On The Same Path [SasuxSaku]

Chapter 10: Healing Hands

~ Sakura's POV

Sunagakure was hot. Hotter than anything she's experienced. She could almost swear that it wasn't as hot the last time she visited it. After taking a quick shower, Sakura headed out to the Suna medical center escorted by Yuu. Yuu was behaving very distinctly, and wasn't constantly nagging her with questions the way he did during the journey. Sakura noticed it but chose to ignore it because it was frankly a relief. But she did have something to say to him regardless of her feelings.

"Thank you, Yuu-san," she started. "Sasuke-kun told me you helped me heal from the poison. Honestly, I am embarrassed that you both had to spend so much of your chakra and energy into healing me."

Yuu nodded in acknowledgment, although he wasn't sure why she put Sasuke and him in the same category. From what he had seen in the room and from the worried look on the Uchiha's face, they were already a couple.

The way the Uchiha had behaved after she was poisoned, the aura he emitted almost resembled that of a wolf protecting its own.

"And the reports are truly helpful!", she continued, "I spend some time last night and I think I have a faint idea how this disease can be treated, although it's just a hunch at the moment."

In spite of their moments on the way to Suna, and the date (if she could even call it that—it literally lasted two and a half minutes, if she connected it to the amount of time it took to finish an onigiri), Sakura's mind was focused on the mysterious way those insects behaved.

Although it sucked that she had been poisoned, Sakura ultimately believed that it had helped her find the connection between the ongoing disease in Suna and the insects' behavior, and how she could leverage that knowledge to her advantage.

It sucked that she had to be the guinea pig, but she realized the previous night that getting bitten by the insects had actually saved valuable research time.

Another theory that led her to this realization was the fact that Sasuke hadn't been poisoned. Because the truth was, she hadn't actually been bitten by the insects either.

The insects, in fact, emitted a toxin that disrupted the chakra of whoever was hunting them. It was really just a defense mechanism.

And if that was the case, Sasuke had also been close enough to be poisoned.

Now, either he hadn't been affected because he was male, or because, well, Sasuke was resistant to most poisons thanks to his years under Orochimaru.

If it was the former, then it would explain why only females and children were being affected. Children generally have weaker immune systems, but as for why only females were affected, she unfortunately didn't have an answer yet.

Earlier, she had assumed it was some kind of viral or bacterial disease, probably spread by the very insects she was trying to collect. But thanks to her unexpected pit stop in Amegakure, she realized that it was actually the radiation emitted by the insects.

That would explain why no one had been able to find a cure.

In many ways, this was beyond the scope of normal medical research.

After spending the night thinking through this conclusion, she quickly went to inspect the situation to confirm her speculation. She was grateful that Sunagakure had enough medical facilities to keep everyone affected alive.

She also left a note for Sasuke with the receptionist because, if her hunch was correct, she already had the cure with her.

Please visit the medical center when you see this.
- Sakura