The Lost Princess Returns (Sequel to The Lost Princess, Kiba Inuzuka Love Story)

Chapter 6

Ayumi's P. O. V:

I summon my tigers and set up an IV drip before I go to the greenhouse in Sunagakure to gather the needed herbs for the antidote with Sakura. My tigers remain inside with my teammates, to keep them company, including Miyuki's and Kage's sons and daughter, Ryo, Kai and Sarabi, along with Kilala's and Kaminari's daughter, Nala.

After the mission to the Crescent Moon Kingdom, Kilala and Kaminari have sorted things out and started dating. It wasn't long before we learned Kilala was pregnant with Nala.

I say in astonishment as I use a pestle to crush some herbs, "I never imagined I'd find such a wide variety of medicinal herbs here in the Hidden Sand."

"I know, right?" Sakura says in agreement.

"Well, we try," Says a medic to my left, as he glances at us. "Our soil's not very well suited to growing them. We can't grow much scurvic grass, for example."

Sakura assured him, "That's alright. There's enough,"

I add, "I can make three doses of antidote."

I spend all day in the greenhouse trying to find just the right mixture of herbs for the antidote. The sun casts its orange glow over the Hidden Sand as I take a squeezer tube to suck up a bit of the antidote, a light brown liquid, while Sakura and the medics take out a scroll to squirt some of the poison on it for testing.

I step over as they move aside and release the single drop of the antidote onto the poison. With a soft "plop," the purple substance vanishes with an angry hiss.

A triumphed grin appears on my lips. "It worked!" I say. Everyone else gasps in relief and happiness. "It's ready!"

We gather the equipment and I carry a tray of the antidote in a teapot with a glass on the side back to the emergency room. Kankuro had regained consciousness awhile ago. He watches me in awe as I pour a glass of the brown substance and hold it up to his lips.

"Here. The antidote will help," I say as he guzzles the whole thing down without a breather, a hand wrapped around my own on the glass. Temari watches on worriedly. "That's right. Drink it all." Kakashi had sent out his ninja hounds to sniff out the Akatsuki's scent with a scrap of his clothing Kankuro got when he fought him.

My tigers lack an acute sense of smell, unlike a ninja hound, so they'd remained here. Tigers rely on their hearing and sight for hunting.

When Kankuro finishes, I pull the glass back and set it down, seeing a trail of the brown liquid running down the right side of his mouth as he takes in a deep gulp of air. Kankuro coughs air back into his lungs as I turn to him.

"There. You should be alright, now," I tell him. I add firmly, "Just lie back and rest, and don't move until the numbness passes."

"Thank you," He croaks out, gazing up at me, but I glance away when Baki speaks up.