Yor looked at the porcelain bottle and the new dress in her hands, then up at Hinata's gentle, understanding smile. The weight on her heart finally lifted, replaced by a rush of warmth and gratitude.
"R-really? Thank you so much, Lady Hinata!" Yor was so excited she nearly stood up again, but the Medical Ninja quickly held her down. "I don't know how to thank you! You've saved me!"
Hinata smiled and shook her head. "You don't need to thank me. If you'd like, I'd like us to be friends."
"Let's call this a gift between friends helping each other. All right?"
Yor froze for a moment, then nodded hard. A bright, heartfelt smile spread across her pale face. "Yes! Friends!"
The two women, so different in temperament yet bound by a deep friendship forged in danger, exchanged smiles in the sunshine after their ordeal.
After a day and a night of relentless tension, fighting, and brushes with death, exhaustion swept over everyone like a tide.
Kabuto Yakushi lay in his cramped cabin and fell asleep without even taking off his glasses.
His pale face still showed the strain of pushing himself too far, but his breathing was slow and steady. Once the violent power of the True Dragon within him had fully subsided, it left him with an almost hollow exhaustion.
It also granted him a rare, dreamless sleep. For a while, he forgot the mystery of the Deep Sea and the lingering pain of his genes.
Thanks to the ointment Hinata had given her and the careful bandaging, the pain from Yor's wound had eased considerably.
She changed into the new pale-purple dress and carefully disposed of her bloodstained clothes.
As she lay in bed, the last things to cross her mind were Loid and Anya sleeping soundly,