"Why are they taking so long? Temari said this would be a quick meeting."

  Sakura, who was checking the contents of her medical bag for the third time, snapped the clasp shut.

  "It's the Council, Naruto. They are old and they like to keep people waiting. It's a power tactic," she said without looking up. "They want us to walk in sweaty, tired, and irritable."

  "Well, it's working," Naruto grunted. "Do you think they'll be offended if I go in and knock the door down?"

  "They'd kick us out of the village and the alliance would go to hell," Shikamaru answered, opening one eye. "So stay still. Sakura, stop checking the inventory. You've done it four times."

  "Two vials of base antidote are missing. I'm sure I packed them," Sakura muttered, frowning.

  "They probably broke during the trip," Shikamaru said. "Relax. You're not operating on anyone today. It's a political meeting."

  "With these people, you never know," Sakura said, adjusting her gloves. "Tsunade-shishou warned me about Chiyo. She said she is... difficult."

  "Difficult like Granny Tsunade when she loses a bet, or difficult like an enemy?" Naruto asked.

  "Difficult like someone who has hated Konoha since before we were born," Sakura clarified.

  The heavy stone door at the end of the hallway made a grinding sound. A Suna guard, his face almost completely covered by a turban, poked his head out.

  "The Council will see you now," he announced in a monotone voice.

  Naruto stretched and his back cracked. "Finally. Let's get this over with."

  "Remember the plan," Shikamaru whispered to him as they stood up. "No hitting anyone."

  "Of course," Naruto scoffed.

  They entered. The Suna Council room was a wide, dimly lit cave. A U shaped stone table dominated the center. At the far end, two elderly figures looked like they were carved from the same rock as the chairs.

  Temari stood at the end of the table, hands resting on the surface.

  "The Konoha delegation is here," Temari announced. Her voice bounced off the walls.

  Chiyo, the old woman on the left, kept her eyes closed. She looked asleep. Ebizo, beside her, looked at the newcomers with a mix of curiosity and disdain.

  "You're late," Ebizo said with a raspy voice.

  "We've been waiting outside for forty minutes," Naruto blurted out before Shikamaru could stop him.

  Shikamaru elbowed him discreetly in the ribs.

  "Apologies for the wait," Shikamaru intervened, stepping forward with a stack of folders under his arm. "We had to verify the integrity of the medical supplies after the trek through the desert. Heat can degrade certain compounds."

  Chiyo opened one eye. Only one. It was dark and sharp, with no trace of senility.

  "Excuses," she said. "Typical Konoha. A lot of noise, little efficiency."

  Sakura clenched her fists at her sides but kept her face neutral.

  "Konoha's proposal is clear," Temari resumed, trying to steer the meeting. She pointed to the documents Shikamaru left on the table. "Grade A medical supplies, specialized personnel support for the hospital, and a trade alliance for safe routes. In exchange, total transparency regarding Orochimaru's movements and any intelligence you have on Akatsuki."

  Silence followed. Chiyo closed her eye again.

  "It's a handout," the old woman spat after a moment. "A fancy way of saying you have us by the neck."

  "It is not a handout, Chiyo-sama," Temari said, controlling her tone. "It is an exchange."

  "Exchange?" Chiyo let out a dry laugh. "Accepting foreign doctors in the heart of our village? It means allowing spies to walk through our hospital, review our records, and learn our genetic weaknesses."

  "Our doctors are overwhelmed," Temari replied, losing her composure slightly. "The failed invasion left us bare. We have people dying from basic infections because we don't have chakra or medicine. This isn't espionage, it's survival."

  "It's weakness," Ebizo interrupted. "If we accept, we admit to other nations that Suna cannot take care of itself. That will invite more attacks."

  Shikamaru cleared his throat. "With all due respect, Councilor Ebizo. The other nations already know you are weak. If your people keep dying, you won't have anyone to defend the walls when the next attack comes. Konoha offers temporary reinforcement, not an occupation."

  "Pretty words from a Nara," Chiyo said, waving her hand as if shooing a fly. "Your father had a quick tongue too. I never trusted him."

  Sakura took a step forward. "We didn't come to play politics. I am a doctor. If you have wounded, let me see them. If not, say so and we'll take the supplies back."

  Chiyo turned her head slowly toward Sakura. She looked her up and down, stopping at the Konoha forehead protector.

  "The Slug Princess's apprentice," Chiyo said with disdain. "Did Tsunade send you to learn or to watch us?"

  "She sent me because I'm the best option they have," Sakura replied, holding her gaze.

  "Arrogance," Ebizo murmured.

  Naruto, who had leaned against a pillar in the back, away from the table, snorted loudly. The sound echoed in the cave.

  Everyone turned toward him.

  "Do you have something to add, boy?" Chiyo asked, looking at him coldly.

  "Yeah, actually," Naruto said, peeling himself off the pillar and walking into the light. "This is ridiculous."

  "Naruto..." Shikamaru warned.

  "No, let me speak." Naruto raised a hand. He looked at the elders. "Look, we didn't come to steal your secrets. Believe me, I don't care how you make your puppets or what poisons you use. They sound complicated and boring. We just want you to stop dying so you can help us kick Orochimaru's ass later."

  Chiyo stared at him. "The Jinchuriki. You have a loose tongue."

  "I have just the right amount of tongue," he answered, shrugging. "And you have Tsunade's best apprentice standing right in front of you. If you don't want her, fine. We'll take the boxes. But you'll have to go out there and explain to the families why there is no medicine for their children when we brought full boxes to your doorstep, and why they won't be able to rest facing the danger of an attack."

  The silence that followed was tense. Temari looked at Naruto with a mix of surprise and gratitude.

  "Threatening us with our own people," Chiyo said quietly. "You learned well from your Hokage."

  "It's not a threat. It's reality," Sakura said. "I have three crates of broad spectrum antibiotics and cell regenerators at the entrance. I can start treating patients in ten minutes. Or you can keep arguing about pride while people in the waiting room get worse."

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Chiyo leaned forward, resting her chin on her wrinkled hand.

  "You think you're that good, girl?" Chiyo asked. "You think you can walk in here and teach medicine to us, the masters of poisons?"

  "Medicine and poison are two sides of the same coin," Sakura responded automatically. "I know what you do. And I know how to counter it."

  "Words," Chiyo spat. "That girl hasn't seen half the winters I have. What is she going to teach us?"

  Sakura didn't answer immediately. Her green eyes scanned the room. She wasn't looking at Chiyo or Ebizo. She was scanning the perimeter. She stopped at the honor guards standing by the entrance, stiff as statues.

  There were four. Two on each side.

  Sakura frowned slightly. She took a step sideways, tilting her head.

  "What are you looking at?" asked the captain of the guard, a tall man with his face covered, standing next to Temari.

  "I'm not here to teach you anything you don't know," Sakura said calmly, looking back at Chiyo. "I'm here to fix what you don't see."

  "What are you implying?" Chiyo hissed. "That we are blind?"

  "That man," Sakura pointed to the guard. The third on the left from the table. "He's sick."

  The guard blinked, surprised under his mask, but didn't break formation.

  "Nonsense," Ebizo said, tapping the table with a finger. "He is one of our best elite men. He is in perfect health. He passed the physical review two days ago."

  "Then your doctor needs glasses," Sakura said, walking toward the guard.

  "Stop!" ordered the guard captain, stepping in her path.

  "Let her," Temari cut in. Her voice was authoritative. "I want to see this."

  The captain hesitated but stepped aside. Sakura approached the guard. The man was a tower of muscle, but Sakura noticed the micromovement in his posture.

  "He has a tremor in his right index finger," Sakura said, pointing to the man's hand gripping the kunai in its holster. "Almost imperceptible. But it's there."

  The man tensed his hand, trying to hide it.

  "He's nervous because a stranger is getting close to him," Ebizo justified.

  "No," Sakura insisted. She moved closer, invading the guard's personal space. "Look me in the eyes."

  The guard looked at her.

  "His left pupil is a millimeter more dilated than the right," Sakura stated. "And under the tan on his neck, the skin has a grayish tone. Very slight."

  The guard swallowed hard. The sound was audible in the silence of the cave.

  "Do you feel tingling in your limbs when you wake up?" Sakura asked the guard directly.

  The man didn't answer, looking sideways at Chiyo.

  "Answer," Temari ordered.

  "Yes..." the guard admitted with a hoarse voice. "A little. In my fingers."

  "And headaches? Do they start at the nape of the neck and go down like an electric current down your back?" Sakura continued.

  The guard's eyes widened a bit more. Sweat was starting to bead on his forehead. "How do you know?"

  Sakura turned to Chiyo and Ebizo.

  "It's a degenerative disease of the nervous system caused by prolonged exposure to puppet dust with traces of poorly processed arsenic," Sakura explained. "It's an environmental poison. It's devouring his nerve endings."

  Chiyo went still.

  "If left untreated," Sakura continued, "in a month he won't be able to hold a kunai. In three months, his legs will fail. In six, respiratory paralysis."

  There was a murmur among the other guards.

  Chiyo stood up slowly. Her chair scraped against the floor.

  "Medic," Chiyo called.

  A Suna medical ninja stepped out of the shadows at the back of the room. He looked terrified. He wore a beige robe and glasses.

  "Check that," the old woman ordered.

  The Suna medic approached the guard in a hurry. "Excuse me," he mumbled.

  He placed his hands on the guard's nape and activated his chakra. A pale green light appeared. The medic closed his eyes, concentrating. Ten seconds passed. Twenty. The medic started sweating.

  He pulled his hands back sharply and looked at Chiyo. He was pale.

  "Chiyo-sama..." the medic murmured, lowering his head.

  "Speak," she demanded.

  "She's right," the medic's voice trembled. "There is severe degradation in the spinal chakra flow at the third and fourth cervical vertebrae. The channels are... corroded."

  "Why didn't you see it in the checkup?" Temari asked, furious.

  "The external symptoms are minimal, Temari-sama," the medic defended himself. "An elite ninja's body compensates for the damage until it's too late. Without a deep chakra scan, it looks like muscle fatigue."

  "Exactly," Sakura said. "You need extremely precise chakra control to notice the difference in the flow without opening him up."

  Chiyo looked at Sakura with a new expression.

  "Detecting it is one thing," Chiyo said. "Fixing it is another. Nerve damage from residual arsenic is almost irreversible once corrosion starts."

  "I can fix it," Sakura said. "Right now."

  "It's a delicate procedure," the Suna medic warned. "If you make a mistake and cut the main flow, you'll leave him quadriplegic."

  "I won't make a mistake," Sakura said. She took off her backpack and set it on the ground. "Do you have a stretcher or do we use the table?"

  "Use the table," Temari said quickly, sweeping Shikamaru's papers aside with a sweep of her arm.

  "Hey! Those are the treaties..." Shikamaru complained, rescuing the documents before they hit the floor.

  The guard looked at the table, hesitating.

  "Get up there," Sakura ordered him. "Face down. Take off your vest and shirt."

  The man obeyed, moving with a stiffness that was now evident to everyone. He lay down on the cold stone.

  Sakura took out a bottle of alcohol and disinfected her hands up to her elbows. Then, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a second. When she opened them, her expression had changed.

  She placed both hands on the man's spine, right at the base of the neck.

  The chakra that burst from her hands illuminated the gloom of the cave, casting long shadows on the walls.

  "I'm going to stimulate regeneration," Sakura narrated, not looking at anyone. "I need absolute silence."

  The room went mute. Even Naruto held his breath.

  "Chakra scalpel," Sakura murmured.

  The light on her fingers sharpened, turning into small blades of energy. She dipped her ethereal fingers into the man's back without cutting the skin. The guard let out a grunt of pain.

  "Hold on," Sakura said harshly. "I'm separating the damaged nerves from the healthy tissue. It's going to burn."

  The Suna medic leaned in, fascinated, looking over Sakura's shoulder.

  "She is... she is rebuilding at a cellular level," the medic whispered, in disbelief. "The chakra rotation speed is absurd. How does she maintain that without burning the tissue?"

  "Control," Shikamaru replied from behind, in a low voice. "That girl trains chakra control until she passes out."

  Sakura gritted her teeth. Sweat ran down her temple.

  "There is a blockage in the channel," Sakura said. "I'm going to purge it. I need a container for the residual fluid. Fast!"

  The Suna medic reacted by instinct, grabbing a metal bowl from a side table and placing it under the side of the guard's neck where Sakura indicated.

  With a fluid motion, Sakura guided a small amount of dark liquid out of the man's body through a tiny incision she made and closed almost instantly. The liquid hit the bowl with a metallic sound.

  "Done," Sakura let out, exhaling the air she had been holding.

  The light in her hands changed to a soft, warm glow, soothing the area. She ran her hands up and down the spine two more times.

  "Finished."

  Sakura withdrew her hands and wiped the sweat from her forehead with her forearm.

  "Sit up," she told the guard. "Slowly."

  The man sat up. He looked dazed.

  "Move your fingers," Sakura ordered.

  The guard raised his right hand. He opened and closed his fist. Then, he moved each finger individually. The speed had returned.

  "The... the tingling is gone," the man said. His voice sounded incredulous. He touched his neck. "The headache too. My back feels light."

  He got off the table and, for the first time, bowed deeply toward Sakura. "Thank you."

  Sakura nodded, serious. "Drink plenty of water. No heavy training for three days."

  Then, she turned toward the stone table, facing the elders again.

  "We didn't come to invade you," Sakura said. "We came to work. Can we start unloading the supplies now or do I have to diagnose someone else to prove my point?"

  Ebizo looked at Chiyo. The old woman was looking at the bowl with the extracted fluid.

  Chiyo looked up and stared at Sakura. For a moment, Naruto thought she was going to scream. But the old woman sighed, a long sound that seemed to deflate her a little.

  "Tsunade found a good student," Chiyo admitted. Her voice had lost a bit of its edge. "She has the same unbearable character."

  "I'll take that as a compliment," Sakura said.

  "Bring in the supplies," Chiyo grunted, sitting back down. "And have the pink-haired girl coordinate with our head medic."

  "It's a deal," Temari said hurriedly, hiding her immense relief. "Sign the papers. Now."

  Shikamaru stepped forward and placed the folders in front of Ebizo before they changed their minds. "Here are the required signatures."

  While the elders reviewed the documents, Naruto peeled himself off the wall.

  "Right," Naruto said loudly. "You guys have fun with the ink and stamps. I'm bored already."

  Temari looked up, alarmed. "Where are you going?"

  "I have to go see someone," he said, walking toward the exit with his hands behind his head.

  "Naruto," Temari warned, taking a step to block him. "The hospital is a restricted zone. And the Kazekage tower too. You can't just wander around there."

  "I am the Secret Mission Advisor," he improvised, grinning. "I have a VIP pass. Besides, Gaara will know I'm here. It would be rude not to say hello."

  "Gaara is in a coma, he hasn't woken up since the Konoha incident," Temari said.

  "Then I'll go see him." Naruto dodged Temari with a quick movement.

  "Wait!" Temari tried to grab him, but Naruto took her hand before she could react.

  "And you're going to be my guide, Temari. It's time you and I caught up," Naruto said as he looked into her eyes.

  "You're a headache," Temari murmured, blushing slightly at Naruto's touch.

  "But we're useful," Naruto replied with a half-smile. "Now let's go."

  At the door, Sakura watched Naruto leave. He gave her a thumbs up before disappearing into the dark hallway. She returned a small, tired but genuinely proud smile before turning to the Suna medic.

  "Alright," Sakura said, cracking her knuckles. "Who's next?"

  The Suna medic swallowed hard and pointed toward the exit. "I have... I have a list at the hospital. Will you accompany me?"

  "Let's go," Sakura said. "And explain to me on the way why you use such an ancient air filtration system. You're recycling toxins."

  ******

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