Now
A small trail of blood falls slowly sound from the side of his mouth. Sasuke runs is thumb on it, then struggles drawing a straight line down his palm. This is the first time he tries a summon technique, and has already found the faults of having one hand to call for help.
Not for much longer, he thinks.
He slams his palm down on the ground and a large cloud appears in front of him, which reveals two pairs of wings the size of his body and a large beak with red marks. Garuda stands tall and proud, still willing to serve his master in spite of their lack of contact for two years. Sasuke pats the head of the large hawk, who lowers it as a form of accepting the affection.
Sasuke climbs on the back of Garuda. "Take me to Konoha," he instructs.
Once they depart, Sasuke looks back on the sight he's left behind. Ruins, and more ruins. It would have been a lot easier to just summon Garuda on the first place and fly him and Sakura around rather than use their feet for travelling. However, Sasuke was -and still is- aware of the physical strain that using any jutsu can put on his body.
He's seen how it made Itachi collapse before he died, and has even tried to reach his limit himself. His body weakens so much that it feels like his sickness is invading more than just his lungs. He cannot even use his Rinnegan without suffering dire consequences. And now, that he was so close to finding answers, he has to return to his old village to save the only hope he has of surviving in a better world. His past keeps catching up to him even though he wants to move on.
The ruins just keep getting smaller and smaller as he flies away from where he lost Sakura.
Then
Sakura is not used to sleeping around cats. Yes, sleeping outside in the forest while on a mission is a common part of her profession, but even then she does not acknowledge that there are visible animals around her. There is nothing wrong with it, except for when she is trying to change into more comfortable clothes and three cats appear out of nowhere, leaving her with the impression that they have been present in the room for much longer than she'd thought, keeping an eye on every single one of her moves.
She ignores them, aware that provoking ninneko can leave worse scars than fighting against a giant Ten-Tailed Beast. The room that Nekobaa offered her is small and bare, except for the old small bed placed in a corner, the dim light that hangs from the low ceiling, a night table and a chair. At least it is not like the old woman's sleeping quarters, which Sakura is sure that must be decorated in feline regalia and even comes with a sandbox.
She has to stop the giggle that wants to escape from her mouth, for she notices Sasuke walking past her in the hallway. He is still dressed in his everyday clothes, having left his worn out cloak in his own room. He turns to look at her with a raised eyebrow, but then averts his look as his chest tenses up.
He is not having one of his attack in front of Sakura like this, he tells himself.
"Sasuke-kun," she calls for him, walking out of her room and joining him in the hallway. "I should check your left arm." She's noticed how he maintains it hidden, and sometimes stubbornly ignores the discomfort he feels from her medical eyes.
"No," he says bluntly.
He then continues walking down the hallway, leaving a dumbfounded Sakura behind until she catches up to him again. They both enter the main room in Nekobaa's home, which has a high ceiling, no windows and dim lighting. Just like Sakura imagined, the main room is filled with decorations of cats, ranging from small statues to large carpets hanging from the walls.
The three eat in silence, until Nekobaa gets up from her seat and excuses herself with giving attention to her cats. It is clear that the old woman does not interact with humans often, based on her manners. Nevertheless, Sakura does not feel the need to make a comment considering that they are getting free room and board tonight.
She then turns to her old teammate, who is picking on the food of his plate without much appetite. The image reminds Sakura of the significant contrast between the calm and dampened version and the overpowered, glorified Sasuke she had known for most of her life. He must still carry the same amount of power and strength -Sasuke is not one to stop training even if the world is at peace- but chooses to remain untroubled.
However, the slight flinch on his face catches her attention.
"I really think I should check on your arm," Sakura insists again.
"It's fine."
And he's as stubborn as a donkey.
"Have you ever had it checked?"
"Yes."
"I mean, after you left Konoha?"
There is a pregnant pause before his answer.
"No."
Another long moment of silence.
She has done it many times before with Naruto's half limb, aware that keeping an eye on it prevents undesirable infections. In reality, though, she could not move on with the urge to check what is wrong with his body. He's sick and decides to conceal it from her; the only way for her to help him is to do so covertly.
"I have my medical supplies with me just in case you need something for your arm," Sakura offers to no avail.
"Sakura," he sets his chopsticks down and looks at her in that same way he used to when she thought about his former Cursed Seal. "Just drop it."
She has to drop her gaze, focusing on the small red stain on the floor before regaining her composure. Fine, he can live with his stubborn, thick skull until he cannot survive without her help. Sakura already knows that the best way for Sasuke to get better (which is a thought that causes her heart to become ten times heavier) is to come to her.
"Then... how did you meet Nekobaa?"
Now
When Sakura opens her eyes, she finds herself lying on her back in her bed with the blankets covering up to her shoulders. She cannot recall when she fell asleep, how, and for how long. Her heartbeat quickens with panic at this realization; she's not one to sleep in or lose track of how many hours her eyes remain closed.
She sits up in the comfortable mattress, her skin appreciating the softness of the silk sheets while the sunlight enters into her room through the opened window. Her arms and legs feel much more relaxed than her last time awake, yet she is still wearing her everyday clothes. It seems that she had fallen asleep without changing into her sleepwear, which surprisingly does not bother her.
Her spacious room is too bright to continue sleeping, she concludes. Giving a long stretch of her arms and a last yawn, Sakura gets up from her bed and walks towards the window. The sound of waves hitting the shore bring a sense of calmness to her ears; the beach nearby feels like it is pulling her into an enchanting state.
The waves, sand, and endless ocean seem so small from up here, but she's felt its grains between her toes and the saltiness of the water with her tongue to know that this beach is infinite.
Sakura takes in a deep breath, turning around to face her room once again.
Wait.
Her room...?
Since when is this her-?
A flash of images hits her head so hard that she has to hold herself up against the wall, with her back hitting the concrete in shock. First she sees a desperate Sasuke, then her arrival in this place, then the room of rare artifacts she discovered.
Then Indra.
Indra.
Her eyes widen, finally remembering what and who is keeping her from coming back to her reality. Sakura recalls the last thing before she opened her eyes not too long ago. The old legend had informed her that she is in a different time and space, that her friends and family and home no longer exist. And it feels like a thousand daggers stab her heart.
The door to the bedroom blasts open after she lands her fist on its centre. Sakura runs down the unknown hallway, guessing that it must be on a different floor from the portion she had discovered yesterday. She cannot believe how her guard could have gone down like that; she cannot remember when she fell asleep, or rather, how.
And the only person who has the answers to all the twists in her mind is the last person -or deity, or whatever- that she wants to encounter.
She finds him where the sounds of the sea are the loudest. There is a large terrace at the end of the hallway she runs in. It bears no furniture, its floor and barrier are made out of the same unknown concrete as the rest of the castle (and at this point she is already convinced that Indra has taken her to his personal castle).
Indra is sitting cross legged, his back facing her and his front facing the infinite blue landscape. His body is covered in a white, loose fitting robe tied with a black rope at his waist. His shoulders aren't tense, his hands resting on his knees with their open palms facing the sky. The calm breeze of the ocean air moves his long dark hair slightly, becoming the only indication that he is not a real statue.
His meditating stance is a contradiction to the storm currently building inside her chest.
She finds her feet frozen in place as he speaks. "You've woken up. I am glad that you rested."
He's standing in front of her before she has the chance to say a word.
Indra's chest is almost touching the tip of her nose, while his deep voice resonates from above. Sakura knows that in order to hear him better she has to look up, but takes a step back with his sudden closeness.
"Show me how strong you are."
"What-"
The unexpected order surprises her. Indra takes no time in hesitation; he appears a few meters far from Sakura, adopting a fighting stance that reminds her too much of a certain somebody.
"I've seen you fight, Haruno Sakura. Show me what you know."
Then
The hunch in her back should have told her that this was going to happen.
She hears knuckles slightly tapping on her door, and Sakura rolls her eyes before she gets up from her bed. She is met with a Sasuke that reminds her of their genin days. He's looking at the floor with a similar insecurity that he has tried so hard to conceal; his hair is uncovered, and his sleeping cloak rests on his shoulders hiding the lack of his left forearm.
Just drop it he said. Yeah, right.
Sasuke doesn't say anything as he makes his way into her room. His eyes are still locked on the floor, yet he finds his way to the chair on the opposite corner to Sakura's bed. He sits down, takes a deep breath, and takes off his cloak. Underneath, he is wearing a worn out dark blue long sleeve, and he rolls up the left sleeve until the stump on his arm is visible.
Sakura just crosses her arms and shakes her head. "I thought you said you didn't want to get it checked." Though his missing limb is the last of her worries.
"I changed my mind."
And she has to stop her heart from dropping ten floors, imagining that the real reason he wants to get checked is a lot more noticeable than he thinks. Sakura has to hand it to him; he's kept his mysterious condition a secret for some time and it doesn't seem that he's asked anyone to look it over. She can tell that it's been happening for a while but still cannot fathom how long he's had to struggle with it.
The metallic smell of blood is strong when she sits on her bed and extends her hands to reach his left arm. Green glow flows from her fingers, seeping into his scarred skin. Before Sasuke departed two years ago, Sakura and Tsunade-sama had ensured that his wound would close nicely, and that his stump was shaped in a way that let them to attach a prosthesis. In spite of his initial refusal, he followed all the other procedures to recover healthily, such as physical therapy and muscle exercises to maintain the remaining part of his arm working properly.
He was also prescribed a list of medications to prevent the wound from opening again, as well as a cream that Sakura knew he could only find in Konoha.
"You haven't applied the scarring cream we gave you," her words sound more like a reprimand than a question.
Sasuke chooses to remain silent. "Well, that's obvious," Sakura continues. "Any phantom limb pains?" He shakes his head. "Good. If you still have them now then it means that your recovery has been poor."
Her fingers continue to weave through the veins and tissue of his left arm, travelling from the stump up to his shoulders. His right elbow rests on the night table, his chin resting on his hand.
"Sometimes it's sensitive," he says.
"That's because you haven't asked me for the scarring cream," Sakura reprimands, thinking of how many times she's played this scene out in her imagination. "Just like I thought. You've caught a minor infection in your soft tissue." She taps the place where his skin is slightly redder with her index finger.
His mouth twists in a grimace at the sensation. Yes, initially he did not want to worry Sakura with the tenderness he felt, but waiting until it bothered him to no avail was not the right option either. Not to mention that letting Sakura check on him means that she would discover something else, if she hasn't had already.
Sakura clicks her tongue in disapproval, "You haven't kept up with the proper treatment, Sasuke-kun."
She rubs her index against her thumb, letting her touch understand what it could from tapping into one of the paths to check his flow of chakra. It feels normal, yet there is something that sets it off, something that Sakura has never encountered before. It feels like a dark manifestation that is slowly spreading through all of his body. Judging by the smell of blood and coughing, Sakura can already tell that it has affected his lungs and part of his trachea. The infection in his arm has nothing to do with it; there is a much more serious force playing out behind Sasuke's mysterious illness.
Whatever Sasuke is trying to hide is still beyond her knowledge, which only makes her more difficult to breathe. She's witnessed and experimented with a vast range of pathological studies, with and without chakra, but this does not compare to any of her previous experiences. And to find out what it is, she would have to ask him questions that she is not ready to voice.
So she has to continue pretending, at least until he opens up about it. It's an unprofessional thought, as a medic nin's main duty is to save lives, but Sakura knows enough about her old teammate to understand that he will not accept her help even if she begs him.
Sasuke looks right into her eyes, making it even more difficult to conceal her confirmed discovery.
... Or would it be that he wants her to know, but is too afraid to say the actual words? Is it easier for him to make her find out this way?
"Sasuke-kun, I-"
"Thank you."
"O-oh, you're welcome," she is taken aback and tucks a piece of hair behind her earlobe. "I think it's best if you stay here tonight so that I can disinfect your arm. It's not a big procedure, but I'd like to keep it under watch for a couple of hours until it's fully clean."
She gets off her bed, leading him to get tucked in before he can make any demands.
"Here," she sits on the chair he was previously in. "Just fall asleep. I'll work on it meanwhile."
She gives his arm one last check up, pointing out the place where the minor infection is located.
"I can't sleep," Sasuke confesses while she prepares his scarring cream. Sakura would have never predicted this type of scene, in which Sasuke confesses that he cnnot close his eyes to her out of all people.
"Is it bothering you?" he nods once and Sakura quickly checks on his arm. "It'll soothe soon. Give it a minute or two."
She continues preparing his cream, thankful to have all of the necessary ingredients packed in her travelling bag. He has his mismatched eyes covered with his right forearm, but Sakura knows that he is still wide awake.
"Sasuke-kun, where are we heading next?"
Well, if he is not willing to close his eyes for a few hours, then she may as well find out more about their unofficial mission.
He stirs a little, accommodating his body in the small bed, before answering. "To Oto."
"Oh. Orochimaru?"
"Yes."
"You've kept in touch with him?"
"Kind of."
She slightly tilts her head , giving more of her attention to her old teammate than to the ointment she is preparing. "And what does Orochimaru have to do with the strange chakra?"
"He's gathered some information about it, and I want to examine it."
"Information about what?"
He takes a deep breath, uncovers his eyes, and sits up before fully turning to her. This is not going to be a night with a lot of sleep for neither of them, it appears.
"About my ancestor, Ōtsutsuki Indra."
Now
"Uchiha, what are you doing here?"
Breaking in the former Hokage's home in the middle of the night is not the best idea of first time visits, but Sasuke does not care about anything except for Sakura at this point.
Tsunade does not appreciate the gigantic hawk that has landed on her rooftop, and much less its owner who had woken her up. Her brow frowns at noticing that the brat is alone, and a thousand theories begin to form in her head due to the absence of her beloved apprentice.
Sasuke barely manages to hop off of Garuda's back before falling on his knees and spitting blood on the ground. It does not matter that Tsunade sees him this way, this situation is much too urgent to give priority to his health. He senses the woman's approach and her hand resting on his shoulder before bringing him back up on his feet with minimal force.
"My arm," he is able to say. "I need it."
"Where's Sakura?"
God dammit, there's no time for questions!
He holds out his left arm, gesturing her to immediately begin with the surgery because he cannot wait much longer.
"Answer me!"
"No time. I need... Sakura," his breathing is getting heavier, and speaking becomes too difficult.
Just give me my prosthetic. I need to save her. Indra's taken her.
Sakura.
Summoning Garuda had clearly taken too much effort on Sasuke's battered body, and he is beginning to pay the cost of holding off his painful coughs. His lungs feel like they are on fire. Desperation conquers his senses, preventing his mismatched eyes from seeing lines clearly. He can feel his heart palpitate with agitation, yet everything else becomes more and more confusing for him.
The last thing he hears is Tsunade's voice calling him out before he faints.
You peeps are amazing! Thank you so much for all your support!
One of you stated that Sakura does know Nekobaa through the anime, but I won't consider that episode since it was a filler. Sora-ku is more of a stopover in their trip and it does not really bear that much importance to the overall story.
So a couple of things we find out here:
What's up with Sakura's thoughts? At first, she does not feel like Indra's castle is a hostile environment. It's like her memory is playing tricks on her.
LOL Indra, that is such a smooth way of asking your lady how to show her strength. Get excited for the outcome!
What is it that Sasuke wants to find out about his ancestor?
What do you think of the way that Sakura is handling Sasuke's mysterious-Itachi-like condition? I hope that you readers can understand the tumultuous state of her heart at this moment; she sees a patient in pain -a patient she has a strong connection to- but does not know how to treat him. Not to mention that Sasuke is a stubborn ass and there is a reason as to why he is not directly telling her that he is sick.
Next chapter will be um... I don't want to say steamy but just get ready. I'll do my best to deliver something passable, so for now you should just fantasize about it n.n
Also, if I don't get to update before Feb 14, Happy Valentine's Day! Consider this your little V-day present ;)
Sincerely,
MSM