"Mom, before you go... here."
"W-Wha..?"
"It's a picture booklet Hanami, Arashi, and I made so you won't feel lonely when you're away. Hanami drew the cover while Arashi glued. I.. wrote something at the end."
"Oh Shina-chan..."
"Don't read it unless you get really lonely ok? We love you mom."
"...I love you guys."
"Sakura, you ready-oh. What do you have there?"
"Oh, yeah sorry Tenten, i was just looking at this. My kids gave it to me before I left. I kind of feel guilty for leaving them considering..."
"Sakura, you've got to stop beating yourself up over this. You're beating a dead horse at this point. Shinachiku, Hanami, and Arashi all support you. don't feel bad for trying to get your life together."
"yeah..you're right. sorry."
"It's ok. come on, lets get this day started."
"Right."
"Finally, you two are ready. We got a long day ahead of us so lets get started."
"Yeah yeah, lighten up Neji, you're acting like we took five hundred years to get ready."
"Sure as hell seemed like it."
'Such a beautiful day...' Just as I saw yesterday, the wild flowers blooming just outside the village's walls looked so captivating. So beautiful and free..may sound a bit weird in my head , but looking at them makes me feel a sense of calmness. I wonder if the villagers feel the same? Defiantly have to ask someone later.
"Don't act so stiff with the villagers either. Show a friendly smile."
"Tenten, after all these years, even though we've been married for almost a decade, you've still haven't noticed a change in heart? I've became...softer years ago."
"For the better..."
"What was that?"
I watched and giggled at their light banter. Neji and Tenten really we're made for each other.
"Huh? You say something Sakura?" Tenten turned to ask me. I guess she heard my laughter.
"Nothing...but I do want to say thank you for allowing me on this volunteer mission with the both of you. It means a lot."
"Hey, no problem. if there's anything we can do to help, you know we'd do it." Tenten assured me.
"Exactly. And since we're on the subject, Sakura, if you feel the need to get some air because of your anxiety, let us know."
"Thanks Neji. I think I got it though."
He smirked at me. "Hmph, if you say so."
"Good morning everyone! I hope everyone had a good nights rest." Taka greeted us with his partner Yuta beside him.
"No complaints here!" Someone from our group assured the two leaders. "We're energized and ready to get down to business.'
"Good." Yuta chimed in, "I'm sure our people feel the same way. Taka, lets split the group and let them know what's going on?"
"Right! Those of you volunteering for reconstruction, please follow me. I'll fill you all in on everything you need to know about houses and their structures and such."
"And those of you who will help with the sick and shut in, follow me."
Everyone said their temporary goodbyes and started to split into their respective groups.
"I'll see you two around lunch later, be careful. " TenTen said to us.
"We will, be seeing you." stated Neji.
"Mhm.. And Sakura-san?"
"Y-Yes?"
"Don't fret too much. I know it's been a long time since you've been in the field but you got this. I-we-believe in you."
"I... yes. I won't. I'll be ok. Thank you, TenTen."
She gave Neji a kiss and both of us a hug and went over to her group.
"Alright everyone, follow me." Taka shouted and lead the group further down the road.
"So this is all the medical volunteers right?" Yuta asked. "If that's the case, then please follow me to our hospital, or rather whats left of it."
As we were walking, Neji grabbed my attention and we started conversating. "It's true, she does believe in you very much."
"What?" I inquired. "About my abilities?"
"Not just that. About you getting over your depression, anxiety, moving on. She's always believed in your abilities, especially when we were teenagers."
"Oh. Well, she's always expressed that but these days, I wished I believed in myself as much as she believes in me. Not saying that that's the case now with my medical skills, obviously if it was, I wouldn't be here, but the other stuff.."
"The other stuff?" He questioned.
"My depression and anxiety. I'm not 'over it' so to say. I'm just managing them. But it's really hard and some days, I wake up and get scared. Scared that I may-"
"Lose that control?" He interrupted.
"...Yes."
"I see. Listen Sakura, I can't tell you how to manage it all or tell you what to do. But what I can do is be there. Which reminds me, I apologize for not being all the way there when you needed people."
"Neji, you don't have to apologize for that. I pushed away everyone that was trying to help me not the other way around. In fact, I'm sorry I pushed you away. I know you and TenTen just wanted to help me."
"Tenten especially. She always wanted to do more but she didn't know just how to do it."
"Well, just knowing how much she cares is enough for me. These past few months, I've learned that I have a process and I have to do this by myself. I'd love the support but think this is a journey I have to do by myself, you?"
"I can understand that. But, you know we'll be here if you need us during that process." he remarked.
"Thanks, Neji."I smirked.
After catching up with Neji, i noticed we we're coming up on a small building, next to it multiple tents and bedding. Please don't tell me this is the hospital..?
"Well, everyone, this it, our village hospital. Like I said, it wasn't much, not like it used to be, but its efficient and has kept people alive. But, we need better for my people. Please, follow me."
Yuta lead us down the..'hall' of the hospital explaining to us our patients' conditions and such. As he explained, I took a peak in some open tents as we passed by and noted that it was mostly minor injuries that I could tell from my medical eye.
"This the south wing of our clinic. This is where our minor injuries and cases are. Ranging from a simple cold to cut and or bruises, this is where you will find them. All those with basic training, you sit your stuff aside and our doctors and nurses will be briefing you on everyone's conditions and how you can help. The advanced medical team, you can follow me." He commanded.
We walked further up the trail and I immediately noticed there were way less tents but more staff. I wonder how serious the advanced cases are?
"Alright, this is the north wing. This where all of our life threatening cases lay. As you most likely noticed, we do have fewer tents than the south wing and there's a reason. As you can see, our conditions allows more cuts and bruises than anything right? But, for a while now, there's been a rare but deadly disease going around, very fatal in children. Due to our limited resources, we don't know what is causing it and we do not have a cure. However, we did manage to make a medicine to temporarily cause some relief to them. Come over and take a look." Yuta motioned for us to take a look in one of the tents. He opened it up so all could see.
"This young boy is named Kai. As you can see, he has a bad rash all over his body, appearing on his face, legs, upper and lower abdomen. The rash itches and burns the skin and overall, makes the whole process very uncomfortable and...painful."
"My God.." someone from behind muttered.
"Rai, come here please." Yuta called upon him and turned back to us. "Mr. Hao here has been treating him for the longest and has tried his best to find the cure. So far, we haven't found anything, but like I said before, we managed to make something to help it calm down. You can take it from here, Rai."
"Thank you, Yuta-sama. My name is Rai Hao. As you know, I've been trying to find a cure for this virus but with the resources we have and limited knowledge about the virus, we haven't had any luck. With that being said, I'm glad to see Konoha's best is here to help my people recover. I'm sure Yuta-sama has given you all a run down on our patients' symptoms. Are there any questions you'd like to ask?
"Yes," Neji spoke. "Do we know how the virus is passed around?"
"Its hard to say. It's a rare disease, only some of our kids are getting it. For example, Kai was around three other children when he caught the virus. But, somehow only he and another, who has already passed, were affected. We don't know if it was something they ate or touched. All we know is that we got to stop this thing before it spreads."
"Mr. Hao." I spoke up.
"Yes?"
"Do you know if those two kids had any connections? Blood type, medical history,something?"
"We haven't determined that yet because we don't even know where it comes from nor how it spreads."
"But it could be worth looking into. Could give us a lead." Yuta insisted. "Nice work Mrs. Uzuzmaki."
"Mrs. Uzuzmaki? Wife of the late Uzumaki Naruto, student of the legendary Lady Tsunade?" Mr. Hao.
I giggled a little at his shocked expression. "In the flesh. very nice to meet you Mr. Hao."
"T-The pleasure is all mine!"
"Don't get too excited Rai." Yuta joked.
"Y-Yes of course. I just didn't expect someone with such expertice to come. Ah forgive.."
"It's fine." I assured him.
"Alright, now that everyone is is briefed on our situation, lets go back down to the south wing, my staff down there are a bit overworked. My advanced patients had a long day yesterday and I and want them to rest."
"Of course." Before I could walk away, Yuta asked both Neji and I to stay back.
"Yes sir?"Neji inquired?
"This will only be a second. Lady Tsunade has informed me of both your abilities. I want to find out what this and how to stop it."
"And you can count on us to do that." I spoke.
"Glad I can."