Chapter nine – Unexpected First Aid
"Move!" I heard a familiar shout in my ear as I was pulled away from Kabuto's murderous grasp. The male ninja snarled back at me, his knife sliced into the water tower sending further spray shooting into his eyes. This was enough to stall him a moment but he was coming back! I could see things too closely tucked over the shoulder of my rescuer in a tangled fireman's lift.
"Stop! We need to find the delivery cart!" I protested. "There's something in it that could spell disaster for the whole village!"
"Slacker, you have the most preposterous of priorities!" the high pitched voice ranted sternly.
"Matron Shun?!" I squeaked in disbelief. It was then I spotted folds of emerald green material flapping behind us and sure enough underneath my arm was the same tightly pinned bun that she always wore. I had no idea that a woman her size was capable of running so fast.
There was no slipping and sliding as we galloped along, it was as if she was sprinting on a completely flat road. Her feet stuck to the tilted planks with no trouble at all. A close call with a kunai scratched me back to reality. A trail of something sticky and wet was trickling down my cheek. As I swiped it with the back of my trembling hand there was red residue. It occurred to me that I was unsure which was worse: being assassinated by a rogue ninja or rescued by Matron Shun. Both situations seemed equally ridiculous.
We continued running along the roof tops and after several well timed jumps Shun had brought us a few blocks further down away from the main road.
"Where are we going?" I asked in a panic watching us leave the safety of the crowd behind.
"Foolish girl, I am hardly going to confront this maniac in such a public place! The hospital doesn't need any more casualties…"
"Confront him?" I repeated her words and gulped. "Are you insane?"
Sure, Matron Shun was tough as old boots when it came to giving the doctors a firm ticking off but…this was hardly Doctor Sora! This man had impersonated members of staff and infiltrated the hospital for months. She didn't know he had already killed another person and showed not the slightest bit of remorse. He was dangerous, sadistic and cruel could she really stand against such a ninja?
At that moment I finally caught sight of the cart driver continuously glancing behind, whipping the horse harshly to move faster. I tried to explain to Matron what Gaara's gourd was and how Kabuto's Master was trying to use the gourd to gain Jutsu from the dead.
There was a brief silence as she descended into one the side streets with smaller alleyways branching off either side. We had landed just a few metres behind the cart which was still making steady progress further and further away. Just as I was about to chase after the gourd Shun eyed me carefully.
"On second thoughts… whatever you do," she spoke quietly but the seriousness of her tone was poignant. I winced as she gripped both my shoulders tightly and forced me to look at her. "Keep the gourd out of Kabuto's reach and return it immediately to the Sand Ninja. The treaty between our two villages might depend on it."
"The treaty? We signed another treaty after what just happened!"
"And one more thing Squirt, no matter what - do not come back this way, understand? Go straight to the Hokage Residence and alert elder Utatane. Tell her everything you know."
I nodded firmly trying to show that despite her misgivings about my age, I could still be useful in a crisis. There was a queer strangeness in the way she smiled then, pinching my cheek like Grandmother's do when greeting their grandchildren. We said nothing and she left me, darting in the opposite direction ready to greet Kabuto directly. In turn I renewed my hunt for the gourd with vicious determination. There was no point in dwelling on strange behaviour at a time like this.
Keeping a watchful eye on the driver I tailed the cart and climbed silently into the back compartment. The package was still wrapped up tightly. Tearing at the paper the familiar E symbols and calabash shape were revealed. It was astounding how accurate Gaara's sketch had been – he had captured every crack and line from memory alone. When testing the weight my heart sank it was pretty heavy. Apparently Gaara carried the container on his back wherever he went. I couldn't even begin to imagine the strain on his spine if it was fragile as his arms.
Standing with my legs wide apart I begin to manoeuvre the gourd towards the edge of the cart. I grunted wiggling the precious heirloom from side to side scrapping along the floor. Suddenly everything came to an abrupt halt and I clung to the large object for dear life. The cork popped out with the force, sending a small haze of sand into the air.
I could hear the latch on the backdoor being released and held my breath.
"What the?" the driver gasped with surprise when he saw his unexpected stowaway. In a knee jerk reaction I threw the gourd at him, which he caught and toppled backwards onto the road. My hands flew to my mouth in shock. I had just thrown Gaara's gourd. What if it was broken? The treaty between the Sand and Leaf villages would be in pieces!
I hopped off the now stationery vehicle and gingerly took a look at the driver. My stomach was wrapped in tight knots as I rolled the heavy burden off the man. First I checked that his airway was clear, his breathing steady and pulse strong. Miraculously the gourd was still intact too although sand was still pouring out of it onto the dusty Konoha road. Feeling rather guilty I retrieved the cork and tried to replace it, but no matter how hard I tried to squeeze the stopper back in, it simply would not go.
"There must be a knack to it…" I sucked air through my teeth trying once more in vain.
Defeated I placed it upright and tucked the cork into the breast pocket of my now rather grubby uniform. I dragged the driver's body behind some apple crates and barrels. There was a hand trolley in the cart I noticed and took the opportunity to load the gourd onto it. Although it wasn't easy to move the trolley in a straight line at least I now had a way to reach the Hokage's Residence. Oddly despite the gourd being in an upright position the sand was still rising out of it. It swirled in the faint breeze and blew down the road as I made my journey back towards the central part of town. I thought briefly about Matron Shun and if she really had managed to stop Kabuto.
With the trolley in front I ran as quickly as my tired legs could carry me. There were explosions and loud noises coming from the Southern side with smoke and bright red light illuminating the perimeter wall.
"Ushi, Tora, Uma, I, Ne Tori!" Matron Shun bellowed. "Fire style: dragon flame Jutsu!" A thin wire shot towards Kabuto wrapping itself around his leg. She tugged hard inhaling quickly followed by a loud exhale with a streak of deadly red flame igniting along the wire. It was so quick that before Kabuto knew what had happened his leg was smoking and burning rapidly.
Kabuto studied his leg for a moment and then smiled slyly. "Is that all you can do, old woman? Alright, I'll play your little game but make no mistake – I'm a lot better at this than you are!" He disappeared, immediately replaced with a single wooden plank that was crumbling to ashes in his place.
"Transformation jutsu," Shun huffed unimpressed. "Child's skill taught at the academy, can't you handle your fights with any honour? I would have expected more from Orochimaru's own right hand man - how pathetic!"
The two fighters flew high in the air and crashed down on one another. Matron Shun was aware that her enemy was skilled in medicine. She never dreamed that Yakushi's own son would have caused such havoc in his own home village. After such an intense investigation to finally flush out the traitor was a relief.
When she had discovered the dead body of Ebisu, one of the hospital's longest serving labourers it had sent alarm bells ringing. Unfortunately for that particular member of staff the luck of his name had ran out prematurely. There had been no cuts, grazes or bruises on the body to give an indication about the cause of death. Therefore Matron knew that a chakra technique had been used which led to irreversible internal damage. There were few that could recognise such a technique and fewer still that would ever consider using it. Shun had suspected that something wasn't right at the hospital for a little while.
It began with small, minor things; more than once Shun had returned to her office to find documents not quite where she remembered placing them. There were power cuts, breakages and hot spices being added to food from the kitchen. Staff rosters had been changed without authorisation and no one was quite sure who was responsible. Shun thought of Yasu, the youngest nurse believing that the child perhaps was playing practical jokes. She watched the girl intently stamping immediately on any perceived inappropriate conduct. As a result Yasu had been placed in taking care of Gaara but then the events continued. Supplies began to disappear from the medicine cabinets despite being under lock and key. Some patients had been given the incorrect dosage of crucial medicine. Others who were on the road to recovery had suffered relapses due to allergic reactions. Shun knew that it couldn't possibly be the girl as she was stuck in the isolation ward.
After the 'Mokuton Incident' her attention had shifted to Takumi. Checking old reports it was not always easy to determine where the nurse had been when these strange events occurred. Trying to keep a close eye on him had been impossible when the attack on the village first began. It was only further down the line when he was spotted talking to other staff about the times of the delivery cart, and paying cash for questions with gold coins that further suspicions were aroused. This was about as much proof as she needed to hand Takumi over to officials for questioning. When the time came to arrest the suspect however, Takumi had disappeared.
When Yasu was no where to be found on the roof just above where the dead body was found, a new problem surfaced. The elder nurse knew that Yasu and the young man were close friends. She had spied on the pair, watched with interest as Takumi ripped a small piece of paper to shreds in the garden. Much to the bewilderment of the young girl, who tried to talk sense into her friend before fleeing back into the main building.
Mr Teien had felt compelled to speak up explaining that conversation between them was now awkward – almost as though they were strangers. The young man who had once showed such an interest in the garden throughout the seasons was evasive and withdrawn. One day he'd told the gardener to mind his own business with such a sharp tongue only to quickly smile and apologise. He blamed his erratic mood swings on his encounter with Gaara suggesting with black humour that the Sand ninja's demon must have possessed him.
"What business do you have trying to take such a young life?" she asked plainly.
"Just curious…you saw for yourself what she did at the hospital. A few cell and blood samples would give me all I need to know. I wouldn't kill her or anything – at least not at first." Kabuto smirked checking the sharpness of the small blade by slicing it along his small finger. "Mmm," he murmured licking the blood with his tongue, obviously satisfied. "No one else needs to die you know. Just head back to the hospital and carry on with your work. Surely you have better things to do than protect that weepy, long nosed runt? You never wanted her working for you anyway. If you ask me Matron Shun, I'm doing you a big favour."
"So, I walk away and you get exactly what you want? A tempting offer perhaps, but you're forgetting that I run a very tight ship. To be frank, rats like you who try to gnaw at the insides should be exterminated. No doubt you also remember the patients you've messed around with your sick practical jokes. Should I walk away from them too? Don't be such a naïve little brat. Face the consequences of your actions like a man, Kabuto Yakushi!"
Kabuto pressed his lips together forcing himself to remain silent. It was obvious the old woman wasn't going anywhere and he wasn't happy that she recognised him either. It was hard enough to wake up most mornings trying to remember his role; checking his surroundings before slipping on his mask for the day. Whether he was lying in a soft bed awoken by the twittering of birds in Konoha or listening to the hollow echoes of Orochimaru's hideout deep underground, just for a few moments he needed to re-register who he was. Some might say such shifting roles and personalities would be enough to drive a man mad, Kabuto saw this as an added bonus to the challenging game of his life.
He ran at the old woman throwing several kunai at her chest for good measure. She deflected the projectiles as expected with ease using a hair pin and moved back into a defensive stance. As his right arm began to glow with a pulsing stream of concentrated blue chakra he got ready. He carved the air up between them hacking and slicing at the decreasing distance. Shun spun backwards veering left and then right sliding across the ground. In diagonal lines she kept a safety net of grace away from her opponent's tricky fighting style. When backed against a wall the Matron gasped aware of the error in her judgement. Kabuto was now bearing down on her and she swerved ready to continue running backwards blindly. Just at that second however the ninja made a rude and smoky exit into thin air.
With her legs set in a wide stance for balance the older fighter became confused. Shun felt the gravity of the situation as she was pulled by the ankle towards the muddy earth. It seemed the rat had been making good use of his time setting an underground trap. Matron Shun had never thought that a medically trained ninja could possibly know Earth Style: Underground Move Jutsu. When it came to a fight with Kabuto the reliance on his opponent's underestimation of his skills usually brought his win home.
