shikamaru turned his eyes to stare directly at Naruto. The blond was silent, and Nara knew the others spoke for him. Naruto was still hurting, and didn't want to let on how much Sakura still meant to him. The ANBU wanted to smack his old friend upside the head. Naruto had kept the pinkette in the dark, had made her hurt. Shikamaru was at war with himself; the blond with his promises, or the girl who had suffered, and became his sister.
He controlled his flared temper, but answering tersely, "We've been ANBU for over three years now. You'd know that if you were home, Naruto. You'd know a lot of things if you had just stayed home, and quit avoiding her."
Everyone was taken aback by the tone Shikamaru the lazy genius had used, watching him berate Naruto, who had flinched at the accusation. Chouji, had his hands upfront, looking squarely at the Nara.
"Shikamaru, you shouldn't-"
"I should, Chouji, and I will. All of us made a pact, to protect Sakura, but damn it, Naruto, I didn't think I'd have to protect her from you!"
The blue eyes were barely discernible in the darkness, but Shikamaru would not look away. The blond was horrified, and Shikamaru felt both guilt and pleasure at putting it on the man's face. He wanted Naruto to know just how much his leaving, his abandonment, had hurt Sakura. How much Sakura quietly cried when she thought no one was watching, when Naruto and the others first left on the Uchiha retrieval missions. How bit by bit, she had hollowed out, giving her everything to missions, patients, and work. That the only reason she was alive and kicking was the hope instilled in her of finding the idiot blond.
She had killed herself, because she thought he was gone forever when Akamaru came back alone through the red gates of Konoha, with the message of the team's deaths.
Shikamaru's throat constricted as that memory surfaced along with the first attempt she had made. Naruto hadn't been there when she needed him.
His voice was thick of the frustrating emotion of wanting to yell it all at the blond, but also to protect both Sakura and Naruto.
"Just go to bed. We move out in a 3 hours."
Author Commentary:
Hello dearies. Any questions?
I must toot my own horn, I like how this is turning out. After many drafts over the years, I think I finally like this direction the story is going. Sakura is BA, and her backstory is slowly to be revealed.
Translation:
-none at this time
Alright, well, people you should know the deal. Read, review, live long and prosper.
Wolf
