Ocean Of Blood And Fire [Sasusaku]

Chapter Twenty Four: Sasuke's P.O.V.

Everyone stared at Sakura in absolute shock.

"She- All of them?!" Tazuna spluttered, amazed. After all, he was the one who understood the efforts Sakura must've exerted herself to, due to the sheer amount of injured or sick people in the village. Or at least, this part of it. I had no idea how many more people were out in this village suffering.

"Chakra exhaustion," Kakashi murmured, inspecting the unconscious girl in my arms. "Put her in yours and Naruto's shared room, on the bed. Let her rest."

I nodded absently, too busy staring at her and wondering why my heart was pounding too pay much attention to my Sensei.

I walked back into our room, using my shoulder to gently push the door open, careful to turn so Sakura wouldn't get hit by the doorframe.

She felt so light in my arms, so fragile. I set her down gently on the bed, and pulled the covers over her. I hadn't meant to stay and stare at her, but I couldn't tear my gaze away from the childlike, innocent look on her sleeping face. She seemed so defenseless, and a foreign protectiveness ran through me.

But it was strange how she could make me feel like that when she'd beaten me countless times in combat, and has shown her strength many times over. But at the same time, she was like a walking time bomb that could go off at any minute. There were times when I felt like I had to walk on eggshells around her in order to not set her off. Not that it was her fault. I'm sure whatever happened to her was bad enough to justify her freakouts, though I didn't know what she'd gone through.

An idea had formed in my mind, but the thought of it was too sickening to really think about. I had pushed it out of my mind almost immediately as a result, refusing to acknowledge the possibility of such a disgusting act. Every time it forced its way into my thoughts, a feeling of repulsion and rage rose in the pit of my stomach so strong I had to physically stop what I was doing and breathe.

There weren't many things worse than death, but that was one of them.

I was just praying, for the first time in my life, that I was wrong.

"Sasuke, what are you doing, kid?" Kakashi appeared from around the door, and I jumped, realizing I had been sitting on the edge of the bed staring at her. I retracted my hands quickly from the comforter I had pulled over her, and stood up trying to retain some dignity.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, a hint of a grin showing through his mask.

"What?" I asked flatly, desperately trying to save face by playing cool.

"You were in here for a while. I didn't know it took so long to put someone in a bed and walk away. But I guess you didn't get around to the walking away part yet, huh?" I could hear the smirk in his voice, and my face started to heat up.

"Wh-atever," I almost stuttered, but I recovered myself. Since when did Uchihas stutter?

I started to walk past him when he grabbed my arm casually. "Let's take a walk, shall we?" He asked equally as casually, and I figured I was about to die.

•❈•❉•❊•❃•❅•❆•

Kakashi was walking beside us, silent. Naruto was here as well, because Kakashi had called him out. Whatever it was he had to tell us, we both sensed something bad, and so we kept quiet.

It seemed like he was gathering his thoughts, but since he always wore that damn mask, I couldn't get a good read on him.

We'd been walking through the forest for some time before he opened his mouth to speak.

"Boys, before I say anything, you have to promise not to tell anyone. I mean it. Don't tell Sakura I told you- don't even mention it to me after today."

Naruto and I shared a glance, curious but also a little worried. Whatever he was about to say... I wasn't so sure I wanted to know.

"Okay, I promise Sensei." Naruto answered first.

"I promise..." I followed cautiously.

Kakashi sighed. "Very well...

"I've noticed something these past few weeks about Sakura. I'm sure Sasuke has noticed as well. But first, I need to tell you something. Sakura... didn't exactly have a happy childhood, or a normal family, just like you two. I can't tell you everything, but I'll tell you what I can. Her father had a bad drinking habit, and was extremely violent, moreso when he was drunk. On top of that, he was obsessed with gaining power, and he did most of that through Sakura. He used her to experiment on constantly- one of the successful tests resulting in Sakura gaining a powerful curse- and he would punish her when she tried to resist. She most likely still has scars."

We were stunned into silence. As we continued to listen to him, every awful detail flashed across my mind as I tried to match them up with the girl I thought I knew. By the time Kakashi finished talking, my legs were weak with disbelief. Even then, I had a sense he wasn't telling us everything.

If this wasn't the worst of it, I didn't want to know any more.

Once Kakashi finished saying as much as he could, he placed one hand on my shoulder, and the other on Naruto's, looking us in the eye. "Naruto, Sasuke, I'm only telling you this because she seems to be more comfortable and open with you two than some others. And we're her teammates. I was hoping she would've told you something by now, but I can't necessarily blame her. Nevertheless, I feel it's important you know, so you can help me watch over her. Now, of course she doesn't need protection from anyone, except herself. I was hoping you two could try to help her heal, and in turn, heal some things yourselves. Like I said, we're a team, kids. And we all could use some support."

We nodded our understanding. I glanced over at Naruto, trying to see if he was as shocked as I was at the pure evil that could exist in the world. Our eyes met in a silent agreement, his face looking pale and sickened. I probably looked the same, because that was how I felt.

But past all that, I felt the rage. How could so many people hurt their family...? I just didn't get it. She was his daughter, and he treated her like a guinea pig. Like some worthless thing to use and throw away. I was so mad that I started to feel my Sharingan, lying dormant in my eyes, start to stir. My eyes burned, and I blinked hard to get rid of it.

"Kakashi Sensei..." Naruto's voice was low and hoarse. Apparently he had a sick idea of what else might've happened to her. "Are you sure that's... everything he did...?"

I shot a glance at him, then at Kakashi. I wanted an answer as well. Hell, if Naruto was asking, that meant even he had picked up on the subtle signs.

"I'm not sure, Naruto. That you'd have to ask her. But I strongly advise avoiding this topic of conversation. It hasn't even been a year since she escaped, and she needs time to heal. Give her that, please."

We nodded, and I felt the urge to run away somewhere and... I don't know. Destroy everything. Cry. It really depended on what I felt like when I got there.

Unfortunately, I never got the chance to find out, because just then, Tsunami ran, breathless, into Kakashi.

"Whoa, careful," he said, steadying her gently.

"Oh, thank goodness I found you! Sakura, she-"

"What happened?" The immediate panic in his voice was clear- he hid it most of the time, but he really cared about his students.

"She's awake."

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A/N: SORRY FOR THE SHORT CHAPTER, NEXT ONE WILL BE LONGER I PROMISE!!!

Update: Graduation is less than a month away, wish me luck cuz I'll need it 🙏😭🤣😅