Loud exertions of air that the Senju exhaled could be heard echoing along the hallways of the hospital as Sousetsu lay on a bed with blood dripping from both legs and his right shoulder. The sounds of the wheels screeched with each few feet while three ANBU squad members accompanied him and the staff that wheeled him to the nearest operating room.

"Hang on, Sousetsu-Sama!" one ANBU member encouraged him. His weary eyes had shown shades of grew under his eyes as he mustered the strength to look up to the ninja that spoke. Everything was a blur to the Senju. The only clear visual objects didn't last for even a short moment as they blinded him every now and then. The bright lights that lit the hallways at the dead of night accompanied his road to determine his fate.

"Not...Chi..Saki..." he attempted to order but his words were only ignored, falling on deaf ears.

"We need the best you have!" the voice spoke again.

Sousetsu turned his head on the bed where he rested. He did not want Chisaki, of all people, to see him in this state. He was worn and tattered, profusely losing his blood to the point where it could spill his life shortly after. He was complexion grew pale. It seemed the bandages that he fitted himself with around his legs slowed the bleeding enough for him to arrive here but not much time could be left. He could feel it. A wisp of air trying to crawl its way out from his lungs during his long gasps of struggled breathing. His last breath.

They soon arrived to the destination and awaited the doctors on duty to tend to him. Being at this time of night, it was expected to be quieter than he imagined, but Sousetsu seemed to stir up quite the ruckus with staff and ninja alike. He heard others sprinting up the hallway but lacked the energy to turn and so lay there in wait.

"Squads Two and Four of the ANBU are missing!" a rather hesitant voice shouted.

"What do you mean? They were right behind us!" the familiar voice explained. Muffled words were starting to be heard as Sousetsu was beginning to lose consciousness.

'Missing..? They came from the village... They came...' Sousetsu gripped the side of the bed and lifted himself over to see the ANBU that were nearby.

"It was an insid--!" Sousetsu stopped halfway through his sentence as he fell from the bed to land with a large thump, from the metal on his armour, on the flat ground below, spilling blood across the floors. He breathed out heavier than before with that same struggling gasp for air each time.

"Get that armour off him!"

The night shift was usually always a dull affair. On most nights, very little happened to Chisaki usually never worked the night shifts. Most of the actual work in the hospital happened during the day. At night, it was just a matter of keeping an eye on the patients and making sure nothing went wrong. Very few doctors worked this late, as it was mostly night nurses who patrolled the wards constantly vigilant for the sick and injured. Which was why, it was strange for the head doctor, Chisaki Senju, to be here to so late at night. The woman herself was currently in her office, writing in a rather large book. Keeping records up to date with integrity was always an important thing with Chisaki. It was one of the many reasons that the efficiency of the entire hospital had improved ten fold since she became head doctor. With a small sigh, she placed the pen down she was writing with. Standing up from her desk, she walked over to the window. Currently, she had her formal attire beneath her doctors white coat. This was standard for her most days. She liked to look official no matter what part of the hospital she was working in. In her pocket, and somewhat visible, were a pair of Medical Corps gloves. The same symbol could be seen on the back of her coat, and beneath that two other symbols. One with the Senju symbol and the other identifying her as the head doctor in kanji. Looking out of her window she couldn't see much due to the low light provided outside. Sighing, she continued to gaze out the window.

On nights like these, she would be away from Sou and would not see him for quite some time. She'd come home, and he'd head out to work. They wouldn't see each other until tomorrow evening. That was a somewhat saddening thought to Chisaki. From the corner of the room, she heard a soft flap of wings. Then in another instant, a weight pressed down on her right shoulder. Turning her head somewhat, she looked directly into the eyes of her snowy white owl companion, Tomomi. Basically, her ever present secretary. She smiled at her friend, before a small beeping sound behind her snapped her attention sound. On her desk there was a phone that was only connected to the hospital, so staff could get her whenever they needed her and other places outside the hospital could bother her. Turning around slowly, she pressed the button for the intercom. A wispy, panicking voice spoke to her then. "Miss Chisaki! Um... I... You need to get down to the operating room on floor one as soon as possible, ma'am...." Chisaki froze for a moment. It was extremely rare for her to be called for an unschedulred appointment, it was an emergency. Speaking quietly, she replied "I'm on my way"

Releasing the pressure she had on the button, she walked out from behind her desk and headed straight for the door. Opening it, she was faced with a long and somewhat narrow corridor. On this floor only offices and archives could be found as well as the staff room. Closing the door behind her, she locked it tightly. She began to half-jog down the corridor towards the elevator. On her shoulder, Tomomi held on tightly as the two walked. He spoked, in that inquisitive voice he had "Mistress, what do you think it is? We have several capable doctors on shift right now...." For even Tomomi to be baffled was something. His intelligence outshone practically everyone in the shinobi world without many peers to his natural intellect. Chisaki shrugged in response, causing him to be jostled. Sighing, she reached the elevator and pushed the button. The doors slid open, and Chisaki slid inside. Hitting the button for the first floor, the doors slid shut and she began to descend. Taking the time to breath, she spoke "I have no clue, Tomomi, but we shall find out soon"

The doors slid open with a small ping sound as they arrived on the first floor. In comparison to the silence of the top floor, this one was in uproar. Shinobi and hospital staff alike were dashing around, yelling at each other. The sheer cacophony of sound proved to much, and Chisaki wouldn't perceive anything specific. Directly outside the elevator door was the nurse who called her via the intercom. She looked... Pale. Chisaki sighed, as she began to walk towards the emergency operating theatre. The nurse bleated somewhat, and trailed behind her, unable to speak apparently. As she walked by, shinobi gave her looks, sympathetic ones. Curious, she merely watched them as she quickened her pace towards the operating room.

The second the doors opened, Chisaki instantly felt all the colour drain away from her face. There were three ANBU, tossing pieces of armour to the side. Several doctors were around whoever was on the bed. From behind the three bodies, she could see very little of who was on the operating bench. Yet, she could see enough. Silver hair, the kind she knew very well. Her hands had found their way nestled among it multiple times.... It was Sou's hair. The room seemed to freeze as they finally realized that Chisaki was stood in the entryway. Tomomi flew off her shoulder and landed on one of the monitors, that was bleeping in rhythm to Sou's heart beat. It was a strange thing, to hear that sound by a machine and not from his chest directly. Walking forwards, her heels clacked against the metallic floor of the room. The ANBU moved to reveal him at last. She nearly screamed. Several cuts, profusely oozing blood could be seen. She breathed in deeply, as she bit her bottom lip. In a wavering voice, she spoke "Out, all of you out, I shall handle this." The ANBU looked like they were about to protest but the doctors knew Chisaki well enough to guide them out. As the door closed behind them, Tomomi flew over to it and sealed it, locking all three of them inside the room.

Breathing deeply, she looked at him. Her strong man, reduced to this?... A single tear fell from her face to land directly on his chest. Breathing deeply, she clapped her hands together and placed them above his chest. "Kōdo Kaishū-Hō" As she said this, a deep blue chakra enveloped her hands. She placed them over him, conveying her chakra into him to heal his wounds with her own chakra. A worthy sacrifice. She shook somewhat, but hardened her resolve to continue the jutsu. "Oh Sou... My beautiful Sou, what happened to you?...." Before her very eyes, his wounds began to stich themselves together. In her haste, she hadn't even checked his wounds, she was just healing him. Gradually, the recordings on the monitors balanced out. Chisaki watched him carefully, the single silver tear still sat in the centre of his bare chest.

1215
8683/9000 SS-Rank Med

The heart monitor began to rush as Sousetsu lay on the floor of the hospital's first floor. He felt the ANBU tugging at his lifeless body, struggling to remove the armour that he wore in battles before hearing the metal clashing on the ground nearby. His breathing quickened while it struggled to grasp the air he needed. His vision was fading with bright white only before utter darkness faded in shortly after. Nothing could be heard.

He found himself in a familiar place. It was covered with blinding white and accompanied by an oak door that stood out. He approached the door with slight haste, peeking out of the looking glass that it contained. He was here, in the hallway of dreams. Although he was not in the hallway, but a room that it contained.

"My, my how you have grown..." a familiar voice carried through the bright white room.

Sousetsu turned to see the owner. And there she was. Someone he had not seen in quite some time. Her beautiful locks of chestnut brown hair accompanied with a smooth and tender complexion. Her bright warm smile was enticing and comforting to those who gazed upon it. Her eyes seemed to have captured the stars as they twinkled softly within the room.

"Mother..." Sousetsu spoke with disbelief. He left the door in its respective place before approaching the woman who had brought him into this world. The woman who bore Sousetsu Senju. "What is this?" he spoke has he reached out to touch her face. He was interrupted however by a man who had simply appeared. There was no sound made and no other way in or out of the room apart from the door behind him.

"Your father and I have been waiting for you, Sousetsu-kun." she spoke with that same warm smile he used to adore as a child while his father crossed his arms, much like Sousetsu.

"-Kun..." Sousetsu remembered the time when he had taken this formality. He had not heard it since before he was Genin. With the nostalgia running wild, Sousetsu was taken aback. This was not real. He knew it. It couldn't be. He rushed over to the door and gripped the doorknob, twisting and turning but not making any progress. He continued his efforts with his bare fists pounding against the window pane in hopes to break it, but alas, he had failed once again. He stopped when it came apparent to the Senju. Looking out at the hallway of dreams he had realized that the door he resided within as at the end. There were no more memories beyond this.

"No..."

He turned to see his mother and father looking concerned towards their son. He could see it in their eyes. They were happy he was here, but saddened by how he arrived. His eyes widened, his teeth began to grind against one another as his jaw clenched tight. He fell to his hands and knees, his head sunk into his chest before it bounced with a small cry to accompany it. Droplets of water fell onto the ground below him before his hand found its way to his chest, clutching at his heart. He would leave behind so much in this world if he left now. So many treasured memories, the village, the people he loved, Chisaki. He couldn't leave Chisaki. Not like this. There was so much he had to offer her. He envisioned his own future with hers, having a family to call his own and growing old with the one person in this world he wished to take the same road as his. How could he die now?

"Why... Why does fate have to be so cruel..." he spoke with regret deep in his voice. His mother came and knelt beside him, placing her hand upon his back to comfort the man she once knew and loved.

"Sou--..."

"No!" he shouted as he edged backwards away from his mothers touch with haste and confusion. A roar could be heard from a beast in the hallway which led to a moment of silence filling the room. Everyone froze, almost afraid to move. But Sousetsu knew that roar. It was his own. The Azure Beast.

"I can't go! Not now!" he roared with the beast once more.

"...She was beautiful. Chisaki, was it?" his mother spoke with that warm smile and his father giggling in approval. "And a doctor too! I always knew our son was smart!" she giggled to continue.

Sousetsu looked up to see the two standing tall and stoically before him. He was definitely their son, that much was for sure. He carried their traits and character without realizing. He gazed a little longer before wiping the wetness from his eyes and giving off a slight smile once more.

"Yeah... Yeah she is. It was the first word I ever said to her." he said as he looked to the side and into the white of the rooms floor. "She was the only person to make me lose my train of thought." he added with a smirk.

"I still have unfinished business."

The Senju's mother and father both looked to each other with a look of concern once more. "You always did work too hard. On some days we would find you exhausted, resting by a tree stump." she lightened the mood with another fun story to tell of his past. "Come Sousetsu-kun. It's time to go home." she said with sincerity.

"Forgive me, Father, Mother, but my home is no longer with you." he closed his eyes deep in thought, picturing Chisaki once again with such a vivid picture in mind. "My home is waiting for me."

It began to rain. In the bright white room it appeared as if the heavens opened to lend Sousetsu their tears, washing him clean of any worries and welcoming him into a new life beyond death. But he turned away from it, unwilling to give it the satisfaction of his attention. His parents began to fade, becoming transparent with the blinding white background, before vanishing before him. He felt their presence leave and turned to confirm  his suspicion. With his parents gone, Sousetsu proceeded to lay upon the ground, allowing the rain to pour on him. It was refreshing, burden free, yet he was willing to sacrifice this.

He heard the sound of a heartbeat monitor beyond the door in the hallway of dreams. He sat up and hastily made his way to the door. Beyond the looking glass he saw himself laying on an operating table with Chisaki by his side. He smiled that same warm smile his mother wore. Looking at Chisaki, he knew she was strong. If she loved him like he did to her, this must have been hard for her to overcome. He gripped the doorknob and twisted once more except this time it opened with ease. He walked in slowly. The Sousetsu laying on the table sat up, passing through Chisaki like he was a ghost in the wind, and looked at him before standing and walking him by with a tap on his shoulder. He knew he had to take his place. It was his time to come back home, and so he did.

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The pain could still be felt as he had not fully healed. The bleeding had stopped however and his heartbeat was back at its regular pace. His breathing also returned to normal, no longer struggling with each gasp for air. His weary and baggy eyes slowly opened to find the woman he had come back for. "Beautiful..." he spoke with the strongest smile he could muster. His arm reached up to meet hers, gripping it tenderly to let her know he was back with her.

Once, twice, thrice. The beating of Sou's heart began to slowly increase as her chakra began to flow within him. The beeping of the monitors progressively increased in tempo as well. His body, was fighting back against the chains of death. That was the way in which Chisaki always regarded death, as a set of chains attempting to drag down a persons soul into eternal damnation. Chisaki's breathing shook as she worked, and her body alongside it. The wounds on Sou's skin were slowly closing. As she moved her hands over the wounds, she could watch as muscle tissue began to sow itself back together. It was almost as if, an invisible set of hands were knitting his very body back together. The wounds were extensive, and deep. As a result of this nearly half an hour had passed before the majority of them had completely closed. Sou's eyes remained closed, but his breathing and heartbeat had once more become stable. Sighing deeply, Chisaki removed her hands. She shook them, as one does when flicking water off their hands after washing them. The blue chakra around her hands vanished promptly as she ended the jutsu. Chisaki sighed deeply, as she used the back of her hand to clear the excess moisture away from her eyes.

Watching him now, the pained expression from Sou's face was slowly abating. His eyes slowly opened as he was lay down on the operating table. Chisaki very nearly began to cry again as he whispered to her, the first word he ever spoke to her. Smiling softly, she took his hand in hers and merely smiled, one solitary tear leaking out the corner of her right eye. Squeezing his hand, she let go of it to very gently. After that, she wiped the tear from her face with the back of her hand. She then proceeded to walk over to the door. Opening it, she discovered several ANBU and most of the hospital staff outside the room. Speaking in a gentle tone, she said "The Hokage will be fine now, I need some of my staff to take him up to the ninth floor, the largest room we have free... ANBU, I highly suggest you take up defensive positions around his room and outside the hospital" The ANBU, after collective sighs of relief, all vanished from the corridor. A couple of the nurses and doctors edged into the room. Carefully, one of the nurses collected his fallen armour and blade while the others began to wheel him out of the room.

Chisaki walked alongside his bed as the hospital staff advanced towards the elevator. Her hand was resting on his arm again, lightly touching it as his bed continued to progress towards the elevator. The elevator in question was reserved for situations like this, so as a result it was bigger than the rest of them. The small group arrived before the elevator eventually, after walking through a series of corridors. Chisaki pressed a button on the wall to call the elevator down to the first floor with her right hand. As they stood waiting, Chisaki's left hand constantly remained on Sou's arm, not moving from it's position there. After a few short moments, the elevator pinged open. The hospital staff carefully moved Sou into the long elevator, Chisaki staying right beside him. One of night nurses pressed a button on the inside of the elevator labelled with a green number nine. With another ping noise, the metallic doors of the elevator slid shut silently, and their ascent began. No one made a sound as the elevator began to climb up through the hospital. The only sounds were the quiet breaths being taken by the hospital staff, and of course Chisaki and Sou. With another ping sounding from some hidden speakers within the elevator, the doors slid open. Beyond the doors, a white corridor could be seen, wide enough that four people could walk down it side by side. Of the corridor, several doors in a light green hue could be seen. At the far end of the corridor, a large desk could be seen behind which sat several nurses. At several intervals of the corridor, small alcoves marked windows or seating areas. The small party of doctors, nurses and the Hokage began to move down this corridor.

Walking past the doors, you could tell which ones held occupants behind them. Outside the door, a small plague could be seen made of a blackboard-like material, and a name could be seen written there in chalk. Walking past them, Chisaki checked to see which ones held occupants. Eventually, they arrived at one door which did not hold any occupants. From inside her doctors coat, Chisaki produced a small piece of chalk. After hesitating for a second, she wrote down his name on the plague. It now read "SOUSETSU SENJU - HOKAGE - RECOVERING" Opening the door, Chisaki helped the staff wheel Sousetsu's gurney into the room.

Hospital Room:

Once inside, with the combined efforts of all the hospital staff currently in the room, which included Chisaki, two doctors and three night nurses, they successfully moved Sou's body onto the bed inside the room. The doctors and nurses then proceeded to leave the room, taking the gurney with them. One of the night nurses, who had been carrying Sou's armour and blade, set said items down  on one of the two arm chairs within the room. Sighing somewhat, Chisaki sat on the edge of his bed and smiled down at him. From the look of it, he had fallen asleep again. Chisaki was gently holding his hand. Outside of the room, Chisaki sat a shadow flicker past. The ANBU were around. Leaning down, Chisaki kissed Sou's forehead for a moment, before sitting back up to hold his left hand again.

1008
317 used, 691 remaining
9000/9000 SS-Rank Med