Chapter 66 - Healing

A/N: (Sorry about lack of chaps. Guess my adhd got the better of me again. Work plus taking competitive disc golf more seriously has taken up most of my time and energy. When I say competitive, I mean like actual leagues and professional tournaments with monetary rewards. Never thought I'd enter some level of professional sport, yet here I am. Hopefully, I may also get a new work schedule that will give me a three day weekend instead of one day, which would give me more time to write and whatnot. Fingers crossed. Anyway, here's a new chapter. I'll try to keep up on posting at least a few chaps every week for now and readjust into some sort of normal schedule.)

Side note, since I can't recall if I mentioned it or not, I won't be considering Boruto lore as canon in this AU. I will be keeping things a bit more grounded in contrast to what shonen jump forced Kishimoto to write to keep milking the series for money. In other words, no psychopathic aliens to ruin the world and characters Kishimoto created. Boruto doesn't exist. It can't hurt you.

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Under the battering of the heavy rain, Jin breathed deeply several times until his heart calmed down. Gradually, as adrenaline faded, pain assaulted his nerves. He ignored the urge to let his body fall unconscious and retrieved one of the healing scrolls out of his Chat Group inventory.

Opening the scroll revealed a complicated etching of green symbols written in spirals. Even in the rain, they refused to wash away. His magic desperately surged through his arm holding the scroll as though trying to activate the magic before he could pass out from exhaustion.

The moment his magic reached his fingertips, the green symbols glowed with a bright green light akin to the leaves of a tree reflecting morning sunlight. A small green magic circle spread out on the ground beneath him. Gas-like magic particles rose up from the circle and entered his wounds. All of the punctures, cuts, and bruises on his body slowly stitched themselves back together. As the seconds passed, he felt his energy levels drop quickly. Not even a minute passed before his stomach twisted and quaked as though sucked dry by a swarm of mosquitoes.

Only another minute or so passed before the green magic circle faded away, leaving Jin lying on the ground with his face contorted in a strange manner. The effects of the scroll persisted in mending his injuries, yet he could not find any solace in that due to a nagging hunger that gnawed at his mind and body.

As soon as he could move freely again, he pulled food out of his inventory. Granola bars, chips, dried fruit, and lukewarm cans of soup alike all disappeared down his gullet regardless of how soggy the rain made them. He only stopped upon realizing that nothing remained of his prepared foodstuffs.

"...That was two weeks' worth of food, and I'm still hungry," Jin grumbled.

Body devoid of strength, he collapsed back into the mud and pinched the bridge of his nose. Soaked down to the bone, he shivered and clicked his tongue. As much as he wanted to sleep, though, he forced himself to stay awake since there was still plenty to worry about.

Forcing himself to his feet took a grand effort, but he eventually succeeded. Legs wobbly, he ambled back to the barrier he left around Tsunade. Thanks to the fires still burning nearby even under the heavy rain, he saw the woman's tear-stained cheeks from afar.

Even from afar, the woman noticed him approaching the barrier. Her eyebrows jumped upward and her eyes widened upon seeing the gaping holes in his clothes and the subtle green glow fading away from nearly-healed wounds.

"...Impossible," Tsunade mumbled, briefly losing concentration on her medical efforts. She shook her head after a moment and quickly refocused on Shizune.

Disregarding a brief glimpse of wariness from the woman, Jin entered the barrier. Without ceremony, he collapsed to his butt and leaned back against the barrier wall before asking in a tired voice, "How is she? Can you save her?"

The only answer Jin received was a quiet sniffle meant to hide an anxious frown.

"Not good, then, I guess," Jin quietly replied to Tsunade's silence.

The space within the barrier fell eerily quiet. Jin closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the barrier wall.

'I've got two scrolls left, so using one here should be fine. I'll ask Jellal if he can send more later.'

With that in mind, Jin sighed, pulled out another of the healing scrolls from his phone behind his back, and said, "Mind if I try? Nevermind. Just step aside."

"No… If she is going to die in somebody's hands, then it should be mine," Tsunade retorted in a trembling voice.

"You're too stubborn. I have the means to help her. Just look at my wounds," Jin grumbled in a slightly impatient manner out of excessive hunger and tiredness.

Tsunade looked over at him. Then, she looked at his torn clothes again. Most of his wounds had finished healing at this point, only leaving behind a tiny bit of scarred tissue where the worst of his wounds had been. Tsunade hesitated for a few seconds, but eventually stopped using her medical ninjutsu and pulled her hands away from Shizune.

Without saying anything, Jin opened the scroll, pointed it towards the bloodied girl, and channeled magic into the scroll. Like before, a green magic circle appeared. The symbols on the scroll gradually faded away as the horrible wounds on Shizune's body healed at a visible rate.

Eyes wide, Tsunade mumbled, "What kind of Jutsu is this?"

Jin didn't bother answering and stuffed the now-useless scroll in his only functional pocket for the time being. Instead, he warned, "This healing ability is great, but it uses up the body's energy in the healing process. Her wounds are really bad, so her hunger might be even worse than mine."

"I- I see… We have some food in our travel bags, but they are out there somewhere," Tsunade said, eyes glued to Shizune's wounds that closed before her eyes. She felt as though she was witnessing a miracle since even Jinchurikis did not heal this quickly. It almost reminded her of some of the legends of her grandfather's vitality.

"If you have food, then go get it," Jin grumbled, opening a door in the barrier.

Tsunade nodded and body flickered outside. She returned moments later with soaked or ruined luggage. She also held a terrified pig in her arms.

For the next few minutes, Jin and Tsunade observed the healing process in silence until Shizune's eyes fluttered open. The girl's stomach roared the moment she woke up. Rather than worry about her previously perilous situation, she clutched her abdomen and cried.

"Food… please…"

"Yes. Here," Tsunade anxiously replied while doing her best to ignore the leftover blood around her as she shoved rice balls and smoked meat into the girl's mouth.

Off to the side, Jin watched through half-closed eyes as the black-haired girl devoured food regardless of how much of her blood stained it. He then focused on the massive scars left behind on her body once the spell finished its work, which he assumed to be a result of how much time passed before he used the scroll on her. Or perhaps her injuries were simply that much worse than his own. Either way, it didn't matter that much. In the end, she lived.

Completely exhausted by everything that just transpired, Jin felt himself unable to think straight anymore. He yawned. His head drooped slightly, then jumped up, then drooped again. Before he could pass out, though, a reddish glow quickly entered his sight. Adrenaline forced him back to alertness, and his eyes whipped open. However, the moment he saw the person flying down toward the barrier, he sighed and relaxed again.

Clapping his hands, Jin separated the barrier box into two sections, blocking off the area where Tsunade was feeding Shizune from himself. Jin then opened a door for Konan to enter next to him.

Amber eyes looked down at Jin's exhausted form and tattered clothes in contemplative silence for a few moments. Then, she muttered, "You won."

"Yeah."

Jin's eyes closed against his own intentions after that, and they refused to open again until morning came.