Hey guys, firstly I would like to thank those of you who favourited or reviewed especially: Kittywithfangs, SaiyaCat, Kyoki no Megami, a long time reader kwisy, somedayisours and killerwolfy1. I think you guys are awesome, especially those of you who took the time to review. Your words encourage me more than I can say. Thanks.
On a less sappy, review seeking, note. I hope you enjoy the chapter.
Dealing with the Devil
I yelled as Madara reached down easily and grabbed the front of my shirt.
In the next moment two things happened; Kakashi's dogs burst out of the ground around the ankles and thighs of the man in front of me and Madara (with a Tobi laugh) flung me into the barrier. You'll forgive me if I say that I missed what happened after that.
I remember the feeling of being frozen and burning as energy poured into me in waves. I hadn't needed to activate my power at all, as soon as my body made contact, the force rushed straight into me.
Then it was over. I gulped air and never tasted anything sweeter.
"The barrier's down!" someone screamed and with a rush of air someone appeared next to me
Before I could react, arms lifted me up and curled around my waist.
"Hey bitch," I glanced up but realised that he wasn't talking to me "take her over the wall and find the Uchiha."
"Hell no! I'm not carrying that cow, why don't you carry her?"
"We don't have time for this!" Suigestsu yelled
I didn't have time for this either. I reached for my power but for the first time it hurt. It felt like I was pulling a needle covered blanket through my veins! I felt weak and tired. While I was having these thoughts, Suigetsu lifted me and jumped the wall. I struggled weakly against him but I was so tired. What had that barrier done to me? I closed my eyes and felt myself drifting off. Just when I was beginning to really lose consciousness I felt Suigetsu tense. Forcing my eyes open, I tried to push myself up in his arms. He was talking to someone. I twisted my head but my eyesight was blurry and the sun was too bright.
"This is your last warning. Put her down."
"Crow?" I said blearily
"Heh," came Suigetsu's voice, sounded amused and irritated "fine. If that's what you really want." He said and then he dropped me
I didn't even realize what he had done till I collided hard with the front of Crow's Anbu vest. I glanced down to see the forest floor at least fifteen feet below me.
"Ouch." I mumbled
"Sorry." He said as he jumped from the tree to the ground. "Can you stand?"
'Mm, I think so."
He let go of me and I fell immediately. He caught me and guided me into a sitting position. When I tilted backwards, he sighed loudly.
"Sorry." I muttered and turned on my side, not caring about masked men, murderers or walls.
"Erica!" came Sam's worried and very hoarse voice
Sakura dropped down next to me and immediately began to fuss; pressing her glowing hands at points on my head and chest, even going so far as to stick her hand under my blouse.
"Hey..." I protested
Suddenly Kakashi was standing behind Sakura, "Stay with her, Madara may have disappeared but that's no guarantee that he's actually gone, that goes for you too Sam."
"But Naruto, they're saying he lost it…that he turned into some kind of monster…"
Kakashi eye crinkled at him, "Don't worry, everything will be fine." Then he was gone
Jeez, he is a terrible liar. I thought
I took a deep breath and forced myself to sit up, keeping my eyes closed to lock out the sun and annoying dizziness.
"Stop that! You need to lie back down Erica. I'm not finished examining you. It's hard enough working around your chakra as it is."
"I'm okay." I said
"No you're not. I think whatever kind of force was in that barrier fried your pathways. I don't know how you're even alive…" she said and I could hear an edge of confusion in her voice "I need to stabilise you before we move you to the hospital.
Sam, who had been acting as a sunshield squatted down and gently eased me back onto the grass. His…his face…In the shock, of seeing him injured, I didn't even resist.
"Sam…what happened?" I said as I unthinkingly reached up to touch his face
He caught my hand and held it. "It's nothing, I got burnt a bit, that's all."
I saw Sakura frown at him and then look turn to me. "He tried to use his power to block a grand fireball jutsu."
"I used it to save those ninja's lives. They would have died."
"It could have killed you, idiot!" She said and I could swear that she was getting teary eyed. "Why do you boys always have to be so damned reckless?" With a swift glance at the distant cloud of ash and destruction, she turned resolutely back to me.
Sam being Sam replied to me; "It's not that stupid. I underestimated how strong it was considering how low on chakra I was. I'm not even burned really, just a little…scalded." He said
"Shit!" I swore trying to wrench my arm away from Sakura "What the hell are you doing?"
"Your muscles were damaged by the overload, I'm repairing some of the tissue and easing the stiffness. If I can repair some of the damage to your muscles it will make moving you much easier and less painful, so stop fighting me."
"But why does it hurt? Healing never hurt before."
"Your pathways were burned by chakra so any new chakra is going to feel like pouring acid over acid burns." She finished sounding harassed
With a sigh, I relaxed my arm and tried to focus on anything other than Sakura.
"Talk to me Sam," I said finally and desperately "Why the hell was there a barrier around the village and why was Tobi inside of it?"
Sam took my other hand gently "I'm not completely sure but my guess is that it was Pein's doing. Deidara literally dropped Tobi off inside the barrier and flew off."
"Through the…uhh *I swallowed hard* through the barrier?" I must not snap at Sakura. I must not snap at Sakura. She moved to my other arm and the pain began again.
'Yeah. He said that we should take it as a gift from Pein."
"Oh, so Pein betrayed Madara? How about the rest of creatures and stuff, did any of them show up in the village?"
"I don't know. I was waiting here for Naruto at the training ground. I don't really even know when it started."
I must not snap at Sakura. I must not snap at Sakura. Jeez, what the hell is she doing to my arm?
"Oh… Any news of Crow? Ouch Sakura!"
"Sorry." She said as she moved to my left leg.
I continued "He was here a moment ago wasn't he?"
"Yeah, he went to help Kakashi bring down that Sasuke bastard."
"Fuck Sakura! Stop, just stop!" I said and pulled away from her
I turned and really looked at her. She was a mess. Her eyes were red rimmed from trying not to cry and her face was white. She kept glancing at where the fight was taking place. I was tired, in pain and annoyed at her lack of medical professionalism but I still felt sorry for her. She loved two people in that fight and had been deeply in love with a third. I took a deep breath.
"Sakura, thank you for trying to help me but you're a bit distracted right now. Maybe Sam can take me to the hospital now and you can go see how things are doing. Before she could respond Sam spoke.
"No, Kakashi said she should stay with you and you can barely move. I don't think…"
"Sam, you don't understand. She has to," I tried to think of a way to convey what she must be feeling but couldn't
"Erica…"
"Sam, she's right. I need to see this through. I need to go to them. Can you take her to the hospital Sam?"
Sam looked struck, "You're disobeying a direct order from a superior. I don't think you should do this. Kakashi had good reasons for asking you to stay here."
"Sam, I can't stay behind and watch my friends go ahead of me anymore. If you have any feelings for me at all, you need to let me do this." she finished dramatically
By this I was fighting not to lie back down again. If I had any chance of getting a comfy hospital bed and maximum strength painkillers any time soon, I needed Sam to agree to this. They had an intense staring contest before Sam gave in.
"Fine. Please, be careful Sakura, remember what we talked about. It's not worth it." He said
She nodded and in a flash, she was gone.
"Hey Sam, any chance we can hurry it up here. I don't think I can last much longer."
He looked suddenly panicked. "What?!"
"Sorry, sorry… I mean that I'm going to fall asleep again and soon. I need to get to the hospital so I can get some painkillers and a nice soft bed." I said finally
It was all I could do to stay upright. When he lifted me into his arms, I barely noticed. Oddly enough, I couldn't actually sleep; my body was exhausted and in pain but my mind was all over the place trying to make sense of everything that had been happening around me. I kept going back to Madara, though. His sudden disappearance was disconcerting. Had he gone to nab Naruto or had he gone to take on Pein. Not knowing where he was made me feel oddly insecure…after all, he had tried to abduct me. The forest we were moving through degenerated into patterns of light and dark as I closed my eyes and tried to make my mind stop.
Next chapter will be out on Friday or Saturday. I hope you enjoyed it. Don't forget to review; it's like caffeine to writers.