Chapter 31: Blood is Never Too Deep

Little Falcon: I know, I know, late again but I've been under the weather lately and I am trying to whip my ass back in shape but it's not a one-day process so please bear with me…

Standard Disclaimer: I only own the idea that's all. If I did own this series I'll be the happiest person on earth!

"What the hell are you doing here, Jiraiya?!" The long haired pretty boy asked while returning fire from an open window. Their unexpected rescue was god-sent whoever with the rough turns and too-close collision calls, they were beginning to think otherwise.

Despite his age, the old timer drove like a professional racer, drifting and skidding without breaking a sweat. "Are you sure you have time enough to spout nonsense? Your friend over there doesn't seem to be doing pretty well," he even had time to look at the rear view mirror and it was only then did he realize that aside from the bleeding mess they dragged in his ride, there was also another addition to their crew. His full attention was caught by the uncanny resemblance- spiky blonde hair, whiskered cheeks and brilliant blue eyes.

"Ossan! (Old Man!) Watch out!" Naruto yelled as he pointed at the intersecting train.

Like a slap to the face, Jiraiya was jerked back to reality. The train's loud wailing yell echoed in their ears as their SUV pivoted just in the nick of time before they're road kill.

Warm blood was flowing continuously despite the made-shift bandage on his head. The floor was stained crimson just by absorbing a little amount of what he lost compared from what he did before help arrived. "He's not gonna last much longer. We need to get him to a hospital, NOW!" Her hazy blue eyes narrowed in desperation as she pushed the soaked bandage lightly against his skull.

Ino wasn't a fool to their current situation. Gunmen were still hot on their tail, armed to the teeth. How she wished she had her rifle or at least her sub machine gun, then the odds would be not so different. It was at these times that blades, no matter how sharp or fast, aren't good enough.

"Kid, you're the bomb expert, right?" The occupied driver asked while performing another hairpin turn. His passengers unwillingly shifted to the other side in spite their precaution.

The tattooed young man raised his eyebrow in reply together with a reluctant "Yeah,"

"Under the seat,"

Kiba immediately searched and when he found what he was looking for, his eyes sparkled.

"I trust it doesn't need an expert to use that one,"

"Hell yeah!" The boys shared a mutual smirk while handing each other Molotov.

When those pursuing vehicles where finally blown sky-high, they were met with another conundrum- how to get to a medical facility in the speed of light. "There isn't a hospital or a clinic for miles. I've checked the map," her teary gray eyes, scanned the vast wasteland they were traveling now. Acres of land stretching until the farthest her sight could reach.

"Hang on kids. I'm about to speed up," everyone was shocked at his casual warning. They were already tearing asphalt at their velocity and now he says that he's still planning on taking it further?

"Where are we going?" The lazy genius had to inquire when their driver left the good road and started to make his own path through the rough desert terrain. They were so far out they feared getting lost more than getting shot at. Not long after, traversing through a peculiar canon, they emerged at a clearing. Their jaws almost dropped open not because of the awesome night sky view but because of the infrastructure sitting in the middle of the clearing.

Though weather-beaten, they can still recognize a hospital when it's standing right in front of them. With four floors and running electricity, that red cross was definitely a welcoming sight for all of them especially when a few nurses came out of the double doors with a gurney, ready for their patient.

I never saw this one in any map. Hinata was certain that she remembered everything precisely. At the apparent age of this building, how can it not be in any map I've encountered? The nurses began fussing over them since it's wasn't only the Uchiha heir who had his share of pain.

Pushing away the syringe, the red head strongly protested even as the nurse implied that fishing out a bullet from his arm without anesthetic will be agonizing. "Just do it," he remained seated, gripping the sides of the bed and clenching his jaw while the medical professional did as she was told. His jade eyes fixated on the unmoving fellow on the distant corner. Even through the thin curtain, he can make-out a few people running around, attaching wires, inserting needles, trying to keep him alive. As the others were given quality nursing care, a looming beep resounded across the busy trauma room.

"He's crashing!" One proclaimed while pumping her patient's chest.

"BP's dropping!"

The other pair of doors that led to the inside of the hospital slammed open. In comes, an individual with surgical mask and cap on, together with a sterile gown and shoe covers. Her emerald eyes took the scene in the room with a quick sweep. Snapping off her bloody rubber gloves, pulling off the thin blue covering from her body, she ran towards the one who needed her attention the most. Yanking off her face mask "What's the situation?" her voice was cold and calm even as everyone around her was panicking.

After a brief oral examination, "His airway is closing up. Prepare to intubate," her hands were so steady as she held it out to receive the materials she needed.

That confident tone and that air of authority that can make a complete stranger sing the national anthem, it could only belong to one person for sure. Although the only physical feature they can distinguish from her were those fierce green eyes, they were sure as hell who she is. "Sakura…" Naruto was the first to react but his call was drowned the incessant beeping of that infernal machine that kept on displaying flat line. "What's going on? Is Sasuke… is he?" it was the Jiraiya who held the whiskered blonde's shoulder as he was attempting to come closer.

"She's the only person in this place who knows what she's doing. Don't make it harder than it already is," they watched her struggle to insert a tube through Sasuke's mouth but ended up slicing his throat open just so he can breathe then she had to shock his heart awake. When the horizontal line finally jumped meekly, everyone cheered as the others released the breath they didn't know they were holding.

As everyone around her rejoiced, she remained unfazed as her clinical eye took note of something unusual. Carefully, her hand slid off the blanket. Bluish to black tinges on his skin confirmed her fears. It was like feeling the ground beneath her feet cave in. "GET AN OR READY IN FIVE MINUTES, WE'RE OPERATING HIM," time itself seemed to have stopped moving as her voice cut through their premature celebration.

"According to Sakura, there was internal bleeding. His head injury was only a tip of the iceberg, it seems. If he wasn't operated a second longer, he would've died," Jiraiya relayed the news as everyone who were, injured or not, waiting outside. No one spoke or even breathed. They didn't look at each other and there was a considerable physical distance in between each of them. Each engaged in their own version of self-punishment.

"I never imagined I would meet you guys again… so soon even!" Trying to lighten the mood, the old man spoke out loud as if he was talking to himself and indeed, he was. "But when… she came to us… I knew it wouldn't be long before I see the others,"

His brows furrowed in puzzlement. "Sakura sought you?" Naruto was still perplexed as to why the old man looks at him funny but he still managed to look him in the eye.

"What do you mean by us?" Gaara's eyes were on those double doors while he leaned on the wall with his arms crossed.

They were beginning to speak, arrogantly, but it's a first. Jiraiya gave himself a pat in the back mentally as he tried to draw the others into conversation as well. "When I lost my son, Naruki, I was so sure my life was on a downward spiral but destiny gave me a reason to live… he let me meet the first woman I ever loved,"

"What does this have to do with anything?" Kiba spat in impatience, flailing his arms in the air while his huge dog barked in agreement.

As if not hearing anything, he continued. "However, fate wasn't so kind. Tsunade is suffering from an incurable heart disease and her time is limited. Still, I decided to stay with her even if it meant losing another part of my heart," looking up, he saw that he finally had everyone's ear. "That's when she came in. Out of the blue, this young woman knocks on our door and promises that she can cure my Tsunade. Imagine the shock on our faces when we heard her ridiculous idea,"

"Who are you, Jiraiya?" Gaara pegged him with an accusing stare.

"We know that Sakura is capable of performing those medical feats but she just wouldn't do it for anyone. What's more, she sought you personally, out of the millions of people suffering from the same illness, she chose your wife?" Naruto extolled.

"Maybe… what we should be asking is… what is it that you can give that others can't?" The red head pushed himself off of the concrete white wall and faced the old man fully.

"They're the key in winning this war," the doctor answered for him as she emerged from the operating room dressed in plain dark blue scrubs. She didn't meet anyone's eyes but kept walking. "Sasuke's condition is stable… for now," separating herself from the others, she stood behind the nurse's station.

"What do you mean for now?" As their conversation began, a nurse quietly approached the doctor and handed her a metal clipboard. As Sakura flipped through the charts, she inhaled with difficulty upon what every colored page revealed.

"What is it?" Ino tapped her foot in annoyance at being left in the dark.

"I wasn't sure then… but I am now…" she tossed the chart on the table. "…Sasuke…that bastard… he's been using," caressing her temples she felt her heart beating in her head.

"What? No way," the other one closest to the patient grabbed folders and scanned through it. Although not well-versed in the medical field, he was still informed enough to understand what normal person would have difficulty deciphering.

Licking her dry lips, Sakura pressed on her eyelids to stop herself from crying. "He's been using a cocktail of the most potent stimulant known to man,"

A short snicker erupted from Naruto's chest as he looked through and again the pages of lab results. "Maybe my formula ain't right. Because, with the results I'm coming up with… this can't possible! This dosage is crazy unless… no, he can't… that would be suicide!"

"Naruto… if you know Sasuke as well as I do then you know that he would be willing to do anything for the sake of a mission," with her eyes still closed, she waited for his inevitable breakdown.

"NO ONE EVER TOLD HIM THAT THIS WAS A GODDAMN MISSION!" throwing the results against the wall, his voice rang throughout the empty corridors as the pages scattered on the cold marble floor.

"It is for him… after all, wasn't it we who taught him that protecting those important to you is everyone's unspoken mission?" With her cold hands, she reached for Naruto's trembling fists. "Listen, he took those things because he didn't want to lose sight of any of us. He wanted to watch over us. Right now, we need to return the favor,"

"What do you mean?"

"I can't have him dealing with recovery and withdrawal at the same time. So I need you guys to find these drugs, so that I can give it to him," her voice was cracked and the fire in her eyes was slowly dying as she verbalized her request.

"Wait, what?" Tenten titled her head, trying to register what she just said. "You want to inject him with an insane amount of illegal drugs AFTER he's been through major operation?! Isn't that…"

"This is the ONLY way he can possibly keep on breathing. Trust me, I've considered EVERY option possible," Sakura was too tired to keep reasoning with them while maintaining her collected persona. Although, she missed them immensely she had been without sleep for three days and had been operating for twelve hours straight prior to their arrival.

"Okay, okay, if that's what you think is best. Then Shikamaru, Kiba and I will fetch it for you. I'm sorry for doubting you," the weapon specialist was sympathetic to her friend's plight and took no offense in her actions. Soon after, the trio departed, leaving the injured to recover.

"You guys need to rest. Take any room in the west wing. That phone is on speed dial one just holler if you need something," Jiraiya broke the building tension and watched the others obediently did as they were told.

"I apologize for the delay Jiraiya-sama," side by side, they traversed the lonely white corridor. "I did my best in operating Tsunade-sama. The process went well and lab results are promising. For now, the only thing we have to do is wait," the young doctor gave her medical opinion then let the husband stay beside his unconscious wife.

Her eyes watered at the sight of him standing outside the room. How she yearned to be bound by those strong arms and drown in his addicting kisses. Her knees felt weak the moment she first saw him in the emergency room, it was like finding herself again after being lost for so long. However, her running logic blocked her overwhelming desire and made her realize that something else is more important than personal satisfaction and security. Her feet stopped abruptly, putting a safe distance in between them. Taking in a labored breath, she restrained herself from tugging his sleeves to devour his lips. "Why are you still here? I thought I told you to…" she stepped back on reflex as he reached out to her.

"Don't… please, don't," her reasonable façade was breaking fast at every second she was immersed in his smoldering jade gaze. "I have to be strong… I can't have you touching me because I know for sure that I'll break down and cry when I'm in your arms. So, please understand," Sakura HAD to walk away because she didn't trust herself to keep to the things her words conveyed.

Little Falcon: Okay, so maybe this fic can be a bit longer than I thought. I'm still thinking about it but anyway, read and review please…