Chapter18
Post op
As expected, it took Lady Tsunade and Sakura about 12 hours to finish the surgery. It was hard for all of them and tensions were high because of the gravity of what was on the line. If she failed, Tsunade would be throwing away not just the might of her village but the strongest shinobi's in the shinobi world. She also knew that their strength would serve as a reminder to other villages who may threaten the peace that was created at the 5 Kage summit.
She wished the surgery would have been painless but it was far from it. Many times during the operation Sasuke and Naruto yelled out in pain while Lady Tsunade yelled at them to force their juitsu through their missing limbs.
The operation had been a success, but narrowly. At one point Sakura's juitsu nearly failed, and at another point Naruto almost passed out. If he lost consciousness the procedure would have ended. Sasuke was able to keep him awake by yelling at him in the end.
Sakura was disappointed in herself that she almost let her team down. She was sitting in the operating room after the procedure long after the guys had been moved to recovery rooms. Kakashi walked back into the room to speak with her.
"Sakura, we need to talk," he called out to her.
"…Yes Sensi," she answered and looked up at him.
He pulled a chair from close by and swung it between his legs so that he was sitting on it backwards. He crossed his arms over the top of it and began, "You seem to be concentrating pretty hard about something Sakura."
"I'm okay Sensi," she attempted to gather herself so that she could get ready to leave, Kakashi just looked at her skeptically. "I've got so much to do, I better get going," she added.
"Sit, Sakura," he said in a serious tone. She obeyed and sat down.
"I know you're upset about how the procedure went today, but it came out fine in the end. Stop beating yourself up over this Sakura, learn from this and move on." He lectured
"That's just it," she started with the hint of a tear leaking out of her eye, "I have learned from this. I've learned that no matter what I'm the weakest member of our team, and I could spend all the time in the world training and it wouldn't change that fact." She blurted out at him.
"I had a feeling that you might say something like that," he added. Sakura was taken aback and had a look of surprise on her face.
"I know I don't have to tell you, but Lady Tsunade would never have trusted anyone to perform that surgery other than you Sakura. She also doesn't take weak students under her wing to teach and mentor. Tell me if I'm wrong?"
"I know you're right." She conceded. "I almost failed and risked losing the two most powerful shinobi's in our village, my teammates. I know I don't have to tell you," she threw back at him, "what that would have meant."
"Do you think Naruto doesn't make mistakes, and what about Sasuke? You've seen me make mistakes from time to time too Sakura. It happens. All we can do is put them behind us. You did very well for doing a new juitsu for the first time and it was a success. I will admit you're not as physically strong as the other members of team 7, but you have something different. You have the ability to use chakra over a length of time with precision and control. That's what makes you a good medical ninja, and if the guys were in your shoes they could never do it." She looked up at him, "We don't have the same talents or the same skills or strength, but what is important is that we work as a team. You did that today Sakura, and gave your teammates a gift they could never repay."
She couldn't argue with his logic, she knew it was true. Kakashi saw his points soak in and stood up from his chair.
"Nice job today Sakura, I'm proud of you," he added, "You've come a long way from that boycrazy little girl that I used to know. You're a splendid ninja and I'm glad you're on my team." He finished, his eyes wincing into a smile at the last part.
"Thanks Kakashi Sensi," she replied while standing up and walking out of the room with him, "I'm glad too."