See if you can find the Dane Cook reference!

Salvation

Chapter 13: Expectations

“Stay low and to the right,” Sasuke whispered to Sakura.

Sakura nodded her head, even though she knew Sasuke couldn’t see her.  Currently, they were walking down a narrow path encased in darkness.

The anticipation was killing Sakura.  She had no clue what to expect.  She was too nervous to ask Sasuke, who at the moment seemed to be somewhere else.

She looked over at him, and although she could only see his outline, she could imagine his face riddled with worry lines and tense with anger.  She knew Orochimaru wasn’t Sasuke’s favorite subject and it must be even worse to be close to him at this moment with a burden by his side.

Sakura scowled at the thought.  Yes, she was about as useful as a talking bowl of ramen at the moment, but it wasn’t like she was always this way.  She was always useful in previous battles.  She could heal wounds in a flash and create an earthquake with just a single punch.  She was far from useless and she couldn’t wait to prove it to Sasuke.

Suddenly, a hand gripped her arm tightly, shoving her into the wall.

“I said to stay against the wall,” Sasuke hissed, not letting go of Sakura’s arm.  Sakura looked up to see Sasuke staring at her and she didn’t need to see his face to know he was glaring at her.

“Sorry,” Sakura muttered, ashamed she had lost focus on the task at hand.  This isn’t a good way to prove your usefulness, Sakura!

Sasuke finally released her and she looked up the hallway.  She could make out a couple of Sound-nin standing at the end.  If Sasuke hadn’t of pulled her against the wall, she would have been spotted.

Sakura and Sasuke stood against the wall, flattening them-selves as much as possible.  The sound-nin took no notice of them, and eventually the sound-nin left the area.

Sasuke and Sakura continued their trek, until they came to a steel door.  It was covered in seals and Sakura knew it would take a lot of skill to get through them.

“This is it,” Sasuke said, and Sakura looked over to him.

“How do you know?”  Sakura questioned.

“I saw the one he had before and Orochimaru is not one to change,” Sasuke answered.

“How do we get in?”

“I know how to open it,” Sasuke said, staring at the door.

“Yeah, but how do you know it’s the same?”  Sakura didn’t know why she was questioning Sasuke so much.  Maybe it was because she was scared to think that they might get caught, and she didn’t want to think about what would happen to her if that occurred.

“Because, Orochimaru didn’t know I knew how to get into the other one,” Sasuke said.  He didn’t elaborate further.  He made a few quick hand signs before pointing them towards the door.

Seven long snakes erupted from Sasuke.  They coiled their way up the sides of the door until they made a symbol Sakura didn’t recognize.

The door suddenly clicked open, and Sasuke pushed it slightly.  He looked over to her.  “Come on,” he said before walking inside.

Sakura didn’t hesitate as she quickly followed.

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Sakura stood staring at the room in front of her.  It was filled with many different chemicals and potions, covering several different tables.

There were bookshelves lined along the walls, filled with hundreds of books.

Sakura started to walk over to a table, ready to investigate, when Sasuke grabbed her arm.  She turned and looked at him.  He wasn’t looking at her, but rather in front of him.

“We need to find the vial and get out of here,” Sasuke said and Sakura nodded in understanding.  Now was not the time to snoop around with Orochimaru’s experiments.  She needed to find that vial soon before anyone found them.

“Tsunade-sama said it would be in one of the cabinets in the back room,” Sakura said, walking around the tables towards the back.

She could hear Sasuke’s footsteps behind.  Reaching the back wall, they both began looking through the various vials that were lined up on the shelves.

Scanning through them, she couldn’t find it.  She looked over at Sasuke who was still searching.  He seemed to be frustrated.

“Sasuke-kun,” Sakura said, getting Sasuke’s attention.  “It’s not here.”

Sasuke didn’t say anything for a moment, looking back over the vials that now littered the floor.  “We’re missing something,” Sasuke commented and Sakura frowned.

“Maybe Kabuto was lying,” Sakura said, and Sasuke shook his head.

“Maybe, but there’s more to this room then we’re seeing.  I know how Orochimaru works and this room is too…,” Sasuke trailed off. 

“Sane,” Sakura finished, and Sasuke nodded.  Sakura knew what he meant.  Orochimaru would have human subjects and grotesque items lying around his lab, not just mere vials and schematics.

“I’m sure there’s a hidden room around here or something.  There has to be,” Sasuke said, looking around.

Sakura walked closer to the wall, inspecting it.  Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, everything was normal.  It has to be some sort of spell or genjutsu, wait, that’s it.

Sakura almost hit herself for not noticing right away.  This room was rigged with a genjutsu, so that if anyone were to come in, it would look normal.

Turning toward Sasuke, she shouted his name.  “Sasuke-kun, it’s a genjutsu,” Sakura told him and he looked at her a moment, contemplating what she said.  He placed his hands together and said, “Release.”  The room blurred for a moment before disappearing.

Sakura immediately brought her hand to her mouth to keep from vomiting.  Looking around the room, she was horrified at the site.  The room was dark and dirty.  Tables were all around covered in what looked like blood.  There were random body parts scattered everywhere.

There were about thirty or so jars lined up on the counter across the room that contained everything from eyeballs to ears to brains.  The smell was awful, and it took everything she had not to puke up the non-existent breakfast she had.

She placed her hand on the table beside her and came in contact with something cold and slimy.  Looking down, she saw that her hand was on top of a part of a leg.  She almost screamed when something covered her mouth.  She began to panic, when someone whispered in her ear.

“Calm down, Sakura,” Sasuke said and Sakura stopped moving.  She immediately turned in his embrace and covered her face into his shirt.  His one hand remained on her back, while the other was held her arm.

“This is…, this is just horrible, Sasuke-kun,” Sakura said, tears gathering in her eyes.

“I told you Sakura that you would see some disturbing things,” Sasuke said to her, moving her away from his body.

Sakura felt a little sad having Sasuke push her away, but she knew such close contact was hard for Sasuke, and especially in this type of situation.

She quickly wiped her eyes and steadied herself.  “I know, I’m sorry for losing my composure,” Sakura said, looking to the ground.

“Thanks for realizing that was a genjutsu.  I was never the genjutsu type, but you always were,” Sasuke complimented and Sakura blushed.

“You’re welcome,” she said, quietly.

“Let’s check these cabinets, it’s gotta be here,” Sasuke said.  They both walked over to the back cabinets, inspecting the various vials.

“I found it,” Sasuke said, and Sakura turned to him.  He held up a vial that contained a purple liquid.  On the front was the Japanese sign for chakra, so she knew it was the right one.

Sasuke handed it to Sakura and she gladly took it from him.  She inspected it, amazed that such a small thing could be so important to her.

“Are you going to use it?”  Sasuke questioned and Sakura shook her head no.

“Tsunade-sama said that I shouldn’t inject it into myself without having her test it first.  She said they were almost one-hundred percent certain that Kabuto wasn’t lying, but she didn’t want to take the chance,” Sakura explained.

“Tsunade’s right, you shouldn’t use it until you’re sure about its content and effects,” Sasuke said.

Sakura placed the vial inside the pocket of Hinata’s pants, making sure it was secure, and she looked up at Sasuke.

“Well, we have it, so shouldn’t we get back to Naruto and Hinata?” Sakura said and Sasuke was just about to answer her when a voice interrupted them.

“No, I don’t think you’ll be leaving here,” a voice said, and Sakura looked over to the other side of the room.

Orochimaru stood before them and Sakura could feel the anger radiating from Sasuke. 

“Nice of you to come back, Sasuke-kun,” Orochimaru sneered.  He then looked over at Sakura and smirked.  “And thanks for bringing back such a lovely treasure.”

Sakura watch Sasuke clench his fist before stepping in front of her, blocking her view of Orochimaru.  “I’m going to kill you,” Sasuke simply stated, but Sakura knew how much hate filled those five words.

Sakura looked around Sasuke to see Orochimaru sneering at the two.  He seemed unfazed at Sasuke’s venomous tone.

“I have to say, Sasuke-kun, I’m very disappointed in you.  Surely you wanted power, I never thought you’d abandon that dream for a filthy village such as Konoha, and even filthier ninjas,” Orochimaru said as he took a few steps closer to them.

Instinctively, Sakura backed up a little, but her anger soared.  How dare Orochimaru speak badly about her home village?  She wanted to yell at him, to berate him for his lack of respect, but she couldn’t force the words out.  She felt scared, she could admit that.  Orochimaru provoked fear, in a way that caused Sakura to shiver.  She could never know how Sasuke could live with such a being for so long.  She could hardly stand a few minutes with the pale, snake-like sannin.

Sasuke didn’t waste any time as he flew at Orochimaru.  Sakura watched as the two battled.  She continued to back up until she was as close to the wall as she could be.  She wanted to help, but knew that she would only be a burden to Sasuke.  She could do nothing in her state, and with an opponent like Orochimaru, she would be dead before she could even lift a finger.

Sakura watched as both Sasuke and Orochimaru released their snakes.  They shot toward each other, trying desperately to reach the other.

Sakura watched Orochimaru fight without the use of his arms.  She had to admit, it was fairly impressive.  He was a formidable opponent even with such a handicap. 

Sakura clenched her teeth together to keep from screaming as Sasuke was hit with a terrible blow to the stomach.

He recovered quickly, but Orochimaru was fast, and he hit Sasuke again, this time he was sent careening toward Sakura.

She moved just in time, as he slammed against a few tables and ended up right beside her.

She reached him quickly, going to his side, helping him to sit up.  Sasuke wiped blood from his lip as he glared at Orochimaru.

Sakura watched as he started to get up, but he fell back down, grabbing his chest in the process.

Orochimaru started laughing.  Sasuke looked up to him.  “What the hell did you do to me?” he said, before coughing up blood.

“Sasuke-kun!” Sakura gasped, looking him over.  She knew that Orochimaru must have punctured Sasuke’s lung, severed a few muscles, and cracked a few ribs with that blow.

She was a medic-nin after all, and they were trained to pinpoint the problems before using their chakra.  She thanked Tsunade-sama for making it a requirement for all the medic staff to learn how to deduce situations before using any unneeded chakra.

“Tsk, tsk, Sasuke-kun,” Orochimaru began.  “Too bad you didn’t stay with me; you would have had enough power to at least offer me a decent battle.”

“Hn,” Sasuke said.  He gripped at his chest, and Sakura could tell he was in a lot of pain, even if he tried to hide it.

“But, I have to say,” Orochimaru stated as he looked at Sasuke.  “You were holding back.  I wonder why that was.  Too afraid to show the girl here the forbidden skills I taught you?”

Sakura’s eyes widened at the comment.  She wasn’t stupid; she knew that Sasuke would learn quite a few forbidden techniques while in sound, but hearing Orochimaru say it out loud like that took her by surprise.

She looked over at Sasuke, trying to catch his eyes, but he kept glaring at Orochimaru.

“Oh, come on Sasuke-kun, don’t give me that look.  You should know that it would take a lot more than that to bring me down,” Orochimaru chided, kicking over a part of a broken table as he made his way closer.

Before Sakura could register what happened, she was being held in Orochimaru’s grasp.  He had a firm grip on her neck, holding her at least a foot off of the ground.

She could breathe a little, but just barely.  She clawed at his hands, but it was futile.  She wasn’t getting out of this.

Orochimaru looked at Sakura and started laughing.  “And you’re supposed to be the hokage’s apprentice,” Orochimaru said.  “I heard you had monstrous strength and almost perfect chakra control and yet you can’t even free yourself from my grip.”

“Let her go,” Sasuke said.  Sakura could see out of the corner of her eye that Sasuke was making himself stand.  No Sasuke-kun!  You can’t fight like this!

She wanted to yell to him not to move, but she couldn’t speak, Orochimaru’s grip was too tight.

Orochimaru just laughed.  “And what do you think you’re going to do?  You can barely stand.”

Sasuke stood on shaking feet.  Sakura watched as he began to make the hand-signs for his chidori.  She knew he couldn’t do such a technique in his condition; it would most likely lead to his death.

She had to do something, and do it now.

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Sasuke felt his rage building up as he saw Orochimaru holding Sakura.  It took everything he had not to let the curse seal come out.  He wanted so badly to unleash everything he knew on Orochimaru, but he couldn’t let Sakura see him like that.  Sakura had never seen him in the second stage of the curse seal and he was determined to keep it like that.  Naruto had witnessed it, and that was bad enough.

“Come on Sasuke-kun, show the pretty girl the monster you really are,” Orochimaru taunted.

Sasuke’s fists clenched.  He hurt so badly, but the pain he could ignore for now.  He had to get Sakura away, if not, she would surely be killed.  Orochimaru was not a merciful man.

Sasuke decided it was best for him to attempt Chidori.  Even though he knew it would cause only more damage and take away his much needed chakra.  He had only one shot at this, and he had to do it right.

He looked down at his arm for only a mere second, readying it for when he unleashed a large amount of chakra, when there was a loud crash.

Sasuke immediately looked up and he couldn’t believe his eyes.  Orochimaru was pulling himself up on the other side of the room.  The wall was now completely cracked.  Sasuke looked over at Sakura to see her standing there with a smile on her face and determination in her eyes.

She looked over at him and smiled.  Sasuke looked down to see a needle sticking out of her leg.

Sakura must have caught his gaze, because she looked down and plucked the needle from her thigh.  Walking over, she looked at Sasuke’s wounds.

Laying her hand on his chest, she emitted a green light and the pain vanished.  Sasuke watched, amazed, as his severe wounds were gone in a flash.

“Sakura, you shouldn’t have done that,” Sasuke said and Sakura shook her head.

“I had no other choice.  Plus, I feel fine.  I have my chakra back, now,” Sakura said. 

“What about your other wounds?”  Sasuke asked.

“I healed those as soon as the chakra flooded back into my body,” Sakura answered.

Sakura looked over at Orochimaru who at the moment was staring at his right leg.   He looked up at her.  “Severed all my leg muscles in one hit.  Just the type of thing I would expect from Tsunade’s apprentice,” Orochimaru said.

Sasuke and Sakura readied themselves for battle, but Orochimaru only smiled.  “We will continue this at another date and know this, everything has a price,” he said, before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

“What does that mean?”  Sakura asked and Sasuke shook his head.  He didn’t want to think on the many things Orochimaru could be talking about with that statement.  He had more important things to worry about, like getting out of here.

“Who knows, but we have to get out of here now,” Sasuke said.

Sakura nodded and Sasuke headed to the door.  He opened it slowly, looking out to see if anyone was around.  Seeing no one, he turned back to Sakura.  “Alright, we’re going to try and go out the way we came.  Stay close and be quick,” Sasuke said, looking at Sakura.  He noted that she smiled a little more now and that she seemed to have more confidence.  He also felt the small need to give her a compliment, she had done very well back there and she took a great risk by using the potion immediately.

He looked up at her and caught her eyes.  “Nice move back there,” Sasuke said and Sakura’s eyes lit up.  She smiled at him, and he could see her cheeks tinting a little.  He smirked to himself for still being able to cause such a reaction in Sakura so easily.

“Thanks,” she muttered, before breaking their eye contact.

Sasuke smirked, before turning back to the door.  Checking once more, he made his way out into the hall, ready to get the hell out of sound.

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