第十章

悪夢が帰ってきた

Tenth Chapter: The Nightmare is Back

+Parallel World+

It was around midnight that Minato had had enough. The lights were already out, and his wife had long since gone into a pit of slumber, yet he could not follow after the said wife. The Hokage had been woiiirrying over his eldest son ever since he had realized the blonde boy would not come back home any sooner. The man had tried to recompose and recollect in order to relax, but as each second ticked by his worry had only grown to the point where he could feel his heart beat more than one hundred and ten times per minute and some would skip one every thirty seconds. He knew it did not bode well as there was a big possibility that a heart with erratic beats could stop beating altogether than a slower pace.

Since he could not last any longer with his back on bed while he was short of breath, Minato slowly sat and stood, mindful not to wake his wife before he use the window and disappeared through it into the night to search for his missing son.

Minato crouched down upon his landing on an inch-tall grass, and straigthened up. His cornflower blue eyes gazed up at the dark fortress of woods; a part of his village that he had yet to check and was not expecting his son to be hiding in after looking around for almost an hour. The panting of his was not of fatigue, but rather of anxiety that seemed to be twice as much as before he arrived at the place he was currently in. Gulping, Minato took a few steps forward, allowing the moon's beam on his person in his light blue pyjamas.

As the Hokage ventured in the woods, dried leaves and small twigs crunched under his feet, yet he seemed to not hear nor mind it. He was more focused on the sensation that he could have sworn whoever it was must be on the verge on dying. It only made him more anxious when he recognized the chakra signature of his son, Naruto, who he was certain to be twenty-five to thirty minutes away from his location.

Minato had to hurry, or Naruto would die.

If only he could only used his Hiraishin, he could be by Naruto's side in a flash.

+Main World+

"Naruto..." the raven haired teen whispered, hardly believing what his eyes were seeing.

Silence and stillness was prominent in the chamber as Sasuke, along with Sakura and Iruka that flanked his sides, stared with wide eyes on the blonde teen. However, Iruka broke it by saying, "I'm going to get Lady Hokage." before he run off.

Sakura did not know when tears started leaking out of her eyes. She choke a little, and covered her lips with both hands. "Naruto...you're awake." she quivered.

Despite the smile Naruto gave Sakura, Sasuke can tell how the blonde was struggling to stay conscious.

"...where..." Naruto tried to ask in complete sentence.

Knowing what the question would be, Sasuke calmly answered. "You're in the secret chamber beneath the Hokage tower. And, in a casket apparently."

Had Sasuke be anyone else, Sakura would have chuckled a little at how the former tried to lighten up the mood.

"Why...? I'm not...dead...am I?" Naruto furrowed his brows.

"You're not, Naruto. It's for good measure actually. Someone had tried to kidnap you, so Master Tsunade thought it best to hide you here." Sakura explained.

Just then, Iruka came back with Tsunade in tow.

The newly arrived ones rushed inside, and Tsunade checked on Naruto with her chakra-glowing hands. "Naruto, how are you feeling?" she asked.

"...tired...numb...cold..." Naruto's drooped.

"Stay awake!"

"I'm trying...granny..."

"Tell me. Why are you in this state?"

Naruto snorted. "Shouldn't...you know? You're...a medic..."

The Fifth Hokage stopped examining the teen as she cannot find anything out of ordinary saved for the markings that was still swirling almost unnoticeably on Naruto's person. What could've done this to him? Going frustrated, she bit her thumb, before demanding for answers that did not come as Naruto had closed his eyes yet again just as when he was about to tell something that they thought could be very vital.

Sasuke merely sighed. "Well, there goes the idiot again; wasting time for nonsense when he knew well his limit."

"We couldn't do anything. Let him rest." said Iruka.

"Stay here and guard him." Tsunade commanded before turning her back and left.

"Understood." the three replied in unison on their Hokage's retreating back.

+Parallel World+

Morning came. Light beams of the morning sun that was slowly rising on the East horizon streamed through the gap of green curtains that was still drawn close. The room had a small table and wooden chair next to a bed, which fit a child ages from five to ten, at the far right corner. Opposite from it was a chest of drawers and adjacent from it was a weeping boy with platinum hair.

Yuki was desperately wiping his tears.

Hiccuping, Yuki pushed himself up and stumbled a little toward the chest drawers. He opened the lowest drawer and pulled out a pair of black shorts, and dark green long sleeves. Putting the clothes down, Yuki proceeded to take his yellow pyjamas off and changed into the new set of clothes he had prepared, before hurrying out of his room to the kitchen where his mother was preparing breakfast.

A bowl of steaming chicken stew and udon was set on the table. And then two plates came next, followed by spoons and forks, and glasses of milk.

Sayo was satisfied for their breakfast.

"Yuki! Breakfast's ready!" she called out.

"I'm coming, mother!" Yuki's muffled reply was heard from upstairs.

The woman sat on her seat at the right side of the head of the table, her cobalt blue dress swayed as she moved. Her iced blue eyes stared at her plate unseeingly as she recalled six hours ago about an ANBU had knocked on the window. She had noticed tha Minato was not around and his place on bed was cold to her touch. That time, she had known that the man was so restless to sleep, and suspected that he went to look for their eldest son,.which was confirmed. The ANBU had informed her that the Hokage had found Naruto barely breathing in the forest and was immediately rushed to the hospital.

Sayo wanted to go to the hospital then, but thought better than leave her Yuki alone.

Little did she know, Yuki had been awake and was peaking in her and Minato's room through the keyhole, and had heard of the bad news.

The boy stared at his reflection on the mirror in the bathroom, balancing on a stool. He would have been in the kitchen already had he not remembered that he had been crying for hours. As an aftermath, his eyes were red and puffy. He had heard of the ninja's transformation technique, and his brother had shown him how it was done by transforming into a girl. Truly amazed, Yuki thought if he could do it right, he could hide his puffy eyes.

But, apparently, Yuki did not know how to used chakra yet. However, he thought of a brilliant idea to conceal his eyes.

A pair of small footsteps was heard, and Sayo turned to right to see her son, only to be amused at the boy's appearance. Following the boy, the woman turned to her left to see Yuki settled on his seat.

Looking up at his mother, Yuki asked, "What's for breakfast, mother?"

"Stew and udon, dear." replied Sayo between light giggles.

"Aren't those aniue's favourite?"

"Yeah..." Sayo smiled softly as she watched her son nodded silently and independently helped his self with breakfast. The smile disappeard though when the boy did not ask for his father and brother. Ever since Yuki had learned how to talk coherently, he often asked when his father would join them for the meal or when his brother would come home. But, today was different. Taking note of it, Sayo put on a smile and asked, "What's with the get up today?" as he placed cooked rice and stew on her plate.

Yuki shrugged. "Nothing. I just found it and thought it was cool, so..."

"I see." replied the woman even though she knew the boy was lying. The shrugged gave Yuki a way, but Sayo did not dwell on it for the moment.

Their breakfast went on smooth, and Sayo was already packing some food for Naruto and Minato to ate. After it, she walked in the living room with two lunch boxes in her hands. She kneeled by the couch where a plastic bag was, and Yuki sitting on the other side.

"What's that, mother?" asked the platinum haired boy, seeing his mother putting something in the bag.

Looking up at her son, who still had the sunglasses on, she said, "This is Minato's and Naruto's breakfast. Your aniue is in the hospital right now."

"Why?"

The fact that Yuki was not surprised of the news told Sayo something, and with the sunglasses, she suspected that somehow Yuki had known of what had happened to Naruto and had been crying until his eyes swell that was why he was wearing the sunglasses.

"Well, your aniue was found by your father in the woods, unconscious, so your father brought him back to the hospital." Sayo explained once she had already packed and sat beside her son.

"Will aniue be okay?"

"Yes. I'm sure of it, so don't worry, alright?"

"...but...if-if I didn't do it aniue would've returned and safe."

"No, baby." Sayo cupped Yuki's cheeks tenderly. "Don't blame yourself. It was an accident."

"But, I laughed at him!"

"I know... Aniue was upset, but know that he loves you."

"He said I'm not his little brother..." Yuki trailed off and sniffled.

For once, Sayo was speechless. They had gone over it last night, but Yuki failed to mention that Naruto denied their relationship.

Sayo's hands on Yuki's cheek faltered.

"Aniue hates me..." this time, the boy cried and his mother held him in an embrace.

"Shh...it's okay. Aniue didn't mean it, he was just upset that's why he said it."

"Re-really?" asked Yuki, whose voice was muffled as he had his head against her mother's chest.

"Yes..." I hope so.

Signs of forming bags under Minato's usually vibrant eyes were noticeable if one would look at it carefully. One feature that can be easily tell his stress was his ruffled hair beside him still in his pyjamas.

The Hokage took a day off and had spent the whole time in Naruto's hospital room.

Minato had been sitting on a chair, watching his sleeping son. His back was starting to go stiff, and so he stood up to stretch just in time when the door opened and Sayo stepped in followed by Yuki.

"How is he?" the only woman in the room asked as she close the gap between her and the bed Naruto was resting on. Yuki chose to go to his father, who lifted the young one.

"The doctor said they can't tell how it happened, but they thought Naruto had been pushing his body beyond its limits added by the stress, which caused his relapse. He should be fine though."

Turning to her husband with a fond smile, Sayo said, "That's good. I made you and Naruto breakfast." and placed the plastic bag atop a small table.

"Thank you. I would like to eat it with Naruto though."

"I know. I can reheat it once he wakes up."

The blonde man turned to the boy in his arms and only did he noticed the sunglasses the said boy wore. Raising a questioning brow, he asked, "Hm? Why are you wearing those, Yuki?"

"It's cool!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay." the Hokage chuckled, making Yuki scowl.

+Main World+

A pair of feet covered in bandages walked casually over the lawn that was surrounded by trees, and stepped into the forest once the feet had reach the other side, disappearing.

Water that continuously splashed against water can be heard in the woods from a water falls. Beams of sunlight reflected on the river, making it sparkle with life. The birds' chirping can also be heard, and from time to time wind blew that made everything green rustle with life.

Nirou came out of the trees and into the clearing where he met Kurokage. For the first time, he wore Konoha's Military uniform and was ranked as Commoner. Taking a few steps foward, Nirou sat by the riverbank and waited for Kurokage to arrive if the man did really mean what he had said. He did not have to wait any longer though, because Kurokage appeared beside him without warning.

"What the #%&*/-+!" Nirou jumped.

From his perched on the ground, Kurokage looked up in amusement. "I know you curse, but... Wow. You have a sailor mouth. A colourful one, apparently." he complimented.

"Tch." Nirou was annoyed. He then flopped down back unceremonuously. Setting his eyes firmly on the water, he said, "I wanted to talk about what you offered."

"Really?"

"Yeah." the Commoner nodded and turned to his right to face the other man. "But, I don't know where he is."

"You know..." Kurokage trailed off. "I can tell you where he is, but...say. Do you accept my offer?"

"Yes." was the serious answer the mummified man received.

"Well then." grunting as he stood, Kurokage appended. "Just by hearing you agreed, know this that you can't back down."

Nirou also stood up. "I know." he said and held a hand out. "We have a deal."

Taking the offered hand, Kurokage echoed, "Deal, it is." before letting it go. "Anyway..." he started loosing the knot of bandages behind his head. "There's no need to tell you where the jinchuuriki is." slowly, strips of bandages fell on his feet, next was the surgical mask, and lastly the sunglasses joined.

Nirou can only stared in pure shock and fear as the man's face before him was revealed to be nothing but a head of black, and two white circles that determined the eyes and a sinister smile.

"I am what most ninjas know as Black Zetsu."

And, before Nirou could react, the enemy had already rushed to the brunnette's face whilst the said brunnette was screaming his lungs out, desperately clawing at his face to get free in futile attempt until everything went silent and Nirou's arms dropped to his sides.