Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Curative Career of Kaori the Ninja Nurse ❯ Lee's Operation ( Chapter 16 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Lee's Operation

The next morning, the air buzzed with activity. It was the day of Tsunade's official inauguration and it seemed all of Konoha had surrounded the Hokage administrative building. Everyone strained his neck looking up toward the rooftop, where the participants were gathered. The ceremony started with the elders giving the usual speeches, praising the former hokage, giving the illustrious background of the new hokage, and promising good things to come. They were unreasonable expectations given the state of the village, enemies lying in wait, and Tsunade's alcoholism, but the elders had no other choice of hokage candidates, and the village needed a morale boost.

Kaori was stuck with the congregation of medical staff, who had immediately called her over when they saw her looking for a good spot to view the ceremony. She was obligated to be with her coworkers, but she really wanted to be with Kakashi. During the ceremony, she desperately tried to get a glimpse of Kakashi among the thick crowd, tiptoeing her highest. She barely heard any of the speeches, but she could hear Otoha and Houshou “discussing” Tsunade's past.

“Is it true she's afraid of blood?” asked Otoha.

“Yes, after the tragic death of her lover, she had a mental breakdown and developed hemophobia.”

“How ironic and weird. I mean, she's a medic nin and a super shinobi. She should be use to blood and death. Sure, someone close to her died, but to develop a phobia from that… just seems like a weak personality.”

“Don't let her hear you say that. She's known for her physical strength…”

“And her boobs! Are they for real? I mean, she's like what 50 or something, and she looks like she's still in her twenties. I heard she uses a special jutsu, but you'd think she'd have some humility and tone those down.”

“Ha-ha, they are quite nice. But yours of course are much nicer, and they're real for sure!”

So it seemed her ex-boyfriend Houshou, the handsome medic nin, was now involved with Otoha. A twinge of jealousy passed through Kaori, but she shook it off. They continued to gossip about Tsunade's past, including the deaths of her brother and her lover, her fear of blood, her withdrawal from Konoha, her gambling addition and debts, and her love for drink. None of it sounded positive at all. But it didn't concern Kakashi so Kaori didn't care. Despite her comrades' doubts about Tsunade, and her terrible bedside manner, she did heal Kakashi and for that Kaori was grateful.

The crowd roared as Tsunade appeared. She had refused the official white hokage robe and stuck to her usual attire, a gray tunic and a green robe, but accepted the red and white hokage hat to keep the sun out of her eyes. She said a few words and ended the ceremony by announcing that she would protect the village as the Fifth Hokage. Everyone clapped even louder, especially because her speech was so short. Many remembered Sandaime's tedious pontifications (twice!) and Yondaime's inspirational speech laden with overly long quotes from his predecessors.

Kaori finally caught a glimpse of Kakashi standing at the outer fringes with Sasuke. But he was too far away for her to attract his attention. The crowd began to disperse as the ceremony ended. She managed to make her way over to where she saw him, but he had already gone.

What to do? It was her day off and she had no plans other than a few errands. She wanted to visit Kakashi again, but she needed a good excuse. Or did she? What the hell, she could just go up to him and ask him out directly. Worst he could do was say “no” and she'd probably never see him again. So with that thought she headed toward his abode.

`It's only been a couple of days since he left the hospital. Maybe he needs more time to recover. Maybe I should leave him alone for a while,' she argued with herself, but her feet kept on walking in the same direction. `Maybe he's not home...'

A small part of her wished he wasn't home so that she would have an excuse not to confront him. Why was she doing this? Was she really in love with him? She wasn't an adolescent with a crush. She didn't believe in love at first sight or undying love. And what did she actually know about him? Still she felt that she did know him, better than anyone else. So with that thought, she rang the doorbell.

Kakashi answered the door quickly this time. Without a word of greeting he said, “I'm sorry, I'm on the way out. Got a mission.”

“A mission already? Your recovery is more important! Are you sure you'll be okay?” Kaori asked with a frown.

“Thanks for your concern…” he almost said mom again, “but I'll be fine. Seems that Konoha is accepting every mission that comes along to prove we still have the manpower. Sigh, turns out Tsunade-sama is a real slave driver. So…uh…what can I do for you?”

“Oh, it's nothing. Nothing at all. I was just in the neighborhood. But since you're busy…maybe when you get back…maybe we can go out to dinner for some real food... when your system's back to normal…”

`How cute, she's trying to ask me out.' He appraised the brave young woman in front of him. Kaori was out of uniform and dressed in normal clothes - an understated but flattering light blue dress (green was more her color but she resolved never to wear green again) with dark blue trim and cap sleeves, and high heel black sandals. She had dressed more formally because of the ceremony. Her hair was loose and settled nicely on her shoulders, without a stray strand anywhere. A vision of loveliness. A sad longing stirred within the veteran shinobi, but he automatically said in his disinterested way, “Er, maybe, gotta go, bye.” He closed his door and ran off, leaving poor Kaori feeling embarrassed and confused again.

Kaori had never had a problem getting a guy she was interested in, albeit there really weren't many, so she was not happy with Kakashi's ambiguous attitude. He did not exactly agree to go out with her, but he didn't say no either. He seemed genuinely grateful to her and she had made it quite clear that she was interested, so there were only a few reasons she could think of as to why he did not take the bait. He obviously had no one special in his life so either:

1) He was not interested in women. (No way!)

2) She was not his type. (So what was his type? Did she need bigger boobs?)

3) He was not in a position to be involved with someone. (Was he really too busy with the backlog in missions?)

4) He had some type of sexual dysfunction. (How tragic! But there was nothing in the medical records indicating that.)

5) He was a confirmed bachelor. (Psych problems?)

She sighed and spent the rest of her day running her usual boring errands, and wondering when Kakashi would be back from his mission and why she was chasing after him. She knew men could be really dense. Unless you spelled it out for them, they wouldn't or couldn't comprehend women's feelings. With that thought, Kaori felt encouraged, that it was not because he did not want her, but because he was an idiot like most men.

At their semi-monthly dinner, her family pressed her again for information about the mysterious man in her life. While serving the chicken curry over rice, her mother accused, “I really think you're making him up just to shut us up, so we won't fix you up with someone else. If you don't bring him around soon, we're going to assume it's all a lie and you'll have to go on a series of blind dates with no objections. That Gai-sensei was a good catch…”

This time Kaori replied, “Oh, you will be meeting him very soon. He's on a mission now but next time we have dinner together…”

“Really? At our next family dinner we'll get to meet him? I'll have to cook something extra special. Can you at least tell us his name? If he's on a mission he must be a shinobi…”

“Just be patient. He likes his privacy so I shouldn't say anything until…”

“Ten to one no one shows up,” said Kaori's bitchy sister-in-law.

“He'll show up!” Kaori said defensively, but inside she had a sinking feeling that things would not be so simple.

-...-...-...-

Lee's operation was scheduled for the next morning. Tsunade spent the early part of it prepping the medics and nurses who would be assisting her. She looked over at the assembled team with approval. They seemed competent enough, but they were all fairly young without her many years of experience. Still, she was the one performing the operation and they were only present for her to borrow their chakra if necessary and to stabilize the patient. Luckily, Shizune was there and she could always count on her.

Lee was placed under general anesthesia. The complicated operation could take several hours, well past lunch time. The many bone fragments had to be converted to harmless material easily assimilated by the body, while the bones of the left arm and leg had to be regenerated. There was little room for error since if even a small fragment remained, it could block a blood vessel, causing instant death.

Tsunade's long blonde hair was tucked underneath a medic's cap, causing her to perspire more than what the stress normally would have caused. It had been a very long time since she had had to perform an operation of this complexity. Could she still do it? But she could not allow her confidence to waver. She had to save this boy. This odd boy in green who, like the loud one in orange, represented the spirit and future of Konoha.

Lee lay face down on the gurney with his back exposed. Tsunade performed a series of seals and then placed her hands hovering over the upper part of the thoracic vertebrae, slowly moving up and down his spine, repeatedly, again and again, for hours, until the emanations given off by her chakra indicated that there were no more bone fragments. By the time this first part of the operation was complete, Tsunade's arms were almost numb, and even her great reserve of chakra ebbed low.

She took a short break as the medics positioned the boy's left arm and leg for the next stage of the operation. Although this part was technically less hazardous, it was just as risky because of Tsunade's fatigue. Now she had to borrow chakra from Shizune and the other medics. They stood in a ring around Lee, each touching a part of his body with one hand and holding hands with the other. They infused Lee's body with chakra while Tsunade re-channeled it into her own.

The medics were impressed not only with Tsunade's ability, but also because her hands were so steady despite her drinking right before the operation. Luckily, Lee was an orphan with no relatives to file a malpractice suit should the operation fail.

After what seemed like a tense eternity, Tsunade finally sighed and nodded, signaling the medics that she was done. She happily announced to the room, with a rare genuine smile, “The operation is a complete success!”

The participants all clapped, cheered, and heaped mounds of praise on their new hokage. Then Kaori was given the privilege of telling Gai the good news while the rest of the group cleaned up and handled post-op monitoring. It was not so much that they thought Kaori and Gai were a couple and it would be best coming from her, but because nobody wanted to be on the receiving end of Gai's reaction once he was informed of the good news. So poor naïve Kaori, oblivious of the staff's true reasons, exited the OR.

Gai had been waiting all day in the waiting area just outside the OR. Kaori found him nervously pacing the floor and ceiling. He stopped and dropped down as soon as she appeared.

“Lee?! How's Lee?!”

Kaori tried to keep her face as neutral as possible, but she couldn't help but break out into a smile when she announced, “Lee's operation is a complete success! He's fine. He should be out of the OR in a little while…”

Gai immediately grabbed Kaori in a tight bear hug and spun her around and around and around until she felt her stomach lurch. “Isn't it wonderful! Now the three of us can be a real family, together!”

`Family?! I already have one crazy family! That's it, no more of this!'

“Put me down, please!” ordered Kaori. When Gai finally complied she straightened out her uniform, took a deep breath to recover and said, “Er, yes it is wonderful. You really should go thank Shizune-san. She's been very supportive of Lee and she was Tsunade's primary assistant during the operation…”

“Shizune? Yes she's been very helpful and quite affable, indeed…”

“In fact, I think the two of you have a lot in common…”

“You know you are the only one for me!” Gai protested, suddenly suspicious of Kaori's intentions.

“Er, well, about that…you see…I…uh… really meant to tell you earlier, but…umm… with Lee's condition…” Kaori stammered. `I need to tell him the truth. I need to make it absolutely clear...' Kaori finally blurted out, "I'm in love with Kakashi!"

“What? What?! WHAT?!” NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Gai grabbed his head with both hands and let out a scream that came from the depths of his soul.

Somewhere in Otafuku Village, over five miles away, a distant cry of anguish was heard reverberating throughout the mountains, lasting for nearly a minute.

-...-...-...-

Author's Notes: If you haven't read my ramen girl stories, please do before the next chapter since I integrate some elements from there.