Affinity
Prompt: Space
Rating: M
Title: Directional Error
Summary: Two years confided to a flying tin can will make anybody wish for a little action, but nothing like this.
xxxxxxx
Her leather boots hit illuminated flooring, creating tapping noises as she makes her way from the medical bay to her room. Like most days on board The Konoha, the few patients she had been required to see either ate some of the goulash from the cafeteria the night before or had minor injuries from the engine room.
Once reaching her door in the practically deserted hallway, she scans her ID card causing it to slide open with a slight Fsss. She sighs in relief, not the first time thanking herself for being a doctor and not a soldier of the Galactic Military. The few times she had wandered down in the barracks she had not been impressed by the limited living spaces, and the overcrowding of people in them for that matter.
Punching the button to seal the door, she kicks off her boots, shrugs out of the white medical coat, and places her thigh holster on her dresser. Once free of her restrictions, she flings herself on top of the single bed.
Flipping onto her back, she examines the industrial styled room. It's small, but that's to be expected when on a flying army base headed to deep space. Her blinds are drawn, blocking the dark, star-speckled sky, and a few photo frames of her family sit on the surface of her small dresser and side table. She tried her best to spruce up the dull place, adding colorful paintings to the walls here and there, but found that nothing could imitate the warm rays of sunlight.
It had been two years since she boarded The Konoha and now, more than ever, she craves the feel of the ocean washing over her feet as the sun sets in the distance.
Two more days, she tells herself knowing that the long journey will soon be over.
Hearing a metallic knock on her door she heads over to answer it, but not before pausing to check her hair in the mirror. Her shoulder-length pink locks are thrown up in a bun with haphazard strays that cause it to lean more towards the side of messy than cute. She shrugs, not really caring enough to fix it, and saunters towards the door. Pressing the little button next to the smooth, white metal causes it to open and she is greeted with dark spikey hair and lustful eyes.
Before she can even greet him, his lips are on hers, and his strong hands push her up against a wall. Without even caring about shutting the door, she eagerly wraps her legs around his waist, threads her hands through his unruly hair.
Giggling all the way, Sakura finds herself thrown onto the bed and a now shirtless and passionate man hovering over her. She flinches slightly as the cool metal of his dog tags press against her chest. His body rumbling with a slight chuckle as he removes the necklace and sets it on top of her bedside table. She can only make out the indentations of tiny 'a's as the metal plates blur past her vision.
Right after she removes her red tank top, a lurch of the ship rattles the room. Picture frames crash to the floor and a red emergency light begins rotating from the corner of her ceiling.
"Stay here," he orders as he pulls the army green tank top over his head and sticks his head out the, still open, door.
Ignoring his orders, she slips off the bed and moves up behind him. "Kiba, maybe you should go back to the barracks," she tells him. "It might be an emergency drill or somethi-"
An anguished cry from the corridor cuts her off and both people leap back into the room.
"Shit!" Kiba yells as he quickly presses the button to seal the door.
"What is it? Did an engine rupture or something?"
As if to answer her question, a computerized voice speaks through the overhead speakers. "Code red, code red, this is not a drill. Repeat, this is not a drill."
Sakura's green eyes widen as she quietly mutters in disbelief, "The Cursed."
"All medical staff report to the medical bay. Soldiers perform protocol codename 'Extermination'. Obstructed bays include the following Quadrant Two, Quadrant Four, Mess Hall, and Hanger Four. If you are in one of these sections, report to the nearest evacuation chamber and await further instructions. Code red, code red, this-"
Kiba locks eyes with Sakura as the monotone voice continues to drone on the warning. Anger, frustration, and surprisingly, fear are revealed in his dark eyes.
"Kiba, I need to get to the medical bay," Sakura tells him as she puts her shirt back on and straps the gun holster back around her leg.
"Sakura, you heard the warning. You're in a compromised area, I need to get you to an evac zone."
Her green eyes narrow in determination. "I'm the head doctor, if the ship is really overrun, they'll need me."
"There are Cursed running free in the ship and you think that they'll just let you waltz past them?" His voice rises in frustration.
"What do you want me to do?" She yells furiously, "Cower in some escape pod while you and the other soldiers face them!"
"Sakura, please just-"
He's interrupted when the metal of the door crunches to the side as a large, blue figure darts into the room. Sakura's eyes widen, as a clawed hand rips into Kiba's chest as if he is a Christmas present. The soldier's body drops to the ground with a sickening thud as the large creature makes its way over to Sakura. She freezes, coming face to face with one of the dreaded Cursed Ones for the first time.
The many holograms she has seen of the feared creatures do not do their intimidating presence justice. Its body resembles a slightly distorted human physique, the limbs elongated and bent at odd angles, and large claws in place of fingers, now dripping with crimson blood. The biggest difference is the bluish tinge covering the, otherwise black, skin.
The creature fascinates the medical side of her brain, but the human side is mortified and takes over. Grabbing the standard issue handgun from her dresser, Sakura backs into the corner of the room.
The Cursed one stalks forward slowly, as if testing her. However, it does not have the element of surprise this time.
Sakura takes aim – hands shaking from the shock of watching Kiba die – and shoots the alien in the head until her magazine is empty. Each bullet in the creature's body giving her a grim sense of satisfaction as she watches the thick blackish-blue blood seep from its body and hears the guttural sounds of pain it makes at each new wound.
The creature, having fallen to the ground after her second shot, no longer poses a threat, so Sakura walks over to Kiba's body and stares down at him. His eyes and mouth are open, having experienced one of the most horrific of deaths. Choking back her tears, Sakura slips his eyes shut and sends a silent prayer for him.
Still running on adrenaline, she grabs full magazines for her only weapon and rushes out the door.
Medical bay, medical bay, her mind chants as she darts from corner to corner in the bright hallways of the ship. The usual pristine white corridors are splattered with red and blackish blood alike, corpses lying here and there. She pauses at some of the more intact bodies to check for pulses, but has yet to find a survivor.
"-codename 'Extermination'. Obstructed bays include the following Quadrant One, Quadrant Two, Quadrant Four, Quadrant Five, Quadrant Seven, Quadrant Eight, Quadrant Nine, Engine Room, Hanger One, Hanger Three, and Hanger Four. If you-"
Shit, that's over half of the ship, Sakura thinks as she quietly moves down the gruesome hallways. Luckily any aliens she has encountered have already been killed or in need of just one more bullet through their skull.
Eventually, she reaches the last hallway that stands between her and the Med Bay. Unfortunately, it is the scene for a standoff between a small group of soldiers and numerous Cursed ones that seem to be coming from a drilled out hole in one of walls. She fires off a round of shots, nailing a couple of the aliens in their distorted limbs before running to the makeshift cover that the soldiers crouch behind.
"You should be in an escape pod," One of the soldiers barks out.
"Watch yourself, soldier," she snaps back, firing off more rounds and emptying her clip. "I am Doctor Haruno, the head of medical staff and chief of medicine here, I need to get to the Med Bay."
"Well I am Captian Uchiha and I'm telling you that you should be in an escape pod," he responds sharply.
"With all do respect, Captian," Sakura emphasizes the title, not backing down. "There are people that need my help and I intend to do just that."
"Doctor Haruno," he leans against the pile of debris acting as their cover. "There is no use going to the medical bay, at this rate, it'll be overrun in a couple of minutes."
"Captian-" She begins to argue that it is her duty to save those in need at the danger of her own life or otherwise, but a man yelling "Grenade!" interrupts her.
She feels herself being knocked onto her back as a loud bang resounds in the ship. Her ears ring at the noise and she struggles to regain her bearings. She slowly moves out from under the man that leaped on top of her. She begins checking him for wounds, but the large pieces of shrapnel lodged in his back and neck prove the uselessness of even checking.
"Code black," the computerized voice comes back on, the calming tone a complete contrast to her devastating words. "Abandon ship, I repeat abandon ship, all sectors overrun. Code black, abandon ship-"
The small group of soldiers that had been there only moments ago now lay in pieces around her. Her mind races with her options as she stands frozen in the bloodied corridor.
"Come on, Doctor," the Captain says, coming out of nowhere before dragging Sakura around a corner and pushing her through an airlock and into the narrow entrance of an escape pod. Her right leg burns and she realizes that some debris from the grenade managed to embed themselves there. She is about to work on it, but notices blood running down the Captain's sleeve.
Her medical instincts take over, "let me inspect your arm."
"Leave it," he orders, messing with the control panel of the pod. "Tend to yourself."
They're the only two in the compact pod and her heart clenches when the airlock door begins to hiss shut.
"Wait!" she yells. "We have to wait for more people!"
"There are no more," Captain Uchiha states unnervingly calm.
"You don't know that!" Sakura snaps back, desperation of the situation overwhelming her. "They're could be injured stragglers trying to get here." She begins looking at the controls trying to figure out which lever or button would reopen the door. She eyes a big green switch with the words "latch controls" on it and begins to reach for it. A firm hand wraps itself around her wrist and she finds herself looking into grave, dark eyes that appear as if they've never known happiness or hope.
"The cursed can smell a drop of blood 50 miles away, with their speed and reflexes let alone the number that just invaded our ship, no injured soldier would be able to sneak past them," his voice is hollow. "Our best bet is to launch and meet up with others that could have causalities."
"We can't just leave," she pleads with him, knowing that the fact they even made it was from pure dumb luck.
He hesitates then opens his mouth to respond. Before he can articulate his thoughts, a great rumbling knocks both of them off balance.
Sakura finds her cheek pressed flat into the glass window of the door facing the interior of the ship and her blood runs cold at the sight. Banging against the airlock barrier is easily 20 of the cursed, their distorted limbs and blood stained teeth prying apart at the metal.
"Launch the pod!" She practically screams at the captain, who had the sense to grab the stability handles to prevent from toppling over. One of the Cursed's claws burst through the exterior metal, it's inhuman eyes peaking through.
"Launch now!" the medic cries again. The thick metal of the pod no longer feeling as secure as it did a moment ago.
After a sequence of beeps and a sudden lurch, the sight of the discolored aliens bursting through the airlock begins shrinking in the distance.
Her frustration at the situation begins to bubble over and a familiar feeling begins to gnaw at her stomach. It's one she recognizes, but experiences rarely, helplessness. The daunting fear and nagging uselessness that overwhelms her when a patient flat lines on an operating table in front of her.
She drops to her knees on the grated metal with a slight clank. All those lives on The Konoha, gone. Her eyes sting as she remembers Kiba's slack body smacking the floor of her cabin, the rancid breath of his murderer, the weight of the dead soldier's body who shielded her from the grenade.
A mad beeping from the control center breaks the doctor from her thoughts.
"Shit," Captain Uchiha mutters as he observes the various screens.
"What's happening?" Sakura asks warily, she never did brush up on her space navigation skills.
"Our locator is down," the dark haired man states.
"Okay," Sakura pauses, not fully realizing the severity of the situation. "What's that mean?"
An exasperated sign escapes the tense military captain. "It means that the other escape pods won't be able to find us and that our chances of hitting within 50 miles of the rendezvous point are very slim."
Her face pales at the thought of being stuck within the metallic prison, drifting aimlessly through space.
"What do we do?" she asks, nausea hitting her like waves.
"I've done my best to set the navigation settings so that we'll reach the planet within a day, where exactly on the planet we'll land isn't certain," his face is blank, but a slight sense of nervousness seeps into his tone.
Sakura's stomach plummets even more as the gravity of their situation dawns on her. Humans colonized only 10% of their destination planet. That gives them a 1 in 10 chance of landing somewhere secure, somewhere with protection from the Cursed dwelling in the remaining lands. The idea of facing hundreds more of those creatures before safety is assured causes her to pull her knees up and cradle them in her arms. The dampness she feels reminds her of the embedded shrapnel.
"Shit," she curses as the adrenaline and fear wear off and the throbbing pain of her leg returns. She begins rolling up her pants to get a better view. It doesn't look too bad, just small metal pieces superficially embedded and slight burns on the outer side of her calf and thigh. "Can you hand me the first aid kit?" She asks, eyeing the large red box near the captain.
He brings it over to her and begins examining his own wounds.
"Don't do that," Sakura scolds as she witnesses the stern man trying to remove some of his own shrapnel with his bare fingers. "Here." She gestures for him to turn towards her as she removes the sterile tweezers from the med kit. "This will sting," she warns are she sprays down his arm with antiseptic. His wounds are a little more severe, spanning his entire bicep and continuing under his uniform.
Before she can ask, he removes his military jacket and the blood stained t-shirt underneath. She remains in doctor mood, making quick work of the metal protruding from his body, and spraying the synthetic skin over the more damaged areas.
"My first name's Sakura by the way," she says, trying to break the tension and weariness that weighs heavily on them.
"Sasuke," he mutters, wincing slightly as her well-practiced hands begin to suture a deeper wound curving with his well defined shoulder blade.
Sakura wants to keep talking to distract both of them from what just happened, but the silence that falls over them feels more appropriate. She spends a little more time on his wounds before tending to her own. He nods gratefully before moving back towards the pod's controls.
When the risk of her leg getting infected is minimized and stress of the past couple hours begins making her eyelids heavy, she finds a somewhat comfortable position on the safety seats and lets her eyes drift close.
xxxxxx
Sasuke has always been good at keeping a cool head in stressful situations, that's how he was able to become such a high rank at such a young age, but he never imagined he'd encounter something like this in his military career. Thousands of soldiers had been aboard The Konoha heading towards the new planet to continue colonization efforts. He expected some trials once they reached their destination, but never in a million years did he imagine they would be attacked beforehand.
His hands shake slightly as he examines the wounds he acquired. They aren't pretty; it's lucky that he ended up with a member of medical personal, let alone the head doctor. Speaking of which, the clattering of teeth causes him to look over in the direction of the pink-haired women. She's asleep but her body shakes with the cold of the metal pod.
He gathers up his navy military jack and walks over to wear she lays. Her slender body is curled up in a ball, her injured leg on top, and her light hair is splayed around her head like halo. He lays his jacket across her, trying to cover her exposed skin as much as possible, then just stands there and watches her for a minute.
He notices her muscles relaxing with the new found warmth, and a sense of peace passing over her face. What a contrast to the blood and violence he witnessed earlier. With a deep sigh he wanders back over to the controls and thinks about how their situation is far from over. Where will they land, what's to face them when they get there, and how long will it take them to find people?
He doesn't know the answer to the questions, but he does know he's going to fight like hell until both of them are safe.