Charcoal eyes snapped open. They darted around the room at a fast pace, taking in the hospital ceiling and the white lights. The scent of antiseptic filled his nostrils and he fought back the urge to gag. He was never a fan of antiseptic. Propping himself into a sitting position, Sasuke noticed that he was alone in his room. He looked out the window and saw that it was late at night. On a desk beside him, there was a vase with various types of flowers and a get well soon card. He rubbed his jaw as he wracked his brains on what had happened. The last thing he remembered was having a talk with the Ichibi before everything blurred out.
The invasion!
What had happened? Did they win? Had everything gone accordingly as in theprevious timeline? What happened to Naruto and Sakura? Had they won the fight with Gaara? Had Naruto used the Talk No Reverse Jutsu on him? A thousand questions filtered in his mindset. He had to find answers, now.
Getting off the bed, he discovered he felt utterly drained. 'Chakra exhaustion,' he told himself. Using the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan came at the cost of draining his chakra reserves entirely, not to mention if you had been involved in a battle previously. A fragment of a memory entered his mind and he saw a sand fist plummeting into him. That had hurt. He was dressed in a black t-shirt and grey pants. At least he wasn't dressed in those stupid hospital gowns. He checked himself for injuries. His ribs had been wrapped with bandages and when he prodded at them with a finger, they ached in return. They were on their way to recovery. Apart from that, everything was fine except for a few scratches there and there. He searched the room for shoes and found a pair of morning shoes under his bed. They would have to do.
Leaving by the main exit was out of bounds. He would be quickly detected. He opened the window and jumped out.
Having chakra had its benefits. One of them was the ability to jump from high places and land on the ground without much of a problem. But if you didn't have any chakra, that was an entirely different matter. He was utterly drained of chakra, with just enough to live. He didn't even have enough to cushion his feet when he landed on the ground, just barely a fraction of chakra to avoid snapping his legs after jumping from a four story building.
He grit his teeth in frustration as his legs protested violently to the strain that had been put on them. That had been a pretty nasty landing. He had survived many other serious injuries such that twisted ankles and aching legs were nothing in comparison to them. But the fact that he had hurt his legs because of carelessness, it made it more painful than he liked to imagine.
"Sasuke-kun?"
He turned around to the sound of her voice, inwardly sighing in relief at the sight of her. Had it been the dobe or any other person, they would have laughed their heads off. It would've been comical to see the Uchiha sitting outside the hospital with his face contorted in pain. "Sakura," he greeted flatly. "What are you doing out here?" she asked as she stepped closer to him, a plastic bag dangling from her hand. "Hn," he replied with a glare. "Were you trying to escape from the hospital?" she queried. She received a scowl and another glare in return. "Oh Sasuke-kun," she chuckled as she crouched in front him. "Let's get you back inside the hospital."
Sakura had the courtesy of carrying Sasuke back into his room bridal style. At first, the dark-haired boy had vehemently refused but after explaining to him that it would be very mysterious if she suddenly walked into the hospital with a heavily limping Uchiha, he had obliged. Plus she threatened to tell Naruto and the others that he had almost broken his legs due to chakra exhaustion he had not put in mind when he jumped off the four story building. The time-traveller had been brooding ever since she walked on the hospital walls on chakra laden feet back into his room. "C'mon Sasuke-kun. Don't be like that. No one is going to know about," she said as she took out apples and oranges from the plastic bag.
The said boy replied by looking away from her. Silence stretched between them as Sakura began peeling the fruits. "How long have I been unconscious?" he asked as he turned to look at her. "A day," she replied as she continued with her work. "What happened after I passed out?" he asked again. She finished peeling the fruits and began cutting them into cubes. For a moment, Sasuke thought she hadn't heard him and was about to repeat his question but she beat him to it. "Gaara completely transformed into the Ichibi. Naruto and I teamed up with his toad summon to defeat him. I used a genjutsu to distract the Ichibi for Naruto to deliver the final blow, which was a Rasengan obviously," she said as briefly as she could. "He beat sense into Gaara. Something about both of them being alike, jinchuriki and all. I think he reached out to Gaara and taught him the importance of friendship, you know, with how Gaara was always badmouthing special bonds" she finished. She stopped cutting the fruits and looked at him.
"You should have seen Naruto. Being cool and all. I think he should be a motivational speaker," she joked. "I noticed something unusual about the Ichibi," she spoke. "By the time I put the Ichibi under a genjutsu, it had already been under another genjutsu. I wonder how it continued to fight even though it was under another genjutsu. I think it's because it was fighting something else in the genjutsu, maybe that's why it was so good at fighting us in the real world," she pointed out. Sasuke took in all the information with grim satisfaction. His teammates had succeeded in defeating the Ichibi and repenting Gaara. But he had failed as an individual. His genjutsu hadn't been enough to subdue Shukaku. He had planned for a genjutsu to take place after thirty minutes. But it didn't work. It would make the Ichibi experience it's worst nightmares and also immobilize it. However, it was able to fight on the outside world despite having the Mangekyo being used on it.
He had been out cold at a time he had to fight side by side with his teammates. His Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan couldn't control the Ichibi for long. He thought about the time he had encountered the Kyuubi during the Chunin Exams. He had literally given the beast an empty threat at that time if his Sharingan wasn't enough for the Ichibi. Maybe it had to do with the fact that he had used the Tsukuyomi on Shukaku at first and he didn't have enough chakra for another Tsukuyomi. That sucked, he thought with a deep scowl.
"-suke-kun? Sasuke-kun?"
He blinked as he regained focus of where he was. He had become distracted with his thoughts. "I said Lord Third was defeated by Orochimaru and lost his life to protect the village," she repeated as her eyes fixated on him. "Hn," he replied with a brief nod. "The funeral is in a few days. Every shinobi is expected to be there," she said. "I know," he replied. "I'll come by tomorrow. Good night," she spoke. Sasuke stared at her as she jumped out the window. The hospital didn't know that he had a visitor. His eyes drifted to the bowl of fruit. He hadn't eaten in a day. He took the bowl and began eating the fruits as he allowed his thoughts to wander.
The Uchiha had been discharged the following day and made his way home. After brooding for the next two days, he attended the Hokage's funeral. It was sad, really. Naruto had almost cried his eyeballs out, as with many other shinobi and civilians. He didn't have any emotional attachment to the man but he respected him for giving his life in return for the village. 'Just like Itachi did,' he thought as he watched Sakura pat Naruto on his back as he sobbed loudly than most of them. To top it off, the village was wreck with no leader. Danzo was out of question, there was no way in hell would he allow the man to be Hokage. Not in the previous life, not in this one or the next. He was going to make sure of it.
"You're looking for Naruto?" Shikamaru repeated. He received a flat stare in return. "I don't know. If there's anyone who knows Naruto's whereabouts, then it's gotta be Sakura," the Nara replied almost sleepily. "But she's with Ino right now so unless you want to face the wrath of the Yamanaka heiress, go to the Yamanaka flower shop." With that, Shikamaru walked away, hands clasped behind his head. Sasuke scowled deeply. Of all the people, she just had to be with Ino. He had no problem with the Yamanaka but she was so loud and clingy. And he didn't like that.
'Just like Sakura is,' a treacherous voice whispered in his mind. 'Was,' he corrected. 'Still, in the previous timeline she was exactly like Ino but you chose her over Ino,' the voice replied. 'It's called having a soft spot,' he countered, entirely shutting out the voice in his head. He had a dobe to find and he was willing to risk encountering her.
"SASUKE-KUN!!!"
He mentally and physically braced himself as Ino literally latched herself onto his chest. "Ino," he started with a growl. He had just entered the shop only to have the blonde wrapping her arms around his neck, melting into his embrace as another would call it. "Did ya miss me?! I know you did, that's why you came all the way here to see me, right?! RIGHT?!" He mentally cringed at the loudness in her voice. 'How did I ever put up with Sakura?' he thought miserably. Using the upper hand in strength, he removed her hands around his neck and pushed her away, stopping her from molesting his chest. "I'm looking for Sakura. Where is she?" he asked in what Naruto dubbed as his scary-mama voice. It was just an all-business tone, really.
"Of course, you're always looking for Sakura," she replied as she rolled her eyes. "It's like she's the only girl in your eyes. I never see you talking with any other female our age," she spoke as she pouted. "That's because you're all annoying," he gritted out. "Yeah yeah, and Sakura says you call her annoying every time," she retorted in a matter of fact tone as she crossed her arms over her chest. "So what's the big deal? Why is it always Sakura this, Sakura that? Why not Ino or Hinata or even TenTen?" she prodded suspiciously as she stepped closer to him, invading his personal bubble. "Do you have a crush on her or something?" she asked. Sasuke blinked once then twice before he felt his ears start to turn hot. "What, cat got your tongue?" she said with a smirk.
"Ino, I won't have your mentally molesting my teammate," Sakura's voice chimed from behind. Sasuke looked at his approaching teammate with an annoyed scowl. "So do you have a crush on me?" she asked as she stood beside Ino with a teasing smile. "No," he ground out. "I've got better taste in women," he said for good measure.
The two kunoichi stared at him with shocked expressions. "Better taste?" Sakura repeated as tears began to well up in her eyes. "Come on," he said as he turned around and headed for the door. "Sometimes, I wonder why you put up with that jerk? Better taste?! Che, you're the real package. His taste buds must've been burnt from the using the Fireball jutsu for a long time," he heard Ino complain with a large amount of disdain as he closed the door behind him. "Ino," came Sakura's weak reply.
Perhaps he had been too rough with her... But it was for the best. He'd rather eat Naruto's expired ramen than admit to Ino that he had a crush, scratch that, he loved Sakura ever since he had returned back to Konoha after defeating Danzo. Plus with what he was going to do later on, he didn't think that she needed to hear that now. "Hey," Sakura said weakly as the two fell into step beside each other. Her despair rolled off in waves beside him. Had he been too cold with her? He cleared his throat. "About that...better taste thing. I didn't mean to say you're terrible taste," he said as he peeked at her at the corner of his eye. "It's okay," she replied as she stared at the ground, her eyes downcast. "I mean, I do have standards. It's just that..." he trailed off as she continued to look at ground. He had to fix this.
Sasuke stopped in his tracks and she did the same. He turned to look at her. "Do you wanna get lunch?" he asked nervously with what he thought was his best smile. Dealing with a downcast Sakura always soured his mood and he always made an effort to cheer her up. And right now, she was in a terrible mood. The pinkette blinked as she took in his offer. "Is that a date?" she asked a bit hopefully. "Uh, yes?". Was that a question or a statement? Immediately, her face brightened up. "Great! Let's go then!" she squealed as she took his hand and began dragging him to a dango shop.
"So why were you looking for me?" the kunoichi asked as she took a stick of dango from her plate. "I'm looking for Naruto. I haven't seen him since the mission with Ibiki's brat," he replied, referring to the mission with Idate Morino. The idiot had the audacity to ask Sakura out in front of them and then leave for them pay for his meal. "You mean Idate?" she asked. He nodded. "Hmmmmm, I don't know," she said as she chewed her food. She sipped her tea. "But I heard him talking about going on a trip with Master Jiraiya to look for Lady Tsunade-" she didn't finish her sentence as Sasuke was no longer in sight. "And then he ditches me on our date," she thought out loud with a sigh. "Well, at least that means more dango for me," she chirped as she took the unfinished dango sticks from his plate.
Sasuke was riding Garuda. He was flying towards Shukuba Town where he was desperately praying that the dobe hadn't met his idiot of a brother. How he still had a summoning contract with the bird despite being back in time was still a mystery to him. Itachi and Kisame were headed there for the Kyuubi jinchuriki. Even though Naruto had Jiraiya with him, who knew what could happen? The fact that he was back in the past could change so many things. He had to get there and protect Naruto. He had to make sure that Naruto wasn't accidentally caught up in Itachi's genjutsu just because Sasuke wasn't there in this timeline. One of the dobe's weak spot was genjutsu. And Jiraiya couldn't handle two Akatsuki members inside a hotel with civilians and not tear the place to pieces plus watching over Naruto at the same time. Inwardly, he prayed that the two rogue nin weren't already there.
Happy One Year Anniversary. This story is officially a year old. So to celebrate, a good ol'chapter form Yours Truly.
Dum dum dah! Our dear Sasu-chan is going to meet Itachi for the first time since he was back in the past. How will it turn? Read for more.
Thank you so much for your support. And your reviews of course! Please read my other stories:
Taste
Hajimeru
Tsunade's Apprentice
The Haruno Hokage
They're still being written and I want your thoughts on them.
Thank you yet again. Continue reviewing, reading, following and favouring!
Tozoonana
AfricanFire
