Pursuit

[After switching to rd for typing, the double quotation marks keep causing problems...]

The operating table was covered in tadpole-shaped medical formulas. Lee lay face down on it, his upper body bare, with formulas drawn all over him that extended onto the table. His exposed back was covered in scars of every kind, left by his battle with Gaara during the Chunin Ninja Exams!

Guy and everyone else not involved had been sent out of the operating room, leaving only Tsunade, me, and four ninja maintaining the medical formulas.

"The operation... begins!"

Tsunade held two fingers of her right hand together and pressed them against the back of Lee's neck, temporarily severing his nerves. Then she used a Chakra Scalpel to gently cut through the skin and muscle of his back, exposing the bone. I stepped forward and gently placed my hand over the wound. Tsunade and I exchanged a glance, and then I lowered my head and carefully removed the first fragment, just as we had practiced countless times.

Clink. The first bone fragment was tossed into a round tray. Then came the second, the third...

The operation lasted a full eight hours.

Ninety percent of the fragments were removed in the first few hours. But as the operation progressed and the fragments near the surface were gradually cleared away, what remained were the troublesome fragments buried deep among his nerves. The operation grew more and more difficult, while Tsunade and I grew more and more mentally exhausted, and our breaks became longer and longer. The final ten percent ended up taking more than half the total time!

After standing for eight hours and using Chakra nonstop, I was completely drained, both physically and mentally. Still, the operation had gone very smoothly. All the fragments had been carefully removed without causing Lee any further injury. After a couple of days' rest, he would basically be back to normal.

When I opened the operating room door, it was already past midnight. Guy sat outside, waiting tiredly for the results. The moment he saw me, he jumped up, grabbed my shoulders, and asked excitedly, "Sakura! How's Lee?"

That jolt nearly made me cough up blood. I couldn't even speak!

"Don't worry," Tsunade said, coming out behind me and rescuing me. "The operation went smoothly! After another couple of days' rest, Lee can leave the hospital!"

Guy threw his arms around me and cried out through his tears, "Boo-hoo! Thank you so much! Lee's youth can keep burning!"

Being hugged by a sobbing man who was nearly thirty was such a pain in the ass! Guy-sensei, don't you feel embarrassed shouting about youth and crying your eyes out with Lee all day? You and your student really have a different sense of shame from normal people!

If I remember right, Lee even confessed his feelings to Sakura, didn't he? There's no way I could ever accept Lee, with his bowl cut, thick eyebrows, and all that talk about youth! No, from today on, I have to stay away from those two!

After finally getting away from Might Guy, I dragged my exhausted body home, changed into my pajamas, and was just about to lie down and sleep like the dead-

Clack! I heard a stone hit the balcony. I looked out the window and found Sasuke pacing on the street in front of my house.

"Sasuke, what do you need me for this late?" I asked, yawning as I jumped from the windowsill onto the street.

"Sakura... you..." Sasuke seemed a little hesitant. "Did you just finish Lee's operation?"

I had a feeling that wasn't what Sasuke had meant to say at first. But my eyelids were fighting to stay open, and all I wanted was to finish talking and go back to sleep. Whatever it was, it could wait until tomorrow!

"That's right... The operation took eight hours, and I've used up every bit of my physical and mental energy. I'm exhausted and sleepy!"

"Yeah... I was thinking..." Sasuke stammered, sounding nothing like himself. "Tch, forget it. Let's leave it at that!"

"Goodbye, Sakura!" Sasuke said to me very solemnly. "Take care!"

Sasuke turned to leave.

I was about to wave goodbye when a cool breeze suddenly swept past. I shivered, and my muddled head abruptly cleared quite a bit. I suddenly began to understand why Sasuke had said those things-

"Stop! Sasuke! What are you trying to do?"

Sasuke's figure froze.

"Sasuke... you want to leave Konoha, don't you? You want to... go to Orochimaru?" I asked the silent Sasuke.

"How did you know...?" Sasuke admitted it without denying it.

Of course I knew from the original story... But Sasuke's behavior since the Chunin Ninja Exams had also been very telling. I could see that hatred had blinded his heart, and he would stop at nothing to gain power!

And the Cursed Seal and Orochimaru, which could give him great power, offered him a better way to gain strength than Konoha!

"Don't go... Revenge will only leave you feeling emptier. It won't bring you happiness!"

"I'm sorry... Sakura. I once thought we could keep working hard together, and I also thought that was the path I wanted to take... But I'm different from you and Naruto," Sasuke said quietly. "I told you from the start that I'm an avenger. I live only for revenge... The path I have to take is completely different from yours!"

"You can gain power in Konoha too. Kakashi-sensei can teach you! Why do you have to go to Orochimaru?" I tried to talk Sasuke out of it. If words didn't work, I would stop him with Ninjutsu if I had to!

"I told you, I'm an avenger! I don't have time to play ninja games with you! The reason I exist is to kill that man and take my revenge! A peaceful life in Konoha will only make me rot. If this goes on, how many years will it take me to kill him?" Sasuke said heatedly. He suddenly raised his head and looked at me, the Sharingan in his eyes as red as blood!

A surge of Chakra invaded my mind. I tried to drive it out, but no matter how hard I pushed my exhausted mind and body, I couldn't produce another trace of Chakra. Sleepiness rose slowly and relentlessly from the depths of my mind!

"You actually used Genjutsu on me...!" I bit through my lip, forcing the sleepiness down with the intense pain, and spoke as I struggled to stay alert!

"I'm sorry... I knew you'd stop me, so I made the first move... Stop struggling, Sakura. You can't even mold Chakra right now. Even if you manage to stay awake, it won't do any good!"

The salty taste of blood reached the corner of my mouth, and the intense pain from biting through my lip was gradually overwhelmed by sleepiness. My head slowly slipped from clarity back into a haze... My legs gave out, and I fell to my knees-

"Sasuke... don't go... Aren't we on the same team?" I said weakly. "Don't go to Orochimaru... Orochimaru only wants to take your body for his reincarnation! He'll hurt you!"

"If he can help me get my revenge, then what does it matter... if I give him this body?!" Sasuke said darkly. "Sakura, you have family and friends. How could you understand my pain? My parents, my clan, that man killed them all, in a single night! After a blood feud like that, how can you expect me to live happily and peacefully in Konoha while I watch that man go on living in this world? For revenge, I'll pay any price!"

Sasuke's voice gradually grew more distant, more indistinct... and my consciousness slipped, step by step, into the abyss of sleep...

I had gone to so much trouble to make Sasuke content to stay in Konoha, and had even deliberately taken a mission outside the village to keep him from coming into contact with the Sound Four. In the end, I still hadn't managed to change any of it... Unable to free himself from his hatred and convinced that he was an avenger, Sasuke had taken this step after all.

"Sasuke... why do you still have to take this lonely path? Once you really take this step, the next time we meet, we might be enemies!"

Sasuke remained silent and gave no response.

"Thank you... Sakura..."

Sasuke's figure appeared before me, and the last thing I heard was his quiet thanks in my ear.

...At the very end, let me make one more effort!

Then my eyes closed, and the world plunged into darkness and deathly silence.

"You're sleeping out here in your pajamas. You'll catch a cold!"

A hand shook me awake. I opened my eyes in a daze and found myself lying on a bench with a coat over me. Two Jonin were looking at me with concern.

Why am I sleeping out on the street? Whose coat is this?

"Are you all right?" the ninja who had woken me asked.

"I'm fine," I answered instinctively, shaking my head.

My brain felt rusty and wouldn't work. After quite a while, I finally realized that the ones who had woken me were the two sentry Jonin I often saw at Konoha's gate. Then I remembered why I was sleeping here-

"-Sasuke!"

The Hokage's office.

"Sakura, what did you say? Sasuke defected?!" Tsunade shouted in surprise, red marks and traces of drool on her face from sleeping with her head on her arm.

"That's right. He told me himself last night... Unfortunately, I had no strength left then, so I couldn't stop him!" I said helplessly. "Master, there's no time to lose. Please give the order and let me bring him back! It's only been one night. He definitely hasn't crossed the Land of Fire's border yet, so there should still be time!"

"But nearly all of Konoha's Jonin have been sent out on missions, and even Might Guy just left...! We're really short on people!"

"It's all right, Master! Just leave this mission to me! I left a drop of water on Sasuke as a marker, so I can use it to track him!" Before I fainted last night, I had done a little something to Sasuke... This tracking method came from the Hidden Mist Technique. I had previously studied in detail how the Hidden Mist Technique sensed objects through Chakra mixed into the mist... Thanks to my exceptionally strong mental power, my sensing ability was considerably stronger than most people's, allowing me to form this special drop of water and sense it over long distances!

The Sound Four were certain to have been sent, because Sasuke needed their help for the second stage of his Cursed Seal. Kimimaro might also appear, so I needed to watch out for him. Everyone else could be disregarded!

Tsunade considered it for a moment and said, "You can't go alone. You need to take at least one teammate! I'll also do my best to arrange a four-person team as backup..."

"I understand... I'll get Haku and Naruto. Master, please arrange the backup team as quickly as you can!"

With that, I jumped straight out the window and raced home!

Sasuke, since talking can't make you give up... I'll use force to bring you back!

Outside Konoha.

Haku and I, both dressed in white, were moving at high speed with Naruto.

"The amount of water I left on Sasuke is very small. Once we're beyond a certain distance, I won't be able to sense it, so we have to hurry!" I said as we leaped through the forest. "Once we encounter Sasuke, focus on stalling, since we have backup coming! If the other side leaves anyone behind to hold us off, I'll deal with them! You two keep pursuing him. I'll finish the enemy quickly and catch up with you!"

"Understood!" Haku replied.

"Sakura! Why did Sasuke defect?" Naruto asked me in a subdued voice.

"I don't know either... He said he was an avenger, and he defected from Konoha to join Orochimaru so he could gain the power to take revenge..."

"Damn it, we're all on Team 7! Is Sasuke just going to abandon our bond like that?" Naruto said angrily. "I'm going to bring Sasuke back!"

After several breaks, near the border of the Land of Fire, the chase that had lasted nearly a full day seemed to be nearing its end.

"We need to be careful from here on... We're fairly close to Sasuke now. Enemies left behind to hold us off could appear at any moment!" Sensing that Sasuke was not far away, I pulled myself together as I spoke.

Before I had finished speaking, I saw several small white objects shooting toward us like bullets!

Pfft! The white bullets struck the water shield without causing so much as a ripple. I looked closely and saw that the white bullets were human finger bones!

Bone Release... Kimimaro!

"Strange Water Release... Are you Sakura Haruno?" a white-haired young man with a frighteningly pale face asked us.

The tips of his fingers had split open into hollow holes, revealing the bones inside, which seemed to be growing rapidly! This delicate-looking young man in a kimono must be Kimimaro... Behind him stood four people radiating a familiar, evil Chakra! I had caught a distant glimpse of them during the Chunin Ninja Exams. Sure enough, these four were the Sound Four!

"Bastards, where's Sasuke? Give Sasuke back!" Naruto was the first to shout!

"Sasuke has already gone on ahead..." Kimimaro said calmly. "This is as far as you go. I won't let you pass!"

They let Sasuke go on ahead and left all his escorts behind to stop us. Is that because of me...? Kimimaro recognized me the moment we met. Have they started taking me seriously? It seems I left a deep impression on Orochimaru in our last battle!

"Naruto... at this distance, you can catch up to Sasuke now, right? Go on ahead. Leave this to Haku and me!" I said, staring coldly at the five people before me!

I can fight without holding back again... The blood in my body seemed to be gradually heating up, even boiling!

Naruto nodded without hesitation and moved to go around the five Sound Ninja and continue pursuing Sasuke!

"Ninja Art: Spider Web Unrolling!"

One of the Sound Four swiftly made Hand Seals and spat out a huge spiderweb that spread over Naruto. A Ninjutsu that mimicked a spider—this was Kidomaru! Naruto's intelligence soared in battle, and he instantly thought of a way to counter it-

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

A gale roared, blowing the huge web back! But Kidomaru had already vanished from where he stood!

"Got you!" Kidomaru's voice came from beneath Naruto as he thrust Kunai at Naruto's ankles with both hands!

Clang! A mirror appeared beneath Naruto's feet, and Haku reached out of it to block the attack for him. Taking the opportunity, Naruto leaped high into the air, escaped Kidomaru's attack range, and quickly put distance between himself and the battlefield!

"Don't pursue him!" Kimimaro called out to stop the Sound Four as they moved to chase Naruto. "Sasuke can deal with him on his own. We'll kill these two nuisances first..."

"Aren't you being too cautious? Do all five of us really need to go after those two?" Tayuya said, holding her flute. "To kill them... that idiot Jirobo is enough!"

Before Tayuya had finished speaking, a voice suddenly rang out behind me-

"Earth Release Barrier: Earth Prison Dome!"

The surrounding rocks rapidly broke loose and rose into the air, forming an earthen dome that enclosed me tightly!

With Chakra that obvious and uncontrolled, did you really think I didn't know you'd circled behind me...? The instant the earthen dome enclosed me and blocked my view, I swiftly made Hand Seals-

"Water Release-"

"Idiot, get out of the way!" Kimimaro shouted at the same time!

"What? But she's already..." Jirobo began to argue!

"-Super Water Gun Technique!"

A line of water pierced the earthen dome and Jirobo's body. The arguing expression froze on Jirobo's face, and then he split in two and fell to the ground. Jirobo died without even activating his Cursed Seal.

"W-what?! That dead fatso Jirobo got killed in a single move!" Tayuya shouted in disbelief!

I kicked the earthen dome to pieces and stood with Haku, one of us in front of the other.

"Four left...!" I stared coldly at the four Sound Ninja!