It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.~ Frederick Douglas

Chapter 2 : Children of the Wound

As she had guessed, the clinic hallways were not really made with wheelchairs in mind. The man in charge had taken to throwing blankets on swivel chairs with armrests on them and used that to transport patients that could not walk, or at least that was what Izumi assumed. She could not know for sure. No other handicapped patients were out and about like she was. This rattled Izumi. The idea of being the only one under such care.

Those thoughts were pushed to the side when the mahogany wooden floors gave way to an ashen door. It was like any of the other clinic doors that dotted the halls. Its barren white wood accented the manila colored walls surrounding it.

Izumi felt as though the world came to a stop. She was not so sure she wanted to see what was behind that door anymore. The blinking lights trapped within the ceiling were unsettling enough. Charred bodies would not help quell the guilt that stabbed at her stomach; they would worsen it.

"Well, this is it," said the doctor. He had stilled her chair and leaned forward in his gait to reach for the door knob.

Izumi felt the sweat trickle down her brow and the tension build up in her lungs. In no time at all she was calling for the good doctor to wait. The man paused and looked at her curiously.

"I-I didn't get your name," she stated in a shaken manner. She shook as though the sweat on her back were not there at all.

"Kakujin no Shenki," he replied before proceeding to crack the door open just a fraction for her. She saw the first few rows of beds inside. "I can tell you're nervous. If you feel like you can't handle this, then it's best you head back to your quarters."

"No!" Izumi squeaked in refusal. Doctor Shenki raised an eyebrow in query. "I mean, I'm perfectly fine now."

"Alright then."

And so, Izumi was guided into the room. The seat rose a bit as the chair drove over the bump that separated the two floor tiles that met at the threshold. From there on in, the floor was covered in the types of tiles one would find in a bathroom or a kitchen.

Izumi gulped as she dragged her eyes away from the floor and raised them to be at eye level with the beds. She gagged.

A nurse was slowly peeling away at old bandages on one of the bodies that rested one of the beds. She guessed that the person was at least three or four years old based on their size. The bandages being pulled away from their person was peeling the taunt dry skin that pressed against their body. She could see fresh fluid drip with every russell.

Before she could take more in, her chair was yanked back. Her left side nearly collided with the door frame as she was pulled out. It was not Doctor Shenki who had pulled her away but an enraged nurse.

"This is no place for a child!" the nursed hissed. It was with such force that it had Izumi flinching back, only for her to realize that the nurse was not addressing her but the doctor.

"Yet it's children that are being treated in there," the doctor pointed out, hands stuffed into his pockets.

The nurse sighed. With a shake of her head she admitted that, "I'm well aware, but still, not every child that appears mature is a ninja child. And even ninja children aren't immune to the faults of childhood." Izumi stiffened at that, and she had a feeling that Shenki caught it. "I'll be taking her back to where she belongs."

oOo

The room that housed her, it no longer felt warm. Her body itched as though she were the one in that child's place. Had she done that? No other Uchiha had walked away unscathed except for her. Well, granted, she was paralyzed from the neck down, but compared to the others, she was the best off. None of her skin had turned into throw away leather rags despite how much it itched seeing someone else with such an affliction. She shuddered.

"Is anything wrong?" asked Nurse Yumitsuki in concern. The woman was about ready to leave. She was of a much kinder disposition than the pawner that had dragged her away from this lifetime's kins.

"No, nothings-"

A scream ruptured through the air causing Yumitsuki to jump. Izumi tried to turn her head in the general direction. She was having no luck in that department, so she settled for facing straightforward at the door and nurse.

Yumitsuki's sun kissed skin turned palid as she approached the window on Izumi's right side. Her bunned brown hair seemed to have frazzled out as her brown eyes scanned the distance.

"What is it?" she could not help but ask.

"Sector D Orphans… Oh god," gasped the nurse in reply. One of her hands had moved itself to cover her mouth.

Izumi watched the tension bolt into the woman's legs. She looked ready to run to whomever's aid it was that was out there.

"Wait!" the Uchiha shouted after her, right as Yumitsuki sprang into movement. This caused the nurse to slide into a stop near the doorway. Her palms reached out and clamped themselves onto the door frame as her feet dragged on.

"What!" she snapped.

"Turn me around, and give me something sharp," ordered the shinobi in training.

"What?" the nurse asked. This time she was more perplexed than hysterical.

"I'm a ninja," Izumi said in assurance, even though it was the last thing she could have felt in that moment.

That seemed to do the trick as the nurse approached her bedside. She swept the blanket on the Uchiha's lap aside and lifted Izumi to face the open window.

Izumi opened her mouth, and the nurse aligned a scalpel, that she pulled out from her apron, with Izumi's teeth. Why Yumitsuki had such a thing on her person, Izumi did not want to know. That would entail knowing where it had been. She did not want her mind to whisper about the potential infections she could get and cause her to lose morale.

Clenching her jaw shut, Izumi felt and heard her teeth scrape against the metal handle of the operation tool. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then she opened them again. The world was ablazed in a rosy overtones. Everything was in focus. Everything was just right. The blurred out agony in her mind crawled to a standstill as chakra rushed down her spine. Lead limbs and torso moved just enough so she could cock her head to the side and swing it back.

The scalpel soared through the air, out the window, and plunged itself onto the lawn in the distance. There was a crack, then a spark. The patch of grass a couple of yards in front of the Sector D orphans burst to life in flames. This caused the Sector D orphans to drop their target, and that was the last Izumi saw of them. The static feedback sent her into a sensory overload, promptly knocking her out.

The pawner's lecture would be the thing that woke her up later that day. It was not pleasant. Not pleasant at all.

~FootNotes~

{Chapter completed on} August 11, 2018

{Explanation}

角仁のしぇんき Kakujin no Shenki

Kakujin has a variety of meanings based on the kanji used. The first kanji of Kakujin can mean angle, corner, square, horn, and antlers; while the second kanji of Kakujin can mean humanity, virtue, benevolence, charity, man, and kernel. His name Shenki means close. So, he's someone nearby that has some of the traits and/or supplies listed in the kanji.

赫仁

Kakujin can also mean honor when written like above.

各人

Or it can also mean "each person."

P.S. This was brought to you by Jisho dot org (辞書 Jisho meaning dictionary). Hashtag not sponsored. I just play around with it to come up with neat Japanese names for anime/manga based fanfics.