Her student had done it, he was able to reverse the effect and Hashirama was able to finally neutralize the poison. The young man took a pretty big hit to his health but was alive and in healing. The rest of the team was fine and watching over him now. Sakura felt so helpless, not doing anything because her mind was somewhere else. How could it not be? Her friends were in trouble and for all she knew in serious danger. Why did all this have to happen? Her life finally came together just for something bad to happen again.
And the worst of it she felt guilty. She had wanted them to leave so she could sneak back to Konoha without hearing Miyo whine about it. Or beg her to take her back as well. She was currently in an empty hospital room, seated by the door. Since the news, Sakura had been trying to think of some way she could find out what was happening. The only way to know for sure was to go herself but she knew Madara, Tobirama, Mito and Hashirama would not allow it. Probably in that order.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Madara said walking in.
"I have to find them," she said sternly.
"Nani?" he questioned.
"I have no choice. I need to know if they are alright. Things are fine here now so I have to go."
"You cannot make such a rash decision without the Hokage's approval," Madara said with a hand to his hip.
"Too late I already did," she said before turning to grab a few things.
"Sakura-chan you cannot go. You are needed here," Hashirama said entering the room.
"Watch me," she mumbled grabbing some more items to pack.
"Wait, we need to at least find out what the enemies purpose it first," Hashirama told her, sitting in her seat. She stopped and sighed heavily, he had a point.
"What team did Honshi-san send?" Madara asked.
"Uzashi led the team because Honshi-sama was suspicious. The twins were originally the only two who were going with him but Miyo argued and wanted to help. She said something wasn't right and she had to keep an eye out because of it. Honshi-sama knows she has keen abilities so he let her go," she explained, leaning against the counter and crossing her arms.
"That makes quite a team. The twins are medics and I do believe that was one reason they were chosen. If they received the same message we did then they were requesting light medical help," Hashirama commented.
"Sending Miyo was a bad decision," Tobirama commented, appearing out of nowhere, as he leaned on the door frame.
"An extra unneeded medic," Madara agreed.
"But she does have some skills that I taught her. Then again if something happened only she and Uzashi have combat skill," she groaned.
"Do we know if they wanted the Konoha team to return?" Madara asked.
"From what the other three has told us, the enemy tried to kill them before they escaped. It was as if they were desperate to make sure they did not return," Tobirama told them.
"Then they are using them to test something. But why request medics?" Hashirama pondered.
"Maybe it was just an easy request to fulfill so they knew someone would be sent out. Especially if you got the message," Madara said.
"What does that mean?" Hashirama asked.
"Whoever they are must know how good natured you are. If someone was in trouble you would want to help in some way. Your weak spot."
"Why do you have to say it like that Madara?" Hashirama said with a frown.
"There is something else going on," Tobirama interrupted, pushing himself off the frame. "Sakura-san, you may want to talk to him."
"Nani?" she questioned in confusion.
"Roiki was retrieved not to far from here just an hour ago. He escaped to get help when the Konoha team fought and ended up badly injured. He is recovering right now."
Sakura ran into the room to see the eldest twin laying on his side covered in bandages and cringing in pain. She skidded to his side and looked over him. They had to do the same procedure to get poison out of him. It seemed as if it did not have the same viscous effect as the Konoha shinobi. Which meant Hashirama was right and they were testing something. Whoever was doing this was going to pay. Sakura herself was going to make sure of that.
Roiki tried to move but she made him lay still and rest before putting her hands over his body to heal him. To speed things up she activated her seal just a bit. There was no other choice, they needed to act fast and with his condition it would take too much time for him to recover naturally. Not to mention they seem to have cause major damage to his eyes and completely crush his hands. His jaw was almost out of alignment but it didn't take much to keep it in place. They really did not want any information to be revealed even if he was found.
It infuriated her. Who was doing this and why? Even after asking Hashirama what was going on, he just answered with the same reply as before. This has never happened before. How could her being there cause such a ripple in the timeline that even Hashirama could not figure out or understand? She pushed more Chakra into Roiki's body after he was healed so she could speed up his regeneration. They didn't have time to waste, she had to know what was going no and what she could do to stop it.
"Sa...kura-sensei," he muttered as he opened his eyes; a small tug at his lips.
"Roiki, can you sit up?" she asked moving back. She reverted her seal back to the original shape and sighed.
"I think so," he said trying to sit up, Sakura helping him. "Ugh, I feel like you slammed me full force into the ground." He was definitely going to be alright.
"What... happened?" she asked, anxious.
"I can't remember," he said holding his head. "Wait, how did I get here?"
"You were found not to far from here with terrible injuries. You were lucky to survive," she explained, looking to the ground.
"That happened then?" he questioned. "We were attacked?" he said in disbelief as he turned to her.
"I'm afraid so. Do you know who did this?" she asked trying not to sound so eager.
"No idea. Except they wore all black and wrapped their heads as well. And they had... Kitsune masks?" he said knitting his brows, trying to remember. "They were all the same except for the ear coloring," he said looking at her, gesturing above his head.
"Can you remember anything else?"
"Yeah. Actually..." he paused for a minute and closed his eyes, setting his hands in front of him. "We were almost to our destination when a large group tried to ambush us. There were about two dozen. Unfortunately most of them could conceal their Chakra, revealing it to cause us to miscount when figuring out what to do. Miyo said she knew they exact amount but I honestly could not focus on how many she said. It was a scary number I do remember that. It wasn't long after we start to engage in battle that there was an explosion causing it to be foggy and before I realized it, I was drowsy. I blacked out after that," he explained using alot of hand gestures.
"Could you tell age range?" she asked confused. Even in this day and age, in order to be able to conceal yourself from a sensor, let alone an Uzumaki, you would have to have years of practice. And even then concealing yourself from a sensor was difficult.
"Not really. They were young for their fighting style if that is what you mean," he replied. "I cannot remember much else. Gomen, Sensei.
"It isn't your fault. Now that we have an idea of what we are dealing with, we can devise a plan to attack," she said with her fists clenched.
"I can recall pain. Lots of it. And something about a new poison," he told her with a confused look before holding his head.
"It is fine Roiki. You gave us enough information and we already know about the poison," she told him sitting on the bedside and rubbing his back.
"Sensei, let me go with you."
"Nani?" she asked, menacingly.
"You cannot expect me to stay here when my twin is out there still in danger," he challenged looking to her.
"If he is still alive," Madara said interrupting.
"Madara," Sakura growled. He was not helping the situation at all.
"He is alive. I can feel him. You do not mess with twins. We have a special connection you wouldn't understand," he explained as he looked to the Uchiha. "He is my otouto, I have to protect him,"
Sakura watched as Madara narrowed his eyes and glanced away. He probably had Izuna in mind as he said it. She honestly did not know what to expect from him. But Roiki was right, the twins were always together and didn't even have to use words or their sensor abilities to communicate. Especially when getting in trouble, if one had done something the other was able to know and find a way to get them both out of it. She hoped at a time like this Roiki would be able to lead them. If Hashirama let them take the risk.
"Sakura-chan, what do you intend to do?" Madara asked crossing his arms.
"I have to go," she reminded him.
"And what of Hashirama?"
"I'll find a way to go even if he tries to force me to stay. My fists explain alot," she said with a grin as she held her right fist up.
"Then we have to make a team," he replied. "Roiki-san, we will be counting on you."
"Hai," the Uzumaki beamed with confidence.
Author's Note: Yeah sorry, after my Birthday on the 9th...WAM! Everything literally came at me at once. I still cannot believe it is Christmas Eve. So I am trying to catch up with both stories, it should be easier once the Holidays go away. Plus I had an awesome AU story idea for Sakura and Madara at work one day and have been writing it out a little bit so when I publish it, it'll have some chapters already finished for quicker updates. So yeah after Through Time that'll happen. :)
Merry Christmas! Hope you enjoy!
