Salvation. (Sequel)

Chapter 31 | Tears

A loud scream echoed throughout the forest, making shivers ran down Daichi's back. For a moment, the young Uchiha feared the piercing cry belonged to his mother.

Sasuke must have noticed his son's discomfort. ''It's not her.'' He spoke. ''That voice was too high. Kaira's is deeper.''

Daichi looked at him, wanting to believe him, but the strange feeling in his gut would not go away. Even if that scream came from the woman, it was a sign that she and Kaira had probably met, and were fighting now. Why else would this woman be screaming?

Daichi started to feel sick. Should he have gone sooner instead of waiting for the medical team at Konoha's gate? Should he have told the leader of that team he did not have time for his questions? But as ANBU, Daichi knew very well how important it was for the medical team to understand the situation. It was his duty to share what he saw and knew, even if he wasn't on duty. But as a son...

These mixed feelings were slowly killing him inside. Had he made the right choice?

''Mom!''

Daichi's eyes widened when he saw his mother lying on the ground. He saw her chest move up and down, but the rest of her body lay motionless. The sight added to the sickening feeling in his stomach.

He sprinted to her side, kneeling down next to her. Sasuke got on his knees on the other side. They both observed her, checking her injuries. Sasuke carefully moved strands that were sticking to her face, revealing two cuts. They were only shallow, but they were still nasty gashes. He cupped her face when Kaira opened her eyes, but frowned when they wouldn't focus on either Sasuke nor Daichi.

''Kaira?''

The woman responded to his voice by leaning head more into his hand. She started to squirm, clearly being uncomfortable as whimpers left her trembling lips. 

''Daichi,  do you know how to relocate a dislocated shoulder?''

Sasuke looked at his son, waiting for an answer, while Daichi stared at his mother's shoulder. The pain her shoulder was giving her right now must be the reason she was shivering like this, sobbing silently. He nodded slowly, signalling he knew how.

Daichi had done it before, but his hands were shaking now. He was afraid he'd mess up now he had to do it again, but this time the person he was supposed to help was one of the people most important to him.

''Good, I can't do it with only one arm.'' Sasuke spoke, referring to the only arm he had left. ''I'll keep her down in case she starts to resist.''

Daichi nodded again and took a few shaky breaths as Sasuke placed his hand on her good shoulder. The youngest Uchiha hesitantly took placed the arm next to her side and took Kaira's wrist with both hands and made sure her forearm and hand were facing downward. 

Kaira clenched her teeth as her hand searched for something or someone to hold onto during the process of popping her dislocated shoulder back. Her fingers found Sasuke's cloak, and gripped it tightly, preparing for the even worse pain she was going to feel.

Slowly, Daichi moved her arm toward her head while also making a small circular movement. He kept repeating this movement until the arm was at the height of her shoulder. Kaira whimpered in pain, and only struggled slightly.

Daichi swallowed thickly as he moved her arm closer to her head. When her shoulder shot back into place, a pop was heard. Kaira cried out and wanted to curl up out of instinct, but she couldn't move her legs very well. She did not let go of Sasuke's cloak though.

Daichi took a few breaths as he stared at her mother's arm. He had successfully relocated her shoulder, but he did not feel accomplished at all. Seeing Kaira in so much pain hurt him too. He knew he did what had to be done, and that the pain would now start to cease, but the way her face scrunched in agony when he popped the shoulder back was a face he would not forget anytime soon.

A soft whimper made the male Uchiha turn their attention from Kaira to the other person who was with them. Of course, they had already seen her, but tending to Kaira came first, and thus they hadn't paid any mind to the woman who put Kaira in her current state yet.

Daichi frowned. The brown hair was gone, and had made place for blonde locks. Daichi activated his Sharingan and took a close look at her. No irregularities this time. So this was her true appearance... 

Kaira was beaten up, but Daichi saw that his mother didn't go easy on this woman either. Kaira hadn't exactly won this fight, but seeing the strange woman look so defeated still filled Daichi with pride. Kaira had put a stop to it, caught the person behind Izuna and Yuuji's assaults.

''What are you going to do with her?'' Daichi asked slowly.

''Naruto is on his way.'' Sasuke spoke. ''We'll let him handle her.'' He hadn't taken his eyes of the woman in front of him. The wounds on her head were shallow, the shoulder was back where it was supposed to be, but that was not all. A cut in her pants drew Sasuke's'attention.

He reached out to take a better look, but stopped his movements when Kaira started to speak.

''..No,.. no don't.'' She slurred, her eyes trying to find Sasuke, but couldn't find him. Her trembling hand weakly pulled at Sasuke's dark cloak. She took a few sharp breaths, her eyebrows furrowing. ''It could be.. poison..'' She whimpered. ''I can't move my legs.''

She did not speak clearly, but Sasuke and Daichi managed to understand her. With both of them having their Sharingan activated, they could easily read her lips.

''I'm immune to most poisons.'' Sasuke said as he continued to inspect the wound on her thigh. He took out a kunai and made the cut in her pants larger to make it easier to take a good look at the injury. He easily recognized the kind of wound. It was a snake bite.

The veins around the wound were darker than the veins further away from the bite. Sasuke clenched his jaw. It could indeed be poison that made Kaira immobile, but it could still be because of the excruciating pain she was in, or simply because of fatigue.

If it was a poison, they needed to hope it was one that paralyzes their victims temporarily or just causes numbness, and not one that shuts down the whole body permanently.

This bite could also be the reason Kaira couldn't focus properly. Her eyes went from the left to the right. Her vision could be blurred, or she could be feeling intense dizziness.

''If only we knew what kind of snake bit her.'' Daichi sighed. ''We can't move her before we identify the snake.'' He had dealt with venomous summons before. If he could recognize the snake, he could say whether the bite would be fatal or not. Moving her around now would only help to spread the poison.

''D-Dai..'' Kaira mumbled. ''Over there.''

Daichi was really grateful to his Sharingan, or else he wouldn't have understood a word his mother was saying. Kaira didn't point or indicate any direction, so Daichi looked around him to see if he could find what Kaira was referring to.

After a few seconds, he saw a snake head lying near some bushes. With widened eyes, he quickly got up and made his way over to the severed head. He immediately recognized the breed. After all, he had been bitten by one like this himself before. ''This is a venomous snake.'' Daichi concluded. ''But it only causes temporary paralysis.''

''Then we should bring her back to Konoha now.'' Sasuke spoke. ''If it's only temporary, we can afford the poison to spread a little bit more if it hasn't spread completely yet.''

Daichi agreed by nodding and returned to his mother's side.

''Could you carry her?" Sasuke questioned. ''I would, but taking her shoulder into account, it's better if someone with two arms does it.''

Daichi replied wordlessly by shaking his head up and down. He kneeled, carefully taking his mother in his arms, making sure her painful shoulder was on the outside so it wouldn't be pressed against his chest.

Kaira rested her head against Daichi's shoulder as they started to make their way back to Konoha, and Daichi knew she was crying when he felt her warm tears wet his clothes, but he didn't say anything.

Sasuke noticed too when she started sobbing in a quiet manner, but he also kept focusing on the road ahead of them.

Nothing needed to be said, as both of them knew she was just happy that she could finally go home.