Healing Old Wounds

"The practice of forgiveness is our most important contribution to the healing of the world."

~ Marianne Williamson

.11

She crashes into him. He of course has been expecting it. Tsuyuko cared very little for the stern reputation he tried hard to uphold. Orochimaru knew as soon as her second letter arrived letting him it was the Ame border they were being sent to that she as going to attack him once she saw him

Attack is a strong word, but she had a strong grasp and she wasn't letting go. Orochimaru will never admit that he actually had missed her silly hugs.

"Did you touch my lab?"

"I told you I wouldn't."

They both ignore the snicker behind them. That comes mostly from Jiraiya. He does not miss the rude gesture she makes at his teammate, but it is mostly given away by the snort that comes from Jiraiya's own student.

"Minato, control your sister." Jiraiya says, tone offended and jovial all at the same time. Minato snorted again.

"Funny that you think I can be controlled, old man." Tsuyuko teases letting go of her sensei to bound over to Jiraiya and give him a side hug. He rolls his eyes pats her head and then shoves her off of him.

"Don't you have a medic tent to terrorize brat." She grins mischievously and nods before bounding away. That's right she had to go figure out what she was working with and who.

Orochimaru lets out a pained sigh. "At least the rest of you know how to behave. Come let's get you situation and assigned to rotations. Jiraiya you should probably make sure Tsuyuko doesn't scare the Ame medic."

Jiraiya groaned, he had forgotten about that. He nodded before heading in the direction of the medic tent.

"Ame medic?" Minato questions, mostly because he wondered if it was the other students of Jiraiya. Orochimaru looked at him and just sighed. He was far too old to be dealing with this nonsense.

"Yes, they arrived the day before yesterday with a small group of Ame shinobi. We have an alliance with their new leadership. But we both know how territorial Tsuyuko can be in the tent." Minato nodded.

"That's a nice way to say she's bosy as fuck." Shikaku comments dryly, Inoichi elbows him in the side. Fugaku snickers.

Exasperation is the only proper emotion Orochimaru can feel at that. "Thank you for your astute deduction Nara-kun. Come there is work to be done."

…

Tsuyuko took one look at the blue haired woman and decided that they were going to be best friends. "So you have idiots too." Which warrants a smile. She counts it as a win.

"I assume you are the Konoha medic Jiraiya-sama has mentioned." She speaks her words are soft, her voice melodic, it's very soothing. Tsuyuko smiles.

"Depends on what he's been saying. Good things I would hope, but probably more snarky than anything I bet." Konan gives the girl a thoughtful look.

"He said that you healed a complex spinal injury in the midst of battle, that because of this your teammate survived and they can even walk." Tsuyuko bites her lip. Understanding draws.

Nagato.

Konan wanted her to try to heal Nagato. Jiraiya had told her of the injuries he sustained more than a year ago. Tsuyuko knew more now, Nawaki was only as mobile as he was because the extensive healing he received from her over that last several years. He could likely recover all the damage from his tissue and nerves,but because of the time passed now he would probably always rely on his crutch. But most of what she had done for Nawaki she had been able to do over an extended period of time.

Time is the healer of all wounds. Eventually.

"How complex of an injury are we talking about? Where on the spine are the damages? How recent? I want to be able to help you but I am going to need a comprehensive medical background on the patient first."

"What if you have the patient in front of you? Will that work Tsuyuko-chan." Tsuyuko snapped her head around to look at Jiraiya as he entered the medic tent, pushing a red head in a wheelchair into the tent. Konan had sought her out after she arrived in the tent. Tsuyuko supposed the girl had been waiting for her.

She understood the longing to protect one's teammates.

"May I?" She asks and she hopes the meaning of her words are understood.

"Certainly."

Tsuyuko get's straight to it, then evaluates the Uzumaki male's condition. She starts with his toes. His fingers twitch. Well then. Tsuyuko stands, next she asks Jiraiya to sit Nagato on the cot. They're lucky no one else is in need of medical attention.

No one talks as Tsuyuko works, a single curl falls in her eyes which she blows away with a slight huff on annoyance. She needed a fucking haircut again, her hair was gettign to long, it was in the way. She'd meant to while in the village but it slipped her mind, now she had a mane to deal with while on the battlefield. Rookie mistake. She works through the annoyance she feels about her hair and she runs two fingers down the length of Nagato's spine.

Unlike Nawaki who's spine now had knots and inflammation at random points, which caused his residual pain and weakness Nagato's spine felt normal. The temperature going off of it wasn't a cause for concern either. Hmm. "Nagato-san how does it feel when I press here." This was beginning to look more like a coil problem and less like an actual spinal problem.

Coils were not her strong point. Most of the aspects of chakra weren't, Tsuyuko was more knowledgeable about traditional medicine. Sure she was still a good medic and she could heal with iryoninjustu like it was no one's business. Tsunade had been her teacher, she was not going to disgrace the women by having a preference.

The fact remained she could not see coils and had a hard time visualizing them some times.

"It stings, but only mildly. Like a pinching sensation." He tells her after a moment. She removes her hand.

He is feeling all the way down. It's not spinal. "Jiraiya-sama is there a Hyuga in this camp?"

"You think it's coils and not spinal?" He questions. Tsuyuko is not surprised that he catches on so quickly. Tsunade was his teammate, and he'd had injuries of a similar sort before.

"Possibly. Nagato-san still has feelings in his toes. And can feel when I touch around the impact area. But I can't see his coils. I don't have magic eyes, and Nagato cannot look at his own coils with accuracy." She responses, impatience lingering in her tone. Tsuyuko doesn't want to delay any could heal Nagato, but she needed to know how extensive the damage was.

"One of Himura's brothers in the camp. Would you like me to go get him?" Jiraiya sounds almost reluctant to tell her that. Tsuyuko rubs a hand over her face. Not the best news, but it made sense.

Fuck they had a lot of clan heirs in this camp, that was probably not a smart idea.

"Go get him. I need confirmation before I start healing anything." Jiraiya nods and leaves the tent quickly.

Nagato regards her curiously as she sits in front of him, taking his hand slowly and carefully running a small brush over his palm. It tickles.

"I believe your coils have tenses up or ruptured. Your spine and nerves seem to be in alright condition, no noticeable damage." She explains with closed eyes as she goes to repeat the motion from his left hand to his right. The same tickling sensation occurs.

"Then why can't he walk?" Konon asks before he can. Nagato watches her chakra move under her skin, it's mostly spiritual and it is more than he had expected. The leaf medic doesn't open her eyes.

"I believe you have ruptured your coils instead. In extreme cases ruptured coils can be the cause of paralyzes and even unbearable pain. I treated a similar case for a man who opened all of his gates at once, he unfortunately cannot walk now as his damage was much more extensive than I believe yours to be. But thankfully his pain is manageable and almost non existent at this point." She explains with great care, opening her eyes to look at him after a moment.

"I believe that you will be able to fully recover once I am able to know the extent of what needs to be healed. Unlike my previous patient you are an Uzumaki and your clan has an innate way to heal itself, plus because of your massive chakra reserves your coils although ruptured are still being used." The tent flap opens and in steps what Nagato assumes is a Hyuga. Tsuyuko noticeably doesn't look at him.

"Hizashi-san do you mind taking a look at my patient here. Specifically the coils around the lower spine and sciatica nerve." He gives a silent nod and steps all the way into the tent.

"There are ruptures around the seventh gate or lower spine and in the sciatica nerve region." Tsuyuko nods, biting her lip as she frowned.

"Estimation of how many? How severe does the damage look?" Nagato watches the calculative look the Hyuga gives him for a moment.

"Twenty ruptures between the seventh gate and the end of the sciatica nerve ending. Damage is severe."

"Thank you Hizashi-san." The man nods before leaving. Now the Tsuyuko knew where the damage was, she could operate.

"Alright Nagato-san, this is going to be painful but when I'm done you should be able to walk. I want to get started right away, if that is alright with you. Konan-san I am going to have to ask you to leave the tent for this bit." Konan goes to protest but Tsuyuko shuts her down quickly.

"What I am going to have to do to repair the damage is going to be excruciating for Nagato-san to experience and I don't need you fight senses trying to activate while I am operating on your teammate. I am not your enemy but I am going to have to hurt your teammate in order to heal him. I'm asking you to leave for my own personal safety, and the privacy of Nagato-san. I am sure that he'd rather not have you witness his pain any longer."

"That is fine Tsuyuko-sensei, we can begin right away. Konon go inform Yahiko of what's happening." Konan sighs but nods her head, she cast one last glance at them before exiting the tent.

"Lay down Nagato-san, Obari-chan this will probably take a few hours. Can you hold down the tent?" The other medic in the tent gives a nod.

"I will be able to handle anything that comes in, are you going to need any assistance though? Coil repair is extensive work." Obari asks, walking over to help Nagato lay back while Tsuyuko goes to collect a few supplies.

"Yes I am aware, no it is better if only one set of forieng chakra invades Nagato-san's coils. Just make sure that once I'm finished there is some water and chakra pills nearby, also some pain killers for Nagato-san."

"As you wish Tsuyuko-sensei."

"Alright Nagato-san lets begin."

…

Konan is worried, she had not seen either Nagato or the medic who'd promised to heal him in hours. Jiraiya assures both her and Yahiko that Tsuyuko is an excellent medic and very trustworthy. His other student briefly introduced himself to them and also confirms these statements. But yet she is still worried.

It is at that moment the medic emerges from the tent looking ten times less chipper than she was when she entered. But Kanon has a feeling it is due to fatigue and not loss. She scans the area and then her eyes land on their group. Quickly she makes her way over.

"Nagato-san is doing well, I was able to repair most of the damage, some will take more time to heal by itself since the injuries were left untreated for so long. He is resting currently but is in stable condition. I need to go check in with the returning patrol squad to make sure they are okay. Obari-san will be able to answer any questions you have, I will be back to check in with him later. When he wakes up he should be able to stand without any pain or numbness." Then she is off before they can say anything yelling at two of the shinobi who had come in with her earlier that day. They seemed to already have some scruffs. It appeared to annoy her to no end.

Konan let out a relieved breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

Finally some good news.

XOXOX

Ame border shenanigans and finally Tsuyuko meets the Ame orphans. I hope you all like this chapter!

Thank you for reading! Thank you for all the love and support :)

~LaRae