Starring:
Date: September 29, 2010
Summary:
Fuyu is still in the hospital, though she'd rather not be. Her attempts to leave before being fully healed are noticed, however, and the neutral Medic, Nikumari Mushi, arrives to resolve the matter of Fuyu's shoulder… And perhaps the matter of Taji as well.
"Neutrality"
Hospital Room - Konohagakure
Fuyu is no longer the acting Hokage. She hasn't been for about a week now. Technically, she hasn't been for three weeks or so. Whenever Senju Hashiramako got back. But the official reclaiming of the title was not performed until shortly after Fuyu's 'incident' with the mercenary 'Serin' and that damnable sword of his. Yes, how very convenient that Hashiramako would show up in person at the hospital to offer her condolences and thanks right when Fuyu failed to capture one of the Seven Swordsmen. The very idea that she might have planned it all out that way was absurd! Only not really.
There are still the occasional Uchiha Elders that visit her, as well as a few Uchiha from the secret 'Loyalist' party that Fuyu leads. But overall, she is left alone with her new 'aide', or 'protege', or whatever she is. A Yamanaka kunoichi that Fuyu has for some reason decided to keep around. Yamanaka Mimi is nearly worshipful of Fuyu, and dislikes being anywhere other than at her side, unless she has been given a task to perform by the Uchiha Clan Head.
Right now, however, it's just Fuyu and Mimi. Fuyu is in her hospital bed--No, wait. She isn't. She is actually half out of it and testing her right arm and shoulder to see if they've healed enough to make use of them. Mimi says, "Fuyu-shishou, are you sure you should be doing that?" The green-eyed, blonde-haired teenager seems very uncertain about just what she should be doing, if anything. She wants to keep her teacher from hurting herself, but also doesn't want to question her. She has already learned that Fuyu has a volatile temper.
Fuyu ignores the 'click, click, click' on the upswing of each shoulder rotation as she works out the kinks in her right arm's muscles. She also ignores Mimi's question. "Has there been any response yet from ANBU?" Fuyu asks instead of answering. Mimi goes, "Aa! Ee… No, shishou. There has been nothing." Fuyu growls a bit in the back of her throat, lowering her eyebrows.
Mimi starts to say, "M-maybe they're just so busy following your instructions that they didn't want to waste time confirming the orders--" Fuyu doesn't believe that for a second, but before she can say so, there's a knock at the door. The back of the raven-haired woman is exposed and visible to people entering through the door thanks to the idiotic design of the hospital gowns, but she is not exactly concerned about modesty. Is there plenty to look at? Yes. But if she catches anyone staring then Miss Indexfinger is going to meet Mister Eyeball and they aren't going to get along very well.
Fuyu does not bother to answer the knock at the door, leaving Mimi to head dive to try to grab up the sheets of the hospital bed and hold them up to preserve her teacher's modesty. A moment later, the door opens partially for an orderly to announce the arrival of a visitor and to complain that Fuyu shouldn't be out of bed.
Mushi had read the flyers, and read them well. That they said Serin might be Sami was a great cause of alarm for her. It also meant that Hashiramako was back, and from the sound of it, Fuyu got little more than 'thanks' for reclaiming the village. To Mushi it's more amusing than irritating. She supposes thus is the life of a shinobi: duty in the place of glory, and gratitude in the place of gold. It turned out she didn't need to dig for any rumors after all. They were posted everywhere. So she's decided to avoid Hashiramako lest the Hokage brands her as a 'Rainos follower' and go to safer grounds instead. Fuyu had seen her not only refuse to help, but also attack Serin. She'd get a warmer reception here.
What Mushi didn't expect was to find Fuyu in the hospital. She supposes that wound was worse than she had anticipated. Elsewise she wouldn't have left at all to run her errands. Mushi pushes through the door, taking a single glance at Fuyu, before chuckling. It seems she has her personal assistant to hold up curtains. She looks them to Mimi and gives a warm smile. "I was wondering if I could speak with Fuyu-senpai alone?" she says. "I'm Nikumari Mushi, legendary healer and veteran of the Neutral Medical Center, and have business with the Uchiha Clan Head." She usually doesn't throw her status around, or boast about herself, but she really wants to clear the room. She glances to Fuyu for assent, and sniggers again. "Nice clothes."
Whether or not Mimi leaves, Mushi would grab a nearby chair and plop down on it to face Fuyu. "You really shouldn't be out of bed, Fuyu-senpai," she says in the most motherly, sickeningly chiding tone she has. "You must watch your health. So… how are you? It looks as if Serin got you good, though he wasn't much better when he left. You were the only one who could hit him."
Mimi blinks as Mushi comes in and identifies herself. Somewhat off-balance, the Yamanaka girl says, "Uhh… Do you have an appointment, obaa-san?" Did she just call Mushi an old lady? Fuyu turns her head to see who it is and then says, "It's fine. Step out in the hall, Mimi." The younger kunoichi is about to protest, but then Fuyu gives some instructions. "If you see any healthy ninja in the hall while you're guarding the door, tell them that Uchiha Fuyu DEMANDS a status report from the ANBU Operations Center regarding the orders she gave out a WEEK AGO." Mimi gulps and nods, then drops the sheets and dashes out into the hall, closing the door behind her.
Fuyu turns her attention back on Mushi and resumes rolling her right shoulder around. Click. Click. 'Did they heal the bones correctly or not? I don't need anything catching inside my shoulder while I'm trying to swing my War Fan.' she thinks. Then she responds, "He chopped through my collarbone and my right shoulder. If I hadn't been wearing armor I'd probably be missing the arm completely right now. How about you? Did that scratch get all healed up yet?" She looks in Mushi's direction with a barely-not-threatening-but-definitely-angry glare. Or maybe angry glaring is just her natural expression? "I have been in bed long enough. As the Elders are so keen to remind me every day, there is work to be done still. And there was one other who hit him… Even if only barely. That Genin, Taji. Further, he was left unharmed. I wonder why that is…" She eyes Mushi as though the Medic were herself involved somehow.
Mushi smirks once the door is closed. Her bravado really didn't get her anywhere, did it? Even as Mimi is leaving, Mushi shakes her head as Fuyu hands out orders. about getting a mission report. Perhaps the place one was most forgotten was in a hospital in a gown with no back. She knew that well enough. "Seems as if you're a bit cut off," she notes when they're alone. She's already beginning to gather chakra as she listens to Fuyu's shoulder clicking. She grimaces. That sounds bad. In some ways, broken bones were easier (if longer) to heal than displaced ones. When Fuyu asks about why the Genin was barely harmed, Mushi says calmly, "Serin had memories of himself when he saw that Genin. Even if his body said to cut that boy down, his mind would not allow him to." That is either far fetched speculation, or she's retrieved the information from another way. She continues as she stands up, "I'm fine. It was deep, but it was only a flesh wound. He missed my lung, thankfully, or else I'd be weezing in the bed beside you." She paces around Fuyu's bed, glancing at the floor, and then towards Fuyu. "Your shoulder didn't heal right. I can fix that, but it may take awhile. That okay?"
Fuyu shrugs. Click. "I had plenty of visitors for awhile. And by 'visitors', I mean 'people with more work for me to do'. As soon as I was out of intensive care after the surgery to fix the bones, they had paperwork for me to do." She lowers her arm and leaves it alone for now. She listens to what Mushi has to say, and then the offer to 'fix' her. "I'll need a bit more information on what you intend to do, first. I'll also need to know how you know what Serin thought and felt. I already have one potential security threat. If you're another, I want to know sooner rather than later."
Mushi tsks when Fuyu asks what kind of healing technique she is going to use. Then, she shrugs. "Trinity Seals of Healing," she says, and smirks. "With a healing technique this hard to create, I get to be a bit flamboyant. It uses healing and knowledge of seals. I create three seals around you that form a triangle, and place a fourth master mark on your wound." She's looking down at the ground and over at Fuyu once again. "We have a technique back home that can heal anything…with a group of healers. The three seals gather my chakra and make them heal the master mark at the same time, so that I don't need to refine my chakra or use other people." She's gathering chakra…visibly. It arcs around her in strange swirls of gold and orange before gathering into her. "Can I use it?" If Fuyu let her Mushi would place a palm on her wound that'd shoot out into three lines. Those lines would end in three larger seals that would then connect with more seals. And Mushi would plop down and begin to channel chakra into the seals. If Fuyu allowed it, it'd not feel like warming chakra, but rather intense pressure that's not yet painful, but a little uncomfortable. She gives a shrug to Fuyu's question. "We have a rule in my Center," she says quietly, "that we give away no information that would endanger someone else, or take part in feuds. If we do, we will be banished. The only time we are allowed to attack is to protect ourselves or a patient. For that reason, I'm no security threat, I think."
Fuyu does not trust Mushi. She does not really trust anyone. Paranoia at its finest. But she has lots of reasons not to trust Mushi. Like she doesn't know much about her other than what she has been told, and what she has been told could easily be totally fictional. She'll probably have some people follow her around for the rest of her stay in Konoha… And perhaps longer.
Nonetheless, she says, "Fine." Then she allows the healing to commence. The pressure makes her a bit tense, mostly because she expects this to result in the bones being crushed together or some such, but she does not react otherwise. The statement of neutrality is taken in with a grunt. "If your neutrality winds up costing lives… Would you still remain neutral? If the same people you heal go out to kill each other immediately after, is it really worth it to keep your lips sealed?"
All at once Fuyu would feel an unpleasant series of cracks as her bones are completely forced back into the correct order. But afterwards it'd be a relief and feel better, and the healing chakra would turn warmer and wash away the pain. Mushi winces at the sound. This is a powerful technique, but not always a pleasant one. Healing can often be just as painful as being hurt. But letting this heal wrong would be far worse. "Sorry," she says, and then she's strangely quiet when Fuyu asks about the neutrality. "It's true that many of the people I heal are shinobi," she says. "And we're more hesitant about healing people in the middle of a feud that would tip the balance of power in someone's favor. As for keeping my lips sealed…I will. I'm not a good person. It's not the Good Medical Center, it's the /Neutral/ one. Some healers have chosen to forsake the Center in return for taking sides in a war, and we let them go without grudges, but I'm different. I believe Serin won't come back to attack this very instant, and if you want to hunt him down…then do so. For me healing a shinobi is about the same as healing Serin, if I were to." She gives Fuyu a smile, and the healing would continue for a few more minutes before her shoulder would be restored to tender, but perfectly working order.
