Sakura expertly popped the bones in her neck before stretching her arms back. She groaned in pleasure as she felt her aching muscles ease up from the movement. She didn't budge as she heard the lounge door swing open with a slam.

"Oh Kami, I'm exhausted." Yuri dragged her feet to the couch and fell face down stiffly. Moeka followed behind her. "Sakura-san, how do you do this all the time? I'd kill myself if I had to travel this much AND work all in the same day."

"I guess you just get used to it," Sakura responded as she went to grab a packet of instant coffee mix before pouring the contents into a styrofoam cup. She filled it halfway with hot water from the dispenser and gave it a stir with the empty packet before taking a swift sip. Inwardly she cringed at the overly sweet and processed concoction, but she would never complain about what was offered and available in another hospital. That would just be tacky.

"Sakura-san, will you be examining the bones? If you don't mind, I'd like to go with you to see them," Moeka inquired.

"I suppose you could although it may be a tad boring. I'm not sure how they'll react with an extra person for the examination, but it wouldn't hurt to try I suppose," Sakura pondered. Genma opened the door to the lounge with the three male surgeons in tow. They proceeded to ignore the women without so much as a greeting.

"I'll pass. I'd rather head back to the hotel with Joomi and the others if you don't mind. I need a good hot soak in the shower and some well-deserved rest. We need it if we're going to start early in the morning again."

"It's Genma. My name is Genma. GEN-MA!"

Yuri rolled her eyes as she picked at a small hang nail from her dry nail beds. "So picky…you got I was referring to you, so who cares?"

"Uh…I care? It's my name you keep messing up sweetheart," Genma mumbled.

"People often forget about things they aren't interested in," Sakura chimed in as she finished the last of her coffee. "You heard the woman. You can lead the rest to the small inn while Moeka and I go to the burial house."

"It's not a hotel? It's just an inn?" Yuri asked slightly disappointed.

"To put it politely, this village doesn't have much. I'm surprised you were expecting an actual hotel. The minute we stepped foot here, my dreams of an actual bathtub fizzled away," Moeka laughed. Her laugh was one bordering the line of exhaustion and hysteria from the long day.

Sakura looked over the sad bunch of medical staff and smiled. Their inexperience in the world of shinobi should serve to be a very enlightening experience indeed.


Sakura and Moeka walked in tired silence to the outskirts of the village towards the burial house. As they approached the dimly lit building, a few uniformed guards straightened up. The women kept their pace and walked to the two guards.

"I'm here to see the two bodies." Sakura had no intention of being rude, but her serious work nature kicked in as it was late, and she had no plans to stay at this all night.

"The village elders are waiting for you inside. Are you a team? We were informed that there would only be one medical examiner," the guard questioned as he looked at Moeka with little interest.

"She's part of my medical team. I'll speak with the elders about her involvement." The guard nodded and stepped out of the way for the two women to walk in.

The building was plain inside. The walls were painted a dull beige color and had gray tiled floors with the occasional water drain for cleaning and preparing bodies. No matter how many times Sakura had encountered a dead body, it always left her completely unnerved. The look of a lifeless human body is one that a person should never get used to seeing. She turned her attention to Moeka to make sure that the nurse was alright.

Moeka felt the eyes of her friend and upper. She turned and smiled lightly to Sakura to verify she was fine. Although Moeka was a sweet and relatively quiet woman, she had a level of professionalism that rivaled many of her supervisors and senpai. The ladies noticed another door towards the back of the main room with a guard posted at the entrance. He cocked his head to the direction of the door signaling them to enter.

They entered the brightly lit room to three village elders standing behind two blanketed forms on metal mortuary tables. The elders were dressed in antiquated traditional garbs of blue and yellow. The elderly woman standing in the center stepped forward to the two young women.

"We were told there would only be one examiner for this visit," the elder spoke as she assessed the two women wearily.

"I'm the head examiner of this mission, but my colleague is an invaluable team member who can aid in my examination of the bodies. If you would allow for two people, it may be more effective in identifying the causes of death," Sakura said respectfully.

The elderly woman looked to the other elders who gave a nod. "We are willing to do what it takes to find out who did this and why. It is a shame that people have gone missing and their families cannot identify the bodies or confirm the death of their loved ones."

"We are deeply saddened by the occurrence as well. We know all too well how deep it cuts to lose loved ones in unprovoked acts of aggression. Our village and the Hokage want nothing more than to find the causes and bring justice to those that have created such suffering," Sakura reassured.

"We would be grateful for your help and cooperation. Unfortunately, you have only this night to examine the bodies before they are buried. The families cannot bear any more pain and demand a proper burial."

"Of course, we will work with the limited time to the best of our abilities," Sakura bowed.

"Thank you and your people for your help. We feel more at ease than yesterday. However, I strongly urge you to be vigilant as we have no idea who is responsible for these senseless deaths. The danger is still out there and kami only knows if it is lurking nearby," the village elder warned. "These are the photographs of the bodies the day they were found," the elder said pulling several photographs from her garb's sleeve.

"We will be careful," Sakura answered as she took the photos. She meant every word. Sakura and Moeka bowed as the village elders exited the private coroner's room. As soon as the door shut, the air in the room became heavy. The need for answers and the overwhelming sense of uncertainty became more tangible in that moment.

"Shall we begin?" Sakura asked as she drew the white blanket back. Moeka did the same to the second set of remains. The two women were initially shocked at the two complete set of charred bones. Then, sadness settled in as one of the sets of bone were far smaller in size compared to the other. One set was a set of bones from a fully grown adult while the other belonged to a teenager, middle school age at most.

"They are almost completely burned away. They had to been ablaze for hours before anyone found them," Moeka said as she looked closely at the bones.

"From the report given by the Hokage, the bodies were found not very far outside of the village. With so much foot traffic as this is the last village for miles before Shimogakure, the fires would have been sighted far before the bodies could burn to this degree," Sakura thought out loud.

"Hm…so the culprit used accelerant to burn the bodies faster?" Moeka speculated.

Sakura pulled on a pair of latex gloves from her pocket and picked up the femur of one of the bodies. Carefully, she lifted the bone to find it was cracked in two. Pulling one of the pieces to her eyes, she noticed the uneven and slightly jagged edge of where the bone had cracked. "Moeka, do you see fractures in the bones?"

"Lots of cracks but mostly full breaks. I'm going to check the temporal bone and hip bones on this set," Moeka answered. The hip bone and temporal bone had similar jagged splits in the bone. "The splits aren't clean. They are jagged and uneven. The cracks look as though they began as a network of fractures in one point and spread. It's completely uncharacteristic of bones breaking from bodies being set on fire…it's," Moeka paused to turn the bones over in the hands before continuing. "It's almost like they…"

"They burned from the inside," Sakura finished. She gently set the bones back in the correct place before looking at Moeka. "If the bodies had been set on fire, the bones would become brittle and snap clean into pieces. These bones have sections of deformities and small ruptures through from the core."

"Ruptures from the center? Does that mean the blood and marrow within the bone literally boiled?" Moeka asked incredulously.

"That's exactly what I mean. The pressure built up from the collagen and blood boiling within the bone became so great that the bones cracked in irregular patterns."

Moeka used her exposed forearm to wipe away a loose strand of hair from her face. "If they burned from the inside out, that kind of leaves us with more questions…doesn't it?"

"Yes and no. In the medical world, we know that cases of burning alive are limited to fevers running so high that there is a danger in killing the cells within the body, but never actual combustion of a human body. What this tells me is that normal causes of death are completely out the door." Sakura's mind made its way back to the samples of the toxin the hokage had left in her care.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Moeka asked Sakura as they both seemed to connect the dots.

"Sounds like someone is experimenting."


Sasuke shuffled uncomfortably as he entered the tower. Naruto had informed him that official paperwork for his pardon and reinstatement into active duty had come in. Many speculated about what rank he would fall back into. In his own mind, he was willing to accept any punishment that the council and the Hokage would deem fitting to his erroneous ways.

"Sa…Sasuke…kun…"

Sasuke turned his attention towards Hinata who was just about to enter the Hokage's main office door. He bowed in greeting. "Hin..ata." He felt odd greeting her so casually, but he knew that's what would make her most comfortable.

Hinata's face lit up with a smile at his small effort to be friendly. "It's good to have you back in the village. Your family has missed you very much."

Sasuke's face became flush from her kind words. In truth, they were family. There was way too much history, trust and comradery for them all to only be friends. In that moment, Sasuke was grateful and relieved that Naruto had been in the care of a loving and deep woman like Hinata. He knew that Naruto had gone through nights of worry, doubt and longing for his friend to return safely. Sasuke was no stranger to that same feeling of emptiness and yearning for friendship, support and love. In Naruto's case, Hinata provided his mind and heart a blanket of safety and peace. Asking a loyal and loving woman like Hinata to be by his side forever was one of the smartest things Naruto ever did.

The thought of loyalty and love brought his mind to Sakura's smiling face. The image of her enjoying a cup of morning brew that bright day was still etched into his mind. His mind was interrupted by Hinata twisting the knob of the door after a short two knocks.

"Shall we?" She asked.

Pushing the door open, she let herself and Sasuke into the office before quietly shutting the door. Naruto had been in the midst of signing congratulatory letters for some of the younger children at the academy who passed their exams. His face was beaming with pride as he sincerely thought of the next generation and how each person held a special value and place in their village.

Hinata went around his desk and peered over his should as she smiled. "He always has the same look on his face when he is signing letters for the academy" Hinata said fondly.

"These kids are the future. Each one is so special and has so much to offer. Their passion and commitment to their village at such a young age is admirable. They train and fight for others, their families and friends. It makes my heart burst," Naruto replied grinning even wider.

"I can't imagine how you would react if your own children decided to be part of the academy," Sasuke smirked. He imagined his bright blonde friend being the loudest to cheer for his children during testing and graduation.

"It would be his or her choice to pursue any life, but I would support them in anything they choose," Naruto confided. "No matter what they choose, I'd be proud." Hinata gently ran her hands over his shoulder as he spoke in a loving manner. Sasuke cleared his throat feeling like he had interrupted an intimate moment. It had been a long time since he saw such intimacy and support shared between a couple it made him feel like an awkward teenager again.

As if noticing the dark haired man's discomfort, Naruto smiled gently at his wife and kissed her hand as she gave him a hug and said her goodbyes to the two men. Naruto's eyes twinkled as he watched her leave. "Sasuke, I wanted to speak to you about the mission that is currently taking place in Katayuki. The council has agreed to reinstate your status but limit you to the number of missions granted per year and pay. That's flexible of course depending on what comes in and threat levels. Basically, they respect your family enough to let you off easy. The Uchiha have contributed more than we could imagine," Naruto explained.

Sasuke stood in disbelief. It seemed odd even for the council to let him off that easy even with the Uchiha name. "There's more isn't there?" Sasuke inquired.

Naruto gave a nervous laugh as he continued, "Yes, there is. This limitation on missions and pay will last for three years. The type of missions will be decided by the council…"

"It sounds like they plan on sending me to the hardest missions…the type that could be borderline suicide missions," Sasuke said sighing. He wasn't afraid of death so much as he was tired of the fight.

"Well, yes and no. They may want you to go, but ultimately, I still need to approve it. Don't worry buddy, Sakura would kill me if I let something happen to you. Speaking of which, I need to let you know about the mission in Katayuki. I sent a contact to stop by on their way up north."

"Was there a problem? Why did you send a contact?" Sasuke asked slightly concerned.

"There have been reports of people going missing in other neighboring villages, but no reports of burnt bodies. I wanted to send a contact to make sure things are fine. It's a long distance between Shimogakure and home with a huge bay in between. They're in Katayuki before they head to Shimogakure to refuel, scope and come back. I wouldn't want to leave them in the dust. It was hard sending some of our finest to such far places," Naruto said with deep concern settling into his face.

"If there have been missing persons but no deaths, it sounds like whoever was responsible for the bodies up in Shimogakure is rounding cattle."

"Exactly. We need to figure out for what and why they left bodies that far north but haven't left a trace anywhere else. Part of my gut tells me that they targeted a far away place to take their victims to avoid being caught. But with that much effort, why leave so much evidence? I feel like we're being led on."

"That's not just a hunch, Naruto. I think they want us on a wild goose chase."


Somewhere miles northeast of Shimogakure, a man lazed about on a low tree branch in the dim light of the fading sun. His ice blue eyes were so light, they almost seemed white as he looked off into the distance with his fingers nimbly twirling a shuriken in his lap. Below him, five bodies with charred remains lay lifeless and smoldering. A few feet away, a sixth body trembled as it convulsed. The skin bubbled and peeled as the heat from within welled to the surface. The man in the tree peered down at the trembling body when a pained groan erupted from the figure.

He didn't turn his gaze from the body when a lithe figure clothed in wine red garbs landed besides him. One of her long slender fingers dragged its way across his back as she positioned herself behind him before sitting down against the trunk of the tree.

"Enjoying the show?" she smiled.

"Quite the opposite since he's about to die. I feel his chakra flickering," the man responded as he watched the figure give a final twitch before the body went rigid and burst into stronger flames. "Do you have any good news for me?"

"The shinobi have arrived in small group to protect a few doctors and nurses," the woman replied smiling deeper as she saw the body engulfed in flames. It was almost her favorite part when the bones became brittle and you could hear them snapping. The crackling sped up and became noisier as the flames devoured the limp form. "Just like popcorn," she smiled.

"Focus, Aya. Were they all medical nin?" the man asked.

"No. Five of them are regular civilians. The other two are shinobi. One has a mop of ghastly hair and the other is like…a puff of cotton candy," the woman sneered.

"Tsunade's old apprentice is here?" The man asked slightly annoyed.

"Yes, she is. That means others will not be so far. What's the matter, Kai? Are you afraid?" the woman snickered as poked him in the ear with her finger.

He swatted her hand away with little interest. "I guess we can carry on the same. We strike in two days."