Hi everybody, by now you've probably been frustrated and annoyed with the fact that I haven't updated in a while. Well I'm sorry about that, so I forced my self to finish this chapter. It really caused me a bunch of problems cause I had half done before camp, then I came home and had to refresh myself with it and then I got some writers block. All in all I am now officially pissed at this chapter and the fact that I procrastinate like crazy. I like this chapter in terms of story line though cause you get to see some of the main conflict now. Well enjoy.
CHAPTER 2
"You heard Naruto, right Sakura?" Kakashi's voice sounded into her ear bud. Sakura smiled; she had heard Naruto. She could not stop thinking about what he had said. Finally their squad would be whole again. Naruto did it. She smiled even more. He was right, he promised me he would bring him back, and…he…he did it. She began thinking of how amazing it would be to train together again, work together on missions, and live the rest of their ninja lives a team.
"Did you hear me?" Kakashi's question jolted her from her reverie. She had been daydreaming, and she had not heard what he had been talking about for the last five minutes.
"Uh…there was some….uh…radio interference."
"No there wasn't." She winced as he sighed into his mic. "Stop daydreaming and pay attention! I'm afraid that Sasuke is in critical condition." This sobered her. "I need you to set up a little area where we can regroup and treat Sasuke's wounds before we return to Konoha." He paused letting it sink in, "we're going to need a place with a clean source of water. We will also need a large supply of nearby herbs and aloes…"
She glanced around at the small buildings along her path as Kakashi rambled on. She noticed a few shops and restaurants, but once she saw a certain building, she giggled to herself, "well I'm not quite sure, but I think I've found a suitable place. That is if you consider a hotel with a botanical garden next door a nice place to stop." She waited while Kakashi pondered over what she said. "I'm in a small town about three kilometers from the blast site."
"Oh, well in that case…sure. I'll meet you there after I round up the rest of the teams. Kakashi Out" The radio clicked off leaving Sakura standing in front of a quaint little inn; the two dogs in her team had went off in separate directions to contact the other squads. She figured that they had left on Kakashi's orders.
The pink haired kunoichi started walking toward the aged structure. She gazed along its crumbling walls, noting the vines growing along its length. Hedera azorica, the person who runs this place must take a lot of care to keep those growing; they only live in the most fertile of places. The tan, sun-baked stone was flaking off revealing its darker under-layers. She paused long enough to brush her hand along the aged stone.
She turned the worn, brass handle, and opened the door to expose a comfortable setting. The front desk sat at the back of a small rectangular room. The fireplace cast dancing shadows along the wood paneling. She walked over and slumped into the leather couch across from the fireplace. Gazing into the orange glow, Sakura watched the flames leap and dance along the logs. The golden tongues reminded her of a certain blonde friend. It's been so long since we've done something together. She frowned as she realized that the two had spent virtually all of the past two and a half years training. We deserve a rest, and after this I think we should spend some time just hanging out. She stared at the fire for a while longer before she noticed herself dazing off. I can't believe Sasuke is coming back, and all I can think of is Naruto…
War. It surrounded her, consumed her, and ate away at her. The dark clouds of death and destruction loomed over the horizon. She stared at them waiting for something, but she didn't know what it was. They sat motionless poised as if to strike at the only peace she had left. Flashes resounded in the distance and a chilling wind blew through her. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she dropped her head to her hands. But at that moment she felt something behind her. She felt this being approach from behind her; he, somehow she could tell, cast off such an aura of health and happiness. She felt him place a hand on her shoulder. She turned to look at him, and was surprised to see Naruto there, but it wasn't the Naruto she knew. This one was much older; his hair was shoulder length, he had traded his orange sport coat for a black trench coat, and he was built. But he still felt like the same Naruto. He smiled down at her, and his radiance penetrated her and accumulated in her, filling her up. Now he was shaking her, imploring her to answer him, "What Naruto?" She spoke allowed. He answered, "Are you alright."
Sakura opened her eyes to gaze up at him. He was standing over top of her, and the look he was giving her made her a bit concerned. He was staring at her with those big blue eyes, and he was clutching her shoulder tightly. As she looked over at his hand she noticed the sheen of perspiration that covered her skin. Why am I sweating? She looked back at Naruto and remembered the dream she had had. She remembered those dark clouds and the terrible feelings they had forced through her body. Then she remembered the other force that was there, a warm and happy one. And now she noticed that same feeling was emanating from the person standing right next to her.
"Are you all right?" She glanced back up to see the concern in Naruto's eyes. She felt him relax his hand on her shoulder as he saw her wake from her fitful dream. "What happened?"
"Nothing, I just had a bad dream." She brought a hand to her head to rub the sleep from her eyes. She looked around, but she could not see anyone other than Naruto. She propped herself up on her elbows, "Where's everybody else?"
She had sat up from the couch by now, so Naruto sat down beside her. "They're upstairs. That's were we are keeping Sasuke. There probably just talking, we really didn't know what we were supposed to do to heal him." He hated that he had worked so hard to bring him back, but now all he could do was sit back and watch. "He always was just out of our reach…and now that we have him, he's dying and I can't do anything. I just feel…like I'm weak."
"Don't say that Naruto. You are the strongest person I know."
He was shocked by what she had just said, and personally so was Sakura. Why did I say that? But she was glad about the effect it had on him. At least I got him smiling again. "Thanks Sakura."
She smiled to herself, "Don't worry, I feel the same sometimes too. You know…after this we should go out to Ichiraku. We deserve it." Naruto just stared at her and grinned. "What?" She smiled back at him.
"You mean like a date?" Naruto felt his feet leave the floor, but only realized what happened when he heard: Shannaro! Sakura used her massive strength to throw him across the room with a thump to the back of his head. He landed in a heap at the base of the wall. "Oww, what the hell was that!"
"How do you always manage to ruin the moments we have?!"
The glare she gave him chilled his blood, but he could not help himself, "we have moments?"
"There you go again! That's how you manage to…"
"Hey you two, get up here quick, Sasuke's condition is deteriorating." Kakashi called down the steps to interrupt the ninja's antics.
Naruto was already moving by the time Kakashi said that, and he dragged Sakura behind him by her wrist. The pair ran up the stairs and down the hall until they came upon room 220. He stopped and opened the door allowing her to enter before him. The room was nothing special. Two beds were shoved against the back wall, a bathroom was to her left, and chaos was everywhere else. Her friends and teammates were running helter skelter looking for various items to help Sasuke.
She ran to his bedside, and what she saw was not pretty. He had contusions covering his head and chest. His back was torn and bleeding out. She could tell just by looking that he had at least two broken limbs. What the hell happened to him? He must have been the target of that explosion. She grabbed the one arm she thought wasn't broken, and felt for his pulse. Surprisingly it was near 140 beats per minute. There is no way that someone who is in a coma shouldn't have that high of a pulse. There had to have been something else In that explosion to make his heart act like that. She felt his forehead, she was shocked to feel it so warm. Next she checked his eyes, opening the eyelids in order to see if they were functioning or not. He was non-responsive, and she figured that the coma had been either caused by the shockwave, or some other ill effect of the bomb, or a combination of the two. What ever the cause, he was in a coma, and he was a wreck on the outside. She formed chakra around her hands, and after a few seconds of preparations, she placed her hands on his chest allowing her chakra messengers to assess the damages to Sasuke's body. Both legs, an arm, and three ribs are broken. Bruising over 40 of his body. A lacerated kidney, and a collapsed lung. It also looks like he suffered a level 2 concussion. He is one gigantic mess.
"Naruto, go get some aloe plants from the garden next door." She continued to examine Sasuke's body. While she searched for any other injuries she may have missed, she began to formulate ideas as to what was going on with his body. It has to be some kind of poison or neural agent. Nothing else would have caused his heart to act so erratically. She began to form the hand seals that would heal some of the minor cuts and bruises. The room glowed green from the outpouring of chakra from her hands, but his wounds were not healing as fast as they should have been. She looked down at her hands, but they seemed fine. What's going on? She took a scalpel from her medical kit, and sliced her palm, wincing a bit. She brought her other hand up to her cut and was at first relieved to see that the cut healed almost instantly. But then she realized that there must then be something terribly wrong with his body. It has to be some kind of poison. Where's Naruto with those herbs? "Hey Kakashi, has Naruto come back yet?" She waited for an answer, but when she didn't get one she turned back to the door. The only problem was that she found a knife blade pressed against her throat mid-turn. There was a masked soldier standing above her.
"You will cease the assistance to the S-class criminal Sasuke Uchiha. Any attempts to interfere with me or my squad in returning the said criminal to Konoha is a punishable offence under the orders of the Fifth Hokage, lady Tsunade. The punishment for this offense is, regrettably…death."
Sakura sat there stunned and speechless, but after a few nerve-racking seconds she found her voice. "Yamato-taichou?"
A/N: well there you go. I hope you liked this chapter cause (sorry about this) I am leaving for another camp on Sunday and I won't be back till next Friday. I have no idea when I will update next, but I should be able to let you know some day after Friday, so check my profile around then.Remember to review (BIG THANKS TO ALL THOSE WHO REVIEWED ALREADY).
-ghost-