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Two days ago, Izuna was mortally wounded by the White Demon of the Senju after he somehow teleported behind Izuna. On his deathbed, Izuna refused any Senju healing, not wanting his clan to owe the Senju, and determined to see his decision through.
Madara suddenly marching into his sickroom, followed by a pink-haired kunoichi with facial fuinjutsu, is not what he expected.
“I lack any Senju blood. My parents were merchants who died to Ninja, my teacher was a woman with blond hair and hazel eyes.”
The pink-haired healer says calmly, eyeing Izuna’s injured side.
“My teacher was an old woman, how old I do not know, for she used a technique to hide her age; however, I know she was generations my senior. She lost her betrothed and little brother shortly after losing her parents, so she left, disavowing her home in her grief, swearing never to return.”
The tone in which she says home implies a lot, Izuna muses.
“She spent her days drinking and gambling, and when her funds ran low, she would seek out a Noble in need of healing and solve their issues for a private, discreet sum.”
The pink-haired healer had a sad look in her eyes as if wistfully thinking back on those days.
“Her grief drove her to improve her healing, while her failure to save her betrothed, who dyed bleeding in her arms, gave her a fear of blood.”
The pink-haired healer says sadly, before continuing.
“She was strong and brave, and I thought her to be the best healer in the world, so I somehow convinced her to teach me.”
She says with a wistful smile.
“She was so incredibly skilled, I don’t doubt she may have even slowed her own aging.”
Izuna grunts but doesn't comment as he lets the healer kneel next to him and get to work, her hands glowing green.
A few minutes later, Izuna decides to interrogate the not-senju healer.
“Friends?”
“I once knew a half Uzumaki boy with blond hair, blue eyes, energy for days, and a smile like the sun. We were children, and he had a crush on me, and I thought he was annoying.”
She says with a wistful smile.
“His parents were dead, and he lacked any Uzumaki bloodline outside of the vitality and massive chakra reserve common to that Clan. His father was a civilian nin who saved his mother from bloodline thieves.”
The healer continues, focusing more on the healing than on the conversation.
“The village ran afoul of the Kyubi, and they died protecting their son.”
She says sadly.
“He left following some wandering sage just before I began my apprenticeship. The Suppose sage struck me as unreliable and had more interest in peeking in women’s baths and smut than teaching.”
She muses aloud as she works.
“And what is the price for my healing?”
Izuna asks a few moments later, still suspicious.
“I want the Uchiha to kill something for me.”
Izuna takes careful note of that wording and the tightening around her eyes and the slight downturn of her lips. He decides to ask; it's best to know what his Brother is getting them into.
“Something?”
Izuna wearily wonders just what his life will cost his clan.
“It's called Zetsu. Allegedly, it is the Will of a trapped Kami. What I know is that it is indestructible, can possess people, and eats humans.”
Izuna stares, wondering if the healer is mad for a moment before dismissing that thought and focusing on the practicalities.
“And how do you expect the Uchiha to kill such a thing?”
Izuna really wants to know what this pink-haired healer expects them to do to such a creature if it exists.
“Destroy it with Amaterrasu, and if that fails, I suppose I will have to go to the Uzumaki for a seal. Divine fire is, however, my first choice.”
Izuna can’t help but make a face.