325Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.
On the Run
They had no time to stop. Patrols were everywhere around them and only Kiba and Akamaru's sense of smell combined with Hinata and Henabi's byakugan kept them ahead and away from the patrols.
Moving a group of this size with any speed was all but impossible without leaving a large trail. The younger children also couldn't keep up a good pace. Finally Gaara created sleds of suna and they loaded the kids, what little they had for gear, and a still unconscious Neji onto those to make better time.
Now that Genma was free of his burden, he ran forward with Lee to try and get a message, personally writing by Gaara, to Suna as fast as possible about the situation Konoha was in. The rest of them moved as fast as possible without exhausting themselves or making too much ruckus.
"We are being followed." Kiba stated late in the evening, quietly enough for the kids not to pick up.
"How many?" Shikamaru asked apprehensively.
"One." Kiba answered, taking a stronger whiff of the air. Akamaru joined him, barking his report to his master.
"Are you sure?" Kiba asked, fear and shock on his face and in his voice.
Akamaru barked a positive response.
"Are there more?" Naruto demanded.
"No, but the one following us, Akamaru is positive it's Sasuke." Kiba reported.
"Sasuke?" Sakura asked, a hint of fear, pain, and longing in her voice.
Naruto stopped, turned and looked down the path, a determined look on his face. The others also stopped.
"Naruto, what are you thinking?" Shikamaru asked after a few seconds of silence.
"Go on ahead." Naruto ordered.
"Nani!" The others shouted.
"Go. I'll catch up." Naruto ordered calmly as he started to walk back down the path.
"Naruto…" Sakura started.
Naruto turned to look at her. "I made a promise, and I am going to keep it." He smiled at her, thumb up. "Go. I'll catch up." He repeated, serious again.
"Naruto-kun." Hinata stated quietly as Naruto walked away from them with a confident waltz.
"Let's move." Shikamaru snapped, taking everyone by surprise. "If one enemy has found us, others are likely to be behind them."
They set forth again in the formation Shikamaru had set up, their pace quickened.
"Kiba, get up with the children and Neji." Shikamaru ordered.
"I'm fine." Kiba rejected.
"No, you are not. You are leaving a trail of blood."
Kiba looked back down the trail, droplets of blood dotting it where Temari had yet to cover their trail with her wind. His side had ripped open again and he was in blistering agony.
Nodding his head, he joined Neji on a sled of suna controlled by Gaara, checking his fellow Jounin over. Neji was very pale and breathing badly. Tsunade had fixed the broken bones, but she had not healed his bruised lungs or other damaged tissue. No one had expected they would be on the run so soon after getting back with no medical care available to them.
Neji looked worse than he had the evening before when Tsunade had been drilling them. It didn't look like he was healing at all.
"Shikamaru." Kiba called quietly.
Shikamaru joined him instantly.
"Neji is looking worse." He stated.
Shikamaru took a look and silently agreed. Neji was deathly pale and his breathing was very laboured. He was also freezing and burning up at the same time.
"Find anything you can to cover him to keep him warm. I'll get Sakura to look at him." Shikamaru ordered.
Kiba nodded his head as he took his own jacket off and used it to cover Neji. Hinata offered her own jacket, as did Shino. Most of the blankets Sakura had managed to pack into the bags of supplies the kids carried where being used by said kids now that the temperature was dropping and they were getting cold. They were cluster two a blanket as it was.
(break)
Her mind was constantly on Naruto and Sasuke. She couldn't stop the 'what ifs' from running though her brain, no matter what she did to distract herself.
"Sakura." Shikamaru hailed as he fell into step next to her.
"What is it?" She asked.
"Neji is not looking good. He was already wounded badly from before, but he is looking worse. Can you take a look at him and Kiba?"
"Of course." She answered as she fell back and jumped up onto the suna sled without the slightest hint of fear or hesitation.
Neji was looking bad, very bad.
"Situation." She demanded of Kiba, her voice firm and commanding as she took the bag of medical supplies she had been carrying on her back off and started to root through it.
"His ribs were broken when he took one of my deflected Gatsuuga's in the chest. He was out of chakra and suffered multiple lacerations from various Kunai, Needles, and Shirukens." Kiba reported.
"And you?"
"I took a sword slash to my stomach and also have multiple lacerations from various weapons. I smashed my head into a tree too and have had a headache ever since." He admitted.
"How long ago?"
"Three days."
"Men." She grumbled in irritation. "Always trying to act tuff. Look at me." She commanded.
Blinking he obeyed as she took a medical flashlight out of her bag and glared it into his eyes. He blinked and tried to turn away but she caught his chin with a hand and held him steady. When did she get so strong?
"Are you having any problems with your vision?"
"Ile."
She put the light aside and started to probe his head with her fingers until she found the large lump.
"Owe." He complained.
"No signs of concussion. I will stitch up your wound later. Right now Neji needs my attention more. Avoid activity and warn me at once if your vision starts getting wrong or if your headache doesn't go away in a few days."
She turned her attention to Neji, taking out a thermometer and stuffing it in his mouth before picking up her light again and shinning it into his eyes.
"Konohamaru-kun." She summoned.
"Hai, Sakura-san." Konohamaru answered.
"Get Hinata-chan back here ASAP." She ordered.
"Hai." Konohamaru saluted as he rushed forward in the line to the lead.
Sakura took the thermometer out of Neji's mouth and frowned. Hinata arrived as she sterilized it and put it away. Without being asked, Hinata looked at her older cousin with her Byakugan, then gasped and covered her mouth with her hands.
"Report." Sakura ordered crisply.
"His chakra is flowing erratically. Several of the veins have been damaged, and his left lung is slightly punctured and seems to be infected. He also appears to be fighting off a poison of some sort that seems to be shutting down his tenketsu points." Hinata reported.
"I figured as much." She snarled in rage. "Hinata, can you close the damaged tenketsu points and re-route his chakra to help heal the more damaged areas?" She asked.
"Hai." She agreed as she touched her cousin in specific parts of his body while Sakura started forming seals to heal the puncture in his lung.
Hinata finished as Sakura finished performing her seals. Chakra flowed through her into her patient as she started the painfully slow process of mending the small hole in his lunge, urging damaged cells to replace themselves faster by feeding them her chakra. It was exhausting work. Sweat started to poor down her face almost immediately.
"Hinata, antibiotic." She ordered through clenched teeth.
"Hai." She took a protective case out of Sakura's bag.
She opened it up and took out a bottle before grabbing a disposable syringe. Sakura ignored her, concentrating on getting the hole sealed and fighting back as much of the infection as she could.
Hinata grabbed a cotton swab, poured some antiseptic on it, and cleaned a spot on Neji's arm before putting the needle in and injecting the antibiotic. Neji never even made a motion to show he felt anything.
Sakura knew the instant the antibiotic started working. She finished healing the hole in his lung and pulled out. She could do more, but dared not to. It was more then enough for now and Kiba still needed help. The poison was not life threatening, merely a draught that seemed to mess up his chakra and cause lethargy.
They were on the run and anything could happen at any moment. She could not afford to waste her chakra on something non-life threatening. Hinata disposed of the needle as they turned their attention to Kiba.
"Lay down and take your shirt off." Sakura ordered as Hinata took out a sterilizing cloth, opening the package and handing it to Sakura.
She cleaned her hands as Hinata pulled on a pair of disposable gloves before removing the blood soaked dressing of Kiba's wound, disposing of it in a safety bag. Sakura cleaned the wound with another cloth, ignoring Kiba's hiss of pain as Hinata pulled out a small leather pouch with various tools in it. Kiba's eyes widened when he saw the glistening tools.
"What are those for?" He asked with a gulp.
"To take out the stitches and put in new ones." Sakura answered, disposing the bloody cloth in the bag with the rest of the blood drenched stuff.
She took the sterilized needle and thread from Hinata and set to work. Kiba hissed in pain and looked anywhere but his stomach. With his stitches done, she spread some of Hinata's famous ointment on the wound before bandaging it up again.
"Done." She declared, cleaning her hands off and helping Hinata sterilize and clean up their supplies. "I will tell Shikamaru that you are restricted to light activity until the wound has closed. I would prefer it for you to ride the sand sleds unless it can't be helped."
"But." He protested.
"Kiba." She locked her eyes with his. "There is no safe house to get to. We are on our own for an unknown length of time and we need to make the supplies last. Do not take foolish risks. I will make it an order as Head Medical Specialist if need be."
"And what am I suppose to do until then?" Kiba growled in annoyance.
"Watch Neji." She stated. "I can't keep an eye on him all of the time. Here."
She handed him a bottle of pills from a different bag, which was cluttered with various bottles of other pills, and a bottle of water.
"Make sure he takes two of those every eight hours. If he wakes up or his condition shows any signs of changing, let me know immediately. Understand?"
"Hai."
"Good."
She pulled her bags over her shoulder and jumped down from the suna sled, Hinata following her as they moved to the back of the line, currently dominate by Shikamaru, Temari, and Gaara. Akamaru returned from scouting ahead and gave him a pathetic look with a whimper.
"Don't even start." Kiba warned.
Akamaru almost looked like he was laughing as he trotted next to the sled.
"They've been taking care of for the moment." Sakura stated as she fell back to Shikamaru's left, his right being dominated by Temari, and he did not look happy about it.
"As of this moment, you are the Head Medical Specialist." Shikamaru stated.
"I was the moment we were assigned the mission." She countered.
"I am making it official."
Without warning, Temari twirled around and cleared their trail with a soft wave of her fan. Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin in surprise.
"Tell Tenten and Shino to pick up the pace again." Shikamaru ordered.
"Hai." One of Konohamaru's Genin friends saluted as he ran to the front of the line.
They picked up the speed to a fast jog again, having slowed down while Sakura worked on Neji and Kiba.
"How long can you hold those suna sleds Gaara-sama?" She asked.
"Why?" He asked calmly.
"Kiba and Neji really should not move and we don't have stretchers." She answered.
"I will hold them." He stated.
"Arigato." She would have bowed politely, but they were jogging rather quickly, which quickly turned into a looping sprint the Jounin and Chuunin would be have been able to hold for several hours had they not all be exhausted from running all day.
"Shikamaru, is there a safe house nearby? We need to rest." She asked, noticing that Tenten, Hinata, Ino, Choji, the Genin, and even herself were starting to lag.
"We can't afford to until after we cross the boarder." He answered, his own breath sounding short.
It was fully dark now, the only light coming from the full moon and most of the children were asleep. Naruto had yet to catch up to them and she felt the first stirrings of worry overcome her before pushing it aside.
Something white ran up to them before it materialized as Akamaru, who barked softly. Shikamaru picked up the pace until he was running next to the sled bearing Kiba and Neji.
"What is it?" He demanded.
"Akamaru says Lee and Genma-san are on their way back." Kiba translated.
"Already?" Sakura asked surprised.
"The boarder must be guarded." Shikamaru cursed.
"Shikamaru, we need to rest. Akamaru, were there any caves or thick brush to set up a small camp in?" She asked.
Akamaru barked softly a few times while Kiba translated.
"There is a waterfall off to the right with a cave behind it. It's wet, but well covered and deep enough for all of us if we cram in."
Sakura shared a look with Shikamaru. He nodded his head as he sprinted to the front of the line to inform Tenten and Shino of the change in plans.
"How is he?" Sakura asked.
"His fever is down and his breathing is steadier. He hasn't stirred yet." Kiba reported.
She nodded her head in acknowledgment. The formation shifted to the right and the sound of a river soon reached their ears, waking up the children. Gaara covered them with his suna so no one got soaked going through he falls. In fact, if it wasn't for the suna, the water current would have made passage impossible.
Neji and Kiba were set down at the back of the cave to be as dry as possibly, followed by the children. Gaara, Temari, Akamaru, and Shikamaru stayed on the other side of the waterfall. Gaara was standing guard, he didn't sleep after all, while Temari, Shikamaru and Akamaru went to meet up with Lee and Genma, and hopefully coming across Naruto to.
"Naruto is coming." Shino stated to her.
"Huh?" She looked at him in surprise.
"Naruto is on his way here." He repeated.
"How would you know that?" She asked in surprise.
In answer he held up his hand, a single bug on it as he explained how the males could detect the scent of the females, of which one was on Naruto. Blinking in surprise, she suddenly hit a brain wave.
"Shino, can you put females on everyone. This way if someone goes missing or if we are separated, we have a higher chance of regrouping."
He nodded his head in agreement and held his hand out. Trying not to shudder in revulsion, she let the little bug crawl onto her hand and watched as it scurried up her arm and into a pocket.
"What do they eat?"
"Chakra, but so little you will not notice."
She watched as a small stream of the bugs scurried away from Shino to different targets. Feeling better now that she knew Naruto was on his way, she turned to regard the children, all of whom were huddled under blankets and shivering from the cold spray of water. Iruka was comforting many of them.
She went over to them in an attempt to help. Iruka looked exhausted and would no doubt need rest himself.
"Sakura-san, I am hungry." One complained.
"I'm cold." Another whimpered.
She sighed as she hugged them. In their rush they'd had no time to pack food, as there was none easily transportable in the hospitable.
"I know. It will be over soon."
"Do you think Konoha is okay?" Another sobbed.
"Of course." She said cheerfully. "Tsunade-sama is there and she's strong. Kakashi-sensei was fighting, as was everyone's parents."
"Then why are we still running?"
Sakura sighed.
"Konoha is most likely under enemy control, and they want to stop us from getting help. You are part of an important mission to bring aid to Konoha."
The children beamed at that. If it was one way to strike the fear out of a child, it was to let them think they were doing something very important and adult like.
"Now get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a long day and you all need to be at full strength."
"Goodnight Sakura-san." The children coursed.
"Goodnight." She responded.
It didn't take long for the lull of the waterfall to put them to sleep. Iruka smiled at her gratefully as he went took a post by the water, no doubt worried and waiting for Naruto to come back.
(break)
Temari and Shikamaru followed Akamaru through the trees until the white inunin stopped. A few seconds later Lee and Genma appeared.
"Blocked?" Shikamaru asked.
"For miles in either direction." Lee confirmed, looking out of breath, though not nearly as out of breath as Genma did.
Shikamaru turned to Temari.
"Is there a back way in or something?"
She shook her head in answer. "It's all open country. A child could guard it easily. The best luck we would have would be for Gaara to cover all of us with a suna shield and hope to blend in, but I doubt it would work against Akatsuki. They already got past his shield once and I am sure they will be prepared to counter such a move."
Shikamaru nodded, having already come to the same conclusion, but hopping Temari might have though of something he hadn't. He briefly toyed with the idea of a full offensive with hopes one of them would get through to Suna. He might have done it to if it were not for the children under their care and the fact that two of his more powerful Jounin where out of commission and a third's fate was unknown.
"Let's get back to the camp and rest for now, we will think of something in the morning." He ordered.
His mind was all but blank at this point, having been awake for the last eighty some odd hours. How on earth did Gaara do it? His mind was mush right now and the silence of the dark night was starting to lull him into sleep. He envied Neji and Kiba, who were both sleeping.
He glanced at Temari and noticed black circles were forming under her eyes as well and he could only imagine what he must look like. They had just made it back to the waterfall when Akamaru's fur went up and he started to growl.
"What is it?" Shikamaru demanded, putting a hand up to stop everyone.
Gaara jumped down from his perch in a nearby tree to join them, also scanning in the direction Akamaru was growling.
"Shikamaru-kun." Shouted a tired, exhausted voice from the dark.
"Naruto-kun." Temari called.
A bloody, beating Naruto materialized out of the trees.
"We need to move now. Three ANBU level patrols are on their way, one from the north, one from the south, and one from the west."
Their blood ran cold at the news as Naruto joined them. Akamaru's fur was still up and was gazing past Naruto.
"How did you find us?" Shikamaru demanded.
"I followed the trail Sakura-chan left me." He answered, holding out a few white flowers that were known to grow locally.
Shikamaru blinked in surprise, then started to dish out orders. Gaara's Suna no Tate created a path to the waterfall and everyone was roused. The children protested, but fell asleep again on the suna sleds once they were out of the cave and heading south.
Neji and Kiba didn't stir as Gaara created and lifted the suna sleds under them. Akamaru joined his master's side, still glaring off into the distance were the scent of many enemies were fast approaching.
They moved out at a full sprint, the Genin packed with the children to allow faster speeds. Having only a few hours rest, the Chuunin and Jounin were not doing any better. Shikamaru and Temari started to lag almost instantly before Sakura ordered them up on suna sleds before they ran themselves to death.
Both protested, but Sakura made it a direct order as Head Medical Specialist, which outranked Shikamaru as Team Leader and Temari as Second in command, which Sakura had no doubt she was even if Shikamaru would deny it. They meshed so well it was amazing.
She was doing no better then they, having exhausted a fair bit of her Chakra healing Neji. She almost yelped in shock when Naruto scooped her up.
"Naruto-kun." She hissed.
"They are gaining on us. We need to move faster." Naruto answered calmly.
She didn't ask how he knew that, but she did notice his eyes were slit and red instead of baby blue. His whiskers were more pronounced and he looked like he had fangs. Chakra was flowing around him and she realized it was red instead of his usual blue. His previous wounds had also already healed.
"Is this Kyuubi's doing?" She wondered.
"They are gaining. We aren't going to outrun them. Akamaru, run ahead and see if you can find a place to defend." Naruto ordered.
Sakura expected Shikamaru to protest, but looking back he noticed that the Jounin was firmly unconscious, as was Temari, Kankurou, and Kiba.
Akamaru barked in agreement and sprinted ahead. Naruto fell back a bit and placed her on the sled next to the sleeping Jounin.
"Rest. Things are going to get ugly soon." Naruto commanded as he fell further back, taking up the rear with Gaara.
(break)
Naruto was very worried. Tenten, Lee, Shino and Genma looked like they were holding up okay, but the Genin, Hinata, Sakura, Ino, and Choji were starting to lag. He deposited Sakura on one of the sleds, than ordered the other chuunin up before they ran themselves to death.
It was a sure sign of their exhaustion when none of them protested, but obediently and silently obeyed. The other members of Gaara's rescue team were already unconscious; thanks to the sleeping Jutsu Gaara had taught him during his visit to Suna. At the rate they were going, they would die of exhaustion come dawn.
"How much longer can you hold those sleds?" Naruto asked quietly so the others couldn't hear.
"An hour at most." Gaara admitted, his breath laboured.
Gaara was not use to running long distances and was only still active at all since he had been carried back to Konoha while the others ran. Naruto was still running since Kyuubi healed him fast and he had a lot of endurance, but even he admitted he was nearing his end.
He had used all of his Chakra when confronting Sasuke and was drawing purely off of Kyuubi now. Sasuke, now that had been an interesting encounter and he couldn't help but to smirk when he though of it. Things were bound to get interesting.
Well, now we knew where Sasuke is. More of Sasuke and his confrontation with Naruto next chapter. If anyone wonders most chapter are eight to ten pages of twelve font long.
Kurenai's relationship with Asuma is not really shown much in this part of the arc. Mostly she will be dealing with Katsu's constant demands upon her and with the children she is trying to protect. Most of the relationship growing between the two will be in the second arc, hopefully. I haven't started on the second arc and my stories have a way of writing themselves. Heck, all of the stuff after chapter 2 with kurenai hadn't been planned. It sort of weaseled its way in so every second chapter was from her point of view. I found her really easy to write.
Thanks to dragonzair, queen dopplepoppleous, The gandhara, and NissanNut for reviewing. Glad to know I am not the only Kurenai fan out there.