Chapter 6 - Medical Clearance

Naruto tugged his headband tighter.
“I’ve waited a long time for this Sasuke…” Naruto said out loud. In his mind, he elaborated. I’ve wanted to know for a long time…are we equal, finally? You were always naturally talented, while I’ve had to work for everything! You might have lost everyone, but I’ve never HAD anyone to lose! No encouragement, no praise, nobody, until Iruka-sensei came along…This time, it’s for real Sasuke! I’m going to stop you from leaving, no matter what! Believe it!

Sasuke let his headband drop to the ground; he felt like he had no need for it anymore.
“Naruto, we’re finally going to have our fight. Since the chunin exams, I thought you’d be a good test of my skills…now I’m going to find out.” Sasuke spoke evenly, while his thoughts were deeper, warranting more emotion. I need to know…am I more powerful? If I can’t defeat Naruto, I’ll have no chance against my brother! But if I win…I’m that much closer to Itachi. Naruto…maybe we’ve bonded, but if getting to my brother means killing you, here and now, make no mistake: I’ll do it!

The two were at the village gates. This area was open, and would serve their battle well. Aside from some small litter in the cobblestone street, and the two medic-nin keeping an eye on Ekyt, the area was clear; dark and silent. A perfect place to battle this out. Naruto was dead set against losing to anyone, especially when the stakes were this high. Sasuke didn’t like to lose either, and the stakes were double as high in his eyes. His life’s dream was on the line in his eyes. A dream he would do anything to fulfill.


Shizune put a hand to Ekyt’s neck. She breathed a sigh of relief, at first.
“His pulse is stable…but who knows how long it’ll stay that way…that blade might have pierced his heart…” Shizune was fighting back tears even now; the boy’s chances seemed so slim!
Sakura merely focused harder. “We’ve got to cut the shirt off of him, I need to see where the wound is. There’s a chance that we can use the old methods (bandages, etc) to stop the bleeding, at least. But…I can’t do it. M-my hand…no, I have to!”
Shizune felt the girls pain. She remained silent, but thought to herself If he dies…she’ll be just like Lady Tsunade was…maybe she’s not losing a lover or a little brother, but she’s definitely losing a close friend! The blood…there’s so much…but enough to mean the heart was pierced?
“Tonton, go tell Lady Tsunade about what’s happened…and have her notify the boy’s next of kin…er, I mean, team. His team. Just in case…”
Tonton gave a sad “oink,” then ran off to do Shizune’s bidding.


Tsunade heard the sounds of protesting from the guards outside. Particularly that of Genma, who cursed the same way every time this happened:
“You damn pig! If you weren’t the Hokage’s pet, I’d turn you into sausage patties!”
Tsunade smirked. Sounds like Tonton managed to crush his foot again…ha ha ha, when will he learn to move? I mean, it’s not like Tonton moves silently, she’s a pig!
Tonton scrambled into the office and began to “speak”. This “speaking” consisted of emotional oinks in varying pitches and ranges of sound. After years with Tonton, Shizune and Tsuande could understand the pig’s dialect. After a few squeals, Tsunade leapt to her feet.
“Lead the way! Hurry!” Tsunade urged Tonton.
“Oink!”



Sasuke and Naruto walked slowly toward each other.
“This is it!” They shouted as one, before dropping the slow pace and tearing toward each other at full speed.
“Shadow Clone Jutsu!” Naruto cried. Ten copies of Naruto popped up. They leapt high, all of them aiming a fist or a leg at Sasuke.
Sasuke spun around, kicking the nearest Naruto in the stomach. Another one, from the opposite direction, came sailing in, leg extended. Sasuke kicked the leg out of the way, then slammed his fist home. POOF! Another clone! A third clone managed to hit Sasuke in the side of the head, but Sasuke had rolled with the blow, softening it. He rolled to his feet, landing in a cluster of three Narutos. As he was getting to his feet, he used the same motion to take two out with sweep kicks. The third leapt over it and managed to land a punch to Sasuke’s forehead. Sasuke staggered back a couple steps, but as the Naruto came in to follow-up, Sasuke’s kick to the stomach halted his progress. THIS Naruto fell to the ground, clearly in pain.
“Hah! Gotcha!” Sasuke crowed, getting ready to finish him.
“Not quite! AHHHH!” Another Naruto sailed down from a tree nearby. As Sasuke turned his attention to THAT one, a second Naruto aimed low and from behind. Sasuke blocked the strike to his head as he leapt over the sweep. He snaked his arm around the “high” Naruto’s and threw him into the “low” Naruto. They both disappeared in a puff of smoke.


Ino leapt merrily into Asuma’s home.
“Asuma-sensei, mission accomplished!” she sang, throwing in a little pose.
Asuma took a long drag off his cigarette, exhaling after a pause. “What got into you, Ino? You’re acting all…civil.”
Ino shrugged. “What, a girl can’t be happy for no reason?” she questioned, mockingly upset.
Shikamaru tossed out a dry “Sure, a GIRL can. But we’re asking about YOU…”
Ino turned around, fire in her eyes.
“WHAT was that, Shikamaru?” She half-shouted, a fist raised.
“Nothing, nothing! Geez, how troublesome…” Man, I’m going to wind up like Dad, attached to some girl’s apron strings. What a drag…




Sakura activated her chakra scalpel. Sweat and tears, mixed with some blood that had arched off Ekyt’s body onto her, stung her eyes. She wiped the menagerie away and returned to focusing on stopping her hand from shaking. She undid Ekyt’s vest, so she could get at his T-shirt. Blood that had clotted made the shirt too difficult to pull off, so she used her chakra scalpel to cut it open.
“Oh…Oh my…” Shizune recoiled slightly, tears in her eyes. She had seen it all, but this was bad.
Sakura sobbed suddenly, seeing just what damage had been done.
“Shizune…please, tell me it’s not true! Please!” Sakura grabbed on to Shizune’s robe pleadingly. Shizune could only shake her head.
“This is bad…worse than if it HAD hit his heart…”
The blade had stopped 3 inches from Ekyt’s heart. A painful, but non-lethal injury. Until you got down to what was hit in the process.


Tsunade chose that moment to appear. Her first instinct was to stop the fight. Then she saw Ekyt on the ground.
“Move!” Tsunade pushed past Shizune and Sakura. “Oh no…Shizune, top drawer, red bottle.”
“But Lady Tsunade, that’s…that means…” Shizune sputtered.
Tsunade lowered her head. “All we can do now…is make him comfortable…I’m sorry…”
Sakura refused to believe it. “But it missed his heart!”
Tsunade lowered her head, looking at Ekyt’s battered body. “Yes, but it hit something worse: the kunai severed his tenketsu. Not too bad, but it hit his chakra coils. They’ve already sustained one hit, I don’t know if he’ll SURVIVE another surgery…”
“You’ve got to give him the option!” Sakura shouted suddenly. “You can’t just assume he’ll take death over a changed life! He’s not like that! He wouldn’t take Sasuke’s life, and I know he wouldn’t take his own!”
Sakura looked at Tsunade pleadingly.
“Please…at least try…I’ve never lost a patient, and I don’t want to start now…”
Tsunade nodded. “Sakura…I’ll give him a chance at life…but understand, his own decisions might very well kill him…and you might as well understand this now as well: You WILL lose a patient some day. No matter how good you are, no matter who taught you, no matter if you have the best equipment or nothing but your own chakra and a rusty kunai…someone WILL die. And it won’t be your fault…”
I’ve got to get Sakura and Shizune away from here, at least for now…The kid will be waking up soon, and the last thing he needs is those two soft-touches influencing him.
“You two, go get his team. Kimimaro Kaguya and Temari. They need to be know. Have them wait in the infirmary.”



Sasuke finally had enough of the Shadow Clone jutsu. He began to weave his hands together.
“Fire style: Fireball jutsu!” Sasuke spewed forth a fire ball, clearing the area of Naruto clones. Only one Naruto remained, and he was charred. Smiling, Sasuke activated his Sharingan.
“CHIDORI!”
Naruto got to his feet, but found himself frozen to the spot. That’s it, my chakra’s gone. And here comes Sasuke! That Chidori is going to rip right through me! C’mon fox, where’s your chakra when I need it?

Ekyt suddenly nipped up, landing on his feet. His mind and body not quite connected yet, he looked at Naruto and Sasuke. He HEARD Tsunade, but his mind was sectioned off. Hearing meant nothing at this point. His subconscious mind opened the First Gate of Chakra. He pulled away from Tsunade’s grasp and tore toward Sasuke.


Sasuke’s Chidori required “tunnel vision”, which meant he was focused only on Naruto. The sound of birds chirping deafened him, so he never heard Ekyt. He only saw him, and then it was too late.
“Hoof!” Ekyt breathed out hard as he sailed into Sasuke. His speech was slurred, but “Konoha Hurricane!” was heard.
His kick struck Sasuke’s arm, knocking the Chidori, and Sasuke’s momentum, away from Naruto. The Chidori attack struck a tree. Sasuke’s arm was stuck inside.
Tsunade grabbed Ekyt, grimacing as blood arched away from his chest even as he stopped running. She gave him a hard hit on the head, knocking him completely unconscious.
Naruto used a Shadow Clone Jutsu. Only one Naruto appeared. The real Naruto held out his hand, while the clone began to contain chakra in his hand. Soon, a blue, swirling ball of pure power, with the destructive force of a hurricane, sat in Naruto’s fist.
“Sorry Sasuke! RASENGAN!” Naruto jammed the attack into Sasuke’s stomach. The Uchiha boy’s eyes rolled up into his head, as he was finally defeated.


Neji turned away from his family.
“Only Hinata has approached me with true remorse and understanding. All of you would only continue to treat me as a lesser, rather than an equal, or a better.”
To her surprise, and to Kiba and Shino’s worry, which was followed by immense relief, Neji put an arm around Hinata’s shoulders.
“I will embrace Lady Hinata as family. But no one else. Hinata, thank you. Thank you for showing me the TRUE theory of family. Even the fates had remained silent on this matter. But now, even without their aid, I know I have made the right decision. And I will stand by it.”


Temari leapt up when Tsunade entered, carrying the unconscious Ekyt. Kimimaro narrowed his eyes, but made no other indication that he saw anything.
Tsunade laid Ekyt down on a table, then used her chakra to revive him. Quickly, she ordered Sakura to restrain him. With her chakra control, she pinned his arms at his sides easily.
Tsuande spoke grimly. “You have a choice…that kunai missed your heart, but it struck your chakra coils, and severed many tenketsu along the way. I could do another surgery, but your chakra might not be the same. You’ll have maybe 25% of your chakra in the WORST case. There’s a slim chance you’ll get it all back, but it’s not likely, to be blunt. If you DO NOT have the surgery, you won’t have access to any chakra. If I do the surgery, and it fails…you’ll never have a measure of chakra again. It’s not an easy choice, and I want you to take your time, and think about it. You’re at a very emotional impasse right now, you can’t make this decision hastily.”
Ekyt finally stopped struggling against Sakura; he went entirely limp.
“I see…so there’s no quality of life…no hope…I might as well be dead.”
Tsunade lowered her head again. “IF I do the surgery, and it succeeds, you’ll have your chakra back, in some capacity at least.”
Temari and Kimimaro were both speechless. Ekyt stood up slowly, and walked over to the window, staring out at the star-filled sky.

“So it’s really come to this? I had my chance…with Master Jiraiya…I could have stayed away from the village. Now…I might never know…just how strong I am.” Ekyt pulled his headband straight, ripped his ruined shirt off the rest of the way, then pulled his vest back on. One blood-splattered hand made a fist.
“DAMMIT!” Ekyt shouted. His fist shattered the pane of glass in front of him. It clattered to the ground in shards. In one shard, Ekyt saw his reflection.
“I’ve made my choice: Do the surgery. If it fails, I’m no worse of than I am now.”

Sakura looked at Ekyt, offering a kind smile. Then she left; Naruto and Sasuke needed some medical attention. It would take the combined skills of Tsunade and Shizune for the surgery, which left Sakura and a new medic-nin to handle Naruto and Sasuke.
As she opened the door, Sakura groaned.
“Hi Billboard Brow! Guess we’re working together on this one!”
Sakura and Ino were supposed to work together? In a medical facility, no less? And Sasuke was involved. Maybe she was too emotionally drained, or maybe she was still angry with Sasuke, but Sakura just shrugged.
“Okay Ino-pig. Sasuke’s all yours. I’ll handle Naruto.”
“No way, I want Sas- huh? Did you just say…” Ino couldn’t believe it.
“That’s right. YOU handle Sasuke…”


Guy cleared his throat loudly before his team.
“Everyone, I’ve got an announcement, so listen up! Lee, stand up…(Guy started to cry) You special kid! (Sob!) You’re…you’re gonna be a jonin!”

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