Hinata arrived at the family's villa with some medicine. She'd heard this was where she'd find Gaara. Hinata used her Byakugan and saw Neji sitting at the front door, waiting patiently. Hinata started to wonder if it was just her imagination, but Neji looked a bit antsy while he waited.
Walking in, Neji got up to help her with the medicine and first aide supplies. The villa was eerily quiet for housing someone who was probably going to be on his deathbed soon. Neji and Hinata went to the back room, where Gaara was laid out and sleeping.
Hoshiko looked up at them and then continued using her style of medical care. Gaara was still damp from her use of water to locate and extract the poison that had gone through his weak system. Hoshiko gently dabbed the water from his face and neck. Neiji and Hinata put the medicine in order so she could read the labels and do what she needed.
Hinata had never seen such a healing method, using basic ninja fighting tools to flush a wound and take the muscles. She'd never seen such a use of a kunai when it came to stitching a wound. But Hoshiko's method was working wonders on Gaara's body.
When Hoshiko had it nice and tightly closed, she leaned down and bit off the extra string. Tying it again so it wouldn't slip, she started looking through the medicines, letting Gaara remain between her and them. After a moment or two, she took two bottles and started to grind some of the pills made into a fine powder. As she started to mix it into a small amount of water, Gaara moved. Without so much as a glance, Hoshiko put a free hand on Gaara's eyes and he was still once more. When the paste was a consistency she liked, she took a bit and put it over the stitches.
"Where did you learn all of this?"
"I've learned it from several medical ninjas. They told me to find a medicine that works with me. I can't maneuver around a certain kind of medicine." Hoshiko smoothed down the past so it was level with the skin. "I've found that you can't just have a jutsu or skill or characteristic without first finding what revolves around your own, original skills. Hence the reason my way is much different than the uniform ninja's medical way. On the up-and-up, you find what works and what doesn't through trial and error, so, I've had a lot of mishaps. But I've gotten better."
Hinata suddenly wondered if Gaara was okay in Hoshiko's hands.
"No worries, though. I've done this to Gaara before. I know what medicines work well with him." Hoshiko got up, groaning slightly. "While the Kazekage rests, I need to stretch and train. I don't take a day off. It's not in my skill set to take a day off. I'm from the Sunagakure's 'root' class Anbu. I'm not allowed to rest. It's not something I usually do." She reached to the ceiling. "If he wakes up, come and get me. I'll need to give him some vaccination pills he was supposed to take."
Hinata watched her leave and was amazed at the strength of the woman. She was strong internally and externally. Her body was nimble and thin. Her mind had been sharpened and honed. She was a force to be reconed with and Hinata envied all Hoshiko was.
"She's amazing," Hinata said out loud.
"Yes, she is." Neji smiled at Hinata. "Don't worry. She's not running away."
"You think I could ever be that strong?"
Neji's smile became more sincere. "Hinata-sama, one thing I know for sure, you're already getting stronger."
---Hoshiko---
She was practicing her hand-to-hand combat when there was a comotion in the villa. Stopping to listen, Hoshiko heard Gaara's yells and a few things breaking. She completely stopped and ran inside.
Throwing the door open, Hoshiko found Gaara and Neji fighting. Hinata was lying in a crumpled heap of cloth, door, and limbs on the far end of the hall. Neji was distracted between Gaara and Hinata.
"Go!" Hoshiko grabbed Gaara's arm and threw him out the open door. His foot caught on the edge of the door and he spun slightly. Landing facing her in a crouching position, on all fours. Hoshiko drew her sword. She really didn't want to use her own jutsu, not on someone inhabiting Gaara's body. "Who's in there, hm?"
"So, you've noticed?"
"The Kazekage is a gentle spirit. He has no reason to attack and knock unconscious a woman who is both unarmed and unprepared." Hoshiko held her blade before her and started to do some hand symbols with the other. When she made a fist, she charged. "Ninja Art: Blade of Wind." She started to slice at Gaara's body. When her blade barely missed, a wind swept passed and sliced Gaara's side. Hoshiko felt a twang in her heart. This was Gaara. The man she was so desperate to be with. She didn't want to kill him. But this match was starting to head that way.
"Ninja Art: Giant Sand Burrial!" The inhabitant used Gaara's own jutsu.
Hoshiko, quick as lightning, sheathed her sword and formed hand symbols. When she completed them, she slammed her hands down, calling upon a jutsu Neji had never heard of. "Ninja Art: System Fail!"
The sand fell all around the two ninjas and Hoshiko slashed through it, cutting at Gaara's face and neck. It was the easiest way to scare them into submission. It worked, because he retreated when she feigned a kill shot. She wrapped one arm around Gaara's waist and held him up. Sheathing her sword, she began to move when Neji joined her. The two of them took Gaara's body back to the villa's porch area.
As she laid Gaara down, he started to groan. Coming to reside over him, Hoshiko removed her mask and let it drop beside his head. "Kazekage-sama, come back. Don't let the wounds overtake you."
Gaara let out a resonating yell of pain. Hoshiko had to hold down his shoulders when he tried to move. "Let me go!" His eyes were wild with anger. He reached up and tried to grab Hoshiko's neck. She just kept his hands down. She pinned down his arms with kunais and used a huge throwing star to hold down his waist. "I said to let me go!"
Sand shot out from the huge piles and Hoshiko just let them harmlessly miss her. "Kazekage-sama, you have to understand, this isn't easy for me to take." She started to get water. "I need you to calm down and just understand this."
"Understand what?! You've tried to kill me again!"
Hoshiko grabbed Gaara's nose and poured a golden colored liquid into his mouth. "Swallow or you'll drown." He swallowed. "Good, now, hold still."
"It hurts like--"
"I know, just hold still." When Hoshiko's hands touched Gaara's exposed flesh, she felt him flinch slightly, but that was all. Slowly, Hoshiko let her hands sweep across his wound, leaving a trace of green residue as her medical skills began to seal the wound. "It's a temporary hold. Can you wait?"
Gaara nodded. When Hoshiko was pulling kunais out, she heard Neji calling her from where he was trying to keep Hinata alive. Pulling out the throwing star, she ran to see what Neji was worried about. Kneeling down, she saw Hinata was bleeding profusely from her shoulder and upper left arm.
"Neji, get the medicine with the label for antibiotics. Hinata needs to be stabilized. Hurry." While Neji did that, Hoshiko straightened Hinata's body so it was a perfect line and started to fell the wound. She found it to be a piece of glass that was jammed down her shoulder and arm. Hoshiko started to take the glass and feel the flesh around it, so she could see what was there. She found it didn't hit any vital organs and no major arteries. When Neji handed her the two vials with antibiotics, she took one of them, read the label and switched it for the other one. "Neji-kun, you need to stay with Hinata for a while." Hoshiko handed over two pills to Neji. "Chew those, but don't swallow."
Neji obeyed. When Hoshiko was satisfied with how long he'd chewed, she grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him down. His lips met Hinata's and he flushed.
"Slowly pass it to her. She can only take liquids. Enjoy yourself, if you want, but we can't get it in any other way." Hoshiko took hold of the glass and slowly began to move it outward. She had done this a million times on injured people with kunais and throwing stars. It was harder when there wasn't a place to put your thumb and pull out in a precise motion.
After a moment or two, she got it out. She let Neji bandage her up and crawled back to Gaara, who had pulled himself onto the porch so his feet weren't dangling off the end. "Kazekage-sama?" she asked, touching his arm.
Gaara looked at her and then gave a kind of sad smile. "I'm still here. But the wound might've opened."
"Don't worry, I'll take care of it." Hoshiko stripped away his shirt and steel mesh netting. She felt her face flame when she saw his exposed chest. He was a magnificent man, in more ways than one, and Hoshiko was sure that Gaara would be very much loved by any woman who saw him this way. She was just lucky to spend this much time with him. She placed her hands on either side of the wound and slowly pushed down. The skin didn't tear and she knew it was going to heal easy. Clasping her hands together in a concentration symbol, they flared the classic gray she'd always used. Putting them back down, she felt Gaara flinch slightly. Did he not like her touching him? She didn't care, she just focused on the muscles.
After five minutes, she heard Hinata move and was able to pull back from Gaara. He opened his eyes and slowly reached across to touch his wound. Hoshiko sat back and tried not to show her fatigue. Just when she thought she was okay, several trees that were only five-hundred yards out came crashing down. Someone was coming, and they didn't sound friendly.
