Forgotten

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Naruto (Shippuden). This is a story inspired by the original made up for entertainment purposes only. - Krystal

Chapter 25: Numbers

For the next few days, Yuki avoided visiting Sasuke. She still frequented the hospital, but only went to see Kakashi and Lee. She tried to care less, but, for most of her life, she had already spent it caring for him as a replacement for his older brother.

"She should arrive to Konoha soon." Said Gai to Lee. "She'll be able to fix you. You'll be up and about in no time."

They were talking about the person that Jiraiya and Naruto had set out to find. At first, Yuki wasn't aware of the identity of that person. However, after all that had happened, she learned that Tsunade was the one they were referring too. Although she did not express it openly in order to hide part of her past job, Yuki was delighted to hear that she would become their Hokage. Being the Third's student and the First's granddaughter, there was indeed no better person to take on the role of the Hokage. The only thing that bothered Yuki was the fact that she wasn't sure if Tsunade would want to return to the village. Furthermore, would she want to put her medical skills back to use?

"She's always been my idol." Said Tenten with a huge grin on her face. "I've always aspired to be well reputed like her."

"We must not have heard the same rumors. I heard she had a bad habit of gambling." Said Neji while leaning against the window frame.

"Regardless of her habits or reputation, I know, personally, how amazing her medical skills are. That's all that matters. They are the reason why she's one of the legendary Sannins after all."

"She's here…" suddenly murmured Yuki.

As she said those words, the door opened. Followed by Shizune and then Jiraiya and Naruto, Tsunade came into the room. As she came in, there was an air about her that exuded power and leadership. She met eyes with Yuki, gave her a little nod of acknowledgement and turned immediately towards Lee. She quickly went over his medical records and then examined his condition quickly. She sighed and then, without having introduced herself, she asked:

"Why have we delayed the surgery until now?"

"They couldn't perform a surgery on me that would allow me to fight afterwards." Answered Lee.

"You still want to be a shinobi?" Tsunade asked, slightly surprised.

"Yes, mam! I live and breathe the shinobi life."

"I'm sorry to say that's not going to be possible."

"But…" Lee started as he looked at Gai who looked as gutted as he was.

"Tsunade-sama, you don't understand. He…" started Gai.

"I do understand. If we do any surgeries to potentially let him use his chakra or fight again, he will die. I'm the one who should say that you don't understand."

"I would rather die than be incapacitated for life." Lee replied firmly. His eyes were filled with determination, but they also were filled with tears demonstrating both fear and courage.

"Kid, if you can't value your life, I can't do anything for you." Said Tsunade in the most uncaring tone.

"Tsunade-sama, if I can prove to you that there's a way, can you attempt it?" Yuki, then, intervened. "It is a little dangerous, but if I can increase the chances of it working, would you be willing to try?"

"I know what you are thinking. There's a 50/50 chance of him dying. I don't want another dead kid on my surgical table." Tsunade said as she turned her head towards Yuki.

"Can we delay the incapacitating surgery until I give up on finding a solution then?"

"Why don't we let her try?" then asked Jiraiya with a smile.

"You are all crazy." Said Tsunade as she closed her eyes. "But fine. Yuki, you have a week."

"Even if it does increase the chances of survival by 1%, you will perform the surgery to help him continue fighting?"

"Sure, but don't you all blame me if he dies." She said pointing at Lee whose eyes were now glistening with hope.

"Lee, you can count on me." Said Yuki in a reassuring tone.

He gave her a thumbs up and a nod. For the first time, Yuki felt like she was actually being of some help. Despite all the times she tried her best, came back successful from missions, she never felt like she did something worthwhile. At this moment in time, she felt deserving of the acknowledgment. She felt like she had some value. It also comforted her when she was feeling the weight of the failure earlier that week associated with Sasuke's condition.

The library slowly became her home once again, just like when she was younger. She rarely left it. She went through hundreds of books, used many flow charts to help her determine the link between one fact and the other and kept calculating the probability of a successful surgery. It was hard to increase the probability. Furthermore, Yuki wanted more than just a percent increase. She wanted Lee to survive. She wanted Lee to be able to live to see his dreams come true. After all these years, she got to know him well. She grew very fond of his determination and his beliefs. She wanted to help him for than anything. The fact that he wanted that help made her want to come to his aid even more. It's easier, after all, to help someone who wants to help himself.

Tenten would often come in and help her. However, her lack of knowledge in the medical field hindered her ability to read fast and understand the content rapidly. She would apologize, something that Yuki deemed unnecessary, because any help was great due to the time restraint that Tsunade had imposed.

"You know, I really used to admire Tsunade. I thought she was this tough, yet humane kunoichi. But when she was so cold to Lee, I suddenly felt betrayed." Tenten told Yuki as they were both going through the thousand of papers laying on the table.

"You just have to get to know her. I've heard she's been through a lot. It definitely affected her character."

"Perhaps..."

They quickly went back to talking about Lee's condition. Before they knew it, midnight hit again. Tomorrow was the Hokage's inauguration ceremony. Although Yuki was used to working past midnight, they had to attend the ceremony bright and early. She decided to call it a day and headed home with Tenten. Reaching the fork at which they had to separate, they waved goodbye and wished each other a good night sleep.

It was the morning of the inauguration morning. Because she was exhausted from all the work these past few days, Yuki had a surprisingly good sleep. She woke up as the sun rose, but she never slept so well. It was the kind of sleep where, if she twisted and turned, she was completely unaware of it. As she was washing her face, something revealed itself to her. Maybe it was her head that finally had some rest, maybe it was something that triggered some kind of memory, but she finally figured out something to help increase the chances of a recovery for Lee. She quickly grabbed her shoes, put them on and teleported herself to the entrance of the library. She rushed inside and took out a new paper and started writing out everything. 58% was the number she came up to. She then took those papers and left for the Hokage's office immediately.

As she got there, she knocked on the door a few times.

"Come in."

She walked in, delighted.

"I found it."

"Show me."

Tsunade quickly went over the calculation and the methods that Yuki suggested. She smiled. She took a brush and circled the 58 multiple times.

"I think he'll be happy to hear about this."

"I'll tell him after the ceremony. I hear Shizune's footsteps. They seem hasty. Are we late?"

Tsunade chuckled. Shizune did, indeed, appear seconds later. She told the both of them to hurry. Tsunade placed Yuki's paper on her desk, in view for everyone. She then murmured to Yuki, as she walked by her:

"I knew you would find it. There's always a solution. I was just being lazy."

End of Chapter 25

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xox

Krystal