Disclaimer: Again, I do not own Naruto.
Chapter 5: Sakura to the rescue
"Ouch my head... Where am I?" Sakura slowly regained consciousness. Right next to her the dog barked, happy that he survived the ordeal. She stared at the dog and remembered what had happened.
"Sasuke-kun? Where's Sasuke-kun?!" She looked to the right and left but she couldn't see him. That bastard, he left her behind. That was it. She couldn't take it anymore. "Sasuke, I should have known you didn't care about anyone but yourself! I don't like you anymore!" Sakura screamed at the darkness of the woods.
All of a sudden, she heard a moan. "Sakura, over here...." She glanced in the direction the sound was coming from, but she saw nothing. Only the fallen down tree. Wait a minute. Sakura got a flashback. Sasuke saved her. But maybe he... No that's ridiculous, he's not under that tree. "Sasuke, stop trying to scare me. Come out, wherever you are."
She listened carefully, but no response. What if... What if he is under that tree and he is dying. And she's just standing there doing nothing. "Oh no." She ran towards the tree. "Sasuke-kun don't worry! I'll save you." Yeah right, she'll save him. How? She made her way through the leaves and saw Sasuke lying there, helplessly. He was unconscious again. She couldn't reach him, he was too far down. He had wounds all over his body. Or at least the parts of his body that she could see. Luckily he wasn't under the heavy side of the tree, otherwise there was no way that she could save him. He was lying under the branches. All she had to do was break them off and carry him to safety.
Easier said then done. The branches were very thick. She started breaking off the small ones to clear a path. Branch by branch. When she was finished, she used all her strength to break off the thicker ones. She had such a headache, but she had to do it. For Sasuke's sake.
"Yes the last one." But this one was a lot thicker than the other ones. She needed some help with this one. Why couldn't she think of that before? Naruto or Kakashi could help her. But then she realized that they are probably out looking for them. She had no idea where they were.
It started to rain and it was really dark now. "No, no, not now! Stop raining!" She started to cry. "Sasuke-kun... I can't do it. The branch is too thick. I'm sorry." She started to cry even more. "All we can do is wait for Kakashi-sensei or Naruto to find us. You have to hold on until then." She climbed out of the branches and sat down next to the tree. The puppy curled up against her. It was cold and wet.
Her sadness quickly turned into madness. She was angry that she always had to rely on one of them to come to the rescue. Well not this time! Now it's her turn to save someone. She got up and started to pull on the branch again with everything she's got. The puppy started barking to encourage her.
She pulled and pulled, but it was hopeless. The branch wouldn't budge. She looked down and saw that Sasuke was still unconscious. "Sasuke-kun..." She turned her head to face the dog. Suddenly an idea popped into her head. "Come here doggy, come here." The dog jumped on the tree and went to sit on Sakura's lap. "Listen up puppy. You have to help me save Sasuke. With your teeth, you can bite through this wood." She started making moves to explain to the dog what she wanted him to do. "Do you understand?" The dog barked. "Ok, start biting!"
The dog jumped of her lap and made his way onto the branch. He started chewing and biting and scratching. "Its working, its working!" She stood up and almost fell down. The rain had made it slippery. The dog was halfway through the branch.
"Puppy you can stop now. I can take it from here." She started pulling the branch. Why didn't she think of this before? There was movement in the branch and it broke. "Yeah we did it!" Her joy lasted short, because she still had to pull Sasuke from under there and carry him to safety.
She was horrified to find out that Sasuke suffered more damage to his body than she originally thought. His shirt was ripped and she was staring at a big gasping wound on his side. She quickly made her way down to her friend.
"Don't worry Sasuke, when you wake up you'll be home already, in your nice warm bed." She could hear the dog barking above her. It was still raining and she was so cold, dirty, and wet. But she had to pull through.
She grabbed Sasuke's arm gently so that if he had broken bones she wouldn't harm him even more. She placed it around her neck and started pulling him up. She held his arm with one of her hands. Her other arm she used to wrap around his waist. Once her grip on him was nice and firm, she started to climb out of the tree.
"No, where could they be, sensei?" Naruto had a worried face.
"I don't know Naruto, but we have to find them soon. Because if they're hurt, they might not make it."
"We searched everywhere, maybe we should just go to their houses and wait for them there. I'm sure that Sasuke will take care of Sakura."
"If that's true then we should go to Sasuke's place, so that we won't alarm Sakura's parents." "Lets go."
Sakura managed to get Sasuke from under the tree. He was now lying on the wet ground. She put her hand on his forehead to measure his temperature. He's very cold, but at least he's still breathing.
The puppy went to sit next to Sakura and started to cry again. "I know puppy, we are all cold. I have to get you two to a warm place, fast. And I know exactly which place." She remembered that her parents have a bungalow near here. If she can get to that place, she can take care of them there. And then she can call for help.
"Come on Sasuke, you too puppy. Lets go."
It feels like they've been walking for hours, but in reality only 20 minutes had passed. It still hadn't stop raining. Sakura was trying her best not to fall, even though it was very slippery. She was so tired and Sasuke still didn't wake up. Even the puppy looked exhausted.
Finally, they arrived on an open field and there it was. The bungalow. Sakura wanted to run towards it. She had been craving for some shelter and food. She started to walk faster. They reached the door. She let Sasuke sit down next to the door so that she could open it.
"Damn, its locked. Don't we trust each other anymore?" She tried the backdoor entrance but that was locked too. She had no other choice but to climb up to the first floor and open the door from the inside.
She looked up and it seemed so high up to climb, but that was just the exhaustion talking, because in fact it wasn't even so high up. "I need a little bit of chakra for this." She wondered if she even had some left. Luckily, she had. It was very slippery, but eventually she reached the balcony and quickly opened the glass door. She ran downstairs to carry Sasuke in.
The guestrooms were downstairs, so she was glad that she didn't have to carry him all the way up. She laid him down on a bed in one of the rooms. She stared at him, wondering what to do next. She knew she had to call somebody first and then she could attend to him.
She left the room to make a phone call in the kitchen. She picked up the phone and immediately slammed it back. The lines are dead. She forgot that when she and her family aren't staying here on a holiday, the phones are shutdown. And now she can't leave to get some help. Its the middle of the night, she could get lost.
She walked back to the room where Sasuke was. She stood next to him, placing her hand on his forehead again. He's still cold. That's logical, since she hasn't turned the heat on and didn't cover him with the sheets. His body is covered with blood. She wanted to take what was left of his shirt off, but she knew that if he'd wake up during the process, he'd be mad at her.
She had no choice. She had to take him out of his dirty and wet clothes. She started to untie his shoes. When she got them off, it was time to take off the rest. She started blushing. She looked over at the dog that was in the same room as her, wobbling his tail.
"What are you so excited about? I have to take of his pants, its wet too. I'm not doing this for my pleasure, so you can stop looking at me like that." The dog tilted his head to the side, as if he knew better. "Ok ok maybe just a little bit." Sakura admitted. The dog barked. Once she took of his clothes, except his underpants, she replaced them with fresh ones, she had found in the closet. Her cousin always had extra clothes in his closet, when he stays with her family in this bungalow.
Before she put on him new clothes, she washed him up a bit. It was strange to touch him without him being awake. She kept telling herself that it was necessary, but she could not help herself from tingling inside when she touched his skin and muscles.
She covered him up with very warm sheets. She was done putting ointment on his wounds and nursing the deepest and largest wound on his side. She was glad that it wasn't as deep as she thought. She forecasted that his wounds would all be healed in a couple of days. She placed a warm napkin on his forehead. She glanced at him one more time before she left the room. "Come on doggy. Lets leave him alone for now." The dog barked and followed her out of the room.
"And as for you, puppy. You need to take a bath as well, just like me. But before we do that, I'll make a fire in the fireplace and turn up the heating system." The dog happily barked and wobbled his tail.
"Still no sign of them, I'm starting to get worried sensei."
"Don't worry Naruto, I'm sure they'll be fine. It's late, but I think we should notify Sakura's parents."
"I guess we should." Naruto sighed.
"I'll do it, you can go home and get some sleep and try not to worry. I'll visit you in the morning to bring some updates on the situation."
"Thank you Kakashi-sensei. I'll see you in the morning."
Naruto left, leaving Kakashi behind at Sasuke's place. When he got to Sakura's house, he explained the situation. Her parents were not worried at all to his surprise.
"We know our daughter. She always manages to get herself in serious trouble, but she also knows how to get out of it. She'll be fine."
"But sir, shouldn't we at least send someone to find them?"
"Kakashi, we are a very wealthy family we have houses everywhere. I'm sure she is in one of them. So no need to worry."
"But, they might be hurt."
"Then there is still no need to worry, because Sakura took a nursing-class. She has learned so much that she can take care of both of them with a broken arm and with no eyesight if she has to."
Kakashi would have argued even more if it wasn't for the next thing that was said by Sakura's mother. He could not help but to agree.
"And besides she is with that boy Uchiha Sasuke. She has a major crush on him. She would make sure that they're safe and I'm sure Sasuke would make sure as well. They are both looking out for one and other, protecting each other. If you ask me that boy also has a thing for my Sakura." Sakura's mother smiled and let out a giggle.
"Well ok then." Kakashi thought it was pointless to bicker even more.
"If they are injured they should be back here as soon as possible. No need to worry until then. But thank you for your trouble, Kakashi."
"I'm sorry to have bothered you. Have a pleasant evening."
Kakashi left, still not quite sure to leave it at that. But if Sakura's parents aren't worried, why should he be. Now he just has to remember to tell Naruto in the morning.
"Aah this is heaven." Sakura said aloud while taking a hot bath. She was still a little concerned about Sasuke, but now it was her turn to relax. She had given the dog some dog food that she had found in a cabinet where her aunt left it the last time she was here with her dog Buster. Along with that she found out that there was enough food for all of them to last for 3 months.
She had nursed her head injury. She had put some ointment on it and a bandage. It still hurt a little, but she couldn't imagine what Sasuke will be feeling when he wakes up. She closed her eyes, not knowing that someone entered the bathroom. She felt someone staring at her. A shade fell over her, she quickly opened her eyes and screamed.
"Aaaaaaaah! You pervert get out!" She yelled at Sasuke. She quickly covered her body with foam. But there was something different about Sasuke. It was as if he wasn't totally awake. He was just standing there with a worn-out face.
"Where am I?" Then all of a sudden he collapsed and passed out.
"Sasuke-kun!" She got out of the tub and wrapped her body in a cloth.
The puppy was still sleeping by the fireplace. Sasuke was back in his bed and Sakura wondered what just happened. He must have been in some kind of trance. She decided not to think about it anymore and get some sleep herself. It already was 4 o'clock at night.
Her room was upstairs, but she planned to sleep in one of the guestrooms so she could be close to Sasuke when he wakes up for real this time.
She walked over to his room for one more check before she went to bed. She slowly walked over to his bed. He looked so peaceful. She never really noticed how handsome he was until now. She could not help herself but to kiss him very quick on his forehead.
"Goodnight Sasuke-kun." She walked towards the door. "Goodnight Sakura..." She turned her head to see Sasuke with his eyes open looking at her. She didn't know what to say. She didn't expect him to be awake. And if he was awake why would he allow her to kiss him?
To break off the silence Sasuke just said. "I'll see you in the morning."
"Uhh...yeah, bye." She closed the door and started smiling.
"Sakura's kindness reminds me of my mother." Sasuke thought to himself and he quickly fell into a deep sleep.