NOVEL NEXT Chapter 72: Idiotic Woman
"Genin Saul. Care to introduce yourself?"
Saul bowed to the medical corps.
"Thank you all so much for your help with Hinata; I couldn't guarantee anything with my current knowledge. I am Saul. I've been privately studying medical ninjutsu from the materials made public at the Konoha hospital."
"Private study?" His eyes narrowed. "You don't have a teacher?"
"Not for medical Ninjutsu, no." Saul shook his head. "You have brought my Jonin Sensei with you."
Kurenai waved. "Pleased to make your acquaintance. Saul has been learning medical ninjutsu for..." She tilted her head to think, "For about two months now."
"Did you say two months!? Only two months!?"
Saul scratched the back of his head. "Actually, more like two and a half... I didn't have anything to show for my efforts until after I had already memorized a ton of knowledge."
He was a genius. A true, bonafide genius of medical Ninjutsu. The man rushed forward and grabbed his hand.
"Would you be interested in learning more? We could really use your help at the hospital!"
Saul smiled.
"Of course I would. But aren't you forgetting something?"
"Ahaha, right." The man stepped back, then fished out a card from his back pocket. 'Medical Corps' was written on the card. "Take this identification to the Konoha hospital and ask to see a woman called Nono Yakushi. She is the captain of our medical corps - the only Jonin within the force. She is one of the best teachers for medical Ninjutsu in all of Konoha."
He took the card. "Thank you." Saul bowed once again, "And what was your name?"
The medical-nin scratched the back of his head. It was covered in a brown cloth, similar to the rest of his outfit. He wondered why they dressed in such a manner.
"My name is Kito. At the moment, I'm the most experienced medical Chunin residing within the hospital."
Saul nodded. "I'll remember that. Thanks again for your help Kito and to the rest of you as well. I will be sure to repay the favor."
Kito smiled while the rest of them grinned. "You can repay us by coming to help out at the Hospital sometime, you know? There are only 11 of us who can use the Mystical Palm Ninjutsu! We're absolutely swamped with patients every day." He waved his hand goodbye," I always say this, but I hope I never have to see any of you again! Take care now!" The group chuckled.
They all walked out of the entrance to be escorted by Hiashi through the forest of death. Saul could sense it from their movements; these so called medical-nin had almost no ninja ability. They were likely Chunin purely because of their skill with the Mystical Palm Ninjutsu. Without an escort, they'd almost certainly die within the forest of death.
"Anko, does this building have a more private spot?" Kurenai said, eyeing the broken window.
"Just follow me." She scowled. Anko seemed to be in a terrible mood.
Saul picked up Hinata in a careful princess carry, and the group walked through the halls.
"What kind of seal is the cursed seal, Anko? What exactly does it do?"
"...It makes you strong yet ugly. It also allows that fucking bastard to make you writhe in pain. Hurts like a bitch."
Well that was a grossly over-simplified explanation.
Saul spoke up. "Anko. Kurenai-sensei needs to know as much as she can because she's about to seal Hinata's mark with her Fuinjutsu. Can you please tell her everything? For Hinata's sake?"
The purple haired woman froze for a moment, then started walking faster. "I don't know anymore dammit! Don't ask me!"
Kurenai frowned. "But you were his disciple."
"IM NOT!" She turned to face the group with fury, "That bastard, Orochimaru, he used me, the village, everyone! And then when we were no longer of use to him, he betrayed all the people who trusted him."
Yakumo spoke up innocently, "He? Don't you mean she? A woman calling herself Orochimaru attacked us just now."
Anko's face contorted into a mixture of guilt and sorrow. "...That bastard. He, she, it, I don't know anymore. He was working on a special Jutsu previously, before his betrayal, that would allow him to take over bodies. If he's a woman now... Then Hinata is most likely his next target. This curse mark, this gift of his, it's nothing but bait on a hook. If Hinata accepts it and relies on his power, when she gets reeled in she'll be swallowed whole."
Yakumo covered her mouth in shock. This explanation however, was still partially incomplete. A fragment of Orochimaru's soul remained within every single cursed seal. When its power was used the personality residing within could influence its host's thoughts. Thus the bait dangled was more insidious than it would initially seem.
Saul did not dare to try and do anything about this himself while Orochimaru was still active within Konoha. He'd follow any and all arrangements made by Kurenai.
The group was silent as Anko finally arrived at the so-called quiet place. She slid open a traditional Japanese door covered in seals. When they all stepped in, Anko asked,
"Did you all need anything else from me? These seals should ensure your privacy."
Kurenai was about to shake her head before Saul spoke up, "Anko, show us what happens when you activate the cursed seal. We need it for reference."
Anko snarled, "What if I refuse? I don't owe you guys anything."
Saul's voice turned dangerously low, "You were the disciple of that... thing. Is it really a coincidence that when its former disciple happens to hold an exam, the snake is able to infiltrate and attack the people within without a problem? Without anybody noticing?"
"Saul..." Kurenai started warningly, "What exactly are you trying to say?"
"I'm simply stating the facts, Kurenai Sensei, and asking logical questions. If Anko refuses to even help in such a simple matter like this in order to thwart Orochimaru's plans... Well the circumstances are already telling enough. Can she even be trusted?"
"YOU!" Anko pulled Saul up by the scruff of his collar. Her eyes blazed with fury.
"I have NOTHING to do with that bastard anymore! HOW DARE YOU?"
"Really now. What are you doing to me now then? Is it because Orochimaru didn't finish the job? So now you're trying to do the dirty work for him?"
Saul tilted his neck, showing the gigantic bruise from when Orochimaru slammed him by the neck against the tree. He had been so busy taking care of Hinata, that he never had time to heal himself. Even though it was still painful, it came into use now for his little act. Anko fell silent.
"Go on. Prove me right."
"You two, stop it!" Kurenai intervened. She pushed Anko away from Saul and got in-between the two.
"Saul! You should be smart enough to see that Anko had nothing to do with this. Even though she can be a hothead at times, I've known her for years. I'd trust her with my life. And Anko." Kurenai scolded, "I'm disappointed in you. To think you'd let out your anger on a Genin of all things. He's one of the victims for crying out loud! Control yourself."
Anko sighed, "No, he's right. That's exactly how things would look to an onlooker, isn't it..." She stepped further into the room. "I haven't used this ability in years. When I use it, I can feel him, his presence. It's disgusting. Orochimaru told me I'd come to rely upon the power that it grants."
Anko smirked, "So I vowed to never use that bastard's 'gift' ever again, just to prove him wrong. However, now this is different. If I'm using it to prevent him from ruining yet another person's life, I think that reason is a valid exception... Watch carefully."
The curse mark spread across her body. Black markings appeared on her face, chin, and neck, like a mixture between spots on a dalmatian dog, yet also jagged like spikes. A purple aura surrounded her body.
"This is stage 1 of the curse mark. It merges my chakra with something else in order to form a hybrid that is at least 10 times stronger than my normal chakra." An evil purple aura flickered around Anko as she continued. "I can feel him though. Whispering in my head. Trying to tell me things as if they were my own thoughts." She scoffed. "That bastard still does not understand. I'll never be swayed by his lies again."
She deactivated the cursed seal.
"Thank you, Anko. Your short demonstration has made it much clearer to me what the seal actually does. And how I should handle it."
Anko smiled at Kurenai. However, the moment the black haired woman kneeled down to begin with Hinata, Anko stuck out her tongue and made faces at Saul. How was this woman still so immature?
Saul decided to play along with her little game without interrupting Kurenai. He smirked, wagging his finger from side to side before pointing to his ruffled up collar. Anko's eyes widened slightly before she shot him a resentful glare.
"Could you three give me some space?" Kurenai said as she carefully inscribed characters with her thumb onto the floor. "I need to write out the sealing formula." She was literally writing it with her blood!
"Yea, su-"
"Of course, Kurenai-sensei."
Saul interrupted the hot headed woman mid sentence.
"You brat...!"
"Anko?" Kurenai said warningly from the floor, already used to her antics. She couldn't really handle Saul, but she knew exactly how to handle her good friend. "Keep this up and you're not getting treated to any dango."
"Oi!" The woman dramatically kneeled before Kurenai, "You can't do this to me! How did the saying go...? Hoes before bros! You wouldn't choose some man over your good friend Anko, right?"
Kurenai gave her a deadpan stare. Saul grabbed the back of the woman's trench coat and started dragging her ass out of the room. Yakumo followed.
"Hey! Say something! You won't just let him treat me like this, right!? Kurenai!!!"
She shook her head no amusedly in response. Anko grasped at her chest in mock pain before Yakumo slid the door closed.
Throughout the entire conversation, she had been at the beck and call of everyone. She was easily riled up by his calculated provocation, tidily handled by Kurenai, and even lost at her own childish games. She reminded him of a certain blonde haired ninja who had also been ostracized by the village. He resorted to acting out just like she did as a desperate attempt for acknowledgement and attention.
Even now, Anko shamelessly made herself the butt of the joke just to lighten up the atmosphere. Saul would bet if he showed her even just a little trust, she'd quickly grow to treasure him in her heart.
He helped her up and patted her on the shoulders. "Anko." Saul smiled and looked her in the eyes, "I appreciate you. Thank you for doing your best tonight to help."
The purple haired woman blushed. The woman was wearing nothing but a trench coat and a form hugging chainmail that emphasized the size and shape of her breasts. She hugged her arms together nervously, clearly not used to this kind of attention. Her tits squashed together with the movement.
"Uhm... You know...? It's nothing, really. Actually for a Genin, you're not half bad yourself!" She exclaimed sincerely before awkwardly turning away. "I have something important to do now though, so we'll have to continue this conversation another time! See you later, Saul, hehe~!"
What an idiotic woman.
Author's Note: Alright I set things up with Anko a little more due to the interest shown in her from the comments. She's a fun character to write actually, but the difficulty is a lot lower to get in bed than even someone who was forced into desperation like Hinata. This is because her relative intelligence is well... Naruto level... lol.
Anyways after doing a bunch of research on the subject, most medical staff are just ordinary people. If you know even the basics on how to give first aid and have some ninja skill, you're already a medical genin. The moment you achieve basic proficiency in actual medical Ninjutsu like the Mystical Palm you're already automatically promoted to medical Chunin.
The medical corps are made up of 11 people total. None of them are really qualified to teach medical ninjutsu as a whole. Their leader however, Nono Yakushi, is the only current medical Jonin within Konoha. You may recognize the name because this is the 'Wandering Miko,' former root operative and leader of the Medical Corps. The Nun who taught the current Kabuto almost everything he knows about medical Ninjutsu.
Edit: Many people are asking how Nono is alive. This is an AU. I didn't find it realistic that Kabuto and Nono, both medical-nin, were unable to prevent a mere stab wound from claiming her life after Kabuto realized who it was. This is not consistent with what Medical Ninjutsu can do.
Orochimaru's analysis of the situation is also inconsistent. If his analysis of Danzo's plans were true, then how could Danzo allow Kabuto to live his life outside of Konoha under Orochimaru's wing? And then Kabuto is free to come back under his own true identity as a Konoha ninja for the Chunin exams? This doesn't make sense!
Danzo and Orochimaru worked together many times within the series. Orochimaru was motivated, he had even prepared a whole lab for Kabuto by the time after the situation for their conversation. The whole entire thing screams premeditated!
There were also many other jutsu to erase memories within the series - especially within root. The solution of killing each other is completely unnecessary for a man of Danzo's methods. You have to look at the motives of each character and potential benefits. Nono was still a useful tool to Danzo, and Orochimaru needed an assistant. Kabuto was baited like a fish here.