"You're adamant on this theory, Sakura-san." I hear Han say behind me.

"Of course! All the evidence is pointing to this and... we're running out of options as is. I just hope this is it..."

Han and I walked further along the dirt road in silence until we came across the body of water across from the Mako residence. "There. We'll take some samples here."

"I'll get some grass samples from around the lake, I won't be too far out." Han declared and slipped away.

The water was cool but it had a weird and distinct color. A greyish color. I know sometimes the water will reflect its floor but this...this is something else. I don't know if this is the source of the illness but either way, this water is definitely inhabitable and undrinkable. As I collect and fill all three bottles, I keep finding dead fish and weirdly shaped dead plants. The fish had black located stomachs while the leaves of the plants had black dots along with a yellow-greenish color. It looks like only the stem is normal looking, probably because its origins were with the other grass alongside the bank. I picked up a leaf, half of it was in the water, and got a closer look. It was the same as the other plants but-

"M-Mrs. Uzumaki...?"

The soft voice pulled me out of my thoughts and faced its owner. "C-Chinami? What are you doing here?" I could see Han looking my way out of the corner of my eye.

"I came to find you... I..wanted to apologize for snapping on the both of you yesterday, ah..where is your partner...Neji was it?"

"He's back at the medical tents treating other patients while Dr. Han and I are gathering things to test." I motioned to Han as he waved at her.

"About the virus, right?"

"Yes, yes."

"I see... Again, I just wanted to properly apologize to you face to face. I asked around and heard some of the villagers saw you over by the lake so I came. I shouldn't have shouted and accused you of such things. You were just trying to help-"

"No, no," I put the leaf in a plastic bag and approached the young woman. "It's okay, really. I didn't take it personally and neither did he. Trust me, I know how it feels and I completely understand your frustration. I did the same to the people closest to me when my husband died."

"Right, your husband, the seventh Hokage. I am terribly sorry for your loss."

"Thank you."

Chinami stood in front of me a different woman than before. She was much more timid than confrontational. She could barely look at me for more than five seconds and was playing with her hands. She must've been really sorry for the way she acted the other day...

"I..didn't come to you just to apologize. I understand you wanted to ask me some questions about my son's recovery and how he dealt with the virus?"

"Y-Yes, if you have any information for us to us..?"

Chinami broke eye contact with us and looked elsewhere. She hesitated for just a second before looking at me and Mr. Han, who stood at by my side at this point. "When my children became sick, I didn't know what to think. I-I was scrambling to find out whatever it was that was giving them this ..this pain. I couldn't just watch so I took care of them as best as I could. I bathed them, made them food, I even mixed some herbs my mother thought me to calm the pain but it only got worse with time. Then I became sick and things only went downhill. It was hard trying to do it myself so I asked Misako to help. Though I was struck with the disease, it wasn't as bad. I didn't know the extent of this disease until two out if three of my babies passed. Hiro and Misao passed two days in between.."

"I'm so sorry, Chinami..." Mr. Han interrupted.

"It's okay..I've learned to deal with it for the time being. After all, I need to be there for my youngest."

"Yes, I've heard your youngest child hasn't been the same?" I asked.

"No, he's...different. He needs a lot more help to do things like brushing his teeth and walking across the room... That disease really did a number on him."

"Interesting, I've not seen any data indicating the after-effects?"I questioned aloud.

"That's because the survival rate for kids is slim to none whereas the adults recover far more. There haven't been any long-term after-effects for adults who have caught this disease, in fact, the only after-effects that we have seen in patients were sharp headaches and the inability to talk for a few days." Han explained.

"Because of the inflation?"

"Exactly."

"Mm. Well, I appreciate the information. Chinami. I'll make sure to keep note of-"

"T-That's not all though!" She felt around her pockets before digging out a piece of paper. "Here."

Han took the piece of paper and read some of the words aloud. "Greywater... Coughing up blood... Rash... seizures..?"

"Its...I took some notes. After Hiro passed, I tried to remember and write down every single thing, significant or not, that happened during the time i took care of them."

"The...water?"

"Misao ranked some of the water, we get it from various places around the village but this lake," She motioned to the body of water behind Han and I. "This is the most popular spot, at least it used to be. Most people get the water from a well way on down, Taka and Yuta built it for easier use, but since this was the closest from the house... A-And the kids still play and drink from it from time to time so I thought it was fine! But when I gave some to Misao, she needed some fluids, she reacted so bad she coughed and threw up blood! I didn't think it was the water at first but as the kids kept getting sick..."

"Those same kids that played here?" I asked.

"Yes. I-I should have said something but I wasn't sure. I'm no expert or anything and I didn't want to be the cause for confusion."

"It is okay, Chinami." Han put his hand on her shoulder for comfort. "I'm glad you came to tell us now. Sakura-san, let's get some samples."

I bent down and gathered some water in some bottles, making sure to gather some dirt particles along with it. "there, this should be enough to test when we get back." I put the samples in my backpack and walked up to Chinami. "Chinami, I seriously appreciate you coming here today. With your input, we may have gotten closer to what this is and to find a cure or at the very least, a treatment. Thank you."

"I...You are welcome. I have to get back to my son so I bid you farewell and I wish you luck."

I smiled bowed my head in response.

"What do you make of that? Think it's the water?"

I turned around to look at the water before answering. "You tell me. Did it always look like this?"

Mr. Han scoffed. "Not since the last Kage burned our bridges."

"Interesting." I gathered the rest of my supplies, as did he, and got ready to before we heard static.

"The hell?" Han exclaimed.

"It's the radio, turn it up!"

"Hokage -sama, Sakura, Han, come quick! It's Kumi! She's... Her stats are dropping rapidly!" We heard Shizune shout desperately through the mic

"I'm on my way!" Tsunade followed up.

Han and looked at each other, both of us filled with panic before I left. I could hear Han trailing behind me and declaring on the radio, "We'll be there as soon as we can!"

"Sakura, do you think she'll be alright?" He asked me but I could barely hear him. It was as if all the background noise were fading. All I could hear was my breathing. Kumi's innocent eyes ran crossed my mind as we got closer. She was so young-is so young. We can't lose her to this, she deserves to live!

By the time Han and I made it, I felt my heart drop to my stomach. everyone, Shizune, Neji, and Tsunade, was standing around the young girl. Her stats blared in the background indicated that she flatlined...

"D-Did anybody do CPR? S-Something?" I desperately asked. I could feel the tears well in my eyes.

"We...we did all that we could but..." Shizune tried to answer. Tsunade kept looking at the deceased girl while Neji avoided our gaze.

I felt a lump develop in my throat as realization set in. We had lost our patient... We lost Kumi...


"We're running out of time..." We stood together in silence after wrapping Kumi's body in her bedsheets. Nobody spoke during that whole ordeal. Especially when Kumi's mother came to view the body. It was extremely hard to watch, even Neji stepped out.

"My baby! You were supposed to save my child! My only...my only daughter...! Why didn't you save her! Y-You were supposed...to.."

"I'm so sorry but we did the best we could..." Shizune tried to say.

"Bullshit!"

The young mother was so distraught, Taka and Yuta had to take someplace else to calm down. I, however, could not do anything else but weep for the girl and her mother. And myself. Her pain reminded me of my own. The day of the funeral, the burial, the aftermath...

"We can't afford to lose another child-"

"Sakura-san." Tsunade called to me. She then looked at everyone else and cleared her voice. "She's right, we can't afford to lose another one. Sakura and Han have the samples. Han and I will test it to see what's really going on. As for you, Shizune and Neji, I want you to go and study up on the Jutsu I discovered. I want us all to learn it so we can avoid this with the other four. Let's move.