Chương 52: Sasuke Awakens

As Sakura sponged down Sasuke's forehead with the moistened bandage she was using in lieu of a towel, Sasuke began stirring fitfully in his sleep. His eyeballs were making sharp movements under his eyelids and steam was beginning to rise from his injuries, a clear sign that he was undergoing rapid recovery.

Although, it didn't look very pleasant… Sasuke's sleeping face kept twisting into a mask of agony, and his cursed seal had turned molten; angry red splotches were rapidly spreading across his entire body, giving his chakra a very sinister feel as the marks took over his skin.

And then, his Two-Tomoe Sharingan eyes flew wide open.

"Orochimaru!" Sasuke snarled.

That hateful chakra, he could feel it nearby!

"No, this is Sakura," Sakura replied patiently. "Are… are you feeling okay, Sasuke?"

The cursed seal's spots on Sasuke's skin were gradually cooling down and turning jet black, but he wasn't out of the woods yet. He had merely survived the initial implantation of the curse, and now, he had to avoid being consumed by it…

Sasuke turned his intense gaze towards Sakura, making her feel as though she were completely naked in front of his eyes. There were no secrets that the Sharingan couldn't see through, and Sasuke could see her chakra as clear as day. He had felt Orochimaru's chakra still nearby, but it had turned out to be only Sakura…

While the Sharingan wasn't quite as adept as the Byakugan when it came to seeing the chakra within people, Sasuke could still see chakra as colours. In his eyes, it was like Sakura had a double rainbow stuffed down her shirt, which was something that could not be faked with a Transformation Jutsu…

"Never better," said Sasuke at last, as he flexed his hands experimentally. "I feel more than fine, actually…"

So what if Sakura and Naruto were catching up to him? At the end of the day, his pride as an Uchiha didn't matter, only his revenge. If Orochimaru could offer him the power he needed to kill that person, then it did not matter to him how he acquired that power, as long as it could kill him…

"Sasuke, there's no need to build up that much chakra," Sakura cautioned him. "There was an enemy, but they're gone. I've managed to snag the scroll we needed, see?"

Sakura knew better than to try to keep Sasuke off the path of vengeance. As she was, her feelings would never reach him, because she simply could not possibly fathom the grief of losing one's family. Sakura's family was still alive, whether in this world, or the previous.

Now that Sakura thought about it, Pain had been right about one thing: pain could be a force for good. If there was one thing common to the human experience, it was loss. After all, experiencing pain and the loss of loved ones… it allows one to relate to others' pain, and to empathize with those who have undergone the same experiences.

But in Sakura's opinion, Pain's plan of ultimate weapon proliferation was just not worth the toll it would exact on humanity, and neither would it create lasting peace, as it would only escalate the quantity of pain in the world infinitely. As long as there were two humans left on Earth, there would never be true peace…

At any rate, that was neither here nor there; Pain would only be a problem for fifteen-year-old Sakura.

"Sasuke?" Sakura asked him tentatively, since he hadn't responded to her words. "Can you hear me…?"

Sasuke closed his eyes, and slowly, the cursed seal patterns receded back into the original three Tomoe on his neck.

"Well, since you're fine," Sakura continued, "I'm going to forage for some tastier food than military ration pills. You stay here and keep an eye on Naruto, okay?"

"Fine," Sasuke grunted noncommittally.

And with that being said, Sakura flickered away.

But the instant she was gone, Sasuke fell to his knees, his body wracked with waves of pain. He had been fine while Sakura had been around… Had it been the healing power of breasts, or had it been the wisp of Orochimaru chakra within her that had kept the pain at bay…?

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Sakura jumped from branch to branch as she searched for a river; she was fairly sure that she could hear the rustling of water nearby. And if there was water, there were fish! They would probably be small and full of fishbones, but they would still beat the taste of musty old soldier pills that were about to expire, right?

"IYAAAH!"

A girl's scream pierced the peacefulness of the forest, and Sakura froze in place, a greedy smile slowly drawing itself on her lips. It wasn't every day that she got the opportunity to absorb chakra from a genuine kunoichi, and she wasn't about to waste the opportunity!

Hearing an animal's roar, Sakura accelerated her pace. Dead women had no breast chakra, after all…

"Oi!!" she could hear the girl crying out. "Where is everyone!? Heeelp!"

Sakura burst out of the foliage and landed on a thick tree branch. She had arrived in a small clearing in the Forest of Death, where down below, a gigantic bear was slowly advancing towards a very recognizable crimson-haired and flat-chested kunoichi wearing a Hidden Grass headband.

"Karin, huh?" Sakura muttered to herself, slightly miffed at having wasted her time. "Well, she'll probably be fine with her Adamantine Chains…"

Disappointed at the lack of prey from whom she could absorb breast chakra, Sakura turned to leave, knowing that Karin would survive all the way to Boruto with or without her input. And yet, a niggling feeling in the back of Sakura's mind was keeping her from leaving just yet. Karin's Chūnin exam attempt was really none of Sakura's business, but the girl was just too pitiful, and besides, it looked like she hadn't awakened any of her offensive capabilities yet…

And so, sighing to herself all the while, Sakura leapt off her branch and landed on the bear's head. She gathered chakra on her fist, remembering Orochimaru's instructions on how to make it explode, and struck down with all of her might!

…but unfortunately for Sakura, it was her first time trying out Chakra Enhanced Strength, so of course, she not only missed the timing, she also failed to make her chakra spike out as forcefully as she had planned.

Angered by the fly that was buzzing around its head, the bear roared and rose on its hind legs, swiping at its head with its meaty paws, but Sakura was one step ahead of the animal. She backflipped off the bear's head, took in a deep breath while she weaved hand signs in midair, before putting her fingers to her mouth…

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"