Reborn
Active member
Awards
Chapter 68: For Comrades
Naruto and Neji appear in a waiting room in Konoha's hospital. Hours have transpired since the report was made about Shikamaru's condition. While Naruto and Neji wait, Ino and Sakura tend to their ill friend.
“How could I let this happen?” Naruto says as he paces uneasily back and forth.
“What happened to Shikamaru wasn't your fault,” Neji says, “Kabuto's sudden and random attack on the village couldn't have been predicted.”
“I'm not just talking about Shikamaru. Sai, Konohamaru, Shino, and Kiba. All of them, they're all in the position they're in because of my judgment.”
“They were the best people for the jobs, anybody lesser would've failed indefinitely. The severity of their assignments simply had too many unexpected turns.” Neji walks over and puts his hand on Naruto's shoulder, “Standing around regretting what has transpired is counterproductive to what they all worked for and to you as well. You need to worry less about what happened in the past and work on the future. The past does not dictate the course of the future...you taught me that Naruto.”
Naruto doesn't say anything in response to Neji, taking faith in his words. A short moment later, Sakura and Ino exit the operating room and meet Naruto and Neji in the waiting area. “Well, how is he?!” Naruto asks.
“The situation seemed much worse than it actually was,” Sakura says, “At first glance of his current condition, we had thought he had begun to take a turn worse without any possible way of rectifying it.”
“However he's still stable.”
“That's good right?!” Naruto says with moderate joy.
“Don't get me wrong, Shikamaru's condition is only worsening over time. If we don't act soon, we may not be able to save him,” Ino says, “Which is why Sakura and I have decided to act on this now.”
“You mean the surgery?” Neji says.
“Surgery?” Naruto scratches his head with confusion.
“Sakura and Ino have been doing research on a special type of surgical method that completely replenish Shikamaru's reserves, upon having his remaining chakra at the current point in time, focus on healing all his injuries.” Neji explains, “Weren't you paying attention to all those reports Ino had given you recently?” Neji shakes his head.
“Of course I was!” Naruto says defensively, “I just...forgot...is all.” Naruto stutters as he confesses. “So this method...this is going to fix Shikamaru right?”
“The concept behind this is that we take a moderately large portion of Shikamaru's chakra and separate it from his body and seal it. While it's sealed, several other members of the core, primarily those with higher reserves, add to that with their own to that sealed portion,” Sakura begins. “the other medics on the team will partially stifle the flow of chakra being used to tend to his injuries, but just so the minimum amount is being used to keep him alive.”
“When enough chakra has been added to the sealed portion, we'll begin the next phase which is to force all the chakra inside Shikamaru's body to tend to his injuries.” Ino continues on with the explanation. “With members helping aid the enhanced flow and others keeping him stable with the rapid loss of chakra to the repair of the organs, once all of Shikamaru's chakra has been converted into his injuries, then we quickly replace his chakra with the portion we sealed off earlier so that he doesn't die from his chakra loss.”
Naruto nods his head and hums as if he understands. “You don't understand any of this do you Naruto.” Sakura shakes her head.
“What if his chakra isn't strong enough to repair his injuries?” Naruto asks, “I mean it's like medicine right, you gotta take enough of it to get better so what if his medicine isn't enough?”
*He really understood all that?!* Runs through the minds of Ino, Sakura and Neji.
“You could say thank you for dumbing it down for you!” Kurama sighs inside Naruto, “Though I'm surprised they're not suspicious of that medicine analogy.” Kurama shakes his head as Naruto sits on top of him.
“Well that's one of the factors we needed to work on still. We needed to do that and account for the precision and skill needed to halt and force his chakra, as well as the chakra mixing of the others with the sealed off chakra. Together, currently the success rate of this method is approximately 69-73%” Ino says.
“What about the failure rate?” Neji asks.
A look of worry and fear come onto the two kunoichi's faces, “He'll go back to the way he was until his injuries take their tole. This method can only be used once in a year due to the waiting period for a method that involve total draining and replenishing of chakra. The large portion we take out can never replace a person's full chakra capacity, it must build up over time. That being said, to try the surgery before then would prove fatal to the patient. Though, Shikamaru's injuries will have taken their tole long before the year transpires.” Ino says, “This is his only hope.”
Naruto clinches his fist and he sighs, “Well, when can you get started on this?” Naruto asks.
“We need to assemble our team and we need to run them through the procedure. It'll take approximately 3 days before we can begin.” Sakura says.
“Then do it...if anybody can even hope to make this a success, it's you two. The world's best medics.” Naruto pats both of them on the shoulder and smiles. However, Sakura quickly pulls away from Naruto and she walks away.
“Did you talk to her about what happened?” Ino asks.
“Yeah...but I don't think anything I can say or do will make her forgive me.” Naruto says with sorrow.
~Kazekage Residence~
“Gaara-sama, you have to let me do this!” Koichi pleads before Gaara. “I remember hearing that, that Sakura lady was even a better medic than the last Hokage. She's the only person who could even stand a chance to do this.”
“I understand the severity of the situation for Maiyuri, though Sakura is Konoha's head medic and one of Naruto's personal advisers. Asking for her would be a difficult thing to do, especially for a job like this.”
“Please, I have to at least try!” Koichi's voice resonates throughout the entire room as he begs.
Behind his desk, Gaara stares at the young shinobi, looking him in his determined eyes. “I have a question for you Koichi,” Gaara begins, “Why does doing this for Maiyuri mean so much to you? Is it because of the guilt you feel for what happened to her?” Gaara asks curiously.
Koichi clinches his fist and looks down, “I used to feel guilt for everything that happened on that night. I used to hate myself but that stopped because of Koji and Ryoko. I know it wasn't my fault but regardless, I want to take responsibility for this. I can't help those that died, but there might be a chance for me to help Maiyuri.” Koichi brings his head up and looks Gaara right into his eyes with fierce determination, “She's a fellow shinobi of the sand in need of help. Her and her team are suffering. More important than whatever guilt I may have or still may feel, I need to help them because they are my comrades.”
Gaara closes his eyes and makes a small smile, “Very well, I'll allow you to head to Konoha and request the help for Sakura Haruno.” Gaara says. “There isn't much time that can be spared so it would be best to head out rather soon b—”
“I'll leave right now!” Koichi says bolting through the door, cutting off Gaara.
Gaara sighs and shakes his head, “Every bit like him.”
Nearly and hour passes since Koichi's departure from Gaara and he stands at the gates of Suna, preparing to enter the trenches and exiting the village. The full moon illuminates over the village, seemingly brighter than normal. Koichi stares up at the luminescent sphere in the sky getting a very indescribable sensation throughout his body.
“You look deep in thought.” a voice says from behind Koichi. He turns to see Temari walking up behind him.
“Temari, what are you doing here?” Koichi asks.
Temari walks up to Koichi and smacks him gently on the head with a folder and a scroll, “You forgot Maiyuri's medical records idiot.” Temari says. Koichi takes the files and she begins walking past him out towards Suna's exit.
“Wait, where are you going?”
“Gaara-sama told me to come with you to make sure you don't screw up. Besides,” Temari's voice begins to fill with despair, “I have to see my father.”
“Well fine, but you better be able to keep up. I'm not wasting any time.” Koichi leaps out past Temari and heads out of the village.
Temari sighs, “This is going to be troublesome.” Temari leaps after Koichi and the two begin their journey to Konoha.
~Several Hours Pass (Konoha Medical Corp)~
The night wages on, getting longer and longer. Sakura sits in her office in the hospital reviewing her notes and research on the operation she prepares for Shikamaru. Though she sits focused on her task, her eyelids droop half closed, weighing on her like several tons. Just then Sakura feels a hand on her shoulder and she jolts up looking down a hot cup of green tea in front of her.
“Sakura stop pushing yourself like this. You're going to need to be well rested for this.” Ino says in a soothing voice.
“I can't, Shikamaru is counting on us to get this done.” Sakura pushes the tea away from her and Ino sighs.
“I put caffeine in it to keep you awake,” Ino sighs. Ino continues to stand looking down at Sakura, her face expressing concern for her friend, “Are you sure you're doing this for Shikamaru?”
“What are you talking about?!” Sakura snaps, “If this doesn't go off as a success Shikamaru is going to die! What kind of stupid question is that?!”
“I didn't mean the surgery, I meant this; you locking yourself in here all day and night and ignoring everything else...” Ino begins. She rubs her shoulder and her expression turns to guilt, “I'm sorry about keeping the situation with Sasuke a secret from you.”
“It's Naruto's fault, not only didn't he tell me but he made it so you guys had to hide it from me. It's not your fault.” Sakura says.
“So this is about Naruto,” Ino takes a step closer to Sakura, “you're avoiding him because of this!”
Sakura slams her fist on her desk and quickly jolts up knocking over her chair as she turns to face Ino, “Why should that be any of your business Ino?!” Sakura snaps, “So what if I am, but at least I'm doing something significant! I'm trying to help Shikamaru, what are you doing to help right now?!” Ino looks down towards the ground with a hurt expression on her face and she holds both her shoulders. Sakura widens her eyes, realizing her outburst, “Ino I'm sorry, I didn't mean that—”
“It's alright Sakura. I'm just worried about you. Nothing seems to be going right now; there's so much deception and secrets going on and the Great Nations trust in one another is very fickle. But that's even more of a reason that we all need to be strong and unified.” Ino says, “Sure Naruto lied to you and kept Sasuke a secret, but he was looking out for your best interest. He was worried about you. Even if it was a mistake, he has a lot of pressure to deal with and he's trying to handle more than what any of us can imagine. His responsibilities aren't just as the Hokage you know.”
“He's treating me like a love struck child, trying to coddle me. He doesn't think I can handle these types of situations involving Sasuke!”
“Is he wrong?” Ino asks rhetorically. Sakura turns to Ino with a look of anger but she cools down quickly upon meeting the gaze of her comrade. Ino stares at Sakura with firmness, not backing down from her glare. “You and I were the same once. We both liked the cool aloof guy. What separated us was the teams. When you were paired up with Sasuke and I wasn't, you spent more time with him. Your infatuation with him turned into love while mine was still just an infatuation. It's hard to let go of the things and the people you love. Are you really capable of letting go of Sasuke?” Ino turns around and walks towards the door. Ino stops in the doorway and turns her head towards Sakura, “Nobody's said what I'm about to say to you before...you tried to lie and convince yourself of it but it means nothing if it's not actually felt. You're obsession with Sasuke is hurting the people who care about you the most, but more importantly it's hurting you as well.” Ino leaves the room and Sakura turns back to her work staring into the cup of tea. She stares at her reflection, the tea mirroring her solemn expression.
~Inside Land of Fire~
Temari is held by Koichi on his back as they make their way through the forest of the Fire Country. They make it to the top of a large tree and they look down to see Konoha in the distance. “Hell yeah, we made it.” Koichi says with a grin on his face.
He leaps down and begins walking the rest of the way with Temari on his back, “Thanks for this Koichi,” Temari says.
“Don't sweat it, I shouldn't have expected you to keep up with me, not for too long anyway.” Koichi smiles.
Temari feels Koichi's breath rushing as she rocks back and forth somewhat on his back, noticing, his fatigue, “Seems like you were even pushing your own limits. We made it here in record time.”
“I can't afford to waste anymore time than what's already gone down. Maiyuri-sensei doesn't have a great deal of time. We have to get this Sakura lady to come back to Suna with us and get her to help.” Koichi says.
“Why are you going out of your way for Maiyuri? She's not even your sensei.” Temari notes.
“It doesn't matter, she's a comrade of the Sand, so I need to help her in anyway I can. Especially since I was involved with what happened to her.” Koichi's tone gets lower as he speaks holding remorse. Temari feels the heartbeat of Koichi. Her head rested on his shoulders, she looks into the side of his eyes and sees the remorse, however she doesn't say anything. “Besides, this isn't just for her, it's for Koga, Masaomi, and Shizuko.”
“They've been nothing but horrible to you since the incident in the village. Masaomi even tried to kill you in the exams.”
“That doesn't matter...What does matter is that they've already lost their families once before and now they risk losing it again. I understand what they've gone through. Worrying about going through it again must be extremely taxing. I mean, you should be able to relate Temari. Your father's in the hospital too.”
“Yeah...you're right.” Temari's voice holds worry for her father and Koichi grips his fist.
“Sorry Temari, I didn't mean to—”
“It's alright,” Temari smiles, “My dad's a lazy idiot, dying may even seem like less trouble for him in his mind. Though if there's one thing I'm certain off, no matter how lazy he is, when it comes to something important he'll never give up. He's helping run Konoha and he has a family, that should suffice.” She says.
“Yeah, hehe, you're the same way!” Koichi laughs.
Temari pulls some of Koichi's hair, “Shut up.” Temari says. The two make it to the front gates of Konoha only a few short moments after their conversation. Koichi lets Temari off his back and he stares intensively into the village as if for the first time, clinching his fist with a nervous anxiety. Just then, Koichi feels a hand on his shoulder and he looks over to Temari giving him a reassuring smile. A gentle breeze flows through the air and the two Suna chuunin walk head into the village.
Author's Note:
Alrighty now...hmm...yeah I've been gone for a hot minute haven't I. School is brutal :T_T: Now based on everything I've come to know in terms of what I have to do with my school and what I expect, I can deduce that I will no longer be able to post two chapters per week. Instead I'll be doing a one chapter release weekly, with exceptions on special occasions like Holidays and what not. So this is the only chapter you should expect for this week, though I hope you all enjoy it. Please comment on what you like/dislike about the chapter. To those of you who read/comment/rep and/or Like this post I thank you, enjoy ^^.
