Reckoning Arc: Stranger Danger

Yuina woke up in a bit of a scare. She dreamed about…what had she been dreaming about?

She groaned as she laid back down. She closed her eyes and tried to go to sleep, but she felt her body covered in sweat from another round of hot flashes. Her muscles spasmed and she was ever aware of her pain. Without a distraction, her sensations were amplified. Her torso on fire. It was like she was being squeezed in a tube. Intense prickling at the edge of her skin while her insides thrummed with sharp searing pain.

Yuina sat back up. She used her hand to help push herself up unsteadily. She fumbled her way to the dresser to grab the pills. As she picked it up she noticed that her grip was recovering. She made the same motion with her other hand to realize that while it was getting better, it still felt different. Heavier. More tense. She wondered what the exact reasoning for the recovery. Time? The healers? Orochimaru? All three happened simultaneously that it was hard to attribute it to any one thing.

She twister the jar lid and dipped it until a pill fell into her hand. She threw it in her mouth and swallowed it dry.

She laid back down on her futon, but minutes passed and she still couldn't fall back asleep. She broke out in silent tears. Yuina didn't know if not crying in front of others was influenced by herself or whether it was a side effect from the emotional training required to become a ninja. She covered her mouth as tears continued to fall as she noticed her breath was shakily loud for a silent room.

She turned on the light and tried to decide what to do. She couldn't practice the koto. That would wake the others up. She could make more cranes. Then her eyes fell on a book. She forgot she had taken it out of the library. She needed to return it this Friday.

Yuina picked up the book and sat back down. She skimmed the table of contents. Rei and Mariko referenced things all the time and she learnt it was from common children stories and folklores.

She flipped to the page of 'Tale of the Bamboo Cutter'. It was a story of a moon alien who was found in a glowing bamboo stalk. A man and his wife raised the child but was able to receive plenty of gold nuggets which made them rich. Nayotake-no-Kaguya-hime grew and her beauty was noted and attracted various suitors who she would issue impossible challenges having no interest in them. Even the daimyo came to express his affections. As much as she loved the friends she made Kaguya yearned to return to the moon, knowing that was where she belonged. She had no need for riches. She cared for bonds but her familial ties to the moon took precedent. She took some of the elixir of immortality and gifted the rest to the daimyo who had become one of her friends after the initial rejection. A magic robe was placed on her where she forgot both the sadness and compassion she had for the people of the Elemental Nations. The daimyo had his men take to the tallest mountain in hopes the message would reach her as he had the elixir destroyed. He had no need for eternity if he could no longer see her. It was a story of meaningful connection. She disliked that Kaguya's agency was taken from her, but she could tell the story was framing it as a selfless act so that she could continue living onward without the burden of separation.

The next story was 'The Crab and the Monkey'. A monkey convinces a crab to exchange a rice ball for a permission seed. The crab accepts and grows it into a tree. The monkey takes advantage. Instead of helping pick the fruit, the monkey eats it himself and attacks. The crab dies but not before giving birth. The offspring want revenge. They ally with the other animals and together their attacks lead to the monkey's death. The story reminded Yuina of the jungle book a little.

Momotaro was a story of a boy named Momotaro who was born from a peach. From the young age of five he was capable of extraordinary feats. The clan wanted to use his powers but Momotaro volunteered himself. He befriended a dog, a monkey, and a pheasant who helped in exchange of dango. As most stories go, Momotaro became a hero and was victorious against his enemies.

Yuina considered either 'Katsugoro' or 'Urashima Taro' next. She decided on 'Urashima Taro' which was a story that involved an undersea palace called The Dragon Palace but was essentially a rendition of Pandora's Box. She had a few more lines left when her head started bobbing and she fell back to sleep against the wall. The book fell to the ground unnoticed.

Yuina woke up in the morning, comfortably on her futon. The anthology was closed and placed on the dresser with a blue crane on top of it.

Who?

She rubber her eyes as she felt the crusted discharge in the corners.

She washed her face before going downstairs.

She froze. Yuina couldn't sense the person at all. Sakumo and Kakashi were out. Probably out fishing again. Instead a woman sat alone at the empty table.

She looked familiar. Vaguely familiar. Light brown hair. Dark emerald eyes. That didn't necessarily mean it was a good recognition, but Yuina tried not to let her mind jump to conclusions. "It's nice to formally meet you, Yuina. I'm a medic and I was asked by a colleague to help accelerate your healing process."

Yuina wanted nothing more than to feel better faster but she allowed her doubt to stop her from making a rash decision. "I'm already receiving aid."

"Yes, but my knowledge is more specialized for your required purposes." A field medic, perhaps? Her calm disposition made Yuina want to believe her. To lean on her like a safety blanket and trust her every word.

It was dangerous.

Yuina had relaxed some, but she was still wary of people. Especially those she didn't know. To know this woman could make her feel that was could be nothing but dangerous. She either had an extremely high natural charisma or this was a practiced persona.

"And if I say I don't require your help?"

The woman reached into her clothing which put Yuina on edge. It was an all too familiar wood carving, placing it on the table and leaving Yuina even more conflicted. It was Orochimaru's carving. Either Orochimaru was in on this or the woman knew too much. "This may seem a little backwards, but my name is Shiganina." Why did she say backwards like that? In fact, the whole first part was unnecessary. "It saddens me to think you wouldn't want some further relief, but that comes secondary. I've been tasked to help refine some of your skills as much as I can these next two weeks."

"I'm not exactly in a state to be training." Backwards. Backwards. A semordnilap? Nanigashi? 'A certain person'? That didn't exactly help either.

"You don't need to be active for these skills. I'll also take your koto lessons into consideration." Shiganina, or whoever she was, really did have too many tabs on her. The woman smiled gently but it gave off an aura that there was no escape.

This wasn't what she wanted.

Note: Stories have some minor changes from the originals to fit the setting (not to mention that they have various retellings).