Dimensional Exchanges

By XyoushaX
 

Chapter 48: Workings of the Devil



 (Tim Seltzer, seltzer@seltzerbooks.com)


Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own Wedding Peach. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay? 

Author's Notes: I now have an eternal rival in Naruto fanfiction, named Grummur. Anyway, I got myself into a fix because I read a new fic, and then said off-handedly to the author that it is rival material. Grummur answered with a Gai-approved-flash of the teeth.

Thedarkowns1: You got it. You are very intelligent. You are so smart that people will think you dangerous.

Grummur: A sweat-drop appeared on my forehead (or something akin to that in real life) when I saw your encouraging review. Thanks! I'll do my best in this fic, and you do the same. And you're churning out chapters like a madman... You sure know how to aggravate a fellow writer. Yeah, it's hard to get people to like original characters, but you handle it better than other people. Oh, and don't worry if I don't put up reviews; I hardly ever do unless I come across really, really good writing for compliment's sake. I keep reading. Usually I tend to keep my mouth shut in later chapters, because if the author keeps going, it seems to be a sign that they have enough ideas... If you need ideas, just ask! And I need ideas as well. 


"Keep calm, Sasuke," Sakura said in a firm voice. She knew that he was barely awake, and confused. He might have been a little frightened if he knew he was suffocating. She examined the inside of his mouth, and saw that something was stuck at the back of his throat. Blood, mucus, and who-knows-what were solidifying into a plug in his upper respiratory system — a pseudomembrane.

Sakura could reach in and pull it out, but that was risky and time-consuming if she wanted to do it carefully. And Sasuke was in desperate need of oxygen at the moment.

This was going to be messy, but there was no other way.

Sasuke winced as the kunai penetrated his throat. Sakura's free hand gently pressed him down. The Uchiha was so weak and helpless now; he was not even putting up a struggle against her. 'Sorry if this hurts your ego, Sasuke, but I'm your doctor now.'

Sweat formed on the kunoichi's brow as she saw his blood spurt out. She had to push it in further if she wanted to make a hole to his trachea. Yes, she was piercing his neck with a kunai. But she was trying to save his life — not kill him. Hopefully, a half-awake Sasuke would understand enough to keep still.

'Just one centimeter more...'

Sakura lifted up the dripping kunai. Through the wound, a stream of air rushed through Sasuke's windpipe.

Sakura sighed as she saw Sasuke's chest slowly move again. Step one finished.

As Sasuke's lungs exhaled, red bubbles frothed out from the incision sight. Sakura quickly pulled out a hollow stick of bamboo. The medic-nin sterilized it with some medicine, and gently forced it into the hole in Sasuke's throat to give him more leeway to breathe. The tube was normally used with darts as a blowgun — now it was a breathing apparatus.

Sakura examined the back of Sasuke's mouth again. The jelling mass was still there. Her hand reached into his open mouth, and felt the substance with the tip of her finger. The whole procedure was rather gruesome, but she was medical apprentice of Tsunade, and a ninja. Handling disgusting things was her job.

Sasuke watched Sakura from the corner of his eye. The wound in his neck throbbed. Was this really Sakura? Her voice and face looked the same. Yet the cold practicality with which she carried out this operation, especially using a simple kunai and blowgun as her medical tools, was nerve-racking to him. How much did she study with Tsunade to know how to do an incision?

Sakura frowned. She was conscious that Sasuke was looking at her, but avoided his eyes. If she was to carry out this operation successfully, she had to see him as a patient. Not a former crush.

What was annoying her, actually, was the nature of the gunk which decided to choke him in the first place. With just the touch of a fingertip, Sakura could tell that the plug was saturated with the vile purple chakra from before. Not all of it had gone out of Sasuke's system, even though his soul was in its rightful body again. 'Sasuke bit his lip when he hesitated to kill me,' Sakura remembered. 'Some of that blood must have mixed with the purple chakra, and when he swallowed... Oh, jeez.'

Removing the stuff was the main problem. She could do another exorcism-jutsu, but there was the slight possibility that the force of the aura would drive the stuff even deeper into his throat. This operation was risky enough, with her making an incision and all. "Damn," she whispered. "I might have to physically pull it out after all."

With the tips of her fingers, she grabbed a hold of the solidifying matter — and carefully pulled it out in one clean movement.

Sasuke's groan of sheer pain was following by severe coughing. The pink-haired nurse grimaced as she looked at the blob of mucus in her hand. Her fingertips glowed a rosy hue, and the pseudomembrane shrank within her pinching fingers. The remaining aura hissed out of the bloody mass.

Well, from the sound of hacking, at least Sasuke could receive oxygen normally again.

'Hacking?' Sakura looked back at the patient. 'Oh, shit! The incision!'

The blood around the bamboo stick was starting to glue together. Sakura carefully pulled out the tube with one hand. It gave Sasuke another wave of pain as the wound turned fresh once more, but it was only for a moment. The kunoichi's other hand began to press down on the opening.

'Chiyute no Jutsu.'

The walls of flesh sealed up cleanly as Sakura carefully let the cells renew and weave back together. Sakura had her share of blood and healing during her absence from the Shinobi World — there had been plenty of monsters with needles and claws when her party traveled though the Rifts. Usually Potamos cleaned wounds with her water, Minoru checked for poisons, and Sakura closed the gashes with Tsunade's healing technique.

Sasuke was still coughing. Clearly, he could breathe now without a hole in his windpipe. But having that gunk taken out of his throat was one of the most unpleasant things he experienced.

Sakura wiped away the drying blood on his neck. 'I swear, in all my life, that was one of the most nerve-grating things I've ever done,' she thought. Sasuke's coughing became weaker as he spat out the blood, cleaning out his system. Sakura dug in her medical supplies, and took a bottle out. It was an herbal remedy against swelling that Minoru gave her. What was good about it was that it was magic-free, so it could work on any human without chakra repercussions.

A guilty feeling shot through her as she held the bottle of tonic.

'Minoru-san...'

She desperately wanted to cry, but she had a patient to take care of. She was not going to break down, especially in front of the likes of Sasuke. The kunoichi unscrewed the bottle, and poured a small amount in the cap.

Lifting Sasuke's head up with her hand, Sakura edged the shot of medicine to his slightly-open mouth. She grimaced, imagining what kind of pain the boy must have gone through the past half-hour. If she remembered correctly from Tsunade's lessons, a pseudomembrane being ripped out — was like having tonsils removed without anesthesia. "Drink it, Sasuke," she ordered. "It'll make your throat feel better."

She carefully poured the liquid into the corner of his mouth. Sasuke's jaws shut tight as he tasted it. It was so bitter that his tongue seemed to glue to the mouth's roof. Scrunching his eyes, the teenager swallowed.

The coughing started up again. But it was controllable, and more quiet. After a while, it died down completely.

A few moments passed.

Sakura glanced down. She had not noticed, until now, that one of Sasuke's hands was gripping at the end of her dress. To be quite frank, his head was practically in her lap. Sasuke had managed to curl himself up against her during the entire operation.

Sakura felt a sudden urge to smack him. But what kind of nurse abused her own patients? She was not going to stoop so low, even if he was a traitor. She, unlike Sasuke, had class. Sort of. She pried his fingers off her skirt, and laid his head down on the cold ground.

The girl breathed. She picked up her bag of supplies, and dug out a cardboard lunch-box. She set it down in front of the Uchiha.

Her job was done.

The kunoichi turned around, and began to walk away.

------------------------------------------

Minoru was frozen during the entire procedure — well, the operating procedure, anyway. It took all of Itachi's stealth to keep the elf quiet when the transformed Sasuke nearly killed the pink-haired girl. But it turned out all right. And even now, the two teenagers were unaware of their presence.

Sasuke managed to live. That truth both annoyed and impressed Minoru.

'His essence was somehow protected against the curse,' the blond realized. He had been so sure for months that Sakura's former teammate had his soul devoured. Yet he was alive after her spell. Just barely, but alive. Body and soul.

Minoru felt Itachi's aura behind him. "I have a feeling you have something to do with that boy's strength," the blond elf said coolly. "And I don't mean physical strength, which any idiot can get by training."

"It's complicated." The curt reply by Itachi made Minoru raise an eyebrow.

Itachi blinked, and the Sharingan came back. He had enough chakra again to use his bloodline ability. His red eyes locked onto his brother and the pink-haired girl below.

Sasuke's body was producing little chakra. It was a pure blue again; thank God. Sakura had the same level of aura as well, but it was not flickering like a flame from her body — it was evenly distributed around her form. But it was blue. More controlled than Sasuke's, but still blue.

"She's only human?" Itachi commented. He could swear that she was supernatural in more ways than one. She had enough power to lift Orochimaru's curse. He saw her use pink chakra. Now she looked like a normal medic-nin.

"A human she is," Minoru answered. "However, she has some holy and natural ties. The composition of her aura is developing into that of a mystic." The elf breathed. 'Still, the fact that Sakura could fight the curse without killing Sasuke... Not only is Sakura spiritually strong, but this young man has formidable will. I might have underestimated his true nature...'

Minoru glanced at Itachi standing on a nearby branch. The elf could tell that there was hardly any emotion in this human. This was the perfect assassin.

The elf looked down, and saw that a sheathed katana lay at the foot of a tree. Tennyo.

Minoru frowned; what was Sakura thinking when she put Tennyo down there? Any thief could come and touch it. Then again... Maybe she was hoping something of the sort. Perhaps she wanted to leave the blade in the forest.

If she brought in the katana into her village, questions were bound to come up. Anybody would tried to separate the blade from the scabbard would immediately find that it was impossible. The magical guard was touched by Sakura so often that the weapon knew the owner. The humans of this world, however simple-minded, had experience in some magic. They would probably feel inclined to seal it up will some sort of jutsu and then throw it down a cliff. After all, Sakura had been missing for over a year — she would at least be interrogated about its origins and true nature.

Nobody but Sakura could wield Tennyo, and only a few could carry it.

Carry it.

An idea occurred to Minoru. The elf whispered a few words, and a thin tendril crawled out of his wrist.

Itachi watched in slight interest as the vine trailed to the ground slowly. This Minoru was not a ninja, yet he could control magic with words. This somehow ticked off the raven-haired man. The Sharingan could only instantly memorize spells that were based on traditional In. Itachi would not be able to copy any of this blond's magic techniques because they were entirely dependent on words.

Minoru forced every piece of his will to control the vine in the right direction. From what he knew of Sakura, she learned swordsmanship only when she fell into his dimension. Tennyo was the girl's personal sword. Her emotional tie to it was too great; he had to keep it safe for her.

Angel Salvia told Minoru the finer details of the katana. Although nobody but Sakura could wield Tennyo, the weapon could be carried and kept safe by someone else, a sword-keeper. The trick was to touch the scabbard, and identify himself by his aura. If the weapon recognized him as a protector of Sakura, then Tennyo could be carried.

The vine inched near the sheathed weapon. Beads of sweat trailed down Minoru's face. This was a test of his connection with Sakura. If Tennyo did not accept the touch of Minoru's vines, that would mean that the pink-haired girl no longer trusted him.

Minoru was the only eligible person to do it. If he failed, the sword was good as doomed. And Sakura would be crushed.

------------------------------------------

Uchiha Sasuke blinked. Sakura was walking away.

"Wait." Sasuke's voice was rather whispery, but at least he could talk.

Sakura stopped in her tracks. She turned her head around. "You can speak, Sasuke?" she asked. Minoru's tonic was more effective than Sakura first thought. Now if only she could find plants in this dimension to emulate the recipe...

The Uchiha subconsciously noticed that Sakura dropped the childhood suffix out of his name. Okay, he could handle that — after all, they were both grown-ups, and enemies. Well, perhaps they weren't enemies for the moment. But he was an outright traitor, and she had her Konoha hitai-ate tied around her forehead.

The moon was too bright this evening. Too many of Sakura's features were readable to the boy, even without his Sharingan. He noticed how long and free-looking her hair had grown, and the natural redness of her lips. If she just pulled out that hair-tie...

"Hello, are you listening?" Sakura asked irritably, interrupting Sasuke's daze. "I was asking whether you could speak."

Sasuke looked down, not answering.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I'm leaving you that lunch, Sasuke. Eat it if you want your strength back. Konoha ninja, even ANBU, could catch you if you don't go now."

Sasuke's head shot up. She was... letting him go?

"Of course, if you're so paranoid to not eat it, that's your problem," Sakura continued with a hand on her hip. She turned her body around. "I don't have anything to instantly boost your chakra level like Hyourougan, but eating some food will slowly help you recover." She kept her inner comments inside, asking herself why she would be so stupid as to give him a soldier pill, even if she did have one. He'd probably knock her out, just like last time.

"What happened to your dress?"

Sasuke froze; the words just flew out of his mouth without second thought. How dare he ask such a question, especially when the cloth was shredded near her upper chest area. If she had escaped rape, she'd probably break down crying. Damn. Not only would Sasuke have to comfort her, he would also have to kill whoever tried it. Damn him for asking.

Sakura cocked an eyebrow, and looked down. There were the same three rips around her lower neck. Blackened blood was sprayed over the red fabric, a result of the attack and the operation afterward. Well, she certainly needed a new outfit. But there was something else... It was Sasuke's cluelessness.

"You don't remember anything?" Sakura asked. She walked over, and put two fingers on the Uchiha's forehead. She felt for any sign of a hightemperature. It appeared as though Sasuke did not recall anything when he was transformed. He probably did not even know what she did to Orochimaru's curse.

Sasuke stiffened at the abrupt contact. Sakura was touching his forehead. Some part of him was angry. She still showed concern for him, after all this time. He did not need her. He did not need anybody. Okay, so she saved him from choking; that much he remembered. But he did not deserve any more petting, and it made him weak.

"Answer my question." Sasuke seethed. "The dress."

Something in the pink-haired girl turned defensive. "An animal attacked me," she answered curtly. Well, it was sort of true. He would probably freak out if Sakura told him that he was completely possessed by the curse at one period in time. If he did not grow upset, he would deny that it ever happened. Men usually did that in front of women.

As a farewell gesture, Sakura brutally yanked the green cloak off his form. "On second thought, I'll take this back. You don't seem to need it."

The move was rather cruel. But Sakura had just remembered that Minoru had bought this green cloak for her in Minerva. She had worn it through the Rifts. It was one of the few things she had remaining of the elf, and she were damned if she gave it to the likes of Sasuke.

Sasuke sat on the cold ground, watching as Sakura's form walked off, the cloak draping around her body. He could tell her chakra was weak. She was going like that, unprotected.

The question he really wanted to ask finally came up: "Why didn't you kill me?"

The young lady stopped. The tone of Sasuke's voice was not demanding anymore. Perhaps there was a touch of disappointment in it, but Sakura missed it completely. When she thought about it — she asked herself the same question. Why didn't she kill him? He broke her heart. He turned on Konoha. He gave himself to the curse.

The kunoichi thought a while. And then she resolved herself to an answer. An answer that the Sasuke she knew would accept.

"To make things even," she said in a monotone. "You saved my life while we were on the same genin team. I just save yours. Now we don't owe each other anything."

Something in Sasuke jolted within him. Was that how she saw it? A mutual trade-off?

"And you're a friend."

The young man looked up. Something of hope threatened to touch his heart.

But the next gesture he could not have foreseen: the pink-haired girl turned around, and gave him the coldest glare she could muster. Her green eyes were hard, like the most ancient and valuable of jade. "Run now before Konoha ninja capture you. Get up and run."

A flash of red passed Sasuke's mind. She expected him to bolt. And she was not stopping him.

(( "Foolish little brother... If you want to kill me, then hate me! Despise me! And then live in an unsightly way..." ))

He did not move from the spot. "What are you doing, Sasuke?! Run!" Sakura urged.

"You've been missing for the past year or so," Sasuke said, clumsily getting up on his feet. He had to keep his cool, especially when her words brought back a touchy issue. "Where have you been?"

Sakura sighed. "Away," she said. How could she explain that she went to an entirely different world? Demons and angels and trolls; oh my. He would not believe her. "I've been away."

Sasuke began to grow impatient; she was giving too many simplistic answers to his questions. He wanted to know some more details, but she evaded them ever so stealthily. That was his way of talking, not hers.

The kunoichi pulled her cloak tighter to her lithe body. "Now go before you get caught. And the next time I see you, it might be on a battlefield. I'll only have one option then."

Sasuke frowned. Did Sakura just imply a threat in that statement?

In any case, it was clear that Sakura planned to go home by herself. She was willing to face the interrogation of Konoha, of why she had beenmissing all this time. The girl knew that they could break her. Their genin team only had a taste of what Morino Ibiki was capable of during the first part of the Chuunin exams. Tsunade would eventually find out that she saved a traitor's life and let him off the hook. She was going to face it, while Sasuke would...

(( "Run... run... And pathetically cling onto life..." ))

Sasuke's hands tightened.

The kunoichi was growing impatient. She stomped her feet.

"You're alive NOW, aren't you?!" the girl demanded. "This is for your own good! RUN!!"


Notes:

So, faithful readers. What should Sasuke do?

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


Dimensional Exchanges By XyoushaX This fanfic is complete.
 
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