The beep of machines. Rapid. Angry.
"... Pulse is racing...!"
"Shousen Jutsu"
"Open his shirt!"
Beeping faster.
"Shousen Jutsu!"
"Sakura get out of the way!"
"His heart's going to give out!"
A scream.
"SHOU-SEN JU-TSU!!"
A long, steady beep.
Crying.
Then silence.
"Time of Death..."
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In the morning, Sakura awoke with a start... to the chirping of birds outside of her window. Sighing in some relief, shaking the dark dream away, she sat up on her bed. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she moved to the doorway and out into the hall, hoping to find something to eat. She'd skipped dinner last night, too busy trying to help ease the patients in the infirmary. Though she stopped to regard an odd sight on her way out.
Rock Lee, standing upright outside of her door... fast asleep. Whilst still standing.
Had he been watching all night? she wondered.
"Lee... it's morning," she said, reaching up to tap him on the shoulder.
He continued to doze, seemingly unaware of her. She was about to try again when she remembered one of Naruto's mission stories, about how Rock Lee had fought off one of the Seven Mist Swordsmen, Raiga, while he'd been unconscious. Fighting purely by muscle memory. He might misinterpret her move as an attack and retaliate. Really not in the mood to start the morning with a sparring match, Sakura made her way to the kitchen.
She'd just settled down with a good meal (studying as a kunoichi had taught her some basic homemaking skills) when there was a knock at the door.
She opened it to find the smiling, handsome face of the young lord Tekka.
"Morning," he said cheerfully. "Mind if I come in?"
"I... uh... sure..." she said, making her way back to the table and scooping up some more of her morning breakfast, setting it aside for him on a spare plate. Part of her admonished herself for doing that, she'd cooked that for Rock Lee and Naruto. The other part, her inner self, told her to stop worrying. She was just being polite to the Lord of Takaki. Besides, not like Rock Lee and Naruto were completely defenseless. They'd be able to make their own breakfast.
She wasn't their mother.
"Here... sorry it's nothing better," she said, setting his plate before him and digging into her own meal. Rice and some over-fried bacon mostly. Nothing fancy. "Had to make do with what we could find. I'll have to go and get some water from the well later."
"Oh there's no need for that, I've have a barrel sent down here."
"There's really no need..."
"I insist. Besides, it's not the meal I care about... it's the company," he stated with a warm smile. "I'm not really here for breakfast I was hoping for a chance to talk to you. Have you learned anything?"
She sighed heavily. "Nothing useful... just what you said. It's lethal... none of the treatments work either. Nothing stops this damn thing... just slows it down." Another sigh, and she suddenly felt how very tired she was from staying up so late last night.
"Hey, relax... you're doing your best," he replied.
"My best isn't good enough," she replied.
"Hey... let's not hear talk like that," he said, reaching across the table...
The door slammed open, and Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin.
"Morning!" shouted Naruto. "Mmmm, something smells good! Did you make breakfast, Sakura-chan?!"
Rolling her eyes and muttering something about stupid blondes, Sakura loudly replied "No, Naruto! Go make your own!"
"Fine! I'll just go cook some ramen! Morning Lord Tekka."
Sakura turned her attention back to the young, who's hand deftly plucked up a fork and brought it back to his side of the table. He smiled, though it seemed faintly forced. "Morning... Uzumaki, wasn't it?" he stated, returning to his meal.
The pink-haired medic-nin couldn't believe herself. Had he been about to touch her hand? Did he like her? Did she like him, for that matter? Sure he was a lord, but he was also charming, handsome, friendly. And in the right light, he almost looked a little like...
"Hey Sakura have we got any water to boil?"
"Not for a bit, just go to the well, Naruto!" she shouted back, angry at him interrupting her thoughts.
She shook her head, clearing her thoughts. Mission, her inner self reminded herself. Saving people's lives, remember?
Medicine. Not flirting!
Naruto departed before Lord Tekka turned back to regard her. "So tell me a little about your teammates... you're all genin?"
"You know about shinobi ranks?"
"I have family who were part of Konoha's illustrious forces," he replied.
"Well... yeah we're Genin. But Rock Lee and Naruto are amazingly strong for their age. They would've passed the Chuunin exams with a bit more luck."
"Really... tell me more..." he said, leaning forward. And though he listened and commented politely to her stories, it was obvious his interest was focused solely on her alone.
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After a hearty breakfast, the four of them headed down the way back to the plague house to see what they could do. Lord Tekka bid them a farewell midway down the path, stating he was needed to attend to other matters. Sakura bid him farewell, and he gave her a polite kiss on the back of her hand before he departed.
Sakura's eyes were little hearts.
Naruto and Rock Lee glared daggers into his back.
Fortunately, well before they arrived at the plague house Sakura had planned a way to get rid of the both of them before they caused more damage with their admittedly well-meaning clumsiness.
"I need you both to do me a favor," she stated, slipping on her gloves and tying the mask back on around the lower part of her face.
"Anything," replied Rock Lee.
"Just name it," affirmed Naruto.
She held up a small book for them she carried in her satchel, open to a particular page. "Good, now pay close attention... this is the Marojarm herb," she said, tapping the picture in question of a short, stubby little weed with reddish "hair" growing along it's leaves. "It's fairly easy to find, and it's a useful substitute to real medicine if one ever finds themselves in desperate straits."
Like now, she thought, then angrily pushed it aside.
"Go out, bring back as many as you can possibly find," she said. "The leaves are of vital importance, but the whole thing is useful. Got it?"
"Got it," they replied. As one, Naruto and Lee turned and practically raced down the street, leaping up onto rooftops and bounding clear over the village walls and out into the forest. Shaking her head, at once grateful and tired of all that boundless energy they both had, she turned back into the sick house and began to distribute medicine to the patients.
As she did, she took down a few notes herself.
She'd find a way to beat this thing, she vowed.
She wasn't going to lose someone else if she could help it.
Midway through her rounds, Sakura did begin to notice something peculiar about the patients, though it took her a quick examination of another two to make sure she was positive. It was the red lesions, she realized. Something about them clicked in the back of her mind.
But it was almost too awful to contemplate.
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Elsewhere...
"Alright!" said Naruto, throwing his satchel over his shoulder. "I'm going to get Sakura all of the Maroj... Majoram... uh... all the herbs she needs!" he said, pumping his fist into the air. "Believe it!"
"Ooh Naruto-kun! If I cannot surpass the number of herbs you find, I swear I will walk back to Takaki on my hands!" replied Lee.
"Fine! And if I lose, then I do the same!" Naruto shouted right back. "Only once this mission is over I walk on my hands all the way back to Hidden Leaf!"
"It is a promise!" he said, sealing the deal with his customary 'nice guy' pose.
As one, the two boys broke away and went tearing into the underbrush with such enthusiasm that most woodland creatures could only assume that an army had come to destroy their home and were sent fleeing in droves, even as Naruto and Lee tore up plant after plant, examining them quickly, tossing aside those that did not match. Those that bore even a passing resemblance to the Marojarm herb was thrust into their satchels as they ran along. After a short while they split up and went in separate directions so as to find better hunting ground.
Rock Lee felt exhilarated, as he always did when he was out working up a sweat and, even more so, when a challenge had been made. And, unlike Naruto, he had a fair idea of what he was doing, as he'd been given similar requests before by Tsunade and Sakura during his frequent trips to the hospital. They used it as a way to keep him from training while injured and still be active. He recognized the herb that his beloved Sakura-chan wanted, and he imagined he'd have enough to heal the whole town of Takaki by the end of the day.
It was about mid-day when he realized something, and came to an almost abruptly halt in his gatherings, hanging upside down from a tree branch. He and Naruto hadn't formally settled on a time. And it was already starting to grow close to lunchtime, and his growing body demanded food. He could only imagine how hungry Naruto (infamous for his appetite) was.
Shouldering his satchel, Rock Lee pushed off the tree branch and leapt gracefully from one to another to seek his comrade. To his surprise, he found Naruto lying against a nearby tree, his back to Lee, resting comfortably. He looked like he'd taken a nap.
That was odd, he thought.
Rock Lee made his way to Naruto to shake his shoulder and rouse him from his sleep, but snatched his hand back an instant before it was too late, his eyes wide and his fuzzy eyebrows shooting up into his bangs in shock.
Uzumaki Naruto's skin was blistering red.
"Oh no..."
Very careful, mindful to avoid skin-to-skin contact (and painfully aware of his lack of mask and gloves) Rock Lee grabbed up Naruto's satchel and slung it over his other shoulder, letting them both rest there, and then carefully grabbed up Naruto in his arms, slinging him over his shoulders. He wasn't very heavy, fortunately, and they didn't have far to go, so Rock Lee took off like a shot, speeding through the forest until they were safely back inside of Takaki.
Rock Lee's heavy foot slammed open the door as he called out for aid.
"Sakura! We've got a problem!"
--
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Author's Notes:
Marjoram is a real herb, and Marojarm is its made-up counterpart for the story (not a misspelling). I'm not a doctor or an herbalist, so it's easier to make things up as I go along. I'd also like to apologize to Naruto fans who think I'm being abusive to him in my stories. He can take a hit better than most, so I tend to injure him a lot, knowing he can bounce right back.