38 Chap.36 Hungry and thirsty

Hunger.

That was the first sensation Tony had when he regained consciousness, followed by thirst.

It took him a few seconds to remember Kabuto's attack and he struggled to look around him. He was in a bed next to a window and a curtain.

It was a hospital, there was no doubt about it from the smell of disinfectant in the air.

He looked down and blinked twice as he saw that his entire torso was bandaged like a mummy. Only now did he notice Karin sleeping against her mattress. She probably fell asleep expecting her to wake up without realizing it. He tried to wake her with his hand, but froze in mid-motion.

"Why am I so skinny?"

It was skin, bone, and the occasional vein. He didn't want to imagine how zombie-like he must be right now. A nurse came through the door at that moment and seeing that he was awake, he turned around running while calling someone.

Tony sighed as he watched her walk away from her, not even giving him time to order something to eat. He would do it himself, but he didn't feel like he had the strength for it.

"It's good to see you awake." Tsunade walked into the room. "Let me do a quick exam for you."

Karin woke up from the movement around her and saw that her older brother had regained consciousness. She would have lunged forward to hug Tony if Tsunade hadn't grabbed her by the collar of her shirt.

-Where we are? She," she asked hoarsely, "how long was I gone?

"We're in Konoha," Tsunade replied as she took his blood pressure. "It's been a week since you passed out."

"I guess I missed your appointment, sorry."

"What makes you so sure I accepted the job?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow at the statement.

"You still have ink on your fingers, I guess you were in the office before you came when they told you I woke up," she reasoned without giving too many details. He turned to look at Karin. "Can you get me some water?" I'm halfway to being a mummy.

Karin nodded and left the room to buy a couple of bottles of water.

-How am I? Tony asked Tsunade.

Understanding the implications of the question and being aware of why he found an excuse to take Karin out, Tsunade answered him.

—We barely managed to stabilize you and we had to take you to the nearest hospital, but we lacked too many tools and medicines, so we had no choice but to return to Konoha.

—Tsunade.

"...your chances of survival were only one in forty," she sighed in exasperation. You drained dry in less than five seconds." He pointed to the barrel Tony had just realized he was connected to. And you know what? We still had to change the keg every half hour. I had never come across anything like it before.

Tsunade looked at the slim body as he frowned.

"What I still don't understand is that with the amount of nutrients you've taken in, you should have gained some weight back, but you're still exactly the same as before. Do you understand what is happening to you? Can you enlighten me?

—I need to eat —at Tsunade's stern expression, she elaborated a little more— My body already requires a lot of food to maintain itself, in order to recover to how I was before I need to eat much more than usual.

"In fact, your cells were particularly active when you connected to the concentrated solution, before they moved at normal levels." Tsunade rubbed her chin with her hands. "And before you interrupt me again, you're fine and you can recover for complete. I have been able to put everything in its place and have patched you up from top to bottom. Your natural recovery has helped your punctured lung to an insane level, you reminded me a bit of my grandfather.

"So what's next?"

"I won't let you go until you've regained at least two-thirds of the weight you lost, no matter how long it takes." When you achieve that, I'll give you another physical to make sure there are no hidden injuries —he instructed her— I'll call someone to bring you some food so you can regain strength. I'll be going now, I still have a lot of paperwork to do and you should have some visitors when it's known that you woke up. Do not make unnecessary efforts! He warned her with a murderous look.

He left the room just in time to greet Karin who returned with the water bottles in her arms. He handed them to Tony and watched as she drank four liters of water like it was nothing.

The next few days were a parade of visitors and each time they arrived, the first thing they saw was Tony eating a quantity of food large enough to make the members of the Akimichi clan recoil in surprise.

And in fact, the first visitors were them. Choji, Choza, Mrs. Akimichi, and several clansmen who he got along with or worked for him brought all kinds of snacks and dishes to wish him a speedy recovery. They were in shock when they saw how skinny Tony had become and Mrs. Akimichi nearly passed out on the spot.

Then his team members Hinata, Kiba and Akamaru arrived. It wasn't a very quiet visit, it mostly consisted of Hinata trying to calm down an angry Kiba who kept ranting about Kabuto while Tony laughed. Although he did love petting Akamaru during all the fun.

Later other companions arrived like Ino, Sakura, Naruto, Shikamaru, Neji and even Lee came over despite having to walk with a crutch. Tony couldn't help but laugh in Shikamaru's face at the news that he too had become a chunin.

His face revealed an expression of hilarious impotence.

Even Karin couldn't help but cover her mouth to try and contain her laughter!

Sakura and Naruto didn't stay too long because according to what they said, Sasuke was going to get treatment from Tsunade soon, so they said their goodbyes. The rest stayed a little longer before saying their goodbyes as well.

Tony noted Lee's distracted expression and remembered that this must have been when Tsunade gave him the option to have surgery in order to heal, but it was risky and he was contemplating. Since Lee appeared in the series later, he was sure that the operation would go well.

After everyone left, he also sent Karin to her new house after learning that she had been living all week in the hospital, taking care of her. He hasn't even had a proper shower since he came back.

This warmed Tony's heart and he felt more than ever that he really did right at that moment.

When he was finally alone and finished eating, he was going to sleep to speed up his digestion when a sound appeared in his head.

[The host has successfully completed the mission!]

[Rewards are being handed out.]

"Does that mean Karin officially became Tsunade's apprentice?" —Tony scoffed amused— It seems that my little sister wants to give me a surprise. Well, I'll have to remember to put on a surprised face when he tells me.

[The host has got: Pokemon Mega Pack!]

Includes the following ingredients and recipes:

- Mo Mo milk.

-Vanillish-shaped ice cream.

-Appletun cakes.

-Smoliv oil.

-Lechonk ham.

-Malasaladas.

-Meloc berry.

-Zidre berry.

-Berry…

[Additional Reward: Acquired Alcremie Summon Contract!]

[Description: A scroll that allows you to make a summoning pact with all 70 varieties of Alcremie, a confectioner's dream! They are capable of producing cream and other flavors that are sweeter the greater their happiness. If it is in danger, it will launch jets into the eyes to distract or blind its enemies. In addition, the cream and other flavors it produces have a calming effect and make opponents lose the desire to continue fighting. All summons are female and if a large number of them are summoned, they can temporarily combine to assume their Gigantamax form with a height of up to 30 meters. Milcery cannot be summoned. ]

[Condition of Hiring: Treat them with kindness and never try to take a bite out of them.]