(Tim Seltzer, seltzer@seltzerbooks.com) Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own Wedding Peach.
I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's
why I'm poor, okay?
Author's Notes: I now have an eternal rival in Naruto fanfiction,
named Grummur. Anyway, I got myself into a fix because I read a new fic,
and then said off-handedly to the author that it is rival material. Grummur
answered with a Gai-approved-flash of the teeth.
Thedarkowns1: You got it. You are very intelligent. You are so smart
that people will think you dangerous.
Grummur: A sweat-drop appeared on my forehead (or something akin to
that in real life) when I saw your encouraging review. Thanks! I'll do
my best in this fic, and you do the same. And you're churning out chapters
like a madman... You sure know how to aggravate a fellow writer. Yeah,
it's hard to get people to like original characters, but you handle it
better than other people. Oh, and don't worry if I don't put up reviews;
I hardly ever do unless I come across really, really good writing for compliment's
sake. I keep reading. Usually I tend to keep my mouth shut in later chapters,
because if the author keeps going, it seems to be a sign that they have
enough ideas... If you need ideas, just ask! And I need ideas as well.
"Keep calm, Sasuke," Sakura said in a firm voice. She knew that he was
barely awake, and confused. He might have been a little frightened if he
knew he was suffocating. She examined the inside of his mouth, and saw
that something was stuck at the back of his throat. Blood, mucus, and who-knows-what
were solidifying into a plug in his upper respiratory system — a pseudomembrane.
Sakura could reach in and pull it out, but that was risky and time-consuming
if she wanted to do it carefully. And Sasuke was in desperate need of oxygen
at the moment.
This was going to be messy, but there was no other way.
Sasuke winced as the kunai penetrated his throat. Sakura's free hand
gently pressed him down. The Uchiha was so weak and helpless now; he was
not even putting up a struggle against her. 'Sorry if this hurts your ego,
Sasuke, but I'm your doctor now.'
Sweat formed on the kunoichi's brow as she saw his blood spurt out.
She had to push it in further if she wanted to make a hole to his trachea.
Yes, she was piercing his neck with a kunai. But she was trying to save
his life — not kill him. Hopefully, a half-awake Sasuke would understand
enough to keep still.
'Just one centimeter more...'
Sakura lifted up the dripping kunai. Through the wound, a stream of
air rushed through Sasuke's windpipe.
Sakura sighed as she saw Sasuke's chest slowly move again. Step one
finished.
As Sasuke's lungs exhaled, red bubbles frothed out from the incision
sight. Sakura quickly pulled out a hollow stick of bamboo. The medic-nin
sterilized it with some medicine, and gently forced it into the hole in
Sasuke's throat to give him more leeway to breathe. The tube was normally
used with darts as a blowgun — now it was a breathing apparatus.
Sakura examined the back of Sasuke's mouth again. The jelling mass was
still there. Her hand reached into his open mouth, and felt the substance
with the tip of her finger. The whole procedure was rather gruesome, but
she was medical apprentice of Tsunade, and a ninja. Handling disgusting
things was her job.
Sasuke watched Sakura from the corner of his eye. The wound in his neck
throbbed. Was this really Sakura? Her voice and face looked the same. Yet
the cold practicality with which she carried out this operation, especially
using a simple kunai and blowgun as her medical tools, was nerve-racking
to him. How much did she study with Tsunade to know how to do an incision?
Sakura frowned. She was conscious that Sasuke was looking at her, but
avoided his eyes. If she was to carry out this operation successfully,
she had to see him as a patient. Not a former crush.
What was annoying her, actually, was the nature of the gunk which decided
to choke him in the first place. With just the touch of a fingertip, Sakura
could tell that the plug was saturated with the vile purple chakra from
before. Not all of it had gone out of Sasuke's system, even though his
soul was in its rightful body again. 'Sasuke bit his lip when he hesitated
to kill me,' Sakura remembered. 'Some of that blood must have mixed with
the purple chakra, and when he swallowed... Oh, jeez.'
Removing the stuff was the main problem. She could do another exorcism-jutsu,
but there was the slight possibility that the force of the aura would drive
the stuff even deeper into his throat. This operation was risky enough,
with her making an incision and all. "Damn," she whispered. "I might have
to physically pull it out after all."
With the tips of her fingers, she grabbed a hold of the solidifying
matter — and carefully pulled it out in one clean movement.
Sasuke's groan of sheer pain was following by severe coughing. The pink-haired
nurse grimaced as she looked at the blob of mucus in her hand. Her fingertips
glowed a rosy hue, and the pseudomembrane shrank within her pinching fingers.
The remaining aura hissed out of the bloody mass.
Well, from the sound of hacking, at least Sasuke could receive oxygen
normally again.
'Hacking?' Sakura looked back at the patient. 'Oh, shit! The incision!'
The blood around the bamboo stick was starting to glue together. Sakura
carefully pulled out the tube with one hand. It gave Sasuke another wave
of pain as the wound turned fresh once more, but it was only for a moment.
The kunoichi's other hand began to press down on the opening.
'Chiyute no Jutsu.'
The walls of flesh sealed up cleanly as Sakura carefully let the cells
renew and weave back together. Sakura had her share of blood and healing
during her absence from the Shinobi World — there had been plenty of monsters
with needles and claws when her party traveled though the Rifts. Usually
Potamos cleaned wounds with her water, Minoru checked for poisons, and
Sakura closed the gashes with Tsunade's healing technique.
Sasuke was still coughing. Clearly, he could breathe now without a hole
in his windpipe. But having that gunk taken out of his throat was one of
the most unpleasant things he experienced.
Sakura wiped away the drying blood on his neck. 'I swear, in all my
life, that was one of the most nerve-grating things I've ever done,' she
thought. Sasuke's coughing became weaker as he spat out the blood, cleaning
out his system. Sakura dug in her medical supplies, and took a bottle out.
It was an herbal remedy against swelling that Minoru gave her. What was
good about it was that it was magic-free, so it could work on any human
without chakra repercussions.
A guilty feeling shot through her as she held the bottle of tonic.
'Minoru-san...'
She desperately wanted to cry, but she had a patient to take care of.
She was not going to break down, especially in front of the likes of Sasuke.
The kunoichi unscrewed the bottle, and poured a small amount in the cap.
Lifting Sasuke's head up with her hand, Sakura edged the shot of medicine
to his slightly-open mouth. She grimaced, imagining what kind of pain the
boy must have gone through the past half-hour. If she remembered correctly
from Tsunade's lessons, a pseudomembrane being ripped out — was like having
tonsils removed without anesthesia. "Drink it, Sasuke," she ordered. "It'll
make your throat feel better."
She carefully poured the liquid into the corner of his mouth. Sasuke's
jaws shut tight as he tasted it. It was so bitter that his tongue seemed
to glue to the mouth's roof. Scrunching his eyes, the teenager swallowed.
The coughing started up again. But it was controllable, and more quiet.
After a while, it died down completely.
A few moments passed.
Sakura glanced down. She had not noticed, until now, that one of Sasuke's
hands was gripping at the end of her dress. To be quite frank, his head
was practically in her lap. Sasuke had managed to curl himself up against
her during the entire operation.
Sakura felt a sudden urge to smack him. But what kind of nurse abused
her own patients? She was not going to stoop so low, even if he was a traitor.
She, unlike Sasuke, had class. Sort of. She pried his fingers off her skirt,
and laid his head down on the cold ground.
The girl breathed. She picked up her bag of supplies, and dug out a
cardboard lunch-box. She set it down in front of the Uchiha.
Her job was done.
The kunoichi turned around, and began to walk away.
------------------------------------------
Minoru was frozen during the entire procedure — well, the operating
procedure, anyway. It took all of Itachi's stealth to keep the elf quiet
when the transformed Sasuke nearly killed the pink-haired girl. But it
turned out all right. And even now, the two teenagers were unaware of their
presence.
Sasuke managed to live. That truth both annoyed and impressed Minoru.
'His essence was somehow protected against the curse,' the blond realized.
He had been so sure for months that Sakura's former teammate had his soul
devoured. Yet he was alive after her spell. Just barely, but alive. Body
and soul.
Minoru felt Itachi's aura behind him. "I have a feeling you have something
to do with that boy's strength," the blond elf said coolly. "And I don't
mean physical strength, which any idiot can get by training."
"It's complicated." The curt reply by Itachi made Minoru raise an eyebrow.
Itachi blinked, and the Sharingan came back. He had enough chakra again
to use his bloodline ability. His red eyes locked onto his brother and
the pink-haired girl below.
Sasuke's body was producing little chakra. It was a pure blue again;
thank God. Sakura had the same level of aura as well, but it was not flickering
like a flame from her body — it was evenly distributed around her form.
But it was blue. More controlled than Sasuke's, but still blue.
"She's only human?" Itachi commented. He could swear that she was supernatural
in more ways than one. She had enough power to lift Orochimaru's curse.
He saw her use pink chakra. Now she looked like a normal medic-nin.
"A human she is," Minoru answered. "However, she has some holy and natural
ties. The composition of her aura is developing into that of a mystic."
The elf breathed. 'Still, the fact that Sakura could fight the curse without
killing Sasuke... Not only is Sakura spiritually strong, but this young
man has formidable will. I might have underestimated his true nature...'
Minoru glanced at Itachi standing on a nearby branch. The elf could
tell that there was hardly any emotion in this human. This was the perfect
assassin.
The elf looked down, and saw that a sheathed katana lay at the foot
of a tree. Tennyo.
Minoru frowned; what was Sakura thinking when she put Tennyo down there?
Any thief could come and touch it. Then again... Maybe she was hoping something
of the sort. Perhaps she wanted to leave the blade in the forest.
If she brought in the katana into her village, questions were bound
to come up. Anybody would tried to separate the blade from the scabbard
would immediately find that it was impossible. The magical guard was touched
by Sakura so often that the weapon knew the owner. The humans of this world,
however simple-minded, had experience in some magic. They would probably
feel inclined to seal it up will some sort of jutsu and then throw it down
a cliff. After all, Sakura had been missing for over a year — she would
at least be interrogated about its origins and true nature.
Nobody but Sakura could wield Tennyo, and only a few could carry it.
Carry it.
An idea occurred to Minoru. The elf whispered a few words, and a thin
tendril crawled out of his wrist.
Itachi watched in slight interest as the vine trailed to the ground
slowly. This Minoru was not a ninja, yet he could control magic with words.
This somehow ticked off the raven-haired man. The Sharingan could only
instantly memorize spells that were based on traditional In. Itachi would
not be able to copy any of this blond's magic techniques because they were
entirely dependent on words.
Minoru forced every piece of his will to control the vine in the right
direction. From what he knew of Sakura, she learned swordsmanship only
when she fell into his dimension. Tennyo was the girl's personal sword.
Her emotional tie to it was too great; he had to keep it safe for her.
Angel Salvia told Minoru the finer details of the katana. Although nobody
but Sakura could wield Tennyo, the weapon could be carried and kept safe
by someone else, a sword-keeper. The trick was to touch the scabbard, and
identify himself by his aura. If the weapon recognized him as a protector
of Sakura, then Tennyo could be carried.
The vine inched near the sheathed weapon. Beads of sweat trailed down
Minoru's face. This was a test of his connection with Sakura. If Tennyo
did not accept the touch of Minoru's vines, that would mean that the pink-haired
girl no longer trusted him.
Minoru was the only eligible person to do it. If he failed, the sword
was good as doomed. And Sakura would be crushed.
------------------------------------------
Uchiha Sasuke blinked. Sakura was walking away.
"Wait." Sasuke's voice was rather whispery, but at least he could talk.
Sakura stopped in her tracks. She turned her head around. "You can speak,
Sasuke?" she asked. Minoru's tonic was more effective than Sakura first
thought. Now if only she could find plants in this dimension to emulate
the recipe...
The Uchiha subconsciously noticed that Sakura dropped the childhood
suffix out of his name. Okay, he could handle that — after all, they were
both grown-ups, and enemies. Well, perhaps they weren't enemies for the
moment. But he was an outright traitor, and she had her Konoha hitai-ate
tied around her forehead.
The moon was too bright this evening. Too many of Sakura's features
were readable to the boy, even without his Sharingan. He noticed how long
and free-looking her hair had grown, and the natural redness of her lips.
If she just pulled out that hair-tie...
"Hello, are you listening?" Sakura asked irritably, interrupting Sasuke's
daze. "I was asking whether you could speak."
Sasuke looked down, not answering.
Sakura rolled her eyes. "I'm leaving you that lunch, Sasuke. Eat it
if you want your strength back. Konoha ninja, even ANBU, could catch you
if you don't go now."
Sasuke's head shot up. She was... letting him go?
"Of course, if you're so paranoid to not eat it, that's your problem,"
Sakura continued with a hand on her hip. She turned her body around. "I
don't have anything to instantly boost your chakra level like Hyourougan,
but eating some food will slowly help you recover." She kept her inner
comments inside, asking herself why she would be so stupid as to give him
a soldier pill, even if she did have one. He'd probably knock her out,
just like last time.
"What happened to your dress?"
Sasuke froze; the words just flew out of his mouth without second thought.
How dare he ask such a question, especially when the cloth was shredded
near her upper chest area. If she had escaped rape, she'd probably break
down crying. Damn. Not only would Sasuke have to comfort her, he would
also have to kill whoever tried it. Damn him for asking.
Sakura cocked an eyebrow, and looked down. There were the same three
rips around her lower neck. Blackened blood was sprayed over the red fabric,
a result of the attack and the operation afterward. Well, she certainly
needed a new outfit. But there was something else... It was Sasuke's cluelessness.
"You don't remember anything?" Sakura asked. She walked over, and put
two fingers on the Uchiha's forehead. She felt for any sign of a hightemperature.
It appeared as though Sasuke did not recall anything when he was transformed.
He probably did not even know what she did to Orochimaru's curse.
Sasuke stiffened at the abrupt contact. Sakura was touching his forehead.
Some part of him was angry. She still showed concern for him, after all
this time. He did not need her. He did not need anybody. Okay, so she saved
him from choking; that much he remembered. But he did not deserve any more
petting, and it made him weak.
"Answer my question." Sasuke seethed. "The dress."
Something in the pink-haired girl turned defensive. "An animal attacked
me," she answered curtly. Well, it was sort of true. He would probably
freak out if Sakura told him that he was completely possessed by the curse
at one period in time. If he did not grow upset, he would deny that it
ever happened. Men usually did that in front of women.
As a farewell gesture, Sakura brutally yanked the green cloak off his
form. "On second thought, I'll take this back. You don't seem to need it."
The move was rather cruel. But Sakura had just remembered that Minoru
had bought this green cloak for her in Minerva. She had worn it through
the Rifts. It was one of the few things she had remaining of the elf, and
she were damned if she gave it to the likes of Sasuke.
Sasuke sat on the cold ground, watching as Sakura's form walked off,
the cloak draping around her body. He could tell her chakra was weak. She
was going like that, unprotected.
The question he really wanted to ask finally came up: "Why didn't you
kill me?"
The young lady stopped. The tone of Sasuke's voice was not demanding
anymore. Perhaps there was a touch of disappointment in it, but Sakura
missed it completely. When she thought about it — she asked herself the
same question. Why didn't she kill him? He broke her heart. He turned on
Konoha. He gave himself to the curse.
The kunoichi thought a while. And then she resolved herself to an answer.
An answer that the Sasuke she knew would accept.
"To make things even," she said in a monotone. "You saved my life while
we were on the same genin team. I just save yours. Now we don't owe each
other anything."
Something in Sasuke jolted within him. Was that how she saw it? A mutual
trade-off?
"And you're a friend."
The young man looked up. Something of hope threatened to touch his heart.
But the next gesture he could not have foreseen: the pink-haired girl
turned around, and gave him the coldest glare she could muster. Her green
eyes were hard, like the most ancient and valuable of jade. "Run now before
Konoha ninja capture you. Get up and run."
A flash of red passed Sasuke's mind. She expected him to bolt. And she
was not stopping him.
(( "Foolish little brother... If you want to kill me, then hate me!
Despise me! And then live in an unsightly way..." ))
He did not move from the spot. "What are you doing, Sasuke?! Run!" Sakura
urged.
"You've been missing for the past year or so," Sasuke said, clumsily
getting up on his feet. He had to keep his cool, especially when her words
brought back a touchy issue. "Where have you been?"
Sakura sighed. "Away," she said. How could she explain that she went
to an entirely different world? Demons and angels and trolls; oh my. He
would not believe her. "I've been away."
Sasuke began to grow impatient; she was giving too many simplistic answers
to his questions. He wanted to know some more details, but she evaded them
ever so stealthily. That was his way of talking, not hers.
The kunoichi pulled her cloak tighter to her lithe body. "Now go before
you get caught. And the next time I see you, it might be on a battlefield.
I'll only have one option then."
Sasuke frowned. Did Sakura just imply a threat in that statement?
In any case, it was clear that Sakura planned to go home by herself.
She was willing to face the interrogation of Konoha, of why she had beenmissing
all this time. The girl knew that they could break her. Their genin team
only had a taste of what Morino Ibiki was capable of during the first part
of the Chuunin exams. Tsunade would eventually find out that she saved
a traitor's life and let him off the hook. She was going to face it, while
Sasuke would...
(( "Run... run... And pathetically cling onto life..." ))
Sasuke's hands tightened.
The kunoichi was growing impatient. She stomped her feet.
"You're alive NOW, aren't you?!" the girl demanded. "This is for your
own good! RUN!!"
Notes:
So, faithful readers. What should Sasuke do?
If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If
I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.
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