"Sasuke."
His head snapped up and he rose out of the half-doze he had allowed himself to slip into when they had arrived at the hospital. A pink-haired woman was poking her head out from the emergency room, her teal eyes looking exhausted and worried all at once.
"The operation's over," Haruno Sakura gave her friend a weak smile. "You can come in now. The Godaime wants to talk to you too."
Grunting in acknowledgement, Uchiha Sasuke rose and shoved his hands into his pockets. He slipped into the room, and as he passed the girl who was once his teammate, he nudged her arm briefly with his own.
"Thanks."
She smiled and shook her head, following him into the sterile white room. The two of them crossed to the lone bed in the center, where the blond was sitting about half-way up, his eyes hooded and dark. Sasuke's heart leapt into his throat, but he managed to keep his emotions under control.
"Naruto?" he called, his voice cracking. He winced at the sound.
"He can't hear you," came another voice and both he and Sakura turned around to see the Godaime Hokage leaning against the doorframe behind them, her arms crossed beneath her considerable-sized chest. She straightened and made her way over to the side of the bed where the other two had gathered. "Naruto's no longer in there."
"In there?" Sakura blinked in confusion.
"What do you mean?" Sasuke lifted an eyebrow, not betraying the screaming going on in the back of his mind.
She sighed, as if explaining was too troublesome to do: "Naruto managed to stay alive long enough by summoning out the Kyuubi's full powers, giving him self-defense and strong regenerative techniques. When you got him here, Sakura and I managed to stop the insane amount of chakra that was flowing through his body."
"The Kyuubi's chakra," Sakura clarified, then turned a puzzled expression to her teacher. "But, Tsunande-sama, if we successfully subdued the chakra in Naruto's body, why is Naruto not 'in there'?"
"Naruto was only able to bring out the Kyuubi's abilities by, in essence, opening the pathway deep inside himself and allowing the Kyyubi to escape the containment seal." Tsunande passed a hand gently across Naruto's belly, her fingertips glowing faint blue with chakra. A deep, rumbling growl issued from the back of Naruto's throat and both Sakura and Sasuke started, looking apprehensively at the hokage while she prodded the newly-healed stomach wound and exposed the Yondaime's powerful containment jitsu seal.
Which was half-missing.
"What!" Sakura yelped. "But that means--"
"That the Kyuubi could break free of his prison at any moment," Tsunande nodded grimly, her hand pulling back and the growling subsiding. "But that growl just now, was just the Kyuubi's external defenses. Both Naruto and the Kyuubi are lost inside Naruto's body right now. Probably fighting each other."
"So then…" the younger woman's eyes widened. "Naruto is keeping the Kyuubi from escaping by fighting it…within himself?"
"Exactly," the blond hokage smiled fondly at her student, but then rose sharp hazel eyes to the other occupant of the room. "Which gives us some time to reform the seal. But," her eyes softened slightly, "I don't exactly know how long that brat can hold out against a nine-tailed demon fox. So, I wanted to send in some help." Her look got more pointed again. Sasuke nodded.
"I'll go help him."
"But…how?" Sakura wailed desperately.
"Hokage-sama? You wanted to see me?" They turned to the voice at the door. Yamanaka Ino stepped inside, followed closely by Naruto's teacher, Jiraiya.
"Yes, Ino. I have a favor I need to ask you." Tsunande left Naruto's side, giving Sakura and Sasuke a side-glance before passing them. Sasuke sat down on the side of the bed, looking wearily at the blank scarred face.
"…Sasuke."
He glanced back at the pink-haired medical ninja. "Nn?"
She sat next to him. "This reminds me…of when you left all those years ago."
He flinched and turned fully to face her: "How?"
"…I asked Naruto to bring you back safely. I didn't go with him…" she lowered her eyes to the floor, remembering what had happened so long ago. "But the next time he went, I went with him." She gave him a thin, strained smile. "And now, you're going off to save Naruto, and I can't come either way."
"I'll bring him back, Sakura. I promise," he said softly and she winced, tears rising slowly into her eyes.
"Please, don't…that's exactly what he said the first time…" Large tears rolled down her red-tinged cheeks and she rubbed them away fiercely, tightening her fists and slamming them down on her thighs, making Sasuke jump slightly. "I'm not useless! I can help too!" And she lifted her trembling hands to Sasuke's arm, leaning her head against his shoulder. Her eyes clenched shut in concentration, and Sasuke suddenly realized that all his pain and exhaustion had melted away. He was awake, refreshed, as if he had just gotten twelve hours of sleep (instead of twelve minutes). He watched as her hands pulled away from his arm and clasped together in front of her chest, her green healing chakra becoming visible in her gathered hands. With a soft gleam, she opened her palms and smiled down at the small teal-colored orb that glowed and spiraled gently in her hands.
"Give this to Naruto…when you see him…" She smiled and lifted the orb to him. Hesitantly, Sasuke took it, feeling the warmth of the healing chakra contained in the sphere.
"I will," he nodded. "And I'll tell him what you said."
"Thank you, Sasuke," she beamed at him, then fell off the side of the bed in a faint. Lunging, Sasuke managed to catch her before she struck the hard marble floor.
"Shit," he grumbled as understanding clicked in his mind. He lifted her into his arms as the others approached him. "She's asleep," he told them.
"I'll take her to another room to rest, then I'll come back and help you, Tsunande," Jiraiya offered and the hokage nodded, her eyes filled with something that resembled sorrow and understanding. Sasuke wordlessly handed Sakura over to the other man and he carried her out of the ward, as gently as any father would carry their sleeping daughter. Relieved slightly, Sasuke turned to the other women in the room.
"Alright. I'm ready," he nodded.
Tsunande nodded back: "Ino's going to use a modified version of her body-invasion jitsu to propel you into Naruto's." She tossed her hair and looked at him grimly. "Your mission is to come back alive, Uchiha. And to bring Naruto home. Understood?"
"Yes," he straightened, the orb containing part of Sakura's life force clenched protectively in his fist at his side.
"Good," the hokage nodded, then looked over at Ino, who already had her hands locked in a strange seal.
"Sasuke, please, stand directly between Naruto and myself," she instructed and he did as he was told. "Are you ready?" He nodded. Sasuke felt the chakra flow around him distorting, and closed his eyes to brace himself for the trip. The last thing he saw was Naruto's empty face. His heart squeezed painfully, and then he knew nothing.
Naruto… I'll come save you this time. And I'm going to bring you back. Everyone is waiting for us…they're waiting to welcome you home.