"Your old teammate is hot," Suigestu told him, his eyebrows wiggling unnecessarily. Sasuke kicked off the branch with a little more force than necessary. "Can't believe you left her behind. What's her name?"
"Sakura," Sasuke answered, his tone short.
"Sorta like Pinky better," Suigestu shrugged his shoulders. "What's she like?"
"How would Sasuke-kun know what she's like now?" Karin questioned harshly. "He left years ago. People change."
People do change. Sakura changed but at the same time she didn't. Her behavior matured and she was much more confident, but her compassionate heart was still very much like the one he broke all those years ago. And this is only what he gathered from one actual conversation with her.
"Annoying," Sasuke stated with a frown. It summed her up well.
"Really?" Suigestu doubted. "She seems like a real sweetheart, right, Juugo?"
"Her hair was a pretty color," Juugo replied with a nod. "Her name suits her well."
"Hair that color can't be natural, right?" Karin asked, sounding much more curious than malicious.
"It's natural," Sasuke answered in a low tone, remembering when he first met the girl. He had no idea how he didn't see a pink haired girl in their age group before, but he suspected it had more to do with his obsession with his older brother.
He also thought it was dyed at first, but upon closer inspection when they became genin, Sasuke was quite sure no combination of processed colors could replicate the unique shade of Sakura's hair.
"Well, can't believe you left a hottie like that behind," Suigestu declared, taking a sip of his drink. "I bet she's a real catch. But, being a real medic, she's probably got that whole 'save lives' and passive complex. What a bummer."
"Do not take her lightly," Sasuke warned, reminding himself that his annoyance with the comment was soundly founded in facts. "Steer clear of her, actually. She took down Sasori of the Akatsuki."
"Which one was that?" Suigestu frowned, holding up his hands to use them to count. "Your brother is one of them. There's Kisame. And, uhm-- yeah, that's all I know."
Karin rolled her eyes. "You're an idiot, you know that?"
"Oh, yeah?" He countered, holding the two raised fingers up to her face. "You name the members you know."
"There's two old Rain shinobi-- Pain and Kohnan," Karin bit back, swatting away his hand. "And I knew of Sasori of the Red Sands. He dealt with poison and no one before that girl, I guess, lived to tell the tale."
Suigestu frowned, eyeing their companion suspiciously. "How do you know so much?"
"Being in charge of one of Orochimaru's hideouts means I was well informed, idiot," Karin sneered, before her attention found itself back on Sasuke. "You don't think we'll see her again, do you?"
As much as Sasuke might have hoped, he knew it was inevitable he'd see his old teammates again. He frowned at the idea of an old Team 7 reunion.
"You just don't like her because she has a history with Sasuke," Suigestu teased, his side morphing into water as she hit him. "Anyways, I, for one, would love to see Pinky again. Emotions look funny on Sasuke."
Sasuke almost let his eye twitch at the comment, but he composed himself despite Suigestu's aggravating comment.
"Enough," Sasuke stated, fixing his stare ahead of them. "We have a town to get to."
"Wait, you saw Sasuke?" Naruto shouted, his incredulous expression turning to utter shock when she nodded. "Sakura-chan, what happened? I- you- you saw him? Where? How long ago? Why didn't you yell for me or something? What's Sasuke even doing in the Land of Fire?"
"Believe me, I'd love to know," Sakura responded, her hands coming up to caress her temples. "I thought I sensed his chakra after we split up, so I followed it. And it was actually him, Naruto. He has a new team."
A team, though Sasuke would probably disregard it, was quite reminiscent of their old Team 7. In different ways, of course, but the bickering, obvious pining, and quiet observations held too many parallels for Sakura to deny.
"That teme put together a new team?" Naruto repeated loudly, huffing a bit at the thought. "What a contradictory bastard! He leaves us because we made him 'weak' but goes ahead and forms another team! Tch, I see right through him."
Sakura smiled at her best friend, thankful that he would always be there to put a positive spin on anything remotely heartbreaking. Sasuke left them because he couldn't allow himself to risk his revenge, which would ultimately be jeopardized if he continued putting their lives in front of his goal. It was something Naruto reassured her on numerous occasions and even she knows it to be true.
Sasuke created a new team that he had no true bonds with-- at least, none that she knows or picked up on in their short encounter. It wasn't like her or Naruto.
He looked at Naruto and saw a brother. He looked at her and saw unconditional affection. On the same hand, he saw Naruto as an idiotic ninja and her as an annoying fan girl. But they managed to get under his skin all the same and remind him of what having a family feels like. Not one like his own, but a different one made from their own choice.
Sasuke just had a lot of things warped in his mind. That affection and loyalty would hinder his main goal, no matter how much he appreciated it. This new team was probably specially picked to ensure his victory against his brother. And he probably intended to keep it at that-- no bonds to risk his goal.
Whether it remained that way, well, Sakura couldn't be sure.
"I can't believe you saw the teme," Naruto shook his head. "Bet he didn't threaten to kill you, huh?"
"No threats," Sakura confirmed. "Not really, anyway. Just sort of insinuated that if I charged at him, you would find me unconscious."
"Heh-- at least he remembers that your punches are definitely a threat," Naruto laughed, throwing his hands and clasping them behind his head. Sakura raised a fist threateningly despite the obvious smile on her features.
"Listen, Sakura-Chan, I'm not saying it's a bad thing you saw Sasuke," Naruto continued. "You were always a soft spot for him, like me, of course. We need to remind him of his found family as much as possible. Though, he wouldn't be Sasuke if I didn't have to punch it in him for him to understand."
"Idiotic boys," Sakura snorted, internally correcting herself; My boys.
"Yeah, yeah, but you wouldn't give us up for anything," Naruto replied cheekily, earning a dry glance from her. "Awe, lighten up, Sakura-chan! We'll bring him back, I'm sure of it! Together!"
"Sure, Naruto," She agreed, forcing a smile onto her face. "Together."
They made it to their mission location-- a small village just within the Land of Fire borders. A request for a medic was sent over to Konoha three days ago. An odd poison had popped up in the village, leaving most of the abled men bedridden and by extent, the small village vulnerable.
They had never seen the poison before, unfortunately. Tsunade had assigned Sakura the responsibility in identifying the poison and making an antidote. Without an actual sample of the poison (all of it had been used running tests), Sakura spent an entire day in the labs creating possible antidotes based of the reports. In theory, one of them should work. But poisons could easily throw any decent medic a curve ball and be completely immune to the antidotes effects.
So, Sakura was sent to the village, numerous antidotes and ingredients on her person, with Naruto as her escort. He had spent a full minute arguing with Tsunade about being assigned an escort mission before Sakura interrupted and told him that it was their mission. And that he was her escort.
Naruto happily agreed not a moment later.
And now that they were in the village, Sakura couldn't help but feel sorry for Naruto. He was clearly bored-- none of this was really his area of expertise and was promptly seated outside of the village's medical lab (which was probably a filing room days before, based on the boxes discreetly hidden in the corner).
Sakura was working with one of the newest patients, examining the injury he sustained and taking samples of just about everything before Naruto walked in and sat at the chair by one of the tables.
"Sakura-chan, how long is this going to take?" He asked, his lack of patience clearly due to his inability to sit still for more than five minutes.
"Well," Sakura started, smiling at the patient and thanking him before letting him be wheeled out of the room by a nurse. "The poison isn't transmitted by air, fortunately. And, if my suspicion is correct, it's not transmitted by introducing it directly to the blood stream either."
"So the poison isn't like, uh," Naruto hesitated, scratching his head. "Laced onto weapons, right?"
"Most likely not," She confirmed, unrolling a scroll and promptly summoning the spare equipment from the hospital back home. She motioned to Naruto to help her situate the new items in the room by directing him where to put them.
"My tentative theory, as of right now, is that the poison is actually applied straight to their skin," She told him, taking the samples and bringing them to the proper machine to run them through. "Usually, poisoned wounds tend to fester and even when they don't, the healing process is delayed dramatically. All of the patients I've seen since we got here are healing at a normal rate. Well, on the outside, at least. The poison itself is just slowing down the internal process until the body shuts down immediately."
"Can't you do that thing you did with Kankuro?" Naruto asked, scrunching his nose as he tried to name the technique. "That cool water trick? Which was like, mega awesome, just so you know."
"Thanks," She smiled, before her expression dropped into a frown. "What I did with Kankuro was a very crude treatment to keep him from dying. And I already had an idea how the poison was infecting his organs, so I was able to draw them out."
"And this one?" Naruto asked hopefully.
"I don't have a concrete idea," She admitted, hanging her head low for only a moment before she set herself back to the rest of her supplies. "But I fear the worst possibility."
"And that is?"
"That the poison invaded every cell," She said simply, grimacing as she looked at the tests currently running. "It infects the body, one layer at a time. Through the outermost layer of skin to the inner before making its way through blood stream, organs and muscles, and then the bones themselves."
"Is that why those older patients can't walk anymore?" Naruto asked, the grim features not suiting him at all.
"It's all a theory until the tests come back," She said instead, focusing on organizing everything she had.
"If it does do what you fear, would you be able to extract it like Kankuro, if they were going to die?"
"If my fear is reality?" She inquired, letting him nod before continuing. "Technically, yes. But that's a whole other level than what happened with Kankuro. He had poison amassed in his organs, not sticking to individual cells like its life depended on it. The process would take forever and honestly, even though I'm confident in my chakra control, I'd be skeptical of my ability to do so."
"You totally could, Sakura-chan," Naruto reassured her, his grin reappearing and suddenly the room seemed so much brighter. "You're that awesome!"
"You want to get food, don't you?" She accused, her voice hard though the softening expression on her features didn't exactly agree with it.
"Please!" He begged, clasping his hands together dramatically. "I'm so so SO hungry, Sakura-chan! Watching you work all day has made me hungry! And I bet we can find a ramen place around here."
"No ramen," She stated, watching him deflate a little. "We can buy some cup ramen on our way back so you have a snack later. But now? I want a decent meal and some dango to go if anyone has it."
"It's going to be a long night, huh?"
She sighed, taking off her lab coat and letting her hair out from its pony tail. Another check to the machines showed her tests would still be running for a bit. Good, she could have a nurse take them out and let the results load onto her laptop so they'd be ready for when she got back.
"Afraid so. Duty calls, right?"
"You said it, Sakura-chan."
They went out to a decent little place within town. It wasn't exactly what she had in mind, but the town wasn't all that big. She was lucky she found the variety they did. And she even found a stall that sold dango!
And, true to her word, they found a little market with cup ramen for Naruto to drool over. She got other healthy snacks, almost determined to get him to eat something other than ramen at the lab. Or well, the hallway outside of the makeshift workspace.
They started back towards the clinic before she remembered some herbs she would most likely need. She looked at Naruto, feeling a bit bad that he was still carrying all the bags before she shooed him forward.
"Go on, Naruto," She told him with a smile, stopping any protests from him with a raised hand. "I just want to get some herbs and you're probably dying to open up one of those ramen cups, right? I'll be there in twenty minutes max."
Naruto frowned but when his stomach grumbled, as though awakened by the sound of his favorite food, reluctantly agreed.
"If you aren't back in twenty minutes, Sakura-chan, I will raid this village with a hundred shadow clones," He threatened, winking before he turned away from her and continued on his way.
"What a lovable idiot," She breathed out, watching her best friend hurry back to the clinic.
She then went back to a herbal store she saw earlier. She had brought some with her, of course, but she figured she could get fresh local herbs here instead of bringing dried versions from home.
She was looking at a decent assortment of herbs when she heard a metallic pang beside her. With her hand on her weapons pouch, she turned and saw one of Sasuke's teammates grinning at her.
It was the one that reminded her of a shark, his toothy grin large as he rested his head on his hands and leaned on a familiar sword as he looked her over.
Warily, she lowered her hand from her pouch, but remain quite attentive as he spoke.
"Whatcha doin, Pinky?"
She blinked a few times before she responded. "Herb shopping. Isn't that why people would come to this store?"
"Not me," He disagreed, motioning to her hair. "I saw pink and followed you in."
"May I ask why?" She questioned, eying the sword and finally placing it in her memories. Zabazu-- the Mist ninja they encountered on their mission to the Land of Waves.
"Recognize it?" He inferred, watching her eyes scrutinize the weapon. "Sasuke helped me find the location as a means of being recruited for his team. Heard your team took Zabazu down as freshly graduated genins. That's impressive."
"I actually didn't do much," She admitted, remembering how helpless she had felt during that mission. "Sasuke-kun and Naruto were always in a league of their own."
"But you took down Sasori, right?" He inquired, watching her head nod tentatively and he whistled. "Looks like you're skilled now, regardless of what you were like as a child. Figured there was a reason Sasuke told us not to underestimate you. I guess you're not just a pretty face then, huh?"
"Guess not," She agreed. "I'm surprised Sasuke-kun bothered to say anything."
"Think he just wanted to scare me away from you," He grinned, wiggling his eyebrows. "Sasuke gets all touchy whenever anything from his home is brought up."
"Sasuke doesn't believe he has a home," Sakura responded, ignoring the pang in her heart. "Why are you here? You're a rogue-nin, right?"
He held his hands up defensively. "Hey, I'm just the curious type. Haven't seen Sasuke so riled up in a while. Wanted to get to know the girl who did the riling, is all. Name's Suigestu."
He held out his hand and Sakura eyed it warily. "I'm not tryna harm you, Pinky. Sasuke probably wouldn't be too happy."
"I doubt he cares," She responded tightly, despite everything in her mind desperately hoping that deep down, Sasuke did care. She shook Suigestu's still outreached hand, causing his smile to widen dramatically.
"I knew you were a real sweetheart," He told her proudly, following her as she continued her shopping. "So. . . What was Sasuke like as a kid?"
"You want to gossip about Sasuke-kun?" She inquired, sighing when he nodded.
Sakura couldn't help the small smile that graced her features as she thought back to Sasuke as a kid. "Determined."
"He wasn't always an asshole?" Suigestu questioned.
"He wasn't unkind," She said slowly. "Naruto would say otherwise."
"I've heard about this Naruto guy," Suigestu told her, looking thoughtfully at the ceiling. "Orochimaru would sometimes reference him. He's the Kyuubi kid, right?"
Sakura simply looked at him blankly, not willing to confirm or deny anything. "He's my teammate. Sasuke-kun's too when we were kids."
"Ooh, two people to rile up Sasuke," He responded in an excited tone, walking up to the cashier with her as she paid for her items. "I'd love to see a reunion."
Sakura thought back to their last reunion. And though she wished the outcome to be different, she suspected a fight would still break out between the two boys if they met again.
"Don't do anything stupid, Suigestu," She warned as they exited the store. "I know my boys better than anyone. I wouldn't even tell Sasuke you saw me again."
"Your boys?" Suigestu repeated with a knowing grin. Seeing her glare, he conceded. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't tell Sasuke we saw each other-- got it. He'd probably get angry. Trying to help the enemy, Sakura-chan? I'm honored."
"You're not the enemy until you do something to earn that title," She told him, his eyes widening at her words. "See you around, Suigestu."
"You're a sweetheart, Pinky," He told her, waving goodbye. "Until next time."
"Suigestsu, wait a moment," She said abruptly, causing him to turn back, curiosity written all over his features. "Someone's targeting people around this village. They're using a poison that's entirely new-- one that you might not be resistant too. Be careful."
Suigestu winked. "Always am, Sakura-chan. I'll pass the message along too."
He disappeared from her side a moment later, reappearing on top of a roof before dropping out of her sight line. She shook her head, pretending not to sense the chakra signature on top of the roofs, near where Suigestu jumped to. So much for not letting Sasuke know.
It took her a moment to regain her composure and she turned her back on the signature that lingered briefly and headed back to the medical building.
Sakura had a mission to complete. People's lives were at stake. She couldn't afford another conversation with Sasuke no matter how much she wanted to.
When she got to the medical lab, she saw Naruto gearing up his signature jutsu, two ramen cups emptied of its contents.
"Sakura-chan! I was just about to storm the village!"
"Baka, I'm right here. No need to be so dramatic." She said, setting her newly purchased herbs onto the table. She proceeded to check the tests running and was delighted to see some of them had finished.
"Oi, did you see that?" Naruto asked suddenly, his eyes squinting at the window.
"See what?" She asked, walking towards the window with her best friend. Her eyes searched the darkened village, catching a figure for a brief moment as they landed atop a building before disappearing completely.
"Ninja?" Naruto questioned, his gaze hardening.
"Possibly," Sakura waved off his worries. "This village is used as a resting point for some ninja. It's one of the last stops before they leave the Land of Fire, remember?"
"Oh, right," Naruto said sheepishly, scratching his head. "Time for you to do your amazing medic stuff?"
"Time for me to do my amazing medic stuff," She confirmed with a smile, her eyes sweeping over the village one more time before she turned from the window.
