The Sakura Legend

Konoha Hospital

Sakura lay in a hospital bed, covered head-to-toe in bandages. Mebuki and Kizashi Haruno were keeping vigil at her bedside.

"You should go home. You have work to do. I can take care of Sakura here," Mebuki said to Kizashi.

"Alright, then take good care of Sakura. I never expected enemy ninjas to appear right inside the village," Kizashi said, his face filled with concern as he looked at Sakura lying in bed.

"Yes, you go on. Lord Third has already placed the entire village under martial law. It's a small consolation, but thankfully, Lord Third arrived in time," Mebuki said, her face also etched with worry as she looked at Sakura.

Although many people had seen the Nine-Tails' chakra shooting into the sky that night, only the ninjas who had arrived at the scene knew what had actually happened. Most ninjas only had vague guesses, as the incident had happened a long time ago, and the Nine-Tails hadn't appeared in its complete form that night. So, the villagers only knew that a battle had taken place at the Uchiha compound. The Third Hokage's official announcement to the village was that enemy ninjas had infiltrated, but fortunately, there were no casualties. So, the matter was put to rest.

Sakura slowly opened her eyes, her gaze landing on the pristine white ceiling. She turned her head and saw Mebuki dozing at a nearby table. Her wounds had been meticulously wrapped in layers of bandages.

"So, I'm in the hospital. I wonder how they suppressed the Nine-Tails after I passed out. From what I remember, Naruto should have been struggling for control with the Nine-Tails, which caused the Nine-Tails to stay put. In that case, Yamato should have been able to subdue it. I wonder how Naruto is doing. And Sasuke... I hope Naruto's rampage didn't hurt him."

Sakura shifted slightly, sitting up. She didn't know what time it was, but she felt incredibly hungry. Her movements woke Mebuki. "Sakura, you're awake! Thank goodness!" Mebuki exclaimed, her eyes lighting up with joy.

"Sakura, how are you feeling? Are you in any pain?" Mebuki asked anxiously.

"I'm fine, Mother. Just a little hungry," Sakura said, shaking her head weakly.

"You've been unconscious for a day and a night. That night, you were brought to the hospital by Anbu ninjas with eight stab wounds. Luckily, none of them were fatal. You're alright now. The foreign ninjas have all been captured. What would you like to eat? I'll go get it for you," Mebuki said, a flurry of words tumbling out in her excitement.

"I'd like some red bean cakes. By the way, what about the two people who were brought to the hospital with me? Where are they?" Sakura asked, concerned about Sasuke and Naruto.

"Were there others with you? When I arrived at the hospital, you were the only one here. But, come to think of it, you were rescued from the Uchiha compound. You're talking about Sasuke, right? I didn't see him," Mebuki said, puzzled.

Neither of them were here? That's right. Sasuke was the enemy's target, so he'd probably be under heavy guard. And Naruto... with such a big incident, he definitely wouldn't be in a regular ward.

"Yes, I'm fine, Mother. Thank you for worrying," Sakura said. She felt a deep sense of guilt, not only towards her parents but also towards Naruto. Her parents had been so good to her, yet she had almost given up on life.

And Naruto... If she had been stronger, perhaps he wouldn't have needed to use the Tailed Beast's power. Naruto, manifesting four tails at this stage, must have put a huge strain on his body. She had taken his promise to protect her lightly, thinking she wouldn't need his protection. But in the end... she had needed to rely on him to protect her.

Naruto had truly followed his nindo, his ninja way. He had done what he said he would. Sakura thought silently, her nose stinging slightly, and tears welled up again.

"Sakura, why are you crying? Are you still in pain?" Mebuki, who had been preparing to get Sakura something to eat, noticed Sakura sitting on the bed, head bowed, tears flowing. She immediately turned back to her.

"I'm fine... I'm fine... Really, I'm fine... Mother, thank you," Sakura said, lifting her head, her face streaked with tears, but a smile playing on her lips.

Mebuki saw that Sakura didn't want to talk about it, so she didn't press further. Sakura had always been very independent since she was little; she'd never caused them much worry. She would tell them when she was ready. Hearing Sakura say she was fine, Mebuki left to get her something to eat.

"Iruka-sensei, how did Sakura get injured?" Kiba asked. Kiba had always aimed to surpass Sakura and Sasuke. Although he sometimes slacked off, his dream was to defeat them both and become Hokage.

"Iruka-sensei, I heard Sasuke was also injured, is that true?" Ino asked. Sasuke was quite popular with the girls in their class. After the night of the massacre, Sasuke's cold demeanor only made him more intriguing to them.

"I... Iruka-sensei, I heard that Na... Naruto was also injured. Is... is he alright?" Hinata Hyuga asked, though shy, she mustered the courage.

"What the heck? Why were they in the Uchiha compound's training grounds in the middle of the night, and they ran into enemy ninjas? What a drag," Shikamaru said, yawning.

The Ninja Academy was, after all, a military school. Its mission was to train qualified ninjas. Although the situation had improved somewhat, there were still constant skirmishes on the borders. So, the academy didn't have long holidays. They only had one day off after the New Year celebration before classes resumed.

Iruka, hearing his students' questions, explained what he knew. "Sakura is currently in the hospital. I don't know if she's awake yet. The doctor said she should wake up within the next day or two. As for Sasuke, we can't visit him. Because he was the target of the enemy this time, he's under heavy guard now. I don't know about Naruto. I only know that he was also injured and then taken away by Anbu."

Iruka had a vague idea of Naruto's current situation based on what had happened that day. But he couldn't tell them these things. The Third Hokage had entrusted Naruto to him as his teacher precisely because he trusted him. He was confident that he could teach Naruto well. He was very much like Iruka had been when he was young.

"What? So we can only visit Sakura? Sigh~~~" Ino said, disappointed.

"Haha, don't be disappointed. Sakura is the top student in the class. She fought against enemy ninjas that night and survived. You can ask her for advice on combat experience. You're all still very weak, so listening to her will help you learn how to survive," Iruka said, comforting his students.

In the hospital room, Sakura saw Iruka leading her classmates to visit her.

"Sakura, are you feeling better?" Iruka asked.

"Thank you for your concern, Iruka-sensei. I'm fine now," Sakura replied.

To be honest, Sakura's relationship with her classmates wasn't particularly close. It could be described as polite nods and smiles. Sakura found it too childish to play with a bunch of kids, so apart from training and sparring with Sasuke, she hadn't even gotten to know all of her classmates. But seeing Iruka bringing them to visit her, seeing their genuine concern for her, Sakura's heart was filled with warmth.

Oh, those lovely people.