Hello readers and welcome to the next chapter. Hope you at least enjoyed the last one because to be honest I doubt too many people are going to be happy about this chapter…but in my eyes I wanted to have at least one chapter like this so I don't just have a "hey they found this" *ten seconds later* "Hey they now know all about this thing"…personally I just can't stand liking having that

P.S. I have no idea why but it seems that a lot of writers are slowing down their writing as well at least for most of the stories I follow…course I can't really say much about that due to my own actions…

WARNING: This chapter will have a lot of "medical knowledge" written into it…if you want to skip feel free but as stated in beginning A/N I don't want a story where they just find something and know all about it thing….can't wait to see how many people rage about this.

Chapter 46

Team 7 ran from what use to be the hidden base as fast as they could and quickly made it back home thankfully not getting attacked by any enemies. Still they kept up their pace just to make sure that they got the information back safely. Even going as far as to run straight through the night.

~Konoha~

Finally, after their long run Team 7 made it back home and quickly were able to pass through the gate.

"Few finally home after that craziness!" Naruto calls out happily not even minding that they were all still covered in dust from being buried alive.

"Yes thankfully. Though we still need to report to Tsunade-sama" Yamato agreed panting a bit after the long run.

"I guess…but maybe after a bit of reward ramen after a successful mission." Naruto told him beginning to walk away from the group only for Sakura to grab onto the back of his shirt pulling him back.

"No we are going to speak with her now." Sakura told him before dragging him towards the Hokage tower with the rest of the group following. "Honestly how is he still so willing to do stuff when the rest of us are dead on our feet. We ran through the night just to make sure we got here safe and yet he acts like he isn't even tired. I know that his stamina has always been crazy just from a few training sessions but this is just ridiculous….maybe that is why the girls are more than happy to share him…" Sakura thought with a blush growing on her face. "Gah, damn Kakashi-sensei and his books for putting thoughts like that into my head. I need to focus on figuring out this blood." She thought focusing her mind after thinking about the time she accidentally read a bit of her sensei's precious books. So, with her mind as clear of perverse thoughts she brought the rest of the group to Tsunade's office.

~Hokage's office~

"Lady Tsunade we are back from the base." Sakura told her sensei respectfully.

"Good to see all of you back now let's hear the report." Tsunade ordered them not wanting to waste any time with stuff dealing with her old teammate. Especially when he was found so close to the village she had to protect.

"Hai Tsunade-sama…" Yamato began and then gave a detailed explanation of the mission before placing the scroll of containing all they stuff they collected and had Sakura put the blood sample they collected. "and after freeing ourselves we made it back to the village as soon as we could." Yamato concluded the report leaving Tsunade looking at the blood with interest.

"Thank you. Now all of you are dismissed except for Sakura. Go and get some much deserved rest." Tsunade told them with all of the boys nodding and quickly leaving the room to do various things except for the pinkette.

"What do you need sensei?" Sakura asked confused.

"Well Sakura you have been a great student for the past few years though you have not really had any cases to really test your medical knowledge. So, I am going to put you as the head medical ninja leading the study of this blood. Now I know it may seem like a daunting study but I know you can succeed. Though me and Shizune will be available to help you if needed." Tsunade told the girl who was now had a smile as wide as would fit upon her face.

"Thank you sensei! I will not let you down!" Sakura told the older women barely holding herself back from hugging said women.

"I know you won't Sakura now go and get some rest. Come back to my office when you wake up and I will get you set up with an area and a team to help your study." Tsunade told her smiling at the fact that she could see the excitement in Sakura's reaction. Eventually Sakura left to follow her orders.

_With Sai_

"Danzo-sama I have returned from my mission." Sai told the Danzo bowing before the man in Root's secret base.

"Did you find anything worth having the researchers look into?" Danzo asked coldly not even looking at the pale teen.

"Hai, while we looking around the base were attacked by several civilians that seemed to be completely controlled though their movements were sluggish and easily dealt with. Still it may be possible to make use of the thing I believe was the cause of the control." Sai explained bringing out the vials of black blood.

"Interesting …you are dismissed." Danzo told Sai as another root Anbu took the vials from Sai.

"Hai" Sai muttered out leaving Danzo alone without hesitation.

_Sakura_

"I can't believe that Tsunade-sensei would actually trust me with something so important. She must really believe in my abilities." Sakura thought happily as she got ready for bed. She just couldn't get the smile off of her face when she heard that the person that she was trying to impress and learn from for the past few years actually showed her how much they believed in her.

"None of the secrets that blood holds can hide with us on the job!" Inner Sakura yelled out in her mind. Course she tried her best to push the excitement out of her mind for the moment so she could get some much needed sleep. Though she ended up dreaming of all the tests she would perform all night long anyways.

+Next Morning+

As soon as Sakura woke up, she quickly took a look at the time and saw that Tsunade should be heading to her office in about an hour. So, she quickly did her normal morning routine as fast as she could before sitting down with a small breakfast just waiting for time to go by until the hour was finally up and she quickly rushed out of the house and speed towards the Hokage tower as fast as she possibly could. In fact she was in such a rush that she didn't even notice that there was someone else in the hallway until she already slammed into the person.

"Oh I am so sorry…Tsundae-sensei!" Sakura told the person before realizing who it was.

"It is ok Sakura I know you didn't mean to…though I had no clue I could do anything to make you act so much like Naruto would." Tsunade teased knowing just why she was in such a rush; and of course she was rewarded for her statement by a large blush from her student who was clearly embarrassed. "Now, if you could get off of me we can get you set up for your research." Tsunade told the girl who got off of her teacher just as Shizune was walking around the corner.

"Tsunade-sama it is nice to see you here so early." Shizune told the women actually surprised by seeing her there seeing as Shizune usually had a decent amount of time to set the office for the day.

"Well of course I am here. It's time for our youngest student here to get her first medical study started." Tsunade told Shizune happily wrapping her arm around Sakura's neck with a smile on her face.

"Tsunade-sama must really be happy that Sakura is doing so good. I haven't seen her this happy without sneaking booze past me in a long while." Shizune thought smiling at seeing the normally annoyed women a bit happier. "Well congratulations Sakura. I am sure you are more than prepared for whatever it is you are studying." She told the pink haired girl kindly.

"Thank you Shizune-sensei" Sakura told her still smiling before her attention was brought back to Tsunade.

"Now enough of us talking let's go get you set up before Shizune forces me to go through paperwork for a while." Tsunade told both of them before beginning to walk down the hall.

"I bring you those papers because it is your job!" Shizune calls after the women before trying to catch up with Sakura following as well.

~Hospital~

Tsunade, Shizune, and Sakura all were currently several floor up in the hospital looking at two rather simple rooms. One that had several smaller tables spread around the room with a few microscopes and other equipment. The other room had one large table that had several chairs around it.

"Ok, so here you are Sakura. These two rooms are gonna be where your team is set up. Room 304 is the main research area and 305 will be your meeting room. Now normally I would introduce the team to each other but seeing as you are so early we will just have to wait until they show up when they actually have to work. Now while you don't have a time limit per say; I would prefer to know as much as I could about this…blood as soon as you can get some results." Tsunade told her handing her the vial that clearly had a small amount removed already. A fact that is to be expected just in case something was to happen with the sample she was currently studying got compromised.

"Thank you Tsunade-sama I will not let you down!" Sakura told her determined to show her sensei that she could handle anything that she was given.

"I am sure you won't. Now come on Shizune let's get some of that paperwork done so I can have my midmorning drink." Tsunade tells her before walking away yet again.

"You said you weren't going to drink while working anymore Tsunade- …Tsunade!" Shizune called out starting to try and argue with her mentor before realizing that she was simply pretending to hear her. So, with that be noticed she quickly tried yet again to catch up with Tsunade leaving Sakura standing there staring at the two.

"I know that she truly knows her stuff but sometimes even I can't get over how weird both my sensei's are at times." Sakura thought before shrugging it off and looking down at the sample in her hands.

"Now let's get a bit of a start." Sakura mumbled to herself walking into the research room. She first started by getting a scroll ready to hold the findings they got of what she decided to for now call sample BBI-7 for Black Blood Ink and 7 for team 7. She then split the sample into several smaller tubes that she sealed off just to make it even less likely that something would happen to all of their only sample while also making it possible for several others to study it at the same time. She finally then put a drop of the blood onto a slide and made a quick blood smear to get the study started.

She made this blood smear as a way to simply get a cell count to determine if BBI-7 was still at least like normal blood in that aspect at leas

"Hmm, BBI-7 seems to have a normal red blood cell count and platelet count. Though interestingly there is little to know signs of white blood cells…could this substance have gotten rid of them to keep itself thriving safely in the body?" Sakura thinks confused though before she could do anything else she saw four other people walk into the room with her. One of the group was a plain looking man that clearly was one of the medical ninja that stayed in the village. Two of the others were girls that looked to pretty much be the same though judging by the headband one of them wore it was possible that she was another active field medic like she was. Finally her last group member was a blond women clearly had several strands of hair sticking out as if she never bothered to brush it. To top off this girls look she even wore massive glasses that looked to have thick lens that looked to be nearly impossible to actually be able to look through.

"Hello we were told that we would meet the head researcher for the new study in one of these rooms." One of the girls told Sakura politely.

"Yes, that would be me. Now if you would all join me in the conference room we can get introduced and I will explain this study to all of you." Sakura told them and walked into the other room with the rest of the group following her. "So, our study is on the blood sample that my team has recently taken a sample off from Orochimaru's lair. This blood was obtained from subjects that seemed to be under an extreme amount of control though also seemed to have extreme problems with normal functioning due to their movements being jerky." Sakura explained showing the vials to the group. "Our goal for this study is to find out anything and everything we can about this blood and will report our findings to Tsunade-sama. We have no time limit but due to how close the base was found to Konoha it would be best for us to get the information as soon as possible. So far all I have done is a simple cell count where I have already written down my findings in the report of what I have named BBI-7. Though to sum it up the blood seems to be relatively similar to normal blood. Now any questions?" Sakura asked the group trying to be as professional as she possibly could only to see that no one responded. "Good, then let's get started." Sakura tells them and their studies began.

Their group then went through every and any test that they could on the blood and found a decent amount of information on it that they soon brought to Tusnade's attention.

=Tsunade + Sakura, In front of a surgery room with an observation window=

"Huh this blood one of the most interesting modifications that I have seen for a while…even if it was created by that bastard." Tsunade told Sakura as she looked through the report. They both then looked down the hall when they heard a cane taping that was getting closer to them. "Hello Danzo-san" Tsunade greeted the old man as politely as she could manage looking at the injured man and his two ANBU guards.

"Hello Hokage-sama, I have recently heard that you have been studying a rather interesting sample." Danzo told the women who glared at him.

"Oh, and how did you hear about this? Seeing as I am sure that I did NOT give you any clearance to see the research." Tsunade told the man who gave her a small smile.

"Well I guess you should make sure that the researcher's you pick are so loose lipped if you wanted to keep it a secret." He told Tsunade growl at what she knew was a lie but could not prove it. "Anyways from what I have heard it seems your student here has been pretty through…except for one thing."

"What did I miss Danzo-sama?" Sakura asked trying to be polite to the elder. Though instead of responding to her he simply singled for someone to come from around the corner where two more ANBU came forcing a struggling man with them. These two quickly brought the man into the surgery room before either of the women in front of him could say anything about it. Danzo then nodded to one of his guards who nodded back and walked into the room as well and simply stood there as the others tied the man to the surgery table.

"Now hold on Danzo what the hell are they doing?" Tsunade asked angry that he was doing something she didn't approve of in HER hospital.

"We are just going to do the last part of your students study for her." Danzo told her simply. "After all what kind of test of a substance that affects humans be if it didn't look into what it does to a living person?" he added coldly making both of the women stare at him shocked.

"No! We don't need to see what that substance does to a human! If anything, I would want to use a lab rat!" Sakura told him horrified by the fact that he would want to do that.

"Stop this test Danzo!" Tsunade ordered the old man clearly furious.

"I would but I am afraid it is too late." Danzo told them clearly pleased by this fact as they looked through the window and saw Danzo's guard inject the black blood directly into the restrained man's veins. "If it makes both of you feel better this man was on death row for his crimes anyways….and in a way he is our lab rat" Danzo told them only to have his shirt grabbed by Tsunade who picked him off the ground a bit.

"How dare you come into MY hospital and mess with MY student's studies. We already have at least a basic unsteadying of what that stufdoes to humans from the mission debriefing. At least more than enough to know that it shouldn't be used on humans at all." Tsunade told the man who stared into her raged filed eyes calmly.

"Well I am sorry Tsunade-sama but it was already done before I could stop him. Though could you please put me down…We wouldn't want to have to go into the problems injuring one of the elder council would cause would we?" Danzo asked her clearly happy that he got his way. Course Tsunade could do nothing but growl and let the man go knowing punching him through a wall wouldn't be worth the annoyance the man would create later. So, they could do nothing but watch as the blood took effect. After all as much as she didn't want to admit it the medical researcher in her prevented her from ending the poor man's life. After all they would have to eventually go to this to try and determine what Orochimaru truly wanted to do with it.

Down on the table the man quickly began to scream out in agony as the blood worked in his body. They could clearly see the vein in his arm where he was injected already turn black and the color followed his veins going up his arm. It finally reached his chest where it disappeared under his prison uniform but soon returned as his neck turned black. Finally they watched as his eyes turned completely black right when all of the veins in his head turned black. Right when the final bit of his veins turned black the man stopped struggling and simply laid there unresponsive.

"Untie him." Danzo's guard ordered the other two who did just that and stood tense while the now zombie like man stood up from the table. "How are you V8-05?" the guard asked only to get no response."

"It seems he is completely uncapable of anything other than keeping himself alive." One of the other Anbu noticed.

"V8-05 I order you to walk forward." The guard ordered the zombie like prisoner who didn't even attempt to move. "Hmm he doesn't seem to take verbal commands." The guard mumbled until he heard the door open and saw Danzo, Sakura, and Tusnade walk in.

"N-never again." Sakura muttered out feeling disgusted with herself for simply watching the man scream in agony. For while she like her sensei knew that they would probably have to end up using some live subject she still felt horrible to her.

"Well we have at least learned that verbal commands don't work on these things…I wonder how they were controlled." Danzo told them. "Now let's see if these things feel pain." Danzo adds and one of the Anbu instantly pulls out a kuna ready to injure the man.

"No!" Sakura called out. "W-we have already learned enough I think." Sakura told them still feeling awful about watching the man wither in pain in the first place.

"Foolish girl. You wanted to be a researcher in the shinobi profession. You should have been taught that most stuff when it comes to ninja isn't pretty….we must get information before this is used against us." Danzo scolded Sakura who instantly feel depressed until she heard a loud growl and looked up to see Tsunnade punching the zombified man hard enough to slam him into a wall cracking said wall. The man's body then dropped to the ground clearly dead after her punch.

"There we found out he can't take pain." Tsunade growled out then walked up close to Danzo. "And don't you EVER insult my student. She has already proven to be more useful to this village than your old ass has ever been. Insult her or my teaching again and I will have to have a meeting to pick a new elder for the council." Tsunade told him before walking towards the door. "Come on Sakura" Tsunade ordered without looking behind her.

"H-hai Lady Tsunade." She called out then quickly followed after her sensei. "She may not show it but she really does care for us." Sakura though feeling a bit better. Meanwhile Danzo simply looked away from the two women and ordered the guards to collect the body and carry it away.

"These fools may not want to take the fast route to solving this but I am more than willing to go to any length to figure this out…and this cadaver is just what my researchers need." Danzo thinks with a mental smirk even as he kept his real expression neutral as always.

Now revised…took a bit longer than I thought it would but I have had a lot of shit going on. For even though I know none of you truly care or should need to care. I have had two deaths in this month. One that was completely unexpected and devastating and another that was a bit more expected (97 year old living in a nursing home). Anyways I will get back to writing normally hopefully now that everything has gone over for a while.

P. S. PLEASE READ THIS ONE

I have decided to only edit the part that I wanted to make truly matter which is that the zombies can't be controlled by just anyone. Anyways sorry about make this chapter still kind of sad even after it revised fully….hope you will forgive me for two cruddy posts but this month is just not good for me. Ja Ne.