THE WILL OF FIRE: 3. The Crow (A Naruto Fanfic)

The Crow, Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Mrs. Nara, after properly feeding me and making sure my house was in order (meaning it was cleaned and my clothes were washed), finally decided it was best if I had some time for myself, ushering Shikamaru out of the house. But they barely had the chance to leave when another person came knocking at the door.

"Ino?"

"They just brought him back," she said, panicking. "Sasuke, that is. He's in a bad state. Apparently, he's been hit by a really powerful Genjutsu. They're asking for you down at the hospital."

"Me? Why me?"

"Apparently, you can heal."

"I can do a great deal more than that," I admitted. "After you, then."

She took me down to the hospital where the buzz was pretty usual. We greeted Rock Lee on our way, who was still pretty injured, but didn't let that stop him. I didn't have much contact with Lee, I just knew of him, but it didn't stop me from being polite.

Then Ino took me to one of the rooms where two doctors were standing by Sasuke's bed. They both looked surprised when they saw us, which made me give Ino an angry look.

"So, maybe they weren't actually asking for you," she admitted. "But I thought you could help."

"Can you?" asked one of the medics.

"What exactly is wrong with him?" I asked, though I had a faint idea. I shot Ino another angry look and approached the bed. Then I noticed another person was there-Sakura. She was sitting next to his bed, frantically holding his hand.

"He stumbled into a pretty serious Genjutsu," one of the medics said. "We don't know if he's still in there or how to get him out and if he'll ever be the same again."

"Tricky business," I admitted, knowing what Itachi's Genjutsu could do to a person. I knew he wouldn't go overboard, but I didn't know the extent of Sasuke's mind, either. It might not even be Itachi's fault.

"What can you do to help?" they asked, both a bit frantic.

"You're not seriously going to let her help?" Sakura said suddenly, anger streaking her voice. "She's not a qualified medical Shinobi!"

"But I have experience with Genjutsu," I pointed out. "Why won't you just let me help him?"

"I don't trust you," she said with a mean look.

The medics didn't care what she thought, though. "What do you need?" they asked.

"For everybody to get out," I said, already unbraiding my hair and pulling it into a tight, high pony tail so it would be entirely out of my face.

"No way, I'm not leaving you alone with him!" Sakura protested.

"Would you like me to explain what I'm going to do?" I asked her calmly. She couldn't help herself. She was just a girl in love.

"It would help," she said, gulping stubbornly.

"I'm going to use Genjutsu mixed with my healing power to enter his sub consciousness and try pulling him out of the Genjutstu with his mind fully intact."

"Is it dangerous?" she asked.

"More for me than for him," I answered.

"Fine," she said and stalked out of the room. The medics followed soon after, Ino on their heels. She cast me one last worried look before shutting the door behind her.

I turned to Sasuke and took a deep breath. He looked bad. His skin was paper-thin and ghostly pale, thought it still felt clammy to the touch. He was breathing heavily and I knew the Genjutsu had long lost its affect but his mind didn't let go of it. Itachi had overdone it-on purpose or by accident, I couldn't tell.