Naruto & Sasuke : The Love that Changed Fate

Chapter 23: The Boundaries of Love

Sakura stood under a large tree waiting for her sensei. He had left off on his own telling Sakura to stay where she was. She wondered what might have happened.

As she was pondering she saw something in the distance.

Sakura saw Naruto approaching in her direction. With him was Sasuke who was being supported by an arm. She saw his injuries and the blood on his clothes.

"Sasuke!" she said with worry.

As Naruto carefully set down Sasuke he briefly explained what had happened. Naruto knelt beside him and looked at him worriedly. He moved his hand and put it on Sasuke's shoulder.

Sakura quickly began doing some first aid on Sasuke. As she was doing so Kakashi also arrived.

"Sakura. You took the extra medical nin-jutsu course right?" said Kakashi.
"Y-yes" the young kunoichi replied.
"Then try healing that wound on his shoulder" said Kakashi.

"Ok..." said Sakura. She searched for the wound but...

"There isn't a wound on his shoulder sensei" she said wondering what her sensei was talking about.

Kakashi then turned to look at Sasuke thinking 'I definitely saw a wound there. Did I see it wrong perhaps?' But as he looked closer he noticed something odd.

Some of the bruises and wounds he had were suddenly no longer there. Kakashi frowned wondering what had caused it. He asked Sakura but she told him she hadn't healed him yet.

'It couldn't have been Naruto. He can only heal himself. And that too had its limits on Naruto's body' the jonin thought.

Despite this Kakashi ordered Sakura to try out her skills. The kunoichi knelt down and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and concentrated. Sure enough green chakra flowed from her hands. Slowly Sasuke's injuries started healing.

It was around a minute before she lost it. She exhaled sharply as she felt the lack of her chakra. "Sorry that's all I can do" she said. She looked up to the sky and sighed as she felt light-headed.

Kakashi saw that she had minimised most of Sasuke's severe injuries. 'Most genin can only hold out for fifteen seconds' he thought, impressed by her skill. "For a beginner you've done well. Good work" he said to Sakura.

Naruto sat there quietly. He was glad that Sasuke was safe. But as he looked at him he once again noticed his injuries. He felt guilt piling up inside him. 'I should've gone with him' he thought. 'If I was with him, this wouldn't have happened. Why did I let him go alone?...I let him get hurt.'

With this overwhelming regret crushing his heart he said "I'm sorry...I couldn't do anything. I should've stayed with him"

Kakashi saw the look on his face and said "It's not your fault Naruto. Those guys weren't supposed to be around here"

Sasuke looked at the sad expression on Naruto's face and knew that the idiot was feeling guilty.

"It's not your fault idiot. You said you weren't feeling well. Who knows what would've happened if you hadn't stopped to rest and fought those shinobi instead".

Hearing his words Naruto's heart lightened. He somehow seemed to understand that this was Sasuke's way of saying 'I didn't want you hurt'

Sakura spent the next few minutes giving Sasuke some more first aid. She tried her healing jutsu every few minute with some short breaks.

Meanwhile Naruto and Kakashi searched for the cat. They finally found it after thirty minutes or so of searching in the forest. Naruto tried to grab the cat but it hissed at him angrily "MRAWW!!"