"You know, of all the council members to run this village in your absence, he is probably the last one I would have picked."
"He has the most experience with delegation and holds the most respect from the other council members. He was the obvious choice," Sasuke replied as he continued putting scrolls away in the office.
"Well yeah," Sakura said, mildly exasperated. "He runs things well, but he's an ass and has a funny smell about him."
Sasuke could barely contain his indignant snort at her comments and proceeded to ignore her complaints. He was scheduled to leave in just under twenty minutes; there was no time for her usual trash talk of the council members. The ceremony to induct the new Hokage in the Leaf Village was in four days, and all of the other kage were required to be in attendance. Well, not required, per say, but Sasuke could only imagine how bad it would look if he was the only one to refuse to show up. He did a quick look around the office before grabbing his traveling cloak and heading out the door, Sakura immediately following.
This would be the first time in over a year that he stepped outside of these village walls. There was a bubbling anticipation rising in his chest at the thought of it all. He had never been one to stay in one place for too long; truthfully, he missed having the freedom to travel around the country on his own time. His thoughts began to wander back to his rogue days while he finished putting everything away and left the office, Sakura trailing behind him, rambling on about how "the goatee oldie" would probably screw up half of the tasks over the upcoming week. But that was heading to the back of Sasuke's mind now; his thoughts were focusing more on the journey ahead. He had done little more than sitting and casual walking over the past year; he wondered how much slower he had gotten without the practice. Typically, a journey to the Leaf Village was around three days for the average shinobi, but Sasuke used to be able to pull it off within two days without much effort.
"Are you excited to go back to Konoha?" Sakura asked lightly. The two were already halfway down the road to the village gates and they were passing through the market square. The streets were bustling with the late morning shoppers, mostly civilians and some lower-ranked shinobi who were not on missions. "It's been at least a couple years since you've been there," she continued, waving to a pair of Genin as they passed.
"Shouldn't you be lecturing or something?" he asked calmly. He could see the gates ahead; one of his more trusted Jounin was waiting up ahead to accompany him on the trip.
"Not today. It's a lesson on general surgery; Ken is covering it today." Sakura glanced up at him before shifting her gaze back towards the gates. "I wanted to be free to see you off today. And you didn't answer my question."
Sasuke thought about it for a moment. "No," he said simply. "I am not excited to return to the Leaf." He barely caught the way her expression fell at his words; he felt a pang in his chest.
"You don't want to go back?" she asked.
Sasuke shook his head. "I need to be here. I am needed here, Sakura." He turned his gaze to meet her own. "It isn't like before; I have a responsibility to this village." He expected some response along the lines of seeing old friends and visiting his first home; Sasuke was not expecting her to give a small and gentle smile, eyes crinkling in the corners. The sight brought his nerves down the slightest bit, which was becoming his usual response when she looked at him in such a way.
As they came to the gates, the Jounin smiled politely and greeted Sakura with a slight bow of the head. She smiled back at him. Sakura had met this Jounin a few times before, having run into him in the kage tower whenever she went to see Sasuke. 'He's good,' she thought to herself. 'He can be trusted.'
Sasuke went over to sign the mandatory forms at the gate, indicating that he was indeed leaving the village for a week. This was a strict protocol set up a few weeks after Sakura had arrived; anyone entering the village had to sign a form with their names and formal intentions, anyone leaving had to give notice to the guards prior to departure and sign a form when they left. It was a safety measure requested by several civilians after a group of rogue ninja came in and vandalized a few stores. Sasuke doubted that it actually did much to prevent unwanted activity, but if it allowed a security of mind for the villagers then he wasn't going to complain too much. After handing the papers back to the guard, Sasuke walked back to where Sakura was standing. "Keep an eye on the office—I don't completely trust any of those council members. It wouldn't surprise me if they tried to overthrow the village in my absence," he commented half-heartedly.
"Sir, I'm sure she would beat them to the ground before they could even try," the Jounin joked, giving the woman a smirk.
Sasuke watched Sakura throw the man a playful glare before focusing her attention back on him. "The council still isn't too trusting of you, so don't be surprised if they make visits to the hospital or your classes." At this point he was mentally running through everything that the head of council would purposefully neglect. "The payment for the village construction workers is in the bottom right drawer of my desk—make sure they get paid. The council still thinks those projects were a waste and will try to keep that money." Sakura lips tilted downward slightly as she stared back at him. "What is it?"
The woman gave a light sigh as she shook her head at him. "You sound as if you're leaving for good, like you're getting your affairs in order," she said lightly. Sasuke could sense an odd tone to her voice, though he couldn't place what it was, or why it bothered him.
"I don't want this village falling apart while I'm gone." He ran a hand through his hair, letting out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. "Anything could happen."
Sakura observed him carefully, noting how much he was showing to her so openly. She supposed that to the casual observer he would seem only mildly concerned, but Sakura knew better. She saw how hard he worked to keep this village running and safe, knew of the countless hours he put into his job to get things. There were still so many things that needed to be fixed; it was no wonder he was hesitant to leave for an entire week.
Without a warning she grabbed the cloak from his hand and pulled it around him, fastening it securely around his shoulders. "When you get there," she started, adjusting the garment, "Naruto will probably be at the gates waiting for you. And he is going to be very excited to see you, so don't be a jerk—whatever he has planned, just go along with it. He might want to go to get ramen, and you'll probably end up paying the bill, but that's okay because it's Naruto and you can't really expect much else from him." She stepped back to give him a smile. "Tell everyone I say 'hi', and don't get into any fights."
Sasuke rolled his eyes at her. "You're annoying," was his response.
Sakura laughed lightly. "Of course I am." Before she could stop herself, Sakura leaned forward and embraced him, tilting her face towards his ear. "You're going to run into old enemies, and they won't like seeing you in the Leaf. Please be careful," she whispered. After a moment she felt a hand place itself lightly on her waist before giving a small, reassuring squeeze. Before she could get too comfortable, Sakura pulled herself away and gave him a light pat on the shoulder. She smiled brightly at him once more before stepping aside. "Travel safe, you two. We'll see you in a week."
Sasuke and his Jounin nodded to her and the guard before setting off into the forest. As they ascended into the trees Sasuke glanced back at his village; the sun was shinning upon it, the streets were filling with villagers going about their day. He could just make out the hospital and Kage Tower in the distance.
When he turned his gaze forward once more, the worries he had about his village faded from his mind the further he drove into the forest. Exhilaration was growing within him as the pair picked up speed; Sasuke was glad to find that they were nearly at his top speed. There was something about racing through the land to a destination. The wind against his skin, the smell of rain in the air, the sensation of chakra pumping through his limbs, pushing him forward. His muscles felt as if they were being awakened after a long slumber: restless and ready to move. Everything seemed to silence around him as his body began to remember the motions and the way this kind of speed felt. His mind was becoming clearer and he felt a weight being lifted from him as they were nearing the end of the forest, much sooner than Sasuke anticipated. "At this rate, sir," his partner shouted, "we may cut a full day off our journey!"
Sasuke couldn't help but smirk to himself.
Three Days Later
It was nearing the late afternoon by the time the time Sakura finished writing out her formal evaluations of the medical students. Ken had done well to instruct them on further surgical techniques and she was grateful for his assistance. The extra time gave her the chance to catch up on much-needed paperwork as well as keeping an eye on the council member that was running the village while Sasuke was gone. Checking the time, Sakura figured that the man should be leaving Sasuke's office soon, which meant that she could get in and grab those paychecks for the construction workers.
Rising from her chair, Sakura grabbed her coat and headed out of the office, locking the door behind her. For the first time in a while, the halls were calm; there were no nurses hustling between patients, no one being rolled on a gurney to an OR, no scent of blood lingering in the air. Sakura made her way down to the second floor, passing some of her students on the way. They were loitering the lobby, chatting about the most recent lecture and the techniques they were working on. They waved as Sakura passed, causing her to smile at them. Approaching the main desk, Sakura found Naomi staring at the surgical board, seeming pleased with herself. "What are you so smiley about?" the pink-haired woman asked teasingly.
Naomi gestured to the whiteboard. "Two surgeries. There are only two surgeries scheduled today, Sakura." She gave her superior a grin. "Either we have healed almost the entire village out of possible sickness, or everyone is getting into trouble as we speak and we'll get swamped later," she said with a laugh.
Sakura looked at the board; this was the first time that it was so bare of scheduled surgeries. "Maybe we'll have a slow night for a change," she said lightly. "Though to be honest, I was looking forward to having something to keep me busy tonight."
Naomi glanced at Sakura, noticing now her jacket and bag. "Are you heading out?" she asked. "Mind if I come? I've been here all day, I need some fresh air."
Sakura thought about it for a moment, then gave the woman a nod. The two made their way out of the hospital and headed down the road to the Kage Tower, their pace almost leisurely. The two women walked in silence for several minutes, both enjoying the sounds of the oncoming evening.
"So," Sakura started, giving sly glances to Naomi, "I hear that you went out on a date last night."
To Sakura's amusement, her friend suddenly became embarrassed, going red in the face. Naomi began to ramble on about the date: her surprise that Haru even had feelings in the first place, the fancy restaurant, spilling food all over herself, then getting caught in a bad rainstorm as he walked her home. "Honestly, though—dating is hard! There are so many expectations and if it doesn't work then things get awkward," she exclaimed, making frantic hand motions the whole time. Sakura laughed at the woman's frustrations as they entered their destination. "I mean, it wasn't terrible—just not what either of us expected, you know?"
As they headed up the stairs, Sakura let the other woman continue to ramble on. By the time they reached the office doors she was wondering out loud if there would be a second date.
After checking that the office was indeed empty, Sakura silently opened the door and turned on the lights. It was an odd feeling to walk in and not see Sasuke hunched over scrolls on the desk or looking out over the village. She had become so accustomed to strolling in and visiting him that his absence was unexpectedly palpable. Sakura made her way over to the desk to grab the paychecks he had asked her to take care of. "Sakura, are you alright?" Naomi asked carefully, noticing the sudden change in the woman's demeanor. Sakura glanced around the office; it was too quiet, too empty. Her friend walked over, putting a gentle hand on the medic's shoulder. "He'll be back soon, Sakura." Sakura's eyes widened slightly, looking at Naomi. Had her emotions been that clear? Naomi gave her a small and sad smile. "I can tell that you miss him," she said softly.
Sakura's gaze shifted down as her fingers ran lightly across the edge of his desk. "It's not what you think . . ." she muttered, avoiding Naomi's intuitive gaze.
Naomi considered reassuring her boss further; it pained her to see the woman in this state. She wanted to tell Sakura not to worry, that Sasuke would be back soon, and that she was sure he was missing her, also. But Naomi knew better; Sakura did not like to bare her burdens for others to see. So instead, she allowed Sakura another few minutes to linger in the office before leading her out of the room.
As Sakura headed home, she couldn't help but feel an all-too familiar pang in her chest. It was an unwelcome feeling, one that she quickly tried to fight back. The woman knew that he would be back in a few days and everything would be just fine, but she couldn't shake the feeling that plagued her heart. It was just like when she was a girl, the feeling of not knowing when she would see him again after he abandoned the Leaf Village. Upon entering her apartment, Sakura took a fast shower to clear her head, constantly reminding herself that he would be back in a few days and that there was nothing to worry about.
It was just after two in the morning when the first explosion went off, shocking Sakura into alert.
"What the hell?" she hissed as she went to look out her bedroom window just as a loud crash was heard down the street. Within seconds screams filled the streets as opaque smoke rose from the opposite corner of the village, ominous in the dark of the night. As she peered out, Sakura could just barely make out the tips of raging flames rising where the explosion went off. Another crash resounded in the night, this time in a different location than the first—a few blocks away. Porch lights began flickering on as people stepped out to see what was going on, only to be greeted with another explosion, this one closer to the center of the village.
Adrenaline now surging through her veins, Sakura quickly donned the closest attire she could find and grabbed her weapons pouch before leaping out the window. Landing on the rooftop the woman made her way to the sight of the first explosion where smoke was still rising. She assessed her surroundings on the way, taking note of several shinobi suddenly flooding the streets, the civilians looking terrified and at a loss for what to do. As Sakura passed over the market square, she saw a group of men charge into one of the shops—she could immediately tell by their attire that they were not Sound shinobi.
She could feel her blood boil as she raced across the rooftops to the first explosion. As she approached, she could hear the screams of children and the crackling of wood as the houses that were bombed began to burn, windows breaking as families tried to escape their homes. Looking around frantically, Sakura spotted a Chunin that had been to the hospital recently. "Hey!" she hollered over the chaos. The older man turned towards her and she quickly caught up to him, following him into the smoke. "What is going on?!"
His face was filled with anger and terror as they helped escort a family out of one of the houses. Sakura grabbed one of the small children and covered their mouth to prevent too much smoke from getting into their lungs. "What does it look like?" he shouted as the family scrambled away from the scene. They charged back into the next house, this one quickly becoming engulfed in flames. "Can you take the second floor?" he shouted. Sakura gave a quick thumbs-up as she charged up the stairs. The heat was intense and the ceiling was starting to crumble. The back corner of the house was completely taken out by the bomb, causing Sakura to steer clear of the area where the floor would easily collapse under her weight. Sakura brought her shirt up and bundled it around her mouth and nose, desperately trying not to breathe in too much of the smoke. "Is anyone up here?!" she screamed, eyes scanning every inch of the floor. A cry was heard from the room to her left; Sakura charged in to see two young girls sitting in the corner, staying as far from the burning floor as possible. The flames from the first floor were reaching up into the bedroom, creating a giant hole in the center of the room, minutes away from collapsing entirely. Sakura scanned the space; there was a window not too far from the children. "Look at me!" she yelled, waving at them to get their attention. "I'm going to come get you, okay?" As another piece of the floor crumbled down, Sakura knew there was no more time to waste. She pulsed just enough chakra through her feet to launch herself across the room to the girls. In a quick motion, she grabbed both of them into her arms and kicked herself back, breaking the window behind her and falling out of the house, twisting just in time to land on her feet and charge away from the house as the whole structure buckled to the ground.
She saw the Chunin come towards her, an older couple hot on his heels. The girls scrambled out of Sakura's arms and into their parent's embrace, crying and shaking. "Is everyone alright?" Sakura questioned, scanning the family for any major wounds. "Is anyone hurt?" When they all showed that there were no severe injuries, Sakura instructed them to find a safe place to hide.
"It's an attack!" the Chunin shouted. "We are under attack!" More screams echoed in the night as the sounds of fighting filled the village.
Sakura turned to him, staring at him intently. "Get this area cleared, then help with the second explosion sight. Once that area has been cleared, get any injured civilians to the hospital immediately. Do you understand?" she demanded, face becoming hard. He gave her a quick nod. "And also!" she shouted before he could sprint off, "Find whoever is in command of the shinobi and have them sent to me!"
Once the man sprinted off Sakura made her way in the opposite direction towards the hospital. This time she stayed down on the streets, using her kunai to effectively take down any shinobi that wasn't from this village. It didn't take the woman long to notice that all of the enemy ninja were from Kumo, the village run by the Raikage. Sakura recalled the night she stormed into Sasuke's office to find the Raikage there, the two in a heated argument. If this was a planned attack, then it couldn't have come at a worse time. Their leader was days away in another village; Sakura wondered how long it would take for word to get to him that his village was under attack.
"Sakura Haruno?" came a shout from her right. Sakura glanced at the man coming into stride next to her, vaguely recognizing his face. He was another Jonin trusted by the Otokage. She gave him a slight nod as they simultaneously took down a couple Lightening ninja before continuing down the road. He motioned for her to follow him as he leapt up to travel by rooftop. "I'm the leader of the shinobi forces under Lord Otokage's command," he informed as the jumped across the roofs. "You requested to see me?"
"Has anyone been sent to alert Sa—Lord Otokage?"
"Yes—Takamaru has been summoned and is on his way to the Otokage as we speak." This was good news; Takamaru was the fastest messenger hawk that could be summoned. "I understand that you are a medic as well as a shinobi. Which one will you be tonight?" he yelled over the sound of another window crashing below.
"I'm heading to the hospital to prepare medical units. If there is a way of protecting it, we can use the hospital as a center to get civilians to safety," she yelled as they approached it. "Get as many enemies taken down as possible—I will help with that part. Once we begin to outnumber them, I'll rejoin the medical squads. If it's necessary I'll summon my slugs to help heal everyone." Sakura deeply hoped it didn't come down to that.
The Jonin gave her a quick nod as they landed a hundred feet in front of the entrance before summoning four men. "Hospital is safe ground, boys," he ordered. "Keep it guarded and protected against enemy fire!" The four men began creating clones and surrounding the base of the hospital as well as a few heading to the roof to ward off aerial strikes.
Sakura burst through the hospital doors to find all of the doctors and nurses in a panic. When they saw her, several immediately started bombarding her with questions. "Quiet—QUIET!" she shouted. "Everybody, listen up! The village is under attack. People are going to start pouring in with injuries as well as damage in their lungs due to smoke from two bombings, so be ready for anything that comes in. Start setting up emergency stations, healing scrolls, and crash carts. I want everyone on high alert. Take severe cases up to the third floor and above; floors two and one will be used as a safe house for civilians. We have a team of our own shinobi guarding the hospital, so don't go outside unless it's absolutely necessary—stay here, take care of anyone that comes in!" The crowd of hospital workers started scrambling off, turning half of the main floor into a makeshift trauma center.
"Sakura!"
Naomi, Ken, and Haru came rushing over to her. "Ken, I need you to be in charge of the ER—you have the most experience with general surgery, keep an eye on major medical procedures." Ken gave a curt nod and rushed off, motioning a few resident doctors to follow him. "Naomi, keep people calm and organized on the first two floors, direct traffic as it comes in so the seriously wounded don't get crowded around. Haru, I need you and a team of our best medics out in the village. There are going to be a lot of injured shinobi and civilians who need to be tended to."
As Haru went and collected whomever he could find, Naomi grabbed Sakura's arm. "Take me with you," she demanded. Before Sakura could refuse the demand, Naomi continued. "I can have someone else direct traffic here; you have to take me out there. Someone needs to be leading civilians to the hospital. Sakura, I can't just stay here, please," she pleaded, her grip on Sakura's arm tightening. As Haru rushed back over to them with a small group of the top students Sakura relented and gave Naomi the okay.
Motioning for the medical group to follow, Sakura began racing through instructions. "There's going to be a lot of injured people out there. You'll want to save everyone, but you can't. If you come across a body and you can't find a pulse, then move on to the next person. If they just need a quick fix, give it to them and then you need to move on. If they are in critical condition, either rush them here or heal them on the scene." As the group rushed out the doors a giant translucent wall was forming itself around the hospital, effectively blocking any unwanted visitors from entering. Two of the clones allowed the group to pass through before resealing the barrier. "And most importantly," she warned, a grave tone to her voice, "do not get injured and do not die." She locked gazes with every member of the field squad. "You are going to be the reason we win—and we will win. Keep healing people; save lives. Go!"
Sakura's fellow medics raced off into the night as the battle raged on. "Sakura . . . do you think we can win this?" Naomi asked, voice shaking.
The pink-haired woman took a deep breath as she gathered chakra into her feet. "We don't have a choice," were her last words before leaping into the air.
For a long while, Sakura thought there would be no end to the fight. It was after the third hour that she had lost count of how many Lightening Shinobi she had defeated. She had tried to only disarm them to the point that they could no longer fight, but that strategy quickly proved to be useless—the rest of the Sound ninja quickly caught on to that as well. It wasn't long into the fight that they all seemed to forget about Sasuke's order to never retaliate against the Kumo ninja for fear of a war starting.
'Guess that plan didn't do much good,' was the bitter thought that crossed Sakura's mind as the memory passed vaguely.
Her clothes were covered in dirt, soot, and blood; her hair was matted against her forehead and neck, becoming a tangled mess; her knuckles were becoming bruised and raw. She barely glanced at the armed woman charging towards her before sending a chakra-infused fist to her chest, splitting the woman's ribcage, which would effectively pierce her lungs and heart. In a continued motion Sakura leapt into the air to land on the roof next to the Jonin leader who had been waiting for her arrival.
"Where are we at?" she asked, her eyes scanning over the village quickly through the dim rays of the red sunrise.
"We've pushed most of the enemy lines out of the village—they will probably head back to report to whomever ordered this attack," he growled, eyes skimming the streets below.
"And the ones who tried to continue the attack?"
The man's eyes narrowed. "Taken care of. It's almost over. Look," he pointed towards the northern wall of the village. Sakura peered out and saw that a large group of Kumo ninja were retreating. "I've been scanning the chakra signatures in the village for the past hour," he continued. "There are only a small handful left, and they won't last much longer. So it's time, Haruno."
Sakura gave him a curt nod in understanding. With a quick bite to the thumb and a few hand signs, Sakura slammed her palm to the roof she stood on and watched as a form of seals shot out from under her fingers. In the blink of an eye there was a giant slug towering over the buildings. Sakura immediately gave Katsuyu a respectful bow. "Take my chakra and heal as many of the Sound villagers as we can manage." The giant slug started splitting herself off and spreading throughout the village; it didn't take long for Sakura to begin feeling her chakra slowly ebb from her system. "Any word from the Otokage?"
"Not yet, though it shouldn't be much longer," the Jonin promised before he sprinted off.
After another quick look around at what she could see in the dim light Sakura raced in the opposite direction back towards the hospital. When the guards saw her coming they made an opening through the barrier just in time for the woman to rush past and slam her body through the main doors. There were doctors and nurses everywhere, using any inch of space available to tend to the villagers. From the looks of what she could see on the first floor, people were fine, looking to have nothing worse than some heavy bruising along with minor wounds and lacerations. Sakura fought her way through the crowd to get to the teenager running the front desk. "How are we holding up?" she asked while jumping over the counter.
"It hasn't been too bad," the student reported. Sakura was glad to see that this young girl was so calm in the middle of the chaos. "First two floors are full; there have been about three surgeries in the ER so far; they are all currently stable in the ICU." The woman flipped through some papers in front of her. "As far as I know, we haven't lost any of our field medics—I've seen them all within the past hour. Wait—" The girl flipped over another paper again, reading down a list. "I've seen everyone recently except Naomi."
Sakura had to force back the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Does Ken need any help with the higher level trauma cases?" she asked, glancing through the papers.
Before the teen could answer, the man in question came bursting out of the elevator just as an elderly woman was rolled through the crowd on a gurney by a pair of interns. "She took a blow to the chest," one of them stated as Ken started checking over the patient. "I think her right lung collapsed." Ken placed a glowing hand over the patient's chest as he started giving orders to the pair of interns to go look for more people in need of surgery.
Sakura shouted at him to grab his attention. "Do you need me here?" she asked quickly, eyes scanning the room once more.
Ken shook his head. "I've got this, Sakura. I'm good on chakra and I've got a good team upstairs."
After assessing the hospital and assuring that things were under control, Sakura went back out into the village. As she raced through the streets she began to feel the effects of Katsuyu using her chakra. Her body was going through the motions of battle, eyes scanning for an enemy to take down or a fallen comrade to save; anything else was deemed unimportant and therefore went unnoticed in her mind. It was due to this behavior she defaulted to that Sakura almost missed Naomi sitting on the side of the road.
"Sakura!"
Said woman skidded to a halt at the sound of her name. Spinning around, she looked over and saw her friend with a slug over her left thigh, casually leaning against a light post. A sigh of relief blew from Sakura's lungs as she jogged over to where Naomi was sitting. "What happened? Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I think so," Naomi answered thoughtfully, looking down at her now-healed leg as the slug shimmied off. "Got caught in some crossfire while trying to get to a small group of kids. No big deal." Sakura gave the woman a hand and helped her back onto her feet. "Are you okay?" she inquired, peering closely at her superior. "You don't look so good. Maybe you should rest."
Sakura shook her head; the motion didn't help the oncoming headache. "Medics are the last ones to rest during battle. We don't stop until everyone else is okay." Naomi didn't seem convinced. "Those slugs are healing everyone who hasn't gotten to the hospital; they are using my chakra." Sakura took another look around as exhaustion began to settle into her bones. "Everything is going to be alright . . ." She paused, listening to the growing silence around them. "I think it's over." Naomi let out her own sigh of relief while pushing her hair out of her eyes as she began to follow Sakura down the road.
Days later, when Sakura would find the time to reflect on the following series of events, she would recall the faintest sound of a third pair of footsteps, the almost-hidden chakra signature that approached. She would clearly remember the abrupt inhalation behind her being the initial sign that something was wrong, hear the sound of crackling chakra before smell the energy in the air. Sakura would remember the blood rush to her head as she whipped back around to be met with Naomi's wide eyes, filled with raw terror that turned to agonizing pain. Sakura would eventually recall that she didn't even think twice when she rushed towards the man who held a lightening-infused fist to the back of her friend's head to send her own hand straight through his chest, ending his existence without a trace of guilt. Naomi's body would feel heavier than her own as it fell to the ground, as Sakura would then carry the woman all the way to the hospital, screaming for a gurney.
It would be several days until Sakura would have the chance to sit and reflect.
And there it is! Leave a review and see you soon :)