Chapter Thirteen.
Barely a few steps into the journey, the rain suddenly ended and the storm broke. Sun shining through the gradually parting clouds. They began racing through the trees, hurrying to get medical help.
Not long after, under the shade of the forest, Naruto stirred. Kakashi turned his head towards Naruto just as he opened his dull, empty eyes. Eyes devoid of hope and filled with an aching and lonely sadness.
"'Kashi-Sensei…" Naruto croaked out. "Where's Sasuke?"
At Naruto's pleading question, the Shadow Clone of Kakashi pulled ahead, Sasuke carefully nestled on his back.
Just as Naruto was sighing in relief at the sight of his team mate, a group of medic-nins came up to them. Three flocked around Kakashi and Naruto whilst three flocked around the Kakashi clone and Sasuke.
"Kakashi. What's the condition of Naruto Uzumaki?" the head of the trio surrounding Kakashi and Naruto, a man in glasses, questioned.
"He'll pull through." Kakashi replied.
"And Sasuke, what about Sasuke Uchiha? What happened" the medic in charge questioned.
"He'll pull through too. He's in a genjutsu so that we can get him treatment without fuss and aggravation to his injuries."
The medics nodded their understanding.
"How are the other genin?" Kakashi inquired.
"Alright. Lady Hokage dispatched the first and second medical core to pick them up. Emergency treatment was administered on the scene, then they were all immediately transported … to the hospital." He explained.
"They're all wounded?" Kakashi asked incredulously.
"Yes. Shikamaru Nara is doing fine, just minor injuries. Kiba Inuzuka is more serious but not life threatening." The one with glasses informed them.
"However," the one on the opposite side to the man with glasses continued. "Neji Hyuga and Choji Akimichi are both in critical condition. At this point, they could go either way." He broke the bed news the traveling shinobi.
Naruto lost conscious again at that point and one of the medics began to monitor the flow of Naruto's chakra whilst another administered healing chakra to soothe his chakra network.
Shira's vision had been fading at the edges for around five minutes when the gates of Konoha came into view. The feeling of fatigue and light-headedness began to overpower her as she stumbled in her path, tripped and landed in a heap in the floor.
She lay motionless on the ground as a couple medics try to treat her chakra exhaustion and carry her to the hospital along with Naruto and Sasuke.
The last thing she heard before blacking out was Kakashi's commanding voice. "Cut your chakra flow for the genjutsu!"
Oh yeah. Shira thought. I still have Sasuke under the genjutsu. And everything faded away.
Shira started to come to at the sound of raised voices. When she tried to concentrate her head throbbed in agonising pain, causing her to involuntarily cry out. The arguing stopped but the pain continued to the point where she was clenching the sheets between her hands and tearing through as her back arched up from whist she pushed her head back further into the pillow.
She could feel liquid streaming down her eyes and nose. Could taste a horrid copper on the back of her tongue causing her to cough and specks to fly from her mouth and land on her cheeks, chin and chest. A beeping wail was filling the room, screeching into her head and vibrating.
She tossed some more as the pain escalated. She became aware of the burning throughout her body, especially around her face and head.
The sudden sound of the door flying open and a women yelling out, "Sedate her now! She's putting too much stress on her chakra system!" was the last thing she heard as everything faded out once more.
The genin of team seven stared at the unconscious girl in shock and concern. Sasuke and Naruto had been arguing like usual, and then Sakura had gotten involved. They had been loud enough to wake the girl and set her off.
"Hey, granny." Naruto called out to Tsunade as she wiped specks of blood from the girl's cheeks and chest before wiping away the streams of blood from her eyes and nose. "What happened to her? Who is she?"
Tsunade sighed before turning to face team seven and telling the other medic to leave. "Her name is Shira." Tsunade started. "Her injuries are sustained from the same cause as your injuries. The Sasuke Retrieval Mission." All three genin looked surprised. "She was sent out with Kakashi to back you up, Naruto. … Actually she begged to go because she had been trying to find you and you were sent as part of the retrieval team for the mission, so didn't give me much choice. She travelled the same distance as you, but where you had stops, both she and Kakashi ran continuously. She was using chakra to enhance her speed. She then used chakra to stabilise Naruto's condition until Kakashi got there after she went on ahead. She also had Sasuke in a very powerful genjutsu for the entire trip back." Sasuke's eyes widened at the news.
This girl, on the bed opposite his and Naruto's beds, was the one that let him see his mother again. She was the one that saved him. The one that saved his big brother from death by his hands. This girl, Shira, who he had been suspicious of before he left and fought before being wired to a tree by Kakashi, had been the one to save him.
"She's completely fried her chakra network, especially in her head. Which means whatever genjutsu she was using to keep Sasuke unconscious was extremely strong and extremely taxing."
"Genjutsu is one of the most unknown styles out there. The limit is your imagination. … It's a mental thing. … the genjutsu used to allow me to talk to you is extremely chakra exhausting. It's why no one ever uses it anymore. Even the Uchiha clan members couldn't use it that well. It truly is a dying art."
Sasuke looked down at his lap in troubled silence. Somehow, he got the impression when his mother said "dying art" she hadn't just meant the fact that it wasn't used anymore.
The rest of the day passed smoothly. Shikamaru came in to check on Naruto and Shira, giving Sasuke a once over. Kakashi came in to make sure they hadn't killed each other and to send Sakura home for the day. At one point, Temari had even come in to check on Naruto and Shira, who turned out used to know Gaara.
It was sunset and Sasuke and Naruto had been laying in silence for a while, listening to the heart monitor of the girl that had helped them at the risk of both her life and her shinobi career.
"Naruto." Sasuke uttered as he turned towards his team mate, best friend and rival.
Naruto jumped and spun to face Sasuke. "Huh?" a look of confusion dominated his expression. Sasuke suppressed a snort at how idiotic he looked.
"That girl…" Sasuke tilted his head towards Shira.
"Huh? Shira? What about her?" Naruto asked, his brows furrowed. Sasuke turned to face Shira in the bed opposite of him.
"The genjutsu she put me in…" Sasuke trailed off before starting again. "The genjutsu she put me in, it let me talk to my mum again."
When Naruto didn't reply, Sasuke looked over to the blonde to see his stunned expression. Wide eyed and mouth slightly agape as he stared incredulously at Sasuke.
"What happened?" Naruto finally got out.
It was like a flood gate. With that single question, Sasuke let everything come tumbling from his mouth. Everything that happened in the genjutsu with his mum, what really happened with Itachi, the manipulative Danzo, the Sharingan possibly controlling the Kyuubi, the coup. Every detail came bursting out of Sasuke and flooding over Naruto.
When he finished, he was a breathing heavily and his eyes burned with the need to cry, to finally get all these emotions of his chest, to finally get some relief from the pain and loneliness he felt since he was left alone.
Whilst Sasuke had been calming his breathing and refusing to let tears fall, especially in front of the dead last, Naruto had gotten out of bed and shuffled over to Sasuke. Laying a hand in his shoulder causing Sasuke to look up at Naruto through his bangs.
"I'll always be by your side, Sasuke." Naruto vowed. "That's a promise of a life time."