Hinata activated her Byakugan, scanning over Kurenai's wounds.
"You fought her?"
"Yes... Orochimaru was not nearly as lenient towards me as he was towards you guys and Anko..."
Saul approached now, lifting up the arm that hadn't moved from Kurenai's wheelchair. The lady winced. He had warned her about doing something like this much earlier, but it seemed she hadn't listened.
Saul sighed exasperatedly, "...May I have a look?" She nodded.
He unwrapped the bandages along her unmoving arm, revealing red, inflamed skin leading all the way up to her shoulder. There was a massive circular bruise on the outside of her forearm, right where he suspected her bones were broken. Yakumo's eyes widened.
Saul stopped there, giving his diagnosis for Yakumo's benefit.
"It's also like this on the rest of your body, correct? Only slightly less on the arm you usually have fully wrapped in bandages and a red sleeve."
"Yes..."
"You were also swallowed by a giant creature. A snake I presume? These kinds of burns could only be the result of poison or acid."
"..."
Her silence was telling. Not everyone was Naruto, who regenerated life threatening wounds at a visible pace. For anyone else, the digestive acid alone could inflict horrible burns upon the body, even if the snake showed mercy by not crushing all their bones before swallowing them whole.
Saul's gaze trailed down to her splinted legs. For the last few days, he had been practicing healing bone injuries on the weakest of his subjects, the poor Kusagakure Genin. Saul had made quite a bit of progress. He was able to heal clean snaps or minor fractures with confidence.
However, he had little confidence dealing with major bones such as the femur. Their functionality in nutrient storage and blood cell production was just as important as their structural integrity. If he tried to heal her fully as he was now, Saul would be more likely to cripple her rather than providing proper assistance.
"Kurenai-sensei. I can handle the burns on your skin and help a little with your broken arm. However, I don't think I can do much about your legs."
The red eyed woman smiled. "That's already more than I could ever ask for. Honestly, I could really just use a drink to take the edge off the pain. I haven't even been allowed out of the hospital for the past four days."
"A-absolutely not, Kurenai-sensei! Drinking is bad for your health." Hinata stammered cutely.
Kurenai teased, "Why not? I'm already a middle aged woman. Can't I let go a little?"
"You can't!"
The woman started laughing before clutching her stomach in pain. Saul formed the hand seals for the Mystical Palm Ninjutsu.
"Be still."
He pressed his hand onto the center of her body. Chakra flowed out and circulated to all points of her body from the center, so a medical-nin could investigate and heal the entire body by placing their hand on the chest.
Once he was able to inspect her body with his Ninjutsu, he found her body wasn't as bad as it seemed on the outside. Medical Ninjutsu had already been used on all the critical areas. This both stabilized her condition while also jumpstarting the body's natural healing. This was an approach that utilized the bare minimum of chakra for the most cost effective result.
As long as she did not do anything stupid like training, her injuries would heal in record time. Saul presumed this was the work of one of the Chunin from the medical corps. Overworked and few in number, and having very little chakra reserves to begin with, their main priority was to conserve as much chakra as possible in order to be able to heal as many people as they could. Saul could see why they had been so excited at finding out the possibility of another medical-nin coming to help out at the hospital.
This style of healing was not sufficient for Saul, however. He was more concerned with his ability to fully restore injuries as if they hadn't been there in the first place. In the case of a mission, he could not afford the period of weakness natural healing implied.
After a while of slow, targeted healing, Saul finally removed his hand. "Done. I healed the burns on your skin, your broken arm and ribs, and strengthened some of the work that was already done on your legs."
Kurenai stood up slowly, eyes curling in delight. "Saul~! You're too good to your sensei!"
Saul gazed down at the now smooth, white skin of her thighs. "Don't thank me just yet. Both your legs were badly broken, especially your right leg. In that one not just your Tibia, but even your Femur had been broken. You shouldn't do much more than just walking around for now - and you'll need to keep the splint on your right leg."
Kurenai had no idea what a 'Tibia' or a 'Femur' were exactly, but he sounded like he knew what he was talking about. She had already ignored his advice once before; look at how badly she got beaten up by Orochimaru as a result!
"Alright. Thank you, Saul."
The woman got close and pulled him into a hug. The softness of her body melted into him. Saul could feel her breasts squished into his chest, her light, yet tempting Sakura blossom fragrance.
As she stood there in his embrace, gazing up at him, Kurenai instinctively realized her foolishness. Saul's role as a Genin under her command had led her to mistakenly believe he was someone to be coddled, someone that needed her to take care of.
In fact, based on his abilities alone he was already a Chunin. Soon to be Jonin. It was only a matter of time at this rate. This was no boy. Saul was a man, a strong, smart, and capable one at that. His toned arms clasped around her lower back, resting just above her ass.
After a little while, she pulled back and curled her red lips into a smile.
"Enjoyed your little reward?"
"I wonder... Whatever you could mean by that, Kurenai-sensei?"
This shameless man! His hands were close, too close to her ass. Kurenai blushed. Where was her mind going anyway? She shouldn't be thinking about him like this. Saul was her student! It was probably unintentional.
"Never mind. Would you guys like to go out with me, as a celebration for passing the first and second stage of the Chunin exams?"
When Saul turned back to look at the two girls, Yakumo met his gaze. She would clearly follow his decision on the matter. As for Hinata... Her eyes were pleading as she looked up at him with a pouty expression. What was this? Why was she acting as if he didn't feed her!?
"BBQ?"
"You know it!" Kurenai smiled, "Plus that will give me some time to actually hear about how you guys did during the Chunin exams! When your father came knocking, Hinata, it was a really big scare, you know?"
Hinata had a small frown on her face after Kurenai's words. The ever perceptive Saul noticed.
"What is it, Hinata?"
A few strokes in her hair put a soft smile back on the woman's face. She whispered something in his ear.
"Did I say something wrong?"
"Yep."
"What?"
"Hinata doesn't want me to tell you."
Kurenai put her hands on her hips, a little frustrated and slightly amused.
"Hinata... Sensei is going to treat you to an all you can eat BBQ~! What's wrong? I don't want to make you upset, you know."
Hinata hugged Saul's arm while looking back at Kurenai, smiling teasingly.
The woman smiled and shook her head. "Saul, what in the world did you do to make this girl trust you so much?"
"That's none of your business, Kurenai-sensei. And remember, you owe us a BBQ now."
"Really? Is this how you treat your beloved Sensei!?"
Saul, Hinata, and even Yakumo nodded. Kurenai scoffed and shook her head.
She hobbled over to the door, still clearly not used to her new splint. "I'll see you all right as the sun begins to set for dinner. At Yakiniku Q!"
Author's Note: This was a little more foundation for Saul's eventual relationship with Kurenai. Whether that be more romantic or purely carnal, Idk yet. Leave your feedback in the comments below.