Nurture-To feed and protect. To support and encourage, as during the period of training or development.
Numb-deprived of physical sensation or the ability to move.
Xoxoxo
The only thing that held him together was that she was still conscious and breathing.
The picture in front of him was so familiar, so dreadfully familiar that he almost did a double take. For a moment there was Sasuke Uchiha in front of him, with so many senbon in his body as he faced off against Haku. His best friend, risking everything to protect him.
Then in one blink there was Sakura Haruno, the girl he loved, with at least twenty senbon in her body. She'd taken every single hit, shielding him from the attack at the last second.
Her whole body was shaking in front of him, eyes wide as possible. In the back of his mind he knew she had gone into shock, but he couldn't do anything about it. There wasn't any time.
The enemy was closing in, taking advantage of the situation.
He didn't even hesitate.
Kill him.
He just let himself go numb.
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The weather had taken a turn for the worst, like Sakura's condition.
He could hardly remember what happened, but he'd come to himself with the enemy lying dead a few yards away. He'd gone straight to Sakura, who had succumbed to her wounds and fallen unconscious. He'd wanted to remove the senbon right there and try to help, but then it had started to rain.
The last thing he needed was for Sakura to get sick. He knew no medical jutsu, and she was incapable of such things while unconscious. If she got sick…no…he wouldn't think like that.
The cave he'd found was small, but large enough to fit the two of them and block out most of the harsher weather. He'd wait out the storm, and then head straight back to Konoha.
Naruto lifted his hand to Sakura's face, noting to ice cold feeling. The rain had soaked into her cloths, and leaving them on would be detrimental for her health.
Those wretched senbon were in the way of removing them!
Naruto ripped a kunai from his pouch and started shredding her shirt, sliding each piece carefully over the embedded senbon. She didn't make a sound, a sign that she was deep into unconsciousness. When pain didn't register, that was never a good sign.
Once her clothing was removed Naruto settled his hands on the first senbon, in her abdomen.
"I'm so sorry." He whispered, sliding it out. Still she didn't move, and Naruto continued on to the second. Each time he apologized, agonizing over every drop of blood that spilled on her pale skin.
All because of him. All because he had to bring up the subject then instead of later. They could have been prepared. He should have been prepared!
He should have taken that hit!
When the final senbon was removed, he tossed it outside, screaming. A dull pain registered in his hand, and he realized faintly that he'd cut himself with one of the senbon. The wound was already reddening around the edge.
"No…"
Poisoned. The senbon had been poisoned.
And there had been at least twenty of then in Sakura's body.
Naruto slammed his hand on the side of the cave, clenching his fist tightly. He wouldn't know what kind of poison it was until it started taking effect, and it would do so much sooner in Sakura than him. If it was meant to kill, then Sakura didn't have a chance.
Why couldn't the situation be reversed? She would know what to do! She could have come up with an antidote, healed his injuries, and they could be going back to Konoha!
He was useless to her. So utterly useless.
He was going to lose his best friend again, and this time it was truly his fault.
Naruto layed down beside Sakura, taking her hand in his. She was cold, too cold. He slid his jacket off and layed it over top her, pulling her closer to his body as gently as he could.
"You're not going to die like this Sakura." He whispered. "You made me a promise, and I'm holding you to it."
He felt his body start to slow, and a haze formed in his eyes. Was this the poison?
"I love you…Haruno Sakura…" darkness crept at the corner of his vision, taking him downward. "I promise…you won't die here…I promise…"
Xoxoxo
A little explanation…Nurture did win out in popular vote. I hadn't anticipated that, and it was difficult to work around what I wanted from this chapter with just that. I did use nurture (as seen in the chapter) but I also worked in the second most popular vote (numb) so everything stayed balanced. For those of you who picked nostalgic, I did also put a tiny bit of that in this chapter. It wasn't much because of the popular vote, but it worked into this chapter. I hope you all didn't mind the additional theme.
I appreciate all the reviews I'm receiving! The genuine interest, comments, and support I'm getting is astounding! Thank you!
Last chance to give an O suggestion. I'm now also taking request for R!