Chapter 59
KURENAI YUHI
Kurenai felt sheer pride when she looked at the three young shinobi sitting in front of her. It felt like such a long time ago when they had been fresh genin with huge potential that had just graduated from the academy. And now, all three of them sat in front of her, each excelling in their fields and goals as they fulfilled their potential.
Hinata had gained confidence in herself and was a chunin and had changed a whole clan as she had transformed the whole Hyuga clan. She was living up to her title of the Hyuga princess, and Kurenai could tell that she had not lagged behind in her combat skills at all. Her chakra now had an edge to it.
Shino had been nominated for the ANBU and had only held back from joining because his father wanted to train him up. And she had heard from certain friends that ANBU was quite impressed by his skillset. He was now approaching Tokubetsu jounin rank and would probably do a stint in ANBU after he reached that rank.
And last but definitely not least was her young prodigy. Honestly, of the three of them, she had taught little to Shinso, he always had a direction for himself, and she would give him tips, but the kid had achieved most of it all on his own. There were rumors that he would soon become a jounin, and she could say that this promotion was extremely deserved.
It was heartening to see all of them together, laughing and talking together, that despite their busy schedules, they had kept in touch.
"So why did you call us all Sensei? Is everything alright?" Hinata began as Shinso and Shino also looked at her disengaging from their small talk.
She smiled as she nodded and replied, "Yeah, everything is fine. I just wanted to meet you all to give you guys an invite," and she felt her face heat up at this. But she had to do it. All three of them were her first students and held a special place in her life.
Shinso frowned for a moment before she saw him make a huge smile. Had he guessed it already?
"Oh!" escaped from his lips and both Shino and Hinata looked at him.
"What happened, Shinso-Kun? Do you already know why sensei called us here?" Hinata questioned her teammate, and Shinso just shook his head with a smile.
"Ahh, no, it was nothing? Akhm! Sensei, what did you want to tell us?" Shinso turned the focus to her, and Kurenai was still quite shocked by his perceptiveness. So, she plucked up her courage and fished out the cards that Asuma and her had prepared.
She then handed one to each of them as she told them about the special occasion.
"These are invites for my marriage. The date is set for the end of this month. As my students, I wanted to invite each of you." She saw her words register with Shino and Hinata, who seemed quite surprised though Shinso was just smirking as he examined his card.
Hinata was the first to react as she looked up at her with shining eyes and enthusiastically congratulated her.
"This is such a surprise! Congratulations Sensei! We will definitely be there!" her female student replied excitedly, and from beside her, Shinso showed a similar reaction, though this one lacked Hinata's surprise.
"This is very auspicious news sensei, and I am thankful that you are inviting us on your special day like this," Shino beside him nodded as well as he pocketed the invite.
"Yes, Hinata and Shinso are right. We shall be there, and if you need anything, we would be glad to help," Hinata added at this.
"Yes! Yes, of course, if you need anything, you can call me. Hey, Shinso-Kun, why don't you take some lessons from what it seems? It could very well be your turn quite next," and Hinata wiggled her eyes at her teammate. Kurenai giggled at this, but this was true.
Shins had a very public romance with the new Uzumaki princess of Konoha. They had been engaged for about a year and a half. And could definitely end up in a ceremony after her.
"Don't worry about me, Hinata-chan. I already have my suitor, but the way you are going, you are going to scare away all the boys. Honestly, half the village is sacred after your little rebellion. You are on your way to overtaking the Slug Princess's fame as the Rebellious Princess," and Hinata was already pushing chakra through her system as she attacked Shinso, who narrowly avoided the attack.
"HEY! HEY! This was a joke! A joke! Really, I am beginning to miss the old Hinata!" he screamed as he avoided Hinata's attacks. Kurenai just giggled at this.
"Well, I am afraid you had quite a hand in building this Hinata. Now, why are you running away?" Shino gave her a look as the other occupants of the restaurant were beginning to look at their table. So, Kurenai pushed her chakra into her hands as she stopped Hinata's hands.
"Now, this is quite enough, you two. If you get us kicked out of here, I will make you both train with Gai for a week," and her threat worked as both of them immediately stopped.
Well, it seems the lessons had stuck. Perhaps she could take them up on their offer for help.
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TSUNADE SENJU
Tsunade was getting increasingly worried as she turned the pages of the report Shizune had brought. When she had asked Shizune to give Itachi a medical, she had expected some malnutrition or some other stress-related issues. But this was out of her expectation.
"This is dire. Extremely dire. I don't know how this was missed in his earlier medicals," she said as she looked at Shizune, who also seemed very worried.
"I looked up his old files, and most of them were missing or incomplete. There are clear signs of tempering in them," and Tsunade frowned as she heard this. And only a single culprit came to her mind.
"Danzo," she cursed the old bastard once more. At this point, cursing him once daily was becoming a kind of tradition in this office.
"What are we going to do about his admission to the hospital? If he wants to remain anonymous, it would be difficult to do so in the hospital," Shizune began, and Tsunade understood her concern. Maintaining complete privacy in the hospital would not be easy, but Itachi was in need of immediate treatment.
"Perhaps you could something in their home. Apart from him and Sasuke and Itachi, that house would be empty and would probably have a spare room or so. But the issue is the treatment; those shadows in his chest X-ray are very disturbing. And If it is what I suspect there is no cure for it," and wasn't that a shame? Tsunade felt sad for Itachi. For someone in his early twenties to suffer so much.
And she saw Shizune nod her head, though there was a certain defiance in her eyes, as her student looked straight at her.
"YET! There is no cure yet!" Shizune said resolutely, and Tsunade was surprised by the conviction in her voice. Though, she did not want Shizune to build up unnecessary hope.
"Shizune, this is probably end-stage pulmonary cancer. As many miracles as chakra allow us to perform, it does not make us gods. There is a reason that no one has found a cure for it," yet Shizune seemed set in her way.
"Yes! But people have said that for everything. About five decades ago, many clans living together would have been a pipe dream, yet the shinobi villages exist. The same can be said for a thousand other things," and Tsunade could feel nothing but pride as she heard that. Finally, Shizune was coming into her own. But still, she had to ask.
"Yes, that all is good, but I must ask you, why do you care so much? It's not like this will be the first time we are seeing something like this?" this was the truth for all medics. For each life, they saved, there would always be one they couldn't get to in time or couldn't treat.
For a very long time, Tsunade had struggled with this. Each person she could not save had seemed like a huge burden. And she felt nostalgic for it had been Orochimaru who had helped her with this, making her realize that she was not a god nor anyone special. She was a singular person, and she couldn't save everyone. Sometimes you have to let go.
She sighed as she remembered her dead teammate. What had happened to them?
"It's wrong!" Shizune began as she replied to her earlier question. Tsunade listened promptly to her reasoning.
"He has gone through so much. So much, and it all feels so wrong, and I can not accept it. No, I refuse to accept this!"
Tsunade leaned back slightly as she heard of Shinzune's resolve. The truth was that this was indeed unlucky, and Tsunade was equally devastated by hearing this. Itachi had suffered because of this village. Because of her village. And just giving up on someone like him did not seem right.
So, with her decision made, she spoke to Shizune, "So what do you need? You know about my schedule. I could probably give your stack of work to Shinso. So, tell me if you need anything else." And Shizune began to ponder over her offer, and Tsunade could see the gears turning in her head.
Unfortunately, Tsuande's schedule made it impossible for her to give this her full attention, but she had taught Shizune everything she could. She had complete trust in her capabilities.
And then, after a second or so of hesitation, Shizune began once more.
"Right now, most of the time is spent streamlining Konoha's Health system, and I would like to have more time to focus on this case. Given the severity, I don't think we have much time to waste!"
So Shinzune was asking for Tsunade to remove her from the hospital for some time. Reorganization of Konoha's health system had been her first mission since coming back. And with the next graduation ceremony, a good number of students would be coming to the hospital to learn iryo-ninjutsu because of the change in team formation laws she had made.
This was not an easy decision. Tsunade looked at the sheer determination on Shizune's face and saw a very familiar face. A face that had once belonged to a younger Tsunade Senju. Someone who was ready to go against the world itself. It seemed that her schedules were about to get a lot tighter.
So, she nodded her head at that.
"Alright, as soon as you have made appropriate arrangements, you can turn your focus to the case."
Shizune's face lit up at this as she thanked her profusely.
"Thank you, Tsuande-sama. I will not let you down!" And Tsunade just smiled as she got back to her own work and thought about changing her schedule to accommodate the new classes she was to give at the Hospital.
Wel,l it might be a little exciting, she tried to cheer herself up.
"Ok, then you can get started on this immediately, though do inform me of your progress routinely."
"Of course, Tsunade-sama," and Shizune got up and walked out of her office at a brisk pace. Tsunade leaned back in her chair, turning it around to face the windows as she looked at the village expanse in front of her eyes.
And though her eyes may be focused on the village, her mind was recalling a person she had long forgotten. A person she held dear to her heart even all these years later.
Dan would be proud of Shizune. So, very proud, just like her.
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