AN: Sigh…wow, this chapter took a lot of time, both the write(as I recall) and to edit. I can't seem to decide on certain things. Anyway, here is the next chapter. I did my best with the fight, I didn't write out too much of it as not to torture you all. Hope you enjoy!
A clay spider came crawling out of the brush, heading toward the group. Everyone moved to get away from it. Naruto grabbed the back of Suki's shirt, pulling her away with him. She was the only one in the group who hadn't seen this type of clay creature before. When the spider exploded, she figured out why everyone had backed off.
"Well, that's interesting." She commented, looking at the destroyed area where the spider had been.
"Deidara" Kakashi said, looking for the troublesome blonde.
Naruto looked pissed off, he scanned the area with the others, trying to find the Akatsuki member.
"So, he was right about being caught." Suki said, looking at the body hanging in the tree. "I doubt they're just going to let us just walk away."
"Oh, I'd highly doubt that." A voice said from above. There, on a great clay bird, stood Deidara.
A showering of explosive clay creatures came raining down on them. "Crap." Suki heard Naruto say as they all dodged in different directions, avoiding the series of explosions that followed.
Suddenly, a group of ink creatures, courtesy of Sai, headed toward Deidara as a distraction.
Suki moved to stand with Sakura, ready to work with the pink haired konochi. The two of them hung back, letting the boys attack Deidara. Naruto let the other two work on moving the Akatsuki member into a closer range situation that would benefit him.
Suki, reached into her weapons pouch, pulled out a shuriken, and opened it. Using Kage Shuriken no Jutsu, she threw it at the enemy ninja. Sure, she could do something much more advanced but she needed to hang back and be the backup so she settled for this rather basic tactic. She just hoped the second shuriken would hit its target. Luck was on her side, between the boys as a distraction and the hidden shuriken; she managed to take off one of the great birds wings.
Deidara and the bird came crashing to the ground. Naruto went at him with his rasengan, hitting the Akatsuki member directly. Deidara simply melted into a pile of mush, having replaced himself with his special clay.
"Dam it!" Naruto said.
The group looked around, trying to find the elusive enemy but there was no sign of life other than themselves. Suki looked at her team members; it appeared that everyone was relatively untouched. Was this guy just playing around with them? She knew the Akatsuki were capable of much better than this.
As she examined Kakashi, she found something disturbing. Climbing up his back was one of the clay spiders. "Kakashi, there's a spider!" she cried out, running forward. There was no way she was letting anything happen to him. Kakashi immediately replaced himself just as the spider exploded. He appeared next to the concerned Suki. "Thanks." He said, never taking his eyes off the landscape. How had he not seen or felt the creature.
It was then that Suki felt something crawling on her leg. Looking down she realized that another spider was now on her. Where were the dam creatures coming from? With Kakashi next to her, she couldn't just replace herself, he'd get hurt. Reaching down at almost inhuman speed, she grabbed the offending creature and flung it away from her and Kakashi. Seeing what she was doing, Kakashi moved away from the explosion but Suki took the full brunt of it. Flying across the clearing Suki was flung against a tree. Slumping to the ground the jonin fell to her knees.
"Suki!" Sakura cried, running to her side. Naruto looked like he wanted to run to her side but was stopped by Kakashi. "Let Sakura take care of her, stay focused." He said. Nodding, Naruto turned back to the landscape. Sai, who had sent his ink mice out, pointed them toward where Deidara was hiding and they headed out to track the enemy down.
Sakura, knelt next to her friend, examining the woman for any serious injuries. "Suki, are you ok?" she asked. Suki's eyes lifted to meet Sakura's green ones. "I think so." She straightened herself out. When she tried to move her arm, she cringed, glancing down at her side. "I think I might have broken a rib." Sakura immediately brought her hand to Suki's side. "Yep, definitely broken" she said. Looking up at the surrounding clearing Suki tried to figure out where the boys had run off. Suddenly she was hit by a wave of dizziness and the whole clearing looked as though it was moving. Looking back at Sakura, she tried to speak but couldn't find the words. Suki watched her world become black before finally passing out.
Sakura caught her unconscious friend, laying her gently on the ground. When she took her hand away from the back of Suki's head, she became aware of something hot and wet on her hands. Looking down she saw that her fingers were covered in blood. Lifting Suki's head, she found an ugly looking gash. Quickly bringing her hand to the wound Sakura began healing her, hoping that she hadn't lost too much blood.
"I can't believe he got away." Naruto cried, clearly upset
"At least everyone's ok and he certainly won't be coming after us again right away." Kakashi mmente as they ran back to where they had left their two female comrades.
They found Sakura with an unconscious Suki. "Is she ok?" Naruto asked, kneeling down next to her. "Yes, she'll be fine. She took a nasty hit to her head when she hit the tree, though." Sakura said, looking at the older ninja with concern, wishing she could do more for her. Looking up at Kakashi she added "She also has several broken ribs and a sprained wrist." Kakashi simply nodded and looked around them.
"Well, we can't stay here. We'll have to move, and quickly." Everyone looked at the passed out konochi and wondered how they were going to do this. "Can we move her or wake her up?" He asked his former student.
"She's going to be out for a while. I'm not sure how she stayed conscious as long as she did." Sakura said. "We can move her, but it needs to be carefully." She added.
"What was she thinking?" Sakura muttered to herself as she tried to secure Suki's bandages to make travel as easy as possible.
"I believe Suki was attempting to protect Kakashi." Sai, who had been rather quiet on this mission, observed. "I wouldn't expect that kind of mistake from a konochi of her rank." He added.
Naruto looked up a Sai and glared. "So, you think she should have let him get hurt?" the blonde inquired.
"No, not at all."Sai said, realizing he had said something to upset his teammate unintentionally. It appeared to him he would need to elaborate for his blonde haired teammate. "I meant to imply that she should have trusted Kakashi to move away quickly enough. If she had she wouldn't be hurt right now and the team's safety wouldn't be in question."
"Sai is right Naruto, but now's not the time to be talking about that." Sakura remarked as she looked up from finishing her preparation work. "Suki is ready to be moved." The young woman added, looking up at Kakashi.
Kakashi listened to his former students conversation. Not feeling the need to become involved he simply let them talk it out. Sai had a point, what Suki had done was not what a ninja of her rank should have done. At the same time, it was good to know she was looking out for everyone. Still, she didn't seem the type who would take that kind of risk. The best path for all was to trust her fellow Jonin to move in time. Why would she want to protect him so strongly?
The silver-haired Jonin put these thoughts to the back of his mind as Sakura gave him the ok to move the unconscious woman. "Let's go, there's nothing left for us to do here. I'm certain the Akatsuki won't be back in the area." He commanded, taking in his surroundings one last time. Bending down he picked up the unmoving woman and headed back in the direction from which they had come.
Suki could see only blackness but the voices around her told her she was not alone. Slowly she began to awaken, becoming acutely aware of her pounding head. Oh, Kami, what in the world happened? Her eyes weren't even open and yet she somehow felt dizzy. It was dark outside, that she could tell because of how little light was trying to make its way through her eyelids.
She took a deep breath in order to help her mind bring some sense to the situation. This, Suki quickly learned, was a mistake. The moment her chest expanded, she was reminded of her broken ribs. Cringing she made note not to do that again. Apparently, the change of facial expression had gotten the attention of those around her because the voices came closer.
"Suki-san!" she heard the familiar voice of Naruto practically shout. With painful slowness Suki lifted her eyelids, taking in a dimly lit room. Nothing else registered with the Jonin at the moment; her vision hadn't yet cleared.
"Naruto, please don't shout." She muttered "I'm not deaf."
A few blinks later, the room came into focus. Naruto and Sakura were both kneeling over her. Sakura was apparently checking her injuries. "Suki-san, how do you feel?" she inquired, clearly in medical mode at the moment.
"I've been better." Suki admitted but gave the pink-haired young woman a smile. "I'll be fine though."
Sakura continued to look the older woman over. "Do you think you can sit up?" Sakura asked. Suki nodded her head and gradually propped herself up with her arms. She only hesitated for a moment as she pushed herself up because her side gave a painful twinge.
Seeing Kakashi standing behind the two younger nin Suki quickly adverted her eyes. Already the events that put her in this condition had come back to her. It was only now that she second-guessed her choices. At the time she had made them, the answers seemed so clear.
Suki's eyes roamed the room as they determinedly tried to stay off of silver-haired man in front of her. This wasn't any place she recognized. It looked like a room one might find at an inn. Thinking about it, she realized it probably was just that.
Kakashi did not miss Suki's avoidance of his person. Was she concerned about what had happened? Surely, she wasn't already thinking of such things after just waking up. There would be time later to discuss such things; he had already decided that. Although, if she was already showing signs of understanding her mistake, then perhaps no discussion was needed. Suki was a plenty capable ninja and would surely come to her own decision on how to interpret her actions.
"How long was I out?" Suki questioned. Wondering if she had lost them much time.
"Only a few hours. I'm surprised you're already awake with the hit you took to your head." Kakashi answered, hopping she would at least look at him. For some reason, it bothered him that she wouldn't. At any rate, it would be bad if there were issues between the two of them as he got the feeling he would be working with the woman in the future.
"We decided to stop here for the evening so we could get some rest." He added.
Sakura walked away for a moment and came back with a small tray of food and a glass of water. "You need to eat Suki-san. It will help keep your energy up." As Sakura brought the food closer to her, the smell struck Suki. Suddenly her stomach flipped and Suki was hit with a want to gag. Apparently, she was still feeling the effects of hitting her head.
Seeing that it was only a light, broth like, soup she decided to give it a try. As she sipped at the soup Suki decided Sakura needed to know. "I was feeling a bit dizzy earlier and my stomach is acting up. I probably have a concussion." She informed.
"I'm not surprised. With that gash on your head I'm guessing your head took a hard hit. Hope you weren't planning on a good night's sleep." Sakura remarked. At least the food seemed to be settling ok.
"Well, I may not be sleeping well tonight but that doesn't mean you all should be losing any." Suki said. "Why don't you all get some rest?"
"Someone needs to check on you every few hours, just to be sure your concussion isn't worse than we think." Sakura replied, giving Suki a stern look. "It's bad enough you passed out earlier, but you really could have gotten yourself hurt."
Suki smiled at Sakura before bowing her head slightly "I know; I've seen concussions before. I'm sure I'll be fine though."
"No buts Suki, please, just let me take care of you." Sakura reprimanded, making everyone smile. The pink-haired young woman was a persistent caregiver.
"Sakura, you've already tired yourself healing Suki. Why don't you let me check up on her tonight?" Kakashi requested, knowing Sakura deserved the rest and wanting a chance to speak with his fellow Jonin.
Sakura knew better than to argue with the tone Kakashi had used. It was more like an order than a request but of course, he would never be rude about it. Apparently, he had a good reason for the request and who was she to argue when she was exhausted.
"Alright, just wake her every few hours. If she won't wake, is disoriented or can't remember what happened please come wake me up." Sakura said before grabbing Naruto by the collar and leaving for the evening.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto whined as he waved goodnight to his former sensei and Suki.
Suki laughed after the two were gone. "You've taught them well." She commented, "They make good teammates."
"Do they?" Kakashi asked of in an offhanded way.
Suki just rolled her eyes. "So, what exactly happened after I blacked out?" the woman questioned. This might be dangerous territory to cover, with her having gotten herself hurt but she needed to know.
"Naruto, Sai and I all went after him. It didn't take long for him to lose us. I'm guessing they weren't really after anything with our group." Kakashi said
"But, with Naruto with us, shouldn't they have put up a better fight?" Suki asked, "Isn't he what they are after?"
Kakashi wondered how Suki knew so much about Naruto but said nothing. Perhaps she had simply been told certain things by the other Jonin when they found out she was working with the boy. "Yes, I suppose they would usually put up a better fight but we can never tell with the Akatsuki. It's been a while since they've dealt with Naruto so they might have been assessing what changes may have occurred."
And a great deal had changed. Kakashi had cautioned Naruto about using his newly developed skills unless necessary. It would be best to save the surprise for the opportune moment. Amazingly, the boy had managed not to let his emotions override the desire to use his new skills to the best of his advantage. Sighing the Jonin settled himself against the wall, facing Suki. She had laid down and closed her eyes but was clearly not asleep.
"He's gotten to you too…Naruto?" Kakashi asked, "The boy has this way of drawing people in, making them care."
A soft chuckle came from the resting figure in front of him. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. Naruto is something else, that's for sure." 'You've no clue just what the boy means to me.' Suki thought but then thought better of it. 'Nah, you probably feel the same way…being so close to him for so long.' Slowly the world faded and she fell into her dream world.
Kakashi listened as Suki's breathing became even and watched her body relax. Clearly, sleep had captured the konochi. Unfortunately, sleep did not find the Sliver-haired Jonin with such ease. Kakashi let his mind wander over whatever path it decided to choose. Movement from Suki brought him back to reality.
Her body was tense and her face contorted into an expression of concern. "No…don't…Sauske." She muttered. There it was again…Sauske's name coming up in her sleep. Kakashi frowned, as much as he liked the woman's personality, there was something wrong. He had a feeling there were things she was keeping from everyone. Pondering this, he allowed himself to relax again. With her in the condition she was in and being so far from the village now was not the time to question her.
"What was the meaning of that Uchiha?"Deidara questioned his fellow Akatsuki member. "Why in the world did I need to back off?"
Somewhere far away Itachi gave an angry scowl. "Does it matter why? I felt there was good reason; do you not trust me to have the group's best interest in mind?"
"Ha, no one here really trusts each other." Deidara replied, "If you have a reason please do share. I'm curious." Getting no response, he pressed, "Was it the girl? You didn't get involved until I hurt her. It's not like you to mettle in the business of others or even pay attention to what others are doing miles away from you."
"It doesn't matter, stop asking or you'll regret it." Was the only response the blonde-haired Akatsuki member received.
Well… good, bad, getting too confusing? Please let me know what you think. I apologize for any grammatical errors. I did my best to check it over but I did finish this late last night. Review Please!