biohazard ff.docx

7/27/2019 biohazard ff.docx

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"Well, Granny Tsunade said Kakashi got back today," Naruto said. "Since he's been away fromthe village for a few weeks they know he isn't infected, so they're getting him to figure out wherethe infection started from."

Something occurred to Ino in that moment. "Any civilians infected yet?"

Naruto shrugged. "Don't knowask Sakura. She said she'll be by later."

Ino nodded, and decided she would try to get some sleep. Granted, it might be difficult withNaruto in the room, but she figured there was no harm in trying, and it wasn't like there wasanything else to do. Since this was the isolation wing, she couldn't bring in books or games fromher home so she could entertain herself.

"Th-thanks for c-coming, Naruto," Hinata stammered, her cheeks beginning to flush. "It g-getspretty b-boring in here."

"Really? You don't mind that I'm here?"

Ino rolled her eyes behind her lids.

"N-not at all." Hinata sounded nervous. "I l-like talking to you, N-Naruto."

That was unusually bold for Hinata. Thinking that the semi-couple might be on the verge of somesort of resolution, Ino did her very best to feign sleep.

'I'm deeply asleep, dead to the world, totally oblivious,'she chanted silently. 'Don't mind me,continue to dance around your mutual attraction...'

"Hey, Hinata, you're looking kinda flushed, are you okay?"

Ino resisted the urge to scream in frustration.

"I'm f-fine."

There was a slight sniffle, and Naruto's voice was rather alarmed when he spoke again. "Yournose is bleeding again!"

Ino stiffened, but resisted the urge to open her eyes.

"Do you want tissues? Are there any around?" Naruto babbled.

"There sh-should be some in th-that drawer," Hinata murmured.

Ino heard the distinct sound of a drawer being opened and rifled through before Naruto's voicereached her ears again, loudly declaring that he'd found it.

"Th-thank you." Hinata's voice sounded muffled and thick, and Ino assumed she'd pressed a fewtissues to her nose. "It's r-really nothing t-to worry about."

"Yeah..." Naruto sounded as though he were trying to convince himself, but his voice soonstrengthened. "You've got nothing to worry about, Hinata. Sakura and the rest of the medics willhave you cured in no time!"


3/62

No could ever accuse Naruto of being a pessimist.

"And I was wondering..." he went on, suddenly sounding nervous. "I mean, when you'rebetter...and if you're not busy...and if you want to...we could, maybe...go out togethersometime?"

Ino had to bite her tongue to keep from squealing. Somehow, even taking into account Hinata'sbashfulness, she'd never really expected Naruto to make the first move.

Stunned was probably the only way to describe Hinata's tentative whisper. "Y-you mean it?"

"Well, if you don't want to-"

"N-no! I m-mean yes I d-do want to go...with y-you."

And now, Ino had to hold her breath until the urge to either shout 'finally' or laugh like a maniacpassed. Just wait until she told Sakura!

"You mean it?" Naruto asked eagerly, a perfect echo of Hinata, minus the stuttering. "Really?"

"R-really."

Ino shifted beneath the blanket to disguise a covert wriggle of pure delight.

The moment was broken by the sound of approaching footsteps, and the click of the door beingopened.

"Hey, everyone," Sakura's voice rang out, sounding tired.

Ino made a great show of waking up and rolling over in the bed so she could see Sakura and

Sasuke standing just inside the door.

"Oh, hey, Forehead," she greeted.

Ino knew her grin was a little too wide for simply greeting a friend, but she was sitting on aparticularly juicy piece of information at the moment. She'd probably have to wait to tell Sakuraabout the advances on the Naruto-Hinata front, but-

"Sakura, Hinata and I are going to go out as soon as she's better!" the blonde man shrieked.

'Never mind,'Ino thought. 'Should have known he'd announce it to the world as soon as hecould...'

Sasuke snorted, but Sakura brightened. "That's great I'm so happy for you two!"

Sakura refused to think about the possibility that Hinata might not get better that they mightnot be able to cure her.

"And speaking of getting better," the medic continued. "I'm going to have to perform the chakra-saturating technique on you, Ino."


4/62

"What about Hinata?" Naruto asked indignantly.

"Another medic performed the saturation technique a few hours ago," Sakura interjected beforeHinata could speak. "Don't worry she's not being neglected."

She coughed a little as she made her way to Ino's bedside. "What I'm going to do might feel a

little strange, but just try to relax."

The blonde woman saw her friend's green eyes glaze over before she felt the strange warmth ofSakura's chakra enter her system. As the medic had warned, it felt strange her bodyinstinctively tried to fight the foreign presence but she did her best to relax, closing her eyesand breathing slowly and evenly as though she were about to go to sleep.

Ino was vaguely aware of Naruto and Hinata chattering Sasuke wasn't saying anything but sheguessed he was still leaning against the door and surveying the room with his usual aloofexpression but her mind was beginning to sink into a pleasant haze. Maybe this was a side-effect of the chakra-saturation technique?

She didn't know how much time passed before Sakura drew away, but when Ino opened hereyes Sasuke was sitting in a chair near the door with his arms folded while Naruto babbled andHinata smiled at him.

Ino started to sit up and thank Sakura, but a sneezing fit prevented her.

"Ugh," Ino groaned, wiping at the blood leaking from her right nostril.

Sakura passed Ino the infamous Uchiha handkerchief and allowed her to mop at the blood.

"I'm getting blood all over your handkerchief," the blonde muttered.

"Nothing a cold water soak won't fix," Sakura remarked, her tone weary, before brightening once

more as the woman tried to inject some energy into her voice. "Anyway, I brought something foryou!"

"You did?" Ino blinked in bemusement. "What is it?"

"Apparently Shikamaru and Chouji have heard that you're sick," Sakura said, digging a foldedpiece of paper from her pocket. "They gave me this note for you. And there's one for Hinata,too," she added. "From Neji he got back sometime today and he's less than happy to hear thatyou're sick."

"He can't touch me here!" Naruto proclaimed. "I'm safe!"

"Well, since Neji was around at the time that we think Hinata was infectious, we'll need to testhim. If he's been infected, he'll be in the isolation wing, too," Sakura corrected.

Naruto blanched. "But...you'll put him in another ward, right? Right?"

Ino snickered, wiping the last of the blood from her face and handing the handkerchief back toSakura. She had seen enough of the men's respective abilities to know that, if it really camedown to it, Naruto could probably beat Neji, but it seemed the blonde didn't relish the prospectof facing the Hyuuga's protective wrath.


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Still giggling to herself, Ino unfolded the note Sakura had given her, her eyes recognisingShikamaru's familiar, dragging letters. His loopy, cursive script always made her giggle, becauseit left her with the impression that even his writing was lazy.

Sakura craned her neck back and forth, wincing as felt her stiff muscles stretch and hervertebrae pop. She smothered a yawn with her hand and checked the time, idly wondering if she

could get in a quick nap before she had to rush back to the lab.

The only clock in the room happened to be positioned above Hinata's bed, and that naturally ledher eyes to wander to the happy couple occupying said bed. Naruto was sitting on the edge, onehand resting on Hinata's leg beneath the blanket, grinning like a shy schoolboy. Hinata hadn'tsuccumbed to one of the fire-engine blushes that had plagued her as a child, but there was adistinct dusting of pink across her cheeks.

In spite of her exhaustion, Sakura found herself grinning, which soon turned into another yawn.

"Why are you so tired?" Sasuke asked, somehow managing to make it sound like her exhaustionwas a personal insult.

"Because I've been pouring chakra into my patients all damn day!" Sakura snapped, thebeginnings of a foul temper starting to sour her mood as she realised she wouldn't have time tonap she was scheduled to perform the chakra-saturation technique on Kiba in ten minutes."Speaking of which, you and I have another patient to attend to, come on."

"Who?" Ino asked. "Just out of curiosity, I mean."

"Kiba," Sakura explained. "He and Shino were tested a few days ago, and they found that he'sbeen infected."

Naruto and Hinata already aware of this did not react to Sakura's statement, still wrapped upin each other.

"Shikamaru and Chouji will probably have to be tested, too, come to think of it," the pink-hairedwoman mused, before veering back to the original subject of the discussion. "Anyway, sinceAburame's have been found to be immune, some of them are being drafted into work here,though I don't think you'll see much of them they'll probably be in the lab, helping thescientists and medics work on a cure."

Ino nodded, waving a little as Sakura and Sasuke left the room. Then she turned her attentionback to her letter.

It was pretty much what she expected Shikamaru telling her that this disease was'troublesome' (of course!) and the longer she was sick the more she'd yell at him when she wasbetter, so she should hurry up and recover.

Ino smiled. She could see the deeper message get well soon beneath the complaints.

-xxx-

Sakura stifled another yawn as she turned on the cold tap in the break room sink, filling a smallplastic bowl with cold water before dropping the bloody handkerchief in it and letting it soak. Noone became a ninja without learning a few things about getting blood out of material.


6/62

She coughed a little, sniffling wetly, as she left the cloth to soak and yanked down a heavyvolume from the bookshelf.

The heavy thud as it hit the table made Sasuke turn around from where he was pouring himselfa drink. He glimpsed the title When Antibiotics Don't Work: Battling Bacteria With Jutsusbefore Sakura flipped it open and scanned the contents page.

"I thought jutsus weren't working against them," he said bluntly.

"Never hurts to check," Sakura muttered, flipping to the chapter on super-bugs. "Maybe there'ssomething in here no one's tried yet."

"It's a book in the medics' break room," Sasuke pointed out, with the sort of cold logic that justmade Sakura want to hit him on the back of the head. "I'm sure every medic in here hasthumbed through it."

"Pessimist," she muttered, flipping the pages. "You know, it wouldn't kill you to give someoneencouragement for once."

Her eyes remained riveted to the text, so she didn't see Sasuke's frown.

She clenched her jaw in an effort to stifle another yawn. Sakura had been living in the on-calland break rooms for the past few days, and being in the isolation wing meant she had been upat all hours of the night, alerted by every alarm and roused for every problem. The medicthought she'd gotten about thirteen hours of sleep within the last three days.

'I should tape a note to my forehead tonight,'she mused. 'Do not wake unless someone isdying.'

Her thoughts were interrupted when Sasuke set a styrofoam cup beside her, filled with steamingcoffee. She hadn't even heard him brew it.

For a moment, Sakura blinked at the cup, as though it were an illusion that would disappear ifshe scrutinized it hard enough. Then she looked up at Sasuke, her eyes asking a silent question.

"You were yawning," he said, not meeting her eyes.

If she didn't know better, she'd say he was embarrassed, but Sakura was more concerned withthe fact that the coffee gently steaming beside her was all hers.

"You are honestly the most wonderful man I have ever met," she proclaimed, taking a long gulpfrom the cup, disregarding its scalding temperature in favour of the caffeine boost.

Only when she'd swallowed did she think about what she'd said. She might be in love withSasuke (regrettably) but she was under no illusions as to his character he was certainly farremoved from the most wonderful man she'd ever met.

"Bearing in mind that I had perhaps five hours of sleep last night, that may be the beginningstages of sleep deprivation psychosis talking," she joked. "Feel free to disregard that comment."

Sasuke made a noncommittal noise and turned away, telling himself her retraction of herstatement didn't hurt.


7/62

-xxx-

Naruto couldn't stop grinning. Some part of him still couldn't believe Hinata had actually agreedto go out with him.

Sakura had told him to just ask her last night when they and the rest of the medics bunked in

the on-call rooms, saying that Hinata wasn't a mean person, and even if she didn't feel thesame, she wouldn't think any less of him for it.

Sakura had been saying that for weeks, but last night Naruto had finally realised that he owed itto himself to at least try. After all, he would never give up on his dream to become the Hokage,so why give up on this before it had even started?

So he'd asked...but he'd never really expected she would actually say 'yes'.

Hinata seemed to be dozing a little now, but she hadn't actually told him to leave, so Naruto wasstaying. She'd apologised for her exhaustion, but Naruto figured if he had a bunch of bacteriaswimming through his system and eating his chakra, then he'd probably feel pretty tired too.

On impulse, he leaned forward and gently brushed a few strands of hair from her forehead.Hinata smiled sleepily, and Naruto's silly grin grew wider.

On the other side of the room, scratching out her reply to Shikamaru's letter with pen and paperthat Hinata had lent her, Ino tried to smother her laughter.

-xxx-

Shikamaru hated hospitals. There was something about the white walls, the fluorescent lights,and the stale smell of bleach that just set his teeth on edge. He didn't understand how themedics could stand to spend so much of their time in this building.

Of course, his dislike of hospitals may have stemmed from the fact that the only time he wasever in one was when either he or one of his friends were critically injured.

This time, it was Ino. Ino, who was now lying in a hospital bed behind the imposing glass airlock,with bacteria clogging her blood vessels and devouring her chakra like kids in a candy store.

It was strange to think of Ino being sick. The blonde was always so loud, so determined, and hadalways been such a fixed part of his life that the idea of her being sick...sick enough to behospitalized...was something his mind just couldn't seem to grasp.

It wasn't in Shikamaru's nature to fidget, but he found himself nervously tapping his foot againstthe floor as he waited for a reply to the letter he'd given Sakura.

Chouji was silent, save for soft, rhythmic crunching sounds as he ate his chips, until he suddenlywent rigid in his seat.

"Chouji?" Shikamaru queried.

"I feel..." Chouji's voice was faint and breathy, as though there wasn't enough oxygen in hislungs. "I think I'm..."


8/62

He got no further before the blood drained from his face and he slithered from the chair to thefloor, out cold.

"Chouji!" Shikamaru yelled, dropping to his knees and shaking his friend's shoulder, trying torouse him. "Chouji!"

Shikamaru's voice trailed off as he noticed the drops of blood that had landed on his hand. Hewiped his fingers across his upper lip, feeling warm, wet liquid.

His nose was bleeding.

-xxx-

Kakashi and his small team of chunins stared at the blackboard, each hoping that a bolt ofinspiration would suddenly fall from the sky like one of Zeus' thunderbolts.

The silver-haired man pondered the rough infection map he'd drawn out on the board. Tsunadehad commissioned him to investigate the spread of the chakra-eaters, and while he might not

appreciate being suddenly stuck with a bunch of chunins, he could understand the gravity of thesituation. If left unchecked, this disease could cripple Konoha.

So, while the scientists and medics worked on finding a cure and keeping the patients stable,Kakashi and the investigative team were working to find the source.

Kakashi's first step had been to draw up an infection map that is, scrawling the names ofeveryone who'd been infected on a blackboard and trying to work out how and where they couldhave caught it.

It had been rather easy at first. Hinata was the first reported case, followed by the medic Akinaand Shizune. Kiba, Naruto, Sasuke and the infected Hyuugas had probably sickened as a resultof contact with Hinata, and most of the other shinobis had been treated by either Akina or

Shizune in the last week or so. Naruto had spent some time in Ino's flower shop when Hinatafirst fell ill, so the blonde woman had probably caught the bacteria from him.

Kakashi thought it could be safely assumed that Akina, Shizune, and Hinata were the originalcarriers of the disease. The only problem was that he couldn't figure out where they had caughtit from. If it was just Akina and Shizune, they could assume it was something in the hospital andhave every inch of the building and materials therein tested...but Hinata, too?

Kakashi and his team had checked. The three women hadn't eaten in the same restaurants,hadn't bought the same food...they hadn't even trained in the same place!

So what did they have in common? Where had they caught it from?

Chapter 5

Spread

Sakura sighed fatalistically, eyeing the green-tinged blood samples.

Anyone who'd had contact with Ino, Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru, or Chouji had come in to betested Neji, Lee, and a couple of other shinobi Sakura vaguely recognised from past missions.


9/62

All had been infected...except Lee.

Sakura couldn't help but wonder how Lee had escaped unscathed, but that was a problem forKakashi to solve her overtaxed and overtired mind was already too busy working on a cure.

The medic put the vials down, reaching into her pocket for her schedule for the day she had a

feeling she was meant to be performing the chakra-saturation technique on someone in tenminutes or so...

Sakura was proven correct when she saw Tenten's name scrawled in her eleven o'clock session.

She smiled a little as she remembered Neji's reaction to the news that he'd been infected ithad been as close to outright panic as she'd ever seen the Hyuuga. But not for himself; he hadbeen terrified for Tenten.

Apparently, they'd had some rather intimate contact the very night he'd returned, and she hadthen been sent on a mission. So Neji had been thinking of his lover going into a dangeroussituation while unknowingly infected with chakra-devouring bacteria Sakura could certainly seewhy that had worried him.

Tenten had been recalled via messenger bird, and subsequent tests had found the bacteria onlybarely beginning to 'awaken'. Thus far, Tenten's infection was the earliest they'd ever diagnosedthe disease at, and there was hope that continual chakra-saturation might be able to provide herimmune system with enough support to completely subsume the bacteria. And if they curedTenten...maybe they could work out how to cure everyone else.

Granted, it was rather a long shot, but it was about the only hope they had.

The disease's spread had become so alarming that many of the medics had insisted on postingnotices around the village posters that would describe the early symptoms and urge anyonesuffering from them to go to the hospital. They'd resisted such a course of action initially

because once they posted notices, they were bound to get a sudden influx of hypochondriacswho did nothing but complain and waste the medics' time. But by now, they'd decided that it wasbetter to have the people panicking than to have many wandering around completely unawarethat they were sick.

Another sigh, and Sakura set off for ward two.

-xxx-

"Nice of you guys to come see me," Ino smirked.

"It's not funny," Chouji groused, dabbing at his bleeding nose with a tissue.

Ino shrugged. "It's either laugh about it or cry about it, and I know which one I prefer."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and settled back into his pillows.

"Bet this is your dream come, huh, Shikamaru?" Naruto called from across the room where hewas sitting on Hinata's bed. "All you have to do is lie back and do nothing, all day, every day!"

"No clouds," he deadpanned, feeling absurdly pleased when he heard Ino giggle.


10/62

"Don't you remember, Naruto?" Ino scolded. "Clouds are the love of Shikamaru's life!"

And how often had she reflected on how much time he spent cloud-watching and then felt like anidiot because she was jealous of what amounted to nothing but tiny droplets of water?

"I wouldn't say they're the only love of his life," Chouji muttered under his breath, too low for

anyone to hear.

"Just like ramen is the love of Naruto's life," Shikamaru drawled, before flicking his eyes towardsthe Hyuuga on the bed. "Though those noodles might find themselves in competition..."

Naruto and Hinata both smiled. Naruto's was a broad, bold grin, and Hinata's was a soft, almosttimid tilt of the lips, but looking at them there...Ino couldn't help but think that the emotionsbehind their grins were exactly the same.

-xxx-

Sakura sent one final surge of chakra into her friend's system before withdrawing. "There. That

should hold you for a while."

Tenten blinked slowly, trying not to yawn. "I feel...kinda drowsy. Is that meant to happen?"

"Chakra-saturation can do that," Sakura nodded, struggling not to yawn herself. She hadn'tdrained her chakra, but constant heavy use with no chance to rest and recover was beginning totake its toll.

She coughed a little, digging out a handkerchief as she felt a sneeze building.

"Is that Sasuke's handkerchief?" Tenten asked as Sakura blew her nose.

The medic rolled her eyes. This again?

'You'd think he'd given me an engagement ring,'she thought.

"Yes, it's Sasuke's handkerchief. He gave it to me a while back."

Tenten's eyes widened. "Just like that?"

"Yes, just like that." Sakura stood slowly, her body feeling as though every drop of energy hadbeen wrung out of it. "Try to get some rest, okay? The bacteria will be going into a dormantstate for a while, so let your body heal."

Tenten nodded vaguely, lying back in her bed obediently.

"Will there be any permanent damage?" Neji asked from the bed next to Tenten's, sounding asthough he was doing his best not to contemplate that prospect.

Sakura couldn't blame him. His family's fighting style depended entirely upon chakra, and theidea that this infection might result in permanent damage, that it might cripple his ninjaabilities...Sakura could only imagine how horrifying that idea would be.


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Sasuke sat down beside her, but Sakura was so exhausted she barely registered his presence.Her mind felt like it was swimming in syrup her thoughts began to disconnect from each other,her brain gradually winding down...

Sasuke was half-expecting Sakura to say something, and he nearly jumped when he suddenlyfelt her list against him.

The Uchiha glanced at the medic, wondering how exhausted she really was if she'd dropped offto sleep within barely a minute of sitting down.

She mumbled something in her sleep, shifting against him. Sasuke thought it sounded like 'don'twant any more ramen', but he could be mistaken.

His shoulder probably wasn't the most comfortable pillow for her, and with that in mind Sasukebegan to shift slowly away from her, down the length of the couch. He caught her shoulder asshe began to slip down, cradling her to keep her from lurching to the side as he slid away, and itwas a mark of how tired she was that the movement didn't wake her.

Slowly, carefully, he lowered Sakura to a reclining position on her side, her head pillowed on histhigh. She mumbled and shifted a little, but other than that, the movement didn't disturb her.

Sasuke brushed his hands though her hair idly, stroking the pastel strands, his fingertipsbrushing the bruise-like half-moons under her eyes, the hollow cheeks...she'd lost weight sincethe disease first began to spread.

Sasuke found himself hoping that a cure was found soon, before Sakura burned herself outtrying to keep her friends from succumbing to it.

-xxx-

"Hinata, Kiba, Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji, Neji, Tenten...but not Lee," Kakashi muttered to himself,

as though saying it aloud would somehow force the facts to make some kind of sense. "Why notLee? What was different about him? What did he do...?"

A dangerous theory slowly uncurled in Kakashi's mind. Lee couldn't perform ninjutsu or genjutsuhis chakra channels were malformed. Civilians who never learned how to access their chakraweren't becoming sick, either. Kakashi could name a dozen opportunities for the infectedshinobi to pass the bacteria on to civilians...but it hadn't happened.

Offhand, the copy-ninja could think of only one explanation that made sense.

The chakra-eaters were probably attracted to powerful sources of chakra the kind of auraemitted by ninja, not civilians. Lee's chakra signature, while definitely not as weak as a civilian,was probably still not strong enough to be recognised as a potential food source by the bacteria.

But if that were true...then it meant that the bacteria were specifically designed to attack ninja.And Kakashi knew enough about the animal kingdom to know that this sort of specializationdidn't evolve on its own the Aburame clan had selectively bred certain species of insects forgenerations before their creatures could feed on chakra and obey them as they did today. So,someone must have done the same to this bacteria.

Someone had quite deliberately created a bioweapon a disease that could wipe out the ninjapopulation of a hidden village while keeping the civilians alive.


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15/62

"The scientists think they might have found a cure!" Naruto declared, getting Sakura's attentionimmediately.

"Really? That's amazing!"

"Well, they didn't really say they had it, they just said they might be on the road to finding one,"

Naruto amended. "But that's good, isn't it? They were studying my blood 'cause they wanted tofind a way to make the bacteria dormant all the time, and they don't like having Sasuke in thelab because he always snarls at them, and they're trying to find the mechanism that makes thebacteria come out of the dormant state. They say that if they find that, they might be able tofind out how to make them become dormant again!"

Sakura smiled at the prospect. "That sounds great, Naruto. So, where are you off to now seeing Hinata, I hope?"

The blonde gave a shy grin and blushed a little. And that was enough for Sakura to send him onhis way with a laugh and a sisterly pat on the shoulder.

Sakura had honestly intended to rest, but when she saw the scroll sitting on the table, shecouldn't resist.

She had been searching for more information on immune jutsus, hoping to come acrosssomething more effective than the chakra-saturation technique, though she'd be happy just tofind something less draining. She'd remembered a scroll in Tsunade's library that she'd beenreading one that dealt with lesser known immune jutsus and some forbidden ones so she'drequested that it be delivered to the isolation wing.

Sakura hefted the substantial scroll and sat down the couch, preparing to do some hardstudying.

-xxx-

Tenten did her very best not to burst into laughter. Somehow, she didn't think it would helpNeji's temper.

"No, I do not need your help to get to the bathroom!" he snarled at the brunette medic who hadtimidly asked him if he required assistance when she watched him struggle towards the door thatled to the tiny shower and toilet attached to ward two.

Tenten heard a sound that she identified as Kiba also stifling his laughter. The sight of HyuugaNeji on the verge of throwing a tantrum like a toddler was certainly an amusing sight.

But Tenten knew he was feeling out of his element here. Neji was sick, confined to an isolationward in a hospital, and none of his famous and powerful techniques could beat this enemy. Theywere totally dependent on the medics for support and a cure.

It had to be unsettling for a man who'd relied on his own strength for most of his life.

It was when she heard the shower being turned on full-blast that Tenten really knew Neji wasclose to snapping. He only turned the water on that hard when he was really furious.


16/62

Kiba choked when she slipped out of her bed and made her way to the bathroom door. "Er...youtwo aren't going to...are you? Because if you are, I'm not going to play lookout for you you'reon your own if some medic comes in and wants to clean the bathroom or something..."

Tenten rolled her eyes. "Get your mind out of the gutter we're sick and in a hospital, forheaven's sake! Do you really think we'll be snatching a quickie in the shower?"

"Well...you never know..."

Another exasperated roll of the eyes and Tenten entered the bathroom, the place alreadybeginning to fill with steam.

"Who's that?" Neji snapped, though his hoarse cough took much of the impact from his tone.

"It's me," she answered, leaning against the tiny sink.

She watched the outline of her lover through the frosted glass, smiling a little when she saw histense shoulders relax.

"You feeling okay?" she asked.

"I don't need you babying me, too!" he practically growled.

Tenten sighed. Considering what they were going through (and he was much sicker than her),she was willing to cut him some slack. But there was only so much of his bad temper she'd take.

"I'm not asking as a nurse or medic which is good, seeing as I'm neither of those...I'm askingas your girlfriend."

There was a pause, and when Neji's reply came, his tone was close to apologetic. "I hate beingsick."

"I know," Tenten said. "And you probably feel worse than me, considering that your infection'sprogressed a lot farther than mine."

Another pause, and then Neji spoke again, in what was undeniably an invitation, "Do you want totake a shower, too?"

"That sounds nice," Tenten mused, fighting the urge to grin like an idiot.

She knew there wouldn't be any sex involved they were both too ill and exhausted to evenconsider it but the prospect of a hot shower and a few deep, involved kisses was appealing inand of itself.

So Tenten shed her clothes and opened the glass door, stepping into both the water and Neji'sarms.

-xxx-

Two hours into her reading, only one jutsu had caught Sakura's eye.


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Sasuke simply couldn't understand how they could block out something like that. He couldn'tthink of anything else. Sakura smiled at Naruto, and all he could see was the faint, pinkish tingesbetween her teeth, the remnants of the blood she'd coughed up. She patted the blonde on thehead and all he could think of was the fact that bacteria were teeming beneath her sickly-paleskin, devouring her chakra, eating away at her life.

"What are you doing?" His voice was low, trembling at the edgesa flimsy clay wall trying tohold back a flood it had no hope of stopping.

Sakura blinked. Seeming to sense he was close to some sort of eruption, she spoke gently,cautiously, "I'm telling Naruto about the time I-"

"You're sick!" Sasuke snapped. "Didn't you pay attention when Tsunade told you? You shouldn'tbe chatting, you should be getting treated or treating yourself or something! Don't you knowhow severe this is?"

Sakura's face darkened, her lips thinned, and Sasuke wondered not for the first time whyeverything he said seemed to upset her.

"I know what's going on, Sasuke," she said, her voice low and intent, as sure and purposeful asa knife thrown from the shadows. "In fact, I know what's going on probably better than you do.Would you like to hear? I've been infected with the chakra-eaters, probably within the first weekor so of their spread, come to think of it. Guess I should have gotten tested but, well, you knowwhat they say about hindsight."

With a short, self-deprecating snort, Sakura went on, "The disease has progressed far beyondthe stage the others are being kept at. My chakra is dropping to dangerously low levels. Myimmune system is non-existent. I'm sniffling because my nose is bleeding, I'm coughing becausemy lungs are bleeding, and my stomach's cramping because it's bleeding, too!"

Naruto tried to interrupt, but Sakura overran his stumbling attempts like a galloping horse

stomping on a field mouse. "They've performed the chakra saturation technique on me, butthat's going to do very little. The bacteria have become dormant, yeah, but my immune systemwon't attack them, so I'm not going to have any chance to heal. Eventually, my chakra channelsare going to degrade to the point where my organs start to fail, at which point I'll die, though I'llprobably slip into a coma beforehand."

It was beyond Sasuke how Sakura could state the possibility of her death so baldly. But hervoice was flat and toneless, and her eyes were two chips of emerald ice, reflecting nothing.

"At the moment, the medics' best hope is to simply keep me alive until the scientists candiscover a cure. Of course, the odds of that happening aren't high, so the main plan at themoment seems to be to keep me as happy as possible so that when I die, I can do so in relativecomfort."

Sakura's mouth twisted, forming something between a grimace and a sneer. "So, yes, Sasuke, Ido know how severe this is. I know what my chances are, and I know they aren't good. I've toldyou before the worst thing about being a medic is that you know exactly what's happening!"

Sakura's voice was high and strident, but the slight glimmer in her eyes betrayed her gatheringtears. Sasuke stared at her, feeling like a kid who'd lost his mother in the market. Bewildered,uncertain, and suddenly wishing everything would just magically be put to rights in the nextsecond.


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-xxx-

Kakashi put the finishing touches to his improved infection map with a sense of fatalisticresignation.

He'd been told about Sakura's sudden onset of symptoms, their assumption that she must have

been infected early on in the disease's spread...and then realisation had struck himnot like a

bolt of lightning, but more like an earthquake. Devastating and rattling to the very core.

Sakura was the original carrier of the disease.

The infection map finally made sense. They'd been wondering whatHinata, Shizune and Akinahad in common for so long they'd completely overlooked whothey had in common.

And that person was Sakura. She'd had lunch with Hinata the week before the Hyuuga hadcollapsed (come to think of it, she'd probably infected Naruto and Sasuke about the same time),and she'd worked with Shizune and Akina in the hospital.

So if Sakura had spread the chakra-eaters throughout Konoha...where had she picked them upfrom? It wasn't like she'd been on any dangerous missions lately; she hadn't even left the villageexcept for...

Except for her mission to Wave.

Wave, where she'd healed the people caught in that disastrous boating accident. Wave, whereAkatsuki had been sighted.

And this time, understanding wasa bolt of lightning, one of the large sheets that lit up the skyand illuminated everything, that could turn night into day for one brief moment.

Akatsuki had deliberately engineered Sakura's infection by the chakra-eaters. It wouldn't have

taken muchjust scatter a vial of the dormant bacteria around her room and leave it at that.

The bacteria weren't attracted to civilians, and as Kakashi doubted they would be able to survivevery long without a host, the remaining cells would probably be long-dead by the time anotherninja so much as set foot in the room.

The thing Kakashi couldn't figure out, though, was why. Why had the Akatsuki gone to so muchtrouble to unleash a fatal disease in Konoha? It was true that Leaf had been a progressivelygrowing thorn in their side, but it made no sense for the Akatsuki to unleash a ninja-specificdisease while they still needed to capture Naruto. Didn't they need the blonde man alive, at leastuntil they performed the jutsu to extract the Kyuubi? Or had they developed some new jutsu thatallowed them to extract the demons from corpses?

Then Kakashi remembered that the disease wasn't affecting Naruto because of his demonicguest. Had the Akatsuki known that would happen? Kakashi would say so if he was engineeringa fatal disease, he'd want to know every trait and aspect of it before he unleashed it.

And if he worked with that assumption, then the Akatsuki's motive now made much more sense.They were an organisation comprised solely of powerful, practically legendary missing-nin. Theirattempts to capture the demon vessels usually succeeded on the first try.

But they hadn't succeeded with Naruto. Because Naruto had allies, friends, people who would dieto keep him safe something that was only too rare among the other vessels.


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Her throat burned, and Sakura barely had time to snatch at the bedside table, seize some sort ofsoft fabric and press it to her mouth before she was coughing desperately, feeling as though herlungs were trying to exit her body through her throat.

When she drew the material back, she noted it was Sasuke's handkerchief, and that it was nowcovered in blood once more. She doubted the cloth would ever really recover.

She jumped when someone touched her shoulder, and twisted her aching body around to seeSasuke standing beside her bed, his face unreadable. Automatically, she tried to paste acomforting smile on her face.

"You don't have to do that," Sasuke said softly.

Sakura blinked. "Do what?"

"Smile when you don't want to."

Sakura swallowed, a little uncomfortable with him reading her so easily, and dropped her eyes to

handkerchief now wadded in her fist, soggy with blood. "I think I ruined your handkerchief."

Sasuke was slightly disturbed to realise that, even all these weeks after he'd given it to her,Sakura still referred to the handkerchief as his property. As though she expected him to demandits return any moment. Did she really think him so ungenerous, or was she simply so unused tokindness from him?

Neither option was very appealing.

The Uchiha shrugged disinterestedly, "I'll give you another one."

Sakura grinned weakly, but Sasuke was pleased to note her smile was genuine this time.

-xxx-

"What do you mean, it's not a match?" Naruto nearly shouted.

Tsunade sighed, her hand twitching as though she was unconsciously reaching for a sake bottle."I mean, your blood type is not a match to Sakura's. Neither is Sasuke's, for that matter."

Naruto halted mid-rant, twisting to look at his friend. "You got tested, too?"

Sasuke reflected that the expression on Naruto's face was quite similar to the expression onTsunade's face when he'd asked to be tested. Was it so unbelievable that he'd try to helpSakura?

Once he'd heard that Sakura's blood loss was reaching dangerous proportions and that sheneeded a transfusion, he'd been moments behind Naruto in demanding to be tested.

But Naruto seemed to get over his surprise very quickly, as the next moment he was practicallyshouting at Tsunade again. "But...but Sakura once told me the blood doesn't have to match todonate!"


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Her organs were beginning to fail. Sasuke knew it was only a matter of time before she slippedinto a coma, and then...

Sasuke really didn't want to think about that.

He gripped her a little tighter, but this time it wasn't for her comfort it was for his. It was for

the childlike voice in the back of his mind insisting that if he held her, if he just kept hangingon...then everything would be okay.

-xxx-

Chapter 8

Slipping Away

Sakura was getting worse.

Before, her lapses into unconsciousness were few and far between, but now she spent perhaps

half an hour out of every day awake and aware of her surroundings and the rest unconscious orin a delirium.

"I used to hate my hair..." she mumbled. "I mean, who has pink hair? It looks like I fell into avat of bubblegum or something..."

Sasuke chose not comment, gently scrubbing a bloodied lock of the distinctive mane. Sakura hadsuffered a nasty coughing fit a few minutes ago, and a spray of blood had caught a lock of herhair.

"Plus, it's pretty distinctive," she continued. "Stands out during battles, practically sings out whoI am to the enemy...hey, Ino, remember when there was that bunch of missing-nin trying to killme before I could treat that lord's son, and you and Tenten dyed your hair pink so they wouldn't

be able to pick me out so easily..."

Sasuke grimaced. It was mark of how sick Sakura was, that she seemed to swing betweenrecognising him and calling him Ino or Naruto. She'd called him Hinata once, too.

"How are things going with Shikamaru, anyway?" she muttered, her eyes fluttering closed. "Ikeep telling you your subtle flirting-slash-seduction plan just doesn't seem to be working.Genius he may be, but I think you should just grab him by the collar and kiss him senseless that ought to get his attention!"

Sakura gave a burst of giddy laughter, prompting Sasuke to wonder if the medics were givingher any sort of medication and what kind.

"And shut up about that!" Sakura suddenly exclaimed, staring at a random point on the ceiling."This is a totally different situation."

Privately, Sasuke wondered exactly what situation Sakura was referring to, but finished cleaningher lock of hair in silence as she degenerated into incoherent babblings. He caught snippets ofsentences, most of which contained the words Mum, Dad, Naruto, or Ino in them.


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Tsunade studied him for a moment, then apparently deciding that he wasn't going to bedissuaded she stood and walked over to him, yanking his head down so she could inspect hishair.

"Hey, what are you doing?" the blonde man protested, even though he made no move to shrugher away.

"I'm sorry, Naruto, but you can't donate to Sakura," Tsunade said bluntly, releasing him.

"What? Why?"

"You're a clockwise type," the Hokage explained. "Sakura is a counterclockwise type. Yourrotation is opposite to that of Sakura, and while it wouldn't matter if you were lending herchakra, it's a different story if you're donating. Your chakra will be fighting against the flow ofher own...and it will probably end up doing more harm than good."

"Oh." Naruto stared morosely at the floor.

"I'm a counterclockwise type."

Tsunade blinked in surprise, her eyes shifting to the dark-haired man standing beside Naruto."What was that?"

"I'm a counterclockwise type," Sasuke repeated, looking mildly irritated. "I can donate."

He tried not to be insulted by the incredulous stares that were being directed his way.

"I don't think you quite appreciate how risky the procedure is..." Tsunade said slowly. "If it goeswrong...you'll be unable to use chakra, Sasuke. You'd never be able to perform a jutsu again."

"So you've said," Sasuke snapped. He'd been right beside Naruto he'd heard the Hokage'sexplanation of the risks. He knew how dangerous the donation was. He knew it might cripple hisabilities as a ninja...but he was still going to do it.

Because living in a world where he was incapable of being a ninja was not nearly as terrifying asthe prospect of living in a world without Sakura.

-xxx-

Sasuke knelt beside Sakura, feeling a little uncertain as he took her hands in his. Tsunadenodded, guiding their joined hands to rest on the unconscious girl's stomach and the seals thathad been drawn there.

Sasuke didn't know how they had managed it, but the medics had somehow moved Sakura fromher bed in the sterile room to the floor beside it. A large sheet of paper had been placedunderneath her, and Tsunade had spent nearly an hour drawing the complex array of symbolsthis jutsu demanded on it and Sakura.

The Hokage double-checked her inkings, darting glances at the pink-haired medic, a littleconcerned at the length of time she had remained unaware. She hadn't even stirred whenTsunade stripped her and painted the necessary symbols on her body.


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injection of energy it should have boosted your organs, and maybe even given your immunesystem a wake-up call...but it hasn't. It hasn't done anything...except wake you up."

Sasuke stiffened. Tsunade was telling them that in spite of the risk he'd just run, in spite of thefact that his chakra was now circulating through Sakura's body...all they'd done was ensure shewould be conscious as her body continued to decline.

-xxx-

AN: Once again, this chapter is free of misspelling, bad grammar and general screw-ups by thegrace of justcallmefaye.

Also, Blueyedblonde has drawn a wonderful fanart for this chapter the link can be found in myprofile.

Chapter 9

The Forbidden Jutsu

Sasuke stared numbly at the wall in front of him, trying to wrap his mind around the conceptbefore him.

The medics had run a battery of tests, confirming what Tsunade had already suspected. AllSasuke's chakra donation had done was banish the delirium and spells of unconsciousness. Herimmune system was still nonexistent and her organs were still failing.

In other words, all she had gained was the coherency to put her affairs in order.

Sakura was dying the medics had given her perhaps two months. The chakra donation haddone nothing. The disease had progressed too far too fast, and her body was caving unnervinglyquickly beneath the assault.

Sasuke's mind could barely entertain the thought that, in two months, he might be attendingSakura's funeral. The thought made his chest burn and his throat constrict as though someonewere strangling him.

"She can't do this," he said in a low voice to the wall in front of him. As though speaking aloudwould somehow make the words real. "She can't die. She just...she can't I won't let her..."

'Oh, yeah?'some snarky part of Sasuke's brain asked him. 'How? What can you do?'

Sasuke shut his eyes and dug his fingers into his temples in an effort to quiet the voice, in aneffort to erase the mental images it brought with it: going to Sakura's funeral and watching the

dirt hit her coffin...walking to the bridge to meet with Naruto and Kakashi and seeing no pinkhair blowing in the wind...eating at Ichiraku, just he and Naruto and Hinata, no smiling greeneyes to be seen...

Logically, he knew the world wouldn't stop turning when Sakura died. He knew Konoha wouldmourn, and then life in the village would continue as it always had.

Logically, he knew his life would go on.


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Perhaps because they always made such an effort to protect her. When the chips were down, itwas Sakura that every male member of Team 7 tried to safeguard. It wasn't a disparagement onher gender or a misconception of her abilities. It wasn't even something they really thoughtabout. It was something they just did, period.

And he'd never pictured a threat they couldn't protect her from.

He knew that he and the others would give their lives for Sakura in a heartbeat. If one of themcould take the disease and spare her, he was sure he wouldn't get a chance to volunteer Naruto and Sasuke would have beaten him to it.

But they couldn't. There was no blade to step in front of, no jutsu to push her out of the wayof...nothing but a slew of bacteria they couldn't even see, much less fight.

They couldn't protect her from this.

And that for Kakashi, and he'd guess for Naruto and Sasuke, too was the bitterest pill toswallow.

-xxx-

Ino remained curled on the floor, staring resentfully at the wall, ignoring the rapid knocking atthe door. When Tsunade had given them the news that the chakra donation hadn't worked, andthat Sakura had been given maybe two months to live, Chouji, Hinata and Shikamaru seemed tohave slipped into a state of shock, while Ino had promptly shut herself in the bathroom, seekingsome peace for her meltdown.

The meltdown that was currently being interrupted by the incessant knocking.

"Go away!" Ino snapped, wishing there was a lock on the door.

There was a pause, a muttered word that sounded suspiciously like 'troublesome'...and thendoor was opened, in blatant disregard to Ino's orders!

"What are you doing?" she snapped at Shikamaru, who was looking determined, but a littleunsure never the less.

"I could have been changing, you know?" Ino knew she was speaking in a high, squeaky growlrather like the kind a chihuahua might give out, but she couldn't bring herself to care. "Orshowering, or..."

"But you weren't," was all Shikamaru said.

Ino couldn't really think of an appropriate retort, so she settled for glaring ugly death at him.Shikamaru took no notice.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Ino wanted to hit him. "What's wrong?How about the fact that my friend's dying? That she'slocked up in some sterile room dying of this stupid disease and I can't even visit her? They're allsaying that she won't last two months and I can't even seeher-"


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She reached behind her, wincing as one of her IVs was momentarily caught in the crook of herelbow, and pressed the call button.

She needed to talk to Tsunade.

-xxx-

Sasuke wasn't really surprised when Naruto joined him at the nurse's station as the isolationwing began to wind down for the night. Sasuke had been there for at least an hour already ifhe couldn't stay the night in the sterile room, he would resort to the next best thing; keepingtabs on Sakura's condition via the monitors at the nurses' station.

Granted, he didn't have any idea what they were showing, but he would notice if there was a bigchange. Not to mention that alarms would go off if Sakura's condition dropped too sharply.

Though Sasuke knew there was nothing he could do, he wanted to be alerted the instantSakura's condition changed. And he suspected Naruto felt the same way.

-xxx-

"...and you're determined to do this?" Tsunade asked.

"I think I'm the only one who can," Sakura said honestly. "I mean, remember when I...you saidthat changed me."

Tsunade shook her head slowly, more in admiration than any gesture of censor. "It did, youknow. So, all you need me to do is make sure no one interrupts?"

Sakura nodded. "Pretty much. I mean, you're the Hokage no one will argue with you. Well,maybe Naruto, but I'm sure once you explain things..."

Tsunade smiled, thought it seemed a little strained.

"Well..." Sakura said into the oppressive silence as she contemplated the magnitude of what shewas about to do. "Here I go then."

She took a deep breath, and stretched her arms out in front of her, remembering to send a brief,silent thanks to Sasuke after all, she wouldn't have been able to do this without his help.

Because Sasuke had given her something besides coherency he'd given her chakra.

And now Sakura was using that chakra to pave out her chakra network in her arms. It haddegraded since the bacterial infection, and if she was going to have even a chance of performing

a jutsu, she needed to strengthen it once again. So, digging up the memories of every diagramshe'd ever seen of the chakra networks in a human body, she began to send pure chakra intoher arms, along the dilapidated channels.

It was painful, rather like forcing red-hot needles through her veins. But Sakura persisted shecouldn't perform the jutsu unless she had something approaching a normal chakra network. Sheknew what she was doing carried a lot of risk...but if she didn't try it, she was as good as deadanyway.


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At least this way, she had a chance.

When the last flush of chakra finally repaired her channels, leaving her feeling something close tonormal, Sakura risked a glance at the monitors.

They were going crazy, her body's response to the pain she'd just endured blaring across their

screens.

Sakura glanced at Tsunade, and delivered her last instruction before she risked it all. "Just don'tlet anyone interrupt me."

She let her mind fly back to the forbidden jutsu she had read of so long ago, her fingers slowlyand carefully forming the required seals and she dragged them from the depths of her memory.And then she pressed her hands to her right thigh.

Tsunade had told her jutsus simply couldn't be performed on the cellular level, but Sakura wasn'ttrying to work on the cellular level.

Blood cells came from bone marrow, and Sakura was trying to somehow alter the potential whitecells in her bone marrow to conform to the specifics described in the forbidden jutsu...but onlythose in her right thigh. She was attempting to limit the jutsu to only effect the marrow she wasconcentrating on, and not all the white blood cells in her body.

She wasn't working on the cellular level...just something very close to it.

Reaching deep inside herself, Sakura forced chakra into her bone marrow, forcing it to produce asudden stream of white cells that she could sense like a spurt of hot water in a cold lake. Shecouldn't see it, but she could feel it, could almost hold it in her hands.

And then, she began to truly perform the jutsu, trying to prompt the white cells into recognisingthe bacteria, into knowing them as an enemy, being capable of destroying them...

Even if they couldn't destroy anything else.

The actual jutsu was rather easy, but Sakura could feel it trying to slide from under her handslike a writhing eel, trying to spread across her body, effect all her white cells at once, and shefought to contain it. This was her jutsu, her body it would obey her, it would do as she willed...

Tsunade sighed as Sakura's vitals began to spike. In all her decades of experience as a medic,she had never heard of anyone doing something like this of anyone somehow limiting a jutsuto effect only one small portion of the body instead of the whole.

But then again, she'd never seen any medic like Sakura.

-xxx-

Sasuke and Naruto had bolted for the sterile room the first time they had seen a slightly strangeblip on the monitors at the nurses' station. Unfortunately, it took some time to go through thesterilisation procedure, and it was at least ten minutes before they finally burst into Sakura'sroom.


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of death so she could fight it. The rest of us...we've learned to think of death as inevitable...butSakura thought of death as an enemy she could learn to defeat. And you know how the sayinggoes to defeat your enemy, first you must know your enemy."

The blonde woman laughed a little, as though sharing a grim joke. "So she got to know death inthe only way she could. She brought it upon herself and felt it work through her body."

Tsunade shook her head, as though inwardly marveling. "She let herself bleed...and bleed...andbleed. And then, when there was no turning back, when I was almost convinced I was about tosee my apprentice die in front of me...she began to try to heal herself."

Sasuke could see it in his mind's eye. Sakura standing in the river, the stained kunai clenched inher hand, a dark ribbon of blood blood striping through the water behind her.

"It took hours," Tsunade said quietly. "I won't venture to guess how close she came to dying, orhow many times she hovered on the brink. I just remembered staring at her, struggling to healherself as she continued to lose blood, knowing that she was on the brink of dying before myeyes...and yet somehow, not daring to interrupt."

Tsunade's eyes misted slightly as she remembered when Sakura had finally healed herself. Dawnhad been breaking, making the scene seem almost holy as the ugly rent in her flesh finallymended. As her eyes opened, deepened by knowledge, and she waded back towards herteacher, a soft smile on her face.

"Afterwards, it was like healing had become almost effortless to her," Tsunade mused. "Asthough the line that was invisible to the rest of us had been inked out in black paint. I won't sayshe stopped losing patients, because she still did there are always some you just can't save but it was different. It was as though she understood it in a way that went beyond theintellectual, that was more like instinct to her."

Another half-snort of ironic laughter. "With that single, bold decision, Sakura came into an

understanding of her own abilities my long years of study had never gained me. And as far as Iknow, she never told anyone. You two will be the first to know outside the two of us."

Silence descended for a moment.

"I liked that story it made me sound a lot cooler than I actually was."

All three turned their heads so fast a small crackling echoed in the room.

Sakura was leaning against her pillows, sweaty, exhausted...but with a content smile and adecidedly triumphant look on her face.

Chapter 10

The Long Road

Tsunade recovered first. "Well, it was a pretty gutsy thing to do, you must admit."

"I'd just had a patient die on me," Sakura pointed out. "Don't confuse gutsy with stupid andimpulsive."


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She looked like she was about to go on, but a sudden bout of coughs doubled her over in thebed, leaving her gasping as blood dribbled from her lips.

"Sakura!" Naruto's shocked paralysis broke at the sight of blood staining her hand. "You're stillsick! But Granny said you were going to make yourself better-"

"Give it time, Naruto," Sakura interrupted, exasperation clear in her voice as she wiped herstained hand with a tissue. "It's going to take a while for the white cells to circulate and deal withall of the bacteria. And even assuming everything goes to plan, it's going to take a while for allthe damage the bacteria did to heal."

"Oh." Naruto relaxed a little. "But...you're still going to get better, right?"

Sakura grinned and nodded.

The whole scenario slid through Sasuke's mind like a nonsensical puppet show; he watched ithappen, but that actual weight behind the events eluded him. His brain felt like a dry sponge spent, completely empty, and utterly unable to process what was happening.

But one fact stood out in glaring neon lights Sakura wasn't going to die.

And his mind couldn't seem to cope with it. He didn't know what to do, didn't know what to say...

Fortunately, or unfortunately, Tsunade took the decision out of his hands. "Get out of here, youtwo I need to check her over!"

Naruto nodded, practically bouncing out of the room, feeling as though he had been given threebirthdays together. Of course, they didn't know if this was actually going to cure Sakura...butboth she and Tsunade had all but said point blank that she was out of danger!

And that was a victory in Naruto's book.

"You never actually told me why you removed your clothes that night," Tsunade mused as themales left, automatically checking Sakura's temperature and using a stethoscope to listen to herbreathing.

"I was planning on stabbing myself," Sakura explained. "I didn't want to get them all bloody."

Tsunade took Sakura's temperature, peered at her tongue, checked the manipulation of herjoints and in general investigated everything she could without the aid of laboratory tests. Therewas no real change in Sakura's condition; she still had a fever, her joints were still tender, herlungs were still congested and probably bleeding...but then again, Tsunade hadn't reallyexpected to see a change. Sakura hadn't eradicated the bacteria and healed herself; all she'd

done was give her body the tools it needed to fight. It would be a while before her altered whitecells began to make any impact on the chakra-eaters.

-xxx-

"She's going to be okay..." Naruto muttered, for what must have been the fiftieth time. "She'sreally going to be okay!"


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But Sasuke didn't even glare at him. His body and mind felt like a limp rag, as if every drop ofthought and feeling had been wrung from him.

"You know," Naruto said with an abrupt change of tone. "You should make a move already."

Sasuke was rather surprised, to say the least. He knew that Naruto wasn't as oblivious as he let

people think, but to say something this bluntly was...

...exactly what Naruto would do, who was he kidding?

"I mean, if this wasn't enough of a wake-up call for you, I don't know what is," the blondecontinued, perfectly calmly. "I know you've got your little set of hang-ups and hell will probablyfreeze over before you actually do anything, but if another crisis comes along again andSakura...and she...dies, or something...and you two are still, you know, like this...you'll probablyhate yourself for the rest of your life."

Sasuke was silent.

"So you should make a move. Just thought I should say that," Naruto finished.

Neither said anything; there was really nothing left to say.

-xxx-

"He's still asleep?" Ino muttered as she exited the bathroom, wrapping the hair she had justwashed in a towel.

Hinata smiled, her fingers stroking through Naruto's spiky hair as he snored gently. He'd burst intwo hours ago, proclaiming that Sakura had cured herself, and made a valiant effort at holding aconversation with her for about fifteen minutes before falling asleep.

"Give the guy a break, Ino," Chouji said. "I don't think he slept at all last night."

Ino nodded. She could sympathize; she suspected the only reason she'd slept last night wasbecause the disease tended to leave its victims exhausted.

Shikamaru was still sleeping. Ino had shaken him awake to hear the news about Sakura, butthen he'd promptly dropped off again. The blonde couldn't help the slightly dizzy smile thatspread over her face as she glanced at him.

It was almost funny. Last night everything had seemed so dark and depressing and todayeverything all sunshine and rainbows. Granted, she and a large portion of the ninja populationwere still infected by the chakra-eaters and the medics were still running themselves

ragged...but no one was on death's door. More importantly, Sakura was no longer at death'sdoor.

So Ino was feeling pretty good about the world today.

-xxx-

Sakura yawned, closing her eyes and snuggling down into her blankets. Since she'd performedthat jutsu several days ago, she'd spent most of her time sleeping, her body exhausting itself as


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it purged the bacteria from her system. At least now when she was awake she was lucid at alltimes, and while her lungs were still a little fragile, she'd stopped bleeding in her stomach.They'd removed most of the IVs, and she was enjoying being able to roll over in her bed withoutthe risk of pulling needles from her skin. Her immune system was slowing pulling itself back fromthe brink, but the medics still wanted to keep her in the sterile room until she had fullyrecovered.

She was started from her half-doze at the sound of something being set down on her bedsidetable. She rubbed at her eyes, half-turning to try to see who had come into the room. But all shesaw was a dark head disappearing out the door...Sasuke?

She was about to call out, when her eyes landed on what he'd brought her. A small bowl ofneatly sliced apple pieces.

Scarcely daring to believe Sasuke had actually been thoughtful for once, Sakura scrambledupright, grabbing for the bowl. She snatched one of the pieces and bit into it, sighing as thattaste burst over her tongue. After receiving her sustenance via a glucose drip for so long, it wasrefreshing to finally taste something again.

And apples were among Sakura's favourite foods. In addition, wherever Sasuke had procured itfrom, the apple was good: fresh, crisp and juicy.

But she couldn't help wondering why Sasuke had brought her apples. Sure, she'd brought himsome when he was hospitalised all those years ago, but she didn't think he had the samemotives.

-xxx-

Sakura grimaced as Tsunade drew a sample of her blood. No matter how many times she'd doneit herself or seen it done to others, it just felt weird.

"So, you're going to test it for the chakra-eaters again?" she asked, just so something coulddistract her.

Tsunade nodded. "That, and the scientists want to look at it. If they can somehow figure outwhat your white blood cells are doing, it would probably go a long way towards helping themmake the vaccine."

Sakura nodded absently, feeling drowsiness beginning to claw at her again. Probably from theblood loss. It was too small to make an impact in a healthy person...but Sakura was far fromhealthy, even considering that her immune system was beginning to put a serious dent in thechakra-eaters. Aside from the lingering symptoms of the infection, Sakura knew her illness hadleft her frighteningly weak and drained. Her muscles felt like water, and she didn't want to thinkabout how much weight she'd dropped.

Even though she was now mostly out of the danger of suffering a relapse, Sakura knew it wouldbe a long time before her body truly recovered from the toll the illness had taken on her.

She knew the plan was to have her perform her miracle-working jutsu on all of those currentlyinfected once she was back to full strength, but it was a shaky solution at best. For one, it wouldbe some time until Sakura was capable of performing the jutsu again. Sure, she'd performed itonce before while practically at death's door...but the energy it taxed from her was so great itwould be dangerous to attempt such a feat again the only reason she'd tried it in the first place


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She didn't think what she was feeling could be called shock. It was too big to be called shock.This was 'the sun rises in the west', 'the sky is actually green', 'up is really down' and 'greatwhite sharks aren't actually carnivores', sort of feeling. There was a large helping of shock in it,but it was also mixed with a lot of confusion, disbelief, and a hundred other emotions sheprobably could never name if she dwelled on them for a century.

So she simply blinked, staring at Naruto while he fidgeted and wondered if his friend's brain hadshort-circuited.

And it was this scene that Sasuke walked into barely three minutes later.

-xxx-

AN: Sorry about not replying to comments again! Again, blame my exams! They've only

recently finished and I figured you guys would appreciate a new chapter more than a reply. As,as I'm sure everyone knows by this point, this chapter was beta-d by justcallmefaye

Chapter 11

Rejuvenation

Sasuke frowned at his friends, both of whom seemed to be in some sort of shock. Sakura wasstaring at him as though she'd never seen him before, and Naruto looked like he was trying tosink into the ground and disappear forever.

"Are you okay?" he asked when neither of them moved.

Sakura's mind dimly registered that Sasuke had come into the room, and that he'd asked her aquestion. She blinked several times, hoping to rattle her brain into working again...had Narutoreally meant...?

And now that she looked for it, she could see it. To anyone else, Sasuke would have appeared ashe always did: cold, aloof and expressionless...but Sakura knew better. She could see the wayhis shoulder hunched a little, the slight wariness in his eyes, the way he was clutching the plateof apple pieces just a shade more tightly than was necessary.

Sakura never would have thought Sasuke capable of it, but he looked...vulnerable, almostworried.

It was probably a good thing he hadn't come in time to hear Naruto blurt everything out.

Naruto, of course, took the opportunity to make himself scarce. "I-I gotta...I'm going to...to seeHinata, bye!"

And he bolted from the room like a cat confronted with a hose.

Sakura watched him go, still rather stunned.

"I...brought you some more apple pieces..." Sasuke said, placing the plate on the bedside tableand shifting uncomfortably.


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"Thanks," Sakura beamed, taking a slice from the fresh plate and ignoring that fact that she stillhad a half-full one on her lap. "Any other reason you came?"

She knew this might be considered a little cruel: deliberately baiting Sasuke when she knew verywell what he was trying to do...but, dammit, she though she'd earned a little fumbling andgroveling on his part after what he'd put her through!

Sasuke pressed his lips together, relaxed them, looked like he was about to speak...then lookeddown at the plate of apple slices. Then he did it again. And again. The cycle repeated severaltimes, and Sakura sensed Sasuke was about to make a strategic retreat out of sheermortification.

Apparently years of emotional repression wasn't going to be undone in a moment no bigsurprise there, but Sakura figured she'd have to give him a helping hand at least, if not guidehim through this entirely.

"Sasuke..." she sighed at last, shaking her head. "You really suck at making a move."

When his eyes found hers in shock, she grabbed his collar and used it as leverage to pull himdown to her level before she pressed her lips against his in a brief, chaste kiss.

It was nice reallynice and Sakura didn't really want to stop, but she forced herself to.

"Now, as soon as I get better and this whole disease-thing is cleared up, we can go get lunchsometime," Sakura announced, hoping her face didn't betray the anxiety she felt. Sure, Narutohad said he was trying to make a move on her, but years of rejections had left her far fromconfident when it came to Sasuke.

Sasuke, for his part, was still trying to work out how he'd lost control of the situation. For thatmatter, how had Sakura known he was going to make a move?

He felt the same way he imagined a highwire walker would if they slipped. Frightened, nauseous,dizzy with the possibility of failure...

Then he saw the hint of insecurity in her eyes and felt strangely reassured. This was important toher too.

So he drew the fragments of his dignity to himself and nodded, "I'd like that."

"Good." It didn't seem possible, but Sakura felt her smile grow wider. "Now...another kiss?"

A small bubble of happiness swelled in the medic's chest as Sasuke obeyed her suggestion with asatisfied smirk.

'And that's how you make a move!'she thought triumphantly.

-xxx-

Chouji groaned. "Come on, guys, I need someone to talk to this is very unfair!"

Hinata and Naruto didn't seem to hear him, and appeared quite content to continue kissing. ButShikamaru and Ino disengaged and turned to him, their lips slightly swollen.


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"As soon as possible," Tsunade confirmed.

"Alright!" Naruto practically crowed. "Then we can go out, Hinata, just like I promised."

The Hyuuga girl smiled shyly and nodded.

"And I can collect on that dinner you owe me," Ino smirked at Shikamaru.

-xxx-

"You really think these will work?" Kiba wondered aloud, staring with morbid fascination at thebloody ball of cotton wool he had been instructed to keep pressed to the puncture in his skin.

"By all accounts, I think so," Tenten said, her arm bent to keep her own cotton ball against theneedle mark. "After all, this is what Sakura's cells are making, right? And Tsunade says she'sgetting better all the time..."

"If it would get me out of this hospital, I would be quite happy to let the Hokage inject me with

acid," Neji commented.

Tenten chuckled, blowing him a kiss in a rare act of blatant flirtation. The idea that they might beable to rejoin the rest of the world soon was rather exciting to her as well; they'd spent far toolong in these hospital beds.

-xxx-

Two and a half weeks later, Tsunade stood back with some satisfaction as she watched herpatients finally leave the isolation wing.

They were a little shaky, but that was to be expected weeks of being practically bed-ridden didnothing for muscle tone. Sakura especially was looking a little on the fragile side, and she'dalready yelled at Sasuke for scaring an intern at the hospital who'd really done nothing moreserious than breathe on her.

Naruto and Sasuke had been the most difficult to cure; seeing as the chakra-eaters infectingthem were in dormant form, the enzyme would do nothing as the bacteria weren't feeding offtheir chakra.

Then one of the scientists had pointed out that if the chakra-eaters were in dormant form theirimmune systems could probably deal with them adequately, given a week or so. After all, theonly reason the other patients' immune systems couldn't eradicate the bacteria in time wasbecause it only took a couple of days for them to become set to the host's chakra signature, andbecome invulnerable to the immune system from then on. In fact, the only reason Naruto and

Sasuke weren't bacteria-free was because they were constantly being re-infected by contact withthe patients.

So, that decided, Tsunade had shoved both Naruto and Sasuke into two of the other isolationrooms, though neither of them had been very happy about it. Naruto had been practicallybouncing off the walls, and towards the end of the week he was so stir-crazy and hyperactivethat Tsunade had seriously considered sedating him. Sasuke had been even more aloof andirritable than usual, though she had a feeling most of that stemmed from the fact that he hadn'tbeen allowed to see Sakura.


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She wasn't sure how she felt about her student's nascent relationship with the Uchiha. On theone hand, it made Sakura happy, but on the other hand, Sasuke was...Sasuke. Of course, shecouldn't be sure how much of this was unbiased judgment and how much of it was latentmaternal instincts insisting that no man would ever be good enough for Sakura. But she wassure of one thing; if Sasuke hurt her, she'd make him very sorry for it.

But putting her emotions aside for a moment, the Hokage had other, larger problems to dealwith. The Akatsuki. Their attempt to take down Konoha might have failed (and Tsunade wouldensure that the enzyme was shipped to their allies just in case the organization tried the sametactic on another village) but they would be sure to try again.

The Akatsuki had become a problem they could no longer ignore or put off. They had to be dealtwith as soon as possible.

Tsunade knew many councilors objected to the idea of trying to hunt Akatsuki down andeliminate them, if only because they stood to lose a lot of shinobi in such an effort...but a linehad to be drawn somewhere.

And she was drawing it here. Akatsuki had become too much of a problem for them not to take

action.

Besides, she already knew which teams she was going to send.

-xxx-

Kakashi's mask hid his smirk, but Sasuke knew it was there.

"You two seem closer," he commented, gesturing down at Sasuke's and Sakura's linked hands.

"Hn." Sasuke refused to blush. It would be foolish to blush; he and Sakura had kissed, for god'ssake that was far more intimate than holding hands and he hadn't blushed then!

And the holding hands-thing wasn't even his idea. They'd been walking out of the hospital andSakura had simply seized his hand in hers. And he hadn't dropped her hand or shaken her offbecause...he hadn't really felt like it. It had felt...nice.

"Don't start with any smart comments, Kakashi," Sakura grinned cheekily, enjoying the feel ofsunshine on her skin and fresh air in her lungs.

"I wasn't going to say a thing," Kakashi said with mock-innocence, the line of his visible eyecurving as it did when he smiled.

The Sakura in front of him was a little paler than the one he remembered, a little thinner...but

she was smiling fit to put the sun to shame and was perfectly, marvelously, gloriously alive!

And Kakashi was more relieved than he'd ever admit.

Sakura's smile became softer as she watched Kakashi's face grow more somber, and she didn'thave to think hard to know what was on his mind. She knew he would never say he had beenworried about it he just wasn't like that so she simply smiled for him and let him ruffle herhair the way he had done when she had been a genin, offering him silent but tangiblereassurance.


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"You owe me dinner!" Kakashi's attention was attracted by Ino's proclamation. The blonde wastrotting out of the hospital doors beside Shikamaru, her grin even wider than Sakura's. "And Iexpect some nice restaurant, I'll have you know, not some cheap bowl of ramen at Ichiraku..."

"Troublesome woman," Shikamaru muttered, his sentiment rather contradicted by the smile thatseemed to be hovering just under the skin of his face, as though ready to fly out at the slightest

nudge.

"Ichiraku isa nice restaurant!" Naruto insisted, loudly defending his favourite eatery. "I'm takingHinata there for our date!"

Said Hyuuga blushed like a ripe cherry, and Kakashi snickered.

"Aren't they cute?" Sakura cooed, watching the two couples wander away from the hospital.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, and she promptly elbowed him gently in the side. "Agree with me!"

"...hn."

"Close enough."

Neji and Tenten had greeted the waiting Lee and Gai with a weary but fond smile in Tenten'scase and a less frosty demeanor than usual in Neji's. Kakashi had quite deliberately tuned outthe past several minutes of conversation (which, he was certain, had contained many referencesto the couple's youthful healing vigour or something along those lines) but it seemed that Nejiand Tenten had taken their leave of their teammates and were departing together, heading inthe direction of the training grounds.

Kakashi had always thought that training with your lover probably gave a very kinky lean tosparring. But then again, his choice of reading material might have skewed his perceptions alittle.

Akamaru was running joyous, howling rings around Kiba, sniffing every inch of the man, lickingfrantically at his chin as dogs did when they were reunited with a pack member. Kiba wasscruffing his loyal partner's ears in return whenever the dog was still enough.

Chouji was making his way back to his home, muttering something about getting proper foodafter weeks of eating hospital meals. Kakashi could sympathize his own ninja career meanthe'd been hospitalised more times than he could count, and the one thing he'd always despisedwas the food he was given. Disliking hospital food was a big clich, but clichs formed becausethey had a basis in fact.

In short, the village seemed to have suddenly without any warning returned to normal.Looking at the people around him, Kakashi never would have guessed that they'd been laid up inhospital, battling a disease specifically designed to kill them.

But then again, they were ninja, and they bounced back a lot faster than civilians did.

It was rather strange to think that the disease which had plagued the village for months hadbeen dealt with so quickly.


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"Anyway, we're off to lunch, now," Sakura went on. "Thanks for your blood, by the way,Kakashi."

"No problem," her erstwhile teacher rejoined, taking out his infamous book and flipping throughit. "Though it seems kind of morbid to thank me for it..."

Sakura shrugged, then began pulling Sasuke down the road. "Come on, I want to check out thatnew seafood place although I guess it's not really new now, when you consider how long we'vebeen in the hospital..."

Kakashi gave them a careless wave which, predictably, Sakura returned and Sasuke didn't. Hesmirked to himself, turning away to see the Hokage standing by the hospital doors, Shizune ather side again. Tsunade looked extremely satisfied and well-pleased...but there was a hint ofgrim resolve behind her eyes.

Apparently sensing Kakashi's eyes on her, her head turned towards him. She regarded himsilently for a moment, as though weighing something within her mind, before she gestured himover.

Not knowing what she could want, Kakashi closed his book and approached.

-xxx-

"So we're going to be hunting down the Akatsuki?" Naruto echoed.

"Not really hunting down," Tsunade clarified. "But whenever we have information on a sighting,or an incident that might be connected to the organisation...you four will be dispatched to findand eliminate any Akatsuki you encounter."

Naruto grinned. Sasuke smirked. Sakura and Kakashi not quite as knuckle-headed as the othertwo looked a little grimmer, but there was a flare of excitement in their eyes nevertheless.

"It should also be noted that yours won't be the only team doing this," she added. "Team 10,Team 8 and Team Gai will also be assigned this mission."

The only way Tsunade had gotten the council to agree to this proposal was if the teams inquestion continued with their usual roster of missions when not responding to an Akatsukisighting. Multiple teams enlisted insured at least one group would be in the village and availableat any one time.

Sheer strength of numbers was also a factor. Tsunade knew how dangerous this mission wouldbe, and the more powerful ninja in it, the higher the likelihood of everyone surviving.

"Your first mission," the Hokage continued, tossing a scroll at them which Kakashi caught. "TheAkatsuki sighting in Wave. Find out if this disease was all they did, and if they're still nearby.Kakashi, you're in charge. Dismissed."

-xxx-

Ten minutes later, after weapons and assorted shinobi trappings had been assembled andapartments locked up, Team 7 stood by the gates of Konoha, performing a last minuteequipment check.


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Kakashi, Sasuke and Naruto had already finished cataloging their items, but Sakura was stillsorting through her medical supplies. Kakashi had often felt rather sorry for medical ninja; theirextensive med-kits often meant they were carrying almost twice as much as other ninja.Sometimes he wondered if Tsunade had developed her super strength just so she could carry herequipment.

"Come on, Sakura, we need to go!" Naruto whined.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, and Sakura pointedly ignored the blonde, her mind too busy to retort.

"Sakuraaaaa..."

"Idiot," Sasuke scoffed. "Has it occurred to you that these medical supplies will probably end upsaving your ass when you get it trampled on, as always?"

Naruto opened his mouth to bellow some retort or denial, but Kakashi rapped him sharply on thehead with the spine of his book. They were about to set off; he couldn't be bothered to deal withone of their arguments yet.

Sakura shoved her med-kit into her bulging pack and smiled at her boyfriend. "Thanks, Sasuke."

Then she looped her arms around his neck and pulled him close to instigate a very involved kiss.

Naruto huffed, but he was more considerate than he appeared, and he gave them a fewmoments. But when the kiss showed no sign of stopping, he began to whine again.

"Come on, guys, we need to go!"

No response.

"This is unfair! You can't rub the fact that you two get to do missions together while me andHinata can't in my face!"

Still no response.

Kakashi shook his head in exasperation, turned around and took to the trees, confident that hisformer students would follow. His keen ears caught Naruto's complaining grumble as Sakura andSasuke disengaged.

"Are you guys going to be like this for the entire trip?"

End.

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