The emergency department of Konoha General Hospital was chaotic. Medics bumped into one another, dropping rolls of gauze that rolled on the floor. Storage carts of supplies were strewn about the hall, ransacked from the day's needs.
"Kaminari!" Daisuke Hyuuga, the youngest medic, called out. "Kaminari!"
Mina hurried over, throwing her own bundle of supplies onto a nearby desk with a whispered word to an aide.
"What's up?"
"Kaede sent a messenger—she can't make it to the exam site. She has stomach flu. And well; none of us are of sufficient rank to attend."
"They need a jounin medic?"
"Yes, urgently. They're holding a preliminary spar between the candidates."
"Should be fun. I'll pop over. Make sure to get a few extra aides for the ED. If you need me, or if it becomes overwhelming here, don't hesitate to come get me. A few genin beating on each other shouldn't be that difficult for the medics already present."
"Yes, ma'am. I'll write a note in the roster."
Mina jumped along the roofs. Not wanting to deal with the creepy crawlies, she teleported once she reached the Forest of Death. She bound her hair up in the white scrub cap and walked in the building, holding the mask in between her teeth. Kakashi was walking down the hall when she entered.
"Dii-than!" she greeted with the mask hanging from her teeth.
He startled, and stopped. "You're supposed to be in the ED today. Does Obito know you're here?"
"Meh, they don't have a jounin medic on duty. It's part of our contractual obligations for hosting a chuunin exam. 'Will provide a jounin medic at minimum accompanied by no less than two assistants, at all times.'" She looped the white mask over her face and adjusted the metal nose bridge.
"What happened to Kaede?"
She straightened the white chief medic coat and buttoned it up over her scrub top. "Stomach flu."
"Well. He's not going to like this."
"I could give a rat's ass. He can reprimand me if he wants to. What's he going to do? Lock up a capable medic in prison for insubordination?"
Kakashi rolled his visible eye. "He could. For you, he might even pull a stockade out of storage and set it in the middle of town. I can see it now—" he waved his hand dramatically in the air— "Here is Kaminari Hatake, captain of all insubordinates, loose-cannon, and queen of sarcasm. Punishment of twelve hours in the stocks."
Mina snorted. "Nah, he might yell his pretty little head off. But he won't do anything."
"And I'm the Mizukage. There are more that passed the second phase than we would have liked, by the way. Prepare to work."
She hugged his waist. "Yeah yeah, like I don't work hard every day. Meh, what's one more reprimand, honestly. Shisui and I can be matching delinquents. Not everyone can have a squeaky clean record like yours."
They reached the small medical office, and she waved him off. She watched the genin assemble in front of the staff through a one-way window. The jounin senseis lined up behind the Hokage, and various chuunin and instructors stood on either side of him.
Obito was to his immediate right, standing on the platform with his arms crossed over his chest. He glanced up at the window and glared with his sharingan spinning, as though he could see her. She dared a cheeky wave, and his frown deepened.
Of the jounin senseis, three were from Konoha: her brother and his friends, Gai, Asuma, and his not so secret girlfriend, Kurenai. A Suna jounin with half of his face covered and a cruel expression stood next to Kurenai. She discreetly moved closer to Gai, not that Mina blamed her. Even the guy next to the sand jounin looked like a creep, from Ame or maybe Oto? She wasn't sure. On the other side next to Kakashi was a jounin from Kumo. Then next to him, Kusa. It was difficult to see the hitai-ate from so far away.
At least Kakashi's genin made it out in one piece. None of the three looked too roughed up, though she promised herself to take a closer look after their matches.
The Hokage droned about village unity and alliances, and Mina wanted to stick an ice pick in her eye just to avoid listening. From the looks of it, Obito felt the same. His face dropped, his eye rolling every now and then as the Hokage continued. The medical office door opened with a slight squeak behind her.
"Good evening," Itachi greeted quietly, sitting down on a medical stool near the door.
"Hey," Mina returned. She glanced over her shoulder at him. His arm was covered in bandages, his pale face was dirt streaked above a torn collar. "Holy shit, Itachi, you get mauled by a bear?"
"Snake."
She hustled over to him and yanked a medical tray over. "You need treatment."
"That is why I am here."
"Smart ass. Was it a poisonous snake?" Quickly unwrapping the hurriedly wrapped bandages, she rested his forearm against the tray. "Hey, Maiya, get me a poison kit, please?"
"Yes, ma'am," the nurse said, unlocking an overhead cabinet.
"I don't believe I was poisoned."
"You a medic all of a sudden? Knowing mystical palm does not a medic make."
"No. It doesn't. I appreciate your help with my brother."
She pushed her chakra into his body, carefully searching for any sign of poisonous snake venom. Satisfied, she pulled back out. "You were lucky. There's a slight trace of paralyzing agent in here, but I think you largely escaped the worst of it. A plus effort for speed. Change of plans, Maiya. Get me an abrasion kit, please."
The nurse nodded and placed a small tray down with a clunk.
"Thanks. I'm going to debride this." She stared at the mangled muscles and tendons and frowned. After five minutes, the wound was completely healed. She sighed and sat back.
The tight lines of his face relaxed. "Thank you."
"Sure. You gonna watch your brother?"
He nodded.
"Probably won't be much of a match," she commented as the two genin faced off with each other. Itachi smirked slightly, the smile vanishing as soon as it appeared. The match was over in less than ten seconds.
"Haruto, Emi, go get the kid."
The two assistants nodded and walked out with a stretcher in hand, soon returning with the fallen Konoha genin. She pointed to the bed in the furthest corner, quickly ending the genjutsu Sasuke had used.
"What'd you think, 'Tachi, ten minutes?"
"Aa. If he used what I think he used."
She nodded. "Alright, this is how the evening's going to work. Medic Haruto, Nurse Emi, you'll swap out with Medic Keiko and Nurse Maiya as stretcher bearers. I'll stay back here to assess the genin as they come through and perform any field surgeries. If I deem it necessary, I'll run out with you both. We want to keep our presence minimal, so as not to disrupt the exams, understood?"
"Yes, ma'am," the medical staff parroted as they all turned to watch through the one-way window.
"G of Kumo versus Shino Aburame? Bets?"
"One thousand ryo on Aburame," Itachi said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Didn't know you gambled," Mina said wryly with a smirk. "I would also bet for Aburame."
Nurse Maiya perched on a stool next to Mina and nodded in agreement. "Same. Those kikaichu aren't anything to mess with."
Five minutes passed, and the match ended with an unconscious Kumo genin on the floor.
"No visible injuries, just chakra drain," Mina commented as the second medical team left with a stretcher. "Poor Lightning kid. He really thought he could zap those bugs into oblivion. It was adorable watching him light up all blue like that."
"Indeed."
"Misumi Tsurugi of Konoha versus Kankuro of Suna…Odd, haven't seen that kid around town before, you?"
"I wouldn't know."
Mina shrugged. "I really don't know either one enough to place a bet."
"Kankuro will win," Itachi said with certainty a few seconds after the match began.
Medic Keiko cocked her head to the side, "Why do you think that, Itachi-sama?"
"His posture. Tsurugi's eyes are shifting indicating nervousness, he's unsure of himself. Kankuro, on the other hand, is sure of his victory. Or at least the consequences of failure."
When Misumi Tsurugi lay on the floor fifteen minutes later, Mina huffed. "Remind me not to place a bet against you."
Haruto and Emi laid Tsurugi's mangled body on a cot, and Mina hustled over. She began to sweat as she healed the bruised internal organs.
"I can take over, taichou," Keiko volunteered. "Conserve your chakra for the bigger cases."
Mina nodded. "Thank you."
Itachi spoke up from the window, finally dragging his stool closer to the view. "Next battle is Ino Yamanaka versus Sakura Haruno."
"One-thousand ryo on Haruno," Mina said smugly as she sat back down.
Medic Keiko scoffed. "One-thousand on Ino."
"Oh, clan loyalty?" Mina baited. "We shall see."
"One-thousand on Yamanaka," Itachi added. "Though, she is hot-headed. I have seen Haruno train and was not impressed."
"You're not easily impressed by anyone," Mina grumbled.
The match ended without aplomb when both kunoichi knocked each other out and was swiftly followed by the next two. Her medical bay was now filled with four genin. Kiba Inuzuka moaned loudly about wanting to be discharged. A girl named Tenten was now conscious and sat on the bed quietly in disbelief.
Mina looked down at her clipboard. "Alright, Tenten from team Gai, you are good to go. Kiba, let me look at your nin-ken before you leave."
Akamaru whined pitifully as she examined his ribs and checked the reflexes of his legs. She gently laid the puppy on his back, pushing against each paw. With a scratch to his belly, she gave him back to Kiba.
"You two are free."
"Yes!" Kiba yelled, sprinting from the medical bay with his puppy in tow.
She walked over to the very last bed and checked on G of Kumo, who was still unconscious from chakra loss. The IV in his arm dripped steadily into his veins. She hung a bag of dissolved chakra supplements next to it and squeezed.
"Hey, Nurse Emi, go tell this kid's sensei that he might need to go to the hospital. He's not recovering with the IV drip like he should be."
"Yes, ma'am."
Tsurugi sat up on the bed next to him, shaking his head in his hands. The Kumo jounin quietly greeted the medics in the room as she hurried to her genin. One of the Kumo genin that could not continue with the exam toddled after her sensei like a lost duckling.
Mina snorted at the mental image of the teenager. "You look fine now, Tsurugi. You can leave if you're not going to pass out or blow chunks on my floor."
The genin looked up and glared at her. He stood up, wavering as he walked out of the medical bay to the balcony section.
"Hatake," Itachi said lowly, watching through the window at the Hyuuga spar.
"Yeah? They're cousins right? I'm not too worried. It's not like he'll kill her."
"Medic!" a jounin-sensei screamed.
Mina sprinted from the room to the tiled combat arena, her white scrub cap falling to the floor. Blood coated the floor beneath Hinata Hyuuga's small body.
"Oh my gods," she murmured, jumping into action. She yanked a kunai from Kakashi's kunai pouch and tore through the heavy coat the girl was wearing. "Nii-san, get the other side."
Kakashi nodded, cutting through the other sleeve. Mina poured chakra into Hinata, assessing each organ.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," she muttered. She placed her legs astride Hinata's hips, putting her hands over the girl's heart. Blue electricity encircled the genin's torso and pulsed with each artificial breath. The stretcher team slid the stretcher beneath the pair, and carried them off to the medical bay. There was a small gasp from above the balcony that went unheard.
Forcing more chakra into Hinata, Mina began to repair the delicate heart tissue. "It's friable, falling apart." Every time she tried to suture the tear in the heart valve closed again around the chakra coil, the heart muscle fell apart. Nurse Maiya slipped a telemetry monitor over Hinata's forearm, carefully avoiding the bands of electricity.
"Medic Horuto, take the left side tenketsu. Vital points only. Medic Keiko, right side. Any periphery tenketsu can be restored at the hospital. Nurse Emi, call the hospital for immediate emergency transport."
"They can't transport from right now, ma'am. They just evacuated the Kumo genin."
"Fuck. Okay. Okay." Maiya exhaled, concentrating on repairing the heart structure. When she was finally finished, momentary relief passed through her. "Come on, beat," she whispered. "Beat…"
The chakra coil above the heart remained damaged. Blood drained from Mina's face when the heart continued to remain still but for the electrical pulsing around it. She pressed her chakra in again, probing around the coil for any spot she missed.
"Itachi," she started gravely. "Go get me Daisuke Hyuuga from the ED. Tell him it's an emergency."
He instantly vanished from the room, returning seconds later with Daisuke.
"Daisuke, I repaired the heart wall, the mitral valve and the mitral chakra channel. I need you to look and see what I'm missing."
"Taichou—"
"Please. Her heart won't beat if I stop this life support."
Daisuke nodded. "Yes ma'am. Byakugan." He carefully searched, peering over Hinata's chest. Mina could only imagine that he saw below the sternum. "There is a small defect of the mitral side of the cardiac coil. Shall I repair it?"
"Yes."
Moments later, the coil was repaired. A tear slipped down Mina's face when Hinata's small heart beat on its own for the first time in ten minutes. She carefully recalled the lightning life support.
'I should have known how to do that,' Mina thought. 'A chuunin medic knew better than me…'
"Your patient, Daisuke. Horuto will continue to assist. You will both accompany her on the way to the hospital when the evacuation team arrives, understood?"
"Yes, ma'am," they both echoed. Daisuke took over for the now shaking Medic Keiko.
"Medic Keiko, go drink some water. The exams are continuing."
The teenager inclined her head and walked to the fridge. When she returned, she held out a cold water bottle for Mina as well.
"Thanks," Mina said. Her hands shook as she tried to open it.
Itachi took it from her and uncapped it, handing it back. He dropped down and whispered low enough so only she could hear, "You expended quite a bit of chakra. Do you need to be relieved?"
"No. I am still commander of this medical outfit. I will remain at my post."
He inclined his head and sat back down without any further comment on her shaking hands or pale face.
"How could he almost kill his own cousin?" she quietly whispered to Itachi. "I couldn't ever imagine nii-san…he would never. Kakashi didn't even like sparring with me growing up. He made Shisui do it most of the time. You never would to Sasuke…I just…"
"Their family has a troubled history."
"I suppose. What is this kid doing?" she asked as Rock Lee mounted the top of the statue above the Hokage and Obito. Weights were dropped, crashing into the tiled floor below. She rolled her eyes at the drama of it all.
"He'll lose," Itachi said quietly. "You may wish to get ready."
"You think?"
"Aa."
At his confirmation, Mina nodded at Nurse Maiya. She resupplied her medic bag and pulled the stretcher back to the door. The women hovered outside of the medical office and watched as the two boys fought. Sand flew erratically, bolstering the Suna genin's every attack. All too soon, the boy in green was thrown across the room. Sand surrounded his left arm and leg.
"Oh gods," Nurse Maiya gasped, covering her mouth as the boy screamed in pain when his limbs were crushed. "Do we intervene, Taichou?"
"We're not the proctors," Mina said flatly.
Rock Lee fell to the floor, his body scattered a plume of sand into the air. A wall of sand rushed to him. Mina closed her eyes, reaching out for the nurse's hand. The sand dashed as Gai landed softly and disrupted it. She breathed in a calming breath as the match deescalated. She searched for Hayate, willing him to call the match. His eyes met hers, and he nodded.
"The winner by default: Gaara."
"Oh, thank the gods," Maiya said, clasping a hand to her chest. They ran out with the stretcher and laid it on the ground.
Gai held Lee in his arms as his unconscious body stood up to fight again.
"Gai," Mina whispered, holding out her arms for the boy.
Tears slipped down Gai's face as he laid his student on the stretcher. Mina swiftly assessed his internal organs. She let loose a calming breath. There was minor kidney damage due to his jutsu, but the body would heal it in time. His limbs, however, were crushed beyond recognition. The bones had no hope of reformation—his muscles and tendons were completely disconnected.
"Nurse Maiya," she whispered, low enough that Gai couldn't hear from his standing position. "Amputation. Arm and leg to prevent gangrene. He's non-emergent. There's nothing the emergency department will be able to do that we haven't."
"Oh, Taichou," the nurse said softly, covering her mouth with her hand.
"Let's take him back. Gai, if you wanna follow us," Mina said louder.
He nodded and followed in silence.
The pair gently rolled Lee onto an empty bed. Opening the cabinet, Mina pulled a vial of morphine and IV port.
"To help with his pain," she carefully explained to Gai.
"Aren't you going to fix him?" Gai held his student's hand.
Mina said nothing, slipping the IV port into the boy's hand. She started a new bag of saline and potassium. Quietly hanging them on the hook, she added the morphine to his fluids.
"Gai, is there someone you want for support, right now? One of your other students? Kakashi? Obito?"
"Tell me."
"Okay. The damage is irreparable. In all my years of study, I have never seen a case this extensive. I can't even find all of his bone shards when I do a chakra probe. It's highly likely some of them are embedded into the muscle tissue. The hospital director will most likely be reassigned to his case and will back my recommendation."
"Recommendation?"
Mina sighed. "Amputation. Both limbs. I'm so sorry, but he will never be able to walk again, much less work as a shinobi. Both limbs must be amputated as soon as possible to avoid a severe infection."
Gai's hands shook, and a shadow fell over his face. Mina could smell Itachi looming behind her like an ever present stick of cinnamon gum attached to one's shoe.
"Again, I know this is difficult for you both. I'm so very sorry. I'll give you privacy while we wait for the evacuation team."
She pulled the curtain closed around the bed, sealing it off to the rest of the room.
"Nurse Maiya?"
"Yes, ma'am?"
"See to it that he's comfortable, he and his sensei both, please."
The nurse nodded and rolled an exam stool to the cordoned off area.
Mina sighed as she walked over to the window.
"Last match," Itachi said quietly.
"Yeah. Atsui of Kumo versus Choji Akimichi."
Itachi watched her carefully, and she narrowed her eyes at him in response. "I'm not going to fall apart because of two severely wounded genin. I made my rank same as you."
He held his hands up in surrender then turned his gaze to the window.
"Sorry for being snappy," she apologized. "I'm just tired of everyone trying to coddle me. My brother, Shisui, Obito. They all think I don't notice that I have a guard with me every day, all day. I never have a moment's peace. And all the smells are driving me crazy. There's a new ANBU guard outside my window at night. They all smell differently."
"They are concerned about the attack."
One of the boys turned into a human ball and began to chase the other around the arena while he struck at him with bolts of lightning.
"Thanks for saving me, by the way. I appreciate your efforts. Can I ask you a question?"
"You can ask."
Mina scoffed. "You sound like nii-san. What were we fighting about that night?"
Itachi blinked in surprise and crossed his arms over his chest. "It is unimportant now."
"It's important to me. What happened to make me wander off into semi-hostile territory by myself in the middle of the night? I mean, I'm not helpless, but I am risk averse."
Itachi ran a hand over his face. "We were discussing Shisui and your relationship. Do not ask me the details. They truly don't matter anymore."
"I see. Thanks."
The Kumo genin strobed lightning out from his body in wide circles. It wasn't long before the Akimichi rolled into one of the concentric rings of electricity, immediately losing consciousness.
"Clever," Mina commented mildly as she walked out the door. She pressed down the bridge of the white mask on her face to reduce the smell of blood still on the tile from the last bout.
She laid her hand on Choji's forehead and stooped down to his level. "You okay, kid?"
"So hungry…need meat!"
Rolling her eyes, she looked up at his sensei on the balcony. "He's good! Come get him!"
The blond Kumo genin watched her and cocked his head to the side. Stars flashed before her eyes in a shock of pain. She quickly shook her head to clear it, pushing a burst of lightning chakra through from her newfound technique.
"You good, kid?" she asked the Kumo genin.
"Yeah. I'm hot!"
"Uh huh," she nodded slowly. "Your sensei and teammates are at Konoha General Hospital. Do you want to come with me or another jounin?"
"I'll go with you."
Mina grimaced. "Sure thing. We'll teleport."
She put a hand on his shoulder and teleported to the hospital. The genin slapped a hand against his forehead, holding his other out for balance.
"Ah yeah, first time as a teleportee always sucks. Come on, they're probably still in the emergency department."
"You look like my sister's hot friend."
'Weird kid,' Mina thought.
The image of a blonde woman with a short bob came to mind. 'That's very cool—'
"Dah!" Mina cried out as her head hammered. She pushed another round of lightning chakra to dull the ache.
"You okay, miss?" the older teenager asked.
"Yeah. Sorry, I'm fine."
She led him through the winding halls of the emergency department. With a parting smile, she left him at the curtained bed of his teammate and sensei.
AN: Thank you for reading! I think I'm gonna post one more chapter tonight. These updates for 13 Nov 23 start with Chapter 25.
Beta'ed by: CherryBerry12