Sehnsucht [Naruto Fanfiction]

Chapter 30 - Shook

Chapter 30 - Shook

It began as a calm day in Konoha. Hitori and Sakura were working on her medicines in the hospital when the floor beneath them began to shake and tremble. Things began to fall on the counter, their hard work in tubes and beakers smashed and destroyed. Both girls screamed in terror, clambered underneath a large counter and hoped to avoid the falling debris. Luckily, most of the cabinets filled with ingredients were shut and latched, but a couple were still open. It died down much faster than they had expected, and both of them launched themselves out from underneath the counter once it was over and went out to the patients immediately, their previous work forgotten. They went their separate ways without speaking about it. Sakura headed toward Sasuke's room, and Hitori went the other way, checked on everyone, and made a quick mental tally of broken equipment or furniture.

After a few minutes, they met back at the nurses' station and began instructing the staff gathered there, just in time for a runner to arrive.

"Head Medic Haruno! There has been a landslide in a village nearby. They need medics now!" the young Chunin yelled so she could hear him over the sound of the people and crazily beeping machines.

Sakura looked straight at Hitori, and they immediately knew what the other was thinking. Hitori nodded once and took off with the runner. Sakura would stay behind and organise a team and supplies to come a little while behind them. This would allow immediate assistance with more time to organise everything they needed. Four lower-ranked medics went with her, as they would be able to help her as best they could until the entire team arrived.

They headed to the village gates, and Hitori was surprised to find Itachi there. He talked with Kakashi, and they both stared at her as she passed. Without a prompt, she went right to the head of the group and stood on a rock that brought her up just enough to look at the top of everyone's heads. If the situation didn't need to be dealt with swiftly, she would have made a joke about her height just to get a laugh out of everyone and lighten the mood.

"May I have everyone's attention?!" She yelled just so they could all hear her and then went dead silent. "I am currently in charge of the medical team. Head Medic Haruno is assembling a large team with supplies who will follow us shortly. We must set up a triage as soon as we arrive and get set up in a safe and stable area. I will need assistance setting up and designating clean areas in case of emergency surgery. Any questions?" She waited for a moment, but no one spoke.

"Let's move out!"

The group headed out at top speed with Hitori at the head. Kakashi was on her right, trailing just slightly behind her. She felt strange but was becoming used to being in charge. This sort of disaster always required swift action, and her time in ANBU had definitely helped with that. Her confidence had increased with experience and training from Itachi as well. She didn't need as much time to process before she made her decisions anymore. Although she didn't consciously acknowledge it, she knew that a particular pair of red and black eyes drifted to her occasionally, and she wondered if he was proud of her. Surely, she would find out later, but for now, she needed to focus. Especially until Sakura arrived.

The Split River village was aptly named and close by. It was a large village that mostly ran off fishing from the rivers and traded in their popular marketplace. Once they were across one river, they could see the far side of the second river bank was falling apart and still unstable. The town was next to where the river split apart, but the earthquake and subsequent landslide had caused tonnes of rock and debris to get pushed into the village by the shaken river. The river bed was also destroyed and had left no resistance. Rushing water had washed away or damaged some smaller buildings. It was a mess, and people screamed in pain, yelling to their friends and loved ones in anguish and fear. It was a horrible scene, but they had no time to think about it.