Naruto - 28. Wada Calcium CD3
Team seven, eventually some village is going to think of going after that necklace of Naruto's.
I need to stop abusing the themes from 30_kisses, but if someone can think of a way to fit SasuSaku into the calcium pill prompt, they are trying harder than me.
28. Wada Calcium CD3
Sasuke's head was resting on her stomach.
He was lying parallel to her, body stiff; Sakura's arm was awkwardly draped across his shoulder, hand splayed on his chest. Naruto was a little further to the right from the two of them, within arms' reach, but facing away and half-curled in around his chest and stomach.
Sakura coughed.
"Sa . . . kura-chan?" Naruto asked, voice hoarse.
"'M okay," she replied faintly.
"Sasuke?"
"'S fine," she answered. Naruto made a wordless grunt.
Sasuke hadn't been breathing for the last minute; Sakura had stopped trying to keep his lungs moving after her hand had gone numb.
"You?" she asked.
"Alright," Naruto answered, which meant he was lying too. The blood and ichor was still drying on Sakura's gloves, and if she could have turned her head far enough to see Sasuke's katana, the same could probably have been said about it.
"Liar," she replied.
Naruto was silent for a few seconds, and at this point a few seconds was the same as if he'd been silent for half an hour. Sakura began to be . . . not scared, she felt too detached from everything to really be scared, which she vaguely recognized as a very bad sign, but . . . unhappy at the thought that she might have said the wrong thing as the last thing.
Then Naruto chuckled faintly, briefly, before hacking something up.
"Got me," he replied, and this time his voice was more thick than hoarse. Internal bleeding, Sakura noted, seeping into the respiratory system.
"You too," Naruto said after another second. Sakura tried to make a questioning noise, but wound up coughing painfully again, nearly choking this time.
"Sakura-chan?"
She tried to spit out the blood and excessive saliva, but couldn't manage; it wound up trickling down the side of her mouth and along her cheek instead.
Sasuke's hair was matted with blood; his head was the only thing keeping her intestines inside. Sakura had healed a portion of the wound, but then Sasuke had stopped breathing, and she spent the remainder of her chakra on his lungs.
If she could feel the saliva dripping irritatingly down her cheek, it meant that that pain had receded, which was also very bad.
"Okay," she answered, when Naruto said her name again and this time started trying to roll over to see her. "Don't move."
Naruto didn't listen; it would have taken her too much effort to be surprised.
"You too," he said again, managing to flop a little further onto his back. His arms were braced rigidly across his chest. "Have ears. He's not. . . ."
". . . Sorry," Sakura whispered, when he'd forced himself another inch further around. "I tried."
"You--" Naruto started to say, and then made a high keening noise that caused Sakura to shudder. He went still, panting harshly. "You--that old woman--you were watching? You're smart--that jutsu she did, with the--chakra, transfer, you take it--"
"I can't," Sakura interrupted, once she understood what he was talking about. "Can't feel my arms."
The silence from him was painful. Sakura was grateful that she could only see him from the corner of her eyes, and that those were dimming. "I could--give it to you, you get back home. . . ."
"Its chakra hurts me," she replied gently. "Gaara was like you."
"Fuck," Naruto exhaled with a harsh cough, and began trying to roll over more viciously this time. Sakura didn't waste breath telling him not to.
After a lot of seconds, maybe a minute or maybe it just felt like it, Naruto fell onto his side, facing her and Sasuke now and keening again when his shattered arm hit the ground elbow-first and jarred an exposed rib. His face was blotchy, and it looked like he'd vomited at some point. Sakura couldn't bring herself to look at his chest; the remains of his jacket were stained and almost indistinguishable from the wounds the fox's chakra was still trying to heal, and his arms were blocking most of it anyway.
"Sakura-chan," he said again, voice still choking, and she managed to turn her head a little more towards him.
"Sorry," he said. "Shoulda assumed--someone'd come for the necklace--shoulda--"
"Doesn't matter," she said. "We saved it."
"Wasn't worth it."
"Can't let other villages get . . . Konoha needs it."
Naruto's gaze drifted down from her face to what he could see of Sasuke's head.
"Wasn't worth it," he said again, almost indistinguishable in the thickness of his voice.
Sakura coughed again. This time was the worst; it racked her enough that Sasuke slid, causing a flare of pain in her torso again. She strangled out a cry between coughs.
She'd started crying reflexively, body wasting fluids she needed, by the time the coughs slowed enough for her to realize Naruto was repeating her name. He'd forced one of his arms away from his chest, trying to push it closer to her.
Sakura had no more feeling in her right arm than in her left, but because it wasn't the one she'd focused the last of her chakra through, she could still move it. She slid it across the dirt until she hit Naruto's fingertips.
"Can you move you fingers?" she asked.
"Yeah."
"Curl 'em round my wrist," Sakura replied, and when he did, she started pulling both their hands back towards her.
It took a lot of concentration; it took almost all of it, actually. She didn't realize Naruto was speaking until he was in the middle of the apology.
". . . fought it more--Sasuke did that--I--"
"'S okay," she replied. "I know you tried."
"I'm sorry. Sakura-chan. . . ."
"It's okay," she repeated, clearing her throat first to make the words as plain as possible. It made her want to cough again, but Sakura fought down the itching in her throat and concentrated on bringing their hands up to her waist.
"Not you two," Naruto mumbled, tightening his fingers around her wrist slightly as she lifted her arm. "Never. . . ."
Sakura set their hands down where she was pretty sure that Naruto would be touching Sasuke's hair. It also meant his fingers were in her blood and probably her wound, but she no longer felt much of anything there, and it was septic by now anyway. She could feel the spit drying on her cheek, in the cold air. It was annoying.
"Kept one promise," Sakura said, trying to force her head to turn just a little bit further, not enough to lose sight of Sasuke but just to see a little more of Naruto. "One outta two. . . ."
"Ha," he replied, mouth twisting in what was probably the attempt to grin. "Yeah."
A moment later, he said "Sakura-chan" again, and she realized she'd closed her eyes.
Sakura forced them open again, gaze going in and out of focus, even though it was hard. She didn't want to keep her eyes open. She wanted to close them, to focus on the weight of Sasuke's head and Naruto's hand, and try to block out the cold spit and the absence of pain from a wound that needed to be hurting much more to not be fatal.
She was tired. She was too old to be nineteen, and she was too young to be dying, and her teammates were too young to be dying, and they were all too damn old to be who they were. They'd completed the mission they'd been on, and they'd prevented the ambush's goal, and they'd lived this long despite everything, and dammit, they deserved some rest. Just some.
"Won't die," Naruto said, and Sakura had the idea that he was trying to squeeze her hand, or something like that; she could feel a shift in the weight on her stomach, but no pressure on her fingers. "'Til backup comes--won't die. I'll guard the necklace. Bite anyone else comes."
"Okay," she murmured, looking at his face. The blotches were worse now, sickly-green against his skin, and the red chakra was visible around his ribcage.
Sakura didn't let herself close her eyes again until she was sure that she'd smiled at him.
She only managed to tilt her head a little bit back in Sasuke's direction before that became too difficult. It took all her effort to keep breathing; Sasuke and Naruto were too heavy, they made it harder--breathing out was nothing, their weight helped push her chest down, but breathing in was like . . . was like . . . like. . . .
Naruto kept his promise.
Worth enough to buy mountains.
I need to stop abusing the themes from 30_kisses, but if someone can think of a way to fit SasuSaku into the calcium pill prompt, they are trying harder than me.
28. Wada Calcium CD3
Sasuke's head was resting on her stomach.
He was lying parallel to her, body stiff; Sakura's arm was awkwardly draped across his shoulder, hand splayed on his chest. Naruto was a little further to the right from the two of them, within arms' reach, but facing away and half-curled in around his chest and stomach.
Sakura coughed.
"Sa . . . kura-chan?" Naruto asked, voice hoarse.
"'M okay," she replied faintly.
"Sasuke?"
"'S fine," she answered. Naruto made a wordless grunt.
Sasuke hadn't been breathing for the last minute; Sakura had stopped trying to keep his lungs moving after her hand had gone numb.
"You?" she asked.
"Alright," Naruto answered, which meant he was lying too. The blood and ichor was still drying on Sakura's gloves, and if she could have turned her head far enough to see Sasuke's katana, the same could probably have been said about it.
"Liar," she replied.
Naruto was silent for a few seconds, and at this point a few seconds was the same as if he'd been silent for half an hour. Sakura began to be . . . not scared, she felt too detached from everything to really be scared, which she vaguely recognized as a very bad sign, but . . . unhappy at the thought that she might have said the wrong thing as the last thing.
Then Naruto chuckled faintly, briefly, before hacking something up.
"Got me," he replied, and this time his voice was more thick than hoarse. Internal bleeding, Sakura noted, seeping into the respiratory system.
"You too," Naruto said after another second. Sakura tried to make a questioning noise, but wound up coughing painfully again, nearly choking this time.
"Sakura-chan?"
She tried to spit out the blood and excessive saliva, but couldn't manage; it wound up trickling down the side of her mouth and along her cheek instead.
Sasuke's hair was matted with blood; his head was the only thing keeping her intestines inside. Sakura had healed a portion of the wound, but then Sasuke had stopped breathing, and she spent the remainder of her chakra on his lungs.
If she could feel the saliva dripping irritatingly down her cheek, it meant that that pain had receded, which was also very bad.
"Okay," she answered, when Naruto said her name again and this time started trying to roll over to see her. "Don't move."
Naruto didn't listen; it would have taken her too much effort to be surprised.
"You too," he said again, managing to flop a little further onto his back. His arms were braced rigidly across his chest. "Have ears. He's not. . . ."
". . . Sorry," Sakura whispered, when he'd forced himself another inch further around. "I tried."
"You--" Naruto started to say, and then made a high keening noise that caused Sakura to shudder. He went still, panting harshly. "You--that old woman--you were watching? You're smart--that jutsu she did, with the--chakra, transfer, you take it--"
"I can't," Sakura interrupted, once she understood what he was talking about. "Can't feel my arms."
The silence from him was painful. Sakura was grateful that she could only see him from the corner of her eyes, and that those were dimming. "I could--give it to you, you get back home. . . ."
"Its chakra hurts me," she replied gently. "Gaara was like you."
"Fuck," Naruto exhaled with a harsh cough, and began trying to roll over more viciously this time. Sakura didn't waste breath telling him not to.
After a lot of seconds, maybe a minute or maybe it just felt like it, Naruto fell onto his side, facing her and Sasuke now and keening again when his shattered arm hit the ground elbow-first and jarred an exposed rib. His face was blotchy, and it looked like he'd vomited at some point. Sakura couldn't bring herself to look at his chest; the remains of his jacket were stained and almost indistinguishable from the wounds the fox's chakra was still trying to heal, and his arms were blocking most of it anyway.
"Sakura-chan," he said again, voice still choking, and she managed to turn her head a little more towards him.
"Sorry," he said. "Shoulda assumed--someone'd come for the necklace--shoulda--"
"Doesn't matter," she said. "We saved it."
"Wasn't worth it."
"Can't let other villages get . . . Konoha needs it."
Naruto's gaze drifted down from her face to what he could see of Sasuke's head.
"Wasn't worth it," he said again, almost indistinguishable in the thickness of his voice.
Sakura coughed again. This time was the worst; it racked her enough that Sasuke slid, causing a flare of pain in her torso again. She strangled out a cry between coughs.
She'd started crying reflexively, body wasting fluids she needed, by the time the coughs slowed enough for her to realize Naruto was repeating her name. He'd forced one of his arms away from his chest, trying to push it closer to her.
Sakura had no more feeling in her right arm than in her left, but because it wasn't the one she'd focused the last of her chakra through, she could still move it. She slid it across the dirt until she hit Naruto's fingertips.
"Can you move you fingers?" she asked.
"Yeah."
"Curl 'em round my wrist," Sakura replied, and when he did, she started pulling both their hands back towards her.
It took a lot of concentration; it took almost all of it, actually. She didn't realize Naruto was speaking until he was in the middle of the apology.
". . . fought it more--Sasuke did that--I--"
"'S okay," she replied. "I know you tried."
"I'm sorry. Sakura-chan. . . ."
"It's okay," she repeated, clearing her throat first to make the words as plain as possible. It made her want to cough again, but Sakura fought down the itching in her throat and concentrated on bringing their hands up to her waist.
"Not you two," Naruto mumbled, tightening his fingers around her wrist slightly as she lifted her arm. "Never. . . ."
Sakura set their hands down where she was pretty sure that Naruto would be touching Sasuke's hair. It also meant his fingers were in her blood and probably her wound, but she no longer felt much of anything there, and it was septic by now anyway. She could feel the spit drying on her cheek, in the cold air. It was annoying.
"Kept one promise," Sakura said, trying to force her head to turn just a little bit further, not enough to lose sight of Sasuke but just to see a little more of Naruto. "One outta two. . . ."
"Ha," he replied, mouth twisting in what was probably the attempt to grin. "Yeah."
A moment later, he said "Sakura-chan" again, and she realized she'd closed her eyes.
Sakura forced them open again, gaze going in and out of focus, even though it was hard. She didn't want to keep her eyes open. She wanted to close them, to focus on the weight of Sasuke's head and Naruto's hand, and try to block out the cold spit and the absence of pain from a wound that needed to be hurting much more to not be fatal.
She was tired. She was too old to be nineteen, and she was too young to be dying, and her teammates were too young to be dying, and they were all too damn old to be who they were. They'd completed the mission they'd been on, and they'd prevented the ambush's goal, and they'd lived this long despite everything, and dammit, they deserved some rest. Just some.
"Won't die," Naruto said, and Sakura had the idea that he was trying to squeeze her hand, or something like that; she could feel a shift in the weight on her stomach, but no pressure on her fingers. "'Til backup comes--won't die. I'll guard the necklace. Bite anyone else comes."
"Okay," she murmured, looking at his face. The blotches were worse now, sickly-green against his skin, and the red chakra was visible around his ribcage.
Sakura didn't let herself close her eyes again until she was sure that she'd smiled at him.
She only managed to tilt her head a little bit back in Sasuke's direction before that became too difficult. It took all her effort to keep breathing; Sasuke and Naruto were too heavy, they made it harder--breathing out was nothing, their weight helped push her chest down, but breathing in was like . . . was like . . . like. . . .
Naruto kept his promise.
Worth enough to buy mountains.