Two days passed in a limbo, in a silence almost more exhausting than the battle. Konoha continued its routine, oblivious to the hell they had just returned from. Food stalls opened, children ran to the Academy, and life went on. But for them, the world had shrunk to the four white walls of the hospital waiting room.
"I know the stains on the ceiling by heart now," Sakura murmured, her head resting against the wall, her eyes fixed on a crack shaped like a lightning bolt. "There are twelve. And if you squint, the one in the corner looks like a sad rabbit."
Naruto, who had been pacing in circles around the room, stopped short. "A rabbit? Where? I don't see any rabbit." He walked over to Sakura's chair and stared at the ceiling with a frown, trying to make out the pattern.
"You have to let your eyes go out of focus," she explained, without moving. "It's like those magic eye pictures from the books."
"Oh. Well, I still don't see anything." He dropped into the chair next to her with a frustrated sigh. "Do you think they'll let us see him today?"
"I don't know, Naruto. I guess they'll let us know," Sakura replied, and the dejection in her voice was so palpable that Naruto dropped the subject of the rabbit.
The waiting room was too monotonous. The entirety of Team Seven and Team Eight were trapped there. Kurenai had been discharged that morning with orders for absolute bed rest, and Kakashi would appear and disappear, always with the excuse of having "reports to file." Sasuke was still behind a door with a sign that read "Intensive Care Unit," a forbidden territory guarded by nurses with stern looks.
"I think they're hiding something from us," said Ino, who was sitting across from Sakura, filing her nails. "Why all the secrecy? We're his friends, aren't we? We should have the right to know what's going on."
"Because we're not the doctors, Ino," Shikamaru replied without opening his eyes. "And because information is power. And we're genin. We have neither information nor power. This whole situation is a drag."
"Anyone want a chip?" Chōji offered, opening a bag that seemed to materialize out of nowhere. The crunching filled the silence for a moment.
Kiba stretched, cracking several bones in his back. "If I have to spend one more minute in this stupid chair, my back is going to divorce the rest of my body. This is torture."
Hinata, sitting shyly next to Naruto, spoke in a faint voice. "Maybe… maybe they just need time to make sure he's okay before they give us any news."
"Or maybe it's so bad they don't know how to tell us," Ino countered, setting her nail file aside. She looked directly at Sakura. "You were there, on the bridge. You saw everything. What did that guy with the mask do to him?"
A knot formed in Sakura's stomach. The image of Sasuke, riddled with senbon, flashed in her mind. "It was… fast," she half lied. "Sasuke got in the way, but he couldn't do anything."
"Got in the way? Just like that?" Ino insisted, narrowing her eyes. "Come on, Sakura. They call him the last Uchiha, the genius of our generation. And he gets taken down that easily?"
"It wasn't easy," Naruto growled, getting defensive. "That guy wasn't normal."
"It's troublesome to argue about something that's already happened," Shikamaru intervened, finally sitting up. He rubbed the back of his neck. "What matters is what happens now. And from the look on Kakashi sensei's face every time he shows up, it's not going to be simple."
Suddenly, a swirl of dry leaves formed in the center of the room, and from it materialized a tall, slender figure in an ANBU uniform and a porcelain fox mask with red markings.
In an instant, they were all on their feet.
The ANBU's voice, filtered and distorted, was impersonal and direct.
"All members of Team Eight. Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki. Kurenai Yūhi is waiting for you in the west wing, meeting room three. The Hokage summons you for the official mission report. Now."
With another swirl of leaves, he was gone.
The silence he left behind was heavier than before. They weren't just calling the team leaders or those directly involved. They were calling everyone who was there.
"Meeting room? Why don't we just meet at the tower?" Kiba asked, confused.
Shino adjusted his glasses. "It's logical. Kurenai sensei will want to align our testimonies before we present ourselves to the Hokage."
They met Kurenai in a small, nondescript room. She was standing, wearing a simple burgundy kimono.
"Kiba, Shino," she said in a firm voice. "Watch the door from the outside. Don't let anyone get close or listen. What I need to discuss first concerns Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata. That's an order."
Kiba frowned. "Huh? Why can't we…?"
"It's an order, Kiba," Kurenai repeated, her tone leaving no room for argument.
With a resigned grunt, Kiba left, followed by a silent Shino. The door closed, leaving the three genin in a tense silence with the jōnin.
"Listen to me very carefully," Kurenai said, her voice dropping to an urgent whisper. "We're going to the Hokage's office. Kakashi will meet us there, but he doesn't know anything about this. What happened in the swamp… the way Naruto acted… it cannot be in the official report."
Naruto opened his mouth. "But, Kurenai sensei, I just…"
"I know, Naruto. I know you saved me," she cut him off, her gaze softening. "But you can't let the Konoha council know how you did it. Not yet. You're a genin. If they reveal the nature of your power, you'll stop being a shinobi and become a specimen. They'll lock you up, study you, and turn you into a weapon. And I won't let that happen."
The color drained from Naruto's face. A chill ran down Sakura's spine.
"The hospital has already sent a medical report to the Hokage," Kurenai continued. "We can't deny my injury or the miraculous recovery. So we're going to give them a different explanation."
Her gaze fell directly on Sakura.
"Sakura. I saw you try to heal Sasuke on our way back. I saw your chakra. We're going to use that. We'll tell the Hokage that, under extreme stress from seeing me fall, you manifested a latent healing ability that no one knew you had. Your chakra, acting on instinct, is what saved me."
"WHAT?!" Sakura exclaimed, horrified. "Sensei, I can't! I didn't do that! I don't know how!"
"But you have the chakra control to learn," Kurenai replied. "It's a plausible lie. It's the only alibi that protects us. It protects you from questions you can't answer, and it protects Naruto from a future in a cage. Hinata," she turned to her student, "I'm trusting in your discretion."
Hinata, though visibly nervous about the scale of the deception, nodded with determination.
Kurenai looked back at Sakura. "I know I'm asking a huge thing of you. I'm putting you in the spotlight. But you're the only one who can make this story work. Do you trust me?"
Sakura felt a lump in her throat. She looked at Naruto, who was watching her with a mixture of fear and gratitude. It was a terrible burden, but the alternative was unthinkable.
She nodded slowly. "I'll… I'll do it."
"Good," Kurenai said. She opened the door and looked at her other two students. "Kiba, Shino, come here."
The two genin entered, their expressions curious.
"Now you two listen to me," Kurenai said, her voice regaining a purely military command tone. "For tactical reasons you are not cleared to know, the official mission report will contain a modification. It will state that my injury was healed by a latent medical ability of Sakura's. This matter is classified. If the Hokage asks, you will corroborate this version of events. You will not ask questions. You will not speculate about it. This is a direct order concerning the security of the village. Is that clear?"
Kiba blinked, completely bewildered. "Her? The girl from Kakashi sensei's team? A super healer?"
Shino, for his part, processed the order without flinching. "Understood, sensei."
"Kiba," Kurenai insisted.
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. If you say so, sensei. It was your skin that got saved, I guess. Loud and clear."
"Good. Now let's go."
They left the room and walked in a tense silence toward the tower. Kakashi was already there, leaning against the wall by the Hokage's office door, reading his book.
He looked up as they arrived. "Ready?" he asked, his tone as carefree as ever, completely unaware of the pact they had just made. "Remember: just the facts, clearly and concisely. No need to add drama. Let's go in."
He knocked twice on the door. The tired voice of the Third Hokage gave them permission to enter.
The atmosphere in the Hokage's Office was heavy and formal. Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his desk, surrounded by scrolls. Two masked ANBU stood guard in the corners.
"Kakashi. Kurenai. Genin," the Hokage greeted them. "Take a seat."
No one moved. Team Seven and Team Eight positioned themselves in front of the desk, a small unit of ninja about to be questioned.
"Let's begin," Hiruzen said. "Kakashi, your report."
Kakashi's account was impeccable and sterile: a textbook report on the mission's escalation, the confrontation with Zabuza, and the resolution of the conflict.
When he finished, the Hokage nodded slowly, taking a puff from his pipe. "Understood. Kurenai, your supplementary report. Team Eight arrived as backup."
"That's correct, Lord Hokage," Kurenai said, stepping forward. "We arrived during the second confrontation on the bridge. My genin handled Gatō's thugs while I provided support for Kakashi. However, before that, we faced other minions in a swamp. It was there I sustained a considerable injury."
"Ah, yes. The injury," Hiruzen said, setting down his pipe. "The hospital delivered an almost unbelievable report this morning. It speaks of complete cellular regeneration of a wound that, by all accounts, should have been fatal. Explain."
Kurenai didn't hesitate. "Lord Hokage, what the report says is true. The wound would have killed me." She paused, her gaze shifting to Sakura. "However, Sakura, acting on pure instinct and under extreme stress, manifested a latent healing ability that no one, not even she, knew she possessed."
Sakura felt Kakashi's gaze on her. His single visible eye had widened slightly, the only sign of his utter shock. He was hearing this for the first time, and the confusion was evident even on him.
A blush of panic and humiliation crept up Sakura's neck. She felt everyone's eyes on her, but especially her own sensei's, drilling into her.
Naruto leaned a little closer to her. "So you were keeping secrets, huh, Sakura chan?" he whispered.
She shot him a death glare.
"Sakura Haruno," the Hokage's voice brought her back to reality. "Step forward."
Trembling, she took a step forward.
"Were you aware of this ability?" Hiruzen asked, his gaze penetrating.
Sakura took a deep breath, clinging to the story Kurenai had built for her. "N-not exactly, Lord Hokage. I… I just wanted to help. I was desperate. When I saw Kurenai sensei fall… I felt… useless. I focused my chakra into my hands, like they taught us. But… instead of wanting to break something, this time I wanted… to fix it. It was an impulse. Like my chakra knew what to do. It just… happened."
It was the truth, from a certain point of view.
Hiruzen studied her in silence for a long moment. Then he looked at the other genin. "Team Eight, you were present. Do you corroborate this account?"
Kiba clenched his jaw and nodded stiffly. "Yes, Lord Hokage. It happened just as Kurenai sensei said."
Shino and Hinata nodded as well, in silence. Their brief confirmation sealed the story.
"An innate healing ability… Fascinating," Hiruzen murmured. "This, added to Sasuke's strange condition… The hospital informed me. Their final diagnosis was that only one person has the experience to treat cellular damage of that nature and to identify such a rare healing Kekkei Genkai."
A spark of hope lit up Sakura's face. Naruto leaned forward.
"Tsunade," Hiruzen said.
Hope ignited in the room. They had a path.
"Then we have to find her!" Naruto said.
The Hokage picked up his pipe again, and with it, the full weight of his office. "I'm afraid that's where the path ends. At least for now."
That hope was shattered. "What?" said Sakura.
"Lord Hokage," Kakashi intervened, his voice tense, clearly still processing the revelation about his student while defending his other one. "Sasuke doesn't have time."
"I know, Kakashi," Hiruzen replied. "But finding Tsunade is an S rank mission. And in less than a month, the Chūnin Exams begin here in Konoha. All of our forces, every jōnin and ANBU, will be dedicated to the security of the village and our guests. We simply don't have the resources to launch a search of that magnitude. Not now. It would be strategically irresponsible."
His words fell upon them with the weight of a sentence.
Frustration and helplessness showed on the genin's faces. Sakura's hope had been extinguished. Naruto clenched his fists, his jaw tight. Kiba, Hinata, and Shino shared the same grim expression. They had been given an impossible solution.
I'm sorry, kids, Hiruzen thought, looking at the new generation of shinobi standing before him. I'm truly sorry. But the village comes first. Always. The search for Tsunade… will have to wait.
*****
Do you like ecchi and comedy novels? Then don't hesitate and give this story a chance:
My Wives are Konoha's Strongest