NARUTO © Kishimoto Masashi • Shueisha • Studio Pierrot • TV Tokyo. All rights reserved. Non-profit fun ahead!
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Against the Tide
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Chapter Nine
"I already told you what I know," Sakura frowned, genuinely irritated for the first time since Naruto had seen her. "I can't say anything more, because there's just nothing else to say already."
Directly facing her, seated upon a moving stool, Sasuke frowned. He exchanged a glance with Naruto, who was lounging about on the couch beside him. The blond shrugged to indicate that he had no opinion currently. No sooner had he done that did Sasuke return his glance to the notebook in his hand. He grimaced at the almost entirely blank page. "Useless." He huffed, meaning the severe lack of information he was staring at. Somehow, his whisper travelled to Sakura's ears, making her bow her head and bit her lips in shame.
Sasuke's gripe did not escape Naruto either. He sat up straight suddenly and gave Sasuke a rough shove. "Stop that! It wasn't Sakura-chan's fault! You're always blaming other people for stuff, bastard!"
Sasuke shot both the fuming Naruto and the embarrassed Sakura a cursory glance. He sighed. "Sakura, I wasn't commenting about you. I was just frustrated at the severe lack of information we have on this case. Don't take it to heart," he let his glance sidelong to the by-now pouting Naruto. "... happy now, idiot?"
"Don't call me an idiot!" Naruto immediately screeched, arms flailing. "And that wasn't even a sincere apology! Do it again!" He pointed a finger at the exasperated Sasuke. "Use the word 'sorry' this time!"
In the background, Sakura giggled, while Sasuke growled and turned away. "This isn't going anywhere," he announced with a shake of his head. Standing, he stole a glance at the door. "Since we can't get the modus operandi of this demon straight, we're going to have to utilise the messy, troublesome way of stalking the target. Come on, Naruto," he grumbled, already halfway towards the door.
"Why the hell are you so impatient?" Naruto barked angrily, standing up and facing his partner. It did not seem like he was going to bolt from the room anytime soon. "You make it seem like it's Sakura-chan's fault that we're going to need to use another method!"
"I'm not in the mood to argue with you, dim-wit," Sasuke almost snarled. "We've been dragging this mission for far too long. It's just a minor water demon, we can take it easily, if we can just find it. Coming to interrogate a victim isn't even usually on the list of things we need to do. Kakashi's just trying to drag this out for as long as he can. If we start our stalking now, we can weed the demon out by this week instead of wasting time here, asking Sakura questions she will never have answers to."
The room was silent, as the boys stared levelly at each other. Sakura's lip trembled more than it already was. Although she knew it wasn't meant to hurt her, she could not help but feel stung by Sasuke's words. "I'm sorry..." she whispered again. In the silence of the room, her voice could be heard loudly and clearly. "It's just that... whenever I try to think about what you ask me... I hit a brick wall and can't go any further..." She wiped at her eyes. "I'm sorry... I really tried my best..."
But neither boys appeared to have heard her - too fully engaged in their heated staring match. "You," Naruto began first, a hint of red tinting his angry blue eyes, "really don't want to see my face so much, that you'd do anything to finish this mission as soon as possible?"
Sasuke was slightly surprised at the accusation. That had certainly not been the reason why he so eagerly wanted to close the case - he had just kept thinking that the case was a simple one and that he didn't want to delay any further.
In fact, he had completely forgotten that Naruto was only to be with him for one mission.
Unable to come up with a proper response, Sasuke frowned slightly and looked away with a quiet snort under his breath. He did feel a tiny bit of regret. But no, he would not be missing the idiot. He could not wait to be rid of the loudmouth, overly bright and cheerful boy. If they did survive this mission in one piece, he was going to be happy that he can finally send the idiot back to the laboratory. He was going to be happy to see the blond getting restrained and chained back to his singular, lonely bed in the white-washed room that had been his home for the past 16 years of his life. He was going to go out and get himself drunk with joy.
He was going to ignore the dull, throbbing pain of reluctance in his heart.
Naruto had, on the other hand, taken the silence to be Sasuke's unwitting admission. He scowled angrily at the new development. Inside, however, he was upset and hurt. He truly looked up to Sasuke as a friend and partner. The reports he had read - cold, hard facts though they were, showed to him that Sasuke was, if nothing else, powerful and efficient. And there was nothing else Naruto hoped more for than an acknowledgement from a powerful shinobi about his own strength. A reassurance that he was needed in this world after all.
He willed the tears away. He would not show any weakness before the two people that had come to matter to him. "Fine," he muttered, in a low rumble - like a growl of a predator. His eyes flashed and he stalked over to Sakura's bedside. Giving her a lopsided smile, he asked, "So, Sakura-chan, you want to be able to remember something about the attack, right?" His smile became a grin when Sakura nodded hesitantly. "That's great! Because I know of a memory restoring Jutsu that may just be of some help!"
While Sakura jerked into attention, Sasuke nearly had a heart attack where he was sitting. He turned to Naruto and narrowed his eyes. "You know a memory restoring Jutsu... and you never thought about mentioning it all this time while we were running around like headless chickens trying to string up information from Sakura's sketchy answers?"
Naruto had a feeling the question was entirely rhetorical, but he answered in the brightest, cheeriest, happiest tone he had anyway. "Yup!"
Sasuke, for his part, found himself unable to react.
"But," the blond's face turned serious, "it's a Jutsu from the Forbidden Scroll... I think they called it a 'mind probe' or something. Since it's from the Forbidden Scroll, I don't think it's very legal..." He pouted and glanced at Sakura. "... and I've never used it before. Iruka-sensei tells me all the Jutsu I've learnt from the Forbidden Scroll I'm not supposed to use at all because they have, like, very terrible side effects and stuff." He looked at Sakura, who looked back at him with determination. "Are you willing to take the risk, Sakura-chan?"
It was only a small, split second glance in Sasuke's general direction that Sakura threw - meant more to reassure herself than anything, but both boys noticed it. Sasuke turned away, an impassive look on his face, whereas Naruto tried to mask the hurt he knew was showing up on his countenance. Quickly, Sakura returned her driven eyes to the blond. "I'm ready. I'll do it."
Naruto averted his glance uncomfortably. "You don't have to take the risk if you're just doing this to prove something..." he muttered, unhappy that Sakura seemingly valued Sasuke's opinion over her own life. But his next words were cut short by Sakura's curt, lucid reply.
"Do it, Naruto," the pink-haired teen was frowning so hard, her face looked almost scary. "I want to be of use and of help. I've been lying on this hospital bed, thinking and thinking about what my life could have been. People who claimed they knew me came and kept trying to jolt my memory. I don't... I can't feel anything for them..." She shook her head at the thought. "... I need this, Naruto. I need to know what happened. I feel like I'm letting down a lot of people if I don't at least try." She tugged hopefully at his sleeves. "Please?" She pleaded. "At least if I must die, I want to die knowing I was doing something meaningful, and not rotting my life away on a pale, white hospital bed."
Even Sasuke seemed suitably impressed by Sakura's sudden grit. He narrowed his eyes at Naruto, who had his back against him. He was in no position to command Naruto to stop from carrying out a dangerous Jutsu, if the other party had requested it, so even if he had felt uncomfortable with the idea, the only thing he could do was to protest it - which he most certainly was not. This could provide a great clue as to the direct whereabouts of the Mizu-Youma. He wasn't letting it up for anything in the world.
Naruto took only a moment more to decide. He sighed, and his shoulders sagged slightly. "Well, if you say, so Sakura-chan." He wheeled a stool to Sakura's bedside and gestured for Sasuke to come closer, which he did. "This Jutsu is not physically harmful by nature," the blond explained, "but it requires that I use Chakra to infiltrate Sakura-chan's mind. From there, I will search for the information I need. But there is a lot of information in a person's mind," Naruto put a hand on the back of his head sheepishly, "so... Sasuke, I need you to ask Sakura-chan questions that will evoke the correct kind of memories."
From the side, Sasuke nodded - slightly fascinated about this Forbidden Jutsu that Naruto was describing. He had heard about the Forbidden Scroll, but never seen it before. He figured it would be a highly valued and tightly guarded Scroll, and how Naruto had gotten his hands on it baffled him. Maybe he would ask when this whole thing was over.
Seeing that Sasuke had no objections, Naruto returned his attention to Sakura. "Sakura-chan," he started, "you're going to be feeling veeery strange once this Jutsu starts. As much as possible, try not to struggle. Otherwise both you and I will be in big trouble, mmkay?" The blond looked at Sakura for a positive response, something to indicate that she had understood. Sakura nodded gravely. Naruto stared a while more at the girl, as if trying to determine if she was truly ready for this. He then sighed slightly and nodded. "Stay very still, Sakura-chan. This'll be over in a minute. Sasuke," he turned slightly to regard his partner, "you only have time to ask one question. Make that question count!"
"I know, idiot," Sasuke smirked.
The blond scowled unhappily at him, and said nothing more. He turned back to Sakura, forming a series of complicated seals. Sasuke briefly wondered if he should have activated the Sharingan to copy the moves for future reference, but thought the better of it. He couldn't lose his concentration now - they had to count on this Jutsu to get the answers they so desperately needed for progress.
Slowly, Sakura's bright, green eyes dulled, and she was set in a daze. Sasuke saw Naruto glance at him from the corner of his eyes, understanding that to be his cue. He looked seriously at Sakura, who was looking ahead at nothing. He could /hear/ his mind beginning to work overtime, trying to settle on a question that would bring back the most memories.
The problem, though, as Sasuke knew, was not in Sakura or her seeming inability to recall. The root problem, was that there was a sentient presence that had infiltrated Sakura's mind through her Chakra points. That presence was withholding access to the memories they wanted - feeding on it for survival. That much Shikamaru's photographs had proven to him. As the seconds ticked by, and Naruto glanced worriedly at him, Sasuke breathed, his question for the presence within Sakura ready.
"Hey, demon. Wanna share with us some of those nice memories you've been feeding on?"
Naruto would have protested the completely off-topic question, had he not suddenly feel a pull where he had focused his Chakra on - namely, Sakura's mind. He had to hold his breath, as a new barrage of information assaulted his senses. Having never used the Jutsu before, he had not known what to expect. He thought he was going to be merely the middleman, joining Sakura's consciousness back to her subconscious self. He certainly did not know he would be receiving the memories first-hand. He could see night in his eyes, even though the sunlight from the window told him that it was day. He could hear a strange, drizzling sound, and a sharp object slicing madly through the air. He thought there would be screams; but he heard none.
And as the whoosing sound came to a close, Naruto found himself standing amidst a throng of people, looking up at the building of the police headquarters - which glowed eeriely in the light of the full, red moon in the background. A tall, dark shadow loomed over him, but all he could see were the fangs of the creature, widening into a grin and dribbling with saliva. Naruto was seized by panic. He willed his rooted feet to move, to no avail. He tried to speak, but could hear no sound. Cold swear poured down his cheeks, but he no longer could feel it.
"
Somebody was calling his name. He could not be sure.
"You," the creature before him suddenly spoke, in a loud, booming voice, "will be the one."
Naruto gulped. His eyes widened.
"You're the fortunate one, weak human!" The creature dashed towards Naruto at breakneck speed, and the blond could not even find strength to topple onto the ground. "You'll be the one to lead me to--"
"NARUTO!!"
There was a buffer moment of reaction, as both Naruto and Sakura threw their heads slightly backwards, like someone had just given them both a gentle push on the forehead. Colour immediately returned to their glazed eyes. They both blinked once, then looked at each other out of sheer reflex.
Sakura collapsed first, her head hitting the pillow before Sasuke could even ask her if she was all right. He heard Naruto gasp in a small voice and turned around just in time to see the blond tumble over his own feet towards the ground.
Panic immediately rose from within him. "Naruto!" He cried out again, reaching out to stop the boy from falling completely. What if he dashed his head against a chair? What if he got a cut on a rusty steel knife? What if the roof suddenly fell and crushed him to death?! If Naruto was to die, Sasuke wanted to make sure he had a say in the manner of it! He was not going to let his partner die from something idiotic! No, he would not take that lying down!
The Uchiha was relieved, therefore, to manage to catch onto one of Naruto's wrist before the blond completely collapsed onto the ground. He quickly heaved Naruto over to the couch, where he could see plainly that Naruto was in much mental anguish. Before he could say another word, however, a file clattered to the floor from the doorway, and he was forced to look up. His heart almost seized when he saw that it was a nurse standing there, with wide, frightened eyes. Had she seen? That they were risking a Kinjutsu right in the hospital? The emotional side of Sasuke quickly jumped into action, ready with many excuses he could give to avoid the issue.
He had not needed to speak yet, for the nurse asked with her quiet, panicked voice, "Wh... What's going on? What... what happened here?"
Sasuke relaxed, upon hearing her clueless question. It didn't appear as if she had seen anything much. Quickly, he ordered, "Go check out the girl on the bed. She passed out a while ago, and I'm not sure if she's all right," he waved a in Sakura's direction. The nurse nodded quickly and ran towards the bed, almost tripping over the upturned stool in the event. Once he saw that the nurse had reached, he turned back to face Naruto, who was now rubbing his temples with great force. "Hey, idiot! You still alive?" He asked, a little too desperately for his liking, but it would have to do.
At first, Naruto did not say anything. This worried Sasuke, because unless Naruto was dead or otherwise rendered speechless, no pain or injury in the world at all could prevent him from defending himself against namecalling. He shook the boy slightly, since calling out to him didn't appear to have any effect. "Naruto! Wake up!" The shakings became more and more violent. "Come on!"
"Shut up, Sasuke," Naruto raised a hand to swat Sasuke's away. He shoved the boy aside and sat up straight from lying against the back of the couch. "Arrrgh you're giving me a bigger headache than the one I'm already having, asshole!"
In the meantime, Sasuke had been pushed such that he landed on the couch space beside Naruto, shock registering on his features. He breathed again when he heard Naruto throw insults out at him and resisted the urge to smirk, since it would have been entirely inappropriate. He balled a hand up into a fist and punched Naruto on the head. It was light enough so that it didn't harm Naruto in any bit, but forceful enough to send the blond tumbling over onto his side.
"You jerk! What do you think you're doing?!" Naruto immediately rebounded back, whipping around and pointing rudely at Sasuke. "Just what is your problem?! Can't you tell if someone's in pain or not so that you shouldn't punch them and make them suffer more pain?! You have no common sense, you know that? Bastard! Jerk! Asshole! Idiot! Pest! Pesky little..."
"Umm..." the voice of the nurse cut Naruto short. The two boys turned to look in front, where the nurse was standing, a finger to her lip. "So...sorry to be disturbing you... b-b-but... I've done a routine check on Sakura and... and she's in good health, physically...-"
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto immediately bolted onto his feet, his current life purpose of verbally abusing Sasuke temporarily forgotten. Ignoring the throbbing pain in his head, he rushed over to Sakura's bedside, looking at her face with worry and slight fear of something. Sasuke could only blink at Naruto's fickle temperament.
Until the nurse spoke again, he had forgotten that he was in a predicament that was rather dire as well.
"Excuse me..." the jittery voice was saying, and Sasuke snapped into attention. He narrowed his eyes warily at the young-looking nurse, who had continued on, saying, "...what... what were you doing? Sakura-san appears to be in some kind of after-Jutsu withdrawal... I... I think it would be helpful to us if you told us... what... what Jutsu were you trying to use on her... al-although I need to remind you that... that non-medic Ninjas are not supposed... not supposed to use a Jutsu on a patient..."
"I know that," Sasuke cut her short, nerves getting a little frayed by her constant stuttering. He leaned slightly forward and glanced at the floor to a side. He tried to decide if he would tell the nurse the truth, and risk getting both Naruto and his asses fried once the word reaches Kakashi. Realising it would do no one any good to lie, he sighed. "We were trying to use a Jutsu to restore her memory," he blandly stated, hoping Hinata would miss the fact that it wasn't just any Jutsu, but a Kinjutsu. "Sakura's probably just out cold at the sudden mental force. You said she's fine physically too, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem."
"I... I see..." the nurse was stunned into silence. She did not really know how to respond.
"You... you're Hinata?" Naruto's voice drifted into the conversation. He was still standing beside the unconscious Sakura's bed, but his attention was now on the nurse. "You're Hinata, right?" The blond kept probing. "The nurse who lent me some money for the coin machine, remember?" Slowly, a grin spread across his face. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, the next Hokage! Ah, but I already told you that. Umm... I don't have any money with me today still, so I hope you don't mind it if I pay you back some time later..."
"Idiot," Sasuke muttered under his breath, looking out of the window.
"...and I heard that, Sasuke!!" Naruto screeched immediately, storming over to the couch. "You should just shut up if you have nothing better to say, stupid Sasuke!"
"Well have you gotten anything out from the Jutsu?" Sasuke quipped, ignoring Naruto's attempt to make him look bad. "If not, then we're going back to apply for permission to do things our way from now on. We can't waste anymore time here."
At that, Naruto opened his mouth to say something. He clamped it shut quickly, though, and snuck a glance in Sakura's direction. After that, he returned to staring at Sasuke with confusion and hesitation written all over his face. The Uchiha quirked an eyebrow at him, hoping that it help him convey his desire to hear an answer - positive or negative. Naruto remained astoundingly quiet.
"No?" Sasuke finally said, after the long silence had stretched for far too long. He rose to full height slowly and put his hands in his pockets. "In that case, then we'll just head back--"
"Wait!" Naruto cried out, surprising both Sasuke and Hinata. His face was now twisted with determination and a funny sort of anger. "Wait!" He repeated, shoulders tensed. "I... she... argh! Just wait for a while! Once she comes to, she can tell us what she saw! I'm sure she can, so just... just wait a bit!"
"Didn't you see her memories too?" Sasuke was miffed at the sudden insecurity in Naruto's disposition. "If you can't remember anything useful, I highly doubt she can, too. People always forget the few minutes prior to being knocked unconscious or falling asleep. This is a fact she's not spared from."
"I do remember!!" Naruto yelled back in response, and Hinata was so taken aback she knocked a chair over in her retreat. Sasuke's glance on Naruto intensified and he waited for the blond to continue. "I remember what she saw on that night... only a few seconds, but I do remember! It's just that... it's just..." He glanced over his shoulder at the unmoving figure of Sakura again, a sigh escaping from his lips. "... it's just that she needs to tell you herself... to make her feel like she's worth anything at all..."
Sasuke blinked in surprise. He had almost forgotten that the point behind Sakura risking the Jutsu was so that she could gain some approval and feel like she was of use to others. He hadn't thought it was that important, and personally he didn't really give a damn as to what she wanted to do as long as he could get some information out of her that way. It had also never occurred to him that Naruto had such a kind, gentle streak in him that would make him remember something as minor as Sakura's feelings. Irritated though he was, he could feel a strange understanding for Sakura's desperate bid for acknowledgement.
After all, he knew he was just like that, many, many years ago.
"Keh!" He made a random snorting noise as he plonked himself back onto the sofa. Folding his arms across his chest, he shot Naruto what he hoped was the most lethal glare he had in his arsenal. "This had better be worth my time, dead-last."
Naruto was relieved, and surprised. The apprehension disappeared from his face, and he now stared at Sasuke with open amazement.
"I... I hope you don't mind me intruding upon you..." Hinata's timid voice once again politely asked for inclusion in the conversation. Both boys turned to stare at her, and she was daunted. "May... may I know what kind of a Jutsu you cast on Sakura? May... maybe I can be of some help here... I... I'm a registered medic-nin after all..."
"Woah!" Naruto was quick to respond. "You mean it, Hinata?" He went up to her, and before Sasuke could kick him in warning, blurted, "It's a Kinjutsu only Youma or Younin knows! It probes someone's mind to evoke some long forgotten memory... or something. I couldn't really read the small print in the Scroll. All I know is that it's such a great Jutsu, even Iruka-sensei was so afraid when he heard about it! Hahah!!"
From where he was seated on the couch, Sasuke buried his face into his hands. He found himself struck absolutely speechless. Even Hinata turned to look at the boy with embarrassed pity. A partner who revealed everything to someone who could very well be an enemy for all he knew was certainly detrimental to the career lifespan of any police.
When her professional side kicked in, however, she found that she was slightly angry at the boys for having done what they did. "Naruto-kun... Sasuke-kun..." she began, no longer stuttering, although still quiet and shy-sounding. "...I understand that the police have a certain measure of right in how they question the victims of certain crimes... but a Kinjutsu! Sakura-san is not a criminal. Please... please don't do this to anyone anymore." She made her way over to Sakura, putting a hand on her forehead. "... You are right... she's just in a bit of mental anguish, but it can be cured. Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun?" She turned around to look at them both shyly. "I won't report you this time, but can I have your word that... that you won't pull such a stunt again?"
Sasuke nodded slowly, slightly stunned that Hinata had uttered so much without stumbling over all her words. He remembered now that she was the shy, lonely girl always staring at the corner, in the same class as he was during the Academy. She was still painfully shy, but had shown great improvement from her school days. At that thought, Sasuke vaguely wondered how much he had changed from then as well.
"Of... of course!" Naruto's flustered answer to Hinata's question came slightly late. Slapping himself on the chest, Naruto swore, "You can count on it, Hinata! I like Sakura-chan too much to put her into any kind of danger!"
Hinata nodded, a glimmer of disappointment in her eyes, before turning away to examine Sakura again. "Sakura-san will be fine." She put a hand over the girl's head and concentrated her Chakra there. In three seconds, Sakura's pained features soothed out into blanks, and she showed signs of awakening.
Naruto gulped nervously, just as Sakura's eyelids began to flutter. They opened slowly, like someone would when coming out from deep slumber. But that was where all the resemblance ended. Instantly upon fully opening her eyes, Sakura bolted upright, straight as a ruler. She turned her head about, catching sight of Naruto and Sasuke near the couch quickly. "Naruto, Sasuke-kun!" She exclaimed. "I... I remember! I remember what happened that night... just a little... but still!"
"That's great, Sakura-chan!" Naruto burst out with excitement. Sasuke did nothing more than nod an acknowledgement, for he already knew that Sakura had something to say to them. He leaned back slightly and waited.
"It was the night of the festival..." Sakura continued, knowing she was blabbering but not daring to stop in case she forgot again. "... there was a night market right across the police headquarters building, and we were there... there was a lot of commotion, and somehow I got separated from my friends. I walked about aimlessly for a while... then... a shadow attacked me."
"A shadow?" Sasuke frowned. He knew Youma had the ability to create illusions of shadows, but shadows shouldn't be able to attack physically, as far as he knew.
Sakura nodded, gulping slightly. "I... I don't know why but... there was this shadow, with a big grin on its face. It said something very cryptic," she frowned, trying to remember the exact words, "... it said... that I was going to be the one to lead it to..." Naruto became even more excited at this part, for it was the part he got forcefully pulled out from. "...the source of endless Chakra..."
There was silence in the room.
"Source of endless Chakra?" Sasuke's voice was strangely sombre. He had heard that phrase, or read about it somewhere before. Recently, too. Though he could not remember the details. "Do you know what the shadow could have been talking about?"
"If my gut feeling is right," Sakura tilted her head to a side, "the monster did explain to me what in the world it meant by 'source of endless Chakra', but I can't remember what he said after that so..." She looked apologetically at Sasuke. "I hope that was of some help?"
"Maybe," Sasuke grunted noncommitedly. He scribbled something into his notebook and looked thoughtful. Naruto fidgeted about and kept throwing meaningful glances in Sakura's direction. He looked as if he was waiting for Sakura to say something more. Noticing this, Sasuke made a noiseless sigh. "Is there anything else about that night that particularly stands out, Sakura?" The question seeming surprised everybody else, even Hinata, who had been standing quietly to a side all this while. Ignoring the glances, Sasuke continued, "Something about the crowd? Something about the people who were with you? Something about the building? The weather? The trees? Even if it's just something slightly different or strange. It would help in the long run."
Naruto smiled gratefully at Sasuke, but before the Uchiha could see it, the blond had already turned back to Sakura with hopeful eyes. "Well, Sakura-chan?" His eyes were brimming with anticipation. "Do you remember? Anything that's really strange?"
Sakura's expressions became troubled. "Even if you say that... I don't..."
"The sky, Sakura-chan!" Naruto clamoured, making wild, frantic moving motions. "Remember what you saw when you lifted your head to the sky that night?"
Caught between being annoyed and amused, Sakura was frowning through thinned lips. She put two fingers to her chin and seriously considered the question. "The sky..." she repeated dully, trying to recall. "I remember the sky was... very clear..." Her words made Sasuke and Hinata don a surprised look on their faces, whereas Naruto merely released a sound of happy relief. "So very clear... I could see the stars... and the moon... the moon was... oh yeah... the moon was full. And... and it was..." her breath hitched, a dizzy spell evidently hitting her. "... it was red..." she finished in a whisper, falling back down on her pillow, face wincing.
Hinata was by her side in an instant, checking her pulse and monitoring her condition with the practiced ease of a true professional. Naruto and Sasuke were both standing and ready to help out should Hinata require assistance. After a while, she stepped back, lifted the blankets over Sakura, and shook her head at the boys, gesturing outside.
The boys complied.
Once outside, with the door firmly shut behind them, Hinata sighed. "So-sorry if I offended you in any way just now..." she had reverted back to her timid self, much to the disappointment of both boys. Looking around nervously, she continued, "Sa... Sakura-san needs her rest... I think the... the Jutsu really wore her willpower out... I... I can pass this off as a normal headache on... only once, so... so please don't try this again... okay?"
Naruto grinned widely. Sasuke nodded reluctantly. "Of course, Hinata!" The blond almost yelled. "Don't worry, harming Sakura or getting you into trouble is the /last/ thing either of us want to do! Right, Sasuke?" Naruto elbowed Sasuke violently, causing the boy to almost double over in pain. Unable to retort properly after that, Sasuke simply nodded.
"I... I'm glad to hear that," Hinata had taken to tapping her fingers against each other. "... I... I hope you complete your mission so-soon!"
"Don't worry 'bout us, Hinata!" Naruto bragged, striking yet another heroic pose. "You're looking at the future Hokage here! Nothing'll go wrong! You can rest assured!-- Woah, watch it, bastard!" Naruto almost crashed into a wall after Sasuke had grabbed his wrist in mid-speech and was attempting to tow him away.
"Let's /go/, you absolute moron," Sasuke growled, "Hinata needs to get back to her work, and so do we, in case you haven't noticed!"
"You don't have to always be an asshole about what you do, you know!" Naruto griped back, but ceased with his struggling and just went along.
As soon as Sasuke noticed this, he let the blond's hand go. "Whatever. I know this is going to be very hard for you to process, but just keep very quiet and we'll be back to the office in no time."
"I do not always make noise! You take that back, stupid, stupid Sasuke!"
And Hinata could still hear the echoes of their bickering, even when their footsteps had long faded into nothingness.
Those people were strange, she thought.
But she also decided that she liked the way they could make her feel much at ease.
A signal light blinked outside one of the rooms along the same corridor, and she hurriedly scurried there, renewed with a strange, new kind of vigour to do her job and to do it well.
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24/9/2004
Part 10 of 16
(email XD!) XD (at) tougenkyou (dot) net
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Against the Tide
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Chapter Nine
"I already told you what I know," Sakura frowned, genuinely irritated for the first time since Naruto had seen her. "I can't say anything more, because there's just nothing else to say already."
Directly facing her, seated upon a moving stool, Sasuke frowned. He exchanged a glance with Naruto, who was lounging about on the couch beside him. The blond shrugged to indicate that he had no opinion currently. No sooner had he done that did Sasuke return his glance to the notebook in his hand. He grimaced at the almost entirely blank page. "Useless." He huffed, meaning the severe lack of information he was staring at. Somehow, his whisper travelled to Sakura's ears, making her bow her head and bit her lips in shame.
Sasuke's gripe did not escape Naruto either. He sat up straight suddenly and gave Sasuke a rough shove. "Stop that! It wasn't Sakura-chan's fault! You're always blaming other people for stuff, bastard!"
Sasuke shot both the fuming Naruto and the embarrassed Sakura a cursory glance. He sighed. "Sakura, I wasn't commenting about you. I was just frustrated at the severe lack of information we have on this case. Don't take it to heart," he let his glance sidelong to the by-now pouting Naruto. "... happy now, idiot?"
"Don't call me an idiot!" Naruto immediately screeched, arms flailing. "And that wasn't even a sincere apology! Do it again!" He pointed a finger at the exasperated Sasuke. "Use the word 'sorry' this time!"
In the background, Sakura giggled, while Sasuke growled and turned away. "This isn't going anywhere," he announced with a shake of his head. Standing, he stole a glance at the door. "Since we can't get the modus operandi of this demon straight, we're going to have to utilise the messy, troublesome way of stalking the target. Come on, Naruto," he grumbled, already halfway towards the door.
"Why the hell are you so impatient?" Naruto barked angrily, standing up and facing his partner. It did not seem like he was going to bolt from the room anytime soon. "You make it seem like it's Sakura-chan's fault that we're going to need to use another method!"
"I'm not in the mood to argue with you, dim-wit," Sasuke almost snarled. "We've been dragging this mission for far too long. It's just a minor water demon, we can take it easily, if we can just find it. Coming to interrogate a victim isn't even usually on the list of things we need to do. Kakashi's just trying to drag this out for as long as he can. If we start our stalking now, we can weed the demon out by this week instead of wasting time here, asking Sakura questions she will never have answers to."
The room was silent, as the boys stared levelly at each other. Sakura's lip trembled more than it already was. Although she knew it wasn't meant to hurt her, she could not help but feel stung by Sasuke's words. "I'm sorry..." she whispered again. In the silence of the room, her voice could be heard loudly and clearly. "It's just that... whenever I try to think about what you ask me... I hit a brick wall and can't go any further..." She wiped at her eyes. "I'm sorry... I really tried my best..."
But neither boys appeared to have heard her - too fully engaged in their heated staring match. "You," Naruto began first, a hint of red tinting his angry blue eyes, "really don't want to see my face so much, that you'd do anything to finish this mission as soon as possible?"
Sasuke was slightly surprised at the accusation. That had certainly not been the reason why he so eagerly wanted to close the case - he had just kept thinking that the case was a simple one and that he didn't want to delay any further.
In fact, he had completely forgotten that Naruto was only to be with him for one mission.
Unable to come up with a proper response, Sasuke frowned slightly and looked away with a quiet snort under his breath. He did feel a tiny bit of regret. But no, he would not be missing the idiot. He could not wait to be rid of the loudmouth, overly bright and cheerful boy. If they did survive this mission in one piece, he was going to be happy that he can finally send the idiot back to the laboratory. He was going to be happy to see the blond getting restrained and chained back to his singular, lonely bed in the white-washed room that had been his home for the past 16 years of his life. He was going to go out and get himself drunk with joy.
He was going to ignore the dull, throbbing pain of reluctance in his heart.
Naruto had, on the other hand, taken the silence to be Sasuke's unwitting admission. He scowled angrily at the new development. Inside, however, he was upset and hurt. He truly looked up to Sasuke as a friend and partner. The reports he had read - cold, hard facts though they were, showed to him that Sasuke was, if nothing else, powerful and efficient. And there was nothing else Naruto hoped more for than an acknowledgement from a powerful shinobi about his own strength. A reassurance that he was needed in this world after all.
He willed the tears away. He would not show any weakness before the two people that had come to matter to him. "Fine," he muttered, in a low rumble - like a growl of a predator. His eyes flashed and he stalked over to Sakura's bedside. Giving her a lopsided smile, he asked, "So, Sakura-chan, you want to be able to remember something about the attack, right?" His smile became a grin when Sakura nodded hesitantly. "That's great! Because I know of a memory restoring Jutsu that may just be of some help!"
While Sakura jerked into attention, Sasuke nearly had a heart attack where he was sitting. He turned to Naruto and narrowed his eyes. "You know a memory restoring Jutsu... and you never thought about mentioning it all this time while we were running around like headless chickens trying to string up information from Sakura's sketchy answers?"
Naruto had a feeling the question was entirely rhetorical, but he answered in the brightest, cheeriest, happiest tone he had anyway. "Yup!"
Sasuke, for his part, found himself unable to react.
"But," the blond's face turned serious, "it's a Jutsu from the Forbidden Scroll... I think they called it a 'mind probe' or something. Since it's from the Forbidden Scroll, I don't think it's very legal..." He pouted and glanced at Sakura. "... and I've never used it before. Iruka-sensei tells me all the Jutsu I've learnt from the Forbidden Scroll I'm not supposed to use at all because they have, like, very terrible side effects and stuff." He looked at Sakura, who looked back at him with determination. "Are you willing to take the risk, Sakura-chan?"
It was only a small, split second glance in Sasuke's general direction that Sakura threw - meant more to reassure herself than anything, but both boys noticed it. Sasuke turned away, an impassive look on his face, whereas Naruto tried to mask the hurt he knew was showing up on his countenance. Quickly, Sakura returned her driven eyes to the blond. "I'm ready. I'll do it."
Naruto averted his glance uncomfortably. "You don't have to take the risk if you're just doing this to prove something..." he muttered, unhappy that Sakura seemingly valued Sasuke's opinion over her own life. But his next words were cut short by Sakura's curt, lucid reply.
"Do it, Naruto," the pink-haired teen was frowning so hard, her face looked almost scary. "I want to be of use and of help. I've been lying on this hospital bed, thinking and thinking about what my life could have been. People who claimed they knew me came and kept trying to jolt my memory. I don't... I can't feel anything for them..." She shook her head at the thought. "... I need this, Naruto. I need to know what happened. I feel like I'm letting down a lot of people if I don't at least try." She tugged hopefully at his sleeves. "Please?" She pleaded. "At least if I must die, I want to die knowing I was doing something meaningful, and not rotting my life away on a pale, white hospital bed."
Even Sasuke seemed suitably impressed by Sakura's sudden grit. He narrowed his eyes at Naruto, who had his back against him. He was in no position to command Naruto to stop from carrying out a dangerous Jutsu, if the other party had requested it, so even if he had felt uncomfortable with the idea, the only thing he could do was to protest it - which he most certainly was not. This could provide a great clue as to the direct whereabouts of the Mizu-Youma. He wasn't letting it up for anything in the world.
Naruto took only a moment more to decide. He sighed, and his shoulders sagged slightly. "Well, if you say, so Sakura-chan." He wheeled a stool to Sakura's bedside and gestured for Sasuke to come closer, which he did. "This Jutsu is not physically harmful by nature," the blond explained, "but it requires that I use Chakra to infiltrate Sakura-chan's mind. From there, I will search for the information I need. But there is a lot of information in a person's mind," Naruto put a hand on the back of his head sheepishly, "so... Sasuke, I need you to ask Sakura-chan questions that will evoke the correct kind of memories."
From the side, Sasuke nodded - slightly fascinated about this Forbidden Jutsu that Naruto was describing. He had heard about the Forbidden Scroll, but never seen it before. He figured it would be a highly valued and tightly guarded Scroll, and how Naruto had gotten his hands on it baffled him. Maybe he would ask when this whole thing was over.
Seeing that Sasuke had no objections, Naruto returned his attention to Sakura. "Sakura-chan," he started, "you're going to be feeling veeery strange once this Jutsu starts. As much as possible, try not to struggle. Otherwise both you and I will be in big trouble, mmkay?" The blond looked at Sakura for a positive response, something to indicate that she had understood. Sakura nodded gravely. Naruto stared a while more at the girl, as if trying to determine if she was truly ready for this. He then sighed slightly and nodded. "Stay very still, Sakura-chan. This'll be over in a minute. Sasuke," he turned slightly to regard his partner, "you only have time to ask one question. Make that question count!"
"I know, idiot," Sasuke smirked.
The blond scowled unhappily at him, and said nothing more. He turned back to Sakura, forming a series of complicated seals. Sasuke briefly wondered if he should have activated the Sharingan to copy the moves for future reference, but thought the better of it. He couldn't lose his concentration now - they had to count on this Jutsu to get the answers they so desperately needed for progress.
Slowly, Sakura's bright, green eyes dulled, and she was set in a daze. Sasuke saw Naruto glance at him from the corner of his eyes, understanding that to be his cue. He looked seriously at Sakura, who was looking ahead at nothing. He could /hear/ his mind beginning to work overtime, trying to settle on a question that would bring back the most memories.
The problem, though, as Sasuke knew, was not in Sakura or her seeming inability to recall. The root problem, was that there was a sentient presence that had infiltrated Sakura's mind through her Chakra points. That presence was withholding access to the memories they wanted - feeding on it for survival. That much Shikamaru's photographs had proven to him. As the seconds ticked by, and Naruto glanced worriedly at him, Sasuke breathed, his question for the presence within Sakura ready.
"Hey, demon. Wanna share with us some of those nice memories you've been feeding on?"
Naruto would have protested the completely off-topic question, had he not suddenly feel a pull where he had focused his Chakra on - namely, Sakura's mind. He had to hold his breath, as a new barrage of information assaulted his senses. Having never used the Jutsu before, he had not known what to expect. He thought he was going to be merely the middleman, joining Sakura's consciousness back to her subconscious self. He certainly did not know he would be receiving the memories first-hand. He could see night in his eyes, even though the sunlight from the window told him that it was day. He could hear a strange, drizzling sound, and a sharp object slicing madly through the air. He thought there would be screams; but he heard none.
And as the whoosing sound came to a close, Naruto found himself standing amidst a throng of people, looking up at the building of the police headquarters - which glowed eeriely in the light of the full, red moon in the background. A tall, dark shadow loomed over him, but all he could see were the fangs of the creature, widening into a grin and dribbling with saliva. Naruto was seized by panic. He willed his rooted feet to move, to no avail. He tried to speak, but could hear no sound. Cold swear poured down his cheeks, but he no longer could feel it.
"
Somebody was calling his name. He could not be sure.
"You," the creature before him suddenly spoke, in a loud, booming voice, "will be the one."
Naruto gulped. His eyes widened.
"You're the fortunate one, weak human!" The creature dashed towards Naruto at breakneck speed, and the blond could not even find strength to topple onto the ground. "You'll be the one to lead me to--"
"NARUTO!!"
There was a buffer moment of reaction, as both Naruto and Sakura threw their heads slightly backwards, like someone had just given them both a gentle push on the forehead. Colour immediately returned to their glazed eyes. They both blinked once, then looked at each other out of sheer reflex.
Sakura collapsed first, her head hitting the pillow before Sasuke could even ask her if she was all right. He heard Naruto gasp in a small voice and turned around just in time to see the blond tumble over his own feet towards the ground.
Panic immediately rose from within him. "Naruto!" He cried out again, reaching out to stop the boy from falling completely. What if he dashed his head against a chair? What if he got a cut on a rusty steel knife? What if the roof suddenly fell and crushed him to death?! If Naruto was to die, Sasuke wanted to make sure he had a say in the manner of it! He was not going to let his partner die from something idiotic! No, he would not take that lying down!
The Uchiha was relieved, therefore, to manage to catch onto one of Naruto's wrist before the blond completely collapsed onto the ground. He quickly heaved Naruto over to the couch, where he could see plainly that Naruto was in much mental anguish. Before he could say another word, however, a file clattered to the floor from the doorway, and he was forced to look up. His heart almost seized when he saw that it was a nurse standing there, with wide, frightened eyes. Had she seen? That they were risking a Kinjutsu right in the hospital? The emotional side of Sasuke quickly jumped into action, ready with many excuses he could give to avoid the issue.
He had not needed to speak yet, for the nurse asked with her quiet, panicked voice, "Wh... What's going on? What... what happened here?"
Sasuke relaxed, upon hearing her clueless question. It didn't appear as if she had seen anything much. Quickly, he ordered, "Go check out the girl on the bed. She passed out a while ago, and I'm not sure if she's all right," he waved a in Sakura's direction. The nurse nodded quickly and ran towards the bed, almost tripping over the upturned stool in the event. Once he saw that the nurse had reached, he turned back to face Naruto, who was now rubbing his temples with great force. "Hey, idiot! You still alive?" He asked, a little too desperately for his liking, but it would have to do.
At first, Naruto did not say anything. This worried Sasuke, because unless Naruto was dead or otherwise rendered speechless, no pain or injury in the world at all could prevent him from defending himself against namecalling. He shook the boy slightly, since calling out to him didn't appear to have any effect. "Naruto! Wake up!" The shakings became more and more violent. "Come on!"
"Shut up, Sasuke," Naruto raised a hand to swat Sasuke's away. He shoved the boy aside and sat up straight from lying against the back of the couch. "Arrrgh you're giving me a bigger headache than the one I'm already having, asshole!"
In the meantime, Sasuke had been pushed such that he landed on the couch space beside Naruto, shock registering on his features. He breathed again when he heard Naruto throw insults out at him and resisted the urge to smirk, since it would have been entirely inappropriate. He balled a hand up into a fist and punched Naruto on the head. It was light enough so that it didn't harm Naruto in any bit, but forceful enough to send the blond tumbling over onto his side.
"You jerk! What do you think you're doing?!" Naruto immediately rebounded back, whipping around and pointing rudely at Sasuke. "Just what is your problem?! Can't you tell if someone's in pain or not so that you shouldn't punch them and make them suffer more pain?! You have no common sense, you know that? Bastard! Jerk! Asshole! Idiot! Pest! Pesky little..."
"Umm..." the voice of the nurse cut Naruto short. The two boys turned to look in front, where the nurse was standing, a finger to her lip. "So...sorry to be disturbing you... b-b-but... I've done a routine check on Sakura and... and she's in good health, physically...-"
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto immediately bolted onto his feet, his current life purpose of verbally abusing Sasuke temporarily forgotten. Ignoring the throbbing pain in his head, he rushed over to Sakura's bedside, looking at her face with worry and slight fear of something. Sasuke could only blink at Naruto's fickle temperament.
Until the nurse spoke again, he had forgotten that he was in a predicament that was rather dire as well.
"Excuse me..." the jittery voice was saying, and Sasuke snapped into attention. He narrowed his eyes warily at the young-looking nurse, who had continued on, saying, "...what... what were you doing? Sakura-san appears to be in some kind of after-Jutsu withdrawal... I... I think it would be helpful to us if you told us... what... what Jutsu were you trying to use on her... al-although I need to remind you that... that non-medic Ninjas are not supposed... not supposed to use a Jutsu on a patient..."
"I know that," Sasuke cut her short, nerves getting a little frayed by her constant stuttering. He leaned slightly forward and glanced at the floor to a side. He tried to decide if he would tell the nurse the truth, and risk getting both Naruto and his asses fried once the word reaches Kakashi. Realising it would do no one any good to lie, he sighed. "We were trying to use a Jutsu to restore her memory," he blandly stated, hoping Hinata would miss the fact that it wasn't just any Jutsu, but a Kinjutsu. "Sakura's probably just out cold at the sudden mental force. You said she's fine physically too, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem."
"I... I see..." the nurse was stunned into silence. She did not really know how to respond.
"You... you're Hinata?" Naruto's voice drifted into the conversation. He was still standing beside the unconscious Sakura's bed, but his attention was now on the nurse. "You're Hinata, right?" The blond kept probing. "The nurse who lent me some money for the coin machine, remember?" Slowly, a grin spread across his face. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, the next Hokage! Ah, but I already told you that. Umm... I don't have any money with me today still, so I hope you don't mind it if I pay you back some time later..."
"Idiot," Sasuke muttered under his breath, looking out of the window.
"...and I heard that, Sasuke!!" Naruto screeched immediately, storming over to the couch. "You should just shut up if you have nothing better to say, stupid Sasuke!"
"Well have you gotten anything out from the Jutsu?" Sasuke quipped, ignoring Naruto's attempt to make him look bad. "If not, then we're going back to apply for permission to do things our way from now on. We can't waste anymore time here."
At that, Naruto opened his mouth to say something. He clamped it shut quickly, though, and snuck a glance in Sakura's direction. After that, he returned to staring at Sasuke with confusion and hesitation written all over his face. The Uchiha quirked an eyebrow at him, hoping that it help him convey his desire to hear an answer - positive or negative. Naruto remained astoundingly quiet.
"No?" Sasuke finally said, after the long silence had stretched for far too long. He rose to full height slowly and put his hands in his pockets. "In that case, then we'll just head back--"
"Wait!" Naruto cried out, surprising both Sasuke and Hinata. His face was now twisted with determination and a funny sort of anger. "Wait!" He repeated, shoulders tensed. "I... she... argh! Just wait for a while! Once she comes to, she can tell us what she saw! I'm sure she can, so just... just wait a bit!"
"Didn't you see her memories too?" Sasuke was miffed at the sudden insecurity in Naruto's disposition. "If you can't remember anything useful, I highly doubt she can, too. People always forget the few minutes prior to being knocked unconscious or falling asleep. This is a fact she's not spared from."
"I do remember!!" Naruto yelled back in response, and Hinata was so taken aback she knocked a chair over in her retreat. Sasuke's glance on Naruto intensified and he waited for the blond to continue. "I remember what she saw on that night... only a few seconds, but I do remember! It's just that... it's just..." He glanced over his shoulder at the unmoving figure of Sakura again, a sigh escaping from his lips. "... it's just that she needs to tell you herself... to make her feel like she's worth anything at all..."
Sasuke blinked in surprise. He had almost forgotten that the point behind Sakura risking the Jutsu was so that she could gain some approval and feel like she was of use to others. He hadn't thought it was that important, and personally he didn't really give a damn as to what she wanted to do as long as he could get some information out of her that way. It had also never occurred to him that Naruto had such a kind, gentle streak in him that would make him remember something as minor as Sakura's feelings. Irritated though he was, he could feel a strange understanding for Sakura's desperate bid for acknowledgement.
After all, he knew he was just like that, many, many years ago.
"Keh!" He made a random snorting noise as he plonked himself back onto the sofa. Folding his arms across his chest, he shot Naruto what he hoped was the most lethal glare he had in his arsenal. "This had better be worth my time, dead-last."
Naruto was relieved, and surprised. The apprehension disappeared from his face, and he now stared at Sasuke with open amazement.
"I... I hope you don't mind me intruding upon you..." Hinata's timid voice once again politely asked for inclusion in the conversation. Both boys turned to stare at her, and she was daunted. "May... may I know what kind of a Jutsu you cast on Sakura? May... maybe I can be of some help here... I... I'm a registered medic-nin after all..."
"Woah!" Naruto was quick to respond. "You mean it, Hinata?" He went up to her, and before Sasuke could kick him in warning, blurted, "It's a Kinjutsu only Youma or Younin knows! It probes someone's mind to evoke some long forgotten memory... or something. I couldn't really read the small print in the Scroll. All I know is that it's such a great Jutsu, even Iruka-sensei was so afraid when he heard about it! Hahah!!"
From where he was seated on the couch, Sasuke buried his face into his hands. He found himself struck absolutely speechless. Even Hinata turned to look at the boy with embarrassed pity. A partner who revealed everything to someone who could very well be an enemy for all he knew was certainly detrimental to the career lifespan of any police.
When her professional side kicked in, however, she found that she was slightly angry at the boys for having done what they did. "Naruto-kun... Sasuke-kun..." she began, no longer stuttering, although still quiet and shy-sounding. "...I understand that the police have a certain measure of right in how they question the victims of certain crimes... but a Kinjutsu! Sakura-san is not a criminal. Please... please don't do this to anyone anymore." She made her way over to Sakura, putting a hand on her forehead. "... You are right... she's just in a bit of mental anguish, but it can be cured. Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun?" She turned around to look at them both shyly. "I won't report you this time, but can I have your word that... that you won't pull such a stunt again?"
Sasuke nodded slowly, slightly stunned that Hinata had uttered so much without stumbling over all her words. He remembered now that she was the shy, lonely girl always staring at the corner, in the same class as he was during the Academy. She was still painfully shy, but had shown great improvement from her school days. At that thought, Sasuke vaguely wondered how much he had changed from then as well.
"Of... of course!" Naruto's flustered answer to Hinata's question came slightly late. Slapping himself on the chest, Naruto swore, "You can count on it, Hinata! I like Sakura-chan too much to put her into any kind of danger!"
Hinata nodded, a glimmer of disappointment in her eyes, before turning away to examine Sakura again. "Sakura-san will be fine." She put a hand over the girl's head and concentrated her Chakra there. In three seconds, Sakura's pained features soothed out into blanks, and she showed signs of awakening.
Naruto gulped nervously, just as Sakura's eyelids began to flutter. They opened slowly, like someone would when coming out from deep slumber. But that was where all the resemblance ended. Instantly upon fully opening her eyes, Sakura bolted upright, straight as a ruler. She turned her head about, catching sight of Naruto and Sasuke near the couch quickly. "Naruto, Sasuke-kun!" She exclaimed. "I... I remember! I remember what happened that night... just a little... but still!"
"That's great, Sakura-chan!" Naruto burst out with excitement. Sasuke did nothing more than nod an acknowledgement, for he already knew that Sakura had something to say to them. He leaned back slightly and waited.
"It was the night of the festival..." Sakura continued, knowing she was blabbering but not daring to stop in case she forgot again. "... there was a night market right across the police headquarters building, and we were there... there was a lot of commotion, and somehow I got separated from my friends. I walked about aimlessly for a while... then... a shadow attacked me."
"A shadow?" Sasuke frowned. He knew Youma had the ability to create illusions of shadows, but shadows shouldn't be able to attack physically, as far as he knew.
Sakura nodded, gulping slightly. "I... I don't know why but... there was this shadow, with a big grin on its face. It said something very cryptic," she frowned, trying to remember the exact words, "... it said... that I was going to be the one to lead it to..." Naruto became even more excited at this part, for it was the part he got forcefully pulled out from. "...the source of endless Chakra..."
There was silence in the room.
"Source of endless Chakra?" Sasuke's voice was strangely sombre. He had heard that phrase, or read about it somewhere before. Recently, too. Though he could not remember the details. "Do you know what the shadow could have been talking about?"
"If my gut feeling is right," Sakura tilted her head to a side, "the monster did explain to me what in the world it meant by 'source of endless Chakra', but I can't remember what he said after that so..." She looked apologetically at Sasuke. "I hope that was of some help?"
"Maybe," Sasuke grunted noncommitedly. He scribbled something into his notebook and looked thoughtful. Naruto fidgeted about and kept throwing meaningful glances in Sakura's direction. He looked as if he was waiting for Sakura to say something more. Noticing this, Sasuke made a noiseless sigh. "Is there anything else about that night that particularly stands out, Sakura?" The question seeming surprised everybody else, even Hinata, who had been standing quietly to a side all this while. Ignoring the glances, Sasuke continued, "Something about the crowd? Something about the people who were with you? Something about the building? The weather? The trees? Even if it's just something slightly different or strange. It would help in the long run."
Naruto smiled gratefully at Sasuke, but before the Uchiha could see it, the blond had already turned back to Sakura with hopeful eyes. "Well, Sakura-chan?" His eyes were brimming with anticipation. "Do you remember? Anything that's really strange?"
Sakura's expressions became troubled. "Even if you say that... I don't..."
"The sky, Sakura-chan!" Naruto clamoured, making wild, frantic moving motions. "Remember what you saw when you lifted your head to the sky that night?"
Caught between being annoyed and amused, Sakura was frowning through thinned lips. She put two fingers to her chin and seriously considered the question. "The sky..." she repeated dully, trying to recall. "I remember the sky was... very clear..." Her words made Sasuke and Hinata don a surprised look on their faces, whereas Naruto merely released a sound of happy relief. "So very clear... I could see the stars... and the moon... the moon was... oh yeah... the moon was full. And... and it was..." her breath hitched, a dizzy spell evidently hitting her. "... it was red..." she finished in a whisper, falling back down on her pillow, face wincing.
Hinata was by her side in an instant, checking her pulse and monitoring her condition with the practiced ease of a true professional. Naruto and Sasuke were both standing and ready to help out should Hinata require assistance. After a while, she stepped back, lifted the blankets over Sakura, and shook her head at the boys, gesturing outside.
The boys complied.
Once outside, with the door firmly shut behind them, Hinata sighed. "So-sorry if I offended you in any way just now..." she had reverted back to her timid self, much to the disappointment of both boys. Looking around nervously, she continued, "Sa... Sakura-san needs her rest... I think the... the Jutsu really wore her willpower out... I... I can pass this off as a normal headache on... only once, so... so please don't try this again... okay?"
Naruto grinned widely. Sasuke nodded reluctantly. "Of course, Hinata!" The blond almost yelled. "Don't worry, harming Sakura or getting you into trouble is the /last/ thing either of us want to do! Right, Sasuke?" Naruto elbowed Sasuke violently, causing the boy to almost double over in pain. Unable to retort properly after that, Sasuke simply nodded.
"I... I'm glad to hear that," Hinata had taken to tapping her fingers against each other. "... I... I hope you complete your mission so-soon!"
"Don't worry 'bout us, Hinata!" Naruto bragged, striking yet another heroic pose. "You're looking at the future Hokage here! Nothing'll go wrong! You can rest assured!-- Woah, watch it, bastard!" Naruto almost crashed into a wall after Sasuke had grabbed his wrist in mid-speech and was attempting to tow him away.
"Let's /go/, you absolute moron," Sasuke growled, "Hinata needs to get back to her work, and so do we, in case you haven't noticed!"
"You don't have to always be an asshole about what you do, you know!" Naruto griped back, but ceased with his struggling and just went along.
As soon as Sasuke noticed this, he let the blond's hand go. "Whatever. I know this is going to be very hard for you to process, but just keep very quiet and we'll be back to the office in no time."
"I do not always make noise! You take that back, stupid, stupid Sasuke!"
And Hinata could still hear the echoes of their bickering, even when their footsteps had long faded into nothingness.
Those people were strange, she thought.
But she also decided that she liked the way they could make her feel much at ease.
A signal light blinked outside one of the rooms along the same corridor, and she hurriedly scurried there, renewed with a strange, new kind of vigour to do her job and to do it well.
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24/9/2004
Part 10 of 16
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