Chapter Text
Despite their best efforts, the mission had been a success.
Sakura glanced up to observe the boys from where she was trudging along behind them on the dusty dirt road. Naruto was bouncing around excitedly, obviously not tired out by their little adventure at all. Words were pouring out of his mouth at such a lightning fast pace Sakura made no attempt to discern what he was ranting about. His blond hair was framed by the sun shining behind him, giving him a bright halo, and for a brief second Sakura was jealous of her teammate.
Squashing the feeling aside, she looked further ahead to where Sauske was walking several feet in front of Naruto, the perfect picture of a hardened soldier returning from a grueling mission. Silent and enigmatic, he was the perfect contrast to Naruto’s never ending words and movement.
Sakura felt her heart flutter in her chest.
The spell was broken almost immediately, when Sasuke suddenly stiffened and spun around. Clearly he had finally lost his patience with the younger boy and he snapped angrily at him to shut up. Kakashi-sensei, walking between the two, made no attempt to stop the bickering that immediately broke out. Instead, he choose to shove his hands deeper into his pockets and continue lumbering along, pointedly ignoring the chaos.
Sakura sighed deeply, and rubbed at her forehead. It was going to be a long hike back to Konohagakure. They had already been away from the village for close to 2 weeks, and she desperately was ready to be back at home. They had been sent on a C-Rank mission to the Land of Steam. The mission itself had been simple. Team 7 had been hired to bring a scroll to the Land of Steam from the 3rd Hokage himself. They had not been told the contents of the scroll, but Sakura wasn’t an idiot, and had done her research before they had even set out. The Land of Steam was one of the few neighboring lands that was firmly neutral and peaceful. Their Daimyo was a self proclaimed pacifist, and every year the Hokage sent a team comprised of a Jonin Sensei and their Genin to demonstrate their continued friendship and secure peace.
Sakura could only assume that the scroll they delivered had something to do with that tradition. This hadn’t stopped Naruto from ceaselessly pestering Kakashi-sensei the whole trip, however, demanding that in order to become the Hokage, he needed to understand every mission better. And that just so happened to include the contents of the scroll. Kakashi had just smiled at him, visible eye crinkling, and calmly told him that if he had bothered to listen to the Hokage when he had given them the mission in the first place, he might have a better idea of what was going on. Sakura knew that her Sensei was just trying to encourage Naruto to listen better next time, but part of her wished he wasn’t quite so patient. Naruto would have shut up a lot sooner if Sensei has just told him, she thought bitterly.
They had delivered the scroll to the Daimyo and managed to not make any serious political blunders in the process. That in itself was a huge accomplishment Sakura thought, watching as the 2 boys continued to fight, and as her Sensei pulled out a rather questionable book from his back pocket. The unfortunate part of the assignment had been the second half of their instructions from the Hokage. The Third had instructed them to be of service, if they were asked, for the people of the Land for a couple days after delivering the scroll. This was, he said, an important way to solidify the friendship between the lands and their hidden villages.
Sakura had privately hopped that this would not happen. That perhaps the Daimyo didn’t need them, or that everybody would conveniently forget they were ninjas for hire. Her hopes were for naught though, solidifying in her mind that this was indeed a traditional mission. Immediately after delivering the scroll, they were set to work. From simple tasks like weeding and house repairs, to short body-guarding jobs and police work, they were very busy.
This lasted for around 6 whole days.
The boys were predictably upset and bitchy about the whole thing. Sakura couldn’t blame them. It had started to feel awfully like a 100 D-rank missions disguised as one very horrible C-rank.
They had complained privately to Kakashi-sensei the first couple nights, when they were holed up and resting in their (actually rather extravagant) assigned quarters. It quickly escalated from there. While complaining to each other was acceptable, Naruto loudly asking in-front of the Daimyo himself why this was even ranked as a C-Ranked mission at all when they were doing all of this grunt work was not. Kakashi had grabbed the top of Naruto’s head and forced him to bow and apologize, but the Daimyo had just laughed and raised an eyebrow.
Their Jonin sensei was not as forgiving, however, and not a word of complaint was heard about the mission again until much much later.
On the 6th day of their stay in the capital of the Land of Steam, Kakashi-sensei finally announced that they must return to The Village Hidden in the Leaves. It had taken all of Sakura’s might to wrestle her Inner self from shouting in relief. The chiefs of the land and the Daimyo did not protest at their departure, instead loading them up with supplies, food, and even money for their 5 day trek back home.
The whole experience had been a relatively peaceful affair, the only odd thing being that moments before they left, Kakashi had been pulled aside for a quick discussion with some of the leaders. He had re-appeared again in a swirl of leaves at their side shortly after. He cleverly dodged any and all of their attempts to get information about the conversation out of him, saying that it wasn’t that important anyway, and that he would definitely tell them if he ever needed too. The comments seemed odd to Sakura no matter how nonchalantly Kakashi-sensei said it.
And now, as Sakura continued to watch him, it seemed even more odd. Kakashi-sensei, though on the surface seeming relaxed while holding that wicked book from Jairiya-sama, looked oddly alert. Sakura could see a slight rigidness to his shoulders that hadn’t been there earlier, and she could feel more than see that he was on full alert. It seriously amazed her how her two idiot teammates hadn’t managed to sense anything amiss yet.
Sakura suddenly felt the tip of her sandal catch in a small divot on the road. She stumbled slightly, flapping her arms in a manner unbecoming of a koinoichi, and regained her balance. It was getting quite dark out, she realized with a start. Kakashi-Sensei had been pushing them at quite a fast pace the last 8 hours, and suddenly she felt exhausted. They hadn’t really even taken a break for lunch, instead eating ration bars as they continued traveling quickly.
Though she caught her balance again almost immediately, Sakura knew that Kakashi-sensei would have noticed. As predicted, he finally shushed Naruto and made his way back to where she now stood several paces behind the boys.
“Are you okay?” he asked gently, looking her up and down for any sign of injury or weariness.
“I’m fine Sensei!” She smiled up at him brightly, “Just tripped a little.”
“We could keep going all night if you asked us to,” Naruto’s voice cut in, “believe it!”
Kakashi chuckled, his shoulders relaxing slightly, and Sakura felt some of her earlier worries slip away.
“We’ll start looking for a place to make camp now. No point in pushing ourselves to exhaustion, after all.” Kakashi gestured for them to gather closer to him. “What are some things we should look for in a place to set up camp?”
“It depends.” Sasuke’s bored voice finally joined the conversation.
Kakashi tipped his head to the side and Sakura recognized it as a gesture for Sasuke to continue.
“It depends,” Sasuke continued, “on location, level of danger, environmental threats, and a bunch of other variables.”
“Hnn. Good answer.” Kakashi said. “Are you listening Naruto? Let’s set some boundaries then, shall we. Let’s use this terrain as an example, and pretend the danger level is moderate. What now?”
“We’re in open plains right now, Sensei. You’ve made it impossible!” Naruto shouted, rolling his eyes.
“You’re right to a degree, Naruto, it is much harder in this type of environment compared to the trees and forests we are used to back home. Not impossible though. I like to use 4 ways to find the best place to shelter and stay safe for the night if it’s dangerous for ninjas.” Kakashi gestured widely to the plains around them. “Look for tall plants and vegetation to hide in. If your set up is difficult for you to get to, it will also be difficult for enemies to navigate. There usually is some sort of plant life around. Caves are another option- although they can be dangerous if you don’t have a quick exit available. Sometimes just a small hole in the ground will do in a pinch too! Make sure your camping spot is far away from roads, and unobservable from the sky if possible. You never know who’s looking! If the level of threat is high, it’s also important to remember to cover tracks, not to use campfires, and no sleeping without someone keeping guard.” Kakashi had started walking as he spoke, and the three genin followed behind. He suddenly stopped, and pointed to where the field dropped off into a thick tangle of taller vegetation and small hills. “This is the perfect example. I think we should practice roughing it tonight!” Kakashi clapped his hands together. “We’ve spent the last week sleeping like royalty, let’s remember what it’s like to be shinobi!”
Sakura immediately understood and distaste pooled in the pit of her stomach. It would not be a comfortable night. Kakashi-sensei ploughed into the undergrowth, unbothered by his team’s displeasure, and began to settle down for the night.
It wasn’t until much later, when Sakura was lying snug in her bedroll staring up at the brambles and vines that concealed them, that she realized what Kakashi had cleverly done.
She quietly rolled over to look at where she knew the silver haired joinin would be. He was lounging, back against one of the many small hills, fully relaxed to any untrained observer. But after that disastrous mission to the Land of Waves a couple of months ago Sakura could no longer be called such. She caught the way in which Kakashi’s eye roamed their surroundings ceaselessly and how his weapons pouch lay mere inches from his hands. He was being cautious while also trying not to worry them, hence their little impromptu lesson on finding good camping spots. She wondered what was happening. Or what had happened, that Sensei was not telling them. Across their tiny camp, Kakashi’s lazy eye caught her own worried ones and he causally threw up a peace sign. Sakura gave him a small smile and rolled over, settling deeper into her sleeping bag. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe she was just being paranoid, a completely reasonable thing to be after all of their “easy missions gone wrong” trend. With that thought in mind, she slipped into a deep sleep.
Their second day of traveling was about as uneventful as the first. So boring, in fact, that Sakura fully threw anyway any though of things being awry. They set off again in the early morning, and ran until lunch. Kakashi-sensei had allowed them to stop briefly to eat this time, proving further to Sakura that the eerie feeling she had the day before was nothing but paranoia. While their traveling speed was still quicker than normal, everyone was relaxed and Sensei had even paused to point out several different ideal camping spots as well as help a curious Naruto identify various edible plants. It was fun to listen to her sensei actually teaching them things, even if it wasn’t new ninjutsus or taijutsus. What he was teaching this trip were the foundational skills of a ninja, Kakashi sensei had proclaimed earlier in the day. That these were skills that would set them apart uniquely as shinobi. Simple skills such as identifying plants and knowing how to make a fire without chakara would keep them alive when all else failed. Sasuke had scoffed at such a notion, muttering that only strength could keep a ninja alive, but Kakashi remained undeterred. The afternoon passed easily, and they were making good headway. They would reach the Land of Fire that evening if they kept up the pace.
Sakura was correct, and the tree line that marked the beginning of the Land of Fire’s territory came into view only a couple of hours later. It was relieving to see the familiar sight of the woods that reminded her so much of home. 2 weeks did not feel like much when planning a mission, but in actuality, it was quite a bit of time. The only time Sakura had been out of the village longer was on their mission to the Land of Waves. Even though this trip had been considerably shorter comparatively speaking, her heart longed to be back in Konohagakure.
Kakashi slowed his pace to a walk, and turned around to look at the three genin trailing behind.
“Almost halfway home.” He stuck his gloved hands into his pockets and shot a glance at the darkening sky above them. “We’ll set up camp just beyond the trees and then-“ his words suddenly cut off as he stiffened and turned his head back and then forth sharply. She watched, alarmed, as he reached a hand up towards his mask, hooking a finger under the fabric to the right of his nose, pulling it away from his skin. Out of habit more than anything else, Sakura leaned forward to try to catch a glimpse of her Sensei’s illusive face, but all her eyes were met with were shadows. She heard Kakashi exhale deeply, and then sniff a couple of times. Almost like a curious puppy would, Sakura’s brain unhelpfully supplied. Seconds later Kakashi’s hand left his face and the mask(s) snapped back into place.
The darkening tree line was suddenly lit up with a flickering blue light, and Sakura heard the screaming of a thousand birds echo through the previously quiet evening. The Chidori blazing on her sensei’s right hand swung wide, and then collided violently into a dark figure. The figure had been moving so quickly and quietly towards them Sakura hadn’t even noticed them until Kakashi had struck them. The figure screamed, lightning coursing through its body, leaving the smell of burnt flesh and singed hair heavy in the air. Kakashi flung the body aside violently, and began running back to the three of them. His sharingan eye was uncovered now and flashing red.
“There’s more,” he shouted, “more than we can handle! You three need to run- you need to run right now! Get to the trees and GO!”
Three angry voices broke out in protest-
“But Sensei, what about you-“
“What happened to never abandon a teammate!”
“I can fight just fin-“
Kakashi yelled again, still running at them. “GO!”
A sudden cold breeze drifted across the plain, and Sakura felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. There was a brief second of silence before everything went wrong.
Several ninjas dressed all in long black robes identical to what the man who Kakashi already killed had worn, materialized around them. Panicked fighting broke out. Kakashi became a blur of movement, striking out at as many of the surrounding figures as he could, trying desperately to draw them away from the rest of his team. Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke scattered in opposite directions, leaping backwards and dodging the attacks from the strange ninja. Sakura found herself flipping away from several well thrown kuni, and desperately ducked under a flying fist. She felt the air from the strike whistle past her ear as she avoided it. She heard a faint laugh, and the dark shinobi jumped away from her.
Kakashi’s voice sliced through the sounds of fighting, “Why attack Hidden Leaf ninja by the border of their land?! What do you want?”
“Something only your deaths will achieve!”
“That answers nothing!” Kakashi snarled. Sakura could tell he was already out of breath.
The heat and sound from an explosion nearby suddenly overwhelmed all of Sakuras senses, and she fell forward into the grass, ripping the hem of her skirt on a thorn on her way down.
“Katon, gōkakyū no jutsu!”
The world around Sakura suddenly grew as bright as it had been at noon earlier in the day as Sasuke’s fireball spun forward to crash into one of the dark figures. A howl of pain reached Sakura’s ears, as the ninja began to burn. The figure ran at Sasuke, a large kuni gleaming in one hand, and Sasuke, exhausted after the massive fireball justu but still determined, planted his feet firmly in the ground. His sharingan eyes activated and began spinning, ready to defend himself,
“No, get back you idiot, run away!”
Naruto was standing in front of Sauske now, his hands clasped together tightly, beginning to weave what was very likely either a stupid attempt at an S-ranked jutsu or his classic shadow clone move. He didn’t even get the chance. A white object sailed at them, and seconds later a large explosion knocked both him and Sasuke clear off of their feet, and flung them several feet backwards. Sakura was stunned- she had never even heard of a jutsu that exploded quite like this one that wasn’t a paper bomb. Her teammates landed in a tangle of limbs and blood and Sakura could only scream as she watched from where she had collapsed on the ground earlier.
Kakashi suddenly reappeared again several yards away from her and dropped down, slamming his hands into the ground. The ground cracked under his power as he shouted, “Doton, doryūheki!”
Thick mud walls erupted around Naruto and Sasuke, sealing them inside. The hounds engraved on the sides snarled down angrily at them.
“You think that will protect them forever, Sharingan no Kakashi? They will die here, and so will you!”
“I will protect my comrades, no matter the cost to me!”
Chidori cracked around her sensei’s fist once again, and he lunged forward at the ninja who had mocked him.
There were far fewer dark ninja around now. Sakura could only count 4 left, and for a second she dared to hope that this would all be over soon. It did not last. Strong, heavy hands reached around her throat, squeezing tight around her windpipe. Her eyes bulged. She hadn’t even noticed someone behind her at all.
“Say good bye, little girl.”
She scrabbled awkwardly at her throat, desperately trying to pull at the hands around her neck. She was being lifted clean off her feat, and the hand squeezed tighter, stealing her air and crushing her neck. Black spots began to dance in front of her eyes and she knew she would be joining Sauske in the realm of the unconscious soon-
No!
Then she would be leaving Kakashi-sensei all by himself, and who would protect him? He had drawn all the enemies away, and taken everything on himself! She didn’t want to be trash, didn’t want to abandon her team, her precious people!
Channeling all of her rage and the frustrating feeling of helplessness into chakra, she stopped struggling against the large man holding her and instead drove her elbow deep into his side. To her surprise, she heard the snapping of bone and an equally surprised and pained exhale. She was dropped back down to the ground in a heap, where she lay coughing and gasping and massaging her throat.
“Sakura! Where are you?”
Sakura couldn’t answer. She tried, but all that came out was a small squeak of pain. Her vocal cords must have been damaged, she thought faintly as she gasped and gagged.
“Sakura!” Kakashi sounded scared. Her heart thumped painfully in her chest, hearing his voice calling to her like that. If she couldn’t let her Sensei know she was safe verbally, she needed to go to him. She struggled upright, her eyes seeking out the familiar glow of Kakashi-sensei’s lightning blade and the comforting warmth of his chakra presence. He wasn’t all that far away from her, and was still fighting the last 4 ninja.
A slight movement out of the corner of Sakura’s eyes caught her attention. She started in surprise. There was a clone of her slipping through the shadows towards the silver haired jonin. Sakura felt a jolt of confusion shoot through her. What was going on? It wasn’t her clone, she hadn’t made one, had she? A faint memory came to mind, that fist earlier she had dodged, the wicked laugh that dirtied her ears-
The next few moments would be burned into Sakura’s mind for the rest of her life.
Kakashi was already distracted enough, attempting to keep the remaining ninja away from where Naruto and Sasuke were buried while also trying to find his last missing genin. His attention was divided and he did not notice the clone sneaking up behind him until it was a couple seconds too late. Kakashi sent one of his attackers flying forward before spinning around. He must have sensed chakara behind him, because as he spun, he was already instinctively thrusting his right hand forward. The Chidori flashed blindingly, the screaming of birds filled the air, and the crackle of the lightning charged the night with static- and Kakashi’s right hand plunged deep into Sakura’s chest.
Everything next happened in slow motion. The Sakura impaled on her sensei’s arm choked, blood sliding from her mouth.
Kakashi was frozen in place.
“You lied. Guess you really are the friend killer after all.” The not Sakura gurgled wetly. She collapsed in a pool of dark blood, sliding off of Kakashi’s arm, landing with a thump on the soft ground.
Kakashi still hadn’t moved, not seeming to hear the girls words. He was completely frozen, hand dripping with the blood of his student. He wasn’t breathing. He wasn’t even blinking. Both his eyes, the onyx and the scarlet, were blown wide. Sakura tried to scream, to let him know she was okay, that it wasn’t really HER, but her voice was low and gravely and not nearly loud enough to reach him.
A blank look slid across her sensei’s eyes, and he started forward slowly. The killing intent radiating from him was enough to send Sakura back down to her knees. Gone was the comforting and familiar feeling of his chakra, instead replaced with something cold and unfamiliar. She had never been afraid of her teacher before. But now, with his dead eyes and icy rage she wanted to flee.
“Raijū hashiri no jutsu!”
Sakura had never seen Kakashi use this jutsu before. Two lightning bolts shaped as wolves lunged forward, jaws snapping furiously at the remaining ninjas. Kuni in hand, Kakashi shot forward, forcing his enemies backwards as he twisted and spun and slashed. His silver hair was stained pink with blood.
“Doton, tsuchi nami no jutsu!”
The ground rippled beneath Sakura’s feet and two more of the dark clad shinobi went down, screaming in pain. Kakashi slit their throats effortlessly. He was a blur movement. No compassion, no hesitation. She had never seen him fight like this before. Gone was her goofy and eccentric sensei, replaced by a frightening and deadly jonin. He was actually really dangerous, she realized with a start. It was all so wrong.
Sakura couldn’t bear to watch any longer.
“Sensei! It wasn’t me! It’s not me!” She screamed.
This time her voice worked. It wasn’t loud, in-fact it was hardly louder that her normal speaking voice, but Kakashi heard her anyway.
The moment she had his attention, Sakura wished she could take her cry back. A distracted shinobi was a dead shinobi. Kakashi reminded his team of this often, and she had remembered his words a little bit too late. Kakashi turned towards her voice and saw her. Their eyes met, and in those mismatched eyes she saw deep grief. A fraction of a second later and his face twisted into one of recognition. He spun around, looking for the not Sakura’s body. The slim corpse of the pink haired kunoici was gone, instead replaced with the hulking body of an adult shinobi. The hole where his heart should have been continued to dribble blood onto the grass.
Kakashi was only distracted for 3 seconds as he finally processed what had actually happened. But it was enough. A white piece of clay sailed right for him, and he didn’t notice fast enough to get out of the way. He put his hands up, starting to sign for a water wall, calling, “Suiton suij-“
The white substance exploded, right on top of Kakashi. Sakura watched as he was launched backwards, smoke trailing from his flying body. He smashed with an audible crack into the mud wall he created earlier.
He crumpled to the ground.
Before she even realized what she was doing, Sakura began running towards her Sensei, to help him, protect him, to do something. It was her fault he was distracted, her face he had to watch die, her fault her fault her fault-
The last remaining ninja was blocking her way. He was laughing loudly, clearly not quite in his right mind. He rolled the palms of his hands together, and a white sticky piece of clay began to form. Probably a kekkei-genkai of some sort. This was the guy who had been causing the explosions, Sakura realized. The one who took out Naruto and Sasuke, and the one who finally broke through Kakashi-sensei’s defense. Likely the most dangerous out of all of the people they were facing that night.
“The death of Hatake Kakashi is certainly bound to get the Land of Fire’s attention. Do you think they will miss you too?” The ninja reached out his hands filled with white clay. Before he could hurl it at her, a crackling lightening whip encircled his extended wrist and jerked him backwards. It was the opening Sakura needed. Instinctively she flung herself forward, whipped out her kuni, and stabbed the man in the throat. He gurgled, eyes staring straight ahead, unseeing and clouded, and crumpled beneath her body. He was dead before he hit the ground. The two of them fell together. Sakura could feel warm blood slipping down her arms and coating her dress. She gave a small hiccuping cry, and threw herself off of the dead ninja.
The night was quiet once again, the only sounds a faint popping from where some of the grass continued to burn, and the chirping of crickets off in the distance.
Sensei!
For what felt like the 100th time that night, Sakura hauled herself back to her feet. She began to run, stumbling and crying, to where she knew Kakashi-sensei had been thrown. When she reached him, her heart shuttered in relief. He was still alive. (idiot, the lighting from earlier could only have been him, her foggy mind supplied) Her relief was short lived. He was still leaning up against the wall he had been thrown against. Even in the dark, she could tell he was injured badly.
She skidded to a halt in front of him. “Sensei?” she choked out, voice still raw and painful.
He made no reply. His eyes stared desperately up at her, as if he thought that she was going to disappear if he looked away. There were streaks beneath his eyes, and Sakrua realized with a start that they were tear tracks. One of his hands reached out slowly, as if he wanted to touch her face, to check to see did she was really there. His hand was trembling violently and he was shaking. His eyes were glazed over and his chest was heaving from the force of his heavy breaths. He looked pale and frightened like he had seen a ghost. She had never seen him look this lost before. She stood there frozen, unsure of what to say or do.
The moment passed.
Suddenly he blinked rapidly and shook his head as if to clear it. His hand jerked back away from her, and he took a deep, shuddering breath.
“Are you okay?” His voice was low and shaky, and as he spoke he reached up to slide his hitai-ate back down to cover his sharingan. “Sakura?”
“I’m okay, Sensei.” she whispered. There were still tears slipping from her eyes, and she dashed them away furiously. This wasn’t over yet and shinobi didn’t cry.
Kakashi leaned up backwards against the wall, and took another deep breath, steadying himself. He was still shaking, Sakura noticed fainilty. As he moved, for the first time, Sakura had a chance to inspect his wounds closer.
“Sensei! Your hands!” she gasped.
“Ah.”
The sleeves of his uniform were badly scorched and his arms covered in burns, but they were nothing compared to his hands. His gloves had completely burned off, his hands already blistering and oozing from where she could see them in the flickering firelight. It must have been from when he tried to put up the water wall, she realized with a start. The explosion had melted the skin right off his hands. She could have sworn that for a second she could see the gleam of white bone too. How he was not screaming in pain, Sakura did not understand.
“Sensei-“
“We can worry about me later,” he said distantly, “we need to check on the boys.” He gracelessly pulled himself to his feet, where he swayed worryingly before he regained his balance. Sakura briefly wondered if it was due to chakra exhaustion or from the pain. He turned to survey the mud wall. His burned hands clasped together, and the jutsu was lifted- the giant earth walls collapsing back into the ground. He swayed again dangerously, before stumbling forward to check on the remaining two genin. Sakura stayed glued to his side. They found both boys in a jumbled pile of bloody limbs.
Kakashi knelt down next to the two boys. There was blood clinging to Naruto’s blond hair, running down his face and pooling on the ground. One of Sasuke’s ankles also looked twisted from where it stuck out from under Naruto’s body. Thankfully, despite the head wound, after just a quick shake Naruto began to stir. “Where the fireworks at?” He muttered stupidly, rolling over off Sasuke and then trying to sit up. Sakura couldn’t help herself, and snorted through her tears.
But Kakashi-sensei had already moved on to Sauske. “Sakura, I need you to check his pulse.”
“Why can’t-“ oh. OH. Sakura cut herself off and moved quickly back to his side to help. She placed two of her fingers along the side of Sasuke’s neck, feeling for his carotid artery. Beneath her fingers she felt the thump of his heart. It was beating slightly slower than normal, but joy flooded through her nonetheless. “He’s alive!”
“Good.” Kakashi said simply.
“What’s wrong with him?” Sakura asked, nervous. She hated seeing Sasuke like this.
“Chakra exhaustion.” Kakashi explained quickly, “Two fireballs and activating his sharingan depleted his reserves. His body just needs time to recover. He’ll be unconscious and miserable for a bit, but he’ll be fine. Speaking of,” Kakashi turned his gaze to rest on Naruto. “Naruto, how much chakra do you have left?”
“Plenty!” Naruto exclaimed, “I didn’t get to fight much.” He ran a hand across his eyes, smearing the blood on his face.
“We need to get out of here as fast as possible. Naruto, can you make two clones to carry Sasuke?”
Naruto nodded, finally sensing the seriousness of the situation from Kakashi’s clipped tone.
“Sakura, Naruto, any injures that will prevent you from running?”
Her head still throbbed, her neck burned, and her leg stung from where it had been cut when she fell, but there was nothing too serious. She was in the best shape out of the 4 of them. She shook her head mutely.
“Let’s go.”
No more words were needed. The two Naruto clones picked up Sauske’s limp body, and the 5 of them shot off together towards the Land of Fire’s border.