Third Person POV
Waking up, the Uzumaki quickly recognized the Konoha hospital room she was in. It automatically brought her relief, confirming that what happened in the forest on the way back to the village was real and everyone would be okay.
But thinking about it, she found it strange that she felt no pain in her body. With her knowledge of medical ninjutsu, she had assessed her own condition before they left the lab and knew she was in a critical state.
Considering her last conscious moments during the battle in the forest, Amaya expected to feel even worse upon waking but there was no trace of her most serious injuries.
So, the redhead sat up in the bed she was lying in.
Only then, as her eyes scanned the room, did she notice another person with her. A woman of average height, with straight blonde hair, light brown eyes, wearing the standard Konoha jounin uniform. She had a book in her hands, reading intently.
The woman suddenly let out a heavy, frustrated sigh, stuck in her research with the material. At that moment, she lifted her eyes to the girl, whom she had believed was still asleep.
– Just as I thought, trying to induce sleep with these conventional medications doesn't have the desired effect... – She commented casually, not to the redhead, just thinking aloud.
– Excuse me, but who are you? – Amaya asked calmly – You don't seem to be one of the hospital nurses, so why are you here?
– I didn't have time to introduce myself when I was with Minato going to help your team yesterday... – The blonde said nonchalantly – My name is Tsunade – She turned her gaze back to the book in her hands – And to answer your second question, I'm trying to understand you – She paused for a moment – Or more precisely, your body.
The redhead's expression turned slightly surprised at that. Tsunade..., she pondered the familiar name. One of the Legendary Sannin, like Jiraiya. Plus the founder of the medical ninja system. I never thought I'd get to meet her in person, especially like this...
Amaya had heard about the blonde many times, from Jiraiya, her teammate who was platonically in love with her and from the village's medical ninjas the redhead periodically trained with to keep her medical ninjutsu updated.
– Thank you for treating my injuries – The girl promptly thanked Tsunade and slightly lowered her head in gratitude.
– Don't thank me for anything yet – The blonde said quickly, making the redhead look at her again – Thank Minato for calling me to accompany him, and your annoying teammates for practically begging me to treat you – The Uzumaki gave a weak smile at that – You can thank me later, but only when I manage to figure out what's exactly going on with you – Tsunade looked at her seriously.
The Sannin told Amaya that her teammates had explained everything that happened to the redhead during the mission – her battle injuries, as well as the symptoms of her puzzling illness.
And the blonde couldn't help but seem bothered by the latter, as the symptoms were too vague even for her to reach any diagnosis about what was afflicting the Uzumaki.
Tsunade also mentioned that Kushina helped with recovering the documents the girl and her team had collected from the lab.
The Uzumaki had been wary the whole time she was unconscious that no one tried to attack them at the lab. So, imagining the enemy might try to ambush them on the way back to the village, she had taken precautions:
The scrolls where the documents and the body of the Stone Village shinobi were initially sealed hadn't been stored in the redhead's bag, which the enemy stole during the battle, but rather in the girl's own wakizashi.
And since it was a seal made with her personal formula, only an Uzumaki fuuinjutsu specialist could undo it that's where Kushina came in to help retrieve the documents, since Amaya couldn't do it herself anytime soon.
– To try and figure out what you have, I read the medical data you brought from that lab – Tsunade continued – And there's something that didn't make much sense to me – The redhead stared at her – Specifically, why all of you, raised there, always have such high cortisol levels in your charts.
– I found that unusual too when I first saw the documents – Amaya commented calmly – But the only thing that comes to mind about it is the moment when that data was recorded: After we went through all the tests.
The Senju leaned back in the armchair she was in, thinking about that and what could help her. It was important information, as it involved hormone levels during a moment of high stress. But it still wasn't enough to reach a definitive answer.
– The book you were reading... – The Uzumaki questioned, and Tsunade looked at her – What is it about?
– It's about general medicine – The blonde said in a casual tone – I was looking for some more specific information about cellular structure and its anomalies... – But she stopped herself, thinking that what she was explaining wouldn't make sense to a layperson.
– Maybe there's something that could explain my resistance all these years to this problem common to everyone raised in the lab, without necessarily involving my Uzumaki vitality? – Tsunade couldn't help but smile at the end of Amaya's question.
Seems like what that idiot Jiraiya said about this girl adopted by Minato and Kushina was true, the Senju thought. An interesting mind for such a young age... And she's still the only one to this day who learned medical ninjutsu and didn't become a medical ninja... Interesting.
– Exactly – The blonde replied a few moments later and handed the book to the girl, who promptly took it – Seems you'll be able to understand it on your own while I read this – And the Sannin picked up some of the loose pages she had left on the room's nightstand.
Each of them focused on their reading, searching for something that could guide them about what the Uzumaki had.
The redhead read the book before her attentively, amazed by how much about the human body's functioning she still didn't know. At that moment, she was specifically reading a section dedicated to genetic anomalies.
She was surprised by how much a simple alteration could affect a person, whether it was a chromosome segment being longer or shorter than its pair, or even the lack of a protein in a DNA chain.
Nearing the end of that section, one of the topics dealt exclusively with stress how harmful it could be by causing, in more severe cases, neuronal impairment in a person (usually associated with excessive exposure to something traumatic).
– You're a very intriguing person, Amaya-chan – Tsunade said suddenly, making the girl look up from the book for the first time.
– Why? – She asked, slightly confused.
– Young people your age usually aren't interested in this kind of thing – The Sannin explained calmly.
– Every source of knowledge is important – The Uzumaki voiced her thoughts and glanced momentarily at the open book in front of her – We always need to be learning something, and I believe that at some point we might end up using even the simplest piece of information.
A sincere smile couldn't help but appear on Senju's lips at that comment: She shared the redhead's way of thinking, especially when it involved medicine in the ninja world.
– So, what knowledge are you acquiring exactly?
That time, it was Amaya who smiled. With that question, she understood that Tsunade was offering to share whatever knowledge she had – a unique opportunity, in the redhead's view.
– About how harmful stress can be to a person's organism – The Uzumaki said quickly.
– Ah, yes... Usually cases where a patient's problem involves this hormonal issue are harder to identify, and often only surface when it's already in a more severe state – The Sannin explained – But if there's a possibility of complete testing, it can be discovered in time, since stress can alter a person's genetic material.
And it was at that moment that both their expressions changed.
They looked at each other, realizing they had both reached the same conclusion about what this meant for Amaya's situation: Cortisol is the hormone directly responsible for stress.
Cortisol's main function is to help the body control stress, contributing to the proper functioning of the immune system, among many other things.
All healthy individuals have high and low cortisol peaks throughout the day, but in certain situations, if the stress is too great, the hormone can reach levels harmful to health.
In the Uzumaki's case, she never had moments for her cortisol levels to regulate. Being subjected to various tests and experiments that caused her mental and/or physical discomfort was what resulted in the sky-high cortisol levels recorded in the lab's documents for all the children.
The constant increase and maintenance of high cortisol levels brought complications, like an abrupt reduction in the body's defenses and a reduction in the body's healing effect.
And according to the recovered lab documents, most of the raised children showed a greater susceptibility to illnesses in general. As a consequence of all the stress they were subjected to, their bodies had collapsed.
Amaya had been the exception, for a while, thanks to her Uzumaki genetic heritage granting her the clan's great vitality. But this Uzumaki resistance eventually clashed with the excessive cortisol levels and ended up causing her problems, even if belatedly.
Furthermore, even after leaving the lab, the girl hadn't regulated her cortisol levels. Her traumatic experiences increased her stress, and even her lack of sleep contributed to her illness.
Everything finally made sense.
The Sannin stood up the moment she processed all that information, just as the Uzumaki had. Now she finally knew what the girl had and what she needed to treat her.
Amaya Uzumaki POV
Tsunade left the room shortly after we both realized what my high cortisol levels involved and the problems I'd been having. It was such a simple thing, yet so complicated to figure out.
I closed the book the Sannin had let me read and went to place it on the nightstand next to the bed. I saw the pages the blonde had been reading earlier and was surprised to recognize some of the lab documents.
However, among them were some I didn't remember reading. I deduced which ones those were: The documents Sukea had hidden. They were the only ones I hadn't read before.
I took the pages in my hands and sighed heavily. Whatever was there represented the final discoveries I'd have about my past and the lab children. I looked at the first line of the page and noticed they were notes about... Me?
Observations (experiment 122):
• The experiment is one of the most promising test subjects. Its genetic combination blending two of the clans with the best natural abilities shows early manifestation;
• Intelligence and concentration above standard for its age;
• High capacity to invoke and utilize information implanted in its mind;
• Rapid learning in relation to kenjutsu mastery (wakizashi is its standard weapon; one or two blades simultaneously);
• Excessively abnormal vitality; common illnesses do not affect it. Has not presented any complications or genetic diseases to date;
• Healing factor also elevated. Innate ability, without the experiment's control over it (possibly originating from predominant Uzumaki genetics);
• Its genes originated from Kagami Uchiha and Mikasa Uzumaki.
– Uchiha chosen and genetic material collected after his death at the start of the 3rd Great Ninja War. His kenjutsu abilities seem to have been passed to experiment 122;
– Mikasa Uzumaki was one of the last members of her clan killed in the war (during the total destruction of the Land of Eddies). Only child of Ashina Uzumaki, clan leader. Her fuuinjutsu abilities were of the highest caliber among her clan members.
• The experiment also proved naturally skilled, and it is supposed the genetic influence of its progenitors was predominant;
• 122 showed hesitant behavior only when it eliminated experiment 01 (Uchiha-Yamanaka);
• Its cold behavior seems to block the chances of awakening the experiment's objective, although its genetic predisposition might lead it to achieve it in the long term;
• The experiment still shows high passivity, making it easier to handle for tests outside the tank;
• Physical Birth (present) X Psychic Birth (?).
The last part of that document caught my attention, because after the underline for "Psychic Birth" there was a note written in handwriting different from that used in all the papers until then.
"I think this is what made me choose her.
Like me, in some way, she is 'awakening' from her situation in this place. She doesn't realize I can hear her thoughts, that I can hear all the questions her mind asks her.
She tries to understand what's wrong, why we live in a situation like this. And what happens to those who don't return to the tanks. Sometimes she wishes she had the same fate as those who don't return...
All of us at some point have wished to never again feel anything this place causes us. But at the same time, we don't want to, it's something strange. An internal duality between the desire for death and the will to live.
She isn't like me yet, not fully born.
I know my time is running out, whether from our sickness or from being taken to that room to fight her.
Am I choosing right?
Will she really be able to handle all this?
I guess I can only... Believe in her.
Yes, believe.
I hope you achieve your psychic birth, fire-haired girl, in a better place than this.
I would love to know what will move you..."
Psychic birth..., I thought. It involves the psychic development of an individual and the capacity to desire things, not just accepting what is imposed.
And I couldn't help but laugh. Not because I thought what Sukea wrote was silly, but because it was a funny situation. My psychic birth was because of you..., I admitted.
Desiring to save you, children like me from the lab, even if I couldn't. Coming to Konoha and transforming that desire into protecting my family and friends, as well as my new home and everyone who lives here.
My desire while living in the lab might have been carried forward because of your request, Sukea, but..., I smiled. My choice to live in Konoha and be who I am, that was because of my own desire and no one else's.
– Thank you for showing me the path to my true birth – I thanked quietly and felt a single tear roll down my face – And thank you so much for believing in me...