Act I
╌❀✿╌╌💮╌╌✿❀╌
Introduction
╌❀✿╌╌💮╌╌✿❀╌
Sakura quickly made her way through the trees. It was dark, making it hard to see very far and causing her to stumble every so often. Her hair was wet from the rain that was now blocked by the trees, and her clothes were muddy and heavy with water. She held the bag in her arms close to her as she rushed through the woods.
She kept going, from branch to branch. Her feet moved faster as she pumped chakra into them. Adrenaline pumped through her, coursing through her veins. Suddenly a kunai shot ahead of her, leaving pink strands of hair to fall to the ground in her wake.
She cursed as she focused on who threw the kunai. Slamming her left foot into a branch, she propelled herself to the right and masked her chakra. The moment she became hidden by the trunk of a tree, she fell to the ground and began to run the opposite direction she had been moments before, hoping to lose the shinobi on her tail.
She never thought she would see her village do something like it had, banning the rescue of those who had not come back on their own. She refused to go back to that village.
Back to Konoha.
╌❀✿╌╌💮╌╌✿❀╌
Chapter 1
╌❀✿╌╌💮╌╌✿❀╌
After a few hours, Sakura had entered the Land of Waves, losing the tracking shinobi before she had started heading in its direction. It had been a while, hadn't it? The Naruto Bridge would be up ahead. She outwardly frowned at the name.
After a few more minutes of running, she reached the bridge. It did not look as new as it had, as there were many scratches and scrapes on the walkway. Images of the mission there flashed through her mind before she shook her head, clearing her thoughts. That was not important at the moment. It was more important for her to heal the three she had with her as soon as possible. She looked down at the bag in her arms.
Worry started to well up in her as she quickly sprinted across the bridge. The journey took her five or six minutes in total. As she reached the other side she saw people going about their day. Some laughing and playing, others arguing or keeping to themselves. She attempted to recall the route to the old bridge builder's house but found herself drawing a blank. About to start off in a random direction, a woman's voice caught her attention.
"Sakura? Is that you?" She turned to find Tsunami, the woman who she had helped at the very start of her shinobi career. "It is you! Look how you've grown! But dear, you're filthy, are you alright?"
She had a concerned air about her. Sakura responded with a nod, and the woman somewhat grasped the urgency that the younger was experiencing. "Come, let's head to my house."
She started off along the coast of the island, triggering Sakura's memory. The young woman quickly approached her.
"Tsunami! Do you have medical supplies? Like needles and thread, bandages, antibiotics?" the shinobi asked quickly. Tsunami looked at her and thought for a moment.
"They're at the house. Sakura, what in the world is wrong? Are you hurt?"
"No, but I have two men and a child here that are in critical condition and I don't have enough supplies. Where are they at your house?"
"In the cabinet above the oven," she blurted, now understanding how desperate she really was.
"I'll meet you there. I'm sorry!" With that, Sakura was off like a bullet. She jumped to the rooftops, sprinting at the fastest she was able without chakra and reaching the house within fifty or so seconds. She jumped to the ground, landing in front of the door, and knocked several times. The door opened to reveal an aged Tazuna with a look of irritation. The look quickly melted into one of surprise however as his eyes landed on her.
"Sakura! What are you doing here?" He noticed her expression and frowned. "Is everything okay?"
"May I come in?" she asked quickly.
"Of course," he nodded, responding to her tone.
"Tazuna, do you have a room I would be able to operate in?" she asked him, eyes scanning the room they were in.
"Well, not really. We don't have all those fancy machines hospitals do."
"I'll handle the equipment, I just need a room. Well, two rooms: one for when they are out of surgery and one for the operations," she spoke quickly. "I'm running out of time."
"You can use my room for the operation and... Tsunami's for after. Follow me." He started to head off towards the bedrooms.
"Hey, grandpa! Who was it?!" a boy's voice called from down the hall.
"Inari! Get out here!" Tazuna yelled. The boy came running out and followed along with them, clearly wondering what was going on. "Sakura here is having an emergency of some sort."
"What? Sakura!?" He looked at the woman. "It's you! You came back!"
"Hello, Inari," she smiled, "could you please help us set up some equipment?"
"Sure," he muttered as they reached Tazuna's room. It held a mat with a table in the middle of the floor and a bed on the left side, a few bottles here and there.
"I need everything out of the center of the room," she instructed. The two of them gave small looks of shock at the authority that was held in her voice but quickly did as they were told. Once everything was in a corner of the room, Sakura turned to them. "We need all three of them to be stable before I can work on one of them fully."
"Three!?" Tazuna asked, surprised. The sound of the front door could be heard swiftly opening and closing, followed by footsteps quickly coming in their direction. Tsunami came into the room catching her breath, giving the indication that she had run most of the way there.
"Right. Tsunami, please go and get all of the medical supplies you have. Inari and Tazuna, please help me set up both rooms. We don't have much time as the stasis will stop working soon," Sakura said.
The three of them nodded and Tsunami left. Sakura led the remaining two into Tsunami's room and they moved everything to a corner before Sakura removed a scroll from her bag. She placed the bag against the wall next to the door. The two watched her intently as she crouched down and quickly unfurled the scroll. The room filled with smoke that dissipated to show that Sakura was already moving the stabilizing equipment. She came back and got the hospital bed and separating curtains before putting them in place as well. When she was done with the first setup, she turned to the others to see that Tsunami had come back.
"Tsunami, Inari, I want you to make two more beds like this. As fast as possible, okay?" They nodded. "Tazuna, come help me set up the other room."
She jogged to the room designated for the operations, having grabbed her bag as she passed it, and pulled out another scroll the same size as the last. She unrolled only a portion of it, and smoke once again filled the room. The smoke cleared, revealing a large white tarp, which they unfolded and used to cover a majority of the floor. She then released the rest of the scroll, resulting in somewhat different equipment from before. After setting up, they returned to the other room to find the beds had been set up perfectly. Sakura nodded, quickly thanking them.
"Now, I'm going to release these three from the scroll and I need everyone's help." They nodded in response. "Tazuna, I need you to help me put them in the beds while you two keep the bed still and insert the IVs. Do either of you know how?"
Tsunami nodded.
"Yes, I helped in the medical area of the tents when Konoha was destroyed."
Sakura subconsciously frowned at the mention of the name, the old man raising a brow in confusion as he noticed it.
"Good, let's get started." Sakura took on an authoritative posture. "As soon as I release them, they will slowly resume losing blood. I need to stop the flow of blood before I can operate. We will start with the child. Ready?"
They nodded again, and she undid the scroll. As soon as the smoke cleared, she could tell that they were taken aback.
In front of them lay Kakashi, with a deep wound going from his left shoulder to his right hip.
The next was Konohamaru with three large gashes on his right side and a cut on his left arm going from his wrist to his upper bicep.
Lastly was Sai, who had a less lethal cut going down the majority of his right leg. Lying next to him was his right arm, which had been severed just below the elbow.
"Let's go." Sakura picked them up with the help of Tazuna and placed them on their respective beds, the order the same as they came from the scroll. Tsunami inserted the IVs, while Inari helped. After they were all stabilized, Konohamaru was taken to the operating room and the long task of the medical shinobi began.
╌❀✿╌╌💮╌╌✿❀╌
Chapter 1 - Extended
╌❀✿╌╌💮╌╌✿❀╌
Exhausted after using most of her chakra, Sakura sat down at the table. She was glad she was able to get Sai's arm back on. There would be a scar, but she had been able to reconnect all of the nerves. Konohamaru was fine, but he would need to stay under until his wounds healed a bit more. He would want to move around, as he would be distraught when he woke up. Kakashi had his stomach cut open along with the rest of his abdomen. Though, since she did not have the proper equipment, he was going to have to watch what he ate for a while.
She didn't know why, but that had been the hardest it had ever been to operate on someone. She had been fully composed with Konohamaru and Sai, but when Tsunami and Tazuna came in with Kakashi she had frozen up. She wondered if it may have been because he was her teacher or if it was because she had never had to fix that much of a stomach before.
"I hope they heal up okay..." was the last thing she remembered saying before falling asleep.