Sight and Sound

Let Go

Getting herself half out of the jacket was easier a second time around. Aster draped the other half of it over him. It surprised her to find that he was cold to the touch. Nervously, she wrapped it around him tightly. She did all of this half asleep. As soon as she was curled in the cloak beside him, Aster fell back into a deep dreamless sleep.

They both woke up a little after dawn. When they woke, Aster had drifted to where her head was on his chest and his arm was around her shoulders. Embarrassed, they jumped away from each other. He took the jacket when she handed it to him without comment. They cleaned up the camp and brushed dirt over the makeshift fire pit to hide it. When they were through, it was as if no one had ever been there.

"We will be at Konoha by early afternoon." Itachi looked at her with a sadness that sent chills down her spine.

Aster sighed and followed after him as he strolled importantly in the direction of the Leaf Village. It wasn't long before they reached the village. Just as Itachi had said, they arrived at the gates at early afternoon. They went around the village perimeter and were going to climb up behind the hokage rock faces to get in.

Aster followed him, breathing hard and clutching the wound in her left side. Itachi looked back to see her struggling up the first few feet of their long climb. He sighed as he watched her slip and tumble down the foot and half she had climbed. He leapt to her side.

"This is why we're here," he said, looking down on her with irritation.

"I don't want to hear it from you. I'm fine. As you can obliviously see, you're trying to shove me back into this cursed village before I've had a chance to recover," she looked at him defiantly. "If you just keep tending to it, I'll be fine without any help from Konoha."

Picking her up, he replied, "That's just it. I can't keep tending to it." Then he looked at her meaningfully, "I would be in hot water with Akatsuki if they found out about this. You can't hang around me. The other Akatsuki will come after not only you, but me too." He paused as he used his chakra to climb the mountain-side without hands. "There are worse members than Kisame. Believe me when I say he is the least of any of our worries."

Aster looked at him naively, then blushed, "You said 'our worries.' Does that have some other meaning to it?" Itachi glanced at her wide-eyed, but before he could say anything, Aster gasped at the sight of the village and exclaimed, "I didn't really think you'd take me back here!" She struggled against his hold on her and realized he would have to go through with his plan. "No way! Let me go!" she cried angrily.

Itachi hit a pressure point in her neck and she gasped in pain "Wha-?!" Then she fell limp over his shoulder. He finished the climb quickly and snuck through the outskirts of Konoha to the hospital. Carefully he laid her in front of the tall, white building. He noticed that the wound had begun to seep blood. He was frightened at what that could mean, but brushed it off as a good thing. It would help her get into the hospital with no questions. Gently brushing the hair off her face, Itachi left Aster unconscious and bleeding in front of Konoha's hospital.

Naruto looked out Sasuke's window to see the body of a teenaged girl lying in front of the hospital.

Shocked and horrorified, Naruto called for the doctors and nurses, "Hey! Someone's out front of the hospital! They're hurt badly!' Sasuke sat limply in his bed, staring into space. As Naruto passed him, Sasuke glared at his former friend. Naruto ran into the halls yelling for help.

Eventually, after Naruto had shown the receptionist Aster lying out front, she called in nurses to bring her in on a stretcher. As they gathered her, Aster began to come around.

She rolled her head to the side weakly and tried to remember who these people were. Then she tried to remember where Itachi had gone. She opened her eyes wider, hoping to bring the world into focus. She noticed Naruto over her. His mouth was moving, but she couldn't hear him. The