Karin followed Sakura into the woman's office. This was her fourth day shadowing Sakura at the hospital. From what she had seen so far, it wasn't that different from Uncle Ryuuken's hospital back in Karakura Town though with the advantage of chakra-healing there were more recovery wards and fewer operation theaters. Probably more like Fourth Division in Soul Society then, not that Karin had ever been or that she would ever have the chance to go now.
The medic-nin's office was a happy combination of messy and perfectly clean that Karin had appreciated from the start. Every scrap of patient information was neatly filed in clearly labeled file cabinets, the In and Out trays on her desk were always about even when it came to paperwork, and there was not a speck of dirt anywhere.
Everything else was a bit of a toss-up. The shelves that weren't bursting with medical texts were filled with bizarre mementos that Sakura had collected or patients had given her over the years. Karin was particularly amused by the weapons mixed in with more ordinary gifts, but she would get used to it soon enough. There was a tiny table shoved into one corner with a sign that read "On-Going Research: Do Not Touch" the surface of which was covered in a jumbled mess of scrolls, books, and handwritten notes. There were extra supplies everywhere else: gloves, sterile syringes, bandages, tongue-depressors, and two extra lab-coats for when Sakura had to change after a messy patient.
Not to mention the room was tiny. Between the table, the desk, and two chairs—one for Sakura, one for visitors—there was almost no floor space. On bad days, Karin might call the office claustrophobic. It did have a door that kept out most of the noise, which was sometimes the best a person could ask for. Karin had asked why Sakura's office was so small when she was so important to the hospital.
"I'm not really there that much," she had said. "I usually go out in the field while shishou and Shizune do administrative things. All the hands-on research has to be done in the labs anyway. I have a private space down there too."
Karin hadn't been invited into the labs yet, and she understood why. There were dangerous things in hospital labs: poisons, toxic chemicals, infectious diseases, and blood samples from all sorts of people. All of those could be found in normal laboratories. A shinobi-run hospital had to be worse. She would have to prove herself with simpler tasks before being allowed in there.
Sakura gestured for her to sit in the extra chair, which Karin took gratefully. She thought she was in good shape, but Academy lessons in the morning followed by hospital rounds in the afternoon were taking their toll. She hadn't been so grateful tomorrow was the weekend in years.
The pink-haired medic-nin watched her intently. "What do you think, so far?"
So far Karin hadn't done very much. Most of what she did do was follow Sakura around and hand her things when she asked for them. The few exceptions usually involved holding down uncooperative patients and cleaning up puke though she had been given the opportunity to diagnose a few simple cases in the walk-in clinic.
"It's mostly the same as any other major hospital," said Karin. "More weapons injuries, and the healing techniques you use are different, but other than that…virtually identical."
"Is that so?" asked Sakura. Karin wondered how she had given the wrong answer. "Konoha has the most advanced hospital in the Elemental Countries. Our close relationship with Suna means theirs is catching up, and after the Alliance during the Fourth Shinobi War, we made recommendations to the other major Hidden Villages, but they're still learning."
Karin stared. Medicine had made huge advances in the past hundred years back on Earth, but the understanding of germ theory and the body was equally advanced here as far as she could tell from her studies. It was hard to believe that Konoha had the only hospital of this quality in the Elemental Countries.
"We're only so advanced because of Tsunade-shishou's insistence. She revolutionized the field of medicine and the requirements for medic-nin. We were making poisons for centuries, but cures are a new development," explained Sakura.
"I see," said Karin. But she didn't really. "What about civilian hospitals?"
"Civilian hospitals?" asked Sakura in surprise. "There aren't any. We treat our civilians here, but most people make due with local herbalists or traveling healers or occasionally a retired medic-nin. The upper classes are different of course, they have the money to pay for trained doctors. The only other hospitals are military ones for the daimyos' regular forces."
"I guess that's what it's like in Soul Society," said Karin. "But back…in Karakura, everywhere else really, it's different."
Sakura's gaze was thoughtful, her green eyes steady as they watched Karin. She let the silence stretch.
Anxiety grew in Karin's chest, a low ache that made her feel helpless. She twisted her fingers in the edge of her red shirt. She never used to be anxious like this. She wanted to kick something. Tomorrow's soccer game with Ichigo could not come soon enough.
"You never call it home," said Sakura eventually.
The words were like a physical blow. Karin reeled in her seat, but she recovered. She could take worse. She had taken worse in the past.
"When we left, Ichigo said we could never go back and be safe. Karakura, Japan, none of it is home anymore. So Yuzu and I thought it would be easier if we didn't use that word for those places. Konohagakure is our new home," said Karin.
Sakura looked sad. "I could never imagine leaving Konoha. Shishou left for years, but she wanted to leave because there were so many hurtful memories."
Sakura felt silent lost in her own thoughts. Then, after a moment, she straightened in her seat.
"I wanted to discuss the techniques you adapted," she said earnestly.
Karin blinked. Talk about conversational whiplash. But she latched on to the new topic happily enough. Anything was better than what they had been discussing before.
"What would you like to know?" asked Karin.
"Which techniques did you adapt specifically?" asked Sakura pulling out a pen and paper.
"Blood replenishing, toxin elimination in the blood, toxin elimination in the lungs, muscle repair, bone alignment, and defibrillation," rattled off Karin. "I know some others that I couldn't adapt, and the kidou for restoring reiatsu since that's basic and will work on anyone."
Sakura paused in her note taking. "You mentioned before that healing jutsu—kidou, was it?—were only completely effective on people from Soul Society. Why is that, exactly?"
"It has to do with the nature of people from Soul Society," said Karin awkwardly. She sighed. "I'm not sure that I can tell you about it. I'll need to talk to Ichigo and Yuzu about it." And Naruto. He was Sakura's teammate. He would know how she would react.
"But isn't your father from Soul Society?" continued Sakura. "Wouldn't the kidou effect you? What does that mean exactly kidou?"
"Dad's from Soul Society originally," said Karin addressing the first question first. "But we're from Karakura, like mom, which makes us different. If mom had gone to live in Soul Society, well, that probably wouldn't be possible in their situation."
Sakura nodded in understanding. "Because they're people were traditionally enemies."
"That's part of it," said Karin quickly. "As for kidou…"
She crossed her arms and scowled. There was so much about kidou and various spells. Ichigo knew much more than her having been thoroughly drilled in the matter by Kukaku and Unohana. But Sakura-sensei was more interested in the healing aspects, which Karin knew enough about to get by. She straightened in her chair.
"Kidou are generally understood to be spells though some people refer to them as the demon arts," explained Karin. "There are three types: bakudo, hado, and kaido, which are defensive/support-type, offensive/attack-type, and healing spells respectively. Bakudo and hado can be used against anyone. The kaido are a little trickier since they were developed for use on people from Soul Society. Ichigo knows a lot more than me. Unohana made him learn all the healing kidou."
"Who is Unohana?" asked Sakura curiously.
Karin froze then leaned nonchalant against the back of her seat. "Unohana was one of the captains in Soul Society. She's in charge of the Fourth Division, the support division. Their barracks doubled as the hospital for the rest of the divisions."
Sakura noticed her posture, her pinks brows raised rather pointedly at the false attempt at relaxation, but she let it go. Karin hoped Sakura-sensei saw as reluctance to discuss matters involving their exile rather than a reluctance to talk about shinigami, which is what it really was.
"Is there a reason she taught your brother rather than you?" asked Sakura.
"She knew Ichigo," said Karin bluntly. "I'm not sure how much the captains really knew about me and Yuzu other than that we existed and Ichigo got upset when we were in danger. We only saw them a handful of times. As for her reasons, I'm not exactly sure. Ichigo was never very good at helping in the clinic, but all he'd say about Unohana was that she was a maniac. I can ask if you want."
Sakura waved a hand. "That's alright. I was just curious. I can ask him myself later. Now, you said the kidou for restoring reiatsu works on everyone unlike the other healing spells. Why is that?"
"Everyone has reiatsu," said Karin. "But not everybody…"
Not everybody was made of reiryoku like the shinigami in Soul Society. When the living traveled to Soul Society, their physical bodies were converted to spiritual matter—it didn't kill them because they used Urahara's special gate—and in that form healing kidou were perfectly effective. In the Living World, they had to use Orihime's special powers or regular first aid until Karin worked out her converted spells. The only exception was Ichigo, who fought in shinigami and as a result could be treated with conventional kidou.
"Everyone has reiatsu," repeated Karin because that was all she could say without consulting her siblings.
Sakura looked curious. "If that's the case, could you use that one on me? Would it hurt anything?"
Karin blinked and studied Sakura. It took more effort to feel reiatsu in a living body than that of a shinigami or a Hollow unless the human had a lot of spiritual energy. Sakura, along with most of the shinobi she had encountered, had more than enough spiritual power. But they never used it as far as Karin could tell.
"No," said Karin slowly. "It should be fine. It won't do anything if your reiatsu levels are normal though."
"Try anyway," said Sakura.
"Okay."
Karin got out of her seat and circled around the desk. Sakura swiveled around in her chair. Curiosity burned in her eyes.
"Do I need to do anything?" asked Sakura.
"No," said Karin. "I just need to touch your head."
Technically, she could touch anywhere, but she would feel silly just holding Sakura's hand. Ichigo claimed Unohana had performed the technique without touching him at all. Karin thought that when she reached a thousand years old, she could probably do it without touching too. She just needed a few more centuries of practice.
Karin concentrated and converted her reiatsu to healing energy. Unlike other kidou, healing spells required no chants to activate or use, simply will and the appropriate pattern passed on by another healer. Green light bloomed around her hands.
"It's the same color as healing chakra," said Sakura.
"Reiatsu is colored by your intent. Healing is always green," said Karin her focus never wavering. "I'm going to touch you now."
She reached out and touched the tips of her fingers to Sakura's temples. The kidou took hold. Startled by the reaction, Karin blinked while Sakura let out a little breath of surprise.
"Can you feel that?" asked Karin.
"Yes," said Sakura excitement and wonder coloring her tone. "It feels a lot like killing intent but not. Obviously. Is it working?"
"Killing intent?" muttered Karin in disbelief. In a more normal tone, she said, "You must have done something today that used reiatsu. Otherwise nothing would have happened."
"I was working in the labs this morning," said Sakura. "I was distilling antidotes."
Karin scowled that wouldn't cause anyone to use their reiatsu. Unless… "Did you use a ninjutsu for that?"
"It's standard procedure unless chakra interferes with the solution," said Sakura slipping into lecture mode. "I'll give you a scroll on it. A handful of ingredients are chakra-sensitive, so you have to be very careful when working with those otherwise the antidote you're attempting to make will turn out to be a poison or worse, completely useless."
"Shinobi are weird," Karin told her. "Normal people prefer a useless solution to a poisonous one."
Sakura's smile was accompanied by a wrinkled nose, but her amusement was genuine and unoffended. "You're a shinobi now too."
"A pre-genin-medic-nin," said Karin solemnly. "I hear them recite it in the halls. The kids like it because it rhymes."
"The adults like it because it rhymes too," said Sakura. "They just have the excuse of being high on pain medication. And you'll be able to drop the "pre" when you graduate from the Academy. That won't be too long. Iruka says you're doing well."
The kidou cut-out abruptly, its task complete. Sakura's reiatsu was back to peak levels. Karin lowered her hands and took a step back. Ignoring the elation in heart that came from the compliment and correctly executing a healing kidou, Karin reached out her spiritual awareness to poke at her sensei. She could feel a tiny difference in Sakura's reiatsu, but the effect was very small.
"It worked," she announced. "That kidou only effects reiatsu, but Ichigo thinks chakra and reiatsu are related somehow. So using chakra depleted your reiatsu a bit."
Sakura raised a hand to her head to briefly brush at her temples. "My chakra level is the same."
"It just effects your reiatsu," repeated Karin.
Sakura rolled her eyes. "So I heard." She paused. "I do feel better. Less tired. But I don't feel different physically."
Karin thought about it for a moment. "Chakra is made up of two energies, right? Physical and mental?"
"You think reiatsu is mental energy?" asked Sakura.
"It's definitely related," said Karin. "And it makes more sense than killing intent."
"Killing intent is a very important tool for a shinobi," said Sakura reclining in her chair now that exercise was over. It clearly wasn't a chair made for lounging, but Karin understood the importance of image. "Once you're started on rounds, you might have to deal with shinobi that do not want to be here. In extreme cases, that involves killing intent. We'll have to find a time to expose you."
"I've been attack by Hollow. They're all about killing intent," said Karin drily.
"Oh?" asked Sakura. Karin wasn't sure if her sensei knew about Hollow, but that wasn't the point of the story. "And what did you do?"
"Usually I hit them in the head with a soccer ball," said Karin. Ichigo took care of the really dangerous ones, but she didn't need to say that. All Hollow were dangerous.
Sakura threw back her head and laughed. "Well, we're not allowed to throw balls at patients, but I might be willing to make an exception." She gave few more chuckles then moved on to business. "For the rest of the day, I want you to help out at the front desk and familiarize yourself with our system. I have some more scrolls for you to study on the weekend—including the one about chakra-sensitive ingredients. I want you to practice drawing chakra into different parts of your body. Vary the amounts too. On Monday…"
Sakura trailed off. Her eyes glittered as she considered future possibilities. The devious grin was especially worrying
"On Monday?" prompted Karin.
"On Monday, I'll evaluate your chakra control and taijutsu ability," said Sakura. The grin broadened into a smirk. "Then the fun will start."
"Why do I get the feeling you really mean pain when you say fun?" asked Karin.
"To quote shishou: you've got a brain in that skull of yours, and you know how to use it," said Sakura. "Now, you've got your standing orders. Hop to it!"
Karin saluted, as was only appropriate for a pre-genin-medic-nin-in-training, and trotted out of the office. She would remember in the future that using the reiatsu restoring kidou energized shinobi in an interesting way. Ichigo would be happy to add her discoveries to his working theory on reiatsu-chakra-relations. It might even make up for asking to tell another person about Soul Society. Just one more couldn't hurt.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Kakashi considered his options carefully. The hokage had assigned him to the village for the time being ostensibly to lend his tracking experience to the search for the kidnappers, but in reality, she wanted another pair of eyes on Naruto's cousins. Tsunade trusted the Kurosakis and she trusted Naruto's opinion of them, but she didn't know much about them. Kakashi had plenty of reasons to observe them as one of Naruto's valued companions and as a lead investigator into the kidnappings.
Regarding the kidnappers, there was not much to be found. The bizarre, liquefied remains held no clues to their identities. The captured missing-nin had no valuable information about his client. The money that the cart-drivers had accepted as a bribe—an act he was sure they deeply regretted—was untraceable. There wasn't even a scent trace to be found outside the Kurosakis' apartment. None of his dogs had been able to find anything nor had any of the Inuzuka's hounds. In light of that and the continued report of all-clear from ANBU stationed around the village, Kakashi was at loose ends.
He had three choices: Ichigo, Karin, or Yuzu. If there was an attempted kidnapping of Uzumaki, one of those three, rather than Naruto or Tsunade, was a more likely target. Ichigo had spent the morning training with Team Three— today Kurenai was introducing him to the first of the basic jutsu learned at the Academy—and now they were probably running a D-rank mission. Kakashi had had enough of watching genin complain about D-ranks with his own team, so he would have to pass. Kurenai was a competent jounin, and had gotten even scarier since her child was born, so Ichigo would be fine.
He could track down Karin at the hospital. But it was the hospital. Not a comforting place for any shinobi much less one who was injured as frequently as Kakashi. Not to mention Sakura was there, and while he loved his all of cute little genin and was proud of their accomplishments as the next generation of sannin, he did not particularly want to be subject to the rounds of tests and vaccinations he knew the pink-haired medic-nin would force on him should he show up without an iron-clad argument against.
That left Yuzu, who was learning T&I's specialized brand of taijutsu from Anko somewhere in Training Ground Forty. He had introduced the two primarily for his own amusement. He had not expected that Yuzu was genuinely interested in joining the Interrogation Squad or that Anko would take such a shine to the girl. Their personalities didn't clash as much as they existed in completely separate realities. Still, Yuzu's display in the dango shop had been impressive to say the least. No one had been expecting that, especially not from her.
Decision made, Kakashi adjusted his hitai-ate and set out for Training Ground Forty. Technically, he didn't need to cover that eye anymore. Thanks to Obito's gift, he could use sharingan in both eyes and turn them both off. But he had trained with one eye closed since he was a teenager, it was part of his look, and sometimes, well, he forgot he could turn off the sharingan in that eye and turned one or both back on.
Sakura had been furious the first time he gave himself chakra-exhaustion that way. Naruto, once he was sure Kakashi would recover, had laughed himself sick. Sasuke had been completely unsympathetic, but at least he was there to be unsympathetic. Kakashi had the memory of a completely boring afternoon lodged in his psyche forever, but he also had the memory of the reunited Team Seven standing at his bedside, and later Sai and Yamato stopping by to check-in on their sempai, to make up for it.
In any event, the eye stayed covered as a precaution unless he was in battle or training. He was fairly certain Obito wouldn't be offended.
Using his nose, it didn't take long for Kakashi find his targets. Anko smelled like snake skin and mitarashi dango, a combination that was impossible to forget. Yuzu smelled a lot like hot ash, which he initially assumed was a result of her enthusiasm for cooking but now he wasn't so sure, and a variety of unfamiliar scents that were shared by her siblings, indicative of life in Karakura.
To Kakashi's surprise, the two women were being observed by Morino Ibiki. He touched down next to the dark presence that was the Head of the Torture and Interrogation Squad and started to ask about his presence. Instead, the words caught in his throat and he gaped.
Ibiki was an intimidating man. Dressed in black from head to toe, solidly built, and taller than average with terrible scars on his face and worse ones hidden beneath his clothes. Every inch of Ibiki was purposefully designed to menace.
Perched on his shoulder, completely ruining the effect, was the stuffed lion doll, Kon.
The toy, seeing Kakashi's stare, waved a tiny paw in greeting.
"Something for you, Kakashi?" asked Ibiki sounding far too amused.
"Aren't you a security risk?" asked the S-Ranked Copy-Nin. It was all he could think to say.
"Nope," said Kon.
"No brain, can't be probed; no nerves, can't be tortured; and nobody thinks of pumping a doll for information," explained Ibiki.
That didn't preclude the possibility of emotional manipulation, but as Ibiki said, no one would ever think of interrogating a doll. The closest thing the Elemental Countries had to something like Kon was Suna's puppets but, barring exceptions like Sasori, none of those possessed a consciousness.
"But why?" asked Kakashi as slowly reeled in his lost lines of thought.
"I'm here for moral support," said Kon proudly.
There was a cry and a thump. Yuzu, who had been practicing a hold, lost control of Anko and ended up face down in the dirt. In less than a minute she was back on her feet listening intently as the older kunoichi outlined the reasons for her failure. Yuzu didn't even seem to notice the blood streaming from her nose so strong was her focus.
"For Yuzu?" asked Kakashi dubiously.
"For Ichigo," admitted Kon. "He gave Yuzu the okay, but he is not happy about it. Not about Karin either. I was with her yesterday."
Kakashi remembered. Sakura had sent a message to Tsunade from the hospital and included Kon at Karin's insistence. The doll had been able to direct the team containing Kakashi, Naruto, and two additional ANBU straight to Ichigo's location.
"Tsunade-sama thinks the boy might do something rash if his sisters are in significant danger," said Ibiki. "The doll is a compromise. It can report to Ichigo without revealing our specific techniques."
"I'm a guy! Not an it! I'm a guy and my name is Kon!" protested the doll.
Kakashi almost looked down to verify Kon's claims but managed to restrain himself. He knew there wasn't anything to see. He had examined the lion the other day—after the dango shop incident—back when he thought it was just a doll.
Kakashi carefully directed his mind away from that disturbing line of thought and focused on the much more pleasant issue of Ichigo's hang-ups regarding his sisters. He had the impression that over-protective was a mild descriptor for Ichigo. Not that he smothered the twins, but he obviously worried about their safety. A lot. Considering the damage Ichigo had managed the other day, with a severely underpowered attack according to Kon, then the hokage's decision was prudent. Panicking any of the Kurosakis unnecessarily was probably a bad idea.
"You might want to consider some trauma therapy for Yuzu," said Kakashi following along those lines.
"Oh?" asked Ibiki.
He kept his eyes front following Yuzu's progress but obviously listening to Kakashi. Yuzu had executed the hold correctly and was now trying to direct Anko around the clearing with only mild success.
"Her current quirks, we'll call them, can be directly attributed to time spent in a prison known as Hell," said Kakashi.
"Is that so?" asked Ibiki. "Sounds like a fun place. When was this, exactly?"
Kakashi directed his gaze to Kon, who was looking anxious and sad. The toy was very expressive for a creature with no facial muscles.
"I'm not sure when exactly," said Kon waving his arms. "Life was pretty hectic for a while. More than five years ago, less than eight."
Ibiki scowled displeased by the answer. "What happened to her? What are the details?"
"Nothing happened to Yuzu, I think," said Kon carefully. "They kept her in a cage on the bottom level until Ichigo broke in and got her out. She was unconscious for most of the time too, so I don't know how much she remembers. They've never really talked about it."
"I'm surprised the brother didn't put her in therapy before now," said Ibiki. "He seems the type."
Kon shrugged. "She escaped from Hell. The only people who would believe that were in Soul Society, and Ichigo didn't want any extra attention on Yuzu for something like that. Besides, nobody knew Yuzu was affected until a few years later when she busted out the chains on some guy messing with her and Karin."
Kakashi and Ibiki exchanged unhappy looks. Sometimes kekkei genkai manifested under stressful conditions. The sharingan was a prime example. Assault would definitely count.
Kakashi redirected his attention to Yuzu and Anko. The girl had stopped trying to herd Anko, and they were in the middle of a sparring match. Yuzu was supposed to find a way to grab her opponent in the hold when Anko was trying to resist. Anko wasn't going at top speed, but that would come later, after Yuzu got the feel of things.
"Why would Ichigo want to keep Yuzu away from the eyes of Soul Society if it meant she could get help?" asked Kakashi. "His conflict with them only happened recently, right?"
Kon snorted. He couldn't possibly have sinuses in that stuffed body, but the sound was completely realistic.
"Yeah, turning on Ichigo was new, which tells you the Central Chambers aren't exactly reasonable. Somebody might have got the idea that since Yuzu ended up in Hell once, she deserved to be there," explained Kon.
"But she was a kidnap victim, a teenager," protested Ibiki.
Kakashi had killed a handful of children in his service as a shinobi, but he had always tried to make it quick. Ibiki might have needed to interrogate a few, possibly even use torture, though children rarely needed that much encouragement to talk. But Konoha took fewer of those missions than any other Hidden Village. They were the most prosperous village. They could afford to spare their shinobi some pain.
Soul Society, as far as Kakashi understood it, was a completely normal government like the daimyo's court. A civilian court could never approve torturing a child without facing public outcry. Unless, of course, it was a common practice.
"Hell is Hell," said Kon. "It doesn't matter how you get there. Everyone is guilty. Everyone is a lifer. There were probably kids in there younger than Yuzu, even if Ichigo didn't mention seeing any."
"Might need a psych-eval on the brother too," noted Ibiki.
Kakashi inclined his head. "I'll mention it to Tsunade-sama."
"Not Haruno?" asked Ibiki. "Isn't she training the other one?"
Kakashi grinned beneath his mask. "Sakura said if I ended up in the hospital again, she'd make sure I would never leave."
Ibiki huffed. "You know that's not what she meant."
"Maa. Maa. Best not to risk it," said Kakashi.
Yuzu had managed to catch Anko at least once, but the kunoichi had broken free almost immediately. They were back to sparring again, but Yuzu didn't appear disappointed just determined.
"If the girl was unconscious the whole time, it doesn't explain how her stint in Hell managed to give her quirks," said Ibiki idly. He directed a look at the lion on his shoulder. "Do you know? Or should I ask her brother?"
Kon whimpered. "Don't ask Ichigo. I'm surprised Kakashi got away with it last time."
The doll crossed his arms and assumed a thinking pose. His little tail twitched back and forth in displeasure. Kakashi left toy alone to ruminate and instead watched the women practice.
Yuzu had finally caught Anko and held her. She was frog-marching the kunoichi around the training ground. Anko's proud smirk was clear despite the occasional wince. After a full circle of the area, Yuzu dropped her hold and they started over.
"Hell has a bad atmosphere," said Kon eventually. "It infected Yuzu while she was there. You can see it when she calls her chains. All that red light."
Ibiki's scowl was out in full force. He could give the Hokage Monument a run for its money; his face might as well have been granite. "I take it you're not talking about air quality."
Kon hesitated prompting Kakashi to review what he knew already about the Kurosakis. They were willing to talk about anything from their homeland except its location and the exact nature of the powers used by the forces of Soul Society. Kakashi could understand the sentiment. Fortunately, he had heard most of Ichigo's explanations to Tsunade and was good at piecing things together.
"You mean, the reiatsu of the place was bad," said Kakashi carefully. "Like the empty districts polluted by Nine-Tails chakra."
Kon nodded. Worry shone from his black button eyes.
"We tried building a prison in one of those areas ten years ago," said Ibiki frowning. "But the chakra drove the prisoners insane during the initial trials. The guards too."
"Tell me there's a sane shinobi anywhere. I promise I won't laugh," said Kon with clear bravado.
The toy had a point. Compared to most people, shinobi were insane. But there was a difference between normal, everyday crazy and Kyuubi-driven madness. They had lost quite a few shinobi trying to clear those districts before the Third declared them off limits.
"But Ichigo's not infected," clarified Kakashi. "He can counter the technique Yuzu learned there."
"He learned to do that from the guards," said Kon. "But that was later. At the beginning, the atmosphere upset him too. He had a hard time keeping control of his temper. But Ichigo has a lot of reiatsu, so he could push back. Yuzu's power hadn't developed yet. She was vulnerable. And she ended up chained-up too, which made it worse."
"With the chains that track people," said Kakashi recalling Ichigo's explanation.
"Right," said Kon. "That's what really messed her up. They sink into your reiatsu."
"Is that going to affect Anko?" asked Ibiki. "Or any of the prisoner she'll be interrogating?"
"Uh, no?" said Kon hesitantly. "They're not the same sort of chain? They're, what did you call 'em, chakra-constructs? They only look the same."
"Probably for the best," said Ibiki, but it was clear his thoughts were divided on the matter. That would be a useful skill for any prison guard. Louder he said, "Wrap it up, you two. It's getting late. Tsunade-sama doesn't want you screwing around after dark."
There were cheerful cries of acknowledgement from Anko and Yuzu, though Yuzu's was actually cheerful while Anko's was closer to manic. Kakashi returned his full attention to Ibiki.
"How's she doing?" asked Kakashi.
Ibiki actually grinned. The effect was, as usual, deeply disquieting. "Girl's got talent. No mistake. She's clearing the usual mind-games like they were nothing. She's a hard worker too. Sometimes newbies slack off when they don't have a background in the business, thinks it keeps their hands clean, but she jumps right in. Nice to see some spunk."
Ibiki had claimed Anko had spunk once upon a time. Kakashi was dismayed.
"But she's so nice," said Kakashi. Hellish chakra-chains and unfortunate experiences aside, "nice" was Yuzu's dominant personality trait.
"You're the one who recommended her to Anko," said Ibiki cheekily. "Nice might throw off the prisoners though. Wait until they hear she escaped from Hell! Ha!"
Ibiki's laughter was as disturbing as his smile. But, on the plus side, Kakashi won his bet with Gai about how Ibiki would react to Yuzu's incarceration. That put in him back in the lead of their personal competition.
"We're ready," said Anko landing next to the other shinobi with a flourish.
"Hello, Morino-san, Kakashi-san," said Yuzu following more slowly behind her. "Is everything well?"
Coated in dirt from head-to-toe, Yuzu's green jacket and gray apron were a uniform brown. Blood had dried down her face from her earlier nose-bleeds. She looked nothing like the tidy home-maker that Kakashi had met just a week ago.
Despite her rough appearance, she was a smiling. It was a broad, happy grin that Kakashi had only seen on a handful of people. Gai, for one. Naruto, for another. Kakashi could see how the two were related when she was smiling like that.
"Just doing some follow-up," said Ibiki dismissively. "You're Anko's first student, after all."
"But Anko-san is a good teacher and so much fun!" said Yuzu earnestly.
Kakashi could tell she meant it. The other two were in T they could tell she meant it too. Good teacher wasn't surprising, Anko did a lot of work culling out new recruits for Ibiki. On the other hand, "Anko" and "fun" usually required some modifier like "scary" or "painful" or "when drunk" to make the claim stick. Yuzu said fun and meant fun—no qualifier necessary.
Anko's expression cartwheeled through a variety of emotions, most of which Kakashi was too polite to identify. She slung an arm around Yuzu's neck and crushed her to her chest. Anko was still wearing her metal mesh, so it had to hurt, but Yuzu didn't even whimper.
"She's adorable. I'm keeping her," she announced.
"You already said that," replied Kakashi.
"Just re-staking my claim," said Anko.
Kakashi rolled his eyes, and people thought he was weird. He had nothing on the shinobi from T&I.
Kon jumped from Ibiki's shoulder to Yuzu's head startling Anko into letting go. Yuzu rubbed her cheek. There was a distinct chain-link pattern pressed into her skin but not so much as a scratch. The group waited for Kon to get situated—hanging from Yuzu's shoulder, feet bouncing against her back—before starting back toward the village proper. Yuzu didn't know how to tree-jump like her brother, so it was slow going.
"Kakashi was checking up on you," said Kon matter-of-factly.
Yuzu grinned brightly. "Is that right, Kakashi-san?"
Anko's mutter of "I called dibs" was ignored by everyone.
"I'm looking into the kidnappers," explained Kakashi. "That means checking on all of you."
He thought Yuzu's smile dimmed a fraction at the mention of the kidnappers, but she restored it quickly.
"Have you found anything?" asked Yuzu.
"Investigations are on-going," said Kakashi.
Anko leaned in and stage-whispered, "That means no."
Kakashi pouted, completely hidden by the mask, and turned to Ibiki. "Have you found anything?"
Ibiki scowled. "Investigations are on-going."
Yuzu giggled. She didn't seem that concerned by the kidnappers after all. Then again, escorted by three jounin—Anko had cried when she finally got to drop the tokubetsu from her title, something else Kakashi was too polite to mention—Yuzu probably felt perfectly safe.
Kon, however, had more to say. "He came here instead of checking on Karin in the hospital because he was afraid of Sakura-sensei."
Kakashi choked. Yuzu's expression turned morose. Ibiki and Anko watched waiting to see how the situation would resolve.
"Oh no, Kakashi-san, are you avoiding the hospital? You really should keep up with your physical appointments," said Yuzu with concern. "It's important to your health."
She looked so disappointed. Kakashi gamely ignored the snickers from Anko and the smirk from Ibiki.
"I'll work on that right away," said Kakashi. He was famous for running late. Right away could be months from now.
"It's important to your health, Kakashi-san," said Yuzu, her voice gone flat.
Kakashi burst into a cold sweat. He could feel it trickling down his spine. He knew he would never be able to make fun of Yamato for capitulating to a civilian girl ever again.
"I'll work on that right away, Yuzu-san," he said, and he meant it. He really, really meant it.
"Great!" said Yuzu brightly. The terrible feeling vanished as her smile returned. "I'll tell Karin, and Sakura-sensei can set-up an appointment for you really soon."
As Anko heaped praises on Yuzu for being a natural and Ibiki silently radiated approval at his department's soon-to-be-newest member, Kakashi mourned quietly. However much Yuzu was related to Naruto, she was clearly equally related to Tsunade with her unnecessary concern for a poor, put-upon shinobi's health. While Kakashi could withstand any number of beatings to stay out of the hospital, no one could resist that. Insistent indeed.