DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN NARUTO
After an interesting introduction, Yuko told her men to release the messengers and let them enter to their camp
"You must know that if you try something funny we will trap you immediately" she had warned them.
The three ninjas from Konoha walked behind her in silence, paying attention at their surroundings. The camp was filled with ill and injured people. They were near some forest, and that gave the Nara advantage, not only because it was a natural wall but because of their deer, some kind of ninja-not ninja animals. They were special, legends said even magical. But it was unusual to see one for a foreigner, actually the heads of the clan and some elders had access to them. The mystery itself was enough to discourage anybody to enter the forest.
Lots of soldiers were tended by women and children. That's something that caught Hikari's attention.
"You don't have children shinobi …" she observed out loud. The woman leading the group raised an eyebrow, but barely looked at her.
"Why would we have children fighting?" she asked as she kept walking "They are weak… like women…" she uttered those last words with a bit of… hatred? The Takishima couldn't pin point it as they arrived for the Clan's head tent. "So, you seemed surprised realizing that some woman is head of the clan, am I right?"
"Well, yes" Izuna said, and Yuko look at him with a murderous look. But the shinobi hadn't finished yet "Because we received a letter from a man, if I remember correctly his name was Shindo" the mention of her father made her be at ease. She was so used to being demeaned by men from her clan that she grew up being extremely defensive. These were good people – or so it seemed, this man had two kunoichi companions for kami's sake. She shouldn't treat him like that. She sighed and the Uchiha noticed a sudden demeanour change.
"I'm sorry" she mumbled "I am being defensive." She bowed her head a little "you were called by my otou-san Shindo Nara, head of this clan"
"But you said you were…" Toka spoke her expression changing as realization hit her "Oh, Kami is he…"
"He is still alive… or so we think" The woman said "We actually don't know. He's been asleep ever since he sent that letter to your Village" The Konoha shinobi looked at each other in confusion.
"Beg your pardon" the Uchiha spoke "He fell asleep, just like that?"
"Yes, after he sent the letter, he became weak and sleepy." Yuko answered "But he was fine, he had not been badly injured, so his wounds couldn't be the cause"
"You say wounds" Hikari intervened "And I see most of your shinobi being treated. What happened?"
"We were attacked by the Hagoromo clan" the Nara said dryly. The three of them exchanged looks, it was a dangerous clan.
"May we see your father?" the Takishima asked and that made Yuko be suspicious and she could tell that "We are medic, well I mean, Izuna here is a medic." She realized they had not properly introduced themselves "He is Uchiha Izuna, a medic Nin, second heir to his clan." She pointed at him and then the Senju "She is Senju Toka, top Kunoichi from the Senju Clan. And I am Takishima Hikari, daughter of an Uchiha and a Civilian."
"Oh, so that's why your eyes…" the Nara commented.
"Yeah…" Hikari let that pass "We both also perform medic ninjutsu, but Izuna bests us" she smiled and the shinobi couldn't stop himself from smirking.
"Medic Ninjutsu?" Yuko asked "What is that? How can I know you're not lying and just trying to get to my father?"
"Simple, Cut me" Toka said while raising her arm and pulling up her sleeve.
"What!?" both the Nara and her friends exclaimed.
"Nara-san should cut me, because she won't trust me if I carried a weapon" the Senju reasoned "and so you can show her and everybody how you can heal me" the girl faced Izuna who after a minute composed himself and nodded.
"Okay then" he said serious
"You sure are weird" Yuko said looking both and moved towards Toka slowly while taking a kunai out "are you sure about this?" she asked when she was in front of her.
"Go on" the kunoichi agreed and inhaled deeply.
So, like Toka planned, Yuko cut her forearm – she took it like the best, not even complaining- and Izuna approached and started applying the Mystic Palm on her. The Nara and her clansmen became amazed as the wound suddenly stopped bleeding and quickly closed itself. The Uchiha gently cleaned his friend arm and she felt a shiver running down her spine 'OK, NOT NOW!' she thought. He was dumbfounded when he actually saw her having goose bumps. Fortunately she didn't realize he saw that, because she might have been mortified. Smirking and slightly embarrassed Izuna turned around and walked next to Hikari who was eyeing him with an amused look. The flustered shinobi coughed and looked away.
"H-How did you…" Yuko mumbled "How did you do that?" she finally asked
"Medic Ninjutsu is a type of ninjutsu developed in Konohagakure" the Uchiha explained "We use special techniques to mold chakra and apply them to others to heal and cure some illnesses. That's why we offer our services to check on your father, while you and your clansmen being there, of course. Maybe we can help him"
"They might save Shindo Sama!" a man whispered followed by others behind Yuko, who was doubtful. That demeanour was taken wrongly by some Nara men.
"what's the problem Yuko-chan?" one malicious voice spoke "Don't you want to save our leader?" the Konoha shinobi were confused by their manners towards the heiress. It was a very insolent way to speak to her.
"I bet she thinks that with her father dying a woman can finally be a leader, pfttttt" the same hateful voice spat. The woman started to shiver and her whole body language became the one of a child that was scared of being bullied and wanted to cry. "I bet she was the one that poisoned Shindo Sama and wants him dead".
"ENOUGH!" Hikari shouted at the men, she could recognized that Yuko had suffer a lot by being a woman, now her words about not having children or women fighting because they were weak made even more sense "You should treat your leaders with respect, no matter their gender"
"WHAT?" the man was angry "How dare you shameless b…"
"You are the shameless one" she took a step forward being backed up by her teammates. "I always thought the Nara Clan was an honourable one that had decorum and understood politics. By talking like that in front of a foreign party you're showing weakness and also you're not only being ass –she emphasized that word- but also can be charged of conspiracy and being a traitor to your leader." The man expression was priceless, she remembered her the time she slapped that Uchiha Elder and she smirked "If you are so against of a woman leading your clan, you should challenge her to see if you can win the leadership from her."
The man gulped, and that made Yuko conscious of what was happening. She suddenly regained her courage and walked and stepped between Hikari and the Clansman.
"What happened?" she said confident "A little kunoichi cut your tongue? Oh, wait, you know you can't challenge me, because you all know I am stronger than you because my father taught me well and he was, I mean IS, the strongest Nara ever known" she kept walking towards him "Am I right?" her face was really close to his "Or are you scared that a woman might kick your old and wrinkled ass?"
The Takishima was taken aback by her sudden change of attitude but found herself smiling she liked this side of her, remembered her of Tsunade-sama. She looked at Toka and she was really amused, so was Izuna.
"I am sorry to interrupt" the latter intervened moving a little to the side, the tension was too much and it might escalate to something worse "I believe we have a patient to see, am I right Nara-Sama?" He asked Yuko.
The kunoichi stood some seconds still killing the man with her eyes and breathing heavily through her nose over him, like a bull. She shook her head and walked away.
"You're not worth of my anger" she dismissed him and then looked at Izuna "Please Uchiha-sama I beg you to check on my father." She moved her arm and showed her guests the way to the patriarch tent.
Shindo Nara was caught up in a heavy sleep. His aura seemed dark and the room smelled like death. The man was pale and sweaty even though it wasn't hot in there.
"Tell me what happened again" Izuna asked Yuko while he moved towards the man and started to check his vitals, they were extremely low.
"A group of Hagoromo Clansmen ambushed our troops while coming back home." She said. "They didn't want anything in particular, they seemed they only did it because they rather feel threatened or they just simply enjoyed it"
"Heard of that clan" the Uchiha said "I bet it's the latter… Okay, Goosebumps, cold extremities, fever, sweat, dozed, the fetid smell… It seems he's been poisoned"
"Poisoned but how?" the heiress asked "something he ingested? He didn't have any important wound"
"Was he cut with some weapon?" Toka consulted.
"No, he had no cuts, he was badly bruised" the Nara said "we thought he might have hit his head hard and with the day passing it might have caused this"
"It does not seem a concussion. It's poison" the shinobi concluded after a quick examination "The question is how the venom entered his system"
"By Inhalation?" Hikari wondered.
"That might have poisoned others…" Izuna said "He is the only one like this, am I right?" Yuko nodded.
"Maybe it wasn't a weapon" Toka started "I mean, it was a weapon, but not something that is too used in battle. Something small, that can hurt without noticing"
"You mean…" The Takishima sort of caught her thought.
"A Senbon" the Senju nodded.
"Nara-san the armor you are using is the same your father used in battle?" Izuna asked as he realized what Toka had just said.
"Y-yes it is" she answered and was surprised when the Uchiha grabbed her by her shoulders and moved to analize her "What are you doing?" she asked not understanding.
"You have openings on your armpits, part of your neck, your arms… but all is noticieable." He said outloud "but not behind…" he let go of her and run towards the Nara and started to move him "Help me here!" he asked his friends, the girls grabbed the man and turned him over his stomach to reveal his back and… "Knees" Izuna finally resolved the puzzle.
"What are you doing to my father!" Yuko was becoming anxious, and her loud exclamation made some clansmen enter the tent.
"W-WHAT!?" They tried to say something as Izuna tore apart the pants of their leader behind his knees.
"Not in this one…" He moved to the other leg "Sharingan" he said and his eyes became red. He finally saw it, an extremely tiny hole behind the knee joint. "Here!" he pressed slightly the place and it started to ooze some black liquid. "That is poisoned blood, the needle might be still inside" he answered after feeling the Nara's surprised gaze, then he spoke at Toka "get the medic kit"
"Did he have some sort of limp after the battle?" Hikari asked Yuko who was still in shocked about what was going on with her father.
"O-oh?... Ummm yes I think" she answered and looked at the elders behind her confused.
"Yes, Shindo-sama…." Said one man "I am the medic here, I thought it was just a sprained ankle… I should have known…" he lowered his face.
"There's no time to feel sorry for oneself." Izuna sentenced with authority "If you are the medic come and assist me save your Leader" he demanded and the man was startled about that, he looked at Yuko and she nodded giving her permission which she found odd. Maybe him learning from his mistake made him feel guilty around her, but she couldn't think about that at the moment.
"Here, you clean this area" the Uchiha commanded the man "Hikari-chan, Please check his vitals and keep him asleep. Toka, stay with me, I am going to cut the flesh open and try to use some twizzlers to get that needle" everybody put hands to work. They worked for ten minutes but the shinobi couldn't find the weapon to be extracted.
"It looks like every time I try to get it, it goes deeper in the flesh" he mumbled.
"Can't you just take the poison out with chakra?" the Takishima asked,
"Sakura hasn't taught me that yet" Izuna lamented "and even though I knew that, I need to take the source of the poison first"
"How about a magnet?" Toka said.
"Brilliant, Senbon metal is magnetic!" the Uchiha exclaimed beaming at the Senju who was taken aback by his smile "I need a magnet"
"Oh… I don't think we have many here, just the ones we use to make compasses" Yuko explained. "They are not too powerful"
"How about a piece of iron?" Hikari asked"it can be magnetized with lighting"
"Quick thinking!" Izuna said and grabbed a kunai "Can you help me?" He said handling it to her. The kunoichi understood what he implied and grabbed it.
"I'll be back in a moment" she said leaving the tent "just a minute, it's for precaution." She walked a few meters and stopped near the trees giving her back to the Nara. She didn't want them to see her using senjutsu, she would pass it by being a lightning user. Her eyes became those of a toad and she filled the hand that was grabbing the weapon with electricity. "Release" she said out loud and a small explosion happened. She quickly disabled her sage mode and turn back finding quite a numerous group of Nara watching her dumbfounded. She ran back to the tent
"Here" she said to the Uchiha.
"Thanks" he took the kunai and placed it over the wound, he started to dig and finally he sensed the needle moving towards the home-made magnet. "There!" Izuna exclaimed when he could see the head of the needle. Toka assisted him with the twizzlers and took the senbon out.
"No way…." Yuko exclaimed, all the elders following "That little thing was killing my father?"
"Yes, he's not out of danger yet though." He clarified "But getting rid of the source of poisoning isl ike 50% of the work. He put the needle aside in the medic kit, he would research over it later. "Now I need to somehow take out all the poison left and heal the wound." He added while using the mystic palm.
"His vitals are not getting better" Hikari exclaimed, she had gone back to check on him when she re-entered the tent.
"That's because the poison is not letting the blood cloth to stop the bleeding." The Uchiha knew the theory, but it was way out of his league. "All I can do is close the wound by hand and do a tourniquet, but we need to take him to Konoha to Sakura San. If not, he will die"
"WHAT?" Yuko paled, all trace of hope gone "B-but y-you took it, you t-took it…"
"Yuko-San" the Takisima moved towars her while Toka assisted Izuna again sewing the wound "Please, stay calm, we're doing the best that we can, but there is not much else we're capable of doing"
"I thought you said you were doctors, you're a fake!" an alder said. Hikari could notice Yuko trembling, so she grabbed by her shoulders.
"Yuko-san" she continued "we need to take him to our village, as soon as possible. Do you have any means of transportation?" the woman remain speechless, it was too much for her. The elders kept speaking loudly about treason and Konoha thieves. "Yuko-san!" Hikari pressured her, and the in hit her. What would her father do.
"We could use deers" she said. The rest of the Nara lost speech. "I know they are sacred, but this is the only way. No caravan will take us to your village in time."
"We have to ride the deers?" Toka asked.
"Not You" she said "Me and my father"
While Izuna was finishing preparations, Yuko had left to find the famous Nara deers. The three shinobi heard lots of whisperers from the elders saying that those animals were sacred and one couldn't ride them because they were free. They also seemed afraid of the Nara heiress to be contacting them.
"He has no more time" Toka said while checking Shindo's vitals again. "Are you sure he will endure the journey? We're day's walk apart from home"
"He must" the Uchiha said, the kunoichi could notice he was afraid. "If not that would mean t-that I-I…." he started trembling.
"Hey," she said taking him by his hand "take a deep breath, you've been doing great so far"
That somewhat relaxed him, and for the first time he did not feel awkward or embarrassed. He corresponded her action and caressed her hand back.
"Thanks Toka" Izuna said looking at her hand and then at her eyes. She did blush, but he did not. He was completely lost in her eyes to be able to. That moment he knew he was doomed, he was in love with this Senju. Because his heart raced in his chest, but he felt at ease. So many kilometres away from Konoha, he felt home where she was. He blinked for a moment and let go of her holding, he realized she was blushing harder and he didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable. Also it was not the time nor the place. He cleared his voice.
"I'll check on his tourniquet again" he said motioning towards Shindo.
"Y-Yeah" The Senju's heart skipped a beat while seeing him so serious. He was not the youngest obnoxious Uchiha at her eyes anymore. He was the man she admired the most.
After a while Hikari entered the tent –she had been keeping guard to stop the elder from entering and nag them.-
"Yuko san says she's ready" the Takishima said "You can take him out"
And so they did.
Outside the tent there was Yuko standing with two deers – actually one deer and one doe. All the elders and annoying clansmen had left. The Deer were too sacred, so they could not be in the same place like them. When they saw the Leader of the pack they bowed, turn their backs and left. Hikari was in awe, she had seen one or two from afar when she went to play go with Shikamaru, it actually seemed that they were around checking on her, but they never left the thicker part of the forest. They were majestic, and seemed magical. She knew they weren't sage, but they seemed….
"It appears you need our help" a deep voice came from the huge magnificent Deer. The three Konoha shinobi's eyes almost left their sockets.
"Did It speak!?" Izuna screamed.
"Shhh! Be more respectuf" Hikari scolded him, but she was terrified. Sure, Pakunn was a talking dog, but this… was unexpected.
"Shindo has been a good ally for our kind, and a good friend of mine since he was a tiny human" The deer moved towards the leader who rested in an improvised stretcher supported by Izuna and Toka. "It goes against of all our rules, but I will let you set him on my back. I will take him to your Village. My wife is going to take Yuko-chan with her. As I sence, we have no time to waste." He turned and faced the Takishima "I hope you can provide us some sage friend to guide us".
"H-how…" she became speechless.
"We ninja animals know." He said "and I would like to ask you the same question. But not this time, and maybe never."
The other three shinobi were dumbfounded by his words, did the alpha knew her? But then again the kunoichi was as surprised as them. She shook her head and did the summoning justsu and Gammabunta appeared in a puff of smoke.
"WHAT DO YOU NEED KID" he said.
"Cheerful as always" the Takishima said.
"Oh, you're the Deer from Bull-Sama" he grunted ignoring Hikari completely.
"You are one of the toads from Toad-sama" The alpha bowed. Surprises never ceased for the trio, the animals knew each other.
"Okay, I won't ask about this, because we don't have time, but I will later" the kunoichi said "Bunta, they need you to guide them to Konoha, I'm sure you know where it is" of course he knew, he may appear he didn't care, but he was a curious toad, and he would engulf any new knowledge. And the creation of Konoha, and all that was related to the reincarnation of Kokoro had been his last lesson.
"Hn" he grunted, and then looked to the deer "Let's go"
"I will be leaving with my father" Yuko said "but I'll be back once I know he's out of danger" she added "My people will welcome you better now, my father's right hand, Shitoshi-san will give you shelter. Please, let your people know we'll be arriving tomorrow."
"Tomorrow!?" the trio exclaimed in unison.
"You shall not tell anybody about this" the alpha deer said "There's a reason why we keep distance from humans. We're not magic transportation. We're not slaves, nor beasts of burden. But this is a friend, and we'll make an exception" the shinobi nodded. Immideately Izuna summoned a hawk and wrote a quick note addressed to his brother and the pinkette.
"Take this to my nii-san and Sakura-chan" he asked to the bird. It bowed and left. "That won't take more than ten minutes" he added.
"Perfect, we must leave now" The Deer walked next to Shindo and bended over its kness for Izuna to set him on his back. The Doe kneeled for Yuko to hop on her gently.
"This way" Gamabunta grunted. And the three animals and two humans disappeared in a puff of smoke.
AUTHORS NOTE (back from February)
Okay, Been too long. Had a lot ideas for this, but I wanted to speed the story a little. I am now isolated so I'll try to progress on next chapters. There's so much I want to tell.
Also I have another story in mind, actually two. One sequel for this, and another one Hikari-centric pairing with one of the… hushhhhhhh. We'll se how it all develops.
Thanks for the patience, It will get better.
Have a great year!
Thank you Blu3b3rryT3a! Nice to read you again!