Chapter 281: Surgery Complete

"Ahem... Let's do a check-up first," Nagato said, blushing from Nonō's teasing and quickly changing the subject.

"You're no fun, not fun at all," Nonō said, pretending to be dissatisfied. She glanced down at herself, wondering what could possibly be the issue.

"Please take her blood and bring her to Operating Room 5 if there are no problems," Nagato instructed, leading Nonō to the blood-drawing station.

"Yes, Master Nagato," the young nurse replied. Although Nagato didn't know her name, the nurse clearly knew him.

"I'll go get everything ready. See you later," Nagato said before hurrying off, still flustered by Nonō's joke.

"You're here for myopia surgery, right?" the young nurse asked while placing a pressure bandage on Nonō's arm and beginning to draw blood.

"Yes," Nonō confirmed with a nod, assuming it was just casual chatter.

"Then you're in luck. You probably don't know, but this myopia surgery was developed by Master Nagato," the nurse said cheerfully. "He rarely performs the surgery himself now."

The nurse's tone carried genuine admiration, as though she was happy for Nonō. After all, Nagato, the surgery's developer, had the deepest understanding of the procedure and the best technique.

"Really? Then I'm really lucky," Nonō said softly, a warm feeling welling up inside her. She realized just how much Nagato had done for her. Calling her only after the surgery had been perfected must have taken considerable effort and care.

"Okay, just wait a moment. If everything is fine, I'll take you to the operating room," the nurse said, leaving with the blood sample.

Nonō sat quietly in her seat, lost in thought.

Before long, the nurse returned with the blood test results.

"Come with me," she said, gesturing for Nonō to follow.

Nonō walked silently behind the nurse, ascending a few floors and turning several corners. Soon, a sign reading Operating Room 5 came into view.

"This is it. I'll go on ahead, I've got things to do," the young nurse said, pointing to the door in front of her.

"Okay," Nonō replied, walking up to the door and opening it herself. The nurse turned and left.

"You're here."

The operating room wasn't well-lit, and the smell of disinfectant hung heavy in the air.

"Ugh," Nonō muttered as she stretched her neck to look inside. She spotted Nagato standing near the operating table.

"Come here and lie down," Nagato said, pointing at the operating table with a direct tone.

"Do I need to change my clothes?" Nonō asked. It was her first time lying on an operating table, and she felt uncertain.

"You're having eye surgery. What's there to change?" Nagato replied, waving his hand dismissively. "Hurry up and come here."

He seemed eager to start, as though the sooner the surgery began, the less nervous he would feel.

"Okay," Nonō said, deciding he had a point. She walked forward slowly.

The operating table was covered with a thick mattress. Curious, she pinched it. She'd never seen one so padded before—was it to ensure comfort while lying down?

"Lie down. I need to give you an anesthetic," Nagato said, taking out a prepared syringe.

"Then you won't do anything to me while I'm unconscious, will you?" Nonō said, pretending to panic and crossing her arms over her chest. A faint, almost imperceptible smile played at the corners of her mouth.

"I would never! What are you thinking? I'm not that kind of person!" Nagato exclaimed, flustered, nearly dropping the syringe in his rush.

"Haha~ I'm just teasing. You don't need to spank me," Nonō said playfully, continuing to tease Nagato. She clearly knew how anesthesia worked.

"No, no. Just the arm will do," Nagato said, his mind a bit scrambled, momentarily forgetting that Nonō was also a Medical-nin.

"Come on," Nonō said, holding out her arm with a fearless expression.

"I'll do it then," Nagato replied, patting her arm lightly to make the veins more visible.

"Mm-hm," Nonō responded softly, closing her eyes.

She felt a slight sting, as though bitten by an ant. Within a few moments, she had completely lost consciousness.

Nagato let out a sigh of relief. If Nonō had kept teasing him, the operation might have been impossible to carry out.

After taking a moment to calm himself, he began the operation. Having performed this procedure many times, he was now very familiar with it.

He removed Nonō's glasses and set them aside, then switched on the overhead light above the operating table.

In the light, Nonō's face appeared calm and gentle.

"It'll be over soon, and you'll wake up," Nagato muttered as he began his work.

...

Nonō felt as if she had been having a long dream. Her eyes ached slightly, and everything was pitch black in front of her.

"Nagato, are you here?" she called out, her voice tinged with unease at the darkness that surrounded her.

"Yes, I'm here," Nagato replied, his voice followed by the sound of hasty footsteps approaching.

"Did the operation go well?" Nonō asked, feeling a warm hand clasp hers. The contact eased her anxiety.

"Don't worry, it went very well," Nagato said. "You're still in bandages. We'll know how it turned out once they're removed."

He sat down by the bed, speaking softly to reassure her.

"That's good. How long until the bandages come off?" Nonō asked, reaching up with her other hand to confirm the bandages wrapped around her head.

"There's no rush. It'll be a while yet," Nagato said. "Are you hungry? I can go buy you something to eat."

It was nearing noon, and he wasn't sure if Nonō was hungry or not.

"I'm fine, I'm not hungry," she replied. "Can you get me a nurse?" Nonō added, her tone carrying a hint of urgency.

"Why do you need a nurse? If there's anything, just tell me," Nagato said, puzzled. He couldn't understand why she'd need a nurse when he, a trained Medical-ninja, was right there.

"You can't, so get a nurse," Nonō insisted, her face already starting to flush.

"Fine, I'll go get one," Nagato said, unable to argue further. He left the room to find a nurse.

"Here she is. What's the matter?" Nagato returned shortly with a nurse.

"You go out. I'll talk to the nurse alone," Nonō said, waving her hand toward the sound of his voice to indicate he should leave.

"So mysterious," Nagato muttered under his breath as he walked out of the room.

"Miss Nonō, do you need to go to the bathroom?" the young nurse asked, quickly understanding the situation.

"Yes, could you help me?" Nonō replied, relieved. Teasing Nagato was one thing, but asking him for help with this was something she couldn't bring herself to do.

"Okay, no wonder you didn't tell Nagato," the nurse said with a smile as she helped Nonō up.

Fortunately, there was a toilet in the hospital room, so they didn't have to go far.

Hearing the toilet door close, Nagato quickly realized what was going on. I really couldn't have handled that, he thought.

To avoid further embarrassment, he left to buy lunch.