Chapter Twenty-five

The Results of Carelessness

They were both looking at me as if they expected me to break at any moment. I mean really. What was the point of being gone for all this time if I couldn't handle the news of Sasuke being home? Sure I was surprised but they probably were as well when he showed up.

"How long has he been back?" I asked curiously.

"You had been gone over a year when he came back." Kakashi replied.

"I see. Is that all?"

Kakashi and Naruto looked at each other.

"Guys. It's okay. I can handle Sasuke being home. I'm fine." I was not fragile damn it!

Naruto began. "It's not that Sakura. It's--"

Kakashi interrupted. I was truly wishing they'd just get to the point. It couldn't be that serious. "When he came home he wasn't…the same."

I knew what a cold hearted bastard Sasuke had become. Hell, he left me so he could kill his brother. Of course he wasn't the same. So what was the point? I began to impatiently tapping my foot.

"Really guys, what is the point of all the dramatics?"

"Sasuke, came home with a broken mind." Kakashi explained. Naruto held my hand tighter.

"What the hell do you mean by a broken mind?" I shouted.

"We don't know what happened. He just showed up here unable to communicate."

"So, he's mute."

Naruto shook his head. "It's more than that." His hand began to squeeze tighter. "Sometimes he's silent and other times all he does is scream. I've never seen him like this. I'd prefer him trying to kill me than this. And his body…" He trailed off a look of horror in his eyes.

So I asked the obvious question. "If he's this bad then why hasn't Tsunade healed him?"

"She tried."

My eyes narrowed on Kakashi. "Tried?"

"She couldn't." That was unacceptable. I had heard enough so I stood.

"Take me to him."

"That's not a good idea Sakura." Kakashi said. I gave him a look full of indignation, anger, and deadliness.

"Do not presume to make decisions for me Kakashi. Do as I say, not as you think you should do."

The stunned look on his face would have amused me if not for the current situation. "Naruto, take me to him." Naruto immediately stood up and lead me out the room. Kakashi trailed in our wake.

I don't know what I expected when I walked into his room. But nothing could prepare my horror at the scene that greeted me.

Sasuke was strapped to the hospital bed. There were two medics in the room trying to heal him physically. His skin looked like it was being burned away slowly. As soon as they healed him in one area it would begin to deteriorate again. He was straining against the straps as if what they were doing was hurting him. His mouth was thrown open in a soundless scream.

He was horribly disfigured. The left side of his face was the worst. The skin was gone on his cheeks and the muscle was exposed for all to see. If it wasn't for the hair I don't think I would have recognized him. A normal person would have been dead by then but not Sasuke. I wanted to cry for him but tears were not a luxury I could afford at the moment.

"Step away from him." I commanded. The two medics looked up at me.

"Haruno." One said surprise etched on his face. I guess not everyone knew that I had returned.

"I said step away from him." My tone booked no room for argument. They backed away quickly. Not quick enough for my taste but still…. I walked over and looked down at Sasuke's body. I recognized what was happening to him. I had seen it before, just not this advanced.

"I want everyone out of this room." One of the medics opened his mouth to argue but one look at his face had him rushing out the room undoubtedly to go get Lady Tsunade. Everyone began filing out Naruto and Kakashi included. "No, Naruto. You stay. I'm going to need your help."

Naruto immediately made his way back into the room and to my side. I smiled inwardly. I was fortunate to have Naurto as a friend. He was always at my back ready to help when needed. When the door closed I looked down at Sasuke's face.

"Sasuke." I called out. His eyes remained unfocused and cloudy. His mind was not broken. He had probably just separated his mind from his body in order to endure the pain. I knew he could respond to me though so I said harshly, "Look at me Sasuke!" If he didn't look though he would probably die. He winced in pain as he turned his head and looked at me. Naruto gasped. He was probably surprised that I had gotten a reaction out of the nearly dead Uchiha.

"Sakura." My name came out slurred and barely distinguishable but I understood him. Every word was crystal clear to me.

"I am going to heal you but I need you to try and not fight me. That will only make this more difficult."

"Lemme die." My heart ached at his words but I couldn't help but understand. He had been like this for quite some time. I would want to die too.

"Sasuke!" Naruto's anguished voice called out.

"Is this an Uchiha laying before me? Giving up so easily? Have you nothing to live for Sasuke? Nothing worth fighting for?" I asked.

"I dunno. Do I?" He asked. A pain shot through my heart. My eyes closed briefly. When I opened them determination surged through my veins.

"Fight with me and you will see."

"Hn." A smile creped onto my face at that familiar sound. I immediately started to heal him. I knew he wanted to fight me but he struggled not to. It let me know that I still had a chance to save him.

The door flung open. The imposing figure of my master stood in the doorway. "Sakura, what are you doing?" She demanded.

"I'm healing him." I replied.

"You can't heal someone if you don't know what the injury is." Tsunade said as if she were arguing with someone who was insane. To a degree I probably was but I knew what I was doing.

"I suppose it's a good thing that I know what the injury is." They both looked at me sharply.

"And what is wrong with him Sakura?" She asked.

"His chakra is attacking him. You've been too busy looking for some problem with his organs when it was his chakra that has been the problem."

Tsunade argued back. "There is nothing wrong with his chakra. I checked that."

I sighed irritated because she was breaking my concentration. "Nothing that you could see anyway. There are subtle differences to it."

"How would you know?" She asked curiously.

"I have carried his chakra in my body before. I know what it should be like." I said not giving a full explanation. That explanation though was enough to take her off guard. She knew what that meant. "Please leave. You're breaking my concentration." She stood there for a moment watching me then quietly left the room while I tended to the man that had stolen my heart again.

Flashback

Dear Kakashi, Date: 1 yr. 6 mo. Post departure.

Itachi had sent members of the Akatsuki to 'watch over me'. Is he worried about? I'm a strong and capable kunoichi. I can take care of myself! Those guys creep me out. Well, only one of them. Kisame. I believe you've met him before. You know, big guy, blue skin, scary as hell. I think he's still holding a grudge because I entrapped him in the earth this one time. It wasn't my fault he was dumb enough to get caught! He licks his lips when he's in the room with me. I think he wants to eat me.

Deidara, he's this freaky artist guy. He reminds me of someone. I can't quite place who yet. Anyway, he's actually a good conversationalist. Truly though, I just want them gone. They're eating all my food. What is it with men and big appetites? Should I feel comfortable with criminals? I don't know. I don't think this was what you meant by finding myself. I'm going to talk to Itachi about this.

Searching for a way to escape the Akatsuki,

Sakura

I looked at the letter that I had just written. There had to be a way to get rid of Itachi's insane associates. I was so lost in thought that I didn't feel the presence of anyone in the room with me. Suddenly, I heard a voice whisper in my ear.

"It's payback time girly."

I was engulfed in darkness. When I came to, I was hog tied to a stick and hanging over a roasting fire. Sweat poured off my body by the gallons.

"Kisame! Let me go." I struggled weakly against the bonds that hold me but found that I was almost completely empty on chakra. Probably because of the wicked cool sword he carried around.

"I don't think so. The way I see it we've got a score to settle."

"Itachi, will kill you."

"Only if he finds out I'm the one that killed you. And since he won't..." He let the thought trail off. I came close to screaming I felt so weak and defenseless. After all this time I was still someone's prey. I turned my head searching for Deidara but he was no where to be found. "He's gone." He said reading my mind. "Got called off on a mission." He then began to chuckle at my plight.

There was no one to save me this time. No, Sasuke to suddenly wake up and attempt to kill everyone that hurt me. No Naruto to save me from a deranged monster bent of killing to prove his exsistance. There was only me in a do or die situation and I wasn't ready to die yet. Especially not like this. This was too humilating a death for a ninja to undertake. I needed to focus and clear my mind. It was hard though seeming as though I was being cooked. I could break free of the bonds but I would have nothing left to fight him with if I did that. I'd end up right back where I was. I let out an angry, frustrated growl then remembered that I was almost out of chakra but he had plenty. That was all I needed. I activated my kekkai genkai and began to drain him of his chakra. He wasn't even aware of what was happening at first. I took advantage of that. I was actually glad he had almost completely drained me dry. That meant that I could contain almost all of his chakra.

He was panting slightly looking around as if an enemy were attacking him. "Something's wrong." He said standing up. His eyes roamed over the area searching for the enemy that was right before him. When I could take no more of the heat eating at my skin I broke free of my bonds quickly and stood before him.

"I am what's wrong." I said throwing a chakra charged fist at him. He went flying backwards and I followed him with grim determination then proceeded to beat him senseless.

I looked in his eyes and saw fear danced in them. I smiled coldly into his eyes. "You are alive because I do not think that Itachi would be pleased if I killed you. So leave and don't come back."

He stood up cautiously backing away as if I'd kill him as soon as he turned his back. It was a thought but I wasn't going to do it.

Itachi showed up two weeks later. Arms slipped around my waist and pulled me into strong arms.

"Sakura." He whispered in my ear. I shivered in delight but pulled out of his arms and turned around. It was then that I realized that he was not alone. My eyes looked at Kisame who happened to be twitching in pain on my floor. I looked at him dispassionately.

Itachi immediately activated his Sharingan looking for the enemy. His eyes then landed on me. "Sakura, you're killing him." He said.

And so I was. My kekkai genkai had activated on it's own again. "Sakura, stop it." Itachi ordered.

"Why should I? That bastard tried to kill me."

"What are you talking about?"

"You sent him here and he tried to kill me." I said turning on him. Kisame let out a scream of agony.

"Why did you not mention this?" He said just as angry as I was. Kisame's screams grew louder.

"I can take care of myself Itachi. I didn't think it was necessary to inform you of every detail that went on in my life."

He glared at me momentarily. Then changed the subject. "What are you cooking?"

"Nothing. You're taking me out." The glare returned. "Don't look at me like that Itachi Uchiha. You owe me one and well you know it."

"Fine." He said and walked towards the door I followed him but paused at Kisame's body.

"There had better not be blood on my floor when I return." I said to the pain ridden S-class criminal.

I sat through dinner puzzling out what had happened with Kisame. "Sakura." Itachi said breaking me out of my thoughts. "Tell me about you kekkai genkai." I looked at him stunned that he had realized the truth. It didn't even occur to try and lie I just started speaking.

"It's chakra based. I can absorb the chakra of anyone. If my chakra is diminished then I can replace it with my enemy's. I can also.." I paused. I had not told him about the effects that my kekkai genkai would have on him. I wasn't sure how he would react.

"Tell me Sakura." His tone booked no room for argument.

"I can exchange chakra with a lover. It has side effects." His eyes hardened.

"What side effects?"

"Not only do they gain my chakra but they take on temporarily traits of my personality."

He was silent. I waited for him to get up and leave but he didn't he just stared into my eyes.

"That doesn't explain why Kisame's chakra was attacking itself."

"What?!"

"You heard me, woman." I decided to let the 'woman' thing go.

"Well, I don't know why it's doing that." Although I did believe his current condition had something to do with me.

"Tell me what happened with you and Kisame."

I relayed the information to him and he sat quietly throughout the rest of our meal. I enjoyed the silence content since he hadn't reacted as badly as I thought he would. When he had finished he said.

"Kisame's condition is obviously your doing. You're going to have to undo it."

"Do I have to?" I could tell he wanted to smile but he didn't. One day I was going to get a smile out of that man. Even if it killed me.

"You do. That is if he's still alive when we've returned." He pushed his plate out the way and folded his hands on the table leaning into it. "Now, my hypothesis is that it was the words that you spoke to Kisame that caused a reaction." At my puzzled look he continued. "You told him to leave and not to return. He disobeyed a direct order you gave while you had your kekkai genkai activated. When he returned your body automatically took him as a threat, therefore attacking him. His chakra attacking him is the end result." I stared at him stunned. This is why they called him a genius. Smart guys were hot. I bit my lower lip and stared at him as if I was a starving woman and he was my last meal. "If you keep staring at me like that woman I will take you right here on this table."

I glanced around the crowded room. I was kinky but I wasn't that kinky. Yet. I lowered my gaze to my food. A small smile playing on my lips.

I was almost completely drained dry of my chakra. "Naruto." I said. He stood up quickly. "I need you to let me have your chakra." I could see on his face that he was going to agree with no questions. "No, Naruto. Listen to me. You need to know the risks before you agree."

"What risks?"

I looked down at Sasuke's body that was stabilizing but not quickly enough. I gestured to Sasuke's body. "If you give me your chakra, then I will always be able to manipulate it. You could one day be where Sasuke is."

"What are you saying?" Naruto looked at me worried.

I took a deep breath. "That I think my carelessness with my kekkai genkai did this."

"You did this to Sasuke." I nodded. "Intentionally?"

"You know I could never hurt him on purpose."

Naruto extended an arm to me. "Take it."

"Naruto, are you sure?"

Blue eyes stared at me. "I trust you Sakura." Tears sprang forth but didn't fall, instead I took his hand and squeezed it tight. "Now save Sasuke."

The chakra I received form Naruto's chakra was almost addictive. It was like feeling ambrosia flow through my body. I had never felt anything so powerful. I didn't even think he knew just how powerful he was. I shook my head and began pouring that chakra out of me and into Sasuke. Healing him completely. When he was stabilized I turned to Naruto with a triumphant smile.

"Naruto, we did it."

"I knew you could."

I walked over to the chair in the room and collapsed into it.

Dimly, I heard Naruto calling my name but I was just too tired to respond.

Sasuke Uchiha opened his eyes a day later.

"Sakura!" He said sitting up abruptly. He looked around the room for the woman but found himself alone. He swung his feet to the floor and stood up only to realize that he had on no clothes. He looked around the room he was in and wondered where he was.

The last thing he remembered was searching for Sakura.

A/N: Have a good weekend everybody! Thank you for the reviews!