It was approximately a week later when Shinjiro set out to buy some supplies for Mako. As he navigated the marketplace, he suddenly became aware of a chakra signature he recognized. Glancing around, he quickly spotted the person in question.

"Chino-neesan?" Shinjiro asked in surprise. A girl with blonde hair blinked in surprise and looked at him. Offhand, she appeared to be about his age, but Shinjiro knew well enough that she was actually several years older than him.

"Shinjiro! What are you doing here?!" She asked in surprise.

"I'm the one who should be asking that." Shinjiro replied, "I thought you went back to your ancestral home? What are you doing here in Yugakure?"

Chino's eyes filled with worry and she clasped her hands in front of her in concern, "Fuushin came to me last week, badly injured. He said that Bright Lightning was betrayed by the Hidden Mist and was forced to disband to survive. I've been doing what I can for him, but, well... I came here to see if there was something that could help him. What about you? Fuushin told me that you disappeared just before the incident."

"Never mind that for now!" Shinjiro replied, his mind racing at what Chino had told him, "Let's go!"

"Go? Go where?!" Chino asked in confusion as Shinjiro dragged her through the streets.

"To my shishou! He can help Fuushin-niisan!"

"Shinjiro, you're not making any sense."

"The reason I disappeared just before was because I was attacked by Hidden Mist ANBU." Shinjiro explained, "How I avoided death is a long story, but the doctor who treated my injuries is now my mentor. He'll be able to help!" Upon reaching the inn, he quickly ran inside, still dragging Chino behind him, "Shishou!"

"Shinjiro? What's the matter?" Mako asked in surprise.

"Shishou, one of my comrades from Bright Lightning survived, but he's badly injured! Please! You've got to help him!"

Mako's face filled with concern. "Take me to him."

"That might be a problem..." Chino began awkwardly, "He's in the Valley of Hell..."

"The Valley of...? Why on earth would he be there?!" Mako exclaimed, not bothering to ask who Chino was.

"Because that's where I live." She said matter-of-factly, "I'm from the Chinoike Clan. We used to live in that Valley. Fuushin knew he'd be able to find me there."

"This is Chino-neechan." Shinjiro explained, "She was one of the children that I grew up with."

"Otousama, isn't going to the Valley of Hell forbidden?" Oyu asked nervously.

"Yes, Oyu, it is, but... We are not shinobi, and the inn is far enough removed from the rest of the village that nobody will notice. I'll leave you and your mother in charge of the inn for now." Mako replied as he grabbed a bag of medical supplies.

"But what if-"

"There are plenty of doctors here in Yugakure." He assured her, "But I'm likely the only one who is willing to treat this young man." He looked at Chino, "Lead the way."

It wasn't exactly a hop, skip, and a jump from Yugakure to the Valley of Hell, but Shinjiro, Mako, and Chino managed to make good time. Once they arrived there, Chino quickly led them to an abandoned house where Fuushin lay on a mattress.

"Fuushin! You won't believe who I found! It's Shinjiro! And we've brought a doctor to treat you!" Chino exclaimed as she ran to his side.

Fuushin opened his eyes weakly and looked at Shinjiro. "Shinjiro... you're alive. But how?"

"Never mind that for now." Shinjiro said as he knelt next to his friend, "Worry about yourself." A rainbow tint overcame his eyes and Mako wasted no time.

"Tell me what you see, Shinjiro."

"Several of his wounds are infected, but he doesn't appear to be septic." Shinjiro remarked, "However, his chakra is low. Likely the result of blood loss and lack of nutrient intake since the attack. I can't really evaluate the extent of his wounds though."

"As expected, those eyes of yours are amazing, and well suited to use in medicine." Mako remarked, "I have no doubt that with time and training, you will certainly surpass me as a doctor." He put on a pair of gloves and then moved toward Fuushin, "For now, I'll examine his injuries and show you how to treat them."

"I've done what I can for now, but it will take some time for him to recover from those wounds completely. He'll probably have to undergo significant rehabilitation. I'll send Shinjiro out every other week to check on his progress and bring more supplies." Mako informed Chino when he had finished examining Fuushin.

"Right, thank you." Chino replied before turning to look at Shinjiro, "By the way, why did you disappear right before this happened?"

Shinjiro sighed, "Kirigakure must've known that I would sense their intent to betray us, so they sent ANBU to get rid of me. Fortunately, I managed to obtain aid from an even more powerful shinobi. Shortly afterward, Shishou's daughter, Oyu-chan, found me and helped me."

"To be more accurate, Oyu came and got me, and I helped him." Mako remarked, "Oyu is a slip of a girl. She didn't have the strength to carry him back on her own."

"I see." Chino said thoughtfully before smiling sadly at Shinjiro, "Well I'm glad you're okay. If you hadn't been there to notice me in Yugakure..."

"Yeah..." Shinjiro said with a nod.

It was sometime later when Shinjiro, whilst tending to his chores within the inn, suddenly sensed the chakra of Uchiha Itachi nearby. In fact, it seemed that he was passing by right now. There were a variety of things that Shinjiro could know about the infamous shinobi within the instant that he had sensed him, and he quickly left his work to rush out the door.

"Um... excuse me!" He called urgently, causing the cloaked figure to stop and turn to look at him.

"You..." Itachi began.

"Um... thank you for last time!" Shinjiro blurted out after a moment's hesitation, bowing politely to them, "If you're not in a hurry, why don't you come and rest your body's in my mentor's health resort? Also... I would like to talk to you, Uchiha-han. I think I might be able to help you with your eyes." That wasn't really what he wanted to talk to Itachi about, but he also knew he'd need to come up with a believable reason, and what he had said was not untrue.

"You mentioned something about my eyes the last time..." Itachi remarked, "About making them worse..."

"Yes. I'm a byouninja, or at least, a byouninja in training." Shinjiro explained, "I can use my own visual prowess to analyze a person's flow of chakra and detect problems."

Itachi nodded and followed the blue-haired boy inside. "Shinjiro-kun?" Oyu asked when she saw her father's apprentice coming in with the very peculiar strangers.

"Ah, Oyu-chan." Shinjiro said while walking over to her. He leaned over and whispered to her, "Please bring some calming herbal tea and dango to the aromatic treatment room." Oyu looked confused, but nodded and headed into the back.

"Now let's see... It looks like Room 5 on the third floor is open." He pulled out a key and held it out to as he looked at Itachi, "Please follow me."

Itachi nodded and followed Shinjiro into another part of the ryokan. Just as they approached the open door of a room, Oyu arrived with a tray.

"Oh, Shinjiro-kun. I brought what you asked for."

"Thank you, Oyu-chan." Shinjiro said as he accepted the tray. "For the time being, I'm going to be using this room."

"Do you need me to get Otousama?" She asked, but Shinjiro shook his head.

"Not at the moment. This is within my current abilities. We should let him alone in case another patient arrives." Oyu looked quizzical at this statement, but she nodded and walked away. Shinjiro led Itachi into the room and set the tray on a side table before shutting the door. He made a few signs with his hands. "Oto naku no jutsu!" He exclaimed, pressing his palm to the closed door before picking the tray back up and walking over to Itachi, who had sat down. "That was a sealing jutsu to prevent sound from entering or exiting the room." He explained as he set the tray down in front of Itachi, "With that in place, we can talk freely without concern of being overheard by anybody" Itachi raised a brow, but Shinjiro ignored it. "The tea is for you. It relieves stress, and dango are your snack of choice, right?"

"How did you know that?" Itachi asked while reaching forward for the food.

"My visual prowess is known as the Shinjitsugan." Shinjiro explained, "It's related to the Byakugan. It allows me to not only see a person's flow of chakra, but also to analyze their chakra to determine various things about them... Their personalities, their likes and dislikes with regards to basic things, and chakra natures they possess."

"Such insight can be dangerous." Itachi remarked.

"Yes, it can." Shinjiro acknowledged, "My clan has suffered at various times in history because of that. However, it can also enable my survival. The day I was attacked, I sent my falcon to you because I could sense that you were very strong and that you had a kind heart. While that didn't guarantee that you would help me, I had nothing to lose by taking the chance."

"I see..." Itachi said quietly.

"Which brings me to part of what I wanted to talk to you about." Shinjiro said. "I knew the minute I saw you that you are not the person that people say you are." His gaze fell as his expression became tinted with sadness, "I can tell... that you carry great pain and sadness in your heart... as well as deep love... and guilt..." He looked up again slowly, "You don't have to tell me everything. I'm guessing a lot of it is classified. But I want to help you, just as you helped me. Sometimes... just having someone you can confide in can ease the pain a little." When Itachi said nothing, Shinjiro continued, "Quite frankly, Itachi-han, if you keep trying to carry your burdens alone, you're not going to live long enough to carry out whatever goal it is that you are trying to achieve."

At this, Itachi raised his brow again, "What do you mean?"

"Your will to live is strong, but your body is just the opposite." Shinjiro said, "I can already tell. Your body is under enormous strain. Some of that is stress induced, I'm sure, but there's also something else beneath that. Your left eye bleeds when you use your Mangekyou Sharingan, doesn't it?"

"How did you know that?" Itachi asked. He didn't even bother asking how the young boy knew that he had the Mangekyou.

"I can tell that some of the blood vessels around that eye have ruptured numerous times over the years." Shinjiro answered, "While the Mangekyou Sharingan does place strain on the optic nerve, hemorrhages caused by its usage are abnormal."

"You know a lot about the Sharingan." Itachi said, once again raising his brow. Shinjiro looked down.

"For most of my life... I was enslaved by a man who 'collected' children with Kekkei Genkai and used us for various reasons. Because of that, and because of the nature of the Shinjistugan, I've spent most of my life studying every Kekkei Genkai in existence. The only one I don't know much about is the Rinnegan, due to a lack of available data."

"I see..." Itachi began, "So you're a byouninja with a special talent for treating those with Kekkei Genkai."

"Especially those with visual prowess, yes." Shinjiro said with a nod.

"Do you know anything else about this... condition of mine?"

"There's not much else I can tell by just looking at you right now, although knowing of any other symptoms you've experienced might help."

"There aren't any others that I have noticed..."

"Hm..." Shinjiro said with a nod, his face appearing thoughtful, "The most I can tell is that your organs are... well... under stress. Some of that is stress-induced and some of that is pain-induced, but I think there is probably a third cause that I haven't managed to isolate yet. Even so... if you will at least allow me to do what I can to relieve the first two, your lifespan can at least be extended."

Itachi closed his eyes in thought, "...I can't tell you about what happened in Konoha, but... I suppose I can confide in you regarding my current activity."

"I understand, and please know that whatever you disclose to me, I will take to my grave if you so wish." Shinjiro said with a nod before looking down, "I know all too well... the importance of keeping a secret."


Finally got around to finishing this chapter. It took me way longer than it should have.

Once again, had to go and edit out Kisame because of timeline issues. He'll show up eventually.