"So Tsunade-sama found the cure? The quarantine is over?" Sakura asked of Genma. Though he lounged against the wall, his ankles crossed and arms folded behind his head as if he had not a care in the world, his eyes were sharp – darting between the shinobi occupying the living area and the tree line outside the window he sat next to.

"Yeah, Hokage-sama has distributed the medicine to everyone with great results."

Sakura felt her shoulders drop as that weighing tension finally left her body. "That's so good to hear."

"If that's so, why have we not received a message from the village? Your journey from Konoha should have taken several days, yet we've heard nothing."

Genma turned those shrewd eyes to the imposing figure of the last Uchiha. The young man may have been situated across the room, but the disbelieving tone and narrowed eyes commanded attention.

As Genma explained the circumstances behind their arrival in the Land of Grass, Sakura took a moment to gaze at the group filling the room. Though they were mild, there was not a person in the room who'd managed to escape injury. Even Sasuke had some mild bruising to his torso after being attacked by so many of the civilians at once. He'd yet to let her take a look at it, but perhaps that was the best idea for the moment. The back rooms of the house they'd taken refuge in had two much more heavily wounded people she was responsible in caring for.

Sakura healed Hinata's leg as much as she could for now and replaced the well made splint of Genma's. What the Hyuuga heir truly needed was several detailed healing sessions and rest in a hospital bed. Unfortunately, that was not something Sakura could provide her at the moment. Just across the hall from her, Sai continued to lay asleep in the borrowed bed. More worrisome was the once healed fever was slowly beginning to return. While it was not as serious as before, Sakura feared she was only seeing it in the early stages. She'd already begun to medicate him, but it had yet to break. His condition was taking another turn and she desperately wanted to get him out of this village.

She'd phased out once more while thinking of her patients and Naruto's quizzical look told her others had noticed. With a tiny smile and shake of her head, Sakura focused on the jonins speaking once more.

"Have you been able to send out a message to the village?" Kakashi asked.

Genma fiddled with his senbon for a moment before tucking it to the right side of his mouth. "No. Unfortunately, they had us pinned in that spot for a couple of days. We haven't been able to do much of anything except defend ourselves from their attacks."

"I wonder why there were so many of them after you," Naruto thought out loud. "When we were attacked, there weren't nearly as many of those creepy bastards around."

"It seems we entered into this region from a different area as you. We never passed this village or the rope bridge you spoke of," Shino added. "Though for us, that was not a fortunate thing."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"The back border of this village meets a large lake which we crossed to get here. Apparently, the forest was thick in wildlife at one time."

"Before they migrated there."

Genma nodded tersely at the Uchiha's correct assumption. "We found the remains of animals scattered everywhere. It doesn't look like they're too picky about their diet."

Sakura shuddered as Sai's wound flashed across her mind.

"Not a very comforting thought," Kakashi muttered. "Especially when we still have men somewhere out there."

Though Shino's sunglasses hid his eyes from view, the slight tilt of his head in Genma's direction was easy to spot. Sakura knew Kakashi had seen it too by the tensing of his shoulders and the narrowing of his eye.

"I didn't know who was out here. Tsunade-sama didn't mention any other team in this region." Genma's voice was low and the usual light tone he held had disappeared. From the weapons pouch at his right thigh, he pulled out a small package carefully wrapped in linen. Sakura heard the long exhale as Kakashi took the offered item and opened it with care. The porcelain piece was barely the size of her hand, one side with jagged edges showing where it had broken. Red flecks, which she accurately assumed to be blood, marred the orange and brown painted patterns swirling below the small, oval eye opening. It was a pattern she was recently familiar with seeing.

"I wasn't certain, but I grabbed that because it looks like..."

"Yeah," Kakashi interrupted, his voice tight. "yeah, it's his."

Genma rolled his senbon to the other side of his mouth, nodding slowly in acceptance of Kakashi's words. Silence filled the room as each shinobi processed the jonin's conversation. The three members of the former team seven shared a brief look, each of them knowing the others thoughts at that moment. The boot they'd stumbled across during their first battle with the feral people possibly once belonged to one of their missing ANBU members. Naruto paled at the thought, his face twisting in sadness for the pain their comrade would have felt.

Kiba's throaty growl disturbed their thoughts and drew their attention to the far wall where he sat. With slow movements, he hunched further towards the window he sat guarding. The muscles of his arms flexed under tan skin as he slowly pulled himself up, filling the window with his broad body. With deft movements, Genma pulled another senbon from his pack and flicked it with deadly accuracy towards the dingy man lurking about the edge of the forest. With a sharp cry, he fell – his body lying face first in the muddy ground. When no further movement occurred, Kiba once again found his place along the wall, eyes sharp and body crouched at the ready.

"Okay, seriously...what the hell is going on with him?" Naruto's poorly executed whisper was acknowledged by only a flicker of Kiba's slit pupils in his direction.

"He has fully embraced his Alpha role."

Naruto continued to stare at the Aburame male, hoping for an elaboration on his words. When nothing further was offered, the jinchuriki threw up his hands in exasperation. "What the hell does that mean!"

Sakura's sharp poke to the blond's thigh brought him back down to the floor and, thankfully, stopped his loud mouth.

"The Inuzuka clan has a strong affiliation with canines."

"I know they like dogs. So what?" Naruto cried.

A strong glare from Kakashi was all that was needed to silence the man so he could continue. "It's not just that they like dogs Naruto. The Inuzuka clan's natural abilities lie more towards the animal kingdom than any other. Their heightened senses – particularly their sense of smell, quick reflexes, elongated canines, and claw like nails are distinguishing features of clan members. Not to mention the quick tempers and a certain...fondness for fighting."

The very topic of their conversation turned his head towards the copy cat nin. The long, silent stare he sent the older man had a nervous laugh escaping the silver haired shinobi.

"It has something to do with these people," Genma added. "Shortly after we began fighting them, his demeanor started to change until he was eventually like you see now. I've worked with a few members of his clan before, but I've never seen them get quite like this."

"Ya think? He was gonna attack me for helping Hinata!" Naruto exclaimed.

"He was protecting his pack."

"But Kaka-sensei..."

"My summons is a pack of dogs; do you not think I'd understand them somewhat by now?"

"It's...the way they act." The guttural words washed over everyone in the room, commanding their attention as if Kiba had stood screaming the sentence. He remained staring out the window, his nostrils flaring as he took a deep breath and bathed in the scents of his comrades around him.

"How so?" Sakura asked when the young man offered nothing further.

The Inuzuka's movements were slow – his head rotating towards her, eyes drifting lazily over her face. She felt her breath hitch for just a moment as her heart rate increased and adrenaline pumped. This was her friend, a man she'd fought beside several times and enjoyed laughing with whenever possible; but the friendly nature she knew was no where to be found. Though she knew she shouldn't fear him, a deadly aura surrounded him. A battle readiness that pulled at the trained fighter within her. His animalistic eyes seemed to hold her in place, daring her to make a challenge to his position. While she may have given him orders before as she worked on Hinata, that moment of bravery refused to come to her aide now.

"There's nothing...human...about the way they act." It was obvious he was having a difficult time forming the words he wanted to convey. The group remained patient, waiting silently for that rumble in his chest to recede. "Whatever happened to these people – they're more animal than anything else." Kiba cast his eyes over them once more and returned to watching the rain drenched scenery.

"Is he..."Sakura began, her emerald eyes flickering with worry back to his hunched frame. "Is he gonna be alright?"

"Aa, I think he'll be fine once we get back home."

Genma nodded in agreement with Kakashi. He shot another senbon into the forehead of a blood soaked man emerging from the forest just as Kiba and Akamaru began to growl. "The Inuzuka clan tend to get a bit more...enthusiastic during a battle."

"True enough, however..."

Kakashi cut off Shino's argument. "I'll confirm it with Tsume-san when we return, but you said it yourself Sakura – the mannerisms of these people have been more animal like than human."

"I did."

"I believe Kiba has simply reacted to that and allowed that 'wilder' side of himself to emerge."

"It saved our asses more than once. You won't find me complaining." Genma said with a familiar grin.

"Whatever." Naruto huffed and rested his head on one palm. "As long as he goes back to normal once we get the fuck outta here. I don't wanna see him acting all screwy like this forever."

Kakashi chuckled though Sakura was controlling her natural impulse to thump the blond.

"So, everybody's caught up, right?" Genma said, raising one knee and draping his arm casually over it. He pulled the senbon from his mouth, twisting it between his fingers and focusing on it as if it could tell him the much needed answers he desired. "What do we do now?"

That question simply bore too much weight for anyone to respond quickly with an answer. The men focused on various objects, rolling around all the information they each now possessed and gave great thought to their situation. One by one, they each lifted their eyes to the single female still sitting in the room. Her own eyes laid on the intertwined fingers splayed across her folded legs. Sakura was lost in her own thoughts – too lost to notice the attention she'd garnered. Though he was loathe to do it, Kakashi couldn't formulate any plan without her educated opinions on the epidemic they faced.

"Sakura?" He called, watching as her emerald eyes snapped to him, wide with innocence. "We need your input concerning this...illness, virus...whatever it is affecting the people of this village. Do you think there is any hope of curing what has affected them?"

Her eyes swept the room before she lowered them once more. Here she sat in a room full of talented, decorated shinobi of Konoha and she couldn't even ask them for help with this matter. Indeed, they were turning to her for guidance...and she loathed the only answers available to her at the moment. A humorless laugh escaped her pale lips. "I don't even know what this is," she whispered the thought, but she knew it would be heard round the room. Slender fingers lifted to rub her tired eyes. "I'm sorry, but I can't give you an accurate answer for that question because I honestly don't know what it is affecting them. I don't know whether it's a virus, bacteria, natural or man made pathogen...I don't even know how it's transmitted. For all I know, we have all been infected. I have no way of knowing the incubation period nor whether we will even remember ourselves in the next few days. We could end up like these poor pitiful souls out there ourselves – turning on one another and ripping the flesh from each others limbs."

Wide eyes – and some slack jaws – met her as she looked back into their astonished faces. Her lack of information, frustration, and unfortunate sarcasm had done nothing in the way of being helpful to what should have been a meaningful conversation about their next course of action. Sakura inwardly cursed herself and slowly stood, turning her back on the men before her. "I'm sorry. Please excuse me, I need to go check on my patients."

"Sakura-chan," Naruto called, worry for her lacing his tone. Kakashi raised his hand to stop the man from rising and following her.

"Leave her be for a while Naruto. We've keep asking a lot of her due to the nature of all these attacks. She's just tired and frustrated. Give her some time."

Though it was obvious it didn't sit well with the jinchuriki, he nodded his understanding and settled back down. Another warning growl from Kiba had both Genma and Kakashi sending weapons flying out the windows to stop the further forward motion of the feral people lingering about the village border. The curiosity of the deranged souls was becoming more pronounced, this now being the fifth time in the last hour they'd had to take down some of those brave enough to move closer to their position. With the way things were progressing, it wouldn't be too long before they would attack in droves as they had in the forest.

The group would not have much time to continue discussing what they needed to do. Any longer, and they would find themselves down two team members and battling for their lives amongst the wild individuals watching them from the safety of the dense forest.

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Hinata was still sleeping soundly after the last dose of pain medication Sakura administered to her. There was no undue swelling surrounding her thigh and no fever riddled her body. While it was a serious injury, Sakura was pleased with her condition and spent no more time than necessary hovering over her. With a soft click as the lock slid in place, the medic removed herself from the Hyuuga's room and headed across the hall to her team mates. The moment she stepped over the threshold, she knew his condition was deteriorating at an accelerated pace.

His breathing was once again becoming rapid, sweat beaded along his forehead, and his face contorted with pain even though he remained unconscious. The heat radiating from his body could be felt even before her cool hand laid against his pale skin. Sakura lowered the sheet, pulling it back until it barely covered his groin to afford him privacy during her examination. With careful movements, she peeled back the dressing she had taped across his wound. What met her eyes was not the same sight she'd looked upon only two hours previously.

Where before, the base of the wound had been covered in a healthy new growth of pink tissue - purulent, yellow exudate now filled the deep cavity. An unpleasant smell began to seep out of the area as well, filling her with great concern. She leaned closer, inspecting the new changes when something near the jagged edge of the back of the wound caught her eye. A thin, light purple line extended from the corner of his open flesh – winding a path round his side and to his back. From his supine position in the bed, Sakura could not follow the path it took. Casting an apologetic look to the unconscious man, she placed her hands at his shoulders and hips and – with easy movements – rolled him on his side.

The winding line traced a path up the shinobi's smooth back til it ended a few inches from his spine. She released the grip she had on his hip to run her finger across the new mar to his flesh. There were no raised areas surrounding this unknown line, no heat coming from it, nothing about it that seemed unusual besides it's very existence on her friend's body. Sakura dug around in her medics pouch with her one free hand, searching for the pen she kept in there. When she located it, she drew a short mark across the top of the area where the line stopped growing. With her task completed, she lowered Sai to the bed once more, covering him with the sheet and collapsing into the chair stationed next to his bed.

It wasn't something she'd seen before, definitely nothing she encountered during her time as a medic, but a nagging voice in the back of her mind desperately wanted to remind her of a page she came across in her medical text during the first year she spent studying under Tsunade-sama. It wasn't a common occurrence, but from the sad few clues she had to go on, it was something she had to consider. If what she suspected was true, she could waste no more time in getting Sai to her shishou and the medical equipment he badly needed.

A cold feeling gripped her chest when the true realization of the only option she had to give the men in the other room solidified itself in her mind. With all that was occurring, the conditions they were under, and the too far gone nature of the sad people surrounding them in this remote village, she saw no other option to be had. For just a moment, she recalled that elated feeling she'd experienced when Tsunade-sama told her she would be captain to the team of medics sent with her to Suna. That seemed so very long ago. Now, Sakura wished for nothing more than to not be the one to go into the other room and give her recommendations on their state of affairs.

The irrigation she provided to his wound now felt more of a fruitless effort than anything else. Still, she continued on with it and replaced the dressing with some of the last few bandages she had available. Sakura brushed back the silky, damp ebony hair splayed across his forehead and laid a fresh cool rag on his skin. Her hand lingered, fingers tenderly stroking his cheek as she desperately fought back the tears wanting to spill. They finally began to make headway into helping Sai regain those emotions Danzo beat out of him, and now he lay here in this bed, helpless on his own to fight the deadly illness ravaging his body. That duty lay with her - and Sakura felt her own helplessness more than ever.

With a heavy heart, she returned to the front room and faced the shinobi once more. "I'd like to give my recommendations."

The near flat affect she spoke with put the team on edge more than anything. From her rigid posture and unblinking gaze, Kakashi knew something occurred, but he would hear her out before asking for further details. "Go ahead Sakura."

"I do not know what has affected these villagers. I do not know how it is transmitted nor what the incubation time is...for whatever this is. For all I know, we have all been infected." Though she spouted the same sentence earlier, the serious nature her eyes held had the men in the room truly believing those words. Their eyes drifted to the hallway behind the pinkette. The suspicion that had no doubt been lingering in their minds was pulled to the forefront of concern. "Considering the severe and violent nature of this contaminant, we can not allow it to spread beyond this area."

"But..." Naruto began, his hands shoving through his hair in frustration and confusion. "If we'realso infected Sakura-chan, then what does th..."

"How do you suggest we control the situation?" Kakashi asked, interrupting a question none of them were quite ready to hear the answer to yet.

Sakura took a deep breath, stealing herself to speak loud the words she'd already decided upon, but left her heart with a heavy burden. "Without knowing what we're up against, I believe the best course of action would be to destroy everything in the infected area."

A low whine came from Akamaru as he laid his large head upon Kiba's knee, but the shinobi were silent. The gravity of the situation was a great load to bear and their minds were whirling with the complexities of the task.

"You really mean everything don't you?" Genma posed the question, his intelligent eyes scrutinizing her every expression. "Not just the infected people, but this village and the surrounding area as well."

"From what I remember, one side of this area is enclosed by a large cliff face. Also, we had to cross a large ravine to get here." She replied, allowing no bothersome emotions to twist her face into a painful mask.

"We also crossed the lake to get into this forest. It is possible this entire area is isolated from others." Shino added. "We would have to do some surveillance to be sure."

"Whatever we're going to do, we'd better hurry."

"What's wrong Kiba?"

The Inuzuka cut his eyes to Kakashi briefly. "The number of them gathered in the forest around us is increasing."

"What?" Naruto cried, jumping from his seat and rushing to the window. He peered intently through the misty glass, but his eyes soon showed his confusion. "I don't see any of them."

"Hunt 'em just like you did before and you'll feel 'em." That low pitched growl was seeping back into the shinobi's voice. "They're not approaching blindly anymore, but they're out there. Slowly gathering numbers around us. I can smell 'em."

"None of the traps we set have gone off," Sasuke noted.

Kiba didn't turn away from his view of the window – keeping an ever vigilant eye on the tree line. "I know."

"Shit." Naruto's whispered curse drew attention. The jinchuriki's hands were curled into fists, knuckles turning white under the pressure. The orange markings of his sage mode surrounded his eyes. "Kiba's right."

"Sasuke," Kakashi called, walking towards the young man. "If we're going to do any scouting on this area, it's going to have to be done by air. Sai's out of commission; I need you to take care of it."

Sakura met him as he approached the large window. Though she kept her hands at her sides, she stopped him momentarily with a worried gaze. "Be careful," she whispered as he opened the rain stained glass. He held her eyes for a moment before nodding and leaping to the roof of the large house. It wasn't a moment later they heard the call for his summons and Sasuke was speeding away from them atop the back of his large hawk.

"Sakura," Kakashi and Genma moved away from the window, leaving the watch to Kiba and Naruto. When they were as far away as they could be in the large room, Kakashi fixed her with a steely gaze. "What about us?"

She opened her mouth, but hesitated for a moment. Genma took the opportunity to clasp her shoulder gently and shoot a sad smirk at her. "We've all seen what this can do. We're shinobi Sakura-chan; we all understand what that entails."

"You're right ya know?" Kakashi said. "We can't allow this to infect the rest of the nation; the results would be unthinkable. It's our job to protect everyone and we know that."

She wasn't sure if the huff of breath that escaped her was a laugh or a cry. As much as she had grown as a shinobi, she knew it would be even longer before she was at the level of the two men in front of her. Even after she'd prepared herself to tell them everything, she could never have hoped to reach the level of calm they seemed to project. "I don't know whether to be scared or reassured by you two."

The men gave her matching grin's that had her relaxing a bit.

"I know we can't let this pathogen get out into the public, but I haven't written us off just yet. We can get out of here, but we're going to have to be very careful."

"Let us in on what your thinking Sakura. We can help work out the details."

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By the time Sasuke returned from scouting the terrain, all the shinobi were in motion - doing their part to expedite their, hopefully, safe escape from the village. With the help of Naruto's clones, Kakashi was able to lure one man away from the masses that surrounded them and kill him with a single blade to the neck. That well preserved body was now in the safety of one of his sealing scrolls ready to transport back to Konoha. Genma was helping Sakura stabilize Hinata's leg for transport, as well as Sai. Without any stops on the long journey and pushing their speeds, the group still had a minimum of three days travel.

Sakura feared that for Sai, that would be too long.

"What did you find out Sasuke?" Kakashi asked, securing his belongings into his pouch.

"The lake Genma and the others crossed was large. It wouldn't be possible for these people to escape using it. The only crossing point at the ravine we entered was that bridge. The rock wall where we encountered their group is too sheer to climb. This is indeed an isolated area."

"So our only worries is whether some of these people have already crossed the bridge and made it into the forest beyond."

"Yes. I suggest we destroy that bridge on the way out."

"I agree." The jonin moved to the far side of the room, giving way to Sakura and Genma as they carried Sai into the living area on a makeshift pallet. Though the others had seen him before, they left him in Sakura's care during their two day confinement. To see the harsh state his body was in was a shock to the shinobi. Features paler than his usual ivory complexion, sweat covering his naked torso, chest moving rapidly with his breathing, and the large bandage covering his side stood out like a beacon on his lean frame. As Sakura stood, pushing her loose pink hair behind her ears, she caught sight of Sasuke with their sensei. She made her way towards the pair, leaving Hinata's transport to Kiba and Shino.

Kakashi's face was difficult to read, regardless of the mask he had in place. "Sakura, is Sai going to be able to bear this traveling?"

"We don't have a choice," she replied, meeting his serious gaze with one of her own. "If we don't get him to Tsunade-sama and our medical facilities in Konoha, I...I don't think he's gonna make it."

Kakashi only nodded at her words, but she could see that news had been a difficult pill to swallow. Not only had they lost four of their ANBU members, but the life of their team mate now hung in the balance.

"Sasuke," Sakura began. "Do you have more than one hawk under contract?"

He nodded, but still questioned, "Why?"

"We all agreed that fighting our way out of here will be too difficult. We couldn't guarantee our own safety, much less our wounded. Naruto can summon one of his toads, but I think it would be safer to simply fly out of here. We can clear this area before settling down to travel any further."

"You said there was a possibility we are all infected, right?"

"Yes. Without knowing how it's transmitted I can't say we aren't infected or at least carrying the pathogen."

"Then we could potentially pass it to others we encounter on the way back home, right?"

A heavy sigh passed the medic's lips. "Is it a possibility? Yes, but if we keep to the skies and only stop in an isolated area when absolutely necessary that will decrease the chances of passing a potential pathogen immensely. The only other option is to die here along with these people. I know you don't want that anymore than I do."

"What about this forest?"

"Are you guys ready cause I want to get the hell away from this place!" Naruto yelled across the room to the conversing trio. "The crowd out there is getting restless too."

Indeed, the number of dirty, bloodied people surrounding them was so great they were now spilling out of the tree line. The wordless sounds coming from their collective mouths were filtering into the large home. The eerie sound was putting everyone on edge.

"Sasuke, get ready to summon three of your hawks. You and I will take one while the others will split among the remaining two. Naruto, get ready."

Though he was sadly lacking in information on their plan, the increasing growls and mindless fights breaking out beyond the village borders pushed the Uchiha into simply following along with his former sensei's orders. He watched as Naruto kicked out the sliding door leading into the home and unleashed a large group of clones that dashed for the feral people. It was almost an excited cry that left their bloodied lips before they ran at the replica's of the village hero. As soon as they clashed with one another, screams leaving the mindless individuals lips as they fell to his kunai and puffs of smoke erupting whenever a clone was destroyed, the group ran just outside the home – Hinata and Sai carried by their comrades on the makeshift stretchers.

"Now Sasuke!"

The Uchiha slammed his hand onto the ground, the black seals of his summoning flaring out around him. Three large hawks appeared beside them and the shinobi wasted no time in mounting the winged creatures. The snarling mass of people rushed past the clones, clawing at each other simply to be the first to reach their prey. Their blood stained mouths were wide as they growled and whined at their inability to snatch the living flesh before them. The hawks took to the skies, two of them flying away quickly while a single one hovered over the chaos below.

"This is a large area to cover. I'm going to need your help again Sasuke."

He crooked an eyebrow in question to Kakashi, but no explanation was needed. The jonin brought his hands up and ran through a familiar set of seals before taking a deep breath.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"

A massive fireball lit the ground below them ablaze. Tortured screams lifted above the flames, their pain and fear palpable above the heat. Kakashi kept his sharingan eye covered. A single muscles flexed in his jaw, but he inhaled again and let loose another wave of flames. Sasuke turned to the other side of the bird and, with a surge of his chakra, produced the same jutsu to cover the ground below. They worked soundlessly beside one another, urging the hawk forward and lighting the forest with their katons.

The screams eventually died out, but the shinobi stood beside one another, watching silently as the area turned to nothing more than ash.

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A/N:

Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu – Fire Technique: Great Fireball Release

Ummm...hiya! Long time no see I know. I will thank you in advance for your patience and understanding and say PLEASE FORGIVE ME! However, my reasons have been sound. My mother had emergency surgery – which she is recovering well from - and I myself caught the flu. (yes, I got the shot but seems I got the strain that didn't wanna be repressed. Yeah, it sucked.)

With that said, hopefully with the holidays (nearly) over, I can return to my normal schedule.

This chapter was mostly written in hospital rooms in the dead of night, but I hope you will enjoy it anyway.

Thanks to you all for the reviews and I hope you keep 'em coming!