The Two Fawns:
Chapter 6: Nara Yoshiko, Medical Ninja of the Leaf
4 Years Later... (Currently Yoshiko is 12 years old)
"Stupid fish..." Yoshiko grumbled as the fish slapped her in the face with its tail again once she finished healing it. Training as a medical ninja was not all fun and games. She went home every day for the past six months to her mother hearing her mother nagging to the newly made Genin Shikamaru about being more like her... (She, in fact, felt that Shikamaru was better than her in many ways but her mom doesn't see it. For starters, the boy was a genius in his own right unlike the unfair advantage that she possessed.) She started taking her showers there after one week of nagging from her mother. Apparently she smelt like a wet market...
It wasn't her fault anyway! Fishes obviously had to smell like fish. Going through at least eight of them in a single training session meant that it was inevitable one or two of them will get her in the face. That didn't stop her trainers from laughing at her when that happened under their watch. Luckily she wore an apron before going in. Yoshiko was dressed in her 'work' clothes; a simple brown long-sleeved kimono styled shirt with the Nara clan symbols on its left sleeve, long black pants with her pants attached to her legs via bandaging, standard ninja sandals, her long brown hair tied into a high ponytail and a regular forehead protector. She wore her wire mesh armor under all that clothing should she have to go on a mission. If she was out on a mission she would tie her medic kit onto a white obi around her waist. The medic kit also contains storage scrolls of different medication, surgical and pills in their little bottles. She had managed to get a few standard storage scrolls from her father. Her weapon holster containing the basics would be strapped to her left leg.
It's like they had something against her, the trainers had said. Fishes were apparently very docile around other trainees before her. (Not many Shinobi were interested in medical ninjutsu till their Chunin days, hence she was currently the youngest resident trainee medical ninja in the hospital.)
"Stop wiggling!" She hissed at the fish before gently (it's difficult to do so, as it was a slippery struggling fish with fins and a strong tail) dumping it into the pool. Mystical Palm Technique was not that difficult to muster if not for those troublesome subjects.
Fish and mice. Yep, the hospital just had to choose those two animals that hated her with a passion for no logical reason at all. Getting finned in the face, bitten in the fingers was a common occurrence for the young medical ninja. She dares say she practiced her healing technique more on herself than on those horrid animals. Fortunately, she was almost done with the animal-for-practice stage of the training. Soon she will be deployed with squads on missions as a field medic; being one of the youngest, inexperienced medics meant that she will have to tag along with Genin squads before working her way up the ladder.
Training to be a medical ninja was more like a student learning in school via shadowing another medic while they go about their daily business or attending lectures. Often Yoshiko would find herself walking towards the Herbs department where several medicines and poisons would be developed. Herbology was one of her main subjects besides Anatomy, Battle Medicine, Surgery, Seal Operation, Acupuncture, and Toxicology. Acupuncture and Toxicology were not one of her core subjects but it was her area of specialty.
Most medics opt for Further Seal Operation and Further Surgery for it would enable them to carry out more complex surgeries in the hospitals. Acupuncture and Toxicology were not as popular due to their potential for offense in the battlefield rather than being more useful in the hospital. Apparently she was the first after Shizune to pick Toxicology in ten years. Toxicology was the specialized study of poisons and venom making. Herbology was the study of antidotes and anti-venoms. Most medics prefer learning how to treat than to poison.
Genma-sensei had been rather pleased with her choice after she told him during her now double weekly lessons with him. Her father had still wanted her to be able to attack opponents despite being a medical ninja due to the fact that enemy ninja tend to take out the medic before taking down the team; making her a prime target for them. She had been researching with the help of her sensei on the use of senbon needles as chakra blocks, that can either save a person's life or weaken them quickly. She had that idea when she first read about poisons that affected the chakra system via contamination. It was a work in progress, currently, she is able to halt one's blood flow using senbon but not the chakra system that was a lot more delicate without potentially killing the patient.
She would be allowed to go on more challenging missions soon according to Hikari, her mentor, and trainer. Hikari was a tall, slender woman in her mid-thirties with a practical short brown hair cut. She had called the woman Nohara-san, only to be insisted upon to be addressed as Hikari-senpai as the other formal address made her sound old.
She had been in the Medical Corps for two years and she hadn't spoke to anyone in her old class besides Shikamaru. There was simply no time for her to even interact with her family with 12-hour hospital shifts and lessons all rolled into one large messy snowball of work. She had wished that she can maybe spend more time with her brother, but she was simply too tired on most days to even talk to him during dinner. Working at the hospital had made her less social amongst her peers and currently the only interaction she had with anyone not a patient or medic was her family, Genma-sensei and sometimes Raido-sensei.
"Hikari-senpai, when will I be allowed to go on missions?" Yoshiko asked her mentor curiously. She had been training for the past one year while her classmates were still in the Academy. Apparently Hikari-senpai was impressed by her chakra control when she saw Yoshiko controlling the leaf by making it dance around on her palm after being successful at the leaf exercise. Hikari-Senpai was a patient teacher with her, teaching her ways to increase her speed at healing (she can heal with the Mystical Palm Technique after three months, but it was not very effective as it took her twenty minutes to heal a fish). She had reduced it to ten minutes and she hoped to make better progress.
"Probably in a few weeks time. I'm glad to see you so eager but your first official mission will most likely to be on some C-rank mission with little or no drama. Now here's the list of missions for today." Hikari-Senpai said with a slight smile at her before passing her a mission scroll for her.
Five thousand ryo for a medic during the training session for Team Gai at Training Grounds 18. Team Gai? She hadn't heard that the Blue Beast of Konoha had snagged himself a Genin squad. Highly unusual. She shuddered slightly at the thought of three other students dressed in Maito Gai's famous green jumpsuit along with his all too sparkly smile. It's going to be a long day, she could feel it in her bones.
~Page Break~
"Nice to meet you. I'm Nara Yoshiko, the medic for today's training." She had arrived early at the Training Ground where there was a girl dressed in a sleeveless Chinese inspired shirt and long pants with her hair tied into two buns doing target practice. She looked quite familiar... but Yoshiko couldn't place a finger on where she had seen her before.
Target practice? Why would anyone need a medic during target practice? She was supposed to heal wounds right? Her answer came in the form of a boy with bloody hands and bandages unraveled. Problem 1 solved. Now she was supposed to report to the Jonin sensei but she hadn't seen hair or hide of Maito Guy. Putting together her chakra, she tried to sniff out Maito Guy within her current range of 20 meters.
Yep, she sensed it alright. It was charging towards her at back neck speed! Another unfamiliar chakra was slightly behind him, too charging like a bull.
"Dynamic Entry!" A green blur shot past her. If she wasn't trained in the art of dodging, Yoshiko was sure she was going to be sawed into half.
"I'm so glad to meet you, beautiful flower of Konoha. I'm Maito Guy, the handsome Blue Beast of Konoha!" The man in the shiny bowl-cut all but yelled at her with a large gleaming smile showing off his pearly whites.
She could see herself nodding mutely at him and handing him the mission scroll before placing her medical kit down. Maito Gai was known for his rather weird tendencies, but Hikari-Senpai was not exaggerating when she spoke of the man.
"Ah, the hip and cool attitude! I see you are as unyouthful as my eternal rival Kakashi!" Yep definitely, she could feel herself deflating slightly at the prospect of the whole morning with Maito Gai and team.
"This is Neji, Lee and Tenten," he motioned at all three of his students. Neji was the boy with bleeding hands, her patient. Lee was Gai's mini-me while Tenten was the girl practicing her targets.
"I'm Nara Yoshiko, your medic for today." She answered simply keeping herself as professional as possible.
After the intro was done, she walked towards Neji, the Hyuga boy with bleeding hands. "Your hands please, Hyuga-san." Hyugas were known for their over formal behavior. She didn't want him to find her impolite.
"Thank you, Nara-sama." Nara-sama? She wasn't her father or Shikamaru, the heir. But she hadn't bothered correcting him and instead concentrated on his bleeding hands. The familiar soft green glow of the Mystical Palm lighted in her hands. Close the broken blood vessels first, repair the broken muscle tissues, nothing too difficult for her after months of healing broken bones, punctured internal organs under the supervision and help of Hikari-Senpai.
Jonins and Chunins tend to get badly injured in missions if the missions went wrong or bad. Jonins were the worst, they would escape from the hospital before they can be officially discharged. Hatake Kakashi was the worst of the lot. She had to catch a few escaping ninjas before; often failing miserably, much to the amusement of her patients. She could vividly remember an incident with the famous Copy-Ninja where he left her a scarecrow in his place in the hospital bed with a note, 'bye kiddo'.
Once his hands were as good as new, she walked off to Lee who had suffered a few torn muscles after doing 200 hundred push-ups while she was healing Neji. The morning passed with her healing Neji and Lee alternatively. Once they started sparring, it was worst with the two heavy hitters going all out against each other. Yoshiko was pretty much drained after the 4-hour mission; those two made use of her presence to the max, once they finished a round, she would patch them up with her Mystical Palm and then she will have to do it over and over again. Yoshiko was pretty sure she healed the two more than twelve times. She was something like a walking band-aid for the two boys.
~Page Break~
Exhausted by lunchtime, she dragged her chakra-drained body to the front desk to pass the Chunin her mission scroll. Lunch... She can hear her stomach growling like a beast. Her bento was unfortunately at the hospital, the mission went on longer that it was supposed to be. No way in hell was she eating those horrid food pills in her medical kit. She would not take those unless it was an emergency. They tasted more like a horrible marriage between mud and rubber.
The Chunin gave her the pay and took her mission scroll from her in exchange. In Konoha, missions scrolls have to be approved by the Hokage himself from a D-rank mission to a S-rank mission. This rule was implemented by the Second Hokage as he had wanted to regulate the missions for the different ranks of shinobi. (Yoshiko just thought the guy loved paperwork a little too much.) The ninja or team would then receive the mission scroll. (For her case, working at the hospital meant that her mission scrolls like most medics are delivered there daily.) After receiving the scroll, it was mission time. Finally depending on the severity of the mission, a mission report may or may not be required to be given along with the mission scroll before payment is made.
"I'm tired of all those D-Ranks! I wanna have a real mission! I'm ready for it!" A loud, obnoxious and familiar voice hollered from the mission assignment desk where the Hokage sat.
That Naruto again... Yoshiko signed after handing the Chunin the mission report. As she was so prepared to get the hell out of the room, the Hokage said something that made the Nara almost collapse in despair.
"Ahh... Yoshiko Nara, you will make a good addition to Team Seven's escort mission." The old man said after taking a long drag out of his pipe. The medic and health-conscious girl in her wanted to admonish the old man for being a chain smoker for its very unhealthy while the other lazy Nara in her wanted to go for lunch and a nap. She was not sure what she wanted to do. But the ninja in her said she shouldn't disregard the Hokage.
"Hai." She simply replied and pulled herself up a little more and briefly ran through her temporary partners for the mission. Sakura, the top Kunoichi in her class when she was there but a hopeless fangirl of Sasuke. Sasuke, looking all broody and grumpy, she hadn't spoken to him for two years. Naruto, the clumsy and rash ninja, who she knew hadn't had a word called subtle in his dictionary. Why was she so unlucky? She almost cried in her mind.
Then when she looked at the Jonin Sensei of the team of misfits, her heart lightened slightly. Hatake Kakashi, the exact opposite of Maito Gai. Excellent. She knew that guy took his jobs seriously from the times she patched him up in the hospital after he is done with a mission. Nothing very serious, chakra exhaustion, broken ribs, scraps... but his bad habit of running out of the hospital before he is okay to go irks her whenever she was the medic assigned to look after him. Seems like every cloud has a silver lining. She didn't realize that she was staring at the silver haired man until he extended his usual greeting of 'yo'. She turned scarlet immediately with the Jonin glancing at her.
"..." Was her only reply when Naruto charged at her. He was loud as usual with his orange jacket and signature blonde locks.
"Hey, Yoshiko-chan! I'm on a real mission ttaebayo!" He hollered and slapped a hand on her shoulder in greeting while Sakura simply smiled at her. She waved a hand in a weak reply.
"Hn." That was Sasuke for you. There was no sign that showed that he knew her from a long time again, seven years actually. She was one of those whom he pushed away after the Massacre; well not that she minded it a lot. She respected his need for space and did not attempt to reach out to him at all.
So lost in her assessment of the team that it was rudely broken when a clearly drunk man stumbled into the room. "Heh, four brats are supposed to protect me? One's a midget while the other look like she is about to faint. Father must be a weakling. Weaklings. I'm Tazuna, the master bridge builder from the Wave Country. You will protect me with your life." He all but insulted them at the moment of their first meeting.
How dare he? All Yoshiko saw was red. Weaklings huh? He could insult her all he wanted but no one gets away with insulting her family! The wheels in her mind were turning fast like a Nara in battle. Glasses: well-kept but old, speaking of past wealth. Body language: slightly nervous but attempting to hide it with his insulting attitude. Words that spoken and tone: he had wanted stronger ninja to protect him. This is a C-rank. No enemy ninja, clearly he felt that the threat will be bigger than what Genin can handle. Chunin leveled threats perhaps. But she had no proof. Well then she would have to try and pull off an impromptu interrogation.
"Weaklings you say? Why so insistent of us protecting your worthless little life when you have little faith in us? Are you trying to say the danger is too high for us to handle?" She questioned the old man slowly, making sure to let her words sink in. Raido-sensei did that a lot when he tried to break her mind during a Genjutsu training session where she had to prevent a secret from being handed over to him. She often managed to keep her secret for a few hours without spilling the beans or sometimes outlast him until the Genjutsu wore off. He was a member of the assassination squad hence, she was taught a few tricks from him whenever he substitute Genma-sensei as her teacher.
Step two: killing intent. She was not as intense as Raido-sensei or Genma-sensei. They had shown her how to do it and had comically compared it to a declawed cat showing its non-existent claws. Against ninjas would be useless but a civilian... Tazuna visibly whitened considerably. Now... Give me your information. Yoshiko thought smugly.
Kakashi felt the Killing Intent from the young medic. At least, what it was supposed to be. It felt a lot more like a tiny kitten purring at him, but that was only to the battle-worn man. She was interrogating the master bridge builder to a large degree of success. Ibiki-san should have snapped her up like lightning... Oh, it's Nara Yoshiko.
The only daughter of Nara Shikaku. Of course, her father would push his precious little girl as far as possible from Ibiki-san as he could despite her mother working with T&I long ago before marriage. Shikaku had always had this traditional notion of protecting women, it simply extended further for his little precious. Interrogation with a suspicious client was okay with him, but not in front of the Hokage, he had to step in.
"Yoshiko step down." He whispered to her easily with their close proximity when she stood in front of him to question the bridge builder. He too had his suspicions of the man but he had little choice but to wait it out to see if it was confirmed or unfounded.
She compiled immediately, he was in charge and she knew that. Little Yoshiko may have a streak of ferocity and impulsiveness in her, but he can easily tame her or cool her down. She will listen to reason unlike the other two of his students. That little exchange may have escaped his three little students, but the Hokage and Iruka were non-the-wiser. They knew something was up. He glanced at the Hokage for direction but the old man simply gave a to-go signal. The tension in the air was thick.
Naruto, being Captain Oblivious diffused the situation by taking note of how he was insulted for being vertically challenged. This lead to him trying to attack the bridge-builder but Kakashi stopped him, telling the boy about the rule against attacking a client.
"In case you are worried. I am an elite ninja of the Leaf while Yoshiko here is one of the best poison users in her generation." The bridge-builder looked slightly relieved but visibly turned green when the said girl gave him a sadistic smile. Hmm... What was he hiding?
~Page Break~
"Mom, I'm home!" She shouted to her mother in the kitchen as soon as her shoes came off. She walked off to her room to place her bag and take her long-awaited shower.
Ahh... The wonders of warm showers... Yoshiko almost purred in delight. She took her own sweet time, lathering her body with lots of body wash, messaging her head while shampooing her long hair, taking a relaxing facial wash. Indeed, she was unlike most kunoichi who take a record two-minute showers.
After getting out of her personal bathroom (the Nara household had three bathrooms); she went on to powder her whole body, comb her hair and moisturize her skin with her mother's homemade lotion. She felt fresh and clean.
While most of her classmates back at the Academy hadn't minded getting dirty and staying like that for the whole day; Yoshiko had been the clean freak amongst them all. Hence leading to her storing hot water, soap bars and many basic toiletries in the utility storage scrolls her father brought her, aka nicked from the Jonin storage room. (Turns out her father didn't care much for the rules.) He had given her ten scrolls for storing equipment, best of all, he also taught her how to easily reuse the scrolls.
Grabbing one toiletries scroll, she dropped it into her bag. The next one was the extra medical kit in its scroll form, in it went. The third contained some of the spare poison, glass vials, herbs, and senbon; if she ever runs out of them. Her father was nice that way. He too gave Shikamaru some storage scrolls and taught him how to use them, but her brother had found them troublesome and hadn't paid attention when their father showed them how to use it. Quoting Shikamaru, "Storage scrolls are made for women since they are so troublesome." That earned him a smack in the head with mother's frying pan when she passed by.
Two boxes of senbon should be enough along with eight poison bombs, four kunai knives and three vials of poison. She dropped them into her brand-new weapons hoister. No shuriken for her thank you very much. (apparently she had little to no talent in handling shuriken even with training)
Next, she had to pack a backpack of clothes. Five changes of the same outfit should enough for daytime. Four changes of nightwear will be more than enough. Coming from a ninja family, her mother taught her
Finally her most important pack as a medical ninja. Basic surgical equipment, blood pills, bandages, anesthetic, food pills and her senbon needles for medical purposes found their way into the small cream colored bag. She was ready for her first C-rank mission. She felt quite excited despite herself during dinner that night.