"So... I didn't catch your name." Hari said, watching Kotetsu run for dear life.
The very tall, highly imposing ninja in sturdy looking armour next to him didn't visibly react to the statement. "I did not throw it." was all he said.
"Smartarse." Hari grumbled under his breath. "Any chance we could fetch your medic while those two go at it?"
"Your access to our medic depends upon this fight." The large and highly conspicuous ninja replied in a monotone.
"No. No it doesn't. The deal was bright-eyes gets to fight somebody, we borrow your medic, you get tokens. No conditions were set on who had to win the fight." Hari argued firmly, not backing down.
The Rock nin grumbled before moving into the makeshift cavern base, emerging less than a minute later carrying a man just over half his size by the collar of his shirt and dropping him unceremoniously in the dirt. Oddly, the smaller one didn't seem to struggle in the least, as though he was used to such treatment.
"So I'm a bartering chip today? That's new." The newcomer grumbled. "Saving the lives of Leaf nin. Also new. Where is the patient?"
The medic did not look much like one would expect of someone who chose the healing branch of ninjutsu. One might expect someone small – which he was – but also someone timid, possibly even feeble or unfit. This young man was none of these things. Small in stature but in good shape and with a confident and well-trained grace in his movements. Not just a medic then, clearly.
"Follow me." Hari told him, not wanting to waste any time. "What's the girl's name?"
"Why?" The large armoured man asked with suspicion dripping from the word.
Hari rolled his eyes. "So when I yell at her I can address her as something other than OI, BATTLE FREAK!" He replied, ending in a shout to address the girl directly. Idly he wondered if he had spent too much time around Hana. Then again he had tried being polite but her comrade was being obstructive. He didn't have time for nice right now. "YOU KILL THAT GUY I KILL YOUR MEDIC. FAIR WARNING."
"Oi! Hari! Don't leave me here with- Hari come ba-son of a bitch!" Kotetsu squeaked as he barely dodged a stone fist aimed at his crotch. "Not cool! No hitting the balls!"
-(-)-
One hour later
Hari was tense. He had good reason to be. One of his best friends was being treated for what may or may not be a fatal injury by someone who may or may not have the inclination to make it fatal. But it was the best option they had. If one were to observe him at that moment, they wouldn't see him pace restlessly. It wasn't in his nature to constantly move to trick his mind into thinking he was doing something. Instead, the young ninja was unnaturally still, sat leaning against a tree, hands steepled under his nose as he watched the foreign medic work. He knew barely enough about medical techniques to maybe recognise sabotage if the young man tried anything. The medic may have asked Hari to let him work in peace but the Nara wasn't trusting (or foolish) enough to indulge the request.
Funnily enough, the medic had absolutely zero intention of bringing harm to the Aburame girl. Oh, he recognised the clan traits. It would be hard to miss them. There were far too many reasons to keep the girl alive to even think of doing otherwise. For one, and most obviously, the Leaf genin would probably kill him for it. For another, it was to the Rock's benefit for the girl to be alive. A wounded comrade in critical condition would be nothing but a liability in an exam like this one and despite how calculating the young Nara seemed, he was clearly unwilling to cut his losses. To be expected, the Leaf was infamous for such behaviour. However, the most important factor had nothing to do with the exam.
The girl was an Aburame, true. But even someone from the Rock could tell this one was a bit different from the others. The girl's wounds alone were rather telling. It appeared a minuscule explosion occurred inside of her body, specifically between her right lung and ribs. Add the basic information on Aburame that they host insects inside of their bodies and you reach the obvious conclusion. Explosive insects! Oh, someone in that clan must have had quite the brainwave to think of something like that! If he could just contain one and bring it back to Iwagakure the Kamizuru clan would pay a fortune for such a specimen!
"So?" Hari asked, sounding far more patient than he was.
'Of course, I'd need to do it without the flower power ninja noticing. And I bet the Nara won't take his eyes off me until I leave.' the medic lamented inwardly. "There is significant damage to her right lung." He said aloud. "Whatever caused the explosion, the result was several bone splinters from two of her ribs embedded themselves in the already damaged organ's tissue. Had we a clean operating theatre and a capable surgeon she would make a full recovery. As it is... there is very little I can do. I'm a field medic and even if I felt comfortable performing a surgery myself with no assistance, in a place like this I can almost guarantee an infection and in her already critical condition..." He trailed off, allowing the Leaf nin to come to the obvious conclusion themselves.
"Thank you for you in-depth lecture on what you can't do. What can you do?" Hari asked, his even tone betrayed by the sarcastic jibe.
The medic lip twitched in an almost sneer but he suppressed it. "While her condition is dire, those bugs of hers seem to be doing everything in their power to keep her alive. It's actually quite remarkable. I can assist them in that and hopefully stabilise her for the time being but it will only buy her time."
"How long?" Iruka asked.
"Hard to say. A few days? Maybe more, maybe less. If I could analyse their abilities I think I could give you a better estimate."
The proposition was not appealing to Hari. There were two possibilities. She would last long enough to reach proper medical help... or she wouldn't. And if it turned out to be the latter... There would be no excuse to not make the call. "Just do what you can to stabilise her. Nothing more." He ordered. Deep down he knew it was the incorrect decision but he couldn't face what the correct one would lead to.
"But I could-" The medic began before being cut off.
"Is there some reason you aren't eager to return to your comrades, medic-san?" Hari asked, some suspicion creeping into his voice.
The medic was cursing on the inside but kept his expression neutral. "I swore an oath to do whatever I could for my patients, Leaf-kun. But I will do as you ask."
-(-)-
It had been several hours since the Leaf contingent had borrowed a medic from their adversaries and by all accounts it had been as successful a gambit as could be expected. Keika was given time and that was all Hari could ask for at that moment.
The medic on the other hand was less than enthused. He examined the girl's kikaichu as much as he could but found no evidence of their detonating ability. He suspected they were more intelligent than he gave them credit for and were hiding the ability somehow. He had no way to know that the Queen couldn't birth more kyuuzou at the moment if she had wanted to (which, considering how the last batch turned out, she very much didn't).
As they approached the Rock camp the results of the fight they had left behind were apparent. Kurotsuchi was leaning casually against a cliff face drinking from a canteen and looking rather smug. Kotetsu on the other hand had clearly had better days. He was lying prostrate on the beach, not even acknowledging the light waves washing around him. The big guy in the armour was nowhere to be seen.
"...Uhhhhn..." Kotetsu grunted feebly.
"How are you doing, Kotetsu-san?" Hari asked as he approached.
Kotetsu blinked, raised his head to look at Hari, released another non-verbal "Uhhhn" and allowed his head to slam back into the sand.
Kurotsuchi rolled her eyes. "He's fine, he's just being a baby. I totally followed your sissypants rule of no killing." Her tone showed it was under protest. "Basically ended up as point sparring. He's kind of an amateur with those swords, huh? And he's stronger than you?" She smirked before laughing. "You must be a real pansy."
Hari pursed his lips ever so slightly and relied, "Sure. Let's go with that. Come on, Kotetsu, let's get you back to camp." He finished as he lifted the bulkier teen so that he was leaning on Hari's shoulder.
"Hey, what about our tokens!" Kurotsuchi protested, moving subtly into a ready stance in case the two tried to welch on the deal.
"Your medic was shown their location. Four tokens as promised. He can lead you to them easily enough. It was a pleasure doing business with you... Kurotsuchi, was it?" Hari asked, to which she nodded. "I'll remember it."
Kurotsuchi watched the two leave. "Tch. Like I care if a weakling remembers my name." She snorted before turning to the returned medic. "So... medic guy. What's their situation?"
"Does no one know my name?" The nameless medic asked morosely.
"Of course not! No one cares about you!" She declared, not noticing (or caring) how miserable he looked. "So what's their deal?"
With a long-suffering sigh 'the medic' laid out the information he had gathered. "I saw four of them including the one left here and the one that was wounded. The fifth was likely staying hidden in case I tried anything. The Nara is undoubtedly in charge as the others follow his lead without question. The other capable nin I saw didn't seem like much but I never saw him fight."
"Male or female?" Kurotsuchi asked, having seen the Leaf group fight the Mist on the first day.
"Male." The medic answered.
She nodded. "The fireball guy then... Seemed like he was some sort of support type to me. No combat specialist is that weak. What else?"
"The wounded was a girl. An Aburame... They use bugs." He clarified at Kurotsuchi's blank look.
"I know that!" She snapped, glancing away briefly, a tell he picked up on instantly.
The medic just raised an eyebrow to show how much he believed her. "Anyway, her wounds suggested an explosion had detonated inside of her body, suggesting the Aburame have made some advancements in the breeding of their special bugs. I tried to examine one or get a sample but I think the Nara was on to me. He gave me no real chance to do so."
"The Nara are the clan of geniuses, right? Makes sense he would be sharp even if he is super... weak... Hold on a second!" The pink eyed girl exclaimed in sudden realisation. "That guy was the one that summoned those giant crows! How in the hells could that guy be weaker than some lame-ass swordsman wannabe?!"
"Summons? A genin that can summon?!" The medic parroted, shocked. "That's ridiculous! The chakra costs for a single summon is enormous and you say he summoned more than one?!"
"Oh, that sneaky son of a bitch! He was totally the stronger one and he made me fight a flunky! I am so gonna get him the next time I see him!"
"No, no you're missing my point!" The medic insisted. "When I say enormous I mean it. There is no way a genin would be able to summon more than one, especially if they're of considerable size. He would have to have colossal reserves to manage it without showing signs. So either he is a powerhouse or..."
"Or...?" Kurotsuchi pressed.
"Or," The medic spoke slyly, "he is doing a phenomenal job hiding a case of severe chakra exhaustion. In which case they have lost a majority of their combat strength."
Kurotsuchi's eyes lit up. This was a win-win situation right here. Either the Nara was a badass who could give her a good fight or he was a weakling that she could use as a stepping stone to picking off the rest of the tree-huggers!
"Oh, medic! This kind of news might be enough to get me to remember your name." She smiled.
"Really?" The medic asked, hope blossoming in his chest.
"No, not really." She admitted callously. "But it is really awesome!" She assured him as she ran off after the Leaf nin, not noticing or caring that the medic was openly weeping on the shore.
-(-)-
"Well that turned out okay." Hari surmised as he walked into the woods with Kotetsu on his shoulder.
"...Unnnh..." Kotetsu moaned.
"Oh, suck it up. You don't even have any noticeable wounds!" Hari retorted.
"Punched... m'balls!" Kotetsu stammered.
"Oh. Uh... Well, it... could be worse?" Hari half stated, half asked.
"...Unnnh, unnnh..." Kotetsu insisted.
"Yeah, you're right. There's no way it could be worse." Hari admitted.
"OI, NARA!" A tomboyish voice bellowed from behind the pair.
Hari and Kotetsu looked at each other for a second before turning their heads to look behind them. What they saw was Kurotsuchi standing a dozen paces behind them with an openly gleeful expression on her face.
It terrified Kotetsu.
It caused Hari to... struggle with some emotions he wasn't quite ready for.
"I blame you for this." Hari told Kotetsu before unceremoniously dropping him so he could turn and face the new threat.
"That was a neat trick you played, Nara." The pink eyed battle maniac stated, still grinning. "Not sure what the trick was yet, but I'm about to find out. So that's okay."
Her grin widened and her eyes danced with delight while her hands curling into fists.
"So... Let's have some fun, yeah?"
-(-)-
A/N: I LIIIIIIIIIIVE!
Well... Those who listen to the podcast probably already know I live and that I just suck at mustering my motivation to write. But still... LIIIIIIIVE!
So the Rock ninja show they aren't stupid in this chapter. Never a bad thing to have smart antagonists. And that tease I gave for a fight between Kurotsuchi and Kotetsu has now been replaced with a tease for a fight between Kurotsuchi and Hari. Oh well. No way around it now, right? I have to write a fight scene.
Obligatory plug. The Fandom Flux Podcast continues to be super awesome and everyone should go listen to it. Every episode you can expect a discussion of three topics usually concerning writing and storytelling, often primarily about fanfiction. For example in the last episode (episode 54) we discussed crafting a believable narrative, dealing with wordcountitis and our favourite story concepts. Head on over to the youtube channel by searching for 'Fandom Flux'!
Also for manga fans, we do a recap of the most recent chapters for two of the worst shonen series currently running: Bleach and Naruto. To clarify, they are currently terrible. They were great at one point. It's basically us pointing out all of the flaws. And there are plenty of those, let me tell you. And that show would be Manga ReFlux. Released every Tuesday.
Alright. I'm not keen on giving empty promises so I'll just say I'mma try to do better with updates for this fic. I'm still very much interested in writing it.
Thanks for reading.
UPDATE MAY 2016: Minor fix of Hari saying Kurotsuchi's name and apparently forgetting it ten seconds later. He used a nickname instead now.
