Okay, I realized while writing this chappie that I've been spelling the ninja ranks wrong. I apologize, but I'm too lazy to go back and fix it. The correct spellings are Genin, Chuunin, and Jounin.
"Naruto! Wait up!"
"TenTen? Neji? What is it?" he asked, slowing down to allow them to catch up. "I was just talking to Kakashi-sensei about when we're leaving. He's pretty tired because of that new Sharingan thing, but he says we'll leave in the next-"
"You know Kokoro Haratsuchi, right?" Neji asked, looking as stoic as always.
"Huh? Gin-me? Yeah, I know her. Why?"
"There wasn't really a good time to say this because we came in a little late, and then, to be honest, I forgot about it," TenTen admitted, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.
"Forgot about what?"
"We were coming back from the mission we were assigned before this when Neji saw a weak, stationary chakra signature,"
"So what?" Naruto asked, leaning against the wall across from Kakashi's hospital room. It kind of amused him to see that even though the Leaf and the Sand were different in so many ways, both their hospitals were the same- quiet, boring, bland, and begging to be sneaked out of.
"Well... there's not really an easy way to say this..."
"The kunoichi Kokoro Haratsuchi was found unconscious, severely injured, and poisoned. Her chance of recovery was around five-percent when we found her, but twenty-percent when we left,"
"Wait, what?" Naruto exclaimed, pushing himself off the bland, beige wall to face Neji.
"You didn't have to be so blunt about it," TenTen muttered.
Naruto felt something constrict in his chest. Kokoro was injured, perhaps fatally, and that was when team Gai had left the village. By the time they made it back, it'd have been a little over two weeks, and who knows what condition she'd be in by then? What if she was even worse than what the medics had originally thought? What if she didn't...
"I'm sure she'll be fine,"
"Anyone of the rank Jounin wouldn't be killed that easily," Neji said, trying to be comforting in his own, weird way.
No. Kokoro would be fine. Tsunade would take care of her personally if she was that bad, not to mention how fast she healed. Her body probably overwrote the poison a few hours after team Gai left. She was probably out training now, furious at herself for getting injured. Neji was right, no Jounin- wait.
"Kokoro's a Chuunin, not a Jounin," TenTen corrected. "Though I heard something about her not taking the test to stay level with her sister, so I'm sure her skills are on par with a Jounin's and she's fine!" she added quickly.
Half in a daze, Naruto walked back into Kakashi's hospital room. He had to leave now. He had to know if Kokoro was okay. If Kakashi could walk, they had to leave.
"Naruto? Are you alright?"
"Just leave him. We should probably go find Lee and Gai-sensei and tell them it's time to go,"
OOooOOooOO
Even before she really woke up, Kokoro realized she had a splitting headache. It pounded in time with her too-loud heart and was almost crippling, making her want to groan. Cracking her eyes open to allow her eyes to adjust to the light, Kokoro wondered where she was.
All she could see was the ceiling, but even that was enough to tell her that she wasn't in a place she'd been before. It was too bright to be the hospital, but the ceiling was too white to be anywhere else. Only when she tried to sit up did she become aware of the fact that she was restrained.
Shit.
There was no way she'd been captured; no one in their right mind would save an enemy ninja from the brink of death just to get information, it just wasn't worth the trouble. But despite how unlikely, it was still a possibility, and she had to be prepared.
Suddenly, a wave of dizziness washed over her and this time she did groan.
"Kokoro Haratsuchi, can you hear me?"
"Lady Hokage?"
"You've asleep for some time and suffered a head injury. I'll need you to answer some questions. How old are you?"
Alarm bells went off in her head, adding to the pounding of her heart.
It was a simple tactic- ask an unimportant question first, under the guise of a medical examination. Add in a small genjutsu to make the voice seem familiar, and someone who's just woken up from a who-knows-how-long coma automatically answers. Slowly, the questions get more serious, inquiring about the mission and basic strategies of the village the target came from. By the time the victim truly came to their senses, enough information was gathered to form a small problem. Repeat enough times and it could end up costing the target's village everything.
The only way to avoid a potential disaster was to feed the enemy half-truths and lies without hesitation.
"Sixteen,"
"What is your rank?"
"Chuunin, as of the last exams,"
Let them think she was a young hot-shot who wasn't aware of what she was doing.
"What is the highest ranked mission you've been on?"
"B-rank,"
"If that's true, why was your body filled with lethal amounts of A-grade poison and how did you survive?"
"The mission took an unexpected turn and my father abused me until I was eleven. I was exposed to hundreds poisons and developed a tolerance for many,"
A small pause followed, allowing Kokoro to once again focus on her aching head.
"Shizune, untie her,"
"Yes, Lady Tsunade,"
Were they insane? If they untied her she would just try to escape!
Kokoro remained limp and relaxed as the restraints were removed, even offering Shizune a small smile and 'thank-you' before she moved away.
Sucking in a breath to prepare herself for the rush of pain that was sure to come, Kokoro sat up and flung her legs over the side of the bed.
"I'm sorry to be rude, but I'm really not in the mood to beat around the bush. Why were you testing me?" she asked bluntly, not even acknowledging the two ANBU standing beside the Hokage in deceptively laid-back positions.
"Dismissed," Tsunade ordered, nodding to the guards. "You too, Shizune," After they were gone, she walked towards Kokoro, a green-blue light enveloping her hands. "Because you attacked Kiba Inuzuka and the head nurse and plants were involved. I had to make sure you weren't being possessed by Midori. If you were, you wouldn't have applied your training and lied," she said, walking towards a shell-shocked Kokoro.
"I did what?" Kokoro whispered, horrified and suppressing the urge to close her eyes as the pain in her skull slowly faded into nothing.
"Calm down. The worst injury was a sprained wrist and it's already been healed. Neither of them know what happened and Aiko, the head nurse, doesn't even care. Kiba kept rambling about your scent and something about creative suicide, so I doubt he cares either. Right now you're in a special part of the hospital for patients with unknown alliances," she said calmly, trying to answered every unasked question the girl would normally ask.
"I-I hurt them?"
"No, Midori hurt them," Tsunade amended, her hands moving from her patient's head to her chest. "When you were first brought in, the cuts on your ribs were so deep you could almost see the bone. Now, however, they're only mildly deep. The burns you originally had disappeared after two days. No lasting damage that I can see, though you might be a bit disoriented from your eleven day coma, and you're free to do B-rank and below in a week and a half, A-rank in two,"
"No!"
"Excuse me?"
"You can't send me on missions where I'm in danger! Before I passed out, she was trying to get in my head, she kept telling me to ask for her help. What if I had? She could've gone on a rampage or something! She could've killed people!"
Tsunade was silent for a moment, the glow now gone from her hands. Stern brown eyes met conflicted silver, and in an unusual show of tenderness, the Hokage's right hand cupped the Chuunin's cheek and her left rested on her shoulder. Bending over so that their faces were level, Tsunade smiled slightly before saying softly, "But you didn't, did you? You chose instead to die, and it was only sheer luck that saved you. Despite what you may think, you control that power within you, it doesn't control you. Understand?"
After staring at her for a few more seconds, Tsunade straightened and walked over to look out of the small, barred window.
Kokoro didn't know what to think. She used to see herself as a strong, independent ninja who didn't take shit from anyone. In a way, she guessed she was still like that. Throw Midori into the mix though, and she was instantly transformed into a weak, scared little girl who didn't know what to do. Who was the Hokage kidding? She spent every waking minute afraid that Midori was going to somehow take over. If that's controlling power, then she was a goldfish.
Then again... back when that Akatsuki guy cornered them, she was able to use Midori's power without any of her input. Sure, she wasn't fully in control, but it was way better than becoming a mindless tool of destruction. She was even able to protect Naruto! Maybe...
"Oh, and by the way, starting today you're a Jounin,"
"C-come again?!"
OOooOOooOO
"Not a chance,"
"But, Neji, it is a wonderful training exercise! If Kakashi-sensei is willing to help Gai-sensei-"
"I don't know if I'd call that willing..." Sakura mumbled, looking at her sensei with a mixture of pity and disgust.
"-than you should be willing to help too!"
"I will not ride piggy-back,"
"Fine, then I shall carry the lovely Sakura and TenTen's bags!" Lee announced, bounding to his teammate's side to collect the luggage.
"I can carry it myself, you weirdo,"
"You can have mine," Sakura called, tossing her pack to a grateful Rock Lee.
"Thank you, wonderful, beautiful, youthful Sakura! My heart burns with the joy of knowing you approve of my training!" he cried, tears streaming down his face.
"Alright, Lee! The first to Konoha wins! Go!" Gai yelled, running off into the sunset carrying a very uncomfortable looking Kakashi.
"It looks even weirder in motion," TenTen groaned, looking ready to kill her team minus the level-headed Neji.
"Let's go," Naruto said, trudging through the dust cloud left by the spandex-wearers.
"Hey, Kokoro will be fine,"
"Yeah, stop worrying. I've never met her, but from what you, Ino, and TenTen have said, I get the impression she's made of stern stuff,"
"Naruto's right, we should get back to the village as soon as possible,"
"Well, aren't you a hopeful bastard," TenTen muttered, but followed nonetheless.
OOooOOooOO
"Remove your mask,"
"Yes, Lady Hokage," the ANBU said, removing his cat-like mask to reveal murky brown hair and dark, almond eyes.
"Your name will remain Tenzō for this mission, as it is only going to last a week or so,"
"Yes, Lady Hokage," he deadpanned.
"Are you aware of the spirit that resides in Kokoro Haratsuchi?"
"Yes, Lady Hokage,"
"Good," she said, never once looking away from her office window. "I understand that your talent for controlling tailed-beasts doesn't extend to Kokoro, but you're the closest thing to a specialist I could come up with. You are to help her train in the old ANBU interrogation chamber, this is a must as no plants can be in the vicinity. She is going to attempt to make contact with the spirit inside her, without being possessed, and learn to control its power. You are to assist her in any way you can. Understand?"
"Yes, Lady Hokage. If I may ask, you said that this mission would only last around a week, however the goal is to essentially make peace with a malevolent spirit. Shouldn't that take much longer?"
"Normally it would," the Hokage admitted, allowing the corners of her mouth to turn up a little. "But if she can do it in the allotted time, which is a week, I'll take back her promotion and confine her to two months of B and C-ranks. She probably won't be able to do it in a week, but she'll definitely get it done under two,"
"This girl... she sounds strange,"
"Oh, she is. But she has the village's best interests in mind. Now, you'll start tomorrow at eight o'clock. Be here half an hour early for any last-minute details. Dismissed,"
"Yes, Lady Hokage," Tenzō said, bowing before he disappeared.
Strange... yes, that was certainly a word to describe Kokoro. She was one of the strongest kunoichi in her age group, maybe even the village if she were to put her mind to it, yet she was terrified of Midori and therefore terrified of becoming stronger.
Too bad she was going to have to face her fears in order to 'protect' the village.
Tsunade could be really cunning when she wanted to, and quite frankly she looked forward to officially promoting Kokoro to Jounin.
Hopefully, this had tons more plot than the last chappie and confused no one! If you have any questions, just ask! :D
Now, I have a special treat for my fellow writers::::
The Solution(s) to Writers' Block
1) A very strong emotion. For me, anger works best, which is why this chappie was done so quickly.
2) Ask a random person for an equally random word, such as tourniquet, and then try to incorporate that word into your writing somewhere.
3) Make three short lists- one of things that need to happen, one of things you want to happen, and one of things that are random and hold no purpose. Then pick one from each list and try to incorporate all of them into your chappie.
Hope that helped, don't forget about the poll. I've had one person vote, one only. If you don't want Naruto to end up with Koko, then I suggest you pay my profile a visit.
Until next time! :D