When Sakura approached the area where the group of Uchiha had lingered on the edge of the forest, she found that only two men and Tora remained. As she strode up, she recognized Madara immediately and noticed the other Uchiha who remained was the one who looked nearly identical to Sasuke.
They both nodded in greeting and she returned the gesture.
"Where's the rest of your family?" Sakura asked warily as she came to a stop before them.
"We sent them home. There was no need for them to remain here. It will be just us for the journey to our lands," Madara explained, folding his arms across his chest in a now familiar gesture.
Sakura nodded in understanding before the younger Uchiha spoke.
"My name is Izuna Uchiha. I help lead the clan with my brother. I've heard quite a lot about you recently, kunoichi," he greeted coldly.
Even though Izuna's words were polite, they held an undertone of discontent. She noticed the elder Uchiha glance at the younger with a look that conveyed more than just words.
"It's… just Sakura," she responded, wary of his tone.
"Very well then. We should be off. Will you be taking your…" Izuna's calculating eyes flicked up to land of Tora, "Summon with us?"
"Not her, but another," the medic replied before facing the massive tigress, "Tora, you can go home now. I'll summon Kuro to accompany me."
The tiger glanced at the two Uchiha with knowing eyes before her gaze returned to her summoner.
"As usual then. I'll be awaiting your call…" she replied stoically before a teasing grin emerged and her tone became jovial, "You chose well, selecting me over Hyo for this battle."
"Don't be too hard on him, please. I don't want his feelings to get hurt because I picked you first," Sakura implored, clapping her hands together in a beseeching gesture.
"I make no promises. We have all been very excited to fight alongside a human with such power once again," Tora laughed, grinning in a way that was mostly teeth.
She rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment.
"Your help is very much appreciated, Tora. Thank you so much for coming," Sakura sincerely thanked, drawing a surprised expression from both the Uchiha brothers and the tigress summon.
Tora's startled expression faded as her grin warmed into something less fierce and more heartfelt. "Of course, cub. It was my honor. I shall be eagerly awaiting our next battle."
"Take care of yourself," the kunoichi returned with a smile, the massive tigress disappearing in a great burst of smoke.
Once Tora disappeared, Sakura ran through the hand signs for another summoning jutsu.
As she dragged her thumb through the still wet blood on her stomach, not finding it necessary to bite her thumb for the jutsu with the viable blood still available, Izuna spoke once again. "Why summon another creature?"
"Kuro won't appreciate being called a creature," Sakura pointed out before leveling both of the Uchiha with a meaningful stare, "And it's my standard procedure when going into the forest with strange men."
The younger Uchiha donned a look of uncomfortable understanding as Sakura pressed her palm to the ground, a much smaller plume of smoke erupting from the summoning jutsu this time.
The sleek panther that appeared from the dispersing smoke silently eyeballed the two Uchiha for a long moment, unwavering in his intense gaze. Both of the men returned his stare with arched eyebrows.
"Why are you with shinobi?" the summon finally drawled, turning his attention back to Sakura.
"I've accepted a job from them. They're the leaders of the Uchiha clan. We'll be heading to their holdings here shortly and I would like you to accompany me," the medic explained briefly.
"As per usual then. We'll speak later about why you summoned Tora. An interesting tale there, I'm sure. Interesting turn of events regarding your guests..." Kuro responded before turning to address the two shinobi, "Sir Uchihas. I greet you."
The brothers glanced at each other before they nodded in greeting, obviously thrown by a summoned creature addressing them so directly.
"We should head out now. Are you capable of an hour sprint in your state?" Madara questioned, his arms unfolding from his chest as he prepared to leave.
"It's not a problem," Sakura responded confidently, knowing that her chakra levels were nearly untouched after being replenished by the use of her seal, unstable as it may have been.
"Alright. Then let's be off."
As the group ran through the trees towards Uchiha lands, Madara found himself even more curious about the strange kunoichi they had stumbled upon. Even after battling over a dozen trained Senju, healing her own fatal wounds, and bringing a handful of Nakano guards back from death's door, she appeared unphased. She ran along the icy canopy quickly and silently, easily keeping pace with him and Izuna.
He activated the basic level of his sharingan to get a closer look at her and was surprised to find that her chakra levels were nearly full. He knew that there was no way that all she had done that night had put such a negligible dent in her chakra and theorized that her recovered stamina must have something to do with the seal on her forehead.
Even more mystery surrounding the strange woman.
Mysteries such as the summoned panther that had nearly disappeared as they entered the forest. The cat summon ran through the shadows of the trees like a wraith, silent and nearly undetectable. Madara only caught glances of the sleek black creature as it followed Sakura and he was confident that, if he hadn't had his sharingan activated and hadn't honed his sensory abilities so finely, that the summon would be invisible.
The fact that a panther with fur as dark as pitch could sneak so effectively in the patches pristine white snow was impressive. The big cat became even more difficult to spot as the patchy snow made way to the half bare forest surrounding his clan's lands.
Madara wondered how Sakura had signed a contract with creatures such as this panther and the massive tigress. He had never seen cats such as them utilized in combat nor anywhere else and to his knowledge, no one in these lands had a contract with them. So where had she signed it?
She had claimed that she hailed from a village far to the west but he had heard of no such village that bred such formidable warriors. Either she had traveled an incredible distance, farther than any of his clan had traveled and farther than even word could reach, or the village she once called home kept out of the affairs of ninja in this area.
Although it certainly would make sense if she had come from the west since her first appearance in the area, her battle at Samurai Bridge, was west of their current location.
Either way, he would find out.
Madara had yet to come across a problem he couldn't answer, a riddle he couldn't decipher, or a puzzle he couldn't solve. He would uncover Sakura's secrets, learn of her past, and learn about her. Then this irking curiosity would be sated and he could move on.
He sensed one of his scouts on the outskirts of the Uchiha's holdings making their way towards them and flared his chakra. He felt his brother do the same, alerting the scout that they were of the clan. The scout ceased in their trek towards them, returning to their patrol of the perimeter.
The break in the tree line soon came and all three, or rather four, of them dropped down from the canopy and resumed their run to the dimly lit village visible in the distance.
Once they reached the edge of the village, two of the guards which patrolled the area at night gave the group odd stares, their gazes lingering on the pink haired kunoichi and her summoned panther at her side. The group slowed to a walk as they approached, the guards struggling to decide how to react to the stranger being guided onto their lands by the two clan heads.
With a nod from the clan leader and a flash of his sharingan, the two guards relaxed. Although their gazes lingered on the kunoichi and her panther curiously, they resumed their patrol without a word.
Madara glanced down at the burnt, torn, and blood splattered kimono that Sakura wore. While he was certain his family members would be horrified by the battle worn appearance of the kunoichi, in addition to the upset brought on by bringing a stranger into their home, they would have to deal with it. There was little time for trivialities such as making the stranger more presentable for the members of his family who had never seen combat.
"Come with us. We'll take you to them immediately," Madara declared, already turning down one of the rows of houses to where he knew his cousins' home stood.
They walked quickly and with purpose, passing by darkened houses. The only light source was the waning moon and the dim paper lanterns which lit the pathways weaving between the rows of homes, the low light designed to keep the village less visible at night and more hidden from intruders.
When they arrived at the only house still lit from the inside at this time of night, he strode up the steps leading to the engawa which wrapped around the house and briskly knocked on the closed fusuma.
There was a slight shuffling inside before an exhausted, middle aged woman slid open the fusuma. Her face betrayed her surprise at seeing Madara standing on her doorstep this time of night before her gaze flicked over to Izuna and then to Sakura.
Her eyes narrowed suspiciously before she hissed, "Who is she?"
"She is a healer that we've hired to help Katsumi and Katsurou," Madara explained briefly, the elder woman shooting him a startled look.
"You brought an outsider here?" she demanded gruffly, flabbergasted.
"To save the lives of two of our clan, yes," Izuna clarified, folding his arms across his chest as he vocalized his support for his brother's decision.
Although his younger brother disagreed with Madara's choice and held the same wariness for outsiders, Izuna wouldn't express this in front of others in their clan. To do so would show discourse between the clan heads and lead to discourse in the clan.
The elder woman seemed to struggle with the decision to allow this stranger into her home, even with the two leaders of the clan backing the stranger. The Uchiha huffed in aggravation before turning and entering the house once more, her long braided ponytail swishing behind her.
The brothers entered the home and Madara gestured for Sakura to follow. Despite her hesitance, she nodded, following their lead and removing her shoes in the entryway. The panther followed closely behind her, eyeing him and Izuna as if to challenge them to say anything.
Sakura quietly closed the fusuma behind them and followed them farther into the warm, dimly lit house. They entered the living room, skirting around the burning fireplace which kept the small home heated, and followed the elder woman deeper into the house. Entering through an open shoji door into one of the three bedrooms in the home, Madara was able to see just how far Katsurou and Katsumi's conditions had deteriorated.
The poisoned warriors were lying in their futons, unconscious. Even in their unaware state, their suffering was still apparent. Their breathing was shallow and rapid and their expressions were contorted in pain. Beads of sweat clung to their overly pale skin which contrasted sharply with the blotchy redness of their foreheads and cheeks.
As Madara and Izuna took a spot against the wall to observe and to guard, the Uchiha clan leader was able to watch as Sakura's expression morphed from apprehension to determination in an instant upon seeing her patients.
The elder woman and a young boy with long shaggy hair, no older than ten, had been speaking in hushed tones but openly glared at Sakura as she entered. Their harsh stares only magnified as Sakura strode forward to kneel at the sides of Katsurou and Katsumi without prompting.
Their stares immediately morphed into shock and they started to their feet as the summoned panther prowled in behind Sakura and took a seat on the far end of the room, watching them all with keen eyes.
"My name is Sakura. I'm sorry for intruding in your home but I'm here to help. May I have your names and the names of these two?" Sakura asked kindly as her hands glowed green, apparently running some kind of diagnostic on her patients.
The two non-shinobi Uchiha immediately turned to look at Madara and Izuna, searching for some kind of guidance. Both him and his brother nodded, silently communicating for them to trust Sakura or rather to trust that they wouldn't allow her to hurt any of them.
"My name is Eiko. These are my children. Katsurou and Katsumi." The elder woman gestured to the unconscious man and woman before placing her hand on the young boy's shoulder, "And my youngest Katsuo."
"Thank you, Eiko, Katsuo. I could use your help during this procedure, if you're willing," Sakura returned, now performing her diagnostic on Madara's other cousin.
"What do you need?" Eiko questioned cautiously, slowly relaxing despite the presence of the stranger and the panther in her home.
"Four basins. Two filled with clean water and the others empty. I'll need you to refill the basins of water as we go and empty the ones I will fill. Please hurry," Sakura explained quickly, her calculating eyes flicking between both the unconscious shinobi.
Eiko's gaze shot to Madara and Izuna once again and this time it was Izuna who canted his head to the side, silently instructing their clanmate to listen to the healer they had brought. Eiko lingered uncertainly for a moment before striding into another part of the house, taking Katsuo with her, where running water soon sounded.
This time, Sakura addressed both Madara and Izuna. "The poisoning is very far along and I'll have to use an emergency technique. I want to warn you now that it will be very painful for them and is very dangerous if they move. I'll need you to hold them down."
The brothers both shared an uncertain look before Madara spoke, "Will they live if the poisoning is so far progressed?"
Sakura nodded immediately with a determined expression. "If I have anything to say about it, yes."
The clan heads both stood and knelt at opposite sides of the son, Katsurou. Sakura peeled back the blanket covering him, revealing his bare chest, coated in a sheen of sweat and rising and falling with his irregular breathing. Madara knelt at Katsurou's head, holding down his shoulders as Izuna knelt at his waist to hold down his legs.
When Eiko and Katsuo entered the room once again and saw what was happening, their expressions morphed into shock. Madara shot them a pointed look before sharply tilting his head towards Sakura.
The brothers trusted Sakura, at least enough to do her job, and their clan members needed to trust Madara and Izuna's judgement as their leaders. Despite their apprehension, Eiko and Katsuo set the basins down on either side of the medic and knelt down next to her.
"Eiko, Katsuo? Don't be alarmed and remember what I asked. This is going to help them, I promise you, no matter how scary it looks. I'm going to start now," Sakura explained in a soft voice as she gathered a sphere of water in her hand with chakra.
"Please keep him still," she requested before forcing the water into Katsurou's chest, through his skin.
All those in the room besides Sakura were startled by the sudden scream that erupted from Katsurou. Eiko and Katsuo fell over in shock, their expressions morphing into ones of horror at the agonized yells of their son and brother. Madara and Izuna both rapidly adjusted their hold on their now writhing clan mate, the basic levels of their sharingan activating instinctively.
Madara watched as Sakura used her free hand to remove the now blackened ball of water from Katsurou's stomach. She deposited the poisoned water into the empty basin before gathering a clean ball of water into her hand once again.
She was removing the poison then.
During the brief interlude, Katsurou's eyes met Madara's. He panted from the agony of the poison as well as the treatment but his gaze displayed betrayal.
"Why are you helping her kill me?" he gasped through his ragged breaths, delirious.
"She's removing the poison, Katsurou. She's healing you. We would never allow anyone to harm you," Madara explained even as he kept his hands firmly on his clan mate's shoulders.
"It will be over soon," Izuna added, adjusting his grip on Katsurou's thighs.
Katsurou's expression betrayed his uncertainty as he glanced between the clan heads and then looked to his mother and young brother. The two nodded in support, having seen the poisoned water being removed from him with their own eyes.
Sakura pressed the clean ball of water into Katsurou's chest and the screaming began again. She did this three more times before Katsuo went to empty the now full basin of tainted water and refill the empty basin with clean water. Eiko moved the fresh containers towards Sakura and she continued the process two more times.
When the water came back as clear as it had gone in, instead of reaching for more water, the medic's hands glowed green. She set her palms against Katsurou's chest, running her diagnostic again, and was apparently satisfied with what she found.
"Okay, he's done. You can release him," Sakura stated, already turning to face her other patient.
When Madara and his brother released Katsurou, he immediately rolled onto his side with a groan, trembling from the pain. As he curled up into the fetal position, clutching his chest, Madara gripped his shoulder in silent comfort.
"Katsumi?" Sakura asked, addressing Madara's already conscious cousin, more than likely awakened by the screaming.
Even through her harsh, uneven breaths, her expression was one of bravery. She nodded resolutely, already understanding what was to happen to her.
"I'm ready," Katsumi whispered, her ragged voice almost too low to hear.
The brothers moved to hold down the injured Uchiha as Sakura pulled down the blanket covering her bare chest, the woman's breasts wrapped in bandages. The medic gathered another sphere of water into her hands, letting Katsumi take a steeling breath before she began her treatment.
When Sakura plunged the water through Katsumi's skin and into her chest, the Uchiha let loose a ragged breath through her clenched teeth. During the next round, she cried out in pain.
As Sakura continued her work, Madara's gaze drifted to Katsurou. Despite being unconscious once again, his breathing was now unlabored and there was a healthy glow to his skin. With his sharingan, Madara could see how his clan mate's chakra had settled and now flowed through his body fluidly, as it should.
Satisfied that Sakura truly was healing his family members, although he doubted she would be stupid enough to torture one of his own in their own holdings with him and his brother before her, his gaze turned to Sakura's steadfast face.
She was determined when healing, even when surrounded by potential foes. Her focus was unwavering even with his eyes on her, the entirety of her attention on her patient as she performed her technique. Not only that, she was confident in her skills, something that only came from years of practice.
More pieces to the puzzle that was Sakura.
Once finished, the medic pulled back and wiped her brow with the back of her hand. Her hands glowed green once again as she performed a diagnostic on Katsumi, also pleased with her prognosis.
Madara noted that the sun was now rising, a gentle, cool light drifting in from the ranma lining the ceiling, and felt a sense of satisfaction that his clan mates had lived until morning. Despite having sent them on the mission that had nearly gotten them killed and being told that they wouldn't survive until morning, he had been able to bring back a healer that had saved their lives.
Sakura could be very useful.
When the medic finally spoke, it was oddly jarring. After hearing nothing but pained screams and cries of agony for over an hour, her soft voice was out of place.
"When Katsurou and Katsumi wake up, they should be fine. Their bodies have been under tremendous strain from fighting off the poison so it will take a couple weeks for them to recover fully." Sakura turned to address Eiko directly. "Just make sure they are well hydrated, eat at least small amounts, and that they get plenty of rest for the next couple of days."
Eiko, stunned by the miraculous recovery of her children, nodded silently in response. Her and Katsuo quickly stood to tend to their children and siblings as Sakura, her summon, Madara, and Izuna moved to leave.
"Lady Sakura," Eiko called out suddenly, surprising everyone with her use of an honorific.
Sakura turned to face the elder woman with a curious look on her face. Eiko looked her directly in the eyes, her expression betraying that she was fighting some inner turmoil, before saying, "Thank you."
Sakura smiled softly, nodding in response. "You're very welcome."
Sakura and Kuro passed between the two clan heads as they made their way to the entryway so the kunoichi could don her geta once again.
Madara and Izuna shared a look before following. The elder Uchiha slyly activated his sharingan to inspect her chakra levels and was once again surprised to find that there was barely a dent in her reserves. Despite her summoning her panther, the hour long sprint, and spending over an hour removing the poisons from his cousins, her chakra levels were nearly full.
Sakura was... efficient as well then.
A/N: Eiko means "long lived child". Katsuo (the name of the younger brother) means "victorious child". Katsurou (the elder brother) means "victorious son". Katsumi (the sister) means "victorious beauty". Eiko has a theme going. And a theme that is very much related to the victory she had today with the lives of her son and daughter being saved.