The atmosphere around her was dense. Death and sickness filled that monotonous gray room and the only sound that could be heard was the heavy breath of the people who were laying on the beds. There was only one door in the room, which meant that her way out would be found behind it. She had to meet her friends as soon as possible, however, not even for her, such task would be easy. Sakura had no idea about the trouble she had gotten herself into.

The first thing that crossed her mind was pretty much the most obvious thing to be done. She had to get rid of the ropes that were tied to her writs and ankles. They were soaked in chakra- as always- and without the help of her weapons it would be a little hard to get rid of that. Her monstrous strength would help her, for sure, but it would take some time. And time wasn't completely on the girl's favor. There was something approaching her.

Slowly and tortuously, her emeralds followed as the whole thing happened. Rising from one of the beds, a white dressed figure, with a stature that barely reached the pinkette's chest and with a long hair that followed its body line until the lower back. Even if the figure seemed a lot like a ghost, it was a human. A little girl, to be exact. Bandaged shoulder, bare feet touching the cold ground and true intentions hidden in the expression she was wearing under those honey colored locks. Was she a friend? An enemy? Or, in the worst scenario, one of those creatures? Sakura didn't know. But she wouldn't wait for the answer to come and bite her.

" Fuck..."

As the girl numbly made her way towards the medic nin, Sakura started to gather her chakra in her wrists and ankles as fast as possible. The one who had bathed the ropes in chakra knew what he was doing when he decided to tie the pinkette's members. It wasn't the work of an amateur, for it refused to succumb to her brutal force. None of the knots was loosening and the distance between her and the unknown was getting shorter. She could hear the other creatures- the three others inside the cage- getting restless. They could feel the presence of the human flesh approaching and, if their salivary glands were still functioning, those hungry creatures would be drooling. Methane escaping their decomposed mouthes and filling the air with an unbearable and morbid scent. Their grunts exposed a little of how their voices used to sound when they were alive. Communication was no longer known by them. Those living dead just knew how to eat, preferably something showered in blood. Those things were getting excited by those two living bodies in front of them. Unfortunately, none of them would have the chance to try a slice of the pink haired girl nor of the ghostly presence who was just some meters away from her. The rope finally gave up.

After giving up on her ankles, Sakura focused all her forces on her wrists and broke the chakra chain that was holding her. In a blink of an eye, the cherry blossom girl used her free hands as supporters and managed to perform some acrobatics to get as far as possible from both the girl and the creepy cage. Sakura was safe, for the moment. But, after freeing her ankles with her hands and positioning herself for a possible battle, her emeralds noticed something unusual. The girl, instead of stopping and changing directions, kept following the same path. Her body seemed to be unable to keep a straight line and most of her senses seemed to be gone. She probably wasn't listening to the grunts or she would definitely have turned around. Her eyes were probably blinded for she was heading straight to the cage of monsters. Was she one of them? If so, why were they gathering at the bars so desperately? There was something she did not understand going on there, and it wasn't until she had her attention back to where the beds were splayed that fear hit her heart.

Responding to her reflexes, the girl's emerald eyes turned to where a metallic noise came from. A sound so unexpectedly loud if considered that was originated from an arm being hit against the bed cold and gray skeleton. The noise created expressed nothing but despair. The despair of an old man with a long white beard hugging his old features. He was wearing something similar to the girl and, when he lifted his arm to point, Sakura saw that it was also bandaged near his elbow. But none of it mattered at that time. His eyes were the great stars of the show. They were a kind of diluted light blue and there tears pooling on them as he looked at the kunoichi and then at the child. He was trying to say something. He was trying to stand up. But only one of his two wishes came true. Luckily the girl was able to captivate the message.

It was hard at first but, after seeing how hurt the old man looked like, Sakura already knew everything. The little girl was not one of those things. She wasn't an enemy either. She was just a defenseless child in the middle of a chaotic world. Letting the worse happening to her would have been the most inhumane and coward thing someone could ever do. And, in a life of many regrets, the medic nin didn't want another one.

Recklessly and irresponsibly, the Konoha girl ran towards the little girl. Sakura could not let such young life go to waste. She couldn't let her screams resonate around the room and her blood be wasted like that. So, as if in slow motion, the pinkette threw herself towards the toddler, catching her petty body just some inches away from the longest of the arms that were passing through the cage. The girl was safe. Both of them were. They survived without a single, yet deadly, scratch. They would live, but one of them could still die at any moment.

In recoil to the ninja's brutal strength, both of the girls rolled around the floor as a snowball. In the end, a panting Sakura was left laying on the ground, with the little girl on top of her and with her small mouth pressed against the pinkette's arm. That long hair of hers was thrown aside and, finally, her angelical and feverish face was uncovered. With cheeks redder than normal and with a heartbeat clearly speeded up, it was certain that the toddler was suffering from a high level of the disease. Her temperature was probably around 104 Fahrenheit. She needed to be treated immediately. And Sakura was the right person for the job.

Taking the child in her arms, the pink haired ninja placed her back on the bed, on the opposite side of the room and next to that old man's own laying. Sakura realized how calmer his eyes were after that tense situation had ended. All that despair was replaced by a tired melancholy that was probably connected to the fact that the little girl was still sick, after all. And, seeing how that old man looked at her, it couldn't be a simple disease.

" t-thank you, miss... You've saved my granddaughter."

" ah... No problem, sir... Saving people is what I was trained to do. I am a medical ninja."

" I do hope you can save her... Save us all."

" aren't you feeling well right now?"

" I'm fine... I'm fine but I know what awaits for me and for my poor family."

"W-What do you mean...?"

A shiver went down her spine. And her answer came in the most unexpected way. The old man took a deep breath and, with his left hand, he unwrapped the fabric that was covering his right arm just to reveal the most grotesque and terrifying thing she had ever seen in someone's skin. A bite. A huge and deep bite, decorated by a lemon green pus, two tonalities of blood, ripped skin and an exposed bone. The veins around were all getting darker as a sign of gangrene and the smell coming from it was pretty similar to the smell that involved the whole village. It smelled like corpses; it smelled like death.

The girl's eyes widened immediately and she started to sweat cold. There was no possible way a dog could have done that. It needed to be treated immediately, but never in her life she has been trained to cure whatever those creatures were transmitting with their bites. Perhaps it was time to learn a little about it.

" oh my... I'll take a look at it, sir..."

" no... Not yet... Take care of her first... I beg you to save her life. I know what happens to those who are bitten..." He looked at the cage. He had found out in the worst possible way.

Withdrawing both of her lips, Sakura felt her heartbeat getting faster. Something like that couldn't have happened to her, right? She was so young and innocent. That bandage on her shoulder had to mean something else. But it didn't. It was exactly the same. All that blood and the putrefaction. That little girl was faded to experience the same pain as her grandfather. Their only chance of surviving was entirely on Sakura's hand. How she wanted her master around that time.

" oh crap... How did it..."

" we were getting ready to go to the shelter when one of those creatures found her and my daughter... I tried to save them, but, in the end, we got bitten..."

" and what about your daughter, sir...?"

" she didn't have a chance of escaping... She threw the child to me and..." He swallowed and a tear came down his face. " she was eaten in front of our eyes... It was terrible and I couldn't save my daughter! That's why I need to save the girl... She's the only thing left for me!"

The man started to cry uncontrollably after remembering what had happened earlier. No one deserves to see what he saw. No one deserves to hear what he heard. He was a brave man and she doubted he was the one to be blamed for separating Sakura from her team. He was condemned. And so was his granddaughter and the one laying on the other bed and probably the rest of the village. The pinkette had to do something. She had to, at least, try to find a cure for that epidemy. If she could cure one person, she would cure the whole village. It would be a great responsibility but someone had to take it.

" sir... I will do my best... I promise you."

" t-thank you, young lady... What is your name, by the way?"

" I am Haruno Sakura, from the hidden Leaf."

" Konoha uhm... My name is Mayuma Tanaka and my little princess is Mayuma Haruka... The one next to us is one of her uncles. He hasn't woken up yet."

" I see..."

Sakura knew who they were. Everyone in the Sound did. They were a powerful family that commanded the region's commerce. It was said that the family would measure no efforts on getting what they wanted. But, seeing the man who seemed to be the patriarch, Sakura doubted they could be so cruel and unscrupulous. It was clear that he loved his Haruka and his own daughter. He couldn't be that bad. And, for that, Sakura was ready to help him.

" Hn... Tell me a little bit more about what happened while I take a look at your granddaughter. Why am I here? And why didn't you go to the shelter?"

" okay... After we were bitten, my oldest son decided that we would stay here... I guess he must have heard about the medic ninja of the Leaf and went after you. Don't worry, he will feed you and give you everything that you need... I apologize for that... For taking you away from your friends... But I'm glad that you're here. I'm glad that you'll try. Thank you, Haruno-san."

" don't thank me. I don't know if I'll be able to save you yet but... I promise you I'll try. And then, I'll go back to my friends with a cure. Be sure of that."

" I like the way you think... Your friends must be proud of you... And, your boyfriend too."

" b-boyfriend? How did you know?"

" a girl so young and beautiful... It's just logical. I would love my son to have someone like you by his side. He needs to find someone who loves him and put him on the right track."

"... He will find someone someday... Don't worry."

" I just hope to be here to see it."

"... I'll do my best to save you..."

" I know you will..."

In a moment of silence, the pinkette focused all her efforts on the little girl. She used her chakra to relieve her from the fever and to try to identify the agent that was gonna make her change. Sakura was really going to try her hardest to cure that family. But it didn't mean that her guard was down. She knew those three people could turn into monsters in a second. And, once it happened, none of them would see her as a medic anymore. She would be food and nothing more. Sleeping would no longer be allowed if she wanted to live. She couldn't accept dying without seeing them again. She needed to know if his arms was still hurt. She needed to hug each one of them. But, for that, Sakura would have to be alive. And, at each second that passed, the situation got worse. The uncle had woken up. He had risen from the dead.

End of the Chapter