Chapter 36

Sasuke was in shock. How was it possible for Sakura to have become infected? When Kabuto attacked her, it was the full moon. But Kabuto wasn't a real wolf, was he? It was all so confusing and unreal.

"Is this really that bad?" Sasuke asked. Tsunade's expression made him think that this was the end of the world. But he was a werewolf and if Sakura ended up being one too he didn't see any problem in that.

"It's not as simple as you would think," Tsunade explained. "When someone is bitten by a werewolf during the full moon they become infected and will transform during the next full moon. But humans weren't made to transform. Something just doesn't click and it causes them to go insane. They lose control of themselves and forget who they are."

Now Sasuke could see why Tsunade looked so worried. This was more than Sakura becoming a wolf. She would eventually lose herself in the process. The virus not only messes with her body but with her mind. It could very well alter her very personality. The Sakura he knew may not be the same person after the virus changes her. He never met a human who was turned into a werewolf so he had to take Tsunade's word for it. Kabuto was probably a special case and was created by something that he and Orochimaru had cooked up.

Tsunade left the two of them alone for a bit. On the way out, she mentioned getting her a different room and informing her parents. That was going to be a very difficult phone call. Sasuke felt numb. All this was so much to take in. He stepped back to allow the nurses to move her to a different room. He noticed that Naruto wasn't standing outside of the room anymore. Tsunade probably dragged him away because there was no way that he would have left of his own free will. When they began transport, Sasuke lagged behind a little. He was sure to keep her within sight but he didn't want to crowd the nurses. It was the complete opposite of how he felt earlier when he wanted to be directly next to her.

But what could he do? He wasn't even sure what Tsunade and the other doctors could do. They had to pass through a couple security doors to reach her new room. This room only had one bed and was practically empty besides a few machines that sat next to the bed. After they had finished moving her Sasuke took one of the seats next to her bed. He was nervous. He wanted her to wake up to make sure that she was alright. But what if Tsunade said was true, would she really be the same person?

Before he had time to mentally prepare himself he heard the door open and more people rushed into the room. Sakura's parents had arrived and Naruto followed them in at a much slower pace. Sasuke politely stepped back and allowed her parents to take their place beside the bed. By the distraught look on their face, they had already heard the news.

Mebuki sniffed, trying to hide her crying as she gently pressed her hand on her daughter's head and stroked her hair. Kizashi stood at the foot of the bed watching his wife and only child. He didn't say anything, just looked on with a grim expression.

Sasuke felt even worse. He felt like he failed them. Failed to protect Sakura. Failed to take care of the Haruno's only daughter. As if knowing the self-destructive thoughts of his best friend, Naruto came up to him and clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, she'll be fine," Naruto said quietly. Sasuke really wanted to believe him. He hoped that everything would work out as well as Naruto seemed to think.

Sakura was under constant supervision for the next few days. When everyone went home to rest there was at least one nurse in the room with her so she was never left alone. But there wasn't much change. Her arm was starting to heal nicely but she still hadn't woken up. There didn't seem to be any secondary infection or fever so it was unclear as to why she was still unconscious. Sakura's parents along with Sasuke and Naruto spent majority of their time just waiting in Sakura's room. That was where Tsunade found them.

Tsunade informed them that they had managed to uncover some of Orochimaru's old research notes. At first, Sasuke was enraged by just the mention of the scientist's name that had lied to him and used him. Tsunade quickly shut him up before he could even begin to protest and continued to share what her team managed to discover.

"I think that we can take the serum that Sasuke was given in the past to create a cure," Tsunade announced. No matter how crazy and deranged Orochimaru was no one could argue that he was a brilliant scientist.

"A cure?" Kizashi asked.

"Yes. The first serum that Orochimaru had created had properties that could suppress the transformation. I think we can use that as a base and alter it to create a new cure. If we can finish it before the full moon, and a complete transformation, we can probably return her to normal." This was the best news they had gotten since Sakura had been found.

"I'll get my best researchers working on it right away," Tsunade said. There was finally hope for their grim situation.

When Tsunade had her scientists were busy working on a cure, Sakura finally woke up. She seemed very disoriented and hardly spoke. Everyone was glad she was finally awake but her silence was slightly concerning. When her eyes cracked open she was immediately smothered by her mother, with her father lingering close behind.

"My poor baby," Mebuki cried into her daughter's hair. "Are you okay? How are you feeling?" Sakura whimpered and wrapped her good arm around her mother.

"Arm hurts," she mumbled into her Mom's shirt. Mebuki continued to stroke her hair. Sakura only managed to mention her arm but actually everything else was hurting. Every nerve in her body was tingling and her skin seemed oversensitive. The loose hospital gown felt like wearing sandpaper. Even her mom's touch was a little painful, but just the emotional comfort she was providing was worth it.

But out of everything else it was still her arm hurt the most. It was healing nicely but it was far from completely healed. The muscle was still torn and tender. Every small movement of her arm was agonizing. Her head felt cloudy like she had a bad cold. Even just waking up she was still exhausted and wanted to go back to sleep. She eased back and lay on the bed and instantly fell back asleep.

They wanted to break the news to her but they could tell she was still exhausted. It could wait another day. No one even knew how to bring it up. For now, it was better to let her sleep.

The next day her head was still fuzzy even after another good rest. Her parents were gone and only Sasuke remained. He was leaning back in a chair next to the bed, fast asleep. Sakura sat up slowly, her head spinning a little as she did so. She reached over and tugged on Sasuke's sleeve. When they were kids she would have to shake him vigorously to wake him up but this time he shot up at just a soft tug.

"Hey," he started off awkwardly, "How are you feeling?"

Sakura could hear him but had a hard time processing his words. It was like her brain was lagging and taking longer to function than it regularly would.

"Weird," she answered after a few moments of hesitation. She pressed a hand to her head, trying to clear her brain. Her skin sensitivity hadn't gone away and it was making her uncomfortable.

"Do you remember what happened?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura had to really think. What was the last thing she remembered? Her most recent memories were hazy. She didn't recall much, not even from when she was rescued.

"I was at the hospital," she said. There had been a lot of people who had gotten hurt. She was trying to help move the injured inside when something knocked her down. That was the last thing she remembered.

"You were kidnapped. By another werewolf. Kabuto somehow managed to change himself into one," Sasuke explained. "You're infected."

Only a few words stuck in Sakura's mind. She lifted her injured arm and stared at the bandages that covered the infectious bite.

"Am I going to be a wolf? Sakura asked. She began to pick at the bandages with quivering fingers. Sasuke gasped her hand carefully to stop her from uncovering the wound.

"Tsunade is working on a cure now. There is no need to worry," Sasuke responded. Sakura kept her head slightly bowed. Her gaze focused on her hand engulfed in his. They sat together in silence. Sasuke didn't know what else to say. It was odd. He had expected Sakura to freak out or be afraid but she just sat there. Her face was blank if anything she looked a little curious instead of worried.

A knock on the door broke the silence and a pair of nurses entered the room.

"Excuse us. We have to do an evaluation on the patient. If you don't mind stepping out of the room," one of the nurses said politely. Sasuke didn't really want to leave but he also didn't want to hinder Sakura's recovery by being in the way.

He stood up to leave but stopped when Sakura grabbed the end of his shirt. She held on tightly not wanting him to go. With a sad smile he slipped the shirt from his grasp.

"I'll be back soon okay," he said soothingly. But Sakura didn't seem to hear him. She whimpered and reached out to him as he walked toward the door. Leaving her there made him feel torn up inside. She looked so sad. He had to look away or he wouldn't have been able to leave.

He left the nurses to do their job and decided to head home for a little. He had spent a lot of time at the hospital and could use a shower and probably another nap. He could rest a little easier now that Sakura had woken up and was starting to recover. But something was still worrying him. While her body seemed to be healing, it was as if her mind was far away. He could see it in the dazed look in her eyes that were normally bursting with emotion. Was the virus already warping her mind? Sasuke was frustrated. All he could do was wait until Tsunade could create a cure. There was nothing else he could do.

After taking a shower and finding something to eat Sasuke wanted to take a short nap before heading back to the hospital. He had been spending most of his time there and the chair next to Sakura's bed wasn't an ideal place to rest. He could feel the lack of sleep slowly beginning to catch up to him.

After only an hour of sleep, he woke up to his phone ringing. His first reaction was to ignore it and go back to sleep, but only a few people had his number and they wouldn't call unless they had something important to tell him. His drowsiness disappeared when he saw Mebuki's name flashing on his phone screen.

"You need to come to the hospital right away," Mebuki said as soon as he answered.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Sakura is asking for you and she started fighting with the nurses," Mebuki's voice was filled with worry and some confusion. Sakura was never really aggressive unless someone really pissed her off. In most cases it was Naruto on the receiving end of her wrath. Something they were doing must have really upset her somehow.

Sasuke rushed over to the hospital as quickly as he could. Sakura had been moved to a different room again. When he arrived Sakura's parents and a scared looking nurse were standing outside the door.

"Thank goodness you're here," Mebuki closed the gap between them and grasped his hand. Sasuke was a bit stunned when she suddenly grabbed him. But he didn't have time to panic as Mebuki continued to talk without pause. "Sakura isn't doing well." There were tears in her eyes.

Sasuke's heart plummeted. She had seemed alright when he left her a few hours ago. What could have gone wrong? Giving the nurse a once over, she could see her fidgeting nervously. She looked unharmed but a little flustered.

"She's refused help from the nurse and started to get violent when they persisted. Now she's asking for you," Kizashi informed. Both parents looked a little panicked. Sakura was asking for Sasuke, not them. It was a hard blow but they needed to calm Sakura down so they could take care of her.

Sasuke nodded and headed toward the door. He noticed that the door was actually locked from the outside. Had she tried to escape? Is that why she was moved?

Sakura was curled up on the bed facing away from the door. Unlike the last room, there weren't any machines or monitoring devices in this one. Just a bed. They were treating her like a psychiatric patient. Sasuke's worry only increased.

When the door clicked closed Sakura peeked over her shoulder. She gasped when she saw Sasuke and sat up. He hurried toward her so that she wouldn't leave the bed. Sakura reached for him and Sasuke sat on the edge of the bed so she could wrap her arms around him. They didn't exchange words and just sat there in silence. He rubbed her back and she hummed contently and buried her face in his neck.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke finally asked. Sakura didn't answer him and only tried to snuggle farther into his arms. "Is everything okay? Why did you chase away the nurse?" This time Sakura stiffened. She shook her head but still didn't say anything.

Sasuke couldn't understand what was bothering her. It seemed like just sitting with her was what she wanted. He began to notice a faint smell of blood. Pulling away slightly he wanted to check on her arm. Sakura let him. There was blood beginning to soak through the bandages. The fighting or whatever had occurred, probably reopened part of the wound.

"We need to get your arm clean and changed," Sasuke said. He stood up to get a nurse and Sakura clung onto him. It was just like the last time but instead she was using both hands. Sasuke sighed. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm just going to get the nurse, if we don't keep your arm clean you might get sick." It felt like he was talking to a child and it was hard for him. Sakura was just a shell of her former self and she showed no signs of getting better.

With a frown, Sakura released him and sat patiently on the bed. She remained motionless when Sasuke returned with the nurse. Sakura remained still when the nurse removed the dirty bandages and replaced them with fresh clean ones.

"I was also asked to get a blood sample," the nurse said shyly. They needed her blood to test the cure that was still in development. It was too risky to just inject Sakura with every attempt they came up with.

But as soon as Sakura saw the syringe she started thrashing, trying to force the nurse away from her. This had apparently happened before as the nurse quickly retreated as soon as Sakura's fists whizzed past her face.

Sasuke grabbed her flailing arms and tried to restrain her. It was difficult as she was much stronger than she appeared. To keep her still enough Sasuke had to climb on top of her so he could use his weight to keep her pinned.

"No! No!" Sakura cried and thrashed her head back and forth. She tried to throw Sasuke off her with no success.

"She's not going to hurt you. It's okay." Sasuke tried to calm her but it didn't have much of an effect. The nurse quickly stuck the syringe in her arm and got a large sample of blood. After capping the syringe, she pulled out another needle filled with a clear fluid and injected it into Sakura.

"What's that?" Sasuke asked.

"A sedative," the nurse answered, "She won't let me near her now and I have to change those bandages again." Looking at her arm, Sasuke saw that their struggle and only continued to aggravate Sakura's injury. "If I don't change it now I may not have an opportunity later." If she waited she may not be able to get this close to Sakura again.

Sasuke felt her struggle lessen and he let her arms go. Instead of flailing wildly, Sakura reached up to cup his face.

"I want…Sasuke," she gasped. Her eyes were fluttering closed as the sedative started to work. Sasuke got up and brushed her hair from her face.

"I'm right here," he said quietly. To his confusion, Sakura shook her head. Her next few words came out mumbled and slurred. He couldn't make out what she was trying to say as she fell into a drug-induced sleep.

With a sigh, the nurse grabbed one more syringe and got one more sample. Who knows when the next time it would be this simple. It made her feel bad to put her under a sedative like this. "She should be out for another hour or two," she told Sasuke as she left to take the samples to the lab.

Sasuke was stuck. Now, what was he going to do?

As if to answer his question, his phone began to ring. It was his brother this time. In all the craziness that had been going on, he hadn't had a chance to touch bases with Itachi. He left the room to find better reception, allowing Sakura's parents to take his place watching over her. Once outside, he called Itachi back and quickly caught him up with what was happening.

"So, how is she?" Itachi asked.

Sasuke paused for a few moments to think about his answer.

"I don't think she's doing too well. It's like she's having trouble communicating what she wants. For some reason, she hates the nurses and keeps asking for me even if I'm right next to her. Have you seen anything like this before?"

"Not personally, but I have heard stories," Itachi answered, "Humans who are bitten lose their humanity and become violent and dangerous. Most don't survive long as the run on instinct rather the logic." That was not the answer Sasuke wanted to hear.

"Have you heard of a cure existing or someone going back to normal?" He asked.

"No," Itachi answered. Feeling the mood only worsen, Itachi changed the subject. He wanted to provide something other than bad news.

"The rest of the Akatsuki are here. They'll help out in controlling the vampires but the rather not work directly with the Association." The Akatsuki was comprised of multiple different species which wasn't very tolerated with the hunters.

"We can keep the vampires at bay while you guys can focus on recovering and helping Sakura," Itachi explained. With the Akatsuki protecting their borders they could use more resources to prepare for the next attack. And Tsunade can focus on working on a cure instead of running the organization.

"Thank you," Sasuke said. They may not be scientists but his brother and his friends were trying to help out in the best way that they could. Even if they were a weird bunch, they took care of one another.

As the days continued on, Sasuke was finding it harder and harder to remain at the hospital. He didn't want to abandon Sakura but watching her was getting more painful. She was still struggling to communicate with them. Only speaking in abrupt short sentences. She never spoke to Naruto or any of their other friends and rarely said a word to her parents. She was also becoming more violent with the nurses. They had to keep her in restraints. Shackles kept her from reaching too far from the bed. On the plus side, she seemed to calm down in his presence. When he came to visit she would pull him onto the bed and lie contently next to him.

Needing to get away for a bit, Sasuke went to visit Tsunade. It was just too depressing to stay at the hospital all day. Tsunade had asked not to be disturbed so she could focus but there was nothing else he could do. Tsunade was working out of the basement of the hospital so it didn't take long for him to get there.

When he arrived, she was sitting at a desk and looking through a microscope. At the sound of his echoing footsteps she sighed and turned to look at him.

"Someone better be dying," she said sharply, "I finally got Mebuki and Kizashi to go home. I can't work with all of you taking up space in my lab."

Tsunade was frustrated at the slow pace they were working and she was taking it out on him. But Sasuke couldn't really blame her. She was under a great deal of stress and she was the only one who could find a cure for Sakura.

"I was wondering if I could help in anyway way," Sasuke offered. He felt like he needed to do something.

Tsunade tapped her fingers on the desk, wracking her brain to think of things for him to do.

"I could use some blood. Then I can compare Sakura's blood to a healthy human's and to yours. Hopefully, then I can understand more about what is happening to her body and how to stop it."

Sasuke agreed. He would let Tsunade run experiments on him if it would help Sakura. A few samples of blood were nothing.

"Is that all?" he asked.

"Keep her calm and relaxed as much as you can. Try to make her comfortable, I'm sure she's in a lot of pain." Withthat she turned away from him to continue her work. It wasn't much of a distraction that he was looking for, buthopefully his blood held a clue that Tsunade needed.

Already two weeks had gone by with nothing to show for it. They needed to work fast, time was running out. Sakura's physical health started to deteriorate. Her skin was pale and her hair and eyes were dull. A far cry from what she used to be.

Throughout the weeks, Sakura had to remain in restraints. Everyone's presence, except for Sasuke's, seemed to upset her. It hurt her parents to see their daughter act so wildly and out of control. They lessened their number of visits. Soon Sasuke became her only visitor. But she didn't seem to care. She didn't ask about the others, she only clung tightly to him whenever he stopped by.

Most times they lay there peacefully, but it was only a matter of time before her condition worsened. While they lay snuggled on the hard hospital bed Sakura suddenly stiffened. Soon after her whole body was wracked with shivers.

"What's wrong?" he tried to ask her, but she didn't seem to hear him. She began to whimper and moan while clutching her head. Sasuke didn't want to call a nurse because she reacted violently whenever one of them entered the room.

Sakura began to shake her head and pull at her hair. Not wanting her to hurt herself, Sasuke reached for her hand to try to restrain her. Suddenly she lashed out at him and bit down on his wrist. Her slightly pointed teeth broke skin causing him to curse loudly. He tried to dislodge her without hurting her but she only bit down harder. She sunk her nails into this arm and clung on even more tightly.

Aggravated, Sasuke pushed her down onto the mattress and climbed on top of her. His eyes glowed red and he growled angrily, bearing sharp fangs at her. He didn't know what made him do it, but his aggressive reaction calmed her down. She released his arm and whimpered. He watched her curiously as she began to nuzzle his bloody arm.

She further shocked him when she wrapped her legs around his waist and licked his bleeding wrist. He was stunned and didn't know how to react. Sakura turned her attention from his wrist to his neck and nipped at it. Knowing things were getting out of hand Sasuke tried to pull back. Before he could move, Sakura reached up and tried to bite down onto his neck. Her teeth scraped the side of his neck as he scrambled away.

Sasuke leaped off the bed and pressed a hand against the small scrape on the side of his neck. It didn't hurt but he was still in shock at what had occurred in the fast few moments. Sakura quickly sat up and tried to follow him but the restraints on her arm stopped her. She groaned in frustration and tugged in them. Giving up, she reached for him, like a child wanting to be carried.

What was she doing? Before this started she looked like she was in pain. Then she even lashed out at him and now she looked scared. Sasuke couldn't figure out what was going through her mind.

"I'll be right back okay," he said as he backed toward the door. Sakura shook her head and stretched as far as she could for him. He didn't want to leave her as she clearly wanted him, but he was desperate to get her help.

With no one else to turn to Sasuke ran down to Tsunade's lab. He didn't care if she was going to yell at him, Sakura needed help now. He burst into the room to find Tsunade poring over a table covered in loose pieces of paper.

She glared at him but her anger faded as she took in the state of him. He hadn't bothered to stop to bandage his wrist, causing a few droplets of blood to dribble down his hand and onto the floor.

"Please tell me you have something. She's getting worse," Sasuke tried to keep his voice level but she could pick out the desperation in his tone.

Sasuke began to panic as Tsunade just stood there her eyes moving from his bleeding wrist to the smaller cut on his neck. Spinning around in her chair she reached for a glass vial filled with a clear fluid. She placed the vial on the table between them.

"There is only a 50% chance that this will work. I would need much more time, years, to come up with a perfect cure," Tsunade informed him. "This is the best I can do for now in the short amount of time that we have available. If this doesn't cure her, it may make her very sick." Sasuke knew that when she said sick that it also could mean death.

They called in Sakura's parents who hurried over to discuss what they would do. Tsunade explained everything and left them with the choice. Do they give her the serum that had a chance to either cure her or kill her?

It was a hard call to make. But in the end, they all agreed to take a chance. If they didn't the Sakura they knew may as well be dead. Sasuke hung his head and hoped with everything he had, that this wasn't a mistake.

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Let me know your thoughts. It took a bit longer to write but at least I finished it in less than a month.