A/N: Hi guys! Nothing much to say here, enjoy the chapter =]

Rebirth

Part Two: Growing Up

Chapter 5: First Steps

Sasuke returned to Konohagakure in the middle of the night.

As usual, I couldn't sleep, so I was in a field by my apartment building, doing target practice. I felt a flare of chakra appear in front of the gates and didn't recognize it, but it was huge. Few people have chakra stores anywhere close to Naruto's, so I concluded that it was Sasuke's. Curious to see my cousin for the first time, I dropped what I was doing and started forward.

The first thing that struck me was how very tired he looked, even though I could only see half his face. The second was that he was bleeding quite a lot.

"Sasuke-nii!" I exclaimed, taking his right arm and slinging it over my shoulder. He must have been near exhaustion, because he didn't flinch or pull away from me. Instead, he grunted and started towards the Hokage Tower. It didn't take much to hold him in place and run a quick scan on him, instead.

"Akako-san," one of the guards said to me, "Uchiha-san needs medical attention."

"I have him," I said, "please call Sakura-sensei and Hokage-sama."

"You need to go to the hospital, Sasuke-nii," I said, guiding him forward. He had four broken ribs—it was a miracle one of his lungs wasn't punctured. I also noticed, with a chill, that he was missing his left forearm.

"Who are you?" he mumbled, slumping even more onto my shoulder.

"Uchiha…Akako," I panted. Belatedly, I realized I could flood my limbs with chakra to make it easier to support him. Instantly, Sasuke felt lighter.

"Uchiha?" he said. He seemed a bit more alert now.

Half-dragging him to the hospital, I managed to get him settled into a room. The good thing about working there on the weekends is that I can go in and out with little suspicion. I took Sasuke through a back door and disguised the two of us with a genjutsu, just in case someone nosy was on duty.

Sakura showed up five minutes later, still in her pajamas.

"Sasuke-kun!" she exclaimed.

"Sakura," he said.

I'd started an IV drip and healed most of his surficial wounds, but I didn't want to set his ribs without assistance.

"Sakura-sensei, he has broken ribs, and I'm afraid to set them," I said.

"Well then this is a perfect opportunity for you to learn, Akako-chan."

I tried not to notice the way Sakura was looking at him or how her lip was trembling. She must have missed him a lot in order to be this emotional.

Twenty minutes later, Kakashi arrived. His shirt was on backwards.

"Sasuke-kun is back?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama," I said, wiping the sweat from my brow. Sakura and I had knocked Sasuke out in order to heal his ribs, but he would wake up soon. It was almost five in the morning.

"How did he get in?" Kakashi asked, sitting down.

"I found him," I said. It was difficult, trying to heal Sasuke and talk at the same time.

"How did you recognize him, Akako-chan?" Sakura asked, surprised.

"I didn't," I said, after a short pause, "but his chakra was so huge, who else could he be?"

"Why was he injured?"

"He said he was attacked."

At this, Kakashi paled.

"He'll wake up soon, then he can tell us himself," Sakura said. Her forehead was furrowed with worry.

"Go home, Akako-chan," Kakashi said, when Sakura and I had finished healing Sasuke. "You look dead on your feet."

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

-paragraph break-

I got maybe an hour of sleep before showing up for training.

"Akako-chan, you look like you're still sleeping," Sango said, frowning.

"How can you tell?" Hanemaru quipped. "You can't even see her eyes!"

"Shut up," I responded.

Just as Ouja was about to begin our training session, Sakura showed up.

"I'm sorry Ouja-sensei," she said, "but Akako-chan has to come with me today. There's a surgery she must see."

"If you must," he replied.

"What's happening, Sakura-sensei?" I asked, as we ran to the hospital.

"Do you know the first thing Sasuke-kun said when he woke up?"

"What?"

"He said he wanted his arm. Shishou checked to see if he was strong enough to undergo surgery today, and he is."

"I get to watch?" I asked, feeling my excitement grow.

"Yes. This will be a very good experience for you, Akako-chan. Shishou, Shizune-sensei, and I will be doing the surgery. You will watch."

Sasuke's surgery lasted five hours. Tsunade used a high-resolution magnifying glass to connect the vessels, muscles, and nerves of his new left arm. Shizune and Sakura switched between assisting and checking Sasuke's vital signs.

My feet were crying for a chair when at last the surgery was finished. The smell of blood and sweat filled the air.

"We did it, Shishou," Sakura said. Her face was pink.

"Hopefully, this'll be the last time I'll ever have to do a surgery like this," Tsunade replied, retying her hair.

"I need to get back to the Hokage Tower now," Shizune sighed, "but it was a pleasure working with you, as always."

"He really works you hard, doesn't he?" Tsunade asked.

Shizune grimaced.

"Akako-chan, you can bring Sasuke-kun to his room," Sakura said. "Monitor him for the next three hours to make sure he suffers no adverse side effects. He should wake up in about half an hour."

"Yes, Sakura-sensei."

-paragraph break-

True to Sakura's prediction, Sasuke woke up twenty minutes after his surgery ended. His chakra was flickering softly, but other than that, he gave no indication he was awake. I guessed he was simply taking in his surroundings. After several minutes of lying still, he opened his eyes.

"How do you feel, Sasuke-nii?"

"Fine," he grunted.

I ran a general scan on him, just to make sure.

"Do not try to move your arm," I said, gesturing to the sling across his chest. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Water," he said. His mismatched eyes watched my every move.

He took the glass from my hand and drank deeply before handing it back.

"Would you like anything else, Sasuke-nii?" I asked.

"Don't call me that," he snapped.

"But we're related," I said, frowning.

"Who were your parents?"

"My mother was Jishin Ishiko," I said. "She was from Earth Country."

"Who was your father?" he asked, mirroring my frown.

"I don't know."

Sasuke looked at me for a few moments, his eyes narrowed. I felt his chakra gather and knew that he was about to activate his Sharingan.

"Don't do that!" I exclaimed, rapping his leg. He flinched as his concentration was broken.

"What was that for?" he growled. I think he was trying to scare me, but it didn't work. I've had a lot of experience with difficult patients.

"Your chakra stores are low right now, Sasuke-nii," I said, as I turned around to make some tea. "You should not activate your doujutsu."

"How did you know I was about to?" he asked.

"I sensed it," I replied, as I filled the teapot.

I could feel his stare drilling holes into my back as I left to boil the water.

-end of chapter-

A/N: The last bit of this chapter was tricky to write because I wanted to keep Sasuke at least somewhat in character, let me know if otherwise. Next up, the chuunin exams!