It's been three days, and Shiori has fallen into a routine. She visits her patients and helps any new patients who come during her shift. If there were any cases that she had not treated before, Doctor Kishi accompanied her during the visit.
Apparently, doctor Kishi planned for her to join the surgeries from next week to get some more experience as an assistant and see more serious cases. He regularly provided her with reading materials and quizzed her on them.
Shiori was content and happy. At this rate, she will be ready for her examinations soon. She sighed as she got ready to see the next patient. Genma-san was getting discharged today, and he proved himself to be a challenging patient.
He did not act combative or hostile. In fact, he was very cooperative. The problem was that he insisted on treating Shiori like a doting mother hen. He constantly fussed over her, asking questions about how she was doing and if any patient was giving her trouble. He also promised to beat anyone who gave her a hard time.
Shiori had never dealt with a patient like this before, and to be honest, she was happy that he would be discharged today. She knocked before entering the room. Upon entering, she faced the second problem she had with him.
His room was constantly filled with visitors at all hours. More than once, she had to kick people out since the visiting hours were over. At least his visitors got the message the first time she lectured them about the noise complaints and were now much quieter.
Right now, there were three men in the room. She had seen them a few times but did not ask for their names. She walked up to Genma. "I am here to give you your last checkup before the nurse fills out the discharge papers. Do you have any concerns?" Shiori asked as she helped the man take his clothes off.
"No, I'm doing great, Shiori-chan. It's all thanks to you." Shiori's eyebrow twitched at the familiar suffix.
She chose to stay professional and took off his bandages. He did not need them anymore. She checked over his wounds and the burn scar. Once she was done, she applied the cream.
"Don't forget to apply the cream regularly and visit the hospital if you have any concerns," Shiori said as she finished applying the cream and quickly stepped away before the man could mess with her hair again.
He actually pouted at that. "Ahhh, not even a goodbye hug, Shiori-chan," he said, and his friends started laughing.
'YOU CAN NOT PUNCH YOUR PATIENTS.' Shiori repeated in her head like a mantra.
She took a deep breath and left the room. She could always find him when he was discharged from the hospital.
Another week passed, and Shiori was called to the Hokage's office. She stood in front of the Hokage, having an idea of what she was going to be offered but not wanting to jinx it before confirmation.
"Shiori-chan, how have you been?" Hokage asked in his usual kind tone.
"I've been enjoying my time in the hospital, Hokage-sama. Thank you for the opportunity." Shiori said politely.
"I'm happy to hear that. Since you showed interest in growing your knowledge regarding poisons, I wanted to offer you an opportunity. We have a poison expert in the village, and she happens to be back from a long-term mission. Would you accept to train under her?" the Hokage asked.
Shiori knew that offers often come with a price, and she did not like to be in debt without knowing what she owed. "I would be grateful for the opportunity, Hokage-sama. But how can I repay you for such an opportunity?" She decided to take a direct approach.
The Hokage smiled at that. "You are a smart little girl, Shiori-chan. But you do not need to worry. I'm simply paying an overdue debt." He then handed her a piece of paper. "This is where you will meet your new sensei. You do not need to report to the hospital again unless you have some free time and want to assist there." Hokage then dismissed her.
Shiori was confused by the cryptic talk. What debt was the Hokage talking about? It surely wasn't a debt to her. She was already paid in full for her services as a traveling medic while she was in the land of fire. Maybe it was a debt to Tsunade-sensei?
She knew thinking about it was useless, so she just headed to the address.
She did not expect this at all. The address was for a dango shop, and upon getting there, she immediately located her potential sensei. She was a woman in her late teens or early twenties. She had purple hair and wore suggestive mesh clothing. She was eating an unhuman amount of Dangos while throwing the sticks at a tree nearby, following the outline of a leaf insignia.
She could sense that she was strong. But there was also something wrong with her chakra. There was a secondary chakra that seemed vile and curroptive but also familiar. She couldn't put her finger on it.
She seemed strong and confident in her skin, and Shiori could clearly tell that she was purposefully not hiding all of her chakra but only partially. She was certainly dangerous. But if Shiori had to rate her power, she was somewhere between high chunin and low jonin.
Shiori approached her carefully. The woman did not show her any attention, even though Shiori was sure that she was aware of her presence. Shiori stopped right in front of her. "My name is Shiori. Hokage-sama informed me that you are willing to be my sensei?" Shiori said in a questioning tone. She didn't want to come out as hesitant. Still, the Hokage didn't also give her a lot of clarification about the situation.
The woman motioned for her to come closer. Shiori handed her the scroll Hokage had given her. She lazily read through the scroll while eating more dangos. Despite not looking up, she was still hitting the tree on point with the sticks.
Shiori was impressed, and she didn't have to wait long before the woman took some cash out of her pouch and put it on the table before motioning for her to follow her out. Shiori followed obediently.
"Ok, brat. Hokage-sama wants me to teach you a little about Poisons 101. You already have some of the basics since you are a certified medic, but this is going to be more about creating poisons rather than treating them. You know shunshin?" She asked, and after Shiori nodded, they started heading to the forest.
"I will teach you some stuff in my personal lab and give you some reading material. First, I want to get a feel for your skills and what will suit you," she said as they approached an empty training ground.
"Tell me, why do you want to learn about poisons? Besides the whole land of wind license." She asked her as they stood infront of each other.
"I believe that poisons and medicines are very similar. A poison that will paralyze the person can also be used for emergency operations to keep the patient from moving. A poison that slows down the heart beat can also help with bleeding."
"But this is not all. It is also important to not undermine the power of poisons. I am a medic, and while I can fight and defend myself, I do not have high destructive offensive power. Poisons can give me an edge. A way to defeat opponents without exerting too much power. They can also give me a way to escape situations."
"So I want to learn about poisons, both to help patients and to defend myself," Shiori said with conviction, and it was the truth. It was past time for her to admit her shortcomings regarding her power level.
She needed to become stronger so she wouldn't be at the mercy of others. Her new sensei seemed to understand as she nodded her head. "Well, brat, why don't you show me what you got?" she said and then charged at her.
What followed were the most intense three hours of her life. It was clear that her new sensei was holding back and trying to coax her into thinking on her feet and showing all her skills. Shiori used ninjutsu, shurikenjutsu, kenjutsu, taijutsu and even some fuinjutsu. Still, her sensei proved herself to be a worthy opponent.
She handled everything Shiori threw at her with ease. Finally, after an hour of intense battle, Shiori had to yield. Her sensei managed to capture her in a careful trap with ninja wires and was holding one of Shiori's senbons to her neck.
"I yield," Shiori said with a pout. Her breathing was ragged, and she had more than a few bruises and scraps over her body.
"Well, brat, you proved yourself to be not half bad. Call me Anko-sensei." Anko-sensei said as she freed her. Shiori's legs were shaking from the effort to hold her up. She was so tired. At least now she knew why what the familiar chakra coming from her new sensei was.
She was a snake summoner. That chakra felt like Orochimaru, yet somehow, it was corrupted. Shiori didn't fully understand, but she wasn't willing to pry. She smiled at Anko.
"Can you give me a harsh assessment of my skills?" Shiori asked as she healed some of the worst injuries.
"Well, it all comes to skill level. There are some holes in your taijutsu and ninjutsu that mostly come from inexperience. Your ninjutsu skills are limited, but you performed them well, which tells me you have a good grasp of what you use. Your skill with Kunai and Shuriken is average, but you have a better grasp of Senbon."
"You showed great sensing abilities and managed to use medical jutsu to your advantage in the fight. Your skills with seals are also impressive, and you used them cleverly. You also lack physical power. I know you still had a few hidden tricks you didn't want to use, but those aside, I will put you in mid-chunin but with a clear lack of experience." Anko said, and it confirmed her own assessments.
"I want to get stronger. But I'm also doubtful about what I need to do. There are so many skills and much to learn, but I don't know what to prioritize. Being constantly on the road also doesn't give me the opportunity to practice with others unless I start picking fights with random shinobi, which will not end well for me." Shiori said hesitantly. She was frustrated and didn't know what to do.
Anko came closer and put a hand on her shoulder. "You are still a kid. There is so much time ahead of you to find the correct path for you. But how about I give you a hand. I have quite a few friends around the village. I can gather them all for a training session, and they can all give you some tips, and we can come up with a training plan altogether. How does that sound?" She said with a smile.
Shiori nodded. "Thank you, sensei." She said in a soft, shaking voice, trying to hold back tears. She did not want to come across as a crybaby to her new sensei.
"Don't worry, brat. I'm your sensei now, and it's my job to make sure you will become a badass." She said before pointing towards the village. "Let's go get some dinner now. It will be my treat."
They headed back in a calm silence.