SasuSaku - Past Selves

Chapter 2 - Meantime

- 10 years later, present day-

"How is she doing?" said Sakura in a worried tone, rushing injured Tenten to the operating table. "Tell me what happened!"

"She got hurt real bad," yelled Neji, visibly upset and unsettled. "We were attacked by some masked criminals on the way back to the mission, and one of them stabbed her straight through her heart", he could barely catch his breath.

"I see some stitches on her. Who operated on her?" Inquired Sakura, putting her facemask on and putting her hair in a bun.

"Some medics in the closest village. They said she only had a day to leave, apparently her heart was pierced and the blade contained poison. They said there was nothing anyone could do, they tried every antidote, every healing jutsu" Neji's breath shook. "Please Sakura, don't let her die, please."

Sakura placed her palm on Tenten's heart for a few seconds, and looked up at Neji.

"You're in luck, Neji," she smiled, "She will be just fine."

After only five minutes, Sakura left the room to greet Neji pacing outside the door. "You can see her now", she smiled warmly.

"She's alive?!" Neji gasped and ran past her into the operating room, giving fully recovered Tenten the biggest hug. "Oh my god, you scared me..."

"When did you become such a softie, Neji?" Teased Sakura, who had followed him into the room. "Her injury was unfortunate, but whoever made that poison did not think about the five different chemical element combinations that can break down the poison. What a major oversight. And her heart was easy to regenerate. She is good as new!"

"Thank you Sakura..." Tenten sighed, "You literally saved my life, I owe you one."

"So do I!" Chimed in Neji.

"I am just doing my job!" Sakura chuckled, "your friendship is good enough repayment. I will see you both around, I have to go meet Naruto for dinner!"

The past ten years have been intense for Sakura. She spent the better part of the first year without Sasuke crying herself to sleep. She lost a dangerous amount of weight, and could not leave her bed. Her friends tried everything they could, especially Naruto. He never gave up on her, and eventually helped her accept the fact that Sasuke made his decision. After a year, Konoha appointed a new Hokare - Lady Tsunade. Naruto and Kakashi convinced Sakura to start training with Tsunade. Honestly, they were simply hoping to get Sakura out of her house, and encourage her to talk to a woman, as neigher Naruto nor Kakashi know how to comfort Sakura correctly. They thought Tsunade could help her get back on her feet.

And oh, were they right. Through training with Tsunade for nine years, Sakura rediscovered her self-esteem, confidence, and joy for life. She slowly started to eat more, smile more, and go on missions again. She started accompanying teams as a medical ninja, and felt great happiness by helping save the lives of her fellow Konoha citizens. Tsunade quickly noticed Sakura's unmatched talent for chakra control, and found ways to help her reach her full potential. Tsunade was tough, often training Sakura past her physical limits. Tsunade believed that it is a medic's responsibility to not get injured during any battle, so she taught Sakura highest level taijutsu - to the point where Sakura almost defeated Rock Lee.

Now, at 24 years old, Sakura was the head doctor of Konoha Hospital. She and Naruto tried dating for a bit, which she still considered a rebound thing for her. They didn't last, though - mostly due to lack of romantic and sexual chemistry. They remained great friends, which Sakura was extremely thankful for. To be honest, they did still have occasional drunk sex, which Naruto definitely looked forward to more than Sakura. Long story short, life was good, and Sakura slept great at night without Sasuke. He still crossed her mind every now and then - you don't just forget your first love. She didn't miss him, but she did miss the idea of him - the feeling of being loved, and the feeling of loving someone completely and unconditionally.

Over the years, her feelings toward Sasuke slowly transitioned toward anger. After she fully processed the pain and heartbreak, the feelings of anger and disdain crept in her heart. How could he just leave her after two years of dating? No warning, no contact, nothing. She would have taken a bullet for that guy, she even offered to abandon her friends and her entire life to leave with him, and he just knocked her out. How dare he? His loss. She tried not to think of him much.

Which, honestly, became more and more difficult in the past few months. You see, Sasuke was declared an S-rank criminal by all nations after murdering Orochimaru, Deidara, and Danzo - all considered to be extremely powerful ninja. The latter was a Konoha elder, which pushed Tsunade to label Sasuke as a criminal. The Anbu team was sent after him three months ago, with no luck. Sakura tried not to think about it much, as she was busy with her medical duties.

Indeed, Sasuke was leading a busy life. After 10 years of training, he had obtained power far beyond what he had hoped for when he was 14. He easily defeated his master Orochimaru, who tried to take Sasuke's sharingan from him when he let his guard down. The fight was quick, but intense. Sasuke realised he was finally ready to face his brother. He put together a team he named Taka, which consisted of Suigetsu, Juugo and Karin- Orochimaru's old test subjects. Suigetsu used water-style chakra to liquefy his body on command, and used one of the strongest swords in the world. Juugo possessed intense physical strength, and Karin was one of the best tracker ninjas who could also use some medical ninjutsu.

After killing Orochimaru, the Akatsuki sent one of their members to eliminate Sasuke. His name was Deidara. He was a strong opponent, but Sasuke managed to single-handedly defeat him. He even admitted that the Akatsuki wanted him eliminated as a way to protect their member Itachi Uchiha. That, counter intuitively, made Sasuke feel great and respected. That means the Akatsuki saw him as a threat and were taking him seriously.

Next on his list was Danzo - one of Itachi's bosses from when Sasuke was still a kid. He was the mastermind behind Itachi's mission to eliminate his own clan. He went into that fight very confident, but things took a turn for the worse. Danzo was a formidable opponent, with terrifying power and techniques. Although Sasuke emerged victorious with the help of team Taka, Danzo managed to mess him up badly. Sasuke had multiple injuries, and lost a scary amount of blood. Karin was hopeless against physical trauma of this level.

Being this close to death showed Sasuke how much he needed a great medic on his team. His aim was to kill everyone involved in his clan's demise, most of which were highly skilled ninjas. So, he needed to live long enough to kill his brother. Sasuke spent the past month recovering from his fight with Danzo.

"I won't be this lucky next time," said Sasuke at their daily team meeting at the hideout. "Which means, there will be no next time. Here are your missions this week: Juugo, you go gather intel about the best medical ninja in the nations. When you return, Suigetsu, you go and bring him here. Take Karin with you to track him down. I don't care how you bring him here, but you better bring him alive. I will take care of the rest. And get it done, I am not in a mood to deal with your failures."

"Why do I have to go with this skank?" sighed Suigestu, "she always gives me so much crap on missions, always complaining."

"You ugly sharkface! How dare you embarrass me in front of Sasuke-kun! I complain because you are lousy, disgusting, and.. UGLY!" - Karin snapped back.

"Yeah, right, if I'm ugly then why do the ladies love me so much? When you, on the other hand, probably have spider webs in between your legs!" Giggled Suigetsu.

"WHAT DID YOU-", screamed Karin, suddenly interrupted by a loud bang on the table.

"Not a single word from either of you. Get out of here before I lose my patience." Growled Sasuke, sending shivers down Suigetsu, Karin and Juugo, who all hurried out of the room.

*I am almost back at my full power, just need to wait for this medic ninja.*, thought Sasuke alone in the room, *I have ideas for how to force him to join this team...*, he smirked. Little did he know the surprise that awaited him.