Author's Note:
Sorry it's a day late! The funny thing about this chapter is it actually took me a literal MONTH to write this chapter originally. And then last week I realized I needed to change it again, and so here we are.
Enjoy!
Chapter Six: Favors
Disclaimer: Yo no soy Kishimoto, lo siento. I still do not own Naruto
Sasuke was annoyed.
Staring at the scroll, Sasuke still couldn't make words appear. A little drop of blood had opened the scroll right up, but all it contained was a long sheet of nothing. Sasuke tried to see if heat, cold, or a jutsu release would do the trick to no avail. He even took a gamble and dropped a miniscule bit of blood on the parchment itself, but still there was nothing. Sasuke suspected he needed his Sharingan to even look at the jutsu, let alone use them.
He really shouldn't have been surprised; his father was always a careful man, so of course Fugaku would make it difficult to unlock his secrets. Of course things couldn't be easy for Sasuke. Of course. Sighing, Sasuke closed the scroll, wondering if father would have been disappointed in him. It was funny how even years after his death, Sasuke strove for his approval.
A sudden rush of hot fury coursed through him, and Sasuke threw the nearest object across the room. Cursing, Sasuke leaned forward on his desk, clutching his hair. How much longer was this going to go on? How much longer did he have to wait for his Sharingan? How much longer did he have to suffocate?
He wished he could flee. Sasuke envisioned packing a bag and leaving Konoha. In this fantasy world, Sasuke saw himself as a traveling mercenary, finding powerful people to train under and fight against. He would be an assassin for hire, maybe even find Itachi along the way. Maybe kidnap and train Suigetsu, Karin, and Jugo to go after the leaf. Maybe he would do that in his next round, should he die again.
Where would he go? Sasuke didn't know, but he knew it wouldn't be to Orochimaru. Last round taught Sasuke that he didn't need the old snake, and he hated the idea of having to be near Kabuto again more than he hated being near the Hokage. Besides, why seek someone who could only teach Sasuke what he already knew?
Moving his head so that it now rested on his arm, Sasuke stared out of his balcony. He couldn't see much from his vantage point, but he could see the clouds drift by. Sasuke wasn't sure how long he stayed like that, but when he finally moved, his shoulder was tingling painfully. Rubbing his neck, Sasuke got to his feet, looking for the thing he had thrown.
Evidently, it was the book about chakra control he was reading last night. It had landed open and facing down, bending the pages. Sasuke took in a sharp breath of irritation at the sight, his fingers involuntarily curling into a tight fist. After a moment of staring, Sasuke forced himself to relax his grip and scooped the book up. Getting angry over a stupid book wasn't worth it, especially when he was the one who caused the damage.
He did that a lot, Sasuke supposed as he put the book back on his desk. Causing damage. He hurt Sakura – physically, emotionally. He hurt Naruto more times than he could recall – he even tried to kill the blonde on a few occasions. He hurt Kakashi, he hurt Karin, hurt his brother… It's what he does.
Hurt.
But, Sasuke thought as he looked back at the scroll, throwing a tantrum isn't going to help me, either. Father can keep his secrets – for now. Letting go of a deep sigh, Sasuke sunk down into a low squat, hands over his face. Taking a moment to recollect himself, he breathed, slow and steady. Looking at the nearest clock, Sasuke saw that he still had over an hour till he needed to return.
Knowing Naruto, they were probably eating somewhere. Before he could think better of his decisions, Sasuke set out to find his teammates. Sasuke made his way over to Ichiraku, figuring he would at least find Naruto.
Unsurprised, he saw the blonde eating a large bowl, two empty ones stacked next to it. Kakashi was sitting next to him, but Sakura was nowhere to be found.
Sasuke slipped into the seat next to Naruto, and ordered the ramen with eel.
"Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed in between slurps. "Glad to see you, teme!"
"Hn." Sasuke replied, intertwining his fingers as he rested his elbows on the table.
"Nice of you to join us, Sasuke." Kakashi said. "Sakura wishes she could be here, but she had an urgent matter to look into."
Urgent matter? Sasuke wondered. Kakashi gave nothing away in his demeanor, which likely meant this wasn't his business.
"Which is too bad, because sensei said he'll be treating us, since we did so well on our mission so far! Right, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto grinned as he slurped up another noodle.
"I did say that, but you are paying for your own ramen after that one." Kakashi said, who had an empty bowl next to him. Sasuke's eyes narrowed; wasn't it half full when Sasuke first sat down?
"Awe, but sensei!" Naruto whined to deaf ears.
"Here you go!" the ramen owner said, placing a large bowl in front of Sasuke.
Sasuke nodded his thanks, and silently ate his ramen while Naruto continued chatting away. Sasuke made noncommittal noises every so often to indicate he was listening, glad that Naruto filled the silence.
Most people tried to get Sasuke to open up, and get him to talk when he was more content with observing. One nice thing about Naruto is that he never expected more from Sasuke than Sasuke was able to give. Suigetsu had that in common with the blonde, Sasuke found himself thinking. I wonder if he's already in Orochimaru's hands? Sasuke wasn't sure if it was the eel, but something about that didn't sit right with him. Maybe I should try finding him again. He was pretty useful.
The tension that had built itself up in Sasuke's right shoulder had gradually loosened up. As annoying as Naruto was, Sasuke could almost always count on the dobe for an easy, predictable evening. Naruto had a knack of reminding Sasuke that things could be simple, and that helped his irritation melt away. Surprisingly, Sasuke actually found himself feeling a little disappointed that Sakura wasn't with them.
Although it made him uncomfortable at times, Sasuke was grateful for her kind words and attentive gaze. And like Naruto, Sakura never expected him to be someone he wasn't, or expected Sasuke to impress her as if he were a show dog. For a minute – just a minute – life didn't seem quite so unbearable when he was with them.
When they made it back to the hotel, a chūnin stopped them to inform Kakashi the Hokage needed him – and with a lazy wave and a promise to see them later, the silver-haired jōnin disappeared.
Before either Naruto or Sasuke could question what happened, Mei appeared and presented them with uniforms. Her smile was wide, and Sasuke wanted to growl. He was a ninja, not a servant. Sasuke told himself it would be good practice should he need to go undercover, but the sentiment hardly made him feel any better.
"These were the smallest I could find, so I hope they fit you." Mei was saying, and then looked at her watch. "But where is your teammate? She's late ag– ah. Here she is."
Mei was looking past the boys, her gaze hard as Sakura came up to them.
"Sorry." Sakura said, her breath heavy as she came up to them.
The trio exchanged a look, and Sasuke noticed the pinkette was a bit pale.
"No matter; we don't have much time, so I'll say this quickly. Change into these uniforms in the servant locker room, and put your clothes and weapons in an open locker. Once you have done that, report to the kitchen."
How ludicrous, Sasuke internally scoffed. Not only will I look like a servant, but she expects me to hand over my weapons, too?
"Sorry aunty, but we are ninja, you know." Naruto said at the same time. "We always have weapons on us. That's one of the added benefits of hiring us."
"I appreciate that, but some of those girls are daughters of very important clients, and we don't want to scare them – or for their parents to get the wrong idea about Kiyoko-sama." Mei told them.
"But-" Naruto started, but Sakura stepped forward and put her hand in his arm.
"Of course." Sakura said sweetly, a demure smile on her lips. "We understand, Mei-san."
Completely falling for Sakura's act, Mei nodded with a smug sort of satisfaction. Naruto frowned, but nodded in apparent surrender.
"Now, the locker rooms are down that hall, past the servant's door. Change quickly; they will arrive any moment now."
"Yes, Mei-san."
The trio disappeared to change into their uniforms. Sasuke found that he didn't like the cuffs; they felt restrictive, and he couldn't even fit a single kunai up them. Thankfully, he had brought slimmer knives that slipped under beautifully. After securing his hidden weapons in place, Sasuke put his clothes in a locker. Naruto cursed, causing Sasuke to look at the blonde – and then snort.
Even tucked in, Naruto's white dress shirt was baggy, and the sleeves reached his knuckles. The black pants given to him covered his feet, and wrinkled in places it shouldn't. In other words: it looked like Naruto was playing dress-up with his father's clothing.
Naruto glared at Sasuke, looking a little miserable. Sasuke stepped up to the mirror, pleased that his clothes fit him better than they did Naruto. As he put the bowtie on, Sasuke decided he hated it; like the sleeves, the fabric felt restrictive. He hadn't minded ties as much when he was a kid, but that may have been because he could get Itachi to tie it for him, even though Sasuke knew how.
Naruto, however, clearly never even touched a bowtie before. He had awkwardly tied it in a crooked knot, and his collar was sticking out in a strange way. Naruto growled as he yanked it off.
"Naruto, what are you doing?" Sasuke asked as Naruto tried – and failed – to tie it properly.
"Oh, shut it, teme." Naruto hissed as he nearly choked himself.
Sasuke snorted again, deciding to take pity on the idiot. Although Sasuke would never admit it out loud, Naruto had helped take away some of his frustration earlier during dinner. Naruto had no idea, but Sasuke figured he could return the favor anyway by helping with the bowtie dilemma.
"I'm only doing this once, so you better pay attention." Sasuke told him as he snatched the fabric away from Naruto. "Stay still."
Naruto looked at Sasuke suspiciously, but obeyed.
As Sasuke tied the bowtie, he could hear Itachi's voice gently telling Sasuke that he needed to pull here, flip under here, tug here… Sasuke stepped back to admire his handiwork, and found it a little crooked. As he straightened it, Sasuke wondered if this was how Itachi felt.
"There. Now you won't be an embarrassment." Sasuke said when he was satisfied.
Naruto stepped up to the mirror, and grinned. "Would you look at that! Once it's on correctly, I look pretty handsome, you know!"
Sasuke rolled his eyes, and exited the locker room, finding that Sakura had also come out of the women's locker room across the hall. Her hair had been pulled up in a high, tight bun, a few strands framing her face. Unlike Sasuke and Naruto, her shirt was sleeveless, and she had a black skirt that ended just below her knees rather than pants. However, like the boys, she also had a bowtie.
"Oh, hi." Sakura said when she saw Sasuke, tugging at her collar. "You look great."
"And your bow tie is crooked." Sasuke observed.
"I know." She groaned. "But no matter how many times I did it, it always came out that way."
Rolling his eyes, Sasuke stepped forward. "You are as bad as Naruto."
In seconds, he had untied and retied her bowtie to perfection. "So, you were upset that I compared you to Naruto earlier, with your tomato eating habits." She laughed, sounding a little nervous.
"Hn." Sasuke responded as he stepped back.
"How did that thing go? The one that you needed to do before?" She asked, touching the bowtie.
"Hn." Sasuke said, not wanting to say more.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun." She said, her blush disappearing, and her eyes compassionate.
Was he really that transparent? Sasuke prided himself on being able to conceal his thoughts, and yet she always…
How annoying.
The door behind Sasuke slammed open – really, could that boy be any louder? – and Naruto marched out to greet his teammates. Evidentially, he had chosen to roll up his pant legs and the sleeves, so that they fit him better. Sasuke supposed it was an improvement, but he still couldn't help but snort at the sight.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto said, throwing an arm over Sasuke's shoulder. "You look really pretty!"
"Thanks!" Sakura laughed.
"Wait, how'd you get your tie so good? It took me forever to get mine on." Naruto leaned forward with his arm still draped over Sasuke's shoulder.
Sasuke scoffed, and Sakura looked back and forth at the two. "Let me guess: Sasuke had to do it for you, didn't he?"
"No…" Naruto lied.
Giggling, Sakura began walking off towards the kitchen. Shrugging himself free, Sasuke followed after her with Naruto at his heels.
"Sakura-chan, wait." Naruto said, grabbing onto her arm.
Surprised, she looked back at him. "Yes?"
"Earlier, you looked pale, and you backed off of that Mei chick way too easily. What gives?"
"Right." Sakura said, and then took a deep breath before fully turning to her teammates. "Listen, this may be nothing, but I think something is going to happen tonight. Not necessarily with our mission but-"
"You know, Kakashi was called to the old man's office… Is that related, do you think?" Naruto said thoughtfully.
Sakura shook her head. "I'm not sure."
"What did you hear?" Sasuke asked her.
"Not much, just that there may be an attack on the Hyūga compound." Sakura lowered her voice as she spoke. "When we were decorating earlier, I saw Mei-san talking to a couple of police ninja. I saw the same ninja again right as we were finishing, so I followed them – and overheard them talking about a suspicious letter sent to the Hyūga head."
"Weird…" Naruto said.
"I don't know if this will affect our mission at all, but I think we should be prepared for anything just in case." Sakura said.
"I agree." Sasuke said, subconsciously checking the knife he had slipped under his sleeve.
"Did you hear anything else? Like, who their target was, or when it'll happen? Or who's behind it?" Naruto asked.
"I spent the last three hours trying to find more information, and learned nothing. Looks like you're not the only one who needs to work on their information gathering skills." Sakura sighed.
And there's that self-doubt again, Sasuke noticed.
"That's okay Sakura-chan; I'm sure the old man's gotten this all taken care of." Naruto said.
Sakura gave the blonde a weak smile in response, and the trio continued to the kitchen in silence.
As soon as they entered the double doors, one of the hired men gave each ninja a large, silver plate. Each plate contained dozens of expensive-looking bracelets shaped like a leaf. Sasuke looked up at the middle-aged man – the event planner – who looked rather stressed.
"Take these." the man instructed. "Each girl is to take one, and once all 150 girls have their gift, come back to the kitchen to grab snacks and drinks for the guests."
The man promptly shoved the genin through the kitchen to the other door that led them into the near empty ballroom. Sasuke took note of the busy kitchen staff, as they passed, not missing the way the chef glared at them. Once inside the ballroom, the trio were placed on the left of the main doors, standing opposite of the waiters.
With a large smile, the event planner opened up the ballroom doors and bowed.
The birthday girl – Aiko, if Sasuke remembered correctly – came in. She looked to be about twelve, with dark skin and pale hair that reminded Sasuke of Killer Bee. She grabbed a bracelet from Naruto, and turned around to face the waiting girls, a radiant smile split her face.
"My dearest friends, please accept my humble gift." She declared, and then after a pause said, "And yes. I have endowed each of you La Reina bracelets from their latest collection!"
Aiko flashed the bracelet on her wrist, and a great squeal erupted; Sasuke already had to suppress a sigh. This is going to be a very long evening, Sasuke decided.
"A La Reina bracelet as a party favor." Sakura muttered jealously under her breath. "You have got to be kidding me."
Sasuke studied each face as she came in to grab her bracelet, mentally checking off the guest list he memorized earlier. It wasn't very long before all 150 teenage girls were admiring their new bracelet, and dancing – or for the trio to be rushed back into the kitchen to start serving.
All three of them were given white gloves to wear, and were instructed to stand around and offer food and drink to the girls. Whenever an item ran out, or if one of the guests requested something, they were to return to the kitchen and retrieve it.
The first hour dragged on; several of the girls kept calling Sasuke over to ask him questions and talk about his life as a ninja. One of them even purposefully dropped one of her little sandwiches so that Sasuke would have to pick it up. As he grabbed it – pretending that this wasn't humiliating – he felt the girl reach out to touch his hair. Snatching her wrist, he glared at the young blonde. Her eyes widened, and another girl snickered as he let go of her wrist.
Patience is the virtue of a ninja; patience is the virtue of a ninja. Sasuke repeated the words like a mantra, commanding himself to not lose control. They weren't as bad as Karin though – and if he could deal with her, then he could deal with them.
Even so, Sasuke found with nearly every fiber of his being that he absolutely abhorred serving these girls. As a child, his parents would either throw elaborate parties, or they would attend elaborate parties. He and Itachi would be dressed in ties and tuxedos, and people would fawn over them. Although he hated that part, Sasuke usually got to hide away with his older brother. At least then he didn't have to wait on anyone's hand and foot like some kind of servant.
He was a ninja. He was born to be a ninja, raised to be a ninja, and it felt wrong for him to be here, holding a tray and offering little sandwiches and fizzy drinks. It didn't help that he was beginning to feel a little dizzy, and he kept tugging at the restrictive collar to no relief. It felt like he couldn't breathe properly because of it, which only furthered Sasuke's irritation.
Glancing at his teammates, he wondered how they fared, and it would seem he wasn't the only one who appeared uncomfortable. Sakura looked vaguely pale and tired, and Naruto looked bored. Sasuke narrowed his eyes; where did Naruto's bowtie go?
Suddenly, a mischievous grin stretched across the blonde's face.
Whatever it is, don't do it. Sasuke silently told him when Naruto caught his eye. Naruto's grin widened and Sasuke groaned.
Suddenly, he began to juggle three empty glasses. At first, no one seemed to notice, but then Aiko turned to the blonde and tilted her head. She said something to another girl, who started watching, and then another. In moments, Naruto had captured everyone's attention as he began juggling various different things.
Flashing a smile, Naruto created a clone – which produced an excited applause. Sasuke scoffed as the girls gazed up at the blonde with admiration. The two clones juggled their items back and forth, and then a third clone popped up, and then a fourth. Each Naruto passed the twelve objects flawlessly, and encouraged the girls to throw new items at the clones.
The girls began to throw things at Naruto excitedly, and he caught each one – earning him another round of applause with each catch. Then, without warning, all four clones threw their trays, glasses, and hard pieces of bread in the air—
And his audience watched in awe as Naruto caught each and every single object. All four of him bowed, earning him laughter and cheers.
Naruto beamed, and Sasuke rolled his eyes, once again tugging at his collar. Naruto had momentarily distracted him, but the dizzy spell returned, and perspiration began to bead up around his forehead. When did it get so hot? Sasuke wondered as he discretely wiped the sweat away. He tugged at the collar before finally pulling off his bowtie altogether, and rubbed his neck.
It was just too hot, too restrictive, and it probably was what was making him feel dizzy –
Wait a moment. Sasuke's heart began to beat faster as he surveyed the room. The girls were looking pale and lethargic, and so was Sakura and the servers for that matter.
Dizzy spell, excessive warmth, difficulty breathing…
A girl screamed, and Sasuke looked up to see several girls gathered around Aiko, who had collapsed to the ground. Sasuke started making his way over to her, but a girl right next to him also collapsed, and he had to catch her. When he looked up more girls started falling, groaning, and whimpering.
Sasuke looked at his teammates, saw the panic in their eyes. We were all poisoned? When? Why? Sakura broke out of her panic first, and, ripping off her bowtie, raced to the girl closest to her.
"You three! Grab damp towels." Sakura pointed to the waiters, and when they didn't move, she snarled, "Did I stutter? Go, now!"
Bringing down their fevers won't be enough, Sasuke thought to himself, trying to clear the fog in his brain. We need doctors…
"Naruto!" Sasuke called, causing Naruto to look over. "Get doctors, now! Tell them we have a mass poisoning."
Naruto nodded, and turned to run –
When an explosive pop rattled Sasuke where he stood. The knives from his sleeves were in his hands before the smoke even filled the room.
"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled as the smoke covered his vision, hoping the blonde would use the jutsu Kakashi taught him last week.
"Wind Release: Gale Palm!" Naruto called, and Sasuke readied himself.
The smoke dissipated, revealing five masked men – the largest of which had Aiko over his shoulder. His mask had strange black markings around its eyes and mouth, making him look something like a deranged bear. Looking over at the other men, Sasuke saw that each man had different colored markings on their masks.
Time seemed to slow as Sasuke glanced at his teammates – they knew what to do. In seconds, six of Naruto's clones surrounded the masked men, while the other seven started moving the poisoned girls to safety. Sakura had summoned mud walls around the windows and exits, while Sasuke threw his knives at the man holding Aiko.
The large man blocked the knives with a broadsword, and ran towards the nearest exit. Ignoring the screams from guests, Sasuke leapt over to where the masked men were, hoping he wouldn't get sick or stumble from the vertigo.
The masked men dispersed around the room, and before Sasuke could reach the kidnapper, two of the men appeared before Sasuke. Sasuke flipped backwards and, grabbing several steak knives from a table, threw them at the men. The men blocked most of them and pressed forward. Sasuke's vision doubled, but he managed to block one man, and kicked the other one into a table.
"I thought you said they were genin!" the man with red stripes growled as he got up.
"We are genin." Sakura replied before punching the man with green markings into the man with red – effectively knocking them both back down into the broken table.
Sasuke looked at her; she was pale, and her green eyes looked a little dull. She took a step, and nearly fell over, so Sasuke grabbed her shoulders.
"Sorry, Sasuke-kun." she said when he let her go. "I'm feeling a little dizzy."
"That's because you're poisoned," he told her as he pressed his back against hers, raising a kunai he had stored under his pant leg. "Try to avoid using jutsu; if it's the poison I think it is, using chakra will only make the symptoms worse."
"Lovely." Sakura responded.
The green masked man came back with a vengeance, releasing twenty shuriken from above. In a split second, Sasuke grabbed a table and blocked them while Sakura pulled a few random guests out of harm's way.
Sasuke jumped up to incapacitate the green-masked man, but the man with blue markings appeared before him with a katana aimed for Sasuke's chest. Using his kunai, Sasuke blocked the sword before he crashed down into the ground.
Sasuke heard Sakura's scream accompanied with a loud crack, but couldn't spare a glance as he dizzily avoided decapitation. Okay, that sword needs to go.
The man stood over Sasuke, so Sasuke kicked the man's feet from underneath him. The man fell hard, and before he could get up, Sasuke grasped his hands together and thrusted down. The man's wrist broke with a sickening crack, and Sasuke felt a disturbing pleasure as the man screamed.
Sasuke took ahold of his sword before kicking him into the wall. He watched as the man went limp and collapsed onto the floor.
"You don't deserve this katana." Sasuke told the crumpled-up form before whirling around.
Sasuke immediately regretted the decision, almost falling over as everything seemed to keep spinning.
Before he could recover, a dull pain erupted from Sasuke's stomach, and his arms moved on instinct. Although he lacked the power, Sasuke managed to use the katana to block the next attack and then swung – all while the room seemed to spin around him.
"Like my cologne?" his assailant asked before landing another punch. "It doesn't smell like anything, but it sure packs a punch, dunnit?"
Sasuke steadied himself, and pretended he was training with Orochimaru. After all, how many times did the snake force him to fight dozens of powerful opponents after poisoning him? Sasuke cleared away his thoughts and allowed instinct to take over.
Using the katana, Sasuke blocked, slashed, and countered. He seemed to get dizzier with each second, but somehow, he managed to keep up. The man grew increasingly frustrated with Sasuke, his movements becoming sloppier as Sasuke danced around him.
"See how well you do with this, brat!" the man exclaimed before picking up one of the girls who passed out.
Sasuke had just enough time to drop the sword as the yellow masked man chucked the girl at a grunt, Sasuke managed to catch her, and then jumped back onto a table to dodge a kunai, the girl still in his arms. Sasuke dodged another attack, clumsily jumping backwards onto the floor before setting the girl down.
"Don't worry, though; I'll let you live!" Sasuke's opponent said as he shoved a knife in Sasuke's face. "We need someone to tell Kiyoko that we need that scroll of hers!"
Scroll? Sasuke wondered as he ducked. Which one? My father's?
Sasuke blocked the man's next attack, whirled around to elbow him, and then flipped the masked man over his shoulder onto the floor.
"You talk too much." Sasuke told him as he punched his opponent right in the chin.
With his opponent sufficiently knocked out, Sasuke forced himself to get back on his feet. He stumbled backwards, but someone came up from behind, and grabbed his shoulders. Not again, Sasuke thought as he braced himself for another attack.
"Careful, teme." Naruto murmured.
Sasuke immediately relaxed, and allowed Naruto to help him sit down. He looked around, saw the mess, and noted no one was trying to kill them. In fact, all five men were tied up in the corner; when did that happen?
"Sakura?" Sasuke asked.
"Right here." Three Sakuras said, slumping next to Sasuke before resting her head in her arms. "I was making sure those weasels were properly tied up."
Sasuke stared at the girl, wondering which head belonged to her body, and then rubbed his temples.
"Aiko?" Sasuke managed to ask.
"She's…" Naruto pointed over to a spot on the floor.
"Where is she?" Kiyoko-san's voice rang.
He looked up to see Kiyoko-san emerging from a hole in the wall. Her face was pale, and her dark eyes were darting around the room. They made eye-contact, and Kiyoko-san made her way over to where Sasuke was. She leaned heavily on her cane as she hurried over, and the frustration on her face became more apparent with each awkward step. Sasuke – with Naruto's help – wordlessly directed Kiyoko-san over to where Aiko had been laid.
Aiko's dark skin had turned a disconcerting ashy color, and she was mumbling something. When Kiyoko-san came over, she held her hand out, and Naruto helped her down. The older woman knelt down slowly, her mouth twisting into a determined grimace.
"Oh, my darling girl. Not you, too." Kiyoko-san whispered as she brushed the young girl's hair off her forehead. Without taking her eyes off of Aiko, Kiyoko-san asked, "What happened?"
"Someone poisoned us." Sasuke told her with some effort.
Kiyoko-san looked up at Sasuke with horror. Her words "I lost some precious people" echoed in his mind as he stared at the woman, whose sad eyes shed no tears. In that moment, something deep within him desperately did not want her to experience the sorrow of losing her niece.
"We'll make sure she'll be okay." Sasuke found himself promising Kiyoko-san, ignoring the way Naruto looked at him.
"Were you and your teammates also poisoned?" Kiyoko-san asked, grabbing Sasuke's hand.
He blinked, surprised she would be concerned over him. "Yes, but…"
"We're ninja, ma'am!" Naruto assured her when Sasuke's voice failed. "We are made of tough stuff, and a little bit of poison won't hurt us."
A sad smile spread over her lips, and Kiyoko-san's gaze returned to her niece. "You are not invincible, young one. Even ninja are not immune to death."
"Well, some of us are more immune than-" Naruto began – before promptly falling face first on the floor.
Kiyoko-san and Sasuke both stared at the blonde. Sasuke's stomach dropped and his heart started beating faster.
"Naruto?" Sasuke asked, turning the blonde over. "Naruto!"
His skin was pale and splotchy, and his breathing came out in short, pained rasps. Red lines clawed themselves up Naruto's neck, and Sasuke watched as the red lines darkened into an inky black.
This isn't happening. I must be hallucinating, this isn't happening.
"S-Sasuk-ke." Naruto wheezed, clutched the front of his jumpsuit. "W-what's – ah, my ch-est!"
Naruto screamed, and Sasuke instinctively grabbed Naruto's hand as the boy folded into a fetal position, gasping for air. What is this? What's going on? Naruto's eyes opened for a moment, revealing two red orbs before squeezing them shut again in pain. What should I do? Dammit, what do I do?
Someone grabbed Sasuke's shoulder, and the next thing he knew, he had a woman in a white jumpsuit pinned underneath him.
"I'm a medic!" she grunted.
Sasuke immediately got off, and the woman didn't spare him a glance as she knelt down next to Naruto.
Suddenly, Sakura was next to Sasuke, and they both stared at the woman as she examined Naruto. Sakura looked at Sasuke with wide eyes, and he shook his head. Sakura's hand slipped into Sasuke's, seeking comfort.
"Over here! We need to get him to the hospital!" The medic suddenly yelled.
Several more medics appeared, put Naruto on a stretcher, and disappeared.