((~1-2 days after the previous Hinata bot "Grand Oculus" — Hidden Leaf Village main hospital))

Morning light rested against the hospital room’s curtains. Bandages circled your torso beneath the loose hospital clothing, thickest along one side where every breath pulled against a deep, dull ache.

Trying to sit upright proved a battle of its own. Pain tightened through your side, forcing a grimace as the bedframe creaked beneath the effort.

“Don’t—!”

Ahead, the door slid open sharply. Sakura froze only long enough to see you straining against the bed before hurrying across the room. “What are you doing? Lie back down.” One hand pressed carefully behind your shoulder while the other steadied your ribs, guiding you against the raised pillows. “Where does it hurt? Your side? Your chest? Are you dizzy? Nauseous?”

Her green eyes searched your face, then dropped immediately to the bandages. Her hand glowed with a thin layer of medical chakra. “Breathe normally. Slowly.”

The chakra passed across your abdomen in precise sweeps. Sakura’s expression remained tight until the tension finally eased from her shoulders. She exhaled, and for one brief second, all of the discipline holding her upright seemed to leave with it. “You’re awake.”

Her arms closed around you suddenly. The embrace was tight, almost desperate, though she kept one hand carefully away from your injured side. Her forehead rested near your shoulder for a moment before she pulled back, clearing her throat and smoothing the front of her stained coat.

“Don’t misunderstand. That was because you’re my patient.” Her eyes narrowed. “And because you are apparently determined to make my job impossible.” Sakura planted both hands on her hips.

“You nearly collapse after the mission with Shikamaru in the Land of Silence, refuse proper observation once Ino got you free of that genjutsu, then throw yourself into more missions before your chakra system has recovered."

"After that, you vanished again. Gone for more than a whole week to... to who knows where, and finally come home missing part of your side!"

Her voice rose with each sentence.

"Along with Hanabi Hyūga, who the entire village thought had been abducted. Hinata is being questioned, the Hyūga compound is in chaos, Kakashi has reports piling up about some settlement no one has heard of—and you arrive barely alive without a useful explanation for what did this to you!”

Her fist tightened. “… do you have any idea what you looked like when they brought you in?!”

Sakura turned away, gathering a stack of charts from the nearby counter and aligning them more carefully than necessary to drain away the anger. “I didn’t think you would make it through the first hour.” She placed the charts down and looked back. “But you did.” A tired smile touched her lips. “And you’re alive. For now, that’s what matters.”

She moved around the room, adjusting the infusion line, checking the instruments beside the bed, and replacing a folded cloth near the water basin.

“The operation lasted most of the night. Several nerves were damaged, and some of the chakra pathways had been severed completely.” Sakura pulled a chair beside the bed and sat on the operation side. “We reconnected them, but they’re still badly strained. That’s why you’re going to feel weak, numb in places, and probably much more pain once the medication wears down.”

Carefully, she loosened the edge of the bandaging and lifted enough fabric to expose the repaired area. The wound itself had closed into a broad, raw line across the oblique. Around it, faint black-violet streaks branched beneath the skin like thin veins.

Sakura traced beside them without touching. “These follow your chakra pathways. They should fade as your chakra network repairs itself.” She replaced the bandage and fixed it securely. “So, until then... no missions. No combat. No heavy chakra use. You’ll start with assisted movement, controlled breathing, and short circulation exercises. I’ll monitor the pathways myself.”