Chapter 28 — The Five Stages of Reluctance
"When Sensei told me, I knew I had to see it to believe it. But now I'm seeing it and still not quite believing it."
Kyoko tensed at the voice but didn't stop her work stitching her patient's bone back together, consciously ignoring the resentment that curled in her gut. Beside her, Tsunade sighed heavily and said, "Stay focused. Ignore him. Don't stop until you're done."
"Aw, that hurts my feelings, Tsunade-hime. I just wanted to see what's so special about this one that you actually took on a student." His voice got louder as he moved closer to her left side. She didn't look up, but she could just see him pressing into her peripheral vision. "Fess up, kid. What are you blackmailing her with?"
"Unpaid gambling debts and embarrassing diary entries," Kyoko said, pressing her palm flat against her patient's chest as she examined the re-structured bone. "Now please step back. You're breathing on my patient."
"Guy's in a coma. I doubt he cares."
"Sedated," she corrected. "Not comatose." She straightened and glanced briefly at Jiraiya before looking over her shoulder. "Done, Shisho."
"Let me take a look," Tsunade said, motioning her out of the way and stepping forward.
While Tsunade reviewed her work, Jiraiya squinted at her. "Huh."
She bowed her head to him and pretended she didn't hate the way he had skirted responsibility and basic empathy alike in Naruto and Kakashi's lives. "You must be Jiraiya. It's nice to meet you."
"Huh," he said again. Then he looked past her at Tsunade. "You never told me that you wanted to teach."
"I didn't. She bullied me into it."
He snickered. "Did she, now? What's next? Oro taking on his own cute genin?"
Tsunade scoffed. "That'll be the day." She finished her examination and shot Kyoko a nod. "Good job. And it's actually perfect that you're here, Jiraiya. Do you have any books Tiny here could borrow? She's got some fuuinjutsu interest."
"Does she?" He was back to squinting at her. "I think I have a couple beginner-level ones I could dig up. But if I do," —he grinned— "you and Dan owe me a drink to get me caught up on the gossip around here."
"That can be arranged." She waved a hand. "Go on, then. She can't wait all day for those books."
As Jiraiya left, Tsunade dropped a hand to Kyoko's shoulder. "Now, who was it that ran their mouth to you about my gambling?"
"Sorry!" Kyoko said as soon as her shunshin landed her at the training ground. "Shisho and I got caught up at the hospital. There was a patient with chakra poisoning, and she wanted me to learn what to do."
Kakashi looked up from the supplies he was packing away. "Oh. Well, it's fine." He stood, slinging the bag over his shoulder. "I guessed you were still resting after your mission. Besides, I'm done today anyway."
"Oh." Her shoulders slumped, and Kyoko tightened her grip on the tanto harness around her shoulder. "Alright. I'll try not to be so late tomorrow." Her hands hurt from chakra use all day, and her head hurt from Jiraiya's crash course in sealing, but she smiled anyway because he deserved it. "See you then." She turned away.
"Actually . . . ." He cleared his throat. "It'd be nice if you could help me with this."
She looked back to see him holding out his right hand. It was bandaged. She turned sharply, already stepping towards him. "What did you do?" she asked. She reached for his hand but didn't touch him. "You want me to fix it?"
He shuffled his feet. "I don't want Rin to know."
She frowned and finally took his hand, starting to unwrap the bandages. "Why?"
"Because if she knows, she'll tell Sensei. And he'll tell me to stop practicing the jutsu without him there."
"What jutsu were you—" She finished unwrapping his hand and swallowed the next word. She didn't need to ask the question because she already recognized the pattern of those swirling chakra burns. Kyoko glanced up at him. "I can't treat these with iryo-ninjutsu. Treating chakra burns with direct chakra only makes them worse. I can mix a balm for you to use, but I won't be able to get it to you until tomorrow."
"Oh." He curled his fingers, pulling his hand back. "Like you did for Raidou?"
"Somewhat. You talked to Raidou?"
"A bit. Is there anything you can do for the burns now?"
"Does it hurt?" she asked. When he glanced away instead of answering, she nodded. "I can. I'll need to get some things. You could come to the house." She took his hand and started rewrapping it. "I can treat it there."
He hesitated and, when she was done, pulled his hand back. "Is . . . Obito there?" He didn't wait for an answer and adjusted his bag. "I have first aid supplies at my place. I can make you tea in exchange."
Kyoko straightened. "I do like tea," she admitted." She nodded to him. "Lead the way."
Kakashi, it turned out, did not live at the apartment she was familiar with. The place he took her to wasn't somewhere she'd ever been before, but she wasn't ignorant enough to not know what it was. She kept quiet as Kakashi led her into his family's house and kept quiet as he got a kettle of water started on the stove. It was only when he joined her at the table, first aid kit in hand, that she said, "Do you have any honey?"
He blinked at her. "Honey? For . . . your tea?"
"For your hand. It helps with burns."
"Who's this?"
At the new—and at the same time, not new at all—voice, Kyoko looked to the hallway. He was just as small as she remembered, but there was something softer about him here. He hadn't seen as many difficult years at Kakashi's side as the ninken she'd known.
"That's Pakkun," Kakashi said, opening his pantry. "Pakkun, this is Kyoko. From training."
"Oh." Pakkun considered her for a moment before pacing across the room to sit in front of her. He lifted one leg. "Do you want to feel my paw pads? They're soft."
Kyoko smiled and moved from the chair to kneel on the floor. "It's nice to meet you, Pakkun," she created, taking his small paw in one of her small hands.
"Do you need a bowl?" Kakashi asked, turning away from the pantry with a jar of honey in hand.
"Yes." She scratched at Pakkuin's ears and then pushed herself to her feet. "I won't be able to make the chakra burns go away," she warned, moving to the sink. As she washed her hands, she said, "They'll still be there tomorrow."
"Right." Kakashi sighed, setting the bowl and jar on the table. "But they'll heal?"
"Yes. Especially once I get you the balm." She rejoined him at the table and poured the honey into the bowl. "Go ahead and unwrap your hand." She drew iryo-chakra into her hand and pressed it down into the honey.
Kakashi started undoing the bandages like she'd said. "What are you doing?"
"Sterilizing it to prevent infection." She dipped her fingers into the honey and reached out to him with her other hand. After he dropped his hand into hers, she started smoothing the honey across his palm. "This will help with the healing and the pain for now. You'll want to wash it off in the morning."
"Okay." He leaned in and squinted as she began wrapping his hand in fresh bandages. Then he glanced up at her. "What happened on your mission?"
She stilled, staring at him.
Kakashi drew back, pulling his hand with him. "You don't have to tell me."
"No." She tightened her grip on his hand and resumed her work. "I'd like to."