Hello, folks! Here's the new chapter. It's kind of a short one but I hope you enjoy it because I doubt that there would be another one sooner than a month or so. I'm completely sleep-deprived and I manage to spare some time only to eat. I'm sorry if there are more mistakes than usual but I decided I should post the chapter now when I had the time instead of waiting to check the spelling again and again.
PS I do not own "Naruto" it belongs to Masashi Kishimoto ©
PPS I'm sorry for the gore content in the previous and the current chaps but it's a shinobi world, guys, there ain't no Ponies and Care Bears xD
See ya around!
XoXo
Dragged you down below
Down to the devil's show
To be his guest forever
Peace of mind is less than never
"Nightmare" by Avenged Sevenfold
Kakashi felt the pressure that the teleportation exerted on his body. The world around him twisted and whirled as he passed through the spatial dimensions. Teleportation was a matter of milliseconds but up until now it always had seemed like minutes. Once the world around him started to recover its original forms Kakashi felt the presence of two different chakra signatures. No. Wait. Three. The last one was very weak almost lingering and dispersing in the air. Sakura. As soon as he regained his balance and sense Kakashi looked around himself. He was at the entrance of a cave. The smell of blood reached his nostrils and the shinobi studied the ground. A few red drops stood out on the light stone floor. The Copy nin sensed a sudden burst of chakra which he recognized as Sakura's. Thank God she was still alive. The man rushed in its direction but not further than few meters he noticed the lying man on the snow.
Kakashi kneeled down and turned the body around. His black gaze widened shocked as he recognized Sasuke. His skin was dry and colorless. The silver-haired shinobi tsk-ed as he noticed the huge hole in the Uchiha's upper abdomen. He didn't have much time to live. The bleeding was slowing down the poison's effect but even if they found the antidote in time, he'd die from blood loss. The Copy nin left the body on the ground. He had to find Sakura or Sasuke would be a lost cause. The man rushed in direction to the chakra signatures.
In a second he saw them.
Sakura was lying on the snowy ground with metal trap clenched around her calf. The Copy nin revealed his sharingan and rushed to the shinobi. He saw Zetsu stepping on the trap. Sakura's painful cry stabbed him in the chest and his hands gripped the kunai tighter. He was almost there. Then Kakashi saw the Akatsuki member pulling the chain of the trap. The followed up scream resonated in his head. Kakashi's eyes widened as he observed Sakura's torn limb flying towards him. Her severed leg landed only step away from his position. Frozen in his run, the Copy nin just stared at the girl who was fighting to stay conscious. Her body jerked few times convulsively and the arms fell lifelessly to her sides.
The silver-haired jonin gulped and his gaze slowly travelled to the torn limb. Pieces of skin were freely hanging from the edge and the cut arteries were still bleeding, dying the snow around them. The shattered bone in the middle was unusually jagged. Pictures of the day of the explosion passed before his eyes. The severed body, covered in ashes. The smell of roasted meat. But now… it was worse. Way worse. Because it was happening before his eyes, because she was still alive and suffering. Because it was reality.
"I'll kill you.", the words came of his mouth almost like a breath. The Copy nin rushed to the Akatsuki member and casted Chidori. The chirping sound filled the air and just before her could run his hand in the body of Zetsu, the monstrous shinobi escaped. Kakashi jumped back, avoiding one of his vines. Another one attacked him but the Copy nin cut it off with kunai. The plant jerked and fell dead on the snow. But not long after that another one grew out of it… It was regenerating.
Both of them were jumping around, clashing kunai and vines, none of them stepped back, none of them made an opening for the other to exploit. The fight itself didn't continue more than a minute or two but both of the shinobi were panting. Kakashi's normal eye was closed, completely activating his sharingan. And Zetsu had stopped regenerating his vines. Probably regenerating depleted his chakra faster than he could afford to. The Copy nin had enough strength to cast only one more S class jutsu and he knew that he had to wait for the right moment.
Zetsu glared at him viciously. It's been awhile since anyone had managed to force him to fight seriously. But he couldn't allow himself to be caught in the pleasure of fighting. He had to kill them all. They knew about his mother's lab. He couldn't allow them to live. When his parents were murdered for their research he vowed that he'd never allow anyone to set foot inside that laboratory. But not only that those brats desecrated this place, they had buried it down under the ground, stealing his mother and his own records and researches. How did they even dare to do it? Nobody must find out neither that he completed the cross-species genetic alterations nor the secret behind the antidote to his poison. The Akatsuki member cracked his neck and narrowed his yellowish gaze. The shinobi before him was exhausted. It was his victory. He stormed at him.
Kakashi saw the change of the mood around his enemy. He wouldn't be able to block this attack without getting scratched and therefore poisoned. He made unconsciously a step back. Suddenly out of nowhere a yellowish silhouette passed him by and crashed into the Akatsuki member, crushing him into the ground. From the strength of the collision a small crater formed under the flattened body of Zetsu. The Copy nin's eyes popped out as he noticed Naruto in his Kyuubi spirit cloak.
His student turned around quickly and looked at him, "Kakashi-sensei, you OK?"
The silver-haired jonin winked few times, let out his breath and his eyes lingered on the severed limb on the ground.
Naruto followed his sight and his sapphire eyes teared up as he saw the torn leg. The blonde's head quickly turned around and searched for Sakura with glistening gaze, "Sakura-chan…", he whispered.
The voice of his student as if awakened Kakashi from his shock and the Copy nin rushed to the pinkette who was staring mindlessly at the space in front of her. She didn't move an inch during the whole battle. The jonin kneeled down and shook her shoulders, "Sakura…Sakura. Can you hear me?", the older shinobi averted gaze to Naruto, "Bring Sasuke here." The Jinchuuriki nodded and disappeared from sight. Kakashi shook her once again, "Sakura…"
The girl slowly turned her head towards him.
"It's gonna be OK. I promise. Don't worry.", Kakashi caressed her hair, feeling his vision blurring from the tears that welled up in his eyes. The girl in his arms jerked and her lower lip trembled. "You're safe. Naruto killed him. You're safe, Sakura."
Suddenly her eyes widened and she gripped Kakashi's vest, "No. We need him. NO!", she started yelling, hitting his chest with fists, "WE NEED HIM!" The Copy nin knitted brows puzzled and tried to calm her down but she pushed him away, "Sasuke… white Zetsu… antidote… blood.", her yelps made it impossible for him to understand anything she was saying. The kunoichi tried to stand up but when she unconsciously supported herself on her lost leg, she fell hard on the ground and tears poured down from her eyes, "It hurts…", she sobbed, gripping locks of pink hair with hands, "It hurts…"
Kakashi watched her body trembling and jerking convulsively with blood pouring down from her severed leg. He couldn't bear to look at it and the shinobi averted his gaze, biting his tongue. Noises were heard behind them. When he turned around he saw Naruto carrying Sasuke in hands, accompanied by Pakkun and a mini Katsuyu and Mahi on his back.
The white slug crawled down and rushed to Sakura, dragging the torn leg after her, "I'll re-attach it right away."
"Kakashi-san, did she say anything about the antidote?", Mahi asked with tiny high-pitched voice while crawling to the corpse in the crater.
Kakashi frowned. Why the fuck Katsuyu was here? Did Pakkun bring Tsunade as well? "She got angry because Naruto killed white Zetsu… sorry that's all I could understand.", the Copy nin stood up and left the white slug to do her job. He dragged his legs to Naruto and Sasuke kneeling next to them. The Jinchuuriki was silently sobbing over the head of his best friend. The jonin licked his lips, "Is he alive?"
Naruto nodded quietly, "He's dying. I can barely feel his pulse…"
A groan was heard behind him and Kakashi turned around noticing Sakura coming to her senses. The jonin ran to her and embraced her as she yelped and buried face in his chest, "Sakura, the antidote? Sasuke is dying.", he whispered.
The kunoichi pulled back quickly with glistening eyes, "A-Alive?", she raised brows and looked around confused, searching for the body of her ex-teammate. When she found him in front of Naruto, the kunoichi gasped for air, "Yeah… Yeah… Um, the blood of the white Zetsu contains antibodies of the poison. There is a possibility a small transfusion could save him… but I don't have the necessary equipment to…", she bit her lip and tried to move but she felt Kakashi's hands pressing her down.
"Don't move. Katsuyu is still working on you.", the Copy nin turned around to the crater, "Mahi, you heard right?"
"Yeah.", the pink-black slug answered shrilly and jerked. A small test-tube-like spike appeared from her body and she stuck it into white Zetsu's half, sucking some of the blood. The little slug crawled quickly to Sasuke's side and pinned it into the vein in his throat. "Now all we need to do is stop the bleeding."
"Even if I re-attached her leg I still need to restore the tissues... I won't have enough chakra to heal Sasuke and patch her up.", Katsuyu answered with worried tone.
"I can finish my healing later. I'm stable for now. Go save him, please, Katsuyu.", Sakura smiled with paled expression and lied down on her back, staring at the sky.
The white slug sighed and went to Sasuke's body, crawling above the hole in his chest. The summon began glowing in soft blue-greenish light.
Kakashi ran fingers through his hair. What would have happened if he hadn't showed up? What would have happened if Pakkun didn't decide to call him there? The Copy nin shook his head. The important thing is that everything is OK. Mostly Ok. A palm gripped his shoulder. He turned around and his coal stare met a sapphire one. Kakashi rose to his feet and followed the young Jonin, "Why did you come, Naruto?"
"Pakkun asked me to inform Tsunade and ask her to send Katsuyu with me.", the blonde smiled tiredly, "I guess he really is one smart ninken."
"He's the best.", Kakashi smirked, "But I'm a little bit worried about Tsunade..."
"We'll cross that bridge when we reach it.", the Jinchuuriki sighed, "Is he going to be OK?", Naruto mumbled under his breath.
"Go next to him and pray that Sakura's right and that blood would save him."
"He's not a bad guy, Kakashi-sensei.", Naruto tapped on his sensei's shoulder and went back to Sasuke's side.
The Copy nin sighed, sitting on the ground next to Sakura. He said nothing only watched her as she lied on the snow with closed eyes. He didn't know what to say. She was alive. Nothing else mattered right now. No other words were needed.
"He's late.", the Uchiha growled annoyed, "I warned him not to vanish every time he wanted. He has responsibilities around here."
The other black-haired man chuckled, "Most likely he got hungry and went to grab a snack."
"This part of our preparation is vital for the success. We can't afford to slack off.", the younger shinobi murmured under his breath.
"Are you that eager to start the war?", Madara grinned and flipped through the pages of what was supposed to be a report on the progress of Zetsu clones.
"I'm eager to see you comply with your promises."
"Hoo…And here I thought that you wanted to meet him.", Madara glared at the younger Uchiha with mocking expression.
"Mind your own business.", the man replied bitterly and stood up from his chair leaving the room.
The kunoichi stirred in her sleep, enjoying the warmth of the blanket, covering her. She slowly opened her eyes, adjusting to the light coming from the lamp next to the bed. The memories of the fight slowly invaded her mind. Everything seemed like a bad dream right now. A tension in her calf was the only reminder of what happened yesterday or two days ago. She couldn't really tell how long she had been sleeping. A groan attracted her attention and she turned around, meeting Sasuke's sleeping face. The kunoichi noticed the pale skin but smiled nevertheless. He had survived. She had been right about the antidote.
Sakura quietly uncovered herself and tried to get up without stirring him up. The pinkette licked her lips as muted rumble coming from her stomach was heard in the room. She was hungry. The kunoichi grabbed a sweater from the chair next to the bed and walked out the room, closing the door behind her. As she was putting the clothing on she entered the living room. A pair of eyes widened as they noticed her.
"You shouldn't be up!", Kakashi hissed and rushed to the girl, wrapping arm around her shoulders, guiding her to the sofa.
"I feel fine. Only a little bit tired."
"Then you should rest."
"Mentally, Kakashi. Mentally.", the medic smiled and checked the bandage on her calf where the leg had been re-attached, "How long have I been sleeping?"
"One day.", the Copy nin sighed, "Are you sure you're OK?"
"Yeah. Where's Naruto?", Sakura looked around.
"He had to go back. To report to Tsunade, you know."
"But…"
"If we hadn't involved her in this you and Sasuke would have been dead, Sakura. Be thankful."
"I am. Really.", Sakura smiled sadly, "Even though I didn't want you to interfere. But…forget it.", the kunoichi gripped his hand and pulled him to her, "I'm just glad you're here. Missed you."
Kakashi sighed and sat next to her, letting her snuggle in him, "I missed you too."
The kunoichi grabbed the hem of his tank top, twisting it with her fingers, "How long are you going to stay?"
"Well, it depends on which of my bones I wish Tsunade-sama to break…"
"Ha?", Sakura looked up to him confused, "What do you mean?"
"Ah, no, nothing.", the Copy nin chuckled nervously, "Most likely until you're able to take care of Sasuke alone. Then I'll need to go back. We have a war to prepare for."
"Ah, now that you mentioned it!", Sakura pulled back a little, "Did you guys think of sending sample of the antidote back to Tsunade-shishou?"
"Actually, Mahi suggested it.", Kakashi scratched his cheek, "She said that you had instructed her beforehand."
"That's right. When we found the research.", the kunoichi sighed relieved, "I'm sure Konoha would be fine, Kakashi."
"I'm not sure about Naruto, though…"
"Only Naruto?", the kunoichi chuckled teasingly.
"Well, yeah.", the Copy nin grinned under the mask, "I'm already OK. And I will be in future as well if the price for seeing you is few broken bones."
Sakura frowned, "Ok. Enough. What's with the bone-thing?"
"Nothing, nothing. It is kind of a joke between me and the Hokage. Nothing serious.", Kakashi laughed and ruffled her hair.
The kunoichi raised an eyebrow but didn't press the matter any further, "Lend me your lap until the laziness goes away and I can grab something to eat." Kakashi looked at her puzzled and before he could do anything, the medic shifted her position and lied on the sofa, placing head on his thigh. The jonin huffed grinning and stroke her hair. The kunoichi snuggled and curled her body on the couch, "Thank you, Kakashi."
"For what? We are friends, right?", he whispered and the smile faded from his lips.
Sakura closed eyes and clenched her teeth, not saying anything more.
Tsunade glared at Naruto as the young jonin handed her the tube with Zetsu's blood. The Jinchuuriki smiled nervously and scratched his neck. He felt strangely strangled as if the air in the room had disappeared. The Hokage took a deep breath and averted her gaze, focusing on the antidote, "Sakura gave you this?"
"Technically, no.", the blonde boy laughed and continued to scratch his neck, stomping his food on the carpet, "Her summon gave it to me…"
"Summons don't usually act without specific orders, Naruto.", Tsunade frowned, placing the tube on her desk, "Now, explain please, why did you insist on bringing Katsuyu with you?"
"Well…", the Kyuubi host gulped loudly, "Pakkun told me to."
"Pakkun? You mean Kakashi.", Tsunade narrowed her caramel eyes.
"No. I mean Pakkun."
"Pakkun did this without Kakashi's knowledge?", the Hokage's left eye twitched annoyed.
"Yeah…"
"And where's Kakashi now?"
"Well…"
"Naruto.", the Sannin stood up from her chair and walked around the desk, stopping right beside the boy, "Something happened with Sakura, right? That's why you needed Katsuyu. That's why Kakashi disappeared without permission from me.", she placed her hand gently on his shoulder and Naruto tensed, knowing that the Hokage was furious, "And since you brought back Zetsu's blood, that means Sakura confronted him, right?"
The Jinchuuriki gulped once again and let out his breath, "Yeah… She and Sasuke…"
"Sasuke? He's still with her?", Tsunade stepped back frowning, "That's unexpected. I thought he went back to Akatsuki. After what happened with Darui."
"Well…"
"Naruto…", the Hokage growled, "I think it's time for you to spill out everything you know."
The Jinchuuriki paled and made a step back waving defensively hands in front of him, "I really don't know anything."
Tsunade stepped forward to him with annoyed look on her face and popped vein on the forehead, "Naruto…"
"Kakashi knows everything! He didn't tell you, baa-chan, do you honestly think that he'd tell me?", the blonde jonin laughed nervously, continuing to step back until his back reached the wall and he and nowhere to run.
"Actually, yes, I think that he did tell you.", Tsunade reached her hand to grab the boy for his jonin vest but suddenly he murmured something like "sorry" and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Tsunade cursed loudly and clenched her fist, punching the wall where Naruto's head was just a second ago, "I'll just have to wait until you get back, Kakashi. Then you'll tell me everything."
Kakashi sneezed and rubbed his nose. Damn, somebody was talking about him. The Copy nin removed the cloth from Sasuke's forehead and soaked it in the solution from the herbs that Sakura boiled. Before putting it again on the Uchiha, Kakashi checked his temperature with hand. It was still a little bit high. The silver-haired jonin adjusted the compress and sighed. He hadn't recovered his skin tone yet. The dark circles around his eyes were the only colour he had on his face, even the lips were pale. The Copy nin scratched his neck and looked at the sleeping shinobi not knowing what else to do. Before exiting the room, Kakashi turned around and glanced at him once again. Even if the antidote worked, there was still a danger for his life. Without blood for the transfusion, he couldn't get better and Sakura's injury prevented her from completely healing the young shinobi. The only thing left for them was to wait and hope that his body was strong enough to endure the strain.
Kakashi quietly closed the door behind him and walked to the living room. He saw Sakura standing on the couch and legs stretched on the coffee table. She was holding a small wooden mortar in her lap filled with herbs, with her other hand she was grinding the leaves zippily with a wooden pestle. The Copy nin smiled to himself and went to sit next to her on the couch.
"You should rest a little.", he murmured lazily, stretching his legs as well.
"I'm not tired.", the girl answered quietly focused on her work.
Kakashi smiled again and stared through the window in front of him. He liked it here. There was nothing to do all day expect for laying, reading and cutting woods from time to time. It was the perfect place for him. It hadn't stopped snowing for three days already and outside there was about a meter, meter and a half at places, blanket of snow. If he hadn't gone outside to clean a path for them to the backyard probably they couldn't have opened the door by now.
A knocking on the door was heard and Sakura looked startled at its direction. She placed the mortar next to her and attempted to stand up but Kakashi was already walking to the door. When he opened it a young blonde man stormed inside with a worried expression on his face. Kakashi immediately jumped after him and grabbed him for the shoulder as the intruder tried to catch Sakura for the arm.
"What do you think you're doing, brat?", the Copy nin growled and turned the man to face him, lifting his fist.
"Wait. Kakashi.", Sakura laughed and slowly stood up, standing on her uninjured leg, "He's the leader of the village and a friend of mine."
"Sakura-san!", Yuko yelled worriedly and brushed off Kakashi's grip, "What happened? After I received Sasuke's letter to evacuate the villagers I didn't hear from you again! I was worried. You OK?"
The kunoichi bit her lower lip, "I'm sorry, Yuko. I completely forgot that we had to send you a letter that everything's fine now. But with Sasuke being injured I couldn't think of anything else. I'm sorry.", the girl bowed apologetically.
Kakashi frowned at her words but said nothing.
"Sasuke's injured? Is he gonna be OK?", Yuko widened his eyes.
"I hope so.", Sakura whispered, bowing her head down.
"Can't you heal him? You're a medic right...", the blonde man continued.
The copy nin cleared his throat loudly interrupting the babbling, "I think Sakura needs to take care of her injuries first."
Yuko turned around glaring to face the other shinobi, "Who the hell are you?"
Kakashi raised the eyebrow above his open eye and stepped forward in front of Yuko staring at him. Sakura bit her lip and limped along to stand between the men, placing hands on the silver-haired shinobi's chest, "He's very close friend of mine and my ex-sensei, Hatake Kakashi." The medic raised her look to meet Kakashi's, begging to let the other man go. The Copy nin sighed acceptingly and relaxed his shoulders.
The blonde man made a step back as well and smiled nervously, "Nice to meet you."
"Humph.", Kakashi grumbled and went to sit on the couch ignoring the younger man.
Sakura laughed uneasily, glanced at Kakashi and then looked at Yuko, "So... Do you want some tea?"
"That would be...", the boy hitched his words as he felt the stinging look Kakashi sent him, "Actually...", Yuko grinned devilishly, "Only if Kakashi-san doesn't mind..."
Sakura turned around to meet Kakashi's face expecting his answer.
The Copy nin cursed mentally at the man for putting him in position where he couldn't refuse and forcibly gave an eye crease, "Why would I mind?"
"Great!", Sakura exclaimed, "Mind if you go and make it? My leg got tired...", she stared pleadingly at her team-leader.
Kakashi's coal eye twitched annoyed, glaring at Yuko, "Sure.", he stood up and passed him by, heading to the kitchen, "You picked the wrong person, brat...".
Yuko felt chills running down his spine as he heard Kakashi's whisper. The guest smiled nervously and licked his lips.
Sakura looked around herself. Everything was pitching black. She walked further gropingly the stone wall until the sensation changed and she felt wooden surface under her fingertips. Maybe it was a door. The girl searched for the handle and as she found it, Sakura pressed it lightly. The door creaked open and the girl stared at the candle-lit room. Her pupils widened. That was her room in the Akatsuki's hideout. Everything was just as she left it that day: the tank top spread on the back of the chair, the pencil and the blank papers on the desk. She made a step into the room and a slight plop reached her ears. Her eyes followed a tiny black-reddish trickle, slowly creeping under her feet. She raised her gaze as she realised it was coming from the bed. The kunoichi stepped further into the room. An unidentified object was lying on the bed, wrapped in soaked reddish sheets.
Sakura reached hands to unwrap it and as soon as she removed the covers her face stoned in terrified expression, dropping the heap on the mattress. A severed limb rolled from the sheets. The kunoichi quickly looked down and suddenly she lost balance, dropping to the floor to one side. Her leg was cut off. A creepy chuckle echoed in the room. The medic turned around and saw Zetsu slowly walking to her. She widened her eyes and shook her head defying. It can't be happening. Not again. Tears welled up in her emerald eyes.
The girl crawled back on the floor with hands splashing in the puddles of blood, trying to escape from the Akatsuki member. The shinobi reached to her and grabbed her arm, pulling her up on the bed. Zetsu growled smirking and his vines wrapped around her wrists and ankle. The grinning face of the Akatsuki member drew close to her. He licked his lips with his snake-like tongue and his face closed in to hers. Sakura yelped and sobbed quietly, with tears rolling down her cheeks. She closed her eyes but in only a second they snapped open again as she felt Zetsu's tongue on her neck. Something in her mind snapped and the girl cried out desperately for help...
The kunoichi raised in her bed with widened eyes and wet cheeks from her flowing tears. She felt someone whispering her name and a familiar weight on her hand. Her eyes cautiously looked down and she saw Sasuke's hand covering hers.
"Sakura...", the man whispered with horse voice. His eyes could barely stay open but the shinobi forced himself to look at the kunoichi sitting next to him in the bed.
Suddenly the door snapped open and Kakashi stormed inside panting, "What happened?", his coal eye immediately noticed them holding hands and the sweaty, frightened face of Sakura, "You screamed.", he gritted teeth and composed himself, taking a breath.
The kunoichi pulled away her hand from under Sasuke's and uncovered herself from the blanket, brushing away the sweat from her face and her fingers lingered on her neck, rubbing the skin. The feeling of Zetsu's tongue was still lingering there. The medic took a deep breath and smiled forcedly, looking at Sasuke and then Kakashi, "I'm fine now. It was just a nightmare.", she looked at the Uchiha again, "I'm sorry I woke you up. Go ahead and sleep, Sasuke." The Uchiha winked slowly and nodded tiredly, closing his eyes. He didn't have the strength to stay awake even if he wanted to.
Sakura stood up and passed by Kakashi heading to the bathroom. The Copy nin followed and grabbed her for the arm, turning the girl around to face him, "What was the nightmare about?"
The medic jerked but smiled, shaking her head, "I don't remember already.", she raised her hand and patted Kakashi on his upper arm, "I'm fine." The silver-haired jonin frowned as he stared at her, entering the bathroom. Something wasn't right.
Once Sakura closed the door behind her, the girl slid down on the tiled floor and doubled her knees, burying her face in them. Sobs shook her body and she covered her mouth with hand to muffle the yelps and whines that escaped her lips.
TBC