A.N.
Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters do NOT belong to me. Naruto belongs to Misashi Kishimoto.
Sayuri and any characters that have not and will not appear in the manga/or anime are completely original.
Reviews are welcomed and encouraged! Thank you!
Breath
The room glowed green as the doctors worked tirelessly around the young woman on the table. Sweat rolled down Sakura's cheek, as she focused on repairing the damage done. Two others were aiding her in her efforts. Sakura's green eyes flickered to Sayuri's pale face.
"Ms. Sakura!" one of the nurses called as the bleeding, they had only just moments ago gotten under control, started all over again. She cursed under her breath, pushing more chakra focusing on clotting the area.
"We need to speed thigs up!" she ordered.
"She's crashing!" another nurse announced. Green eyes widened when they looked at the monitor.
"No, no, no!"
XXX
Moriyo paced outside the hospital room. A doctor stood before here holding a clipboard in his right hand.
"You need to make a decision soon. I'm afraid we can't wait any longer."
She stopped and bit her lip, hands clenching at her sides. "I know!" she snapped. Taking a deep breath she tilted her head up. "Do it." The doctor quickly turned on his heel, entering the operating room. She slammed her fist against the wall as soon as the door closed behind him. "Fuck!"
XXX
She smiled, feeling gentle fingers running through her hair, detangling it here and there. The brush of fingers against her scalp made her sigh in content. The cool grass against her legs swayed with a gentle breeze.
You're dying.
The echoing sound made her sit up with a start, the fingers pulling away as she did so. Instead they gently fell on her shoulders, pulling her against a warm back. That felt nice…comfortable. She let her eyes drift close.
It's too soon.
She opened her eyes again, wide and alert. "What?"
The person behind her leaned forward, warm breath tickling her ear. "Sayuri…" Chills ran down her back. The green meadow darkened, the trees closing in. The clear sky above her overtaken by the black of the night. The fingers on her shoulder tightened into a painful grip, the person behind her resting their head on her shoulder. "You're dying…" they chuckled. "But we can't let you do that."
The forest echoed with screams. Her hands felt wet. Eyes shifting to them, she found them covered in blood. The person nuzzled her neck and all she could do was sit, frozen in place.
"We need you for a little while longer." All she could see was black, the person at her back slid their hands down to intertwine with hers. "Consider it a gift."
Five figures stepped forward. "You are too valuable to lose." The fingers squeezed hers. The blood in her hands dripped onto the ground reaching out for the figures and wrapping itself around them. There was brief moment when the distant screams ceased, but it only lasted a moment, until the blood pulsed a bright red. The people before her struggled, her breath catching in her throat unable to look away. Their screams rising in volume with each passing second, until the red pulsing stopped and withdrew letting them fall to the ground before her.
The red liquid wound itself around her, behind her the body pressed down to keep her still.
"This will only take a moment."
XXX
They had been sitting in the waiting room for two hours. He clenched and unclenched his hands, eyes on the doors that led to the operating rooms. Doctors came and went, family members around them waited for news on their loved ones. The nurses at the counter tried to calm the yelling man asking about his wife.
He took a sudden, sharp breath, his heart rate picking up in sudden fear. Beside him, the blonde ninja shifted in his seat attention on him.
"Sasuke?"
"Something's wrong." He stood up determined to find the operating room when the doors swung open. Sakura looked up in surprise, bangs sticking to her face, looking more than exhausted.
"She's going to be fine." Her smile dropped at the sight of her teammates far off look. "Is everything alright?" green orbs slid over to Naruto who slowly made his way to his best friend.
"I need to see her."
The young woman blinked. "I-I'm sorry, she's in recover-hey!" she stumbled back as the Uchiha pushed past her. She quickly took a hold of his arm and spun him around, shoving him to the nearest seat. "You are not going in there Sasuke Uchiha! She is my patient and she needs to rest. So you will wait."
He slapped her hand away, ignoring the hurt look she gave him and the angry growl that came from the blonde. "You don't understand! Something's not right!"
"If you're worried about her safety, Moriyo-sensei placed ANBU-"
"That's not it." He stood, eyes shifting to the hallway behind her. "I…Just let me see her." And then taking a deep breath he met the medics gaze. "Please."
Sakura pursed her lips, green eyes zeroing in on the man. "Fine." She sighed. "It's got to be quick though, understand." She raised her hand fingers spread out. "Five minutes. That's all you get." Sasuke gave her a firm nod and followed as she led the way, Naruto scrambling behind them. Sakura paused and looked over her shoulder. "Just him, Naruto."
"What!?" he began to whine but turned around, pouting and deciding to leave it alone for now.
"Mind telling me what's got you so anxious?" her voice carried over to him seeming louder than it was in the empty hallway.
"Gut feeling."
"Hm."
Her heels clacked with each step as they made their way to the busier side of the hospital. A nurse sat the counter at the center of the hall. She glanced up and smiled at Sakura, visibly winced when she saw Sasuke, then buried her nose back into her work. He spotted the room instantly. It was the only one with an ANBU stationed outside the door. The ninja was quick to look up turning his attention to Sakura in what he could only imagine being confusion behind the rooster mask.
"He's here to see her. Only five minutes." Sakura moved around the ninja and pulled the door open. She gestured for him to enter the room, casting him one last look. "I'll come get you when your time's up."
Sasuke heard the door close behind him with a soft click. Eyes on the young woman on the bed. He approached her quietly as if not to disturb her, something difficult to do as she was heavily sedated. His hand hovered over the ninja, wanting to touch but too nervous to do so. He shook it off and let his hand rest on her cheek, just beside the oxygen mask.
"You're alive." He murmured, thumb brushing the soft skin then paused. Something's not right. He activated his sharingan not knowing what to look for but…his eyes shifted to the coil in her center, his hand moved to settle over her abdomen but he pulled back recalling that was where her injury was. "Sayuri…" his only response was an exhale as she slept. He turned and headed for the door, pulling it open startling Sakura who leant against the wall.
"Is everything alright?" Sasuke blinked and nodded.
"Yes. I was worried over nothing."
"Well..." she placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "…She was crashing. During the surgery, I was afraid that she would…but we got it under control. Maybe that's what you felt?"
He watched the sleeping ninja for another second. "I need a favor."
XXX
"We're not getting anywhere." Ibiki sighed, rubbing his temples. Moriyo narrowed her eyes and ran a hand through her hair. "He doesn't want to answer any questions, we've used the Yamanaka's but they've come up empty. He wants to talk to her."
"No."
"I'm sorry. I know it's been a week and she still hasn't recovered, but you should consider it." The tall man bowed.
The dark haired woman slammed her fist on the table. "I should have just let him die."
"We needed answers."
"We need to end this."
"Moriyo…"
"It's fine." She sighed. "You can go, I'll figure something out. In the meantime, see if the Yamanaka's can dig a little deeper. No one's minds is completely closed off." Ibiki gave her a look. "The person who did this is not perfect. Find the weakness."
Moriyo swore that she was going to die young if she kept at this job. Her body sagged visibly in her chair, hands running through her hair. She knew she had to keep the man alive, they needed answers but he was turning out to be more trouble than what he was worth. What's more, he nearly killed Sayuri and ANBU were disappearing left and right. This couldn't be a coincidence.
The woman sat back, nibbling on the tip of her thumb. She quickly glanced at the clock on the wall opposite her, just past noon. Good, Kakashi should be back. She pushed off the chair and headed for the door.
XXX
Forrest…trees…cold hard ground. The wet grass pressed against her cheek, a weight digging into her back.
She woke up gasping for air, in a cold sweat. Her vision blurry, frantically sweeping from one end of the room to the other. She yanked off the mask, pulling it as far over her head as possible and breathed distantly she became aware of an alarm ringing. The door to the room soon opened letting the bright light of the hallway in, a young woman rushed to her side talking to her, asking questions that she did not understand nor did she want to. Instead Sayuri worked on catching her breath.
A hand on her shoulder had her snatching the wrist and pulling it off her, twisting the offending appendage. It was only when she heard a yelp from the woman that Sayuri came back to her senses and quickly let go.
Breathe.
She squeezed her eyes shut and continued to count.
"Sayuri?"
She blinked recognizing the voice. "Sa…kura…"
"Breathe. Come on, look at me." She said in a low steady voice. Sayuri turned to look at the pink haired woman. "Good, breathe with me." She began guiding the younger with the motions. "That's it." Then looked over her shoulder. "Get me a sleeping aid."
"I…" and that's when the tears began. Big, wet, and rolling down her cheeks and into her hair.
"You're at the hospital, I'm going to give you something to get you to sleep. You need rest."
"I'm scared."
"We won't let anything happen to you. I promise."
"No. My dreams…I can't stop seeing him." She trembled as the other nurse returned to the room eying the syringe in the young woman's hand. "Don't!" she shook her head. "He's always there."
"Oh, Sayuri…" Sakura looked visibly pained, gently she took her hand. "You need to sleep, but I'll be here, just in case you need me."
The thought that she was delirious came and went, her mind not really wanting to process anything other than fear, but she trusted Sakura, so she nodded her head and let sleep take her.
XXX
"Are you going to ignore me now?" Sayuri jumped, startled for a moment and turned around to see Sasuke leaning against the wall of a building. She watched him walk out of the shadows and into the dim light of the alley, frowning down at her.
"I'm not ignoring you." She mumbled and managed two steps forward until she felt a grip in her arm.
"Sayuri…" gently he turned her to him. She bit her lip and looked to the side. "I didn't mean what I said. I was angry, but-"
"I think you were pretty clear, Sasuke." She pulled away. "And I was clear too." She made to walk away but turned back to the man. "Look, it's obvious that this…" she gestured between the two of them, "…whatever it is we're pretending to do or be, is never going to work out."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the Marihasha. "So, that's it. You make up your mind about us and that's the end of discussion. You're not the only one involved you know."
"It's what's best…for both of us and you know it. We're better apart than together."
"Just because you say so?" He cut their distance so that he was looking directly down at her. Sayuri, stood her ground looking up defiantly at him. "You're just giving up? We haven't even dated, we just tip toe around the idea and do nothing about it. Both of us know that there's something there, yet you won't even let us try. And now you're giving up!"
"Exactly! We haven't and yet here we are, I made a stupid mistake that could have cost you your life and we're not even dating, Sasuke! We're not good for each other." She looked down, glaring at the ground as if it was the cause of all their problems. "Time has shown us that in several instances." She murmured.
He reached for her then, watching with careful eyes as her body tensed. "What do you mean by that."
She pulled back, avoiding his gaze. "I mean that it's better if we just remain friends."
He frowned, drawing his hand back to his side clenching it into a tight fist. "Why don't you just tell me what you're really afraid of?"
"I'm afraid of you dying!" she snapped. "I'm of afraid of my own death!" She took a sharp breath lifting her head to meet his eyes with a fierce look. "This is just never going to work! They tried! Everyone of them tried, and you know what that got them? Killed! So, I'm sorry if that's not what I want for you or me!"
Sasuke felt like he had been hit by a bucket of ice water. Quickly schooling his features to his normally stoic expression, he turned his back to her disappearing into thin air leaving her alone in the middle of the lonely alley. Angrily she brushed away the tears with the back of her hands and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry…" she said to the ground. "I just…"
A warm hand on her arm drew her from the memory. She blinked her eyes into focus in the dimly lit room. The pain came soon after, leaving her out of breath in a second, and groaning at the next.
"Hey…shh…I've got you." That voice she recognized that voice. She forced her eyes open, bright green orbs looking down at her. "The medication will take effect in a bit." She brushed her hair out of her eyes and smiled.
"Sakura." Sayuri sighed.
"Was it a nightmare again?"
"They're not nightmares."
"Oh…right."
"It wasn't like the others." Sakura looked at her. "Not this time."
"Well that's good, right."
"Right."
Sakura reached for one of her hands and squeezed. "Hey, Sayuri…"
"Hm?"
"We're here for you…Naruto, Sasuke, and I. We want to help. Don't push us away."
"Even if it's for your own good?" Sayuri turned to her watching her carefully. "The three of you deserve to be happy. Don't let me stop you."
"But what about you?"
"What about me?"
"Don't you deserve to be happy?" she paused. "Doesn't Sasuke?"
"Sasuke's already happy, he's got you."
"No. No he doesn't. We're not…I'm not with him."
Sayuri blinked, "What…?"
"I broke up with him in Suna."
"You what?" Not very eloquent, but the medication was starting to kick in and her brain was slowly becoming a jumbled mess.
"I broke up with him in Suna. We're not together…not like that." Sakura repeated, seemingly catching on that Sayuri just might need a little extra help understanding what was going on in the world.
Sayuri almost wanted to laugh. All this time she thougth that Sasuke had cheated on Sakura with her, and it turns out that Sakura broke up with him.
"You what?' Sakura asked.
Wait did she say that out loud?
"You did."
"Shit." She groaned. "What is this stuff."
"A very strong pain killer."
"Oh…"
Sakura squeezed her hand again drawing her attention. "Sayuri…do you love Sasuke?"
Sayuri blinked slowly up at Sakura. "I…" she hesitated. "I…"
Sakura's sad smile slowly brightened. "I thought I loved him, for the longest time, and I'm not going to lie to you it hurt when I realized that I'm not for him, but you…you are. Don't let yourself be miserable, don't let him be either."
Sayuri squeezed Sakura's hand as best she could. "What about you?"
Sakura laughed and wiped her eyes at that. "I've got Naruto. I'm sure I'll be just fine."
"Naruto…" everything was starting to become foggy now.
"It's alright, go back to sleep." Sakura reached to pet her hair. "I'll still be here."
She began to feel herself drift out of consciousness again. "…Sakura?"
"Yes?"
"…Thank you…"
XXX
The next time she came too it was a lot less painful. She winced at the brightness, turning her head to the side, scrunching her brow as she did so. Everything felt like too much work, like every part of her body weighed a ton. Why was she so tired? Finally blinking her eyes open she first saw a white blur. Turning her head to the other side she saw a black one instead.
"Sasuke?" she said the first thing that came to her mind as she blinked the hazy feeling away.
"Not quite." A voice she had quickly come to recognize replied. With a groan, she turned her head back to face the ceiling, the lights finally coming into focus. "You look…" he paused considering his words. "…Tired."
"Hello, Sai." She looked down at herself, finding a white sheet over her, next to her a monitor that read her oxygen and pulse rate, and an IV running on her left arm. "Where's Sakura?"
"She had to step out for a bit. Were you dreaming about Sasuke?"
She turned to him with an ill attempt at a glare. "What makes you say that?"
"Has anyone ever told you that you talk in your sleep?" All she wanted to do was hurl something at him to wipe the shit eating grin off his face but she was tired, and her body weighed a ton, and she was seeing double now. She huffed, letting her body slump back to a neutral position. "Well? Were you?"
"Yes." She sighed surprised at her own honesty. Honest…when was the last time I was honest? "What are you doing here?"
He blinked, suddenly reverting to a neutral state. "I'm here as your body guard."
"Ugh! I don't want one."
"I'm afraid you don't have the authority to refuse."
"I already have two body guards. I don't need another."
"If you're talking about Hajime and Diachi, they've been reassigned. You'll have to settle for me."
"I hate you." She sighed and looked back down a the IV with a pout. Whatever they were giving her for the pain was working, but it reduced her inhibition. She didn't like it. "Go away." Or maybe she did. Her addled mind had yet to decide.
"Like I said I can't do that."
"Oh, for fucks sake, just…bring Moriyo, I'll tell her."
Sai shook his head holding a glass of water and sitting her bed up. When did he do that? She wondered as she took a sip, her hands trembling as she attempted to hold the glass. "I feel like crap." Sayuri stared up at the former ROOT member. "I probably look it too."
"Would you like a hug?" her eyebrows shot up at his reply. "I read in a book that when people feel down that they may want a comforting embrace."
"What I want is the comfort of solitude."
"That hardly sounds comforting."
"Trust me, solitude and I have become very good friends." She laughed but stopped with a groan. Laughing hurt. She wasn't even aloud to laugh. Her life was awful! "God, if my ten-year-old self could see me now."
Sai tilted his head to the side, black eyes staring down at her as if trying to piece a puzzle together. "From what I was told you were a happy child."
"Yeah," she huffed in self depreciation. "Life has a funny way of ruining everything good in this world…" then feeling particularly nasty she added, "…You should know. It hasn't been very kind to you either…ROOT."
Sai blinked, taken aback. To her surprise he didn't lash out, or leave like she'd expected (half hoped) he'd do. "You and Sasuke are similar." He reclined the head of her bed, making her comfortable.
At that she snorted. "Really? Enlighten me."
"You both push people away, the only difference is that while he is moving forward. You're moving back." He turned on his heel and headed for the door ignoring the glare the auburn-haired ninja directed at him. "I'll leave you to your solitude, if you need me I'll be right outside your door." Sayuri felt mildly insulted but she couldn't bring herself to reply, finding it difficult to keep her eyes open she drifted back to sleep.
XXX
The sudden sharp laugh cut through the silence of the cell. The ANBU standing guard at the door managed to hide their flinch, as the man that was strapped to the chair cackled. He hunched over the table shoulder shaking, hair falling over his face.
"Those tactics won't work on me." He finally said, tilting his head to the side to look Ibiki in the eye. "You think you can break me." He laughed. "Oh please."
"Fine," the large man pulled out the chair on the other side of the table. "…let's make a deal then, Naoki."
"Oh?" he sat back, amusement glinting in his eyes.
"A lighter sentence for information on who your boss is."
Naoki smirked. "I honestly can't tell you shit. There's a chain of command and I'm just not…up there yet. And even if I was, I wouldn't tell you a thing."
"Fine, how about your mission. What did you want with Sayuri?"
"Tell you what." He narrowed his eyes and leaned forward. "You bring her here to me, and I'll tell her what I know. I do have a soft spot for pretty girls."
Ibiki pushed his chair back, the metal scratching the floor loudly. "Put him back in his cell." He said to the ANBU at the door.
"Are you going to go fetch her, big g-" Naoki slumped forward as he was knocked out before being pulled to his feet.
"Sir." A monkey masked ninja stepped forward as he exited the room.
"I need to talk to Moriyo, stay behind and see if you can get anything out of the other men."
"Yes, sir!"
XXX
The sun was setting as he stood outside the door to the hospital room. Sai was leaning against the wall opposite the door, book in hand, pretending not to be analyzing the Uchiha. When another minute passed by and Sasuke was still outside the door, the former ROOT member dropped his hand to his side, bringing the book down with him.
"It's been two weeks."
Sasuke closed his eyes taking a deep breath. "I don't recall asking."
"Right." The man brought his book back up, peeking over the rim as the Uchiha opened the door letting himself in. "You've got it bad." He mumbled, flipping to the next page, ignoring the glare he got from Sasuke just before he shut the door.
He sighed and turned to his left where Sayuri lay. Sakura had told him that she had been in and out of consciousness, it was taking a while longer for her to recover from the blood loss, she had begun running a fever on her second day, but the medic assured him she was making steady progress. Quietly he approached her bedside, taking a seat on the chair beside it. He watched her for a minute taking solace on her steady breathing. Slowly he reached for her hand, fingers moving to close around it.
"Mmm…sorry…" she mumbled, her brow scrunching up for a second and smoothing out just as quickly. He bowed his head to their joined hands.
"I'm the one who's sorry." Her fingers twitched under his palm. She began to murmur but he couldn't quite string together her fragmented words. I'll be better…stronger. So that this doesn't happen to you again. There was a knock on the door before it opened.
"Sasuke?" Sakura stepped through the dim orange-red light that filtered through the blinds lighting up her features. "It's ready." Sasuke tilted his head in acknowledgement, turning his gaze back to the sleeping konoichi one last time. Slowly he pushed himself up and followed the medic down the hall ignoring the curious look Sai cast at him.
XXX
"Try moving your fingers for me." Sakura ordered, narrowed eyes sliding down the arm to the digits. Naruto leaned around her, hands in pockets waiting for the twitch, while Sasuke furrowed his brow, willing them to move.
"Ah!" Naruto exclaimed at the slight twitch. "You did it, bastard!" he grinned.
"Do it again, until it becomes more fluid." Said the medic, hands hovering over Sasuke's new arm. "I'm still connecting nerve pathways so you'll feel a slight stinging sensation, but it won't be anything you can't handle."
Sasuke nodded in understanding and continued forcing his fingers to move, occasionally feeling a jolt run down the length of his arm, but he welcomed the pain. It meant he had sensation to the arm, it meant that the implant was working after three days of therapy. It took another forty minutes before Sakura was satisfied for the day and pulled back, letting Sasuke look at his arm flexing the fingers with more ease that before but not completely without problems. It took a lot of effort to keep his fingers flexed, it was both frustrating and exhilarating.
"It feels…like it's tingling."
"That's to be expected." Sakura replied, pulling her hair out of the ponytail. "Your chakra is starting to seep in to it. It is, after all, a foreign part of your body right now."
"When I got it done, it tingled for months!" Naruto grinned putting his hands behind his head. "It settled down after a while."
"Keep channeling chakra through that arm gradually, remember, doing it all at once might blow the chakra vessels and I'd have to rebuild new ones, not to mention that it'll be a very painful experience."
"Got it."
"I want you to use the sling when you're not practicing with it. And as far as exercise goes, the more you use it the shorter the tingling feeling will last, but be careful, that hand might feel weak for while too. Naruto couldn't even hold a slip of paper the first couple of weeks."
"Hey!"
Sasuke smiled at the two, colorful ninja. Looking down at his hand he clenched and unclenched it gradually getting used to the feeling of having his left arm back. The image of Sayuri laying in a pool of blood came to mind and he frowned hand clenching tightly. I won't let it happen again.
"Sasuke?" he tilted his head up, meeting the concerned gazes of his teammates. Sakura was the first one to react, a sigh escaping her lips as she took a seat on the rolling chair, running fingers through her pink hair. "I said that she's being discharged today."
Sasuke hummed. "Where will she stay?"
"I'm sure Moriyo-sensei worked something out."
XXX
"You must not push your body too much." The doctor advised. The clock on the wall behind him ticking as each second passed by. She had been in the hospital for almost three weeks. Three weeks while they monitored her and kept visitors away…or so she'd like to think because she hadn't received any visitors in those twenty one days. It was better than thinking that her so called friends forgot about her, leaving her to her thoughts…Or I brought on myself. She frowned at the depreciating thought.
"I'm warning you," Sayuri blinked attention back to the older gentleman. "…You lost a lot of blood so training is off the table for the next 2 weeks. Do you understand?"
"Ah." She acknowledged with a slight jerk of her head. "No training, got it."
"Lady-" he cleared his throat at the raised brow he got from the ninja. "…Sayuri, please, I do not want to see you back in the hospital again."
"Then tell that to the people actively trying to kidnap-slash-murder me." The startled, wide eyed look on his face made her laugh. She waved at him and headed for the door, her mood shifting to that of annoyance at the ninja leaning against the wall. He was not who she expected, or wanted, to see.
"Ready to go, Sayuri?" Sai was quick to followed her down the hall, not really expecting a response from her. He watched her carefully when they reached the lobby, one of her hands tightening around the silver stair rail, the other reaching for her head. "Would you like to sit?" The young woman shook her head and steeled herself.
"I'm a bit dizzy, it'll pass." She waved him off and took a deep breath, heading for the door offering the people walking by a small smile.
"Sayuri…"
"What?" she mumbled feeling the cool air for the first time in weeks. She allowed herself a moment of peace.
A hawk circled above them catching their attention. Sai frowned, recognizing the bird. What could the Hokage want with her now?
Sayuri raised a brow. "It's a summons."
"Right." The two turned in the direction of the tower and made their way there. Stopping occasionally to let Sayuri catch her breath. He still wasn't comfortable with the discharge order, Ino had told him that she needed more time to rest, but Sayuri had been insistent and three weeks was as much as they could push the younger woman to stay. Clearly the blond had been correct, he thought pretending not to stare as Sayuri paused halfway up the stairs. Are all women this stubborn?
Sai knocked on the door, hearing a quiet enter from the other side before pulling it open. Sayuri stepped in followed behind by her new bodyguard. The ANBU narrowed her eyes at the sight of Moriyo against the window while Kakashi sat back, fingers laced together waiting for Sai to close the door behind him.
"Lord Hokage." Sayuri bowed politely. "Captain."
"Sayuri," the man nodded. "I'm glad to see you're alive and well."
"Yeah, well they didn't exactly come to kill me."
"And that's what I want to talk about." Moriyo began slowly.
Sayuri tilted her head to the side, crossing her arms over her chest, the gesture making her look vulnerable. "Sensei?"
"Naoki is alive." Kakashi began. "The medics managed to save him."
"They what?" she hissed, voice low.
"Sayuri…"
"You mean to tell me that I fought tooth and nail to take down this man and you go on and save him anyway?!" She took a step forward. "He attacked the village and you decided it was a good idea to keep him alive?!"
"We needed answers." Replied Moriyo attempting a calm tone.
"And how is that going? Let me guess he won't talk. You want to know why? Because he's a lunatic who does what he's told so long as he's getting paid! He doesn't even know who the leader of his group is! You'd know this if you bothered paying attention to my report instead of punishing me for messing up!"
"Sayuri…stand down."
"No!" she growled. "This…this…man came into my house, brings along his friends and tries to kidnap me and you decide to keep him alive?! Are you fucking kidding me!"
"Sayuri." Sai called out in warning.
"Shut up!"
"Naoki's in the interrogation unit. He wants to talk to you. Now Ibiki thinks that we should go ahead and take you to him. I want to give you the option."
"No." she said slowly, glowering at the woman. "You want him to talk do it yourself." Sayuri turned, pushing past Sai to get out of the room. She couldn't breathe. She needed air. She couldn't stand looking at Moriyo, Kakashi, or Sai or anyone. She needed to get out.
She practically bolted out of the room, a ringing in her ears as she rushed down the stairs turning the corner and slamming into someone hard. The air was knocked out of her lungs as she stumbled back, hands to her chest, sharp gasp on her lips. She barely registered the hands on her shoulders, steadying her feet. She squeezed her eyes shut. I can't breathe!
"Look at me." The voice broke through the loud ringing. "Open your eyes." She did, but was unable to focus on one thing. "Breathe with me. 1…2…3…4…" Her breath sputtered but she followed the command watching the chest in front of her expand and contract in a slow rhythm.
In…out…Her hands curled around the fabric of her shirt as she continued to breathe. In…There were voices, people arguing, but she was too tired to care what about. Breathe.
"What did you say?"
"Naoki-"
"None of you could have let her rest?"
"I advised it, yes."
"Next time do a better job." They hissed and she finally looked up.
"Sasuke." The man turned his attention back to her, gaze softening from the angered frown he was making only a moment ago.
"Are you hurt?" She shook her head slowly. He stepped back letting her go, but she was quick to catch one of his hands holding it tightly. "Sayuri?"
"Take me somewhere?" Sasuke blinked down at her, eyebrows dipped in concern. He cast a brief glance at the man behind her.
"Alright."
A.N.
So sorry! I got into a major slump and I could not figure out how to continue this chapter. This thing has been sitting on my computer for months and I felt horrible. I hope this meets your expectations and if it didn't I apologize. I'm already working on the next chapter, hopefully this one will be quicker to finish. As always, please, please, PLEASE comment and let me know what you think. For those of you who actually kept up with this story even after all this time, thank you!
