part of the series: CHERRY BLOSSOM: APOCALYPSE AU
Series C: Masahi Kishimoto
TW: Mentions of murder? (idk how to tag these things), blood, medical procedure, gunshot wound.
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"So you can grow facial hair, who knew..." Neji joked dryly, before he started coughing.
Quickly, the twins were at his side, Sakura helping Sakuro with removing the sloppily applied bandages.
"How long ago was he shot?" Sakuro asked, quickly getting into his medic mode.
"Exactly twenty-eight hours ago." Mikoto replied, worry and weariness etched onto her face. It was clear that she hadn't slept a wink, and her shaking hands signaled her distress. She gently moved Neji's sweaty, long bangs out of his face. She suggested cutting it a few times, but she knew how attached the man was to his hair, and in a way, she understood; Mikoto had long hair, now grown past her upper thighs. She refused to cut it, even though she got caught by one of the zombies once by the same long hair. It was heavily believed in her clan for thousands of years that the hair held memories, bonds, and emotions of the past, good and bad. It was a part of you that nobody should touch; it was almost sacred to the Uchiha clan, but of course, times changed, and everyone in the clan did as they pleased.
Not Mikoto Uchiha, though; she was a heavy follower of her traditions, and in a way, Itachi had inherited his mother's views about the hair.
Sakura quickly started sterilizing the wound. "Mikoto-san, we need you to hold him down. This will be painful." She said, and Mikoto nodded, grabbing a hold of Neji's shoulders.
Once the wound was clean, Sakuro examined it. "Well, the fever is a good sign. Your body is fighting the poison of the bullet." He mumbled as he started working. "Here, bite down on this." He rolled up a small, clean towel he always carried around. Neji weakly nodded and bit down on the fabric, slightly cringing at its taste. Sakuro grimaced. "Sorry, just bear with it for a bit." He smiled slightly in an apologetic manner.
As the two siblings got to work on pulling the bullet out safely, they used a makeshift suction device to suction the excess blood out, with a tube that was attached to a plastic bottle. It wasn't much, but it did the job.
Throughout the whole ordeal, Neji groaned and thrashed despite the drugs that were administered to his system. He screamed when the forceps dug deeper into his flesh, almost knocking the black-haired woman over, but she held surprisingly strong for someone of her build.
After two long hours, the sun started to set, and the procedure was done with great strain.
The three sighed in exhaustion as they moved from their spots. Neji now passed out, pale but breathing, and bandaged with clean bandages with special ointments under them.
Sakuro got up, his knees cracked, and he grimaced as the blood flowed down past his knees. He wobbled slightly before disposing of the used tools and cleaning the non-disposable ones with the little water that flowed through the sink. He'd worry about boiling them to sterilize them back at their camp, anyway. For now, they had other things to worry about. He looked outside. "Did you guys hear that?" He whispered.
Both women's attention was directed towards the front door. "Someone or something is outside..." Mikoto commented quietly, clutching Neji's hand to ground herself. She was far desensitized from the zombies at this point, but what did scare her were the living. They were much more dangerous than a mindless zombie.
Sakuro's jaw locked tightly before he took out Sakura's axe that was sheathed on her back. "Hey!" She protested with a pout. "Be careful with Becky! I don't want to find a new handle for her again." She warned.
Sakuro rolled his eyes. "What's more important, our lives or 'Becky's handle?" He asked with a deadpan look.
Sakura's nose scrunched, but she relented without another word. "Just be careful." She said.
"I know. Unlike you, I was in the military." Sakuro replied with a roll of his eyes before moving outside through the back door.
Sakura glared at his back. "And I did boxing and wrestling? Honestly, sometimes he annoys me so much, I swear..." She grumbles before gently dabbing a cool towel on Neji's forehead, which held the same tattoo she remembered as a child when he and Sakuro got into a big fight after Neji disrespected Naruto in front of Sakuro. They all may have met in different places, but they still knew each other one way or the other, since Konoha wasn't a large village. Everyone knew everyone.
For a moment, her eyes softened with nostalgia before she noticed Mikoto anxiously staring at Sakura. "Yes?" The pinkette asked.
"About my son... I know you, Naruto-kun, and he were close. By chance, have you seen either 'Tachi-chan ' or Sasuke-chan?" She asked, biting her lip worriedly. "After Konoha fell, we got split up. I know my children are safe with Itachi and Shikaku, but... I hadn't heard of Sasuke in a long time..."
Sakura bit her own lip. "I-...." Would it be right to tell the woman the truth? She already looked like hell. God knew what she would do if she found out?
But she decided to, either way. Like Sakuro said, there was no point in just clinging to delusions. "He-... Naruto's colony hadn't contacted us in more than a week or so... We don't know about their whereabouts. I'm sure Itachi-san will be fine. Both he and Shikaku-san are capable fighters, but so are Sasuke, Naruto, Zabuza-san, and Shikamaru, since they grew up around violence." It was a sad truth. Despite the modern world treating them well, children were still trained for hand-to-hand combat and weaponry, even people like her, but more so kids from clans, since kidnappings were very common, especially if you ran a very successful business throughout continents, and people that hailed from Konoha were renowned doctors, Busniessmen and hailed from a military background. Unlike other regions, Konoha had been semi-autonomous ever since the founders of the village have built the village with blood and sweat. Their lands were the most prosperous amongst any other parts in Japan, which always ended up being the target of even the goverment of Japan itself. Some say that Konoha is one of the oldest villages to still stand with a large population, and those who came from the village ended up becoming highly successful.
But things weren't always so beautiful when it came to the village. Not only were the surrounding villages violent towards the pillar village, but also its own people sometimes got into dangerous arguments that nearly started a regional war, thrice.
Sakura looked up at Mikoto. This wasn't the time to think about the history. She offered the dejected woman a comforting smile. "Please don't worry. I'm sure they are alright. Maybe their communications were jammed. Tsunade-sama's colony, our colony, is planning to send out a search party for them in a few days. Sakuro will be joining them, since i'm needed back at the base just in case there's an emergency. Ino is with us, though." The pinkette assured as the two stood outside of Neji's temporary, makeshift bedroom.
Mikoto nodded. "Okay, Okay..." She took a deep breath, calming herself down. Everything would be fine, she assured herself. At least one of her babies was safe for sure...
Before she could open her mouth, she heard a stranger man scream outside. "No, please! I-I'm sorry, i didn't mean what i said. Please, spare me- Ple-"
Before the man could finish, the two got a glimpse of Sakuro bringing an axe down on a man who looked to be in his 40's, wearing ripped up jeans, head shaved, he looked like a troublemaker, maybe a substance abuser, from what Mikoto could make out.
Mikoto froze as she saw the pure neutral look on Sakuro's face. Her vision was getting significantly worse, but the sight made her blood freeze.
"Sorry, but i can't let people like you-....around." They heard Sakuro's blank voice, muffled by the glass windows and door.
Sakura winced and maneuvered Mikoto back where Neji was resting. "Don't look, Mikoto-san..." She mumbled.
Sakura knew Mikoto was no stranger to violence, according to Sasuke. Like the rest of the Konoha women, she was trained from kindergarten age, and even served in the military for some time, reaching one of the highest ranks before retiring. Sakura didn't know the full details, but she remembered how she adored Sasuke's mom as a kid. Just like Tsunade, in her eyes, Mikoto was the definition of feminine strength.
But now, seeing how Mikoto froze up upon seeing the gruesome sight of Sakuro splitting the man's head open, she realized that this woman was far from what she used to be. This woman had been broken by the world, perhaps even before the apocalypse started.
Sakura physically shielded the woman's sight before helping her sit down.
The pinkette twin observed how Mikoto's hands shook and how she flinched every time the axe hit the surface of the man's head, to make sure that he would not get up, dead or alive. She felt bad, truly, but this was their world now. It was die or survive by any means.
She quickly took the towel from Neji's forehead before dipping it into the cold water. She wrung it out and gently dabbed it over his face and chest before setting it on the man's forehead once more.
After the sounds stopped, Sakura peeked outside to make sure her brother was safe. She saw him staring down at the now deceased corpse lying beyond her vision, before he removed his gloves and ran a hand through his pink, bloodied, long locks. She frowned. No matter how many times they killed, dead or alive, it affected them both deeply, especially Sakuro, who's been into active zones during his service. In a way, she was thankful she chose the path of just becoming a doctor instead of attending the military, like her brother. She could clearly see how his brain would just shut down, and he would go silent for hours afterwards, if not more. She wished she could help her twin somehow, but she learned her lesson, both her and Ino; the more they probed, the more aggressive he would become, and Sakuro was dangerous when he was triggered.
Maybe one day... If they survived for that one day, of course...
After what felt like hours, Sakuro came back from the back door, his breathing slightly labored.
He dropped the axe by the entrance and stared at them.
Sakura glared at her twin; despite knowing him, she still didn't agree with his violent nature, even though they shared that trait from their mother. "Couldn't you have been more civil-"
Before she finished, Sakuro cut her off with a stern look. "We can't stay here for long. That guy was from one of the vile colonies. He was intending to blow up the place. Those fuckers don't care about the zombies or humans, they'll destroy everything in their damned path... If one of them is here, the rest will follow suit." He informed blankly, his voice gruff. "I know Neji is in no shape to be moved, but we don't have a choice. We leave in an hour." He left no room for arguments.
Mikoto observed him for a moment before looking away. "Of course..."
Sakura gently set a hand on Mikoto's shoulder after Sakuro left the room to gather as many supplies as he could, hoarding them in the truck.
"Please, don't be dishartened by his behavior... This whole... World going to shit has been hard for all of us... He just does what he can to cope..." She says softly.
Mikoto bit her lip but nodded. "Yeah... I'll go help him stock up. Stay here with Neji..." She hesitated before wrapping her arms around the taller woman. "Thank you both for everything. Truly..." She said, her voice wavering.
Sakura froze at the hug before relaxing and hugging the woman back. "Of course. Konoha's code: 12, rule number 1: Nobody gets left behind, right?" She offers a woman a smile, which the Uchiha mirrors.
"Of course." She replied before standing and leaving the room.
Sakura turned back to Neji and resumed with removing the towel, before wiping his face down once more, gently after wringing the towel out. "Please, please stay alive... We need you, Neji..." She mumbled to herself.
If all of them had met so far away from their home, so unexpectedly...
Maybe there was still hope...
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Part two is finally finished, OMG.
I really enjoyed writing this, so i might continue.
For now, Enjoy!
@motherofsharingan @whydoesthecxgedbirdsing
