Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
This is an update of the first version of Chapter 2. :) I tweaked a few things, just to fit better and sound better. I'm working on fixing the other chapters as well. I didn't like how the story was going and it took me a very long time to get reacquainted with what I wanted to do. I don't have very much so far but I'm going to update what I have and throw in a few more chapters as well. We will see where it goes from there.
Sorry to make you wait on all these.. :)
Chapter 2:
"You done throwing up over there?" The ninja spoke up again, amusement in his tone and he chuckled at the end.
Sakura was surprised and slightly insulted. Whatever intel they had received, it wasn't looking for survivors.
"Stop it. We need to start digging. We need to find our ANBU and hopefully they will have the scroll on them."
She knew that voice. A commanding tone with a hint of…she paused trying to think of the correct adjective. Lazy? It clicked. Kakashi Hatake was the other voice. Of course Tsunade would send an ANBU team but one of the best hunter nin? Though, they didn't seem like an ANBU team. Sakura almost wished he hadn't been the one assigned. He might also be on the list of the slightly aggravated at her death. After she reached jounin, as a present to herself, she had applied for ANBU. Naruto and Sasuke had been opposed to her decision but Kakashi had been passively supportive. Kakashi had been her team leader on a few missions. They shared drinks and stories and he was able to get a free meal out of her. It was the closest thing she had to a real friend before she left on this stupid mission. He had been gone on a mission when she had been handed this mission. Kakashi was no longer her teacher but she figured he would be disappointed in the state she was in now. You really didn't want to see someone you taught self defense die, missing important body parts.
"We didn't even get a description. How are we supposed to find anyone in this? We can't just start piecing people together."
Who was this girl? Sakura thought angrily. Obviously she wasn't ANBU. She should know better with these kinds of search missions. Not only complaining about the mission but about the lack of detail in the mission? Obviously she didn't understand the workings of these types of missions either.
"Hokage-sama didn't tell us because even if she did, who's to say they didn't dye their hair. Cut it short or grow it long? Get a tan or become extremely pale? What if they have scars from being tortured or burned? We don't know." Kakashi paused and the sound of his foot hitting something, bouncing it down the crater was a bit melodramatic, even for him. "The details were that an elite nin was on a multiple year mission. But we are to get the scroll with the information that was gathered so far. At least the mission wouldn't be a total loss." He added the last sentence after a long pause.
The fact that they didn't come for her was forgotten. Sakura had been acknowledged by Tsunade naming her an elite nin. That alone was worth every bit of agony in this whole damn fiasco of a mission. Though Sakura really didn't care for her village anymore or Tsunade for that matter, she still respected the woman. The three chakra signatures headed into the remnants of the compound.
The sun was past midday now. Sakura just wanted to die. Their rummaging through the rubble became obnoxious a long time ago. She was pretty sure they had given up now and were just kicking around rocks. A wind picked up and nine little chakra signatures popped up new Kakashi's chakra signature.
"We are searching for a Konoha ninja. Try and see if you can pick up on scents of Konoha. They haven't been in Konoha for a while but at least the scroll might smell like the village."
"Kakashi, I have heard some ridiculous requests but this is…" Pakkun, usually Kakahi's voice of reason, was telling him it was useless.
"I know what I'm asking. We are just out of options."
There was a grumbling coming from a couple of them as they split up in different directions. Pakkun was making a zigzag pattern towards her. She knew his chakra signature well. He had a fondness for her biscuits and unlike Kakashi, she let him eat on the couch. He was making a beeline for her.
"Why the hell is this smell familiar? Sure, its strawberries but…"
He found her but he didn't raise the alarm to Kakashi yet. Pakkun sniffed her body up and down, almost as though he was uncertain of his own sense of smell.
Sakura inhaled sharply. "Sorry, no biscuits." Her voice was little over a throaty coarse whisper.
Pakkun yelped and jumped back. He circled around her and came up to her head. "Oh shit Sakura, I was hoping I was wrong." He nuzzled her head. "You look dead."
"I feel dead." She took another haggard breath. "Death can't come soon enough."
"Kakashi, I found Sakura." Pakkun raised his voice but didn't leave Sakura's side.
The chakra signature of Kakashi came to her like a blur. He kneeled down next to Pakkun and Sakura watch his movements through his chakra. Was he taking something off? He then moved over her so maybe he was covering her with something considering she was naked. There was no feeling anywhere. Damn Mist-nin, covering the whole fourth floor into a dense cloud of toxic fumes.
"Kakashi, she's…" Kakashi cut off Pakkun.
"She's missing her hand." It was odd to hear the slight quiver in his voice.
"It should be right here…was chopped off after I fell."
A choked and strangled cough broke from his mouth. "Sakura? You're still alive?"
Sakura took a deep breath. "You are too. What are you, fifty now?" A deep cough made its way through her, though it was supposed to be a laugh. She would taste blood in her mouth. Not much longer.
"What the hell are you doing out here?"
His question didn't warrant an answer. He knew perfectly well what she was doing out here. Kakashi wanted to know why but he wasn't going to get that answer.
"My leg, still attached?"
"Yeah."
She signed in relief. That made this much easier. "Kunai pouch. The book. Release." Sakura could feel the blackness creeping over her mind. She wished she could have seen the look on his face as he pulled the little orange book from her pouch. Turns out that no one questions a book full of smut. It was the perfect cover for her five-year journal.
Suddenly, she felt the bright light of chakra in her system, healing her. Her hand was being stitched back on. She choked and blood sputtered from her mouth as she tried to speak.
"No. Die. Please." If she could have cried, she would have. At this point for how long she had waited, she wanted to die. Sakura knew that her body was beyond even Tsunade's healing prowess. The boy should be saving her chakra for the trip home; she was already running low as it was. There was a typical Kakashi grunt and she felt herself being picked up. She tried to squirm away. Couldn't he just leave her? But her body refused to respond to her and she just lay like a limp rag in his arms.
"I'm not giving up on my favorite former student. Don't you give up too."
Stupid Kakashi. He didn't get it. That's what got her into this stupid mess to begin with.
