Chapter 7
Sasuke's POV
The sun was far from rising when Sasuke woke up. He already had his gear and chokuto packed last night, so he was ready to go. He opened the door and was hit with a gust of cold air. The seasons in Konoha were beginning to change; now mornings and evenings were steadily getting colder, but the afternoons were just warm enough.
He had enough time to leisurely walk towards the gates and think about the mission. This was going to be his first mission working with his old teammates again. He wanted to show everyone his discernible loyalty towards Konoha. He needed to make sure everyone knew that they could rely on him.
He looked up to watch the sky slowly changing colors. The sun's rays had just started to peak over the horizon.
"Sasuke?"
He turned to see Sakura walking towards him.
"I was wondering who that weirdo staring at the sky was." She said with a smirk.
He rolled his eyes.
"You're early." She stated.
"So are you. Don't you need your beauty sleep?"
She gasped dramatically. "Are you saying I'm not beautiful right now Sasuke? How rude." She said lightly punching his arm.
No wonder Shikamaru always says women are troublesome. They walked to the gate silently, and found Lee and Ten-Ten already there.
"Good morning!" Sakura said cheerfully to them.
"GOOD MORNNG SAKURA-SAN! YOUR BEAUTY IS ESPECIALLY OUTSTANDING THIS MORNING!" Lee yelled giving her a thumb's up.
How the hell can he be so energetic all the time?
"Thank you Lee." Sakura said sheepishly.
Slowly everyone arrived and gathered around the gate. There were the jounin captains, several medics, and a few chunins all separated into groups. There was already an unspoken agreement that he, Naruto, and Sakura would be traveling in a group together, so they just stood together and waited.
Once everyone was sorted, Kakashi came to dismiss them.
"Remember, we are there to rescue, not fight. We should be the first to arrive at the mountain pass, but the other villages should arrive by tonight. This operation should go smoothly. I wish you all the best of luck." He said.
"Hai!" they all shouted and scattered.
The three of them kept a steady pace to the mountain. The other teams had masked their chakra, but he knew they were around them somewhere. Sasuke just focused and made sure that Naruto was always on his left and Sakura was always on his right.
The sun was just beginning to set when they had finally reached the pass. As soon as they got there, Ten-Ten began summoning tents from her many scrolls. Some left to scan the perimeter while the others began setting up tents, building fires, and settling down.
He was sitting down by a tree when Naruto and Sakura came and joined him. Naruto laid flat on the ground and stretched out and yawned.
"Here, make sure you guys are eating and staying hydrated." Sakura said handing them crackers and her water bottle.
The fire crackled in the distance as they ate in silence.
"I didn't have time to tell you guys this yesterday, but Kakashi said he's going to start training me to be Hokage." Naruto said.
"What? That's great!" Sakura said.
"It's about time." He said with a small smile.
He knew Naruto was destined to be Hokage a long time ago. Not only was he powerful, but he had a way of changing people's hearts and always giving them hope. Plus, he knew that Kakashi was fed up with being the Hokage.
"Thanks guys." Naruto said softly. "I am a little nervous though. The village has grown a lot and there'll be a lot of people looking up to me."
"That's to be expected. But I can guarantee that both Sasuke and I, as well as all of our friends, know that you were meant for being the next Hokage. Plus, I doubt Kakashi is going to give over the position without making sure you're fully prepared." She said reassuringly.
"Thanks Sakura-chan." Naruto said with a smile.
They continued talking about some past memories and random stories when Suna finally came in.
"I'm going to go say hi to some people! I'll be right back." Naruto said running off.
He knew the blond was acquainted with a lot of people from Suna because of his close friendship with Gaara. Naruto had that gift of making friends with almost everyone.
"Wanna go for a walk?" Sakura asked interrupting his thoughts.
"Aa."
They got up and started heading into the woods. The woods were thankfully clear enough to navigate through. Had their mission been a month later, a blanket of snow would have covered everything and made it impossible.
"So, have you decided to open an assistant director position?" he asked breaking the silence.
"Yes. I don't think I can handle all the work on my own while also seeing patients." She said. "But I'm having a hard time deciding who to pick."
"Do you have any leading candidates?"
"Well there's Ami, the doctor you met yesterday. We've done so many procedures together and I trust her completely, but she's also the head doctor for the physical therapy and rehab sector. That's the busiest part of the hospital, and I don't want to overwhelm her by adding more to her plate." She paused. "Then there's Kenji."
Sasuke's stomach dropped.
"He works well with other doctors and nurses, and all the patients love him, but his focus is primarily on respiratory diagnostics and treatment, and I think I want someone who's had a variety of practice."
"You should stick with Ami." He said quickly.
She gave him a weird look. "I still have to think about it some more."
He desperately hoped that she wouldn't choose Kenji. He didn't want them getting any closer than they already were.
"So, how's your new apartment?" she asked.
"It's good. I like having my own place. Plus sometimes, the old lady gives me free dango."
"What?! That's so lucky. I wish my neighbors gave me free dango."
"I guess you'll have to come over sometime." He shrugged. Was he being too obvious?
She just looked down and smiled.
They continued walking until they came to the edge of the mountain. On different circumstances, Sasuke imagined the view would have been breathtaking, but now they were looking down at a gruesome battlefield. The terrain was jagged, scorched, and destroyed, there were dead bodies scattered everywhere, and the whole place reeked of ash and decay.
Sakura clenched her fists. "I hate war." She whispered quietly.
He nodded.
They turned around and started walking back not wanting to see anymore of the frontline. It was a silent walk back when he saw out of the corner of his eye that she shivered slightly. He unbuttoned his cloak and draped it around her shoulders.
"Wow, I didn't know you were such a gentleman." She said with a small smile.
"There's a lot that you don't know about me."
"Do you secretly read those Icha-Icha books? It's always the quiet ones that do."
He rolled his eyes. "You know, normally people just say thank you."
"Normally? Do you usually give your cloak to girls?"
"Tch. You're so difficult woman."
She chuckled.
They made it back to the campsite right as Kumo arrived. It didn't take long to find Naruto in the mass of people.
Naruto looked at Sakura wearing the large cloak and raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.
"Who else are we waiting for?" Sasuke asked.
"Iwa came a little bit after Suna arrived, so we're just waiting on Kiri. But they'll take a little bit longer because they have to sail halfway."
They walked to the large tent where all the captains were meeting. There were maps of the two countries on the center table and everyone was reviewing the plan for tomorrow.
A little after midnight, Kiri finally arrived and everyone packed into the tent to go over a final rundown of the whole mission. Their plan was solid and guaranteed. After talking, the three of them found their tree again and lit a fire. The temperature had dropped and the cold breeze didn't help, but the blankets and fire made it manageable.
They sat with their backs against the large tree and huddled shoulder to shoulder and fell asleep.
The next morning, everyone was up and ready to start. Sakura and all the medics had tents with cots lined up and ready to treat the injured villagers. Sasuke and Naruto stood with the other captains and waited till everyone was in position. And then they were off.
Sasuke couldn't tell how long it had been because everything was moving so fast. As soon as Konoha's group was inside the country's boundaries, they separated and started checking each section of the village. Naruto called out locations where he sensed hidden villagers; captains then rescued the villagers and separated the injured. They all spoke through earpieces guiding Sasuke to injured civilians. He had to put a few people in genjutsus to avoid fighting, but that was to be expected.
Currently Sasuke had two injured villagers with him in an abandoned building. He waited for the captains to get back so he could transport all the injured individuals at once. It was a complete warzone outside. Every few minutes, the ground would shake from paper bombs going off.
One of the injured whimpered in pain from a large wound, but there was nothing he could do but comfort them and let them know that a medic would see them soon. He made a mental note to have Sakura teach him some basic medical ninjutsu or something to help him in the future.
A few minutes later Shino ran in with four more villagers. He helped carry some villagers to the corner with others.
"Who else are we waiting for?" Shino asked.
"Shikamaru came already with two and has started evacuating his section, so we're just waiting on Lee." He replied.
Shino nodded. "I'm leaving them with you then."
Lee came about five minutes later carrying one person on his back. Sasuke gathered everyone in the corner and teleported them directly to the campsite. Ami and some other medics were waiting and instantly started working on their injuries.
Once he felt that they were taken care of, he teleported himself back and they repeated the process. They worked in sections discovering and rescuing the villagers one by one.
After an eternity it seemed like, they were finally finished. Sasuke couldn't tell how long they had been on the field; it was just one long adrenaline rush. But now that it was all over, the pain and exhaustion hit him all at once. His head and eyes were pounding and his rinnegan was bleeding.
The minute they got back to the campsite, Shikamaru told him to sit down and rest but he still wanted to contribute somehow. To avoid any fighting among villagers, Kumo and Kiri were already leaving with villagers from one country. Shino and Naruto left to help them pack up and start moving. Lee was cooking some curry for everyone that was supposed to be life-changing.
He got up and walked over to the medic's tents just as Sakura ran out. Her hair was tied up but she was still wearing his cloak.
She stopped and gasped. "Sasuke! Your eye!"
He waved her off. "Don't worry about me. Go ahead with what you were doing."
She looked uncertain. "When I finish, come find me. I'll heal your eye." Then she ran into another tent.
He leaned against and tree and rested. He watched medics going in and out of the tent and once in a while, he saw a flash of pink.
About an hour later, he recognized the young medic in training, Ichiro, running into Sakura's tent. Sasuke could hear him yelling from outside.
"Dr. Haruno! I need your help. I thought I could stabilize the man in tent six, but he keeps bleeding out!"
Sasuke could tell he sounded panicked.
"Is there anyone else available?" she asked calmly.
"No! I already checked with everyone else."
"Okay, don't worry. I'm going there now. Do you feel comfortable taking this patient?" she asked.
"Hai."
They switched spots and she ran into a different tent. He didn't know why but he got up and followed her in. She had already started working and was too focused to notice him in there.
The man on the cot had large hole in his abdomen. Sasuke wasn't even sure how he was still living to be honest; he was making a low groaning noise and jolting every few minutes. There was blood soaking the cot and ground. He assumed the man came into close contact with a paper bomb when it exploded.
Sakura slowly worked to stop the bleeding and the man stopped jolting. Her brow was furrowed in concentration as she continuously poured out her chakra into the man. After a while, he could see her hands starting to shake, but her chakra flow never stopped. He watched in amazement as new flesh began to slowly form and piece together.
Sakura's arms were shaking now, but she was close to patching the abdomen. He watched her bite her lip hard and the chakra flow momentarily increased. A small trickle of blood dripped down her chin as she finally closed the hole. It was finally done.
Then the green light vanished. Sasuke had seen this before. Her arms dropped to her side and she stumbled back. Her eyelids drooped and she immediately fell backwards. He was there to catch her right away.
Her chakra levels were completely tanked. She looked up at him breathing slowly.
"Your eye." She whispered.
"Don't worry about it. Just rest." He said softly.
He summoned his Susano arm and carried her to an empty cot. She was unconscious now. He unbuttoned his cloak from around her neck and draped it over her like a blanket.
He notified Ichiro letting him know the man was stable, and went back to Sakura. He stayed by her side the rest of the night making sure she was okay.