The Yellow Flash and The Village of Mokugakure

[Kakashi Hatake]

Continued from Return from the Graveyard

Kakashi and Minato had found themselves in the village’s infirmary after making their way through the Tangled Greens and back to the gates of Mokugakure. Draped in liberal quantities of gauze and various healing salves, the duo had quickly been plopped into cots and assessed by the medical staff. The pungent aroma of antiseptic made the scarecrow wish that more folks in the forest village were versed in the medical ninjutsu of which he was so accustomed. 

“Well, well. I’m glad you two eventually turned up. Mind telling me where you ran off to?”

The wounded pair snapped to attention at the inquiry, leveling their gaze on the stern face of the First Morikage. She crossed her arms over her chest, tapping her foot expectantly. 

“Uh, well…” Minato began, raising a finger to respond.

“You left Kito alone in the woods, Fourth,” Tsunade responded brusquely. “I realize the boy is competent, but that was just careless.”

“I didn’t leave by choice,” Minato replied, almost indignant. “We were summoned.”

“Summoned?” The blonde kunoichi repeated, her anger dissolving. “Explain.”

“It felt a lot like being summoned to the Omniverse had,” Kakashi offered, sitting up pin-straight in bed. “Teucer was his name. He needed our help.”

Minato nodded vigorously. “Yes, he pulled a good many primes to help him break a curse placed on him by an evil Warlock.”

“Warlock,” Tsunade said, touching a finger to her chin. “Sounds like a bedtime story to me.”

Kakashi shrugged. “I have a feeling that kind of thing is the norm around here.”

“I can’t argue that, I guess,” The Morikage responded. “Well, I really am glad to see you two back here. Can never tell what’ll happen tomorrow lately.”

“I’m sorry we took so long, Lady First,” the golden-haired hokage said, bowing slightly before wincing in pain. “Oof!”

“Take it easy, Fourth,” Tsunade replied with a hint of a smile playing on her lips. “Wouldn’t want to embarrass yourself, eh? I’d offer to heal you two personally, but I need to keep my chakra up in case we’re attacked. We’re overdue for an orc raid.”

“Understood,” Kakashi said, nodding. “We’ll just heal the old-fashioned way.”

“Luckily for you two, that won’t take too long,” the Morikage assured them. “Primes heal over time naturally. I’ll have one of our few medical ninja come by soon and set any broken bones you have, but the rest should resolve itself relatively quickly.”

“That’s great to hear,” Minato responded, smilingly warmly. “We appreciate it, right Kakashi?”

“Yeah,” the sharingan-wielder nodded. “It’s a big help.”

“Speaking of big help,” Tsunade said, walking toward the door. “When you’re feeling up to it, I have something I’d like to discuss with you two. Bye for now!”

Kakashi turned his gaze to Minato as the Morikage left the room. The two shinobi exchanged a look of confusion for a moment before laying back against their respective bunks.Tsunade seemed to have missions galore for the likes of them; was the village really that poorly staffed? Kakashi supposed he would have to work to expedite his healing if the village truly was in such dire need of manpower. We'll see, I guess.