The Red String of Fate

Chakra Tears - Shizune

Another boring night in the back room of the bar, watching Tsunade lose her money.  Shizune stared at the wall, TonTon sleeping in her lap. It was nights like these she wondered how her life would have turned out if she had chosen a different path. It was always a depressing thought. Luckily, the barkeeper stopped her lament this evening, as he approached her and whispered in her ear.

"Kakashi Hatake is outside. He said it's urgent."

Shizune put TonTon down and quickly excused herself, hurrying outside. Kakashi looked awful.

"What is it?"

"Mizuka has chakra bleeding again. It's bad."

They dashed to the Hatake residence to find Mizuka still in bed, her legs bound and elevated. TonTon squeezed through the door as it was about to close. Apparently, she has enough of watching Tsunade lose this evening as well.

"I got it to stop. A little powered antler deer before Kakashi left did the trick. I just have to suture it. Sorry to pull you away from bed, Shizune. And TonTon."

Shizune laughed.

"Oh please, You know I was at the bar with Lady Tsunade. Watching her lose. Let me suture it for you, please."

Shizune took the needle and hypodermic thread and began to stitch the wounds closed.  Mizuka didn't look good.  Ton Ton jumped up and sat on Mizuka's chest, offering her comfort while Shizune worked. Mizuka held TonTon close and kept a brave face.

"I'm almost afraid to ask what happened."

"Kakashi tripped over me sitting on the top step and fell down the stairs outside of our apartment. I thought he snapped his neck."

"You two have had a rough couple of weeks."

Kakashi was standing behind Shizune, looking scared and small.

"I'm sorry Z..."

"Kakashi, stop. I shouldn't have told you I was leaving. It was a stupid threat. I was just upset because you attacked Sakura's parents. As much as I don't like them, they're her family. I don't want to orphan her. It's tough being on your own at 14. You know that."

Shizune had only heard the story from Tsunade.  Mizuka was beginning to look worse.

"Is that why you didn't attack them? Because they're Sakura's parents?"

She stayed quiet for a minute.

"Yeah. I haven't gotten to meet her yet, I would hate for that to be her first impression of me."

A small smile came to Shizune's face.

"You really do care about meeting her."

"Of course. I have a biological sister. I can't wait to meet her."

Mizuka suddenly looked  very pale.

"Ooh. Shit. I guess I've been running on adrenaline since Kakashi woke me up. I can feel the blood loss now."

She closed her eyes as Kakashi rushed to her side, holding her hand. For a moment, Shizune felt a pang of jealousy for the couple. She snipped the final thread as she watched Mizuka's head loll to the side. She had passed out. TonTon was rubbing her snout against Mizuka's chin.

"Mizuka! Mizuka!"

"She'll be okay, Kakashi. You did all of the right things."

He was cradling Mizuka in his lap, she could see tears forming in his eyes.

"TonTon and I will stay until you feel comfortable with how she's doing. She should wake up soon. Then, we'll get her hydrated and comfortable."

He turned away from her and coughed wetly, turning back with a wet mask of blood.

"Oh, Kakashi. Can I take a look?"

He nodded. She slowly pulled down his mask, revealing a face full of bruising splattered with fresh blood.

"It stopped for a while, but started again when I came to get you. I'll be fine. It's just a broken nose."

"Kakashi, that needs to be packed. Where does Mizuka keep her medical stuff?"

He pointed at the living room. She found the box and fished the packing gauze out of it, returning to Kakashi, still holding his unconscious wife.

"Your nose looks pretty straight. Did you set it?"

"Yeah. Not my first broken nose."

"Mizuka can take it out tomorrow."

She packed the gauze tightly up into his nose. He looked terrible, and she could tell it wasn't his nose. Mizuka began to stir.

"Ughhh. Oh god. What happened?"

She watched Kakashi kiss her forehead gently.

"You lost too much blood from your chakra tears and passed out. Shizune is here."

Mizuka still looked a little out of it as she touched Kakashi's face.

"Your face..."

"I'm okay. Shizune fixed me up. She fixed you up, too, if you remember that."

"Hmmm... Thank you."

Shizune left and returned with a glass of water.

"Drink this, Z. You lost quite a bit of blood."

As she drank her water, Kakashi moved her to the bed so Shizune could finish wraapping her legs in gauze as well.

"She'll be okay in the morning. I'm more worried about you. Are you going to be okay, Kakashi?"

"Yeah I'll make it. Just hope that things get better soon"

He turned and tucked Mizuka into the bed. She was already asleep again.

"Thanks for coming over here, Shizune. I think I'll be okay from here. If anything else happens, I'll run her to the hospital."

She gave Kakashi a hug.

"Everything will be okay. The Rinne Festival is coming up. Maybe that will make everything better. You know how much she loves festivals."

Shizune left the couple to heal, walking down the stairs with TonTon. She had barely reached the road when she heard a familiar voice call out to her.

"Shizune! Where did you go? I lost my money and then I lost you! The barkeeper said that you left with Kakashi."

"They're having a bad night. Mizuka was having issues with her legs. They're okay now."

Tsunade put an arm around her.

"Let's go home."

Shizune smiled at her Master. It was nice to visit other people's lives, but she wouldn't trade hers for anything.