"Despite some setbacks, thanks to our very own Hokage, the transcontinental railroad was able to have its grand opening just this morning with the train affectionately dubbed the Rising Moon departing on its maiden voyage heading to Sunagakure, then…" Naruto's focus drowned out the news report, turning his attention to his right-hand advisor who stood on the other side of the room. "Shikamaru, any luck with our suspect?" Naruto questioned.

Shikamaru flipped through another report, "Nothing yet, but I have our people on it. We should know everything about him very soon."

The Seventh sighed, dissatisfied with the waiting, "How was he even able to plant so many bombs without our knowledge?"

"Now that is a question I can answer," Shikamaru grinned, satisfied to answer at least one of the many questions that had arisen from this situation. "Our suspect, Nakamura Li, was a former employee of the construction company that the railroad hired."

"Former?"

"He was fired due to insubordination." Shikamaru reported, "And that's all the information I have about that right now, unfortunately."

"Has Ino been able to get any new information out of him?"

Shikamaru shook his head, "We tried, but he asked for legal representation, cutting off our line of questioning. He is a civilian, so we had to tread lightly. He's in the hands of the criminal defense department now." As much as he tried, he couldn't quite keep the annoyance out of his tone.

"Transparency is a good thing, Shikamaru." Naruto reminded his old friend.

The Head of the Nara clan huffed, "I know. I know. We live in a better time, but it's still troublesome."

The Hokage grinned, "I can agree with that." Somedays, when he reflected about the past, life seemed a lot simpler back then. Naruto grimaced when a sudden pain flared from chest.

"You okay, Naruto?" Shikamaru stepped closer to the village leader, concerned by the flash of pain across Naruto's face.

As soon as the pain came, it left. Naruto shook the sensation off, "It's nothing."

"You sure?"

"Positive." Before Naruto could say anything more, a knock interrupted their conversation. Both shinobi turned their attention to the door. "Enter." Naruto ordered.

One of his administrators stepped into the room, "Sorry, Hokage. I have Haruno Sakura waiting to debrief with you. She insisted on letting you know that she's been waiting for the last hour."

Naruto lifted his eyebrows. She was back already? "Go ahead and send her in." The administrator nodded, turning to leave. "Oh, also, next time don't stop Haruno Sakura from entering. She's clear."

"Yes, Hokage."

"You didn't put her on the clear list?" Shikamaru asked, amused.

Naruto chuckled nervously, "It slipped my mind?"

"That's the excuse you're going with?" Shikamaru chuckled, "I'm pretty sure my son can think of a better one."

The Hokage groaned. "Do me a favor then?"

"Yeah?"

"Make sure you get a ramen vendor at my funeral for the post-service life celebration."

Shikamaru's grin widened, "Did you want to serve Tonkotsu or Miso Ramen?"

"What's this about ramen?" Sakura questioned as she entered the office.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, "Sorry for making you wait." The Hokage flashed his signature grin at her, but the medic ninja noticed that it didn't seem to reach his eyes. Sakura frowned, "Making me wait an hour to give a simple report is a bit annoying." She watched as her former teammate shifted uncomfortably in his seat, "But I'll let it slide since I heard you had to thwart an attack."

Relief flashed in the Uzumaki's eyes momentarily at the mention of her uncharacteristically given grace, but something remained off with the village leader.

"I trust your mission was a success?" Shikamaru prompted.

"Yep, no issues. Tsunade-Shishou decided to stop by the hospital to see Shizune-san, and Team 7 is probably running around somewhere in Konoha."

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, "Good. Thanks for keeping them busy, Sakura-chan."

The medical ninja nodded, hearing the unspoken dismissal. But rather than leave, Sakura stepped closer to the Hokage, suspicious."Are you feeling alright, Naruto?" Sakura could swear he was shivering.

"I'm fine. I'm fine." Naruto waved her off, but at her narrowed glare, yielded, "Feeling a bit under the weather, probably 'cause I haven't been getting enough sleep."

Sakura frowned, "Naruto-"

"I know." The Hokage interrupted, "Not good, but I'll be fine." Naruto sighed, folding his hands together, "I know that you just got back, but do you think you could get the report on the current situation from Shikamaru? We've been getting pressure from the higher ups to figure out the motive in this case and if we should be expecting another threat." His gaze turned to his advisor, "It might help us get some fresh eyes on this."

"Anything I can do to help."

"So what are we supposed to look for exactly?" Sakura asked as they wandered through the Hokage's personal archives. Scrolls upon scrolls were stored here along with any recording-keeping books, making for an impressive library of knowledge but also an intimidating one depending on one's perspective on written records.

"Our suspect said he requested an audience with the Hokage," Shikamaru explained, "He never did, which means I must have rejected the request on some sort of grounds. Those rejection forms wind up here."

"I'm surprised that those forms haven't been automated yet."

"It's difficult to accept change."

Sakura laughed, the irony not lost on her, "Don't I know it."

Shikamaru smiled, handing her a folder to start looking through. "How are you holding up?"

The medical ninja began to flip through the folder, "It's strange. Some days I'm completely fine and well others…"

"You feel lost?" The advisor guessed.

Sakura looked up from the records, catching Shikamaru's eyes for a moment. "Yeah, exactly." She turned her attention back to the folder. "Hey, is this it?"

Shikamaru set his own folder down and moved closer, "Application: Nakamura Li. Yes, this is it!" Grabbing the document, Shikamaru skimmed the application. "I remember now. He wanted to meet with Naruto because he had several conspiracies about the railroad C-suite."

"What were the conspiracies about?"

"They ranged between his boss trying to kill him to payroll short changing his hours." Shikamaru recalled, "But whenever I checked into those incidents, it seemed clear that he was just making a lot of it up."

"So the guy's a bit disgruntled. He wants to take his former bosses out?" Sakura theorized.

"But why plant the bombs near the railroad? And also, why try to ignite them when there is basically no one around?"

"So the main target is the infrastructure, not people." Sakura concluded, following Shikamaru's train of thought, "Any information about the railroad corporation?"

"Not much, other than their business license application."

"Maybe something about the bombs could tell us something about their maker."

Shikamaru smirked, "Divide and conquer like Operation Delta?"

Old memories resurfaced at the mention of that mission long ago, back when the world seemed simpler."You know me. I love a good puzzle." Sakura conceded with a grin, "I'll go see what Tenten-san has for us, you dig on the company?"

"Always giving me the hard job."

Finding Konoha Police's Weapons and Technology Investigations department took a lot longer than Sakura would like to admit, but she found her way eventually. After stopping to ask the receptionist about where their resident Weapons Master was, Sakura came up to a well-lit room with several tables dispersed throughout the room all with different wires and contraptions that Sakura didn't know the names to.

"Sakura!" Tenten greeted enthusiastically, waving at her. "Welcome to my lab or at least my temporary assigned lab. Shikamaru messaged me and let me know you were on the way."

"That explains why you're not surprised." A sudden screw launched at her as one of the devices set near the table crumpled into a mix of wires and screws, the medic ninja dodged it just in time. The flying projectile lodged itself into the wall behind her.

"Oops." Tenten shot her an apologetic smile, "Ignore that. That was my first try at trying to recreate the bomb device."

"What's with you and your bloodline trying to kill me?" Sakura teased, trusting that the incident with Rachi had been expressed to her parents.

Tenten chuckled, "Rachi was so mortified and despondent when she came home that day. I legitimately thought someone had died. Neji had to wrestle the truth from her. That reminds me, how much do I owe you for the uniform?"

"Nothing." Sakura assured, "I told Rachi, it wasn't a big deal. Gear gets trashed all the time."

"I won't argue with you on this."

"Thank-"

"Right now." Tenten added with a smirk, letting Sakura know this topic would resurface eventually.

The medical ninja conceded with a sigh, patting her friend's shoulder, "So, what did you find?"

Tenten gestured to the main table, grabbing the device from the table, "This is my best attempt at recreating what I saw."

To Sakura's untrained eye, it looked like mechanical spaghetti, but as the weapons master pointed out the features, the device and all its intricacies seemed to come into clarity.

"To put it in short form," Tenten summarized, "This level of sophistication suggests that our guy is calculating, focused, and precise."

"So, the evidence points to the exact opposite of our theory of a crazy conspiracy theorist." Sakura concluded, crossing her arms.

"Sakura!" Ino's voice shot in her mind, startling the Jonin. Tenten's knowing smile alerted the medical ninja to the fact that she wasn't the only one hearing voices. "Hey! I'm not just a "voice" in your head." Ino objected, offended.

Sakura frowned. How could she hear her thoughts?

"I don't need to read your thoughts to guess what you're thinking directly." The Yamanaka head said smugly.

"Get on with it, Ino." Sakura huffed, annoyed at her old friend's attitude. Tenten made a coughing sound that sounded awfully close to a laugh.

Sakura glared at her companion.

"Neji discovered that our suspect has a younger sister. He's bringing her in right now to Intelligence. Shikamaru wanted me to keep you updated."

"What's the sister's name?" Tenten asked.

"Nakamura Aoi."

"Wait. I know that name!" Sakura exclaimed, brows furrowing in concertation. She had heard that name before, but where?

"Umm," the girl stammered, obviously shy, "S-ssory for the interruption." The memory of the bookstore came back to her. Sakura glanced at Tenten, "I gave her tour around the hospital. She wants to be a medic ninja."

"That's unsurprising, everyone wants to be a medic ninja nowadays," Tenten teased, "especially since someone came back from the literal dead."

"Facts." Ino concurred.

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Will you two stop it?" She made sure to project her annoyance at the Yamanaka. "Ino, tell Shikamaru that I would like to join him for the interview. I think a friendly face might help."

"You got it." Ino's presence left as she went to pass on the message.

"Looks like you got a lot of work cut out for you." Tenten commented, stretching out her sore arms. "Good luck, I'll be at the spa if anyone needs me."

Sakura was about to respond when she noticed a flash of pain across the weapon master's face. "Are you okay?"

Tenten clutched her chest, taking a few clipped breaths, "Y-yeah." She breathed shakily, "Sorry. Just got some sudden sharp pain."

Before she could say anything else, Sakura was already in motion checking her companion's temperature with her healing chakra. As her green aura made contact with Tenten's own chakra system, searing fire scorched her own body. Sakura pulled away with a hiss, her green aura surrounding her hands dissipated against her own control. What in the world?

Tenten shot her a concerned look despite her own pain, "Are you okay?"

Sakura tried to reactivate her healing chakra, her hands flickered green as she struggled with her chakra control. Whatever she had made contact with had affected her chakra flow. "I'm fine." She replied, "But, we should get you to the hospital to get checked out fully."

Tenten looked like she was going to protest, but after another pain shot through her chest, she nodded.

Sakura looped an arm around Tenten's shoulders. "Let's go."

When they finally arrived at the hospital entrance, the building had descended into chaos. Medical personnel weaved through crowds, ushering patients to the overflow areas. Doctors and nurses were frantically yelling orders over the screams and groans of pain. Sakura hadn't seen this many patients since— Memories of the war flashed in her mind. The blood. The fear. The pain. The way Tenten stiffened beside her at the state of the hospital told Sakura that she wasn't the only one who seemed to recognize the similarities.

"On second thought," Tenten grimaced, already pulling away from Sakura's support and undoubtedly heading for the exit. "Maybe I'll just go home and—"

"Absolutely not." Sakura shot down the suggestion, tightening her grip on the weapons master. What was with all her friends being so insistent to avoid proper medical care? "We'll go another way." She guided them out the hospital entrance and headed to a staff entrance located in the back. "Shizune gave me my own office space when I returned, so I'll let you rest there."

Relief was visible on Tenten's face at the mention of being left in her office and she muttered a soft thanks when Sakura gently settled the weapons master into one of her office chairs.

"How's the pain level?" Sakura inquired, checking Tenten's temperature the old simplistic way with just the back of her hand, not wanting to risk another chakra reaction without knowing why.

"On a scale of one to ten? This is probably a five."

"That bad, huh?" Sakura commented lightly, trying to keep their spirits high. Using a hair tie, she tied up her hair, "Stay here, drink some water."

Tenten reached for the unopened bottle on her desk.

"Slowly," Sakura instructed, "Small sips and not the whole thing. I'll be back with something that will hopefully help."

Tenten gave her a half-hearted thumbs up, closing her eyes.

Sakura wasted no more time and rushed out of the office, heading straight to find someone who could tell her what in the world was going on. Luckily, it didn't take too long before someone found her instead.

"Sakura-sama!" Kai called out. The kunoichi turned just in time as the doctor caught up with her. "Glad I found you!" He exclaimed, "We're running out of overflow space. I wasn't sure if we could open up some of the office space where we can put the less severe cases."

Out of overflow space? How wide-spread was this? Sakura could feel her concern heighten, "That's a good idea, Kai. How many people are on staff today?"

"We have a full rotation and Shizune-sama has already declared this situation an emergency and pulled those who were on standby as well as those in town who were off."

"Good. Do we have a diagnosis?"

Kai shook his head, "Not yet, we've been sharing theories with each other, but most of us have to focus on stabilization. A low dosage of our chakra neutralizer seems to help for most civilian cases, but for our shinobi patients..." Kai's grim look told her everything, "And the problem with chakra neutralizers is well…"

"...They have to be adjusted to each patient." Sakura finished with a sigh. It was no wonder why there were still so many patients suffering in the entrance way.

Kai shot her a sympathetic look, "Tsunade-sama and Shizune-sama are taking point on finding a cure."

"I should probably check in with them to see if they need my help. Thanks, Kai."

The doctor nodded, aware that the conversation was over.

"Oh,and would you be able to send someone to check on a patient in my office? She'll need to be monitored until we can solve this." Sakura added.

"Consider it done, chief." The doctor vanished around the corner.

Sakura continued on into the main corridor, spotting people laying down on stretchers, civilians and shinobi alike groaning in pain. She tried not to focus on the nightmarish scene, keeping her eyes peeled for her master's green cloak.

It took several more moments of dodging and weaving through the chaos before Sakura managed to catch sight of her master.

"Shishou!" She called out, raising an arm in an effort to alert Tsunade to her presence.

The former Hokage's head whipped around, a small smile of relief at the sight of her apprentice. "Perfect timing. Come."

Catching up to Tsunade, Sakura fell into pace with her long strides. "I got the general rundown from Dr. Kai. What are we dealing with?"

"Shizune and I have deduced it is some kind of virus that infects the system and forces the chakra to attack the rest of the body at a rapid pace."

"So we're looking at celllular deteriation?" Sakura clarified, testing her understanding of the situation.

"Yes, at an alarming pace. Those with less developed systems are easier to stablize and slow the rate of decay. " Tsunade gestured to one of the main conference rooms. "In here."

Sakura followed her master into the room, immediately spotting Shizune who stood in the center of the room, crossing off lists of antidotes on the whiteboard.

"Good, both of you are here." Shizune greeted quickly, eyes already flickering back to the whiteboard in front of her.

Sakura's own eyes scanned the information and handwritten scrawl. They had already been quite thorough in developing a potential diagnosis even to the point of trying to flush out the chakra system using the last-ditch-effort technique Sakura had performed on Kankuro all those years ago in Suna.

"That worked to some extent," Tsunade explained, "But the longer the virus remains in the system, the more it intergrates into the patient's chakra itself. It's virtually impossible to seperate it when it reaches that stage."

Shizune continued to explain all the techniques and remedies that they had tried so far with Tsunade and Sakura interjecting questions and making suggestions every so often. At the current moment, there were no casualties to report, but the three expert medical-nin knew that it was only a matter of time before those numbers rose exponentially. Thousands of people had reported similar symptoms across Konoha with the more severe cases being attributed to shinobi and kunoichi of high ranking status.

Shizune moved on to present the staff's potential theories on what had caused this outbreak, her hand hovering over the circled word "Bombings" with question marks surrounding it. "This was suggested by Ami," Shizune sighed, rubbing her temples, trying to keep the rising headache at bay, "As a medical professional, I'm inclined to dismiss this suggestion outright. But as a shinobi,"

"We cannot rule out the possibility." Tsunade completed the thought seamlessly. "Sakura, Ino said you and Shikamaru were investigating the case. Do you think this circumstances are related?"

Sakura shook her head, "I wasn't able to get very far into the investigation. From what I gathered, our suspect held on to a firm belief that he was stopping Konoha's demise. Shikamaru's conducting an interview with the suspect's sister as we speak." At least, that's what she hoped the Hokage's advisor was doing. She belatedly realized that she forgot to tell Ino that she had been unexpectedly delayed.

"Yeah, thanks for letting your girl know." Ino's (un)helpful voice chimed in, "but I got the report from Shizune, so I told Shikamaru to go on ahead without you." Even though Ino was not in the room with them, somehow Sakura could still see her friend's smug smirk.

Nevertheless, she was grateful that the sensory-user had the foresight to cover Sakura's blind spots. So, Sakura swallowed the witty comment that threatened to rise and settled for a muttered "Thanks" under her breath. The medic-nin was relieved that at least progress was happening on one front.

"Don't mention it. Naruto ordered me to create a link between the major heads of Konoha, so stand by. Once I'm finished, you'll be able to talk with pretty much everyone of importance who is not bed-ridden."

Sakura could feel Ino's presence flicker as she focused on solidifying the connection. "Don't push yourself too hard." The pink-haired kunoichi advised.

Ino's amusement as well as gratitude flooded Sakura's senses, "Don't worry about me." The Yamanaka leader assured right before the connection clicked into place. The three medical-nin nodded at each other in agreement, already knowing who they would contact first.

"Shikamaru, Naruto, please tell us you have some good news." Sakura prompted, reaching out through the connection.

"It's not going well. No matter what I say or do, the girl won't talk to me." Shikamaru huffed, frustration evident in his tone.

"She won't talk to me either," the Seventh Hokage added, "How's it going on your end?"

"We have more questions than answers, I'm afraid." Tsunade summarized. "We're unable to rule out the possibility that some kind of contagion was released upon detonation of the bombs."

"I'm on the main site with Neji and Kiba." Sai interjected. "There's nothing to find here. Nothing out of the ordinary. Our tech equipment specialists confirm that the area is clear. We can move on to the other compromised sites, but I'm confident that we can at least rule out the bombings."

"There's not much else to go on." Naruto mused, "I don't think this is biological warefare. Our relationships with the other lands are the best they have ever been."

"You are certain there are no hidden grudges?" Tsunade prompted. "In my day..." Tsunade continued on, but Sakura took the chance while the Hokages were talking to take a step back and look at the bigger picture.

The medic-nin was almost certain that there was something related to the bombings. The key was in figuring out the motive. The why? Sakura could feel the weight of this absence in her gut. She needed someone else to fill in the blank. "Ino, can you link me with the suspect's sister?"

Sakura could feel the assurance emulating from her old friend in acknowledgment of her request. She could feel the connection grow and shift, until clicked once more into place.

Sakura closed her eyes, visualizing the girl. She looked confused and frightened. Her world thrown upside down.

"Aoi," Sakura called softly.

The girl whipped around at the voice. When she found the medic-nin, tears glistened in her eyes. "Haruno-sama!" The girl cried , "I'm scared. I don't know what is happening."

Sakura felt a pang of sympathy for the girl, thrown into a hectic world unfamiliar and foreign to her. But she could survive, Sakura was certain. "I know you're scared, but you'll be okay. I promise."

Aoi looked uncertain, but at least her quivering ceased.

"You feel like there's no one you can trust. That's why you didn't tell the Hokage and Shikamaru anything right?"

Aoi nodded slowly, "My brother always said to never trust the Hokage or his friends." She admitted softly.

"But you can trust me right?"

When the girl nodded, Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. "Aoi, a lot of people are getting really sick. Do you know anything, anything that could help us?"

The girl's eyes widened, "My brother said this would happen."

"He did?"

"He said that whenever the new railroad powers up. People would get sick. He told me he would stop it." Tears fell from her eyes. "I just never thought he would try to blow everything up."

"Hey," Sakura gently grabbed her by her shoulders, knowing that even in this mind space, she would be able to feel the touch. "You're doing great," she encouraged, "Did he mention anything about how people would get sick?"

"Something about the pollution from the engines, the power source?" The girl furrowed her brows, unsure about her information.

But to Sakura, it held an important clue. She smiled brightly at Aoi, "Thank you, Aoi. Hang in there, okay?"

"Where are you going?" Aoi questioned anxiously, the fear returning to her eyes.

"I have to go help some people now." Sakura explained, "But I'll be back to help." Wasting no more time, Sakura withdrew, rejoining back to the main link, sharing her discoveries in an instant. "Sai."

"Already sending you samples of the train fuel." Her old teammate acknowledged.

"If the train is the cause, we must stop the Rising Moon before it causes more damage. " The Seventh Hokage determined, "Shikamaru, we need to—"

Naruto's voice cut off suddenly and his presence vanished inside the connection. His absence was soon filled with panic. "Naruto just collapsed!" Shikamaru communicated urgently. "Medical team, I'm bringing him to you."

"We'll prepare for your arrival." Shizune assured, projecting calm as much as she could. "Everyone, keep us updated if you make any more discoveries." Her gaze flickered between the other two medics. "We may have figured out the cause, but we're no closer to the cure, and even if we find the source, I fear the antidote may take too much time."

Tsunade clenched her teeth, "Naruto may not last that long. We must find a solution now."

Shizune popped her head outside the conference room and flagged down a nurse from the hallway and ordered her to prepare a stretcher to recieve the Hokage at the entrance. At the mention of the condition of the village leader, the nurse paled and hurried along to deliver the instructions. Shizune sighed, turning back to address Tsunade, "I'm not sure how many more options are available to us."

Sakura turned her attention quickly towards the board. Her emerald eyes scanned the information again, searching for any pattern, anything that could be of use. The virus acted like any other poisonous toxin that Sakura had worked with and followed the usual process of integrating into the body and once inside, tearing it down from the insides. What was different, however, is that this virus affected the chakra system directly, preventing even the standard mystical palm technique. The only condition that Sakura had ever come close to encountering was when—

"That's it." Sakura announced to the room, the solution clear in her mind. Tsunade and Shizune's attention fell on her. "Shizune-san, remember that time I borrowed those poison vials?"

"You mean stole," Shizune corrected with a lifted brow. "But continue," She prompted when Sakura shot her a half-hearted glare.

"It was part of my research on how different poisons reacted to different kinds of matter. Vial 87 when it reacted to water, it became gaseous, and I accidentally absorbed it. The way I cured myself was through a complete chakra system burn out."

Tsunade crossed her arms, a serious expression on her face. "I remember that, you almost died."

Sakura tried not to focus on another reference to her death, "But," She stressed, "I survived. I just had to pull out reserves of chakra to replenish the old."

"If we get rid of the source that the virus feeds upon, we get rid of the virus." Shizune reasoned, thinking through the suggestion. "Your theory is sound, but upon infection patients are no longer able to control their chakra, much less be able to replenish it in time without sustaining significant damage."

"But with this," Sakura pointed to the seal on her forehead, "I believe I can distribute my own chakra and use it to burn out their system while also replenishing their supply."

The two older medical-nin looked at each other, silently debating the feasibility of Sakura's plan.

"That could be incredibly painful," Shizune warned, "and there's no guarantee that it will work."

Sakura knew this. She knew this, but…"What other choice do we have?"

Tsunade grabbed Sakura by the shoulders, a level-gaze settled upon the pink-haired kunoichi. "Can you do this?" It was a simple question, but one that held deep meaning for the both of them. It was the tone Tsunade only used when she knew that what she was asking of her apprentice was a heavy burden, when she knew that her expectations for her apprentice were unfair, when she knew that this was something important that she trusted only her apprentice to complete.

Sakura nodded, determination etched on her features, "I can, Shishou."

The former Hokage's eyes scanned her, testing the strength of Sakura's resolve. She released her apprentice, "Get to it, then."

Sakura nodded once more and spun on her heel, heading towards the entrance to help receive their patient with Tsunade and Shizune following closely.

"Make way!" Voices shouted as Shikamaru and another ANBU carried Naruto in on a stretcher, surrounded by medical personnel.

The Hokage looked ghastly, and worryingly his breathing was shallow. Sakura quickly checked his pulse, noting how it stuttered and thrummed unnaturally. "Get him to the operating room." She ordered the staff around her.

There was a chorus of agreement and everyone rushed around the Hokage, following orders.

After ushering all the people out of the room, Sakura placed her hands on Naruto's shoulders. She inhaled slowly, releasing the seal. The black markings stretched across her skin, the power coursing through her body. She let it pool around her fingertips before willing it to advance. The seal wrapped around the Hokage, crossing in and out from his head down to his toes.

Fiery resistance pushed back, but this time Sakura wouldn't let it push her away. Leaning into the pain, Sakura willed the chakra to burn away and purge the Hokage's own system.

The pain was almost immediate. She could feel the burning sensation spreading throughout her own body, tearing through muscle and ligaments. The Strength of a Hundred Seal fought back against the damage, knitting back flesh and sinew. The experience was agonizing, a seemingly endless cycle of destruction and renewal. Sakura grinded her teeth, forcing back the scream that threatened to rise within her.

Just a little more. Almost there.

She could feel it. She was so close. Yet, the pain...

Channeling her scream into a yell, Sakura willed herself to push past her limits.

A sudden bright glow encapsulated the room and the next thing she knew, others had flooded the room, monitoring the Hokage's condition. Tsunade was holding her up, keeping Sakura from crashing onto the white tile below.

Shizune placed a gentle green hand over Naruto's forehead. After a few moments, she smiled brightly. "He's clear."

Sakura sighed in relief. It had actually worked. From outside the operating room, several doctors and nurses clapped at the good news, a sign of hope that this nightmare could end.

Tsunade grinned at her apprentice, a mischievous sparkle in her eyes. Tsunade's own seal activated, and Sakura could feel the warmth of her master's chakra fill and boost her, "Wanna see who can still heal the most?" Tsunade challenged.

Sakura laughed for the first time since this had all started. Her master was just as competitive as ever. "You're on. I'm already up by one."