Pulp is back and ready than ever to start the newest chapter of —Restart—!! It's finally coming through and I'm very happy about that fact.
Sorry about any spelling mistakes, I seriously am working on that, and enjoy this latest read.
"Just die already, you worthless medic!"
Her head was plunged under the freezing cold liquid, she felt all the air rush out of her body in one swift movement as her senses were attacked.
She felt herself hyperventilate, allowing water to invade her lungs, the unbearable salty flavor of ice-cold liquid flowing down her throat made her gag.
She thrashed, but their grip on her arms and legs tightened and she felt them push her deeper into the water.
Her eyes burned from the stinging contact of saltwater on her sensitive organs and she could feel tears welling up in them, but being washed away by the liquid.
Sakura could feel her skin losing moisture, she was beginning to feel a little lightheaded, as she could feel the water sloshing around in her ears and stomach.
Her elongated dirty pink hair flowed elegantly around her, a large contrast to the disgusting sight of this lady being drowned.
Her heart rate quickened, she felt the leftover chakra in her pump with nervousness and anxiety as she continued to squirm helplessly in the endless abyss that is the riverbank.
The pinkette heard them talking, though it only came as a slight gurgling from the top of the water as her head was filled with it.
She felt a hairy hand grab into her tattered collar, and they pulled her out harshly. The change in scenery alarmed her greatly, as she threw up water and remaining bile to the side of the riverbank as her insides jumbled from the sharp contact.
A boot kicked her harshly in the square of her chest, sending her sprawling to the ground, creating ripples in the muddy puddles surrounding them as rain poured from ahead, giving a lifeless look to her nearly dead body as she lay still, eyes dull.
Her black shirt caught on a sharp rock, tearing half of her only outfit as she went sprawling to the ground. She could feel her loose black pants sticking to her cold skin and saw a hint of green a bit away; her jounin vest, something she lost a long time ago.
This time they tugged on her nappy, shriveled pink locks, holding her up by her long hair, bringing the girl to her knees as she was held slightly mid-air. The nostalgia was not lost on Sakura as last time she was held like this she was in a equally hopeless situation.
The pinkette turned red eyes up to see the face of her torturer. Greasy brown hair and conceited brown eyes, topped off with a haggard appearance and the three different chins dropping sweat onto her forehead, she realized she sealed her fate as the man pushed her forehead down to the ground harshly, her face colliding with one of the many muddy puddle surrounding them in this forest, this hidden area where no one could find them.
She didn't care anymore.
She wasn't going to die anyway.
—Restart—
"i'll try my best"
"Today, we'll be tree climbing."
Sakura snapped to attention, her attention drifted from the towering trees to their lazy teacher as he gave them instructions.
She glanced toward her two teammates, who hated in their bickering to stare interestedly at their sensei, before they processed his words and that look was replaced with irritation.
She felt the wind pass through her legs once again and shivered as she felt goosebumps crawl up them once more.
'What was wrong with me? Wearing this impractical waste of fabric?'
'Beauty was pain, even your unrecognized beauty.'
'That sounded backhanded, but I'll take it as a compliment.'
'With me, what ISN'T backhanded?'
"Climb trees? We can already do that!"
Her eyes focused on Kakashi once more, the exasperated look showcased in his visible eye one she could agree with.
"Well, we'll be climbing trees without our hands."
To represent what he was saying the man walked up to the nearest tree, his crutch assisting him on the way, made a show of molding his fingers into the ram seal and a faint blue glow emanated from his feet as he began to walk up the tree without hands.
The chakra signatures of Naruto and Sasuke whirled with what she deduced were surprise and anticipation as he leisurely made his way back down from the tree, facing them all the while.
"So basically, you focus your chakra at your feet as you walk up the tree. Too much, the bark will explode and you'll fall, too little and you'll slip. You need to find the perfect amount. "
He threw three kunai in the ground at their feet, and they glinted in the morning sun. "Use these to check your progress. See you at the top."
Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke and reappeared behind them, reclining on a nearby rock as Sasuke and Naruto charged the tree. The pinkette almost sighed at their recklessness.
'Well, I guess I'll go now.'
She walked up to the tree casually, and stopped a few feet from the roots. She made a show of channeling chakra into her feet, and taking tentative step after step up the tree, 'testing the waters' and purposely adjusting what she messed up herself to make it look like a struggle till she was at the top of the tree.
She grabbed onto a nearby branch and used it to pull herself up onto the highest branch to take a quick breather. At her current level, all that continuous steep climbing and stretching and twisting her chakra had her beat.
'God, I'm such deadweight.'
'When aren't you?'
'There's only so far a Clanless civilian can get in the shinobi world, Inner.'
"Kakashi-sensei, I did it!" Sakura called out, altering her voice box with chakra to make sure they heard her. Three heads snapped up to her relaxed form on the highest branch with slightly wide eyes, which made the green-eyed girl want to kick them.
"Well, well, looks like the kunoichi of the team has the best chakra control." Kakashi drawled. Sakura did not bask in the praise; she stopped doing that a long time ago. Instead she slumped her shoulders, knowing what was coming next, as the weakest link.
"Looks like she's closer to being Hokage than you are, Naruto. And maybe the Uchiha Clan aren't so great after all, hm?" She watched glumly as Naruto and Sasuke scowled and continued the exercise with renewed vigor.
She sighed momentarily and silently brought up her mental walls; so she would not get hurt over whatever pigheaded comment they decide to voice.
'Boys will be boys.'
'And I will be destined to be underestimated.'
Sakura fiddled with her red dress a moment longer before whipping out her kunai and quickly slashing along the bark around her sitting area before sliding down, letting her metal toy dig into the wood, slowing her descent as she was freefalling at high speeds.
She landed roughly on the ground, tripping over a root absentmindedly as she made her way over to her sensei. His attention switched from watching the boys to his approaching female student, and he sketched a casual salute to which she couldn't help but respond to.
"Kakashi-sensei, what would you have me do to increase my chakra reserves?"
He looked a bit taken aback, because he was just about to suggest she go and do just that. He rubbed the back of his neck absentmindedly as he answered. "Well, you could run up and down the tree until you run out of chakra, or you could mediate. Though that takes much longer."
She quietly mulled over his expected answer as she made her way over to the boys. Though meditating was a good idea, she could only do it once a week as she would be too drained to prolong its use.
'We can try meditating when we're not on missions, it's too risky to do now.'
'Mm, I'm down with that.'
Her feet crumpled the grass underneath them as she took a stop next to Naruto's tree, just in time to see him land on his butt, rubbing his behind as an afterthought as he picked himself up, not noticing Sakura's fast approach.
He jumped when she quickly patted him off, flicking excess dirt off his bright orange pants and smoothing out his jacket appreciatively.
His face took on a beet red color as she placed her hands on her hips and flashed him an inquiring smile. "Need help?"
"Yeah..you have any tips?"
"Hm...let me see you do it. "
He grinned and dashed at the tree, pausing to interlace his fingers to get chakra to his feet and ran up the tree. He only got a few steps up before the bark exploded outward and he came flying off the tree.
The pinkette positioned herself to catch the blonde Jinchūriki and set him down lightly after he thanked her profusely.
'Still has as much chakra as ever.'
"Okay Naruto, I think I know what you're doing wrong."
He came to attention, anticipation flashing in his blue orbs. "You need to relax. Don't think about Sasuke-kun, Kakashi-sensei, or your own failure..just keep your complete focus on the tree. You seem to be an active learner from what I've seen so far, so go through trial and error, test out the waters." She explained slowly to him, making sure he got every detail.
He nodded his head vigorously, and with a quick thanks he was off again. Sakura smiled to herself and trekked over to Sasuke's tree. As the Uchiha slipped, he backflipped midair and landed gracefully on his feet, a big difference from Naruto's loud thuds when he eats dirt.
"Hello, Sasuke-kun. " His eyes slid over to her, silently demanding access to why she was here. Of course, she obliged. "You look like you need help. Want some advice?"
"I'm fine."
"You keep falling."
"I said I'm fine."
"Okay, just look for me when you finally admit it.."
She reluctantly turned away, Inner bashing him in her mindscape.
'That stick is so far up his butt, I swore I saw it sticking out of the back of his throat.'
'Very funny.'
Even so, she giggled involuntarily while she made her way back to Kakashi. The pinkette took a stop in front of him as he looked down at her curiously. "I don't think I want to work on my chakra reserves today, it's too risky if I'm not at full strength."
"That it is. Well then, you can go back into the house if you'd like."
"Okay, thank you sensei."
Sakura turned on her heel swiftly and jogged towards Tsunami's house.
'I'll help her out if she needs anything, then I'll go into town.'
She opened the door and walked into the house to see Tsunami cutting vegetables in the kitchen, Tazuna and Inari nowhere to be found.
'She said they were on a fishing trip, that didn't happen last time.'
'Can't help but be a little worried.'
"Hello, Tsunami-San."
She paused in distributing the carrot and turned towards the voice, wiping her hands on the white apron she tied around her waist. "Sakura-Chan! You finished training?"
"Well, no. I just can't do anything more today. Do you need any help with anything?"
"Not here, but I don't want to send you into town by yourself."
She perked up a bit; she could still go into town.
"I'm a shinobi, Tsunami-San; I can take care of myself. Would you like me to pick up a few things?"
They talked a bit, Tsunami creating a small shopping list as she sent Sakura on her way. The pinkette flashed her a smile before she closed the door behind her, a determined glint in her eyes.
She took many twists and turns, but soon she was in the small village. It was worse than she thought it'd be.
Children huddled up in alleyways, their rib ages visible through their thin shirts. Mostly empty shops, all crops lost and things way too overpriced. Adults keeping to themselves, a tight grip on their wallets.
She couldn't help the melancholy grin, as this reminded her of the war. Everything...everything reminded her of the war.
She inwardly shook her head, getting Inner to dismiss those thoughts as she continued to walk through the dying town. Gravel crackled under her blue-sandaled feet as she continued walking through the poverty, getting backwards glances at her new clothes and shiny hair and full pouch.
Her big full pouch.
It happened so fast, and if Sakura didn't have war-hardened reflexes they would've gotten away with it.
A small child, around seven give or take, dressed in a large ratty old tee and barefoot, stared at her pouch hungrily, her saddened gray eyes taking on a malicious, jealous glint.
The girl rushed at Sakura at high speeds, leaving a small trail of dust in her wake as she snatched the pouch off her hip. But the pinkette was faster.
She grabbed the girls unoccupied wrist in a death grip, stopping her in her tracks as she tripped over her own feet. Sakura was about to trip the girl, before she realized what she was doing.
The gray eyed girl stared at her, terrified, dropping the pouch in her fright, tears spilling out of her eyes like an angry torrent and cleaning her dirtied face as she was held slightly mid-air by the emerald-eyed girl's unrelenting grip.
Sakura's eyes widened and the atmosphere dropped ten degrees lower as everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at the girl apprehending the small orphan in the middle of the street.
She set the small girl down on her feet apologetically, and took her pouch back without her noticing. She rummaged through it in the girls shocked silence, not daring to move if she was hit, and stared blankly at the few bucks of profit Sakura was softly pushing into her hands.
Her face lit up in realization and an ear-splitting grin overtook her face as she thanked the mysterious shinobi profusely and promised to use the money well, running off in higher spirits.
The tense silence lifted at the act of kindness, and Sakura could have sighed in relief. She was about to kill that young girl. She picked up the small shopping list once more and got up off her knees, the gravel that embedded itself into her skin falling off reluctantly with a small clink.
She turned on her heel to travel deeper into the village, ignoring all the grateful looks she got from the older inhabitants. Her perky nose twitched minutely, her medical instincts coming into play, telling her to follow the scent.
'You smell that?'
'Yeah...blood.'
The time-traveling girl picked up the coppery scent of it immediately; having gotten very used to it, the feeling of being drenched in it. She let her feet carry her towards the smell, and she was met with a rather small tent, a faint green glow emanating from inside as people lined up to go meet it.
Each person in line had a different injury, she deduced after scanning the staggeringly slow line. Big or small, internal or external, with a quick glance from her sharp medical eyes, there was something wrong.
'So, that green glow...Medical Ninjutsu? Here?'
She quietly stalked over to the front of the line, ignoring the shrewd mumbles and pointed glares and she lifted the curtain with her free hand.
In there, she was met with a sight startlingly similar to her time in the war. Too little beds, too many patients, too little time.
And blood. So much blood.
The heavy scent of blood and the sharp scent of antiseptic invaded her nose as this tent was potent with the unwelcome smells, but instead of covering her nose with her collar her eyes landed on the elderly woman performing Medical Ninjutsu. And she was rather skilled.
'Well, this works in my favor,'
She thought to herself as she traveled over to that side of the room, plopped herself down on the floor, and frowned.
The old lady peered up at her with sharp blue eyes, her runaway black hair strands framing her face as they escaped from the tight ponytail they were originally put.
"Who are you."
Sakura startled at her authoritative tone; she wasn't expecting a fragile woman like her to speak with such coldness. Foolish mistake on her part. "I would like to help. I'm an aspiring ninja and I've always wanted to learn medical Ninjutsu, and it looks like you have your hands full. "
She gestured quickly to the fact that she was the only other person in here, and that everyone else were patients. The old woman stared at her, stared through her soul. Sakura could feel her nitpicking her eyes, separating the layers of emotion shown for the world to see.
Out of nowhere she began to laugh boisterously, making the pinkette jump. Was she delusional?
The old woman gave her a mirth filled glance before her eyes clouded over wistfully. "Ah, to be young again..the fire in your eyes, I saw it in many before it clouded over with the darkness I see only a hint of in yours. You keep a very tight rein of your emotions. " she commented casually.
The emerald-eyes girl looked at her with wide eyes; was she that easy to read? She can only imagine what Kakashi saw... "I didn't know I was so easy to figure out.." she felt a wrinkly hand become placed atop her head.
"You aren't. The mature intelligence you let a hint of seep through though is your downfall. In that little hole, more and more seeps through until you are an open book. People like you are the types who become Medical Ninja, you know."
She answered Sakura with a wry smile as the pinkette features lit up in understanding. Her head snapped up, a large grin adorning her face. "So..you mean.."
"Yes. Now, try pushing chakra to your hands, let a thin layer lather your palms. For medical Ninjutsu, the key is gentleness, so don't act like you're about to give a chakra-infused blow, act like you're going to cover your hands in a thin protective coat. Like a glove. That is the key to getting green chakra to emerge."
She paraphrased the conditioning Sakura got from Tsunade, and Sakura relearned Medical Ninjutsu. She already knew that it was a risky skill; her reserves were pathetic and she could pass out in the field with too much use. She learned it as a prodigy would have, having known it for years.
She was soon allowed access to the patients and she gave her second teacher a thankful hug before she crossed the small distance from the woman's working area to an open bed, where a man was bleeding out. She allowed her medic mode to take over, allowing Inner to inform her of her surroundings.
A quick diagnostic Jutsu and she was on the call.
'Blocked lungs, an infection in the left thigh,'
'Two more patients coming in.'
She slid her hands across their bodies, healing them of a variety of ailments; from alleviating the common cold to stitching a gash, she had the line moving faster and faster.
More and more people came into the small area, asking to be of use. The old lady gave them a crash course in the art of healing and soon three other nurses were hard at work, occasionally asking her input on an issue they couldn't quite handle.
'It's getting dark. Your reserves need to be refilled, get a nurse to replenish them.'
She did just that, getting a small chakra transfer from a retired jonin ninja. She turned on her heel over to the next bed, quickly assessing the external injuries before she probed the body.
'He's gonna need a poison cleansing,'
'Heat up the water with your chakra.'
It was a severe case of food poisoning, but not severe enough for Sakura to throw in the towel. She effortlessly removed the poison, disposing the old water in a bowl and set it to the side for a nurse to cleanse it.
She disposed of her gloves only to pull on a new pair, adjusted her surgical mask and tightened her hairband, locking the hair in an airtight prison ponytail away from her face.
She was in her element.
"S-Sakura-San!" Her head swerved over to the call, a worried looking nurse clutching a sewing kit looked from her to her patient. "T-this boy..he's going to need an amputation! We don't have all the materials needed, and he's dying of blood loss!"
Her eyes widened and time stopped momentarily, the world spinning around her as she ran calculations in her head.
'Is Memura-San available?'
'In the middle of surgery.'
'What materials are we missing?'
'They need to be cleaned, remember?'
'Dying of blood loss?'
'Has up to ten hours left.'
'No one can do it. No one other than me.'
She was brought harshly back into the room, the devastated bustling of the nurses in the small room suddenly looked crystal clear. Inner automatically took the reins, as she was in Command.
She suddenly clapped her hands, flooding so much meticulously placed chakra in the sound it verberated through the village. All the bustling stopped and all sound ceased. She once again made her voice louder with using little chakra and began the work.
"Okay people! We are in a grave situation! There is a little boy in here, bleeding out with only ten hours till his demise, who really needs help! All our materials need to be cleaned for the surgery, but we need to keep this place running smoothly! Amayaka-San!"
The woman jumped at being mentioned, " I've noticed you have water-natured chakra, inject chakra out of your hands and clean those tools! Get those poisoned bowls cleansed while you're at it!" She stumbled on your way getting to the corner of the tent, blasting water out of her palms to get to work immediately.
She stomped over to the bedside of the young boy, forcefully pulling a small table full of minimal tools next to her as she replaced her surgical mask with a pristine one. "Oi! Mayuri-San! I expect Amayaka-San to be finished in five minutes, so transfer all her finished tools to this table as soon as possible! You're my assistant in this surgery!"
'Amayaka-San' hurriedly but precisely sped up her working pace and 'Mayuri-San' practically leaped over to her side bundling up all the finished scalpels and needles into her hands gingerly and started placing them in their appropriate spots on Sakura's table-side.
Sakura snapped her gloves into place on her hands gingerly, relaxing at the familiar feeling of latex rubbing against her skin and set to work. A hand on his chest, and she was calling out the injuries to the nurses.
"Collapsed lung, punctured kidney, and his left leg calf-down is very infected! Slight concussion and various cuts running over him! A slightly deep knife wound in the boy's upper right side, all signs of long term extreme torture from non-shinobi! If we hurry, an amputation won't be needed! I need that water cleansed NOW! Tora-San, assist Memura-San in her surgery, I need her to assist me. And lastly, Kechi-San, you have the largest chakra reserves other than Memura-San, you will be giving me minute chakra transfers! Set up a chair at my right, you will latch on to my elbow when I call you to!"
She ordered the room around, oblivious to the three heads peeking into the tent just as everyone else was, gray blonde black heads of hair.
The pinkette set immediately to stabilizing the infection as soon as all her tools were at her side. She spoke through her muffling surgical mask, "Amayaka-San, I need you to clean this place! Get rid of all excess blood or germs in the tent, when you're done come back to the boy and cleanse his lungs and then set to circulating his body with chakra to loosen the muscles!" The older nurse immediately set to what her superior wanted her to do.
"Now, Mayuri-San, please disinfect and heal all the small cuts on his body then set to work on the gash! When you're done with that bring me that bowl of water and you will help me through a cleansing! Kechi-San, when you finish, check all the remaining patients waiting outside and heal the most trivial ones! Tora-San, assist Memura-San with as many as you can in here, then both of you join me over here, I won't need a transfer till later. "
The boys set to work, and Sakura had her full attention on her patient.
She spent the next three hours hunched over the boy, stabilizing his leg as all available nurses worked on all the other injuries ailing the child.
As she finished wrapping the appendage in bandages, she walked over to the entrance, the cleaned dirt floor of the tent allowing her to slip on by squeakily. She forced an arm to open the tent to find that no one was in sight. Sakura sighed in relief, not noticing her team huddled up in the corner of the room watching her as she made her way back to her patient to probe him once more.
"Amayaka-San, resanitize these tools and dump the bowl of water out. Create more with your chakra. Mayuri-San, hook this boy up to a makeshift IV drip and get him comfortable enough to fall asleep instead of passing out. I want that boy out of here in the next hour. Kechi-San, clean all the other beds and fold the sheets. When you're done, please go to Memura-San for instructions. Tora-San, get this place repaired for use tomorrow. I want all broken or damaged tools replaced or fixed. When all of you have completed your tasks, prepare everything for tomorrow, if you will be able to arrive. I'm very sorry for my rudeness these past few hours, I got...scared. R-really scared. I thank you for your service, you're more than capable of handling yourselves." She called out tiredly.
She felt them all glance at her warmly, as if they didn't care. She rubbed her temples and stumbled over to the wooden chair near the boys bedside.
"Past few hours? You've been here all day.."
Sakura jumped at the sound of her sensei's lazy drawl. She turned her head frantically to see a smiling Uzumaki and a stone-faced Uchiha looking straight at her. She plopped her head into her hands.
"I was supposed to do grocery shopping today, wasn't I...I'm sorry, were you looking for me?"
"Yes, but this is a very impressive setup you've got here. Who taught you Medical Ninjutsu?"
Inquired Kakashi curiously. He was probing her for information. She was about to grace him with a hesitant answer but Memura-San beat her to the punch.
The elderly lady swiveled around in her seat, looking at him pointedly. "I did," she answered, letting her wrinkled hands move a cloth up and down a scalpel, "she is a very fine student. Quite a diamond in the rough. Take good care of her, she has lots of potential. In fact, she took to my teachings like a fish to water." She smiled to herself at this, and Sakura let a smile take her lips as well. She enjoyed being taught the basics and a little more than the basics by the kind woman.
She too turned around in her seat sluggishly, as her chakra was very low. She graced them all with a smile. "Should we get going? I didn't get the chance to get any of those groceries, though I didn't think they would be around anyway..." Naruto chose this as his time to speak.
"Don't worry, Sakura-Chan, Tsunami-San gave us another list and we already checked all the shops while we were looking for you! We hit everything we could!" He gave her an ear-splitting grin and she returned the favor, ruffling his hair as he was acting like a child. Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck absentmindedly. "We should get going back to the house now, I'm sure these talented nurses have it all under control. "
Sakura glanced around the small tent once more and all her colleagues were hard at work. She smiled pridefully; they would turn out to be really great Medical-Ninja. "Yes, they had it under control since we started, really." She reveled in the feeling of their chakra fluctuating bashfully at the praise. She laughed and they blushed realizing she could see their emotions and ducked their heads.
She brought her attention back to her team members; and let them help her up. With one more backwards glance at their team-made work, she headed out of the tent, her team surrounding her on all sides.
She quietly ate her miso as Naruto retold stories of their adventures today. The food felt so good in her mouth and as it slid down her throat, because she was worked rather hard today, and could feel her chakra reserves expanding from her exhaustion.
'Well that's one way to increase your reserves,'
'A rather useful way. I'm glad I'm finally getting somewhere here in the past, and not just walking around aimlessly.'
'Don't forget, there is still many things to come. No relaxing just yet. '
'I know. Not even for a second.'
"And so, I destroyed him!"
"You did not 'destroy' me, dobe."
"Yeah I did! You totally lost. "
"Don't mix us up."
"TEME!"
"Dobe."
"TEME!"
"Dobe!"
"TEME!!"
"DOB—"
"Now, now, you two."
She snorted silently on the sidelines at the oh-so-familiar scene, and proceeded to tune them out, since it seems Naruto has finished the story.
'What to do tomorrow?'
'Train, go visit the makeshift hospital and hopefully make some renovations. Or maybe you could change your training schedule with the boys to spend most of your time over there. '
'That would be nice.'
She pushed her empty plate away and laid her head on the table, trying to relax as she let her chakra flow through her body, loosening her muscles and dimming the senses. She felt herself dip in and out of consciousness, the boys' petty arguments a slow hum in the background.
'See you tomorrow,'
'Yeah..see you..'
END OF CHAPTER 6
How'd you like it? I had to find an excuse for Sakura to know Medical Ninjutsu before they left Wave and this was a rather good one. There should be only one or two more chapters left for the Wave Arc, then a filler chapter before I move on to the Chūnin Exams Arc.
Hope you enjoyed! Leave a comment, or just leave. But I really want some reviews.
See you later!