Returning
Of all the things that she had thought she would feel when she returned home, fear had never been one of them. But standing behind Tsunade as the woman looked out over the village, Shizune's gut was twisted with a deep seated apprehension, almost a terror, about being in Konoha once more, and the more she thought about it, the more she wished that she was still out on the road with her mentor.
It wasn't as though she didn't want to be home; the thought of it was what had kept her going over the last eight years. However, the thinking was one thing. Actually returning, seeing the once familiar walls and shops, the faces of her friends and remaining family, was another thing entirely. And it wasn't simply seeing all her companions again—she could easily deal with the changes in them—but the not seeing of them. If she were asked, she was certain that it was the learning of who had not survived the last years that frightened her the most. She was a medic-nin, one used to death, but she was still human; it would hurt her to find out that those she once laughed with and fought beside were dead.
She would get by, of course. She had to. Tsunade had already confided in her that she would need Shizune, need the levelheadedness and reason that the kunoichi possessed to help her as she took on the mantle of the Hokage. Shizune was certain that Tsunade would need her help. Despite how able a ninja Tsunade was, how aptly suited to the title of Hokage she was, the two woman had worked as a team for many years. Even before Tsunade had said anything to her, Shizune had already assumed that she would help the older woman in her new position, that she would be her adviser, or helper, or something of that sort, and as such she couldn't crumple at the news of someone's death; someone who, for all she knew, had died years before.
She also reasoned that not knowing someone for eight years would help to soften the blow dealt to her when she was told—if she were told, if someone had died.
Shizune wondered about the reactions she would receive when her old friends learned that she had returned. Most didn't know why she had left, or who she had left with, as she had never had a chance to tell them. Hadn't been able to tell them, to put it more accurately. Following Tsunade, watching over her, making sure that she would one day return to Konoha, it had been a mission. An Anbu mission at that. She hadn't been allowed to tell them; they hadn't been authorized to know. As far as she knew, only Genma and Raidou actually knew the barest details about her disappearance, and only if they had found the letters she had slipped into their lockers at the Anbu headquarters. She was certain they had found them; there was no way that they couldn't have. But even those letters wouldn't have told them much, just that she had been sent on an extended mission and that she didn't know when she would be returning. It was possible that they had been able to put two and two together and realize that she had left with Tsunade. After all, the disappearances had coincided with one another, and those men weren't idiots, though Shizune remembered teasing them about lacking common sense a time or two. So maybe there were a few people who would understand why she had left, at least to an extent. But she couldn't be certain of the others accepting that she had been gone for so long with out a single word; she wasn't even sure her two Anbu teammates would accept her return warmly.
So, she was frightened, but she tried to quell the fear as she waited for Tsunade. The blond woman, soon to be formally inducted as the fifth Hokage of Konoha, stood at the edge of the roof, gripping the railing as she reacquainted herself with the village that she would be ruling. Shizune knew that her teacher was taking in as many of the changes as she could, the most obvious being the abundance of human activity and the buildings that covered the landscape. Eight years had been enough to change their home from a war stricken village on the edge annihilation to a thriving realm, large enough now that it could be called a city. The walls had been rebuilt, taller and stronger than they had ever been. They had been one of the first things that Shizune had noticed, white and almost gleaming in the noon sun, no longer crushed in places, the gate once more in place, barely showing the ravages of the war with Cloud or the attack of the Kyuubi.
"This village has changed quite a bit quite a bit while I was gone," she heard Tsunade say, and Shizune agreed with her entirely. Then the woman straightened, one hand falling to her side. "Starting today," she began, in a voice loud enough for all those on the roof to hear, "this village becomes my responsibility. I accept the position of the Hokage."
Shizune glanced over to were the members of the council stood. There was the thought, way back in her mind, that after seeing Tsunade once more they would decide that another was appropriate for the position of the Hokage. However, Homura and Koharu simply nodded, smiles that looked to be of relief on their faces.
"I'm amazed you were able to persuade her." The smile left Homura's face as it melted back into a stoic mask. His words were directed at Jiraiya, and Shizune could detect a thread of disbelief in his voice. Knowing Jiraiya, as well as Tsunade's original reasons for leaving the village, she was surprised herself. Though, she did know that it was more Naruto's doing than anyone else's that Tsunade had agreed to come back.
However, Jiraiya's response to Homura was a bit too loud, and a bit overconfident, especially as he knew that bring Tsunade back hadn't really been his doing. "Ha! A handsome devil like myself only needs his charm to persuade anyone!"
It was all Shizune could do to keep from laughing. It was just so...so Jiraiya that it was amusing. He'd been like that for as long as she could remember, always with the quick remarks and the lighthearted words. He was only acting like that at the moment because...well, because he was Jiraiya, and that was how he worked. However, as much as she wanted to laugh, she also wanted to tell him to shut his mouth; he being quite disruptive, and was showing himself to be an idiot. After all, this moment was for Tsunade, not for him.
Koharu seemed to be thinking along the same lines. While she didn't tell the white haired man to be quiet, or kick him—another thing that Shizune wouldn't mind doing, though there wasn't a chance that she would—she effectively turned all talk away from him, bringing things back to the matter at hand. "If you accept the position, Tsunade, then let us gather the local lords and celebrate the inauguration of the fifth Hokage." There was a certain amount of relief evident on the advisor's face as Tsunade gave a curt nod of her head. "Genma. Aoba." There was a blurring in the air, the lighting quick movement of human bodies, and the two men dropped down beside those already assembled.
Shizune nearly missed Koharu's next words, her orders to them, because she had effectively frozen when both names had been spoken. It was far too early. Far, far too early. Even if she had already been back for two hours, it was too soon for her to be seeing them. Her eyes darted to the side, but she didn't move her head; she simply looked at them as they stood there.
Aoba was taller now, much taller than he had been the last time she saw him. From her angle, it looked as though he had finally surpassed Genma when it came to height, though she couldn't be sure. His hair was more unruly now, an almost welcome change from their childhood, when he had been too uptight and immaculately groomed. Her eyes narrowed slightly at the glasses that adorned his face, another change. The glass completely shaded his eyes and gave her cause to wonder exactly why he wore them. In fact, he had changed so much that, if she hadn't known that the man standing next to him was Genma, she wouldn't have known who he was.
Genma was still Genma, though his brown hair was longer. The senbon was still there, clamped firmly between his teeth; it looked as though he hadn't gotten over the habit he had picked up at a teenager. The backwards forehead protector remained as well; it looked as though Genma had changed as little as Aoba had much. Opposite sides of a coin, as the two boys from her genin team had always been.
She didn't see either of them look toward her, but she was certain they knew that she was there, though if they were able to recognize her as their former teammate was another matter. She had changed quite a bit herself.
Slowly, her tense muscles relaxed as she calmed both her body and her mind. Yes, she had seen them both before she had intended to. No, there wouldn't be a confrontation here. It was too public at the moment, with two of the Sannin, two of the the advisers, and a genin around—though she had no doubt that Aoba would be fairly angry with her whenever they did get a chance to talk. They had worked together for almost seven years, had become friends over that time, and she hadn't even told him that she was leaving. She really couldn't blame him if he decided to yell at her.
"--to the village that the Hokage has been chosen." Koharu's voice broke through her thoughts, and her mind snapped back to the current situation. She saw both of the men nod as they heard their instructions, answering with a uniform understood, and then they were both gone, moving away, heading out into the village, leaving her field of vision in an instant. Shizune let out a shaking breath, one she hadn't been conscious of holding, and let her eyes close for a moment.
So. They were both alive.
There was an outburst to her side, and her eyes snapped open, focusing on the orange clad boy as he jumped forward, his arms moving wildly as he sought to gain their attention. "Wait up!" he all but shouted, as though afraid that speaking any quieter would cause him to be overlooked. "Tsunade's got some stuff to take care of first! She can't go to any inauguration until she's fixed up Sasuke and Kakashi-sen--"
It was Jiraiya who quieted the kid, pushing his head down with one of his large hands and cutting off Naruto's voice. "Sure. We've got to take care of that brat Kakashi, Uchiha's kid, and Gai's student, don't we?"
"I can't see you taking care of anything, Jiraiya," Tsunade said with a smile, reclining back against the railing. "Let alone three injured ninja. You'll screw things up it you try to do anything to help."
Jiraiya's free hand flew to his chest as he faked an exaggerated wince of pain. "You're words cut deeply, Tsunade. How could anyone be so--"
"We do have some things to take care of in the hospital," Shizune said, ignoring Jiraiya as he continued to speak, turning to the advisers. They were becoming irritated, something which Shizune wanted to avoid. "It will take some time, but Tsunade will be ready when you need her."
Homura looked very pleased that at least one person was still taking things seriously. "It will take several days to make preparations; we will send for her then. We understand the importance of taking care of the wounded. We are also finished here; you are all free to go."
"Thank you." Shizune bowed, then waited as the advisers moved away before turning to the others. Naruto had wriggled his way out from under Jiraiya's hand and was currently shouting at the shinobi, while Tsunade stood by, smiling in amusement.
"Naruto," Shizune began, loud enough that the genin noticed and quieted. "Can you lead us to the hospital?"
Naruto nodded furiously, pointing off to the left, at a white building several stories high. Shizune glanced at it with an appraising look; it had been rebuilt, and from the outside it looked to be far grander than she had ever seen it.
By the time that they made it inside it, Shizune had also realized that it was far better equipped, much better organized. Clean, structured, complete, not the crumbling ruin that it had been during the latter half of the war.
--the door split, sending splinters of wood flying into the room. The force of the blast that destroyed it pushed Shizune backwards, though she was already moving in that direction, moving to shield the body of an injured man where he lay behind her. The wood broke across her back, pieces embedding themselves in the tough fabric of her vest, but her movement saved the man from any more damage. She reached out and grasped a surgical needle between her fingers; her body twisted around and let it fly, only moments before she felt hands grip her wrists, forcing her backwards, bashing her into the cabinets, knocking her head hard enough against the surface to--
Shizune squeezed her eyes shut, pushing back the unwanted memory. Several deep breaths calmed the sudden racing of her heart that had come with the memories of that attack. This hospital was not that one; Konoha was not under attack. She clung to that thought and focused once more.
The receptionist at the front desk looked up with a smile as they entered, though Shizune noted how her eyes hardened when they glanced over Naruto. It was a bit disconcerting, though it wasn't all that noticeable—something just barely there, just a flicker across the woman's eyes—and Shizune had been apprehensive when she first saw the boy, knowing what he carried within him, but talking with the boy had wiped almost all of that away; Naruto was Naruto, and the Kyuubi was an unfortunate piece of him that the boy was forced to live with. She couldn't say that she didn't resent him at all; she had been there when the demon fox had attacked, and had lost most of her remaining family at the time—her mother hadn't been a ninja, and there had been no time for her to evacuate from the village—but Shizune's mind told her that it was the fox she hated, not Naruto. She only hoped the boy understood that.
As Tsunade spoke quietly to the woman behind the desk, telling her who they were, why they were here, as well as asking for the files on the particular patients, Shizune glanced at the badge that sported the woman's name. Kaori. She dimly remembered the girl; she was three or four years younger than herself, a rather quiet person with a ready smile and a minor grasp on healing. However, that was what Kaori had been like when Shizune had first met her, and that had been over ten years ago.
Kaori handed Tsunade several files, two that were rather thin, and a third that contained what looked to be years of medical reports. Kakashi's, she reasoned, knowing the sort of missions he had taken when he was younger and the sort he was still likely to take. She knew the file didn't hold any of those from his Anbu years; those were stashed away with Anbu headquarters, only the briefest outline of major injuries present in the public hospital's records.
Tsunade flipped through the files, nodded several times in thought, then handed them to Shizune. The black haired woman tucked them under her arm; Tsunade would read them more thoroughly when they arrived at the rooms of the patients.
"Thank you," Tsunade said to the receptionist as she received the numbers of the rooms where they needed to go. Then the short woman spun on her heels, heading off into the hallway. Shizune followed behind her, Tonton trotting along beside her. There was no place for them to leave the pig, and it had simply become natural to have her travel with them wherever they went. As it was, Tonton had some trouble with stairs, so as they climbed to the second story Shizune reached down and scoop the pig up, holding her with one arm. As soon as they reached the landing, however, she set her back on the ground and began to look through the files.
"Tsunade-sama," she began, opening one of the thinner files, "which of them are we going to look at first?"
"Uchiha Sasuke." Tsunade paused in her stride, glancing back at Shizune. "I take it you're looking at the reports?"
Shizune nodded, ruffling through the papers clipped together inside of the file. She found the newest one and scanned it quickly. "No physical injuries remaining; mental and emotional trauma. He's been unconscious since he was brought in several months ago." Her brow furrowed as she reread the paper. There wasn't much detail as to how he had been brought to this state, only a general outline of his current state. It could create a potential problem; not knowing what had happened. However, Tsunade would still be able to help him, that Shizune was sure of. The boy had most likely fallen into a coma to help his mind recover from whatever had happened; while it would take some delicate work, Tsunade would be able to bring him back to consciousness. The hardest part would be making sure that no further damage to the brain was inflicted during healing, but this sort of injury was the type that Tsunade had dealt with the most over the past years; due to the blond woman's hemophobia, Shizune had been the one to deal with any bloody incidences that had risen. This healing shouldn't be any problem, she thought, watching as Tsunade pushed open one of the doors that lined the hall, letting herself inside. The rest of them followed her, Naruto moving himself forward, apparently anxious for her to fix up his teammate—if his near constant demanding for her to do exactly that was any indication.
Tsunade moved a heavy curtain to the side, exposing the area in which the boy was being kept. The first thing that Shizune noticed was that someone else was in the room; not a nurse or medic, but a small girl dressed in red, her head and shoulders slumped as she sat beside the bed. As they entered, she turned to look at them, her eyes widening. Shizune saw the girl's mouth form words—who are you?--but her voice was almost too quiet for her to hear, with an edge of fear, hope, and defeat all evident on her face and in her whispered words.
At that moment, Naruto darted out from behind Tsunade, smiling, noisy, boisterous. "Sakura-chan!" His voice was too loud for the small room, and yet it was oddly fitting. "He'll be alright now! She's a great doctor!"
The girl's—Sakura's—eyes went even wider, and her lower lip trembled, twitching as though she weren't sure whether to smile or to cry. "Naruto!" she said in surprise, her voice a little stronger, and at the expression on the boy's face her lips finally pulled themselves into a smile, her eyes brightening. Sakura rose from her seat beside the Uchiha's bed, turning and bowing to Tsunade, her eyes focused on the floor. "I-I heard from Gai-sensei...please. Please help Sasuke-kun. Please." There was still a quaver in her voice, as though she were fighting back tears.
Shizune couldn't fault her when she started crying as Tsunade rested her hand on the Uchiha's forehead and began the healing. She knew that sense of relief mingled with fear; she had felt it enough. Before she had become a medical ninja, before she could do more than simply bandage and stitch wounds, Shizune had felt that way. Many times, because of her stupid, stupid teammates and their stupid, stupid stunts. Because of their insistence to save her when she was in no need of saving.
Those were the times when Genma or Aoba would get themselves hurt, and she would feel guilty, because she was able to realize that, as the youngest member of their team, they thought it was their obligation to defend her. And it wasn't even as though she were helpless. Her uncle had taught her since she was very young, whenever he had a spare moment, and her genin team's teacher hadn't made any special exceptions for her; he had even told her that if she didn't pull her own weight on the team, that he would send her back to the academy. Even as a nine year old, she had taken that threat seriously, and hadn't allowed herself to fall behind the boys—if anything, she had even surpassed them at certain points. But, being young, idiot boys of ten, Genma and Aoba had still thought that she needed protecting. Until their sensei gave them several stern lectures and threatened to send them back to the academy.
It is fine to be close with your teammates; in fact, there are some situations in which the bond within a team is more important than anything else. But if the two of you continue to alienate Shizune--
We're not alienating her!
If you continue to alienate Shizune and downplay her potential, then I will send you both back to the academy, while Shizune will continue missions with me. Is that clear?
Thinking back now, Shizune understood how perfect their sensei's word choice had been. The threat of losing their status of genin, as well as the knowledge that their female teammate would still be out there, without them, was enough for them to give her some breathing room and follow their teacher's orders.
Now, watching the young girl, she saw the fascination evident on her face as Sakura observed the process of healing. Her eyes were fixed on Tsunade's hand, where the soft glow of chakra surrounded it, brushing lightly against against the boy's face and illuminating his pale features. It took several minutes, as Tsunade sorted through the various pathways in the Uchiha's body, smoothing them, untangling them, repairing them. As the light died away, Shizune saw Sasuke's face twitch, the muscles spasming beneath his skin.
Tsunade turned from the completed task, smiling kindly at the pink haired girl who continued to watch her. "He'll be waking up soon."
Sakura drew in a shaking breath, wiping furiously at the tears that stained her face. "Thank you. Thank you so much."
Tsunade stepped back as the boy began to stir on the bed. She moved to where Shizune and Jiraiya still stood, looking to each of them in turn. "I'll take a look at Kakashi next. Jiraiya, I'm sure you're going to want to see him as well. Shizune," she turned, looking directly into the dark haired woman's eyes, "stay here and check over Uchiha Sasuke completely. After you are done, I want you to preform the same check on Kakashi."
Shizune inclined her head. "Understood. But...Tsunade-sama, when I am done I have a few things of my own that I need to take care of."
Tsunade turned her head to the side, her eyes narrowing slightly. Finally, she nodded. "Whatever you need to do. Just get back here at some point."
"Of course." Their attention turned back to the three genin, as Sasuke awoke, disoriented, then found himself being embraced by a once more crying Sakura. There was confusion on his face, and he raised a shaking hand to her shoulder, whether to push her away or hug her in return, Shizune didn't know. But he eventually let his hand drop back by his side.
It was Naruto's face which was the most expressive, shock darting across it when Sakura practically threw herself on the Uchiha, and then it settle into a sad smile before he turned away, exiting from the room.
It was saddening, the way that his face fell and then was picked up again, but it also showed Shizune a side of the boy that wasn't loud and rambunctious, or obsessively determined. Here was a kid who showed at least a shred of common sense.
She took care of the Uchiha, answering a few questions that Sakura asked, about how the medical techniques worked and the such, before warning Sasuke that his muscles would need to be retrained before he would be fully functional again. He gave her a cold look, which she returned with an emotionless one. After working with the injured for the greater part of her life, Shizune was used to glares and indignant comments that came when someone heard something they didn't like. She repeated herself once more, then excused herself from the room.
It didn't take her long to make her way to Kakashi's room. She knocked lightly on the door, then let herself in. Tsunade and Jiraiya were already gone, and Naruto was nowhere to be seen.
Kakashi lay on his back on the hospital cot, the sheets crumpled around his waist, one hand tucked under his head and the other holding up a garishly colored book before his face. He glanced toward her as she entered the room. "Hey, it's Shizune," he said after a moment of watching her, closing the book and sitting up.
"Hey, it's Kakashi," she responded, smiling at him. "Good to see that you aren't dead."
"Aren't we all." He ran a hand over his left eye, shutting his right one tightly as he did so. "So I guess you're still alive, too."
"As alive as you are." She sat down on the edge of the bed, gently pulling his hand away from his face. "Here, let me see at that; Tsunade told me to look you over and make sure that you're alright. I'm guessing you want to get out of here as quickly as possible." She gathered chakra into the palm of her hand, pressing it over his eye. The energy trailed from her skin through his, following the veins, muscles, and chakra paths in the left side of his face. She frowned. "Did Tsunade already heal your eye?"
She felt him nod. "She did. There wasn't much relief, though. Why?" His voice dropped, and he watched her through his half-lidded.
Shizune's frown deepened as she continued to let her chakra run through the Sharingan. "How did you end up in the hospital, Kakashi?"
He sighed, as though it were some sort of annoyance to answer. "I ran into Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame from Mist."
His words left Shizune even more confused than before, and she let her concentration split between assessing the damage in Kakashi's eye and listening to him. "Uchiha Itachi? Mikoto's son? Why would he attack you, and what was he doing with Hoshigaki?" She knew of the shark-like missing-nin; she had heard his name several times in her early Anbu years. He was supposedly incredibly dangerous; what would an Uchiha be doing with him?
Kakashi reached up, grasping her wrist and pulling her hand away from his face. "Shizune, they're all dead. Every single Uchiha, except for Itachi and Sasuke."
Her mouth went dry and her hand dropped limply to her side. "W-what?"
Kakashi looked away from her. "You weren't around, so you wouldn't know. Itachi killed them. Every single one of them."
"Except for Sasuke?" Her throat was constricting. She had expected to hear about the deaths of people she had known, but an entire clan being wiped out by one person? It was...it was unbelievable. Except that Kakashi wouldn't joke about something like this; he wasn't that sort of person. "Was there anyone else left? Anyone at all?"
Kakashi shook his head, slowly. "No. Not that we know of. There could be one or two out there, somewhere, but the possibility is incredibly low. Itachi was very...thorough."
The way he said it, so calm and factually, made her stomach churn. She'd known a few of the Uchiha; one of them had been in her class during her academy years, and she had worked with several during the war. To think that they were all gone...
"Thank you for telling me," she said softly, then offered him a weak smile. "I shouldn't ask about anyone else, should I?"
"Probably not."
Shizune took a deep breath, then brought her hand up to his eye again. From one point of contact, she was able to assess his entire body; there was nothing wrong with him, except for the...chaos, she supposed she could say, that started from his Sharingan and spiraled out over the entire left side of his face. Pursing her lips, Shizune allowed several threads of chakra to attach themselves at the farthest out points of damage that she could find. From there, she worked her way inwards, mending what she could. After a few moments, she removed her hand. "Kakashi."
He looked at her, the eye that contained the Sharingan closed. "Yes?"
"Activate your eye. I need to see something."
He did so, then deactivated it when she asked him to. Frowning again, Shizune reexamined him. Her healing hadn't held very well; most of it had returned after he had used the Sharingan. She repeated the experiment, to the same result.
"Well," she said finally, letting both her hands rest in her lap. "I'm afraid I can't fix your eye entirely at the moment. I'll talk to Tsunade later; I'm assuming that she also understands the situation. We will have to set up a series of appointments so that we can completely repair the damage done. Until then, I would strongly caution you to use your Sharingan as little as possible. At the moment, every time that you use it, some of the healing is undone. I don't know if this was caused by your confrontation with Itachi—did he use his own Sharingan on you?" Kakashi nodded and a thoughtful look came over Shizune's face. "You've never used yours on anyone else with this bloodline trait, have you?"
"There hasn't really been a chance."
Shizune folded her hands before her, looking at Kakashi intently. "It is entirely possible that using the Sharingan on someone who also possesses the ability will create a degenerative effect on one or both of those involved. Of course, we can't test that theory, seeing as there are only...only two users left in Konoha." She swallowed the lump in her throat and continued. "However, it is a possible explanation for the damage to your eye. Of course, it could also be something that came from the implantation of that eye. I'd have to ask Rin about that--" Her voice broke off when she saw the way that Kakashi stilled, his entire body tensing. It had come about as soon as she mentioned Rin's name; it seemed she was a topic that he neither wanted to discuss or hear about. "I can look into," she began again, trying to keep her voice strong. "I will talk with Tsunade, and we will figure something out. All right?"
Kakashi nodded, his body relaxing slightly as Shizune didn't ask anything about Rin. "Good. Now, when can I get out of here?"
Shizune glanced down at the his file. "Nothing else seems to be wrong with you; as long as you don't use your eye, I think you are free to go. Of course, it's not as though I have any authority here, so I'll send someone up to clear you." She rose, smoothing out her robes with one hand and picking up the stack of files with the other. "It's good to see you again."
"You too," he said, laying back down and picking up his book. "By the way, your old teammates are still alive."
Smiling, Shizune headed to the door. "I know; I already saw Genma and Aoba."
Without looking up, Kakashi waved to her. "Raidou, too. He's still alive and kicking."
Her smile grew larger, and she left the room with a heart that was just a bit lighter than it had been moments before.
A/N: The first chapter of this is finally finished; my GenmaxShizune story that has been brewing in my mind for about a month or two now. There are a few things to expect from me with this story; long chapters with, most likely, a few weeks between posts, development of minor characters, bloody fight sequences, a general adhesion to canon, little to no OC's, a range of emotions explored, a slow development of romance, and my acceptance of critique. If you find grammar/spelling errors in any of this story (or in any of my stories, for that matter), please, feel free to point them out. Also, if you feel that something isn't explained well enough, tell me as well, and I will either explain it or fix it.
Please note that this is my version of Shizune; the backstory is of my creation. I hope you enjoyed this.
A word of thanks to nimblnymph, for kicking me until I got this written, as well as declaring that I can write romance. Also, to spell check, who wanted me to change Uchiha to Chihuahua and Sasuke to Pleasure. It provided enough amusement to get me writing.
No real Genma yet, but he'll show up. Very soon.
Raven