Beacon of Hope

Preparations

"Sakura!"

My right hand trembled behind Sasuke's neck. I still hadn't fully absorbed what I had just done, but when I felt his forehead pressed against my chest, I reacted.

The echo of Ino's voice still echoed in my mind and I slowly came to terms with my actions:

I had just knocked Sasuke unconscious with a blow to the head; his weakened state did not allow him to withstand the impact. Ino looked at me in horror; the man on the floor was twitching to wake up, and I was breathing heavily, anxious about the situation.

"Sakura." Ino spoke again, her trembling voice showing that she was just as scared as I was.

"Sasuke is alive, I just knocked him unconscious so I can get whatever's hurting him out of his system. I need time, if the guard wakes up now, I won't be able to finish the job."

"I saw something, something terrible."

"Put another patch on the guard, I need him to stay asleep. When we get out of here, you'll tell me everything you saw in his memories, for now just keep him quiet."

I laid Sasuke on the bed and focused all my chakra into my hands to use them with precision. I would locate large amounts of the poison that was affecting him.

While I had been told that Sasuke was immune to most poisons, the one they had given him in the water was not on that list. I felt anger as I imagined that they had studied him to the point where they knew which things would hurt him.

His thin body worried me; his health could not improve if he continued to suffer from malnutrition. My eyes were swollen and tired from crying, and even though he asked me for one last favor, I would not let him die. Sasuke did not deserve this punishment and humiliation, and all those who agreed to this barbarism would pay dearly.

In a jar, I kept some of the liquid I had extracted, which I would later analyze along with the water Sasuke had kept under the bed. I wanted to believe that he had hidden the liquid he did not want to drink with the intention that I could help him.

I finished removing a large amount of the poison from his system; I wiped the sweat from my brow and stood watching Sasuke. His breathing was slow and leisurely, I put my hand on his chest and felt his heart beating.

All I could think about was how much he was suffering and it fueled my anger. Too many thoughts entered my head and they all coincided.

"Sakura, the guard is about to wake up, what should we do?"

I looked at Ino who was kneeling in front of the man who was still lying on the floor. I closed my medical kit and took a last look at Sasuke before I left the cell.

"Let's make him think he fainted." I said and crouched down.

"Okay."

Ino patted the man's face and he slowly opened his eyes in confusion. He looked at both of us and frowned, then sat up and rubbed his neck.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

"Are you all right?" I asked, "You suddenly pass out, did you get enough sleep?"

"What? Did I faint?" He grabbed a pole and stood up, he looked into the cell, "What happened to the Uchiha?"

Ino and I got up as well.

"He fell asleep." I answered.

"Asleep?" He looked at us unbelievingly and went into the cell. "Curiously, I fainted and woke up to find the inmate in a state of unconsciousness, what the hell did you do?"

"We didn't do anything, Sasuke is very weak and this weakness has made him like this: tired, no energy. He is not eating well, and of course a poorly fed person would end up like this. The right question would be: What are you doing to Sasuke?" I said angrily and looked into the eyes of the guard.