Forged Beyond

Sasuke and Naruto tore through the streets like shadows fleeing the moonlight, their footsteps pounding against the rain-slick stone.

The night was cold, the remnants of the earlier storm still clinging to the air. Sasuke, though blinded by the bandages over his eyes, moved with grim determination, trusting his instincts, the faint traces of chakra he could still sense, and the memory of the village's layout. But even with all that, his steps faltered, his shoulder scraped a wall, his breath growing ragged as the disorientation mounted.

Still, he didn't stop.

Naruto was right behind him, moving like a blur of wind and worry, his heart thundering louder than his feet.
The image of Hinata's terrified face burned into his mind, her broken voice still echoing in his ears. He didn't speak a word-he didn't have to. Everything inside him was screaming.

The hospital doors burst open with a bang as the two stormed in, heedless of the startled nurses or the hour on the clock. 11 p.m.
Everything was dim in the corridors except one hallway-bright, clinical, sterile-where the red "ICU" sign glowed ominously.

They made it to the ICU, only to stop short.

Inside the stark white room, there was another chamber-a sealed, glass-enclosed unit within the room, like a cage made of clarity and cruel transparency. And within that, lay Sakura.

Naruto felt the air punch from his lungs.

She was draped in cloth, one swath covering her upper chest and another from her hips downward. But the space in between-her midsection-was exposed, and in it, a deep, horrifying wound. A gaping hole carved through flesh and soul.

Shizune knelt at her side, sweat clinging to her brow, manually pumping Sakura's heart with chakra-coated hands, eyes darting between Sakura's chest and the heart monitor that beeped faintly beside the bed. The rhythm was erratic. Weak. Desperate.

Tsunade stood just behind her, pouring her chakra-every last drop-into the diamond mark on Sakura's forehead. But it was no longer glowing.

It had gone dim. Exhausted. Tsunade was forcibly trying to reignite it, to recharge Sakura's own Byakugou so it could do what even Tsunade couldn't-heal her from the inside out. But until that reservoir of chakra restored itself, it was all a race against time.

Naruto stood frozen, hand lifting to rest against the glass like he could reach her through it. His fingertips pressed against the cold surface, trembling.

Sasuke staggered forward, his breathing uneven. Though he couldn't see her, he could feel it-her chakra was almost nonexistent, like the last embers of a fire on the verge of dying. His whole soul rebelled against the sensation. It didn't feel right. It didn't feel real.

Then, suddenly, he moved. His fingers reached for the bandages across his eyes, and with one swift, trembling tug, he tore them off.

Light flooded in, blinding and painful.

He winced-his optic nerves raw and adjusting-but he forced his eyes to open. The scene before him sharpened like the edge of a blade. And when his gaze finally settled on her, on the blood-stained sheets and the stillness of her form, his knees almost gave out.

"Sakura..." he whispered, so softly, like saying her name would shatter her.

Naruto turned to him briefly, his own face wet with tears he hadn't even realized had begun to fall. Then he looked back, unable to tear his gaze away from the girl who had always been the strongest of them all-now lying there like she was seconds from slipping away.

Sasuke's breath hitched. His jaw clenched. Tears streamed silently down his cheeks. His heart was hammering so loud he thought it would drown out the monitor's beeping.