Blue Monotony.

Chapter 12: Fading Fast.

oOo

Sannin don't play by the rules.

There are many types of ninja; genin, chuunin, jounin, S-class and even those who achieve the Kage level. Then, a separate class entirely exist, the Sannin. It was almost laughable; the fact that he could simply walk right into a hospital in the heart of Kohona without a hint of resistance. That one of the most dangerous, feared, hated, nins in the world could press his cold, pale fingers to her scull without anyone realising he was in the building.

He could have killed her then. So easily, too easily.

Her scull was like a fragile egg shell that he could shatter without breaking a sweat. In that way she did live up to her namesake; Sakura. The tiny, delicate blossoms that had such a short life and no free will of their own to choose where the wind would take them. She was fragile and delicate and so, very, breakable.As always the prospect of blood and pain and death excited him to no end.

She was useful, though. A new experiment that could be pushed and twisted to his heart's content if he so wished. That was the only reason he didn't end her life there and then.

That such a female as this - one which was the epitome of fragility - was the most unlikely choice for what she was now harbouring. It was most amusing that a power such a demon chakra was being held within such a... Unassuming, breakable, package. Orochimaru was no fool - he knew the effect extremely powerful chakra had on bodies that simply weren't meant to house it.

This little thing was being burned from the inside out and he could see it clearly.

It would eat away at her chakra passages, as it had already begun to do, then leak out into the rest of her body in a desperate attempt to break out an rejoin with its original body. The Jinchuriki had at least been smart enough to place some kind of seal over the chakra gate closest to her heart. That would ensure that the chakra could not leave her body until she died or he decided to reclaim it.

Though that too would result in her death. It had been inside her too long now.

Of course the foolish boy had not thought about what his gift would do to her. Even now it was slowly moving around the rest of her body after it seeped from the charred, near destroyed chakra pathways that had once held it. He watched, with the tiniest spark of amusement in his eyes, as it attacked her body in a desperate attempt to break her from the inside out.

Even her bones were beginning to crack from the volatile chakra, her inner organs would soon be laid to waste, and once her heart had been consumed, the empty shell that would be left would simply be burnt entirely. It would destroy her, no doubt. Within around two days nothing but a shell would be left. That, however, did not suit him at all. It was not often that a Jinchuriki willingly gave their chakra to another; particularly a female.

The was where her usefulness would truly lie.

oOo

Tendons, ligaments, muscles, everything. The male medic screwed up his face - thankful that the mask covered his expression - and stretched out his shaking fingers. Two full shifts and then this. He grimaced and sent out a wave of examination chakra to really truly prove to himself just how much damage had been done. Worse than he had thought; they were definitely all completely shredded, pulverised.

There was no way in hell they could put this back together; not with the flesh just clinging to the bone and every nerve utterly crushed to the point that this kid probably couldn't even feel his right leg anymore. The left arm too was in a similar state. Only then did he realise that he was standing, static, with blood soaking into the rubber gloves. Chakra wouldn't fix these wounds.

He moved anyway and began to knit what he could back together. Nothing would respond unless considerable amounts of chakra were pumped into it. Even then almost nothing happened and by all accounts he should be screaming, writhing, just moving. The various drugs that were now swarming his system would block out the worse but, hell, he should still be responding in some way.

There was no one else here other than a few haggard medics swarming around, inserting IV's that would push more blood into his body. He needed it. The bloody mush that had once been a set of fully functioning limbs simply seeped more blood onto the metal operation table with every beat of his heart. Just keeping him alive was difficult at the moment. Then, the damage just got worse as several others began to scan the rest of his body.

Charred chakra veins, areas close to several of the chakra gates were scorched and his skin overall showed signs of major burning.

And it was self inflicted.

The ancient medic nin told him that as they began to rapidly supply him with fluids to cool the skin and take the heat from the burns. Too much to do, he slid his fingers against the slightly more repaired limb - though he still felt warm, uncovered flesh beneath his fingertips - and began to drain away the lactic acid that had formed due to extreme use of the muscles.

Lactic acid was perfectly normal when exercising, but this amount was hindering the healing process. An hour passed and they were sure he was going to live. His heartbeat had stabalised, the blood flowing from the wounds had ebbed to a none threatening flow and his right lung, the only one next to a chakra gate had been suitably repaired. He remembered the exact moment when the patient finally moved and began to hack up bloody froth.

The delicate procedure of repairing every one of the tiny damaged aveoli, checking the bronchi and the trachea had been given to him. His hands shook with exertion as he carried out the task achingly slowly. At least the pulmonary artery was left untouched, that much he was thankful for. The head medic looked up and fixed her dark, unnerving, gaze on him for the first time since this operation began.

He saw the slight tightness in her expression, or what little of it was showing. That could only mean -

"Inform his sensei," she whispered, before turning back to their patient. He often wondered how her words carried such strength even when spoken quietly.

This was too much. He snapped off the blood covered gloves and walked out past the double doors. He hated this part of the job and knew that the ill fated sensei would be none to pleased to hear about just how bad his student had been wounded. Swallowing the lump in his throat he looked down at the clipboard. Maybe he wouldn't care. It was wrong to say that he hoped for an apathetic reaction; the fact that it was true didn't make it any less wrong.

Lee was the kid's name. It would have been better if his opponent had just outright killed him.

What use did a crippled shinobi have?

oOo

Her skin wasn't supposed to be that colour; he thought as he took a seat beside her. The ward was already empty when he arrived, this didn't strike him as unusual as she seemed to be recovering well. Breathing was normal, heartbeat... normal. As usual that overwhelming urge to bleed her dry swept over and choked his senses for a moment. She stirred slightly, but didn't awake.

Normally pale skin was a sallow colour that reminded him of the Uchiha brat.

His fingers were still coated in the Leaf's blood and he wondered if she would mind if he touched her now. If he ran his fingers across her skin, drifted down to her neck and... His hand paused just where the pulse was strongest. She wouldn't be pleased when she realised he had left bloodstains on her skin. It was alright though, it would wash off. He was allowed to touch her.

"I challenge you to fight me for fair Sakura's heart and hand." Foolish leaf boy.

That reminded him that he was in fact still alive. A hindrance and nothing more. She seemed to be coping well with the chakra inside of her and he supposed he was pleased about that, though he didn't show it, she would need it when Suna and Oto attacked. During the fray it would be unlikely that they would notice one insignificant genin going missing and it wasn't as though she had the power to stop him.

They had warned him too many times not to get too close to her. It didn't matter.

Shukaku chose that exact moment to whisper in his mind. Of course they wouldn't mind, especially if she was to produce his offspring. They would jump at that opportunity to have more weapons at their beck and call. His fingers tangled in her hair which was already matted and tangled from sweat and movement. The sticky blood bound the thick strands together in a way that would have been considered macabre at best, and horrifying at worst.

He considered the Demon's input for a moment and what it entailed. It wasn't as if he hadn't already considered...

Her breathing changed subtly in a way that would not have been noticeable to an ordinary civilian - signalling that she had, finally, awoken. Fingers twisted and he pulled cruelly on her hair until she gasped like a fish out of water. Wide, green eyes watched him through a veil of blood stained hair, pulling hard on her hair provoked a harsher reaction than he ever would have expected. He did it again, deliberately, and relished her reaction simply because it was better than watching her lying comatose on the hospital bed. She was so weak; the sight of moisture in her eyes showed him that all too clearly.

It didn't bother him that she was an inferior shinobi: that she was weak and that he could kill her at any given moment. It was not her that was meant to be strong - it was him. His job to protect her and hers to... He couldn't think of her purpose. His was to remain alive and to kill as proof of this elusive existence and also to protect her. Although he loathed to admit that he had some connection with one of the other untrustworthy, two-faced humans that littered the planet.

But, why?! He asked himself again. Why her.

He saw the flash of defiance and anger in her eyes before she could hide it as she thought about fighting him and felt something twist in his stomach. The urge to overpower her and show who was the boss, the leader, rose lightening-fast in his mind. Too fragile, he couldn't risk his - ( Shukaku's chakra, they were one and the same, both monsters) - chakra ripping her at the very seams of her body and soul just because she had a little spirit in her.

"Gaara... That's not anyone I know. Please tell me it's not," she pleaded. There was an imploring note in her quivering voice.

He hated it when people begged for their pathetic lives and crawled at his feet while their eyes shone with tears of cowardice. This was no different - his eyes hardened. One moment they were trying to kill him while the roar of blood-lust and adrenaline still flowed through their veins, the next they were on their knees begging for mercy. He hated to watch them. Two-faced cowards. He hated to watch her beg too.

Did she not realise he would give her whatever it was in his power to give!?

He watched coolly and released her from his grip. She was far too attached to them. It would not do.

"He is still alive - the Leaf boy - for now anyway..." It almost stung to admit that fact and the thinly veiled threat made him feel a little less irritated that the shinobi had survived.

Standing, he made to leave. There was much to do before the next matches; he wanted to crush the Uchiha brat in a humiliating defeat and plenty of training was needed for that. Sakura's hand shot out and she grasped the strap of his gourd with a vice-like grip that she would not be maintained for long.

"Don't leave. I couldn't bear it." Her voice was hard and possessed an icy chill.

It appeared the her spirit had finally began to rear its head. Although he could not stand simpering females, he did not want her to feel she was in charge. Sitting in the chair he watched as she smiled at him - blinding, only his. She was fast asleep in the space of a single heartbeat. After an hour or so he stood and left. There was, after all, unfinished business to attend to.

She wouldn't be to angry about his sudden departure if he returned the next day. Well, if he didn't tell her about what he was planning to do to the Leaf boy - his competitor.

Let it never be said that Subaku No Gaara backed down from a challenge. "I challenge you to fight me for fair Sakura's heart and hand." That statement would ensure him a slow, agonising death.

oOo

"Whadya mean I can't see Sasuke!!" Naruto yelled at the irritated looking nurse.

She responded by pushing her cropped, grey hair back with a single weathered hand and hissing that she meant he couldn't see him. End of story. He watched her with wide blue eyes for a moment before whining, begging and generally trying to wheedle the location of his team-mate out of her. The pink flowers in his hands (for Sakura-chan of course) were shaken about until they hung limply in his tanned fist.

"But, Baa-sama, he's my team-mate," he muttered, looking dejected.

"Go and visit your other team-mate. She's not under the protection of the ANBU," she said, with a hint of irritation. "I'd watch it though, there's been some funny things goi-"

The hospital doors were still swinging slightly from his speedy departure.

He followed the directions she had given her, they weren't very hard to remember; up one flight of stairs and then the second door to the left. It was funny how quiet it was up here compared to the rest of the hospital. A nurse skirted nervously around the corner as he entered the floor. Of course Naruto, being Naruto, didn't really pick up on the fact that the entire floor was a silent as a tomb. Of course not.

Slamming his fists against the door he quite happily yelled at the top of his voice without giving a thought to the fact that Sakura or some of the other patients on the floor might still be asleep. After a few moments, and an ominous silence, he pushed the door wide open (so hard that a large hole was banged into the plasterboard) and proceeded to yell a happy greeting at his bed ridden, and furious looking, female teammate.

"If I had been sleeping I would have throttled you, Naruto," Sakura hissed, her voice deadly but her eyes soft.

It was so hard to resist that stupid grin and sparkling blue eyes. She missed the company of her team when the only people she had seen for two days were nurses hurrying in to give her another dose of unpleasant medicine and then hurrying back out again. They refused to meet her gaze and didn't speak more than was absolutely necessary. Sakura was quite a sociable being by nature and found this isolation, and they way they all seemed to be afraid of her, highly uncomfortable.

She ended up putting it down to Gaara who had hung around her almost every day and night. Flitting in and out without detection. He had probably snarled at one of them while she was sleeping, or threatened them, or... The list was endless. Although even thinking of him caused a slight pang because he had not come to see her in two days. It wasn't as though she couldn't detect his presence anymore either.

Her body practically screamed at her when he was anywhere in the nearby vicinity. No longer did she have to experience the painful sensation of lava flowing through her veins, but she could still feel it - the Demon's chakra. It reacted to his presence especially strongly. Although it wasn't an entirely unpleasent typeof reaction. She craved him in a way that she had never wanted Sasuke. It was a strange sort of feeling and one that she couldn't quite get to grips with.

The mere thought of him made her blood stir a little more. A few images from the little orange books her sensei was so fond of rose unbidden in her mind as a deep blush rose into her cheeks. Sakura really hoped Naruto would think it was from a fever.

Naruto stood and watched as her pale forehead creased slightly and her cheeks turned a rosy red colour - he could almost see the cogs of her quick mind turning frantically. Sakura didn't say anything further and seemed to forget he was there. So deep in thought. His fingers clenched nervously around the abused stalks of the bright pink blooms. Would she like them? They were pink. How could she not like pink?! His eyes drifted to her blossom coloured hair as he swallowed the lump that had built up in his throat.

There team was beginning to drift apart, now was his chance to pull her back in. He could keep them both happy and together. It didn't matter what Sasuke had said she had done. Those things he had whispered in his ear, in that dark room, when she wasn't listening, were not like Sakura at all. Naruto was all too aware of the perspiration gathering on his forehead and he shifted nervously as he thrust the flowers forward with a little too much enthusiasm.

The irritated blank look practically melted off her face as she smiled at him.

"I missed you, Naruto," she said softly, as she plucked at one of the pink petals.

His hammering heart steadied just a little and he managed to pull out one of the dreadfully uncomfortable hospital chairs and sit down without knocking over the table or causing any other kind of mishap. He had a tendency to destroy things when he was alone with Sakura - the nerves just got out of control. She was a bit... Off. Watching him and saying nothing. Her breathing was a little too heavy to be normal and her green eyes were a little blood shot.

They had said she was sick, but getting better. He wondered if she would watch his training, it always felt better to have her close. Of course she would have to get out of hospital for that, and to do that she would have to be well again and -

Her lips pressed against his forehead; soft and supple and smooth. His heart felt like it had stopped that very instant. Fingers reached out in an almost instinctive movement; he wanted to hold her. Stopping himself from doing so took such an effort that his hands tightened into fists. She leaned back and looked at him with the most sombre expression he had ever seen grace her features.

"I hope you won't think too badly of me when you realise what I've done," she whispered, "and I forgive you if you never want to speak to me again."

Had Sasuke been right?! A strange pulse came from her body at that moment. One which was all too familiar.

"What the hell did he do to you?!" He didn't need to explain who the 'he' was. They both knew. She grimanced and turned to look out the window.

So Sasuke had told Naruto. Naruto had probably not believed him to start with, but... A pair of piercing blue eyes pulled her straight out of her thoughts. He was too close. His shuddering fingers extended and he touched her skin lightly. Sakura didn't bother to fight down the pulse of chakra that wanted to devour him she let him feel it for himself. He flinched and withdrew his fingers. His eyes were clouded and he looked serious for once.

"I would never have put that burden on you. I would never have let you feel a fraction of the pain involved with being... Like me." She choked back all the things she wanted to shout at him.

That he of all people should know what it was like to be shunned by everyone. That he was the only person that she had thought could possibly understand her decision.

"If he makes you happy Sakura-chan," he whispered when she refused to speak. Or just couldn't find the words to say.

"You know I just want you to be happy."

oOo

It's been too long. Christmas and New Year were bound to be busy - I knew that much. Then my computer had to die and take about 2000 words (or more of BM and quite a few other things with it). It's just been fixed today by one of my Mum's fabulous work people. Sorry, sorry, sorry. That's all I have to say.

Silver xxx.