"Kita… wait! Kita!!!!!!"
The thought flashed and disappeared, and Tsunade spun sharply, sprinting back with long strides.
As always, after the master finished treatment, the follow-up work for the patient—tidying clothes, simple cleaning—was an essential part of nursing. Since the day Sakura decided to become a medical ninja, she had never underestimated any task. Yet, after witnessing her master's treatment process, even Sakura, who had seen so much, felt a pang in her chest.
The pain of a drug mutating within the body—it was agony Sakura had experienced as a healer. That suffering could tear one apart from the inside, and all data indicated that the woman called Kita had endured this ordeal more than once. In this respect, Sakura felt awe. The pain that could make a person scream or even give up life entirely had been silently swallowed by the person before her.
Not everyone could endure extreme treatment. This method was unimaginable for any human being.
Thinking this, Sakura tidied the woman's disheveled clothes, damp with sweat, though not soaked. She laid out the patient's hospital uniform, prepared earlier, and placed a warm towel by the bed. As she reached to loosen the damp clothing, the skin revealed beneath was not what she expected—it was a mass of grotesque scars, their origin unknown.
Ugly. So grotesque that a single glance could make one gag. The areas of a woman's body that should be proud were visibly marred. Sakura had to step back, covering her mouth to stifle the urge to vomit. Even then, she couldn't suppress the dry heaves.
After a moment, she wiped away the "tears" caused by retching and forced herself forward. She tried not to look at the body, too hideous to bear. She succeeded… yet failed. Beneath the scarf lay the mark of a lowly status, burned into the neck's right side. Amidst the scars, a brand marked with a hot iron—a symbol resembling livestock tags in a mass-production farm. Sakura had only seen such symbols in books, described in mere words.
Filth.
Nonhuman.
This time, Sakura truly vomited.
She was nursing an nonhuman!
She, Haruno Sakura, was assisting in treating the filthiest entity in the world!
Her stomach churned violently, bile rising. Should she clean the floor first or wash her hands? Her body trembled slightly despite bracing on her knees, and no amount of effort could stop it.
"Too late…"
Tsunade sighed, realizing she had returned just a step too late. It was easy to understand why her student was in such a state—anyone would be. No screams, only retching—but the endurance alone was commendable.
Sakura's emerald eyes brimmed with tears. Tsunade couldn't tell if they were from the body's reaction or emotion. She stepped closer, confronting Kita's grotesque body. The nausea was present but manageable, unlike Sakura, who had nearly collapsed. Even in her fifties, Tsunade had seen far worse.
"Sakura, you should go rest."
"Master… did you always know her identity?"
Her voice trembled slightly. Tsunade paused, then lifted the damp clothing, covering the ugly scars and the nonhuman brand.
"I have a reason I must save her. This… this person has done a great service to the world."
"A service so great that you ignore everything else to save her?"
Sakura asked sharply.
Tsunade nodded. Admitting it to her student was easy. To tell others—impossible. Yet here, she could reveal the humiliating truth: that an nonhuman had once saved her.
Without Kita, without Akatsuki, the Otsutsuki clan's arrival would have spelled doom for Konoha. For the world itself, oblivion.
"You probably can't understand now. A being of such status has done what most humans cannot."
Though branded a criminal beyond redemption, a being deserving death, she had accomplished something that saved the world.
"But… that is the reality. This is the truth."
Ideals claimed that one's actions were righteous, done for good. Reality? The world was driven by profit, gain, and survival.
Treating Kita—perhaps this was Tsunade's only way to repay those infamous figures. No, as a medical ninja, even as Hokage, this was the only course of action she could take.
"I see…"
Sakura said. She no longer retched. Her hands still trembled slightly, but she picked up the towel by the bed, stepped forward, and approached the unconscious Kita. As usual, she lifted the sweat-damp clothing and began cleaning the body.
"Sakura, don't force yourself."
Tsunade said.
"No. I am her assigned nurse, Master. I don't know what she has done, nor do I want to. But now she is my patient. My duty is to care for her… and heal her."
Sakura inhaled deeply, opening her eyes again, her emerald gaze fierce.
"I am a doctor. Doctors are responsible for their patients. Human or nonhuman, she is my patient! Rest assured, I will never disgrace the name of a doctor!"
I've "whitened" Sakura here—or rather, I hope you'll like this version of her. I truly love her, even more than Hinata. Spoiler alert: many future events will challenge your perceptions, and characters you like may act beyond your tolerance. Sakura is one example—consider carefully, and if you can't accept it, feel free to step back.