Two chapters in one day! And much longer then I would have thought!! WOOT WOOT!! :D But, sadly, this isn't a happy chapter at all... no flaming over it!!! :( Well, read on!!
Chapter 20, Black Death.
Someone grabbed me before I could slice off that mans head. They grabbed both of my katana's and tossed them far away so that I couldn't reach them anytime soon. Temari yelled for Ino, and they both knelt beside Gaara. I struggled against Kankuro's arms, but he wouldn't let me go. I was screaming, my throat was starting to hurt. My eyes burned with tears of pain and rage.
No, no, no! Gaara can't die! He can't! He just can't!
Kankuro whispered something in my ear, but I couldn't hear him. My blood was raging in my head, in my whole body. I was lost to this world right now. Nothing could calm me down, nothing but one thing. But that thing was gasping for breath while he slowly died from a wound to his chest. I fought harder against Kankuro's hold. He still wouldn't let go. My elbow connected with his jaw, sending the both of us to the ground. We wrestled one another trying to best the other. I clawed, bit, kicked, and slapped. But he still kept me pinned down under him. That is, until I head butted him.
The world spun before me as I got to my knees. Blood ran down my forehead as I crawled over to Gaara. Temari tried keeping me away as Ino tried to heal him. I landed a punch to her jaw, she flew across the clearing and into a tree. Ino backed up in fright as I glared at her. I took her place next to Gaara and stared down at him. I grabbed the kunai that had stabbed him and cut open his shirt.
Gaara's flesh was torn oddly. Like something had grabbed it on the inside and pulled out as it ripped. That's when I noticed the point of the kunai wasn't a point. It was a hook. I growled angrily and threw it as hard as I could at a tree. Someone will have fun getting that sucker out. I quickly jumped to my feet and looked for water. My eyes darted everywhere, but all I could find was a water skin for drinking. Screw whoever owns it. I used my ground shifting technique to place it in my hands. I popped open the top and dumped all of it over Gaara's chest. I knelt back down and placed both of my hands over the wet wound.
I closed my eyes tightly and put all of my energy into healing it. I started with the insides first. His lung had been punctured. I healed that, then went to bringing his tissue back together. More water was poured over my hands, I didn't look to see who it was. I gathered all of the water running down my arms and over Gaara's chest onto the top of my hands, then made it slowly go into Gaara's flesh. I could feel it knitting back to a solid piece of flesh in my mind and under my hands. I could see it in my minds eye, I could see it under my hands.
Again, more water was dumped on top of my hands.
I pressed even more of my energy into the act of healing. I used my anger, I used my pain, I used my love. I used everything I had to save him. I could feel myself panting with the effort, but I didn't stop. I didn't slow. It could mean his life. That was not okay. I pushed everything I had, and even energy that I didn't have into it. His lung was completely fixed, but he still panted. Blood still gushed into the ball of water around my hands. I cut off the flow of blood and knitted his vanes back together. The red water seeped into his skin and continued to heal.
"Kira, I can finish it up," Ino said. She had her hand on my shoulder. "There's not much left of the wound now, let me finish it. You've done more then I ever could have. You saved his life."
I opened my eyes at her words and slowly lifted my hands, bringing the water with them. She was right, it was nothing more then a deep scratch now. My eyes traveled up his bloody chest to his face, his eyes were staring back at me. He wasn't panting anymore, but just breathing hard. My concentration slipped and the water fell from my hands and hit the ground. The soil hungrily drank it up.
I started to get to my feet, but I had completely drained myself on healing him. Hands reached under my arms and lifted me away so that Ino could finish healing Gaara. He was sitting up, still watching me. Asuma set me down and poured some water down my arms to wash away the blood. I looked over my my right and saw Kakashi kneeling down next to the man in black, asking him questions. At knife point, of course. It is Kakashi we're talking about. Asuma's large hands rubbed away the blood while I watched the mask man answer the other masked man with silver hair. Why do they wear masks? Is it because they are hiding some huge ugly zit? It makes me wonder...
Black dots started to fleck in my vision. I shook my head and concentrated on what Asuma was trying to say to me. But I couldn't hear him. I couldn't hear anything.
A song that my mother used to sing while she did the dishes suddenly popped up in my head.
"When the ones in black arrive, run, run run. When the Black falls down on you, run faraway. Run till your heart gives you, they will not stop. Black is death, Black Death. Black as night, they will come for you, run run run. Swallow you whole, they will. Hide the dog, kill the cat. Black Death is here. Sneak out the back, over the fence of life, into the Meadows of Light. The blackness hunts you, Dear. Run, run, run. Black Death has come."
That is the part that has frightened me most. The only part I memorized. I used to sing it when I was walking home from school as a little girl. It helped with my fear of big men coming and taking me away from my family. It had always comforted me in an odd way, but now it makes me want to scream.
Black Death. That's the plague. Does this mean that a plague will start? Does it mean that because of this man, millions on millions will be dead because of a plague? Does this man have it?
"Strip... him," I whispered, fear powering my powerless limbs. I stood and staggered over to Kakashi and fell on my knees next to him. "Strip him," I repeated.
Kakashi looked at me for a few seconds, then told the man to take off his shirt. Ino's hands gently touched my shoulders, she flowed some of her energy into me. The man was being to slow. My heart pounded with fear. I could feel myself becoming more frightened as Ino pushed energy into me.
Ino gasped and took her hands away from me to cover her nose from the rotten smell.
The man has his shirt off.
Large black boils were all over his neck. Black rotting sores were scattered across his chest and arms. I was afraid of what was next. We could all have been effected by now.
"Get away from him!" I screamed. We may still have a chance. "Get away from him! Now!" I pushed Kakashi away and moved away myself. "Kankuro, Ino! Go after the others! NOW! Kill the man they went with. It is vital they don't make it to the city! If any of them are feeling ill, isolate them. Do not let Sakura help them, she could be infected. Do not open the sores, and do not let them sleep. GO!!!" I screamed, pushing him. "They can't reach the city!" Ino and Kankuro were gone with the speed of light. I turned on the man. "Take off your pants, gloves and mask. NOW!" He did as he was told, slowly. After he took off his mask, I could see that he was smirking.
"It's to late, Girl. This is Pneumonic," He chuckled. He removed his gloves. The tips of every one of his fingers were blackened and rotting. He had more of the large black pus leaking boils on the inside of his thighs. He coughed and blood ran down his chin. "Every single one of you has been infected all ready." His blue eyes glittered with his own pain. "Especially that one over there."
I didn't dare look at who he was pointing at. I knew it was Gaara. "You lie," I growled.
He chuckled again, pulling off his boots. One of his blackened toes fell off with a spurt of foul smelling blood. "All of your friends are already infected. Even the other ones who left. All of you are going to die. But the village will be infected, first. Those two you just sent off wont make it in time."
With a scream I smacked him with all of my might. His neck snapped and he was silent. "Burn his body." I growled, pulling on my hair as I curled up into a ball. This can't be happening. It can't be. My elastic in my hair snapped, what wasn't clutched in my fists tumbled down around my face.
"Kira?" Shikamaru placed a hand on me. I quickly jumped away from him.
"Don't come near me. Stay away from Kakashi and Gaara, too." I said, trying to hold in my tears. Didn't work.
"Kira," Shikamaru said again, this time not moving closer. "What is that?" He asked, pointing to the body that was burning. "I have never seen that before. What is it?"
"Something really bad," I whispered. "In my world, we had this a long time ago. It's called the Black Death. It's a plague. A Bubonic Plague. It killed over 60% of a countries population. And it didn't even start in that country. It spread to many different places and killed more then half of the worlds population. People and animals alike. More then 200 million people lost their lives to this plague. Few lived." I looked to each of their faces. "Maybe one person out of five-ten million people lived," I finally whispered.
Everyone's faces was either frightened or utterly blank. They didn't know anything about this.
"There is no cure. Not that my world has found, at least. There are preventions, I had a shot when I was a little kid, so I cannot get it." I looked down. "But all of you could get it. All of you probably do have it."
"What does he mean by, " Pneumonic"?" Shikamaru asked, kneeling with his fist to his chin. He looked very thoughtful.
"It's airborne."
He nodded. Asuma took out a cigarette and lit it. "Well, what are we waiting for then? We need to get to the others before they reach the city."
"Asuma-sensei... if they do reach the city... you can already count how many will die. You can use the population count of Konoha." A few gasped. "No one is immune to it. I am only because I have had a vaccine for it. If they reach the city... every single person, cat, dog, every single living being, will die. You can count on that."
– –
Everyone was spread out as we flew through the trees. My heart was pounding, but not like it had when Gaara was stabbed. It was out of pure fear right now, not rage. I could feel sweat prickling my forehead, but I kept up the same fast pace. The others shouldn't be getting any symptoms for a day or two, so they will be fine with keeping up.
We have to reach the others.
"Kira!" Gaara called. But I was to slow. Sand engulfed me and I was suddenly in Gaara's arms, sand swirling angrily all around us. The others were behind us, panting for air. "Who are you?" Gaara growled. I looked to where he was looking. It was the other man in black. He chuckled. "What village are you from?!" Gaara roared. I winced at how loud it was.
"Your worst nightmare, Kazekage," Came the chuckle. "Everyone you love is going to die. Soon the Black Death will have spread all the way to Suna. It's already reached Konoha. We came in contact with that Matsuri girl from Suna on the road. She's heading home as we-" A kunai came out of his chest. The man in black dropped to the ground. A panting sweating Sakura stood behind him, looking at us with pain filled eyes. She collapsed to the ground holding her head.
"Gaara..." I whispered, struggling away from his grip. "Burn the body." I jogged over to Sakura and felt her head. Fever. She's already showing symptoms. Maybe this will happen quicker then I thought. "Sakura, where are the others?" I asked.
She lifted and hand and pointed to the left.
I looked to Kakashi and he nodded. I ran the way Sakura had pointed and found the others. Ino was on her hands and knees vomiting, Kankuro was petting Akamaru's head. Kiba was watching Ino. He didn't look the least bit sick. He would probably die first.
"Kankuro, away from the dog," I said. "They can get it, too." He moved faster then I ever thought possible. Naruto. "Where's Naruto! Hinata!" I called into the trees. Nothing moved. "Naruto! Hinata!" I shouted more frantically. I spun around at the sound of footsteps, but it was only Gaara. "Can you sense them?" I asked. He shook his head no.
Clouds over head rumbled. Perfect! I made a few hand signs and went to one knee as a raindrop hit my arm. When my eyes opened, I had billions on billions of eyes. I used the rain to look for the two. I found them. They had stopped that Matsuri girl. I made a silent prayer and let go of my jutsu.
"Gaara, about two miles on the right you will find them. They have Matsuri. Bring them all back here." I looked at him in the eyes. "Please," I whispered. "This is greater then anything you have ever seen before. This plague has the power to kill more then all of the tailed demons put together on a rampage." He nodded and sand started to engulf him.
Before he was totally gone, I heard him whisper, "Be careful" then he was gone.
I turned to face the others. "Alright, we need fires. Big ones. The heat kills the bacteria that causes the Black Death. Now! Hop to it people! You all could be dead by morning at this rate!" Everyone that was able jumped to action.
By the time Gaara returned with the others we had five humongous bon fires roaring. We made them in a circle, so the center would be the hottest. I had them all sit in the center. I was the only one who was aloud to walk about, I brought them water and tossed their clothes into the fire. With the Black Death, you can't be to careful. There is no such thing when dealing with it. I kept my eye on Gaara the most. He was the one who had that wound, he would most likely have the worst of it all.
So far, only Sakura, Ino, Kankuro, and Shikamaru were showing signs of it.
Sakura was vomiting like there was no tomorrow, and she has a fever. Ino has a high fever and is complaining of headaches. Kankuro is starting to get welts on the side of his neck, they are a pink color, they haven't turned red yet, which is good. Shikamaru has the highest fever, and red boils on his legs. There has to be something that I can do for them...
It was like a light bulb went off in my head.
I quickly ran over to Shikamaru and had him remove his pants. He did so with a slight blush, but that could easily have been from the heat of the fire. I told him everything before I did it, it was going to happen whether he agreed or not, but I wanted him to know how much it is going to hurt, and that he has to stay extremely still.
I took a test tube like glass cylinder from Sakura's pack and a rubber stopper. I grabbed a kunai from Kakashi and knelt next to Shikamaru's legs.
"Shikamaru, this is going to be more pain then you have ever felt before... But you can't move," I whispered. He nodded. Gaara had him lay back and put a thick stick between Shikamaru's teeth. Gaara held his arms down. "Okay, here I go." I took the kunai and stabbed it into the largest of Shikamaru's boils. The one that was starting to turn black. Shikamaru screamed. I could feel tears on my cheeks as I took the stopper out of the tube and squeezed the pus and blood into it. Along with the bacteria that cause this Black Death Plague. I filled it up to the top. After I replaced the stopper I took a wet shirt and wrapped it around the popped boil and tied it off.
I took the test tube and wiped it off the best I could and then set it on the dirt. I went over to one of the fire and stuck my hands in the flames. I screamed as my hands burned, my flesh started to bubble as they burned. I waited two whole minutes before I took my hands away. Kakashi wrapped them up in wet clothes and tied it around my hands. I grabbed the heated test tube that I had set in the dirt next to the fire and turned towards Gaara, Kakashi, and Kiba. The only three who didn't seem affected at all, though I knew each of them were. Asuma was sweating, though we all were with the heat of the fires.
"I'm going. Keep them all in the circle, do not leave this for anything. There is enough wood there to keep the fires going until I get back," I panted, the smoke burned my lungs. "Be safe," I whispered. After I got a nod from each of them I started running.
Tsunade-sama may be able to help us.
– –
"Who goes there?" Came a males voice.
"Stop!" I called back. There were coming towards me. "Do not come any closer!" The two figures glanced at each other and drew weapons, but didn't come any closer.
"Who are you?"
"Lorenzo Kira of Suna. Get me the Hokage, immediately!" I called. "You need to close every village gate! Do not let anyone in, or out! This is of high importance. If you value the lives of your people you will get me the Hokage and close of the village!"
"Kira?" The other one was female. It was Kuranai-sensei. "I thought you were lost!" She started coming closer with a smile.
"Stop, Kuranai-sensei! Don't come near me, I mean it! Please, get me Tsunade-sama and close of the village. Something has happened, I need Tsunade-sama!"
She stopped in her tracks. "Go and get the Hokage. Now!" The other person nodded and then was gone. "What is this about, Kira?" She asked.
"No time. I need some clothes. Just a big shirt will do. Please, hurry!" I held the test tube of the Black Plague as tight as I could in my hands. They sting more then anything. She hesitantly left.
I was glad that Kuranai-sensei was back before Tsunade-sama arrived. I had her toss the large shirt over in the bushes, away from where I was standing. Then I had her back away. I moved into the bushes and stripped off all of my clothing, even the cloth on my hands and my shoes. I started a fire and burned it all.
"I need a kunai!" As soon as the words left my mouth, a kunai planted itself in the tree not to far away. I reached over and pulled it out. "I hate this..." I whispered. I took up all of my hair in my hand and lifted it upwards. With a deep breath and my eyes shut tightly I chopped off my long beautiful hair and tossed it into the fire. The smell of burning hair was strong. I could hear Tsunade's shouting voice at the smell, then I heard Kuranai-sensei calming her down and telling her to wait for me.
I gently picked up the test tube and walked over to where the large shirt was. I set it down and gently pulled the large shirt over my head. I once more picked up the tube and walked out of the bushes and towards the group of people waiting for me. Every Jounin was there. I could see all of their shocked faces. Tsunade started jogging towards me, but when I shook my head she stopped. They waited for me to get to them.
I stopped seven feet away from them.
My hands are bleeding again, making it harder to hold the tube in my hands. My now short hair was so short that I can feel the breeze on my scalp. I have never had it this short before. Never. I loved my long hair. But it had to be done. I have to save my friends.
I am the only one that can.
"Tsunade-sama," I whispered, holding out the tube. "I you to find a cure for this. If anyone can, its you. Something terrible has occurred."
"Kira, where are the others?" She asked slowly, reaching out and taking it from my hands. "What happened to your hands? And your hair?" She gave me a once over. "What happened to you?" She asked in a whisper, her eyes brimming with tears.
"I'm much better off the the others," I whispered back. Everyone took a startled step back. "There is a plague, you have it in your hands, Tsunade-sama. I took that sample from Shikamaru's leg. He is the worst off, he has the blackening boils already. It's called the Black Death. It is a bubonic plague. There are three different types of it, but this one is airborne. Every one who was in my company has it. Every single one of them. I'm afraid that Shikamaru will not last the night, the others not much longer then he. Where I came from, this plague went on a rampage. It killed over 200 million people. Up to this date, no one has been able to find a cure for it. I have already taken every measure I know of to help them."
"Why aren't you just as bad off?" Asked Choza, Choji's father.
I looked at the ground in front of me. "Because when I was a little girl, I got something called a vaccine that prevents it. I cannot get it unless I have... an open wound." I whispered the last part, looking down at my bloodied hands. I looked back up with wide eyes. They all quickly moved backwards. All but Tsunade-sama. Her hand glowed with Chakra and she touched my forehead. My whole body went numb.
"You do not have this plague. I would be able to feel it within you, not that I have felt it in this test tube," She said. "You are safe."
"You don't understand," I whispered, tears flowing from my eyes. "I may have just infected all of you. I could be on my blood."
"It is not," She said firmly. "Tell us more about this, and why your hands are bloodied."
I nodded numbly as I thought about what I had learned in school about the plague. "Like I said, there is no cure, but there are precautions you can take. Like the vaccine. Heat kills the bacteria that causes the Black Death. I heated the tube and burnt it off my hands with the fires I built to help kill it on the others. I burnt my clothes over there so you wouldn't get it, and I cut off my hair and burnt that, too, just encase it was on my hair. Tsunade-sama, with the Black Death, there is no such thing as being to cautious. You need to find a cure for it, Tsunade-sama, you just have to!" I looked up at her through my tears. "You are the only one who can. Sakura has already fallen sick. Animals can get it, too. Back in my world, it traveled by fleas."
"What should we do?" Asked Guy-sensei.
I looked over at him, then at every face that was around me. "Block off the village. Do not let anyone in, or out. Go to every single home and see if they are ill. Even if it is just the common cold, wall up that house and treat the insides, along with all the people, with smoke. Black Death may seem like just a normal cold, but it isn't. A few of the symptoms are a fever, headaches, swelling of the lymph nodes. You will see boils on the neck, armpits, and the groin. Peoples fingers and toes will start to turn black and the smell will be unbearable. If you see or smell any of this, isolate them immediately. You cannot take any chances with this plague. If it reaches the village, it could spread like wild fire. Everyone would be dead within two weeks," I whispered the last part.
"I'll get started on this right away," Tsunade-sama whispered, staring down at the glass tube.
"One more thing," I said. "Bring me Shino. In a air tight suit. His bugs may be able to help." She nodded. "I'll wait right here. Oh, and I need a new pair of shoes," I gave them a small smile.
Once Shino arrived in a airtight white suit, along with a pair of sandals for me, we started off. We ran as fast as we could. The wind hurt my hands, but I put it out of mind. People would be suffering much more then I am if we don't contain this. When we reached the others I almost screamed.
Shikamaru had boils all over his body now, and was groaning in pain. Sakura was on her side shaking as she held her head, sweat trickling down her whole body. She only wore her chest wrap and those black spandex shorts. Ino was getting the boils on her neck, and was passed out. Asuma was trying to wake her up, I could see a pink boil starting to come forth on his neck. Gaara was sitting next to one of the fires with crossed legs and closed eyes. He had on a pair of shorts. I couldn't see anything wrong, but he may have boils on the inside of his legs. Matsuri was crying in pain as she tried fanning herself. Naruto and Hinata seemed perfectly fine, along with Kiba. Kakashi was staring dumbly into the fire, but he was shaking. His book limp in his hand. Akamaru was laying on his side whimpering as Kiba stroked his stomach, whispering to him.
This is much worse then when I left them.
I glanced over to Shino, he was staring, speechless. He had left his glasses back at the village, his eyes were a pretty brown, but were wide with fright at seeing his strong comrades in the state they are in.
"This is the Black Death," I said to him. He looked down at me. "I know you aren't going to like this, but I need to see if you can save them. We will start with Shikamaru, he will be dead within the next few hours." Shino nodded.
We both made our way over to Shikamaru. Temari was standing over him, crying. She looked up at me and gasped, probably staring at my almost bald head. More tears poured down her face. She knew why I had done it. I knelt down next to Shikamaru and pulled his pants down and off of his body. Pus and blood was coming out of all of the blackened boils on his legs.
"Kami, save us," Shino whispered.
"The Gods are not going to help you with this, Shino," I said to him.
The smell made me gag.
Okay, well, I know for a FACT that not one of you was expecting this to happen in my story!! :) Hehehe I'm so evil!!! X) Well, heres a few questions for you to think over while you wait for me to update again.
One: Will Shikamaru die?
Two: Will Tsunade be able to find a cure in time to save everyone, or will they all die?
Three: Will Konoha be infected with this bubonic plague?
Four: Will Kira get it and die, also?
Well, my wonderful readers, leave me a nice juicy reveiw!!! :D Until next time, my lovelies!