A/N: Again, my story is not the same as the original, as I did not create the original and therefore I have no right to copy it directly. Besides, how boring would it be for people who already know what's gonna happen? ;)
And again, I explain jutsus like I understand them to work. If you don't agree, formulate your own explanation in your mind :)
Chapter 10 - Medical Justu
My excitement from what is happening nearly engulfs me. Sakura takes me to the Third Traning Ground, where she first became a Genin. Seeing it in real life, along with the fact that Sakura-san and I are now alone, is enough to enable me to use my voice again.
"This is so AWESOME!" I yell, jumping up and sitting on one of the three logs, the one to which Naruto was strapped during their survival training. Sakura-san looks at me in surprise.
"I thought you can't talk," she says, a slight edge to her voice.
"I can talk, just not in front of strangers," I say simply. "It's a long story, one I don't have time for now." I think to myself. They're bound to have finished the mission by tomorrow afternoon, so I'll have to train through the night and make sure I'm back at the base by noon.
"Do you have a curfew?" she asks, confused. "Listen, who are you? That sword doesn't look native-"
"I'm not," I interrupt. "I told you. I can't tell you anything more about me other than my name. Please, I need your help. I need you to train me throughout the night. Surely you have something to keep us awake for a few hours. I have to be back by noon tomorrow and I don't know when I'll be able to come back here. It might be a month, or more. Please."
"Why did you come here, then, if you're not allowed to?" she presses.
I swear. "Listen to me carefully. I cannot tell you anything about myself. That includes where I come from, why I can't talk in front of strangers, the origin of my sword and anything else related. They will kill me if they found out that I let anything leak out ?and don't ask me who,?I add when I see she's about to interrupt. "You're bound to ask, so I'll just tell you. I want to become a medic nin because I need to better my control of my chakra, and I don't get enough training where I live now. I need more. I need to become stronger, if not to keep myself safe forever, but to keep myself alive, at least."
I exaggerated a little on the last note. I know I'm safe as long as I follow Pein's orders, but considering the fact that I'm not following them, I might as well be able to defend myself as well as possible.
"Fine," she sighs. "How many techniques can you do already?
"One," I tell her, flushing, thinking about Kisame-sensei trying to teach me something new. "The water clone. But I can also walk on walls and water, and hide my signature. My chakra control is fairly good. But, before we continue, would you mind fixing my wrist?"
"What happened?she asks, approaching me.
"It broke.?
She nods, knowing better now than to ask questions. I watched silently as her green chakra healed my aching wrist. It takes longer than I thought it would, perhaps because I left it so long. When she finishes, she says. "Tsunade-sama first had me try to save a fish's life-"
"Don't make me do that into the night," I tell her. "I can practice that back home. Just show me what to do and I'll practice it another time.?
She sighs in exasperation, but nods. She leads me to the small lake a little way away from the logs and turns back to me. "Go catch a fish."
"Youre out of your mind," I tell her, summoning a water clone instead. She stares at the clone as it looks around for a fish to catch.
It's an irritating ten minutes while the clone struggles, but when it finally catches a fish, it returns and hands it to me by the tail. Before I can take it, Sakura grabs it and walks off to a nearby rock. Not bothering to get irritated, I undo the jutsu and feel the knowledge of catching a fish leaking into me. I sit beside Sakura.
"It will take time before you can master healing chakra. It's like learning to use chakra for the first time, seeing as it's so different from that which you use to execute techniques. It's difference can be seen most plainly in the colour."
"Just tell me how to use it," I say impatiently.
"If you want to learn, you have to be patient, Yoku, otherwise-"
"Have you not been listening to me?" I say. "I don't have to be patient! Please, just tell me how to use the chakra."
"Geez, fine," she says as the fish's flapping becomes less violent. It's dying. "The theory of all of these techniques is easy, so I won't be able to do much for you until you've mastered them. The instructions are on the top of the scrolls."
She pulls a scroll from her backpack and pulls it open. In ink, a circle of strange patterns had been drawn, and at the top, like she said, were the instructions. She placed the fish in the centre of the circle and pressed her hands together in front of the chest, the way I had done to show the tall, thin woman from before my gratitude.
"There are no seals for this. The only test here is to see how good you are with controlling your chakra. Instead of balancing perfectly the amount of body and spiritual energy, focus more on the spiritual part. Healing is, after all, spiritual energy. In hypothetical numbers, focus 80% on spiritual energy. The merging will then be difficult to control. Your body will, at first, reject such an uneven amount you're trying to balance, and nothing will happen, but practice makes perfect."
She closes her eyes and hovers her hands over the fish. Green light envelopes them, and after a few seconds the fish's flapping became frantic again. She pulled it up by the tail and threw it in the water, where it swam away from us as fast as it could.
"Will you be able to remember all that?" she asks.
"Yeah," I say confidently. After all, the scroll explains it as well. "Will my normal chakra suffer under the burden of me trying to use this kind?"
"At first, yes. That's why you have to balance it-"
"No problem there," I interrupt, "My teacher is teaching me more techniques. I'll just have to pay more attention starting now."
"Who's your teacher?she asks, trying her luck.
"No one you'd be interested in," I say, smiling. I send a Water Clone to fetch another fish and place it on the scroll, in the circle.
I place my hands in front of my chest, seeing in my mind the image of my body and mind energies swirling around and try to focus them in place. The balance perfectly like they always do when I execute a technique, but when I try to edge the mind energy to take more weight, they mix up again.
I practice for what must be hours, until I'm drenched in sweat again, but nothing happens. Sakura becomes bored again and starts reading. By this time I feel so dirty it just can't be put into words. I undress until I'm only in my underwear and jump into the lake, enjoying the refreshing cool water.
After my would-be bath, I get out again, dressing in simple black shorts, a sleeveless black top and a robe. I packed these in case the other clothes got dirty. The robe is long-sleeved but only covers half my thighs. I see how long my shadow is on the ground and look behind me, my eyes widening when I see that it is already sunset.
"How long will this take me if I practice one hour a day? I can't afford more." I say, pulling my backpack over my shoulder and strapping the sword to my hip instead.
"Then, about a month," she says. "I'm sorry, but I can't teach you more than that unless you've mastered it."
My heart sinks a little, but then lifts at a sudden idea. "Will you introduce me to the rest? Neji-kun, Lee-kun, Kiba, and all of them?"
"How do you know them?" she asks. "Come to think of it, how did you know about me?"
"I pay attention," I say simply. Seriously, when is she going to accept that I can't tell her anything? "So, will you?"
"Uhm, sure," she says, rolling up the scroll and handing it to me. I pull my backpack off, shove it inside and replace it on my shoulders. "Is that heavy?"
"Nah," I lie. It's not like I can put it anywhere else.
"Alright," she sighs, "Follow me."
"Goody goody goody," I say. We turn around to head back to the logs.
I gasp, clutching my mouth, the lump forming in my throat. Sakura looks puzzled. Before us, Itachi-san and Kisame-sensei are standing, a most menacing aura about them. They're furious with me.
"I don't think so," Itachi-san says.
"Who're you?" Sakura asks. In a flash, Itachi-san is behind her. He knocks her unconscious with a blow to the head while I tremble in fear as he approaches me. When he does, he lifts his hand and slaps me in the face. The force of his blow was not surprising, but it still knocked me off my feet.
I stayed on the ground, too frightened even to look up. I'm so ashamed, because not even Kisame-sensei comes to my rescue. My shame makes my wolf ears and tail appear.
"Were you betraying us?" Itachi-san asks. I shake my head frantically, refusing to look up. "Then what are you doing here?"
Tears well up in my eyes. He knows I can't answer him. Is he going to just kill me on the spot? Will Kisame-sensei allow him to do so? I look up hopefully, but my hope is shattered by the look on Kisame-sensei's face. It's not a look of disappointment, confusion, or even anger. It's a look of disgust. The tears escape and roll down my eyes. Worse than I ever could have hoped for happens.
"You can explain yourself to the Leader," Kisame-sensei says.
He pulls a scroll from his pocket, lazily bites his thumb and rubs it across the scroll. Three eels escape. Are they poisonous? They fly toward me in the air, but before I can get up to run away, they wrap themselves around my ankles, wrists and into my mouth like a gag. Itachi-san cuts the straps of my sword and backpack and takes them. He lifts my under the other arm.
"I will see you shortly," he tells Kisame-sensei, but before I can make sense of his words, my vision is blocked by hordes of crows.
I bow my head and close my eyes as tightly as I can, but in seconds?time the flapping is gone, and when I raise my head, I am in the large, depressing room I had been the first day I came here. Pein's room.
"What is it, Itachi?" the deep, menacing voice says from behind the high-backed chair in front of me. Itachi-san lets me fall roughly to the ground. A high-pitched sound somewhere between a suppressed scream and a gasp escapes my throat. He cuts the three eels so that they disappear with a puff of smoke and I lay on the ground, held to it by my shame.
"We found her in Konoha. You can deal with her."