AN: Ok I'm back and refreshed! As you might've already read the (now deleted) note, I reposted chap2: The Unusual Introduction along with this new chap. So go and check it out and tell me what you guys think! The ending is slightly different and among other things.
And about this chpt cutting into two chpts due to the length...I decided to give it a test-run. In the end, even with this chpt cut, this part was REALLY long! Over 8000 words! Damn it! If it was one whole thing, this chpt would've been 15,000 words!! Geez! So I guess cutting it into two chpt was the better option.
So tell me what you thought about this chpt! Oh and a Happy Belated Memorial Day! I don't know what it is but I know it's important!
Disclaimer: If I created Naruto, Itachi would have...
The Perfect Soldier
After helping Tazuna put on his army helmet and bulletproof vest, Team Kakashi entered the security checkpoints in the Osaka entrance. Once they were all cleared and signed out, Team Kakashi proceeded on their journey back to Konoha. For the next 4 hours their journey was routine, going through the same dark forest the team had entered to get to Kiri.
But as they went deeper into the woods, Kakashi halted his team. The forest was quiet…too quiet; it was quieter than last time they'd passed. Kakashi looked at the forest surroundings. There's not an animal in sight. A soldier should follow his instincts even though there is no solid evidence to prove his inner theory. After more than 10 years of military experience, Kakashi's instincts were more like telepathy than pure instinct.
Kakashi spoke to his team in a very low and alert volume, "Everyone get your weapons out and stand between Tazuna-san. We're not taking any chances."
Everybody silently prepared their weapons. Naruto quickly assembled his L209 LAARK rocket launcher; Kakashi activated the force field in his Auger rifle and pulled up his eyepatch, revealing his artificial red eye; Sakura took out her organic mine-launching Sapper; Sasuke got out his Bullseye shotgun; and Sai took out the standard M5A2 Carbine assault rifle.
Kakashi's artificial eye scanned the trees, picking up any sort of unusual movement as the team cautiously entered deeper into the woods. Once again Kakashi silently halted his team. Kakashi got down on his knees and leaned his head on the ground to hear any footsteps nearby. There were none…but rapid clicking sounds that were getting louder and louder. Something is coming…and Kakashi knew exactly what it was. He quickly got up.
"Tazuna-san, please take cover. Everybody else get ready to fig-"
A gunshot fired from above.
Feelings versus Reason
Kakashi was within inches of his life when the projectile grazed through his hair. Sasuke quickly reacted and fired a few shots at the direction of that gunfire. After a bloody body fell down from the trees, a rain of gunfire also came down from the trees.
The enemy surrounded them and is positioned on the mid and upper portion of the trees. The present enemy, the Slipskulls, is one of the many classes of Chimeras. Slipskulls are like the Chimera version of monkeys: swift, stealthy, excellent climbers, agile, and unpredictably cunning. Right now there is total of 20 Slipskulls; about one per tree. These fierce and cunning monsters are firing like no tomorrow. They are notorious for their cheap shots.
Naruto positioned his rocket launcher towards one section of trees, "Man these bastards always annoy the hell out of me! I'm gonna blast them off!"
"No, Naruto!"
"Why not Kakashi-sensei?!"
"Slipskulls have the upper hand in an environment where they have unlimited cover and can quickly switch back-and-forth between offence and defense. Not only that, the launches would make these erratic monsters even more erratic and more hostile for us to deal with. Remember, this is an escort mission, not an offence mission."
"But Kakashi-sensei, Slipskulls don't hang out that much outdoors. What are they doing here?"
"Act now ask questions later! This is the rule-of-thumb in battle!"
And so Naruto strapped his LAARK on his back and switched into his Carbine to join the rest of his team. Meanwhile before switching to her standard assault rifle, Sakura fired her Sapper, planting bubbly organic matter on the ground and trees. Once a few Slipskulls or any tiny scorpion-like Leapers run into the bubbly matter, the organic matter exploded, killing whatever that comes into physical contact with it.
Sasuke reloaded his Bullseye and aimed it at one Slipskulls 20 meters above. To Sasuke's surprise, another dead Slipskull landed right next to him. He didn't spot this one. Sasuke turned around and Sakura was right behind him reloading her standard rifle and looked reassuringly at him for only a split second.
"We're surrounded and outnumbered, Kakashi. We need to break through their offensive barrier; we can't continue this firefight. The LAARK could give us an opening and make a run for it."
Kakashi reloaded his Auger rifle, "It's too risky. If we make a clearing using the rocket launcher, the Slipskulls and possibly Leapers as well, could zoom in on us when we escape."
"But we have to escape somehow, Captain."
Kakashi took his time to formulate a plan, "OK here's the plan: we have no choice but to split into two groups. Group One of two people will take Tazuna-san far away from here as fast as possible once Group Two makes a clearing. Group Two of three people will stay behind and give Group One backup until they're out of sight; this group will fend off the enemy as long as needed."
Kakashi assessed his team and decided on who goes where, "Sasuke and Sakura, you'll be in Group One and continue to take Tazuna back to Konoha. Naruto and Sai, you'll stay with me in Group Two to give Group One cover."
"Captain Hatake-sama I must protest!"
To everyone's dismay, Sakura outspokenly disliked the plan. Sakura so far had not been outspoken at all until now.
"There's more danger here and therefore I would be more resourceful if I remain with your group. It is better that I remain here."
"Negative. My decision is final. Sasuke will protect you and Tazuna while you will heal their wounds if need be. The safety and well-being of our client is our top priority. Your job is to take care of him. That's an order!"
And that was that. An order is an order. Sakura knew what she's getting into if she did not listen and so she withdrew, though very reluctantly. Now the plan was settled, Naruto fired his LAARK straight ahead and decimated the trees and surrounding earth. Kakashi and Sai then threw two grenades in that same direction, creating more forest clearing and rubble. Reacting to the explosions, the Slipskulls and Leapers reflexively jumped far away from the clearing and went for cover, giving Group One a few seconds to escape before the Slipskulls calm down again.
"Now is your chance! Get out of here! NOW!"
No time to hold back, Sasuke led Sakura and Tazuna ahead to the clearing.
As they were ordered by Kakashi, the group ran as fast as their legs could give out. Sasuke led his group while Sakura was at the "tail" of the group to see if anything is chasing them or if the other group is catching up with them yet. Deep down Sakura feared that her absence from the other group would result in heavy losses.
"I hope they will be alright without my medical assistance-"
"Don't worry, Sakura. They can handle the situation. We have our own to deal with."
Reassured, Sakura faced forward once more to help Sasuke and Tazuna. They need her.
Not liking the situation he's in, Tazuna spoke. "Hey! How far are we from the village?"
"If we keep going at this pace, we might get there in 3-4 hours."
And so they kept running. Decided to hide for 10 minutes just in case, Sakura decided to ask Sasuke Naruto's question, "Uchiha-san, Uzumaki-san had a point. Slipskulls would often, if not always, be in their home territory not in an environment where they're unfamiliar with. I've never heard of these monsters being on duty outside of their base."
Sasuke took his time to come up with a logical answer. Sakura and Naruto were right: Slipskulls are defenders of Chimeras' bases and never in their enemy territory. The only conclusion was that the Chimeras have built a base nearby. That is inconceivable: Chimeras couldn't build a base in the middle of the Japanese Triangle! And even if they did, no one had spotted anything suspicious in the area. In the end, Sasuke's train of thought had come to a dead end.
Realizing Sasuke was unable to answer her, Sakura spoke up. "We should keep going as we were ordered to, Uchiha-san. I'm sure Tazuna-sama is more than willing to get back."
And so they kept going northward passing trees and brushes. Once in a while they stopped and hide to make sure if they're being followed or if Kakashi's group caught up with them yet. Sasuke leaned his ear against the earth and listened for any Chimeras or the other group approaching them. As he tries to listen for any footfalls, Sasuke noticed how Sakura kept looking behind where they'd came from; she was worried about Kakashi and the others.
"Sakura quit looking back. Distraction is not what we want to have right now. We have to press forward or else everything will fail."
"I apologized, Uchiha-san. I will focus harder…but what about you, sir? What about your comrades? Have you ever wondered the possibility that their road of life might end on this mission?"
Sakura might've sounded indifferent to the situation but in Tazuna's observation it was clearly the opposite. Though Sakura's tone lacked the emotions, it was her choice of words that makes it otherwise. Sasuke on the other hand spoke his words with emotion but had a sense of indifference in them as he stood and glared at her with intensity. Tazuna could almost smell the heavy tension between the two soldiers and stayed out of this conversation-slash-argument (depending on whose side you're on).
"This is a war. Our days were numbered since the day we enlisted. They know what they're getting into. When it comes to war, it's either failure or success."
Sakura looked straight into Sasuke's stern eyes. He looked dead serious about what he said. Sakura could only deduced that this mission means a lot to him and that he wanted to see it through in one piece. Who would want to fail a mission? But when Sakura saw the intensity and in his eyes and she knew what she must do. As the group continued to run, Sakura, this time, did not look back. Instead Sakura looked ahead, focusing where Sasuke and Tazuna were.
"You won't fail, Uchiha-san…because I won't fail you."
Suddenly Sasuke stopped and so did the rest of the group.
"Sakura, how much ammo-"
Sasuke instinctively turned around and fired a few rounds at a wolf-like Chimera that was ready to pounce at him. Once he knew the beast was dead, Sasuke and everybody else could breathe again. Sasuke reloaded his ammo. Tazuna swiped the sweat off his brow and was still panting in fear.
"Hey you guys better be careful doing your job! I don't want the same thing that happened to my son-in-law! I want to go home alive and see my family again."
"Don't worry Tazuna-san. I've been expecting them even before the firefight. There were scratches on a few trees that couldn't be done by simple wolves."
Sakura intuitively climbed on top of a tree to scout for any signs of the enemy. "A pack of Howlers are approaching; 6 of them. We should make haste, Uchiha-san, Tazuna-sama. Judging by their agility, speed, and distance, they'll reach us in less than 10 minutes."
Group One continued to be on the run, a pack of Howlers, about 6 of them, headed straight towards the group. Howlers are like wolves with steroids and once they spotted their target they are simply ravenous to the extent of ripping their prey into pieces in one bite. Howlers should be dealt in a distance but needed to be killed in close range due to their thick coat that is resistant to light fire. So dealing with a pack of Howlers on your own is one of the worse case scenarios in combat.
Sasuke knew they had to confront these beasts since Howlers are twice as fast as humans and they could not outrun the Howlers all the way back to Konoha. But the question is how. First they have to climb up to buy some time. He picked a fairly young tree that Howlers would be too big to climb on but tall enough so that they can't leap at. Now 25 feet above ground, the group analyzed the situation while Howlers continue to voraciously climb the tree.
While Sakura kept watch, Sasuke took out his walkie-talkie to contact Group Two. After a period of static, Kakashi's voice came on the other line.
"What's happening, Group One? Where are you?"
"We're currently in the Section 4 Area B and taking cover from a huge pack of Howlers," Sasuke then looked farther ahead and frowned. "It looks like more is coming our way…about 5 more of them; 11 total. We need backup."
"Negative. Our group is still having Chimeras on our hands. Backup will arrive in-"
There was too much static and Sasuke couldn't decipher the rest of Kakashi's words. Sasuke had no idea when or if Kakashi's group is able to reach this destination. Sasuke cursed at himself and looked at Sakura, who gave him the same look as he was giving her. Both of them knew that they have to handle this situation alone, without Kakashi's group. And both of them silently knew things do not look good. Their ammo was low except for grenades and ninja tools, which weren't as effective on killing fast-moving Howlers.
"There's no other choice." Sasuke got up, "Sakura. Continue to take Tazuna. I'll stall them for you."
Sakura's eyes widened in shock and showed an inner fear that only she herself understood. "No Uchiha-san! It's one against 11! You'll die! I won't allow it! We could fend these creatures off and take Tazuna-sama back to Konoha together!!"
"You're in no position to argue with me, Sakura! You're to do as I said! Deal with it!"
They were slightly jerked off-balance. The Howlers are now tackling head-on against the tree and trying to break it. They wanted the confrontation between themselves and the humans right now. Time was running short.
"Jump to that tree nearby and carry Tazuna on your back. I'm sure you're strong and capable enough to do that."
"But Uchiha-san!-"
"Don't argue with me, Sakura! I said take Tazuna out of here and that wasn't a request that was an order!"
Sasuke was distracted by the Howlers attacking he didn't noticed the hurt in Sakura's eyes. For the first time in her life, Sakura felt trapped. But after another violent jerk from the tree, Sakura snapped out of her reverie.
"I said get going, Sakura!"
No time to argue, Sakura carried Tazuna on her back and leaped onto tree after tree while trying to keep her balance. When the Howlers noticed the escape, two of them began to split up as well. Sasuke stopped them with his Bullseye, but this time he didn't fire as rampantly since he's trying to conserve his ammo. He looked at his supply: he only has 4 refuels left for this weapon. Sasuke remained on top of the tree and fired down below.
Sasuke's eyes turned towards the direction where Sakura and Tazuna escaped. A low and dark chuckle escaped the Uchiha's throat as he reloaded his gun.
"Looks like she left again…."
Neither Tazuna nor Sakura said a word as she carried the old man on her back and leaping from tree to tree. Tazuna didn't dare break her train of thought, because he could see the intense turmoil in her eyes. Though Sakura continued to face forward, her eyes kept looking back and forth. And he was right: Sakura stopped and placed him down on a tree limb. Tazuna noticed how her grimacing face kept turning back and forth between him and back where they had came from, as if she looking back to see if Sasuke had caught up with them yet.
Sakura couldn't take it anymore. It's inevitable that she confront this matter. She was ordered by Sasuke to protect Tazuna and take him as far away as she could. And the rule Sakura was taught since day one of her training was to follow her superiors' orders and never disobey. Sasuke's order was no exception. But how far from Sasuke could she go? How far could she obey Sasuke's command?
Sakura looked back where she'd left Sasuke behind. Sasuke was clearly outnumbered. Calculating the math in her head, Sakura sickly concluded that his death was 98.64 percent certain. In the language of statistics, the event is certain to occur if not absolutely certain. Sakura could feel her heart running so fast her chest was hurting and so was the lump in her throat.
And that was the root of Sakura's problem. The image of Sasuke's bloody and shredded body was extremely unbearable beyond imagination for her; his blood and innards stained the grass, trees, and every living thing in the forest. Sakura quickly shook her head, attempting to regain a feeble amount of mental control that has threatened to break her deep down her core. The image of the way he was killed was even more unbearable for her, just listening his agonizing end. That is the last thing she wanted to happen in reality.
But how can she go back when that same person ordered her to stay away? Sakura didn't know what to do. There are too many crossroads. Too many life-threatening outcomes. Too many unknown factors that she could not calculate or deduce. The rules she was taught and bounded by are undermined by unexpected circumstances.
…And now Sakura was torn. For the second time in her existence, Sakura was so panicked, confused, and frustrated that she didn't know what to do…what to choose.
Should she go back and help Sasuke…or continue to run with Tazuna as she was ordered and complete the mission?
Should she choose the future of Japan's safety…or rescuing the life of a mere soldier? And most of all…
Should she pick Tazuna or Sasuke?
"Do I stand a chance against this obstacle and solve this problem on my own??"
Sakura checked her ammo. Her standard rifle has only 2 refuels left, her Sapper has more ammo but useless against high-level Chimeras especially Howlers, and her grenade supply is useless against fast moving Chimeras. Maybe she should re-analyze the situation and find some sort of balance over this tense situation. Two lives are now in her hands.
If she makes even one wrong move, one of the two men will certainly die; even worse, both of them.
Sakura's eyes turned back to Tazuna. Tazuna is Team Kakashi's client and its mission. If he dies, the entire mission will fail and Konoha and perhaps Japan could have serious implementations if Tazuna is killed. As Jiraiya had said, Tazuna is important to Konoha and Japan. And now that no one is here to protect Tazuna, Sakura must be responsible of protecting him. If she failed to complete her order, she failed her team, which in Sakura's mind was much more severe than failing her country.
Not only that, but Tazuna loved his family since he constantly talks about getting home to them as quickly as possible (besides his awareness that he's in serious danger at the moment). Though the old man was rough on the surface, he was soft at heart deep down. Sakura knew far too well what it's like to be away from a loved one for long periods of time and losing that loved one from a violent death. Protecting Tazuna was a personal goal for the female combat medic.
And besides, Sakura concluded, Tazuna has no combat experience compared to Sasuke. Therefore she's better off here. Even though Sasuke's death is certain, there's still 1.36 percent of him surviving. It was against the reality of numbers, but sometimes the unreal could happen. Sometimes the numbers and statistical facts could be overridden by factors beyond understanding and Sakura knew that from personal experience.
Resolved, Sakura picked up Tazuna and once again started running. Tazuna inwardly sighed in relief that Sakura chose him in the end. Now they could return to Konoha in one piece.
"Don't worry. The other group will catch up to the guy and help him out. Everything will be alright."
But Sakura's reaction was not what Tazuna was expecting. Tazuna's hopes of escaping this hellhole were cut short when Sakura suddenly stopped once again and almost dropped him onto the ground below. Her body began to shook, wracked with tragic realization, fear, and panic. Sakura just stood on the tree, numb.
Sakura spoke in a solemn whisper, "N-no…there's no way the others will catch up to him. They're too far away to reach him in time. It will be too late-"
Then a piercing scream filling the air; Sakura wondered where or from whom it was coming from. She was so confused and frustrated that nothing seemed to register to her. Sakura only realized, seconds later, that the cry came from her after she felt this indescribable pain shooting through her head like a needle drilled into her brain. As if played in slow motion, Sakura collapsed and then closed herself up like a ball. She clutched her head in pain and gritted her teeth to stop herself from screaming.
Images and voices began to reel passed her mind like a speeding train. Too much, that it was stinging her like a crown of long sharp thorns were placed on her head, pricking her deep into the flesh.
Then there was nothing but darkness.
Back to Kakashi and his group, the gunfight was still raging on. While still exchanging shots, Kakashi mentally measured the situation his group is in. For the past 55 minutes since his team had split up, their position hadn't changed much; only 30 yards away from their initial position. They simply have too many Chimeras to deal with to escape these monsters' clutches. After disposing a cavalry of Slipskulls, a new batch of them showed up along with a large group of Leapers.
"Kakashi-sensei I thought we're supposed to just distract these monsters and then going to catch up on Sasuke's group."
"Uzumaki is right, Captain. We barely moved an inch compared to Uchiha's group since we've split up an hour ago. What's going on?"
Kakashi then mentally assessed Sasuke's group and their situation. Sasuke's group is also under heavy attack – even worse, by a large pack of Howlers. Based only on Group One's last pinpointed location, it would take Kakashi's group at least 2 hours to get there and perhaps even longer for them to catch up to them if Sasuke's group had left.
In short summary, things were not looking good on both fronts.
"Don't we have a strategy that could give us some time to make a run for it? Sasuke and Sakura-chan might need our help!"
"Captain, if we continue with this any longer, we'll soon run out of ammo and get ourselves killed. We can't stay here any longer or else the other group will be vulnerable without our aid. Where's the teamwork that we've been taught to follow first?"
It was Sai's last sentence that struck the masked soldier with an electrifying realization. For over 11 years as an experienced soldier, Kakashi realized that he's been outsmarted for the first time; he had miscalculated the situation and made a grave mistake. And for the second time in his life, Kakashi felt this sickening sensation in his gut. He finally figured out what's going on and worry began to really sink in.
"I should've never had my team split up! Even so, I shouldn't have put Sa-"
"Kakashi-sensei we need a new plan and fast! More Slipskulls are coming!!"
Kakashi frowned and knew his group had to use desperate measures in order to get out of this alive and complete the mission by catching up with Sasuke's group. The math was against them but Kakashi and his team had to push their luck. There's no other choice…unless if Kakashi and the others wanted a disastrous outcome for their mission and their other comrades.
The group went to the edge of a slope nearby where a tree and its much-visible roots dangled precariously downward. Once the group got underneath the tree, Kakashi took out nine small gas-containing cylinders containing and divided them up equally to each member of the group. Naruto looked at the cans rather dumbly as he scratched his head. He pointed to the label on one of the cans and asked his comrades,
"Guys, what does 'chlorine' and '100 parts per million' mean?"
"You'll know after I explain the plan, Naruto. When I give the signal, all of us will throw these cans of chlorine at all the Chimeras you can throw at. These cans contain enough gas to fog up the area. With such high concentrated amount of 900 parts per million of chlorine, it could also suffocate and blind the Chimeras while we make a run for."
"Kakashi-sensei, if chlorine is poisonous for Chimeras, wouldn't that gas be dangerous for us too once we breath some of it?"
"All of us will hold our breath and cover our faces with a damp cloth while my eye will guide us out through the thick yellow-green fog. I have my mask on so I should be ok without a wet cloth. We still might inhale a bit of gas but this is, by far, the best solution I can conjure up that could get us out of here fast. We must retreat from here and reach Sasuke's group before it's too late."
"But Captain, if I remembered correctly, this gas is reactive and denser than air. Even with such high concentration, the enemy might not be affected when it stays on the ground while the enemy is up in the trees."
"Grenades will do the trick. The explosions will propel the gas and disperse it more. It's a dangerous gamble, since we'll be a bit close to the blasts. But we have no other options. Are you two ready?"
Sai and Naruto nodded, getting their cylinders ready. Kakashi's red eye scanned the area outside to see if the enemy was within range; Slipskulls had continuously and randomly firing at the team's hiding spot. Once Kakashi's eye picked up all of them….
"NOW!!"
The action begins. The three men all threw all 9 cans of chlorine into the forest. Right when the gas was released, Kakashi's team launched half of their supply of grenades. After ducking from the explosion, Sai and Naruto shut their eyes shut and covered their nose and mouth with a cloth soaked with water while Kakashi closed his human eye. Once the heavy yellow-green gas began to elevate, Naruto and Sai grabbed onto Kakashi, their only source of sight and guide to navigate out of the poisonous fog.
Kakashi ran as fast as he could as he led his "train," avoiding convulsing corpses that were falling off of the trees. Kakashi's red eye continued to look to see if minute traces of chlorine were still in their path, for movement tend to worsen the spread of the dense gas. Once the coast is clear, Kakashi released the hand chain, signaling Sai and Naruto to finally open their eyes and their damp cloth.
After all of them drank a huge gulp of water, Kakashi's team headed forward. Trying the best they can to reach Sasuke's team as fast as they could.
"Kakashi-sensei, where did you get those gas cylinders? We've never used them before in our previous missions."
"We're not allowed to use weapons like those without a medic standing by, since chemistry and medicine is involved. Sakura gave them to me when we were on our way to Kiri. I should've given some of them to Sasuke and told you guys sooner about my transaction. As a team, I should've told you everything and for that I'm sorry."
"But," Sai coughed, "why did Haruno give you all those cans? Shouldn't she need those as well, or rather she would've been better off using them than us? The chlorine could've come in handy for her and Uchiha if they run into trouble. They need to protect the old man; it's our mission."
"No, Sai. Things are much complicated than that. Our ultimate dilemma is that Sakura's mission is not to protect Tazuna."
"What?!"
"Sakura and I did a one-on-one briefing the night we spent here in the woods. Her mission assigned by Root is not to protect Tazuna since we're the ones who're doing that job. Her mission is to assist us, whether it would be in medical or in combat scenarios. Sakura said that those cans won't be necessary for her mission and so she gave all the cans to me but warned me not to use it unless she's present."
"I still don't see the reason why you're so panicked about this, Kakashi-sensei."
"The enemy had been spying on us the whole damn time and had planned this attack from the very beginning! It's no surprise now why they had such an upper hand in that battle. They knew how much ammo and what kind we have. They were expecting us to split up! And worst of all, I shouldn't have sent Sakura with Sasuke."
Kakashi's eyes darkened in apprehension and ran faster. Naruto and Sai had never seen their teacher in such a mood before; their captain was usually calm and collected. They weren't sure what Kakashi was getting but they knew something catastrophic was brewing…and they were sure it wasn't the fact that the enemy had manipulated them. But what could be worse than THAT?
Naruto made the move, "Why's it wrong to send Sakura-chan with Sasuke?"
"Don't you understand?! Sakura's mission was not to protect Tazuna yet I put her in a situation where she would eventually have to, now that they're outnumbered and might split up again! Combat medics are conditioned to follow through their mission and yet I (and potentially Sasuke) undermined it with an order that contradicts her mission! She's not mentally prepared to follow an order over her mission! This is catastrophic!!"
Both young men were silent, absorbing the information in their head. If everything was as Kakashi had said, then that means….
"Sensei, are you saying either Sasuke or Tazuna will die because of this?! Indefinitely?!"
"Or in the worst scenario," Kakashi gravely cut in, "both-"
Naruto heard a body falling onto the earth. Then the blonde soldier turned around when he heard raspy gasps of air on the grass.
"SAI!!"
It was an autumn night and the darkness was all she saw. There was no moon, and no stars, only the dark silhouettes and shadows of the naked tree branches that looked like sinister claws and hands, ready to ensnare and devour the terrified pink-haired girl. The only thing the 18-year-old Sakura could hear was the howling wind and a loud nightmarish scream rang out.
Sakura screamed after landed on her behind after her father violently shoved her 8 feet backwards. And he acted just in time before a Menial popped up tacked Sakura's father. In a split second, a walk back home at night turned into an unrelenting horror as Sakura watched her injured father wrestle with this unearthly creature. This was the first time Sakura encountered a Chimera…or anything from outside the dome. It was shattering to know that such evil exists so close to her.
The unsightly creature forever haunted the girl's memory: its menacingly large pupil-less yellow eyes, its disgusting nose-less and hairless face, its leathery yellow-green skin, its yellowy decaying teeth, its too-visible dark blue veins, and a mechanical apparatus strapped to its withered body gave her this foreign fear the girl had never felt before in her life. The monster terrified her. This creature terrified her so much her knees melted, her face twisted with horror, her body convulsing from a foreign chill and yet she was sweating like she was stand near lava.
The Chimera saw the young girl as the weakest victim and staggered to her like a zombie with an undeniable bloodlust.
The cherry blossom remained rooted to the ground, frozen with fear.
Sakura was brought to her senses when she saw her father now fighting the Menial and defending his only daughter. But due to his injury in a mission few days ago and unarmed, her father had a hard time fending the malevolent creature.
"You're to do as I say, Sakura: get as far away from here as possible and call the police!"
Sakura's trembling has lessened but was still shaking and tears spilled out from the corner of her eyelids.
"W-what? No, dad! I'm not leaving you hear alone like this!"
"Go Sakura! There's no time to argue!"
Sakura shakily got up and clumsily escaped from the grizzly scene, fearfully obeying her father's command. At the moment, the girl naively believed that her father was capable of taking care of himself…and that everything was going to be alright.
But everything wasn't what it seems. Tragedy struck in a matter of minutes. Sakura frantically returned with a bunch of armed police officers to kill the Chimera when they discovered the man lying on a red circle of his own blood.
"PAPA!!"
Bursting into tears, Sakura ran to her father's side. She can't let him die; she already let her own mother down and Sakura cannot repeat that mistake.
"No! No! Don't give up this life yet, papa! Don't die! I can still save you!"
Sakura took out her scalpel and cut off parts of her white uniform and used them as makeshift bandages while the police, after easily shooting down the Menial called the ambulance. Her father had heavy bite marks on several vital areas on his body and blood continued to flow. The more blood came out of his body, the more tears the girl shed as she feebly attempted to heal him. And the more salty drops that stung the wounds, the more the man cried out in agony. It was a never-ending cycle of pain, misery, and tragedy…and blood.
His breathing was becoming thinner and thinner as his life drew closer to its end. The closer Ikichi reached his end, the more hysterical the pink-haired teenager became as tears soaked her entire face and disheveled clothes. And for the first time after many bitter years, Sakura said the word she'd never said before as her last remaining parent was quickly dying in her arms.
"DADDY!!
Things were becoming more and more surreal. In a flicker of an instant, the bloody and chaotic scene stopped rolling its film and everything froze, everything was muted. Soon Sakura was flashed into a black void of loneliness. There was nothing in this black void except the woman's echoes, like entering another dimension. And she was all alone; there wasn't even a howling tree with claw-like branches.
Sakura was scared, lonely, bloody, and crying her heart out with no one to support her.
As Sakura cried into her knees, a bloody and mangled figure staggered towards her.
"Sakura, what happened to you back there?"
Sakura's teary eyes left her knees and looked up, only to receive the shock of her life.
Right before her eyes was the WALKING and bloody corpse of her recently-killed father Haruno Ikichi. Was this…thing even alive or dead, Sakura was unsure. But looking at him for even a second was enough to make Sakura sick all over her and wanted to throw up. The flesh on some parts of his body was either ripped off from the bone or simply missing. The cherry blossom could see pieces of muscle tissues dangling from different parts of her father's limbs and even the femur bone. The most gruesome part was the cavity on his chest allowing the once innocent girl to see her father's beating heart and pumping lungs right before her eyes.
Sakura didn't know which was worse, seeing a monster walking towards you or a corpse of your own father walking towards you. Whichever it would be, Sakura was once again glued to the floor, her mind and body not working together in harmony. Her breath hitched when the corpse of her father took another step closer to her. And worse, the military man's very stern look on his face and his frown were pointed directly at her.
"What were you thinking, Sakura? Look what happened to me!"
Choked with her sobs, Sakura answered, "I tried my best to save you, father!"
"Then why didn't you pass me that scalpel of yours before you left? I could've fought that Menial much easier if I had that."
The girl gasped and looked at her soaked hands, or rather, at the bloody scalpel she was using earlier to operate him. Not to be cruel with the pun, but Ikichi was dead right. Sakura's face paled considerably. The scalpel could cut through most kinds of organic tissue. In face value the scalpel is used for surgery – to save lives, but if one looked the other way around this object could be used as a tool for killing. In that previous and tragic situation, Sakura
"Being injured from a previous battle and now facing an enemy unarmed is a fatal combination. Just look at me, Sakura. Look at what you've done."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'M SORRY! I didn't mean to let you die!! I swear I didn't mean it!!"
Sakura shook her head, trying to shake away the tears and the reverberating words that were like knives to her heart. Since the former did not work, she tightly shielded her head and ears with her hands from the onslaught of guilt coming at her.
"You didn't mean it?! So you think that was just a trial?! Life isn't a game! There's no 'restart' button! You let me die, Sakura. What do you have to say for yourself? I expected more from you. Didn't you swear an oath long ago to never let history repeat itself after what happened to your mother? Then how do you explain this?! I'll tell you what happened: you were afraid! You were choked by fear that all the logic that you have just jumped out of the window!"
More blood gushed out from different parts of his limbs and innards began to fall out of the cavity. But surreally, he was still standing and looked angrily at his daughter who was slowly losing her mind in this emotional and psychological torture. Sakura curled up into a ball, screaming and crying.
"No, no, no! This can't be happening! YOU'RE NOT REAL! I'm not seeing things!! You're safe in the hospital, recovering. Everything is alright, everything is alright, everything is alright, EVERYTHING IS ALRIGHT!! You didn't die! I didn't fail you! I DIDN'T-!"
"Sakura"
Sakura stopped her hysterical rant when she heard a new-yet-familiar voice. The masculine voice was very deep and had a hint of cold fury at the said person. Sakura slowly turned her eyes to the caller, fearing the worse.
And she did see the worse of it all.
Right before her was Sasuke, in an even worse condition than Ikichi. Sasuke's right arm was gone, bitten and ripped out of his body by a savage animal built with strength and cruel jaws. A huge chunk of flesh was missing on his abdomen, leaving his entrails spilling out. There was a gaping bloody hole where his eye used to be. Yet even with one eye, Sasuke managed his most dangerous death glare at the girl and grabbed her by the collar with his only other arm.
"Where the in the Hell were you?" he growled.
In the dark abyss the cherry blossom released the most bloodcurdling scream she'd ever ignited. As Sakura screamed and cried out everything she had, Sakura held out the scalpel, still in her hand this whole time, and was ready to attack whatever and anything that was coming for her-
"-Hey Miss, are you alright?! Wake up!"
Sakura screamed and her eyes quickly reopened when she felt a strong grip on her collar. After releasing the bloodcurdling scream she gasped for air like she had been underwater for too long. As Sakura quickly sat up, she felt very lightheaded and clutched her head tightly to squeeze the pain out. Sakura continued to give heavy and short breaths, trying to control this fear deep down inside her.
Incompetence. Uselessness. Those were the things Sakura feared of becoming once again. Those were something she once was.
"No…I'm not that person anymore. I'm not incompetent, I'm not useless, and I'm not weak. I won't let anyone die. I'm not weak…I'm not…."
Sakura groggily took out and swallowed a pill in one of her medical vest pockets. Once Sakura re-coordinated her mind with her surroundings did she realized what had transpired. Frantic she suddenly stood and turned to see a worried Tazuna. Sakura forgot where she was at the moment and that Tazuna was by her side this whole while she had this relapse. Then something dawned on her and panicked.
"Tazuna-sama how long was I out for? Are you hurt? Have any of our comrades arrived?"
"I'm fine! You were only out for about 10 minutes or so. Thank goodness. If you were out another minute or two, we would've been goners!"
Sakura's eyes narrowed, "And the others, Tazuna-sama?"
Tazuna shook his head crestfallen and Sakura felt the hairs on the back of her neck stood straight up. Then Tazuna's face grew serious, "You woke up like you had a nightmare. But from what I've heard, you combat medics don't express thoughts or feelings while asleep or unconscious. You guys don't dream…so what happened to you? What did you dream about?"
Though he may be an engineer and a renowned scientist, he wasn't a part of the Root program and only knew how combat medics work through word of mouth. And from what he was told, combat medics were unable to display feelings subconsciously (with dreams) or consciously. But here he was, having witnessed this one displaying emotions of panic and fear.
"It's best that you do not know or ask of this again, Tazuna-sama," she replied stiffly.
Even though Sakura didn't look like she was going to spill anything out, Tazuna had a pretty good guess of what the woman dreamt after hearing incessant screams of self-destructive guilt. Meanwhile Sakura now found the ground more interesting than anything else. She could feel her throat was clogged up when she remembered snippets of that "nightmare" she had. Even snippets of it revived the fear and guilt deep within her.
As much as she wanted to deny those words, she knew her father in her subconscious mind said the hard and blatant truth. She choked on that fateful night and her father died because of it…and most of all she was weak, no doubt about that. Had she been more self-controlled, that day wouldn't be so tragic. Tazuna nervously and helplessly watched as the woman held her head in confusion, which was literally hurting her head again.
"But I'm not weak anymore. No, I'm much stronger than I was 5 years ago. Something like THAT will not happen again! I don't want it to happen again. It WON'T happen again. I won't have another person important to me, die. I have to save him! I made a promise – an oath – to him and I will carry it out."
But if she followed Sasuke's and Kakashi's order, they themselves will die.
And if she went and rescue Sasuke, what will happen to Tazuna? He will have no protectors and utterly defenseless once she abandons him. That would be dishonorable and considered insubordination. There's no room for compromise; Sakura had to abandon one over the other…but whom? And time is of an essence; every minute wasted decreased the chance of survival. This wasn't helping the situation at all, considering she had wasted at least 13 minutes doing absolutely nothing!!
"I can't let them die! I don't want him to die! I can't let history repeat itself! I can't let it happen! But what am I going to do?!"
Not only was this against her moral principles, but their orders were against her assigned mission given by Root. Having remembered the assignment word-by-word, Sakura was supposed to protect the members of her assigned team since they're the ones protecting Tazuna. So where does that leave her in a situation like this? It's an order against another order! It was like a tug-of-war and was pushing Sakura further to insanity and the breaking point; the rope was about to snap.
"Just pick one direction!! Do something! Anything!"
After turning back and forth between him and the direction behind them, Tazuna noticed Sakura's tensed shoulders finally loosened a bit and released her hands from her head. He could see the dullness in the woman's spring-green eyes instead of the brightness caused by emotions of fear and frustration. Sakura's pattern of behavior changed like a sun suddenly popped up in a middle of a heavy storm. But when he saw the now-calm expression on her face, Tazuna knew Sakura had finally reached a verdict between her moral principles and her duty.
Sakura made her ultimate decision.
Sakura had her back facing Tazuna…and got down on her knees.
"Get on," she whispered coldly.
Tazuna was surprised more by Sakura's actions rather than her omission of the "Tazuna-sama" in her dialogue. This woman was choosing him over her comrades that she'd been so self-pressured about saving? But then again, if he was in her shoes, he wouldn't know which to choose either. It would be unimaginably heartbreaking and cruel, abandoning your closest friend over the good of the whole. It was like amputating an arm to save the rest of the body. But in times of war, when humanity was at its worst, this had to be done.
Tazuna silently complied with her, not wanting shake the woman's resolve like last time. Besides, this would make his situation a lot safer. And so he once again draped his arm over the woman's shoulders and let her "carry" him, since he was taller than her and wasn't as agile as her when it comes to free-running from one tree to another.
Silently and somberly, they continued forward…and further away from the battle zone.
End of Chapter Five
AN: Mwahahahahaha!! I'm so evil! Make me evil-er by reviewing!
I worked on this battle chpt for more than two months. This is my first action fic so this is far from perfect. I hope this wasn't too bad. Another thing I suck at is science and chemistry, so I'm really iffy about the Chlorine thing. Any science people here?
Criticism is absolutely welcomed!
As for information about the different kinds of Chimeras, I'm not very good at these things. I don't play video games but had watched people play. Just play Resistance: Fall of Man and get yourself some idea of what I have in store.
Be sure to check out CrAzY-SiLLy-Me profile and her stories!
So what happens next? Stay tuned!! ;)
