Hello Everyone! I hope everyone is doing well!
Author's note- After watching Boruto- Naruto Next Generation's 167th episode, I had an urge to pen down things. Although, SP has done an excellent job animating the scenes and emotions. So far, according to me, it's one of the best episodes. For those who haven't watched it, apologies as this contains some spoilers.
Disclaimer- Naruto and its character belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. There are some scenes directly taken from the anime, and the story around those are my own embellishments. Additionally, chapter 2 is totally from my imagination.
A special thanks to my friend, CherryBerry12 for beta-ing this in such a short time and for her valuable suggestions.
The head of the medical department of Konoha Hospital had been waiting impatiently at the gate of the village for Team 7 to arrive. Sakura was relieved when they did arrive, but she felt numb when she saw her daughter lying lifeless on Mugino's back while Konohamaru carried Boruto. She knew things often took unexpected turns on missions, even putting lives in danger, but never had she thought she would have to witness her own daughter like that. Never!
Still, Sakura was a professional—she had to hold herself together in order to treat her daughter and her teammate. As they placed the children in gurneys, Sakura got a quick update about their conditions from the jonins and rushed towards the hospital.
Dressed in a patient's attire, the children were laid on hospital beds. Sakura ordered the other medics around the room and led the medical team herself. She was trying to be professional, but seeing her daughter's limp body, with her eye bandaged, lying on white sheets was too much for her. Among the chaos of other medics rushing to set up machines, as Shizune-san yelled at someone else for taking too long, all Sakura could hear was her own heartbeat thumping loudly. Her daughter was injured in one of the most brutal ways imaginable.
Sakura could feel the very ground slipping beneath her.
Every time her daughter came back from missions or training, Sakura checked her injuries and healed them immediately. No one in the world would be happier than her if she found minimum scratches and fractures on her daughter's body. That's what she always prayed for—for her baby to return safe and sound. It sounded paradoxical for a ninja and even hypocritical when she herself had done the same to her own mother in her younger years. Maybe people would mock her, hearing unrealistic wishes coming from a kunoichi who herself had earned nasty physical and mental scars while aspiring to become strong.
Perhaps, being a mother, she didn't want her daughter to experience what she had. No, she didn't devalue her daughter's precious dream, but seeing tubes coming out of her arms and machines supporting her life shattered a mother's heart.
The medic in her kicked when her eyes fell on the next bed, occupied by her friend's son. Leaving Shizune-san in charge of her daughter, she started treating Boruto. Sakura placed her glowing hands above Boruto's chest and poured healing chakra, abandoning the thoughts, for now, that were wrecking her. She concentrated every bit of attention on her patient. She was well aware that Hinata had rushed to the hospital after hearing the bad news. After all, mothers' hearts beat in the same way.
What was worse was that she would have to face Hinata and Naruto, to console them with a smile and say that their son would be okay, knowing there was no one who would be there to assuage her own fears. She was proud of the position she held in the medical department, but when life tested her, she wanted to abandon the role of medic and just be a parent. She wanted someone to tell her, just as she was doing, that her daughter would be okay too. She knew Sarada would be, but it didn't help to tell herself that. For once, she wanted to put the mask of calm medic aside and break down in tears until she felt her heavy burden dissolve.
After Boruto and Sarada's condition were stabilized, they were placed in separate rooms. Shizune commented that the incident had left a dent in both of their minds, but being a medic Sakura gave a practical reply, although the same matter worried her too. Shizune knew more than anyone how Sakura had burned herself out emotionally and physically for past days and so she didn't press her. She had seen Sakura run all day performing tests on Boruto and Sarada and analyzing reports, personally overseeing their diets, and tending to all of their issues, hiding her own exhaustion with a gentle smile.
The signs of worry were clear on Sakura's face throughout the day, but at night it was a different story. Shizune couldn't recall when she had ever seen Sakura so vulnerable and uneasy. Every night, when other medics settled, she stayed by Sarada's room to make sure everything was okay. More than anyone, maybe, she needed visual proof of her recovery, the soft lines coursing up and down on the monitor. The proof that the life she created was still breathing.
After a few days of treatment, Sakura advised both of them to abstain from any rigorous work. Although their conditions improved, straining themselves to overcome the bitter sense of failure wouldn't do any good. Therefore, Sakura and Shizune decided to keep them in the hospital for several more days.
As for Sarada, she needed to give her left eye ample rest too. Sakura respected her daughter's personal space and let her vent out her frustration in her own way. Every time Sakura came to check up on Sarada, she would find Sarada gloomy. To cheer her up, Sakura narrated failures from her own past missions and she would tell Sarada to accept whatever happened and let it motivate her. Yes, she wanted to make this easier for her daughter, though she knew a stubborn kunoichi's heart couldn't let everything go that easily. She was trying her best as a mother to comfort Sarada, but the child was too disappointed in her abilities.
Late at night, when Sakura was again on her way to Sarada's cabin, she heard some children running in the hospital corridors—Sarada's classmates. They told her Boruto was absent from his room, and when they rushed to Sarada's, they were greeted by Sarada's hospital dress neatly folded on the bed. Sarada was gone too. Clutching Sarada's abandoned clothes, Sakura's mind raced to figure out where they might have gone. Interrupting the blabbering genins, Sakura announced that she might have an idea about where they went.
Along with the genins, she rushed towards the Aun gate to find Boruto and Sarada talking privately to their sensei, both resolving to become stronger. Sakura was a little relieved to see her daughter's spirits high again, but the realization that the hard part in Sarada's life had just begun saddened her, for she also knew how far one's heart could go for the sake of strength.