Greetings!
I apologize for the long delay, but work had me hostage for a couple of months. The crisis isn't entirely over yet, but I finally had some breathing room to get this chapter finished and into some semblance of order.
Reviews: I usually reply to all signed reviews, but due to a time crunch this time around, I was unable to for this chapter. Please know that I read and appreciate all of the ones I've received.
Warnings: slight violence, some strong words, but nothing major.
Posted 7/28/07
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Chapter 9: Last One Standing
Sakura paced the length of the hospital room. She was exhausted, but when she'd tried to rest worry for Naruto and anger at what was being done to Sasuke kept her mind from relaxing. When Shikamaru and Lee had been with her, they'd kept her distracted with their conversation, even if at times she'd wanted to smack them for some of their wilder theories about Orochimaru, and by extension Sasuke's, involvement in what happened to Naruto. Now that she was alone, her mind insisted on traveling down paths Sakura knew were best left alone.
She stopped next to Naruto's bed and performed another diagnostic. The fever he'd been running had gone down a little bit more and his chakra was returning to normal. He was still pale, but that, too, would diminish once his charka was stabilized. She could feel Naruto's chakra become tinged with the fox's chakra once again, and gave a small sigh of relief that Naruto was healing.
Sakura traced the whisker marks on Naruto's right cheek and thought back to when she'd found out Naruto's secret. She'd always known that Naruto was different, special, but nothing could have prepared her for the truth of why that was. Naruto, who was always cheerful and full of confidence, had been scared when he'd shown up on her doorstep that day. He'd come unannounced, after a few months of being away from the village on a mission with Shikamaru and Kakashi, and she'd immediately reacted to his fear with fear of her own. She'd pulled him inside and peppered him with questions, and had become even more afraid when he wouldn't say anything and wouldn't look at her. When he had finally spoken, he'd said what she'd least expected to hear.
"I have an idea about how to get Sasuke back," Naruto said.
Naruto's voice was so soft that Sakura was unsure if she'd heard him correctly. She hadn't seen him in months and they hadn't discussed Sasuke in longer than that.
"Why are you bringing this up now?" she asked.
Naruto's hand was resting on his stomach and he looked as if he were in pain. He was still not looking at her, which worried her even more. Sakura reached up to lift his head so she could look into his eyes, but he stepped away from her. He instead lifted his shirt and flared his chakra. Speechless, Sakura watched as a seal that took up the entire plane of his stomach became visible.
"What is that, Naruto? What happened?" she asked when she'd regained her voice.
Sakura got closer so that she could see the seal. The design was familiar, but she couldn't remember where she'd seen it before.
"Were you injured? When was this done?"
She had so many questions, and they all left her mouth before she could stop them. She reached out to touch the seal, but a second, more pronounced, change in chakra stopped her. She straightened and looked at Naruto, her eyes wide.
"That chakra, it feels like yours, but it's also different," she said.
Come to think of it, she remembered plenty of times when Naruto's chakra had changed as it had changed now. It usually only happened when he was badly hurt or they were in the middle of a battle. Concerned, and scared that he wouldn't look at her, Sakura put her hands on his cheeks and forced him to meet her eyes. What she saw in his normally cheery eyes was the fear she'd already felt, and resignation.
"What's wrong, Naruto. Please tell me. Why are you acting like this?"
"This is a very powerful seal," Naruto said. "Can you modify it to remove Orochimaru from Sasuke's body?"
"Forget Sasuke," she said, "Right now I want to know what is going on with you."
Naruto's eyes widened at her outburst and he shifted his focus so that he was looking somewhere over her left shoulder. Sakura moved her head so that she was, once again, meeting his eyes.
"Who gave you the seal, Naruto? What does it do?"
It seemed to Sakura like an eternity passed between them before Naruto finally spoke.
"The Yondaime Hokage gave me the seal on the day I was born," Naruto said. "I've had it all my life."
It didn't take her long to remember that Naruto had been born on the day the nine-tailed fox had attacked the village, and that the Yondaime Hokage had died sealing that fox. Her mouth dropped open as she realized just who it had been sealed into. Naruto must have seen her come to the realization, because he attempted to pull away. The hurt in his eyes was so keen that Sakura felt it too, and she wrapped her arms around him.
"Silly," she said, her eyes filling with tears, "do you think a little thing like that would make me hate you?"
His body was tense, but he relaxed when her arms wrapped around him. He wrapped his own arms around Sakura's waist, and she rested her head against his chest and cried.
"Why are you crying, Sakura?" Naruto asked when she pulled away.
"For you, because you were so scared I'd hate you, because now I realize why the villagers hate you. I'm sorry to have been a part of that, before I really knew you."
"No harm done," Naruto said, and the tension was gone and that goofy grin that Naruto was known for was back in full force. "I'm glad you finally know."
"Me too," Sakura said. "Don't ever keep anything like that from me again, okay? After all, I tell you everything."
Naruto's grin widened. "Yes, Sakura-chan."
That had been the start of the strong friendship they had now, and the beginning of their plan to get Sasuke away from Orochimaru. She'd learned a lot of things about her friend since then, but none as significant, and as important to Naruto, as what he'd shared with her that day.
She removed her hand from Naruto's cheek, and wished once again that he'd wake up. A pair of strong voices caught Sakura's attention, and she stepped outside the room to see what it was.
"I'm sorry, Umino-san, but the Hokage gave me instructions to keep everyone out of that room."
Umino Iruka stood in front of the guard, glaring at the man. The guard, for his part, looked downright apologetic.
"Did the Hokage specify that I was to be kept away?" Iruka-sensei challenged. In full teacher mode, Iruka-sensei was a force to be reckoned with. Sakura could see that it was having an effect on the guard and thought she'd be better off saving both men from themselves.
"It's okay for him to come in," Sakura said.
Both men turned to her, startled at the sudden interruption. The guard immediately stood at attention, while Iruka-sensei smiled at her. Her former teacher breezed past the guard and into Naruto's room. He nodded to Sakura as he passed, and then immediately made his way to Naruto's bedside. He ran one hand through Naruto's hair and then frowned at the obvious signs of battle on Naruto's face.
"What happened?" Iruka-sensei asked.
"I thought you already knew," Sakura replied.
Iruka-sensei shook his head, but kept his attention on Naruto. "I heard rumors," he said, "but few people know what really happened. I only guessed that Naruto would have been brought here, since he was last seen with the Hokage. I'm glad I was right."
Sakura sat on the bed Sasuke had occupied two hours earlier and told him what happened. She spoke slowly at first, but gained speed the further she got into the story. When she was finished, Sakura felt dangerously close to tears, but managed to hold them off once again. Iruka-sensei left Naruto's side and put a hand on her shoulder. When Sakura looked up, the concern on his face almost made her lose her resolve not to break down.
"It's tough to be the only one left standing, Sakura," Iruka-sensei said, "but those two couldn't be in better hands. They're strong and they have you on their side; they'll be okay."
Iruka-sensei's confidence in her made her feel better, but it wasn't enough to stem the anger she felt at the entire situation. "How much longer will they have to be strong, Iruka-sensei? How many times can life screw with them and expect them to come out unscathed?"
Iruka-sensei didn't have an answer, but Sakura hadn't expected him to. He gave her shoulder one last squeeze and then sat on the bed beside her. "Do you mind if I stay here for a while?"
"Not at all," she said. "I'd love the company, and I'm sure that Naruto would love to see you when he wakes up."
They lapsed into silence, which Sakura used to go over the situation they were faced with. When her worry for her two best friends threatened to send her into a deep well of despair, Iruka-sensei's hand was there to ground her and bring her back to the present. He'd pat her on the shoulder or the hand and give her a reassuring smile, which was enough to bolster her for a little while longer. Sakura wasn't sure how long they sat like that, but a knock on the door broke the peacefulness they'd managed to achieve.
"Come in," Sakura said and tensed when she saw one of the ANBU that had come to get Sasuke open the door. Sasuke wasn't with him, and the offer she'd made Tsunade before the Hokage had left the hospital room earlier entered her mind:
If a medic is needed during the interrogation, I want to be the one that goes in to treat him.
"Your assistance is required, Haruno-san," the man said.
Sakura was frozen to the spot, clutching the white sheets underneath her hands. Her mouth went dry and she found it difficult to breathe.
"Sakura, what's wrong?" Iruka-sensei asked.
"It's Sasuke," she finally said. "There's something wrong." Sakura turned to Iruka-sensei and hoped that her face didn't show her panic. "Could you please stay with Naruto until I get back?" she asked.
"Of course," he said.
Sakura nodded her thanks and left the room. The ANBU followed her at a discrete distance. He didn't have to tell her where to go, because she was familiar with where the interrogation force conducted its business. It took all of her willpower to keep herself from sprinting out of the hospital and to the basement level of the Hokage tower where they were interrogating Sasuke. She had to be professional and would not let the man following her know just how rattled she was. Weaknesses had to be protected from anyone but the most trusted of friends. She'd learned that the hard way.
When they reached the room, Sakura waited for her escort to open the door for her. She steeled herself and cleared her face of any emotion. She forced her heartbeat to slow and her hands to stop shaking. When she walked inside, no one in there was going to know how worried and frightened for Sasuke she was.
"Enter," the escort said.
Sakura took a deep breath and entered the darkened room. The only source of light was a lantern set on a high shelf, but it was enough for her to see by. Morino Ibiki stood off to one side, his arms crossed over his chest and an exasperated expression on his face. The other ANBU that had gone to get Sasuke stood at attention on the opposite side. In the middle of the room was Sasuke. His arms, legs, and chest were secured to a chair with leather straps. His head was tilted forward so that his chin rested on his chest, which gave her a view of the back of his head. Someone had pulled on his ponytail several times and most of the hair had come loose from the tie. When she got closer to Sasuke she smelled bile. She tilted Sasuke's head up so that she could see his face, and gasped at the same time that Sasuke jerked away from her hand.
"Why is he blindfolded?" Sakura asked Ibiki.
Ibiki shrugged. "He possesses the Sharingan. I didn't want to take any chances that he'd use it on me."
"He's not your enemy!" Sakura said. "He wouldn't have used it against you."
"As far as I'm concerned, he is my enemy," was the stoic reply from the scarred man.
Sakura turned back to Sasuke and it wasn't hard to see why she'd been brought in. Sasuke had reacted negatively to whatever drugs they'd given him and had become ill. The front of his shirt was covered in bile, as were the loose strands of hair that had fallen over his shoulder. Sakura let Sasuke's head drop once again to his chest.
"What did you give him and how much?" Sakura asked.
Ibiki motioned for the other ANBU to answer, and the man immediately rattled off a list of drugs they'd used to make the concoction they'd given Sasuke: drugs to make Sasuke more pliable and more easily influenced, drugs to paralyze him and make him less of a threat, drugs to make him more talkative. There wasn't anything atypical about the mixture, unless Sasuke was allergic to something she didn't know about.
"How much did you give him?" she asked again when the man neglected to answer the second question she'd asked. The man held up three fingers. Sakura frowned.
"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked, her anger rising at her inability to get straight answers out of these people. "You brought me in here to treat him, so why are you not telling me what I need to know?"
"Three vials," Ibiki said.
Sakura turned to him, her jaw dropping open in shock. "How many times have you administered that dosage?" Sakura asked, dreading the answer.
"Twice," Ibiki answered. "He couldn't keep it down long enough to conduct the interrogation."
"That's four times the normal dosage. Five times if you take into account that Sasuke is only a teenager," Sakura said. "You are aware of the dosage restrictions, Morino-san. Are you deliberately trying to cause an overdose?"
The elder ninja stiffened and before Sakura knew it, he was standing in front of her, glaring down at her.
"You should be careful with your accusations, young lady," he said, his chakra leaving goose bumps on Sakura's skin. "He was being unusually resistant to questioning, so we had to resort to unusual methods to get the information we were ordered to get. It worked beautifully, until he became sick. What I need you to do is administer something so that he doesn't react to the drugs as violently as he did."
Sakura shook her head. "You can administer the normal dose and he won't be sick anymore."
"The normal dose doesn't work, I've already told you that, Sakura," Ibiki said. "You need to make it so that he can handle the higher dose."
Sakura clenched her jaw. She couldn't refuse the order, not without someone else backing her up, and she had a feeling that backup would be hard to come by in this situation. She turned to the ANBU that had brought her.
"There are hospital robes stored in those lockers down the hall," she said, "and there should also be some spare shirts. Go get one and a glass of water."
The ANBU looked at Sakura and then turned a questioning look to Ibiki.
"What do you need that for?" Ibiki asked.
"I'm not going to leave him in that soiled shirt," Sakura said through clenched teeth. "You might not believe in a person's dignity, but I do. I need the water for the anti-nausea medication you want me to give him."
While Ibiki was talking to the ANBU, Sakura made her way back to Sasuke. She lifted his head and held his flushed face between both of her hands. She leaned in until her mouth was next to his right ear.
"Sasuke, its Sakura."
There was no initial response, until he tried to pull away from her. The movement was weak, but the meaning was clear. Then again, he was drugged. He could still be trapped in whatever state of mind the interrogation had put him in.
"Sasuke, please," Sakura whispered urgently, "I need to know that you understand before I do anything. Hear me, Sasuke. It's Sakura, not the interrogators."
Another moment passed, and then Sasuke relaxed into her hands. Sakura released the breath she'd been holding.
"I need you to trust me, okay?"
It took a little bit, but Sasuke finally nodded.
She rested his chin against his chest again and performed a diagnostic. He was quickly losing his chakra and he was running a high fever. She undid the strap on his right wrist and gasped when Ibiki's hand wrapped around her upper arm.
"What do you think you're doing?" he growled.
"You've drugged him so much that he can't keep his head up; do you honestly think he'll be a threat while I change his shirt?"
"We can change it," Ibiki said.
"No," Sakura said. "I'll do it."
Ibiki relented and resumed his position by the door. By the time the ANBU returned with the things Sakura had asked for, she'd undone the leather straps that held Sasuke's upper body to the chair and had angled him so that he was leaning on his side. Sasuke had wrapped a hand around the arm rest to keep himself in place, but his grip was weak. Sakura created a knife out of chakra and slit the shirt Sasuke was wearing down the middle in both front and back. She slowly worked it off him and then balled it up and threw it on the ground. Sakura leaned him against her while she unfolded the green shirt the ANBU had brought. Sasuke's skin was very hot to the touch, which added to her worries. After a few more minutes, Sakura had the clean shirt on him and was redoing the straps. She didn't want to do it, but leaving him unbound was out of the question. She could at least leave them looser than they'd been.
She got the glass of water from the ANBU, took two packets of medicine from her pouch and tore them open. She poured the powder of both packages into the glass and used a little chakra to mix it. She turned back to Sasuke, who'd managed to keep his head up.
"I'm going to give you something for the nausea, Sasuke," Sakura said as she placed the tip of the glass against his bottom lip. He recoiled from the glass. She had to hold the back of his head to keep him steady. "It's okay; it'll make you feel better."
Please drink it, Sasuke; it's the only thing I can do for you.
As if heeding her silent command, Sasuke tilted his head back a little and let the fluid spill into his mouth. He coughed when he first attempted to swallow, but eventually managed to drink the entire glass. Sakura squeezed the back of his neck slightly in reassurance before letting him go. She then glared at Ibiki.
"I would suggest that you limit the use of the drugs," Sakura said, her voice as hard and sharp as a kunai. "I'm sure you'd like to prevent an overdose, Morino-san."
"How I conduct my interrogation is none of your business," Ibiki said. "You've done what you came here to do, now kindly leave."
Sakura tilted her head in a slight nod and, without looking back at Sasuke, left the room. She walked quickly down the hall and only then realized that she was still holding the glass in her hand. She looked at it in disgust and then threw it against the nearest wall. The barrier she'd put on her emotions ever since Sasuke had told her about the attack on Naruto began to crumble, so she ran out of the tower. She didn't stop running until she was at the top of the Hokage monument, where Naruto liked to go when he needed to think. Unlike Naruto, who liked to sit on top of the Yondaime's head, Sakura dropped to her knees on top of the Godaime's head. She covered her face with her hands and sobbed.
She wasn't sure how long she sat there, but by the time her tears stopped falling, the sun was high in the sky. She glanced at the now soaked packages of drugs she'd held on to and sighed. She hadn't given Sasuke anti-nausea medication. Instead, she'd given him a sedative. There was a rule of interrogation that Konoha followed: when the subject passed out, the interrogation was over. Ibiki could perhaps break the rule with a captured enemy that had shown malicious intent towards the village, but Sasuke did not fit that category.
Sakura hoped it would be enough.
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The village's market was busy, as it was every Sunday. Naruto walked down the main street quickly, eager to get out of the direct line of sight of so many people. He wasn't afraid that they would physically hurt him, but their glares and whispered conversations about him did just as much damage. Naruto would normally avoid this street, but it was the fastest way to get to where he was going.
As that thought left his mind, Naruto stopped. Where was he going? He frowned as he realized that he didn't even know where he'd come from. He was so sure that he had to get to the Hokage tower, but now he realized that he didn't know why he was so set on getting there.
His thoughts were interrupted as someone plowed into him. The impact knocked him to the ground and Naruto landed painfully on his side. Something had hit his legs, and upon closer investigation Naruto found a boy of about 6 draped over his legs. The little boy was looking at him, fear clear on his face as tears pooled in his black eyes. Naruto untangled the boy from his legs and got to his feet. He set the boy down beside him and sighed in resignation when the little boy backed away.
"Are you okay? Did you get hurt?" Naruto asked the boy, whose tears had managed to escape the confines of his eyes and were trickling down his cheeks. The boy shook his head and looked around, apparently trying to find whoever he'd been with. When the boy turned, Naruto saw the Uchiha fan on the back of the boy's shirt.
"Hikaru!"
Naruto turned towards the voice and saw a young woman hurrying towards the little boy. He took a step away from the kid, knowing what was sure to follow: the woman would pull her child away from him as if he were contaminated, and then yell at him for daring to get close, even though it had been the child who had run into him. When the woman reached them, she kneeled in front of the boy.
"Are you hurt?"
"No, Mom, I'm fine. I'm sorry for running when you told me not to."
The woman's face softened. "See why it's wise to listen to your mother?" she said. She stood up and then turned to Naruto. "I'm so sorry, Uzumaki-san. Hikaru gets a little excited sometimes and forgets where he's going." She bowed deeply and then touched Naruto's left sleeve, which had been torn when he hit the ground. "Please bring this by my family's dress shop and I'll mend it for you."
"I'm sorry too, Uzumaki-san," the little boy said. "I'll help my mom fix that for you."
Naruto looked from one to the other, confused and unsure if they were playing a joke on him or not. Why weren't they reacting like everyone usually did? The woman must have seen something on his face, because her eyes widened and she fell into a bow again.
"If you don't want it mended, I can replace it," she said. "I really do apologize for my son."
The woman sounded genuine, and Naruto felt bad for making her worry. He touched her shoulder until she straightened.
"It's okay," he said and smiled at her. The smile worked wonders, because the worried look left her face to be replaced by a brilliant smile. "I'll bring it by and you can both mend it, how's that?" he said, not bothering to mention that he didn't know who she was or where her shop was. He looked down and smiled at the little boy, who grinned in return.
"Make sure you do. Have a pleasant day, Uzumaki-san," the woman said, picked up her son, and turned to walk back to her shop.
Naruto couldn't help noticing that she, too, wore the Uchiha fan on her back. The Uchiha weren't supposed to be alive, unless Sasuke had decided to go through with his childhood ambition of rebuilding his clan He took the time to look at the people around him and noticed that few people were paying attention to him. The ones that did smiled and inclined their heads in acknowledgement, or called out a greeting. He was so lost in the strangeness of everything that he didn't realize someone had come to stand beside him until a hand fell on his shoulder. Naruto jumped and whirled around to face a sight even stranger than the two Uchihas.
"Are you okay, Naruto? You look really lost," Kakashi said. "I thought that by now you would know the way to the tower, if not I'd have come after you sooner."
The man's voice was warm and teasing, and he was smiling underneath the mask. Both brown eyes shone with merriment at something Naruto had a feeling was an inside joke between the two of them that he had no recollection of. He must have stared for too long, because Kakashi frowned.
"Did something happen? You look pale."
How could Naruto explain that the reason he was so thrown off guard was that Kakashi was not supposed to have two brown eyes.
"Things aren't supposed to be like this," Naruto finally said.
"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked. He walked in the direction of the Hokage tower and Naruto followed. "You've lived here all of your life, Naruto, what's different now?"
"People aren't supposed to be nice to me; they're supposed to hate me."
Kakashi stopped and turned to him. "Why would they hate you?"
Before Naruto had a chance to answer, he was no longer standing in front of a Kakashi with two brown eyes in a village of people that didn't hate him. Instead, he was looking up at a stark, white ceiling. His entire body hurt and he felt weak and very tired.
"Sakura, he's awake."
Naruto suddenly found himself staring at a grinning Iruka. Sakura, who had been lying on the bed next to his, rubbed her eyes and also grinned at him. She came over and put a hand on his forehead.
"How are you feeling, Naruto?" she asked.
Sakura looked horrible. She had dark circles under her eyes, which were also red and puffy. Her normally immaculate hair was messy and her clothes were wrinkled. Her voice was slightly hoarse, as if she'd recently been crying. Naruto opened his mouth to ask what had happened to her, but he wasn't able to speak. Sakura noticed immediately, left the room for a moment, and then returned with a cup of ice chips. She took one and placed it in Naruto's mouth.
"Suck on it until it melts, then I'll give you another one. It's too soon to give you water."
Naruto wanted to ask what she meant, but decided that he liked the ice in his mouth much better and concentrated on soothing his parched throat. After a few more ice chips, he felt ready to speak.
"What happened?" he croaked. "Why am I here?"
He realized he was at the hospital, but couldn't remember how he'd gotten there. Iruka and Sakura looked at each other, and the looks they exchanged made Naruto's stomach churn with apprehension.
"You were attacked in your apartment yesterday, Naruto. Don't you remember?"
Naruto frowned and attempted to go back that far in his mind, but the strange dream he'd just woken up from was still very clear and he couldn't get past how strange that had been. When he was finally able to push it away, he remembered going to bed and having a nightmare. Suddenly, with the subtlety of a ton of bricks, the events of the night before returned to him.
"I remember now," he said. "There were three of them from Kirigakure. They said they wanted to kill the monster."
Both Sakura and Iruka's expression darkened at the words. They'd apparently not known the reason behind the attack until now.
Idiot, Naruto thought, how could they know if you just now woke up?
"How are you feeling, Naruto? From what I hear, it was a pretty close call," Iruka said.
Naruto focused on his body and quickly took inventory of his various hurts. His back hurt the most, and he could still remember being cut by that sword. His side hurt as well, and he'd probably fractured a rib or two. His face hurt and he reached up to find that his forehead sported several bandages. An immediate question came to mind.
"How long have I been unconscious?" Naruto asked.
"It's been a little over twelve hours," Sakura replied.
Naruto frowned. "If that's the case, then why am I still injured? The fox should have healed me by now."
"The sword that cut you on the back was poisoned," Sakura said. "The poison was designed to not only destroy your chakra pathways, but to keep you from drawing on the fox's chakra. The antidote we gave you has slowly mended your pathways, but you're just now able to draw on the fox's chakra again. He won't be healing you for a while."
Now that Sakura mentioned it, Naruto did remember Sasuke telling him something about being poisoned and asking him to stay awake and mold chakra. He'd thought the request had been strange at the time, but had done it because Sasuke had looked downright scared.
"My back is really hurting," he finally replied to the first question Sakura had asked him. "Other than that, I just feel tired."
Sakura ran a quick diagnostic and then nodded in approval. "Your chakra is still unsteady, but not as much as it was before. It'll take it a while to get back to normal, so you're expected to rest until then. No running around until I say so, okay?"
This was the part Naruto hated the most, especially when Sakura was the one treating him.
"Yes, Sakura-chan," he said, adding the honorific that he only used once in a while when he wanted to tease her.
Naruto looked around the room and couldn't help but feel a pang of disappointment that Sasuke wasn't there. Naruto had been sure that Sasuke did actually give a damn, since he'd come to help the night before, but perhaps it had just been the poison that had made Naruto see things.
"What's the matter, Naruto?" Sakura asked.
Naruto knew that Sakura had noticed the disappointment, and he had to look away from her so that she wouldn't be able to see more.
"I'm tired, Sakura," he replied. "I think I'm going to go back to sleep now."
Naruto had barely closed his eyes when there was a knock on the door. Curious, Naruto opened his eyes to see who it would reveal, but the door did not open. Instead, there was another knock. Iruka went to the door and opened it to admit an ANBU carrying an unconscious Sasuke.
"Where do you want him?" the man asked.
Sakura's face hardened at the sight of the man. "Lay him on this bed," she said and pointed to the bed to Naruto's right.
Naruto looked from Sakura to Iruka, but neither one of them seemed surprised with what was happening. Sakura stood next to the bed as Sasuke was placed upon it, and the ANBU quickly left. The anger in Sakura's eyes was unmistakable as she looked Sasuke over. The Uchiha was pale, except for the deep flush to his face, and was shivering quite badly. His hair was wet and his face sported several bruises. His arms were bruised as well, but if Naruto had to place the marks, he'd say that they'd been the result of being restrained. Sakura pulled the blanket from the bed on the other side of Naruto and covered Sasuke with it. She asked Iruka to bring her some cold water, and while Iruka went to get it, she got a cloth from the cabinet and folded it. When Iruka returned with the water, she dipped the cloth in it and then placed it on Sasuke's forehead.
"He's running a fever," she said, "but he's been drugged enough that I don't want to give him medication for it. The cold cloth will have to do."
Naruto tried to sit up in bed, but was unable to manage it on his own. Sakura came over and slowly helped him do it. Before she let him rest on his back she lifted his shirt and checked the wound.
"The surface of the wound has been healed, but it's still going to be quite sore, since it was the entry point of the poison. You need to be careful, Naruto. I don't want you getting hurt again."
Sakura's green eyes pierced into his and he was a little taken aback by the protectiveness he saw in them. Naruto was speechless and could only nod in response.
"So are you going to tell me what happened to Sasuke, or am I going to have to guess?" Naruto asked bluntly once he'd processed everything that had happened since he'd woken up. "Was he hurt last night? I don't remember him being hurt, but it could have happened after I passed out."
Iruka, who had been standing in the background, cleared his throat. "I'm going to inform the Hokage that Naruto is awake and that Sasuke has been returned," he said.
"Thank you, Iruka-sensei," Sakura said. "I'd really appreciate that."
Once Iruka had left the room and shut the door behind him, Sakura visibly deflated. Her shoulders slumped and her face lost the hardness. Instead, Naruto could see that she was scared. She sat on his bed and turned to give him her full attention.
"The council ordered that Sasuke be interrogated because of Orochimaru's ties to what happened to you last night."
Naruto had to push down the anger that immediately boiled to the surface at what had been done to his friend in favor of thinking through the situation clearly. He'd have plenty of time to yell later.
"I have to admit that after that ninja got me with the sword, things got a little fuzzy. I remember that Sasuke sent one of his summons before he showed up, and the ninja he fought did think he was still Orochimaru. I don't understand how Orochimaru could have been involved, though."
Sakura sighed and told him about the nature of the poison and what Sasuke had told the Hokage about Orochimaru's trip to Kirigakure. By the time Sakura had stopped talking, Naruto's anger had tripled.
"That bastard!" Naruto said. "Even in death he's causing problems. I still don't get why Tsunade let the interrogation happen in the first place. Sasuke had already told her what he knew. What else did she want from him?"
Naruto was having trouble understanding that, more than anything else. Tsunade wasn't one of Sasuke's supporters, but she was a reasonable and logical woman and, if Sasuke had already volunteered what information he knew, there was no reason to interrogate him.
"I don't think she had a choice, Naruto," Sakura said. "I think it was an order from the council."
"That figures," Naruto said. "Those old bastards have wanted to interrogate Sasuke since we brought him back."
They lapsed into silence, and Naruto's eyes were drawn to the unconscious figure next to him. Sasuke was still shivering and every once in a while he would whisper something too soft for Naruto to hear. The fingers of his left hand twitched, as if Sasuke were reaching for something or someone. Sakura noticed as well, because she pulled up a chair so that she was sitting between the two beds, and held Sasuke's hand. Sasuke's hand immediately tightened around hers and he calmed down a bit.
"He'll never let you do that when he's conscious," Naruto said.
"I know," she said, a sad smile on her face.
"Is he going to be okay? I know that interrogations can be pretty bad, but few of the ninja on the receiving end lose consciousness," Naruto said. "He looks pretty beat up too," Naruto added, pointing to Sasuke's face.
"He's sedated," Sakura replied. "The drug should wear off in a couple of hours."
Naruto frowned. "Why would they sedate him?"
"I sedated him," Sakura said. "He was having a bad reaction to the drugs they were giving him and they called me down so I could get him to keep the drugs down. Instead of fixing the problem, I gave him a sedative, one that would take a bit to kick in, so as not to draw Ibiki's suspicions. Sasuke's face wasn't bruised when I saw him, so they must have done that after I left," Sakura added and her chakra flared with her anger.
Naruto shook his head, disgust at the lengths people would go to get what they wanted. "Foreign ninja infiltrate the village and we turn against our own. Where is the logic in that?"
"We knew this would happen, Naruto. We knew that he'd never be accepted if we brought him back, but we decided to do it anyway. We couldn't ask him whether this is what he wanted, so we made the decision for him. As much as I hate it, this is nothing more than what we already expected."
Naruto couldn't argue the point, so he chose to ask something else instead. "Is there anything else you can do for him? He's shaking pretty badly."
"He's running a fever, and I'll have to keep watch until it breaks. He's also exhausted most of his chakra, which only makes things worse. More medication is out of the question so all I can do is watch him and make sure it doesn't get worse."
Naruto sighed. "What is the Hokage going to do with the remaining Kirigakure ninja?" he asked.
"He was going to be interrogated as well," Sakura answered. "I don't know when that will be, though."
"I doubt they'll get much from him," Naruto said. "They didn't seem like the talkative types."
&&&&
Tsunade scowled at the scroll lying open on her desk as if the sheer force of her disdain for what had been done to get the information written on it would somehow make it disappear. She'd burn it if she could, but she doubted that the council would let her get away with that. They'd probably use that as grounds to get her out of office and appoint a Hokage that they could control better.
"What's on that scroll that's got you so worked up?"
Tsunade flinched in surprise and glared at her uninvited guest.
"It's the report from Sasuke's interrogation," Tsunade replied.
Jiraiya settled himself in front of her desk and leaned over it so that he could take a look at the scroll. With a practiced flick of her wrist, Tsunade rolled it closed. When she glanced at her old friend he'd crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Is there something in there you don't want me to see?" Jiraiya asked.
"There are things in there that no one but Sasuke should know," Tsunade replied.
Jiraiya's eyes narrowed, but she didn't immediately explain herself. She was having trouble sorting through everything she'd read and the emotions those painful words had stirred in her, and she wasn't quite ready to talk about what she'd learned from Sasuke's interrogation.
"Did you discover anything else about the attack on Naruto from the interrogation?" Jiraiya asked, and Tsunade was grateful for the reprieve Jiraiya was giving her. He was one of only two people around who could read her like a book, and she needed that understanding at a time like this.
"No. While Orochimaru's visit to Kirigakure did come up during the interrogation, there wasn't anything that Sasuke revealed while drugged that he hadn't already told me."
"Then what is on that scroll that's got you so upset, Tsunade?" Jiraiya asked.
"You're familiar with interrogations, right Jiraiya? What do the drugs do to you?" Tsunade asked in turn, not quite ready to address the contents of the scroll just yet.
"Of course I am. The dugs are intended to submerge you in whatever memory contains the information the interrogator is attempting to retrieve, as if it were happening again."
Jiraiya looked at her expectantly, and a little smugly, waiting for his reward for having answered the question correctly. She didn't have to say anything to Jiraiya about what was on the scroll. Technically, since the majority of the information that was on that scroll had nothing to do with the village's security, she didn't even have to divulge the entire contents to the council. She needed to speak to someone about that information, on a personal level, however, and there was no one better than Jiraiya to keep the information to himself.
"I know very little about Sasuke, but I've come to the conclusion that there have been two defining moments in his life: the massacre of his clan and Orochimaru having taken possession of his body," Tsunade said. "Everyone in Konoha has wondered about what really happened the night Itachi murdered his clan, but no one but Sasuke has ever known."
"What about the second defining moment?" Jiraiya asked when Tsunade fell silent.
"We should never have allowed Orochimaru to get as far as he did," Tsunade finally said. "Many people would still be alive today if Sarutobi, or one of us, had killed him when we found out what he was really after."
"You sound like Naruto," Jiraiya said, but Tsunade could see the guilt creeping into his features as it always did when their former teammate was mentioned. "What makes you bring that up now?"
"Orochimaru's visit to Kirigakure wasn't the only thing Sasuke talked about while he was under the influence of the drugs. He also gave a vivid account of the night his brother massacred his clan, and the day Orochimaru took over his body."
Tsunade had known Jiraiya for the majority of her life and could count on her fingers the number of times she'd seen him completely surprised. She watched as the emotions played across his features, until his eyes fell on the closed scroll once again.
"That must be some very disturbing information," Jiraiya said.
"It is. Do you still want to read the scroll?" Tsunade asked.
"Of course I do. You've put me in charge of the kid, so any information that could help me understand what makes him tick would be very beneficial."
"Sasuke isn't going to like the fact that you know," Tsunade pointed out.
Jiraiya abandoned his perch on the desk and dropped into a chair. "I'm not going to tell him I know," he said.
Tsunade had to admit that Jiraiya was making sense for a change. She'd put him in charge of Sasuke instead of having Kakashi do it because Jiraiya wasn't as emotionally involved with the kid, nor did he share the history with Sasuke that Kakashi did. She didn't think she'd ever understand Sasuke, but at least now she thought she understood the mindset that he led him to make the choices he'd made. It didn't excuse what Sasuke had done, or what he'd allowed Orochimaru to do while using his body, but it at least provided some insight into a mind that Sasuke would never willingly allow them access to.
Tsunade tossed Jiraiya the scroll. "This scroll will not leave this office, so read it quickly. I'm going to destroy it as soon as I give the council my report."
Jiraiya had already started reading by the time she'd finished speaking, so Tsunade settled back in her chair to watch him. She could tell what parts of the scroll she was reading by the expressions on his face. By the time he was finished, the color of his face almost matched the color of his hair.
"It was bad enough putting up with Orochimaru when he was around," Jiraiya said as he handed Tsunade the scroll, "I can't imagine having to live with the man constantly in my head." Jiraiya shuddered and rubbed his hands on his arms. "That's just too creepy."
He lapsed into silence and Tsunade could tell that there was something else on his mind. She waited for him to bring it up and when he didn't, decided to bring it up herself.
"What's on your mind, Jiraiya?"
"Could Sasuke have deliberately allowed the interrogators to see those memories in order to guard something else?"
Tsunade raised an eyebrow in contemplation. "It takes a strong mind to choose what memories to focus on and present during an interrogation."
"Sasuke lived with Orochimaru in his head for three years. If anything would have made him mentally stronger, it'd be that."
"If you were Sasuke, would you want your memories of those two particular incidents to be known to anyone else?" Tsunade asked. "If your mind was strong enough to pick and choose what information to give, would you give that?"
Jiraiya considered the words for a few moments. "I guess not. The account of the Uchiha massacre was very childlike, which makes sense, since Sasuke was only eight when that happened. He's very touchy about the incident, so I doubt that'd be something he'd want to share."
A knock at the door interrupted them. Tsunade put the scroll in a drawer before allowing the person at the door entrance. She was surprised when Iruka stepped into the room.
"Naruto is awake," the chunin said.
"How is he?" Jiraiya asked before Tsunade could.
"He's still fairly weak and a bit disoriented, but otherwise seems okay."
"Let's go," Tsunade said and led the way out of her office and back to the hospital.
Once they had reached the hallway that led to the Naruto's room, Tsunade heard voices. She couldn't make them out at first, not until she was almost standing by the door.
"If you don't lie back down, I'm going to pommel you into the ground and tie you to the bed so you can't get back up!" Sakura's voice drifted from beyond the closed door.
"This is a waste of time, Sakura," Naruto replied, "I want to go see what those bastards did to my apartment. Maybe they left evidence behind or something."
"Don't you think our ANBU have already done that?" Sakura asked.
"Do you think they'd really do a good job looking for evidence, considering that I was the one attacked?" Naruto replied, his voice almost inaudible.
Tsunade's stomach clenched at those words, because she knew that they were likely true. As much as she'd tried to knock some sense into people about Naruto, very few seemed willing to listen and see him for the person that he really was. As he'd matured, he'd kept his disdain and anger at the village to himself, but Tsunade had never been able to miss the hurt in his eyes when situations like this one came up.
"Do as Sakura says or I'll tie you to the bed myself," Tsunade said as she pushed open the door.
Naruto's eyes hardened when they landed on her. Sakura, who had her hands on Naruto's shoulders in an attempt to get him to lie back down, stepped away from the bed and stood at attention. Behind her Tsunade could see Sasuke lying on the bed he'd occupied when she'd come to get him earlier.
"You're not my boss right now, remember?" Naruto said, "I don't have to listen to you."
Before Naruto could react, Tsunade was at his side and had pushed him down onto the bed with one hand, which she kept on his chest to keep him from getting back up.
"I spent the entire night keeping you alive, brat, and I'm not going to let you waste all of my effort," she said.
She didn't remove her hand until Naruto had relaxed. He crossed his arms over his chest and sulked like a little kid who'd just been told that it was his bed time. Tsunade thought the sight was endearing, but she wouldn't dare say it to him.
"How are you feeling? Iruka said you were still a little weak," Jiraiya asked.
Naruto shot his academy teacher a dirty look before turning to Jiraiya. "I was a little out of sorts when I woke up, but I'm fine now. Sakura said that the poison had messed up my chakra pathways, so the fox couldn't heal me, but that the connection has been restored."
Tsunade ran a quick diagnostic on him and was surprised to find that his chakra pathways were back to normal and that a few of the lingering injuries she and Sasuke had been unable to heal were gone. His chakra levels were low, even for Naruto, and he was still a little weak.
"You need to stay here for a little while longer, Naruto," Tsunade said. "If you run off, I will have you dragged back here, understand?"
Naruto wouldn't meet her eyes, but he grudgingly agreed.
"Thank you for watching out for him, Sakura," Tsunade said and Sakura gave her a small bow in acknowledgement.
Tsunade went to the last bed and ran a quick diagnostic on Sasuke as well. He was still feverish and shivering and was dangerously low on chakra. She could also sense that his body's rhythm was still off, as if it was still trying to fight something off. He was going to need some supplements or an intravenous feeding to restore his strength, and chakra, if he didn't wake up soon. A cloth had been placed on his forehead to help with the fever and the blankets that had once covered him had been pulled off completely.
"How long has he been unconscious?" Tsunade asked.
"Since they brought him in about an hour ago," Sakura replied.
The pink-haired ninja looked like she had something to say, and Tsunade motioned for her to continue speaking.
"Ibiki called me down to the interrogation because Sasuke couldn't keep the drugs down, but they'd given him five times the normal dosage by the time they'd called me."
Tsunade cursed, and winced when Naruto's own curses mirrored her own. No wonder Sasuke was still out of it and his body felt out of sync. The extra drugs might explain why Sasuke's mind had taken him back to those two events in his life. She'd need to have a talk with Ibiki and whoever else was present at the interrogation and make sure that what they heard would not be spread around the village.
"I didn't want to give him any more drugs, so I've just been trying to keep the fever down," Sakura said. "Is there something else I should have done?"
"You did the right thing, Sakura. We do need to get an IV into him to help his body replace the nutrients it lost when it rejected the drugs."
Sakura nodded and left the room to get everything set up. Naruto had stopped cursing behind her, but when Tsunade turned away from Sasuke, it was to face a furious Naruto.
"How could you let them do that to him, Tsunade?" Naruto asked. "Hadn't he already told you what you needed to know?"
"Are you questioning my orders, kid?" she asked.
"Yes, I am!" he replied. "Did you really think that he was a threat, that he sent those men after me? Why would he come help me if he wanted me dead?"
"Sasuke didn't want you dead, Naruto, but Orochimaru did," Jiraiya added.
"So you're saying that Orochimaru and Sasuke are the same?" Naruto asked his teacher.
"Naruto, be reasonable," Tsunade interjected before the two men could get into one of their infamous shouting matches, "there was a possibility that Sasuke had information that could help us figure out why you'd been attacked, so we did what we had to do."
Naruto met and held her eyes, and it hit Tsunade once again how Naruto could freeze her with a glare.
"You don't believe that any more than I do, old lady," Naruto finally said.
Tsunade broke eye contact first, before Naruto could force her to admit anything she wasn't ready to. "Do what Sakura says Naruto, or I will have you locked in here and tied to your bed. I'll be back to check up on you both later."
She left them behind and made her way out of the hospital. She had a report to deliver, after all.
&&&&
For those of you wandering about the dream Naruto had: no, I haven't gone nuts. There is a method to my madness, I assure you. Until next time!