Title: Life Support
Summary: Growning old together means standing by your partner, even when it drives you to tears.
Prompt: Growing Old Together (Day 28)
Rating: T
Comments: This is my first time writing drama. I would appreciate any feedback.
Naruto squeezed his wife's hands softly.
She was currently on a hospital bed, her lavender eyes staring blankly upwards. Her nose was connected to the oxygen supply, while a feeding tube was placed inside her mouth. The disease had finally progressed to the point where she couldn't eat and breathe normally and had to be placed on life support.
He remembers the day when he found out about it like his first day in hell…
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One year ago…
The old couple had just celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. They spent it on the place where they had their first date, Ichiraku Ramen. They enjoyed a nice hearty meal served by Ayame's granddaughter and reminisced about the past.
He admitted to himself that the years have been really kind to her. Hinata's hair had slowly turned from black to grey and then from gray to white. Naruto teased her as he kissed them and lip-chewed them that they reminded him of cotton candy. Her face was now wrinkly, but it still maintained that grace and kindness that it had all those years ago. And her eyes, oh her lovely eyes, still reminded him of the moon in the sky. They still sparkled with love and life whenever he looked into them.
Not that he had aged any worse. His hair was now fully white but still spiky. Hinata once joked that he looked like one of those weird snowmen they saw on the street from time to time. His body was still very well-toned and fairly muscly despite his age, while his wrinkles had all gathered around his forehead and his trademark whisker marks. His wife had noted that he looked like cute old tiger. Naruto couldn't comprehend how he could be old and cute at the same time, but he went with it.
When they finished their meal, his wife for 60 years looked into his eyes and told him that they still remind her of the bright blue sky as she leaned in and gave him a soft kiss on the lips.
They then paid a quick visit to their children's place and asked about how everyone was doing. Boruto was now on his way to retirement, Himawari became the first female leader of the Anbu, while Naruko, their third daughter, was now on her way to become hokage. The grand-children were in their late teens and became fully fledged jounin last year. Though they were now in their late teens, they still hugged and kissed their beloved grandma while Naruto complained mockingly about not getting any attention.
The rest of the day was spent wandering around town, bumping into old friends and visiting familiar sights. They went for a walk around the Ninja Academy, he placed her on the swing where he spent a huge part of his lonely childhood and pushed her for a bit. They went to the top of the hokage monument, and they watched the beautiful night sky side-by-side. She squeezed his hand softly, as they watched a beautiful nightly lightshow.
Finally he lifted her up like a newlywed bride and jumped from roof to roof, at a deliberately slow pace, with her in his arms while she placed her hands around his neck and tightly squeezed her face against his and placed soft kissed on his whiskers. She wasn't afraid in the slightest, she had complete confidence in his strength and she knew that he would never ever let her go.
They finally reached their apartment and Naruto placed his wife on their bed. On this day, on that bed, 10 years ago, the couple made love to each other for the last time and renewed their vows to stand by each other's side. Hinata went through menopause shortly afterwards, a tough time for any couple, and they couldn't get the sexual spark going after that but the love, commitment, friendship and trust that they had built up over the years was more than enough to compensate.
Naruto lied on top of his pretty old wife and gave her a passionate kiss on the lips, just like old times. Hinata hugged him and kissed back, reciprocating the love he had shown her for all those years. He felt her tears running down his cheeks.
He pulled back to admire the beauty of his wife… and froze in terror!
Hinata's tears were blood-red! She was losing consciousness and he could feel her fading fast.
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He jumped from roof to roof with his wife once more, only this time he was rushing. He arrived at the Konoha General Hospital five minutes later and rushed her inside the emergency room. He only left her side when Sakura asked him to move outside in order for to run some tests and see what's going on.
When he saw Sakura holding back tears in her eyes a few minutes later, he knew it wouldn't be good. He just couldn't imagine how bad it was going to get.
Sakura informed him of his wife's condition. Apparently, the reason she cried tears of blood was that the tenketsu network around the byakugan was atrophied and started going haywire. It's a condition that's unique to byakugan users, and it's very serious.
He asked if handing her some of Kurama's chakra would fix anything. Sakura replied that, no, the problem wasn't the amount of chakra inside her head but rather her lack of chakra control around it. Giving her more chakra is akin to throwing fuel to a fire. No, the best they can do at this point is give her some medicine that lowers the chakra influx to the head in order to slow down any further damage to the brain.
"Slow down further damage?"
Sakura hated to be the bearer of bad news, but she had to inform her friend without sugarcoating it.
"The speech center of your wife has been severely damaged. Hence, she won't be able to speak with you like she used to. She will be able to understand, but she will have problem finding words..."
She could see Naruto's face become darker and his facial features becoming distorted She could feel her own tears welling up, but she had to go on… she had to warn him about what was coming next.
"…and it will only get worse from here. The uncontrolled chakra will eventually start affecting other parts of the brain. We are not able to say which ones exactly, but you should also expect memory loss, loss of body control, loss of control of bodily functions, paralysis and eventually… death."
(Though this might be preferable at this point, Sakura thought to herself).
Naruto turned his back and leaned his face against the hospital's wall. He was actively trying to hold back his tears. "How much will she last?"
"With proper medication, maybe a year or so… Naruto… I am terribly sorry..."
Naruto recalled Hiashi going through pretty much the same thing twenty years ago. He too was found with tears of blood in his eyes. He was placed on a special house that the Hyuga clan apparently kept for such cases. He wasn't allowed inside, but he recalls Hinata visiting her father on a daily basis, and coming back home with an extremely pained expression on her face. Hiashi was dead within two months. He seemed to recall Hinata was somewhat relieved by this. Whatever Hiashi went through was, it wasn't pretty.
Well, there's no way in hell he was going to just abandon Hinata on her own. He swore he would stand by her side until the day he died…
…and he never went back on his word…
…because that was their ninja way!
When Sakura told him that it was OK to see her, he called the children to inform them about what happened, and went inside his wife's room.
She was looking at him with a peacefully serene look on her face. She gave him one of her warmest smiles and patted her side of the bed inviting him to come over and lay down by her side. Naruto obliged.
Noticing her husband's pained expression; Hinata placed her right palm on his left cheek and moved his face towards hers. She gave him a soft kiss on the lips and looked him in the eyes.
He could practically hear her think "Don't hold back your tears in front of me. It's OK."
She then placed his face on her chest, and ran her hands on his hair as Naruto finally opened up the floodgates that had been welling in his eyes.
Hinata was still the only person that Naruto trusted enough to show weakness. She was still the only person with which he could open up and be vulnerable. And she was still the only person he could trust with his pain.
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The first six months, when Hinata could still eat and take care of herself, were not that bad. She smiled, she cooked and she cleaned the house just like she used to do all those years. Naruto sent shadow clones to do shopping and run the necessary errands while he stayed with his wife at home.
At this point Hinata could still understand what was going on around her. She couldn't talk but she could convey her thoughts and emotions in other ways. For example, when the children came over the other day, and she found out that Himawari's daughter, Noriko, was now pregnant with her first child she started dancing and cheering around the house.
"A new generation of Uzumaki ninjas emerges, eh?"
She hugged her husband tightly and placed kisses everywhere she could as if to say "I love you, I love you, I love you".
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The disease eventually progressed, just like Sakura said it would.
At first Hinata started losing control of her arms. She could no longer hold anything on her hands (at least not without dropping it a little time afterwards), and she could no longer feed herself. Naruto spent a lot of time trying to feed her as she tended to not chew her food properly and cough it back at him.
Then she lost control of her motor functions. The once graceful Hyuga was now moving spastically and erratically. Pretty soon she stopped walking all together and Naruto had to carry her around.
Then she lost all bladder and rectal control. In order for their house to not stink Naruto purchased special diapers and changed her at regular intervals in order to prevent his wife from getting any nasty infections.
"You are just like a big baby, aren't you?"
Hinata responded with a light smile.
The next few months were especially painful for Naruto. Not only because he had to treat his wife like a helpless overgrown toddler, but because he noticed that her face was going blank and expressionless most of the time. He couldn't tell what she was thinking anymore. He couldn't communicate with her anymore.
There were times when he was cleaning the house or cooking when he wound catch a spark of life on her eyes and a slight smile on her face. He always went closer in order to show her that he was still with her and he still loved her, but then her face would go blank again, and she was dead to the world once more.
He couldn't stand to see her like this. But he still loved her. He would always care for her. And he would never leave her side…
…because that is their ninja way.
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Naruto woke up one day and panicked when he found out that he couldn't hear his wife breathe anymore. He once again rushed her to the hospital. Sakura immediately placed her on life-support. He watched as various medical nin moved his wife to the intensive care unit and plugged her to the hospital's oxygen supply and various weird machines. He watched as an IV was placed on her arm, and a feeding tube was placed on her mouth. The doctor gave instructions for the feeding tube to be removed and cleaned at certain interval, while checking out what sort of medication his wife needs.
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So... Here he was…
The children arrived at the hospital as soon as they heard. Boruto placed a hand at his father's shoulder while Himawari gave him a kiss and a hug. Naruko, went by her mother's side squeezed her hand and told her that they are here.
Boruto informed his father about what was going on with the rest of the family. Himawari's daughter, Noriko was now in the hospital because she was approaching her due date
The kids went out to check on Noriko, and Naruto was alone again.
He squeezed his wife's hand and whispered in her ear…
"You listen to this? You are going to be a great-grandma soon!"
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In the week that followed Naruto left his wife's side only once.
It was when Noriko gave birth to beautiful blond baby boy. Everybody in the Uzumaki family gathered to congratulate the mother and to celebrate the new generation of talented ninja that was just starting to emerge.
Naruto held the baby boy, and allowed it to grasp his finger. It was so small, so delicate. It reminded him of the day he held Boruto in his arms. He placed a kiss on his grandaughter's forehead and then gave the baby back to her.
Suddenly, an idea crossed his mind.
"Boruto, can I borrow your tablet?"
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Hinata was still staring blankly at the ceiling when Naruto walked in. Her feeding tube had just been removed in order to be cleaned and changed. Naruto approached her bed being careful to not block the IV or step on any of the cables. He moved his head close to hers.
"Noriko, just gave birth to a beautiful baby boy! We are now great-grandparents!"
He took out Boruto's tablet, bought up a close-up picture of the newborn baby and placed it in front of Hinata's face. He then switched to a picture that showed the the entire Uzumaki family -Boruto, Himawari, Naruko and their children- surrounding the young Noriko who help the newborn Uzumaki baby in her hands
"All the family is here! Everybody is happy and excited! Look!"
"That's our family! Three generations of Uzumakis all together"
He then closed his eyes and gave his wife a big goofy smile.
"See what we've done?"
"Na-Naruto…"
He eyes shot open in shock as he saw life return to his wife's eyes.
"Hi-Hinata?"
She was struggling with the words "…Baby… Beautiful…"
"…Children… beautiful."
Naruto placed his face on her cheeks listened silently as he held her hand. He had missed her voice for so long…
"…you... beautiful...love…"
She closed her eyes and big smile formed on her face. Naruto once again started crying on her shoulder.
"I missed you!"
He felt a sudden sense of peace and serenity coming from Hinata as her palm grew colder and her breathing stopped. The heart rate monitor became a flat line.
And just like that, she was gone.
He was alone once more.
