My Sunshine

Save Her - Iruka / Clinging To Life By A Thread - Mizuka

Iruka yawned as he began to run through the rain; he was cold, wet, and already ready to be home, even though this mission had just started. It was summer vacation for the Academy, so Iruka was back out on missions if the village was shorthanded. And they were. He didn't mind going on missions, it's just that he wasn't used to them anymore, especially as the newly appointed Principal. Luckily, his team consisted of Choji and Shino, two of his former students and very competent shinobi, so he was hoping that they could breeze through this and return home quickly.

He was so lost in thought that only a minute into the mission, he tripped over a large mass lying on the ground, falling face first into the mud. He looked back, rubbing the mud from his eyes, trying to see what he fell over.

It looked like a person.

"You okay, Iruka Sensei?"

"Yeah, hold up."

The rest of the team stopped and watched as he drew a kunai and approached with caution. Rolling the mass over, he could see that it was the bloody and dirty body of a woman. Her clothes were mostly ripped off of her body and she was covered in bruises and lacerations. Her kimono was pushed up around her waist and she was bleeding from between her legs as well. There was also a clear shine between her thighs that could be seen through the dirt. Whoever hurt her had raped her as well. Her skin was ice cold.  She looked to have been beaten to death. Or, so he thought until he saw her lip quiver. He put two fingers to her neck: a pulse, although it was very weak. There wasn't much time to save her. He picked her up, pulling her kimono down.

"It's a person! She's still alive! We have to go back!"

Iruka turned, and immediately began to sprint back, slipping in the mud on the way.

He led the way back to the village, desperate to save her life.

***

Mizuka was about to walk out the front doors of Konoha Hospital, ready to finally be home with her family and relieve her husband of baby duty. It had been a long day, especially with that strange Ryujin and his 'miracle drug.' And his bad attitude. She was going home, until she spotted someone running full speed toward the hospital in the rain with what looked like a body in their arms.  It was a sight she hadn't seen much in this time of peace, and it was sight she didn't miss. But, here she was, with the strong feeling that she wasn't going home for a while. He tried to stop quickly, stumbling in front of her, but he cradled the figure, keeping it from hitting the ground. He was breathing heavily, on his knees.

"Please... help her...."

He looked up at her. She had never seen fear quite like that in his eyes. Mizuka fell to her knees next to them. The body's fingers were blue, and Mizuka was going to guess that it had choked on its own blood, if whatever beating it had hadn't killed it before. She placed two fingers on the side of its bloody neck, shocked that there was still a pulse. She shouted into the double doors.

"GURNEY!"

Two orderlies rushed out with a gurney and Iruka, with the orderlies' help, hoisted it onto the gurney.

Mizuka rushed inside behind them, dropping her bag behind the front desk and directing the orderlies to take the person straight to a trauma room. Ino was on duty with her, and she followed her Master without a word. 

Upon closer inspection, the person appeared to be a woman.  She wore an elaborate kimono which was ripped open, made heavier by the blood it had soaked in. She was beaten worse than a veteran shinobi. This woman had been a victim of trauma for years. She was emaciated and smelled like rotting blood and death. Mizuka placed an oxygen mask on her face, strapping it around her bloody head. Looking over at her student, Ino was crying silently as she began to wipe the blood from the woman face gently. Mizuka placed leads on her bloody chest, trying to figure out where they were with her faint pulse. Flipping the machine on, it was faint, but it was there.  If she was still breathing, them maybe she hadn't choked on blood.  Mizuka unpackaged a sterile syringe, taking a small vial of adrenaline and sucking it up. Ino was finishing placing an IV in her thin arm and taping an oximeter to one of her fingers. Mizuka placed the needle into the IV port, emptying it.

That's when she coded.

"Fuck!"

Mizuka ripped the oxygen mask off of her face and ripped her own lab coat off, practically hopping onto the bed. This was going to be close.  When they turned her, the clots must have slid down her throat.

Mizuka began to do chest compressions on the young woman, hoping that she could gather enough strength to get the possible blood out of her esophagus, but she knew that the woman was already clinging to life by a thread. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Ino try to push an upset Iruka out to the hallway. She hadn't even realized that he was there.

"IRUKA! OUT!"

He moved to the hallway, shocked, and Ino shut the door.

"Come on, Sweetheart. Breathe.  INO! SUCTION!"

But before Ino could set the machine, the woman's body jolted and her gag reflex kicked in. Mizuka and Ino turned her to her side as she began to throw up clotted blood. Mizuka caught it in a basin; it was second nature to her at this point, catching vomit. As she was dry heaving, Mizuka put the mask back on the woman's face. Summoning her chakra orbs, she slowly ran her hands over the woman's body.

"Suspected broken left hip, suspected broken right arm at the elbow..."

Ino took notes shakily on the woman's newly started chart. Mizuka finished hooking up the bag of saline, praying that this woman wouldn't flatline again. It was still going to be close. However, as she was receiving fluids, her heartbeat became stronger, very slowly. As the adrenaline began to really take effect, Mizuka noticed her nose was bleeding inside of the oxygen mask.

"Her nose is broken. Can you hand me the packing?"

"Yes, Sensei."

Mizuka removed the woman's mask carefully and felt the bridge of her nose. Crooked. Mizuka took a deep breath and snapped her nose back into place. The blood began to flow harder. She packed her nose tightly with rolled gauze before placing a new mask on her face, throwing the bloody one to the side. Mizuka stood and stared at her.

"She's one tough lady. I'm interested to hear what she has to say when she wakes."

"Where do you think she came from?"

"I don't know, but with that kimono, not from around here. Where did Iruka go?"

"I sent him down to exams so he could get a physical. He looked like he ate dirt before he got here."

Mizuka popped her head out of the door, peering down the hallway. Choji and Shino were sitting far down the hallway, waiting to find out what was happening next.

"Choji! Shino!"

She motioned for them to come inside. A moment later, they were there, looking sad.

"Can you two give me some context? How did we wind up here?"

Shino spoke.

"We were leaving the village and Iruka tripped over this woman's body. He found a pulse and rushed her back here."

Choji nodded in agreement.

"That's all we saw and heard. Not much to report. Oh, but her clothes were ripped up and her kimono was up around her waist."

Mizuka could feel her own face lose color. She was afraid that this would also be a rape case. They didn't come in often in Konoha, but they took her back to a dark place in her mind, when Hidan assaulted her. She turned to Ino, calmly.

"Please mark all of that in her chart."

Mizuka thanked the men but before she could send him on their way, she could hear footsteps thudding in the hallway, getting closer. Iruka caught himself on the doorway, stopping abruptly.

"Is... she alive?"

Footsteps followed him.

"SENSEI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

Sakura stopped behind him and peered over his shoulder into the room.

"What the fuck?"

Mizuka couldn't help but give him a kind smile.

"She is right now, thanks to you. I don't plan on losing her."