"This is so unfair!" Lee whined sadly. "We didn't even get to fight one opponent…" he muttered as he carried an unconscious Genma on his back- since no one else wanted to.
"It's okay Lee. We are still in enemy territory so many rogues may still turn up." Tenten told the bowl cut ninja. She sighed, she was just as downhearted as Lee was that she didn't get to fight. The remaining two rogues, Kosuke and his followers had made their escape-including Ami and Kenta-, leaving Genma behind; probably because they didn't have time to take him or kill him or maybe as some sort of insurance. The townspeople seemed both angry and happy for the ninjas' presence and hand in getting rid of Kosuke, why they were angry, no one knew. One thing Kakashi did know was that they hadn't seen the last of Kosuke.
"Tenten…" Kakashi said, glancing back to the weapons user. "why did you go into the inn before we left?" he asked.
"W-well…I saw that woman's state of clothing, I didn't like the idea of her waking up and only having a nearly destroyed skirt and only bandages to cover her." she explained, lifting her bag that had seemed a little bigger. "I also got some food from that old man that green grocer." she added. Sasuke and Naruto glanced at Kakashi who only nodded at her answer and looked ahead as they finally reached the village. None of the others had heard Kosuke's claim that Sayuri was going to be dead soon. The sun was slowly beginning to rise as they entered the inn where both Sakura and Kiba's chakra stopped. They were hit with a heavy, atmosphere as they looked to the pale, worried woman leaning against the banister of the stairs. The moment her eyes landed on their headbands she looked up the staircase to see a drained Kiba slowly trudge down the stairs. Tiredly he rubbed his eyes and looked to the others.
"You look like hell…" Naruto said quietly.
"You should see Sakura…Sayuri looks worse than both of us combined." he answered tiredly.
"I thought Sakura healed her?" Neji asked with a frown, but Kiba shook his head.
"She thought that too…but I wasn't two miles out of that town with her when she began to scream in pain. I got her here and a doctor gave her morphine but it only stopped the screaming for a bit. Then she became sick. Thankfully Sakura came and started to work on her…" he said before looking away. "It's taking a lot out of both of them." he reported before looking to Kakashi. "Did you get the guy? Kosuke?" he asked. Kakashi sighed .
"Unfortunately not, he managed to escape. We'll get him though, you can be sure of that." he said before they headed up to the top floor. They froze in the doorway to see Sakura shaking as she pumped chakra into Sayuri who was now shaking, sweating and a deathly pale. The only colour on her face was the dried blood at the corners of her mouth.
"Sakura, you need to rest." Kakashi said gently, walking to the bed and to his former student. With concentrated, determined eyes she looked up to Kakashi.
"Not until she's safe…I can't let that…that bastard kill her. He's tortured her, you haven't seen the damage her body has taken and now that she's free from him…I can't." she said strongly, fighting through her exhaustion. She looked to Neji. "Look at her and tell me where I'm missing!" She pleaded. Swallowing, Neji nodded and activated his Byakugan, his eyes widened and he shot forward, pulling her away from Sayuri. "What are you doing?" she yelled, struggling against his hold on her wrists.
"It's your chakra that's hurting her more." he said gravely, making everyone look at him in shock. "He's used a nin-jutsu on her. You have to let his chakra leave her system and the jutsu to run its course before you attempt to heal her injuries. Adding your healing chakra gives the jutsu power and prolongs the effects." he explained. "But the jutsu won't kill her."
"Kosuke tricked you…"Kakashi said, thinking back. "He didn't try to stop you when you went to track Kiba and Sayuri down. He took advantage of your abilities, knowing you'd end up unintentionally hurting her more." he said.
"He was continuing his punishment." Naruto said, he had been in the inn when Sayuri was being attacked.
"So her screaming and being sick was the jutsu beginning to run its course?" Kiba asked tiredly.
"Seems so…" Neji answered, releasing Sakura. "You should rest. Genma's life isn't in any danger." he said. Slowly Sakura nodded and sank down onto the sofa next to the window. Lee walked over to the bed and lay Genma down next to Sayuri. With a chance to rest, Kiba sat down on the floor next to Akamaru and used his dog's head as a pillow, soon falling asleep. Kakashi looked at the group and then to the two on the bed, his dark eye scanning over Sayuri's rapidly rising and falling chest that was tightly bound with the bandages. A small sighed came from the ninja next to her. Kakashi arched his eyebrow as his friend seemed to be able to tell he was near a woman. He rolled onto his side and sighed, the small traces of a smile on his lips. The copy ninja looked to see Tenten walk towards the bed with a freshly dampened towel and changed it for the one on Sayuri's forehead.
"Before we left, that grocer was telling me…" Tenten began softly, "…that she would always stand up to that Kosuke guy, even if he was going to hurt or kill one of his own men. She didn't care about him beating her. Sometimes when he 'punished' her, the old man could hear her screaming from the inn. But the next day when he'd go to see her, she was strong, she never cried in front of him and if she could, she would force herself to smile. " she told those that were still awake. "Kakashi-san…did our going to that village and letting him escape mean that we made things worse? He could be in another village now, hurting more people. Will he come after her?" she asked, tearing her gaze away from the inn manager to look at the masked man who gave her his trademark eye crease.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure that man and his followers get what's coming to them." he reassured her. Sasuke who had been sitting next to a now sleeping Sakura on the sofa glanced at the team leader. "Maybe we should use that blade of his on him…he seemed very fond of it." he suggested gaining a loud laugh from Naruto who was sitting next to Kiba.
"Yeah, let him know how it feels for a change."
"W-w-w…won't…work…" a broken, pained voice came from Sayuri, her eyes were wrenched closed tightly from the pain, her breathing was laboured and broken. She was definitely conscious, but for how long, Kakashi and the others couldn't say. "j-j-jutsu…from the…blade…won't affect him." she panted out.
"Miss, you shouldn't strain yourself. It's obvious you're in pain. Please just try to rest…" Tenten told her with concern.
"I've ha-had worse done…to me. I ca-can't feel anything fr-fr-from the waist…down. An effect of the jutsu…" she gasped, her ribs and chest on the other hand, she could definitely feel.
"What do you mean?" Shino asked curiously, speaking finally.
"His chakra…it…damages y-your muscles and ne-nerves depending…on how…deep th-the blade…touches…y-y-you…." she strained, swallowing against the pain. "My nerves…are damaged…I can't f-feel a thing…" she explained before passing out.
"Kakashi-san…do you think my bugs would be able to eat the enemy's chakra from her system? That way after Sakura rests, this woman could be healed without having to go through the pain of the jutsu passing through her system?" he asked.
"It could work…" Neji spoke up. "Since she doesn't have any chakra, the bugs wouldn't necessarily be draining her of her own energy. They'd only be able to focus on the enemy's chakra in her body."
"Try it…we've got nothing else to lose." Kakashi said, watching as the beetles slowly began to come from Shino's sleeves and the top of his jacket and head towards Sayuri. The tiny black creatures began to crawl onto her body and stopped. Neji watched with his Byakugan as the destructive chakra began to slowly flow out of the inn manager's still shaking body. Slowly the shaking began to stop and her breathing became softer but with her injured ribs it was still strained and slightly broken in rhythm. The beetles moved from her and back to their master. "Excellent job Shino!" Lee exclaimed loudly, causing Kiba, Sakura, Akamaru and Genma to wake up.
"W-what's going on?" Genma groaned out tiredly. His dark brown eyes looked over to see Sayuri next to him. "Whoever put my next to her…thank you very much." he grinned, gaining an eye roll from nearly all of those there, but they knew it was a sign that Genma was going to be just fine so decided to let him away with the comment.
After some of the fruit from the grocer that Tenten had brought along, Sakura began to start working on Sayuri, now that Neji had said it was safe enough to heal her. Slowly, Sakura removed the bandages from her legs only to gasp in horror. Her pale legs were covered in red marks that resembled forked lightning. "That Kosuke guy seems to be one real bastard." Genma muttered, unable to stop himself from admiring the woman's shapely long legs and beautiful thighs. Thankfully after Sakura's healing jutsu, the marks began to fade to a dull pink against her lily white skin. The ribs had to be re-healed again but she left some of them cracked to heal on their own. The stab wound had to be completely healed and like her legs, her waist had the lightning like marks around it. After finishing, she looked to Genma who smiled softly. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." he told her before shifting on the bed, he was more exhausted than anything else and felt that a long sleep would fix him. Kakashi looked to Sayuri who now had some colour back on her naturally pale face. "Tenten could you put some of Sayuri's clothes out? I don't think she'll want to wear bandages and the few remains of a skirt…especially around people she hardly knows." he said. With a nod, Tenten opened her bag and began to look through for clothes that would be suitable for the season and that would be comfortable for Sayuri to wear especially since she was still slightly injured.
"Are we going to take her to Konoha?" Naruto asked curiously.
"I think it's our best option, Kosuke might track her down and we don't know any areas around here that will be safe for her."
"Plus she would be a good source of information on Kosuke, if she's willing to give it to us." Sasuke added as Sakura settled back into the sofa, next to the raven haired Uchiha in need of a long rest. Kakashi noticed the smug look on Sasuke's face as he looked over to an angry looking Rock Lee. A knock at the door made Sayuri stir but remained asleep as the old woman entered with another inn worker, both carrying large trays of food. The woman looked to Sayuri and smiled to see that she looked better. After a long and enjoyable meal, the ninja lounged in the room and rested, waiting for Genma, Sayuri, Sakura and Kiba to get the rest they needed before even thought about setting out for Konoha.
In the middle of the night, Kakashi slowly peaked his eye open from his place in the corner of the room to see her female figure slowly and unsteadily get off the bed. In the darkness of the room, she felt around and moved to the bathroom, feeling her way to the door, stepping over the sleeping ninja as she went. Silently he sighed and shifted his weight to get comfortable again, after a few moments the bathroom door opened again and Sayuri walked back towards the bed, wearing now a medium length skirt and light, flowing shirt that would cover her but wouldn't be too tight or irritating against the bandages. His dark eye followed her as she slowly and shakily moved back to the bed and settled down again for the night. "Good night," he heard her soft tired voice travel towards him. Without answering he closed his eyes and fell asleep quickly. The next morning, Kiba was the first one to wake, or so he thought. After looking around he saw that both Akamaru and Sayuri were gone. Pulling his jacket and sandals on he threw open the door and rushed down the stairs to see the former inn manager sitting in the lobby armchairs with the inn owner, Chie, Akamaru sitting next to Sayuri with his chin lightly on her lap. "How are you feeling?" he asked, about to sit down in the spare chair when Sayuri reached out and held his forearm.
"I'm wonderful thanks to all of you…but mostly to you and the medic." she said, rising to her feet and pulled him into a hug. "Thank you for taking care of me before the others came. I really appreciate it." she said before lightly kissing his cheek.
"Does everyone that helped you get one of those?" a voice asked from the stairs, making Kiba blush harder.
"Can't you ever behave, Genma?" Sakura asked in annoyance as the others filed down stairs, bags packed and ready to leave.
"Nope, where would the fun in that be?" he asked with a grin, a new senbon in his mouth. Sakura rolled her eyes and looked to Sayuri with concern.
"Someone should carry her back to Konoha…" she said, flinching when Sayuri repeated the word 'her' in slight irritation. "Your legs aren't fully healed…it would be best for you to rest as all…plus you are a civilian and won't be able to go the same pace as all of us." she explained quickly, earning a smile from the scarlet haired woman.
"And who asked me what I wanted? Who asked me if I wanted to go back with you to your village?" she questioned, sounding hurt.
"Sayuri…we aren't forcing you. We all feel it would be safer to take you back with us. Where you can be protected from Kosuke." Kiba said, trying to explain.
"And if I happened to give some information in return for protection, that would be just wonderful too, right? Look don't take me as being ungrateful but immediately deciding what's going to happen to me without even talking to me makes me feel like a captive all over again." she sighed out before turning her head towards Sakura. "Fine, you want me to be carried, then carry me…" she resigned, the irritation never leaving her voice. Kiba looked to Akamaru who walked to his side before he lifted Sayuri and placed her onto the large dog. Silently, Sayuri brushed the hair from her face. "Thank you."
Kakashi cleared his throat. "Well let's get going." he said and bowed to Chie and walked with her to the desk to pay for the food and room. For the first fifteen minutes of the journey back to Konoha was completely silent. All of them seemed to feel in some way guilty about not talking to Sayuri about whether she wanted to go with them or not. Even though they had decided with her best interests in mind, it still seemed wrong. Kiba pushed off the branches to travel along Sakura, silently he whispered something to her making her eyes widen and body tense, she looked to the dog ninja who nodded and fell back to travel next to Akamaru. Biting her lip, Sakura quickly looked ahead continued. Catching the brief and private exchange, Sasuke's eyes narrowed suspiciously while Kakashi, Genma and Lee watched curiously. Sayuri let out a sigh, she was getting restless from the lack of movement. She didn't like the idea of being the only one being carried, her legs weren't even that sore anymore. Sensing the restlessness, Genma stepped forward and lifted Sayuri off of Akamaru and dropped down to the forest floor.
"Hey, womaniser! What do you think you're doing?" Naruto called.
"I'm injured too remember, my joints are a bit stiff. I think I'll walk a bit with this young woman, if she wants to that is." he grinned, seeing Sayuri smile and nod. Sakura bit her lip and said nothing.
"We'll be stopping for a break soon to get something to eat. So we'll see you up ahead." Kakashi told the senbon chewing ninja who merely saluted.
"Thank you, Genma." Sayuri smiled as she walked making the man frown, he hadn't remembered giving her his name. Shrugging, he smirked and walked next to her.
"No problem Sayuri…so did you always live in that town?" he asked wanting to know a little bit more about her.
"No, I came across it ten years ago and wasn't allowed to leave." she said softly, looking straight ahead.
"How did you come across it? And where had you been before that?" he asked, wondering how she ended up there.
"Before that I spent two to three years wandering about…" she trailed off and sighed, deciding to answer the question that the ninja was sure to ask. "But before that I was in my own village with my family and friends." she said with a small voice.
"So what made you leave your village and just 'wander about' you sound like you miss your family?"
"Rogues…they attacked my village when I was thirteen and got knocked unconscious by something, or someone. When I woke up I was in a different country, I had no idea where I was…if my village was still in one piece, if my family was alive and who ever had taken me from my village was gone."
"But surely if you knew what country you were in and what country your village was in, you would have been able to find your way back or get some sort of information…" Genma said softly.
"It wasn't that simple…you see…" she stopped and swallowed, lowering her head and biting her lip. "…when…when I came to…everything was different."
"Different how?" Genma asked, turning to face her.
"It seems that when I was hit during the attack and taken from my home…something else was taken from me." she explained, lifting her head towards Genma. It was then when a beam of light broke through the trees and hit her face that Genma saw it just as she said those words. "My sight was taken from me…"