Fang! Rasengan! Fang!
Chapter 2
Arriving at Konoha's only hospital, Naruto's limp form cradled in her arms, shock began to dull the world around Hana Inuzuka. Medics ran past her in slow motion rushing towards the morgue, hospital beds lay empty as everyone brought in was already long gone, then a stretcher moved through the crowds and people were shouting, machines whirring, a familiar whimper.
The kunoichi spun to see Kuromaru limping after orderlies in the direction of a patient just brought in, he was bad condition with blood matting his fur, as he panted a wheezing came from his thick muzzle as he struggled to breath. Still he dragged himself onwards, Hana knew the determination of Inuzuka dogs turned to sprint after the stretcher she was sure must contain either Tsume or Kiba still clutching an almost forgotten Naruto to her.
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Tsume didn't see the attack as she rode astride Kuromaru; there was too much blood in the air overwhelming her keen senses. One second she was carrying Sasuke to safety out of the back village gate, the next fire surrounded her, searing her skin, she felt her flesh bubble and then she felt nothing. Through a black haze she saw the Uchiha that has taken her down, it was no one she knew and this was certainly not the ninja who had taken down her own clan, just someone scared and running perhaps mistaking her for an enemy, perhaps not really knowing who the enemy was.
Sasuke was beneath her and Kuromaru, she still felt his shallow breaths, he had been shielded from the fireball jutsu by them. With almighty strength she searched for her ninken partner, 'Protect him..' She whispered before the breath died upon her lips, her face falling softly to the ground.
It would never be known whether she was referring to Sasuke or her own son Kiba, or even whether she was commanding Kuromaru or pleading with some greater power perhaps for the canine's safety. The ninken is a loyal creature though so doing only what was within its power the great Malamute pulled a still silent Sasuke onto his back and began the painstaking journey towards the village.
In the distance the Uchiha man still running in blind fear was pulled apart by crows that appeared from a shadowy figure.
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When the last Uchiha woke, everything was dark, for a moment he began to fear he was still in the Forrest enclosed by the kindly woman who'd saved him, she had eyes like his mother and when he heard her scream he'd curled into a ball with fists to ears and begged for the earth to close around him and swallow him so he might be away from the death that surrounded him this night.
He blinked but nothing changed, his eyes would not grow accustomed to the light, his ears still filled with screams slowly ceased to ring and he could make out the voices of those around him.
"Lucky, very lucky, he was the only survivor"
"Yes but who did this? It wasn't a clan war; this was one person, an assassin."
"A massacre, by a prodigy gone mad with power, the whole village must be warned, this was none other than Itatchi Uchiha, Sasuke's own brother!" This voice Sasuke knew, this was the Hokage, he remember this drawl from his speech on their first day at the academy, the Will of Fire was in all them he'd said.
What were they talking about Itatchi for though? Instantly images of his mother and father filled the child's mind, lying on the floor in his home, blood pooling around their faces. He could feel tears streaming down his cheeks and suddenly he wanted nothing more than to be out of this dark place.
"Hokage, please help me!" He cried, "I'm here, please let me out, where's my brother? Where's the lady who saved me? Please I want my mother, please Hokage!" Sasuke was screaming now, pain lancing through his head as he cried out, but so desperate to be out in the light again that he only cried harder. Deep down he knew he could not see his mother again; somewhere he'd begun to understand they said Itatchi had killed his parents and as the tears ran down his face he knew it was unforgivably disrespectful to address the leader of a great Shinobi Village in such a way.
But in that moment Sasuke didn't feel like the last Uchiha, he didn't feel revenge bubbling within him; he didn't even remember he was supposed to be a Shinobi. Right then Sasuke Uchiha was a six year old child needing the embrace of his mother to scare away the monsters that lingered in the dark.
It would take hours to calm the boy down and weeks till he spoke at all once the kindly old man explained with regret in his voice and sorrow in his heart that the boy would never see light again, that the fire that had engulfed his protector had burned his eyes. Not only would he never possess the Sharingan he'd longed for, Sasuke was blind.
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It took a long time to get Naruto any attention at all. The hospital was busy with the dead, and the only other casualty of the night, a young boy who'd survived under the protection of Hana's mother. The kunoichi had stayed long enough to watch the faithful Kuromaru slip from life, with his last duty complete, she'd wept for him, the last remaining part of Tsume. Then she'd looked at this snivelling child, weeping for his own mother, and part of her hated him for being alive in Tsume's place.
Checking the boy would be alright and asking the nurses to keep her updated she left, arranging to have a temporary morgue set up in the veterinary clinic for all the ninken like Kuromaru to be taken to. Hana felt as though upon his arrival the powerful canine had passed his responsibility to her. If he and his master had died saving Sasuke then she had an obligation to protect this investment of their lives and make sure it was not wasted, even if it meant stemming her resentment.
Most of the staff was reluctant to aid the town pariah, some seemed to blame him for the disaster calling him a demon and fleeing when they saw him. 'How can they blame a little kid for this?' Hana wandered to herself.
Eventually she found the Hokage, who took one look at the blonde's condition and ordered several medical ninja to give him immediate care. No one dared disobey Sarutobi and Naruto was quickly wheeled away for treatment. "I…I just, I found him in the Uchiha compound" Hana muttered, still feeling that the world was separated from her by a thin sheen of water.
"Thank you. Naruto is family to me, few would have saved him, yet I am so glad that you did." The Hokage bowed slightly to the young woman, still she caught a glimpse of tears glittering in the corners of the elderly man's eyes.
As if all the strength had been sucked from her Hana collapsed, only to be caught by Sarutobi and moved to a comfy chair in an unused room, her dogs lay around her feet whining softly. Oblivious to the chaos that still surrounded them.