Several minutes after Sasuke left the cottage Sakura wrenched her eyes open. Every single nerve in her body protested against staying awake and the pain in her side was miserable. But every minute she allowed to pass without healing was another minute that one of her lungs could collapse.
She made a frustrated sound. She had no time for lying on her back. Sakura didn't have a lot at her disposal and hated feeling out of control. She had worked to toughen herself so she wouldn't rely on others, yet here she was in a precarious situation with a hundred ways it could get worse.
Sakura groaned as she pulled herself into a seated position against the wall and breathed shallowly. Her lung burned and spasmed.
Sakura tipped her head back until it bounced off the wall. Out of the frying pan... Here she had been thinking that she was heading for a nasty scolding for killing foreign ninja when her orders were to avoid fighting, and now she was resting in the home of a rogue ninja who had just very nearly killed her.
How did the Iwa end up interrogating Sasuke? Were there more Iwa who knew he was here or was running into him as much a coincidence for them as it was for her? Would they be after him now that two of their own were dead? Where was Kakashi's team situated now? Would one of them sneak into the village and see Sasuke? What if they ran into the Iwa instead?
She shook her head, trying to push away unhelpful thoughts. She needed to assess her injuries completely. She already knew she couldn't heal herself without help.
The chidori had struck her over the ribs just below her left breast. Ironically, Sakura couldn't see her wound due to her breast. She would laugh if it didn't hurt so damned much. She tried to imagine Sasuke cleaning the wound, his face basically level with her chest...but she couldn't do it. That cold bastard would never get distracted by a woman's curves.
At any rate, the first order of priority was to reduce the pain. Just breathing hurt and gathering the tiny remains of her chakra together was going to be next to impossible with her head swimming in agony.
Up till now the worst wound she had ever gotten was when Naruto lost control of himself and his kyuubi had struck her down. Her arm was still slightly discolored. She sighed. Naturally Sasuke would give her something that could rival Naruto.
Sakura gathered what remained of her chakra and fashioned it precisely so it would sink into her flesh. It reduced the swelling, relaxing the nerve endings. The relief nearly led her to pass out again.
Still, a little alarm went off in her head as she was at critical levels for chakra.
"Please, just a little bit more." She muttered. She took a deep breath and concentrated.
Her head swam in a haze but she forced herself to weave the tendrils of chakra. She methodically went through the hand signals for a summoning jutsu.
She barely had any breath to whisper, "Hi, Katsuya," and then she fell over in a slump.
The slug summons was perhaps as large as two Choji's put together and felt cramped in the cottage. She spied her mistress's protege collapsed by the wall.
"Sakura-san! Oh, no, you've fallen! I'll come right to you!" The slug made her way to Sakura.
"There, I will just put you inside me and try heal you that way." Katsuya slipped over Sakura and enveloped her, gently turning over the kunoichi and letting her slime access Sakura's wounds. "Oh my goodness, this is terrible! Sakura-san, your damage is awful. Your lungs! Your stomach! I truly hope I can help."
The giant slug healer fretted aloud as she worked and after ten minutes Sakura slipped out from her insides with a moist slurp. In a moment she coughed and rolled to her side, coughing and gasping.
"Sakura-san! Are you alright?"
"Yes, Katsuya." Sakura's voice was weak but became more steady as she spoke. "Thank you for your help, and for the loan of chakra."
"You were in terrible shape, ma'am! I am afraid I can't continue to heal you tonight. This is as much as your body can manage until you get a full night of sleep. I am surprised to see you hurt so bad and no sign of your team or any enemy."
"I know, Katsuya. I'll explain it to you, but I need you to do me a favor. Please take what I am about to tell you directly to Lady Tsunade. She can make sure that Naruto hears it right away. I don't have time to waste on messengers that can get intercepted."
"Yes, Sakura-san! I will do it!"
"Thank you, Katsuya. Here is what I need you to tell Lady Tsunade:
This should be considered a top level secret for Konoha, and Naruto should hear it immediately.
I found Sasuke. Do. Not. Approach. Situation is very fluid.
I was injured as a result of freeing him from Iwa capture. I killed the Iwa shinobi that caught him. He is helping me recover.
Sasuke is much changed. I mean, it's a shocking difference. Please give me three days. I can recover in that time and try to influence Sasuke to come home.
I am sorry this will make diplomatic efforts much harder, so I urge they be concluded quickly, before this situation is well known.
I haven't contacted team lead yet. I'll summon Katsuya again tomorrow morning for your responses.
"Do you have all that, Katsuya?"
"Yes, Sakura-san! How wonderful that you have found your teammate again, and he is caring for you!"
"Mh." Sakura nodded. "I'm glad." She wasn't lying, she told herself. It was as a result of setting him free from the genjutsu that she got hurt. Sakura sighed. But all Tsunade had to do was ask Katsuya what kind of injuries she had and the woman would quickly realize it was Sasuke who had nearly killed her.
Well there was nothing she could do about it now. This was the best spin she could put on it.
"I will go to Lady Tsunade at once. Sakura-san, you must rest and recuperate without pushing yourself. Even if you slept through the whole night now, it would not be enough to finish healing."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Please conserve your chakra, and please be careful with your health!"
"Yes, Katsuya, I will."
"Very well, Sakura-san, I will see you in the morning."
"Good night, Katsuya."
A puff of smoke signaled Katsuya's exit and Sakura was sitting cross legged on a pallet all by herself.
She rubbed her eyes. Sleep sounded more and more like a marvelous idea. But she needed to know more about her situation. She looked around herself at the tiny cottage she was in. It was perhaps ten feet by twelve, extremely utilitarian and gave not one hint as to what Sasuke was doing there. As Sakura looked around she realized the one thing the place didn't have was anything that hinted at weaponry or life as a shinobi. No scrolls, no sword or kunai... It baffled Sakura.
What in the world brought Sasuke here? What did he do with his days? She swallowed. For that matter, how did he change so much? And why? She had watched Naruto grow up before her very eyes, so of course he was very different now as a man - and the Hokage! - compared to how he was as a knucklehead genin. But that didn't explain Sasuke's change - he had become...compassionate! How...? Why...?
Her stomach rumbled loudly and she realized that on top of desperately needing to sleep, she also needed to eat. With a grumble, she lumbered to her feet. She was no longer in pain, but her body was still lethargic and weak. Surely Sasuke kept a little food in the cottage?
She poked around at the few furnishings, telling herself it was okay to be a little nosy since she was just looking for food. She found boxes with clothing and she was struck by how nondescript they were. Finally she realized there wasn't a single symbol on them - no Uchiha fan, Konoha leaf or fire kanji - and most of the colors were drab, like he was trying to wear obscurity on purpose.
Sakura finally found some food stores and pulled out half of a loaf of bread. That would do. She pinched off pieces to eat as she headed back to her bed. She considered the situation further.
She was supposed to meet with Kakashi's team at midnight but there wasn't much chance she would be able to make it in her condition. At this point it would take Sasuke carrying her. And speaking of Sasuke, she hoped he could avoid another ambush, or whatever had really happened to let him fall to Kishi's genjutsu.
Sakura didn't realize she had lain down with bread still in hand. Absently she pulled the blanket over her legs and munched on her bread, idly thinking about the Konoha shinobi in the local areas.
Due to the uncertain nature of shinobi activity, ninja with Sakura's mission were also supposed to skirt villages in an effort to reduce the likelihood of encounters with foreign ninja. Sakura had heard interesting things about the village which was why she had been scouting the area. If Kakashi and the others kept the mission instructions better than she did, they would never run into Sasuke.
She drifted off to sleep wondering if she was relieved by that or not.
-傷-
Katsuya is such a perfect lady.