Sage's Resurrection

Chapter 42

Sayuri absently fed Naruto some of her chakra for the third time that day.

The massive blood loss that Naruto had experienced had left him cold and almost permanently asphyxiating.

While she was waiting for Kurama to fix Naruto's body, she had to pick up the slack and keep Naruto alive in the interim.

"How often do you need to do this?" Ayase asked. Even though they were faced with starvation, the town still offered them food.

"I just need to keep him warm and filter his bloodstream," she said. "It's the least I can do for him."

He nodded, and left two bowls of soup next to her. "He's very fortunate to have someone like you by his side."

He left, and Sayuri looked back towards Naruto.

He was so vulnerable, so unguarded, for once.

For as long as she knew him, nearly as long as she remembered, he'd never let his guard down. Not even in his sleep, where he'd wake up, chakra flaring, before profusely apologising to whoever woke him up.

He looked so peaceful like this. Not worrying about the conceptual war that he was facing made him look even better than usual, unburdened by the world.

If I could see him like this more... she shook the thought away.

His safety came first.

His eyelids fluttered for a moment and she jumped a little.

A quick scan with her sharingan provided good news. His breathing was stabilising, and his skin was rapidly regaining its colour.

His eyes opened, and he groaned. "How long was I out?"

She smiled. "A few days."

"Oh damn, I've gotta pay them back," he said while getting up.

She pushed him back down. "Not like that, you aren't. Keep resting, you still haven't fully recovered yet. You won't be able to use jutsu for a little bit."

Naruto paused before going back under the covers. "Fine. As soon as I'm recovered, we'll fix this place."

She left the room.

"Has he finally woken up?"

"Yes. Is there anything I can do to help you?"

"Well, aside from the poor harvest, we need firewood, we need to reconstruct some of the mills, I think Sena said she wanted new pottery..." Ayase trailed off.

"Leave it to me."

---

"You're way better at this than I thought," Sena said. She wiped away excess clay on her sleeve.

Sayuri extracted a few of the jars for glazing. "It's an old family craft. The Uchiha used to make the best ceramics in the world."

Sena smirked. "Quite proud of it, aren't you?"

Sayuri shrugged as she swirled the ash one last time before draining the water. "It's the truth. We have cups and bowls from almost six hundred years ago. They'll last you a lifetime, I'm sure of it."

"I see. I didn't think you'd teach me, though."

Sayuri finished brushing the first pot. "There's no one else to pick up the craft. What else am I supposed to do?"

"Then, thank you."

Sayuri finished glazing the pots and placed them back into the kiln. "Sena, if you could help me here?"