The Doctor and His Apprentice

Team 10 spent seven days traversing the land before they reached their destination village. It is because the team has to travel through a forest full of eerie beasts and poisonous animals via small rowing boats down a river that they're this slow, on top of the time they took for training on the way.

"If only there's not a poisonous and venomous animal in the jungle, we'll arrive way earlier than this..." Ino sighed as she lamented the environment they were in.

"Actually, we'll be there already if not for you taking your time to find an Inn on the way here to take a bath every single day," Chouji said as he was slightly pissed at Ino for wasting their time.

"That's why you're still single, Chouji; women love cleanliness and comfy~" Ino proudly said

"Stop whining, you all; let's just focus on the mission. We're almost there." Asuma reprimanded Ino and Chouji; his eyes kept darting around their surrounding.

'Why do I have a bad feeling about this...?' Asuma frowned; he contemplated various possibilities in this mission.

"Ah~ Free like a cloud..." Meanwhile, Shikamaru was having the time of his life; he was relaxing on a boat that was rowed by Chouji, gazing at the open sky, surrounded by nature.

"Kyaa! There are mosquitos! I hate insects!" Ino pouted; she flailed her hands around and swatted the mosquitos around. Unfortunately for her, she lost her balance and almost fell into the river.

"Be careful, there!" Asuma quickly snatched Ino and pulled her back onto the boat.

"Thank you, Sense- Ouch!" Ino flinched as something bit her left leg; in reflex, she kicked the air and threw the 'thing' off her leg. Before the 'thing' that bite Ino back into the water, Asuma quickly threw a kunai onto it. Shikamaru squinted his eyes as he observed it.

"A poisonous piranha, a local species of this area. I've read about it before, They are pretty aggressive, hunt in a pack, and have their teeth latched with a paralytic poison. It's not dangerous, but she won't be able to move for a while." Shikamaru analyzed.

Asuma heaved a sigh of relief; memorizing these kinds of things is forever on his weakness list. Luckily, his students are one hell of a genius. He then took a cloth from his pouch and tied it to Ino's leg. "This should prevent the poison from spreading; we must hurry."

---

"The Village is up ahead, let's go!"

Team 10 could be seen rushing between the trees with Ino carried by Chouji at the center, Asuma on the left, and Shikamaru on the right. Not far from them, a beautiful wall constructed from sandstone could be seen beautifully glowing under the sunshine. Unfortunately, Team 10 has little time to admire its beauty. They rushed into the village and swiftly asked the villagers there if there was any doctor in the village.

"You follow this road, turn left on the crossroad; the doctor's home is the third one on the right side. He's called Doctor Shinno, and he lives there with his apprentice, her name is Amaru. They should be able to help you." A random villager answered their question after taking a glance at Ino's rather pale appearance.

"Thank you, sir. And we're sorry for bothering you." Shikamaru bowed in gratitude, and they then immediately ran to the doctor's house.

"Excuse us, Doctor Shinno?! We have someone poisoned, can you please help us?" Shikamaru knocked on the door and politely said.

*Clang*

A little girl with long reddish-brown hair wrapped in a blue bandanna came out of the house. She has rather thick eyebrows, blue eyes, and a mole under her left eye. She also wore a cyan-blue gi with a cream-colored vest over it, which covered her cleavage, blue shorts, and dark arm- and leg bands.

"Halo, please come in first; you can lay her there on the bed. I'm Amaru, Doctor Shinno's apprentice." Amaru said while pointing at a bed covered with a white sheet.

"Thank you!" Shikamaru said while signaling for others to come in. Chouji came inside and lay Ino on the bed while Asuma took a cigarette and stayed outside.

As they came in, Shikamaru inspected the interior of the room they were in. The room's interior was quite simple; it consisted of a large wooden table on the side with two chairs beside it; on the other side, there was a shelf containing some books in it. The wall consisted of white-colored bricks with some candles on it.

"By the way, are you shinobis? You sure look like one, besides, I know everyone here, and you are not a local." Amaru said while smiling at them; she looked as innocent as she was.

"Yes, we are Shinobi from Konoha. My name is Chouji, he's Shikamaru, She's Ino, and the one outside is our sensei. I'm sorry, Amaru, is it? Where is Doctor Shinno? Is he not present at the moment?" Chouji asked worriedly.

"Yes, sensei is not here at the moment. But he should be back in an hour or so. Meanwhile, I'll help you extract the poison from her body." Amaru answered with confidence, a small smile hung cutely on her face. Without waiting for agreement, Amaru began to act.

A while later, Ino's complexion got better, and she started to be able to move her body.

"Thank you..." Ino said weakly while trying to put up a smile.

"I'm happy to be able to help; please rest for a while until you're recovered." Amaru walked inside the house further, "You're fine with tea, right? I'm sorry, we only have tea left."

"Ah, no need to bother yourself, we're fine..." Ino said while Chouji nodded his head, and Shikamaru scratched his cheek.

"It's okay, Sensei said we must treat our patient with utmost care!" Amaru then boiled the tea leaf and prepared a few cups. Almost an hour passed, with all of them having a conversation; the atmosphere was relaxing, with occasional giggles from Amaru and Ino. Asuma went somewhere, Shikamaru was silent the whole time, and Chouji quietly listened to the girls talk while slurping the tea occasionally.

"I'm home!" An elderly man with long grey hair that flows out at the back and muttonchops connected to his beard of the same color walked inside. His eyebrows were thick and of a darker grey but neatly trimmed. He also had yellow eyes with dark bags around them and tear troughs under them, giving a somewhat stern look. "Amaru, who are these gentlemen and ladies here?"

Seeing the Konoha emblem on the guests' attire, his eyes flashed momentarily.

"Oh my, it appears that you are Shinobi from Konoha, aren't you? Pardon me for my rudeness; my name is Shinno. I am a doctor, and Amaru is my apprentice." Shinno said while slightly bowing.

"Sensei! Everyone, this is my sensei; he used to be a shinobi too. But he's retired already and is now helping people by becoming a doctor!" Amaru proudly said with her chest puffed, her face beamed with happiness.

'A former shinobi, hm...' Shikamaru's eyes opened slightly while contemplating; his eyes met with Chouji, then nodded. Shikamaru then stood and greeted Shinno.

"We're sorry for intruding, Doctor Shinno. My name is Shikamaru, and they are my teammates. This one is Chouji and the wounded one here is Ino..."

"...And we're here for a mission from the village chief."