Chapter 6: Retrieval
Sakura froze when sharp pain hit her square in the back causing her to stumble during her work. The green chakra around her hands dissipated as she fell to her knees. The seals on her arms pulsed quickly, synchronizing to the pace of her heart.
"Sakura?" Haru asked in a concerned tone as he strained himself to see what was going on. He held his bandaged stomach and sat up, wincing in pain.
"You shouldn't move Haru," She replied in a strained voice, her head in her arms as a bead of sweat rolled down her cheek.
"A-are you okay?" He inquired anyway as he watched her. She nodded and lifted her head, trying to calm her breathing down when another prick hit her once more in the back. Slamming her head down into her arms again, she cried in pain as she clenched her fists tightly till they turned white.
"H-hey!" Haru exclaimed, reaching out to touch her shoulder. When his fingers barely met her skin, he could feel the heat coming off that he had to pull his hand back. He caught a glimpse of her struggling to stay awake and immediately jumped out of bed despite the pain. He ran over to the button by the door and slammed his palm into it sounding the alarm.
With that done, he made his way over to Sakura who felt like she was on fire. Her skin was scorching hot Haru even spotted the steam. Beads of sweat formed on his back as blood started to soak into the bandages. He lifted her on to the bed and set her down gently before rushing over to the sink to grab some cold water. Suddenly, the door crashed open and Chihiro stepped in astonished.
"What happened? Haru!" She exclaimed, seeing her severely injured brother actually able to stand up. The rest of the gang piled in, only to see their comrade on the bed, gasping like there was no tomorrow.
"Sakura!" Naruto cried out, running over to the bed frantically. Sasuke followed after him, showing a hint of alarm in his dark onyx eyes as Kakashi examined her. Anko stood on the other side, gripping the edge of the bed in worry.
"What happened to her?" Kakashi asked calmly as he turned to see Haru walking back with Chihiro holding the bin of ice cold water. He clutched his stomach and gritted his teeth, his knees buckling from underneath him. Sasuke was the closest to him and instantly caught him, putting his arm over his shoulder as he helped him stand up. He led him to the chair by the bed and let him down slowly as to not open his wounds once more.
"I-I dunno; she suddenly collapsed and started gasping as if something was piercing a vital spot." Haru replied in a hoarse whisper, coughing in his hand. Anko narrowed her eyes and met Kakashi's who immediately understood.
"Chihiro, would you mind staying here with Anko while the rest of us go take a walk?" He asked her as he grabbed Naruto by the shoulder. He led him out of the room with Sasuke behind him, carefully supporting Haru as he made it out the door.
"Sure," She replied, looking a bit confused as they left.
"Kakashi-sensei! What's the deal?" Naruto exclaimed as Sasuke pulled the door shut behind him. Through the glass he could see Anko and Chihiro both on each side of the bed, crowding Sakura. Narrowing his eyes, he placed Haru down on the bench and sat down beside him. Kakashi leaned against the door so that none of them would be able to see what would happen.
"It's the seal that Anko placed. It's reacting to the chakra from the curse mark." He explained in a serious tone, his gray eye distant. Haru's breath hitched in his throat as he leaned forward.
"What…did you just say?" He asked in a quiet voice, stunning everyone else. Kakashi blinked at him but then realized, his eyebrows scrunching together.
"That's right…you don't know do you?" He inquired, crossing his arms as he glanced over into the room. He could see Sakura's legs kicking out as Chihiro tried to hold her down. Anko had a strained look on her face as she did something that he couldn't see.
"Know what?" Haru asked in worry, taking a glance at a silent Sasuke. He was staring at the floor and was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed. Naruto was even quiet at that moment, his bright blue eyes growing distant as well.
"Sakura has a curse mark," Kakashi inevitably replied, his tone dead serious as Haru widened his eyes. "And its killing her as I speak," He added quietly when a piercing scream hit the air. Everyone jolted and Kakashi cringed as he blocked the view for everyone to not see.
"What's going on in there?" Naruto exclaimed in frustration, angry that he couldn't be there to help his teammate out.
"How did this happen?" Haru asked his head in his hands. Sasuke glanced over at him and narrowed his eyes to slits, obviously getting irritated.
"Orochimaru that's who," Naruto hissed, his name filled with such hatred.
"One of the three legendary Sannin?" Haru asked his eyes widening once more.
"Yes," Kakashi answered with his eyes closed. Another scream passed their ears and Naruto jumped, his eyes shut at the sound of his best friend's voice in pain.
"What's happening to her?" Sasuke asked for the first time, catching Naruto's and Kakashi's attention. He had his leg crossed over the other and had a frown on his face. His dark onyx eyes were clouded with concern.
"She's….well….I don't even know myself. You'll have to ask Anko when they're done." The teacher replied, looking over his shoulder once more. The kicking had stopped and Anko stepped back from the bed, a stricken look on her face as she leaned against window with a hand to her mouth. She started coughing heavily with Chihiro rushing to her side in concern as she fell to her knees. Realizing it was over, Kakashi burst through the door and went over to the Jounin's side, helping her up. Naruto ran over to Sakura's side as Sasuke slowly ambled in with Haru in pain.
"Is she okay? What did you do?" Naruto asked, the questions flying out of his mouth. Sakura's eyes were open as they stared at the ceiling; however she wasn't really there, her eyes giving off that distant look as if she weren't alive. Her palms were facing up with splotches of blood on them. Her pink hair was fanned out on the pillow as if she had just fallen on it.
"I tried to stop it from taking her," Every head turned to Anko as she started to explain in a whisper, Naruto widening his eyes. "But it was too late. The chakra had already gone through the seal and by the time we had gotten in the room, it was already flowing in her blood." She finished, looking solemn as she glanced at Sakura.
A blur speeded past Sasuke and in an instant, Naruto had Anko pinned against the wall with his fist clenching her jacket. His blue eyes were widened in anger as Anko stared down at him with a surprised look on his face.
"Oi! Naruto," Sasuke exclaimed as he walked up to his friend. Kakashi had his hand on his shoulder, trying to pry him off, however Naruto didn't seem to notice at all.
"You tried to stop it? You should've stopped it! She's our friend! How can you just let that happen to her? I promised myself that I wouldn't let anything happen to any of my friends after Sasuke came back-but now look!" Naruto yelled, thrusting his hand out to his technically not there friend. Anko narrowed her eyes as she met Naruto's blazing ones once more.
"Naruto-"
"We've known her all her life and all you did was try?"
"Naruto, calm yourself," Kakashi quietly said, putting a hand on his shoulder. Sasuke crossed his arms as Naruto released Anko from his tight grip and stepped back next to him. Chihiro went up to Anko and took her wrist.
"Isn't there some sort of way to get her back? I do believe that we could've done more than just try like Naruto had said." She asked, looking back at Sakura.
"There is but I'm not one hundred percent positive it'll work," Anko looked doubtfully at Sakura a second and took a glance at Naruto who was glaring at the floor, his fists clenched.
"We have to at least try," He softly suggested, gritting his teeth.
Sighing, she walked up to Sakura and closed her eyes with a simple swipe of her hand. Lowering her head, her frown slowly turned up into a smile. Meeting everyone else's eyes, she pointed at Sasuke.
"Alright! Let's give it a shot! Sasuke, you'll need to stay here. The rest of you, stay in the back or you'll just get in the way," Anko instructed, as Kakashi took Haru from the chair and led him to the back of the room. Sasuke stood on the other side of the bed and waited for Anko's orders as she handed him a piece of rock with small gems glimmering on the inside of the cracks.
"Sasuke," He looked up and saw her eyes narrowed.
"What is it?" He asked coldly, keeping his ground. After a moment, she breathed out and looked at the rock in her hand.
"Can I trust you to help bring her back?" He jolted in surprise at her question and examined his own hand; the memories of leaving the village with Sakura crying after him, his meeting with them after three years, and Naruto finally bringing him back flashed through his mind.
"Yes," Anko grinned and placed the rock in one of Sakura's palms.
"Good, now place the rock I gave you into her hand and put yours on top of it. Yes, just like that. Don't move your hands one inch or this whole thing will blow up in our faces and we won't be able to see her again." Anko directed, watching as Sasuke followed what she asked. "Now, close your eyes and on my word, release your chakra into the rock."
"Ready?" Anko shut her own eyes and pressed her hands on to the rock, leaning forward. Sasuke held the same position and waited patiently. Naruto watched anxiously from the side, wanting to get his best friend back from that evil chakra.
"Now! Gem Jutsu: Invasion!" In one second the room was absolutely calm, and in the next, a mixture of blue and purple chakra surrounded the hospital bed, giving off the sound of energy, blowing wind into the room and swirling around everyone.
Chihiro gaped in awe as Anko released more, yelling as her wave of chakra became more powerful. Sasuke did the same, his face straining at the effort. Kakashi furrowed his eye brows as he saw the stones in Sakura's hands start to melt, becoming smoother. Please let this work. Bring back my student. He thought, clenching his fists together.
With a flash of light, the mix of purple and blue became a bright black and white, moving Anko and Sasuke's minds somewhere else.
Retrieval
Sasuke stumbled as they landed on what seemed to be a dark room. Anko straightened beside him and brushed her coat off, taking a glance at him.
"Are you alright?" She asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah," He quietly replied, looking around what seemed to be a dark room. Yet, if it was dark, how could he see Anko? "Where are we?" He inquired, meeting her eyes.
"This dark place is Sakura's mind." He froze, only able to see a dark chasm in front of him.
"There's nothing here," He spluttered, astonished. He heard a bitter laugh from the Jounin and cocked his head.
"Of there isn't, the curse mark's already taken over; which is why this'll be hard to bring her back." She sighed and put a hand to her head, looking skyward which was funny because there was no sky.
"I knew this wouldn't work." She said to herself quietly. Sasuke narrowed his eyes and took hold of her wrist, dragging her forth.
"We don't know till we try, that's what Naruto forced into me."
After about thirty minutes of wandering, Sasuke stopped in his tracks as he saw something in the distance. Anko came to a stop next to him and also spotted a figure. Coming up to it, he gasped softly when he caught the color of her pink hair.
A small little Sakura was sitting on the ground, her clothes torn and dirty as she cried softly; her hands covering her face. She looked up when she heard their footsteps, only to gasp in astonishment.
"W-who are you?" She asked through hiccups as she stood up, wiping her tears away. Sasuke noticed that the curse mark's flames had started to crawl over her neck. It hasn't gone over fully, but it will soon he realized. Anko bent down to her height and smiled, putting a hand on her pink head.
"I'm Anko, and this is Sasuke, do you mind telling me what's going on?" She asked slowly, hoping that the little Sakura would understand. The green eyed child blinked and nodded, sniffling.
"I was walking with my mommy to go to the park, but she just disappeared! I didn't know what to do, so I…I sat down and started to cry…." A tear escaped her eye and Anko reached up to wipe it away.
"Aw, it's okay. We'll help you find her. Tell me, what's your name?" She inquired sweetly, standing up to her full height. Sakura took a glance at Sasuke and blinked innocently.
"Sakura," She replied, taking hold of Anko's hand.
"Okay, we'll go with you to find your mom," She suggested, keeping a grin.
"Wait, so she doesn't recognize us?" Sasuke asked in a low voice, glancing at Anko. She shook her head and casted her gaze down at the little skipping Sakura.
"This was when she was little; one of her memories." She replied in the same tone, grinning as the little girl looked up at her.
"Don't worry okay? We'll get you there in no time!" She cheerfully said, giving her a high five. Sakura giggled and turned her head over to a silent Sasuke.
"Hey, Sasuke, how come you're not talking?" She asked kindly, her green eyes filled with curiosity. He looked silently down at her and met Anko's eyes. They told him to just be himself and answer.
"Uh…I just didn't have anything to say." He quietly said, making an effort. She smiled and grabbed hold of his wrist that was shoved down his pocket. Pulling it out, she held his hand and swung it back and forth.
"You're nice Sasuke!" She complimented, grinning at him with bright eyes. He looked at her in surprise and slowly loosened up, even cracking a small smile for her. She looked ahead and slipped out of his hold, pointing ahead.
"Look! I think I see my mommy!" She cried out, running ahead of the two Jounin's. Anko looked alarmed as she ran off, crying out.
"Wait Sakura!" She exclaimed, running after her with Sasuke by her side, soon catching up to the little girl. Coming up behind her, they saw that she was rigid as she looked at her mother.
"Mommy?" She asked, seeing the shadowed figure of the woman in front of her. Suddenly, it was as if lights flashed on and there she was, smiling creepily at her daughter, with blood blossoming in the middle of her stomach.
"Mommy what's wrong?" She carefully asked, reaching out to her cautiously. Anko gently stopped her, pulling her back as her mother started to fall backwards. Thumping on to her back, Sakura struggled against Anko's grip.
"Mommy! Mommy!" She cried out, tears of fear streaming down her face. Sasuke narrowed his eyes as a figure appeared behind the dead mother, a gleaming weapon in their hand. He stepped in front of the two girls, his katana out and his arm thrust in front of them protectively. The figure pulled back their hood and he widened his eyes in shock as Orochimaru's pale white face and yellow snake like eyes.
"Sasuke, keep going, this is just a memory; he won't do anything to us." Anko whispered as she held the crying Sakura in her arms, gently rubbing her back. Sasuke glared at his used to be sensei and nodded and slowly moved forward, cautious as they made their way around him. Sheathing his weapon, he stepped in line with Anko as she put Sakura down.
"You have to be brave okay?" Anko said as she wiped away her tears with the sleeve of her jacket. Sakura sniffled and nodded her eyes red from the salty tears.
"I'll try," She whispered, turning around to hold her hand. Soon, the three of them walked on, only to come across a splatter of blood on the ground. Sakura froze in place as she stared at it, her hands shaking. Not even a moment after, there was a loud yell and a crash of glass against the ground. Alert, Sasuke and Anko ran with Sakura in her arms to the source of the sound. Sasuke jolted in place as his heart thumped hard in his chest. Anko didn't breathe at the sight in front of her and Sakura was there, frozen at the sheer terror.
Her older self, being held by the scruff of her shirt by the pale faced, snake eye like man. She gritted her teeth as he spoke to her, his lips moving slowly.
"Ah Sakura Haruno, you'll become a great experiment for one of my students in the future. However when she does take you, you'll remember nothing of this day. The day your family was killed and how you somehow are the only one alive." He laughed, his tongue slithering out of his mouth.
Suddenly the door slammed open and Sakura's parents rushed in, their eyes widening as they saw their daughter.
"Orochimaru! Give us back our daughter!"
Orochimaru turned his head slightly and flicked his wrist. Sakura opened her mouth and screamed.
"No! Get out of here! You'll die!"
Out of nowhere, two gigantic snakes tore through the screen doors of the house and charged at them at lightning speeds. Sakura's parents pulled out their weapons, ready to fight. The snakes opened their jaws and struck. Anko covered little Sakura's eyes quickly, just in time before the blood splattered all over the door post and on the floor. The older Sakura looked past Orochimaru's shoulder, her eyes only fixated on the spot where her parents were before. A tear streaked down her cheek when she suddenly snapped. She widened her eyes and clenched her fists as she met his snake like ones.
"OROCHIMARU!" She yelled, smacking his grip off her shirt. Jumping back, she grabbed one of the katana's placed on the mantle and unsheathed it, casting aside the scabbard as she placed herself in an offensive stance. She bent down on her knees and widened her eyes.
"YOU'LL REGRET FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE FOR DOING THAT!" She screamed, casting a jutsu on the katana, causing it to glow a blue color. She charged at him about to strike when she froze, the entire scene froze. Then, in slow motion, it started up again, soon going back to its original speed.
There was an explosion right when she made contact with Orochimaru's skin, sending her back into the wall, the katana flying off to the other side of the room. A hand grabbed her by the throat and Orochimaru's face was half burned off as he grinned.
"You certainly are powerful Sakura; therefore, you'll make an excellent experiment." He hissed, as Sakura clenched her fists, blood dripping down the side of her face.
"One day I'll kill you because of what you've done." She threatened, the words coming from her heart. Sasuke could see it in her blazing green eyes. Orochimaru chuckled and tightened the grip on her throat causing her to cry out, her eyes squeezed shut.
"I'm afraid not." Then with a simple twitch of his fingers, Sakura's eyes became blank and soon rolled to the back of her head. The little Sakura in Anko's arms also became unconscious, becoming limp in her arms.
A bright light shone through the memory, casting it aside, causing Sasuke to shield his face, when as the light cleared, he saw a figure floating in the air. Widening his eyes, he slowly walked forward with Anko, who was as easily shocked. Anko sank to her knees as the Sakura in her hands started to disappear, slowly fading into the darkness. Looking up, she closed her eyes and got up, coming next to Sasuke.
"Sakura," She whispered to the floating girl in what seemed to be a shield from the curse mark. Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he pointed to the crack at the edge of the shield.
"The shield won't be able to hold for long." He said, walking up to it. He placed a hand on it and immediately received a shock.
"Then we have to work fast to get her out of there. There's only a limited amount of time for this jutsu."
"Well how much time do we have left?"
"About twenty minutes."
Sasuke sighed and took a glance at his katana's hilt. Unsheathing it, he looked at its blade and shoved it into the shield, sending out sparks. Anko rushed forward and grabbed his shoulder.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She exclaimed, trying to pull the katana out. However it was stuck in there like glue.
"We have to get her out as soon as possible right?" He retorted, pushing it more in.
"But what you're doing is just-!" She took a glance at the shield and saw the crack in it become deeper, adding more to it. It spread and circled the round shield, soon reaching its starting point.
It suddenly shattered and the curse mark seemed to react instantly. It lashed out as if it were alive and went straight for a falling Sakura. Sasuke rushed forward at the same time sheathing his katana, and caught his friend in his arms. Grunting, he stood up and ran up to Anko who cast a shield around them.
"Hurry! We have to get away from this!" Anko yelled, performing as many jutsu's as she can.
"It's all around us! What're you talking about?" Sasuke replied as he carefully looked down at Sakura who had a strained look on her face. Anko let out an exasperated sigh and set up a momentary barrier between them, and the lashing curse mark.
"Alright, bend down." She placed her hands in one of Sakura's and instructed him to do the same. Closing her eyes, she breathed out. "Release your chakra on my word." Sasuke closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Ready…"
A crack formed in the barrier.
"Now!"
The barrier shattered into pieces and in charged the darkness just as Sasuke and Anko release their chakra, creating their own barrier that repelled the attacks of the mark. With their minds moving upwards, they were moved back into the present.
Retrieval
Sasuke snapped open his eyes and looked up at Anko who looked easily the same way. At the same time, they both turned to look at Sakura whose eyes were now focused and wandering around the room.
"Sakura!" Naruto exclaimed, running up to the bed next to Sasuke. Anko let go of her hands, yet Sasuke still hadn't realized that he could. Kakashi, Chihiro, and Haru came up to see Sakura sitting up, smiling.
"I'm sorry you guys," She gave them all a weak smile and earned herself and whack on the head.
"Hey! What'd you do that for?" She complained at Chihiro who was grinning with watery eyes. "Oh, h-hey did I do something?" She asked, taking her hand. Chihiro laughed and shook her head, hugging her friend tightly.
"No! Nothing at all! I'm just glad your back!" She exclaimed, tears running down her cheeks.
All the while, Sasuke hadn't let go of her hand ever since she woke up.
Thanks guys for reading! I worked real hard on this chapter today so I hoped you liked it! Please leave a review before you go okay? I'd really appreciate it!
FallenWing21