Ch 21. Healing Shisui

Shisui POV.

As I was falling down, the wind rushing past me as the sound of running water became clearer and louder, I hoped with all my heart that Itachi would continue to thwart the Uchiha. A plan had been set in motion, one where I could do nothing to stop it. With both of my eyes gone, I was as good as useless in the greater scheme of the things that were about to happen. I continued to fall down as I prepared to smash into the water and everything would end, but what happened was against all what I could have ever imagined.

Instead of the cold water breaking every bone in my body, I seem to have landed in something warm and damp, hot humid air surrounding my very body. I could hear something breathing right above me, though it was so loud it couldn't be real. I could feel the very ground I was resting on move with every breath, the thrumming of a heartbeat beating almost unnoticeable beneath my hands. The only thing I could think of, was that I had been swallowed by something. Something very big.

My hands moved across the floor, feeling prickly large protrusions caress against them. A slimy liquis stuck to them, much like saliva but thicker. My actions seemed to set something off, as the floor where I was laying on began to rumbled, as it curled up and my body was immediately rolled up tight in what I now realized as a tongue. I tried to wiggle around, but was unable to move a single inch, as the remaining energy in my body seemed to leave me at this exact moment.

My body hung limp in the togue's grasp, as a soft chuckle escaped my at the absurdity of the situation I found myself in.

I couldn't help but smiled at my fate. I would still die anyway, if it was by drowning or by being eaten, it didn't matter. I would still die. Even if I survived this whole ordeal and the beast wouldn't eat me, I would still die from the poison flowing in my body.

Resigned to whatever may happen to me, I waited for the beast to swallow me and be done with it. The tongue that held me tight did not move as I waited for the inevitable.

I waited, waited, still waited.

Nothing happened.

I'm sure a lot of time should've passed. Why didn't it swallow me? Did it notice I was poisoned? Then why didn't it spit me out?

Too weak to even lift my body, all I could do was wait, which really streched my nerves thin. If I had to die, I would rather be done with it and slice my throat. It was odd that I hadn't died yet from the bloodloss, a thought that popped up and vanished as soon as it came.

Before I could muster the strength to move my body, a tremor went through my body and my surroundings. Suddenly the humid air changed to the fresh air of the forest and I felt the grainy earth below me. I had been released, as the tongue that had previously held me tight had now put me down as gently as it could.

I felt a huge amount of chakra behind me, slowly becoming small. How odd that I hadn't noticed it before, having almost been eaten by it. The amount of chakra was on par or even bigger than that of a tailed beast.

Footsteps were heard. My body tensed as I waited for what would happen to me next. No matter how prepared and ready I was to die, the unknown was still frightening nonetheless.

What I heard next shocked me so bad that a small chuckle escaped my mouth, as I couldn't contain tears from happiness yet sorrow as I recognised the voice of the person who spoke. It was something that almost broke me, as I didn't want him to see me in the state I currently was in. Having Itachi see me like this was more than enough.

"Shisui, what happened to you?"

The one who spoke was a boy I hadn't seen for three years, though his voice changed, becoming more mature and tinted with sorrow and anguish, I still recognised it. How could I not when Itachi and I had been teaching him whenever we had time.

Izana grabbed my arms and put me on his back as he brought me to somewhere. His strenght was surprising, as he carried me like I weighed nothing. Ah nevermind. I quickly connected the dots, as the monstrosity that I had previously thought would eat me was likely Izana himself. Izana was a Jinchuriki, one who's status was unknown in the village, even in the Uchiha clan itself.

"I'm sorry you had to see me in such a state, Izana." Was all I could say. I couldn't find any better words to share at the moment, nothing coming to mind to even explain my current predicament.

Izana only responded with, "Don't talk. Conserve your strength to get better."

As if I could get better. I kept my mouth shut as I didn't want to let Izana suffer, more than he was already suffering now. All I could do was smile helplessly at Izana's actions, as I still waited to die.

.

.

.

Arriving at the hideout, Ryuujin placed Shisui gently on the ground. Shisui hadn't moved a lot when they traveled, having settled down when they had secured their hold on his injured body and it was extremely worrisome how still he had become.

Ryuujin changed back into Izana and walked towards Shisui.

"Shisui, what happened to you." Izana said as he pulled Shisui on his back. The sight of Shisui's injured body was painful to see, the hollow eye sockets even more so.

Careful not to increase the damage Shisui already had, Izana fasted his hold on Shisui's arms that hung down beside his neck, making sure Shisui wouldn't fall to the ground when he moved him inside.

"I'm sorry you had....to see me in such a state." Shisui responded weakly, his lips already becoming slightly purple. He was obviously poisoned. Don't even mention the wounds on his body and the black hollows that had taken the place of his eyes.

Izana responded with, "Don't talk. Conserve your strength to get better." If he could use Ryuujin's technique well enough, he might be able to safe Shisui. No, not might. He would safe Shisui. He refused to let another one of his loved ones die in his arms. Not again.

Shisui smiled helplessly as he didn't seem to belief Izana. Izana dragged him into the small cabin and placed him on the bed. The house was dirty, clearly not having seen use in the recent years. It would suffice for now. Izana quickly lighted the place up and filled a bowl with water. He found some clean rags and quickly did a surface wipe of Shisui's body. It revealed to great extent of Shisui's injuries to the naked eye.

Luckily there weren't any weapon pieces stuck in his body, nor were there any major wounds that were life threatening on their own. None of the injuries were fatal on their own, yet the multitude of smaller injuries caused major blood loss, as well as the increased spread of the poison that had been inflicted on Shisui. Izana sighed in relief at the lack of threatening injuries, though it became a lot more severe as he focussed on what he had to do next.

"Ryuujin, correct me if I do something wrong." Izana said, as this would be the first time Izana would be using the special Yang technique on a human. Small animals were different than a human after all.

[Sure.] Ryuujin said as a faint presence could be felt in the room. Ryuujin had turned his complete focus on the task at hand, ready to intervene and help, should it be necessary.

Shisui stirred as he too seemed to feel it, but Izana stopped him. He pushed Shisui down, soft but stern as he put his hands on Shisui's chest and his forehead. A chakra began to form on both of his hands, spreading their warmth slowly but surely as Izana prepared himself to use this technique.

[You can start now.] Ryuujin said.

Izana nodded. He poured a small trickle of Yang chakra in Shisui's head, slowly increasing in amount, while the hand placed atop Shisui's heart guided the chakra through Shisui's body. It was difficult, as he had to converge Shisui's as well as his own chakra inside of Shisui's heart and needed to push it through Shisui's whole body.

Feeling the poison with his chakra, Izana drove it all towards one spot. The process was taxing as he needed to control his chakra into tiny strands and let in pass through all of Shisui's blood vessels, his body tissue, down to his very cells.

Wherever his chakra passed, all the poison would be driven away. The damage the poison had caused would be imediately repaired by Izana's chakra, leaving only healthy body tissue behind. Shisui's own chakra would immediately take its place, reinvigorating the now healed body and chakra channels.

Once all the poison was flushed into one spot, Izana moved his hand that rested on Shisui's head to that spot. Izana's hand morfed into Ryuujin's. The draconic hand swiftly flashed down as the sharp claws sunk into the poisoned spot. Shisui trembled in pain as the claws sank deep into Shisui's stomach, spasming and throbbing against Ryuujin's claws. The pain was immense, as Shisui had not been sedated, having nothing to sedate him with. Knocking him out would have helped even less, as he would have surely woken up from the pain itself.

The claws, that had penetrated deeply around the chakra cluster in Shisui's stomach, seemed to absorb the poison effortlessly. As more and more poison was absorbed, the claws changed color from a slightly transparant black to a purplish black color.

Having extracted all the poison, Izana retracted his claws, while the remaining chakra healed the puncture wound of his claws. All that remained were the scars of his claws, a testament that he was not yet proficient at the technique.

When all of his chakra was completely extracted, there was not a single wound left on Shisui's body.

Izana stared at his black claws and questioned Ryuujin what to do next.

[Well, isn't it obvious? You absorb it of course. That way your body will become immune to the poison. Not that you would easily be poisoned, but it still helps to be safe rather than sorry. It's a win-win situation.] Ryuujin said light heartedly as he wasn't that worried.

Shisui was healed and the poison was gone. This technique wasn't even originally meant for poisoned people, but hey, Izana figured out a new way to use it. He should be very proud of Izana. Originally it was used to help Tailed-beasts to reform their bodies if they had died. Ryuujin happily hummed in pride and a sense of accomplishment for having taught Izana well.

Izana didn't follow what Ryuujin was thinking and just did what he said. His claws quickly regained their original color, while Izana could feel a slight burning sensation in his body which quickly faded.

Izana looked at Shisui and was happy to see he was healthy again. The steady breathing calmed Izana a whole bunch, as Shisui had at some point had fallen asleep.

Izana breathed a sigh of relief, followed by the slight burning of his eyes that he hadn't noticed before.

"Ryuujin, my eyes hurt." Izana said as he pressed his hands firmly against his sockets.

[Ah, don't worry about it. It's your Sharingan. Apparently seeing Shisui try to commit suicide triggered something, along with the absorbing of the poison. It will take a while to calm down, so try to get some sleep if you can. We can see what they look like tomorrow.] Ryuujin said unconcerned.

While Izana tried to sleep through the pain, his eyes continued to swirl in black and red colours, not calming down in the slightest.