Aftermath

When he opened his eyes, the first thing that Isui noted was how blurry the gray lines between the white plaster plates on the ceiling looked.

Will he need to steal Sarada's glasses now? He joked, blinking a few times until his sight sharpened again.

Then he pushed through the weariness in his muscles, weighing his body down, and sat up to inspect his surroundings.

Isui sat in a hospital bed. He recognized that it was designed for short-term patients with little to no injuries, like when someone collapsed because of too much alcohol intake. There were no other patients in the other three beds.

Looking out the windows, he saw the sun had already disappeared behind the building across from the one he stayed in. Orange-thinged light reflected off an empty flower vase on the white windowsill.

It meant he was not out for too long. At least, Isui prayed it was not the next day or something like that.

Judging from his view of the other half of the hospital building. He was stationed on the third floor in the west wing. The layout of the flower beds and benches down the patio prickled the back of his brain. It was a familiar view. His mouth melted into a slight smile.

Isui was convinced that his mother's office was just down the hall. Such an action would fit her. She always wanted to be close to Sarada and him when they were sick.

He even caught his mom bent over this little desk, a stack of papers in front of her, working next to him when he was down with a fever.

Isui threw the blanket at him and climbed out of the bed.

Looking down, he saw that he still was wearing his shirt, and his legs were naked save for bandages around his knees.

With all the adrenalin that most likely had been pumped threw his veins, he had forgotten about getting hurt.

Pain.

Isui had lost before even starting the fight.

Dammit. Isui's fists balled. He could not even protect himself, and he had Himawari with him. Remembering all the times he had carelessly promised Aunt Hinata to look after his little sister made the loss he suffered and the reality of his weakness worse. Not again, he swore as his eyes burned before Isui immediately started feeling lightheaded.

Pressure built in his abdomen, and he quickly disappeared into the bathroom, trashing the bad feelings in the back of his head for now.

He just had to become stronger. Simple as that.

Sarada sighed with relief when she heard from the worker at the reception that her brother suffered only mild chakra exhaustion.

She went to the elevator and pressed the button with a three engraved on the metal. She scowled at the silly elevator music.

She had seen the news about the attack on television at Chou Chou's.

They had spent the afternoon in the courtyard. Then they took a break in Chou Chou's living room. Slurping on iced apple juice, Sarada and Chou Chou enjoyed a sweet drama when the program abruptly changed to report on an attack in the "Deleaves" shopping center.

It seemed that a group of disillusioned leaf shinobi had taken children as hostages to rally against the inequality of treatment between the rich and poor.

And while Sarada was intelligent enough to understand their justification. The method they used was despicable.

Sarada's heart rate leaped as the camera focused on the great Hokage Naruto himself coming out of the front doors.

Behind him, the group of kids was escorted by other shinobi. They looked aghast but were unharmed.

Sarada jumped up on her feet, eyes widening in shock. Next to her, she heard Cho Cho gasp for air.

Draped over the chest and shoulder of Hokage laid a child. A thin arm was dangling lifelessly with every step, and the rest of the body was warped in the Hokage cloak. Uncle Naruto's bandaged hand laid upon black spiky hair, taking great care in shielding the face from the reporters.

"Isui," Sarada muttered under her breath.

Maybe, every other time, she would doubt herself, with how little she could see from the boy's features.

This time, however, Himawari's presence was such a dead giveaway that even Chou Chou had picked up on it.

Sarada was sure it was him. It had to be him.

Arriving in front of Isui's hospital room, she quietly slit the door open.

Her black eyes moved behind her glasses as she found an empty mattress near the window. The bedding was in disarray, indicating that someone had laid there. Next to the door was the bathroom. Light came from within.

"Nii-chan," she called.

There was the sound of a toilet flushing before a light voice responded.

"Nee-san."

The bathroom door opened, and Isui stepped out. He wore only his shirt and shorts, his knees were wrapped, and his face had a weary expression.

Yet to her relief, her brother's sharp eyes still gleamed in the familiar friendly way she knew them for.

She speed walked up to him and hugged him tightly.

Everything was good again.

Sakura placed her head in her hands as she sat at the working desk in her office. The image of Naruto with an unconscious Isui in his arms was still very persistent. Right now, her boy was down the hall sleeping out of mild chakra exhaustion. He is safe, she reminded herself, trying to calm her mother's heart. Sarada was on her way here, and Himawari and her dad were in the room next door. They are waiting for Hinata.

She caught herself kneading her chakra in her hands. Oh, how she wanted to visit Ino in I&T and offer her support. She closed her hands to fists. A ghostly blue hue engulfed them instantly. They omitted waves of raw energy rattling the stacks of papers on her desk. Yes, she wanted it. She wanted it very badly. To offer her aid with the sweetest of smiles. Fuck sanity. Sasuke would kiss her for that.

It knocked on the door. Sakura felt Naruto's presence behind it, sat up straighter, opened her fists, and massaged her hands.

"Come in."

Naruto stepped in.

"Sakura, you are unsettling the nurses walking by in a radius of at least twenty meters," he said, closing the door behind him.

"My baby was hurt."

Still, she relaxed her muscles and regained full authority of her energy output. How embarrassing. Her aura was indeed omitting a large portion of killing intent. She was not sixteen anymore. She had to keep control. Sakura chastised herself and started playing with a pen.

"Ah, Sakura."

Naruto started as always when he did not know how to breach a special kind of information to her. The sort of that seventy-five percent of the time would make her yell at him.

Sakura's eyebrows twitched, and her thumbs pressed against the ends of the pen.

"Himawari told me that Isui's eyes went red before he saved another boy from a flying kunai and then passed out."

The pen snapped in her hands, making the ink inside splatter all over Sakura's white lab coat.

Her eyes went wide. For a moment, she was as still as a firework rocket sticking in a glass bottle.

Naruto could hear the sizzling sound of the fuse he just ignited.

The rosette breathed in hard.

Naruto braced himself.

Nothing happened.

A freewheel? Thank kami.

After a pregnant pause with triplets, Sakura stood up and walked towards the blond man.

"I want the memory of everyone involved altered."

Naruto's eyes hardened as he went into Hokage mode.

"Sorry, that can not happen."

The woman let out a dry laugh.

"Isui is still a child... MY Child!"

"Apart from Himawari, all of the children were civilians. I do not think we need Ino, Sakura." Naruto knew he needed to appeal to Sakura. Her instincts were going haywire.

Sakura backtracked a bit. Her nostrils flared as she tried to calm herself again. Naruto had a point. Altering the memories of over ten innocent children would cause outrage if it came out to the public. But...her heart rate was still going strong, pumping thick blood through her veins. The same blood she shared with her two darlings. That had nourished them for nine months.

"I want that man's memory wiped, for Isui's and Sarada's sake."

Sakura spat the words into the Hokage's face. The leader of Konohagakure flinched back as he saw the glint in her hardened twin jades. Sakura met him with the same ferocity as she would confront a criminal. It made Naruto's Adam's apple bounce. It reminded him of a lioness protecting her cups.

"Ino's methods are softer than Sasuke's.", she argued, smirking, not even trying to hide her bloodlust, knowing fully well that she had squashed the last nail into the coffin.

Oh yeah, she fantasized. How easy would it be for her husband to swoop into the carriage transporting the prisoners to Hozuki castle and fry their brains without anyone noticing?

"When I&T is through with him, I will issue the order to Ino."

"Thank you. Lord Hokage."

The atmosphere became lighter as Sakura now genuinely smiled at her best friend.

"Let's go to our families, shall we?"

Naruto regarded her with tender eyes, nodded, and smiled back.