Himawari's work was an absolute blessing. The young Uzumaki had documented every step of her work progress, which had enabled Sarada to precisely copy the antidote Himawari had created. With the ingredients the frogs had given Himawari, Sarada was able to make two antidotes for each shinobi in their merged squad.

It had been almost two days since she had arrived. Himawari was still asleep, slowly regaining her strength. Her father had woken up just a few hours ago and had spent all of his time with Naruto, briefing his best friend about everything that had happened. Naruto had stayed by Himawari's side until that point. In a way, she was grateful her father had woken up, because he served as a much needed distraction for the Hokage. Himawari and Shikadai both still needed a lot of rest and she felt bad dismission Boruto after he had only visited his sister for a few moments, while his father didn't leave her side.

A soft groin pulled her out of her thought. Shikadai was slowly regaining consciousness again, after three days of being in a coma. Sarada had been relieved when she had noticed Shikadai's fever going down, just moments after Himawari had administrated the antidote.

"Shikadai, stay down" Sarada said softly, placing a hand above his chest in a clear gesture of staying put. Shikadai lay down again.

"Sarada? Is that you?" Shikadai looked at her confused. He, of course, had no idea what had happened in the past few days and was understandably confused by the whole ordeal.

"Yes. It's me."

"Where's Hima?" He asked, still sounding groggy. "What happened?"

"Himawari is fine, she resting now." Sarada pointed at where Himawari was sleeping, just a few meters away from where Shikadai himself was laying. Shikadai's body relaxed at the sight of the young Uzumaki and his eyes were filled with newfound calm. Sarada hadn't even noticed how tense Shikadai really had been. "As for the mission, you got poisoned, dad got taken out and Himawari brought you all here."

"Well… Thank you for saving us."

"Technically, it was Himawari who saved your live. She created the antidote from scratch, despite being physically exhausted and almost being out of chakra. When we arrived, Himawari had already finished the antidote. She collapsed soon after, but thanks to her, I was able to make more doses." Shikadai's eyes grew wide. He had no idea Himawari was capable of doing all of this and was impressed with her sheer willpower to continue.

"Who else came?"

"Lord Seventh, me, Boruto and Mitsuki. Were just waiting for you and Himawari to fully recover before returning to the land of Birds and taking down this wretched organization."

"It's not going to be that easy. We were overwhelmed by only three shinobi and aside from those, we have no intel at all."

"Yes, I'm aware. Dad wanted to leave mount Myoboku to investigate on his own, but Lord Seventh put a stop to that, saying that it would mean risking yours and Himawari's safety, as it could reveal the location of mount Myoboku. Lord Seventh will get us all out once everyone has recovered."

Shikadai listened with interest. The upcoming battle was going to be a difficult one and it was the smartest decision to stay in a location that you know is safe until everyone is in top shape again. They would not be able to win this battle if even one of them was not up to par. It was still going to take at least a few more days for Shikadai to completely heal himself and no-one knew for sure how long it would take for Himawari to wake up again. According to Sarada, Himawari had completely used up all of her chakra saving him and Sasuke, so it was close to a miracle that she had even managed to survive this whole ordeal in the first place.

"Try to get some more rest, Shikadai. You'll need it. I'll go tell Lord Hokage and the other's you're awake and will be able to have some more visitors going forward from tomorrow."

Sarada got up and Shikadai watched as she left the small spot which served as an infirmary. Shikadai diverted his attention to the only person that mattered. The person that had saved his life and had almost lost her own life in the process. He crawled towards the young Uzumaki, not having the energy to get up and walk and stroked her hair.

"You foolish girl, you shouldn't have pushed yourself that hard" he whispered with his hand laying gently on her cheek. Shikadai installed himself next to her and watched her for a few moments, before going back to sleep, comforted by the proximity of her presence.

Himawari, who had woken up about halfway through the conversation between Shikadai and Sarada, finally dared to open her eyes. She smiled weakly at seeing Shikadai's peaceful face next to her. She had felt him stroking her hair, saying that she shouldn't have gone so far as she did, but she did not care. She had saved him, and that was all that mattered in the end.

"I'm glad I pushed myself, Shikadai" she whispered back, before falling asleep once more.

- sorry for the long update wait... I hope you enjoy reading this and thanks again.-

disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters