Doctor Sasori

Bonjour

I sensed his presence before I saw him, one morning while I was tending to my gardens. Madara had not yet arrived, and the sun was only beginning its climb above the horizon. My chickens clucked to themselves in their den, enjoying the morning meal I had prepared for them. Birds sang in the distance, and I knew there would be some deer nearby munching on the tree leaves that started to grow.

The boy's chakra came into my senses as I tilled the soil.

I knew it like I knew the back of my hand.

Curious as to his presence, I hopped over my fence.

Hashirama Senju, no older than six, was near tears when he saw me. "P-Please—! Can you help me? I-I'm looking for the doctor."

"I'm the doctor," I told him. "What's wrong?"

Hashirama didn't question the fact that someone (seemingly) his age was a doctor. He hugged his heavy cloak tighter and exclaimed, "My—My baby brothers are r-really sick. Pl-Please... I, I don't have any money, but..."

I waved him off. "Don't worry about that. I need to go back to my house to get some medicine, and then you can take me to your brothers."

Hashirama sniffled. "Thank you..."

I headed back quickly, grabbing a very standard assortment of dried herbs and premixed medicine. I shoved them all into my deerskin bag, and then I returned to Hashirama. The boy wasted no time at all in leading back to his compound where, like the Uchiha, nearly all members had fallen ill with tuberculosis.

So ill, in fact, none of them questioned my presence. He led me through their home, down wooden walls and empty rooms. At the very heart was a massive room. There were dozens upon dozens of mats on the floor, each one of them filled with a deathly ill patient. There were mothers, siblings, and friends gathered around each one, clutching each others' hands and holding back tears.

I momentarily ignored them, I followed Hashirama to two beds at the very end. A beautiful woman with long white hair, black eyes, and a stern expression sat primly between two beds. On one bed was a toddler around three, maybe four, that I recognized as Itama. On the opposite bed was... a baby, weakly breathing.

The woman, Hashirama's mother, was gently caressing both of her children. She lifted her head up when she saw Hashirama, and her eyes narrowed upon seeing me. "Hashirama, who did you bring?"

"This is the doctor, the—the one everyone in the village talked about," Hashirama stumbled over his words, but remained firm. "Pl-Please, Mom..."

Azumi let out a tight sigh, looking me over. "You truly claim to be a doctor?"

"Let me prove myself," I asked of her. "What do you have to lose?"

Azumi pursed her lips and looked away for a moment before she sighed once again. "Very well. Let me see what you can do."

I set to work.

Unsurprisingly, I saved them all.

H̰̝̔̓͐ͧ̚e͙̫̭̣̭͑̒ͣ̚l͙̣̬̈́̃͒̄l̩̱̮ͅo̪̩͑ͯ̀ͬ,̩̖̬̜͐͋ ̬̥̳ͯd̪͂ͫȍ̺̩͓͔̮ ̘͒ͩy̆̒̑o̖̦̘ű̝͔̱̙̄ ͙̭̫͕͗͂̓̾r̜̟͇̠͌̐ͭe̱̺̺̝m̰̭ė̮ͤ̑̐̀mͮ̄b̪̟̭ͧͭ̇̓ͅẽ̯̤͕́r̖ͫ ̗͒̀̍̂̉m͉̜̊ͯ̃̒͆e̱͉̊́̉̇ͧͅ?̟̝ͬ̓ͥ͗͗ͅ

I returned to my home later that night, tired from expanding my chakra, but immensely satisfied with myself for what I had done. Nearly a hundred lifetimes as a doctor really paid off, it seemed.

The Senju Clan was a lot more open about their gratitude than the Uchiha. I was hugged by nearly a hundred different crying people who couldn't thank me enough. Hashirama's father, the clan leader, returned while I was nearly finished and was astonished to see all the work. He had apparently gone out in search of another village's doctor, disbelieving a child-doctor would be able to save his clan. He came back empty-handed and was worried about what would befall his clan.