CHAPTER 10

Chapter Summary: Suzuki Hiroshi talks with Ono Seina on his jutsu. He contributes to the warfront on the field of medicine. He becomes a part-time medic-nin. He is pushed out to the battlefield for a mission.

Ono Seina looked me up and down when the kunoichi full exited the tent.

"Can you show me the jutsu?", she asked.

I nodded, my face contorting in confusion. "Yes. I mean, I'll need someone who's injured. But, why exactly? Am I in trouble?"

Ono Seina immediately led me to a room with three injured people. "Here. Heal all of them."

The injured people seemed to be in pain so I immediately went to them one by one to assess their injuries. They were just inflicted with minor injuries and didn't seem to have poison in their systems so I used my jutsu without any reservations.

"[Medical Art, Water Release: Water Jellyfish Jutsu]!". As intended, small blobs of glowing jellyfishes covered their injuries. It slowly yet surely healed them and once the jellyfishes turned back to normal water, Ono Seina went to them to check on their condition.

I waited while holding my breath. The people I healed with the jutsu looked okay. What exactly is wrong that would make the head medic act like this?

"Okay, kid, here's my assessment.", I gulped at her words. "The jutsu you made… Can you share it to the rest of us medics here?"

What?

"What? So I'm not in trouble?"

"Oh no. You are in trouble. You just used a jutsu that wasn't reported to Konoha R&D and checked by the Konoha Hospital on actual injured people. It would have caused you your career if it didn't work too perfectly."

I widened my eyes. Oh right. Konoha R&D was a thing and they passed on approval of any and all jutsu. I may have forgotten about that. Then there's the Konoha Hospital.

"I'm going to be penalized for this, aren't I?", I said with dejected acceptance.

Ono Senai smiled. "Of course, you are, kid. But, if you share it to us, your jutsu might be able to help with the war efforts here and your penalty would be lessened. So, I suggest you give it up before things get ugly."

I grumbled. "Ugh. Fine. I was planning on sharing it when I got back to the village anyway. But, wait, you're going to use this on people? Didn't you just say it was untested?"

"Yeah. But, I'm from the hospital. I could vouch for its use, don't worry. And this is the first jutsu of its kind, you know. I have the feeling that you don't realize this but the only known medic-nin that was able to heal multiple people properly all at the same time was Senju Tsunade of the Sannin. This jutsu of yours is revolutionary. Maybe it's degree of healing may not be the same as Tsunade's but we'll need everything we could get our hands on, right?

I nodded absentmindedly. I did know its use but I didn't know just how much these medic-nins were so lacking in more practical jutsu. I almost cried at their predicament.

What was Konoha R&D doing all this time?!

I got an extra scroll, a brush, and ink from a storage scroll on me. I started detailing how to do the [Water Jellyfish Jutsu] when Ono Senai clapped her hands and stood up. And she thought up with a ridiculous idea.

"I know, why not be a part time medic-nin while you're here? Let's just say I decided to put on a punishment for you myself. You make yourself useful around here and you could lessen your penalty when you go back to the village!"

Fuck this shit.

And so, my remaining days at the warfront was spent at the medic tent, healing my comrades who were hurt.

I should say, though, it was a little enlightening. The injuries of the people that come and go at the tent varied a lot. From burns and bruises to fractures and puncture wounds, the Iwa-nin could surely get creative with how they fight. It just makes you realize how real this war was and how lucky I was that I only fought those that kept underestimating me due to my age. I was thankful that I didn't need to scream in pain while being carried back to camp.

There was one particular day that Iwa picked to skirt around our patrols and set up an attack to the camp, particularly the medic tent.

I was there bandaging an injured patient on his arm when an explosion occurred just outside the medic tent. There was a lot of screaming and shouting. An enemy attack right in the middle of the camp?

As soon as I stood up, Iwa-nin entered the tent. I was shocked but I quickly shot out a water bullet towards the enemy. I resolved to defend the people inside the tent to the best of my ability.

I saw five enemy shinobi come inside to wreak havoc. I sensed them to be around mid-chunin to high-chunin strength. I might just die here.

I continuously hit them with water bullets from my mouth. Two of them were blown away and the other three rushed to me. I unsheathed my sword and proceeded to fight them in close combat. At first, I was fine and managing well but one of them shot out an Explosion Release jutsu in the air which made shockwave that hit me straight in my chest. I almost fell down but stood my ground while the other two enemies rushed towards me weaving signs for a jutsu. I hit them with a water wall to deter them and keep them away as much as possible while a water jellyfish was forming on my chest. I hoped that the jellyfish would at least alleviate the pain I felt.

It was then that a medic-nin, who I thought was a patient, stood up from the bed and suddenly shouted a war cry, summoning [Chakra Scalpel] on both her hands. She engaged the enemies that I blocked off with a water wall while I went for the one who did an Explosion Release jutsu.

I shot multiple water bullets at my target which distracted him. I pushed chakra into my legs and I dashed to him with inhuman speed to stab my sword into his heart. I killed the enemy. I looked back to the medic-nin who helped me and she was raging. She was able to fend off the enemies with only chakra scalpels on her hands.

I was about to help her when her chakra scalpel hit the neck of an Iwa-nin, making the enemy choke on something unseen until blood flowed out of his mouth. The other Iwa-nin saw this and panicked for only a split second however, it was enough for the medic-nin to slash his throat. The last enemy went down and the medic-nin panted while going back to the medic tent.

Holy shit! Oh my god, she literally woke up and chose violence!

I vowed that day to never mess with a medic-nin ever in my life.

The forward camps were finally stabilized when another problem came up; the Iwa-nin were still able to attack us at the border outpost.

The question now is how these shinobi have been able to infiltrate us despite our patrols and guards. We thought that maybe a shinobi on our side has been feeding them information but we dismissed that idea since that's the last thing any proud Iwa-nin would do. The first thing they would probably do when they see a Konoha hitai-ate is attack the shinobi indiscriminately.

The Commander of the Front, Uchiha Fugaku, and the others were literally scrambling on how to proceed when someone pitched in an idea.

"Maybe they formed a separate camp to stay at?" It was something that I'm sure anyone with a brain could have thought of but there were just some things that needed to be said for everyone to be in agreement.

Several teams formed with a lot of capable sensors, trackers, and combatants were created as a force to sniff out the enemies. As a gifted sensor myself, I was forced to join. I could have rejected actually if not for the fact that I was also capable of medical ninjutsu. My skillset was rare and needed.

Our team was chasing the Iwa-nin running away when a very sudden ambush came upon us.

No, they weren't on the trees. No. Turns out, the reason why no one ever found out where they were staying was because they were hiding underground. I still wasn't capable in sensing through the ground so they got a jump on us. I'm sure no one thought to look underground.

Their strengths were of high-chunin and there were five enemies. My team consisted of two high-chunin, two mid-chunin, and me. We were fucked.

Both sides immediately went into battle. I hid for a while as I used my [Origami Messenger Jutsu] to send a message I wrote beforehand in case I needed it. It told the camp that we encountered hostiles and are currently in battle. I quickly added the phrases 'Enemy hidden underground' and 'High level enemies' so that they would be informed.

After sending out the message, I joined the battle by sending out multiple water bullets to support the team. I saw someone injured so I stopped and immediately checked his status and I froze. He wasn't going to make it.

I still did the water jellyfish, though, as a last-ditch effort. I silently prayed for his soul and I turned back to the others when I saw that they were already down. I noticed that they were able to bring down three of the enemies before they were incapacitated, though. Kudos, team!

I covered every member of the team with water jellyfishes regardless of their conditions. Meanwhile, I readied myself with my sword unsheathed. I thought of summoning Tsurutatsu but we still haven't learned to coordinate our attacks together; it would only put both of us in trouble and I was afraid of using chakra on a potential solution that wasn't surefire. I also thought of running but I couldn't just leave my team behind. They have families waiting for them.

The enemies were injured but still ready for a skirmish with me and so, I was going to my strategy into distracting them through their injuries. I willed the leaves around us to sharpen and rain down on the enemy. Some of the leaves hit them in their wounds which made them flinch but it wasn't enough to turn the battle towards my favor.

I swinged my sword to them, mostly blocking off their superior taijutsu while striking in during moments that I saw as a chance. I was holding on when one of them pulled out of the battle and released an explosion. I was blown back and hit a tree but I stayed conscious and shot multiple water bullets once more. They dodged most of them and they were planning on sending jutsu my way again. I timed it well to block off their earth and explosion jutsus with a water wall.

I weaved a few signs and gathered water from all over to release a medium-sized water dragon bullet. I manipulated it manually so that it would circle me for a while, fending off their attacks. I covered myself in water jellyfishes and noticed that I had depleted most of my chakra already. It was my first time to have exhausted my chakra to this point. My first and maybe my last.

The water dragon bullet disappeared and I hit the enemies with a few more water bullets. They got hit but it affected them only a little. One of them was able to get close to me enough to held my neck and choke me. I knew what to do with the familiar situation I was in and so I pulled out a leaf from my sleeves and held it to the enemy's face. I made him see how I willed it to sharpen. He opened his eyes wide and I willed the leaf to hit. The enemy, knowing that he wouldn't be able to dodge in time, chose to sacrifice his eye to grab hold of a kunai in his other hand and stab me deep in the stomach. I couldn't feel anything but cold.

His hold on my neck loosened as he instinctively tried grabbing his eye. I immediately weaved the signs for another water dragon bullet but this time, I used most of my remaining chakra.

The water dragon burst from my mouth, grabbing the Iwa-nin that stabbed me in its mouth. Seeing this, I manipulated the dragon to bite as hard as it could to crush the enemy. The other Iwa-nin was also hit by the dragon in one way or another as he was blown way back.

I would have gone to check on my teammates when I felt very cold. I looked to my stomach where blood was flowing nonstop. I heard a voice from the distance but I lost all my strength and I limped down on the ground. I blacked out completely.

I could hear bits and pieces while only seeing black.

"Thes- info- back to-"

"Ar-"

I continued to hear bits and pieces in the abyss.

"Continue try-!"

"W- owe hi-!"

"…He- stabl-."

"Bri- to- noha-."

But there was one thing I heard that reassured me into deep sleep.

"Good job, Hiro-kun. You can go back home now. You've done very well."

And I couldn't hear or remember anything anymore.

I woke up to white.

I would have been relieved if I could feel my body. I was numb all over. I tried speaking but my throat is too dry.

If I'm still alive and I'm in a white room, I should be in a hospital. That's a good sign.

I tried moving my head to the side to see the entirety of the room. I was greeted with a redhead sitting by my bed's side while smiling brightly. The only redhead I know in Konoha is Uzumaki Kushina. Is this her? I stared at her for a while.

Not wanting to deal with her, I proceeded to reposition my head back to how it's supposed to and closed my eyes, hoping that sleep would come back to me.

The redhead didn't take my actions too well, though. "Hey! Are you ignoring me?! I'm here, datebanne!"

I reopened my eyes and turned my head to glare at her. After realizing that she just admonished the actions of a patient, she bashfully smiled and apologized. "Hehe. Sorry, I forgot you were hurt. Do you feel uncomfortable?" To answer her question, I blinked once as confirmation. I was hoping she would get it like that.

She smiled brightly once again. "Oh, you are uncomfortable?" I blinked once for the second time. "Oh! Okay. I actually can't do something about that. Hehe. Oh! I know, I can call a medic-nin for you.", she ran off after saying that. She acts like a klutz.

I repositioned my head back to where it was and looked out at the window on the other side of the room. It was bright so it's probably late morning or early in the afternoon.

I heard a few footsteps and voices approach the room. The door opened and revealed Team Minato and Kushina together with someone I didn't know. Probably the medic-nin.

Minato-sensei approached my bed with a smile. "Hey. Welcome back. We were very worried about you."

Rin-chan then interjected. "Didn't we tell you not to do something reckless?!"

Kakashi spoke as if defending me. "He did the mission. It's all that matters plus, he's alive."

Obito was paying them any attention as he spoke to me. "I heard you did something cool! Can you tell me about it?"

The medic-nin intruded in the reunion and made them step back as she checked on me. "All looks good. I'll give you something soft to drink later on. And you'll need to eat only the food that we provide. No other food. We'll have to keep you here for a week for observation.", the medic-nin then went out of the room.

I looked to Minato-sensei to ask something but remembering that I couldn't speak and move my body, I thought of another way to communicate. I saw a tree outside the window so, I focused on grabbing hold of the leaves while closing my eyes.

Kushina notices me. "Are you okay, Hiro-kun? Are you sleepy?"

By then, my leaves were already flying and knocking on the window. Everyone saw this and Minato-sensei prompted Kakashi to open the window and he complied.

My leaves went in and I spelled out my question. 'What happened to my team?"

Minato-sensei answered me immediately. "Three of them are safe, Hiro-kun. They're recuperating now and are expected a full recovery. They say you did good in providing immediate treatment. Something about how perfectly you performed a jellyfish?"

Rin-chan took over in explaining. "Your jutsu, [Medical Art, Water Release: Water Jellyfish Jutsu] made the rounds around the hospital. They experienced themselves how difficult the jutsu is and considering that you were fighting off enemies all the while covering the bodies of your teammates with the jellyfishes made them sing praises for you. You really did good out there."

I suddenly remembered the Konoha shinobi that first went down during the fight. I spelled out again. 'There were five of us. What happened to the last?'

Minato-sensei sighed. "I'm sorry, Hiro-kun. He didn't make it to the camp."

I closed my eyes and sighed through my nostrils. I wish I could've saved him. Why couldn't I save him, too?

Minato-sensei must have sensed my self-loathing. "Hiro-kun, it wasn't your fault that he died. You did your best to heal him. His death isn't on your hands."

I just shook my head at his consolation. I then spelled for him to understand what I was thinking. 'It's the first time I ever lost a teammate on the field.'

Minato-sensei nodded. "Yes. And it wouldn't be the last. Remember that their deaths will not be in your hands as long as you didn't hurt them."

I just nodded at what he said.

I looked back to the window and saw the tress swaying with the village bustling in activity. My body relaxed more than ever, I finally realized where I was.

I'm home again. Thank Kami.

A/N: And that's it for now! Before uploading the rest of my chapters that are standing by, I would probably need people to read this story first. I will start uploading the rest of the now sixteen chapters after receiving a review on this story. Even just one and even if it was a negative review. It's in my favor anyway since I still need to insert side chapters for the continuing chapters.

Once again, if you have any suggestions or comments, please send them my way without any reservation. I am bored and my heart has been transmuted into titanium, making it bulletproof enough to withstand any criticism.

Thank you for taking your precious time in reading this little fanfic of mine. Until next time!