Less than two days later, the small team arrived on the outskirts of Takaki, observing it from a nearby hill. This part of the Fire Country was covered in thick pine trees, which quickly came to an abrupt end around the city of Takaki, who's people used them as a natural resource. However, they saw no sign of devastation or deforestation, the people evident planted as many trees as they cut down. Considerate of future generations.
The city was walled off by a tall wall of spiked wooden logs, specially treated with sap to make them impossible to climb properly. Guards were posted at every entrance, although these days they kept watch on those both coming and going, for a banner over the east gate proclaimed the Takaki was a plague town, and not to be entered lightly.
Fortunately, the guards accepted Sakura's pass and after a brief inspection of her and her teammates, allowed them to pass.
She slipped a mask over her face, and tossed another pair to Naruto and Lee.
"Put these on," she stated, securing it deftly behind her ears. Rock Lee quickly mimicked her actions.
Naruto, however, peered down at it in confusion. "What's this for?" he asked.
"To keep you from breathing in the disease," replied Sakura matter-of-factly. "We've not heard any reports yet of how it is transmitted, so until then we're taking every necessary precaution."
Naruto frowned at that, but slipped the mask on and tied it behind his head as he'd been shown, though he muttered under his breath how he'd never gotten sick in his life. "Hey cool..." he suddenly realized aloud. "We look just like Kakashi-sensei."
Sakura rolled her eyes and nodded politely to the guards, who let them in.
It was like stepping into another world.
Outside of the village it was the forests of Konoha, alive with the chirps of birds, the skittering of squirrels, the rustling of leaves in the wind. Here, inside the plague city of Takaki, it was silent as a grave. So much so that Naruto came to a dead halt behind his teammates to peer around. No sign of movement, no sign of people. The wind howled eerily through the empty and closed buildings of the town and made it seem like a ghost town, devoid of all life. Not even a stray dog or rat could be seen anywhere in sight. The markets were closed, and people had already been sent to the hospitals, or else huddled inside their homes, afraid.
It was so quiet, in fact, that when a loud 'bang' noise went off, Naruto nearly jumped nine feet straight up into the air, kunai in hand as he came back down, trying to locate the source of the noise.
A second 'bang' gave it away, it was a loose window shutter, flapping in the wind. Obviously it hadn't been secured properly.
"Let's move on," said Sakura. "We need to see the leader of the village and find out where the medic-nin are."
"Sure, Sakura-san," replied Lee, shifting the pack on his back. He and Naruto followed behind her.
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Finding the town leader's home wasn't so very hard, it seemed.
Most of the town was full of nothing but dead plants, untended by their owners, left to rot and die. Not so at his estate, every blade of grass was healthy and green, flowers were prevalent everywhere. Armed guards (not Konoha shinobi, they saw) again checked to make sure they were clear before admitting them in, whereupon they gratefully shucked their masks and were led to an audience chamber.
The providence leader of Takaki was a nephew of the Fire Country's Daimyo, a dark-haired, dark-eyed young man (properly a boy not much older than seventeen) with the pale skin of an individual who did not get outside often, but none-the-less seemed fit and able. He was dressed in dark blue garments befitting a nobleman. He bowed politely as the team entered, smiling.
"We are very honored to meet you," he stated. "And we give our thanks on behalf of Takaki for the medical supplies you have brought as well."
"Thank you, my liege," replied Sakura, curtseying as protocol demanded, while Naruto and Rock Lee bowed to either side of her.
He chuckled at that, however, and with that relaxed attitude it became apparent he wasn't nearly as old as he seemed, he might've been no older than fifteen or so. "Oh please, we don't stand on ceremony here. You can call me Tekka... it is the name my mother gave me, after all, and she was reputedly a very clever woman, so let's humor her, mmm?"
Sakura giggled at that, and nodded. "Tekka then."
"And your names?" he asked.
"Oh excuse me," she said, her cheeks stained crimson as she realized how rude she was being. "I'm Haruno Sakura. This is Rock Lee, and Uzumaki Naruto."
"A pleasure," stated Lord Tekka, though it was clear he was speaking only to Sakura, largely ignoring both of her teammates. "Well then, if we'll not stand on ceremony we'd best get to work, those supplies should get to where they're needed."
"Right, just tell us where the medic-nins have been set up and we'll head there right away," stated Sakura, eager to prove herself.
She was puzzled, therefore, when the Lord's face contracted briefly into a grimace. "Er... perhaps your friends can rest a moment while I speak with you, Sakura-san?"
She frowned lightly at that, respectful though it was. "Whatever you have to say you can say in front of my team," she stated.
"Oh I see... well in that case... perhaps I'd best accompany you. We've set up a place for the sick just a little way from here, in the Southern District, and had it quarantined..."
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South District was very close. As Lee phrased it, just a 'hop, skip, and a jump' away from the Lord's manor. They'd replaced their masks and moved in, showing their papers, though the sight of the Lord of Takaki among them made such protocol superfluous, thankfully. And so it was that Sakura and the others made their way into one of the buildings marked with the sign of the plague.
It had previously been a restaurant, but all chairs and tables had been pushed aside to make room for beds. Inside, nearly all were occupied by the sick. Men, women, old, young, the plague did not recognize gender or age, it struck remorselessly at all. All were universally marked, covered in red lesions. Most were unconscious, and those that weren't suffered from high fever. Some were muttering in their sleep.
As they watched, a pair of men came by, carrying a shrouded individual between them. One glance was enough for even Naruto to tell this individual would never be waking up again.
"Goddamn..." he whispered, to no one in particular.
Ninja lived and breathed death, they saw it all the time on missions. But this... this was something else entirely. This was horrific.
Sakura, somewhat used to dealing with the dead, quickly slid off her pack, moving forward to examine one of the patients, sliding on some gloves before she did so to avoid skin-to-skin contact. No sense in taking risks, after all. Some gentle chakra probing helped. "Are they all like this?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder at the young lord.
"Yes... the plague strikes without warning... and always the same," he stated, his voice muffled slightly by the mask over his face. "Fever, rash, then these red lesions... within days they are like the poor soul you saw carried out. It is as if they are burned alive from within."
"A gruesome fate," remarked Lee.
Suddenly reminded of her teammates, Sakura began issuing instructions for the medicine, and they began to disperse it. Most of it wasn't going to help much, but it might ease some people's sufferings or slow the disease down a bit.
"Where are all the medic-nins?" asked Sakura, glancing back at the young lord.
He nodded his head to a few rows down grimly. "They were some of the plagues first victims," he stated. "The team sent in also quickly succumbed... I'm afraid at the moment, you're the only one left in all of Takaki, Sakura-san."
It was a lot to take in. Sakura reeled from it... terrified. She'd never been on her own before. Always there'd been someone to back her up before. Kakashi, Tsunade, Shizune... anyone. Now she was all alone. And worse, responsible for the fate of the entire village.
She suddenly found it impossible to breath.
"I..."
"Hey, easy," stated the lord, patting her shoulders gently. "Lot to take in, I know... listen I think some of the other medic-nin are still conscious. Talk to them. I'll help your teammates disperse the medicine..."
"No... no we can't risk you being infected," she said, turning back to him.
He smiled behind his mask, his eyes twinkling. "I'd make a poor leader if my town dies and I sit back doing nothing. I'll help... just show me what to do."
She did, grateful for the extra help, and watched with no little admiration as the lord went amongst his people to distribute the medicine, though he seemed hopelessly inept. Still, at least he wasn't spilling the water like Naruto was or bumping one cot's legs like Lee had.
Taking his advice, Sakura spoke to those medic-nin still conscious to learn what she could about the disease. Apparently, it was spread by touch only, it wasn't airborn or the like, so they were reasonably safe from infection so long as they wore gloves (a fact she called out to Naruto, Lee, and Tekka quickly, as well as anyone else who was listening). As Lord Tekka had described... infection, fever, rashes, red lesions, sometimes accompanied by delirium and dehydration... and usually ended in death. So far it was one hundred percent lethal. No one had survived it. No one was immune.
No one was safe.
"There... there's something else," said the medic-nin, clinging to Sakura's arm with his gloved hand. "Important..."
She laid a comforting hand over his. One of her lessons with Tsunade had included good bedside manner. "What is it? I'm listening."
"The... the shinobi infected... we can't... can't mold chakra... can't use ninjutsu. Hits fast. Helpless... can't... can't..." A fit of coughing interrupted him, and she quickly provided him with some drinking water.
"We're helpless... this disease will kill us all...!"
Sakura lightly snapped her gloved hands together, forming a seal, then pressed her fingers against the medic-nin's forehead. "Get some rest," she intoned, utilizing a commonly known medical jutsu used to relax patients. Her patient quickly was out like a light, though Sakura wasn't sure if that was comforting or not.
It was all on her now.
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Later that evening, Rock Lee came across his team leader slumped over, unconscious, and faintly snoring. A cursory glance suggested nothing unpleasant had happened (such as an attack) merely that she'd worn herself out from working so hard all day long.
It was admirable, really, to see such dedication, and he felt his eyes grow misty at the sight of it.
Wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, Rock Lee picked up Sakura as gently as he could to carry her to the medical quarters that had been set up for them next to the infirmary. It was a homestead that had been abandoned, it's owners either dead or hiding out in one of the other districts. Naruto had already gone there hours ago (sent out by Sakura, who'd grown exasperated by all the damage he'd caused).
Rock Lee took Sakura to her room and made sure she was comfortable, laying her down on her bed so she could get some rest. The Springtime of Youth could be a rewarding time but even Gai-sensei did not critique his students for getting proper rest.
Sakura was muttering something her sleep, but he couldn't quite make it out. Nor, he decided, was it any of his business.
Even so, Rock Lee spent the remainder of the night outside of Sakura's room, standing watch.
Something about this whole mission unsettled him, though he couldn't place his finger on it. Something didn't feel right. And he'd learned to trust his instincts.
He wouldn't let anything happen to his beloved Sakura.
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Author's Notes:
Tekka can mean a red-hot iron, gunfire, gambling or a violent temper. It's also a minor Uchiha name, but since the character was dead, I didn't feel so bad stealing it. Not the same guy.