Whumptober, Day 21 - Saiyo / Kazuko

Prompt:That’s where the blood is supposed to be (bleeding through bandages, pressure,blood matted hair)
Fandom:Naruto
Pairing:Saiyo / Kazuko (Healing Hands OC)
Rating:T (language)
Words:1229
Notes:For@cinlat who gave me this pairing and now I’m obsessed with them

———

It was either too early or too late for this shit, Kazuko couldn’t decide which. He rubbed his eyes to remove the sleep grit, but they wouldn’t focus. Belatedly, he remembered that he wore glasses and blindly fished for them on the nightstand. He felt hungover without the pleasure of drinking first. He hadn’t gotten enough sleep to be woken up by the urgent sound of his pager dancing on the nightstand.

The code didn’t tell Kazuko much beyond the fact that he was needed at the hospital. It wasn’t an emergency in the sense that everyone was being called in, though. Someone had requested him specifically and was making enough of a scene to get their way. Kazuko threw on some dress clothes since it was close enough to the start of his shift that there would be no point to come home after.

Fifteen minutes after he’d gotten the call, Kazuko made it to the hospital. The lights were lower at this time of night, but the same buzz of energy remained. He walked toward the nurse’s station to check in, but didn’t need to ask where he was needed. Growled threats echoed down the hallway, drawing Kazuko toward them. When he rounded the doorway, he found the attending doctor and two nurses arguing with a young woman.

“What’s going on in here,” Kazuko asked, keeping his voice calm in the chaos of angry voices.

An all too familiar face snapped up at the sound, and Saiyo grinned. “See? How hard was that?”

“Do you know this woman,” The on-call doctor asked, furrowing his brow as his gaze shifted between Saiyo and Kazuko with obvious confusion. At Kazuko’s sharp nod, he frowned. “Did you also know she’s a shinobi?”

“I was aware, yes.” Kazuko answered, eyeing Saiyo over the man’s shoulder.

Okabe-sensei proffered the medical file that he’d been reading. Kazuko took it and skimmed over the mostly empty page. The man tsked under his breath. “You understand that standard procedure is to refer them to the Anbu medic. We were going to page—”

“And, I told them no,” Saiyo growled, swatting at the nurse who was attempting to clean the blood off her face. “I don’t want to see her.”

“You don’t get to just pick and choose your medical care,” the remaining nurse snipped, still struggling to get a read on Saiyo’s vitals.

For a moment, Kazuko thought that Saiyo was going to stick her tongue out at the woman. He sighed. “No harm done.” The nurse made a disapproving sound under her breath, but Kazuko ignored it. “I can take things from here.”

Saiyo flashed a triumphant grin at the medical team surrounding her as Kazuko tossed his bag onto a chair and dug out his stethoscope. For a minute, he thought that Okabe would argue with him. It was still night shift, the man could tell Kazuko to leave if he wanted. With a final shake of his head, the man tucked a pen into the chest pocket of his lab coat. “Fine, she’s your problem now.”

Kazuko nodded and waited until the rest of the staff filled out to turn his gaze on Saiyo. Now that it was clear that Sakura wasn’t going to be called, the girl laid back on the bed with a sigh. Kazuko crossed the room to wash his hands, glancing over one shoulder. “He’s right, you know?”

“Blah, blah,” Saiyo mimicked, folding an arm over her eyes. “Can you get over here and give me something? My head is fucking killing me.”

Kazuko dried his hands and took in the state of the girl on the bed. Saiyo’s face was drawn and pale, blood streaking down the left side. Her hands rested on her stomach. Frowning, Kazuko lifted her shirt. The wound that he’d bandaged less then three days ago had a streak of crimson running across the gauze. He frowned. “You reopened your wound.”

“Yeah, sorry about that.” Saiyo closed her eyes, then pulled away when Kazuko’s fingers walked across her scalp. “Ouch, that hurt.”

“Lacerations tend to do that, especially somewhere sensitive like the scalp.” There were several shallow gasses hidden in the green tresses, but the blood had dried and reopened multiple times, making it difficult to tell where the wounds were. “We’re going to have to shave this.”

Saiyo peeked open one eye. “Do it and I’ll kill you.”

“If you’d stop picking bar fights for no good reason, I wouldn’t have to.” Kazuko chided and lifted a cloth to clean the worst of the blood away from the skin. He shook his head as he worked. “Whoever he is, he’s not worth it.”

Laughter slid through Saiyo’s lips, but she didn’t meet Kazuko’s gaze “You don’t know that. Some people are worth the hurt they cause.”

“Well, I may not know him, but he’s not worth getting yourself killed over.” Kazuko pulled the sodden bandage away from Saiyo’s midsection and frowned at the torn stitches. “And, that’s where this is going to lead.”

Saiyo offered a lazy smile, face relaxing as the numbing agent that Kazuko had injected took effect. “There are people worth dying for out there.”

Kazuko laid the hypodermic aside and studied the woman’s expression, wondering what the statement said about her mental state. He had no way of knowing if the words came from a twisted sense of humor or someplace darker. Kazuko dipped his head. “Sometimes you’re better off finding the person to live for.”

Silence answered the statement. When Kazuko looked up to check Saiyo’s vitals, he found the woman’s golden eyes studying him. Her lip curved into a smirk. “Is that your way of asking me out? Because, if so, it needs some work.”

Warmth rushed into Kazuko’s cheeks, half embarrassment and half discomfort. “No, that wasn’t what I meant.”

Saiyo chuckled as Kazuko finished tidying her stitches for the second time. As he started to rebandage the area, cool fingers brushed against the back of his hand. Kazuko jumped and dropped the gauze. Saiyo laughed. “So, what you’re saying is that I have to be the one doing the asking out?”

Kazuko frowned, trying to determine if the woman was making fun of him or not. Her lopsided smile suggested otherwise, but the words left him reeling. It hadn’t been that long since his last relationship failed, and that wasn’t counting the disaster with Sakura. He didn’t need more complications in his life.

“Come on, doc,” Saiyo prodded. “I can see the way you look at me.”

A hand caught Kazuko’s tie and dragged him forward. Before he could think of a convincing argument, Saiyo’s lips were on his. Colors flashed in his vision, and the stale taste of old tequila coated on his tongue. Kazuko’s lower lip ached from the tug of her teeth when he pulled back. Saiyo grinned. “Tell me you didn’t enjoy that.”

Kazuko shook his head and tightened his hand into a fist to stop the tremble that rushed through it. “I think that was unprofessional. This is my place of work, not some bar to hook up in.”

Saiyo cocked her head to the side, her grin morphing into a smirk. “That wasn’t a no, though.”

Laughter rumbled through Kazuko’s chest as he snipped off the end of Saiyo’s stitches. He inclined his head. “It wasn’t a no.”

Whumptober, Day 17 - Saiyo and Kazuko

Prompt:Field Care 101 (“please don’t move”, hemorrhage, dread)
Fandom:Naruto (Healing Hands)
Characters:Saiyo / Kazuko (both OC)
Rating:T (language and maybe gore a little?)
Words:1851 (lol oops)
Notes:This story is part of Healing Hands backdrop stories, if you’re following that, it occurs around the next two chapters but won’t be featured in the main story. For @cinlat who trusted me to write these two meeting for the first time

————————————–

It’s been a week, Saiyo reasoned as she walked through the darkened village. I’m not desperate to go back, I’m considerate. Tenzo wasn’t in a good place the last time I saw him. I just want to make sure that he’s doing okay now. There’s nothing more to it than that.

Saiyo ignored the fact that she’d spent most of her last night with Tenzo passed out in his bed, too drunk to stand up. She’d nurtured the hope that he’d join her at some point. He hadn’t. Saiyo couldn’t tell if Tenzo wasn’t interested in her sexually, or if he was worried about blurring the lines between professional and personal. Sometimes, she thought he let her get close to him because they had a connection. Other times, she thought it was all an act

Unbidden, the memory of Tenzo’s dead weight on her shoulder rose in Saiyo’s mind. She felt the slippery warmth of his blood running between her fingers, heard the wheeze of his final breath.

“No,” Saiyo growled, earning a startled look from a woman on her left. She leveled the stranger with a cold stare until they scurried down a side street. Saiyo blew out a breath. Tenzo hadn’t died; she’d gotten him back in time. He was perfectly fine, just busy. If anything had happened to him, someone would have told the Anbu.

When Saiyo paused outside Tenzo’s apartment, the curtains were drawn. She toyed with her hair, tucking it behind one ear before allowing it to fall over her right eye. Then, she shook her head. Her appearance didn’t matter. Tenzo didn’t care how Saiyo looked either because he wasn’t interested, or because he liked her regardless of how she looked. Drawing a deep breath, Saiyo knocked on the door.

After nearly a minute, Saiyo heard the latches click free on the opposite side. The door opened a sliver. “Why are you hiding—” Saiyo paused, surprised to see green eyes staring back at her. Anger swelled in her stomach. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

Sakura huffed out a sigh and rolled her eyes. “Is there something I can help you with?”

“I needed to talk to Yamato,” Saiyo growled, almost forgetting to use the man’s codename in her anger. Surely Sakura didn’t know him well enough to use the other. Saiyo tossed her hair from her face with a flip of her head. “It’s none of your business.”

Sakura ran a hand through her hair, then opened the door a fraction wider. “Is it urgent? He’s not really up for visitors at the moment.”

Rage blotted Saiyo’s logic, sparking angry red streaks at the edge of her vision. She squared her hips and shifted the weight onto the balls of her feet in anticipation for a fight. “I’ll let Yamato decide that. Besides, who do you think you are? A lonely little medic looking for some Anbu excitement because you can’t go on missions anymore?”

Sakura’s lips twitched at the insult, but she didn’t rise to the bait. If anything, she grew more calm in the face of Saiyo’s storm. “I’m not ‘some little medic’. I’m head medical consult for all of Anbu—”

“Is he hurt,” Saiyo interrupted, placing one palm against the door to push it open. “If he isn’t injured, Yamato isn’t any of your damn business. Or did you come to take him off duty too? Another fuckting manipulation to get your way.”

Anger poured out of Saiyo, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. Sakura might be the medic assigned to Anbu, but that didn’t give her a right to interfere with their lives. She needed to know her place. “Isn’t it bad enough that you put us through all that shit at the hospital? Nobody wants to talk about their feelings. Realshinobi don’t bother with that shit.”

“Oh, you’re clearly mission ready.” Sakura rolled her eyes, then drew a breath to collect herself. “You should go home. Yamato doesn’t need this kind of chaos in his life right now.”

“You don’t get to decide that.” The snarl that rose in Saiyo’s throat would have made even hardened enemies step backward. Sakura didn’t move, even when she shoved the door open to slip into the apartment. Tenzo wasn’t on the couch or the kitchen, so she moved past Sakura’s outstretched arm and deeper into the apartment.

Despite Sakura’s babbled warnings, Saiyo opened the bedroom door. It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness inside. Once they did, she blinked and tried to clear the image away. Tenzo lay on the bed, curled on his right side as violent chills shook his body. The smell of old vomit and sweat clung to the room. Droplets stood out on Tenzo’s forehead and darkened the underarms of his t-shirt. He didn’t look toward the door.

“What’s wrong with him,” Saiyo hissed, spinning to face the woman behind her. “What did you do? He needs—”

“A medic?” The smugness in Sakura’s voice was infuriating. “Don’t worry, I have him well in hand.”

Saiyo opened her mouth to argue, but Tenzo cut it short by crying out in pain. She tried not to feel betrayed when Sakura’s name tangled in his throat instead of hers. The pinkette moved toward the bedside while Saiyo backed from the room, bile burning the back of her throat.

—-

The neon lights seemed brighter for the soft buzz of alcohol in Kazuko’s system. He’d drunk just enough to take the edge off another bad day at work. Sakura hadn’t been to work in almost a week, and even if Kazuko wanted to know why, he wasn’t sure who to ask. The patient load wasn’t that difficult without her, but the paperwork had started piling up on his desk. He needed to dedicate one evening this week to catching up on the stack. But, not tonight.

Kazuko filled his lungs with the cool evening air, then exhaled to clear it away. A bite of autumn felt refreshing after the summer’s heat. He’d probably need a jacket soon. Nearby, something clattered to the ground, then a loud hiss split the quiet. Kazuko frowned. There weren’t a lot of strays in Konoha, but it wasn’t unheard of either. He paused by the mouth of the alley and peered into the gloom to make sure everything was okay.

A puddle of blood glistened in the moonlight, pulling Kazuko deeper into the shadow. “Hello,” he called. “Anyone there?”

Someone or something had left a streak of blood along one wall, long lines suggesting that someone had dragged a bloody hand across the stone. He frowned and increased his pace. “If you’re hurt, just stay where you are. I’m a doctor. I can help.”

“Fuckin’ doctors already helped enough,” slurred a voice from beside a trashcan. “Fuck off.”

Frowning, Kazuko sat his bag on the ground and held up his empty hands. “Let me see that you’re alright, and I’ll be on my way.”

The mumbled response was unintelligible. Kazuko took in the scene before him, years of medical training leaping into practice without thought. A puddle of blood spread beneath the girl’s body, pulsing from multiple wounds. Golden eyes were opening and shutting rapidly as she fought to hang on to consciousness. One trembling hand held a needle next to a gaping slash over her stomach. She’d put three crooked stitches in the skin, but it wasn’t enough to hold it closed.

“What’s your name?” Kazuko asked, eyeing the more pressing injury on the girl’s right arm. A jagged cut ran elbow to wrist, bleeding profusely. She hadn’t tried to close it, probably not realizing how quickly she was going into shock. “Can you tell me what happened?”

“She had no right,” the girl murmured, eyes fluttering shut. Her lips smacked together, the scent of alcohol overwhelming when she breathed out a curse. “Bitch.”

Kazuko reached up to loosen the tie around his neck, thankful that he hadn’t gone home to change before getting a drink. He studied the arm wound for a moment, then knelt. Blood soaked through the knee of his pants as he wrapped his tie around the girl’s bicep, a couple of inches above the elbow. Using his free hand, he dug a pen from his bag and positioned it on top before tying the cloth a second time. “Can you tell me what happened?”

“They fucking pulled knives,” the woman mumbled, chin sinking toward her chest as she snorted. “Like chunin stood a chance against Anbu.”

Kazuko secured the device around the woman’s upper arm, frowning. “You’re a shinobi?”

“Obviously., I’m—” The girl hissed and jerked into a sitting position when Kazuko turned the pen and tightened the tourniquet around her arm. “Ow, that fucking hurts.”

Kazuko nodded without talking his eyes away from the wound. The hemorrhage slowed, then stopped. He breathed a sigh of relief before resting a hand on her shoulder. “Yeah, sorry about that. Let’s have a look at this cut on your stomach.”

Dragging some gauze from his bag, Kazuko clipped off the girl’s terrible stitches and pressed the white fabric against the gash. She arched and hissed, but she didn’t pull away. Kazuko held the pressure for several long seconds, then taped it off. He rocked back onto his heels. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”

The girl smiled, head cocked to the side as she studied Kazuko from a different angle. “My pride stings a bit if you want to examine that.”

Despite everything, Kazuko managed a chuckle. “I’m going to have to take a rain check, especially since I don’t even know your name.”

“Saiyo,” the woman exhaled and closed her eyes. Kazuko was almost certain that she’d fainted, then she repeated herself. “My name is Saiyo.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you,” Kazuko offered a small bow. “I’m Takeda Kazuko, and we’ve got to get you to the hospital. Then, I can page the Haruno-sen—”

Saiyo grabbed the lapel of Kazuko’s shirt, amusement clearing from her eyes like he’d imagined it. “Not Sakura.”

Kazuko frowned. “Haruno-sensei is a talented medic. She’ll be able to cure your injuries in minutes instead of weeks.”

“I don’t care, I’d rather die than ask for her help.” Saiyo pushed Kazuko away, and shook her head. “Actually I’m feeling much better now, I’ll just be on my way.”

“You’ve lost too—” Kazuko started to warn the woman that she shouldn’t make any sudden movements, when she pushed onto her feet. While her training undoubtedly gave her physical prowess, it couldn’t master everything. Saiyo’s eyes rolled back into her head as she collapsed into Kazuko’s arms. Sighing, he continued. “You’ve lost too much blood to stand up without help. Your blood pressure will drop, then you’ll faint.”

Easing Saiyo to the ground, Kazuko shook his head. He checked her pulse to make sure she was stable enough for him to get help, then lifted the woman into his arms. Kazuko silently cursed his aversion to the gym as he staggered forward two steps; shinobi made this look much easier than it was.