Day Ten: 300+ words of practice II (~600 words, Team Seven)
Her name.
It was the first thing she recognized when she…
… wait a second, where was she again?
Why were her eyes closed?
And why was Naruto yelling her name so damn loud?
Sakura groaned slightly, and made to push her friend away, but found she lacked the strength to even raise her hand.
Unease snaked through her veins, and was quickly followed by pain, she realized.
Agonizing pain.
She mumbled something, but it only seemed to make Naruto even louder and more anxious, and soon he was joined in by two other concerned, annoying voices. Sai, and Sasuke, she recognized.
Focusing on the sound of their voices, she tried to open her eyes, but the slightest hint of light blinded her and worsened her headache a thousand fold.
Oh, now she was just cheesed.
She was going to beat the living daylights out of whatever had… hit her? Exploded?
Whatever it was, it was in for it, she decided, and with that she began her own exploration of her chakra pathways, diagnostics determining what the Hell had happened and how to fix it. Because someone needed a beating, and she was volunteering.
Her chakra was slow to react, but with a bit of encouragement she had her highways zipping with energy, her blood pumping strongly. Her body’s most obvious wounds glowed green, alerting her teammates she was already healing herself, even if she wasn’t raising her arms to do so in her usual, palpable manner.
She’d forced herself to learn how to heal her own body in a meditative state to conserve energy and chakra, and it was reassuring that all the time spent in practice was paying off. She wasn’t happy she had to use it, per se, but it was good to know she could. Sakura understood that she needed to be conscious still to be able to trigger it to start, though, and made a mental note to talk to her Shishou about ways she could make the process start itself without her conscious stimulus. It would have been nice to have woken up with her body already partially healing itself. And if she could learn how to do it herself, perhaps she could turn it into a jutsu she could instill in her teammates, so she wouldn’t be worrying about them so much all the…
Her thoughts trailed off until she drifted off to sleep, exhausted from whatever had happened to her, and the forceful re-starting of her chakra pathways. She’d primed the pump, so to speak, so she would let her medical chakra circulate for a whilea and do its best until she was stable.
Kakashi hadn’t initially panicked when he’d picked out their targets all crowding around Sakura. He’d caught her eyes, and their non-verbal exchange was clear between the two of them; she would lead them away while he found Naruto or Sai. With three of their team, it should have been easy to take down the small contingent of thieves and mercenaries who’d impersonated the guests they’d replaced.
Certain she could keep them entertained for a few minutes, he’d left her alone.
No, he’d panicked when he’d seen the dozen or so ‘guards’ from the ballroom and surrounding perimeter start to close in on the party-goers once the leaders had left. It had been a set-up from the start, and now, instead of the three of them taking on the eight or ten bandits, it was Sakura in it alone while he, Naruto and Sai were left to defend an entire great hall full of civilians. Sasuke was bound by his contract to defend and protect their host, so while he would contribute, he couldn’t be counted in the suddenly escalated situation.
It was the first thing she recognized when she…
… wait a second, where was she again?
Why were her eyes closed?
And why was Naruto yelling her name so damn loud?
Sakura groaned slightly, and made to push her friend away, but found she lacked the strength to even raise her hand.
Unease snaked through her veins, and was quickly followed by pain, she realized.
Agonizing pain.
She mumbled something, but it only seemed to make Naruto even louder and more anxious, and soon he was joined in by two other concerned, annoying voices. Sai, and Sasuke, she recognized.
Focusing on the sound of their voices, she tried to open her eyes, but the slightest hint of light blinded her and worsened her headache a thousand fold.
Oh, now she was just cheesed.
She was going to beat the living daylights out of whatever had… hit her? Exploded?
Whatever it was, it was in for it, she decided, and with that she began her own exploration of her chakra pathways, diagnostics determining what the Hell had happened and how to fix it. Because someone needed a beating, and she was volunteering.
Her chakra was slow to react, but with a bit of encouragement she had her highways zipping with energy, her blood pumping strongly. Her body’s most obvious wounds glowed green, alerting her teammates she was already healing herself, even if she wasn’t raising her arms to do so in her usual, palpable manner.
She’d forced herself to learn how to heal her own body in a meditative state to conserve energy and chakra, and it was reassuring that all the time spent in practice was paying off. She wasn’t happy she had to use it, per se, but it was good to know she could. Sakura understood that she needed to be conscious still to be able to trigger it to start, though, and made a mental note to talk to her Shishou about ways she could make the process start itself without her conscious stimulus. It would have been nice to have woken up with her body already partially healing itself. And if she could learn how to do it herself, perhaps she could turn it into a jutsu she could instill in her teammates, so she wouldn’t be worrying about them so much all the…
Her thoughts trailed off until she drifted off to sleep, exhausted from whatever had happened to her, and the forceful re-starting of her chakra pathways. She’d primed the pump, so to speak, so she would let her medical chakra circulate for a whilea and do its best until she was stable.
Kakashi hadn’t initially panicked when he’d picked out their targets all crowding around Sakura. He’d caught her eyes, and their non-verbal exchange was clear between the two of them; she would lead them away while he found Naruto or Sai. With three of their team, it should have been easy to take down the small contingent of thieves and mercenaries who’d impersonated the guests they’d replaced.
Certain she could keep them entertained for a few minutes, he’d left her alone.
No, he’d panicked when he’d seen the dozen or so ‘guards’ from the ballroom and surrounding perimeter start to close in on the party-goers once the leaders had left. It had been a set-up from the start, and now, instead of the three of them taking on the eight or ten bandits, it was Sakura in it alone while he, Naruto and Sai were left to defend an entire great hall full of civilians. Sasuke was bound by his contract to defend and protect their host, so while he would contribute, he couldn’t be counted in the suddenly escalated situation.