A/N: It's been a long time since I updated this story…
-teary eyed- I missed you!
Sorry for all the time that had to be waited on this!
Please check my profile for some info on my absence, but if you don't want to...this should be enough to understand.
Halfkyuubikat is sooooooooo sorry and feels sooooooo bad about everything that she promises (swears on her life and Jesus Christ -gasp-) that for the next week there will be AT LEAST 1 update everyday cause she feels just that guilty-Week.
Anyway let's not waste time; here is the next Chapter of Always Alone!
Song this time is: So Far Away ~ Crossfade
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
I've been changing but you'll never see me now
I've been changing but you'll never see me now
Now I'm blaming you for everything
Her body almost trembled at the force of the orange haired man's chakra thrust against her invading one. If it had not been for the fact that she had been trained by Tsunade, she had no doubts that the pressuring chakra from the unconscious man would have harmed her in some way.
However she changed the molding of the light green on her fingers and kept her hands pressed directly against Juugo's forehead.
When the powerful force stopped its assault, she let out a shaky breath and continued her search into the man.
It didn't take her long to realize just what was making this man lash out in such a monstrous way against her.
He had two chakras circulating around in his body.
Of course one of them was miniscule and almost undetectable compared to the vibrant one that had attacked her just moments before, but it was still there.
And after feeling the chakra for just a few more moments, Sakura couldn't help but pull her hand away in disgust. She recognized the darker chakra and how it was more prominent then the smaller one that barely existed. She could safely say she knew exactly what was wrong with this man.
He was another one of Orochimaru's experiments.
After Sasuke had killed the sick man, all the experiments that managed to escape the outbreaks of fighting, came looking for a cure one way or another. And most of them ended up in Konoha. There were such large quantities of people searching for a reversal to the changes to their DNA, that Tsunade had been forced to momentarily create a new sector at the hospital that specialized in caring for the Sound runaways.
Sakura was proud to say that she was instated as head doctor for the temporary installment. So, of course since she was around 15 she has been dealing with Orochimaru's experiments, but for the past year and a half that she has specialized in that area of treatment, she had never seen a case as bad as this mans.
The cursed seal was a disgusting creation and it nearly brought an average medic to their knees, but this man…
The sheer power of the dark chakra was breath taking.
Most patients could be cured in a matter of weeks and the younger ones sometimes even a few days, but this Juugo would take months upon months to cure. In fact Sakura wouldn't be surprised if his treatment would expand through the course of a few years.
Just how much shit had been done to this man?
Almost makes you feel bad for him….
Almost?
I mean…it's not like he is ever going to be cured. Really! We are the best of the best, second only to Tsunade herself! And with our expertise it would take years to cure him! For fucks sake, we just turned 17! We were just promoted to Jounin! We are epic! What hope does any normal Medic Nin have? This guy has no chance of ever being cured.
How does that make you ALMOST feel bad for him?
Well we can't do anything about it. Plus, pity is an emotion Ninja should not have. I think it would be best if we left now.
I can't just leave him like this…
Hello? Have you forgotten this man had been was trying to kill us for the last hour? That he almost broke our back? The fact that he was crazed and psychopathic and like, almost killed us? If we do anything he will probably just want another round of cat-n-mouse.
But…just shut up! I'm gonna at least heal his legs partially.
What? We are almost out of chakra! Use our chakra for better purposes! Like saving our life!
Ignoring her inner argument, Sakura placed both her hands on one of the broken legs, preparing to heal at least some of the damage, because she had broken both of the man's legs and had limited chakra left she decided that it would be more beneficial if she healed both legs partially. At least he would be able to walk then; albeit in a monstrous amount of pain, but it was better than being paralyzed.
"What did you do?"
The quiet voice nearly caused Sakura to die of shock. Though she was smarter than that and instead chose to leap away from the body she was about to heal.
Her body was prepared to flee at a moment's notice, despite feeling guilty of injuring the man; it didn't change the fact that he could still kill her.
However, when she saw the tired orange eyes staring back at her, she didn't feel as tense. In fact she even slouched her body the tiniest bit. She didn't feel like he would try to hurt her again. Even her inner was quiet.
"The headache is gone…"
Sakura tilted her head in confusion before she realized suddenly that it is a natural instinct in her chakra to form a numbing solution while healing or investigation for information with a patient. She supposed that while she looked into his chakra she must have healed whatever the headache was coming from.
"So many have tried…they kept trying…it hasn't gone away…the pain is always there. How could you make it go away?"
"I'm a Medic Nin." Sakura answered quietly. She should be embarrassed of nothing, but somehow the way his eyes stared at her in joy filled wonder was making her almost break out into a blush.
"Can you...can you—"
"Cure it? You're one of Otogakure's experiments right?"
His eye's widened, Sakura swore she saw some shining emotion glitter across his face.
"Can you cure me? Make the part of me…make me stop hurting people?"
Sakura gently rubbed her arm in thought. It was true that from what she gathered in her exploration and from treating so many similar patients that she could cure him. It would take much longer than the others, but she believed she could still do it. The thing was, how could she ever give up so much time to heal a renegade ninja? She couldn't constantly leave Konohagakure to treat him…which could only mean he would have to come to her.
But he was a threat. It was clearly seen in the way he violently chased her and how he had lost control so quickly. She had known this to happen with the other patients, but she had never seen one lose control to such a degree as him. How can she endanger her country like that?
But he didn't seem to actually want to bring her pain. In fact the way he was staring at her with the large eyes filled with hope, made her a hundred percent sure that he was a good person.
"Yes…I think I could. But the process—it would be a long one."
Her decision had been the right one; she was sure of it.
"Heal…you can…"
He seemed so shocked that Sakura couldn't help but smile brightly. It was then she realized it was one of the first real smiles she had used in a long time. Perhaps this man would be good for her. He seemed so innocent and Sakura couldn't help, but feed off it.
"I have healed others with the cursed seal…I'm an expert in that area. Although I have never seen a person with such a strong level of it before…"
Not even Sasuke-kun…
"I don't have a cursed seal…I'm its origin."
"Nani?"
"I'm its origin. My blood was used to create the cursed seal." Juugo spoke softly.
The origin? The original? Sakura suddenly realized just how important this man really was. The origin of the cursed seal…if she managed to bring him back to Konoha. If she could find a cure for this man…She was certain that she could find a definite cure for the hundreds of people out there that still held the cursed seal.
It would be beneficial for the world if she could cure this man.
"I don't think it will hinder your healing. I might have to take a different approach in healing you, but I'm sure that I can find a way to cure you. If I can't than no one can. You'll have to come back to my village and we'll have to run some tests to decide a method in treatment, but we can—"
"Your village?"
"Yes, Konohagakure."
And for the first time since she had noticed the man was awake, the hope vanished from his face.
"I can't…I can't leave him."
"Leave who?"
Juugo's eyes hardened at her question. Sakura realized that it was probably confidential information. She thought it would most likely be the silver haired man that he had appeared with, but somehow that seemed unlikely.
The only way Sakura could heal him properly was by bringing him back to Konoha, but she couldn't force him. Even if he was probably the most important person when it came to the Cursed Seal, forcing him into treatment would not be right. After all she had learned that forcing someone into staying or going was the wrong approach.
She clearly remembered Kakashi-sensei telling her that if they had forced Sasuke to stay in Konoha, nothing good would have come out of it. Sasuke would not have been happy and she would never get a happy ever after. Although she hadn't understood that then, she understood that now.
Which were her reasons for not wanting to have sent any more Sasuke retrieval missions. If he had no desire to return, why should he be forced?
So in order to honor her opinions, she decided to let Juugo leave in peace. Obviously she couldn't leave Konoha to treat him, no matter how important he could be to the medical world; he wasn't worth abandoning her village.
"Then I'm sorry." Sakura answered slowly turning around in preparation to return to her team. She realized how stupid she was for forgetting that Kiba was still alone with the silver haired man. She should have never wasted so much time here.
She heard no noise coming from Juugo, so she assumed that he had no intention to change his mind.
But he still couldn't walk.
Sakura hastily turned back around and dropped to her knees placing her hands to Juugo's legs. His eyes stayed on her.
"I'll heal them the best I can, but I have to leave for my team."
She watched him nod his bright orange head and then silence resumed. Throughout the entire time she healed his legs, his eyes never left her form. It caused her to get anxious and worried. He wouldn't try and force her to stay and heal him, would he? Her eyes flickered up to his face occasionally to see him gazing at her with a strange look in his eyes. Like he was plotting something.
Sakura decided it was in her best interest to knock him out before she finished healing his legs. She didn't want him to attempt anything; she had to return to Kiba and Naruto and everyone.
Because sacrificing her life for a single person was a foolish idea that her twelve year self would have done. Shaking her head in disbelief, she continued healing Juugo's legs. She would never allow such thoughts again.
No more holding it in
How many years can I pretend
That nothing ever goes the way it should
No more sitting in this place
Hoping you might see it my way
'Cause I don't think you ever understood
That what I'm looking for are the answers
To why these questions never go away
Karin had to force more of her chakra into her legs.
This was becoming hell now. Why did Sasuke have to be so concerned for Juugo? It's not like the fat lug did anything special. All he managed to do was go crazy and endanger Team Hebi. What kind of person would want someone like that to be on their team?
Not like she cared for Suigestsu much, but he was about to get his ass kicked and did Sasuke-kun care about that?
No.
So what was this thing with rescuing Princess Juugo?
The only thing that was occurring at the moment was Karin trying not to get left behind as Sasuke increased his speed once again. She could now clearly feel both the Chakras ahead of them. Her estimate of 10 minutes seemed to be cut in half.
A few minutes and they would be there.
"Sasuke-kun~!" Karin whined underneath her breath. She was getting really tired of this speed. Couldn't Sasuke slow down a little bit?
Not to her surprise he didn't reply back to her and didn't slow down his pace. However, he did turn his head to look at her. The expression on his face spoke enough.
Being as quiet as possible Karin caught back up to Sasuke's side and listened for any signs of Juugo and the attacking person.
And finally she heard someone speaking.
"You…move…not enough…"
The voice was that of a woman and although Karin thought nothing of it, Sasuke suddenly stopped completely.
Karin turned around and saw that he had the weirdest expression on his face. He looked almost in pain before anger took over all his features.
He jumped forward and Karin had to step aside at his sudden movement so he wouldn't hit her.
What was wrong with him?
"Just close your eyes for a moment…" The voice called forth again. It was quiet and held the tone of a mother speaking to her child. Sasuke growled under his breath and for the first time Karin realized that at some point he had activated his Sharigan.
She rushed after him as they stumbled into a small clearing in the forest.
They had approached silently and quickly and the first thing Karin saw was the woman.
She was leaning over Juugo's torso; her breasts nearly parallel with his face. If not for the fact that Juugo had his eyes closed he would no doubt be able to see down the pink haired girl's shirt.
Her face leaned closer to him and for a moment Karin would have assumed that she was attempting to kiss him, but then she noticed the hand that had moved to rest upon Juugo's neck.
That pressed softly to his pressure point.
The beauty breathed lightly through her full lips. Although Karin figured she should be worried for Juugo's safety, she was instead preoccupied with the woman's appearance and how Sasuke was staring at nothing except her.
The little green bug of jealously only increased when she heard Sasuke speak in a tone she had never once heard leave his lips.
"Sakura."
I'm so far away
I've been changing but you'll never see me now
I'm so far away
Now I'm blaming you for everything
"Fuck!" Suigetsu cursed.
He would have assumed a stupid injured ninja would be easier to handle, except the stupid injured ninja had a fucking dog the size of a fucking huge bear. What kind of food did they feed dogs in Konoha?
All the same he was now left running with his tail between his legs when he realized he wasn't going to have much of a chance when the stupid mutt boy's back up started appearing.
Not only would he have to face Sasuke and his anger about letting Juugo go on a rampage without even attempting to stop it, but now he had to face the humiliation that he nearly got killed himself by an oversized dog.
He really wasn't looking forward to seeing the rest of the Hebi anytime soon.
And Suigetsu had one question to ask the world…
Why did this sword weigh so freaking much?
Fuck his life….
He was never going to hear the end of this from Karin.
The bitch.
No more waiting for the end
Of every day that I will spend
Wishing that I only had a choice
No more pushing you away
'Cause I'll be busy watching things go my way
Never looking back on this anymore
'Cause what I'm looking for are the answers
To why these questions never go away
Hey, hey watch me wave
Goodbye to yesterday
Nothing left in my way
Hey, hey I've been saved
With sun shining on my pain
Getting me through this day
Hey, hey watch me wave
Goodbye to yesterday
Nothing left in my way
It feels so good to say
I'm so far away
A/N: Review?
National Halfkyuubikat is soooo Sorry Week:
(updates)
~Never Alone (Chapter 12)
~Always Alone (Chapter 4)
~The Darkest Knight (Chapter 3)
~My True Love's Kiss (Chapter 2)
~The Captured Uchiha Matriarch (Chapter 1)
~Motherhood (Chapter 1)
~Sakura's Accumulation of Epic Fails (Chapter 3)
~Surviving Death (Chapter 3)
~My Father's Mistress (Chapter 1)
~The Only (Chapter 2)