Reckoning Arc: Stranger Danger

Yuina eyes bulged as she let out a rasped gasp. She was startle awake from her dream. She dreamt about…what had she been dreaming about?

She groaned as she relaxed into her sheets once more. She closed her eyes and tried to fall back asleep, 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 was on fire, and it was like she was being squeezed into 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 her 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 was. Time? Medics? 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 learned many of their references came from common children's stories and folklores. Borrowing the book had been her way of trying to understand their conversations better.

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 received plenty of gold nuggets every time they cut bamboo, which made them rich. Nayotake-no-Kaguya-hime grew and her beauty was noted and attracted various suitors who she would issue impossible challenges as she possessed 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 connection and yearning. 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 convinced a crab to exchange a onigiri for a permission seed. The crab accepted and grew it into a tree. The monkey took advantage. Instead of helping pick the fruit, the monkey ate it himself and attacked. The crab died, but not before giving birth. The offspring wanted revenge. They allied with the other animals and together their attacks led 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 for dango. As most stories went, Momotaro became a hero and was victorious against his enemies.

Yuina considered reading 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 rubbed her eyes and 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. A colleague asked if I could 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 in the areas you require." Someone well versed in medical jutsu, but not part of the hospital? 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. For this woman to have such a calming effect on her was nothing short of dangerous. The women possessed an unnaturally high 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. She revealed an all too familiar wood carving which conflicted Yuina further. It was Orochimaru's carving. Their little symbol to show when they were away on a mission but had been scheduled to meet. Orochimaru was in on this, or the woman before her knew too much. "This may seem a little backward, 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 with helping refine some of your skills as much as I can these next two weeks."

Backwards. Backwards. A semordnilap? Nanigashi? 'A certain person'? That didn't exactly help either.

"I'm not exactly in a state to be training." Yuina was allowed light exercises, nothing strenuous like typical training.

"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 had too many tabs on her, making it more confusing whether she was supposed to trust anything coming out of her mouth. The woman smiled gently, but it gave off an aura that there was no escape.

"And if I reject?" This wasn't what she wanted even if she felt doomed to do what Shiganina wanted.

"It's your own desire to learn all you can to survive. You've had a close call with your existing skills. It's only natural for you to learn what you can from me."

Yuina bit the inside of her cheek. She was an irritating woman, but the most irritating thing was her demeanor. It made it so Yuina felt she couldn't even be mad at her. "Train me in what exactly." Good idea or not, Yuina gained her newest pain distraction.