The following morning, Saul went out for one of his bi-weekly treatments for Kito's daughter, Sayuri. Once she saw him, the girl slipped off her bed and grabbed a nearby walker. With its help, the girl was able to use it to support part of her body weight as she made her way towards Saul.
In the following month, the girl had made remarkable progress. Her legs went from a state of complete atrophy to something usable. She still trembled whenever she walked, but the girl was determined to make progress in the hopes of finally being able to walk on her own again. Sayuri was a small child on the outside, but on the inside she was remarkably strong for her age at heart.
"Ah, so it's Doctor Quack. Are you here for today's treatment?"
The girl had never forgotten the lengths Saul had pushed her to in order to accept his treatment. Even though it was effective, the spoiled brat never openly showed any gratitude towards him. He received this nickname as a result.
Saul's eyebrow twitched.
"Just doctor is fine, you know."
"Doctor Quack, Doctor Quack!" She stuck out her tongue.
Saul sighed. He would not argue with a child.
"Why'd you get up anyway? You should lie down and stay still for treatment."
Sayuri shook her head. "Mother is here!"
"Mother? Sayuri, stop causing trouble. You absolutely need to keep up the treatment if you want to get better soon."
A voice came from behind him, causing Saul to turn slightly. "Don't worry, I've already taken care of that for the day."
He came face to face with a blonde woman. She was tall, young, and beautiful. Dressed in a nun's habit, she wore black clothing with a long hood. Golden bangs shimmered down like the first rays of dawn across the morning expanse of the sky and draped over her forehead. Past her round rimmed glasses were soft emerald green eyes that looked as if they would be better suited for an older woman. Her eyes curled at the sight of him, and her lips curved into a soft smile.
She was carrying a tray of pancakes and milk.
"May I come inside?"
Saul made way for the woman. She set the tray down by Sayuri's bedside, then glanced back at Saul. She chuckled seeing his blank stare.
"Mother?"
Her smile grew wider. "So you still remember this old woman. Imagine my surprise when I heard the name of the person who had been treating Sayuri-chan all this time! I never knew you'd show such talent with Medical Ninjutsu, little Saul. How have you been?"
The woman's voice was light, cheery. She was Yakushi Nono, the Wandering Miko of Konoha. Director of the Konoha Orphanage and Jonin leader of the Medical Corps. Saul bowed his head.
"I've been doing fine Mrs. Yakushi."
"No need to put on airs, child. I'm still the same woman who raised you! Mother is still just fine..." She gave him a look over, inspecting his build, appearance, and gear. "Goodness, you've grown so much! I barely even recognize you!"
"While you were on vacation, I was tested to see if I was suitable to be a ninja. I passed the Chakra refining exam, so I made it into the academy."
The woman smiled sadly.
"Didn't Kanpu take care of you?"
"I didn't want to bother the old man, mother. He already struggles enough with the orphanage as is. And you know how Keiri is..."
Nono smiled, "Despite how stern the woman might appear, she loves all of you guys, you know? I'm sure they'd love to catch up with you Saul-kun. Especially Kanpu. The man practically saw you as his son, you know?"
After the scare with Kito, Saul was reminded he couldn't just bury his head under the sand. Sooner or later he'd have to deal with his status as an orphan. He left clones surrounding the hospital to ambush Himari, the hospital receptionist, in order to look through her memories. Since she was a civilian, she offered no resistance. (I wonder if any of you guessed this to be the case, especially after I foreshadowed it earlier.)
From the woman he had learned many things. Details about the woman she called mother, various people within the orphanage, etc. He had even seen his body within her memories, although way younger in her remembrance and much, much different. It was no wonder the woman had not recognized him.
Various issues were also revealed however. The Wandering Miko, Yakushi Nono, was not just some random Konoha Jonin. She was a former root operative, bound by the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal. Mother to many, including Kabuto. Her three year 'vacation' had been nothing but a lie - Danzo threatened the orphanage in order to force the woman into an important intelligence mission.
Also, based on the information he learned, Yakushi Nono should be in her early forties. Was the woman using the transformation Jutsu to make herself appear younger? Saul couldn't tell.
Regardless of such information, one of the few snippets of info he knew about his original body is that on every form and registration, the man had called himself Saul rather than Yakushi Saul. This was an important distinction. His absence from the Orphanage was not a change that he had only implemented after he came into his body, but rather something standard that the boy had likely been doing for years.
"There is no need, mother. I don't want to trouble you guys any further."
"It's not trouble at all, child." She wiped a tear that had been forming at the corner of her eye. "Please? Kanpu doesn't have much time left. He'd love to see you again, just as I have..."
After all of this he still couldn't reasonably refuse, right?
"Alright. I'll just check up on Sayuri and then we can go, ok?"
The woman smiled like nothing had happened. Had he been manipulated just now? Interesting...
He walked to the Sayuri who sat on the bed happily, wolfing down slice after slice of pancake and guzzling down milk.
"Sayuri, I'm just going to check on you ok? I want to see how your recovery is progressing."
"Hmmph!"
The child allowed it though. Regardless of how she acted openly towards him, the girl was just a little spoiled. She didn't actually distrust him or mean bad - she just had fun with her antics.
Saul activated the Mystical Palm and entered into the sight of his Medical Ninjutsu. He had grown quite familiar with the child's body in a medical sense at this point, having treated her multiple times now. He quickly shifted his focus to areas which were normally injured. Yet he found nothing. Not only was the girl healed perfectly in multiple areas, but her cells also seemed rejuvenated and full of life.
He bet in the short term if she were injured, her body would immediately act on its own and instantly heal any wound. This kind of healing was crazy! It was on par with how he imagined the self healing of the creation rebirth technique, the magnum opus of the legendary medical genius Senju Tsunade. Was this the medical prowess of the retired Jonin, Yakushi Nono? Saul deactivated his mystical palm.
"So?" Nono inquired with a smile, "What did you think of this old woman's healing?"
"Incredible." Saul spoke with awe.
Sayuri gloated with glee, "See! You're just a Quack! Nothing compared to a real doctor!"
Nono however spoke in his defense, "Sayuri, Saul is already an incredible medical nin in his own right. Your body had already deteriorated to the point where I really couldn't do much about it. I just don't have the Chakra for this kind of daily healing... This old woman already cheated a little to heal you to this extent today."
"But mother! Saul's a big fat meanie!"
This girl needed to learn the difference between fat and muscle.
"I must have scared the girl when we first met. She was doubtful of my healing capabilities, so I offered to give her an example, so she'd believe me."
"What kind of example?"
"Her father, Kito, was right there. I was going to cut his arm and heal it just like new for her to see."
Sayuri interjected, "Could you really? You're just a quack!"
"Come on Sayuri, based on your recovery now, you yourself should know better than anyone I'm no quack."
"..."
The girl turned her head defiantly. Nono could only shake her head smilingly. What the heck was this? She had half expected something outrageous, but it turns out Saul had just not been thinking about how his actions would come across. How could he resort to practically threatening a child?
Nono scolded lightly, "Saul, did I raise you like this? Think about how your actions must have looked to Sayuri! She must have been scared for her father's safety!"
The child nodded along with every word, looking at him gloatingly.
"No, you didn't, Mother. Sorry for my careless actions, Sayuri. I didn't mean anything bad by them."
"Hehe, apology accepted Dr. Quack!"
"And Sayuri. You should stop making fun of Saul. Hasn't he helped you so much already? A virtuous woman should know how to express gratitude. Only spoiled children would refuse to be thankful for an opportunity like this."
"...Thank you then, Saul-san."
She glared at him full of resentment once more. How in the heck was this his fault?
Nono clapped her hands. With a smile, she announced to the two of them.
"Now! I should really be on my way. Sayuri-chan, make sure to say 'Hi' to your father for me! And Saul-kun, I'd be really happy if you could come visit the orphanage, but I'd understand if you can't today... You must be busy preparing for the final stage of the Chunin exams, after all."
"No, no, It's really fine. I do have other things to do today, but I can head over this evening. I'll also be bringing my girlfriend."
Sayuri looked over at him in shock and horror, "You have a girlfriend!?"
Nono merely smiled. "We'd all love to see you again, Saul-kun. It seems there's still much for us all to catch up on."
Author's Note: Woke up early to finish this one today before work, another ch coming later on in the day after. I hope you all enjoyed it!
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