CHAPTER 11: Waking Up and Drowning in Change

Chiasa entered Naruto's room and slid the door behind her. Naruto slept on a futon at the center of the room. His face had been wrapped with bandage so that only the holes of his nose, his eyes, and his lips showed. There was a splint tied against his left arm. That arm was covered with bandage, too, only thicker compared to his right arm. Reiko, who was sitting on the porch, turned to her. She nodded at her and resumed watching the sky. Chiasa stared down at Naruto. Naruto's forehead protector lay on the right of his head. She frowned at it.

"This is the emblem of Konoha," she said.

"It is," Reiko said.

Chiasa picked up the forehead protector. "Is this the reason Hashirama-sensei wants him in the team?"

"I don't know. It's surprising you missed it."

"I didn't pay attention that much. I wasn't interested in him."

"If he was an enemy, it would have been dangerous."

"I know." She studied the symbol of leaf on the metal. "This is impossible. Konoha is very far from here. He could have been floating for days. How did he survive that?"

"Some anomaly is inside his body. He has another form of chakra existing in him. During the operation, I noticed that that chakra caused abnormal regeneration of cells. I'm sure it was the reason he survived the river and the fatal wound the fight with Zuko had inflicted on him."

"Another form of chakra?"

"I'm not familiar with it, but Hashirama-sensei obviously is. Speaking of Konoha, isn't your clan from that village?"

Chiasa put down the forehead protector. "Yes."

Reiko stared at Chiasa. She knew that Chiasa would not speak about the subject anymore. "Has Hashirama-sensei called for me?"

"Huh?"

"Has Hashirama-sensei called for me?"

"No."

"Are you here to check on the boy, then?"

"Of course, not! Some kind of reunion was happening outside. I needed some place to escape to."

"Who came?"

"No one came. The little girl woke up."

"I see." Reiko stood up and went to the door.

"Hey! Where are you going?"

"Outside. I'll be right back." She went out and closed the door.

Chiasa looked at Naruto, unsure of what to do. Shrugging, she decided to go to the porch. She lay down, putting her hands behind her head. The afternoon sky was clear and almost cloudless.

…

Hashirama came into the temple from the garden. Hiromi was sleeping, her arms around his neck. Saki heard his footsteps and looked up. She was sitting at the column. She stood up and approached Hashirama.

"She has the brain of Musashi-dono," Hashirama said, handing over Hiromi to Saki. "But she has some of your feminine sensibility. Sayuri-dono will be delighted to know that one of her daughters didn't inherit her brusqueness."

Saki got Hiromi. Hiromi stirred. Saki danced her back to sleep.

"You have become quite the mother," Hashirama said.

"Raising two daughters could make you one whether you like it or not." She laid Hiromi on the futon. "I apologize about my rudeness earlier."

Hashirama smiled. "It doesn't matter. Anyway, if someone asks for me, I'm gonna be scouting the forest. I'll not be back till evening."

"Okay."

Hashirama walked to the front entrance. In the prayer room, he found Zuko in meditation. He put a hand on the monk's shoulder.

"Hashirama-dono," Zuko said.

"Yuudai has seen something. I'll go check it out. Take care of the place."

Zuko nodded. Hashirama vanished like the wind.

…

As time passed, Chiasa got bored. Reiko was still outside. She wondered what was delaying the golden haired medical ninja. It had been almost thirty minutes now. Anyway, whatever it was, it was not her business. Besides, watching over a sleeping patient was not that bad. The afternoon was peaceful, and the warm rays of the sun that slipped past the roof were pleasant on her skin. She closed her eyes and tried to take a nap. Several minutes later, she felt the air stir over her face. She opened her eyes and saw a mummy. Blinking the sleep away, her mind cleared and realized that it was the boy, staring intently at her with his blue eyes and holding a kunai against her neck. She began to get up.

"It's better that you stay down, miss," the boy said. "I just got a couple of questions to ask."

She didn't know how he had gotten near her without her noticing it. But she was undaunted. Zuko had overwhelmed him in the fight. She was sure she was several folds stronger than him. She made the slightest of distractions with her hand, and that was all she needed. The boy pecked a glance at her hand. Instantly, she was behind him, holding a kunai against his neck.

"Put that kunai down," she demanded. She waited for him to obey. But he did not.

The boy whirled in a blinding speed and employed a Taijutsu take-down on her. They fell on the floor. The boy grabbed her right wrist behind her and pressed on her left arm with his elbow. The boy immobilized her without even using his left hand. She looked at him, surprised.

"Please, I just need to know where the girls are."

"Get off me, now!" she commanded. "Get off! Get off!"

She could see that the boy was in pain, but he kept his hold firm. "As you can see, I can't do that. I can't trust you, and this is the only way I could talk with you without you having every advantage to kill me."

She didn't like that, submitting to someone weaker than her. She knew that the boy would not last long. She struggled to further weaken him.

"Don't force me to use something nasty on you. You just have to tell me where they are and we're okay."

She let a smile slip her thin lips to taunt him. "I will not answer anything. You can't keep your hold forever, anyway. Sooner or later, you'll let go." Her eyes met his eyes and she saw how they pleaded her not to push him into a corner. She ignored it.

"I guess I don't have a choice." He leaned down and kissed her. That was her very first kiss. Her mind ran wild.

"Now, we're even." He let go and sat. He peeled a skin-like membrane from his lower lip and showed it to her. "This is coated with diluted cyanide. In eight minutes, you will feel your heart slowing, and in ten minutes you will lose consciousness. Five minutes after that, you'll die. I have the antidote. If you kill me, no matter how thorough you search me, you'll never find it."

She was silently crying as she stared at the ceiling. She hadn't heard anything he said. All that was on her mind was the indignity the kiss had brought her.

"Hey, miss, I said I just poisoned you. Don't you even care?"

She sat up and grabbed his neck. The boy struggled to take her hands away. "I'm gonna kill you! Do you know what that kiss means to me, huh? You perverted bastard!" The boy was turning blue, now. She had nothing in mind at the moment but to kill him. Capillaries began showing in the white of his eyes. He was clawing at her, pushing her chin away, employing a strangulation of his own, weak as it might be. But she held on, and she could feel his life slipping away from him, second after second.

Suddenly, the door slid open and Reiko got in. She saw what was happening and hurriedly pulled Chiasa away from the boy. "What are you doing?" she said. It was a wonder how she could ask that without any inflection.

"Ask that to that son of a bitch! He suddenly kissed me!" Chiasa said.

"Stop this at once," Reiko said. "I'm a medical-nin. You'd better keep that in mind."

"But he kissed me! Do you know what it means to me? You know where I came from, Reiko. Don't side with him!"

"I'm sorry," the boy said.

"Your sorry won't do anything, bastard!" She paced the floor. "Why did you do that, anyway? What, you fell in love with me, too, like those lowly perverts on the streets? You found me irresistible? You thought my lips were so delicious you couldn't help lowering your head and having a taste?" She blushed despite of herself. "I can't believe this. A useless person stole my first kiss."

"Go out of the room and cool down," Reiko suggested.

"No. Until that bastard tells me what his intention was, I'll not leave this room."

"I thought to use that to scare you off," the boy said. "I knew I would not win against you in my condition. I didn't know how I would get information from you any other way. The monk was strong. I knew you were strong, too. I was scared that I was lying captive here while my friends needed help somewhere."

"So you kissed me? You thought that I was that kind of woman—a harlot, an easy-to-get bitch? You thought that you could get me to talk by using your charm?" She inhaled a lungful. "Are you an idiot?"

"I said I poisoned you. You were not listening to me."

"You poisoned me?"

"It was a bluff to get you talking."

She approached and collared him. "You got the nerve to do that? You were underestimating me?"

"That was a wild throw."

Reiko gently put her hand on Chiasa's arm. "You will stop doing that to my patient."

Chiasa glared at Reiko. "I'll never forget this, Reiko."

"Feel free to do so. Go out of the room, now, or you might pop a vein and end up sleeping beside him. I'll wrap you up to him naked. I promise that."

Chiasa straightened up, made two steps towards the door, and whirled back to face Reiko. "I don't understand you. Why are you siding with him? He took advantage of me!"

"I don't side with anyone. I merely do what I'm supposed to do."

"Arrrgh!" She stomped out of the room and slammed the door shut.

…

"I'm really sorry about that. I didn't know she cared so much about her first kiss," Naruto said.

"Don't worry about it. Chiasa is from a clan that adheres to strict tradition and codes." She glanced at Naruto. "Especially about marriage."

Naruto looked up, gulping. "Marriage, you say?"

"Chiasa is only sixteen, but her prowess in the art of fighting can already be considered at the level of Sennins. It's not just because she wants to be strong for the sake of becoming strong. She wants to be strong because she doesn't want to get married."

"What are you getting at?" He was becoming so nervous he could feel his feet getting cold. "Are you saying…?"

"Yes. A kiss in her clan is considered sacred. It happens when a woman accepts the protection of a man or a man interested in marrying her succeeds in defeating her in battle. It is not a form of greeting like in other countries. For her clan, it involves divine intervention."

"Ehhhh? Oh, my, no! I didn't…"

"Don't worry. She will realize it sooner."

"I can't believe a clan as strict as that exists."

"You are from Konoha, right?"

"I think so. Tsuneo-san told me that the emblem in my forehead protector signified Konoha."

"You have amnesia?"

"I guess so. I remember faces and everything about being a ninja. But the faces, I don't recognize who they belong to."

"The part of the brain that is related to instinct cannot be easily damaged. I assume you started being a ninja at a very young age, so you managed to retain most of what you had learned in the craft of shinobiship. Anyway, Chiasa's clan was originally from Konoha. They are called—"

The sliding door slid open. Chiasa shot needles with her eyes. "Stop, Reiko."

Naruto suppressed a squeal. He changed subject, instantly. "Ummm…"

"My name is Reiko, Hitatsu Reiko."

"Reiko-san, yes. Ummm, could you tell me where Tsuneo-san and his family are?"

"He is not yet in the team. I don't want you telling him anything about me." Chiasa approached and sat near Reiko.

"Have you cooled down, yet?" Reiko asked.

"There are still bubbles in my blood, but I can control myself now."

"Good. About Tsuneo-san and his family, Naruto-kun, they are outside. They are fine, nothing to worry about."

"Oh, you know my name."

"Tsuneo-san told it to us."

There was a short silence. "Reiko-san, if it's not too much to ask, could you tell me where I am and what really happened?"

"Of course. Let's start when we found you in the river…"

…

Setsuko felt itchy from the blanket covering her body. It was not like the usual feel of tanned hide she had made for herself from the bear she had killed a long time ago. She scratched her neck and arms, a spontaneous motion her body automatically triggered in sleep. But that itch didn't go away. It only worsened. She opened her eyes this time. When the sleepiness went away, she realized that she was not in the cave. She bolted up.

Kinjo raised his head and the twinkle in his eyes revealed his joy in seeing Setsuko finally waking up. "Setsuko!"

"Father? Father, you're alive!"

"Yes, I am, Setsuko." He nudged her lovingly with his head.

She hugged him. "I'm so happy to see you. I thought I lost you."

"I will not die that easily. How are you? Do you hurt anywhere?"

"No." She looked around. "Where are we?"

"We're inside a temple. Everyone is here, too: Tsuneo-san and his family, Hashirama, and my new master."

"Hashirama-oji-san is here, too? What's happening?" She had no recollection about what had transpired inside the cave last night.

Kinjo realized this and rode along. "You know your uncle Hashirama. When he visits, he always prepares some kind of surprise."

"This is his idea of surprise?"

Saki, who was taking a nap beside Hiromi, stirred and woke up. "Set…Setsuko?"

"Mama!"

Saki got up and threw her arms around Setsuko. "I'm glad you woke up, dear. I missed you."

"Missed you, too, Mama."

Saki inspected Setsuko's face. "When you were with us, you were not this pretty. You were too skinny and dirty."

"Stop it, Mama. Long time we haven't met and you're flattering me, already."

"Why, it's true! You've grown very lovely. It's rare to see pretty redhairs around here. Why not live with us again? I'm sure your father won't object, will you, Kinjo?"

"No. I won't object if she chooses to do so."

"But how about the pack?"

Kinjo looked pained. He didn't know if there were survivors from Zuko's attack last night. "They can live by themselves. Now that I have a new master, I won't be able to look after you anymore. It's best that you live with your Mama and sisters again."

"But Mama…I fought with Midori."

"Don't worry. It was all because of a silly—" she shot Kinjo a look that the wolf evaded, "—misunderstanding."

"Are you sure?"

Saki smiled. "Of course, honey. You're always welcome in my family."

"Then, all right. I'll just have to say goodbye to the pack."

Kinjo and Saki shared a look of concern.

"Y-yes," Kinjo said. "We can do that, later."

"Father, I want to meet your new master. He's the boy you found in the river, right?"

"Yes. He is still sleeping. Maybe you can, later. For now," Kinjo pushed her back to the futon, "you should go back to sleep."

"But I've been sleeping since last night! See, I even don't know how we got here."

"It's not yours to worry about. You were just so tired to notice anything." He bit the edge of the blanket and pulled it to Setsuko's chin. "Go to sleep."

"But I'm not sleepy."

"Let me help you with that," Saki said. She produced a jade comb from her kimono. "Do you still remember this?"

"The comb! But…but my hair…"

Saki went to Setsuko's side. She lifted Setsuko's head on her lap and began combing Setsuko's hair. "Don't worry. This comb can comb through the worst kinds of hairs. Now, close your eyes."

After just a few moments, Setsuko let out a light snore.

Saki giggled. "She's not sleepy she says. Babies."

…

Yuudai screeched from the sky. Hashirama was perched on a branch of a tree and watching two suspicious men walked in the direction of Tsuneo's house. One of the men had a large boomerang tied on his back while the other had an iron chain wound around his body, so that his arms looked like they were restrained to zero mobility. This man's body was also wrapped in bandage so he looked like a walking mummy. The man with the boomerang was reading from a map. Suddenly, the man in chains stopped.

Boomerang said, "What's the matter?"

"Something's out there." Chains had a creepy voice as if from disuse.

Dust whirled in front of them, and then when it had passed, Hashirama appeared.

Boomerang gaped. "You are…"

"How did you know this place?" Hashirama was grim. "Who's the person behind this?"

"We are bounty hunters. Connections are easy to have," Chains said.

"I was sure we weren't being followed. This is just impossible."

"Use your imagination."

"Tell me!" Hashirama roared.

Chains chuckled.

"You are the Hashirama Senju, right?" Boomerang said. He was beside Hashirama. Hashirama was surprised. "I'm a huge fan!"

Hashirama tried to grab Boomerang, but Boomerang disappeared.

The chain wound off from Chains body. The tip of the chain began to soar towards Hashirama. Fast.

"Got you!" Chains blurted out.

Hashirama's body turned into white powder. The true Hashirama was in the trees at the moment, dealing with the branches, making a clear route towards Chains. He knew that Chains was more dangerous. He would fell Chains first.

"Man, you're fast," Boomerang said.

He was shocked. Boomerang could actually match his speed.

Boomerang threw his boomerang at Hashirama. It was fast. Hashirama had to make a branch grow from a tree to defend himself. The boomerang cut through the branch, but Hashirama was not there anymore. He appeared behind Boomerang and made wooden spikes grow out his body. However, before the spikes could reach Boomerang, the bounty hunter had already escaped. Hashirama retreated onto a branch, feeling his surroundings. From the distance, he heard loud crackles of breaking branches. The boomerang was coming back. He made five seals, spread his arms, and clapped. Large branches of trees shot out from everywhere, converging towards the boomerang. The boomerang's momentum cut through without stopping, but, eventually, the bio-locomotion prevailed and ensnared the boomerang like a Venus flytrap closing in on a fly. Boomerang appeared in front of his ensnared weapon. When he touched it, it parted to reveal eight handles of swords.

"You're good, you're good! If you only know how happy I am right now!" He laughed with maniacal glee. He pulled the eight swords out and threw them in air. "Thanks, thanks, thanks, for letting me kill you!" He kicked six swords in the air and caught two. The six swords darted towards Hashirama with speed faster than sound. A thick tree grew in front of Hashirama, but the blades easily destroyed the tree. However, the swords didn't find their prey. Hashirama had already disappeared. Boomerang frowned.

"In terms of speed, you're too young to defeat me," Hashirama said.

Boomerang's grin vanished. He looked down at Hashirama's hand on his rib cage.

"In terms of technique, you're a flea."

Boomerang was obviously horrified. "No, no, no!" He tried to attack with his swords.

He was too late.

"In terms of ruthlessness, you're nothing."

Boomerang's body exploded as a tree grew out from his body like an unsatisfied parasite hoping to find another host. His blood splashed on the surrounding trees.

Hashirama stared at Boomerang's body. "Now, I know why you were so fast. Fucking…I only know one person who uses this kind of technique." Hashirama didn't waste time.

"You took so long to kill him," Chains said.

"I'm gonna ask you again. Who's behind this? Who told you our location?"

"I'm gonna answer that again. Use your imagination."

Chains used his chain to attack, but now that he was not holding back anymore, Hashirama easily caught it with his left hand. He crushed it like brittle wood, but it didn't end there. The chain began to transform into wood. The plague crept along the chain, gaining acceleration by the second. In no time, it reached Chains and the anomaly began to eat him.

"So, you've seen through me. You know that I'm already a corpse not deserving mercy," Chains said.

"I know that there is still some conscious mind in you. If you have information, tell me, so that you'll not be useless in your death."

A large chunk fall off from Chains face as the infection continued to crawl. "The persons nearest you are—" he began but couldn't finish for he suddenly erupted into black ash.

The ash flew past Hashirama's face, and he smelled the dead flesh of the once living man. Right then and there, he sat down, pulled out a piece of paper from his sleeve, and used his blood to write a short message. He signed it Storm Shadow, Arashikage. He made Yuudai carry his message to his village.

More than a kilometer away, in the shadows, Shitto was giggling like a lunatic. Spit was raining down his clothing. His eyes swam in bloodlust and insanity. He cut the threads of chakra on his fingers he had used to make the corpses his puppets. His harks echoed in the darkness, their sound ominous enough to push animals away.