Kushina's Diary

Chapter 46

Birth

The two kunoichi attacked each other fiercely, hands, elbows, fists and feet flying. An open palm struck the shorter girl in the chest, sending her tumbling. Naruto grabbed the orange haired girl out of the air and stood her up before sending in the next victim and going back to his own battle. His fists and his kicks never seemed to connect and while he also had blocked every attack, he was very aware that if this had been a real fight that his arms by now would have been bruised and dragging.

His longer reach was his main advantage and it finally came through as his fist contacted the girl's forehead protector, knocking it sailing into the trees. As he struggled back to his hands and knees and attempted to regain his breath, he looked over at Hanabi laughing at him from where she was sprawled on the ground and realized that she had traded a glancing blow to the head in exchange for a free strike at his solar plexus. He grinned ironically over at Hinata standing above the two beaten boys and she smiled back shyly.

August 10 – Death I understand. Been constant companion since that day, Nii-chan. Sora n I had pact with death. Kids I understand. Want grow up faster than know how, not close friend with death like me.

The Sora-nin dove on the Academy, but she threw before he approached close enough to release his bombs. The spear sheared off his tail and the flyer jerked downwards and to the right at the mercy of gravity, leaving behind a trail of falling bomblets. "HAI! We're even Masashi. That's a residential neighborhood where he went down. As soon as the attack is over, I've got to go make sure ANBU collects him for interrogation if he survived. You good here?"

Five minutes later the flyers again retreated. "OK, go now girl. 'Preciate yer work."

She hit the pavement running and kicked in a short shunshin down a tree-lined street toward where a column of smoke was rising. In front of a burning house, in the center of a circular field of small craters, stood the remains of a shattered elm from which the crushed wings hung. She stopped for a second to analyze the situation when she saw three people kneeling beneath the downed flyer. Again, too late... She saw the knife slice and the body shudder.

The tallest figure stood with a gleaming red kunai above his head. "See! See! I told you all I'd kill me one today!"

What to say to child, Nii-chan, who has done the unthinkable? Who has broken Shinobi rules? Remember Osamu-sensei's words when young and glorify ninja life too much. "To be a ninja is to be a killer..."

"Mizuki! What have you done?"

"I'm a hero. I killed an invader. Now everyone will acknowledge me as a superb ninja. I bet they make me a chunin for this."

With a quick flip of her wrist, Kushina disarmed the boy and stuck the bloody kunai high into the trunk of the damaged elm. "Boy, you can't... this isn't... we don't... I?" She took a deep breath and gathered herself. She found herself more shaken than she had been after her first time in battle. This was something she had never talked about, never even thought about. The reasons were so natural she had never questioned the actions those around her had taken. She grabbed Mizuki and Tsubaki by their shirts and set them on the ground. Iruka stood behind them with his thumb in his mouth, watching with wide eyes.

"I don't have time to deal with this. I need to get back into the battle, but it is essential you understand what you have done. We don't... We never..." (Sigh)

"To be a ninja is to be a killer. As a genin it is possible you might kill an opponent in a fight. A chunin will kill other ninjas in battle. ANBU and jonin kill without mercy when and where they are directed. The condemned, including traitors and missing-nin, may be killed by anyone at any time. But in combat, the age old practice of slicing the throats of the wounded was outlawed because it would only lead to more savagery."

"Once, the world was a barbarous place and all tribes needed those who were proficient in fighting for protection. As shinobi grew more deadly, it became evident that the world would descend into ultimate chaos if ninjas did not adhere to rules, and so it has become axiomatic that those who do not follow the rules are considered trash. An important rule in war is that we do not purposely kill civilians and other helpless people."

"Why take prisoners? The reasons are obvious. Prisoners are a source of information. They are a source of income as they can be exchanged or ransomed. Most importantly, they are a reason for our people to be treated fairly. Not that it is pleasant for the captives. Any and all jutsus available will be used to obtain any intelligence advantage and every precaution is taken to prevent them from being able to use their own jutsus, but they have food, a blanket, and medical care."

"I know you've heard stories of prisoners being killed. In an instance where a captive is too dangerous to safely contain or it becomes too dangerous to protect them from a disaster, prisoners sometimes die. All that is necessary for you to understand at this moment is that genin are not permitted to make such decisions, let alone students. Such things are the province of Jonin and squad captains only. Know that this incident will be reported for consideration to those who will in the future evaluate your fitness to become a shinobi."

"Now, Tsubaki, I am placing you in charge of this squad. You will immediately escort these two to the nearest shelter and you will all stay there for the duration of the emergency. I am not your teacher and do not have to put up with any shit from you three. If you do not do exactly as I say I will have you up before the Hokage on charges of disobeying the direct orders of a ranking ninja during an emergency. Even if you escape hard time in prison, good luck on ever being allowed to graduate the academy. Take Iruka and GO! NOW!"

As the three rounded a corner she heard the complaints, "Bitch can't talk to me like that after me making a kill. I'll get her back for this."

August 10 – Death I understand. After battle every organ in human body spread on field for all to see. Life I not understand, Nii-chan. Is it miracle or is it horror?

The burning man crashed out through the blazing front door of the house, landing in the pockmarked front garden. Kushina leaped from under the splintered elm and soaked the ninja's cloak with the remains of the liquid in her waterskin. She regathered as much water as her diminished chakra control would quickly allow, turned him over and soaked his front. She lifted the scorched ANBU mask and it came apart in her hands with the left one-third adhering to his blackened cheek.

He wheezed through scorched lungs, "save... Lady... failed... save... her."

"A Lady? Were you guarding a VIP? Where is she?"

"failed... failed..."

"Stay with me, ninja. Where is the Lady now?"

"bunker ... entry... covered... fire... fa-a-ail-uhh."

She closed his sightless eyes. "You did not fail, ninja. You just passed the assignment on to me." She quickly circled the burning mansion trying to gauge where under the house a concrete cellar might have been hidden. She hopped up into the elm tree and rummaged through the cockpit of the flyer, delighted to find what she needed. Circling back around the house, she flattened the rear wall with two explosive tags, gaining access to some broken water pipes. Using the water to construct a high, thick barrier, she bent it into an arc with the focus on the center of the fire while begging her left hand to work like she needed.

The large Sora concussion bomb she had found, and wrapped in paper bombs for good measure, detonated when it struck the blaze. The blast knocked her flat on her bottom and sheared the top left side off her barricade, but most of the barrier held. With a resounding "YES!" she thrust her hands in the sky. The remains of the house were now burning in the middle of the street. The flyer exploded, knocking the rest of the elm tree into the bonfire. Two smaller explosions announced that the ANBU and the Sora were both taking their secrets with them into the afterlife.

The detonations had done the job of clearing the top of the concrete bunker, but the stairwell was still partially clogged with burning timber. She shoved the water wall into the hole and scrambled into the resulting steam to clear a path into the cellar. A nail ripped her good red shirt and soaked it in even redder blood. One broken beam was so large it required another water jutsu to remove. She reached the bottom of the stairwell and the door was jammed. It took a second to arrange solid footing and then she kicked. Thick acrid smoke billowed out of the basement, making her retreat to gather more water and get her breath.

Once more she fought her way down the stairway while dousing flames revived by the draft through the doorway. It was impossible to see, but she dropped to the floor and sent a water whip probing the small room. A foot! She grasped the thick ankle, then hoisted the heavy woman onto her back and covered her head with a cape and a blanket she found. She was woozy by the time she stumbled out of the hole and away from the disaster onto some green grass where she could put the Lady down.

She was coughing and her body demanded a chance to recover, but first she forced herself to check the woman for vital signs. The victim wasn't breathing and her pulse was weak. (She must be weak too, if a gal with such a bony wrist had seemed so heavy to her.) She placed a hand over the heart (thank Rin for showing her how to support circulation) and breathed into her mouth. The exhalation tasted of burning plastic. Again and again she tried, but the lungs were still filled with smoke. Under her right hand she could feel the heart stop.

She removed her mouth from the soft lips she was pressing. With tears leaving tracks in her soot covered face, for the first time she looked at the woman laying on the grass. Even after the fire, she was the most beautiful person Kushina had ever seen. For a second she thought it was Tsunade in a raven colored wig and wearing a Lady Daimyo's black mourning robes. As she stared, death came.

For a physician death is the cessation of breathing and heartbeat and brain activity, like a series of electric motors being turned off one at a time and winding down. For the sensitive ninja, death is more definite and more final. It is a candle being blown out. One second the chakra network is there and the next it is gone, with only a few stray sparks remaining behind in individual cells like the red embers left on a wick which has just been extinguished, and with no more likelihood of being reignited than those tiny fading sparks.

Kushina had never before been connected to a chakra network which had collapsed and it shook her very being. She buried her tear-stained face in the woman's coat and her hand fell on the swollen belly. She received another shock. Small, weak, dieing, another chakra network. She ripped open the robes and groaned at the realization of what she was about to do.

She pulled out a kunai, and then discarded it. She drew Little Lady and sprinkled it with water, enhancing the blade until it was sharper than a scalpel. She grazed the clothes and they fell apart. The katana touched the skin below the navel and it opened, weeping only a touch of fluid. Again the blade moved and a layer of fat spread open wide. A fourth cut, and muscle separated revealing the womb. Now with total confidence in her control she cut again and the amniotic fluid sack squeezed up through the incisions. A quick snip, a gush of fluid, and she found herself holding a very slippery handful.

She held the infant by the tiny ankles and gently eased the liquid from its lungs. It wouldn't cry. She slapped the bony bottom and worriedly puffed air into its mouth. Finally she felt the small chest rising and falling all too feebly. In wonder and relief, she laid him on his mother's chest as she ripped up a piece of cloth to tie off his umbilical cord. "Here is your fine baby boy, Mom. He's so tiny. I can't get him to wake up and cry and I don't think his color should be so red, but don't you worry, Mom. I'll get him to Tsunade and make sure that he is taken care of as long as he needs me." The katana trimmed the umbilical and she covered the body with a blanket. "Come on little one. This cape will keep you warm while we get you to the sannin."

-- --

"Sensei, the bomb which struck killed two patients and a nurse and damaged two rooms. As of now we have enough physicians to save the critical cases, but it is taking too long to get to all of the seriously injured."

Tsunade studied her defenses and pointed to one of the med-nin, "You, go with Shizune to the ER. You two adjust your field to cover the gap between you."

"Hai, shishou-sama. Someone's coming."

"Tsunade! Shizune! I need you to look at this little guy. He won't cry."

"Otemba-chan, where did you get a premature newborn? Sick babies are normally blue, not red. Where is his mother?"

"His mother died in a fire, Shizune. I had to do an emergency C-section by myself. Will he be OK? I kind of promised his mom I'd see to it."

"That crest."

"Your pardon, sensei." Kushina had never heard Tsunade use such a strange voice.

"That crest... The insignia on the cape. Where did you get that cape?"

"Tsunade-sama. What is wrong? The cape belonged to the child's mother."

"NO-O-O-O!" The med-nin looked on in fear as their leader leaped wildly off the roof of the hospital.

"SISTER!!"

Next: Chapter 47

Dragons