Chapter 25: Dodging Kunais

Senju Tsunade was in a good mood. The main reason was that her day was going great so far. She has finally been able to convince the clans that the reinstatement of the Military Police, like Riku had suggested, was a good idea and beneficial for the village. She had discussed it at length with Hiruzen then with the elders. Except Danzo, they all have been on board. With the ‘Last Uchiha’ defecting, Tsunade got some flack from the civilians (which she didn’t really give two shit about) but more importantly was able to abolish the law making the MP an Uchiha privilege without having the others clan on her back. She had argued that the Uchiha were gone and the last two of them were now missing-nin. Since the clan was unable to do its duty because it didn’t really exist anymore and that a MP was needed, taking back their privilege on it was necessary. From there, she presented her plan to reform the MP which was well received by every clan. Except one. The only clan that opposed it was the Fuma clan. They were distantly related to the Uchiha and believed it was their duty (read here: their right) to take the mantle. Thankfully the Fuma clan was small, less than half a hundred members and not all of them were shinobi. It wasn’t possible for them to be in charge alone like the Uchiha did. When the head of the Fuma clan said that he had no problem welcoming ninjas from all origins, things took a turn for the better. After some back and forth, Tsunade agreed to the Fuma clan being at the head of the MP for now but when the time would come for a change of leadership the Hokage and the elders would be the one to select the successor and would take into consideration the recommendation of the retiring MP chief. It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t quite what she had in mind and wanted but close, so she let it go and moved on from this topic.

Something else she was happy about was Riku’s progress in his training. His Taijutsu had gotten better at a rate she had never seen before. Now he could last a ten minute spar without eating the dust and her going easy. All that meant was she could now teach him her super strength and start on instructing him on her Strength of a Hundred Seals. He also increased his proficiency with the Mystical Palm only killing once the fish in twenty tries.

Her own training was going well too, thanks to the use of kage bunshin. She was past the first stage on wind and well into the second stage. She had received some tips from Riku about how the wind element felt and how to imagine it. For his part Riku was done with earth and had chosen lightning next. With wind he had access to fast, wide and precise attack, with earth the best defense  and he went with lightning because if wind failed because of the lack of piercing power, lightning would not.

Another reason for her great mood was her experiment with purging from poison and healing of an amputated limb which had worked. Her sensei’s left arm was now ready to be reattached. As such, with the meeting with the clans head done with, she went to the hospital for the scheduled procedure. She found Riku present, speaking with the Sandaime who was sitting on the operating table. Both were dressed appropriately for what was going to happen. Hiruzen was wearing a hospital gown and Riku a surgeon outfit. It was wholly unnecessary but protocol was protocol.

“Ready, sensei?”

“I am, Tsunade. I can’t wait to finally have two arms again. While my life with only one has not been that difficult, sometimes it is very irritating. I can’t open much of anything with a single hand. Mostly notably...”

“Your tobacco pouch?” guessed Riku.

“Yes.”

“Well, that ends today. Lay down.” She picked up from between her breasts her own seal book that Riku had made especially for her and unsealed the limb while Hiruzen said as instructed.

Tsunade used a jutsu to put the former Hokage unconscious while Riku injected his stump with a strong anesthetic. They waited a minute or two for the effect to take hold, then Tsunade began to slightly vertically cut the stump to reveal everything under the skin from muscle to bones after cutting the blood’s flow with a tourniquet. Quickly, Riku removed the sterilizing tag on the cut off limb and connected it to the stump properly or so he thought.

“Turn it a bit more towards me. A bit more. Perfect!”

She brought out a needle and looped a sterilized thin steel wire to it. She began sewing the two parts of the arm together to set it in place because the real treatment that would need the use of the Mystical Palm would take a lot of time and she couldn't ask Riku to not even twitch during all of it. Before she could start, Riku interrupted her.

“Won’t it go faster with a kage bunshin?”

“Huh. Yes, actually.”

“You really need to think of ways to maximize their utility, sensei.”

“Noted.” She replied and made a bunshin that took Riku’s place near the table and began working in tandem with her original.

The first part of the healing was relatively easy, getting the two parts of the bones to fuse back together, what was harder was reconnecting the nerves, veins, arteries and blood vessels together. Some were really small and the work was really delicate, because of how thin and flimsy they were. It was what took the most time in truth. The mental focus was so great that her exhaustion quickly manifested by a pearl of sweat on her forehead. Thankfully Riku was there with a sponge to wipe everything. A brief thought crossed her mind to actually let shadow clones handle surgeries since they do not sweat and could use unlimited chakra pills if their reserve became low. She filled that idea for later and focused back on the task at hand.

After two hours the work was done.

“The wire stays to make sure the job is holding up properly, is that it?”

“Yes. That’s the inconvenience with the bones. They’re easy to heal but the new cells are weak because they don’t have enough vitamin D in them. With a good healthy diet full of it, the wire can be removed by the end of the week.” she replied.

“Now, we just have to wake him up and test the nerves or is that unnecessary?”

“You never know with nerves because there is a bit of a psychological factor involved. Sensei, could very well move his arm like he used to, struggle, or fail to because in his mind it’s not properly accepted yet that his arm is back. He may suffer from phantom pains in that case.”

“Phantom pains with reattached limbs? That wasn’t mentioned in that book about nerves, neither was the part about the possibility of moving the arm as if nothing ever happened.”

“Not surprising. It’s a very rare occurrence. More than 97% of people who got their limbs reattached take some effort to be able to use it again.”

Riku nodded and used a medical jutsu to wake Hiruzen up. In the meantime, Tsunade let her clone clean the bit of blood that had dripped during the procedure while she removed her own gloves and dumped them in the appropriate trash can.

“Hmm…” grunted a still a bit out of it Hiruzen.

“Sandaime-sama?”

“Y-yes?”

The man’s eyes began to focus bit by bit until it was clear to Tsunade and Riku that he was out of the fog.

“How are you feeling, sensei?”

“A bit groggy.”

“That’s normal, anything else?”

“N- oh!” he looked down at his attached arm and smiled. “It itches a bit where my stump used to be; No, it’s more like… pricklings? Just like when I fall asleep on a part of my body and then I release it.”

“That’s the blood rushing back in.” Riku commented. “It also means the anesthetic is or has worn off. See. Told you my calculations were right down to the minute, sensei!” he smiled cheekily, making Tsunade roll her eyes.

With a finger she channeled fire chakra to emit a bit of heat, then touched Hiruzen’s arm.

“Do you feel that?”

“Yes. It’s warm.”

“Alright, you felt the pressure of my finger and the higher than normal temperature. And now?” she asked, channeling water instead of fire.

“It’s colder.”

“Good. Your temperature receptors are sensing hot and cold. Okay. Slowly, try to move your index.”

Looking at his hand, Hiruzen mentally commanded his finger to move but nothing happened. Focusing a bit more, his finger began to move as if it was having a seizure.

“Alright, the motor nerves are working.”

“Badly.” Hiruzen commented, not happy with the results.

“For now but it’s normal. With time and practice, you should be able to recover total usage of your arm, hands and fingers.”

“Just don’t think of using it for hand seals. At least not yet. Try to will simple actions, like clenching and releasing.” added Riku.

“Since you’re already moving it so fast, therapy shouldn’t last long. Now as you’ve noticed there is still some wire in your arm. It’s to stabilize the healing done. It shouldn’t stay there for long. A week at most if you’re eating a lot of Vitamin D”

“So anything that has milk, eggs or fish.” Riku explained.

“Pretty much.” Tsunade confirmed. “Of course tobacco is off limits but you don’t care, don’t you?”

“Nope.”

He had replied with an unrepentant grin and Riku helped him sit up.

“Even though it’s not working properly for now, it feels good to be whole.”

“Good to hear, Sandaime-sama. I just hope I won’t have to disarm you again for my promotion to Jonin.”

Hiruzen snorted at the joke and began to laugh while Tsunade cuffed Riku for it though was amused herself.

“Let’s hope not.”

Riku made a bandage around the former wound and gave Hiruzen the order to not wash that part of his arm for a few days, to which Tsunade nodded in agreement. Afterward, a nurse that had been waiting outside came to take Hiruzen away.

“A shame that very few are interested in the medical field. Healing someone feels way better than taking a life.” Riku commented aloud.

“That it does.”

“Is that why you got into it?”

“Partly. I also found the human body fascinating.”

“What now, sensei?”

“Now… Back to paperwork.”

“Good Luck!” Before he could get away, she put a hand on his shoulder and stopped him on the spot.

“Now, where do you think you’re going?”

The evil smirk drawn on her lips made him realize that he was doomed. Letting out a sigh of resignation, he removed his surgeon outfit and followed her back to her office. When they got there, the elders were waiting and Riku thanked Kami for that. He had never been so glad to see the old coots. Doing his best to hide his smirk, he greeted them and said goodbye to his sensei. So fast that an observer would have believed he teleported away.

Now that he was free, he didn’t quite know what to do with himself. Karin was working at the hospital, Yugao was who knows where, his senpais were on gate duty probably sleeping the day away and Anko… He was not particularly interested in dealing with her, right now. Besides, she was probably in T&I working. Lunch was in an hour and he didn’t particularly feel hungry. Training was done by his shadow clones. One on lightning manipulation, one on fuinjutsu and one on chakra control to refine it even more.

Listing all the things he wished to do but couldn’t or wasn’t interested in, he remembered that having no friends (Karin aside) of his own age sucked. Ever since the day he unlocked his chakra at six he had never really had a day where he could relax. It was by choice, true but the unintended consequence was that now he didn’t know what to do with himself. Kami may have known however as when he turned at a small corner at the end of a narrow street he bumped into someone. Someone he didn’t want to see, possibly for the rest of his life if he could.

“Sorry, Ino-san.” he apologized.

Next to her was Hinata. ‘That’s new’ he mused. Both girls were not really friends during their days at the Academy. Ino has been a boisterous queen bee and a Sasuke fangirl. While Hinata has been… Hinata. Quite the wallflower. Seeing the two together, many questions went through his mind.

“That’s alright, Riku.” Once again she used no suffix and smiled at him.

“Hinata-san.” He greeted the Hyuga with a nod then went around them.

“Wait!” the blonde called out. Riku tried his best and succeeded in containing the tired sigh he wanted to let out.

“Yes?” he replied, turning around.

“Are you free? Hinata and I were on our way to grab some fertilizer and with your help we won’t have to make as many trips!”

“I…”

“Great! Let’s go!” she exclaimed without giving him the time to answer.

“W-Wha-”

She took his arm in hers and began to lead him away. Riku was completely dumbfounded and it showed on his face. He turned his head to look at Hinata for help but got none. The young bluenette had a tired and sorry smile on her face that was screaming ‘Welcome to the club’.

Five minutes later and they were at the market. Ino was being Ino hand talked with merchants to maintain a good relationship and to get better prices. Meanwhile Riku and Hinata looked at her in silence until he decided that it really was too awkward.

“I’m surprised you’re hanging out with her, Hinata-san. I don’t remember the two of you being close friends.”

“It’s… a recent development. After I was done convalescing during the Chunin Exam, Kurenai-sensei gave me the choice to undergo some harsh self-confidence training. I met Ino there and we got closer by suffering together. We realized that we both have a passion for flowers and we began spending time together outside training.”

“I did noticed during our mission to retrieve Sasuke that you were more sure of yourself. I’m happy for you.”

“Thank you.” she answered with a smile.

“That makes me question why Ino would need such training? The notion that she needs self-confidence is mind boggling.”

“Ah! No!” she refuted with a chuckle. “She doesn’t need it one bit. Her training was different, we just trained under the same teacher.”

“... Let me guess. Pineapple purple hair, dirty mouth, obsession and addiction to dango, violence and sex and dressing like a worker in the red light district?”

Hinata laughed at that. He had aptly described Anko to a T.

“You’re familiar with Anko-sensei?”

“Beyond being our protector for the second phase of the exam? A bit. She’s friends with my senpais and I met her a few times or ten when I was dragged by them to a bar after a mission. A bit insane but I believe she’s mostly a good… I was going to say exemple but no… Teacher? A good teacher for young kunoichis.”

“That she is if being a kunoichi is what you want. Otherwise…”

“You’ll just go home, cry then drop out or retire.”

“Yes. Pretty much.”

“And you did none of this.” remarked Riku with a smile which was answered in kind.

“And I did none of this.”

“Confidence really suits you well.”

“T-thank you.” she blushed and stuttered a bit at the compliment.

“Ah! Not used to compliment or praise?” he inquired and he got a ‘no’ from Hinata shaking their head. “A shame. Especially when you were the best kunoichi in the class in my opinion.”

“Really?” she asked, a bit surprised.

“Yes. You were dutiful, hard working and not a fangirl. The last one put you de facto above the rest but the first two earned you the place. Of all our classmates you and Shino were the ones I would have liked to be on a team with because I knew you would take the training seriously. By the way, how is Neji?”

“Neji-nii-san?” she asked, blinking. She didn’t expect Riku to change the subject like that and to talk about Neji of all people.

“Yes. Is he still… well, him?” he added and that made her laugh.

“No. His defeat and his wounds at your hand took a huge toll on him. That prompted my father to have a talk with him about Hizashi-ojisan and that changed his outlook on life for the better. He has recovered completely and is now training harder than ever. I think he hopes for a rematch.”

“I don’t mind but I have a very busy schedule so he’d have to warn me at least a week in advance.”

“I will tell him.”

“Hey! I’m done! You’re ready to carry everything?” Ino shouted from the other side of the stand.

Riku sighed and brought out his seal book from his back pouch.

“Storage seals are not that difficult.” he lamented making Hinata giggle.

Both Ninja joined the extraverted blonde and Riku sealed everything.

“Storage seals are really neat.” comments Ino as Riku put the book in its usual place. “Do you think you can teach me?”

‘Fuck no! “Fuinjutsu is difficult, time consuming and expensive.”

“I have plenty of the last two and I like a good challenge.”

“I also have a very busy schedule.”

“You said you were free right now.” the blonde insisted.

“Actually, you dragged me away before I could tell you that I wasn’t. It’s lunch soon and I have to make sensei’s meal. I’m already late as it is.” he lied effortlessly and ripped the page with the seal containing the many bags of fertilizer and handed it to her. “Another time, maybe?” ‘Like never.’

“I suppose there is no other choice. I’ll hold you to that!” Ino replied with a slightly disappointed tone.

“Sure.” ‘Please forget, please forget, please forget.’ “Hinata-san. Have a nice day.” he gave them a nod and a wave of the hand (it was more for Hinata than Ino in truth) and took his leave.

‘Kunai dodged. Congrats to me. Now… what the hell should I do?!’