chapter I: of foreign poisons and surgeries

She was the epitome of absolute concentration. Her eyebrows furrowed, sweat dripping down her face. She wiped it off with her sleeve.

"Another!", she instructed.

The many nurses in the room rushed to fill her order, disinfecting the water.

She was almost there. Only a bit of poison left in the shinobi's lung.

Grimacing, she angled the last drops of her chakra into her hands. She lifted up the water.

This was her last chance. The last chance to get rid of the poison. She was one of the only few who knew how to do so. If this didn't work, nineteen-year-old Ishikura Tetsu would surely die.

With a silent prayer to what few gods she believed in, Sakura plunged the water into his system. He thrashed and groaned, almost escaping the chakra-laden hold of the nurses.

She separated the poison from the other peculiar fluids in the man's lungs.

Time seemed to slow.

Sakura closed her eyes and counted to five.

One…

The water soaked up the poison

Two…

Her chakra moved quickly, taking in what the water missed.

Three…

She slowly took out the now murky green water.

Four…

She dropped it into a bowl in an eagerly-awaiting nurse's hands.

Five…

She fought the exhaustian with a tiny amount of her precious Byakugou Seal chakra.

The nurses let go oexhaustionf the breath they were previously holding. The man sighed in relief. One even started clapping. It wasn't long before everyone joined in.

Fuuko-san clapped her on the back. "Good job, Sakura-senpai!"

Sakura's lips tilted up in acknowledgement. "Thank you, Fuuko-san. Thank you to everyone, actually. Okana-san, please send a sample of the poison to our antidote team. Morio-san, please get me a chakra pill."

Both doctors nodded determinedly.

"I trust that the rest of you know how to properly dispose of the remaining poison."

"Please get some rest, Sakura-sensei."

"I definitely will, right after I report to Hokage-sama. Thank you for your concern."

With a turn of her heel, she walked away, leaving a few nurses in awe.

"She's so elegant and composed!" someone whispered.

"She has to be, after what happened to her team."

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She enters the Hokage's office quickly, but quietly. Everyone she passes winces at her condition.

'I wonder why.' she thinks sarcastically with a tired grin. 'I have bags under my eyes from not having slept in three or four days, and I didn't see the sun until I stepped out of the hospital to come here.'

She finally reaches a stopping point and comes into her sensei's office.

"I take it the extraction was successful?" Tsunade-sama says from over her cup of tea.

"Of course," Sakura snorts, handing over her paperwork. "He is fit to leave in about two weeks after his internal injuries are healed."

Tsunade takes a sip, making a disgusted face at the taste. Not quite sake, Sakura remarked in her mind.

"Strange, this poison. It attacks internally and externally at the same time. Clearly made to get rid of someone quickly. Any amputations needed?"

"No, thankfully. Hyuga-san got to him before any life-threatening damage could occur. About that, what happened to his teammate?"

The Hokage's mouth set into a serious line. "Dead. The poisons used were not anything from the Five Elemental Nations, all of our poison experts including Shizune and I deduced that. We sent it to Chiyo for her opinion."

She knew that it pained her mentor to even exchange greetings with Chiyo. It was a huge sacrifice in order to re-establish connections with the Sand and figure out what in the seven hells was going on.

Tsunade surveyed her student. Her low chakra levels, her eyebags, and her slumped posture. "Sakura," she began.

The said girl immediately straightened.

"You know I think of you as my daughter, right?"

Sakura nodded slowly.

"Please don't take offence to what I'm about to say."

Her eyebrows went up. What was going on?

"Take a break."

A startled sound came out of the workaholic Sakura. "W-what do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said. Take. A. Break. You have skills, yes, but those are replaceable. If you continue to burn yourself out like this, you won't get far. There are plenty of medics that would be honoured to substitute for you. We've got this under control. We will tell you when we need you."

"Lady Tsunade, I-" she was prematurely cut off

"Go home, spend some time with your family, eat dinner and, for fuck's sake, go get some sleep."

And, just like that, Sakura was curtly dismissed.

"Let's view this positively." Sakura mused as she walked to Yakiniku Q. "At least I can spend time with my family."

She finally reached and stopped, staring straight at Team 10.*

"Hi, Ino, Chouji, Shikamaru. Team dinner?"

Ino huffed. "Obviously, forehead." she softened. "How was the surgery?"

Mindful of prying eyes and ears, Sakura said, "As expected." Ino gave Sakura a look, meaning they'd have a talk about this later.

Chouji took this conversation to his advantage, yanking food off of Ino's plate.

Ino noticed, and started yelling at him. Shikamaru made little efforts to break up this fight. Sakura watched this scene with a smile on her face.

'Is this how my team would be like,' she wondered, 'if Sasuke didn't leave?'

Sasuke. Where was he now? Was he completing one of that snake's missions? Was he having dinner? Or, was he thinking of her or Naruto?

After he left, what little romantic love she had for him vanished way quicker than it came. That certainly didn't mean she didn't care at all, though. Oh, she cared. Very much. Sometimes, just seeing mannerisms that were reminiscent of her teammates' triggered her sadness.

And Kakashi. He hadn't made a single effort to contact her, train her, apologize for not teaching her at all. She got angry just thinking about him.

She was startled out of her musings when Shikamaru nudged her. She sent him a questioning glance, to which he responding with a pointed stare behind her.

A smiling waitress greeted her.

Sakura quickly gained her composure. "I apologize. May I have the Haruno usual, to go, please?"

The waitress nodded. **

"You're not staying?" Ino questioned.

"Obviously," Sakura mimicked. "I haven't seen my family in a long time." She made no move to elaborate.

They sat in silence for a few minutes while the food cooked.

Just when it was starting to get awkward, she was handed a bag with a cheery, "Have a nice day!"

Kissing Ino on the cheek, Sakura exclaimed, "Goodbye!" in a fake cheery voice and promptly left the restaurant.

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"Sakura! Well, this is a nice surprise." Mebuki laughed.

"Me or the food?"

"Both!"

As they ate, Mebuki discussed their plans for her vacation. "You have to make the most of your time, right? So, Kizashi was thinking we could send you to his sister's place."

Kizashi's sister was Midori Hinamori, a petite woman in her late 30s. She had two children, Amu and Ami.

The last time Sakura visited, Ami was a newborn and Amu was the age of five.

It really had been a while. 'Amu is probably grown up right now. Probably at that awkward mid-puberty stage.' Sakura pondered with a smile.

"Getting rid of me as soon as I come home, huh, mother?"

Flustered, Mebuki let out a nervous laugh. "Well, don't get me wrong, we would appreciate your company. We wouldn't be home much, though. It's a very busy year for our business. Speaking of that, your dad is sorry he couldn't be here. He'll be home in time for when you leave tomorrow."

'Wait, tomorrow?!'

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Notes:

I rewrote this whole chapter! I feel like it is less choppy and the plot holes have magically vanished.

Obviously, her parents have been planning this for a long time. Now adressing the asterisks:

*I definitely had a laugh when I wrote that.

**I do realise that Yakiniku Q is a korean-style barbeque. I am not sure if it has waiters or not, so please forgive me if I got it wrong.

Feedback and criticism are helpful, as always!