I do not own Naruto.
Author's Notes: You know those times when you look at your computer and say: 'Man, all those people have been really nice about reading and junk, I should post a chapter' and then you get on and find a really awesome story and don't update? Yeah, that's what happened.
On the upside, I'm updating now. And it's only been a week and...
Ahem.
These scenes take place directly after the date, and are the subject of The Phone Call from last chapter. Enjoy!
Anyway, warning for graphic descriptions of injuries. Just in case that stuff bothers you.
oOo
"Well... that's a lame way to kill someone." -Tidus
oOo
Naruto stomped through the doors of the hospital, ignoring the unit clerk squalling at him from the desk as he broke into the white linoleum and controlled urgency of Surgery. He followed that sense of :other: until he barged into the fifth room on the left, knocking the door off its hinges by the force of his shove.
As soon as the door was open, the smell hit him like a speeding train, and he almost gagged. Sweat, blood, vomit- those smells he could stand, but the smell of medicine was heavy in the air—thick, cloying, sour, burning his nose every breath. But under that, even worse, was that decaying smell, that poisonous smell, the smell of death and fear as the soul left the body. Vile.
There was a doctor in the room, a black, balding man with thick glasses and rubber gloves, a needle in hand, bending over Sasuke's all-too-still form. There were others in the room, less consequential, barking orders and passing bandages and—Naruto shuddered—needles.
The doctor jerked back as Naruto entered, shocked, and Naruto didn't waste any time wondering what he must look like to the doctor—masked, too quick for eyes to follow, and his eyes flashing red. He moved, grabbing Sasuke and slinging the man over his shoulders before the needle hit the ground, bolting out the front doors of the hospital as the plastic bounced and sprayed clear fluid all over the floor. Naruto could hear it, just barely, over the startled screams as he peeled through the parking lot and to his car. He shoved the bleeding Sasuke into the front seat, buckled him in, and left the lot with a squeal of tires shedding rubber.
He ripped off his mask and cranked up the still-cold air, blowing it directly into Sasuke's face at full power. It was no wonder the other guy was passed out, having to smell…
Naruto directed the air his way too, trying to burn out the fetor clogging his brain. He pulled onto the I-278, cutting off a semi and almost ramming a Corvette. He jerked into the next lane with barely a glance, flooring the pedal until he reached a hundred—a hundred and ten, a hundred and twenty—and wove through traffic, pulling onto the shoulder to drive when the cars were too congested for his taste.
Sasuke was bleeding, heavily, the coppery smell filling the air and the drip of the blood loud even over the noise of the highway. His breath came in short, soft pants, and he was pale as overcooked ramen noodles. Naruto could see where the blood came from—a hole, roughly the size of a large man's fist, straight through Sasuke's stomach. He had multiple cuts and bruises everywhere, and his right leg was cracked out in a strange direction. His fingers, too, on his left hand, were twisted into purplish pretzels.
He cut a sharp right, ignoring the honks, when he saw the exit for downtown Manhattan.
Naruto pressed his cell phone to his ear as he got closer, muttering to himself. "'He's just at the hospital, he's fine, but we thought you should probably go get him.' Ha! Fine. Bleeding to death all over my leather. Gonna owe me a new car…"
The phone rang once, twice, three times, and then was finally picked up with a slurred, "Hewlloooo?"
"Get sober, now," Naruto snapped, making it an Order without a second thought. "Where are you?"
The woman on the other end swore at him as her buzz faded immediately and indefinitely. "Do you even realize how much it takes to get me drunk? That was a hundred dollars down the-"
"Sasuke's hurt, bad, and you're going to fix him. Tell me where you are."
oOo
Tsunade was at home, guzzling sake and giggling shrilly at re-runs of I Love Lucy—half of which she didn't entirely understand. The screen kept going wonky: tilting… and blurring… and— oh. Her cup was empty. Wait—no—that was the bottle.
She frowned down at the jug, peering in cautiously. Where had it all gone?
"Lucy, I'm home!" yelled Ricky on screen, and Tsunade let out another high-pitched stagger of laughs. Oh, Ricky. Funny Ricky…
She took another sip from her bottle, only to find it dry. She peered inside cautiously, confused again. Where had it all gone?
…and why did that feel like déjà vu?
A phone rang suddenly, cutting through her haze with cutting accuracy. At first, she thought it was from the TV, but, no, it was coming from somewhere else…
She laughed, reached into her shirt, and pulled out her phone from where it had been hiding. Silly phone. Phones didn't belong in bras.
"Hewlllooo…" She said, flopping onto a pillow. Lucy was trying to hide something from Ricky now. That was funny too, and she almost laughed again…
Except that Naruto's Alpha Mode cut her off with a quick Order, impossible not to obey.
"Get sober, now. Where are you?"
The buzz was gone. The haze was gone. The world came into crisp focus, bright colors and sharp corners, and suddenly her hours of work to get decently sloshed were gone.
She swore. Loudly. Repeatedly. Specifically at Naruto, although she alluded to just above everyone he knew as well, occasionally mentioning their heritage and lack thereof.
"Sasuke's hurt," Naruto interrupted, and Tsunade caught the edge of panic in his tone. "Bad. Tell me where you are."
Another Order. Tsunade gritted her teeth in annoyance. What had she told him about using that power responsibly? She was going to kick his butt for this.
"My house," Tsuande snapped, and Naruto sighed in relief.
"Good. I'll be there in two minutes. Get everything-"
"You Order me again and I will make WWE look Disney approved."
Naruto sighed. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was."
Hell's teeth!Tsunade thought furiously. "Is he that bad?"
"He's worse."
Tsunade hung up and hurried to clear a space on her kitchen table, shoving away the chairs and ripping off the tablecloth. She was not wasting a tablecloth on Sasuke. The turd.
She could hear tires squeal outside as Naruto's car screeched to a halt on her driveway. If he had left tire-marks…
She opened the door and Naruto hurried inside, Sasuke held tight in his arms. Tsunade winced as blood got on her carpet.
"Lay him on the table," She ordered, and pushed Naruto aside for her assessment.
It was bad.
Multiple lacerations, she noted, gray eyes flicking. Broken left hand, right leg, all ribs, and left collarbone. Right shoulder dislocated and heavy bruising on all visible tissue. Internal bleeding. Head trauma located at base of skull, no swelling of brain tissue...
All that wasn't as bad as it could have been, Sasuke's brain wasn't in too much danger at the moment, but the gaping hole in his stomach… that was a problem.
It looked like someone had punched their whole fist straight through his torso, and then followed it with a flaming torch. The cauterization had definitely come after, maybe Sasuke had even done it himself—that smart little idiot—and she could see all the way through it to the table. She gasped a little, sickened. It had to have gone through the worst possible place. If the wound had just been two inches lower—
But it wasn't. And now Sasuke's liver, kidneys, stomach, pancreas—even his stupid adreanal gland—was almost completely gone.
People didn't live long like that.
People didn't live like that period.
"Gods above," Tsunade whispered, and got to work.
oOo
Author's Notes: He does not get eaten by the eels at this time.
I'm only saying this because you look nervous.
No, Sasuke will probably live, and more Naruto-Hinata action is bound to crop up in the next chapter. Which I haven't written yet, but I'm working on!
Please review!