held in a lunar synthesis
Fandom: Naruto
Characters: Uchiha Itachi & Haruno Sakura
Prompts: 42. panic button & 92. success & 454. dream the impossible
Word Count: 5564
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Warning: Non-massacre AU.
Notes: Part 6/31 of a series. Link to others can be found here at CHIAROSCURO. Written for 50_shinobi & lover100 & 500themes.
-
Itachi frowned down at the painting his mother was currently mounting.
The foyer where they currently stood had a quality about it that made anything on the walls seem wretchedly ugly. The current painting, like the ten before it, was perfectly agreeable on its own. In fact, Itachi had been the one to point his mother towards the painting in the store. But in their odd foyer, the painting only seemed out of place.
Mikoto took a step back, on par with Itachi to admire her work. Itachi could tell by a quick peek from his peripheral that the only thing she enjoyed was how perfectly she had mounted the frame, and that the painting was again a disaster. The Uchiha matriarch let out a sigh. “We’re never going to find something for this wall.”
Itachi, never one to willingly upset his mother, didn’t reply. As the somewhat distraught woman moved forward to remove the painting, the front door creaked open to their left. Sasuke breezed in blithely, and if he was surprised to see his mother and brother standing in the foyer, he didn’t show it. As soon as he saw the object of their attention though, his face twisted into one of displeasure. “Okaa-san. Aniki. That painting is hideous,” he said with a slight bow of greeting, and without another word, walked past them and towards his room.
Mikoto seemed to take Sasuke’s words to heart, as she grabbed the portrait none too gently from the wall without another moment’s hesitation. “Go tell your brother that lunch’s in an hour, alright?”
Itachi nodded politely to his mother’s request, but had no real intention of following through. Things with Sasuke had been a little...awkward, simply put. Itachi was convinced that it had nothing to do with Sasuke current girlfriend - rather, it was because of Sasuke’s smug attitude concerning said girlfriend that kept them in their awkward tango. Itachi followed the same path Sasuke had not a minute prior, towards the back of their household.
He had barely stepped into the “private” quarters of their household before he froze dead in his tracks. Stumbling out of Sasuke’s room, still hazy with sleep, rubbing her eyes, was Haruno Sakura. The distance that separated them was less than preferable; Sasuke’s room was one of the closest to the outer, shared area, and by the time she was fully conscious, they were within ten feet of each other. Her reaction was comical, as she blinked, rubbed her eyes, and blinked again.
“Oh!” she gasped finally. “Good morning, Itachi-kun.”
“Sakura,” he acknowledged.
She looked as if she was going to say something else, when she suddenly seized up and looked down at herself. A slight squeak of embarrassment escaped her when she took in her image - one fluffy sock, no pants, and an oversized shirt of Sasuke’s that was unfortunately, more crinkled than she had ever seen it in her life. She had no doubt that her face and hair looked even more unfortunate than her clothing - she could just imagine the basket of knots and frizz that was probably her hair, and the dark circles under her eyes.
In one last act to preserve her dignity, she resolved not to shove her face into her palms and stay like that forever. Instead, she only laughed sheepishly, scratching her head. Itachi noticed with amusement that she resembled the blonde third of their trio when she did that, but refrained from commenting. She looked mortified enough as it was without him comparing her to Konoha’s Most Obnoxious.
“Err,” she stumbled. “I’m going to go take a shower, so, uh...See you later!”
With that, she ducked back into Sasuke’s room, the door slamming shut behind her. Through the thin walls, Itachi heard her groans of mortification and couldn’t help but chuckle softly.
His amusement however, was cut rather short by the arrival of his dear brother. Further down the hall, Sasuke emerged from one of the many doors. When the younger Uchiha walked past his aniki, he gave the older man a look of smug curiosity before disappearing behind the same door Sakura had.
Itachi scowled as he walked down the hall to his room. The day suddenly seemed awfully gloomy.
-
“Oh my god,” Sakura groaned. “Your brother probably thinks we’re sleeping together now. Or worse, dating.”
Sasuke looked up from his mission report, snorting, “Dating is worse than sleeping together?”
“Of course!” she huffed. “If we’re dating, that means it actually means something. And what if Mikoto-san finds out? She’s going to be so ecstatic and excited all at once that I won’t be able to have the heart to tell her otherwise.”
“And why do you care if he thinks we’re dating? It’s not like this is the first time you’ve slept over.”
“It’s not just him,” she answered unconvincingly. “It’s a matter of propriety.”
Sasuke snorted again. “Right. Like you’ve ever cared about propriety.”
“Hey!” she pouted, slapping his arm none too gently. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Sasuke refrained from nursing the pain from his arm as he rolled his eyes. “Absolutely nothing, Sakura.”
The rose haired woman placed her hand on her hips in a gesture of defiance. “I swear, Uchiha Sasuke, you are absolutely impossible sometimes.”
He ignored her last comment as he continued, “Anyways, hurry up and change already. Lunch is soon.”
Sakura threw her hands up in a gesture of resignation as she started to change. “And you wonder why I think men are pigs.”
-
By the time lunch rolled around, Naruto had also found his way to the Uchiha home.
With Naruto there, the family that was Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura was complete. And now that Sasuke and Sakura were dating, Itachi never felt so awkward. Of course, none of his apprehension showed, but watching the interactions of the three, of Sakura force-feeding Sasuke, Naruto acting like a child, and Sakura giggling despite it all, Itachi started eating faster. Unnoticed to him, Mikoto shot him a curious glance - though her eldest had always been rather antisocial, he seemed especially so today.
Suddenly Naruto gasped, resulting in some stray pieces of rice flying in every direction. Itachi tried to suppress the scowl threatening to play across his face.“Sakura-chan! I totally forgot! Baa-chan told me to tell you to go see her, ASAP! She seemed pretty pissed about something.”
At this, Sakura punched him none too gently. “You tell me this now?! What if it had been something urgent? Oh, shishou is going to kill me!”
With this, the pink haired woman seemed to forget all about lunch, the Uchihas and everything around her. She scrambled to her feet, murmuring apologies to Mikoto. Before Mikoto could have the chance to say “it’s no problem,” Sakura had already disappeared from the dining room. Mikoto laughed, Naruto blew out a sigh of relief and Sasuke simply rolled his eyes at Naruto’s idiocy.
In the moment, no one saw the look of absolute curiosity flicker across Itachi’s face.
-
“Thanks for joining me, Sakura,” Tsunade commented dryly.
Sakura winced at the tone. She had tried to get here as fast as possible - it only took her two minutes! - but by the look on Tsunade’s face, it hadn’t been nearly fast enough. Sakura offered the woman a slight bow. “Sorry shishou. Naruto’s not the most reliable messenger.”
Tsunade sighed. “I know. But I thought he would be able to handle at least that.”
Sakura allowed a sheepish grin and a slight shrug. “Naruto will be Naruto.”
Tsunade seemed to acquiesce silently, albeit grudgingly, but sobered up in a moment. “This is why I called you here.” As she said this, she tossed a sealed scroll at Sakura. The latter caught the object within her fingers easily, and with a curious gleam in her eyes, broke the seal open. Tsunade was quiet as Sakura skimmed the contents of the page.
Few words on the page stuck with Sakura as she swept her gaze over the long paragraphs. Seeing these particular words, she didn’t know whether to be excited, confused or just fearful. ANBU. S-Class. Undetermined length. She settled for excited - if this was what she taught it was, Naruto and Sasuke were going to be so jealous! It was extremely rare for a jounin to be sent on an unclassified mission with the elite, and a recently inaugurated jounin was even less likely.
Tsunade confirmed her thoughts a moment later.
“Their medic is currently unavailable, and I’ll be damned if I send them into this with no medic.”
Sakura’s first thought was, why me? She knew there were plenty of capable medics in ANBU, and she would be naïve to think herself the best. Tsunade seemed to see the scepticism on her apprentice’s face, for she sighed and continued. “You’re the best fit for this job. You’re familiar with the team, and frankly,” Tsunade looked her straight in the eye. “I trust that you’ll be able to haul their asses back here.”
Tsunade answered Sakura’s next unspoken question as well, written as it was across the latter’s face. “They’re difficult. The mission is difficult. So altogether, it’s damn hard to find a medic that can survive with them. But,” Tsunade trailed off here, giving her a hard look. “Are you ready for this?”
Sakura nearly stumbled over her words in her haste to blurt out, “Yes, shishou!” as quickly as she could.
Tsunade heaved another sigh, looking away. “I know...But it’s extremely dangerous, Sakura.” The Hokage could see in Sakura’s vibrant orbs that her decision had already been made, but even so, she couldn’t spare her last words. “Consider it carefully.”
Sakura’s enthusiasm simply couldn’t be quelled, as she affirmed. “I’m ready for this, shishou.”
Tsunade gave a curt nod. “You can come in now.”
Behind them, the mahogany door opened almost immediately, startling Sakura. Tsunade’s off-topic command had barely registered in the pink-haired woman’s mind before it was shocked with the image of Uchiha Itachi materializing before her. The latter gave a polite bow to the blonde sitting behind the desk before taking a spot next to Sakura.
When his presence did register with Sakura, she was reeling with the effect of it all. Tsunade’s words made sense now. Difficult team. Her familiarity with the team. Oh Kami, she wanted to scream. She was suddenly filled with such a mixture of excitement and nervousness that she could no longer discern the origins of the butterflies in her stomach. A mission with Itachi. A chance to spend time together with him, as well as a chance to show him all that she had accomplished over the years. It was almost too good to be true, yet…
The weight of such a responsibility played heavily on her. With her team, she was sure of their dynamic, familiar with all their tactics and consequently, with all the ways they would probably become injured. In that effect, she would be able to fix them up efficiently and quickly, before moving on. With Itachi’s team, it would be a whole different story. Throughout her career, she had subbed in for medics on various teams, and though they had always been successful for the most part, she couldn’t deny the lack of chemistry. Though she had grinded through it, she hadn’t felt comfortable in the least. In fact, mobilising with other teams was simply stressful.
With Itachi’s team, the slightest mishap would cost them everything. She didn’t know whether or not Genma or Shikamaru would be accustomed to her style, and thereby be there to finish anything she would miss. She didn’t know how their dynamics would play out, and she certainly didn’t know how Itachi would react to her skills. The last one chewed on her nerves the most. The level of personal investment on her part was different with Itachi than it was with her best friends. What she felt for him was so entirely different from the family love she felt for her teammates that suddenly, she wasn’t sure if she would jeopardize mission.
Thankfully, the two other occupants of the room seemed unaware of her internal dilemma. And if they were aware, they feigned ignorance, of which she was also grateful. Tsunade continued with her instructions.
“Mihako is the lord of the Rice Country,” Tsunade continued, strangely monotone. “Coincidently, he also moonlights as the biggest drug trafficker in his area. Which wouldn’t be our problem, except it seems to have gotten into his head that he’s good enough to steal now. Apparently, the drug money is no longer enough. Last week he intercepted a crucial document from a neighbouring country. Retrieve it. The rest of the information is written down for you. This is urgent.”
Sakura almost shivered at the toneless voice of her surrogate mother. Even when Tsunade was really angry, upset, or anything, actually, emotionless was never something she pulled. But seeing the blonde like this, the eerie feeling that she had stepped over an invisible threshold couldn’t be shaken. Even in the way Tsunade treated this mission, talked about it, Sakura could sense the difference in style and difficulty. It probably should’ve made her blood run cold, but instead, only got her adrenaline pumping.
Beside her, Itachi bowed again. “We will depart in the morning, Hokage-sama.”
Tsunade grunted an okay, and waved her hands to dismiss them. Itachi slipped out without another glance, and Sakura followed suite shortly after. Though she was only a few seconds after Itachi, she delayed herself long enough to see the look of apprehension crossing Tsunade’s face.
-
Sakura didn’t ask Itachi where he was headed, and he didn’t ask her where she was headed. Yet, they fell into step with each other, and by an unspoken consensus they headed towards the Uchiha compound. In all honesty, Sakura didn’t know what to say. She felt as if she probably should say something - mission related, of course, but nothing smart sounding came to mind. Itachi, too, seemed to be perfectly content with their silence, so in the end, Sakura uttered not a syllable on the entire journey back.
Itachi was curious at her uncharacteristic behaviour, but was thankful that she decided to refrain from talking. It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy conversation with the pink haired woman. In fact, she had grown up into a very intelligent woman capable of challenging even his intellect, and she never failed to amuse him. Yet, too many other things took precedence at the moment for him to be in want of conversation.
At their leisurely pace, they reached home in about fifteen minutes. When they passed the narrow road that led to the entrance, he was hit by a sense of déjà vu. A small bundle of pink flashed before his eyes then, full of smiles amidst the winter air, with a small bunch of flowers. In another second the image disappeared, replaced by the woman now standing next to him, a whimsical smile on her face. By the time she recovered from her own dose of nostalgia, Itachi had already filed every piece of their past away. Sakura blushed when she realized he was looking at her with no small amount of amusement.
“Sorry,” she laughed sheepishly. “Just some memories.”
“Aa,” he replied, a small smile playing on his lips.
Not a minute later they stepped through the front doors, and from her vantage point, Sakura could see Naruto and Sasuke still lounging in the living room. They had only been gone thirty minutes after all, and knowing them, Naruto was probably still touting Mikoto’s cooking, and Sasuke trying his best to ignore his best mate. Muttering a quiet goodbye to Itachi, Sakura turned right, setting out towards the living room. She was halfway there when Itachi called out, “Be at the East Gate at 6am sharp tomorrow.”
At this, both men on the sofa turned their heads towards the duo, surprise evident on their faces. By the time they recovered enough from their initial shock for Naruto to yell out, “what’s going on tomorrow?”, Itachi had already disappeared. Sakura sighed, knowing the inevitable yelling and protesting that was about to ensue.
“I’m going on a mission with Itachi’s team tomorrow,” Sakura replied as she dropped down onto the couch next to Naruto. Naturally, she draped her legs across both their laps. “Emergency substitute.”
“Why!” Naruto gasped. “We’re supposed to go training tomorrow. You’re going to leave me alone with this idiot?”
“Who’re you calling an idiot?” Sasuke interrupted, clearly annoyed.
“You! Bleh. And you wonder why I call you stupid…” Naruto trailed off, seeming to remember his primary topic. “Anyways, Sakura-chan, why you? The teme’s brother is going to work you like a slave! I heard Genma talking about it the other day!”
Sasuke didn’t say anything, but the pointed look her shot her spoke bounds. Oddly, this annoyed her, but she just shrugged. “Shishou offered, and I accepted. Besides, you two should be happy for me! It’s a great opportunity.”
“But Sakura-chan-”
“But what, Naruto?” Sakura replied, her tone suddenly dangerous. This was a good a warning as they were ever going to get, and Naruto, though commonly known for his lack of tact, backed off. He quite liked being unharmed, thank you very much. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Sasuke. Regarding some things, he was even more gauche than Naruto. While the Uchiha was worried in part for her safety, there was also a nagging feeling at the back of his mind concerning the tiny white lie he had woven. Not that it bothered him much, of course. He highly doubted that either person would bring it up in conversation during the mission; Itachi certainly wouldn’t, and judging by the ridiculously infatuation Sakura seemed to have with Itachi, she certainly wouldn’t either.
But still, even the slightest feeling of discomfort was absolutely unacceptable.
“Sakura,” Sasuke started, serious for the first time that day. “Be careful. His team does not play around.”
Sakura blinked up him curiously, and though she rarely voiced the thought, it warmed her heart to see the vines of concern flashing through his smouldering eyes.
-
Thirty two hours later, Sakura was absolutely exhausted.
She had gotten to the gate at 6am as instructed, and was surprised to find herself to be the last one to arrive. By their stances, Sakura could tell that they had been there for at least ten minutes already. Though none of the men commented on her pseudo-tardiness, she still felt her face burn slightly under her borrowed ANBU mask. It always surprised her when she worked with other teams and everyone arrived on time, but she was never the last one.
That experience was the first of many firsts she would experience that day.
Now, lying in a rather small clearing within a foot of each man, she wanted nothing more than to just pass out. They had barely taken a break during the day, and neither Shikamaru nor Genma seemed to mind in the least. Sakura knew it was necessary if they wanted to reach their destination in the fastest time possible, but would it kill him to let them take a fiver every five, six hours? She was beginning to think that not stopping would probably end up killing her.
In the mess of things, Sakura’s mat had ended up wedged firmly between Shikamaru’s and Itachi’s. Genma, thank heavens had been placed on Shikamaru’s other side, far away from her. That was another thing. The damn bastard had been giving her suggestive looks all day, so much so that she was beginning to be suspicious. Did he know something else? The fact that she and Sasuke had slept together should have worn out its interest with him by now, but he was still lording his good information over her.
Sakura shook her head inwardly. She was overthinking things again. How could Genma know anything else? There was nothing else to know. Satisfied with her conclusion, Sakura forced her eyes shut, intent on getting some sleep. She could hear a quiet yawn from the far side where Shikamaru had taken up the first watch, and dreaded her shift two hours from now. Sleep was absolutely necessary after the day that had just passed and the one that was imminent tomorrow.
Except Itachi was within a foot of her, and she could feel his near-silent, steady breathing. Though the stable intervals between his inhales and exhales suggested his lack of consciousness, Sakura somehow doubted that he was already asleep. She had this feeling that Itachi never really slept, even at home, which would explain the permanent lines etched onto his handsome face.
In truth Sakura wanted nothing more than to talk to him, look at him, do something with him, exhilarated as she was at being within such close proximity to him. But she contained herself, as anything less would have shown a degree of immaturity that would have for sure warranted that she never act as their stand-in medic again. And, she should have probably been focusing on sleeping, and allowing him to catch up on some well deserved rest.
Right, sleep.
In the end, her willpower was no match for her strong desire to say something.
“Itachi-kun?” she murmured, not looking at him, and not expecting anything in reply. It was unsurprisingly that she received no verbal answer, but she thought she felt the slightest of shifts in his person that signalled his attention. Sakura didn’t quite know what to say next, as his name had slipped through her lips before she had been fully aware. But the stars, at which her eyes were currently focused were so mesmerizing that she didn’t quite care.
She also didn’t quite care that her thoughts were becoming rather nebulous and disjointed as the desire to sleep crawled into her consciousness. It also didn’t occur to her that she probably sounded like a desperate teenage girl when she murmured in a slightly husky voice, “Good night, Itachi-kun.”
She was asleep by the time the statement slipped by her, the trials of the day finally catching up with her. It was fortunate for her, or she would have died of the mortification of knowing that she had disturbed Itachi for something as asinine as saying good night.
But unfortunately for her, she also missed the wisps of a small smile play on his lips.
-
Five days later, Sakura was in a state of absolute panic. Not that she let it show, of course, but inside, she was a flurry of emotions raging like a rampant hurricane.
Everything had gone according to plan. Every last detail had been executed to perfection, and their goal reached. Yet, between the end and now was such a drastic difference that her mind could barely work fast enough to fill in the gap. She felt like screaming what the hell happened? even though she knew full well what had occurred, but it was all too surreal to accept.
For one, the limp load on her back was a good reminder that their lives were on the verge here. More accurately, his life was on the verge.
It had been smooth and flawless to begin with. They had slipped into Mihako’s complex unnoticed, and had gotten the stolen document.
It had all seemed too easy, and though they had their suspicions, there was nothing more they could do without stupidly jeopardizing their mission. They had even made it out of the complex completely unscathed, which only increased the tension mounting within them. Shinobi, and ANBU especially, were trained to be paranoid in the most, and as it turned out, they were absolutely right.
Waiting for them ten minutes away from the complex was the largest ambush Sakura had ever encountered in her life. There had been so many that at first glance she estimated 30, maybe 40, but it seemed never ending. Every time they knocked down one enemy nin, two more seemed to take their place. By some miracle, she met Itachi’s eye from across the battle field, and though it was only for a split second, and though they had only been on the same team for less than a few days, Sakura knew exactly what he wanted by the look on his face. Taking another second to nod and to see who was closer to her, Genma or Shikamaru, Sakura prepared to execute her part.
As Sakura prepared to punch-kick the largest crater of her life, she dearly hoped that she had understood Itachi correctly. As it turned out, it she would never really know if it had been her intuition and comprehension or his acumen reflexes that saved their hides. Whatever the original plan was, or if this was the original plan, Sakura had no clue. But she was completely dazed when she saw the black flames of Amaterasu burst to life in her enormous crater, forgetting completely their deadly effects and amazed only by its magnitude and twisted beauty. She was so dazed, in fact, that she nearly missed her cue, and barely tugged Shikamaru away before the unforgiving flames reached them. She could see that Itachi and already informed Genma of the change of plans, as they were already bounding away.
Sakura wasted no time in following.
They continued like that, charging away at impossible speeds for another thirty minutes. Then, came the change. It had been so subtle at first that Sakura had barely noticed it, but as the minutes wore on, Sakura was convinced that something was amiss with Itachi. From her vantage point, she could almost see the discomfort rolling off him in waves, and how he favoured his left side slightly. Very slightly, Sakura noted, so slight that to anyone’s untrained eyes, there would be nothing wrong with their Captain.
After a few more minutes, Sakura’s initial observation was replaced by worry. Though she had never worked with Itachi, she knew him well enough to know that he was the type to never show weakness. This blatant display of weakness could only mean one thing - there was something very wrong with Itachi. There wasn’t much more she could discern at their current pace of travel, which left her with a very difficult decision to make. If she followed her instinct and went against all established hierarchies within a team atmosphere and told them all to stop, she could very well be wrong, which could only end badly. Not only would they all think her inexperienced, it would probably ruin her forever in Itachi’s eyes. If, however, on the off chance that she was correct, she would probably be saving Itachi’s life.
In the end, it was barely a hard decision. Without thinking much, she sped up to where Itachi was. When she finally fell into pace next to him, she knew that she had made the right decision. Itachi looked awful. She could see the barest of stains seeping through his gear, and by the awkward way he held himself, she figured he had probably broken a rib.
“We need to stop. Right now,” she told him. Her tone left no room for argument, surprising the older man.
“Return to your place. Do not argue with me,” replied Itachi. Thankfully that was the reply Sakura had been expecting, so she was not in the least bit deterred.
“Itachi-san,” she said in her best no-nonsense medic voice. “It is within my power as your medic to tell you that we need to stop. We have a bit of time to spare. Those nin are at least ten minute behind us.”
If Itachi was surprised at her change from the more familiar kun to the oddly detached -san, he made no note of it, just as he betrayed none of his surprised at her determination. “No. We are to continue until we reach Konoha.”
“Please do not force me to resort to force, thus using up precious chakra that I could otherwise use healing you three.”
She was tense to the bone as she said this, knowing that no amount of force she could muster up would be able to overpower him. The next five seconds, she mused, were probably five of the longest during the entire mission, which was saying a lot, because she had barely skimmed a particularly violent jutsu back on the field. In the end though, without saying a word, Itachi slowed down, landing in the closest clearing. Genma and Shikamaru seemed to know what Itachi was thinking, because they followed suite without so much as a blink of the eye. Sakura, who by theory should have been least surprised by the change in course was actually the most surprised, and as a result nearly skipped right by the landing.
From the stern look in Itachi’s hard eyes, Sakura figured that he probably would not take it well if she healed him first instead of his subordinates. This was one thing she could compromise on, after his much grander compromise. But still, she knew she had not a second to waste. Scurrying over to Shikamaru’s side, she did a preliminary chakra-over. Surprisingly enough Shikamaru was relatively unharmed and in no danger at all. Giving him a terse smile, Sakura moved to Genma. Likewise, Genma was in passable shape, and after grazing over the only semi-serious injury with her glowing palms, Sakura stood up, spinning around simultaneously.
Also simultaneously, her heart froze.
For the second time that day, her mind wheeled to fill in the missing gap of time in her mind between now and then. Just three minutes ago, Itachi had been standing, seemingly well if not a little worse for the wear. Despite what looked like still open-wounds and a broken rib, he had been holding himself so remarkably well that she had written him out of immediate danger.
That assumption was probably a mistake she would never make again.
Crouched rather unseemingly on the ground was Itachi, left hand to his stomach area and right hand lying limp next to him. Sakura tried her best to suppress the rising panic in her throat - what the hell had happened? But soon enough, she was recovered from her momentary shock and next to the severely wounded Itachi.
With her right hand, she moved his bloodied left hand off his abdomen gingerly. She was met with a direly sorry sight. His abdomen had been slashed open, and the attack had apparently been followed by more blunt force to his ribcage. With nothing obscuring her view now, she could see that at least two ribs were broken. Without sparing as much as two seconds, she set down to work on him. Her heart sank further when she realzed that he had also sustained considerable internal damage; his liver and kidney had both been hit, and there was also evidence of some bleeding. Sakura barely noticed when Itachi sort-of-kind-of lost consciousness, or that his right arm seemed dislocated. All she could think of was to save him for the time being, at least well enough for them to make it back home.
She was also thinking about how amazing and stupidly stubborn he was to make it so far and not say a word of his fatal injuries. But this was a thought she tried to suppress as well - something along this school of thought always led to off topic thinking, and anything not related to medicine right now was probably detrimental.
By the time she finished forcing the bone to reconnect, and closing the large gash, and healing the cut on his liver, she noted exhaustedly that her own reserves were nearing a dangerously low level. That was, however, the least of her concerns as she moved to snap his shoulder back in place. They had already spent a good thirteen minutes in the clearing, and though she knew they had a very good lead, she didn’t like the ideas of the enemies being so close again.
Without lollygagging another second, she pushed a minuscule amount of chakra into her arms and heaved the unconscious Itachi onto her back.
Which brought them back to now, her mind finally piecing together the events. Unfortunately, she was beginning to struggle in her movements to keep pace with the two men. The quick healing session had drained much more than she expected from her, and it was as if there was a bright, red, flashing warning sign in her mind at the moment. Genma chose that moment to turn and spare a glance at her, and must have been appalled at the weary look on her face, and sight of her for he silently motioned for her to pass their Captain over.
Sakura was about to protest when she realized how foolish that would be. Konoha was still a good forty minutes away, and at the rate she was carrying on, the chances of them making it back safely were quite slim. Still, she was somewhat reluctant as she handed Genma her precious cargo. Genma, despite his brash personality was surprisingly gentle with the man’s limp body as he carried Itachi bridal style. Without the load on her back, Sakura felt her energy rebound slightly, and though she felt slightly uncomfortable, the word failure floating by momentarily, she breathed a sigh of relief.
They would make it home.
Characters: Uchiha Itachi & Haruno Sakura
Prompts: 42. panic button & 92. success & 454. dream the impossible
Word Count: 5564
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Warning: Non-massacre AU.
Notes: Part 6/31 of a series. Link to others can be found here at CHIAROSCURO. Written for 50_shinobi & lover100 & 500themes.
-
Itachi frowned down at the painting his mother was currently mounting.
The foyer where they currently stood had a quality about it that made anything on the walls seem wretchedly ugly. The current painting, like the ten before it, was perfectly agreeable on its own. In fact, Itachi had been the one to point his mother towards the painting in the store. But in their odd foyer, the painting only seemed out of place.
Mikoto took a step back, on par with Itachi to admire her work. Itachi could tell by a quick peek from his peripheral that the only thing she enjoyed was how perfectly she had mounted the frame, and that the painting was again a disaster. The Uchiha matriarch let out a sigh. “We’re never going to find something for this wall.”
Itachi, never one to willingly upset his mother, didn’t reply. As the somewhat distraught woman moved forward to remove the painting, the front door creaked open to their left. Sasuke breezed in blithely, and if he was surprised to see his mother and brother standing in the foyer, he didn’t show it. As soon as he saw the object of their attention though, his face twisted into one of displeasure. “Okaa-san. Aniki. That painting is hideous,” he said with a slight bow of greeting, and without another word, walked past them and towards his room.
Mikoto seemed to take Sasuke’s words to heart, as she grabbed the portrait none too gently from the wall without another moment’s hesitation. “Go tell your brother that lunch’s in an hour, alright?”
Itachi nodded politely to his mother’s request, but had no real intention of following through. Things with Sasuke had been a little...awkward, simply put. Itachi was convinced that it had nothing to do with Sasuke current girlfriend - rather, it was because of Sasuke’s smug attitude concerning said girlfriend that kept them in their awkward tango. Itachi followed the same path Sasuke had not a minute prior, towards the back of their household.
He had barely stepped into the “private” quarters of their household before he froze dead in his tracks. Stumbling out of Sasuke’s room, still hazy with sleep, rubbing her eyes, was Haruno Sakura. The distance that separated them was less than preferable; Sasuke’s room was one of the closest to the outer, shared area, and by the time she was fully conscious, they were within ten feet of each other. Her reaction was comical, as she blinked, rubbed her eyes, and blinked again.
“Oh!” she gasped finally. “Good morning, Itachi-kun.”
“Sakura,” he acknowledged.
She looked as if she was going to say something else, when she suddenly seized up and looked down at herself. A slight squeak of embarrassment escaped her when she took in her image - one fluffy sock, no pants, and an oversized shirt of Sasuke’s that was unfortunately, more crinkled than she had ever seen it in her life. She had no doubt that her face and hair looked even more unfortunate than her clothing - she could just imagine the basket of knots and frizz that was probably her hair, and the dark circles under her eyes.
In one last act to preserve her dignity, she resolved not to shove her face into her palms and stay like that forever. Instead, she only laughed sheepishly, scratching her head. Itachi noticed with amusement that she resembled the blonde third of their trio when she did that, but refrained from commenting. She looked mortified enough as it was without him comparing her to Konoha’s Most Obnoxious.
“Err,” she stumbled. “I’m going to go take a shower, so, uh...See you later!”
With that, she ducked back into Sasuke’s room, the door slamming shut behind her. Through the thin walls, Itachi heard her groans of mortification and couldn’t help but chuckle softly.
His amusement however, was cut rather short by the arrival of his dear brother. Further down the hall, Sasuke emerged from one of the many doors. When the younger Uchiha walked past his aniki, he gave the older man a look of smug curiosity before disappearing behind the same door Sakura had.
Itachi scowled as he walked down the hall to his room. The day suddenly seemed awfully gloomy.
-
“Oh my god,” Sakura groaned. “Your brother probably thinks we’re sleeping together now. Or worse, dating.”
Sasuke looked up from his mission report, snorting, “Dating is worse than sleeping together?”
“Of course!” she huffed. “If we’re dating, that means it actually means something. And what if Mikoto-san finds out? She’s going to be so ecstatic and excited all at once that I won’t be able to have the heart to tell her otherwise.”
“And why do you care if he thinks we’re dating? It’s not like this is the first time you’ve slept over.”
“It’s not just him,” she answered unconvincingly. “It’s a matter of propriety.”
Sasuke snorted again. “Right. Like you’ve ever cared about propriety.”
“Hey!” she pouted, slapping his arm none too gently. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Sasuke refrained from nursing the pain from his arm as he rolled his eyes. “Absolutely nothing, Sakura.”
The rose haired woman placed her hand on her hips in a gesture of defiance. “I swear, Uchiha Sasuke, you are absolutely impossible sometimes.”
He ignored her last comment as he continued, “Anyways, hurry up and change already. Lunch is soon.”
Sakura threw her hands up in a gesture of resignation as she started to change. “And you wonder why I think men are pigs.”
-
By the time lunch rolled around, Naruto had also found his way to the Uchiha home.
With Naruto there, the family that was Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura was complete. And now that Sasuke and Sakura were dating, Itachi never felt so awkward. Of course, none of his apprehension showed, but watching the interactions of the three, of Sakura force-feeding Sasuke, Naruto acting like a child, and Sakura giggling despite it all, Itachi started eating faster. Unnoticed to him, Mikoto shot him a curious glance - though her eldest had always been rather antisocial, he seemed especially so today.
Suddenly Naruto gasped, resulting in some stray pieces of rice flying in every direction. Itachi tried to suppress the scowl threatening to play across his face.“Sakura-chan! I totally forgot! Baa-chan told me to tell you to go see her, ASAP! She seemed pretty pissed about something.”
At this, Sakura punched him none too gently. “You tell me this now?! What if it had been something urgent? Oh, shishou is going to kill me!”
With this, the pink haired woman seemed to forget all about lunch, the Uchihas and everything around her. She scrambled to her feet, murmuring apologies to Mikoto. Before Mikoto could have the chance to say “it’s no problem,” Sakura had already disappeared from the dining room. Mikoto laughed, Naruto blew out a sigh of relief and Sasuke simply rolled his eyes at Naruto’s idiocy.
In the moment, no one saw the look of absolute curiosity flicker across Itachi’s face.
-
“Thanks for joining me, Sakura,” Tsunade commented dryly.
Sakura winced at the tone. She had tried to get here as fast as possible - it only took her two minutes! - but by the look on Tsunade’s face, it hadn’t been nearly fast enough. Sakura offered the woman a slight bow. “Sorry shishou. Naruto’s not the most reliable messenger.”
Tsunade sighed. “I know. But I thought he would be able to handle at least that.”
Sakura allowed a sheepish grin and a slight shrug. “Naruto will be Naruto.”
Tsunade seemed to acquiesce silently, albeit grudgingly, but sobered up in a moment. “This is why I called you here.” As she said this, she tossed a sealed scroll at Sakura. The latter caught the object within her fingers easily, and with a curious gleam in her eyes, broke the seal open. Tsunade was quiet as Sakura skimmed the contents of the page.
Few words on the page stuck with Sakura as she swept her gaze over the long paragraphs. Seeing these particular words, she didn’t know whether to be excited, confused or just fearful. ANBU. S-Class. Undetermined length. She settled for excited - if this was what she taught it was, Naruto and Sasuke were going to be so jealous! It was extremely rare for a jounin to be sent on an unclassified mission with the elite, and a recently inaugurated jounin was even less likely.
Tsunade confirmed her thoughts a moment later.
“Their medic is currently unavailable, and I’ll be damned if I send them into this with no medic.”
Sakura’s first thought was, why me? She knew there were plenty of capable medics in ANBU, and she would be naïve to think herself the best. Tsunade seemed to see the scepticism on her apprentice’s face, for she sighed and continued. “You’re the best fit for this job. You’re familiar with the team, and frankly,” Tsunade looked her straight in the eye. “I trust that you’ll be able to haul their asses back here.”
Tsunade answered Sakura’s next unspoken question as well, written as it was across the latter’s face. “They’re difficult. The mission is difficult. So altogether, it’s damn hard to find a medic that can survive with them. But,” Tsunade trailed off here, giving her a hard look. “Are you ready for this?”
Sakura nearly stumbled over her words in her haste to blurt out, “Yes, shishou!” as quickly as she could.
Tsunade heaved another sigh, looking away. “I know...But it’s extremely dangerous, Sakura.” The Hokage could see in Sakura’s vibrant orbs that her decision had already been made, but even so, she couldn’t spare her last words. “Consider it carefully.”
Sakura’s enthusiasm simply couldn’t be quelled, as she affirmed. “I’m ready for this, shishou.”
Tsunade gave a curt nod. “You can come in now.”
Behind them, the mahogany door opened almost immediately, startling Sakura. Tsunade’s off-topic command had barely registered in the pink-haired woman’s mind before it was shocked with the image of Uchiha Itachi materializing before her. The latter gave a polite bow to the blonde sitting behind the desk before taking a spot next to Sakura.
When his presence did register with Sakura, she was reeling with the effect of it all. Tsunade’s words made sense now. Difficult team. Her familiarity with the team. Oh Kami, she wanted to scream. She was suddenly filled with such a mixture of excitement and nervousness that she could no longer discern the origins of the butterflies in her stomach. A mission with Itachi. A chance to spend time together with him, as well as a chance to show him all that she had accomplished over the years. It was almost too good to be true, yet…
The weight of such a responsibility played heavily on her. With her team, she was sure of their dynamic, familiar with all their tactics and consequently, with all the ways they would probably become injured. In that effect, she would be able to fix them up efficiently and quickly, before moving on. With Itachi’s team, it would be a whole different story. Throughout her career, she had subbed in for medics on various teams, and though they had always been successful for the most part, she couldn’t deny the lack of chemistry. Though she had grinded through it, she hadn’t felt comfortable in the least. In fact, mobilising with other teams was simply stressful.
With Itachi’s team, the slightest mishap would cost them everything. She didn’t know whether or not Genma or Shikamaru would be accustomed to her style, and thereby be there to finish anything she would miss. She didn’t know how their dynamics would play out, and she certainly didn’t know how Itachi would react to her skills. The last one chewed on her nerves the most. The level of personal investment on her part was different with Itachi than it was with her best friends. What she felt for him was so entirely different from the family love she felt for her teammates that suddenly, she wasn’t sure if she would jeopardize mission.
Thankfully, the two other occupants of the room seemed unaware of her internal dilemma. And if they were aware, they feigned ignorance, of which she was also grateful. Tsunade continued with her instructions.
“Mihako is the lord of the Rice Country,” Tsunade continued, strangely monotone. “Coincidently, he also moonlights as the biggest drug trafficker in his area. Which wouldn’t be our problem, except it seems to have gotten into his head that he’s good enough to steal now. Apparently, the drug money is no longer enough. Last week he intercepted a crucial document from a neighbouring country. Retrieve it. The rest of the information is written down for you. This is urgent.”
Sakura almost shivered at the toneless voice of her surrogate mother. Even when Tsunade was really angry, upset, or anything, actually, emotionless was never something she pulled. But seeing the blonde like this, the eerie feeling that she had stepped over an invisible threshold couldn’t be shaken. Even in the way Tsunade treated this mission, talked about it, Sakura could sense the difference in style and difficulty. It probably should’ve made her blood run cold, but instead, only got her adrenaline pumping.
Beside her, Itachi bowed again. “We will depart in the morning, Hokage-sama.”
Tsunade grunted an okay, and waved her hands to dismiss them. Itachi slipped out without another glance, and Sakura followed suite shortly after. Though she was only a few seconds after Itachi, she delayed herself long enough to see the look of apprehension crossing Tsunade’s face.
-
Sakura didn’t ask Itachi where he was headed, and he didn’t ask her where she was headed. Yet, they fell into step with each other, and by an unspoken consensus they headed towards the Uchiha compound. In all honesty, Sakura didn’t know what to say. She felt as if she probably should say something - mission related, of course, but nothing smart sounding came to mind. Itachi, too, seemed to be perfectly content with their silence, so in the end, Sakura uttered not a syllable on the entire journey back.
Itachi was curious at her uncharacteristic behaviour, but was thankful that she decided to refrain from talking. It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy conversation with the pink haired woman. In fact, she had grown up into a very intelligent woman capable of challenging even his intellect, and she never failed to amuse him. Yet, too many other things took precedence at the moment for him to be in want of conversation.
At their leisurely pace, they reached home in about fifteen minutes. When they passed the narrow road that led to the entrance, he was hit by a sense of déjà vu. A small bundle of pink flashed before his eyes then, full of smiles amidst the winter air, with a small bunch of flowers. In another second the image disappeared, replaced by the woman now standing next to him, a whimsical smile on her face. By the time she recovered from her own dose of nostalgia, Itachi had already filed every piece of their past away. Sakura blushed when she realized he was looking at her with no small amount of amusement.
“Sorry,” she laughed sheepishly. “Just some memories.”
“Aa,” he replied, a small smile playing on his lips.
Not a minute later they stepped through the front doors, and from her vantage point, Sakura could see Naruto and Sasuke still lounging in the living room. They had only been gone thirty minutes after all, and knowing them, Naruto was probably still touting Mikoto’s cooking, and Sasuke trying his best to ignore his best mate. Muttering a quiet goodbye to Itachi, Sakura turned right, setting out towards the living room. She was halfway there when Itachi called out, “Be at the East Gate at 6am sharp tomorrow.”
At this, both men on the sofa turned their heads towards the duo, surprise evident on their faces. By the time they recovered enough from their initial shock for Naruto to yell out, “what’s going on tomorrow?”, Itachi had already disappeared. Sakura sighed, knowing the inevitable yelling and protesting that was about to ensue.
“I’m going on a mission with Itachi’s team tomorrow,” Sakura replied as she dropped down onto the couch next to Naruto. Naturally, she draped her legs across both their laps. “Emergency substitute.”
“Why!” Naruto gasped. “We’re supposed to go training tomorrow. You’re going to leave me alone with this idiot?”
“Who’re you calling an idiot?” Sasuke interrupted, clearly annoyed.
“You! Bleh. And you wonder why I call you stupid…” Naruto trailed off, seeming to remember his primary topic. “Anyways, Sakura-chan, why you? The teme’s brother is going to work you like a slave! I heard Genma talking about it the other day!”
Sasuke didn’t say anything, but the pointed look her shot her spoke bounds. Oddly, this annoyed her, but she just shrugged. “Shishou offered, and I accepted. Besides, you two should be happy for me! It’s a great opportunity.”
“But Sakura-chan-”
“But what, Naruto?” Sakura replied, her tone suddenly dangerous. This was a good a warning as they were ever going to get, and Naruto, though commonly known for his lack of tact, backed off. He quite liked being unharmed, thank you very much. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Sasuke. Regarding some things, he was even more gauche than Naruto. While the Uchiha was worried in part for her safety, there was also a nagging feeling at the back of his mind concerning the tiny white lie he had woven. Not that it bothered him much, of course. He highly doubted that either person would bring it up in conversation during the mission; Itachi certainly wouldn’t, and judging by the ridiculously infatuation Sakura seemed to have with Itachi, she certainly wouldn’t either.
But still, even the slightest feeling of discomfort was absolutely unacceptable.
“Sakura,” Sasuke started, serious for the first time that day. “Be careful. His team does not play around.”
Sakura blinked up him curiously, and though she rarely voiced the thought, it warmed her heart to see the vines of concern flashing through his smouldering eyes.
-
Thirty two hours later, Sakura was absolutely exhausted.
She had gotten to the gate at 6am as instructed, and was surprised to find herself to be the last one to arrive. By their stances, Sakura could tell that they had been there for at least ten minutes already. Though none of the men commented on her pseudo-tardiness, she still felt her face burn slightly under her borrowed ANBU mask. It always surprised her when she worked with other teams and everyone arrived on time, but she was never the last one.
That experience was the first of many firsts she would experience that day.
Now, lying in a rather small clearing within a foot of each man, she wanted nothing more than to just pass out. They had barely taken a break during the day, and neither Shikamaru nor Genma seemed to mind in the least. Sakura knew it was necessary if they wanted to reach their destination in the fastest time possible, but would it kill him to let them take a fiver every five, six hours? She was beginning to think that not stopping would probably end up killing her.
In the mess of things, Sakura’s mat had ended up wedged firmly between Shikamaru’s and Itachi’s. Genma, thank heavens had been placed on Shikamaru’s other side, far away from her. That was another thing. The damn bastard had been giving her suggestive looks all day, so much so that she was beginning to be suspicious. Did he know something else? The fact that she and Sasuke had slept together should have worn out its interest with him by now, but he was still lording his good information over her.
Sakura shook her head inwardly. She was overthinking things again. How could Genma know anything else? There was nothing else to know. Satisfied with her conclusion, Sakura forced her eyes shut, intent on getting some sleep. She could hear a quiet yawn from the far side where Shikamaru had taken up the first watch, and dreaded her shift two hours from now. Sleep was absolutely necessary after the day that had just passed and the one that was imminent tomorrow.
Except Itachi was within a foot of her, and she could feel his near-silent, steady breathing. Though the stable intervals between his inhales and exhales suggested his lack of consciousness, Sakura somehow doubted that he was already asleep. She had this feeling that Itachi never really slept, even at home, which would explain the permanent lines etched onto his handsome face.
In truth Sakura wanted nothing more than to talk to him, look at him, do something with him, exhilarated as she was at being within such close proximity to him. But she contained herself, as anything less would have shown a degree of immaturity that would have for sure warranted that she never act as their stand-in medic again. And, she should have probably been focusing on sleeping, and allowing him to catch up on some well deserved rest.
Right, sleep.
In the end, her willpower was no match for her strong desire to say something.
“Itachi-kun?” she murmured, not looking at him, and not expecting anything in reply. It was unsurprisingly that she received no verbal answer, but she thought she felt the slightest of shifts in his person that signalled his attention. Sakura didn’t quite know what to say next, as his name had slipped through her lips before she had been fully aware. But the stars, at which her eyes were currently focused were so mesmerizing that she didn’t quite care.
She also didn’t quite care that her thoughts were becoming rather nebulous and disjointed as the desire to sleep crawled into her consciousness. It also didn’t occur to her that she probably sounded like a desperate teenage girl when she murmured in a slightly husky voice, “Good night, Itachi-kun.”
She was asleep by the time the statement slipped by her, the trials of the day finally catching up with her. It was fortunate for her, or she would have died of the mortification of knowing that she had disturbed Itachi for something as asinine as saying good night.
But unfortunately for her, she also missed the wisps of a small smile play on his lips.
-
Five days later, Sakura was in a state of absolute panic. Not that she let it show, of course, but inside, she was a flurry of emotions raging like a rampant hurricane.
Everything had gone according to plan. Every last detail had been executed to perfection, and their goal reached. Yet, between the end and now was such a drastic difference that her mind could barely work fast enough to fill in the gap. She felt like screaming what the hell happened? even though she knew full well what had occurred, but it was all too surreal to accept.
For one, the limp load on her back was a good reminder that their lives were on the verge here. More accurately, his life was on the verge.
It had been smooth and flawless to begin with. They had slipped into Mihako’s complex unnoticed, and had gotten the stolen document.
It had all seemed too easy, and though they had their suspicions, there was nothing more they could do without stupidly jeopardizing their mission. They had even made it out of the complex completely unscathed, which only increased the tension mounting within them. Shinobi, and ANBU especially, were trained to be paranoid in the most, and as it turned out, they were absolutely right.
Waiting for them ten minutes away from the complex was the largest ambush Sakura had ever encountered in her life. There had been so many that at first glance she estimated 30, maybe 40, but it seemed never ending. Every time they knocked down one enemy nin, two more seemed to take their place. By some miracle, she met Itachi’s eye from across the battle field, and though it was only for a split second, and though they had only been on the same team for less than a few days, Sakura knew exactly what he wanted by the look on his face. Taking another second to nod and to see who was closer to her, Genma or Shikamaru, Sakura prepared to execute her part.
As Sakura prepared to punch-kick the largest crater of her life, she dearly hoped that she had understood Itachi correctly. As it turned out, it she would never really know if it had been her intuition and comprehension or his acumen reflexes that saved their hides. Whatever the original plan was, or if this was the original plan, Sakura had no clue. But she was completely dazed when she saw the black flames of Amaterasu burst to life in her enormous crater, forgetting completely their deadly effects and amazed only by its magnitude and twisted beauty. She was so dazed, in fact, that she nearly missed her cue, and barely tugged Shikamaru away before the unforgiving flames reached them. She could see that Itachi and already informed Genma of the change of plans, as they were already bounding away.
Sakura wasted no time in following.
They continued like that, charging away at impossible speeds for another thirty minutes. Then, came the change. It had been so subtle at first that Sakura had barely noticed it, but as the minutes wore on, Sakura was convinced that something was amiss with Itachi. From her vantage point, she could almost see the discomfort rolling off him in waves, and how he favoured his left side slightly. Very slightly, Sakura noted, so slight that to anyone’s untrained eyes, there would be nothing wrong with their Captain.
After a few more minutes, Sakura’s initial observation was replaced by worry. Though she had never worked with Itachi, she knew him well enough to know that he was the type to never show weakness. This blatant display of weakness could only mean one thing - there was something very wrong with Itachi. There wasn’t much more she could discern at their current pace of travel, which left her with a very difficult decision to make. If she followed her instinct and went against all established hierarchies within a team atmosphere and told them all to stop, she could very well be wrong, which could only end badly. Not only would they all think her inexperienced, it would probably ruin her forever in Itachi’s eyes. If, however, on the off chance that she was correct, she would probably be saving Itachi’s life.
In the end, it was barely a hard decision. Without thinking much, she sped up to where Itachi was. When she finally fell into pace next to him, she knew that she had made the right decision. Itachi looked awful. She could see the barest of stains seeping through his gear, and by the awkward way he held himself, she figured he had probably broken a rib.
“We need to stop. Right now,” she told him. Her tone left no room for argument, surprising the older man.
“Return to your place. Do not argue with me,” replied Itachi. Thankfully that was the reply Sakura had been expecting, so she was not in the least bit deterred.
“Itachi-san,” she said in her best no-nonsense medic voice. “It is within my power as your medic to tell you that we need to stop. We have a bit of time to spare. Those nin are at least ten minute behind us.”
If Itachi was surprised at her change from the more familiar kun to the oddly detached -san, he made no note of it, just as he betrayed none of his surprised at her determination. “No. We are to continue until we reach Konoha.”
“Please do not force me to resort to force, thus using up precious chakra that I could otherwise use healing you three.”
She was tense to the bone as she said this, knowing that no amount of force she could muster up would be able to overpower him. The next five seconds, she mused, were probably five of the longest during the entire mission, which was saying a lot, because she had barely skimmed a particularly violent jutsu back on the field. In the end though, without saying a word, Itachi slowed down, landing in the closest clearing. Genma and Shikamaru seemed to know what Itachi was thinking, because they followed suite without so much as a blink of the eye. Sakura, who by theory should have been least surprised by the change in course was actually the most surprised, and as a result nearly skipped right by the landing.
From the stern look in Itachi’s hard eyes, Sakura figured that he probably would not take it well if she healed him first instead of his subordinates. This was one thing she could compromise on, after his much grander compromise. But still, she knew she had not a second to waste. Scurrying over to Shikamaru’s side, she did a preliminary chakra-over. Surprisingly enough Shikamaru was relatively unharmed and in no danger at all. Giving him a terse smile, Sakura moved to Genma. Likewise, Genma was in passable shape, and after grazing over the only semi-serious injury with her glowing palms, Sakura stood up, spinning around simultaneously.
Also simultaneously, her heart froze.
For the second time that day, her mind wheeled to fill in the missing gap of time in her mind between now and then. Just three minutes ago, Itachi had been standing, seemingly well if not a little worse for the wear. Despite what looked like still open-wounds and a broken rib, he had been holding himself so remarkably well that she had written him out of immediate danger.
That assumption was probably a mistake she would never make again.
Crouched rather unseemingly on the ground was Itachi, left hand to his stomach area and right hand lying limp next to him. Sakura tried her best to suppress the rising panic in her throat - what the hell had happened? But soon enough, she was recovered from her momentary shock and next to the severely wounded Itachi.
With her right hand, she moved his bloodied left hand off his abdomen gingerly. She was met with a direly sorry sight. His abdomen had been slashed open, and the attack had apparently been followed by more blunt force to his ribcage. With nothing obscuring her view now, she could see that at least two ribs were broken. Without sparing as much as two seconds, she set down to work on him. Her heart sank further when she realzed that he had also sustained considerable internal damage; his liver and kidney had both been hit, and there was also evidence of some bleeding. Sakura barely noticed when Itachi sort-of-kind-of lost consciousness, or that his right arm seemed dislocated. All she could think of was to save him for the time being, at least well enough for them to make it back home.
She was also thinking about how amazing and stupidly stubborn he was to make it so far and not say a word of his fatal injuries. But this was a thought she tried to suppress as well - something along this school of thought always led to off topic thinking, and anything not related to medicine right now was probably detrimental.
By the time she finished forcing the bone to reconnect, and closing the large gash, and healing the cut on his liver, she noted exhaustedly that her own reserves were nearing a dangerously low level. That was, however, the least of her concerns as she moved to snap his shoulder back in place. They had already spent a good thirteen minutes in the clearing, and though she knew they had a very good lead, she didn’t like the ideas of the enemies being so close again.
Without lollygagging another second, she pushed a minuscule amount of chakra into her arms and heaved the unconscious Itachi onto her back.
Which brought them back to now, her mind finally piecing together the events. Unfortunately, she was beginning to struggle in her movements to keep pace with the two men. The quick healing session had drained much more than she expected from her, and it was as if there was a bright, red, flashing warning sign in her mind at the moment. Genma chose that moment to turn and spare a glance at her, and must have been appalled at the weary look on her face, and sight of her for he silently motioned for her to pass their Captain over.
Sakura was about to protest when she realized how foolish that would be. Konoha was still a good forty minutes away, and at the rate she was carrying on, the chances of them making it back safely were quite slim. Still, she was somewhat reluctant as she handed Genma her precious cargo. Genma, despite his brash personality was surprisingly gentle with the man’s limp body as he carried Itachi bridal style. Without the load on her back, Sakura felt her energy rebound slightly, and though she felt slightly uncomfortable, the word failure floating by momentarily, she breathed a sigh of relief.
They would make it home.