Bab 17: Chapter 17: The medic
A/N: Trigger warning: death, suffering.
-Yahizui-
The sun was shining high in the sky when she finally opened her eyes. It stung her pupils like knives, and she quickly shut them, trying in vain to will away the feeling of cotton in her head.
How long have I been asleep?
Yahizui pushed her body up, careful to barely open her eyes. Her muscles felt weak, like she'd been sleeping for weeks and her throat was parched. She dragged a hand through her hair; it was soaked in sweat, matted to her scalp in limp strings. Water, I need water, was the only thought that went through her head. She pushed up from the soaked sheets, the sound of her bare feet touching the floor echoing in her ears.
The house was empty as if everyone decided to wake up and leave without informing her. Had they? For a moment the question lingered in her mind and made her heart jolt in her chest. Did they go train without her? How could she have not heard them? Tojiro wasn't the quietest when getting ready, and Hakudoshi was bound to make a lot of noise just out of spite, so how come she slept through all of that?
Her hip hit the edge of a table. When did she make it to the kitchen?
There was a jug of water on the table, and she grabbed it with both hands, drinking from it like she hadn't seen any in days. The liquid traveling down her throat was exquisite, soothing the cramps in her stomach and clearing the cloudy sensation in her head. She gasped, setting the jug down, then tilted it to splash her face.
It took her a few minutes, but soon Yahizui was wide awake, and the questions kept piling up in her head. Where was everyone? She searched every room in the house, the roof, the yard. They were gone. Her team, their client, and the couple that owned the house were all gone.
Intent on finding them, Yahizui gathered her gear and shoes, leaving the house with shaky movements. The need for water was back, but there was no time for that. Slowly, Kaito's teachings from last night came back to her, and she set her hands in a ram sign, focusing on her chakra. It flickered to life, at first tentative, then flooding her body with fresh energy. She pushed more, enjoying the feeling of vitality flowing through her veins. Her muscles were no longer tired, her head no longer hurt. She was wide awake now, her mind sharp.
I need to focus... imagine a net.
Yahizui closed her eyes, brows knitting in concentration as she guided her chakra in a web-like structure, trying to pinpoint her team, anyone! A breeze picked up, and her focus failed.
"Damn it!" She had to do better, concentrate more, hone her chakra, and control it!
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes once more, and thought of tiny, thin strings leaving her body and stretching far around her, anchored to her, and spread all around like a giant spider web. Sweat was creeping down the back of her neck, hands shaking with small tremors. She had to find them if they were here, she had to!
A flicker registered at the edge of her web, like a light bulb that was almost out of power, clinging to the last bit of energy it could receive. Once, twice, gone.
Yahizui opened her eyes and darted in that direction, her hands still held tightly in the ram seal, chakra control unsteady through her quick steps. She stopped; focusing her senses outward once more, she could feel that there were people nearby. They were like bulbs of dimming light gathered together, some sputtering uselessly, some barely hanging to their brightness. And among them, there were three, shining brighter than all others — chakra signatures.
It's them!
She rushed in the direction the people were gathered, zapping between the houses until she saw a large barn with open doors. There was no time to think; Yahizui rushed inside, and as her eyes quickly adjusted to the dimming light, all she saw was chaos. Makeshift beds made of blankets and hay were filled with feverish people moaning in pain. Some were motionless, some were retching the contents of their stomachs on the ground, while others quietly mumbled as sweat poured from their bodies.
What happened here?
Her heart rate spiked and confusion dizzied her. There were so many people here, the whole village for sure. She looked left and right, trying to discern her team from the sea of sick people. Who brought them here?
"Hey, you there! What are you doing here, this is a quarantine zone!"
She turned around and saw a young man come through the barn door. He looked not older than Shisui, with a white medical hat covering his hair and large, round glasses. There was a medical mask around his face, and he looked, for all intent and purpose, like a doctor.
He came toward her with hurried steps.
"I'm looking for my team," she said in defiance. She had the right to be here, she wasn't trespassing or anything, right? "Who are you?"
The young man looked at her with raised eyebrows, then gestured to the sick people around them. "I'm the village doctor. My name is Kato." The young man looked at her with raised eyebrows, his gaze lingering on her headband before gesturing to the sick people around them. "You shouldn't be in here, you'll get sick!"
Kato rummaged through his pockets and quickly took out a mask identical to his own, shoving it her way. "Here, put this on."
Yahizui obliged, the young doctor watching her with keen eyes.
"What's your name?" he asked once her mask was in place.
"I'm Yahizui." She looked once more around the barn, trying to see if she could find any of her teammates, but there were simply too many people. "Kato-san, I need to find my team. They're also from Konoha, like me. Have you seen them around here?"
"I did." He nodded. "A jounin brought four others to my care this morning, including the other two you spoke of. But he collapsed soon after." He pointed to a few cots in the back. "They're over there."
She was just about to bolt toward them when a gloved hand grabbed her shoulder. "Not so fast, Yahizui-chan. I need to make sure you're all right before letting you in here."
She frowned, disliking the suffix he attached to her name. Some people got familiar too fast. "Alright, do what you have to do."
Kato's eyes crinkled with his smile, and he lowered himself to her level as he pulled a small pen-like light and shone it in her eyes. "Tell me, are you feeling dizzy or nauseated?"
"No."
He reached two gloved fingers on each side of the neck, intent on feeling the glands there. "Do you feel warm, like you have a fever? Are your limbs weak?"
She flinched at first, instinct telling her that no one should go anywhere near the unprotected area of her neck. At Kato's surprised look, she relaxed, thinking of how she collapsed into bed last night and how weak and sweaty she woke up this morning. She had felt like that, but not anymore. "I was sick last night, or I think I was. I felt sleepy and dizzy. When I woke up this morning I was fine, I feel fine now."
The light filtering through the barn's windows reflected in his glasses, momentarily hiding his gaze from her. "Fascinating," he said, his gloved hands turning her head left and right.
Annoyance filled her steadily. She didn't like being handled like that, didn't like the intrigued look in Kato's eyes, and she definitely didn't like the fact that she was being kept away from her team. "Kato-san, with all due respect, I would like to see my team now."
Yahizui's words halted his movements. "Forgive me." He stood, straightening to his full height. "It's just fascinating how a virus as aggressive as the one we're dealing with passed through your system so fast."
Yahizui shrugged, her steps already heading toward the back of the barn. "I guess I'm lucky, ne?"
"Yes, lucky."
As soon as she spotted Hakudoshi's white hair, she ran to them, stopping to watch their sweaty, feverish faces with worry. Next to them, their client, Hakumai-san was in the same state. "Guys, what happened to you?"
Behind her, Kato came carrying a bowl of water, his steps silent. "The whole village has been ravaged by this virus. I'm not sure how it came here, but the facts are that people are dying because of it." He handed her the bowl of cold water and three clean rags.
Yahizui quickly took the bowl, its contents sloshing over the rim and onto the material of her pants. She didn't notice. With almost trembling movements she placed a damp cloth on each of their foreheads. Tojiro was the worst. His tanned skin was pale dark spots were covering his whole body, and his skin was burning with fever. She watched him, her heart beating erratically in her ears. "What sort of sickness is this?"
By her side, Kato shook his head. "I don't know. I have some medical jutsu knowledge, but even that can't cure it. It's a very aggressive disease, and it spreads through the air, from one victim to another. People get feverish, then these blotches appear on the skin. The more aggressive cases vomit and when there is nothing more to vomit, they cough up blood, then their systems shut down and they die. So far your friends are fairing best out of everyone here, probably due to the presence of chakra in their systems. The rest of the village… not so well."
"What do you mean?" Her eyes traveled to Hakumai's blotchy face. He was laid on his side, breath coming in erratic gasps. A trail of vomit ran down the side of his mouth, gathering in a stinking puddle on the floor.
Kato sighed, his head bowing in defeat. "Nearly a quarter of them have already died. As I said, the virus is very aggressive, but there is hope. Some of the patients look like they're going to survive the worst of it, but I'm not sure how long that will take until they recover." He looked around the barn, his eyes stopping on the many cots with still, covered bodies. "The longer this lasts, the weaker their bodies will get, the fewer chances they have to survive."
Her eyes widened. There were at least one hundred people clustered in the barn. One hundred people, dying… no, there had to be something they could do about it! "What if we feed them, give them water?"
"It could work, but I can't guarantee that it will work on all of them."
She shook her head, angry at the situation, and at the passive doctor before her. "It doesn't matter! At least some can be saved that's better than all being dead, no?"
A light shone in Kato's eyes, and he stood up, filled with energy. "You're right, Yahizui-chan! We should do all we can to help these people." He then looked around the barn once more. "Otherwise we will have to dig a lot of graves."
Yahizui turned to gaze at the cloth-covered cots. "Kato-san, we should take them out…"
Kato nodded, and for a moment all they could hear were the labored breaths of the feverish people around them. Yahizui looked at her teammates once more, making sure that they weren't taking a turn for the worse. I'll take care of you guys, don't you worry, I'll take care of you.
For two never-ending days, they worked in shifts, alternating between dragging bodies outside and taking care of the living. Sleep was a luxury they got little of, and Yahizui came to admire the young doctor. He moved efficiently, and with more strength than she would have expected from a very young village doctor. When the evening of the second day came, they had ten more dead to add to their list. Yahizui was panting, her muscles twitching and cramping with fatigue, but she refused to give up. Kato stood a few steps behind her.
"Now we dig," he said gravely.
The prospect of digging thirty-five graves made her head hurt. There had to be a better way. Maybe they could burn them, otherwise, they'll be digging for another two days.
The image of Kaito placing his hands on the ground and making the dead bandits disappear came to her memory. She didn't need to dig graves; she could move the earth as Kaito did. Yes, she could do that! She remembered the four signs, and then all she had to do was direct her chakra to the ground. Excited, she looked back at Kato with a confident look. "No need to dig when you have a ninja by your side!"
The moonlight reflected off his glasses as he cocked his head to the side. "Oh?"
Eager to show what she could do, Yahizui repeated the hand signs she saw Kaito do. She slowly channeled her chakra, letting it pass through each hand sign.
Mi, Saru, I, Ushi
She placed her palms on the ground and poured the molded energy into the earth beneath her feet.
Earth Style: Deep grave!
The ground rumbled, and the man before her got swallowed up with only a mound of dirt to show where he was.
"That was amazing, Yahizui-chan!" said Kato behind her with excitement in his voice.
Yahizui, on the other hand, was not so excited. It's wrong. There shouldn't have been a mound of earth remaining, nothing should have remained! There was something she wasn't doing right, she could feel it.
"It's wrong," she mumbled. The jutsu took too much chakra, or she put too much chakra in it and didn't control it adequately. In this rhythm, it will take just as much energy to do another thirty-five times as it would take to dig the graves by hand. No. There had to be a better way.
She stood and walked back to the barn, completely ignoring the medic behind her. What if… what if she incorporated the jutsu in a seal? Theoretically, it would be possible; there were only four hand signs and a primary function of the jutsu: moving earth—moving it around and underneath the bodies to bury them without a trace. But what about the anchors? Should there be two separate seals, one meant to open, the other intended to close, or should she combine them? And how would the seal measure the necessary length of the grave?
When she reached her teammate's cots, she automatically grabbed a cup of water, giving them a small sip of the liquid. Her hands were moving, but her mind was somewhere else, running through patterns and going through different possibilities.
What if…what if I use it to amplify the jutsu's range? Her hands stopped as she reached Hakudoshi.
Yes, if she made a seal that had the same composition and purpose as the jutsu itself, she could attach her chakra to it while performing the technique and it could amplify the result! If she placed such a seal under every dead villager, then she could open and close all twenty-four graves at once!
Her hands jerked in excitement, spilling some of the liquid onto the Seiya boy's face. She was too happy about her revelation to notice it.
"Hey, watch it…"
Yahizui turned around so fast that the water in her cup sloshed everywhere. Half-opened golden eyes looked at her, framed by sweaty white locks. "You're awake!" She said, a smile blooming on her lips. She could almost hug him with joy! "How do you feel?" she asked instead, all thoughts of the seal momentarily forgotten.
Hakudoshi blinked slowly, his eyes moving left and right. "Thirsty," he finally said in a raspy voice.
She rushed to fill the cup with fresh water and carefully propped him up so he could properly drink. Yahizui could see his eyes follow her every move, but he said nothing. When she placed the cup to his lips, he drank, first in small sips then more greedily until there was nothing left. She gave him another, and another, careful to not let him drink too fast.
"That's enough for now; I will bring you some gruel to eat." She lowered him down and again, he didn't protest. "If you woke up you should be fine…I guess."
"What…happened?" asked Hakudoshi, his voice still weak.
Yahizui looked at his pale, sweaty face and still-glazed eyes. His head must be hurting, his muscles weak; just as she felt when she woke up. At least he woke up with someone he knew by his side. "It's a virus; the whole village got infected with it…" She paused, unsure how to say the next part.
There were so many people around them suffering, unable to fight off the disease that plagued them. There were so many bodies outside, all pale and covered in dark, blotchy spots with trails of vomit all over them. They were gone, and many of the rest weren't looking much better. She'd seen them die, carried their lifeless bodies to the back of the barn, and now… her breath hitched, a knot forming in the back of her throat. Now she was more occupied with finding a solution to digging their graves than mourning their lost lives.
The callousness of her own attitude struck her like a punch to the gut. Kato's practical attitude had rubbed off on her. He didn't blink when someone died, just moved to the next, tending to the living. Old and young gave their last breath before him, and Kato didn't do as much as a sigh, and in the chaos that surrounded them, it seemed the right thing to do. The dead were dead, there was no helping them. But now, standing before her recovering teammate, Yahizui noticed how wrong it was. These were innocent people, honest people who didn't deserve what was happening to them. It wasn't fair to just brush their deaths away like they were simple flies.
As her eyes met Hakudoshi's golden ones, she could feel them fill with tears. "T-thirty are… they're already dead."
There was no answer coming from Hakudoshi. His eyes turned to look at the barn's wooden ceiling, but he kept quiet. Not knowing what else to say, Yahizui stepped back. She was glad he was well, but there were others that needed care. "I'll come back with food."
After a light meal and a few more hours of sleep, Hakudoshi was feeling better. Kato had looked him over and was surprised to say that the virus had left his system and he was now, like Yahizui, immune. Happy with the result and her contribution, Yahizui allowed him the necessary rest and returned to the daunting task before her. The dead were waiting and the living demanded her attention. Hours seemed to have passed when she felt his presence behind her.
"Hey," said Hakudoshi
"You look better," Yahizui said, then went back to forcing more water down a woman's throat.
"I want to help," said Hakudoshi. "Tell me what to do."
She never thought she'd have any other feelings for the boy behind her other than disdain and begrudging respect for his skills, yet here she was, happy that he was awake and willing to help.
"Alright." She gently lowered the feverish woman back down and moved to the next person. "We need to keep them hydrated, so make sure to give them water every two hours." With one leg she braced herself on the cot while her hands pulled the man up by his shoulders until he was prompted on her thigh. "Two cups of water should suffice, but if there are some that threw up, make sure to give them three. For those that look a bit better, we have some soup made; give them that."
"How many of them are looking better?"
Yahizui lowered the man back down and looked him straight in the eyes. "So far…only Kaito-sensei and Tojiro."
"And Hakumai-san?"
She shook her head. "He's not looking good." The state of their client frustrated her the most. They'd promised just a few days ago that they would protect him and now he was lying there, feverish and dying. "I'm… I'm not sure if he'll make it."
"I see…" his voice was low, like a whisper, and for a moment he was quiet, teeth chewing on his thumbnail. Yahizui wondered what he was thinking about. "Hakumai-san said he had some important seeds with him. We should take them."
Yahizui turned toward him, perplexed. "What? Why?"
"Think about it, if Hakumai-san doesn't make it, then we can at least bring the seeds to the daimyo and complete part of the mission."
She couldn't believe her ears. He was thinking about the mission when people were dying like flies around them?
"Are you insane?" Her voice sounded more like a growl than anything, anger bubbling in her veins. "There are people, innocent people dying around us and you care about the mission? Fuck the mission!" All she could think of were the countless hours spent taking care of them and the stab of pain she felt every time she and Kato had to cover yet another body and drag it to the back of the barn. Countless faces contorted in pain and drenched in sweat invaded her memory, pointing accusing fingers at her. "These people…" Tears gathered in her eyes as her emotions flowed unbridled. "They did nothing wrong, nothing to deserve this!"
Through her tears she could see Hakudoshi's expression soften, his hands twitching to do something.
"So, what do we do?" he finally asked in a hollow tone.
A hiccup escaped her. Breathe in, and out. Slowly Yahizui gathered her wits, wiped her tears, and took a few deep breaths. There was no time to cry, not now. "We've managed to slow it down by giving them water," she continued, "but as far as Kato-san says, their systems can't seem to fight the virus."
Hakudoshi's golden eyes looked as lost as she felt. Yahizui had asked herself the same question too many times. If the villagers couldn't fight this disease and they had nothing to cure it with… what would they do? The powerlessness of the situation loomed over them like a dark shadow. There was nothing they could do, nothing they could fight with, and nothing to cure this. They could only try to keep them hydrated enough and…hope. "We take care of them…the best we can."
She looked at him, but there were no more questions in his eyes, just a calm resignation to fight a losing fight. "I will start on the other side."
Two hours later Yahizui was sitting on a log outside, trying to figure out how to combine the anchors and make a working seal when Kato came rushing toward her.
"Kato-san, what's wrong?" she asked, quickly standing. Were there more deaths? Did something happen to Kaito and Tojiro?
Kato stopped before her, removing the protective mask as he usually did outside. Underneath the mask was an ordinary, friendly face. He was smiling. "I think I've found a way to speed up the healing process!" He was excited, his dark eyes twinkling with joy.
"A cure?" The young doctor's joy transferred to her, pumping energy into her otherwise exhausted body. She jumped onto the log, her hands trembling with excitement. "When can we use it? How did you do it? No, it doesn't matter, let's use it!"
"Whoa, calm down for a bit! It's not really a cure, but the villagers show signs of improvement when they take it, so I call it a win!" He motioned toward the barn, half-turning to better emphasize what he meant. "Hakudoshi-kun is administering the little medicine I've managed to make from the remaining herbs, but it won't be enough." He turned back toward her with worry etched on his face. "We need to get more if I am to make enough for everyone else."
"Where can we find this? Let's go right away!"
Kato watched her with wide, surprised eyes. "Are you sure you want to come? I know you haven't strayed far from your team, so I don't want to pressure you…"
She shook her head. If Kaito-sensei or Tojiro were to wake up while she was away, they would understand. The more herbs they could bring back, the sooner the rest of the villagers would get better. "I'm sure. Hakudoshi will take care of them."
"Very well then." Light reflected off his large glasses as he bowed his head. "We shouldn't lose any more time."
Yahizui nodded, jumped off the log, and followed Kato into the nearby woods. "So, what are we looking for?"
"I've tried a mix of white willow, black elder, and Echinacea. It seems to work quite well."
Yahizui nodded. She knew what Echinacea looked like from Riruka's shop, and she was familiar with the rest as well but saw none of them. "Are you sure we will get these here?" she asked, speeding up her steps to reach him.
"Oh, I'm sure."
She scanned the forest floor for a few minutes in search of the pink-purple flower of the Echinacea but found nothing. "Kato-san, I think there's nothing here, we can—"
Yahhizui paused as she turned around. Where was he? How did he leave her side without her realizing it? She was about to try and sense his chakra when the bushes to her left rustled.
"Aaah!!"
She rushed toward the sound like the wind, using all the speed she was capable of. "Kato-san!" She broke into a clearing, and found the young doctor flat on his back, his hands raised before him as he tried to shield himself from a large snake. Its striped head was reared back, looking reading to strike. "Stand back, I can deal with this," she said as she quickly pulled the frightened-looking medic behind her.
With one fluid movement, she threw two kunai at the reptile, one pinning its body to the ground, while the other pierced its triangular head. "See, all safe!" She turned around to face him, but Kato was nowhere to be seen.
"Kato-san?" A chill traveled down the length of her spine. Something was wrong. Very wrong. Before Yahizui had time to do anything about it, pain exploded across the back of her neck.
Her body crumpled below her and she found herself flat on her back, her vision rapidly fading to darkness.
The last thing she saw was Kato's ash-grey hair and strangely hard eyes looming over her.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone