Glassy Sky (A Naruto Fanfiction)

Weary and Dreary

After a bit too long of searching, Yosuga finally found an adequate place to stay for the time being: under the roots of a tree, acting as a small cave. It had long since reached the end of daylight, and Yosuga was just about at her limit. She placed the boys down, side by side, and looked at them for a bit. Sasuke looked like he was in unbearable pain while Naruto seemed as if he were merely sleeping. She had half a mind to slap him awake, but he had been through a lot today, and was suffering from chakra exhaustion, so she decided to let him sleep. Both had fevers, though Sasuke's was much more serious. On top of that, Yosuga was getting increasingly weaker, and had gotten up more than enough times to throw up blood in the bushes. She was starting to get more lightheaded by the minute, and her skin was an unhealthy pale. Sakura had helped out a lot, replacing wet towels on the boys foreheads every now and then, and watching over them while Yosuga went to look for food. Yosuga sighed, rubbing her temples.

"You two give me a headache." She mumbled, closing her eyes. She looked over at an exhausted Sakura. She placed a hand on the kunoichi's shoulder. "Sakura, you should rest now." Sakura looked up at her in suprise.

"What? Yosuga, you're injured! You should be the one resting." Yosuga smiled weakly at Sakura's words.

"It's okay, I can handle it. But one of us needs to be rested, and I'm choosing you, so rest." She answered softly. Sakura slowly nodded, reluctantly laying down and closing her eyes for some much needed sleep.

Yosuga sighed. Were they really going to make it through this?

Sometime, late into the night, Yosuga's eyelids became heavy. She rubbed her eyes, shook her head, stood up and paced the cave, and continuously ran her hands over her face. Anything to keep from falling asleep. She couldn't sleep with three people she had to protect. If something happened to them in her slumber, she could never forgive herself. Sakura had probably gotten enough sleep, but if an enemy were to attack, there was nothing she could do with Yosuga asleep. She did breathing exercises to keep her heart rate up and busied herself with counting and recounting her supplies. She currently had thirty-two kunai knives, fifty-three paper bombs, a roll of string, forty-three shuriken, two files hidden in her clothing, and an empty scroll. In a lapse of self-control, her head lolled to the side before letting it hang as her eyes started to close. For a moment, her consciousness faded, but she quickly snapped her eyes back open, feeling as if she had slept for longer than she felt. She sighed as her stomach quietly rumbled. Everything is going wrong.

***

"A no sleep lookout?" Yosuga was so out of it she didn't even realise it was daybreak until a voice forced her out of her trance and she snapped her head towards the source. Three sound ninja stood before her. One was lounging on a rock, while another stood by a hunched over ninja in the middle, with the fur poncho on his back. Yosuga recognised him as the ninja that blew out Kabuto's glasses before the start of the first exam. "But it's not necessary anymore. Wake Sasuke up, we want to battle with him."

Yosuga stood up slowly with a weak scowl on her face, her hand wearily hovering over her weapons pouch. Fatigue shook her body, making it hard to keep her eyes open. As if to add to her struggle, the pills were slowly starting to wear off as her chest started to throb. Despite this, she tried her best to not show weakness. Though she was sure the enemies already knew she was weak simply by looking at her. The bags under her eyes were probably a dead giveaway.

"What is it that you are after? I know Orochimaru is the one calling the shots. What do you want from Sasuke? What is the mark on his neck?" Yosuga shot out questions.

"I wonder what it is he's planning..." The fur covered ninja, who appeared to be the leader, wondered.

"However, I can't stay quiet after hearing that. I will kill this girl, I'll also kill this Sasuke character." The ninja on the rock stood up. Yosuga looked at the three ninja, knowing she wouldn't be able to fight all of them off. She may not even be able to fight just one of them. Though, slightly looking over shoulder at her teammates behind her, she knew she would have to. It was all up to her. She charged her fist with chakra, looking up with a scowl as her hand crackled and popped with raw electricity. She took a deep breath.

"In that case," She darted foreword, towards the leader of the three ninja, before jumping into the air and thrusting her arm into the ground as hard as she could when she came down. All three ninja jumped off the ground before they could be shocked by the lightning erupting from the ground.

Right when they landed, Yosuga noticed that there was not one leader, but two. Now there were three. Yosuga groaned, blinking multiple times. She cursed herself for this, right when she was about to do something. If it weren't for the irritating ringing in her ears, she would have closed her eyes and relied on her hearing. The world was spinning, and she found herself unable to hold herself up anymore, collapsing onto her knees.

The enemy ninja, immediately realising the state she was in, decided to take this time to attack. They all jumped, ready to pounce on her. Though, right when they had gotten close, and Yosuga was ready to admit her defeat, something green blurred in front of her, shielding her from her would-be killers.

"Leaf hurricane!" The green blur kicked the three enemy ninja away. Yosuga rubbed her eyes and squinted to see what was in front of her, holding up a kunai on instinct. Her eyes widened when her vision cleared.

"Rock... Lee?" She whispered in shock.