Whole Again
By Ria Cola and ShinobiWolf
There is a minor violence warning for one of the flashbacks. It's a little gruesome…
Chapter Three: New Beginnings
The soft morning breeze made the sheer, white curtains of the hospital room flutter about. Singing birds outside could be heard through the open window. TenTen turned her attention from the stark white walls to her bed-ridden teammate.
She had half a mind to slap him silly, for going back out to fight immediately after going through massive surgery with a fifty-percent chance of survival. That Lee… Honor and comrades first, personal well being second. TenTen had to admit, though, she admired his unbreakable will.
Neji sat next to her, staring off to the side and pretending to not care. But no matter how superior or badass he tried to act, Lee was a part of their team, and when one hurt, the others did as well. Fighting Kimomaru had aggravated Lee's condition, so his recovery time from his surgery had drastically lengthened. He would be a ninja again, but he would need patience, as well as a good deal of prayer. Lee had TenTen as well as Neji, albeit indirectly.
"Gai-sensei, being a ninja was everything to Lee. What if all of his hard work…" TenTen had every bit of confidence in Lee's ability, but no one was indestructible.
Her teacher put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Lee is an extraordinary child. Any normal person would not have the strength to cope with the kind of pain he has gone through. Any normal person, wouldn't have gone along with the surgery…" Maito Gai admired his look-alike student's courage with awed silence. "He will be fine." He patted TenTen's head, ending the conversation on a chipper note.
Gai's smile diminished as he remembered who Lee's roommates were. The two girls who had appeared at the meeting the night before were lying in beds on the other side of the room. To be in such a condition with no loved ones to watch over you… The jounin's heart broke to see such young girls in so much pain. It seemed as though they had been to Hell and back.
"Who are they?" Neji craned his neck to see around his teacher. Tsunade had put the two strange girls in the same room as Lee, so all three would be much easier to watch without making trips across the hospital. Neji never concerned himself with other people's business, but the strangers were obviously important.
"They are young ninjas like yourself, from the neutral country of Light. The girl with the silver hair is called Kiji, but we don't know anything else."
"Neutral?"
"They will take in anyone from any country, but they don't take sides." TenTen explained. "They will even aid ninja from countries that have wronged them. Other than that, they pretty much keep to themselves, so no one knows just how strong their ninja are, or if it has any clans with blood limits."
"Well said TenTen." Gai praised his student for her knowledge; she was smart as well as strong.
They looked over to the girl called "Kiji" as she began to toss and turn in her sleep.
xxxxx
The young girl slept uneasily on her futon, white hair splayed about her pillow like an unruly halo. She was not old, though; her unique hair was natural. Her mother regularly reminded her of how much she looked like her absent father.
And speak of the devil, he's just who this young girl was dreaming about. Who is her father? What is he like? Would she be a worthy daughter to him? Those questions as well as similar ones wracked her dreaming mind, until her discomfort grew so strong that she had no choice but to forcefully open her eyes. A constant, almost deafening sound awakened her further and roused her curiosity.
Since when did the air get so ungodly hot and dry at night?
When she opened the door, she got her painful answer. A rush of hot smoke burned her eyes and sent her into a reeling fit of coughs. She lowered her head and raced out of her burning house as fast as her half-conscious body could run.
Her house was not alone- the entire village was ablaze.
"Mom!" Her mind caught up to her as she frantically raced back to the house, but a body on the nearby ground stopped her in her tracks. "Mom! No!"
Covered in blood and with numerous shuriken protruding from her body, the girl's mother lay face-up on the ground.
"Ki…ji…"
"I'm here."
The injured woman lifted her hand and pulled a silver chain from her neck. She dropped the bloodied necklace into her daughter's trembling hand.
"Ki…ji…go to…Kono…haga…kure…"
Kiji clutched the bloodstained silver to her chest. Her father had given it to her mother, before Kiji had been conceived… Her mother didn't want to disgrace her lover, and left.
Kiji stood, and bid a solemn good-bye to her departed mother.
xxxxx
Tsunade walked into the hospital room, accompanied by Kakashi and Kurenai. "How have they been?" She asked Gai.
"No changes." Gai turned his attention to the dark-haired one, who was still without a name. "This girl is certainly a promising one. Had she not been there to aid the Kiji girl, we would be treating one instead of two." Despite the somber mood that hung over the room, he couldn't help but be amazed at the young strangers' wills to survive.
The one who remained nameless had not so much as twitched since the girls had been put in that room. Although her body was still, her mind was not.
xxxxx
The family garden that resided within the Tsute estate was bathed with the soft glow of a full moon. A soft breeze made the decorative plants and flowers shudder, giving the crickets' songs a soft accompaniment. The sky was clear and limitless; there was not a single cloud present to restrict its celestial beauty.
It was a perfect night to watch the stars.
Koikawa breathed in the night air deeply, letting the breeze's tender hands run airy fingers through her raven hair. She traced imaginary lines in the sky with her mind, turning the stars into pictures and stories that her father had taught her so long ago, but remained in her memory as clear as the sky on this night.
"Koikawa dear, you should get dressed for bed soon. It's already ten 'o clock." Her mother, long, dark hair braided for ease of care, called to her from the back door of their expansive house.
Her daughter smoothed the cloth of her nagazuki over her lap. "I'll go in a little bit." Koikawa told her mother; not in the rash, rebellious tone of most young teenagers, but in the soft voice of someone mature beyond her years.
Eventually she did get tired and wandered back to her porch. Koikawa slipped through the sliding rice paper door and looked around for any signs of her parents.
The house was silent, and that unnerved Koikawa. Even if her parents had gone to bed, the maids should have been bustling about, cleaning up dinner and locking everything up tight. The house was dimly lit, but she could have made her way with a blindfold on. She stepped into the dining room and slipped, falling to the floor. She looked behind herself to see what she had slipped on.
No…
It couldn't be…
There's no way this is real…
She slid into a sitting position and fearfully slid back to a wall, her feet not able to push her fast enough. All the while keeping her eyes at the same spot on the floor
Koikawa fought to not vomit as she kept her eyes locked on one of the maids, body slashed open and leaking her lifeblood onto the floor. Her eyes followed a bloody trail, ending with her feet, stained crimson from when she slipped.
There was the soft sound of someone stepping on a tatami mat. Koikawa locked eyes with a stranger, leaning against one of the walls perpendicular to her. His hair was gray, but he was young. His smirk frightened her.
The calm, killer intent in his eyes frightened her, coupled with slight blood spatter on his glasses.
He pulled them from his face and wiped them on his pant leg, all the while keeping his piercing gaze on her.
Koikawa raised her hands in front of herself in a threatening way, ready to perform her family's blood limit.
"Now now, Koikawa-san. Your whole family is dead. Come with no further resistance and it will make things easier for everyone."
The girl's hands inched closer together.
"You shouldn't try anything; I can have you unconscious before you can finish your little jutsu." The stranger began to step towards her. Apprehending the girl without her performing her clan's blood limit would prove to be difficult. If he had been able to kill her, this whole thing would have been wrapped up long ago. But, Orochimaru-sama wanted the girl alive. He took another step closer to Koikawa.
Sparks flew as Koikawa clapped her hands together and concentrated. Kabuto braced himself as an enormous, crimson tiger was summoned and tackled him to the ground. He swung at its neck with a charged chakra scalpel, but it sank its enormous fangs into his forearm. It was fortunate he had pumped himself full of painkillers before he came to this village. Kabuto swung at it again with his free arm, but the beast held his other limb down with a monstrous paw.
The summoned tiger disappeared just as quickly as it had come. Traces of smoke still hung in the air as Kabuto leaped to his feet and ran outside. He looked around- there were no signs of the Tsute girl anywhere. He could not even sense her chakra signature… He healed his arm as best as he could, but he knew it would scar horribly. He had already used most of his energy finishing off the rest of this miserable little village. Now it was time to return to his commander.
xxxxx
Tsunade carefully checked over her newest patients, pleased that her healing jutsu had worked wonders on the girls; even Kiji's stomach wound was nearly closed up.
Now that they're out of the woods, maybe I'll be able to get some answers out of them. "They're fine. They'll be awake before the day is done. I know nothing about the scar on Kiji's neck, except that it's old. Nothing to worry about, though. Probably just a battle wound." Tsunade turned to the three jounins present in the room. "After examining their fresh wounds, I'm positive they're from battle. Kakashi and Gai's teams will be visiting the ruins of Kouseki Hikari tomorrow, to see what can be turned up. And if necessary, to bury any dead they may find…" The seriousness of the situation began to sink in; even Neji was a bit perturbed.
"You're taking me with you…"
The Kiji girl had woken up sooner than Tsunade expected, and her friend did as well. The one with dark hair stared at all the adults in the room apprehensively, settling on Tsunade.
"Who are you? Where's the hokage?" She demanded.
"I myself am the hokage. You've made quite the disturbance, bursting into my office all bloodied like that." Tsunade had to poke a little fun at the situation, despite herself. The dark-haired girl only stared.
"There's no need to be so edgy. Tsunade-dono won't bite." At least, I don't think she will… Kakashi thought quietly to himself, not eager to invoke the hokage's wrath by saying it out-loud. He winked at Kiji before fixing his gaze back on Tsunade. It was mysterious, the way he never took off his mask, but Kiji felt that he was trustworthy. This comforted her enough to be able to ask a big favor.
"Um, Miss Tsunade… Neither Koikawa nor I have anything to go back to. We would be grateful if we could live in Konohagakure. My mother also told me, before she died, that my father was here. Although I have no exact idea where he is or even what he looks like, or his name for that matter… But we have no desire to give up on being ninja…"
So, Dark Hair finally has a name. "I understand your situation, and will allow you to live within the village's walls. Being foreigners, you will be on probation for a time. If everything turns out to be clear, though, I see no problem in placing you on a team."
"Thank-you, Hokage-sama. We cannot thank you enough…" Kiji bowed slightly, as did Koikawa.
Tsunade desperately wanted to know more details about these strangers, but if she pressed too hard she might not get anything. She would confront them after they had settled in and the trauma had worn off. "Kakashi, would you mind escorting these dears to their new home? And TenTen, you have been here all night. You should accompany them and get some fresh air while you're at it." Tsunade looked at her with eyes that said you're doing it my way- there is no highway option.
TenTen still worried over Lee, but moping around would not hasten his recovery time. She reluctantly agreed to go. "Just tell us where, and we'll go." Kakashi and TenTen looked expectantly at Tsunade. "…You do have somewhere in mind, don't you?"
Kakashi sighed as Tsunade mumbled a quiet "not yet" and began to look around the halls outside the room. Her face grew devious as she spotted her prey.
That's how Kakashi would have put it. Oh, how he felt sorry for that poor man that Tsunade was approaching. He had only just recovered from his near-death fight against Baki from the Sand, and already the hogake had him in her sights.
"I heard you've made a full recovery. Well, besides your underlying medical condition."
"Yes Tsunade-sama, that's correct."
"Good then. I need you to watch the two survivors from Kouseki Hikari, until they are off probation."
"Hai, I can do that. I happen to be going home right now. cough"