Vurt Ninjas 6
Enter Kabuto, enter plot.
They never suspected the dream snake of being planted--after all, that kind of interference with reality was something only Game Cats were supposed to be capable of.
When Sasuke swore loudly outside, Sakura didn't think anything of it. When he crashed against the door, however, she frowned and went to check. She took a kitchen knife with her, because it wouldn't be the first time someone Sasuke had pissed off had followed him home.
Sasuke fell backwards when she opened the door, halfway over the threshold, and Sakura noticed him clutching his leg before she noticed the dream snake. When she saw it, she shrieked, dropped the knife by Sasuke, and jumped back.
Then she ran for the dishes drying by the sink, grabbed the nearest bowl, and went back. Sasuke was trying to drive the snake away with the knife. Sakura threw the bowl at its head.
It dodged, but not enough--the bowl hit its upper body. In the second it was dazed, Sasuke slammed the knife through its head, before grabbing the rim and using it to shove the snake through the railing. Then he made a sharp noise and curled around his leg again.
Sakura crouched. "Sasuke?"
Below, the bowl made a faint noise as it broke on the entryway's landing. "Bit me," he hissed.
"Oh shit," Sakura replied.
"Hi, Naruto," someone said from the doorway to the workshop.
Naruto recognized his voice, but was in the middle of carefully applying phantasm liquid to the newest batch of pinks, so he didn't look up. "Hey, Kabuto! The old pervert's in his office, if you're here with supplies."
"Thanks," Kabuto said, at the same moment that the phone in the front office rang.
Naruto waited for five rings, and then swore and said he wasn't a fucking maid and carefully hooked the feather he was holding in the drying rack before going to pick it up.
"Yo, wh--"
"I need to talk to Naruto!"
"Sakura?"
"Naruto? Oh thank--go to Shizune's clinic and tell her to get snakeweed ready!"
"What?" was Naruto's eloquent reply.
"Sasuke got bit. I'm on my way, but the stupid bus is taking too long so go tell her!"
"Shit! Okay, where--how far are you?"
"Naruto, just go!" Sakura snapped.
"But--" and then Sakura hung up. Naruto slammed the phone down and yelled, "Jiraiya! I'm leaving!"
There was the sound of the older man calling "What?" from his office down the hall, but Naruto was already tearing out the door.
The car the three of them used belonged to Sasuke--he'd bought it after his motorcycle was stolen several months ago. (He never answered their questions about where he'd gotten the money. Naruto eventually told Sakura to stop asking; the ability to produce money from nowhere was a Sasuke thing, and considering the thin edge of being fired that the man walked, Naruto wasn't going to complain. He also added that they didn't need to worry since it didn't smell like Sasuke was whoring himself out, at which point the conversation was ended by Sasuke overhearing and reacting predictably.) Naruto drove it during the day, since the bus routes ran much closer to the clinic than the warehouses that Jiraiya's workshops were located in, and since he was usually back before Sasuke had to leave for work.
Sakura flipped her phone shut and looked over at Sasuke, who had his forehead pressed against the window. They were sitting in the back of the bus, Sasuke looking sufficiently sick enough that the people there had abandoned their seats, and Sakura had pressed herself close enough to him that he wouldn't fall over whenever they hit a pothole.
"Geez!" she said a moment later, trying to keep her voice up without making it too loud. "I tell him to go, he starts asking more questions. . . ."
Sasuke didn't even expend the energy to grunt. Sakura fell silent again, watched the street signs go by, and checked his pulse each time the bus stopped.
When they reached the stop that was two blocks and a corner from Shizune's clinic, Naruto was there waiting. He grabbed the arm that Sakura hadn't thrown over her shoulder and immediately began dragging Sasuke towards the clinic, freeing her from most of the weight.
"You jerk," Naruto said with aggressive cheerfulness, when Sakura made him stop at a yellow-turning-to-red light since he'd be doing none of them good getting run over, "making Sakura haul your ass around like that."
"Shut up," Sasuke muttered.
"Mr. Badass can't even walk to the clinic after being stupid enough to get bit. I walked all the way here from work!"
"Die."
Sakura wanted to yell at them, but she let them continue to pretend, and clenched her free fist and matched Naruto's stride when they reached the clinic's street.
Sasuke wore loose clothing when he had to go out in public, so Shizune thought he was a flat-chested shadowgirl up to the moment he'd collapsed on one of the tables and she'd removed his pants to reach the bite, at which point she freaked out and Sakura took over the treatment. Naruto pleasantly herded her out of the room, saying didn't it suck for Sasuke to be a hermaphrodite but get totally gypped on the tits part of the deal?
Sakura knew Sasuke wasn't too badly affected yet, because in the midst of his labored breathing he was muttering a particularly colorful threat on Naruto's life. She told him to be quiet and let her work.
When she was done, Sakura went back into the waiting room and told Naruto to sit the hell down before he wore out the carpet or scared any more patients, and then Shizune motioned her into the office.
"Is . . . he okay?" Shizune asked.
"Yeah," Sakura said. "He'll be fine. Thank you for having it ready, Ms. Shizune--did you already give Naruto the bill?"
The older woman shook her head. "No; go ahead and set it up on the computer. He should be capable of walking out of here in another half-hour." Sakura nodded once--she already knew that, sheesh, she'd treated enough bites already--and then Shizune's gaze shifted to slightly over her shoulder. "You don't need to come into work tomorrow."
Sakura blinked and then stared.
". . . Ms. Shizune!"
"I run this place almost at a loss, Sakura," Shizune said, eyes shifting from over her shoulder to the floor. "You know that. I have a lot of extra expenses to take care of. I can't afford to be associated with anything that will attract the authorities' attention."
"That's--he's only a client, you can say he came from anywhere! When have I ever--"
"No," Shizune said, and finally looked her in the eyes. "Someone came asking about you a couple of days ago, Sakura. He wouldn't produce ID, so I didn't talk to him, but. . . ."
Shizune shook her head, and looked past Sakura's shoulder again. "You're a good doctor, for being so young. You'll be a great loss. But I don't want you in my clinic."
Sakura's lips parted, but she couldn't say anything. After a long, ugly silence, she left.
She rung the bill up on the computer and then fetched Sasuke's wallet and information and paid it. She was still behind the desk when Sasuke came down the hall.
"Hey, you still need to rest!" Sakura called as he pushed the door.
"Work," he said.
Naruto came up and pulled the door further back, holding it open. "Dumbass, you can't make it to work tonight, you'll die."
"I have to tell them I'm not coming in," Sasuke replied curtly. "They'd love an excuse to fire me."
"I'll do it," Sakura replied, folding the printout confirmation of the money transfer. "Naruto can go get the car and take you back to the apartment."
"Sakura, I can do it! Just keep him here until I get back--"
"It's best I leave," Sakura said flatly, handing Sasuke the paper. He pushed it into his pocket while Naruto tilted his head at her tone.
"What happe--"
"Naruto, go get the damn car," Sasuke said. "Sakura and I'll wait at the gas station on the corner. I want something to eat."
Sakura frowned and looked at him. "You're hungry? That's not a normal side effect."
"I haven't had lunch," Sasuke replied, pushing away from the door and heading for the exit. Sakura followed, keeping an eye on his flushed look, and Naruto trailed behind them. "I'm nauseous, but I'm hungry."
Sakura hummed. "That makes more sense, then. . . . Okay." She looked over her shoulder to Naruto. "We'll head down there--how soon can you pick us up?"
Naruto was annoyed, but he could tell how agitated Sakura was from her scent, so he saw them halfway down the sidewalk to the gas station and then jogged back to the warehouses and the car.
Kabuto was gone by the time he returned; Jiraiya yelled at him for taking off in the middle of work, but Naruto replied that it was an emergency and left before Jiraiya could make him explain.
They never suspected the dream snake of being planted--after all, that kind of interference with reality was something only Game Cats were supposed to be capable of.
When Sasuke swore loudly outside, Sakura didn't think anything of it. When he crashed against the door, however, she frowned and went to check. She took a kitchen knife with her, because it wouldn't be the first time someone Sasuke had pissed off had followed him home.
Sasuke fell backwards when she opened the door, halfway over the threshold, and Sakura noticed him clutching his leg before she noticed the dream snake. When she saw it, she shrieked, dropped the knife by Sasuke, and jumped back.
Then she ran for the dishes drying by the sink, grabbed the nearest bowl, and went back. Sasuke was trying to drive the snake away with the knife. Sakura threw the bowl at its head.
It dodged, but not enough--the bowl hit its upper body. In the second it was dazed, Sasuke slammed the knife through its head, before grabbing the rim and using it to shove the snake through the railing. Then he made a sharp noise and curled around his leg again.
Sakura crouched. "Sasuke?"
Below, the bowl made a faint noise as it broke on the entryway's landing. "Bit me," he hissed.
"Oh shit," Sakura replied.
"Hi, Naruto," someone said from the doorway to the workshop.
Naruto recognized his voice, but was in the middle of carefully applying phantasm liquid to the newest batch of pinks, so he didn't look up. "Hey, Kabuto! The old pervert's in his office, if you're here with supplies."
"Thanks," Kabuto said, at the same moment that the phone in the front office rang.
Naruto waited for five rings, and then swore and said he wasn't a fucking maid and carefully hooked the feather he was holding in the drying rack before going to pick it up.
"Yo, wh--"
"I need to talk to Naruto!"
"Sakura?"
"Naruto? Oh thank--go to Shizune's clinic and tell her to get snakeweed ready!"
"What?" was Naruto's eloquent reply.
"Sasuke got bit. I'm on my way, but the stupid bus is taking too long so go tell her!"
"Shit! Okay, where--how far are you?"
"Naruto, just go!" Sakura snapped.
"But--" and then Sakura hung up. Naruto slammed the phone down and yelled, "Jiraiya! I'm leaving!"
There was the sound of the older man calling "What?" from his office down the hall, but Naruto was already tearing out the door.
The car the three of them used belonged to Sasuke--he'd bought it after his motorcycle was stolen several months ago. (He never answered their questions about where he'd gotten the money. Naruto eventually told Sakura to stop asking; the ability to produce money from nowhere was a Sasuke thing, and considering the thin edge of being fired that the man walked, Naruto wasn't going to complain. He also added that they didn't need to worry since it didn't smell like Sasuke was whoring himself out, at which point the conversation was ended by Sasuke overhearing and reacting predictably.) Naruto drove it during the day, since the bus routes ran much closer to the clinic than the warehouses that Jiraiya's workshops were located in, and since he was usually back before Sasuke had to leave for work.
Sakura flipped her phone shut and looked over at Sasuke, who had his forehead pressed against the window. They were sitting in the back of the bus, Sasuke looking sufficiently sick enough that the people there had abandoned their seats, and Sakura had pressed herself close enough to him that he wouldn't fall over whenever they hit a pothole.
"Geez!" she said a moment later, trying to keep her voice up without making it too loud. "I tell him to go, he starts asking more questions. . . ."
Sasuke didn't even expend the energy to grunt. Sakura fell silent again, watched the street signs go by, and checked his pulse each time the bus stopped.
When they reached the stop that was two blocks and a corner from Shizune's clinic, Naruto was there waiting. He grabbed the arm that Sakura hadn't thrown over her shoulder and immediately began dragging Sasuke towards the clinic, freeing her from most of the weight.
"You jerk," Naruto said with aggressive cheerfulness, when Sakura made him stop at a yellow-turning-to-red light since he'd be doing none of them good getting run over, "making Sakura haul your ass around like that."
"Shut up," Sasuke muttered.
"Mr. Badass can't even walk to the clinic after being stupid enough to get bit. I walked all the way here from work!"
"Die."
Sakura wanted to yell at them, but she let them continue to pretend, and clenched her free fist and matched Naruto's stride when they reached the clinic's street.
Sasuke wore loose clothing when he had to go out in public, so Shizune thought he was a flat-chested shadowgirl up to the moment he'd collapsed on one of the tables and she'd removed his pants to reach the bite, at which point she freaked out and Sakura took over the treatment. Naruto pleasantly herded her out of the room, saying didn't it suck for Sasuke to be a hermaphrodite but get totally gypped on the tits part of the deal?
Sakura knew Sasuke wasn't too badly affected yet, because in the midst of his labored breathing he was muttering a particularly colorful threat on Naruto's life. She told him to be quiet and let her work.
When she was done, Sakura went back into the waiting room and told Naruto to sit the hell down before he wore out the carpet or scared any more patients, and then Shizune motioned her into the office.
"Is . . . he okay?" Shizune asked.
"Yeah," Sakura said. "He'll be fine. Thank you for having it ready, Ms. Shizune--did you already give Naruto the bill?"
The older woman shook her head. "No; go ahead and set it up on the computer. He should be capable of walking out of here in another half-hour." Sakura nodded once--she already knew that, sheesh, she'd treated enough bites already--and then Shizune's gaze shifted to slightly over her shoulder. "You don't need to come into work tomorrow."
Sakura blinked and then stared.
". . . Ms. Shizune!"
"I run this place almost at a loss, Sakura," Shizune said, eyes shifting from over her shoulder to the floor. "You know that. I have a lot of extra expenses to take care of. I can't afford to be associated with anything that will attract the authorities' attention."
"That's--he's only a client, you can say he came from anywhere! When have I ever--"
"No," Shizune said, and finally looked her in the eyes. "Someone came asking about you a couple of days ago, Sakura. He wouldn't produce ID, so I didn't talk to him, but. . . ."
Shizune shook her head, and looked past Sakura's shoulder again. "You're a good doctor, for being so young. You'll be a great loss. But I don't want you in my clinic."
Sakura's lips parted, but she couldn't say anything. After a long, ugly silence, she left.
She rung the bill up on the computer and then fetched Sasuke's wallet and information and paid it. She was still behind the desk when Sasuke came down the hall.
"Hey, you still need to rest!" Sakura called as he pushed the door.
"Work," he said.
Naruto came up and pulled the door further back, holding it open. "Dumbass, you can't make it to work tonight, you'll die."
"I have to tell them I'm not coming in," Sasuke replied curtly. "They'd love an excuse to fire me."
"I'll do it," Sakura replied, folding the printout confirmation of the money transfer. "Naruto can go get the car and take you back to the apartment."
"Sakura, I can do it! Just keep him here until I get back--"
"It's best I leave," Sakura said flatly, handing Sasuke the paper. He pushed it into his pocket while Naruto tilted his head at her tone.
"What happe--"
"Naruto, go get the damn car," Sasuke said. "Sakura and I'll wait at the gas station on the corner. I want something to eat."
Sakura frowned and looked at him. "You're hungry? That's not a normal side effect."
"I haven't had lunch," Sasuke replied, pushing away from the door and heading for the exit. Sakura followed, keeping an eye on his flushed look, and Naruto trailed behind them. "I'm nauseous, but I'm hungry."
Sakura hummed. "That makes more sense, then. . . . Okay." She looked over her shoulder to Naruto. "We'll head down there--how soon can you pick us up?"
Naruto was annoyed, but he could tell how agitated Sakura was from her scent, so he saw them halfway down the sidewalk to the gas station and then jogged back to the warehouses and the car.
Kabuto was gone by the time he returned; Jiraiya yelled at him for taking off in the middle of work, but Naruto replied that it was an emergency and left before Jiraiya could make him explain.