Stone Walls (2/6) - [Fanfiction]
Title: Stone Walls
Summary: “You’re sick,” Sakura spat. In the next instant he was hovering over her and she found herself looking into bottomless black eyes. She felt his breath on her lips and he whispered, “Are you here to heal me, Sakura?”
Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto.
Theme: Chance Meetings
Prompt: Home
Medium: Fanfiction
Rating: K+
Warning(s): Bad, bad writing. Spoilers for the past 50 odd chapters.
Comments: Ahhh, I’m sorry this is so so so so late! *scrambles to finish the next four parts* I’ve been so busy doing art for Otakon that I haven’t had any time to write (and I still have all the other prompts for the past two weeks to catch up on, ahhhh!) This is by far my least favorite part of this series, it’s so badly paced and meeeh. I haven't even read this through yet. But no time to edit, gotta finish chapter three! *sprints off to do so* Oh, also, can somebody remind me if Sasuke knows that Kabuto’s working with Madara now?
Part 1
Sasuke left Sakura’s unconscious form in one of the many cavernous, barred rooms that filled the lower levels of Madara’s hideout. Sasuke had seen them in passing once and never bothered to ask what they were used for. From the look (and smell) of them when he first glimpsed the place, there had once been a full roster of tortured captives held up here. But now they were empty and conveniently reinforced with seals that made the walls and bars impervious to any kind of assault, perfect for Sasuke’s purposes. He found that the mechanism for the barred door was similar to the ones at Orochimaru’s prison, and locked it shut by laying his hand flat on a panel where the door met the wall and releasing a short burst of chakra from his palm.
His job done, he decided against returning to his room, as he had no desire to sit alone in the dark amongst the rubble left from their fight. So instead he found the room closest to his by trailing his fingers against the wall until they bumped into the jutting frame of a door. Once inside, he fought back the urge to cough from the dust his sudden movements kicked up. He found the bed after pacing around carefully, feeling out the positions of the sparse furnishing with his legs, and lay down gratefully on the springy mattress. Sasuke counted himself lucky that at least he hadn’t stumbled into some sort of secret laboratory and wondered briefly at the existence of rooms like this one and the one he’d made use of previously, so obviously meant for people who, as far as Sasuke knew, did not exist. It made sense for Orochimaru, who had an entire village working for him, to have extra bedrooms in his bases, but Madara?
Sasuke lay there, tracing the bandages over his eyes as he thought of those who may have once been Madara’s guests. Or, Sasuke reminded himself, his prisoners. The possibility he was staying in a room meant for a prisoner wasn’t unlikely.
Sasuke knew that he couldn’t trust Madara. The only thing telling him that he hadn’t been double crossed and given the wrong eyes was the intoxicating power strumming through his every vein. He knew he was being used. But the idea of being Madara’s prisoner was a new one, and Sasuke hadn’t decided whether he cared or not.
He couldn’t help but wonder, though, exactly how much was being kept from him. Sakura had mentioned a hostage, one whom Sasuke was completely ignorant of, one who was undoubtedly from Konoha. Sasuke felt white-hot anger rise up in him at the thought of that village, those people who destroyed everything he ever knew. And one of that trash had been here the entire time, breathing the same air as him.
Annoyance flashed through him. Madara had kept this from him. But did it matter? It doesn’t, he thought to himself bitterly. The plan remains the same. I need him. To destroy Konoha. To kill Naruto. As long as that happens, I can deal with him for a while longer.
Lies and deception were not new to him. After years of living this way, he had begun to mistrust everyone as a rule for his survival. His brief stint with Team Taka had left him with a constant feeling of unease. He had let himself become complacent, placing trust in others again. But now he knew that the no one could understand the burning inside him or the darkness that beckoned. They all feared his power, and he would show them that their fear was justified. Even those who would try to help him did so out of fear, and when they had outlived their usefulness, he would show them, too. Even Madara. After all, only a true Uchiha could comprehend his hatred, and Madara was merely an abomination.
Letting his mind drift and feeling the constant buzzing of his thoughts become heavy and sluggish, Sasuke tried to imagine Itachi sleeping where he lay.
No, he wouldn’t have stayed here. Itachi was no prisoner.
And Madara, clearly, had no allies. As his weary body began the lend itself to sleep, Sasuke mused that it was possibly the one thing they had in common.
---------
He was surrounded. He stared challengingly at his enemies and various sharp and deadly items stared back at him. One masked shinobi shifted his weight in the corner of his eye, and Sasuke sprung into action.
For a while, all he knew was the clash of metal and the furious swinging of limbs. He did away with three of the men in short order, but there were still four left standing. How did he allow himself to get so badly outnumbered?
Just as the length of the fight was beginning to eat at his stamina, the biggest of the men came charging at him, wielding a massive axe as if it weighed nothing. Spinning around to face him, Sasuke knew instantly that he would have no time to dodge and grimly braced for impact.
“UZUMAKI ULTIMATE COMBO!”
Sasuke stared in disbelief as Naruto seemed to drop out of the sky and knock out the axe-man with the most graceless two-legged kick he had ever seen. The shock and confusion that echoed through the enemy shinobi gave Sasuke enough time to muse that his teammate was essentially a walking, talking blunt object who’s only redeeming trait was that he swung himself at attackers. Snorting, Sasuke shot a katon that forced their opponents back a few more feet. Naruto scrambled out of the way and dropped into a ready position at Sasuke’s back.
“Oy! Watch it, asshole!” Naruto yelled.
“Stay out of my way.”
“Bastard, is that how you greet a comrade?” Naruto pitched his voice up in a way that put Sasuke’s teeth on edge, “’Oh, Naruto! Thank you for saving my scrawny ass from those scaaaary rogue ninja!’ Oh hey, no problem, Sasuke. No need to get emotional. You know me, I see a damsel in distress, I save her.”
Sasuke refused to acknowledge that with a response. Instead, he expressed his irritation by pounding an enemy into the ground. Two to go.
“Oh yeah!” Naruto called over his shoulder, inappropriately cheerful for someone dodging razor wire. “Did you see my new combo?! I just made it up a minute ago. I can’t wait to show Sakura-chan.”
“Dobe. It’s not a combo if there’s only one move.”
Sasuke effortlessly leapt away from a barrage of shuriken.
“I knew that!” Naruto sputtered after a lengthy and violent pause, simultaneously catching his wire-user on the chin with a back kick. “There! That was the second move. It’s a delayed combo! See, it works because-hey! Get back here, bastard!”
“What?” Sasuke began, thinking he was talking to him, but bit his tongue as Naruto tore off into the woods after the retreating ninja. His ears burned. Sasuke snapped his gaze back to his opponent, the only witness to his absence of dignity. He had to die.
Their battle resumed. The ninja seemed to have gotten his second wind and was throwing everything he had at Sasuke, which seemed to be mostly C-class doton-based jutsu. Sasuke countered with his fire. And maybe it was because he was finally fighting one-on-one, or because Naruto’s appearance had made him cocky, but Sasuke started to get careless. He probably could have ended it by now, but he was dragging out the fight, trying to feel that pull behind his eyes, the dizzying rush of power that was just out of his reach....
Sasuke knew he’d made a fatal mistake when he felt a second presence thundering down on him from above. Sasuke cursed and threw himself out of the way. Reinforcements? Why didn’t I sense him? Heart pounding, he shuffled backwards and took in the new arrival. He seemed...calmer than the others. He radiated power and drew his sword with the same kind of lazy grace Sasuke associated with Kakashi. The doton user was clearly a subordinate.
Sasuke felt distinctly out-matched. But no. He was an Uchiha. He could do this. And he could do it on his own.
Smirking, Sasuke darted into the cover of the trees. While they pursued him, Sasuke hid himself out of sight and flung three kunai at their turned backs. They dodged, but couldn’t escape the blast from the exploding tags he’d attached to the handles, which filled the area with smoke and fire.
He was attacked before he could enjoy his small victory. In the next moment, the leader was there, katana swinging. Sasuke narrowly avoided a slice that would have taken off his head, hands already flying through the seals of the katon. The leader’s eyes widened a fraction right before a ball of flames erupted over his face. Sasuke turned away from the sight when it morphed into a log and parried another thrust with a kunai. Pumping chakra to his legs, he leapt high into the air to avoid a wide swipe. On his way back down, Sasuke threw his body into a spinning kick, which landed squarely on his opponent’s back and sent him flying. He ran after him, hoping to knock him out before he could finish picking himself up.
Sasuke suddenly felt a crushing grip on his left leg and looked down in time to see a hand made of rock shoot out of the earth and capture his other leg. He struggled, stabbed at them with his kunai, but nothing happened. He was well and truly caught. With a sinking feeling, he looked up and sure enough, the doton user was there, bloody lips curved in triumph.
“Do you have any last words, brat?” he asked mockingly.
Sasuke nodded. He ducked his head and muttered, “Yeah...listen....”
Suspicion and curiosity openly warred over the rogue nin’s face. Curiosity apparently won, and he shuffled closer. Sasuke wanted to roll his eyes. Moron.
He let out a slow breath. Then bellowed, “KATON: GOKYAKU NO JUTSU!” This time there was no kawarimi, and the ninja fell away in pain. Sasuke felt panic rise up in him when the suddenly heard the unmistakable whisper of a blade descending upon him from behind and found he still couldn’t move. But the pain never came. He could hear a struggle and a thump a little farther away behind him.
The jutsu tracking him weakened enough for him to break free, and in time for him to avoid being impaled. The leader charged at him, blood dripping down his face and sporting a nasty gash on his shoulder that Sasuke was certain he hadn’t put there.
“You kids are gonna pay,” the leader growled, no longer calm. “Playtime’s ov-urk!“
“Oh, I’m sorry. Were you saying something?” Kakashi asked lightly, as if he had stepped on the nukenin’s toes, rather than clotheslining him into a tree faster than even Sasuke’s eyes could follow. “You know, it’s not good to talk with your mouth full of...blood. Oh dear, how did that get there?” Kakashi’s visible eye found Sasuke’s and crinkled pleasantly. “Alright, Sasuke?”
Sasuke grunted. “I could’ve handled it.”
“Mmhm, sure,” Kakashi drawled. He hauled the bound and unconscious leader onto his shoulder and dismissed, “I’ll take care of the other one.”
“I can-“
“No. I need you to find Naruto and Sakura. They both took off while I had my hands tied. Check on them.” Kakashi picked gripped the second shinobi by the collar and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
Grumbling to himself, Sasuke took off in the direction he last saw Naruto. They were always holding him back. If he’d only had a few more minutes with that nin, he just knew he could have unlocked his Sharingan.
Something caught his eye as he was walking, a splash of red amidst the murky browns and greens of the forest. There were signs of a struggle all around. Sasuke crept closer, kunai drawn. It was Sakura. Her eyes were closed, face peaceful as if in a deep sleep, body limp and sprawled out like a rag doll, broken and tossed aside. And then there was the blood.
Sasuke’s legs began moving before his mind caught up. He stumbled to his knees beside her, eyes searching frantically for the source of the blood. She seemed to have a head wound, but no visible damage on her front. Very gingerly, he turned her on her side and there it was. A long gash extending from her right shoulder nearly down to her hip. Sasuke thought it looked shallow, but he couldn’t be sure. He had to stop the bleeding. Taking out some healing salve and bandages from his pack, he set to work. His hands felt suddenly clumsy and awkward as he went through the motions drilled into him at the Academy.
The blood on his hands began to blend in with the blood on her back and the color of her shirt, and for a while all Sasuke could see was red and he had no idea if anything he was doing was right.
Finally, it was done, and Sasuke sat there watching Sakura’s back rise and fall with her shallow breaths.
The feeling of helplessness was too much to bear. He hated it. Sasuke couldn’t chase away other images that bore too much of a resemblance to the scene before him, ones he’d long forced himself to forget but were always right there at the edge of his thoughts. His father, dead on the ground. His mother, spread out on top of him, blood still warm as it left her body.
No. Never again. Sasuke clutched Sakura’s hand, determination coursing through him. He took out a flare, lit it, and threw it into the air with his free hand. As it sparked and soared, the bang echoing in the empty forest around them, Sakura began to stir.
“S...suke-kun?”
Sasuke shifted so that he was sitting in front of her. Her bleary eyes came up to meet his.
“Sakura. I’m here.”
Her cracked lips, pale from blood-loss, lifted into a half-smile. Relief flooded her dirty face as she murmured, “Thank god you’re okay.”
As Sakura’s lids drifted downward, Sasuke felt his heart sink with realization. The rogue ninja with the katana. Sakura’s wound. The blow that was meant for him but never came, and the bleeding gash on the man’s shoulder that neither Sasuke nor Kakashi could have caused.
”You kids are gonna pay!”
Guilt hit him like a physical blow. He could have ended the fight. He could have retreated, called reinforcements. But he wanted that power so badly. How stupid could he be?
Sasuke realized then that he had to protect her. He had to protect all of them. He’d never let anyone die for him again.
“Never again.”
Sakura didn’t seem to hear him as she gave into the relief of sleep. Her mouth curled up childishly as she dreamt, and she mumbled, “Sasuke-kun.... Do...your best.”
Some blood was dripping down her forehead towards her eyes. Sasuke wiped it away. “Aa.”
As he waited for the rest of their team to arrive, he never let go of her hand.
------
Sasuke awoke to a tapping noise at his door. The too-bright sounds and images from his dream were still fresh in his mind. It was the first time in weeks that he had thought of his old teammates and felt something besides scorn and burning hatred. The hate was still there, but it felt washed out and somehow out of place with his memories.
Another tapping at the door. Sasuke sat up and by the cool air on his face he realized that his door was open, and standing there, tapping in so irritating a manner was...
“Madara.”
Madara chuckled. “We haven’t seen each other all day, and that’s it? Is that how you greet family?”
”Bastard, is that how you greet a comrade?”
“Shut up,” Sasuke snapped. “You’re not family.”
“I see somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed. Speaking of, why are you here and what happened to your old room? I seem to recall telling you to stay in there.”
“I go where I please.”
After a moment of tense silence, Madara chuckled. “You are nothing like Itachi. Well, I just came up to check how you were doing. You haven’t been feeling any pain-“
“It’s been long enough. Take these bandages off.”
“No,” said Madara with a note of finality. “Those aren’t coming off and you’re not leaving this place yet. Not unless you want to go blind like your brother. Albeit a lot faster and with none of his style.”
“Then heal me first and take them off,” Sasuke bit out through clenched teeth.
Madara clucked his tongue. “Nah ah ah, no shortcuts, Sasuke. You have to wait it out the old fashioned way. Besides, I’m afraid I’ve never been Mr. Healing Hands. You’re not at Orochimaru’s base anymore, that Kabuto isn’t here to kiss away all your boo-boos.” Madara’s disturbingly care-free laughter got softer as he walked away. His footsteps halted. “The sun is rising, I need to return to the battlefield. I trust nothing of note has happened while I was away that I need to know about?”
Sasuke thought about Sakura, lying unconscious in her cell.
“No.”
“Good,” there was a cheerful and almost fatherly tone in Madara’s voice. “Get some rest, Sasuke. I’m going to need you soon.”
And Sasuke was alone once more.
Summary: “You’re sick,” Sakura spat. In the next instant he was hovering over her and she found herself looking into bottomless black eyes. She felt his breath on her lips and he whispered, “Are you here to heal me, Sakura?”
Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto.
Theme: Chance Meetings
Prompt: Home
Medium: Fanfiction
Rating: K+
Warning(s): Bad, bad writing. Spoilers for the past 50 odd chapters.
Comments: Ahhh, I’m sorry this is so so so so late! *scrambles to finish the next four parts* I’ve been so busy doing art for Otakon that I haven’t had any time to write (and I still have all the other prompts for the past two weeks to catch up on, ahhhh!) This is by far my least favorite part of this series, it’s so badly paced and meeeh. I haven't even read this through yet. But no time to edit, gotta finish chapter three! *sprints off to do so* Oh, also, can somebody remind me if Sasuke knows that Kabuto’s working with Madara now?
Part 1
Sasuke left Sakura’s unconscious form in one of the many cavernous, barred rooms that filled the lower levels of Madara’s hideout. Sasuke had seen them in passing once and never bothered to ask what they were used for. From the look (and smell) of them when he first glimpsed the place, there had once been a full roster of tortured captives held up here. But now they were empty and conveniently reinforced with seals that made the walls and bars impervious to any kind of assault, perfect for Sasuke’s purposes. He found that the mechanism for the barred door was similar to the ones at Orochimaru’s prison, and locked it shut by laying his hand flat on a panel where the door met the wall and releasing a short burst of chakra from his palm.
His job done, he decided against returning to his room, as he had no desire to sit alone in the dark amongst the rubble left from their fight. So instead he found the room closest to his by trailing his fingers against the wall until they bumped into the jutting frame of a door. Once inside, he fought back the urge to cough from the dust his sudden movements kicked up. He found the bed after pacing around carefully, feeling out the positions of the sparse furnishing with his legs, and lay down gratefully on the springy mattress. Sasuke counted himself lucky that at least he hadn’t stumbled into some sort of secret laboratory and wondered briefly at the existence of rooms like this one and the one he’d made use of previously, so obviously meant for people who, as far as Sasuke knew, did not exist. It made sense for Orochimaru, who had an entire village working for him, to have extra bedrooms in his bases, but Madara?
Sasuke lay there, tracing the bandages over his eyes as he thought of those who may have once been Madara’s guests. Or, Sasuke reminded himself, his prisoners. The possibility he was staying in a room meant for a prisoner wasn’t unlikely.
Sasuke knew that he couldn’t trust Madara. The only thing telling him that he hadn’t been double crossed and given the wrong eyes was the intoxicating power strumming through his every vein. He knew he was being used. But the idea of being Madara’s prisoner was a new one, and Sasuke hadn’t decided whether he cared or not.
He couldn’t help but wonder, though, exactly how much was being kept from him. Sakura had mentioned a hostage, one whom Sasuke was completely ignorant of, one who was undoubtedly from Konoha. Sasuke felt white-hot anger rise up in him at the thought of that village, those people who destroyed everything he ever knew. And one of that trash had been here the entire time, breathing the same air as him.
Annoyance flashed through him. Madara had kept this from him. But did it matter? It doesn’t, he thought to himself bitterly. The plan remains the same. I need him. To destroy Konoha. To kill Naruto. As long as that happens, I can deal with him for a while longer.
Lies and deception were not new to him. After years of living this way, he had begun to mistrust everyone as a rule for his survival. His brief stint with Team Taka had left him with a constant feeling of unease. He had let himself become complacent, placing trust in others again. But now he knew that the no one could understand the burning inside him or the darkness that beckoned. They all feared his power, and he would show them that their fear was justified. Even those who would try to help him did so out of fear, and when they had outlived their usefulness, he would show them, too. Even Madara. After all, only a true Uchiha could comprehend his hatred, and Madara was merely an abomination.
Letting his mind drift and feeling the constant buzzing of his thoughts become heavy and sluggish, Sasuke tried to imagine Itachi sleeping where he lay.
No, he wouldn’t have stayed here. Itachi was no prisoner.
And Madara, clearly, had no allies. As his weary body began the lend itself to sleep, Sasuke mused that it was possibly the one thing they had in common.
---------
He was surrounded. He stared challengingly at his enemies and various sharp and deadly items stared back at him. One masked shinobi shifted his weight in the corner of his eye, and Sasuke sprung into action.
For a while, all he knew was the clash of metal and the furious swinging of limbs. He did away with three of the men in short order, but there were still four left standing. How did he allow himself to get so badly outnumbered?
Just as the length of the fight was beginning to eat at his stamina, the biggest of the men came charging at him, wielding a massive axe as if it weighed nothing. Spinning around to face him, Sasuke knew instantly that he would have no time to dodge and grimly braced for impact.
“UZUMAKI ULTIMATE COMBO!”
Sasuke stared in disbelief as Naruto seemed to drop out of the sky and knock out the axe-man with the most graceless two-legged kick he had ever seen. The shock and confusion that echoed through the enemy shinobi gave Sasuke enough time to muse that his teammate was essentially a walking, talking blunt object who’s only redeeming trait was that he swung himself at attackers. Snorting, Sasuke shot a katon that forced their opponents back a few more feet. Naruto scrambled out of the way and dropped into a ready position at Sasuke’s back.
“Oy! Watch it, asshole!” Naruto yelled.
“Stay out of my way.”
“Bastard, is that how you greet a comrade?” Naruto pitched his voice up in a way that put Sasuke’s teeth on edge, “’Oh, Naruto! Thank you for saving my scrawny ass from those scaaaary rogue ninja!’ Oh hey, no problem, Sasuke. No need to get emotional. You know me, I see a damsel in distress, I save her.”
Sasuke refused to acknowledge that with a response. Instead, he expressed his irritation by pounding an enemy into the ground. Two to go.
“Oh yeah!” Naruto called over his shoulder, inappropriately cheerful for someone dodging razor wire. “Did you see my new combo?! I just made it up a minute ago. I can’t wait to show Sakura-chan.”
“Dobe. It’s not a combo if there’s only one move.”
Sasuke effortlessly leapt away from a barrage of shuriken.
“I knew that!” Naruto sputtered after a lengthy and violent pause, simultaneously catching his wire-user on the chin with a back kick. “There! That was the second move. It’s a delayed combo! See, it works because-hey! Get back here, bastard!”
“What?” Sasuke began, thinking he was talking to him, but bit his tongue as Naruto tore off into the woods after the retreating ninja. His ears burned. Sasuke snapped his gaze back to his opponent, the only witness to his absence of dignity. He had to die.
Their battle resumed. The ninja seemed to have gotten his second wind and was throwing everything he had at Sasuke, which seemed to be mostly C-class doton-based jutsu. Sasuke countered with his fire. And maybe it was because he was finally fighting one-on-one, or because Naruto’s appearance had made him cocky, but Sasuke started to get careless. He probably could have ended it by now, but he was dragging out the fight, trying to feel that pull behind his eyes, the dizzying rush of power that was just out of his reach....
Sasuke knew he’d made a fatal mistake when he felt a second presence thundering down on him from above. Sasuke cursed and threw himself out of the way. Reinforcements? Why didn’t I sense him? Heart pounding, he shuffled backwards and took in the new arrival. He seemed...calmer than the others. He radiated power and drew his sword with the same kind of lazy grace Sasuke associated with Kakashi. The doton user was clearly a subordinate.
Sasuke felt distinctly out-matched. But no. He was an Uchiha. He could do this. And he could do it on his own.
Smirking, Sasuke darted into the cover of the trees. While they pursued him, Sasuke hid himself out of sight and flung three kunai at their turned backs. They dodged, but couldn’t escape the blast from the exploding tags he’d attached to the handles, which filled the area with smoke and fire.
He was attacked before he could enjoy his small victory. In the next moment, the leader was there, katana swinging. Sasuke narrowly avoided a slice that would have taken off his head, hands already flying through the seals of the katon. The leader’s eyes widened a fraction right before a ball of flames erupted over his face. Sasuke turned away from the sight when it morphed into a log and parried another thrust with a kunai. Pumping chakra to his legs, he leapt high into the air to avoid a wide swipe. On his way back down, Sasuke threw his body into a spinning kick, which landed squarely on his opponent’s back and sent him flying. He ran after him, hoping to knock him out before he could finish picking himself up.
Sasuke suddenly felt a crushing grip on his left leg and looked down in time to see a hand made of rock shoot out of the earth and capture his other leg. He struggled, stabbed at them with his kunai, but nothing happened. He was well and truly caught. With a sinking feeling, he looked up and sure enough, the doton user was there, bloody lips curved in triumph.
“Do you have any last words, brat?” he asked mockingly.
Sasuke nodded. He ducked his head and muttered, “Yeah...listen....”
Suspicion and curiosity openly warred over the rogue nin’s face. Curiosity apparently won, and he shuffled closer. Sasuke wanted to roll his eyes. Moron.
He let out a slow breath. Then bellowed, “KATON: GOKYAKU NO JUTSU!” This time there was no kawarimi, and the ninja fell away in pain. Sasuke felt panic rise up in him when the suddenly heard the unmistakable whisper of a blade descending upon him from behind and found he still couldn’t move. But the pain never came. He could hear a struggle and a thump a little farther away behind him.
The jutsu tracking him weakened enough for him to break free, and in time for him to avoid being impaled. The leader charged at him, blood dripping down his face and sporting a nasty gash on his shoulder that Sasuke was certain he hadn’t put there.
“You kids are gonna pay,” the leader growled, no longer calm. “Playtime’s ov-urk!“
“Oh, I’m sorry. Were you saying something?” Kakashi asked lightly, as if he had stepped on the nukenin’s toes, rather than clotheslining him into a tree faster than even Sasuke’s eyes could follow. “You know, it’s not good to talk with your mouth full of...blood. Oh dear, how did that get there?” Kakashi’s visible eye found Sasuke’s and crinkled pleasantly. “Alright, Sasuke?”
Sasuke grunted. “I could’ve handled it.”
“Mmhm, sure,” Kakashi drawled. He hauled the bound and unconscious leader onto his shoulder and dismissed, “I’ll take care of the other one.”
“I can-“
“No. I need you to find Naruto and Sakura. They both took off while I had my hands tied. Check on them.” Kakashi picked gripped the second shinobi by the collar and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
Grumbling to himself, Sasuke took off in the direction he last saw Naruto. They were always holding him back. If he’d only had a few more minutes with that nin, he just knew he could have unlocked his Sharingan.
Something caught his eye as he was walking, a splash of red amidst the murky browns and greens of the forest. There were signs of a struggle all around. Sasuke crept closer, kunai drawn. It was Sakura. Her eyes were closed, face peaceful as if in a deep sleep, body limp and sprawled out like a rag doll, broken and tossed aside. And then there was the blood.
Sasuke’s legs began moving before his mind caught up. He stumbled to his knees beside her, eyes searching frantically for the source of the blood. She seemed to have a head wound, but no visible damage on her front. Very gingerly, he turned her on her side and there it was. A long gash extending from her right shoulder nearly down to her hip. Sasuke thought it looked shallow, but he couldn’t be sure. He had to stop the bleeding. Taking out some healing salve and bandages from his pack, he set to work. His hands felt suddenly clumsy and awkward as he went through the motions drilled into him at the Academy.
The blood on his hands began to blend in with the blood on her back and the color of her shirt, and for a while all Sasuke could see was red and he had no idea if anything he was doing was right.
Finally, it was done, and Sasuke sat there watching Sakura’s back rise and fall with her shallow breaths.
The feeling of helplessness was too much to bear. He hated it. Sasuke couldn’t chase away other images that bore too much of a resemblance to the scene before him, ones he’d long forced himself to forget but were always right there at the edge of his thoughts. His father, dead on the ground. His mother, spread out on top of him, blood still warm as it left her body.
No. Never again. Sasuke clutched Sakura’s hand, determination coursing through him. He took out a flare, lit it, and threw it into the air with his free hand. As it sparked and soared, the bang echoing in the empty forest around them, Sakura began to stir.
“S...suke-kun?”
Sasuke shifted so that he was sitting in front of her. Her bleary eyes came up to meet his.
“Sakura. I’m here.”
Her cracked lips, pale from blood-loss, lifted into a half-smile. Relief flooded her dirty face as she murmured, “Thank god you’re okay.”
As Sakura’s lids drifted downward, Sasuke felt his heart sink with realization. The rogue ninja with the katana. Sakura’s wound. The blow that was meant for him but never came, and the bleeding gash on the man’s shoulder that neither Sasuke nor Kakashi could have caused.
”You kids are gonna pay!”
Guilt hit him like a physical blow. He could have ended the fight. He could have retreated, called reinforcements. But he wanted that power so badly. How stupid could he be?
Sasuke realized then that he had to protect her. He had to protect all of them. He’d never let anyone die for him again.
“Never again.”
Sakura didn’t seem to hear him as she gave into the relief of sleep. Her mouth curled up childishly as she dreamt, and she mumbled, “Sasuke-kun.... Do...your best.”
Some blood was dripping down her forehead towards her eyes. Sasuke wiped it away. “Aa.”
As he waited for the rest of their team to arrive, he never let go of her hand.
------
Sasuke awoke to a tapping noise at his door. The too-bright sounds and images from his dream were still fresh in his mind. It was the first time in weeks that he had thought of his old teammates and felt something besides scorn and burning hatred. The hate was still there, but it felt washed out and somehow out of place with his memories.
Another tapping at the door. Sasuke sat up and by the cool air on his face he realized that his door was open, and standing there, tapping in so irritating a manner was...
“Madara.”
Madara chuckled. “We haven’t seen each other all day, and that’s it? Is that how you greet family?”
”Bastard, is that how you greet a comrade?”
“Shut up,” Sasuke snapped. “You’re not family.”
“I see somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed. Speaking of, why are you here and what happened to your old room? I seem to recall telling you to stay in there.”
“I go where I please.”
After a moment of tense silence, Madara chuckled. “You are nothing like Itachi. Well, I just came up to check how you were doing. You haven’t been feeling any pain-“
“It’s been long enough. Take these bandages off.”
“No,” said Madara with a note of finality. “Those aren’t coming off and you’re not leaving this place yet. Not unless you want to go blind like your brother. Albeit a lot faster and with none of his style.”
“Then heal me first and take them off,” Sasuke bit out through clenched teeth.
Madara clucked his tongue. “Nah ah ah, no shortcuts, Sasuke. You have to wait it out the old fashioned way. Besides, I’m afraid I’ve never been Mr. Healing Hands. You’re not at Orochimaru’s base anymore, that Kabuto isn’t here to kiss away all your boo-boos.” Madara’s disturbingly care-free laughter got softer as he walked away. His footsteps halted. “The sun is rising, I need to return to the battlefield. I trust nothing of note has happened while I was away that I need to know about?”
Sasuke thought about Sakura, lying unconscious in her cell.
“No.”
“Good,” there was a cheerful and almost fatherly tone in Madara’s voice. “Get some rest, Sasuke. I’m going to need you soon.”
And Sasuke was alone once more.