Until Then

Chapter 12 ~ Letters

"In my recovery
I'm a soldier at war
I have broken down walls
I defined
I designed"

•••

Standing behind the wooden table together with the other members of the temporary group, Sakura observed the plants carefully.

"Wait a minute." She said, moving over to the large monitor, her fingers clicking quickly on the keyboard. Technology had certainly improved, and one of the latest additions to this facility were the computers.

Opening up a map of the area on the big screen, her eyes scanned over the various villages. "This, this village here."

Hoshigakure.

"What of it?" Rukia asked, confused. "I had been through this village a week or so ago, there was something strange about it. I couldn't place anything odd but now it all makes sense!"

The group members shared looks of confusion as the pinkette tried explaining what she has discovered.

"You think this is the root cause?" Jin, one of the analysts asked, taking the pen from behind his ear to scribble something onto his clipboard.

"We shouldn't rule out other possibilities but I'm almost certain this one's it."

Sakura recalled what she had seen when going through Hoshigakure, the 'vast array of subsidising vegetation.' Of course logically, barren land and lack of vegetation could just be due to the arid climate and potential negligence from poor farming practices-but there seemed to be a link here that the Konoha Medic simply couldn't overlook.

"There isn't much information available about this place. Figuring out anything is going to be a mission." Added one of the members.

"This might be the reason for slowing down or rather overall decline of plant life. This type just isn't natural!"

"Artificial?" The pinkette shook her head at the question being asked. Jin began to answer as if piecing the situation together. "Not artificial, but definitely man-made or tampered." He frowned running a hand over his forehead. This drew attention to the small piercing near the edge of his right eyebrow, that had been covered by his brown bangs.

The team worked diligently through the hours, making the most of what they had, despite not having much information or sources to begin with in the first place!

•••

'What a long day.' she thought while sitting on the edge of the leather seat, elbows resting on her knees. "Knock knock." A voice came from the side causing Sakura to look up.

There stood Jin with a small tray, on top of it a container of food and bottled water. "You're here late." The pinkette said, watching as he walked over.

"I could say the same for you. I bet you haven't even ate yet." He said with a smile, offering her the tray.

She raised an eyebrow at him, but the brown haired boy only laughed softly at her expression. "We all went to grab a bite, but you're still in the same place as we left you! Just thought you might be hungry."

Sakura found herself returning his smile, grateful at his innocent gesture. "Thank you, but you really shouldn't have worried."

"It's not a problem." He placed the tray on the seat next to her, as she shifted to make space, thinking he was going to sit down aswell.

"I actually just came to drop this off. I have to get home now." Jin said, straightening his back as turned to leave.

"Hey...Did someone tell you to do this?" Sakura questioned shyly, motioning to the food. She didn't want anyone to have to go out of their way to make sure she ate or was taken care of.