Victim #1

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Thump thump...Thump thump

THUMPTHUMPTHUMP

...[silence]...


"Kakashi!"

Sasuke banged his fist hard against the weather-worn door for what must have been the fourteenth time, the brute force now causing the rusted hinges along the door frame to rattle in a precarious fashion. Any harder, and the silver-haired anbu captain would find himself without a door. Needless to say, he was losing his patience, and fast.

And to make matters worse, the baby, Hana (as Sakura has come to name her), was now beginning to grow restless in his arms. It was only a matter of time, he knew, before she began to-

Too late. At the sudden high-pitched wail, Naruto's blue eyes went wide with alarm, the sharp sound hitting his ears with a force similar to that of a train. Sasuke suddenly slipped out a curse, his eyebrows creasing in what appeared to be suppressed fury.

"Take her." He snapped, voice dangerously low as he hastily extended the baby towards the blonde.

Naruto quickly wrapped his arms under the tiny squirming bundle, bobbing the dark-haired infant up-and-down against his chest in an attempt to quiet her. "There, there," he cooed, his face the perfect mixture of discomfort and afflicting helplessness, "Uncle Sasuke isn't really all that scary." A slight pause, and then in a softer undertone, "On rarer occasions..."

Naruto turned from his peripheral vision just in time to see Sasuke pull out a small plastic bottle filled with milk from the duffle bag slung over his shoulder.

"Here." Sasuke brusquely handed the blonde the small formula-filled container, his ears now beginning to ring at the shrill cries that relentlessly fell on his ears. Naruto eyed the bottle in his hand with a hint of uncertainty before understanding finally dawned on him.

"Wait a second, baka, why do I have to feed her, she's your responsibi-"

Another loud bang on Kakashi's beaten door rudely cut him off, and Naruto watched with horror as the little orange door collapsed to the floor of the apartment. Seconds passed between the two shinobi, the babies muffled cries the only sound that broke the silence.

"What the hell, Sasuke!" Naruto finally shouted, suddenly whirling around on the spot for anybody who might have witnessed the event.

"Feed the damn baby Naruto." Sasuke said simply, already making his way into the apartment. The receding sunlight left the scarcely furnished room feeling abandoned; dust particles twirling in the air like snowflakes in a blizzard. Eyeing the stack of half-way opened books to his right, paired with a still steaming cup of coffee, Sasuke felt his irritation spike. Kakashi was here alright. So why the hell didn't he get the damn door?

Quietly, Sasuke proceeded further into the small open room. He was not but a few steps inside when he felt a dim flare of chakra pulse from the narrow hallway to his left. Sasuke paused at the pulsation, his eyebrows creasing in calculation. There was something about Kakashi's chakra signal that felt...off, to say the least. He could feel the familiarity behind the signature, but there was something obscurely amiss at the same time that he couldn't quite identify.

Behind him, he could hear Naruto's voice burst into the room, but his words never seemed to reach his ears. Turning the corner, Sasuke suddenly understood the reason for the weird sensation he felt in his ex-sensei's chakra. There, lying face down in the wooden hallway before him, was the anbu captain himself.

"Shit." Dropping the duffel bag from his shoulders, Sasuke rushed to the unconscious figure, pressing two fingers under the anbu's jaw and neck.

The pulse was there, but it was faint. And it was fast.

Gruffely, Sasuke slung Kakashi's arm over his shoulder, hoisting him up with a grunt.

"Kakashi-sensei! Are you alri-?" Naruto took one look at Kakashi before he grabbed the discarded duffel bag and shot towards the hospital in a hard sprint, Sasuke close at his heels.

Naruto pressed the baby close to his chest, increasing his pace. Hana ceased her crying at the unexpected press of gravity along her tiny body, her blue eyes glinting the fast approaching stars in the skies.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Naruto bellowed over the sound of wind rushing through his ears.

Sasuke rolled his eyes with impatience, the hospital fast approaching in front of him like a lighthouse in the middle of a dark sea. "The hell if I know dobe."

Barreling into the four-story building, Sasuke's icy stare locked on the receptionist ahead. "Get Sakura!"

"H-Hai" The receptionist fumbled graclessly as she pulled out her pager, pressing a button against the side of the wall. "Code Blue!" She called into the intercom, eyes glued to the copy-nin fastened to Sasuke's shoulder. "I repeat, we have a Code Blue, first floor! Medics needed now!"

It felt as if only half a second passed before Sasuke felt the heavy weight suddenly slide from his shoulders, only to be placed carefully along the rushing stretcher now disappearing behind the receptionist desk. Naruto rushed after it, his eyes alarmed and filled with tension. "Kakashi-sensei!" He called, medics stepping infront of him to block his way.

"Hey! You can't go in there-"

"Kakashi-sensei!" He called again ignoring him. "What's wrong with him?! Is he going to be okay-"

"We don't know! We don't know yet, now please take a seat!"

Naruto glared at the medic, his heart pounding in his ears. With a heated sigh, Naruto backed down, feeling defeated. As much as he wanted to help, medical ninjutsu was not his speciality. He was useless here. And the feeling was so unsettling it was enough to tighten his throat and chest to the point it burned.

"Fine." He growled, taking a step back. "Fine! Just go help him!"

Naruto restlessly sat down next to Sasuke who had his head tilted forward toward his chest, arms crossed in a nonchalant manner and eyes closed. Eying the blonde, Sasuke noiselessly pulled the infant away from Naruto's arms.

"Wha-?"

"Stop shaking your arms so much, idiot. She's a baby, not a rag doll."

"How the hell can you be so calm at a time like this?"

Naruto glared at the spiked-hair male beside him. "Hey!" He tried again, clearly annoyed by the lack of eye contact the Uchiha was giving him. "Are you even listening-"

"Naruto." Sasuke said, his voice low and serious.

"-to me?" A pause. "Uh..." Naruto began, suddenly caught off guard, "Yes?"

"What do you feel?"

'What do I feel?' Naruto repeated in his head, his face conveying the confusion he evidently felt on the inside. What did his feelings have to do with anything? And more importantly, why the hell would Sasuke of all people want to know? "What do you mean?" He demanded, leering away from the Uchiha with skeptical eyes.

Sasuke scowled. "Feel her chakra."

Hesitating at the sudden peculiar request, Naruto off handedly mumbled, "Geez, what's gotten into you lately." Closing his eyes, the blonde ninja began concentrating his energy into the small bundle in Sasuke's arms.

Almost instatntly, Naruto could feel the beginnings of the small babe's chakra channels; the small interconnected pathways frail and thin and...

The sudden widening in Naruto's eyes was all Sasuke needed to see. Both of them felt it now.


"There is no virus, ma'am." Sakura stated simply, eyes glued to the back of Tsunade's chair. It was getting dark outside, and one by one, the village lights began to flicker on in the distance as the minutes ticked away. She knew it didn't make sense. As adamant as Kakashi was about the village being destroyed by a profound disease, Sakura was beginning to have her doubts.

Tsunade stayed quiet. She was reading Kakashi's mission profile and reports, her eyes never straying from the manila folder or papers loosely held within.

After receiving letters from a nearby village in the fire country, Tsunade had sent Kakashi to go and investigate. Though the war was over, there were still strained political relationships to be dealt with, and she was not about to fall for a trap this late in the game.

But she felt now as if she inadvertently had done just as such. She should have known better than to respond to such a vague letter in the first place, no matter how desperate the writings.

Anxiety felt heavy in the pit of her gut. So when a medic suddenly burst into the room, panicked, Tsunade only felt her anxiety grow as her fear suddenly began to unfurl in front of her eyes. Tsunade locked her hues onto the medic before her.

"Who is it?" Tsunade asked, her voice tight.

"Kakashi." The medic replied, out of breath.

And just like that, her fear was confirmed.

Sakura took one glance at Tsunade and immediately dashed out the door, heart hammering. The trepidation in her mentor's eyes said it all.

Shizune hesitated at the double doors, her body rigid. She didn't know what the hell was going on anymore, and was trying her hardest to push aside the uneasy feeling of being cast out-of-the-loop.

"Lady Tsunade, is everything al-?"

"Damn it Shizune, go and help her!" Tsunade bellowed, standing. Then more gently, "I don't have time to explain right now."

Shizune knew better than to argue at a time like this. Bowing, she wordlessly rushed out the doors to the hospital, mind still racing.

Tsunade looked at the papers in her hand again, suspicion heavy in her gut. She needed to get to the bottom of this before things began getting out of hand. She inhaled and exhaled slowly, plopping back down in her chair and lacing her fingers together atop her desk.

She had no reason to panic just yet. Kakashi, as alarming as it was, was in the hospital. But until she knew why he was there, she would keep her suspicions to herself.

But precautious measures must be taken none the less.


I'm not going to panic. I'm not going to panic. I'm not going to-

"Sakura!"

Sakura ignored the nurses bustling in the hallway, ignored the concerned looks that flickered her way, her pace never slacking even as she burst through the double doors of the ICU wing. Shizune was quick on her heels, already calling out orders for the nurses crowded around what could only be the stretcher carrying none other than her retired sensei.

Stupid, stupid Kakahi.

"Out of the way!" She ordered, hands already flying to pull up her pink locks in a messy ponytail. Having secured her hair, Sakura used her hands to direct her green chakra into the unconscious body before her.

Next to her, she could hear Shizune ordering for a blood test, just as her hands suddenly scrolled down blow hers; chakra scanning the abdominal tissues and organs.

"He's going into hypotension!" A voice shouted somewhere in the vicinity of the small crammed room.

In the back of her mind, Sakura could dimly hear the racing heart monitor, the shuffling of feet as nurses were called out of the room and directed like some wild orchestra performance, conducted by none other than herself and the dark-haired woman beside her. Her chakra, finding nothing abnormal in Kakashi's nervous system and heart, went deeper until she suddenly hit the anbu's chakra system.

She reared back, eyes wide. Shizune, not missing the reaction, said, "What is it, Sakura?"

The pinkette only shook her head in response. "I don't know," she replied, already pressing her hands firmly in the middle of Kakashi's exposed chest. "His chakra feels... unnatural, for some reason."

Shizune didn't miss a beat as she sent her blazing green chakra deeper into the unconscious figure. Suddenly, the heart monitor began to slow down as a nurse shouted, "BP rising! He's stabilizing!"

All eyes went to the blinking screen above the stretcher, watching as the numbers and figures began to ascend into a normal rhythm.

"What did you do?" Sakura asked, relief flooding into her system at the sudden change in condition. Here hands stayed where they were, green chakra continuing to examine Kakashi's chakra system. The unnatural presence was still there. Glancing at Shizune, her face only seemed to reflect the bewilderment she felt inside.

"Nothing," she finnaly replied stunned. "I thought perhaps you might have done something!"

"No, I didn't do a thing."

"Doesn't matter now, his heart rate is stabilizing and-"

"Shizune-" Sakura interjected, feeling the scorched heat of Kakashi's brow against her palm, "-he's burning up!" The heat radiating from the stretcher was a sharp contrast to the deep and undeniable chill of the hospital room. Kakashi's body was practically acting like a raging furnace caught in a snowstorm.

Shizune turned her attention to the screen resting above the hospital bed, noting the rapidly rising numbers.

Shit, this isn't good, Shizune thought, her eyes darting rapidly back and forth between the patient and screen above.

"We need to cool him off, ASAP!" Sakura barked at the nurses next to her. Looking at a petit girl, Sakura shouted, "We need ice-cold water and a blanket, now!"

"Yes Ma'am!" And she was off, out the double doors and into the supply room.

Meanwhile, Sakura turned her attention to advancing her chakra into the anbu's. Immediately, however, she was met with resistance. Cursing, Sakura applied more pressure. She needed to figure out what was wrong, and fast. And she would be damned if she let Kakashi's powerful chakra get in the way of her saving his life.

"You are not going to die, you hear me!" She yelled at Kakashi's unconscious figure, heatedly. "We have lost too many leaf ninja as it is! We are not losing you, too!"

Whether it was her voice that motivated her or just her sheer persistence, Sakura abruptly felt the barrier holding her back slacken slightly only to be reinforced with double the strength. Sakura's breath hitched at the unexpected intensity, growling in distress. The noises around her were drowned out into a muddled whir, as if her head was being held under water and the only thing that reached her ears were the dull echoes of what was happening around her.

She pushed harder, her chakra practically burning the palms of her hands due to its heavy concentration. She needed to release it. Why couldn't she break the damn chakra-barrier?! It was as solid as concrete. This was completely abnormal.

Shizune glanced at Sakura, noting the beads of sweat along her brow and slight shake in her arms.

"Here!"

Shizune flickered her attention to the petite nurse as she thrust her a dripping ice-cold blanket into her arms. Together, they swiftly pulled the rest of Kakshi's clothing from him, replacing it with the icy blanket.

"He won't let me in!" Sakura retorted venomously, her eyes bright with anger. Somehow, even in his unconscious state, Kakashi was managing to pull what little strength he had left on the inside and push her healing chakra away from the system she needed more than anything to evaluate: his chakra system.

"He wont let me in." She repeated, slightly appalled.

"Let him be, Sakura." Shizune commented, her voice soft and tired. "I think he's out of the woods for now."

Together, they watched as Kakashi's dangerous fever slowly began to fall into a mild 101.8 degree Fahrenheit. Still a fever, but heck of a lot better than 110.6 degree Fahrenheit.

"...off of me! Let me through!"

Naruto burst through the doors, a shrilling baby clasped to his side. Alarmed, Sakura rushed over and scooped the infant into her arms.

"Naruto!" She seethed, "Shut the hell up!"

"Sakura, she's burning up!"

"What do you mean-" She stopped mid sentence, feeling the heat of the infants flesh under her skin. "Oh shit." She breathed, the dread filling her gut in a thick icy pool. When she looked up again, Sasuke was standing next to Naruto, his eyes dark and unreadable and completely fixated on her.

His stare left her feeling numb for some strange reason. They caught eyes for just a split second before her attention snapped to the wailing child in her arms. Goodness she was warm.

"I need ice! Stat!" Then to another male nurse, Sakura said, "Take Kakashi into another room and get that blood analysed for any abnormalities immediately, understood? If he begins to crash, page me immediately."

"Yes Ma'am." The male replied, nodding.

"One more thing!" Sakura snatched the back of the nurse's scrub, yanking him back. "Give him a physical and have another nurse set him up with an IV bag for fluids."

"Understood!"

Naruto stared at the stretcher as it moved, mixed emotions crashing into his chest and heart with increasing turmoil and intensity. "Is he going to be okay?!"

Sakura continued to push her chakra into the tiny infant, running her chakra through her frail body for anything that might be wrong. At this point she really didn't know. All she could think about was getting everyone stable enough so she could figure out what the hell was wrong with everyone.

That is, until she felt that same unnatural presence in the babe's chakra as she did in Kakashi's.