Chapter 10 – Aftermath
Tayuya's eyes opened slowly, showing nothing but a blurry haze. As her eyes focused, the pain throughout her body made itself known to her. The pain was evenly spread across her body, forcing her to remain as motionless as possible. After a few seconds, her eyes had finally retained their focus. She noticed that she was lying on her back on the ground, looking up towards the sky. She looked at the sky, noticing it was the middle of the day, instead of early morning.
"I've been out for hours..." She thought to herself.
She tried to sit up, but found that the pain was too intense. She let out an audible groan, and laid back down as gently as her weakened body would allow her to. She heard a twig snap behind her, but could not turn her head to see what it was.
"Tayuya, you're awake!" Oshime said, wanting to hug Tayuya, but knowing it would cause her intense pain.
"Yeah...I...guess...I...am..." Tayuya wheezed, the pain in her chest increasing as she talked.
"Don't try talking or moving, Tayuya, you're badly hurt." Oshime said.
Tayuya nodded, and continued looking at Oshime. Her face had a few nicks and bruises, and her clothes had been torn in a few places, but it looked like she was not injured in any severe way. Tayuya, on the other hand, had multiple injuries all over her body, but that is to be expected after slamming into a rock face. Tayuya noticed that Oshime was holding the sheath of her sword, yet Sui-Riu itself was lying next to Tayuya. Oshime brought the sheath over to Tayuya, and carefully tilted it towards Tayuya.
"Here, drink up." Oshime stated, "I found a small stream not far from here."
Tayuya nodded, and drank the water from the sheath, unsure of whether the sheath had left an aftertaste in the water, or the water was just of low quality. Either way, it was not that good. Oshime saw the look on Tayuya's face as she drank, and chuckled slightly.
"I know the water isn't that great, but it's all we have." Oshime stated, "I don't have enough chakra to summon our packs, and you're in no condition to do so."
Tayuya nodded, and drank some more of the water. Even though it did not taste the best, the cool water felt nice on her sore throat. After she finished, she placed the sheath to her side, and glanced at her surroundings. She could tell they were in a forest, but had no way of knowing how far from the village they were. Based on their injuries, Tayuya assumed that they were not far from the village, which worried her due to the possibilities of their opponents finding her.
"Here" Oshime said, handing Tayuya a clump of some type of plant.
Tayuya looked at it inquisitively, not knowing what it was for.
"It's an herb that is said to help one's chakra regenerate faster" Oshime replied, seeing Tayuya's face, "It's also the only thing we have to eat until we can summon our packs back."
Tayuya nodded, and began eating the plants, surprised at the fact that they did not taste that bad. The meager offering did little for her hunger, but just having something in her stomach felt nice. Tayuya saw Oshime also eating some of the herbs, and felt guilty for having drunken all the water in the sheath.
"Well, we were beaten pretty badly back there" Oshime stated, reaching into her cloak, "But at least we still got the prize."
Tayuya watched as Oshime pulled the Stone of Shadows out from her cloak's pocket, and held it up. Tayuya smiled a bit as she looked at the small artifact. Oshime quickly placed it back into her pocket, and walked over to Tayuya.
"I'm sorry you were hurt, Tayuya" Oshime said, "It's my fault for making us do this heist."
"It's...okay...Oshime..." Tayuya muttered, slowly shaking her head, "As...long...as...we...got...the...stone..."
Oshime smiled, but Tayuya could tell by the look in her eyes that she still felt guilty.
"I'm sorry, Tayuya, but until I get enough chakra to summon our packs, I can't change you." Oshime stated, feeling bad.
Tayuya nodded, knowing that her diaper was close to leaking already. At that moment, a breeze blew through the area, chilling both girls.
"Oshime..." Tayuya muttered, looking at the silver-haired kunoichi.
"Hmm? What is it, Tayuya?" Oshime asked.
"I'm...cold..." Tayuya responded.
Oshime noticed that Tayuya was shivering slightly, which probably hurt due to her injuries. She stood up, and walked over to Tayuya, smiling slightly.
"Tayuya, this might hurt a little bit." Oshime stated, before bending down and carefully lifting her up.
Tayuya grimaced at the pain as Oshime carried her gently, but said nothing. Oshime carefully sat down next to a tree, and held Tayuya close, wrapping her cloak around the redhead's body. Being held so close did cause Tayuya's body some pain, but the warmth and human contact felt so good that she did not care about the minor pain.
"Feel better?" Oshime asked, eliciting a nod from Tayuya, "Heh, I bet you wouldn't mind wearing one of those Akatsuki robes right now."
Tayuya smiled, recognizing the irony imbued in Oshime's words. Oshime smiled back, and pulled her cloak around them tighter. Tayuya felt her abdomen grow warmer, and assumed that she had begun wetting. Oshime could feel her lap grow warm and wet, and assumed that Tayuya's diaper had begun leaking.
"Sorry..." Tayuya muttered, blushing slightly.
"It's okay" Oshime said, smiling slightly, "It's not your fault."
Tayuya did not hear her, however, as she had fallen asleep after the wetting, cradled in Oshime's arms.
"Heh, sleep tight, Tayuya" Oshime said gently, "You've earned it."
As Oshime finished, she let out a small yawn, and fell asleep leaning against the tree.
"Shikamaru, what do we do now?" Sakura asked.
"We go after them, of course!" Naruto shouted, looking no worse for wear after his battle.
"It's not that easy, Naruto" Sakura responded, "We need to think about where they went before we pursue them."
"Well, they were both pretty injured" Shikamaru said, "But the silver-haired one had to carry Tayuya away from the scene, so they probably did not get very far."
"Yeah, that's true" Sakura replied.
"Also, they would most likely avoid coming back to this village," Shikamaru added, "So it stands to reason that they are in the forest somewhere, but it could take days to search the entire forest."
"I don't care!" Naruto shouted, "We have to find them!"
"I understand that, Naruto" Shikamaru replied, "But we need to think this out."
"He's right, Naruto" Sakura responded, "If we waste time searching, that gives them the chance to get away."
"Well, if sit here doing nothing, they'll definitely get away!" The blond shinobi yelled.
"Before we do anything, we need Sakura to do some healing, if she doesn't mind" Shikamaru responded.
"I think I have enough chakra for that" Sakura responded, placing her hand over Shikamaru's wounds.
Her hand began to glow with a light green aura, as Shikamaru's wound began to slowly heal. After healing his few injuries, she did the same to herself. When she was done, she looked at Naruto and was unsurprised to find him devoid of injuries.
"Okay, let's go now!" Naruto shouted.
"Ugh, we need a plan first, idiot." Sakura replied.
"Well, we can assume they went into the forest" Shikamaru stated, "Plus, because of the location that she released the smoke bomb, they must have gone into that part of the forest right in front of us."
"Then we should split up" Naruto stated, "That'd increase our chances of finding them"
"True, but if they placed a trap or they ambush one of us, then that person is in trouble." Shikamaru responded, "It's best if we stay together, for now."
"Either way, let's go!" Naruto shouted, running towards the trees.
Shikamaru and Sakura looked at each other, and then proceeded to follow Naruto into the woods.
"Stay on the ground!" Shikamaru shouted, "If we tree-hop, we may miss them on the ground"
"Right!" Both Naruto and Sakura responded.
Oshime was the first to wake up, noticing by the sun setting that quite a few hours had passed while they were napping. She was happy to notice that Tayuya had not wet further, although she would not have blamed her if she had. Her lap had fallen asleep from supporting Tayuya for a few hours, but she had no plans to try to move the sleeping kunoichi. She looked around the area, seeing nothing had changed since her nap, minus the color of the sky. As Oshime looked around, Tayuya slowly opened her eyes and looked up at Oshime.
"Have a good nap?" Oshime asked.
Tayuya managed a small smile, and nodded.
"How are you feeling?" Oshime asked.
"In...pain..." Tayuya responded, "A...lot...of it..."
"I'm sorry" Oshime said, pulling her closer, "This is all my fault."
"Shut...up..." Tayuya muttered, "This...is...not...your...fault..."
"But I was the one-" Oshime stated, before being interrupted.
"I...said...shut...up..." Tayuya wheezed, "This...was...my...fault...for...losing...that...battle..."
The look on Tayuya's face told Oshime not to continue with the argument, even though she felt guilty for the damage done to the redhead.
"What...now...?" Tayuya asked, wincing as she moved her arm.
"We let you heal, and then we escape" Oshime replied.
"Is...that...safe...?" Tayuya questioned, "We...can't...be...too far...from...the...village"
"I know, but we have no choice" Oshime answered, "You're too weak to be carried for long distances, right now."
"Then...leave...me" Tayuya replied, "Take the stone...and leave me...If I...live...I'll meet...up with you...If not...well...you get to keep...all the money."
"Now it's your turn to shut up" Oshime stated, "I'm not going to leave you here to die."
Tayuya let out a small chuckle, and huddled up closer to Oshime. Oshime noticed this, and responded by pulling her cloak tighter around the two of them, recognizing that it was getting cooler as the sun set.
"Thanks" Tayuya muttered, noticing the gesture.
Oshime only smiled in response, and pushed the stray strand of hair of hair out of Tayuya's eyes. Tayuya let out a slight laugh, knowing that Oshime's neatness meant she hated how Tayuya let that clump of hair fall across her face.
"How touching..." A voice stated.
"Wh-who's there!?" Oshime asked, nervous, but recognizing that voice from somewhere recent.
"I'll be the one who is taking the stone from you." The figure said, stepping out from under the shadow of a tree, and eliciting a gasp from Oshime in response.