I'll Follow You Into The Dark

Chapter 5: Scoot Over

It felt wrong. Sasuke's entire body felt unnaturally heavy, like he was carrying weights embedded into his skin. The reaction to the strange substance he had been injecting into himself was odd, part of him being able to feel his stronger muscles, his new agility and increase in chakra, but at the same time, it felt like he had been poisoned, and the effects didn't seem to want to go away at all.

Daily, he would get up, try to train, find himself exhausted after the most basic of exercises and he would give up, but not before draining himself completely. Frustrating as it was, he had to admit that until his condition improved there was no use in straining himself, so, for a little while, he needed to shift his attention to something else.

Having only one thing to think about aside from his life goal, his thoughts automatically shifted to Sakura and her strange behaviour as of late. She had stopped wearing her headband, looked about as tired as he was, sporting dark circles the size of his fist, and most importantly and the most un-Sakura-like characteristic, she barely talked to him.

Worrying was not something Sasuke was used to, having few things to worry about and no reason to not push aside the annoying feeling when it showed up, but when it came to the pink haired girl he had dragged into this place, he was directly responsible for anything that happened to her. Yet, in spite of the deep pit in his stomach and the guilt whenever he saw her declining state, he couldn't bring himself to say anything to her.

Almost seven months had passed since he had deserted Konoha, and thinking back on the night he had done it, for the millionth time, the young Uchiha had to admit that he did not even want to imagine how excruciating this entire experience would have been without Sakura, who selflessly gave up everything to be by his side. Now, the only problem was showing that gratitude outwardly.

(✿⁠)

The feeling was so overwhelming. So empowering and delightful. The glowing chakra, creating warm waves on Sakura's hands. The prickling feeling in her fingers as it was released onto the fish laying in front of her. It felt like being a god, temporarily, like she could continue breathing life into something, or if she chose to, let it die.

Splendid chakra control and natural talent, the two things helping along Sakura's progress. As noted by Kabuto, she was improving faster than anyone he had ever seen before, and while reluctant to teach her anything actually useful, seeing as she was still not a person he could trust, he admitted he couldn't allow such talent to go to waste.

Surprising both of them, Sakura's training sessions created a very odd bond between her and Kabuto. Still strained by the lack of trust and past issues, they shared a genuine interest and excitement for knowledge and medicine, which in turn gave them one thing they could discuss freely.

Around the end of the third week of training, it was clear that Sakura had the potential to become an extraordinary medic in less than half of the time it would normally take.

"I must say, Sakura, this is indeed remarkable." said Kabuto at the end of another exhausting day.

"It's all thanks to the things I learned while being here. Memorizing all of the scrolls, knowing exactly what to do, healing now feels like second nature." Sakura replied, uncomfortably.

Her training consisted of more than basic medical techniques and chakra control. Unfortunately for her, if she wanted to start training seriously, she would have to follow Kabuto into one of his more unpleasant tasks, practicing on the various people, seeing as this was the only way Kabuto could dedicate more than a few hours a day to helping her, and how it would be useful to know more than the average medic whose morals were probably intact.

"Okay. We'll resume tomorrow. I have to go see one of the... patients on the lower levels."

He nodded politely and left the room in a hurry. Feeling uncomfortable and a bit disgusted with some of the things she had agreed to do, she couldn't help but also think of Kabuto's passion for learning and his devotion to Orochimaru. Alone with her thoughts, Sakura had time to ponder over the fact that it was so easy to dehumanize someone. Not seeing Kabuto, or anyone, as simply the enemy complicated things greatly, but it was certainly the truth that things were always more complex than simply being black and white. She thought she could understand Sasuke better, too, if only a little, him being a person who looked beyond such trivial ways of thinking.