Hey friends, welcome back:) Not sure if I'm going to have time to publish anything else this weekend, so sorry to my fans of my other fics:)
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Enjoy!
Chapter Nine: Doctors
"I don't know, Choji-kun. There's definitely something here that is not quite right," Ino whispers, her eyebrows furrowed in thought.
"Something underneath the underneath," Choji murmurs in return, strolling arm-in-arm with her after Kankuro. Kankuro is distracted at the moment; he's talking to some shinobi who are chiding him about his latest drunken conquest, which has given them some time to talk.
"Choji, what if there's no such thing as the Zombie Plague? I mean, just because I throw up every morning doesn't mean I have Zombie Plague."
"Oi, Ino, you're throwing up in the mornings?"
"Eh, it's not bad. I've got medical training, I can manage it. Besides," she says with a smile, patting her belly, "it's totally worth it." She stands up on her tip-toes and gives Choji a peck on the cheek; but Choji, far from being his mushy self, is staring off into space, lost in thought.
"What's wrong Choji?" Ino pouts; she hates it when he doesn't pay enough attention to her.
"It's just that…no, never mind. Except… Ino, is it normal to throw-up a lot when you are pregnant?"
"Sure, it can be pretty common in the first trimester. Thankfully though, our chakra natures are compatible; we're both earth-style ninja, so that makes for an easier pregnancy. It's really not that bad—Choji? What's wrong?"
Choji forms the words very slowly, as if they are hard to say: "Ino, what would happen if an earth-style user and a wind-style user had a child together? Would that make for a difficult pregnancy?"
"Oh, Choji-kun, the medical nin usually warn kunoichi not to have children with men of opposing chakra natures; if it does end up happening, there's jutsu they can do to ease the unpleasant symptoms of the pregnancy. It's so sweet of you to worry about it, though," Ino replies, ending on a lovey-dovey note that would have made Shikamaru cringe, had he been present.
"Ino…the medical staff in Suna. They don't seem to deal with too many pregnant kunoichi, do they? And if they did, theoretically, have a pregnant kunoichi who had a problem with their baby's chakra nature, would they really know what to do?" Choji keeps his voice low, and free of any inflection; however, his eyes dart to hers, and she can see the urgency underneath his question.
"Eh, Choji, don't worry about me so much!" Ino chides. "I'm a trained medic; I can take care of myself."
"It's not you I'm worried about—it's Temari," he whispers. However, Kankuro is done shooting the shit with his comrades, and comes back into range; Choji cannot say more on the subject. "Just think about it, Ino-chan. You're the expert."
Ino is stunned as Choji takes her arm and leads her into the department of engineering; she pretends to look at a blueprint when really, she is lost in thought. All the pieces of the puzzle come together; why the hell hadn't Ino seen it before? Some trained medical professional she is! Temari is pregnant—with Shikamaru's baby.
"Oh my god," she breathes. "Choji. Choji!"
He gives her the hand-signal to use her mind-link jutsu. She makes the signs and enters his mind all in a rush—Choji! We can't let Shikamaru be alone with Gaara! Not if he thinks Temari has Zombie Plague and it's his fault! Not if he doesn't know—"
"Ino, you are screaming into my head," Choji's mind-voice mutters, though outwardly, he keeps his face free of expression. "Ino-chan, I'll stay here; you make a run for the Kazekage's office—"
Just then, a messenger approaches the drafting table. "Kankuro, sir! Honored guests of Konoha! I bring good news. The treaty has been ratified by your team leader, Nara Shikamaru-san. Congratulations." The man gives a stiff bow and strides off.
Kankuro keeps his face schooled in an expressionless mask, but Ino can see his hands twitching, as if from anxiety. "Well, that's good news," Kankuro says carefully.
Ino can't help it; her face falls. "That idiot," she whispers, so that only Choji can hear her. "Why would he ratify the treaty without us?"
Choji keeps his voice even, but Ino can tell he is just as upset as she is. "He has the power to do that. He's the one invested with the Hokage's authority."
Ino fights to retain her composure, but she can't; she knows that, after the debacle that had been this morning, Gaara has Shikamaru's balls in a vice. Shikamaru, so called genius of Konoha, has just been owned—she just knows it. Ino slumps in her chair, because she realizes that this is her fault on two accounts: one, for convincing Shikamaru of the veracity of Zombie Plague; second, for not having realized sooner the secrets hidden in the wind.
Of course, there is one unexplained piece in all this: Naruto. Why would he insist that he had Zombie Plague? "Oh gods," Ino groans aloud. "Choji," she mind-calls, "Naruto! Naruto is in cahoots with Gaara!"
"I know," is the sombre, mental reply. "I just figured that out myself."
Well, at least their Hokage can't call them to task for fucking up this agreement—unless, of course, Naruto, the Hokage-elect, didn't clear the items in the treaty first with Tsunade, the current Hokage. But the more Ino thinks about it, the more she is sure that Naruto would not have thought to clear it first with the current Hokage; giving Gaara the leverage to ass-fuck them when it came to the treaty. After all, Naruto is a gullible fool, and Gaara is as crafty as a coyote.
"Kankuro-san, please excuse Choji and I; we must contact Naruto-kun with the good news," she hisses.
"Of course," Kankuro replies evenly, though he looks confused.
"Hey!" a voice calls before Ino and Choji move from the drafting table. It is Temari, waving at them sheepishly. "Ino-san, can I ask you a really random question?"
"Doctor, can you tell me what's wrong?" Temari mutters as her physician pokes and prods her. "My chakra has gone all wonky."
"Of course, Temari-sama. Do you happen to know the chakra nature of the father?" The doctor pauses in her poking and looks at Temari expectantly.
"I—I don't know…" Temari muses. What kind of element is a shadow made out of, anyway?
"Well, Temari-sama, I'm not a medical ninja, but I've served many an expecting kunoichi. Sometimes, if the child inherits the father's chakra nature, and that nature is opposite to the mothers, it can be quite draining on the mother's chakra. I expect that's happening to you, now." She spares Temari a syrupy smile before jabbing her in the arm with a needle.
"Oh," Temari mutters, wincing as the doctor draws blood. "Is that—bad?"
"No, it happens. You'll live. But as the baby gestates, your chakra will be compromised."
That's it, Temari muses; she is going to kill Shikamaru. Of course, she'll have to do it with her bare hands if her chakra is going to go all FUBAR on her, but all the same—Shikamaru is a dead man.
"Isn't there anyway to alleviate the symptoms?" Temari presses.
"You should ask that blonde kunoichi from Konoha, Temari-sama. She is wise in the way of the healing arts. I'm afraid I'm not a medical ninja"
"Mmmmm," is Temari's taciturn reply. There is no way she can approach Ino with this problem; Ino, blabbermouth of Konoha, cannot learn of Temari's condition.
That's it, Temari is officially (and literally) screwed. Don't panic, she chides herself, maybe Shikamaru has a fire nature, or even a lightning nature?
Once the doctor is done with her implements of torture, Temari goes out to find Ino and Choji. She can't ask Shikamaru this question, oh no, not directly. But Ino and Choji are two boards short of an attic; they won't possibly be able to figure out what it is she's asking.
The two shinobi are with Kankuro, looking over plans in the department of engineering. "Hey," Temari offers with a wave. "Ino-san, can I ask you a really random question?"
Ino looks up from the blueprints with a start. "Er—sure. What's on your mind?" Ino eyes her warily, but there's something else in her gaze too, something calculating and discerning.
Temari ignores her gut feeling that she should run away, and instead asks, "Oh, I was just wondering—is Shikamaru's chakra nature earth, by any chance?"
Ino opens her mouth, then closes it, then opens it once more. Temari is beginning to sweat; she mumbles, "Sorry, I know, really random, it's just that I—"
Ino steps forward whispers into Temari's ear: "You're pregnant."
Temari blinks at her owlishly. "No. Yes. NO!"
Ino sighs, a long, exasperating swishing sound; she takes Temari's arm and leads her out of the building. "You, my dear, are coming with me."
Temari is dragged by Ino to the nearby inn; Temari is too stupefied to protest. It is not until Ino shoves Temari down on the bed that Temari murmurs, weakly, "How…how did you know?"
"Temari! I can't believe you didn't tell me! I can't believe you didn't tell Shikamaru!" she howls.
Temari bolts up at that. "Shhhh! He could be here! Can you…can you put up a barrier? My chakra…" she mutters lamely.
"Woman!" Ino shouts, flapping her hands in the air. But Temari gives her a kicked-puppy look, and Ino's anger deflates somewhat. "Gah. Fine." Shaking her head and muttering, Ino installs a sound-proof barrier around the bedroom.
"There's no one here, anyway," Ino grouses as she glares down at Temari. "Now lay down and let me do a proper exam on you. Zombie Plague, my ass!"
Temari lays down with a grunt. "How the hell did you find out?"
Ino rolls her eyes and lifts her shirt up over her belly. "You're not the only one with morning sickness around here."
Temari's eyes cloud in confusion. "Ino, you're fat," she blurts out. She's surprised that Ino has let her figure go like that; Ino had always been so obsessed with being thin… Perhaps Choji has been a bad influence on her?
"You idiot! Do you grow like an onion, with your head in the ground? I'm pregnant!"
"You're pregnant," Temari replies slowly, her eyes wide. "Oh. Shit."
"Why I didn't see the truth before, Kami only knows. If stupidity were trees, I'd be a forest." Ino mutters something to herself, and then her hands are alight with chakra as places them on Temari's belly. "It's just as I thought."
"Is Plague okay?" Temari blurts out. Ino shoots her a confused look, to which Temari responds, "I…er…named it Zombie Plague. Plague for short."
"You realize that's really fucked up, don't you?" Ino intones, still staring at her quizzically.
"Just—is it—okay?" Temari replies haltingly; she still cannot bring herself to call the thing inside of her anything but its morbid code-name.
"You're baby is fine; it's you I'm worried about—"
"Don't call it that!" Temari shouts. "Don't call it—"
"What? Don't call it a baby? I hate to break it to you, toots, but you don't have Zombie Plague; you have a fetus," Ino snaps. "By the way, you've probably guessed it already, but Shikamaru's chakra-nature is earth. And your baby's chakra-nature, unfortunately for you, is also earth."
Temari falls back onto the pillows with a groan. "Listen. I'm sure you are happy as a hawk, being pregnant and what not, but I'm—"
"Oh Temari," Ino breaks in, her tone brooking no nonsense, "if you didn't want to keep it, you could have aborted it long before—"
"No! Don't say that!" she shouts, slapping away Ino's hands from her abdomen, sitting up in bed and crossing her arms protectively around herself.
"You impossible girl! You're worse than a mule! If you're bent on keeping the baby, then you need to tell Shikamaru—"
"I can't!"
"You have to! It's his baby, too! His baby, whose chakra is destroying your liver and stagnating your stomach channel," Ino snaps, leaning on the dresser behind her and crossing her arms over her chest. "Now calm down and let me fix the mess that is your chakra network."
"I'm sorry—I know I—I'm not good at…" Temari flops back down on the bed and sighs. "I've been an idiot. I…I should have told him."
Ino doesn't say anything; she simply starts working on Temari with her healing chakra, her blue hands moving up and down Temari's meridians. Ino's right, Temari muses; she should have been upfront Shikamaru. But… Shikamaru had been so insistent on her staying in Konoha when they had been sleeping together; he had insisted that they were "dating," without ever conferring with Temari.
She doesn't want him to assume anything about Zombie Plague—no, Temari corrects herself, about her baby. She wants to decide everything by herself; after all, it is in her guts, and she is the one paying the price for gestating it. Why shouldn't all decisions pertaining to her pregnancy be made by Temari, and Temari alone? Even if Shikamaru has a right to know, it doesn't change anything one iota.
"You realize," Ino remarks wryly, "if I hadn't gotten to you sooner, your liver would have been severely damaged."
"What?"
"It's the opposing chakra nature. Your doctor really doesn't know anything? Oh Kami, I'm going to give the head of the OBGYN department a verbal thrashing after I'm done with you."
Ino lets out a long sigh before she continues. "Carrying a child of opposing chakra nature causes the body to become inflamed; it also stresses the liver, which in turn stresses the stomach and spleen meridians—hence all the nausea. And the stronger the chakra of the parents, the worse the discrepancy—and the strain on the mother—becomes."
"Right," Temari murmurs weakly, though she has no clue what Ino's just said. Ino starts up with the healing chakra again, and Temari sighs in pleasure. "Oh, whatever you are doing, that feels really nice…ahhhhh."
"You idiot. If you had let me work on you sooner, you wouldn't have had to suffer so much. Zombie Plague, indeed; you must have really felt like you were being afflicted by a disease, poor thing." Ino clucks her tongue and finishes her ministrations. "Let me do some acupuncture on you. Your body could use it."
For the first time in a long time, Temari does not feel like she is going to barf. "Uh-huh," Temari sighs. "Whatever you want to do."
"Don't move; I'm going to poke you full of sharp pointy things. It shouldn't hurt too much."
Famous last words. With every needle, Temari shouts obscenities and howls like a wounded animal. At last, when she's covered head-to-toe in needles, slumped on the bed like torture victim or an exotic porcupine, Ino nods her head in satisfaction.
"There, Temari-chan, that ought to do it. We'll let the needles sit for about half-an-hour, then I'll take them out."
"This actually…feels kind of good. Now that the pokey part is over," Temari mumbles, her eyes closed, her face covered in a thin sheen of sweat. "It's good Sakura is coming to train our medics; Suna's medical professionals obviously don't know shit."
"Mmmm," Ino agrees, pulling up a chair to the bedside and propping her head up on the night-stand. "Temari-chan, I'm your friend. You can tell me things, you know? Please tell me, what did Shikamaru do to piss you off?"
Temari exhales slowly. Her body feels like it's finally working for the first time in weeks. She's so relaxed; it's hard to muster up the anger to rebuff Ino's question. Unbidden, the words spill out: "He assumed we were dating, and that I would simply uproot my life and stay in Konoha with him. Also…"
It seems silly to say it now; Temari's mouth curves up in a demi-smile. "In Suna, it is a great insult to date a woman without first asking her parents for permission. It's tantamount to treating a woman like a piece of property, and it's a grave slight against her family. Looking back on it, I'm sure Shikamaru didn't mean to… I mean, I know we were sleeping together, but he never—"
"What an idiot," Ino breaks in, shaking her head from side-to-side. "He never asked you out, did he? He just assumed he owned the cow because he was getting the milk for free, excuse my language. And you, stubborn Mule-of-the-Desert, you never told Shikamaru why you were so pissed; you just told him you had never been dating in the first place, but never explained anything."
"Yep. Pretty much," Temari answers with a sigh.
"Shikamaru, self-assured genius moron that he is, never looked beyond his nose for an answer. What a mess you two have made of things." Ino uncrosses her arms and strides over to the window, looking up at the sky above.
"He loves you, you know that? You almost gave him a heart attack this morning," Ino chides. "We could all hear you calling him the dickless son of a thousand prostitutes from the bathroom."
"Mmmm," is Temari's noncommittal reply.
"And truth be told," Ino continues, still looking up at the sky, "Shikamaru picked out that pendant for you by himself. It cost two months worth of wages—two months worth of hazard pay, actually. It's not his fault the vendor didn't tell him the double-meaning of the damn thing. You know Shikamaru's not good at apologizing; or at picking out jewelry. The man is as romantic as a banana slug."
"Mmmm hmmm," Temari mumbles, closing her eyes. She senses that now is not the time to argue with Ino.
"Last but not least, princess, because of your antics, Konoha officially just got ass-fucked by Gaara; he and Shikamaru ratified the treaty this morning. Shikamaru agreed to everything."
"Even—even the clause about teaching Suna the barrier seal?" Temari replies incredulously.
"Yep. He officially failed his mission; Tsunade is going to have his balls for this."
"Oh gods," Temari moans, "I'm such an ass-clown." It's Temari's fault. Though her spite and malice had been approved and asked for by the state, she didn't have to be such a mega-bitch just to get a treaty signed in Suna's favor.
Ino turns around and regards Temari quizzically. "That word, 'ass-clown'—what does it mean? Oh, nevermind. Let me take these needles out, you're cooked. Then, you are going to take a nap while I fetch some proper nourishment for you—your baby is not getting enough nutrition, what with your steady diet of oatmeal—and we're going to figure out how you are going to tell Shikamaru the truth."
"You—you won't tell him anything, will you Ino?"
"Aw, hells no; that's your job, princess. Now sleep. I'll wake you up in an hour." Ino shakes her head from side to side in disapproval; it reminds Temari of her long-dead mother, for some reason.
Just as Ino is about to open the door, Temari mumbles, "Thanks…Ino-chan."
"Don't mention it; that's what friends are for, right?"
"Right." Temari manages a wan smile before falling into a deep, dreamless slumber; she doesn't even hear Ino close the door behind her.
"How…how did you know?"
"Temari! I can't believe you didn't tell me! I can't believe you didn't tell Shikamaru!"
"Shhhh! He could be here! Can you…can you put up a barrier? My chakra…"
"Woman!"
After that, everything is silent. Damn, Shikamaru thinks to himself. He's laying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. The minute he had felt Temari enter the building, he had hidden his chakra signature. It seems that Ino and Temari have erected a sound barrier around the room, and Shikamaru dares not give away his presence by poking it with an eavesdropping jutsu; Ino knows his methods too well.
He dares not move, dares not unmask his presence; he barely breathes. What isn't Temari telling him? Why is Ino so mad at Temari?
Countless scenarios run through his head. With methodical precision, he investigates each one, calculates how possible each scenario is. At last, he whittles down it down to one, horrible possibility: Temari is dying of Zombie Plague.
Why else would Ino—a medic—be so upset that Temari has not let Ino examine her? Why else would Gaara be so pushy to negotiate the contract right away, if not for his sister's safety?
The fact is, Temari is dying, and it's his fault. Shikamaru's palms start to sweat and the room spins. It is only when he hears the click of a door opening that he reaches out with the faintest of chakra; Ino is leaving the inn, and Temari is in the room next to his.
He remains still, debating about what he should do. At last, with slow, unsteady movements, he pries himself off the bed and creeps into the hallway. He nudges open the door to the bedroom without making a sound.
Temari is on the bed, her face framed by unruly blonde hair; she sighs against the pillows, her eyes closed. She does not look to be in pain, but her skin is sallow and glowing all at the same time. Shikamaru is no doctor, but he thinks that perhaps Temari has a fever. He tiptoes over to the dresser where Ino's clip board rests, and scans the pages of her notes.
Patient's condition is critical; will take Sakura's expert hand in reversing liver damage, though patient is stabilized for now. Overall, the "Zombie Plague" has exhausted patient's chakra and has constricted the Liver and Stomach/Spleen channels. However, "Zombie Plague" itself looks to be unharmed. Recommendations: bed rest, a diet of wholesome cooked foods, and avoiding stress.
Shikamaru stares down at the note: it seems that he is right. He's not sure about all the terms Ino has used—he doesn't know shit about meridians—but he knows that Temari is in critical condition with liver damage and is, indeed, badly infected with Zombie Plague. He's not sure why the words "Zombie Plague" are in quotation marks, but that's not what is important.
Temari stirs against the pillows, and Shikamaru hastily exits the room, lest she discover that he had been reading her chart.
Dear Kami, Shikamaru thinks, sitting on his bed and holding his head in his hands. I nearly killed Temari with plague. Some fucking friend he is. But what can he do? He's already ensured that Sakura will be coming to Suna as soon as possible, and as Ino has written, only Sakura can help Temari now.
Kami, it's all his fault! He's given Temari a deadly plague, and on top of it, he's been causing her nothing but stress and dismay the entire time he's been in Suna. Shikamaru makes a decision then: since stress is obviously deleterious to Temari's health, he will avoid her as best as he can. Shikamaru is sure that he is the last person Temari wants to see right now. He's done enough damage, and the best thing he can do is to leave her alone.
Shikamaru escapes out of the window and out of the inn. He's not sure where he's going, but maybe he can find somewhere quiet where he can think—or truly, brood—over what a waste of space he is. Somewhere where he won't make things worse for Temari. I'm sorry, Temari. It would have been better off if you had never met me…
a/n lol, I love acupuncture. Please review:)