Approaching Sun

Chapter 1: A New Dawn

Looking down at the letter in his hands, Uchiha Sasuke read the sloppy script slowly. It was from Naruto, who was congratulating him on his success protecting the Hidden Leaf Village. His idiot friend was saying something about the Uchiha's quest of atonement and then mentioned how Sakura thought his efforts were very much like the members of the once proud Konoha Police force. Maybe it was the overwhelming sense of nostalgia that came with those words that had the Uchiha turning on his heels. Or maybe it was this sudden desire to stand, if just for a moment, in front of that building that had once displayed the crest of his clan. Flashes of his older brother carrying him on his back came to the front of his mind. Perhaps it was time he returned home.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Sakura gathered the herbs she needed for the healing poultice she had in mind. Turning, she began to walk briskly down the road towards the hospital. The pink-haired nurse struggled to meet the new demands that were left in the wake of the recent phenomena of exploding humans. Sadly, there was nothing to be done for the innocent lives who had been used as bombs. However, with Hinata's help, Sakura was able to recognize and remove any strange chakra that was present in other individuals. Other medic ninjas in the lands of Water and Lightning quickly followed the kunoichi's lead soon after she relayed her methods to Kirigakure and Kumogakure. Within weeks, the foreign chakra had vanished and the villages soon pursued their pre-existing peace. Haruno Sakura was then able to look at the various other injuries related to the strange explosions. Ninja who had been injured during their attempts to stave off exploding humans were her most pressing patients and suffered mainly from severe burns. Burns were well within her range of healing capability. However, Sakura's supply of expendable chakra could only be stretched so far. She began to feel a little fatigued by the end of the day and more and more burn victims were coming in by the hour. Not only this, but the other villages were facing the same demands. For the benefit of herself and the other villages, Sakura spent the evenings developing a very strong burn solvent that could easily be replicated and passed on. The herbs she had now, were just what she needed.

Clanging into the medical lab at 2:00 a.m. wasn't an abnormal habit of hers anymore. Except for the few late night roamers and ninja on watch, there weren't many individuals up this late. Sakura found that this was her best time for productive and undistracted work. Laying out her medical supplies on the table before her, she began her craft immediately. Her plan was to create a compound that acted as a second skin, thin but hard enough to touch without peeling away. The idea was that as the solution dried over the burned skin, a protective shell would form on the outside while keeping the medicine on the inside. Over time, with frequent application combined with chakra, the covering would allow new skin to form without damage from reopening or splitting. How she would manage to create this, she only had a faint idea. But that's why she was here to test and experiment.

Sakura looked down at her left arm. Although there were several adequate patients being housed at the hospital due to their critical condition, Sakura felt that neither waking them up at this hour or using them as guinea pigs were good for their recovery. On the bright side, she had managed to carefully collect chakra throughout the afternoon and had enough in store to continuously heal any minor self-inflicted injuries that could react sorely to her new cure.

Glancing over to the wall, Sakura found a candle that she had lit previously. Grasping it in her right hand, she held the flame under the bottom of her forearm, allowing it to sear her skin. She didn't even flinch. The pain was more than bearable in comparison to anything she had ever suffered as a ninja. She applied the solution gradually to the charred place on her arm and slightly frowned at the severe stinging sensation spreading across her arm. She bent down over her scroll and noted to add less harrow leaf in the mixture, then began to proceed.