A/N: I've been working on getting this chapter as best off as possible. Gone through thousands of scenarios and in the end, I feel this is the best kick off that I can give them to the journey— to start at last! Hopefully, you enjoy this chapter. It was definitely a labor of love. And also, I'd like to give a big thanks to Littlepocky for coming on board as my new Beta. She's also going to help me with previous ones as well as this one so the reading experience is better and has already done so for some of the earlier chapters. Also, wanna thank MidnightHorrorShow for helping me pick out the more ridiculous mistakes in my last chapter after I dropped the ball. Sometimes you wanna turn a pretty phrase and end up spouting nonsense lol.
You should definitely check both these authors out (LP here, MHS on AO3). They're worth their salt.
For You, Anything
Sakura needed a defibrillator. There was no way in hell that she'd be able to keep Ai alive on jutsu alone.
She had seized, in the presence of only the prisoner who had to shout at the top of his lungs until his throat was raw in order to get any attention from the nurses. By the time they reached her though, it had ceased. Her body had gone limp.
The scene was absolute chaos. Doctors had swarmed into the room, each one working in a panicked flurry. They had their hands on machines, and on the patient, trying anything, and everything they could to revive the child. They each yelled at each other, suggesting and destroying ideas as they worked furiously. The machines blared and beeped, indicating that the life was slipping away at an alarmingly fast rate. One could hear the crowd of medics and machines from the other adjacent floors quite clearly— and so it was easy to find where the room was.
This was convenient for Sasuke who brought in the machine that Sakura had called for against the wishes of the other doctors.
"Restarting her sinus rhythm by snapping her heart won't do anything! We've lost her already, give it up! It's been more than ten minutes...there's a less than ten percent chance of getting this to work."
Sakura looked up, narrowing her eyes. "I won't give up...not while there's still even the tiniest chance. Now take over for me while I get the paddles." The elder medic ninja switched places with Sakura, allowing her to go to Sasuke and cart the machine to where she needed it to be. Taking the paddles into her hand, she'd give Sasuke a quick glance, attempting to convey her gratitude with a short nod.
Sasuke nodded in return and stepped back. He couldn't do anything here, but he felt the thickness of the tension. It was enough to cut through the room, and his own heartbeat quickened. Still, he remained as firm as he could— it was easier with distance. When his hands weren't within the person— when he wasn't forced to watch them, it was easier. Despite this, bounced his foot impatiently, squeezing his fist to the point that his arm shook slightly. He had no idea what he was even doing, but whatever Sakura did, he followed her orders, knowing that she was in better hands with her than with anyone else.
It was strange— before, there was an undertone of desperation in her attempts, something that was uncontrolled and erratic. However, now she seemed more collected, and in control of absolutely everything. The situation was equally as bleak, but her demeanor was changed.
The Haruno woman held up the black paddles and pushed the other people aside, ordering them to stand back in a loud and present tone. When all hands were off the child, she prepared the paddles and called for one of the doctors to begin cranking up the power. "One hundred and twenty joules," she said. The moment she heard the power rising, she prepared and hovered over the patient without making any contact with her. All eyes were now watching the disciple of the fifth.
"Clear!"
The shock was enough to make the child's body rise from the bed, but still, she remained unresponsive.
Sasuke tilted his head with curiosity. Was this what the machine did? A controlled electrocution?
"One hundred and fifty joules."
The hum of the machine rose as it recharged the power.
"Clear!"
This time, she rose higher, but still did not respond. Numbers kept dropping.
"Three hundred sixty—"
One of the male doctors grabbed Sakura by the shoulder and squeezed hard. "Are you crazy?! She'll die! I can't allow you to risk the life of this important patient any further! She's a child, her body won't be able to take that much power!"
Sakura tilted her head up to match his stature and glowered at him. Her hands squeezed the paddle enough for a small audible crack to be heard. "She'll die anyway if we don't!"
"That's only a possibility! We can try something else, but shocking her isn't going to—"
"Let her," Sasuke spoke up. He drew closer to the other two, putting his hand in between the two doctors. "Electricity has the chance of killing...that will always be the case. However, it also has the possibility to restart things. My Chidori stream, for example, is a very powerful attack if focused in a certain way. However, each individual stream can be weak enough to be considered an electrical signal from the brain. This makes it particularly useful in deterring people without outright killing them. That would mean that—"
Sakura set down the paddles and grabbed Sasuke's arm. "You'll have to do it."
The sudden suggestion stunned everyone in the room. Even Sasuke seemed surprised by the suggestion. It was subtle, however— a small widening of the eyes, a tension in his arm. His bottom lip pushed upwards at his top, seemingly adverse to the suggestion.
Sakura pulled him up to the bed, and placed his hand, not over her heart, but her forehead.
"Sakura this—"
"Just make it a small discharge," she insisted upon the man who was drawing his hand away. She pulled it back into place and kept it there. "Please, Sasuke...consider it. Electric signals are given off by the brain and thrown into the nervous system. If we give it just enough, it might just be what would restart everything."
The plan was more than far-fetched. It seemed insane. However, this was also the woman who had physically pumped a heart by hand in order to keep Naruto Uzumaki alive. The one that used her hundred strength seal's chakra in order to open a portal into a myriad of dimensions— just to find him. She had always thought beyond the traditional means, doing things that ought not to have worked, and always finding aces.
Sasuke nodded and shut his eyes. He poured the smallest bit of chakra into his hand. Not enough to kill, he had to think consciously. It had to be only just enough.
"Everyone step away from Sasuke," she urged, stepping behind the man and stretching her arms outward to create distance. The crowd fanned outward, murmuring in concern as Sasuke stood with his hand over Ai's head.
The man's eyes flicked one way, then the other, and back, seemingly waiting for something, only to realize that it was all on him. The look in their eyes all seemed to indicate doubt— all except Sakura's, which were marked with hope. Taking a deep breath, he measured the chakra in his hand, as though it were a free-flowing liquid that dripped into the tips of his fingers. They twitched in anticipation before he suddenly tensed up.
"Chidori stream!"
A crackle and screech cut through the silence, eliciting gasps from the crowd. This time, Ai's body did not rise as the electricity jumped into her and buzzed through her whole body. Instead, it had a more drastic response. Her body as a whole jolted, hands clenching and eyes opening wide at the 'attack'. Her shoulders twitched slightly before locking up, as did her knees and elbows. It lasted just a moment— but the discharge was enough to make the machines go haywire, and when he pulled away, they turned off.
The body of the patient went limp.
All eyes slowly fell on the two shinobi, judging glances full of vitriol burning at them. However, before anyone could say anything, a small whimper was heard coming from the bed.
The girl began to stir.
Gasps filled the room, along with whispers of surprise and relief before it erupted in small applause. Polite claps echoed in the room as some of the doctors would shake Sakura's shoulders in congratulations, and patted Sasuke's back. While she was able to relax enough to let out a laugh out of sheer surprise— quiet and reserved—, Sasuke was not able to do the same. The people which had just a few moments ago seemed to be ready to kill him were now apologizing to him, giving him detailed reasons to their doubts, words which flew right over his head. He couldn't possibly understand what they were talking about— he barely could register what he had just done.
With the same technique he used to kill, he saved a life.
...
It was not very long after this incident that the doctors had all left the room, along with Ai, who was taken to another floor of the hospital for evaluation. All in all, among the staff, there seemed to be a much brighter air, including for Sakura, who smiled to herself as she made sure the new machinery meant to replace what Sasuke had broken worked properly.
Sasuke simply watched Sakura work on the bed, lying down with a hand behind his head and legs crossed. His feet almost dangled off the bed, and he kicked them impatiently as he observed in silence, allowing the thoughts that came in and out of his head to flow free, without resistance. He felt as though this was the sort of moment in which he should have relaxed his body. Unfortunately, it was somehow impossible. Though he tried to let go, his body would not do what his mind told him to. Instead, he opened his mouth. "Sakura."
The woman turned towards Sasuke, freezing in place with a pleasant expression on her face. Her eyes were expectant.
"How did you know that would work? You explained it, but how did you know that would work?"
Sakura seemed to smile even more at this, and turned back towards the machine, pressing buttons on the monitor. "I didn't know, Sasuke. The idea came into my head, and I simply went with it." She paused momentarily before giving a soft laugh. "I guess that makes me no better than Naruto, huh?"
Sasuke was miffed. That action did sound like it would come from Naruto— to do something just because it was the next new idea. However, whereas Naruto was reckless with his absurd risks that resulted in mixed results, Sakura's presentation and execution were absolutely brilliant. She was brilliant. Suddenly, he shook his head at this.
No, what part of him was thinking this?
Was it untrue? No, but there was something there. An undertone of something that loomed in that thought.
She was brilliant.
She was brilliant.
She was brilliant.
Feelings clouded his thoughts and his responses. However, he couldn't shake them. Shutting his eyes, he couldn't concentrate and push away that feeling. It went beyond admiration and simply warm regards. It thickened in his chest and forced the corners of his lips to rise. However, when he felt Sakura watching him, he played it off as a scoff and turned to lie on his side, back facing away.
Sakura then turned to him. She had not been looking at him. "Was that all?"
"Yeah," he replied.
"Just fuck already!"
Both shinobi turned towards the curtains. What the hell was that? After a brief glance towards each other, Sakura slowly approached the curtain before pulling them back, only to see that it was only the prisoner. All around, an air of disappointment set in. She sighed before putting a hand to her waist. "They still haven't muzzled you yet?"
The man grimaced. "Had they done so, I wouldn't have been able to call for help when the girl started to seize up. She would have died, and it would have been your damn fault for turning off the emergency call system." Sakura remained quiet at this and Sanada scoffed. "You're damn lucky you're a genius of a medic and that your boyfriend is basically an electric generator. Otherwise, you'd have lost her, and you'd both have to deal with me."
Sakura would blush slightly at this whilst knitting her eyebrows. She was conflicted as to what to say. "I'm not...we're not—."
"So what is actually going on? You said you knew the type of poison that they'd use, right?" Sasuke crossed his arms and glanced between the two other shinobi. "It's entirely possible they could have added something you didn't know about, prisoner."
"Sanada."
"Whatever."
"Sasuke's right. It's entirely possible that they added something in addition to the poison at the last moment. We'll have to order a blood analysis and see where that goes. Sasuke, please stay with Sanada and watch him."
"Got it."
Once Sakura left the room, the door was closed, leaving only the two men once again to be in each other's company. There was a strange silence that hung over them, Sanada and Sasuke not willing to speak to each other right away. And why would they? Both of them had not a single ounce of respect for the other. Of course, what would save them from insufferable quiet was Sanada's one propensity to say what was on his mind.
"Still haven't made a move on that piece?"
Sasuke felt the twinge of irritation the moment that he heard the other's voice break the silence. However, when his mind registered what the other had asked, he bit the inside of his cheek and exhaled harshly through his teeth. How the hell was he supposed to bear whatever amount of time Sakura was going to be doing whatever the hell she went off to do? Already he had the urge to put a leather belt over Sanada's mouth.
Sanada smiled wickedly, a strange interest flickering in those green eyes of his. "Come on, kid. You can't ignore me."
There was nothing said by the other.
"Does she even know that you're interested in her?"
That was a strangely good question. Of course, his instinct and his mind reasoned differently. "I would prefer if she didn't," he responded slowly.
"And why's that?"
A momentary silence held as a pause before Sasuke'd respond, facing away from the other. "I don't know."
Sanada'd wriggle slightly, seemingly trying to shift towards Sasuke after the response. "You don't know," he repeated with a slight undertone of bemusement. His lips, though contorted to smile were sucked into his mouth for a moment, as though he held back a laugh. He let the expression go with a long, drawn out breath, where his chest and diaphragm hiccuped the air into a scoff.
Sasuke quickly cocked his head back the man's way. "What?"
"It's...just that..." The bearded man trailed off for a moment before snorting. "You claim you're not with her, yet you want her. You don't want to let her know, yet when I propose to take her for myself, you give me a shiner. You're one frustrated kid, I'll tell you that much. I bet all that brooding gets her panties real wet," he joked. "Why even bother with her if you won't tell her shit?"
Silence.
The older man's smile grew larger. "Oh, so now you're giving me the silent treatment? What? Too scared to tell me what actually—"
"She forgave me."
At this, Sanada stopped speaking, watching as Sasuke was staring right back at him. His expression changed to one of confusion as the other simply kept a still gaze.
Sasuke then began to speak. "For a thousand things, I was forgiven. However, my greatest talent is in battle, and to be kind, is my deepest flaw. Anyone else would know better than to trust me, and yet, she does so without resignations. I am trying to become better, to learn about the world that I shunned in lieu of the dark path, but I continue to fail. I stumble and fall and break things...people. It's impossible to see the right way when you are blind, but when you're surrounded by darkness, what is the only path you can take?"
"You have to follow the light," Sanada responded with a comment which caught Sasuke's attention.
The younger shut his eyes, still facing the prisoner. "Naruto and Sakura...they went against the grain. They plunged into the deepest chasms, surmounted countless obstacles, and endured indescribable pains to bring me back. Naruto...he pulled me out. With his own two hands and the power he wielded, I was knocked to my senses." However, it was not the same to realize a mistake than to improve in order to redeem oneself. Sasuke knew this. "You say you know a lot about me...so you know what I've done...what I became and how far I went in the name of those things. A broken weapon cannot fix itself, just as I cannot improve myself merely through my own concerted efforts." Sasuke had tried, but when there were more failures than successes- some more spectacular than others- it was time to admit that he needed more than just the will to do right by the world. "I have come to understand that broken pieces rarely fix each other. My path of redemption is beyond that obstacle. To heal and mend and comfort, that cannot be done by a blade. I am sharp, not gentle, and so I look to her."
"To Sakura? Is she...your light?"
"I asked her to come with me on my journey, but today, I followed her in her work. Observed her. Did what I could. I often learn by example. Events showed me today the difficulties of having an open heart..." He trailed off for a moment, his eyes still closed but the features on his face relaxing before suddenly freezing up and tensing again. When he opened his eyes, he sighed heavily. "Even back...when we were children...her's was the largest..." Sasuke slowly reached up for his neck and clasped his hand softly upon where the curse mark had once been.
He remembered when he first got it, the searing pain that wracked his body. It was beyond unbearable...a horrific torture that agonized him. All throughout the ordeal, he held Sakura's hand with a death grip. His hand shook and trembled, as his nails dug into her skin. He screamed out, visceral and with great pain until his throat was raw. And through it all, she was there. She watched him in horror but held him as he suffered. He wasn't alone, and he didn't feel alone. Though she could do nothing to help him, her presence was a comfort, and when it mattered, that was enough.
It was not long after that when he first tasted power. It was enough to make him drunk with it, and as any drunken man, he immediately decided that he had to fight. Of course, the situation was a little more nuanced than that- Sakura had defended him and Naruto with her life. She protected them with what little she could do and was beaten bloody. Her hair was cut and scattered to the winds, her body bruised and broken, dripping with blood and caked in filth. She could scarcely get up to shield herself. That was how he found her, and for that, someone would pay the price. The power only sharpened that urge to a razor-cut edge. It gave him more than just the strength to do it- it gave him a thirst for their blood. A desire to see them scream and beg for mercy. Sasuke craved to see them suffer. He'd have torn them apart them all for what they did, limb by limb. It would not have been enough to kill them. Never for him.
And yet, he did not.
She had too much compassion for that. Sakura could not bear to see him descend into that darkness. With her two arms, she held him back, and in tears and silently begged him to stop. She enfolded him in her arms, and with that embrace, he felt it all- her pain, her belief in him, her care for him. It was enough to make the marks recede. For him, it was enough.
After all that tormented him in the months that passed, he decided that his fate rested in the hands of Orochimaru. He was the one that had the power he needed, and to fulfill his quest for revenge, he had to leave Konoha behind. It was supposed to be simple...to leave without a word, and let everyone move on with their lives. Of course, it would not be that simple. Sakura stood in his way- but she did not battle with fists or Jutsu. She instead attempted to convince him of anything that would allow them to leave together. In a way, it left him stunned. It didn't matter if he stayed in Konoha, so long as they left together. She'd follow him, and support him, despite the peril, and despite the consequences of betraying the village.
He could never accept that.
Even with that, he wouldn't take her. No, it was too dangerous. He could not have her hurt on a journey that was his to take alone. However, he was grateful. For the first time in years, he had felt love in his heart. Her words were enough.
"She was an annoying child," he concluded. "Well-meaning but annoying."
Sanada raised an eyebrow at this. "You seem to have some hang-ups about Sakura. Are you sure that keeping it quiet is the best choice? You're better off just telling her and working it out."
"Working what out?" Sasuke would turn his entire body to face Sanada. "That's overly simplified. I have my goals...and Sakura is simply a means to an end. She knows her role in this."
"Bullshit."
The response was so quick that Sasuke staggered for a moment in his mind before being able to react. He then frowned and opened his mouth to speak, only to be beaten to the punch.
"If you didn't feel for her, she would not be a means to an end. Her effects on you convince you that she knows what she's doing. Compassionate and talented as she is, you aren't doing what you're doing because she's a legendary healer with good bedside manners. If she was a means to an end, you wouldn't give a shit if she forgave you or not. If you did not feel as though she was the only one that could 'fix the broken sword', you wouldn't ask her to come with you anywhere. If you didn't feel something for her, you wouldn't even fucking speak to her. That's a fact. Not to mention, you already outed yourself at the start."
At this Sasuke stayed silent.
"For her, you'd do anything, even put yourself in an uncomfortable situation, like working in a hospital when you have no clue whether a to check a heartbeat with a fucking stethoscope or an endoscope."
"I didn't ask for your opinion."
"Don't fucking change your mind now," Sanada called out loudly with a sneer. "You've fucking told me your whole god damn spiel and now you're telling me you didn't ask for my opinion? What am I? Your fucking therapist?!"
Sasuke stood up at that moment, glaring down at the man. However, before he could say anything to him, the door burst open, and Sakura would stumble in.
She was sweating and moved into the room in staggering motions. Out of breath, she pressed her shoulder against the door for a moment as her hand placed itself on the knob. With one heavy breath, she managed to compose herself for the most part.
Both men looked at her at that moment, but the mobile one would be the one to approach Sakura- rather quickly at that.
"What happened?"
"Lady Ai has fallen into a coma. That's what I heard...apparently, while the Chidori stream restarted her, there's still something wrong with her and now the condition is getting worse… I came here as fast as I could."
Sasuke scoffed and turned the other way. Just their luck. However, rather than asking Sakura a question, he turned to Sanada with a hand on his waist. "It's clear...that there's more than just one poison at work now. The Daimyo's daughter was never known for her health problems. Is there any particular type of plant or venom found only in your area?"
Sanada'd sigh as he groaned, almost entirely frustrated by the entire ordeal. Particularly the part where he couldn't even scratch his own head or partake in any sort of thinking tick of his. "Look, there are hundreds of flora and venoms from fauna to be found exclusively in the place I hail from. Despite my own expertise, it's difficult to tell from symptoms alone which one is the one responsible for the kid's reactions. Seizures, cardiac arrest, coma...In that order, one caused the other. I hope you realize that compounded complications further complicate deductions. Especially when maybe only the seizure was a response from the poison. Or maybe all three effects were...or maybe only two. Furthermore, how much do you fucking expect me to do while being strapped down here?!"
Sasuke paused at this response and turned to Sakura quickly, expectant of a response.
"No," she replied as she regained composure."Kakashi-sensei wants him restrained and unable to escape."
"I don't think he'd escape, to be fair. All indications are that he really isn't looking to leave- at least not until the girl is safe, for whatever reason."
Sakura raised an eyebrow. As much as she'd like to believe that Sanada wouldn't try something, it was not something she could take a chance on right then and there. "Do you know any jutsu that could keep him restrained whilst also giving him mobile freedom?"
Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows. "Just one...I read about it when I was in Kusagakure whilst visiting the blood prison. I don't know how well my Sharingan would be able to copy a jutsu I have never observed in real life. I might kill him if I don't get some practice in first."
"Then he stays in the straps until you do. Kakashi-sensei is the Hokage, and we have to follow his orders."
Sanada, expecting as much only rolled his eyes. "You'd think that by telling you the damn truth up front you'd get a bit more leeway than this. Can't believe this damn shit. Saved the kid's life and I'm still suspect number one."
"Quit your bellyaching. You could be in a worse bind than this."
"Oh, ha ha, is that supposed to be a joke, Uchiha? I'm in fucking stitches over here," Sanada spoke the last part through his teeth, shifting slightly from right to left. "And now I'm getting bed sores from being held down with my back against the bed for this long."
Sasuke once again turned to Sakura, only for her to sigh in mild frustration.
"Fine, we can at least flip him over. However, I'm going to sedate him before we do so."
The redhead's eyes widened slightly at this. "What?! Are you fucking kidding me?! Just flip me over- I won't move!"
"Let's make this easier," Sasuke would stand up at that moment slowly make his way over to Sanada, stone faced as he stood over him. The older man looked up to the younger with just as much tension, seemingly expecting something. Suddenly, the Uchiha's onyx colored eye turned red as the Sharingan activated with a loud swish. The moment it did, the prisoner's body fell limp as he immediately fell under a state of hypnosis.
...
Once Sanada was flipped over, the two members of squad seven would get to work. While they could do nothing about Ai at the moment, they could still attend to the other patients that needed routine checks, medicine, and anything else that others were too busy to do. Unfortunately, a blood analysis took some time, even when rushed. The anxiety that built between the two of them was palpable. However, they did their best to push along despite that, one having more success than the other.
Whilst Sasuke stood by the entrance Sakura stood in front of an empty bed, fidgeting somewhat with the controls of an empty IV drop. She didn't seem to be pushing buttons to do anything, as it was all random. The device flashed on and off, making long, high pitched beeps as it did so. The small parts inside whirred, speeding up and slowing down with each power cycle. The raven haired man knew little about technology, but he could tell that Sakura was doing little more than ticking.
"I assume doing what you're doing will break it," he stated in slight warning, pressing his back against the doorframe. When she did not respond right away, he moved from his spot, letting go of the door that he had been holding open with his foot. Adjusting the lab coat with his only hand, he made his way towards the woman. However, the moment he drew near to her, she turned around quickly, causing him to freeze in his tracks. They glanced into each other's eyes, and within her's, he noticed an intensity that could only come from frustration in her own thoughts. It was a look he often found in himself.
"I don't understand," she told him, putting her hand up to her forehead. "Well, I mean yes, I understand, but I don't see why this could be happening."
"Are you talking about the girl being poisoned or why someone would initiate this ambush, to begin with?"
"The blood analysis won't be done for another thirty minutes at minimum. And that's of course, with a larger margin of error than not."
Sasuke raised the nubbed arm as if he were trying to show something. It was not as though he was, however- it was simply where his dominant hand used to be. "It's entirely possible that these people find nothing inside. Perhaps we should look at other alternatives."
"Perhaps? Sasuke, that's not how medicine works! She's clearly experiencing some sort of reaction to an external substance. You wouldn't know anything about this sort of thing…"
Sasuke sighed and turned away at that moment, causing Sakura to do the same.
"Besides," she continued. "Without narrowing it down to poisons, we would have even less of a clue than before. A good medic has to be able to accurately diagnose...getting it wrong could mean death."
"She'll be dead anyway."
His words left an unsettling quiet in their wake, underlined by thunder that clapped and rumbled loud enough to be heard in the interior of the hospital. Sakura bit her lip at this, and lowered her head, hands starting to run through her hair in exasperation. They ended up clasping behind her head, pushing it down as she racked her brain, trying to think of anything that could help at all.
Sasuke could only watch her do this before she pulled off her lab coat and threw it across the room in frustration. It landed on the ground, near the corner beside a trash bin, and the moment that it would, she tossed herself onto the bed, face first. Her groan of complete defeat was muffled by the mattress before she moved her head so that her cheek was squished against the surface. Knitting her eyebrows, she concentrated as hard as she could. She had to think of something- anything- but came up with nothing.
In the end, it became difficult to watch, and so, the man sat next to her and leaned forward slightly. "Whatever it is you decide to do, I'm behind it. You're the expert here...and despite your fussing, you're better than those other people."
"Huh?"
"You don't allow limits to restrain your ability to do well by others. Your worst flaw has always been a lack of belief and conviction, but when you throw away those inhibitions, you manage to make impossible things happen. Somehow, you saved Naruto. You gave him an arm. You already saved Ai's life once, and thousands of other people. For each you lose, ten or more survive. Your accomplishments are sometimes impressive enough to reach my ears in nations abroad."
"Well, it wasn't really me who saved Lady Ai...I-"
Sasuke turned to face her all the way. "I could have never thought of using my Chidori stream in the way you devised. My Jutsu has always been weapons, and you managed to come up with a way to save a life with it. Your mind has always been the sharpest, even back when we were still part of Team Seven. Wallowing in despair won't get you anywhere. Focus yourself so that we can finish this mess..."
"You know this may not be the last mess we need to fix before leaving."
"I know."
"And you would stay despite that?"
"I have thus far."
"And you would continue?"
"For you," Sasuke paused at that moment, thinking it over. Would he really stay any longer? He had wanted nothing more than to leave Konoha without any more delay. The longer he stayed, the more he didn't want to leave again. It was difficult to go when it was such an easy source of comfort. He felt a sense of normalcy at that moment that he had been trying to avoid for two years. In his mind, he knew he couldn't become complacent, and yet, he felt at home in that moment. It was her, though. He felt it was. And for that feeling, for that person, he would do anything. "Yes."
Sakura slowly propped herself up, watching Sasuke momentarily before leaning herself against his back, sighing as she did so. "Thank you." The way she spoke, the words didn't register in deep thought. She clearly took it at face value- a symptom of her stressors.
The fact that she did not take it as such was well noticed by Sasuke, and in a way, he was was less to explain that way. Instead, he leaned back slightly himself, posting up Sakura on him while shifting her weight so that he would be comfortable holding it. While she looked at him, puzzled, he kept his eyes on the wall. "The important thing is that you need to continue onward. We have work to do, and faltering won't get us anywhere. I know you understand."
Turning his body to look at Sakura for verification involved raising his arm just enough so that he could see her face. She looked at him from beneath her long lashes with a sense of expectancy. However, the man had nothing to say that she didn't already know, and so their exchange was without comment. She nodded and he returned the gesture.
"You've changed quite a bit since back in the day, Sasuke."
Sasuke's stare hardened slightly at the comment. "People don't-."
At that moment, the door was knocked on quite hurriedly. "Doctor Haruno?!" Not even a moment after doing this, a staff member would open the door and rushed in. In his hands, he carried a manilla folder which he held onto tightly. "There you are! We've been looking everywhere for you. What the heck are you doing in this empty room- actually, I'm not going to ask that."
Embarrassed, Sakura moved away from Sasuke at that moment, scrambling out of bed and rushing towards the other- nearly stumbling along the way. "Sorry about that, what's the problem?"
Upon opening the folder, the man would point at a particular part, which caused Sakura to mumble in confusion. From where he was, Sasuke was unable to see what was going on, but neither did he really want to approach them. At least not immediately.
"So the blood analysis turned up nothing?"
"There's there is some toxicity in her blood, but it isn't coming from a poison in the sense that there is a venom involved. Instead, it's a heavy metal poisoning."
Sakura tensed up at this and looked at Sasuke, who was not facing her. "So...why is she experiencing this sort of reaction? Heavy metal poisoning isn't exactly known for producing grand mal seizures."
"That's the thing…" The paper was flipped over at that moment. "While we didn't find any other poisons other than the neutralized one that was originally meant to kill her, we did find that Lady Ai was producing a significant amount of Immunoglobulin E."
The word, though complete nonsense to Sasuke had made Sakura gasp, which caught his attention. Slowly, he slid off the bed and approached the other two, situating himself behind them. "What exactly is Immunoglobulin E? What does it do, and why is it so surprising?"
The staff member quickly glanced back at Sasuke and flipped the paper again. "It's an antibody. When you have an allergic reaction, your body overreacts and makes a substantial amount of it, only to redirect it to the location. That's why you break out and have other, more severe reactions. Anyways, it's in her blood, and indicative of the fact that the allergy, compounded with the heavy metal poisoning, is the cause of her deteriorating health."
"This isn't something you can use mystical palm technique for," Sakura jumped in. "It's clear that something inside her is causing this. We need to remove whatever it is."
"So she's having an allergic reaction. Could it be that the heavy metal poisoning and the allergy are related?"
She blinked at this suggestion. "Could it?" The woman parroted back the question with an even stronger tone than Sasuke. Somehow, the wheels seemed to be turning. "You guys took X-Rays, right? Took notes during the first check up? If she was hit with shrapnel, any remnants embedded inside her would likely match rashes in those same areas. Reports could show this. That's indicative of the allergy. Then, if we can assume she breathed in fine particles of that same material, it'd definitely show a, we'll have to assume the spike in IgE is coming from something entirely different, but for now, this is definitely a lead!"
Sasuke simply nodded, because it was easier to do that than have more meaningless jargon thrown at him. "Just give me something to do."
"I assume Lady Ai is back in the room. Please go to her, and use your Sharingan to see if there's any remnant foreign obj-."
"My Sharingan doesn't have that sort of insight. Neither does my rinnegan eye." Sasuke paused for a moment and sighed. "A Hyuga would be more suitable for that."
Sakura frowned slightly and paused. "I guess we'll just need to do this the old fashioned way. I'll go with you and we'll see if what we inferred is true. Meanwhile, Mr. Jun, thank you. We'll call you if we need you."
After the exchange, Sakura walked out of the room, with her 'intern' at the tail. They walked together without speaking to each other, simply watching the other medics walking with purpose one way or another. Men and women were being rushed on stretchers, phones still rang, and medical professionals fought with each other in the hall- calling each other names and hurling whatever insults they could at each other.
"Your argument is specious!"
"Well, I don't like your tie!"
Sasuke's eyebrow quirked at the exchanges he heard around him- most of them surrounded the slowly diminishing number of shinobi left alive during the incident. It was clear their efforts were failing, and that the attack upon Konohagakure was seeming like more and more of a success. The medics simply could not keep up with what was happening around them and were quick to turn on each other to keep themselves from being blamed. It was not unlike political talks that he had listened in on in small villages where crisis was commonplace.
"Your hospital is a mess," Sasuke commented, resulting in a glare from Sakura. "Your departure was clearly not well timed."
"Well, that's not my fault, is it?"
Sasuke scoffed. "I never said it was. If you're so quick to become confrontational, it's no doubt your subordinates are as they are."
The lucky part for Sasuke was that they had arrived at Ai's room, and so Sakura was quick to let the insult slide to refocus her efforts on the girl that was inside. Slowly, the door was opened and the lights were turned back on.
With the curtains pulled back all the way, they could see that Sanada was now fully awake, chest against the mattress, squirming even more than he was before. "You assholes better flip me back soon! This is worse than being on my back!"
"We're here to check up on the girl. We'll get to you after we're done."
The comment from Sasuke caused Sanada to grumble. Of course, he'd let the kid go first, but it was not without regret. "Fine, make sure she's alright. When they brought her in here, she looked worse than when she left."
This was true- something felt off. As Sasuke watched with his Sharingan activating, he noticed a change in the way the chakra flowed inside Ai. For a regular civilian, the chakra was an indicator of health that it was not for a shinobi. When one was fine, everything worked as it should've, but when they became ill, the flow became sluggish…
And the girl's chakra was incredibly sluggish.
Sakura noticed it too- somehow, the child looked different physically. Her skin had reached a point beyond paleness, where she seemed almost entirely translucent. Looking carefully, she could see where in the vein the needle had slipped into. Her breathing was shallow- nearly nonexistent, with her chest only raising the smallest bit before it fell down again. There was no strength in these functions. From the flow of blood and chakra to the beating of the heart, it must have all been so weak. That the girl was alive was only indicated by the machine, because to anyone by sight, she was already dead.
Slowly, she took the chart that sat at the foot of the bed, reading its contents carefully. She looked for any comments on markings on her skin, or damage by shrapnel to her body, of which, she surprisingly found quite a few. Her upper arms and back were subject to the most damage, according to the chart, and it only took rolling up her sleeves to realize that it was true. A rash was normally pink, but without much color left on Ai, it simply popped out as an almost red inflammation. Every wound carried deep red fringes that spanned outward. It spiraled in strange patterns, combining with other rashes almost seamlessly. If Sakura hadn't known what it was, she would have easily mistaken this for the work of a powerful venom.
"We'll have to take her to surgery and remove every piece of metal in her body."
"We?" Sasuke repeated intensely. "I would be of no help in that situation."
The kunoichi frowned and turned towards Sasuke, taking steps towards him before pressing her finger against his chest. Though it wasn't threatening, Sasuke still felt a strange sinking feeling in his stomach. Why did he feel as though he were in danger?
"You're going to help," she stated without any intonation that there was another option. "If you think it'll be easier out there because it won't be a hospital setting, you have another thing coming. The same thing that's happening here will happen out there, and we won't have any of the fancy technology to make the process easier. Remember the letter you sent to me the other week? The one where you wanted me to go up to some random backwater village in the middle of nowhere? This is that on training wheels."
When Sakura fell silent, she turned away again, approaching the bedside of the daimyo's daughter. Her hand gently fell on her forehead, and she brushed her hair back gently. "It doesn't get any easier, Sasuke. This is your journey you asked me to come on. In your own words...your sins have nothing to do with me." Upon quoting him, her voice lowered to a whisper, eyes slowly glazing over in thought. It was clear she still felt it. Sasuke could see it, and strangely, he felt the sinking feeling become worse. It was dread that filled him as he watched her. However, she interrupted him before he could even speak. "I'm coming with you because I love you, Sasuke. I want to be with you...but I also don't want to take away what should be your atonement, because I know that's important to you. That's why I don't want you to just stand in the back all the time and watch me like I used to watch you and Naruto. You shouldn't be in the background of your own story...so...I want you to stand beside me and learn. I'm not going to take away what's yours."
The only thing that could be heard from them was the humming of the air conditioner.
Sasuke was stunned by the response. All his concerns and doubts were suddenly in question. Was she really so in tune with him that she would know what to say? Her words were impactful in a way that Naruto's weren't. It took no beatdowns for him to feel and understand what she was saying. Indeed, what he felt right then was beyond simply relief, but a subtle admiration. It was a word far too strong to be associated with Sasuke, and yet he felt it. Sakura may not have understood his inner mechanisms, but she could identify his behaviors and speak to him with a level of tact he'd not seen from her before.
Perhaps he'd never stopped to notice it. Was it possible that he was so entranced within his own thoughts to never notice? Something was different, he could tell. He simply couldn't notice what.
"The point is, you're going to do this. Do you understand?"
"Yeah."
"No if's, and's, or but's."
"I'm not Naruto."
The comment made her huff before putting her hand on the monitor. Sakura felt as though her head was particularly heavy in that moment. A ringing screeched in her ears, making it all the more unbearable. It was incessant, irritating, and overall…
Familiar.
Green eyes quickly flicked at the screen only to see vitals dropping at an alarmingly fast rate. "Oh no," she whispered in horror. "No, no, no, no! Not again!"
Sasuke turned his head towards the screen as well only to see the same as Sakura.
Shit, it was happening again.
Sasuke grabbed the emergency call button and smashed it repeatedly whilst Sakura dropped the bed to a flat level. Once Ai was horizontally on the bed, she'd begin with chest compressions, only to see that it did nothing. Even with the added green glow, simple CPR would do nothing.
Sanada tensed up on the bed before struggling against the straps. "Hey- what the hell is going on?!"
"Her body's failing again," Sakura called, beginning to rush towards one of the cabinets. "I'm going to give her epinephrine!"
"Are you sure that'll help?! You need to make sure she's actually going through anaph-"
"She's not breathing, Sanada!"
"Then do it!"
At that moment, she pulled a strange, pen-like tube from the drawer and stabbed it right into Ai's outer thigh. Allowing the medicine to work its way into the patient, she held the injection for little over ten seconds before pulling it away. At that moment, the first of the doctors would come in, demanding to know what was going on.
"She's not breathing, vitals are dropping fast," Sakura mentioned. The moment she would do so, the other doctors began to work as the woman called in a code blue. Whilst she spoke to the people on the phone, she waved the Uchiha over and pointed out a specific spot that angled around the heart of the patient. "Sasuke, I need you to use your Chidori stream. Place your hand here." She looked up at him for confirmation only to nod at him when it was clear he understood.
There was no time wasted, and Sasuke put his hands over the two specific spots before channeling his chakra. "Chidori stream!" Sparks flew and directed themselves from his arms and into the chest of the child, and just as before, her body reacted with a jolt before suddenly, the machine indicated a stabilization. Weak, but present and consistent. It was enough to cause a strange stillness in the room that lingered for a few moments.
Sakura moved slowly to the machine before letting out a breath of relief. "Alright, for the moment being, we'll keep working on her. I'll cancel the code, but we need to get her to surgery, stat."
One of the doctor's raised their eyebrow at Sakura's suggestion. "I don't think she's in good condition be on the table. It could kill her."
The disciple of the fifth pinched the bridge of her nose. Strangely, despite her experience both on the field and in the hospital, nothing ever prepared her for the day in and day out battles that came with medical bureaucracy. Even while being the best, she needed to explain to the others why she had to resort to dangerous actions every so often. "I know, but she's clearly suffering from a compound of high toxicity and life threatening allergies due to the shrapnel still in her body as well as the metal in her blood. We can neutralize what's in the blood to an extent, but removing as many traces is the only way to-"
Heads would turn towards the monitor as it began to beep rapidly again. Suddenly the numbers on Ai's screen begun to drop once again, and the doctors which had just one moment ago been relaxed returned to work.
"Sasuke-"
"No," Called out another doctor. "You already shocked her enough! You might damage her internal organs if you continue to make her endure that type of stress. A shinobi may be able to take a lot more of that, but a little eight-year-old girl, especially a sick one like Lady Ai would not survive much more! We'll need to stabilize her through other means!"
Sanada wriggled and struggled against the straps on his bed. "Hey, let me help," he insisted intensely. "I can try to neutralize the poison- I just need to be-"
Sakura narrowed her eyes as she turned to Sanada momentarily. Internally, she debated to herself about letting him go- to go against Kakashi's wishes in order to save the girl she was ordered to take care of. In that one thought, however, she realized that one way or another, she would end up failing one of the two and rushed to free Sanada.
Sasuke quirked an eyebrow at this development, something which was the first sight to greet the newly arrived doctors.
"Hey, what are you doing?!"
"We're going t save the girl," Sasuke replied for Sakura. "Sanada is a prisoner, but he's also a former student of the fifth Hokage. His knowledge will be invaluable right now."
No one else would say anything, and instead, they got to work on reviving Ai.
Sanada rushed to the cabinet and begun to pull out random medicines that he found, after inspecting each and every single label. I need a few more things.
"What things exactly," one of the younger medics asked.
The foreign ninja scoffed and folded his arms, using his sheer size to intimidate the man. He stood at least one head taller than any other medical shinobi in the room, and even out sized the Uchiha, though not by any more than three inches. Still, it was all enough to make him an imposing figure. "Bring me a cocktail of things. Whatever the hell you think would be useful, bring that shit here!"
The younger would nod rapidly and rush out of the room in response. It took nearly three minutes, but as the others worked to keep Ai alive, Sanada waited until the return of the guy with a medicine cart. "Fucking finally. You'd think a damn medic-nin could be a bit faster, huh?!" No one tried to defend the kid while he was being chewed out, and watched as Sanada put everything on the table and began to mix the medicines. "This'll help the kid out, I'm damn sure. I just need to make sure it's enough to flush everything out of her system…"
Sakura focused herself on her part, and upon seeing the vitals dropping further, looked towards the bearded man. "If you could hurry that medicine along-."
"I know, Haruno! You try to make a concoction that'll wash out what's in her blood in the next five minutes! It's gotta be potent and Tsunade doesn't damn well teach you this shit in her lessons."
"Blood pressure and heart rate are falling. Respiratory rate is basically non-existent."
"Shit!" Looking between two different bags of clear fluid, Sanada drained out one and filled his own cocktail of medicine in it, and then rushed the pouch to the hanger that held all of her different medication. "Which one of these doesn't she need right now?" Without waiting for a response, he yanked out the morphine bag and replaced it with the pink liquid he had made, making sure that it began to flow into her iv drip. "It's done. She should be cleaned out in a few minutes…"
"If she could only last a few minutes," one doctor would say, still doing chest compressions. "She doesn't look like she'd last one more!" He would be right. The girl looked more like a day old corpse than a living person. There was no color, no movement, nothing that would indicate she was still alive.
Vitals were starting to reach the mid teens.
It was at that moment that Sanada pushed the man aside and begun to do chest compressions of his own. They were more forceful, but yet much more in rhythm and at the pace the other man.
The doctor offended, turned away from the prisoner and walked towards Sakura. "What the hell is that guy's deal?"
People still worked around Sanada, trying their own life-saving efforts without any more luck than he.
Sakura turned towards the upset doctor and sighed. "According to the reports, Sanada claimed he was responsible for saving the Daimyo's Daughter in the initial blast. He healed her despite his own severe injuries in the blast and removed his ninja headband- the only way to identify him as a foreign ninja immediately. Rushed her all the way to the hospital, bleeding out from a piece of shrapnel embedded in his liver. He had markings all over his body which were somehow keeping him alive, and after they took her away, he collapsed and the markings disappeared. Five hundred miles in twenty-seven hours without rest. That's what he traveled. He said...he didn't like it when kids got hurt."
She was failing.
"Come on kid, fight! Stay with me here!" Tension around him thickened as he continued without success to try and resuscitate her.
"It's not going to work-"
"Yes, it is!" Sanada snapped at the voice of the random medic which had tried to reason with him. "She's going to fucking live! I'm not gonna give up on her...not until it's over!"
The machine was blaring in a silent room, signaling the end.
It became a spectacle. The man was now working on his own as others realized that there was no hope. Not even Sakura was working on the child- reminded too much of what happened to her friend. She was not traumatized, but she knew better than to make the same mistake twice.
But Sanada kept going. Against everything, he worked alone and now switched from machine to the girl, to the medicine, to the adjustment of said medication. He did all the work by himself, even going as far as to use the healing green light on his hands as he continued performing compressions. The man had to try it all. He couldn't give up- not on Ai. Not yet. She wasn't gone yet. He had to keep going, fighting against all odds.
Flatline.
At that moment most of the people in the room, including Sasuke and Sakura stared at the body or the monitor, or both, stopping entirely in their tracks to do so. There was nothing that they could do. Nothing they hadn't tried.
Sasuke closed his eyes in resignation.
It was over- the life-saving efforts, her life…
But not for Sanada.
The man continued to do chest compressions against all advice to the contrary and despite the looks that he received from the others. They watched him with pity- with empty glances that reflected their lack of belief or hope. No, to Sanada it wasn't over, even if they all thought that it was. "Come on kid," he muttered under his breath. "Breathe damn it...breathe!"
When a doctor came to turn off the machine, he slapped his hand away.
"NO!" He bellowed out, tears in his eyes. "This isn't fucking over, you hear me? This damn girl is going to fucking live, or I swear-."
"Sanada," Sakura whispered the name, putting her hand over her chest and clasping her other hand over that one. She could only watch in horror with the others at the complete helplessness.
"Please kid, come on...you better not fucking quit on me, alright? We went through a lot together to get here, okay? Don't make that all a waste...you have so much to live for...so much you haven't seen yet, kid...please…" Slowly, the water that welled in Sanada's eyes begun to flow, dropping down to his beard and dripping out, onto the body of the daimyo's child. "Please…" Slowly he lowered his head and sobbed loudly, hands still on the child. "No…" he whispered in a shudder.
The flatline continued.
Sasuke suddenly narrowed his eyes upon Sanada, noticing a sudden change in the air, and his chakra. Sakura and the others would only react when they would see it- the three diamonds that vertically adorned his forehead began to glow, and from it, rectangular marks began to sprout forth. It was not unlike Sakura's hundred strength seal, but the chakra was foul, and it came forth in a pattern not unlike the curse marks that Orochimaru gave his subjects.
With a scream of pure agony a massive burst of chakra and lightning emitted from him and enveloped the child. The machines- each and every single one in the room was suddenly overloaded and exploded, including the system which brought power to the room. Her body seemingly acted as though she was seizing in reaction to the attack, but the movements were limp. Almost as though there was no life in the figure.
His eyes hurt, and blinking away the tears only brought more when his eyes opened. Sanada's head continued to hang low as he spoke softly and shakily. "Why her…? She was just a kid…"
No one dared to approach Sanada. There was no comforting nor chiding him. They simply let him grieve, and all of them watched. Only a select few had the heart to continue their work, beginning the basis of their final report.
It was only when everyone else began to also move along that Sasuke stepped closer to Sanada, going as far as putting a hand on his shoulder, something which clearly didn't even register as Sanada hovered over the same spot, completely distraught. "Sanada-." Sasuke cut himself off suddenly when he noticed something strange.
The girl's hand moved.
It took another moment, but Sanada noticed it too, and his eyes slowly became unglazed. They filled with surprise as the child slowly began to stir murmur. As she did so, she caught the attention of the other adults in the room. Murmurs began to fill the air. All the gasps however, were saved for when she slowly opened her eyes, proving that she was alive.
At first, there was silence, but like in the aftermath of a battle, the mood of the room swung into a frenzy. The doctors all erupted into a cheer. Men shook hands. Women cried as they embraced with overwhelming joy. People threw their fists into the air, shouting with no inhibitions. The air swelled with optimism as the child sat up.
Sasuke could only stare, baffled.
It surprised everyone- as no one knew how the hell it was even possible. Even Sanada, emotionally drained as he was before, could not say that it was all no less than a damn miracle. He couldn't help but tear up as he plopped into a chair beside the bed with a heavy sigh. He sniffed and swallowed the feelings down hard as he felt an overpowering sense of relief. "You're a damn fighter for making it out of that," he whispered of the child. He squeezed his eyes hard to avoid more tears from spilling out. "Good on you, kiddo."
The emotions rushed over Sakura like a riptide, and without thinking, she threw herself at Sasuke. She pressed her lips against his in excitement, arms wrapping tightly around his neck. Her full weight was now upon him, and she pulled herself up with her forearms on his shoulders. She was not thinking as Sasuke suddenly found himself frozen in place.
The world around them seemed to fade away at that moment, even when some eyes fell on them.
His hands found themselves on her waist as he stared at the woman with wide eyes. It was only when she opened hers to see his that she moved away. Slowly, she slid down his body, still looking right at him. Sasuke felt his skin began to rise when their lips brushed as she moved from him. His grip loosened enough for her to move down, but still held some tension.
"S-Sasuke...I..." Her emerald shone brightly, even as her glance downcast towards the floor.
Sasuke tilted his head slowly, almost as if attempting to understand. His eyes darted in small but subtle motions— almost as though he was looking at every feature on Sakura's face.
"It was... I—"
His lips crashed against her's forcefully, and it was now her who stood motionless in shock. Even if she wanted to move though, there was no way. He held her too tight. The space between them was gone. Chest to chest, body to body, they were pressed as together as tight as they could. Sasuke leaned forward into the kiss that he created. It only lasted a brief moment, though.
"Sasuke..."
He moved away from her, his eyes widening the slightest bit. Subtle, but noticeable. He turned away from her, only for him to feel her weight on him again.
"Thank you," she whispered.
For a moment, fleeting as it was, he smiled.
...
Sasuke could not tell where or when things took a turn as they did. The moment had not been about them, and yet fever pitch feelings still led them here. What had been a moment where life turned from grey to Technicolor in slow motion, was now a dark rushing blur of movement and heated breaths. They were away from the rest of them at the top of the hospital. It was only to talk, but somehow, it had reached this point— without words ever being exchanged.
He slammed her against the wall of the door that leads to the staircase down. He pressed himself against her again. It felt right to him. There was no preamble to his actions which resembled those of a man who had not tasted the sweetness of water in years. It was carnal and of pure instinct when he started to pull off her coat and kissed the side of her neck.
He had never done it— any of this before. At most, he had observed the behavior on his many travels, from the highest echelons to the seediest of underbellies of society. Sex was everywhere, and he had always been an observer, passing by alleys or palaces and scoffing. He was above it all, he thought. He didn't need it or even want it, he convinced himself. The ignored the signs within himself all the while. The urges he felt. The strange visions at night that haunted him until the morning. The ones that had him spilled with seed when he woke up. His past self would feel shame to act as they did, those that acted on baser desires. Now instead, he ignored the reservations. He ignored the part of him that always told him no, but not without questioning himself. Not without hesitation.
Why the hell was he doing this?
It felt all too fast. Something within Sasuke screamed at him to stop. For him to reconsider, and pull away while he still could. It was all too difficult as he looked at her, and into those eyes. Green, glimmering, expectant. It felt like home to look into them. How long had he wanted this, he tried to remember. However long, he knew damn well it would have been impossible to resist if he came home, and yet he did anyway. Of course, the man couldn't resist— it was too hard.
"Sasuke—"
"Don't say anything," he urged her, brushing her arms as the lab coat dropped to the floor. His mind swirled with enough thoughts. He wanted to silence them all at once, and though Sakura's voice cut through the thick of it, she also helped raise their volume. It was all his conscious, begging him to stop. It was too soon. He couldn't do this to her— taking her away from this place: her work, her home, having her abandon everything...that was selfish enough.
Where would it stop? How much of her was he going to take?
"Damn it all," he muttered under his breath, before claiming her lips in another harsh kiss. His eyes closed as he allowed his feelings to overwhelm him.
It was entirely unlike him to initiate anything, but something had clicked— something which he himself had not yet noticed. He did notice the irony of it...that after years of pushing away her advances, it was him who was now pursuing things. He returned her feelings when he first left with a touch, and now he would consummate it with another. That was his intent right then— his conscience be damned.
It could have been a thousand years, or just a split second, however, somewhere between his shirt and her belt, a voice would chime.
"Ahem..."
The two would cock their heads to the side at the same time, only to see a singular figure on the opposite end of the building.
"K-Kakashi-sensei...?!" Sakura could barely get sound off of her throat as it tightened immediately.
Sasuke slowly parted from the woman before him and ran a hand through his hair. What the hell could he even say?
"Well, well~ Would you look at this..." Kakashi's tone told everything— from how much he'd seen, to how long he had been standing there— something which neither of the younger shinobi was particularly pleased about. "And here I thought that Sasuke might have been telling me the truth about why he was taking you away."
Sasuke frowned. "What are you doing here?"
"It's too late to be offended now," he warned in an amused tone. "Anyways, I was just here to see you off. You know, since I did go through a lot of trouble to speed up your paperwork."
"Wait, what?" She's surprised. "I didn't get all the signed forms to you though. I was missing the-"
"Oh? I guess I must have another Sakura Haruno applying to leave the village. I'm certain I already got them." Kakashi pulled from his left sleeve, a completed form sheet. Yet it was not her handwriting.
Without thinking, she tackle-hugged her teacher and squeezed him. It was still tight enough that Kakashi groaned, even though she did not use her chakra strength. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" The joy in her voice could not be contained.
He patted her back and chuckled. "Let's settle down now...no need to make Sasuke jealous." At this moment, he winked at the man. The young man could only react through the embarrassment to give a dismissive "Tch." This only made Kakashi laugh harder. "Ah, well...I suppose that I should tell you the other reason I'm here..."
It was at this point that she pulled away from him, and he took the chance to pull from his robes, a scroll. "One more mission. You can call it a way to thank me for letting you do this, against the advice of my contemporaries."
The Haruno woman took the scroll in her hands and opened it. Scanning with great speed, she was able to parse out all the major details. "An S rank mission?"
"Well, you both know about the man that was caught from the ambush. Mr. Sanada. As it turns out, his village is willing to pay us for the mix-up. As it turns out, they were supposed to attack the ninja from a different rivaling village. As a tribute to us, they are willing to make amends by killing any of the people involved in the mistake."
Sakura raised a quizzical brow. "Wait, that doesn't make any sense. How could you mistake a mass of ninja from a village that isn't ours? We have such distinct uniforms! How could they say it was because they mistook our headband's shape?"
Sasuke tensed up. "Sanada wasn't even part of the ambush. He had his own separate efforts to undermine it. They're going to execute him for treason if he goes."
"I understand that it may seem confusing to you. We could easily just refuse their offer but unfortunately, the international incident that was caused by the incident has resulted in the eyes of the other Kages to be placed on the village. They expect Konoha, the originators of our newest peace treaty to prove that we are willing to be forgiving and kind...and usher in an era of cooperation between ninja. As a result, we're willing to play ball with the terms that Shimogakure has laid out."
"And Sasuke- he's coming with me?"
"Well, he and I made an arrangement. If I was to let you leave, he would once again become a registered ninja under the village. It was one of the reasons I decided to push through all the paperwork."
"Wait, so he's..."
"Yep, you'll be taking on a genin."
"What?! Sasuke?!" She looks at him. "But he's..."
"I would have given him a wartime promotion after reconstruction ended, but he'd left by then. It's not like Naruto, where he's basically being given a jonin crash course. Sasuke doesn't want to become Hokage, so he could have simply been promoted on the field, like you and Shikamaru. However, I have my reservations. I can't in good faith give promotions to shinobi that aren't around for their village. So thusly, as far as things are concerned, anything he does is your responsibility now."
"Y-You're joking."
Kakashi couldn't help but chuckle at this. "Now, before you two leave, you'll need to come back to my office so we can update your registration photos. Come along, now."
"BUT-!" Sakura watched, bewildered as Sasuke simply walked behind Kakashi, seeming entirely complacent to this.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!"
Sarada threw her head back in laughter, her cheeks hurting from how wide it was. Kakashi too let out his amusement but in a more reserved manner. His eyes were fixated on the young Uchiha daughter.
"You can tell they that neither of them really wanted to be in this situation," he pointed out to her.
It took her a moment to come down, though she could not stop from smiling, even after relaxing somewhat. "Don't jonin normally get a three man team, though?"
"Well, that's true, but I didn't exactly have any other genin available."
Sarada opened her mouth but was quickly interrupted.
"Naruto was busy on another mission by the end of that day. S-Rank as well. You know how things are..."
Sarada narrowed her eyes at this moment, the smile disappearing from her face. She watched the people as they walked on the road in the far distance before shaking her head. Something just didn't make sense. "Why did you sign the papers? Other than because Papa said he'd be a ninja again? It just doesn't make sense...you could make him do anything you wanted anyway, couldn't you? And couldn't mama get the papers done later anyway?"
"Your mother wanted to leave that night...your father urged her to do so for whatever reason. Of course, considering how I found them, it was likely that he would have waited for her a day or two more. I didn't know of course until I got there. As far as I knew, it had to be that night. Your mother is a very resourceful and very efficient kunoichi, but she isn't a one man army like Naruto or even your father. She never managed to master the shadow clone technique, for example."
"What?!"
"Regular Ninjutsu was just wasn't her thing. Now, she's a legendary medical-ninjutsu user and a taijutsu expert with an affinity for genjutsu but..."
"I get it." Sarada nods. "You can't be great at everything."
"Don't write her off, now. If it wasn't for Sakura's efforts in the war, we would have surely lost everything."
"Oh, I know that." She looks down with a small smile.
"What are you thinking?"
Sarada turned towards Kakashi at that moment. "How did you get him to agree? Papa has always been particular about his freedom...did he really give it up like that?"
The former Hokage shook his head and put up his hand as if he were giving a lecture. "It was more of a trade."
"What do you mean?"
"I'll explain...it was the night he had returned to the village..."
Somehow, Sasuke regretted not being more stealthy when sneaking into Sakura's bedroom. Between Sakura and Kakashi, he had had enough, and turned around, as if to leave. There was no reason to stay in the Uchiha district.
"Wait," Kakashi called out, putting his hand out towards him.
The Uchiha stopped at that instant and turned halfway around. He then looked off towards the distance before turning his head towards the Hokage. When their eyes met, there was an intensity in both, though Kakashi's was much more cautious.
"You realize how long it takes to request leave from the village, right?"
The former criminal said nothing.
"You can't just up and leave with little words like you had. She'll end up a missing-nin, just like you. She'll be prey for whatever bounty hunters or village shinobi that decide to look at their bingo book. There's a process, special papers you need to apply for and those take mon-"
"Sakura isn't going to just run away."
This statement caught Kakashi's attention.
"And she isn't going to wait either," Sasuke said, turning away from him once more. "You know that as much as I do. I'm leaving tomorrow. So whatever stamps you need to use, or papers you need to sign, just do it. I'll take care of whatever else she needs."
Kakashi narrows his eyes at Sasuke, folding his arms at him. Such disrespect...the man hadn't even acknowledged him once as the Hokage of the village. The way he looked at him, he could see the twelve-year-old boy that had his hands in his pockets right before him, giving him a familiar look of contempt. Softly, he chuckled to himself. "You haven't changed at all, have you? Well, alright then, I'll play along. I suppose that those shinobi pay raises can wait a few days, but you need to do something for me in return."
"What are the terms?"