Hello! First off a few things! This is an AU where Sasuke never left, turned traitor. Team 7 are adults and are now an ANBU squad. (I'm sure it will dive into deeper detail at some point within this series, but not at this time.)

I also thought to try to work off of the Whumptober prompts, at least for the beginning of "The ANBU Files" series.

Whumptober 2021: Day 17 Field care 101 -Hemorrhage/Dread

Tags: Hurt!Sakura, ANBU Team 7, Medic!Naruto (kinda), AU - Sasuke never leaves Konoha, Vengeful yet loyal and protective Sasuke, Whumptober 2021

Series: The ANBU Files

Red Flows Freely

"Re..lax..Na..ruto…," Sakura's stuttered breaths did anything but calm him, only urging him closer to the edge of panic.

Sakura gasped, wheezing harshly. She coughed, choking when she couldn't get enough air. Something wet hit him in the face and his eyes grew wide, his breathing matching with Sakura's sporadic ones. Naruto's blood went cold when after wiping it off, his fingers came back red, stained and trembling.

"-Just," He really didn't like how wet her breathing, or how slow her speech was becoming. "...like I...taught you."

Her hand came up to steady his own, clammy and slippery with her blood. "Sakura, I can't!"

Sakura slowly shook her head, her pink hair tickling his thigh where kunai had slashed his pants.

"-like..fish." Sakura's voice was getting fainter and Naruto wished Sasuke was around. He was the one who was able to pick up Sakura's medic jutsu a lot faster compared to him, but they had to finish the mission. And with the look of vengeance in Sasuke's eyes and the snarl of his mouth, Naruto knew it would get done one way or another. He held onto Sakura's hand in a vice grip, watching helplessly as blood pooled underneath them into the mossy dirt. He couldn't help the small voice in the back of his mind that whispered with hope that Sasuke would make those bastards just as bloody.

"Believe in..you." Sakura's voice stuttered out and her green, pain filled eyes slipped closed.

"SAKURA!" Naruto took a deep breath and tried to remember exactly what she taught him. His hand started to glow a light green and he would have cheered if he didn't need to fully concentrate.

There was just so much blood. He didn't know where it was all coming from. How Sakura had still been able to talk to him, to reassure him, he didn't know. Naruto knew he would be seeing the way pink and red mixed in his nightmares for a long time to come.

Naruto watched as the green healing jutsu closed up gashes, skin sewing itself back together. He wished he could figure out how to heal her insides as well and an orange glow began to seep into the healing green. He could feel his teeth elongate and his heart skipped a beat.

"Kurama!"

"Shut up brat! I'm concentrating."

Naruto quickly quieted and doubled his efforts on focusing on healing Sakura. Medical jutsu was so foreign to him. It had a totally different feel, more finesse and sharp, fine lines than he was used to.

Sakura groaned, tailing off on a painful sounding whine and Naruto's concentration slipped, worried that he was doing something wrong.

Blood started gushing around the wound in her stomach as if it weren't just on the way to being closed.

"Naruto! Focus!" The barked words did their job and he moved his hand, healing chakra mixed with Kyuubi's following.

With the major puncture wounds and gashes closed, Naruto took a shaky breath and sat back on his heels, careful of the way Sakura still laid on him.

"Kurama…" Naruto closed his eyes, not wanting to see just how pale Sakura had become. A heavy weight settled in his stomach and throat making it hard to force out words. "Will she be okay? Did we get to her in time?"

"..." Naruto swallowed deeply when no reply was given. He was just about to cry when a hesitant gruff voice replied. Kurama was never hesitant and the thought that even the great chakra beast didn't know, froze him to the core.

"..She has lost a lot of blood, most likely too much. Her wounds are deep and scarring. The tanto especially," Naruto's eyes flicked towards the angry red lightning shaped line on Sakura's stomach, her anbu uniform slashed, practically ripped in half. Naruto doubled over suddenly, upper torso covering Sakura's head and holding her to him as if he could shield her from Kyuubi's words. "But she is also strong. Even when weakened, she was still helping you heal her."

"Kurama, what do you mean by that? Was she awake, in pain, this whole time?"

The silence was enough of an answer and Naruto clung to his teammate, his family, even closer. "Sakura…"

"She guided our chakra, pulling it towards where she knew she needed it most. I know not if it was enough to save her life."

Even as she lay dying she was still a medic. Kunoichi were strong and he was proud to say that Sakura was one of the strongest. She had grown so much since their genin days. He hoped the same could be said for him and Sasuke.

Naruto reached over to his opposite arm guard and, using Sakura's blood, swiped down. A small med kit, containing a roll of bandages and a jar of some of the leftover ointment that Sakura had forced Sasuke to make, was promptly summoned. It was times like these, and especially during battle, that he was grateful that they all had access to each other's gear.

Naruto uncapped the ointment and sniffed it, recoiling at the strong scent. "Whoof. Sasuke, did you make this right?" But Sakura wouldn't let them out in the field with ineffective medical supplies, and Naruto trusted Sasuke. Simple as that, so Naruto quickly got to work, dipping his hand into the shimmery light blue cream and patting it onto any wound he came across.

He had just finished bandaging what he could when Sakura groaned, her eyes scrunching up and her hand slowly came up to palm at her stomach and gray flak jacket. When her hand touched skin, Naruto watched hawkishly for any signs of distress or pain.

She angled her head and one of her eyes peeled open, he assumed to see the damage. She sighed deeply, green eyes closing once again, and moved back on to his thigh proper, obviously the more comfier and welcome option.

"Ugh. Can't believe I'ma havta spend money on new uniform." Her words were faint, full of exasperation and lingering pain, but they were words nonetheless.

Naruto snorted wetly, then laughed loud and exalted. His hands shook, but he thought he hid that well as he ran his fingers through Sakura's hair, fidgeting at the clumps of dried blood to try to remove some. Sakura coughed, a mix of her own laugh while still battling to get air into her lungs.

"I'm sure we can get Kaka-sensei to buy you new ones."