6.
- S -
The males of the team were early, but Sakura was earlier. Wanting to have time to set up and discuss with their guest trainer, a bombardment of questions from Naruto would slow the process.
As soon as Sasuke stepped onto the training feel he took on a scowl deeper than Sakura had seen him show since his return. Swallowing her anxieties for the day to come, she forced a smile in an attempt to lighten the mood.
"Uchiha-san."
"Hyuga." Power struggles via formalities of title were not the way she wanted to start the day. Since she wasn't an absolute idiot, Sakura picked up on Sasuke's attitude towards Neji immediately. However, she couldn't figure it out for the life of her why he was taking such a tone. Yes, the two men had been fiercely competitive in their genin days, but she saw no reason for it to have continued nor for it to seem particularly hostile. Instead of competition among training shinobi, it seemed like a legitimate air of distaste between them.
Today will be a shit show.
Naruto and Sai arrived soon after with no further words having been exchanged among the trio. Neji and Sasuke showed no interest in speaking to one another and Sakura had no idea how to even start a conversation with the thick atmosphere.
"Hey, Neji! Are you gonna train with us today?" Naruto shouted, bounding up to the group.
"Hai," Neji responded plainly. Great, now Neji is being temperamental too.
"I want him to try examining as well as blocking and unblocking chakra points within your arms. While I've got amazing chakra control, I'm not necessarily able to translate that into you two. Opening and closing pathways may encourage spikes in chakra that will increase overall flow," Sakura explained.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed in a way she interpreted as understanding the logic of the exercise while simultaneously throwing a tantrum. It would have been less inflammatory for Sasuke to work with Hinata, but the poor girl would have fainted at that level of close proximity and contact with Naruto. In summary, Sasuke would have to suck it up.
"Start with stretching and then we'll go from there." Keeping her voice as level as possible, she attempted to remind them who the medic and trainer was.
"Hn," and "Dayabatto!" were the verbal responses she received while Sai preferred a nod of assent. The men fell into their routine while Sakura and Neji chatted about her progress thus far with treatment and training. She was very careful to leave out her private healing with Sasuke because she didn't know how the Uchiha or Hyuuga would react.
Neji's attitude towards Sasuke was, in some ways, understandable. With Sakura growing close to Neji, the Hyuuga had learned much about her past including the night of Sasuke's departure and his multiple attempts to kill her. She would likely harbor some level of suspicion of someone who did anything similar to her friends.
However, she was still puzzled by Sasuke's attitude.
Pushing aside personal matters, the day progressed relatively peacefully barring scathing looks thrown by the two doujintsu wielding ninja.
By the end of it, Naruto had invited everyone for a ramen dinner and Sakura agreed instantly. The idea of casual time with her teammates and friends was appealing after most of their time being dominated by her being in medic mode.
Sasuke seemed to hesitate, but even he agreed to join with a quiet, "Hn."
Sakura ended up wedged between Neji and Sai with Naruto flanking Neji and Sasuke beside the blonde. "Sakura-chan, what have you been doing? Other than training with us." He seemed to think for a moment before adding, "So not much time, isn't that great?" The question was more of an exclamation of excitement that allowed her to avoid responding to it.
"I still see patients early mornings or after training sometimes. I'm going to implement mandatory rest days so I supposed I'll catch up with Ino and some of the other girls. I haven't seen much of them recently." A small smile graced her face at the idea of seeing her friends. She decided to greatly underplay how much time she was at the hospital for research and being an active medic. She didn't feel like listening to a health lecture from Naruto while he ate enough ramen to fill his sodium intake limits ten times over.
"Ne, what about you Teme? You don't have many friends so we should do dinner every night!"
"Naruto!" Sakura hissed in an effort to scold him, but Sasuke looked unaffected.
"You know I'm right, stupid villagers thinking they know everything. Last time they acted like this was with me and now I'm on my way to be the next hokage after the old lady steps down!" Throwing a dramatic fist in the air, Naruto seemed as exuberant as ever about his goal. Sakura couldn't help but to laugh at his actions and even Neji's lips twitched up in a small smirk.
"Only if you shut up sometimes," Sasuke responded. The coldness that his words spoke didn't match his light tone that indicated he was making a joke – in a bitter way that only suited the Uchiha male. I'll never understand what sets him off and what makes him joke…
Dinner carried on with intermittent commentary between bites and the night wound down on a positive note in stark contrast to the tense beginning of the day. Before separating, Neji gave Sakura a brief hug and nodded at her. Disappearing off towards the Hyuuga compound, the scraps of Team 7 were left together. Sai politely bowed before excusing himself earning an eye roll from Sakura.
"He still struggles with greetings and goodbyes, I'll have to tell Ino to help him on them."
Sakura stated with a groan.
"Is it true she wants to sleep with the emotionless, crop top wearing idiot?" Naruto asked with no real malice behind the insults.
Rolling her eyes again, Sakura turned to face the blonde directly with arms crossed over her chest. "Why don't you ask Ino that?"
Naruto's expression warped into one of fear before he stuttered out, "Eh n-no, that's okay! I'll see you tomorrow!" Dashing away before Sakura could make further threats, she was surprised to find Sasuke still standing beside her when she turned around. "What?"
Staring at her blankly for several moments, Sasuke responded, "Are you going to heal me?"
"O-oh. I didn't realize it was going to be daily. Sure, should I come over again?" Nodding in agreement, he led the way back to his house in silence.
They assumed their same positions as previously, but Sasuke didn't attempt to offer tea or anything else of the like to try and break the silence. The hour passed rather quickly and at one point the pinkette noticed that Sasuke's eyes had become lidded. While never having been on the receiving end of a healing session from another person, she'd been told some people's chakras were very warm and relaxing in the aura they put out. Unable to hold back, she allowed herself to smile gently at the man under her care at the idea she was able to help him feel a small sense of peace.
"All done."
Her words shook him from his slipping consciousness, and he sat up rather stiffly.
"Hn."
The haze of her healing seemed to still weigh on his mind as she stood and left out his front door without gentle, "I'll see you tomorrow, Sasuke-kun."
- S -
Hawk squalls rose Sakura from sleep and she bolted upright and ran to her propped open skylight before waving the messenger bird down. The animal released the scroll into her palm and she felt the urgency in it before she even skimmed the first word. A scroll send at 7 in the morning by hawk meant Tsunade didn't have the time to call in and send out a shinobi messenger.
Reading the scroll told her just how much of an emergency it was.
"Sakura, there are reports of civilian poisonings near the Land of Whirlpools. Report immediately."
Knowing it was going to be a travel mission, Sakura quickly assembled a basic mission bag with clothes, weapons, and whatever poison scrolls she had in her house. Tsunade would likely provide more detail once she got there and she could be more selective then.
The pinkette was only steps into Tsunade's office when the debriefing began.
"We don't have the numbers to keep constant patrol with so many still in recovery, but this reeks of some band of assholes not feeling satisfied by the war outcome. I need you to collect a sample of the poison from survivors and bring it back," Tsunade explained while filling out paperwork and barely glancing at her student.
"Do we know of any specific survivors?"
Tsunade shook her head. "We know there are survivors from the patrol that did a sweep of the area, but they couldn't get names or places to find survivors. I'm sure they want to lay low and avoid a return visit from these assholes. There were plenty found dead which is how this witch hunt started."
Nodding in agreement, Sakura shifted the pack on her back to the floor to pull out the scrolls she'd brought with her. "Any suggestions as far as scrolls to bring?"
Tsunade sighed and released the pen she'd be furiously scribbling with. Finally looking directly at Sakura, she leaned back in her chair. "I really hate sending you on this because we know practically nothing about the poison, just that people are being killed and there are consistent physical signs at death that make me think they're poisoned. I don't even know if that's the cause of death."
War, and life, had begun to catch up to the blonde woman. Once softly rounded features were thinning out and her temper was still present, but often she got more tired than angry. Sakura could only hope Naruto would be able to step into the role soon for his sake and her master's.
"You depart as soon as possible, if you've gotten enough sleep you could leave right now. However, I'm not sure if I want to send a team or not. One traveler would draw less suspicion and if course you're the only one with the necessary medic training," Tsunade said more to herself than to Sakura. "But we have no idea what the issue is, who's behind it, and how dangerous they are."
The recent ego clashes with Sasuke had her more than willing to prove she could handle a mission on her own. "I'll be fine by myself. All I have to do is get a sample, I'm not trying to find the targets or start any fights."
Hovering on the edge of agreeing and disagreeing, Tsunade voiced her last concern. "I know you're more than capable of holding your own, but - "
"You didn't train me just for me to stay in the village."
A sigh was her only response and Tsunade held out the mission statement for Sakura to take. It lacked much detail and mostly just re-affirmed what Tsunade had said. "The scroll is to be burned if you're intercepted or suspicious someone is watching you."
"Hai."
"Two day's travel there, two day's travel back. I imagine you'll only be in the village a day or two to find and extract the sample but send a scroll if you'll be there longer," Tsunade told her sternly. Motherly instincts had never disappeared from their relationship. "As much as I know you'll want to, this isn't a mission to play medic and treat everyone. We can't be of much use until you bring back the poison to analyze it and hopefully create an antidote."
"Hai."
"Dismissed."
- S -
A smug smile couldn't be wiped off Sakura's face as hard as she tried. She wished she could have seen Sasuke's reaction to having to work with Izuhara in her stead. In an attempt to avoid tantrums by both of her boys, she had simply sent a scroll to Izuhara with her training program and instructions to tell the boys she would be on a 5-7 day mission. She owed her apprentice a big favor for playing messenger there.
The two days of travel to the border was quiet, almost creepily quiet. However, she reassured herself that there was no reason to be any disturbance. The poisonings had been discreet and the motive was still unclear. Maybe it was an issue with those killed, maybe it was an issue with Konoha, or maybe it was something else entirely.
No matter the reason, she had her orders to get in and get out as quickly as possible. There wasn't time or protocol room to look for answers.
Finding a house was relatively easy after she assumed a henge of a dark hair and blue eyes, it was a modest home and a frail older woman answered the door with a wary look on her face.
"Hello, I was wondering if you could point me in the direction of those ailing in the area. I'm a medic looking to help them." Talking to the civilians was a dangerous line to walk between assuring them she wasn't a threat while still masking her identity for her own safety. The woman appeared to relax at the mention of being a medic.
"I'm sure you mean the attacks on people in these parts," the woman responded with a heaving sigh. Sakura nodded in assent which prompted the older woman to reply. "My husband has been afflicted. Would you be willing to look at him?"
Another creeping sensation struck Sakura at the immediate discovery of a subject and the easy willingness of the woman to allow a stranger into her home. Departing suddenly would raise suspicion so the pinkette decided to play along for the time being and just remain on high alert. The woman led Sakura towards a back room of the modest house, the floor creaking as they moved and the paint on the walls had begun to crack from old age. The home seemed to reflect the age and exhaustion of its residents.
Laying flatly on his back, a man of matching age was in the center of the room on a futon with several additional pillows on one side of him. In a quick survey of his body, Sakura gathered quite a bit of information. He was sweating and pale allowing his blood vessels to be seen clearly through his faded skin. His arms lay slack at his sides and his eyes were pressed shut tightly indicating he was closing them and not asleep. The pillows collected on one side matched with a small basin on the opposing side indicated vomiting with need to keep him from rolling too much and disturbing his body.
A poison that causes paled skin, nausea, vomiting, and bodily ache….that's about as vague as it could get.
Settling by the side of the older man, Sakura dropped her back down to her side and began to rifle through it before producing a vial and attachable needle. The older woman's voice called from behind her. "My name is Ami and this is my husband, Hirata. You must think it strange I'm so desperate to let you in, but I haven't the skill to help him. I can barely keep him comfortable let alone improve his condition. He's my husband and he's suffering incredibly."
Unsure how to respond to such a personal confession, Sakura simply asked, "What symptoms has he shown?"
"Um, well…" Ami looked pensive for a moment before she began rattling off symptoms. "I was not with him when he first got sick, he was working in the garden and went to harvest some items we plant further out that need more shade than out roof offers.
"I found him hours later when he hadn't returned. He was sweating, vomiting, and seemed in his own world. I couldn't get him to respond and he was barely able to use his legs for me to bring him home. He's been vomiting and can't even keep water down. At this rate…." The man's likely imminent death hung silently in the room and Sakura could feel the desperation physically radiate from the woman.
"Thank you," Sakura whispered before allowing her chakra to sweep the man. Despite appearing to be a civilian, the man presented more chakra than most of the civilians she had treated. Filing the information away quietly, she began to examine him. His body showed no distress other than the symptoms he expressed. There was no obvious source of his reactions which was in a way disappointing as it would make her job of collecting a sample more difficult.
Overviewing his chakra channels were much more telling. The chakra connecting points to his brain were all but severed and the chakra within his head and brain were distorted. The chakra seemed to be attacking the brain without actually eating away at or distorting the cells. Rushing and churning of the foreign substance surely left the man in intense pain which explained most of his symptoms.
While a blood sample wouldn't work, Sakura decided to collect cerebrospinal fluid from the man and transfer the fluid and contained chakra to Katsuyu before sending the slug back to Konoha with the sample. It took only moments to summon the slug before she began the process of extracting the fluid from the man. It was going to be painful for the man which Sakura explained before asking Ami to hold down her husband's arms. The man was weak, but the human body would employ any last strength in the face of danger and Sakura didn't have the ability to fight him off and collect the sample. Pulling the fluid out with the oddly radiating chakra contained with a strenuous process, but Sakura pushed through and thanked Ami before sending Katsuyu to teleport to Tsunade.
Sakura's smile met the timid one of the older woman before they went about settling Hirata back into his futon. Then began the process of trying to alleviate the man's discomfort via forcing him to keep down fluids and releasing pressure points in his brain.