The Red Maelstrom

[21] Ambush

A/N: Sakura takes care of Kohana here, and that means a lot of pain. I'll put an * before and after the uncomfortable parts! Read at your own risk, but take care of yourself. 

"Kohana, lie down and stay still!"

At the forceful tone of Sakura's voice, Kohana took her time doing as she was told, using her elbows as leverage instead of straining the muscles of her abdomen so as not to cause stress to the stab wound she'd received from Orochimaru. Now that the adrenaline from their encounter with Orochimaru was rapidly subsiding, so were the endorphins. The pain was unlike any she'd ever experienced. It was fire spreading from the gaping wound and through her veins, dizzying, unbearable. She bit her lip to keep from making any noises. Sakura had taken them all to someplace safe for the night. Kohana determined not to let her teammates efforts go to waste. This was beyond what Sakura could do on her own and yet, she'd managed to take care of Kohana, Naruto, Sasuke; she kept them safe and was currently tending to all of them even with just her knowledge of first aid.

Sakura lifted Kohana's mesh undershirt for her. The smell made Kohana crinkle her nose even amidst the pain, but as she gazed down at Sakura, she could tell the pink-haired girl was doing her very best not to let it bother her.

Sakura took out her pouch. When she opened it, Kohana peered inside. There were bandages, gauze, and two bottles. She took one of those two bottles and quickly poured what smelled like sanitizing formula onto her hands. "Let's stop the bleeding," she said, and pressed the folded up black shirt Sakura had asked her to remove so the pink-haired kunoichi  could assess the wound. It was a good thing that Kohana still wore something beneath her undershirt to cover up her bosom; from the looks of things, Kohana wouldn't be able to wear her actual shirt for as long as she was away from home. Kohana took deep breaths to keep herself calm. However, once Sakura pressed down on her wound, a groan escaped her throat.

*

"Please... bear with it, Kohana! Keep it together..." Sakura's voice shook. Her green eyes were brimming with tears, but she removed one hand from Kohana's shirt to furiously wipe them away.

It felt like an hour before Kohana told Sakura the bleeding had finally stopped. Sakura nodded and discarded the shirt, pulling out a roll of gauze. "I'm going to disinfect your wound..." She tore a long piece of gauze and folded it up. The second bottle, it appeared, was antiseptic. Sakura poured generous amounts of it into the gauze. This was going to hurt.

Panting, Kohana asked, "H-How bad is it..."

Sakura visibly swallowed. "I'm not sure, but that Orochimaru might have stabbed you with the entire blade of the kunai..." her voice wavered again. Kohana observed that she was afraid to tell her the truth. Well, Kohana couldn't blame her; she had to close her eyes and fight to keep her consciousness after hearing that. Suddenly, it felt like her insides weren't shifting right. Her vision swam, and the pain continued to radiate from her abdomen. It was sharp, but it did feel deep.

Idiot! Think about something else.

"I'm going to start dressing your wound now, Kohana..." Sakura warned. Then, she was handing her a rolled up towel. "Bite on this. I'm sorry; we shouldn't be making too much noise." Kohana nodded in understanding and took the towel with her mouth.

"Okay. Deep breaths." Kohana counted the seconds she inhaled. Inhale. One... Two... Three... Four... Exhale. One... Two... Three...Four... Five.... Six. Again.

"...Ready?"

Kohana's teeth clenched around the cloth in her mouth. She gave Sakura a thumbs-up.

It was a combination of pressure and heat—too much heat that caused Kohana's mind to conjure up the heat of the flames from the genjutsu Orochimaru had forced her to endure. Thousands of needles were puncturing the area where her wound was, but the worst part of it was how the antiseptic seemed to be melting her skin. For a moment she thought her blood and innards were literally boiling. Her heartbeat was deafening, but she used that to ground herself. If she didn't she knew she'd pass out from the pain.