Summary: My take on what happened to Sasuke right after the incident in the Land of Waves. A bit of Sasuke whumpage, a dose of fluff, a pinch of OOC Sasuke (a glimpse into his more vulnerable side).

A/N: If you've read my other stories, and you can't tell that I have a needle complex and character torture fetish, then you haven't been reading my stories lol. I froth that stuff. And I'm a bit needle-phobic myself, which makes it easy for me to write that fear into other characters. I don't faint, and I don't freak (maybe a bit), but I do avoid. Too bad for Sasuke there's no avoiding the next thousand words. I say Sasuke is OOC in this fic because of how vulnerable he presents. Realistically, Sasuke is a very sensitive, emotional teen, and we catch glimpses of that in the anime/manga. This is one of those glimpses.

Trauma

The nurse gripped one of the senbon with forceps and pulled it out of Sasuke.

"Ahhh!"

"Easy, Sasuke," Kakashi soothed.

The young Uchiha replied with a disheartened moan and squeezed his eyes shut when the nurse moved on to the next one.

"AHHH! Huff…huff…huff."

The sound of metal on metal as the darning sized needle dropped into the kidney dish. Kakashi pressed a hand to his student's bare forehead, not minding the sweat. There were dozens of senbon lodged nearly all the way into Sasuke's muscles. When the head nurse pulled one out, a small gush of blood followed, and there was a second nurse who healed the wounds and cleaned the mess. Kakashi had to stay strong for his young charge; they had only just begun the procedure.

"AH! Ka…s-shi."

"I know, Sasuke."

Kakashi understood from his own experience how effective senbon were. But never had he been struck by so many. Naturally, Haku had missed Sasuke's vital organs, but still…it was painful enough to remove just one. Naruto, on the other hand, had it a lot easier. By the time they got to the Land of Waves' hospital, the senbon in his body had been nearly pushed out, presumably rejected the Nine Tails, and his wounds healed.

The Jonin squeezed Sasuke's hand and got an equal response. It was a very open gesture, it admitted his pain, and that meant Sasuke was truly suffering.

"This one has gone through bone," the nurse said as she gripped a senbon in Sasuke's shin.

She pulled, hard, and it didn't't move. Sasuke's eyes bulged to the size of dinner plates, his pupils dilated, his teeth bared. He exhaled the most blood-curdling scream. He kicked out his legs and launched his body off the bed.

"Hold him down!" The nurses cried.

Luckily, Kakashi was fast enough and grabbed Sasuke's shoulders, forcing him back down. He had to use his whole body weight to keep him there.

"Hold still Sasuke," Kakashi said, panting with the effort.

The door flew open and Naruto and Sakura ran in.

"Kakashi-sensei, we heard…is Sasuke okay?"

Kakashi looked over his shoulder. Behind Naruto, Sakura was crying. They were both shaken, because they had never heard Sasuke like this. Sasuke was the strong type, not the type to let on something was wrong, the type to hide all of his emotions. For them to hear, and see Sasuke open like a fresh wound meant he must be dying.

"We're alright. Go back outside. We'll call if we need you."

Reluctantly, Naruto led Sakura out, and slowly shut the door.

The nurse tried again, wiggling the senbon until it loosened and pulled it out. Sasuke gripped Kakashi's forearms, digging his nails into the skin, and looked up at his mentor.

"Make them stop," he begged.

Kakashi looked at the nurses pleadingly. "He can't take much more of this."

"The senbon are interfering with his nervous system, they've increased his pain reception," one of them said. "There's nothing we can do until we remove them, as quickly as possible."

"Just hurry."

"Ka…kakashi…"

Reluctantly, Kakashi looked back down at Sasuke.

"I…Ahh!" Another senbon was extracted. "Kakashi, make them stop."

The Jonin's entire being wilted. He couldn't oblige his suffering student, not this time.

"You're going to be alright. I promise."

Sasuke flung his head back as another senbon was pulled. Every second was agonizing, and it felt like he would suffer forever, each stab of pain worse than the last. He wanted to believe Kakashi, and some small voice jailed far into his mind knew his suffering would end. But right now he was being driven mad with this endless onslaught to his senses. Only one thing in his life had been more painful than this. Finally, as those wretched nurses kept hurting him – he knew it was their job, but God he couldn't take it anymore – he snapped and got the better of Kakashi.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi scrambled to regain control, not sure how or where the young Uchiha suddenly found his strength. "Don't make me do something I won't like."

"Get off me!"

"We can't let him move too much," the nurse warned. "The senbon are along his chakra network. He could seriously damage himself."

Sasuke was about to make it to his feet when Kakashi did the first thing he could think of that would stop the kid in his tracks without risking pushing any of the senbon in further. He slapped him clean across the cheek. The sound echoed across the room, possibly through the entire hospital, and everything froze. Kakashi couldn't think over the sound of blood rushing to his ears. Sasuke's face was turned to the side, his eyes obscured by his bangs.

Kakashi held his breath, but Sasuke didn't move. He took a tentative step, then another, until they were almost touching. Suddenly, Sasuke launched forward, and it took the older ninja a second to realize that he wasn't being hit, but hugged. Not just that, Sasuke was squeezing so hard it made his ribs twinge. Kakashi rested one hand across Sasuke's shoulders and the other on the back of his head. Then, without protest, he led him back to the bed and – maintaining their bond – laid down with him.

It didn't feel strange; he wasn't embarrassed in front of the nurses. This felt right. If this was what Sasuke needed to feel safe, Kakashi would do it. He would do anything for him.

"You can keep going," he told the nurses.

Sasuke held still for every extraction afterwards. He clenched his toes and dug his fingers into Kakashi's shoulders and shoved his face into Kakashi's chest but he didn't fight them.

"It's almost done, Sasuke. When we get back to the Hidden Leaf I'll treat you to lunch somewhere, your pick. And then after we can do some training, just the two of us."

Sasuke's response was a muffled sob, but Kakashi could tell he was hanging onto every word.

"I failed to protect you. I made a promise I couldn't keep in that situation. You guys weren't ready for opponents as advanced as Zabuza and Haku. I should have pulled the plug on the mission when the bandits attacked us. I guess, deep inside, I wanted to see what you three were made of. I put you all at great risk."

"It's…okay nhh," Sasuke muttered

Kakashi pulled him in closer. "I'll do everything in my power to protect you and make you stronger."

"We're done," the head nurse declared as she wiped the sweat off her brow. "He'll have to stay the night. His chakra network will take more time heal."

"I'll go get some fresh sheets," the other said.

Kakashi nodded. "Thank you."

Sasuke woke up the following afternoon, still clinging to a wonderful dream he couldn't remember. At first he couldn't remember why he was in a strange bed, but he knew he was safe and alive.

He caught some movement at the foot of his bed and looked down at spiky blonde hair and an ear-to-ear grin.

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted, far too loud for Sasuke even on good days. "You're back! You had us really worried for a while."

Sakura wiped the corner of her eye and smiled. "Oh Sasuke, I'm so glad you're alright,"

Sasuke tried to sit up groaned at the residual soreness all over his body. Sakura rushed to help him.

"You shouldn't try to move right away," she urged.

"Awhh, Sakura, quit fussin' over him, he's fine. Besides you don't want to encourage him."

"Baka! I'm just making sure Sasuke-kun's okay! If you're jealous you can just say so."

"Jealous?! No way!"

Sasuke spotted the one he was looking for by the window; always watching from the sidelines, but always there. Despite the mask, Sasuke could tell that Kakashi was smiling softly. For a moment everything else faded into the background and it was just them. Their teammates oblivious, they shared silent words. Kakashi wasn't sure how Sasuke would react; pride, maybe, or perhaps ignore Kakashi for a while. Instead, Sasuke's eyes were full and strong, like he had found something precious once lost. Then Sasuke blinked and scowled at Naruto.

"Shut up, Loser. The way I remember it you walked right into their trap."

"What?! I hope you get better so I can kick your ass!"

"Naruto, don't be so mean to Sasuke he hasn't recovered yet."

Sasuke crossed his arms. "I'm fine. It's not like he could do anything to me anyways."

"Hey!"

Kakashi smiled. Back to normal. As it should be.

~ End ~

A/N: I've already got a sequel in mind. What do you think?