That Damned Raven Haired Boy (SasuNaru)

Part 7

Both Naruto and Sasuke dropped to the ground moments later, unable to miss Sakura's crumpled form lying small and fragile before them. Naruto gasped as he landed beside her; she was unconscious - most likely from the fall - and bleeding profusely from a wound to the side. Her lips were parted slightly as she struggled for air - gasping and clawing to breathe.

Both boys stood deathly still, staring at her and tried to think of what to do. Though neither would admit it, both Sasuke and Naruto were drowning in the irony that their medic had been the one injured. Without her advice, both were completely at a loss as to how they should handle the situation.

"Naruto, try to wake her up. I'll take care of these guys, there aren't that many." Sasuke's voice was loud and rough - like gravel - in the silence, and Naruto found that he could do nothing but nod as he collapsed to his knees in the sticky puddle of blood beside Sakura. She looked so pale and he didn't want to touch her for fear he would break her; but he had to. Eventually, a trembling hand reached out to shake her shoulder gently.

He had no idea what he was doing.

"Sakura?" His voice sounded so fucking weak; he wanted to curse himself for the way it caught in his throat and came out choked. She was so pale and there was so much blood. He put a hand to her forehead and smoothed her crinkled brow. "Wake up," he croaked urgently.

Naruto felt a shudder rush through his body and strained to turn and look at Sasuke, trying to find some comfort in his presence. The boy was standing, tense and alert, with a scowl on his face. Catching Naruto's gaze, he snapped, "Try to stop the blood flow and get her conscious."

The blonde winced at the harsh tone of his teammate's voice and pulled his bag from his back. He could feel the warmth of her blood soaking through his pants and drying in a startling red mess on his knees - it sickened him. Her clothing was ensanguined and Naruto wanted to kill whoever had done this to Sakura, but he needed to make her better first. So he reached inside his bag, groping around hurriedly until he found his water flask and bandages.

"I'm gonna wash your cut out; it's probably gonna hurt like a bitch," Naruto told Sakura's limp form as he unscrewed the cap. There was a grunt to his left and the boy looked up from ripping off his sleeve to see a man in all black fall out from behind a nearby tree.

Naruto soaked the sleeve and muttered a quick, "Fuck," before hastily pressing the compress to Sakura's bleeding side and wiping away the dirt that had sunk into the wound. The girl hissed out a breath and shifted, though she was otherwise unresponsive.

There was the ring of two kunai clashing and Naruto instinctively tensed. He shifted until Sasuke was in his view and saw the boy glaring rigidly at his opponent. Their enemy's eyes were wide with something like fear as he stumbled out of the Uchiha's reach.

"You..." he stammered, falling onto his bum and landing with an inelegant thump.

Sasuke glowered and stalked toward the man. "What?" he demanded, pulling the man to his feet by the collar of his shirt. Naruto raised an eyebrow; there couldn't be just two men... He closed his eyes and focused on the surrounding forest, listening - searching.

There it was, the breathing of another-

"Sasuke, watch out!" Naruto yelled, tensing and preparing to dive into action just as the dark-haired boy ducked, narrowly avoiding a kunai to the head.

Beneath Naruto's hand, Sakura shifted and he had to return his gaze to her, though he continued to watch Sasuke from the corner of his eye, gauging whether or not he was needed. There was a choked scream followed by the deafening thump of a body and Naruto instantly knew he wasn't.