Iryo-nin Kasa (医療忍)

Chapter Forty-Seven: Acceptance

Following the postponement of my training, Inoichi left me with a seal scroll, filled with a number of medical texts regarding to the mind and various sorts of mental traumas induced by physical experience and genjutsu attacks. Compared to the usual medical and training text, it read more like an action horror…which in itself is pretty interesting, but I don't think Inoichi meant for it to entertain me.

Since the meeting with Shikaku, Inoichi hadn't scheduled any further training. The closest to any instruction I had from the man was to meditate… Uh… yeah… about that…

I know how meditation is supposed to work, mind clearing, single focus, etc… I've read enough in my previous lifetime to know the drill. Unfortunately, knowing doesn't equate to actually being able to do it. As I've been told many times before, it seems like my problem is on my ability to focus. However, contrary to what most people think, it's not that I can't focus. Rather I focus too much, to the point my thoughts betrays me and turns into crippling doubt.

Since the mind-walk, I've lost count of how many scenarios I've sifted through the past week. Some were believable and some were outright ridiculous, but most of them often ended badly. Trying to meditate with such grim view of the future was near impossible. The fact that Yami was silent for the entirety of this passing made it even more so unnerving. She claimed that she wanted recognition that would last long after our death, but I have no clue whether that was through fame or infamy.

Not that either of them made the situation any better. Getting myself on the radar of allies or enemies meant there was a higher chance of being targeted. And at my current standing as a genin-medic, I doubt it would take much for an experienced chunin to take me down. I supposed I could defend myself if I tapped into Isobu's chakra… but then I run the risk of losing myself... which just brings me back to square one all over again.

"…I wonder how long it would take me to learn how to perform plastic surgery?" I grumbled, eye twitching as I read over the same line of text the past five minutes. "At this rate, I'm better off just changing my identity and joining a circus…"

With an annoyed sigh, I flipped a seal card between my fingers and sealed away the scroll before repeating the same motion, making the card disappear. In the week of studying, I've made no progress in my meditating or mental exercises. What I did manage to do in that same time period were a few sleight of hand card tricks… mainly because my brain revolted and refused to let me absorb anything I was studying unless I find something else that could be processed through muscle memory rather than my brain.

Considering I've already exhausted nearly all forms of physical practice during the chunin exam training binge, it was either card tricks or knitting… about that… let's just say the things I knit could be categorized as a blunt weapon and that only thing I've tried thus far was about a foot's worth of a scarf.

With an annoyed sigh, I flicked my wrist pulling forth my deck of seal cards and started shuffling through it. Absent-mindedly, I allowed my hands run through the various shuffle styles, listening to the cards hiss as they slid against one another. Personally, I thought it would've taken me more than a week's time to learn and perform in the same caliber of a professional that practiced for years, but I guess having the dexterity from practicing hand seals and the steadiness from medical ninjutsu had some influence on the speed I picked it up.

"Cool!" shouted a number of excitable voices.

"Huh?" I blinked, glancing up before I realized a swarm of little hellions surrounded me.

"How do you make the cards do that?" asked one little girl.

"What else can you do with them?" asked another little boy.

I found myself at lost for words at the sudden barrage of questions. With so many of them surrounding me, I had trouble trying to make sense who was saying what and matching a face to the voice.

"Show us! Please! Please! Please!" begged the children.

Not that I'm that much older than them. Physically, I had only turned nine several weeks ago while traveling back from Kiri, but comparing how they acted with my peers in the Academy, these children were… immature, even more so than they were. I always thought that the children of shinobi villages went through a desensitization period from a young age, much like what Tesuri and Somoku did when I was a child, going through the gory parts of war, preparing them, desensitizing them for what's to come.

My mind paused briefly at my thoughts. No, that was presumptuous of me to assume that. It might've been just a situational circumstance with my situation. Considering both dad and mom were a part of Akatsuki and the rebellion against Hanzo. They might not have the luxury to raise me any other way. If they had their way, they'd probably raise me to be like these children… Ah damn it, I'm losing myself in the thoughts again.

I glanced at them once more before letting out a soft sigh. Well, Yami did say she wanted some recognition right? Though she never did say what sort she wanted. Gathering up my wits, I stood, plastering a wide grin on my face as I gave my young audience a flourishing bow.

"If it's a show you want, then who am I to deny you?" I said cheerily.

With that announcement, I held my hands apart with half a deck in each hand and let the cards fly. Attentive eyes followed the flight of the cards as they crashed into one another in the air. For a moment, it seemed as though the cards would come tumbling to the ground in a messy heap. I could hear the intake of breath as the children readied to show their disappointment. However, before that exhale of breath could occur, the cards did the unexpected and shuffled itself into a neat pile in the air.

Using the confused and excited murmurs as a distraction, I went through a set of hand seals and disguised myself to look older and quite a bit taller with a transformation jutsu. The children looked baffled at my sudden change in appearance as I reached out a hand for the deck to land in a neat pile.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls." I announced clearly, the smile never leaving my face as I fanned out the cards with a single hand. "Pick a card and I'll show you wonders like you've never seen before."

"Me! Me! Me!" Delighted squeals came from the children as each and every one of them shouted, arguing to be the first to draw a card.

"Now, now, no need to fight. After all, the show has only begun!" I said, snapping one of my fingers before an explosion of petals descended from the sky.

Using a mixture of parlor tricks, ninjutsu and the handiness of storage cards, I managed to captivate my young audience with seemingly impossible feats. Whether it was using chakra threads to have the cards dance in the air or a having cow shaped mound of earth popping from one place to another at an almost instantaneously rate, each act never failed to draw applause and cheer.

I have no clue how long I went about with the performance, but I have to say, I haven't felt this relaxed in ages. Not sure if it was due to the ridiculousness of pretending to be a stage magician or the fact that I have no clue of the future for any of these children. In this moment, I didn't have fear and doubt weighing me down. I felt… happy.

Of course, happiness was not something I was allowed for long as I felt another spectator joining my audience at a distance. Doing my best to be discreet, I used my theatrical movements to glance about for my quiet observer. Much to my surprise, he wasn't hiding his presence at all. If anything, he was grinning with amusement as he gave a vague gesture to continue my act.

…I guess that's my queue to finish up.

"Now, I know you've all enjoyed my performance thus far, but as the saying goes. All good things must come to an end." I announced. Disgruntle protests and whines came from the children before I raised a finger to settle them. "However, since you've been such a wonderful audience. I'll have you all join in my final performance. Enjoy!"

Complaints died at their lips as I grasped onto the hand of the closest child and pulled her into a twirling dance. One after another, I switched partners weaving through each and every one of them as I performance a dance seal with them at my hand. A gentle swirl of wind picked up as the loose leaves and petals in the area joined our dance in a swirling frenzy.

I made sure to keep the output of chakra low as the children laughed and reached up to grab the floating leaves and petals. I waited until they were happily distracted before forming another set of hand seals to swap myself multiple times with each child, placing each of them to a new position until I reached the edge of the crowd and escaped into the trees.

Thoroughly confused and mystified by what happened, the children chatted amongst themselves excitedly as I canceled the illusion on myself and made my way to my quiet observer.

"Is this what you do on your day off?" asked Tenzo with a grin as I landed on the branch next to his.

"Not always." I admitted. "Did you enjoy the performance?"

"I never picture you to be a thespian," chuckled Tenzo. "But it seemed like you really enjoyed it. You looked happy. I'm glad."

I raised a brow at his choice of words.

"Ah, don't mind me. You were looking a bit stressed since coming back from Kiri. I was a bit worried that's all," said Tenzo.

A wry grin crossed my face. "You didn't come all this way looking for me just to tell me that did you?" I said dryly.

"Well, you're right about that," nodded Tenzo as he pulled out a small scroll with the hokage's seal on it. "Hokage-sama sent out a summons for you. He wants to see you ASAP."

"Did something happen?" I fought the urge to tense.

"I wasn't given the particulars, but it's probably best not to keep him waiting," commented Tenzo.

I nodded quietly. The summons would've came sooner or later, no point in running from it. Better just chin up and face the music.

"Lead the way." I held out an arm, offering him to take the first step.

"You're really taking this theatric thing seriously aren't you?" said Tenzo with an amused shake of his head.

"What are we but actors in a play on a stage that is the world?" I drawled lacing my words with needless floridity.

"Then let us go then, shall we my lady?" said Tenzo with a grin as he took my hand and tugged me along.

Out of everyone, he was probably the only one that could see through the smiling masks I show the world and see the terror and nervousness hidden beneath it. Normally, when he catches me hiding behind these masks, he would make an effort to call it out and make me take the mask off. This time, for whatever reason, he decided to indulge me and let me keep the mask for once. Maybe he saw how terrified I was at being summoned. Whatever the reason was, I'm thankful for what little reprieve he's allowing me to keep.

It didn't take long for us to arrive at the admin building and even less time to Hiruzen's office. Tenzo gave my hand a reaffirming squeeze one last time before he let go and knocked the door and we were invited in.

"Ah, Kasa-kun, glad that you can finally join us," said Hiruzen as we closed the door behind us.

"Hokage-sama." I greeted the man with a bow before feeling my heart drop at the sight of the other occupants in the room. Aside from Hiruzen, Inoichi stood at the corner along with my three jounin senseis. Doing my best to keep myself from dropping into a panic attack, I steeled my nerves and plastered on the smile once more. "How may I be of assistance?"

"No need for such stiffness Kasa-kun," said Hiruzen with a soft grandfatherly smile. "This isn't a continuation of the reprimand you received in Kiri."

That doesn't make me feel any better. I glanced over to Inoichi, wondering what he's told Hiruzen regarding to my foresight and then to my three jounin senseis. What role did they have here in this meeting?

"Your senseis have informed me of your progress throughout the chunin exams and Inoichi had expanded on your current situation regarding to the outbursts of Sanbi's chakra and the state of your memories," said Hiruzen, seriousness seeping into his voice as he continued. "In light of these facts, I cannot allow things to continue as it is."

"I see." I murmured quietly, closing my eyes as I let out a tired sigh. I've had my fun. It's time I've acted my age. "I will accept any decision you make Hokage-sama."

"Ho?" hummed Hiruzen in amusement. "Aside from that one incident with Obito, it seems that you've grown quite a bit since you've left for Kiri."

"The credit goes to the excellent tutelage of my jounin senseis." I said evenly, finding the words a bit generic even to my own ears. "The student is only as good as their teacher."

"And a flattering tongue as well," noted Hiruzen as he grasped onto his pipe and gave an idle puff. "Very well, this makes my decision all the easier. Genin Kasa Mon."

"Yes sir." I acknowledged, my posture never faltering for a moment as I kept my eyes leveled to his. No more hiding, this was it.

"In light of your performance in the exams and the events that followed thereafter," said Hiruzen with a firm and authoritative voice, making the whole announcement sound even more so official. "I hereby announce, your promotion to chunin."

Goodbye free… wait what? Back up a sec! Did he just say…?

"Promotion?" I repeated in surprise before glancing at the other occupants in the room at a lost. "I'm being promoted?"

"Why are you so surprised?" asked Hiruzen in amusement. "You have performed quite spectacularly in the exams and along with your teams, you've all fulfilled the original intent of mission in drawing the interest of potential clients. Overall, I would call this endeavor a success."

"But… my… condition…" I awkwardly stumbled over my words at the last second, unsure if it was safe to continue on that line of thought. At a lost, I glanced towards Inoichi with a questioning glance, but he was unreadable, giving no gesture or sign of what I should do. What's going on?

"I have been made aware of your health issues," said Hiruzen as he took another puff from his pipe. "Inoichi has assured me that your condition will not affect your continuing career as a kunoichi as long as you maintain your health."

"I…see…" I did my best to keep my face blank as I snuck a glance at Inoichi. Why didn't he tell him? What does he and Shikaku have planned?

"You don't sound pleased," noted Hiruzen. "Most would jump in joy for the chance of a promotion."

"I am honored receive the privilege of a promotion, but… don't you think there were better candidates than myself?" I asked. "It's rather unfair when my teammates has done a much better job at the exam in comparison."

It wasn't that I didn't want the promotion, but with that, it meant the mission ranks would go up. While I could handle a basic C-ranked mission with no issue, chunins were open to B-ranked missions too. With my current skillset and the whole situation about me being an oracle, I have no confidence that I could handle the work load without majorly screwing up the future. Adding to that, my gut was telling me something bad was going to happen if I accepted it.

"I wouldn't sell yourself short, Kasa-kun," said Hiruzen in amusement as he idly lifted a half open scroll and started reading. "Psychological warfare, situational assessment, decision making, reactivity, flexibility and so on and so forth. In your team of nine, your overall score ranked highest, only bested by Itachi and Shisui in selected areas. You left quite an impression on your observing proctors."

My eyes widened at his words. It wasn't news to me that at the proctors' praises, since they're likely duped by my acting. Obito and Kakashi had mentioned the bit about being a Crimson Terror prior to the finals, but to be ranked highest? He's kidding right? What on earth were the proctors high on?

"I see you don't believe me," chuckled Hiruzen. "I do hope you get over the stigma of graduating dead last from the Academy. You have grown into quite a fine kunoichi for your age. It would be a waste to have your growth hinder by such a thing."

"But… what about the others?" I asked, making a last ditch attempt to change his mind.

An amused chuckle escaped Hiruzen as he held onto his pipe. "Had you not suddenly developed a habit in disappearing on a whim, you would've received your summons about the same time as Itachi and Shisui. The two had received their promotions only hours earlier."

"…Oh." I said lamely.

"I'm pleased to find that you hold such loyalty to your teammates that you'd feel you're betraying them for gaining a promotion, but I do hope you wouldn't reject it because of that," commented Hiruzen.

"No! No, of course not." I raised my hands denying his claim. "I… feel privileged."

"Good," continued Hiruzen. "Then this will make my jobs much easier for what I've decided next."

"Eh?" I met his eyes once more in confusion.

"As you might be aware of the protocols, newly minted chunins usually stay with their genin team for a time before they're officially reassigned to a chunin team due to compatibility issues and availability issues. However, in the case of you and the two other Uchiha boys, you three are already acquainted and trained to work together," said Hiruzen.

"…I'll be teamed up with Itachi and Shisui?" I said in surprise before a frown crossed my face.

"Will that be a problem?" asked Hiruzen.

"No, no!" I waved my hand. "But wasn't there an issue previously about the three of us being in a team due to our age? As I recall, that was what kept us from being a team when we graduated from the Academy."

"Yes, that issue was brought up and kept in mind during the decision of promotions," replied Hiruzen. "There was a brief debate regarding to the physical limitations due to the age of the three of you, but the exams results were also taken into consideration. In each portion of the exams, each of you have shown your adaptability and resourcefulness with situations in facing opponents that had more experience and physically developed more."

"…I see." I said quietly. "As I've said before, I'll accept any decision you make Hokage-sama, but may I ask who is the commander to my new team?"

"That would be me," said Kurei from the sidelines.

"Kurei sensei?" I blinked. "What about Tokuma and Santa?"

"They'll be reassigned to Team Six and Thirteen to fill in the spots left by Itachi and Shisui," answered Hiruzen with a wave of his hand. "Of course, team reassignments won't be in effect immediately as your health is still of concern. Until Inoichi deems you're ready for missions, you'll be under his charge and the teams will remain as they are."

"I understand sir." I acknowledged.

"I do hope you recover in good health soon Kasa-kun," said Hiruzen pleasantly as he pulled out a scroll and a familiar looking flak vest, sealed in a plastic bag, and placed it at the end of his desk. "I see a bright future ahead of you."

"…Thank you sir." I bowed before stepping forward to pick up the proof of my promotion. It felt unreal to actually hold them in my hands. I didn't doubt that I could advance to chunin at some point… but I never thought I would actually get it in my first try. It was just… unbelievable.

"Serve Konoha to your best, Chunin Kasa," said Hiruzen.

"By your command." I bowed once more.

"Dismissed," said Hiruzen before Tenzo opened the door once more.

I waited for the jounins in the room to leave first before I followed suite. Even if I had a promotion, the protocol still calls for me to wait till my superiors leave before I could do so.

"Congrats," whispered Tenzo with a small grin as I left and he closed the door behind me. Despite not wearing his mask, he was still anbu and likely still on the clock.

"Though you're not obligated to take missions while you're recovering, I do expect you to come to team training," commented Kurei as we walked down the halls.

"The same goes for your morning training at the Hyuga compound," added Hizashi not a moment later.

"Eh?" I glanced up at them in surprise.

"Just because you're promoted that doesn't exempt you from training," said Hizashi. "While you done well to keep your manners in front of Hokage-sama, it could still use some work."

"E-eh?" I found myself lost at their words. Neither of them sounded angry, but their sudden interest in talking about my training was a little offsetting. It wasn't until a moment later that I found a small twitch at the corner of their lips that I realized they were just teasing me.

"Geez… Kurei sensei and Hizashi sensei!" I couldn't keep the whine from slipping in my tone before I clapped a hand over my mouth.

My senseis hid a cough behind their fists, but I'm quite sure they've all snickered. I found my cheeks puffing in indignation, likely due to habit since I hadn't felt an ounce of irritation at all. After a moment, I let out the air in my cheeks in a sigh and glanced down at the vest in my arms. Compared to what I wore, the flak vest felt heavy. While it's not unbearable, the weight also reminded me the level of responsibility I have was growing and getting heavier… But that's okay. I did say I'm going to accept it… right?


Author's notes: …This chapter felt depressing to me and short. I am not pleased at all! Between catching another cold (yes, I have a bad habit of catching colds in the middle of summer with 90F weather) and heat exhaustion, this chapter was just not fun to write… Another thing I noticed, Yami got really mixed reviews. You guys either hated her or thought she was cool… there was no middle ground for her… but I guess that makes sense being who the heck she is. Anyway, I hope I didn't lose you guys because of her, I saw a lot less of you in the last chapter. For the most part, while she's there, she's not going to play that big of a role, but I'll leave it at that just so I don't spoil anything. I'll try to make the next chapter long, but until then. See you guys in the next chapter!