Chapter 9 Part 1
"Forgive me."
"That was irresponsible, Akashi-san."
"Well... who could've known Zabuza was that strong?" the jonin drawled guiltily, shaking her head.
"Hey, stop squirming. It's uncomfortable!"
"Now, now, Kaoru-kun — you've got no right to complain. Got to cop a good feel of your sensei, didn't you?" the woman teased.
"Objection!" I protest. "I'm a medical-nin — accusations of harassment won't stand. And besides — how'd you manage to nearly break three ribs?!"
"Well... as I said, I slightly underestimated the opponent," Akashi lamented, hanging on my back. Sakurai and I'd been carrying her in turns — she was way too wiped out herself. "Miscalculated my strength and stopped maintaining my body reinforcement..."
"Careless." A reproach from my side.
"Mmaa... The Sharingan's a fine thing, but I still haven't mastered it fully," she complained. "It's a bit draining."
"A bit draining? Right now, even a grasshopper could take you!"
"How cruel!.."
"It's definitely an awesome technique," Sakurai remarked. "But it's way too costly, isn't it? You shouldn't have been so careless, sensei."
"Yes, you're right, Sakurai-kun. See? Lesson for you: don't use costly techniques too long, or you'll end up weakened — just like me."
"Sharingan this, Sharingan that... What even IS that thing?!" A very displeased Uzumaki burst out.
"The Sharingan is a dojutsu. A special eye technique," Uchiha spoke up. She'd been silent all this time, sullenly drilling holes into Akashi from under furrowed brows. "The Sharingan belongs to the Three Great Dojutsu — second strongest after the legendary Rinnegan. A Sharingan user can predict an opponent's moves, see more than others, cast powerful genjutsu with a glance. And copy any technique. And the Sharingan belongs to the Uchiha! Only my clan has it."
"I understand what you're thinking, Sasuko-chan," Akashi said slowly. "Someday, maybe, I'll tell you that story. But right now's neither the time nor the place."
We fell quiet. I don't know what the others were thinking about, but I was contemplating the fact that I needed to get serious. Lately I'd gotten way too lazy, lulled by the steady, measured flow of life. Time to pull myself together.
After arriving in the Leaf out of idle curiosity and managing to get tangled up in all this, I'd decided I wouldn't have much influence on coming events. So I focused on my own development — but without pushing too hard. And now the time for sitting around is over. Gotta shake off the rust. Climb out of this dreamy haze. And brushing up old skills wouldn't hurt either.
But before that... gotta finish hauling!
"How much further to your village, Tazuna-san?"
"Oh, soon now!" the architect responded with enthusiasm. "Half an hour's walk, give or take."
Mmaa... I'll probably get murdered for saying this out loud, but Akashi's far from a featherweight...
"Kaoru-san, how's Akashi-sensei?" Sakurai asked, sitting down beside me. We'd finally hauled Akashi to Tazuna's place and gotten our long-awaited rest.
"As you can see." I nod toward the woman lying flat. "Mostly overexertion. I've healed up the rest of her injuries a bit — no danger now. She just needs rest."
"I see..." Haruno murmured, going quiet for a moment. "Jonin... Their strength is insane, isn't it? Back there, I thought we were all dead. That Zabuza... She was genuinely terrifying. Good thing we won't run into her again. But still... are all high-ranked shinobi really that strong?!"
"Shinobi abilities are something else." Shrugging, I rummage through my pouch. Somewhere in here I've got an expanded medical kit sealed away. "Some stuff seems ordinary to you, but to regular people, shinobi are incredible. Mystical. Even the basic clone technique from the Academy'll blow an unenlightened mind. Tons of stories about shinobi float around — most of 'em written off as fairy tales. Truth is, the stories usually undersell it. Shinobi really are amazing — their capabilities go way beyond 'ordinary.' Ponder that in your spare time, Sakurai-kun."
There. Brains properly fed, I unsealed my medical supplies and sat down to prepare a remedy. I needed to get Akashi back on her feet — so she'd be in the best shape possible when Zabuza attacked again. As much as was even doable, given the situation.
"Riight..." I mutter, passing my hand over boxes and little vials of this and that. "This, this, and this... these rootlets... oh, and Chi-kusa leaves, naturally."
Under the genin's curious stares, I shook the water off the bluish-green, sinewy leaves — Chi-kusa, or fully "Chikari-kusa" — "Strength Grass." You've gotta keep them in liquid or they wilt and lose their properties. I tossed everything into a mortar and started grinding.
"What're you making, Koru-chan?" Naruko asked curiously, scooting closer to Sakurai. Hm — grabbing every chance to be near the boy!
"Medicine... or a stimulant?.. Something in between," I decided. "Lots of preparations have basically no shelf life — you can't make 'em ahead of time. Or cases like this — when you need specific effects standard stuff can't give you. Pharmaceutics is a pretty interesting science, if you think about it. Almost like cooking."
"Oh?! Cooking?!" The blonde's eyes lit up instantly.
Ruuuumble...
"No, Naruko! I'm not letting you try it. Still way too advanced for you," I shut that down immediately. Oh, my poor stomach! At the mere mention...
"Stingy." Uzumaki pouted.
"Sorry — preparing medicine's way too serious. Needs actual knowledge." Okay — now a drop from this vial! Just a tiiiiiny drop.
"Will that help sensei, Kaoru-san?" Sakurai asked, sneaking glances at Naruko as she pressed closer to his side. Funny watching him lean away, trying to save the last scraps of personal space.
"I used several mutually compatible ingredients. Boosts the effect a bit, bumps up the efficacy. Remember this, Sakurai-kun: mix compatible stuff — things get better. Mix incompatible stuff — things get worse. Now, where was I? Ah — the medicine." I caught myself. "Effect's pretty simple: the compound will stir up Akashi-san's Chakra Core and make it work harder. That'll stress it, naturally — could exhaust the Core — so I added several extra energy-rich components. They'll serve as... hm... 'food' — replenishing the cost of producing more chakra. Also — I'm gonna use something interesting."
Under curious gazes, I pulled from the soft case for valuables a little potbellied flask of honey-white liquid.
"What's that?" Haruno watched with interest. Even Sasuko, sitting off at a distance, tilted her head curiously.
"Hmm... still working on the name... Thinking something catchy, like 'Seiji no shinrei to reiyaku.'"
"'Holy Elixir of the Spirit Sage'?" Haruno translated, frowning a little. He murmured the name again — lips moving silently, like he was tasting each syllable — then suddenly broke into a lively grin: "Pretty grand name, Kaoru-san! Isn't it a bit much?"
"Hey — what's life without ambition?!" I exclaim.
"Aye, that's my Koru-chan!" Naruko threw her hand up. "That's my sensei!!!"
"Hmph! Don't trip over yourself," Uchiha remarked, looking on with mockery.
"Hey — what's wrong with the name, Stupid Hedgehog?!" Uzumaki was on her feet instantly.
"You're too loud, Noisy Idiot!"
"Naruko, stop picking on Sasuko-chan!"
"Kami-sama — don't yell while I'm working!" I snapped. I can't focus in this racket. "Shikigami-Binders! Bind!"
I thrust my hand up and hurled a dozen paper slips into the air — they shot straight toward the genin.
"Wha?! What the?!.."
"Hyaaa!"
Sakurai clearly wasn't ready — the shikigami bound him first. Basically the same paper-strip trap, but with simple spiritual constructs loaded inside — limited functions. Not even real spirits — more like pre-programmed spiritual energy. That's the closest term. But those are details. What matters: they know their job. Haruno didn't even twitch before he was mummy-wrapped and hanging from the ceiling. Uzumaki followed — turned into a cocoon. Knowing she'd gotten decent at slipping out of these, I set two binders on her — double-wrapped.
Uchiha lasted longer. She was further away — had time to clock the danger and prep for a fight. Sasuko dodged the first strips, slashed the next wave to ribbons with a kunai. But she should've watched her back — one shikigami hit her from exactly there, coiling around her leg. She yelped, but with her mobility gone, it was over: the strips swarmed her and hoisted her up.
"Mmm-hmm-hmm, hmmm..." I hummed softly, finishing the grind. Now — a little medical chakra into the mix... Lots of medicines are prepped under medical chakra — pretty standard. Just don't overdo it. "There — ready!"
"Muummumumu!" Swaying on the strips, Sakurai mumbled something demanding.
"No, Sakurai-kun — I'm not letting you go."
"MUumumumuu?!"
"Oh, good you asked! I'd nearly forgotten about that."
"Mu-mu?"
"Yep — my own creation," I nodded. "In theory, the Holy... nah, for everyday use I should shorten it, right? Anyway — my 'spiritual elixir' expands the tenketsu, opens the body to natural chakra. You guys know what natural chakra is? Through their tenketsu, shinobi partly interact with it — absorb a little, dump the 'excess.' Like breathing: oxygen in, carbon dioxide out."
"Mu-mu!"
"Right! It'll force the body open — let it take in more 'oxygen' and push out more 'carbon dioxide.' In theory, recovery speed should go up proportionally?.."
"Mu-muuu?!"
"No — you shouldn't say things like that! I'm not using Akashi-san for experiments!" I was actually offended. "Although... I haven't tested it on humans yet."
I admitted it under the gaze of those widened green eyes. Amusing, heh! No — I'm not stupid enough to test new drugs on humans. First animals — they've got chakra and tenketsu too. Then clones — then myself. The elixir works fine. Only noted side effects: a state kind of like oxygen intoxication. And don't exceed the dose unless you wanna pass out from oversaturation and really weird sensations — the feeling of streams piercing right through you is... unique. I made it like my other medicines — just saturated the ingredients with spiritual energy and a tiny bit of medical chakra, 8:1 ratio. So no health problems expected — everything in it's easy to absorb.
"MMmmuuu!"
"Oh, come on — follow the girls' example!" I pointed at the aforementioned. Naruko, with her trap experience, was already gnawing through the mouth strip, while Sasuko was fussing with her hands pinned to her chest — never stopping the death glares. "And anyway, I don't understand a word you're saying — I'm just guessing!"
"Uuuuuuuummmm!!!" Amidst indignant cries and rustling paper, I set off to administer my concoctions to our carefree, hapless commander.
"Alright, Akashi-san — stop pretending to be asleep. Time for your medicine."
"Mm... Noticed me a while ago?" the jonin asked, slanting her eye at me.
"I guessed. The kids raised such a racket, even the dead would've woken up!" I smile, watching her expressive eye.
"Mmaa... Seems I really have gotten weak — falling for a trick like that..." She lamented, sitting up with some difficulty. Pulling her mask down, she swallowed the slightly dry paste without complaint, washing it down with a few gulps of water.
"Hm... Shinobi are strange," I deliver my conclusion, eyeing my patient. "You get recognized everywhere anyway — so why hide such a nice face, Akashi-san?"
"Sorry, Kaoru-kun — you're way too young for me," Akashi deflected with a joke.
"Ara... Shot down. Well — had to try, didn't I?" I spread my hands, feigning disappointment.
"Don't fret — you've got your whole life ahead of you!" The jonin consoled me, hiding her face behind her mask again.
"Nice try — but you won't distract me that easily! We're continuing treatment, Akashi-san."
"Mmaa... Is this really necessary?" She eyed the elixir flask with suspicion.
"I was joking about the experiments — drink up, no worries." I try to ease her doubts. "For comprehensive chakra exhaustion treatment, it helps a ton — trust me! Almost no side effects, but they're a bit weird, so I recommend sleeping through them. Here. Drink exactly half."
"Mm... Well, I guess you're right — I really do need to get back on my feet fast," Akashi decided, obediently drinking the prescribed dose. "I kept thinking I'd missed something — and now I finally figured out what. Zabuza might still be alive."
"Huh?! But her throat got pierced!!!" yelled Naruko, having chewed through the paper gag. "You said yourself she was dead!!! How can she be uummumuuu?!"
Right — I accounted for my old mistakes. The shikigami now have a function for restoring damaged parts. Naruko's gonna be working those teeth a while longer...
"Well, I thought so too at first," the jonin shook her head. "Oh... What unusual sensations?.. But now I think it was a temporary death. Usually hunter-nin destroy the body on the spot — and if they needed proof, they could just take the sword and the head. Remember how Zabuza was 'killed'?"
"Uummuu?"
"Right, Sakurai. It's really hard to kill with senbon — but if you know the human body inside and out, you can try striking specific points to induce a state of 'false death.' So it's totally possible that hunter-nin was an accomplice — and Zabuza's already getting ready to strike again."
"Mu-mu?"
"About a week, I'd say. After a technique like that, she'll need serious recovery time from our fight. So — starting tomorrow, I'll be training you."
"UmmuUu?"
"Don't worry, Sakurai-kun — even in this condition, I've got more than enough for you lot. Thanks, Kaoru-kun — I'll nap for now. And yeah — nice work with those seals."
"Thanks. Glad you liked them."
"Umumu?!"
"Coming, coming." I muttered, checking on the now-dozing Akashi. "I'll untie you if you promise to keep it down. Patient needs quiet."
"Mu-muuu..."
"Great."
"Hey, my daughter made some... EEEhh? What's going on in here?!" Tazuna, walking in, nearly tripped over himself at the sight of three "larvae" and my smiling face. "What's this?! What's this?! Huh?!"
"Shhh!" I press a finger to my lips. "We're just, um... indulging in a little bondage?"
"I, er... I'll just... go, yeah?" The man got flustered, sidling toward the door. "Sorry for intruding."
And he quietly shut the door behind him.
"Ghm... That was a little awkward, wasn't it?" I ask guiltily.
"Uuumumu!"