Naruto was sitting on the couch when he felt her coming up the stairs. His heart swelled with emotion, he had missed her so much while she was in Suna, and then when Kakashi…when we fell in the field and the only one to escape was me, I needed her strength. Thinking of how pissed she would be if he let anything happen to her partner kept Naruto going during his worst hours; leaving on mission after mission to come up empty for intel, finally finding the base and having to wait, carrying a bloody Kakashi while so exhausted, praying as hard as he could to make it home.
He stood, going towards the door to open it once she reached the top of the stairs, feeling such relief that his 'sister' was finally home and safe. He knew her mission was paltry compared to her skillset, but after his capture and Kakashi's condition, he hadn't stopped worrying for her. He just needed to have her in his arms, to know she really is okay. Then they could throw themselves headfirst at whatever Kakashi was facing. Team Seven never gave up on anything, especially not each other.
Throwing the door open, he gave the first real smile in months as he took her in.
"Sakura," he whispered, running his eyes up and down her form. Pink locks shining, eyes sparking with a mix of emotions, unruffled uniform, intact mask on her hip, not a bruise or any dirt in sight. "I missed you so, so much." He crushed her to his chest, inhaling the soft scent of apples in her hair. "I know you'll hate this, but I'm so glad you're safe. I don't think I could stand it if you weren't."
She smiled up at him, taking in the soft earth tones of his skin and reveling in the happiness swirling through her stomach and chest. Everything always felt so right when Naruto was near. She was thankful every time they were together that she grew out of the hateful child she had been towards him. With Kakashi lying in a coma, she felt the exact same as he did. He was a precious person to her, they both were, both of them being down would have truly crushed her.
"Naruto…it's so good to see you. I was worried when Kotetsu told me about Kakashi. And then Shishou told me a little of what happened to you. I'm so sorry I wasn't there. I'm sorry I haven't been here at all these past two years. I don't want that to happen anymore. And I swear to you," she backed up a step to look him in the eye, "I will fix Kakashi. No matter what it takes, I won't stop until he's better and back with us."
Her emerald eyes hardened with her resolve, and Naruto knew that there wasn't a force alive that would stop her from pursuing this goal, not that he would ever want her to. Besides Iruka, Kakashi was the last mentor and father figure he had left. And he knew how close Sakura had gotten to their ex-sensei, they were almost flawless together on the battlefield, a true partnership. She must be so worried about him, he thought, so nervous for how this might end. He knew that she had surpassed Tsunade a few years ago, but that doesn't mean she has all the answers. He could only put his faith in her and help her in any way he could to try and get their sensei back.
"Come sit with me Sakura, I'll make some tea. Surprisingly, I do have some things other than ramen," he joked, attempting a strained smile. "I'll tell you more about what happened to us, and then we can talk about what we're going to do to help Kakashi."
Nodding, Sakura sat on one end of the lumpy couch that Naruto refused to get rid of. It was a comfort to her now, considering it had been Kakashi's first. When Kakashi had found out Naruto had nothing but a bedroll in his apartment, he gave Naruto all of his furniture, citing that it was a perfect excuse to buy new things he had needed for years. To her it was like Kakashi was still there with them in a miniscule way.
Coming back with the tea, Naruto took the cushion next to her. Wrapping her hands around the small cup, Sakura smiled at him, nudging his knee with hers. "Thanks, Naruto. You don't have to talk to me about this if you aren't ready. I didn't come here to grill you on specifics, most of them I already know," she cleared her throat slightly, "Kakashi's body was clear about it, even healed."
Naruto inclined his head, "Aa, I figured as much. It was the first place you went wasn't it? You never change!" Chuckling, he sipped his tea.
"There really isn't much more for me to tell you, unless you want the play by play of the battle. When we reached near the border, Kakashi and I split. I was to continue slowly on foot, while Kakashi pushed on to start recon on the comings and goings of the base. He was to use Pakkun as a go-between for us to tell me when it was time to pounce. Everything was fine by that point. A couple days passed, and he was able to tell me when the group's downtime was, and he overheard a plan for the leader, Tatsao, and his right hand, to travel to a nearby village for two nights. We didn't know at the time that the reason for their travelling was to meet with the operative that had stolen the scrolls. It had been a week and a half since they were stolen, we were operating under the assumption that they'd had them in their possession for at least a few days. We weren't expecting to take down the entire base, almost 30 shinobi, just to not find the fucking things."
Sakura hummed in acknowledgement, she could already piece together a little of what happened next. The only way to get the upperhand on elite shinobi such as Kakashi or Naruto was to catch them drained, or at least mostly there, finish wearing them down, and pounce. She sipped her cooling tea, glancing back up at Naruto to continue.
"Kakashi burned the bodies and remaining buildings with katon, he said they weren't of any importance, no bounties. Just a mix of jonin and chunin, mostly the former. They put up a good fight, worked in teams to separate and surround us. Kakashi was forced to use his sharingan more than he wanted, so by the time we finished he had about 25% chakra, and I think at least one or two broken ribs. We thought at that point we would finish the mission just fine, Kakashi and I would recover, then he would layer a genjutsu over the base and we could wait for Tatsao and his man. So that's what we did. They came back a full day earlier than they said they would, I'm not sure if someone managed to slip them word of what happened at the base or if they had some type of scout or jutsu, but when they approached the base there was a third man with them, the mind jutsu user. He dispelled the genjutsu for them almost immediately, another waste of chakra. If they would have been A-rank like intel said, we wouldn't have had any issues I don't think. I was around 80%, and Kakashi still had a lot of fight, maybe back up to 50/60, as well as his ninken."
"We were lied to. Either that, or Tatsao managed to improve by leaps and bounds over what the Bingo Book reports on him. The right hand, Nikao, was an Earth and Lightening user like Kakashi. So I went after him and the mind user, while Kakashi led Tatsao away. The mind user tried to get me with a genjutsu, but I managed to break it and took him down with a rasengan to the chest after a few minutes of close combat. Nikao kept throwing up walls between us, helping him to block my attacks. Really, he was just trying to eat away at my chakra, and it worked for a minute." Naruto hung his head, sorry to tell his 'sister' that part of the reason they were captured is that he rushed into things, again.
Putting her hand on his shoulder, she softly said, "Naruto, I don't blame you. And you shouldn't blame yourself. You were both exhausted. What happened next?"
Taking a breath, he continued, "Right as I was gathering the chakra for one last attack at Nikao, I heard Tatsao telling Kakashi that 'he would rid this world of the Copy Nin if it was the last thing he ever did in his life', and there was something in the way he said it Sakura, I knew it was going to be bad. Kakashi already was at the end of the rope, and when I heard that I couldn't stop myself. I looked over and I couldn't follow the last of Tatsao's hand-signs, he was flitting between the boulders, and when he landed in front of Kakashi, I just lunged. I didn't care that I had my own opponent and that that was the last of my chances to take him down alone, I wasn't going to just leave that up to Kakashi. He wouldn't have made it Sakura, I was absolutely sure of it. I stand by that. I know the Godaime wanted the bodies, maybe even one alive, and anything they had with them, but I couldn't help it, I saw red. I rushed my attack at Tatsao instead. It crippled him, but it wasn't forceful enough to kill him, he was too far away. He went down on his knees and Nikao was coming for my back. I was looking at Kakashi, he was getting ready to send another katon Nikao's way, when Tatsao got back to his feet. He whipped out the body sealing scroll and just went for it. The way his chakra was spiking and slipping around, I don't know if he botched it because he didn't have the necessary chakra, or if it was too difficult to master for him, but either way the sheer force of it hit Kakashi, engulfed him in some kind of green glow, almost like healing chakra, and then he was gone. Gone, Sakura! Like he wasn't even there to begin with. No scraps, no smell, no chakra, nothing. No Kakashi."
Naruto stood up fast, pacing back and forth in front of Sakura. "I was so scared Sakura. Terrified, even. I've never seen a sealing work on a live being before. The only ones I know that exist are the livestock scrolls, and they're deadly and illegal for a reason. I didn't move, and that was my second mistake. The last one I had the opportunity to make for a couple weeks." He laughed dryly, shaking his head.
Running his fingers over his bangs to move them out of his face, he continued on, "Nikao slammed me from behind, and Tatsao used a syringe of something foul to knock me out. It took longer than he expected, because of Kyuubi. I could hear him swearing at me, anxious whether it was enough. Unfortunately for me, it was. When I woke up, I was underground in a small makeshift camp. Probably because they didn't want to chance me in the main base. In the two or so weeks they had me, they tortured me a few times, broken bones, burns, bruises. Starvation, dehydration, deprivation." Snorting he said, "Luckily it was only two weeks. I can honestly say that when I woke up the first time in the cell, with the suppressant chains on, that I thought it was going to be worse. They kept me sedated with that same stuff almost the whole time they weren't asking me questions about Konoha. Getting a slight immunity to it by the end of my time there is the reason I was able to leave so fast. They layered the suppressants pretty well but even without the immunity I probably could have gotten out in another week. Tatsao wasn't there. Nikao did most of the torturing, but I got him back when we found Kakashi. He escaped me while I was weak, but payback is a bitch and he deserved it. It was relatively easy to break out; when Nikao wasn't there, there wasn't much strength in their numbers. They really relied on the suppressants and poison. I snagged some for Shizune-nee to look at if you want to take a look"
Sakura raised her brows, Naruto hardly ever cussed, but she supposed it was worth it. She nodded at him about the poison, it would be interesting if it was a new incapacitating compound. Sending an encouraging smile, she urged him to finish, squeezing his hand. Sitting back down and taking a breath, he kept on, "I found a cave a few kilometers away, and waited until most of the injuries healed themselves. Coming back to the village felt awful. I knew it was necessary but Kakashi doesn't have the same healing ability and chakra reserves I do. I couldn't stop thinking about how those suppressants would be even harder for him. Tatsao had a grudge against him, so I knew he would have layered him hard. When I was back and baa-chan had finished healing the rest of the breaks and gashes, we went over the latest intel. She paired Team 8, me, and Shikamaru the first few times. Four times. After that, she sent various ANBU squads to get more concrete information. Ten times, they went out. I never lost hope, but everyone else was starting to. I could see it. I begged her to tell you Sakura. I really did. Right as she was caving, we got the news. ANBU had finally found him. They found the central base, where Tatsao was for sure. I knew that was it because he was there. Absolutely no way he would leave Kakashi to someone else. We went again, with Genma and Raidou. Sakura…"
His eyes closed, face colouring, and Sakura reached out to him. "I know Naruto. I saw it all when I did the check-up this afternoon. I can only imagine how it felt to actually see the evidence on the outside. It isn't okay that that happened to him, but it will be okay with time. None of it, none of it, was your fault. That nuke-nin was gunning for him, had a meticulous plan, and the numbers to back it up. This would have happened eventually. I know that Kakashi is happy that you came back for him, and you should know that everyone else is grateful too. You brought him back to us, Naruto. You brought both of you back to us." Hugging him for all she was worth, she buried her head in the crook of his shoulder. Oh, Naruto….
"Yeah…I guess. But none of that makes it feel better." She squeezed him a little tighter. "I went straight for him, but he was just…hanging Sakura. He was so limp I thought he was dead. No recognition whatsoever, not even once I broke him down. Kami. Hinata started to heal him right there, and I took out anyone that tried to come our way. I don't know exactly what happened with Tatsao, Genma and Raidou took him down. Kiba and Shino went for the rest of the compound after we had located Kakashi, and they made fast work out of it. Nikao came for me, but I was ready. He didn't have any tricks he didn't use the first time, which made it quick. Shikamaru and I had discussed both of them at length to work out strategies for each of us in case we were up against them. Hinata finished stabilizing Kakashi, and I took him outside to meet up with Shikamaru, who found the scrolls we needed. We torched the place, Genma and Raidou stayed back to finish cleaning up, and the rest of us brough Kakashi back. Team 8 and Shika stopped about ten kilometers outside the gates; we had been running non-stop. Kakashi was deep in a coma but still breathing by that point. But you know me, Sakura, I wasn't going to stop. I couldn't. I brought him to baa-chan as fast I could. He hasn't woken up or even moved since."
Sakura let out her breath and closed her eyes. She hated this feeling, the raw burning in the back of her throat. Naruto looked to her face and snuggled her into his shoulder a little deeper than before.
"I'm going to fix him Naruto. I don't care what I have to do, or how far I have to go. I am going to bring him back to us, and he will be on the battlefield before you know it." She squeezed his hands together in hers and leaned back to look into the blue pools of his eyes, "You're both my precious people. I'm so glad I have at least you here with me, and safe." Taking a moment to settle back down, she went on, "What do you think will happen now? You know for sure that you took them all down? One hundred percent?"
He chuckled darkly, thinking of their faces when they saw his tails snaking out from behind him to grab them before he could send his rasengan through their gut, he answered, "No. There isn't anyone from their group left, and everything that they owned was damn near disintegrated if we didn't bring it home with us. The only things we don't know is what the fuck happened to Kakashi, and the original purpose of the group itself. Shikamaru just isn't convinced that Tatsao was the top, even though that's what we've had since the beginning. He says the other two scrolls aren't enough for a rogue group to try to come after so it had to have been the body sealing technique, and if that's it…"
"Then they wanted it for a reason. There are plenty of forbidden sealing jutsu that are of a lower class used by all nations. Why this one and why now?" she finished.
"Exactly. You already knew that though, didn't you?" he smiled.
"I guessed as much, but it feels better to have you confirm it." Smiling back Sakura shook her head slightly. "Even when it could be difficult."
"So what's going to happen for you next?" Naruto hated this feeling whenever Sakura came home, which was rare. He hated having to ask her she was going to leave again; it's almost always immediately, and he missed her so much.
"Tsunade and I are going to go over the scrolls they took first. I've already looked over Kakashi, now we just have to understand why this happened, so we can hopefully fix it. Traditionally, with normal coma patients, the longer the coma the less chance a shinobi has for waking up. It's a miracle under routine circumstances, but induced by a jutsu that we know nothing about? And there's something else I'm missing, I just know it."
Something in his body was off, and it wasn't just the chakra coming from his optical nerves. Sakura had plans to go back over him tomorrow night after she was done for the day in Records.
"I'm going to start a journal for Kakashi-sensei…I'll check in on him every other day or so. Hopefully something in fuinjutsu will be able to help in the short term. Maybe even give Ino access to his memories. If that happens, we might be able to see exactly how Tatsao used the scroll."
Sitting up straighter, she gave a genuine smile. "See, Naruto? We will get through this." Throwing her arms over him, she just took him in. Sakura pushed her nose into his shoulder, she really did miss him. Staying out of the village always breathed the life into her. She had drive, she had direction, and she couldn't find what she needed inside the village anymore. Sakura lived for missions and their excitement, and she loved making a name for herself both on the battlefield and inside a hospital.
The duplicity of her profession and her way of life was never lost on her, and healing the injured while protecting what is precious is her nindo for a reason. "Don't worry Naruto, I'll be here for a while. Tsunade already assured me I wouldn't have any heavy missions. My new priority is getting Kakashi back, and helping you and Shikamaru figure the rest of it out."
Smiling back at her, Naruto chuckled, "I'm glad Sakura-chan. I missed you, you know that. And now I feel like I can actually sleep with you here looking over him. Infiltrations happen often but not usually in the Tower itself and since the hospital doesn't have near enough security, I spend a lot of my time there."
Sakura frowned. "You're right, I hadn't thought of that yet. On the slight chance there was someone else behind that group, being in the hospital puts him in a vulnerable position, especially if you or I leave the village on a mission. Maybe Tsunade will let me relocate him with me. It would be better in the long run for observation, and other than Records and my lab, I won't need to leave that often."
"You should ask her about it tomorrow then, I'd definitely appreciate having a bed to sleep on! The chair in his room has a broken back, and I wake up so sore."
She laughed, imagining him sprawled in his usual sleep positions in that tiny, hard-cushioned chair in the corner of each hospital room. "It's getting late Naruto. I haven't stopped since I got in and I still need to visit a shop for some food. It's not like you can lend me anything edible! Your kitchen habits haven't changed a bit since we were genin, and that's not a compliment!" grinning, she stood from her cushion and stretched upwards. Standing, Naruto poked her ribs, "Yeah yeah. I do just fine, thank you!" sniffing his nose in the air, he gave her a brilliant smile. "I can walk with you if you want me to?"
"No, that's okay Naruto. I like to take in the village by myself after a long mission. It helps me unwind and focus." He nodded, he understood the need for quiet moments after being away, even if it goes easy. You never, never, know when you won't come back, or when those you come back to won't be there.
"I'll meet up with you tomorrow for lunch at Ichiraku's, Naruto." Grinning she smacked his shoulder lightly, "My treat. I missed you too!"
"ALRIGHT! Sakura-chan!"
Sakura breathed deeply, stepping out onto the street below Naruto's apartment. No matter where I go, I will never get over the way Konoha smells at night. The sweet and savories from the merchants, the crisp leaves and pure earth of the forest, the dull scent of wood and tang of metal. Further into the center, smoke and incense, fruit and a tinge of sweat. Wholly unique; the smell of home.
She thought over her latest mission and all its problems. There was less anxiety than before, she had full confidence that if anything could be done for Kakashi's condition, it would come from her and her shishou. The only problems will be filling in the blanks of exactly how this happened, suppression of that awful chakra, more than likely a painful extraction, and tying up any loose ends when it comes to the syndicate they took down.
A fucking sealing scroll. She snorted, turning down an alley between shops as she headed further into the village's center. All of this, because of a fucking forbidden scroll that should have never been kept. Scrolls like that deserve to be lost to the goddamn world, especially when no one is even alive that understands them! For fuck's sake. Huffing her breath, she wandered under the flaps of a café.
"Ohayo, Kani! Am I too late to snag some dumplings from you?" Smiling at the young girl behind the counter, she ran her eyes over the small shop. Not seeing anyone she knew, she returned her attention to the girl.
"Oh, hello Sakura-san!" Kani beamed up at her from across the display. "Of course I still have some sweet dumplings left for you! I'll always have an order ready for our favorite customer!"
Laughing, Sakura shook her head playfully, "Kani, you spoil me! If I didn't train so hard, I'd be the size of a house, your dumplings are so good! I'll take whatever you have left, and some tempura if the oil is hot!"
Nodding along, Kani turned to prepare the shrimp. "Of course Sakura-san! Coming up! Are you going to be staying in the village awhile?"
"Yes, I'll be here for the foreseeable future, I thought it was time to take a vacation!"
"It's about time! We were starting to suffer without your business, you know."
Sakura let out a big laugh, "Oh Kami, even if I was stationed away for the rest of forever, Naruto would single-handedly keep you afloat, and you know it!"
Giggling, Kani nodded, packaging the dumplings while the tempura fried away. "Oh, I know, but if we don't tease you about it every now and then, you would never come back! I should have never allowed baa-chan to give you the recipe for our sweet dumplings, now we'll never keep you."
Shaking her head, Sakura beamed at the younger girl. "Well that's behind us for now. Now, you'll have to make me stay away! Besides, dumplings are always better if someone else makes them for you. It's the love! A love that's going to make me fat!"
Kani rolled her eyes as she boxed the tempura to go. "Oh Sakura, you could never gain a pound, let alone five! It's all baa-chan could do to keep you above weight, she still asks about you, you know."
"Please tell her I said hello, and send my love. I miss seeing her bustle around this café. I'll come check in on her in a few days, okay?"
"Oh that would be fantastic! She misses you too, and her knee has been giving her trouble again. Thank you so much, Sakura-san!"
"It's nothing Kani! I'll see you then, okay?" Sakura made her way to the entrance of the shop, sending a wave over her shoulder.
Stepping out into the cooling air, Sakura let her smile drop, her thoughts returning to her mission. There was that nagging feeling again, she thought to herself, nothing is quite right about this. Sealing jutsus, forbidden or not, wouldn't gather chakra like that, and his injuries, with Tsunade healing them, why was there so much scarring? There shouldn't have been that much, even if the injuries were old. The only time that happens is with prolonged non-lethal poison, but there were no traces of it. And if he was poisoned, how and why is the chakra stuck there? The better question being, whose is it? Fuck if this isn't the most confusing shit I've had to deal with in a while. Worse than the disappearing bodies in Grass. She snorted. At least that mission was fun. She thought back to the brunette that was in her bed and the bottles of expensive sake the pay bought.
She strolled unhurriedly through the streets of Konoha, making her way towards her apartment. Even though every time she stayed longer than a couple weeks she felt her skills stagnating, she was actually ready to be home for a while. After making it into Mist's Bingo Book, she felt time off was deserved. Smirking, she kicked a pebble on the path, watching it bounce against the wall of a building before settling into a small puddle. Now that, is what a mission should be. Stealth, seduction, sake, and murder. Shishou always says to save the best for last.
She looked up at her apartment building, weighing the pros and cons of walking upstairs versus leaping for her balcony. On one hand, she'd have to dodge a few of her traps, but on the other she'd most likely have to walk past Mrs.B, and fuck do I not want to do that. Balcony it is! Tucking the takeout under her arm, she gathered chakra to her feet, and leapt the three floors to her apartment. Settling down without a sound, she crouched fast, avoiding the barrage of shuriken she had tripped. Dismantling the other few sealed traps, she resigned to get the weapons out of the oak behind her complex in the morning. Re-doing the seals and other tripwires will have to do for tonight. I just want to soak in the bath and go to sleep for Kami's sake.
Shutting the double doors and locking them, she tossed her takeout onto her bed and made her way to the door. She had the sinking feeling something in her little two bedroom wasn't the same as she left it. The feeling she had earlier that day when she came through the gates came back to her mind and she reached for her thigh holster as she made it to her bedroom screen. Sliding it open, she unsheathed the kunai and let her chakra tendril out into the darkness of the apartment.
She felt it, there in the corner across from her. Someone with a calm heartbeat and masked chakra, just beyond what she could make out. She relaxed her stance slightly and slid the screen back in place behind her, not taking her eyes off the dark corner. I fucking knew something was different when I came home. I should have listened to myself, but I got caught up with the news of Kakashi. Yet another emotional mistake, she berated herself. I doubt they'll ever end.
She straightened a little from her relaxed stance and stared down the far corner of her living room. I'll give the fucker 'til ten to speak before I shunshin to training ground four. These apartments might be for shinobi but being shinobi, most of them aren't here. What's left are innocent civilians, and I'll be damned if they're hurt because of me. One…two…three…
Fabric shifted so faint you would have missed it if you even breathed, and Sakura felt the slightest sliver of chakra slither out towards her. It tickled something in her mind, and she knew she'd met him before. Her chakra rose to meet his, her shielding almost instinctive, and she flexed her fingers minutely. The itching she felt before battle was starting to fester under her skin, but she didn't let it change her heart rate or breathing. Blank faced, she peered into the darkness that was slowly taking the shape of a man, a head taller than herself. Her mind flashed through every enemy she'd ever faced that was still alive, but none of them were clicking in place.
Just as his features were coming into focus her eyes flit to the floor where his chakra was manifesting into a physical shape. She wasn't worried, her chakra shielding was damn near perfect, and she had enough space to dodge or flee if it came to it.
Sakura felt like her world shifted as she recognized the chakra slithering across her floor, her head snapping up and her own chakra snaking out in a tendril to meet his own. She watched, utterly fascinated, as they twined together and raised up off the floor. Chakra strings.
She found his eyes, gleaming in the darkness, and let out her breath in a slight whisper; the movement of lips the only tell of recognition on her face.
"Sasori."