You're not the only one.... ×Book 1×

54. All we have is each other

'If you want to be trusted be honest, if you want to be honest be true, if you want to be true be yourself'

-Anonymous
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I ignored the fact that Sasuke was fighting the ninja at the moment and stared at Naruto. I had successfully managed to get him down from the tree Sakura had pinned him to, and now all I could do was stare at him. Kinase said my time would come when I would prove my worth, but it doesn't feel like it.

"I'll never be as strong as you Naruto" I said sadly, staring at his unconscious figure "you once told me I would be strong, but I think you were just lying to make me feel better."

I stared at Naruto for a long time then felt angry. He shouldn't lie about something like that! I turned away from him and looked around for where Sasuke was. I looked just in time to see the ninja peeling off her face which was badly burned to reveal a man underneath.

W-What?!

Sakura screamed and covered her eyes as the man laughed evilly and Sasuke stared horrified. How is that even possible; ypu can't just put someone else's face on like that!

"Allow me to introduce myself" the man said with a large sinister grin "my name is Orochimaru, and I'm glad I finally got you where I wanted you....Sasuke!"

Sasuke stared at him confused as Orochimaru chuckled humorlessly. Suddenly, his neck extended to what should have been an impossible length and before any of us could react he bit Sasuke hard on the neck. His fangs dug deep into Sasuke's flesh, causing blood to appear as it slowly dripped down his neck and onto the cold mossy forest floor.

Ew!

Sasuke's eyes widened and at first he didn't react. Then he let out a large scream of pain similar to Naruto's as Orochimaru removed his fangs from his neck. Sasuke dropped to his knees and started gagging, as Orochimaru returned his neck to its original length. Sasuke let out one last groan of pain then fell unconscious as three comma like symbols appeared on his neck. I gasped and started whimpering as Sakura did the same.

"Good luck surviving" Orochimaru said smirking "I wish you two ladies luck by the way....you'll need it."

With that, he began sinking into the tree he stood in front of until he completely disappeared from view. First Naruto, now Sasuke, what are we going to do?! Sakura dropped to her knees and began shaking as I heard her breath shake every now and then.

Is she....crying?

I felt anger boiling in my chest as I walked over and stood in front of her. She looked up at me through tear stained eyes and I could see the shock in her face upon seeing my anger. She was crying!

"DAMN IT SAKURA!" I yelled, my own eyes watering "WE DON'T HAVE TIME TO CRY! I WANT TO CRY TOO YOU KNOW! NARUTO AND SASUKE ARE UNCONSCIOUS AND WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF A FOREST FILLED WITH PEOPLE THAT WANT US DEAD! GET THE HELL UP!"

Sakura stared at me for a long time, then quickly wiped away her tears and stood up.

"I'm sorry" she said wiping away any left over tears.

I took a deep shaky breath and ran my fingers through my hair nodding in understanding.

"It's ok" I said blinking away my unshed tears "you're scared and
I'm scared too, but right now all we have is each other and we can't afford to lose that. We have to be strong Sakura, because if someone does attack us it's just you and me."

She nodded and exhaled deeply, trying to slowly calm her nerves.

"I was never good at this leadership stuff" she said staring at me "what do we do?"

I bit my lip, thinking of a plan. Sasuke and Naruto are hurt and unconscious. We're in a very open area and the noise is bound to attract attention.

"Ok" I said slowly "you grab Sasuke and I'll grab Naruto. We have to get out of here and find a more concealed area. All that noise from earlier is bound to attract unwanted attention."

Sakura nodded and went to go grab Sasuke as I walked back over to Naruto. I stared at him for a while then frowned, he's going to be heavy, how am I going to do this? Hopefully, I won't be fighting for a while so I can use some of my chakra. I stood there and concentrated as I slowly infused all of my chakra into my arms. Once I was done I picked Naruto up and he was as light as a feather. Ok, that's that; Sakura came over to me with Sasuke in her arms and I noticed she had infused chakra in her arms as well.

"Good" I said nodding "now let's go find some safety before our
chakra depletes and we drop them."

Sakura giggled and nodded as we hopped off.

*****

Sakura rubbed her sore arms as she set Sasuke down and I set Naruto next to him. After about 45 minutes or so we had found a small hallowed out tree stump that was roomy enough for all of us. I took off Sasuke and Naruto's headbands as Sakura wet towels she had brought and placed them on their foreheads. I yawned quietly and hung the headbands on a small branch that was inside the stump.

"I'm going to go set some traps" Sakura said, pulling out a Kunai.

"Do you need some help" I asked as I rubbed healing ointment on Naruto's wounds.

"No thanks" Sakura said smiling "you heal them and get some rest, you deserve it Ruka."

"What have I done to deserve anything Sakura? I couldn't help them."

"You did help them Ruka" she said softly "think hard and you'll know how."

With that, she left to go set the traps and I contiuned rubbing ointment on their wounds. I helped them, but how? I finished healing Naruto and went over to Sasuke as I started rubbing ointment on his wounds.

How did I help them..?

"Ruka."

I jumped slightly and turned to see Naruto still lying there unconscious. Did he just say my name, maybe he's dreaming. I went back over to him and watched as he frowned in his sleep then grinned.

"I'll protect you" he muttered rolling over "believe it."

He then fell silent and went back to his unconscious state. I couldn't help but smile. I know you will Naruto, I went back over to Sasuke and finished the last of his wounds as I gently rubbed at the mark on his neck with a wet towel. He shifted slightly as I did so, but didn't say anything. I sighed deeply and yawned again. I don't want to leave Sakura up by herself. I peeked my head out of the stump and saw Sakura tying a piece of rope to a log.

"Sakura" I called as she looked down "you need help?"

"Go to sleep!"

Ok then, I went back inside the stump and yawned as I laid down next to Naruto.

*"Dors en paix mon amour" I said smiling at Naruto before I fell
into a deep sleep.
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*Sleep in peace my love* French
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Me: Hey guys! That's the end of chapter. 54! I hope you enjoyed it!

Sakura: Everything's so difficult!

Me: Oh hey, your the only one awake huh?

Sakura: *Sadly* yeah...

Me: *Hugs her* It'll be ok

Sakura: Yeah....

Me: I don't own Naruto!

Sakura: Later guys!

Me: Wait....we did that wrong!