A week had already flown by since Sakura, Carver and Raiden blew back into our life's injured from being ambushed in the iron village. I never left the hospital as I hung out with Carver and Raiden who were slowly getting back to their normal selves.
Sasuke would come and go, spending the night with me but also going home on other nights when he was tired of sleeping on a hard-cold hospital floor. Not a lot of people knew what had happened, Tsunade kept who could and could not know under strict terms. Thanks to Guy's big mouth most of my friends knew and wanted to come see the three-waterfall shinobi but Tsunade wouldn't allow it.
I couldn't complain, I was just happy I was allowed inside the room. I am pretty sure that was due to Carver insisting I be allowed to stay which surprised me. I really thought Carver hated me, but we had been hanging out while he was hospitalized, and it has been nice. Not that Carver and the others being hospitalized was nice but the fact that they had no choice but to take it easy and for once I saw them settle down and relax.
Sakura's condition hasn't improved but it also hadn't worsened. I glanced over away from my game of cards with Raiden to see Kakashi who was in the same seat he has been for the past five days. He never moved from Sakura's side, he would read his pervy books or watch TV. If Kakashi did leave I had only seen it for a short time frame like a half hour to shower or eat.
I glanced over at Carver. Tsunade walked in holding a bag of food, I smiled happy to see food that was not from this hospital. I placed my hand of cards down, I kept losing anyways. The hospital room we were in no longer looked large, it appeared to be well lived in thanks to me and my team. My pile of blankets and pillows was against the wall and out of the way from the medical staff who were always coming in and out. I got up and helped Tsunade clear off one of the small tables so she could set the food on it. I lightly kicked my orange bag out of the way, it was full of spare clothing and bathroom needs.
Tsunade had gotten everyone burgers and fries for dinner, I thanked her and grabbed the two she handed me. Carver made a comment, trying to take one but Tsunade shot him a glare. Both Carver and Raiden were on diet restrictions, mainly their sodium since the two of them ate it like they were freaking salt water fish! I settled in a folding chair and took a large bite of my sandwich, I glanced back at Carver as questions swirled inside my head.
"Just ask us." Carver spoke up pulling my attention back over to him.
"Huh" I asked, my heart skipping a beat.
"You have been eye raping me for an hour." Carver smirked; he was starting to return to his old perverted ways. "Just ask me."
"I uh..." I trailed off looking at my fries which sat in my lap. I could feel everyone's eyes on me. "I noticed that...um..."
"Yeah?"
"Well you two work for Sakura...right?" I muttered, without looking at the two in the hospital beds.
"Yes?" Carver answered.
"So that means you work for the Waterfall Village?" I went on,
"Where are you getting at?" Carver asked.
"How come you guys don't wear the Waterfall's symbol then?" This had been bugging me for days! "I noticed Sakura doesn't wear one either, and she is the Commander of it..."
"I am surprised you noticed that." Raiden chuckled, eating his third Jell-O.
"Well...yeah..." I muttered, looking over at Sakura who was still hooked to that machine in order to breathe, it was hard seeing her like this...
"Well if we had to put a label on our job..." Carver started, "...then I guess you could say Raiden and I don't technically belong to the Waterfall Village."
"Wait, what?" Tsunade butted in.
"Yeah." Raiden nodded.
"What do you mean?" Tsunade questioned leaning forward interested in the conversation.
"Sakura hired us." Raiden answered, "She recruited us, trained us, and choices our missions."
"If you need a label, we are freelance shinobi." Carver added.
"I don't understand." I shook my head, Carver smiled.
"I thought Kaguya placed you all on the same team?" Sasuke spoke finally pulling his eyes off his phone.
"Well..." Carver sighed, "...it's not that simple."
"Then simplify it!" Tsunade said.
"To be accepted into the Waterfall's army, you had to pass a test made by Kaguya."
"OK." I nodded, following so far.
"It was a horrible test, what surprised my group the most was the fact she was forcing Sakura to partake in the exam as well. I don't know the whole story behind the reasoning but Sakura and Kaguya both built the Waterfall Village. Why Kaguya took the title as leader and forced Sakura to prove herself I don't know." Carver explained. "But there were sixty people in our group and only nine made it out alive."
"What-What?!" Tsunade gasped. "What kind of test-"
"After we survived-" Carver went on, looking like he didn't want to answer Tsunade's question. "-I wanted nothing to do with Kaguya, I fully believe she is a crazy bitch. Raiden and the other six from our team agreed and we were ready to leave the Waterfall Village, but Sakura knew we were talented. She came after us, she offered us pay, housing and she said she would train us, and we would not be a part of the Waterfall Village. We agreed." Carver shrugged.
"Kaguya and Sakura fought a lot." Raiden sighed. "Those two were always at each other's throats-"
"Why?" I interrupted by mistake.
"Sakura wanted to reach out to other villages and help them. She wanted to protect everyone and spread peace while Kaguya wanted to stay to herself."
"That's why they fought all the time?" I wondered.
"Yeah, so Sakura used our team to her advantage since we didn't wear the Waterfall's symbol, she sent us everywhere. We became the team that fought for more than one village."
"Yeah, Sakura would try and join us on most of our missions, but Kaguya is a clingy psycho."
"That is...beautiful." I whispered staring at the two with big eyes. Carver rolled his eyes and brushed off my compliment.
We fell back into a comfortable silence as we continued eating, listening to Sakura's heartbeat the monitor. I did this every night, I was shoving the last of my burger in my mouth, enjoying the juicy flavors when it happened, the joyful beats we all were craving to hear stopped.
Sakura had flat lined.
I choked on my burger as Tsunade shot up screaming code blue! Nurses and doctors flooded into the room, Kakashi, Sasuke and I were pushed out. The curtain between Sakura and the two men were drawn. I could hear them screaming for Sakura to fight!
As I was being thrown into the hallway, I was still trying to get the burger down my throat. I quickly looked over my shoulder, I caught a glimpse of Sakura's body shaking. I seen enough TV to know that was a seizure. I turned around I wanted to scream her name, but my voice was caught in my chest under my stomach.
Within all the hustle and bustle I felt a hot sharp pain explode on my arm. I heard my voice cry out as I grabbed my arm, feeling fire burning my skin. I could hear Kakashi and Sasuke were in pain also. What the hell was this pain? Where was it coming from?!
Then it hit me, the reason why the pain was in my arm. My stomach turned sour as I looked over at Kakashi, fear engulfed me. The seals Sakura had on us; they were broken. Sakura said there was only two ways the seal can be taken off; she removes it or...if she dies...
I looked over hearing footsteps as my graduating class was walking down the hallway laughing with balloons in hand. They stopped when they saw us in the hallway.
"Naruto?" Hinata asked me sounding worried, "What is going on?" All I could do was shake my head; I fought back tears.
"Which one?" TenTen asked, once again all I could do was shake my head. "Carver?" She questioned; I covered my mouth with my hand as I shook my head no.
"Sakura..." Hinata breathed. I looked up, locking eyes with her letting her know she was right.
"No!" I looked over seeing Sasuke move. Pulling Ino into a hug stopping her from getting closer to the door. "They are trying to save her life!" Sasuke hissed as Ino melted into him, her legs gave out as the two of them dropped to the floor.
"She is strong." Lee whispered. "She will pull through."
I looked down; I have been staring at her for days. She was showing no signs of change. I knew some medical stuff because of her. I prayed she would pull through but in my heavy heart, a piece of me already knew she was gone when I laid eyes on her, when I watched her fall into Kakashi's arms. I saw her eyes; I saw how tired and beaten down she was.
No matter how I see her and how strong I believe her to be, she was still human. How much fight can she have left in her after all the bullshit she has been dragged through? I closed my eyes at the cold hard facts. If I was her, I would have fallen a long time ago. I realized Sakura has proven time and time again that she was indeed stronger than me, without even trying.
I opened my eyes and looked around at all the people who were sobbing in the hallway. Kakashi was just watching the door, holding it up with his stare. I saw the hope, I saw a need for her to be ok. I looked at the door, as a realization hit me; Kakashi had feelings for Sakura.
My chest hurt as something wrapped around it, it was cold feeling and made my stomach turn. I watched the door with anticipation building inside my chest. Sakura's face flashed into mine without permission, as unwanted thoughts came pouring into my sight. Was she proud of me? Was she proud of who I became?
I felt a desire roar to life in the pit of my stomach to have one more chance to look into those bright blaring green orbs. All I wanted right now in this moment was to see them looking back at me. I didn't care about anything else; I didn't care there were people standing around me, I didn't care about the leaf village, I didn't care about becoming Hokage...I really just needed to see her one more time and see her looking back at me with that cute amused look on her face.
I never got the chance to tell her so many things, I still had so many questions to ask her and so much I wanted to talk to her about. The past few days of knowing Sakura cared about me was the best few days of my life since she was declared fallen years ago.
I had pictured spending so many nights with her laughing and making new memories, I wanted to feel the warm light of her praising me for a good job, I wasn't ready to see all those dreams go up in smoke. I never got the chance to thank her for everything she has done to protect me and my home. Has anyone ever thanked her for anything she was doing?
She gave up a normal steady life to protect us, she gets no awards for her bravery, no praise from the hearts she protects. She remains living alone in the shadows and goes months without a warm bed or a home cooked meal. I don't know what I would do without warm food and a soft bed or my friends or even my village behind me watching my back. I honestly can't understand how she is still standing from the stories I have heard; I would have burnt out years ago.
It never once crossed my mind that Sakura could ever be defeated, I never prepared for the fact that Sakura was human, she will die. I never prepared for that day, today couldn't be that day. There was still so much I wanted to learn from Sakura and I never got to say goodbye to her and in that moment I realized I still loved Sakura...
The door which read 'Room 407' opened, the doctor from before, Dr. Yu I think her name was walked out, her eyes glassed over she walked out of Sakura's room. She got a foot out the door and then fell back against the wall, sliding down onto the floor. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she cupped her face in her hands and sobbed.
There was a moment of hard silence, it was like all the air got sucked out of the hallway like a vacuum. I couldn't breathe, my lungs pulled in air into my lungs, but I still felt like I was choking. I turned to Sasuke who was on the ground still holding Ino, he was watching Dr. Yu as his face expressed little emotion. I glanced at Kakashi who could show more emotion in one eye than Sasuke could with his entire face.
"Naruto." Hinata's light voice reached my ears. I looked down and saw her large eyes were full of tears and I could see she was fighting them back. I swallowed my pain and wrapped my arms around my friend as she failed at hiding her emotions.
I looked around the hallway as I felt our worlds coming to a crashing halt. I didn't have enough of her; we just got her back and was restarting our relationships. As I saw how hurt everyone inside this hallway looked, I realized that even though we didn't have much time with Sakura, it was still enough time for her to imprint her mark on this village. I needed to see for myself, I needed to look at Sakura and I needed to see she was really gone this time. I just had too. Before I could move forward, Tsunade came into the view standing in the doorway.
"She is stable." Tsunade breathed out, leaning against the door frame for support.
My wide eyes snapped up to her. Stable? Did I hear that right?
I forgot how to breathe as I made my way into the room past Tsunade. Hinata still in my arms I was carrying her like a rag doll. Kakashi, Sasuke and I all rushed into the dim lit room. I didn't waste a second searching for her with my eyes, I quickly got to her bedside. Sakura's face was washed of color, her once rose lips had turned to pale white and she looked to fragile, but her chest moved up and down slowly.
The tube that was shoved down her throat was missing, so was the large machine Tsunade said was breathing for her, I assumed Sakura was able to breathe on her own now that she wasn't connected to it. So that must mean Sakura's condition was improving, right? Her heart monitor made those little beautiful sounds of life. I breathed, finally I breathed. I let Hinata go and I fell back into the wall. I felt tears start to fall down my face out of joy and sweet relief filled every cell of my body.
Kakashi took her hand as if to make sure she was real. I looked over, Carver and Raiden looked like they were just hit by a bus, I almost wanted to laugh at their expressions, but I felt so tired as I leaned against the wall.
"I need a drink." Tsunade muttered moving into the room and closing the door.
I nodded in agreement, not caring if anyone could see my response or not.
I found I couldn't move; all I could do was hold the wall up as I stared at Sakura. I was scared if I looked away from her, she would evaporate.
Tsunade would not allow anyone else into the room to see Sakura. She gave my friends an update and told them to leave. I heard them try to complain but I couldn't care, I didn't want to move and risk getting kicked out with them. After ten minutes of pure silence, everyone was staring at Sakura's sleeping face. Shizune, Tsunade's assistant appeared with a large case of beer. She dropped it off and left without so much as a word, but her face expressed how worried she was.
"I think we deserve a drink." Tsunade breathed. "No." Tsunade said pointing to Carver who was trying to get a beer from Sasuke, Carver glared at Tsunade and went to pouting in his bed with a huff of air as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"She can breathe on her own now?" Kakashi pulled the conversation. I looked over at Tsunade standing up.
"Yes." Tsunade nodded, smiling to herself.
"How?" I wondered, she just freaking flat lined!
"I don't know." Tsunade laughed, holding the cold can of beer against her forehead.
"That doesn't make me feel better." Carver said.
"I honestly don't know how she is alive." Tsunade said staring in Sakura's direction.
"What?!" I felt extremely alarmed, Tsunade laughed at my reaction.
"It's true." Tsunade nodded, "I believe if she was anyone else, she would have died the second she transported here." It sounded like Tsunade was talking to herself and not a room full of worried people.
"What do you mean?" I asked, snapping open a can for myself.
"I mean, if it would have been me or you inside the Iron Village and we received the injured Sakura has...we wouldn't be standing here."
"Then how come she is?" Sasuke asked.
"Because she is stronger than all of us combined." Tsunade sounded proud, "That is crystal clear to me now." I smiled, looking away from Tsunade as I sipped my drink.
Raiden sparked up a conversation, trying to lighten the moon with his comedy. Raiden was a naturally funny person like Carver and Sakura were. I could see now how the three of them were close friends. They were so much like each other while at the same time they were all so different.
Everyone was talking and joking around until a long beep drew itself across the room, snapped everyone around to look at Sakura. After a hot second the beeps started again. I let out a cold breath of air I was holding in my lungs.
"What the hell was that?" Kakashi asked, standing as Tsunade rushed over to Sakura.
"Like I said-" Tsunade sighed, checking Sakura's pulse. "-I have no clue how she is still breathing."
"But she can breathe on her own now." I smiled. "That's good."
"She isn't out of the woods yet." Tsunade said, shattering my fragile hope.
"Why?" Sasuke questioned. Tsunade's eyes closed for a moment, like she was debating on telling us the truth or not.
"Sakura's heart is working in overdrive; she is injured this bad and her body is trying to flush out the poison."
"You think her heart will give?" Carver asked,
"I don't know." Tsunade said.
"So, the fact she can breathe on her own isn't a good sign." Raiden investigated his lap. I could see the guilt written all over his face, and I wanted to go over and make him feel better, but I also didn't want to leave Sakura's side. I know it was only a few feet difference but, I felt better by her side...
"It is a good sign." Tsunade made clear, "But, I don't think she will be out of the woods until she wakes up."
"You mean if." Sasuke said, I really wanted to hit him right now.
"No." Tsunade shook her head with a smile, "I mean when, I can't promise you all anything, but she has a lot of fight in her."
"You think she will pull through?" Carver asked, sounding hopefully.
"I will be surprised if she didn't." Tsunade smiled, picking up her beer. For a moment, I felt happy and hopeful again but then I thought...what is Tsunade was lying to us to make us feel better right now?
Night fell quickly and no one was really in the mood to joke around, so the lights were turned off and we all settled down for the night. I could hear the light sound of Carver's TV; he was having trouble sleeping and didn't want the medicine to make him sleep.
The room was filled with low roars of slight snoring, I looked around in the dark, having woken up. This cold hard floor was hard to sleep on and stay asleep. Tsunade only allowed Sasuke, Kakashi and me to remain inside the hospital room overnight. I said goodnight to Hinata but I felt bad, I knew she didn't want to leave but once again I wasn't going to fight Tsunade and risk being kicked out and away from Sakura. My eyes were heavy as I saw a small amount of moon light that escaped into the room from between the blinds.
"It's not time for you to go yet." I heard Kakashi's light voice filled the darkened room. I could see the outline of him, leaning closer to Sakura on his chair as he held her hand close to him. So, I was right...Kakashi had feelings for Sakura...I felt myself gulp down a bundle of nerves. I didn't know how to feel about this information, I loved Sakura before she went missing, I loved her before she made a name for herself.
Now that she has walked back into the village out of the ashes of her grave now people wanted her attention and wanted her all for themselves. It wasn't fair! I already had to compete with Sasuke, and now Kakashi too? Kakashi was our sensei growing up, he was our teacher and he is older! Well...I guess Kakashi is not that much older than us, but it was weird! She was he student once...wait...did Kakashi have feeling for Sakura back in the day!? That would be so gross!
I laid on my back, holding my sleeping bag close to my chest as I felt a painful sting in my chest. I wanted to be the one holding her hand right now, not Kakashi our freaking teacher. I loved her first, this wasn't fair! These men cannot just swoop in and steal her!
"I'm not dead yet..." I heard a familiar voice slammed into my gut, knocking the wind out of me. I wanted to jump up, I was about to scream with pure delight and wake everyone up in this room! Until I didn't hear Kakashi say anything back, after a moment I was worried, maybe Sakura passed out or maybe I just fabricated her voice.
I heard the light sound that I had only heard on TV, my heart clenched when I realized he was kissing her. I was pinned against the cold hospital floor listening to my sensei kissed the woman I have loved since childhood...this had to be crossing a line, somewhere right? He couldn't be doing this!
My eyes tickled as I fought an annoying rush of fresh tears, I would not cry over this. I will not take this lying down and without fight! Well...subtract the fact I was laying down right now. If I had to fight for Sakura's attention than so be it! She was well worth the battle that I knew I had coming! How was I going to move and get up without looking like I had been laying here listening to them like a little creep?
"How do you feel?" Kakashi breathed out after a moment.
"Like I was hit by a bus." She breathed out; I could hear pain in her voice. "Where is Raiden and Carver?"
"They are across the room, they are fine. Let me get the doctor-"
"I am fine Kakashi." Sakura cut him off,
"Sakura-" If Kakashi was not going to go get the doctor or wake Tsunade I will hit him the second I am up on my feet! Sakura just flat lined hours ago! She is not fine!
"Everyone is asleep-"
"I don't care, you-"
"I am still breathing."
"Barely." Kakashi sounded so stern, I heard him press a button which I assumed was her call light. After a very quick moment the light was flicked on blinding me!
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Raiden groaned; he wakes up instantly when a freaking light gets turned on but when I have to wake him up it's like trying to wake up a freaking corpse! "Turn the light off!" He snapped rolling onto his side.
"Raiden!" Sakura snapped at the disrespectfulness of her teammate.
"SAKURA!?" Raiden yelled, quickly jumping to sit up the best he could.
"Miss Haruno?" The nurse asked in shock, no one was expecting Sakura to awaken anytime soon. I sat up and looked around the room looking like I had just woken up like everyone else. I looked at Sakura she was slightly sitting up, her beautiful eyes were finally open! Kakashi was holding her hand, his mask on his face as if nothing happened between the two of them. I felt my face heat up a little, I felt like a creepy stalker. Why the hell did I feel like the stalker!? I am not the sensei macking on his student!
"Sakura!" Tsunade smiled, standing from her cot, it still annoyed me she didn't bring enough to share with the class. Sakura looked around at all the people in the room. Tsunade moved to Sakura's side and began to take her vitals, Sakura didn't put up much of a fight. The more I watched her the more I noticed Sakura could barely rip her eyes off Kakashi...how close were these two? I never noticed anything between them before now...
I could see on Sakura's face how tired she was, it was beating down on her like a storm to fall back asleep, but she was fighting it much to my happiness. It was selfish I know, but I wanted to see her awake. I needed to hear her voice and see those blaring eyes drill into my physical being.
"Sakura." Raiden breathed, he looked happy to see her alive and still kicking. I looked between Raiden and Sakura as I felt a tension begin to brew between the two of them. "I-I am so sorry-" Raiden tried to say. I don't understand why he was bringing this up now! Anyone with sight could see Sakura was exhausted and still needed to rest.
"We should talk in the morning..." I tried to settle the tension.
"This doesn't concern you." Raiden spat glaring at me, I was a little taken back by Raiden's coldness. The sharpness of his eyes was like we never had bonded and became friends over the course of his recovery. I guess not I glared back at him,
"Sakura just woke up from a fucking coma. She can't handle bullshit right now!"
"Naruto." Sakura called, calling me off my assault. I looked back at her and tried to study her stone face, but I got nothing from it. So, I grumped and sat down next to Sasuke who was watching the show.
"Has anyone contacted the Waterfall Village?" She asked running a hand through her long pretty hair. We all looked around at each other, Sakura mainly watched her two teammates who she knew had been awake for a few days now. "Care to explain why you have not contacted Kaguya?" She asked seeing no one was willingly to be the first to answer.
"We have been in and out of it for a while..." Carver muttered not looking directly into Sakura's eyes.
Lair...I thought, contacting the waterfall village never crossed anyone's minds, not once.
"Plus Sakura, you were touch and go for a while so no...calling Kaguya was not on any of our minds. We kept your injuries a secret and not many people even know you're here inside this village." Tsunade stepped up, surprising me. "Plus, with the Reapers running around, I didn't want Kaguya to risk stepping out of her village and possibly getting hurt."
"Yeah." Carver agreed. "You know Kaguya would bring half the Waterfall Village here to get you, that would leave the village weakened and could give the Reaper's the chance they have been looking for to take down the Waterfall Village." I liked how Carver was backing up Tsunade, it was nice.
"We are already responsible for a village being killed off." Sakura said dry and bluntly. I saw Carver and Raiden fletch at the storm of memories that they were trying to bury from the Iron village.
"Sakura..."
"No Raiden." Sakura cut him off shaking her head. "Just no...." She sighed, she really looked like she wanted to go back to bed.
"She was just a child!" Raiden didn't see the hint Carver was glaring at him to shut up, and my dirty look to let Sakura go to fucking sleep!
"Yeah well-" Sakura darkly laughed, "-I had four of them just like her running at me and I did my job." Sakura said hard as red brick.
"They were innocent!" Raiden defended.
"They were going to kill us and the six survivors we had, who are dead now because of your actions." Sakura snapped her eyes were on fire, I sucked in a breath as I was engulfed inside her eyes. I could almost see green flakes burning off her glaring gaze.
"I didn't have a choice!" Raiden defended his actions once more.
"You always have a choice." Sakura snapped back. "Back off Raiden."
"No!" Raiden said, "I feel like shit I let you get hurt, but I stand by my actions inside the Iron-"
"Raiden back off or when we return to the Waterfall Village your position on my team will be under review." Sakura's threat was dipped in a venom I prayed I never had the unpleasure of feeling.
"W-What?" Raiden laughed at the threat, "Are you fucking kidding me?!"
"No." Sakura said. "If you cannot do one simple task-"
"Killing a five-year-old child, one who we watched since her birth is a simple task to you!?"
"Yes." I looked at Sakura, even I felt how cold her words were from where I was sitting. "We have been through this, the Reapers use children as bait all the time, yes it is sad no, I don't want to kill them but to protect my team and the survivors I did what I had to do, and you couldn't. You almost costed Carver and I our life's."
"She was five!" Raiden yelled as if Sakura could not hear him.
"She had a bomb strapped to her chest and running towards your team. She was going to die either way." Sakura rationalized.
"N-No-!" Raiden refused to listen to Sakura's reasoning.
"If you can let your team die like that then maybe you shouldn't be out in the field. Maybe it is time you retired, maybe you can't handle this anymore." Sakura studied Raiden who appeared to be shutting down under the weight of Sakura's tangible gaze. Raiden surprised me, instead of fighting back he quickly pulled the curtain around his bed, blocking him from our sight as if that was going to transport him somewhere else, somewhere away from his disappointed teammate, who he allowed to be injured.
Sakura sighed and leaned back in her pillow; she closed her eyes as she did so. Everyone was quiet and awkward for a long time. No one knew what to say to break the tension, and truthfully, I believed everyone was too afraid to be the first to speak and risk Sakura's glare turning onto them. Sasuke, Tsunade and I were all looking at each other, feeling a loss of words grasp us.
"Sakura you need to get some sleep, it is late. I will call Kaguya in the morning ok?" Tsunade smiled.
"Thank you Tsunade." Sakura breathed.
Tsunade turned the lights off and returned to her cot to get a few more hours of sleep. Sasuke and I both returned to our sleeping bags, I stretched out feeling relaxed. Sakura was awake, so she is out of the woods now and we can breathe with ease. An hour has past as everyone around me fell asleep. I think I was too excited to sleep, I smiled to myself feeling happy.
I heard movement in the dark, I sat up and looked in Sakura's direction, was she trying to get up? She couldn't! She is so far from being able to stand on her own let alone walk! She probably wants to call Kaguya, which I hated it, but I understood but she can't right now. I got up and pulled out my phone using it as a flashlight. I walked overlooking for a Sakura who was trying to walk around the room. I was confused for a moment looking around the room until I shined the light on her bed.
Kakashi's one exposed eye opened and we stared at each other for a drawn out moment. All the movement I heard was not Sakura trying to get out of bed and go call Kaguya, it was Kakashi getting into bed with Sakura who was now tightly holding her. Her face was in his neck and her eyes were closed I wouldn't be surprised if she was already out cold. My heart felt heavy seeing her in the arms of someone else. Growing up Sakura cared for Sasuke and I grew use to being brushed off and put on her back burner, but this feeling that gripped my heart with its fist felt different somehow.
I forced smile after a long moment and tried to recover from the sudden shock. I found myself rubbing the back of my neck awkwardly seeing his sharpen look, daring me to speak. For a moment Kakashi didn't feel like my sensei or friend. I turned my phone off and ran back to my sleeping bag. I laid back down and closed my eyes, as I aggressively tried to ignore the feeling swimming around in my chest.
I woke up to hushed screaming. I saw that Tsunade was outside the door her back faced me as she harshly whispered into her phone. I could tell it was early, the sun was barely waking up as everyone else inside the room slept. Sasuke stirred at the sound but he didn't wake up.
Why was it so cold in here? I stood up and looked for the window that was left open. I sat up; my body felt stiff from sleeping on the floor. I looked over to see Sakura was alone in her bed and Kakashi was missing. I smiled, getting up and walking over to her. I reached out and brushed a strand of her silky pink hair off her face, I was happy she was resting. I liked the fact I got this moment alone with her. It seemed that there was always someone around her and it was impossible to get her alone for two seconds.
I felt the dark clouds that hung over my head clear, letting up the rain that had been beating down onto me all night. I smiled now that it was a new day, I felt I somehow had a shot at earning her attention. My bright new outlook on life didn't last long, Kakashi walked into the room with a cup of hot hospital mud in his hand. I hated the coffee it, it always tastes burnt no matter how much cream and sugar I dumped into it.
"Who is Tsunade talking too?" I whispered as he sat across from me in the chair beside Sakura's bed.
"Kaguya." Kakashi answered.
"Why?" I asked, feeling my eyebrows pull together showing my confusion.
"Because Tsunade promised." Kakashi sighed, I could tell he wasn't happy Kaguya was contacted, neither was I. I looked back at Sakura's sleeping face, we wanted her all to ourselves.
"Why are they fighting?" Carver yawned, sitting up and stretching his arms.
"Kaguya wants to send a team over to bring Sakura, Carver and Raiden back to the Waterfall Village." Kakashi answered, looking back at the door waiting for Tsunade to end the phone call.
"What?!" I gasped quietly, trying to not stir Sakura or Raiden. "Kaguya can't be serious! None of them are stable enough to move, Sakura just flat lined last night!"
"That is what Tsunade is trying to explain, but Kaguya wants Sakura back in her village." Kakashi responded.
"Did you leave this morning?" Carver asked out of nowhere, Huh? I tilted my head confused, "Or was that a dream?" Carver added.
"I did." Kakashi answered, I snapped around to look at him. He left? That is surprising.
"Why did you leave?" I wondered, what was so important he left Sakura's side?!
"I went with Tsunade to check our boarders." Kakashi yawned under his mask.
"Why?" I wondered, "The seals are up so who cares-?"
"Reapers are outside our gates." Kakashi said, my heart fell onto my stomach.
"What?!" I gasped; I didn't really believe they would try to come after Sakura!
"Yeah." Kakashi nodded,
"How many?" Carver wondered. "Did you get a count?"
"Roughly twenty, I am sure there were more we couldn't see." Kakashi answered.
"I figured it was only a matter of time." Carver laid back against his fluffy pillow, "Do you know if anyone else has put their seals up?" Carver added. Other villages had this seal?
"Yeah." Kakashi nodded, "Kaguya mentioned a couple other villages, including hers has activated Sakura's seals."
"Well shit." Carver sighed,
"What?" His tone made me feel uncomfortable.
"I knew with the Iron Village being completely burnt to the ground; no village was going to take the chance to be the Reapers next target." Carver started,
"Ok?" I said slowly.
"The more seals that are put up the harder the strain is going to be on Sakura." Carver spelt out for us. I quickly looked back at her,
"She powers the seals!?" I tried to contain my voice, but it was hard.
"Yes." Carver nodded.
"She can't!"
"Calm down." Carver waved, reaching over and picking up his Jell-O cup.
"I can't calm down!" I turned my body to face him, "She is hurt-"
"Just because she is hurt doesn't mean she can't do her job."
"Her job?" I scoffed; Sakura shouldn't be doing anything accept resting!
"She made promised and deals with a lot of villages, she has to keep her end of the bargain when shit hits the fan." Carver explained looking for a spoon.
"But-"
"Naruto." Carver cut me off, "-Sakura woke up, which means she is stable. Her body may be injured but her chakra isn't. If she was truly still in the woods, then her seals would not be up."
"What do you mean!?" I didn't understand!
"When Sakura places a seal, she gives it its own little pocket of chakra, her seals can last I think about two days without her stepping into power it. The fact our seal is up as well as the others tells me she is stable and is going to be fine." Carver's voice was so stable and sure of himself it made me feel so much better.
"Who knows how many life's her seals have saved." Sasuke yawned, sitting up.
"Yeah..." I agreed, not even realizing that fact.
"Carver-" Sasuke asked standing.
"Yeah?" He muttered with a mouth full of green Jell-O.
"-Why isn't the Waterfall shinobi or soldiers here?" Sasuke wondered yeah, I wondered that too.
"They don't know Sakura is here because if they did, they may try to kill her." Carver shrugged as if that was a normal everyday fucking activity!
"Um..." I spoke up, so many different emotions wanted to explode at once I just didn't know which one to pick first!
"Some soldiers love her, and some want her job." Carver explained reading my face.
"Why is that?" Sasuke wondered, Carver once again shrugged.
"People are stupid?" He answered, but something in his voice was holding back. I felt like he wasn't telling us the full truth. Tsunade hung up her phone, cursing under her breath as she walked into the room and shut the door.
"What's up granny?" I asked as she sat down in a chair.
"That woman..." Tsunade shook her head.
"What did Kaguya say?" Kakashi asked from his chair, looking up from his pervy book.
"Nothing of use." Tsunade shook her head. "The River Village are the ones looking for an antidote for the Reapers poison. Kaguya was all but useless, all she kept repeating was she wanted Sakura returned to her village."
"But..." I scratched my head. "...Sakura's seals are up? I thought no one could get in or out?"
"That's true." Carver answered on his third Jell-O cup.
"Then how does she expect us too..." I trailed off unable to understand the logic.
"Kaguya claimed she could get around Sakura's seal-"
"No." Carver shook his head. "Don't buy into that."
"Why?" Tsunade wondered.
"Because it's a lie?" Carver chuckled. "Kaguya can't get around Sakura's seal any more than I can get out of this damn bed."
"Why?" I wondered; Carver shrugged.
"I don't know, I know Sakura's seal hold a lot of forbidden shit. Maybe that seal is just older than Kaguya herself, but I remember a while ago Kaguya and Sakura got in a fight, and to shut Kaguya up Sakura placed one of her seals around her one similar to the one around this village."
"And Kaguya couldn't get out of it?" Sasuke asked.
"No." Carver shook his head. "It blew my mind."
"You said Sakura's seal, it holds a lot of forbidden shit?" Tsunade backed tracked.
"I did." Carver nodded.
"Will you explain that further?" Tsunade said,
"Wow, she really didn't tell you guys anything." Carver laughed.
"Tell us what?" I asked, looking at Sakura sleeping face.
"Alright-" Carver sighed, "-I will tell you but you have to let me have more Jello-O."
"Deal." Tsunade nodded.
"When Sakura was kicked out of this village, you believe he had the strength of a hundred seals, correct?" Carver questioned, Tsunade nodded. "Yeah, that isn't true."
"What!?" Tsunade and I jumped together.
"Yeah, Sakura has the strength of a thousand seals, truth is there is a lot we don't know about her seal. Even Kaguya was having a hard time understanding its full abilities. One thing we do know though, all the seals that are now attached to her are forbidden and very dark."
"Wha-?" I was blown away.
"That is another reason Sakura is also a target, a lot of people want to get their hands on her to learn everything she knows."
"That is insane!" I said,
"It really is." Carver agreed. "But I think most of the seals Sakura has are either older than Kaguya or near her age because some of the shit I have seen Sakura do terrified me, I couldn't shit right for a week."
"How can Kaguya be so selfish?" I muttered out loud,
"When it comes to Sakura, that is just how Kaguya is." Carver shrugged.
"Why?" Sasuke asked.
"I don't know." Carver answered, "I really don't." He repeated seeing the skepticism on Tsunade's face. "Ever since I met Sakura that is how Kaguya had always behaved, it was one of the reasons I was so shocked Kaguya forced Sakura's to take her exam to be in her army." Carver explained. "But I am pretty sure I can guarantee you that Kaguya doesn't care if Raiden or I return with Sakura. She is only saying she wants all three of us back because she knows Sakura will be pissed if Raiden and I were left behind."
"Well knowing all that-" Sasuke said leaning back against his chair, "-what do you think Kaguya is going to do when she finds out how Sakura was hurt?" I looked from Sasuke and to Raiden who was still asleep.
"If he is lucky to escape with his life-" Carver answered, looking at Raiden with sad eyes. I heard myself gasped along with Tsunade,
"You really think Kaguya would kill Raiden?" Tsunade breathed,
"I do." Carver answered.
"But-"
"Would Sakura allow that-" Carver interrupted me; "-I honestly don't know."
"Of course, she-" I cut myself off, I glanced at Sakura not truly knowing what she would do when she awakes, last night she seemed to be so angered and disappointed in Raiden. But even then, Sakura has become so level headed and she was so smart...she wouldn't allow Raiden to be hurt...right?
"If it was anyone else-" Carver rubbed his face, "-Sakura wouldn't hesitate to punish him." That didn't make me feel better about the harsh reality that could be waiting for Raiden once he recovers.
"Then don't go back there." I found myself answering, "You guys don't really belong to a village, so why not just say here?" I felt so unsure of my words, I didn't even know if I was close enough to Carver and Raiden to be making this suggestion.
"Because of her." Carver nodded in Sakura's direction.
"What?" I stupidly asked.
"We will follow her until we die." Carver smiled at me.
"Why?" I breathed, already knowing the answer because the truth was if I had the same option, I wouldn't hesitate to follow her footsteps.
"Because..." Carver said with a smirk on his lips, "She is our person." I didn't know the reference he was telling me, but I understood the message. I looked at Sasuke and then back to Carver, I knew the feeling all too well.
"What is Raiden going to do?" Tsunade asked worry in her voice.
"He is going to take his punishment and try to regain Sakura's trust." Carver said not ripping his eyes from his teammate sleeping beside him.
"Couldn't Sakura do anything; couldn't she help Raiden somehow?" Tsunade questioned.
"I don't know." Carver whispered.
Tsunade had left us a while ago, having been pulled away by her Hokage duties. Carver dozed off making the room still with silence as Sasuke, Kakashi and myself remained silent allowing the three injured to get the rest they needed. I was on my phone playing a game when the door slammed open. I jumped at the loud voices, snapping up to my feet ready to defend-I huffed, seeing it was just Konoha Eleven standing in the doorway.
"Hi!" Kiba waved with a large smile on his face. I sighed and sat back down; I have no idea how Sakura was not kickstarted awake by them, Carver and Raiden were. Konoha Eleven moved into the large room making it feel very small.
"Hey guys!" Lee smiled only to get shushed by Carver, who gestured to Sakura. I watched as everyone turned to Sakura, different emotions all played out on their faces. Sakura barely spent time with me let alone these guys, I wasn't sure how they could be feeling about a person they no longer knew.
"She is better." I told them, putting my phone in my pocket.
"How much better?" TenTen asked me, "Because last time she flat lined."
"Yeah." I nodded, "That was scary, but she has improved, I promise." I smiled at them. A few people brought balloons and flowers with them; they were setting them down when Hinata poked into the room. She was holding food and a tray of drinks.
"Hinata?" I asked,
"Hey Hinata!" Konoha Eleven cheered seeing their peer.
"What are you guys doing here?" Hinata sounded confused.
"We were worried and wanted to check on how things were going." TenTen answered, placing a vase full of flowers in the window beside Sakura.
"I am sorry, I did not know any of you would be here." Hinata said as she handed me a large bag.
"What's this?" I wondered opening it. Hinata went and handed out drinks to Carver and Kakashi, she placed a drink beside Raiden and Sakura. I looked over seeing her holding an iced coffee out to me. "What is all this?" I asked her, she blushed looking way from me.
"I-I thought that since you all have been inside the hospital with their terrible food, a change would be nice..."
"Wow, thank you!" I smiled, getting up and hugging her.
"Your-Your welcome!" She smiled at me.
"Thank you Hinata." Carver smiled at her,
"It was-was nothing." Hinata blushed as she took the bag and went to pass out sandwiches to Sasuke, Carver and Kakashi.
"This is very sweet of you." Kakashi closed his eye as he smiled at her.
"Hey." Raiden called, his voice cracking a bit from sleep. I smiled; he would wake up when food arrived. "Where is mine?" He smiled weakly, Hinata pulled out a breakfast sandwich and handed it to him.
"How could I forget you?" She asked.
"Thank you." He sat up, taking the food as his mouth watered.
"So." Neji spoke up looking around with his arms crossed over his chest. "How do you guys feel?"
"Like we got our asses handed to us." Carver said flatly. "But thanks for asking." He said taking another bite of his sandwich. There was a low roar of conversation after that, I was just looking back and forth conversations when Tsunade walked in.
"What the hell?" She asked seeing the packed room, Hinata handed her a coffee and a wrapped bagel.
"Yes!" She breathed, taking the biggest bite I have never seen. "Thank you Hinata." She said muffled making Hinata laugh, I smiled at the light sound. I never noticed how cute Hinata's laugh was. "Alright, everyone make room for the good doctors or clear out." She called taking a seat, everyone was silent as the nurses took vitals and Dr. Yu checked Sakura's wound.
Sakura's eyes opened, I stood from my seat feeling excited. Sasuke was next to me trying to get a closer look, my eyebrows furrowed together. Sakura wasn't really registering anything that was going on around us.
"It's the medication." Tsunade said, seeing my face.
"How long will it affect her?" Carver asked.
"Until we stop giving her the medicine."
"And when will that be?" Sasuke wondered.
"When she is more stable." Tsunade said, taking another large bit of her bagel.
"Is she feeling any pain?" Raiden asked.
"No." Tsunade smiled, "I wouldn't be surprised if she can taste the color 204." Everyone laughed at Tsunade's joke, after she finished her bagel she stood with a sigh. "I have a few things to tend too, I only stopped by to check on Sakura."
"Ok granny." I nodded, "I'll text you if anything changes with her."
"Thank you." Tsunade nodded, "Alright, I can't allow sixteen of you in here at once. You guys are going to have to rotate, figure it out yourselves." She said as she walked out.
We all looked around at each other for a long moment.
"Well I can't leave." Raiden said joking, breaking up the tension brewing.
"I'm not leaving." I declared, with a look in my eyes daring anyone to challenge me.
"Figure it out in the lobby." Sasuke said when everyone started to bicker. "You are going to wake everyone up on this floor."
"Why do you get to stay here?" Shino asked Sasuke.
"Because I have been here for almost a week."
"That's only because no one else knew they were here." TenTen rolled her eyes.
"I don't care." I said, "Figure this out in the waiting room, and Hinata brought us breakfast so she gets a pass to stay." I smiled at her, she instantly blushed and looked to her feet.
Ino shot me a dirty look as every piled out of the room, trying to figure out who can stay and who goes, I let out a yawn and rubbed my face. Living in a hospital took a lot of out you.
"Thank you...Naruto." Hinata said, sitting in the chair beside me.
"Thank you for breakfast." I smiled, I looked up hearing the door open as Ino, Choji and Shikamaru walked in. That was fast.
"Hey guys." Shikamaru said.
"Hey." I called back, he sat down in one of the chairs and yawned "It is so early."
"It is noon." Sasuke said.
"Yeah, early." He repeated, I chuckled a little I completely agreed with him! The three who got to stay looked around awkwardly. Kakashi was a sensei not a buddy that you could just open up too. I understood why the three were looking around not knowing what to say or how to keep a conversation going with him in the room. Kakashi was in his chair, reading away with his pervy little book.
Unlike my team Konoha Eleven were not teamed up with their sensei's they created their own team and moved on past their teachers to start their own shinobi careers. Sasuke and I stuck with Kakashi, Sakura was gone we thought she was dead. Sai was busy doing other things and we needed a team. Kakashi stepped up, so team seven could be left standing.
"So Sasuke." Ino got over the awkwardness of Kakashi being here quickly. "I just wanted to say thank you."
"For what?"
"Yesterday, holding me the way you did." She blushed. "It really helped me out."
"I did that to stop you from running in to this room." Sasuke said bluntly. "If you did you could have killed Sakura." Ino did not say anything for a long time. Everyone stood around the room feeling weird about being around this situation, I bit my lip looking at Hinata who looked just as uncomfortable as I did.
"It was still nice." Ino said smiling blindly at Sasuke, I looked at Sakura. Thank God she moved on from this womanizing dick! He was my best friend and all but that didn't mean he was any less of a jerk.
"Um, how about we watch some TV?" Carver asked, breaking the thick silence swirling around the room.
"Yes!" I jumped on the idea, "TV, great idea Carver!" Carver flicked on the TV screen and we all watched it, pretending that Ino wasn't just shot down for the hundredth time. After twenty minutes it was still so awkward! Ino kept trying to talk to Sasuke, and she kept talking over the TV. I sighed and looked at her again feeling super annoyed. How could Sai like her!? What was wrong with him?! On his last mission was he hit on his head or something!?
I groaned again rubbing my head as Ino kept talking about literally nothing. Carver sighed annoyed trying to watch TV, I looked at Sakura again I had no idea how she could sleep through Ino's babbling. Kakashi got called away by Tsunade, something was up but I saw the look Kakashi and Tsunade gave me, they didn't want me to leave Sakura's side and so...I was trapped in a room with Ino's voice.
"Hey!" Carver finally snapped, making Ino and me jump. "I don't really get to watch TV. So, can I just watch in with no one trying to talk over it!?" He asked, Ino just rolled her eyes.
"I am not being that loud." Ino flipped her hair over her shoulder.
"If you weren't being that loud, I wouldn't be saying something to you." Carver sounded really annoyed.
"Whatever." Ino said, but went on talking to Sasuke...
"Ok!" Carver snapped after ten minutes, he lasted longer than I thought he would, Ino had been trying to flirt with Sasuke unsuccessfully. "Clearly the boy isn't into you! He is not responding to you! He isn't flirting back! So please stop looking like a desperate fool and stupid up! I want to watch this in peace!"
"How dare you!" Ino said standing. "I-"
"Why are you even in here?" Carver asked.
"What do you mean?" Ino stuttered.
"I don't like you, Raiden doesn't like you, I know Sakura doesn't like you, and if you are in here to show support to then why haven't you even looked over in her direction once since you have walked into this room?"
"I-I have-"
"No, you haven't. You have been glued to Sasuke who has shown zero interest in you." Carver sighed bored, "Just leave. Let someone else in here who is actually worried come in." Ino just looked around the room looking for backup. Everyone glanced away from her gaze when it would meet theirs, she then stormed out of the hospital room. I coughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of my head not knowing how to change the subject. "What?" Carver asked seeing all eyes were on him. "She was being rude." He defeated himself. "What is for dinner?" I got up and picked up the hospital menu. "No! Not that stuff, the food here is gross!" Carver whined causing me to laugh.
"You know we can't give you anything else but what the doctors approve." Hinata said.
"Yeah, I'm surprised Tsunade didn't see Carver eating the breakfast you brought him!" I chuckled.
"The food is so gross!" Carver whined, I had to admit he looked cute when he pouted. "The cooks forget to add flavor, and every time they bring me something it tastes like a bag of smashed assholes!" I laughed at Carvers expression of our hospital food.
"Well when you get discharged, we will all go out to eat and then you can eat whatever you want." I smiled at him. We all jumped hearing a loud noise, but it was just Raiden who was snoring loudly, we all then laughed. He was asleep hard, his mouth was hanging open and every so often drool was drip down his mouth and we all would do rock, paper, scissors to see who would go clean it, I always lost. Sakura hadn't woken up since the middle of the night, whatever they put her on she was out cold as well. I was dying to talk to her...I looked up from my phone as Kakashi walked in the room, Tsunade was right behind him.
"How is she?" Tsunade asked walking right to her side.
"Same as the last fifty times you asked me." I muttered, every ten minutes Tsunade would make me get up and text her all the little numbers that were on the monitors that were connected to Sakura.
"Where have you guys been?" Sasuke asked. Yeah, where have they been?
"Around the border of the village." Kakashi answered. "More Reapers showed up."
"Really!?" I gasped pulling all my attention to Kakashi.
"Yeah, we think they are watching the village, trying to spot Sakura, Raiden or Carver."
"Sakura was right." Carver said not taking his eyes off the TV.
"About what?" Shikamaru asked.
"The Reapers are trying to find Sakura so they can finish the job while she is still injured." Carver turned and looked at Tsunade.
"Well they are not getting near her or to you two." Tsunade declared. Carver didn't say anything he just went back to watching TV with a small smile on his face.