The Master of Healing
As soon as the orb wrapped around me and started to take me away I retrieved the wards my mother had given me and made an opening. The opening wasn't all that big but it was big enough for me to jump out and land in the middle of some sort of court yard. The place looked expensive, high class and rich. Crap. Slowly and as quietly as possible I started for the back door, the exit to the large court yard in who knew who's backyard. Then, half way to I heard movement and in a blink of an eye I was high up on a tree branch, looking down and waiting for whatever it was that made sound to come out. That didn't take long but when I saw who it had been I froze. There, just underneath me stood my advanced training instructor. He looked as if though her were resting but the instant he turned around and looked straight up at me my body froze and I transferred into a deep crimson world. I could feel Hei waking, stirring yet calm as could be.
"What are you doing at my home Izakura Haruno?" he demanded, all the while I could only look, stare into his eyes while my body remained chained to a cross. A sigh escaped my lips then, I was going to tell him the truth but a part of me didn't think he'd believe me.
"I didn't come here on purpose sensei, its just that I was talking to some classmates when a white orb suddenly surrounded me and began to carry me away. I don't know who it was that was so I broke the orb, well made an opening and jumped out. Sensei I just so happened to land in your yard." when I was done I hung my head low, tired of looking into his eyes, annoyed at the fact that I was still chained down and for some strange reason the burning sensation back to my eyes. He stared at me with cold, stoic eyes before suddenly the chains were lose and I was in the real world. The transition was so sudden, so fast that when I was finally in control of my body I still had no control. Instantly I fell out of the tree and toward the ground only to be caught.
"I'm sorry, you will be feeling sick for a while. I shouldn't have used that on you." he said, voice so soft I was surprised I heard him.
"It's alright, um sensei?" I asked, not sure if he would be willing to help not only get out of his house but to the address I had been given. At least meeting one of my professors wasn't going to take long.
"Yes?" he said while putting me back down on my feet and checking to see if I had my balance back. I did.
"Other than helping me get out of your umm...home can you tell me how to get to 2319 Akatsuki Drive." I said, voice soft and unsure. His only response was a nod of the head and soon I was following him out of his home. Thankfully we went out the back door, he avoided taking me in through his house and for that I was thankful. When we got to the street and had walked down a block the Lady's guard, Kakashi, appeared and looked at me with a grin.
"So you are a trouble maker." he taunted before turning to sensei and bowing. "Lord Itachi, I will escort the young huntress." he said, voice suddenly business like and full of respect.
"Where to?" demanding my sensei. That, along with hearing his title, surprised me and caused me to take a step back from both of them. They were both escorting me, one had been send and sure I may have asked for one my self but was it really the smart thing to do? Mom had told be to stay low, not go wonder off before we even set foot in Konoha and yet here I was. Lost with two escorts debating, challenging one another as to who would be taking me where.
"Lady Tsunade, she has taken this huntress as her knew apprentice." as soon as the words left his mouth I moved further back. Both looked at me, apparently taking my surprise as something new. Mom and her had talked about me training, about me being a healer of the immortal but no one had asked me.
"I will take her Kakashi, let Lady Tsunade know we will be there shortly." he said and with that Kakashi was gone. When sensei tried to get close to me again I moved back and away. Why? Why did she do this? Why had mother allowed her to train me before even asking me if I wanted to learn, if I wanted to follow in her foot steps.
'My lady, are you alright?' I suddenly heard Hei only to cause sensei to freeze. Had he heard him. Instantly I shook my head and held on to a ward in my pocket, keeping him from reading my thoughts further.
'Hei stay silent around him, please and no. I don't want to train....no one asked me if I wanted to, if I wanted to lear.' I said, voice sad and unsure. Hei sighed and stayed silent then.
"We must go now Izakura." sensei said, his tone of voice leaving no room for challenging. With a sigh I nodded and followed suit quietly. All the while I couldn't stop my random thoughts, I had to fight against the burning sensation in my eyes and I couldn't help but suddenly feel thirsty. The back of my throat was burning, aching for something to drink, something crimson red and thick to quench it. Quickly I shook my head, I was a hunter, I was a fighter, I wasn't an immortal or a blood drinker.
'your both.' Hei suddenly said but before I could respond we walked into Lady Tsunade's office only to be met with silence. Mother stood by the Lady's side, Shizune was running around in the back, filing and preparing what would be needed.
"Lord Itachi, this is a surprise." Lady Tsunade said, all the while mom stayed silent and still by her side. It was her reaction, her sudden evasion of meeting sensei's eyes that made my alarms to go off.
"My lady, are you the one who send for her?" he asked, already helping, looking for whoever it was that had called for me and checking to see if they were a threat.
"Yes, but as expected by my apprentices daughter she broke through. I imagine she landed near you?" she said, teasing sensei a bit. Sensei however only nodded before turning to look over my mother. Again his eyes were changing, they were taking, accessing the power he had been using when he first caught me in his court yard.
"Sensei, thank you for your help. I will see you in class tomorrow." I quickly said, moving to stand before him. Big mistake, as soon as I saw those crimson eyes swirling with specks of black and his fangs growing out I felt it all. I felt a sudden hunger for blood, I felt my own eyes starting to burn, to tap into the power of my awakening vampire blood. Instantly Shizune was by my side and guiding me toward the back room.
"Hn." was all he said before he took off, before he disappeared. As soon as he was gone mom was by my side, helping Shizune while the Lady was using her own vampiric power to heal me. Sadly the thirst wasn't gone.
"Mom...mom what's happening to me..." I cried out, hoping that she could explain. Sadly the tears in her eyes told me other wise. Lady Tsunade stood in front of me then, locking eyes with me.
"You will need to train with me young one, to heal and to control." she said, apparently the gravity around us was changing again but I couldn't feel it. Tears fell down my face then and before my sanity broke, before I gave in to the power Lady Tsunade's power flared and I was healed. Shizune then walked over to me with a dark cup and by smell alone I knew what was inside. When she offered it to me I shook my head.
"Izakura, honey you have to. Your craving it." mom said, her voice sad and unsteady.
"She's right, and the longer you go without feeding the harder it'll be to learn proper control." Shizune said. I could tell that by the look in all of their eyes they were telling the truth. Slowly I took the cup in my hand and before I knew what I was doing it I was drinking it. My body was acting out on its own, it was feeding, giving itself what it wanted. As soon as I was done I felt better, I could feel what it was I was doing and my eyes widened. Lady Tsunade smiled and nodded.
"Yes your strong, Shizune?"
"Yes my lady?"
"Get her started on basics." and with that she and my mother left. Shizune took me to the back then and when I got there I saw what it was she had been getting ready, what it was she had been setting up.
In the room was a long table full of scrolls of all sorts. The scrolls looked ancient and yet they were kept in perfect condition. Then, next to the table was a tub full of fish, they looked like they were dead, some were while others were dying. Was this some kind of sick joke?
"The scrolls will tell you how to access your healing power, if you have any, and then you are to practice on the fish. Those that are dead work, practice channeling you power through it. Any questions?" she said, her tone of voice making it sound as if the things on my to do list weren't all that hard. Of course to her they weren't but hell, I hadn't known my mother was a healer let alone that I might be able to do it.
"Umm yea, how long do I have to stay here?"
"Only a couple of hours, until your mother gets out of her shift." and with that she walked out and left me alone. Just my luck of course. As soon as she left the room I walked over to the table and started to read. All the scrolls said the same things, they described what it was like to heal, they explained the process and what you should or shouldn't do. Finally when I was done with half of them I walked over to the bucket of fish and started. Those that were dying were instantly better, and so I moved them from the sick tank to the cured. I couldn't save them all but did save more than half. The, just as I healed the last one Lady Tsunade herself walked in and smiled at me.
"Did you finish reading all of the scrolls?" she suddenly asked, looking at how neat everything looked.
"Hai, they all said the same thing, I understood it after the first scroll."
"Is that so?"
"Lady Tsunade, what is my mother? What was she?" I asked, my tone of voice ever so soft. She looked at me then, her eyes serious before she looked over toward the wind. The sun would be setting soon.
"That is a story I am not meant to tell young one." she said before sighing. "Your a natural healer, it runs in your blood. More importantly, have your eyes burned since you started your awakening?" Her question was so sudden, too sudden that for a while I couldn't answer her. She of course knew what my silence meant.
"I see, then I shall schedule training with Lord Itachi or someone from the bloodline." she said, her words clicking.
"One of them, one of Itachi's family members is my father?" I asked but knew it was more of a statement. Then as she had said too much Lady Tsunade turned back to my work.
"You truly are gifted. It took your mother threes days to understand the concept and two weeks to heal her first fish." she said, a smile on her lips. She was thinking back to when my mother had first started, to when she was a student.
"You and my mother are close."
"That we are young one, that we are. I would offer to heal your blood animal but you haven't summoned him it seems. May I know his name?" Tsunade asked, and as soon as she had mention his name I felt Hei with me, I felt as if though he were really standing beside me.
'If it is alright with you my lady, give her my name.' he said, causing me to nod.
"His name is Hei, he's a tiger." I said while Lady Tsunade smiled and nodded.
"It is a pleasure to meet him. Would he like me to teach you to..."
'No! She does not need to be taught, you don't. My lady you know how to summon me.' the way Hei reacted caused me to jump, it was the first time I had heard him scream or raise his voice. Tsunade read my reaction and bowed.
"My pardons Hei, I meant no disrespect. It seems you will be ready to join your mother, training on the truly immortal, Izakura master healer of the immortal." and with that she left. When she did I sighed, things had been so confusing, so complicated from the moment I had found out what I was and it didn't look like it would be getting any better.
'I am sorry for scaring you my lady.'
'No need Hei, but I don't know how to summon you'
'Yes you do my lady, its in your blood.' and with that he disappeared yet again. I stayed standing in silent in the empty room for a while. It was my first day at a new school and already I had an enemy, it was my first day in training and I had already been names a true healer, a master healer, and it was my first day drinking blood and oh how I liked it.
Before leaving the room I turned to look at the bucket full of dead fish only to stop. She had healed them, she had brought them back from the dead, but at what cost? Had she given apart of herself so that they would be given a second chance at life? Slowly I made my way out of the room and out of the head mistress's tower. Home was another new thing, the house, the address, the neighborhood. Everything was suddenly new and unknown around me. Then just as I felt the sudden panic take over I felt a flow of power to my mind and as I sighed a calming sigh Hei appeared. He stood beside me and looked weak. Without thinking I put my hands to his fur and instantly he was healed. Hei bowed when his strength was restored.
"My lady, my master and healer." he said, voice strong and convicting. That made me smile, so much so that all of my panic was gone and soon we were both walking home together in silence.
Getting home mom freaked when I walked in with a tiger at my side but as soon as she realized what and who Hei was calmed down. We have him his own room but he insisted on staying with me in my room. He was a comfort of sort and I was happy to have him by my side. After dinner we talked, he explained what it was that was happening to my eyes and how good it was to be trained by an Uchiha. When I asked him about who my father was though he stayed quiet, he refused to meet my eyes and then fell asleep. I guess that was still one thing I'd be figuring out on my own.