Chapter 36: Of Care
LOTSA WORDS IN THIS ONE, EH? LOL. It used to be longer, but I figured you guys can't handle 10K+ words.
McKazekage: thank you for your compliments :) And it may just be because I have way too much time on my hands. I don't truly know... TheGirlWithNoIQ: hehe, thanks for that :D
Next chapter starts. I don't own Naruto.
Obito thought that his battle was done. Sure, he wouldn't be coming out of it unscathed like he had really wanted—with a master planner like Kakashi on their side, he'd have to be a moron to actually think he could possibly get out of it unscathed. But he actually went as far to believe he could actually kill them with something like paper bombs. True, he had done his best to hide the explosives, and he had thought that when Kakashi hadn't smelled anything, he'd won gold. But he should've remembered that Kakashi wasn't alone.
Sand wrapped around each of his opponents' ankles, quickly running up their bodies and encasing them before his bombs went off. He wanted to use that moment to run, but at the same moment, the shinobi responsible for the sand used it like a whip; striking out at him. Obito gritted his teeth as the sand ripped sleeve. He'd managed to avoid the worse, but it still cut him, and it hurt.
Gaara glared down at the scene before him, perched on the branch of a tree, frowning. He'd made a split-second decision in coming here. His indecisiveness had almost cost them all their lives, a fact that was fueling his anger and making him want to slaughter that man instead of blaming himself.
As soon as the smoke cleared, he allowed the sand to crumble off of his allies. He hadn't known the blast radius of the bombs, but apparently the amount of sand he had wrapped around their bodies was more than sufficient, as none of them seemed to even crack when the bombs had gone off. Of course, he hadn't been thinking about quantity of sand, but only realized that he had possibly given them too much when Shizuka gasped for air, coughing up leftover sand.
Shizuka coughed up more sand and wiped his mouth, mostly to wipe the remaining sand from his lips, but partially to hide his bottom lip's quivering. The katana's drain on him was beginning to get to him, but he couldn't let anyone see it. He gritted his teeth, steeling himself. Normally, he would've expressed that he had reached his limit, and would be useless. But something about this was different, somehow. He just couldn't admit that he was feeling physically unwell. He would feel like he was failing comrades.
"How're you here, kid?" Gaara asked him in his rough voice, not allowing curiosity to lace his voice. Shizuka looked back at him, frown on his face.
"It's a story," he responded, not wanting to speak. Gaara gritted his teeth but decided to say nothing about the response he'd gotten. In the grand scheme of things, it wouldn't help him now to know the answer.
"Gaara," said Kakashi once he was able to move his legs, freed from the sand. He jumped onto the branch, landing besides Gaara. "How did you know…?"
"Didn't," responded Gaara, his anger growing upon Kakashi's assumption that he somehow knew what was happening. "I barely made it."
"A moment later, we would've been dead," Kakashi responded, not splicing words. "A thanks is still in order, Gaara. But now isn't the time for thanking you, no offense." He observed the shinobi within his group with his Sharingan, observing their chakra levels, frowning upon realizing that Shizuka's was particularly low—about-to-drop-dead-low, in fact. His eyes narrowed. The katana was taking Shizuka's chakra and energy faster than his body could replenish it. It was, in a way, much like Kakashi's Sharingan—a double-ended sword. "Are you going to stay and help us fight?"
"Yes," said Gaara with a nod, his jade eyes betraying no emotion. He didn't give his reasons, which was simple: the man was fucking with his life. Just last week he'd been happy, because his family was whole and completely happy. Now he was an angry Kazekage with a gimpy older brother who had a girlfriend being swallowed by hatred, as well as an unwed pregnant older sister who had a boyfriend who happened to be the heir for the Nara clan. Political negotiations for that one would be a bitch, due to the fact that Temari was the official ambassador of Suna, and Shikamaru had obvious obligations towards Konoha. He was also sure he'd have to pay for damages, reconstruction and possibly a wedding. And, oh, the paperwork… He wouldn't even touch the idea of Kankurō's physical therapy, which he would definitely need.
With the amount of bullshit being handed to him in the past week, he felt he deserved to kill someone. He'd been a good Kazekage, hadn't he? Didn't he deserve to slaughter someone? Gaara groaned internally, realizing he was thinking about himself not only in the third person, but also as a pet. He refocused his energies on his growing hatred of the leader of the Akatsuki. "What're your plans to take him out? I have my methods, but I believe I was told once they're rather… messy."
"We're not killing him," responded Kakashi quietly as Kiba and Shino started their assault.
Gaara's eyes widened. "Why not?" he hissed. "He's a criminal. Criminals get killed. Logic."
"They also get trial first," said Kakashi, flicking a glance at Gaara. "As a Kage, I would've assumed that you'd wanted him alive for interrogations or torture."
"No," said Gaara with a frown, "What I want is to spill his blood across the entire fucking forest."
Kakashi frowned. "He doesn't really have 'blood'…"
"I'll spill whatever he has to spill. I'm not picky," said Gaara with a shrug, his sand gathering into a cloud and coming underneath him, picking him up off of the branch of the tree. Kakashi watched him carefully, understanding his need to kill, but also knowing that it was happening over a simple misunderstanding. He swallowed. He needed to get to Obito. He needed to explain to Obito what had really happened eighteen years ago. What had happened to Rin.
It was one of the last few moments of the war that Kakashi had personally gone through. At this time in the war, medical ninja were getting scarce, hard to come by, especially medical ninja like Rin. Rin was one out of a possible ten excellent medical nin, and those ten were stretched thinly. Rin wasn't at Konoha very often anymore, instead running around the front, always guarded by one or two ANBU when available.
On the way between fronts, Rin had been kidnapped. Kakashi had been assigned with several to find her. It had been a good month until they had found her, and they had only found her due to the fact that Kakashi had a good nose and could easily identify the smell of blood. Rin was in a worse shape than he had imagined—he'd thought that Rin would not refuse treatment to any of the Kumo shinobi. They hadn't figured that Obito's death would cause her to resent Kumo shinobi so much that she would simply let them die. They then treated her as a POW; torturing her daily in order to get information about the networks and the shinobi of Konoha.
Rin didn't break, not even when they went from normal torture techniques to a more ancient and supposedly effective torture system: rape. Twice a day, for the last six days of her imprisonment, Rin was raped by one or more men at a time. She didn't go into or details, thankfully. All she would say was that she didn't tell them anything that would put Konoha at risk.
On the last day, they decided that if the normal torture experts couldn't get through to her, they would take her to the foremost in torture in Kumogakure, someone that even Ibiki feared; who also happened to be the captain of the regimen, according to the wartime BINGO books. Rin, who wasn't even an assassin, knew this man's face. And she'd taken advantage of the situation. She let him rape her; let him rip the remaining shreds of her dignity. She waited patiently until he was in climax to break his neck. And, on her way out, she made sure to cut him down the torso and leave his naked body outside of his tent, laying him out; shaming him in front of his troops.
She also took two important scrolls from the camp, as well as the translations to the Morse messages they were currently employing, a list of Leaf POW in their camps and what camps, and a list of active-duty shinobi currently on the battlefield. One scroll contained the combative training currently used by the Kumogakure shinobi, and the other contained a list of all locations the Cloud used for supply-drop-offs.
Rin had done more towards the war effort than any other POW did. It was sick to see that it was because she was a medical shinobi, and, beyond that; female. Of course, it had required her basically putting up her body as a plaything for most of the camp. Immediately, she was checked for any possible STDs or pregnancies, neither of which had happened. Rin admitted that she made sure that the pregnancy would never happen—after the first time, she used her medical jutsu make herself sterile. While it did mean that no children would stem from the rape, it also meant that she had sacrificed having kids in the foreseeable future.
Kakashi had been enraged by the abuse that Rin had suffered at the hands of these Kumo shinobi, as had their sensei. It had been absolutely disgusting to see the lengths they had been willing to go to make Rin talk about information she actually didn't know. She was only a medical ninja, after all; she wouldn't knowthe answers to their questions. Kakashi knew that he could've answered all the questions Rin couldn't. That made it worse: why couldn't he have been taken in Rin's place?
This trouble was far from over. The information Rin had taken, and shared already; was putting her on the first page of the Kumo BINGO book, exactly where no one should want to be. Being there meant that it was being made a primary mission of Kumogakure's forces to wipe that face off of the face of the planet. That kind of hit stayed with a person. There was no way out of it other than to die from something else first.
Minato had come up with the idea of Rin's 'public execution'. Rin couldn't live anymore, but that didn't just mean they were going to needlessly kill their comrade, their friend. No, that would be cold. Instead, Minato took the body of a girl around Rin's age, if not a few years younger; with a similar body shape to her. The girl had died on the battlefield earlier in the day; Minato had stressed the point of a fresh corpse. Taking her to a kunoichi with large glasses and a kind smile, they managed to make her look, physically, like Rin. Kakashi had been startled to see it, as had Rin.
Minato had Kakashi take this body out into the middle of the forest, on top of a lake that was clearly within enemy lines, and had a puppet master breathe life into the being, making her movements human. Minato had activated a tag he'd placed on the back of the girl's neck, pushing chakra into her system and bringing her back to 'life'. He then had Kakashi use his Chidori and 'kill Rin'. Rin's public execution. It had been meant for the Cloud shinobi, but Obito must've been watching, Kakashi knew this now. Now, at twenty-nine, looking back at eighteen years ago, he sighed; feeling tired and extremely old. That whole thing was coming back to bite him in the ass. Thanks, Minato-sensei, he thought dryly, for making me deal with the mess all by myself.
And, with that thought, he joined the fray when he noticed that Obito was nearly getting the drop on Shizuka. Avoiding being cut by Shizuka's katana, he wrapped his arm around Shizuka, placing his hand on the floor as he pushed off, pulling him out of the path of the fan Obito used as a weapon. Luckily, he avoided being cut, and he did save Shizuka from being hurt. He heard Obito growl, but he didn't pay much attention to him. He placed Shizuka on his feet, glaring at him. He wasn't mad at him… he wasn't sure what he was feeling. He just knew he was tired and he wanted to end this. "Stay here."
Shizuka began to shake his head. "But—"
"Listen to me," he said, his voice leaving no room for argument. "You've done more than enough; more than one eleven-year-old medical ninja should be doing on the battlefield. Now let me to my job." He turned around, standing straight. "Let me do my job as an adult and let me protect you… kid." Kakashi glared at Obito, the tomes of his Sharingan—Obito's Sharingan—spinning quickly in his eye. He had to get it through his head that this wasn't the Obito he knew. The Obito he knew didn't try to kill kids.
"Getting serious, eh, Kakashi?" asked Obito, smirking.
Kakashi didn't reply vocally, instead choosing to respond with physical violence. Moving too fast for someone without the Sharingan to truly follow, he struck at Obito, who managed to meet his fist with his own due to having the ability to follow with Kakashi's movements. Of course, the same could be said for Kakashi. Once he closed his normal eye, the entire world slowed down, making it easy for him to block Obito's next move. When it came to skills with the Sharingan, people could see that the shinobi were matched.
Even Obito could, much to his own dismay. Despite his ability to switch back into different dimensions, Kakashi was managing to make physical contact. It was his own fault, really—he had, after all, given Kakashi his left Sharingan eye, therefore giving him the ability to utilize the Mangekyō, transporting his own self to the alternate dimension Obito was employing for the avoidance of Kakashi's attacks. Obito gritted his teeth, noticing that they were on-par, exactly where he didn't want to be.
Obito growled and kicked Kakashi hard in the chest, taking advantage of the fact that while Kakashi could see everything Obito was doing, he couldn't necessarily stop everything, as he wasn't as fast as Obito could be. Kakashi fell back a few meters, enough for Obito to be able to turn around and run in the opposite direction, knowing he had wasted enough of his time fighting Kakashi. For Kakashi, all this happened in slow-motion, almost like twenty minutes. But for normal shinobi, this took twenty seconds, barely giving them time to think before Shino took off after Obito.
Shino and Kiba immediately took off, and Shizuka made to follow, but Gaara wasn't stupid. There was no way that he was in any sort of shape to fight anymore, not with the way his body was trembling; as if he were cold. It was actually a rather warm night, with storm clouds overhead. There was no way the quivering could be from any sort of coldness. No, it had to be fatigue. He was fighting with his own body to stand up. Gaara pushed him against a tree with his sand, wrapping his sand around Shizuka's body, forcibly holding him against the tree. Shizuka cried out, angry, "Get the fuck off me!"
"No," responded Gaara, his face emotionless. He would admit that Shizuka could be helpful, normally; but not with the obvious tire his body had. Shizuka's eyes flashed bright orange, for a second, before returning to their normal dark color. Gaara's eyes widened a fraction. Something was amiss. Something was leaving the realms of control in this boy, something that was not going to be pretty; once it left control. Gaara internally groaned; he didn't have time for this development. Maybe later.
With that thought, he brought his fist back and sent it into Shizuka's face, making the boy's head hit the trunk of the tree hard, effectively knocking him unconscious. Kakashi stared at him, though he and Shisui both were gape-mouthed; as he shook his hand, trying to get the sting out of his knuckles. So this was what it felt like to punch someone? Why did Kankurō do this? It sucked. I'll stick with the sand, Gaara decided.
There is a reason why snakes are feared by other creatures, specifically their choice creatures of prey. Snakes are reptiles that can go weeks, months, sometimes even years without eating. Snakes can lay in wait, without moving, for weeks on end. No one knows when snakes will strike, and nor do they know from where they will strike. They don't fear the snake itself; but its mysterious sort of predatory evil they possess.
Of course, the fear is different for the type of snake. Orochimaru's fearsomeness was something close to a King Cobra. However, next to Kabuto, Orochimaru was like a garden snake. Kabuto had been born snakelike, he just didn't look like one until he experimented on his own body, trying to find perfection through science. Kabuto was someone Orochimaru had intended to use like a pawn, but found grew more evil than any one person could comprehend. One could blame Danzō for filling Kabuto's heart with deep hatred, but one could also blame Orochimaru for adding to the flames. But both sides would have to admit that what made Kabuto so disgustingly evil was that he liked to cause people's suffering.
People could hypothesize that this was the reason he hated Kankurō so much—he came from such a damaging root, yet…his heart wasn't nearly as rotted as Kabuto's own. He was happy, whereas Kabuto wanted to destroy life. The people making this hypothesis should be called geniuses, as they were correct. To Kabuto, Kankurō's happiness wasn't deserved by him. To be completely fair, it was not only Kankurō he hated, but actually both the villages of Konoha and Suna. It was just that he hated him more.
Everything Kankurō did angered Kabuto. Everything about the puppeteer made Kabuto want to rip him into shreds. How dare he be happy? How dare he take the puzzle he was supposed to fit in and change the pieces around in order to fit himself within its parameters? No one should be able to do that, to change the game. If Kabuto couldn't, then this weakling shouldn't either.
Kabuto decided that he would strike now, before Kankurō would get the chance to be happy. He had set up his own game pieces, and now it was time to play. He was the snake, tired of patience and ready to strike.
Hyūga Hizashi had no idea how so many of these shinobi could call themselves Leaves. They were too easy for him to kill. He didn't even need chakra to kill them, nor did he bother concealing it any. He simply crept up behind them and slit their throats, afterwards giving them an apology. Despite their lack of skill, they were still Leaf, and beyond that, they were still Hyūga; and therefore they were still fellow shinobi.
He felt sorry for them. But he had a mission now. A mission he really didn't want to go through with—he'd managed to go through the whole day, it seemed, without having any real goal. He thought himself lucky that he wasn't truly necessary. With the nature of this jutsu, however, he should've known it was nothing but a farce. He just hadn't been needed at that moment. That did not mean to say that he wasn't needed at all. And what he was needed for was so twisted, so hideous… but he couldn't refuse it. It was the want of whoever had summoned him, and he just couldn't refuse that person what he wanted. No matter how twisted or how hideous it was. Though he would never admit it in his lifetime, Hizashi cared about the main branch of his family. Did he hate them? Yes. But he also recognized one thing; in the back of his mind… it wasn't the current generation's faults. They did nothing to him. It was all a decision made by his parents, and as the clan head, his brother had been forced to go through with it. He couldn't help it, and Hizashi didn't blame him. Sometimes, admittedly, he would get jealous, but he didn't hate any of them. He just didn't like that his only son wasn't given a fair chance like they were. But would he kill family for that? No.
He wouldn't kill family for anything, normally; but now? Now he had to. He wasn't being given a choice, or an option. He had to kill his clan, including its current head, Hyūga Hiashi, his twin brother, who he had sacrificed his own life for. Hizashi smirked sardonically. God has the biggest sense of humor, it appears, he thought, letting the dead man drop to the ground. Vaguely, he remembered his name was Ryōta, one of Neji's friends. Neji would definitely be angered to know that a man he'd grown up with was killed by his father. That knowledge alone made Hizashi's heart ache. Neji was his son, after all; it was always his point as a father to make his son proud of him. He was basically failing him, dashing all of his hopes.
All he had left to hope was that Neji wouldn't curse his name too badly when he came back home to find that the Hyūga would be obliterated.
The village of Uzushiogakure was once the most renowned village in all of the shinobi countries. It had stood proud; its symbol large for the whole world to see. Its ninja were trained like no others were, their training hard and gritty, but then again, no other ninja would love what they did so much. Resting between two rivers, the village always had an influx of foreign foods, exotic silks, and emigrating people, looking for a fresh start.
The people of Uzushiogakure praised their founding clans: the Uzumaki, the Nara, the Fūma, and the now-extinct Kaguya clan. These clans were tightly knit with each other. The Nara clan, particularly, was close with the Uzumaki, their jutsu having the most aid in the development of the fūinjutsu the Uzumaki were famed for.
When people see the shadow techniques, they only saw ninjutsu. What they do not see is the distinct sealing element of the jutsu itself, and the explanation of why it is such a waste of chakra. After all, the seal is only active for as long as the caster is pumping it full of chakra, and it does require much chakra. The Uzumaki clan had a direct hand in the development of this jutsu—in the days of Uzushiogakure, most often one would see a Nara member on a team with an Uzumaki. It is due to the fact that the Uzumaki may lack the skill necessary to manipulate the shadows, which the Nara have; they have the capacity to freely give away their chakra to their comrades, which the Nara lack.
In the end, really, that was what Shikamaru needed right now: an Uzumaki.
"I… need more chakra…" he winced, his entire body screaming out in pain from the overuse of his chakra. "Or… someone… I need… a container… is Shikaru back…"
"No." Suigetsu's response was short and very to-the-point. Shikamaru sighed. He shouldn't complain; he'd kind of asked him to be short with responses after realizing he needed too much focus to hear anything beyond 'Yes', 'No', or 'I'll get on it'. Shikamaru wanted to turn around to see Suigetsu's expression, but the beast began tugging on the chakra chains again, much to Shikamaru's dismay.
"Neji…!"
"I'll get on it." In the back of Shikamaru's mind, he realized he was being the biggest asshole. They sounded so tired. A small part of his mind, the logistical part, figured that this was a result of a day of work with no rest. But the insecure part of him thought that he'd caused their tire, their sadness. Neji pressed his hands against the chains, pumping more of his chakra within it, binding the Jūbi again. Shikamaru had been offered by Neji the use of his chakra, which Shikamaru turned down—Neji didn't have the levels he needed, he would use up his chakra in seconds.
Shikamaru looked at his shadow, identifying the seal he was forming through memory. It was close to complete—he just needed to get a container, which Shikaru was supposed to be doing. The kid could move fast, so how was he not there yet? What could he be doing? He was running out of time. He needed Gaara—he was the only still-living jinchūriki, and his body was already adapted to contain Shukaku. They didn't have time to pick a new container. They needed the One-Tails jinchūriki.
Hanabi hadn't always been as mischievous as she was. As a younger girl, she always did as she was told, always being polite, always brushed her teeth three times a day, and always going to bed by the curfew. It was simply the way of the Hyūga, to follow a routine. But a small part of her—okay, that was a lie; it was a large part of her soul—wanted to cause trouble. She didn't know how to explain it, but she always had a sort of admiration for practical pranks. Hanabi hadn't been sure how to express this part of her, in her childhood. Mostly, she expressed her unusual attitude through hanging out with boys rather than girls, but that was common amongst Hyūga women, as they were treated in their clans like boys until their chests began to develop.
It wasn't until she had Naruto come into Iruka's class to guest-speak that she realized how to go about her need to prank. Naruto had always been getting in trouble, according to Iruka. So why not just ask him for help? It only made sense. Naruto was more than willing to give her his collection of prank tools, which consisted of many cans of spray paints, whoopee-cushions with small exploding tags inside, a detailed scroll on the Sexy Jutsu technique (which she had promptly given to Konohamaru). When that first whoopee-cushion exploded upon Neji sitting on it, though Neji had been furious; Hanabi realized she really couldn't get enough. So she became better at it, thinking up her own original pranks, such as sending every female in the village a love-letter on her father's behalf (which he had actually tried to kill her for, before realizing it was actually helping him out).
But because of these pranks being so offensive to so many people, Hanabi had to learn how to get out of the situations. Only an idiot would try to sweet-talk their ways out of it. She, instead, became a master at escaping the problem. She began to work on chakra control, learning about her own unique scent, and dealing with it by developing her own shampoo that left literally no smell. She worked on agility and flexibility both, making it nearly impossible for people to truly corner her. Doing so made her a challenging opponent, as a shinobi; especially with her Gentle Fist. It didn't matter if she was a Genin. She was dangerous.
Apparently, the people Kō assigned to guard her had forgotten that about the young kunoichi, forgetting the reason why she had graduated at ten rather than the usual twelve. Hanabi dusted off the fronts of her pants, a small smile on her face as her eyes flitted between the two unconscious figures lying on the ground at her door. They had been tall guys, but that just meant they had to work more to reach her with any attacks. It had been all too easy, with her lack of height, to incapacitate them. One of them was still cradling his crotch.
"Sorry, Kenji, but…" she said softly, smiling sheepishly at one of her older cousins, only four times removed. She would admit, kneeing them in the crotch probably wasn't the most honorable things she could've done, but it was getting her pretty damned far, it seemed; especially since her nurses had recommended that she lay off of anything requiring chakra, which even crossed the Byakugan off of the list of things she could possibly use. It basically left her with her taijutsu skills, which were beyond par, but it did make things harder.
Kenji groaned, glaring at her. She sighed and kicked him as hard as she could in the face, knocking him unconscious and breaking his nose. She winced. She would definitely hear about this later, from her father, and then from Kō. She wasn't looking forwards to it. She sighed again, aggravated with her own sloppiness, and grabbed Kenji under the armpits, dragging him into her bedroom before going back out for the other man, who was forty or so from what Hanabi could tell. I've probably known you all my life, but for the life of me I can't remember your name! Hanabi thought, groaning with the effort to drag him. In my own defense, we're probably cousins thirty-million times removed, so… damned intermarriages…
She realized what she was doing was breaking her father's rules, as both the head of the Hyūga clan and the acting general in Konoha, but she didn't care. She hated being counted out as invalid by him. He'd done that with Hinata for some time, which had pissed her off enough. There was no way in hell she was just going to let him pull the same thing on her. She was kunoichi, and she felt that she could help on the battlefield.
The sound of whimpering distracted Hanabi from her thoughts, and automatically she pressed herself against the wall, decreasing her oxygen intake to a shallow level in order to make herself unheard. She angled her head slightly, as she was unable to use the Byakugan, to look around the corner. What she saw made her stomach roll. Blood covered the entire hallway, spraying from one Hyūga's neck. The man grabbed at his throat, to stop the bleeding, but he was losing way too much blood to help himself, at this point. Hanabi's eyes found more shinobi behind him, their eyes glassy, unseeing, and wide; still filled with terror. That would be a look that would haunt Hanabi for the rest of her natural life, as nothing is as an impressionable on a child as wartime is, despite the type of life that child might lead.
For years, Hanabi would be able to remember the smell of the iron in the blood. She would be able to remember each face, to recall how their bodies twisted abnormally, how bruises dotted their hands, their faces, and what was visible of their legs and arms. She would be able to remember how long that man whimpered; how long he tried to stop the blood: twenty-two seconds.
She watched the man drop to the floor, watched his body twitch, and she knew that this was the first person she had ever seen die before her eyes. Stunned, she couldn't look away from it. Could she have helped? No. She knew she lacked the ability. Could she have gotten help in time? Also, no. But she felt so guilty, guilty that she had seen this happen and had not tried to do anything about it.
"Is this your first death, child?"
Usually, it took a lot to sneak up on Hanabi—she was a very aware girl—but she was too stunned to think past the man to think about being watched. She couldn't even turn around. A hand grabbed her by her chin, pressing its fingers into her cheeks. She gave no fight as the man turned her face. She didn't blink as she took in the pale irises, surrounded by a sea of black; didn't blink when she took notice of the garish Curse Mark that marred this man's forehead; didn't think twice when she realized that this man was an exact likeness of her father.
"Do you feel guilty for not helping him?" Numbed, Hanabi simply nodded. "Do you know that man, child?" She shrugged. "You simply feel guilty? Wondering if you could've done something—anything—to help him?" Nod. "Wishing you could take his place?" Nod. These questions were rhetorical, but she felt the compulsion to respond to them. She didn't know why, but she just did. "Would you like me to erase this feeling, child? Make it all just wash away?" Nod. Yes, she thought empathetically. Do it. Make it disappear. I don't want to feel this ever again. "This will hurt." She nodded. I don't care. "How old are you?"
"Ten," she replied, without hesitation. If she could activate her Byakugan, she could see that his chakra was running straight to his palm, preparing to strike her in the heart. An immediate, gratifying death.
"Such a pity, to be touched by something like this at such a young age," said the man, shaking his head sadly before moving to strike her. She closed her eyes, preparing for it. Waiting for it. Wanting it. Only for it to never come. Something grabbed her by the shoulder and yanked her back, making her pass through the wall and land in the room behind it. She yelped, surprised, and began to jump up before hands grabbed her, pulling her down into a chair she didn't even realize was there. She fought against her captors, craving the death that man was going to give her.
"Release."
Suddenly, her world popped back into focus. A cloud that she didn't even realize had clouded her mind drifted off, as if there had been a good breeze. She blinked, staring up into the concerned face of Kō, whose hand was pressed against her shoulder. She looked down to see multiple hands holding her against the chair. She frowned. Kō nodded, and all at once, the hands released her, but she didn't get up from the chair. "What…"
"Genjutsu," said Kō simply, standing up tall and placing his hands on his hips, frowning down at his careless niece. Hizashi had always been good with genjutsu. It only made sense that Hanabi had fallen into one of his traps, especially since she could not currently use the Byakugan. He'd made her feel such despair that she had wanted to be killed, wanted to die. It was not an unreal emotion. And despite the claims, the Hyūga were not emotionless.
"What about…"
"Your father is taking care of it," Kō said before she could finish, "With captain Yamato." Hanabi's nerve-shot eyes found his, and she nodded, biting her lip. He had no doubts that the genjutsu had changed her a little. Kō sighed. Though it was slightly her own fault, after breaking away from her guards, he still felt sorry for her.
"Am I…"
"In massive trouble with your father? Fuck, yes." She flinched, but Kō didn't let that bother him. It was only natural that she feared her father a little. He smirked. At least her fear for Hiashi hadn't changed.
Kurama was a being not very easily surprised. As a nine-tailed fox demon, he'd be a giant hypocrite if he was easily surprised by the unusual and unexpected. Especially as a fox demon that lived in a world like the one he did—one that could be easily mistaken for magic and wondrous rather than its actuality. Kurama was known amongst his 'siblings' as someone that expected the unexpected. It was a simple fact of life. However, Kurama would be the first to admit to the fact that there were simply some things that he just couldn't expect to happen because it was just too obscure an idea for him. He wasn't an idiot—you just can't expect it all.
So, knowing that, it is easy to understand why upon seeing Sabaku, Kurama nearly shit a brick. Last time Kurama checked, Sabaku had been slain, and Shukaku barely secured from his carcass. After all, beasts usually die within their containers in the type of situations Sabaku had been in, which was beheaded, his blood sprayed across the room. He remembered that Kushina had barely held her lunch when she'd seen that. So how was he here, chatting with Hinata? Here, in a dimension contained within Naruto's head?
Sabaku's head snapped up and stared at Kurama, brow furrowing. Kurama knew that Sabaku didn't recognize him. It wasn't like they had formally met during Sabaku's lifetime. But Kurama also knew that the man wasn't stupid, either. It didn't take much of a leap of the imagination to figure out, that he was the Kyūbi—after all, what type of normal fox walks around on two legs with nine tails?—and it was shown when Sabaku grabbed Hinata's hand, frown on his face.
"Naruto," said Kurama, nudging the blond-haired male next to him, "That girl over there, that's Hinata. Go to her. I have things to speak of with my siblings."
"I don't know her," said Naruto with a frown, "And how do I know that you won't just be planning to eat me?"
"As appetizing as that sounds, I lack the size necessary," said Kurama dryly, not actually kidding with his container, "And I applaud you for thinking that I'll actually eat you. It took the previous container a while to realize I wasn't being sarcastic." Of course, he left out the fact that Kushina had also yelled at him for it, even going as so far as to temporarily release the internal seal so she could beat the shit out of him for saying it. He grimaced. Yes, Uzumaki Kushina—actually, all Uzumaki women—scared him; a fact he would take to the grave.
Naruto shivered, but crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not going anywhere," he grumbled angrily. "Especially not over there, with people who can't give me any answers! What am I doing here? And her—I don't even fucking know her!" Hinata's wince was the only sign she gave of being able to hear him. "She's pretty, but I don't know her, and I doubt she'll give me answers! She looks like a fucking porcelain doll, for Chrissakes!"
"I didn't know you knew what porcelain was," said Kurama, not really listening to Naruto.
"Fuck you!" Naruto screamed at him. "I'm tired of asking a question and getting sarcasm! I want answers! Or, I swear, I'm gonna kill someone!" Sabaku and Hinata's frowns deepened, both of them looking over at one another. Kurama chuckled; knowing they were both wondering which one of them would end up being the one who was getting killed. "HEY! LISTEN TO ME YOU BASTARD! GIVE ME A FUCKING ANSWER!"
"Your container is annoying," said Shukaku with a tired sigh, letting his existence be known to Kurama and Naruto, the former of which already sensed his location. Naruto, however, flinched in surprise. "You should just eat him and get it over with, Kurama. That's what I would do."
"I can't eat him—his stupidity is funny," responded Kurama dryly, neither joking with Shukaku, nor complimenting Naruto. He sighed, suddenly feeling incredibly and unjustifiably old. "Lift the genjutsu, Shukaku. I don't like talking to nothingness, considering Uzumaki's subconscious is anything but that."
"If you knew that we were covering the entirety of his subconscious in genjutsu, why didn't you do anything about it?" asked Shukaku condescendingly. "Let me guess… you didn't feel the time was right." All three humans turned to look at Kurama, who appeared almost to be smirking. None of them could tell, what with the type of face Kurama had. But all three were expecting a grand response, detailing his prowess and high intelligence.
"No. I was just too lazy," he responded, shrugging. The three shinobi stared at him in disbelief. This was the grand Kyūbi? A lazy, blunt bastard of a fox? Despite himself, Naruto found himself grinning. Though he wouldn't admit it if asked, the fox was growing on him. The damned being was amusing, to say the very least. The fox turned and chuckled, noticing Naruto's grin.
Hinata watched as the white flowed away to reveal sewers, the halls of which seemingly went on forever. She stared at the Uzumaki, feeling such respect for him. He had to have quite the mind if he had this big of a subconscious. I wonder if he is as stupid as Kurama is trying to make him out to be or if it's really just some sort of act? Hinata wondered, standing up and staring at Naruto, who began to pick his nose. She sighed. No, it probably isn't an act. He might just be stupid.
Sabaku swallowed dryly, managing to garner Hinata's attention. She gasped upon seeing several beasts chained with chakra to the walls of Naruto's subconscious, their chakra dripping out of them as if it were their blood. They all appeared to be small, Kurama's size, and Hinata immediately figured this must be due to the fact that they were losing too much chakra. She covered her mouth with her hand, horrified by their condition.
One of the beasts, who looked like a cat made out of fire, leveled her with a stare, and then something akin to a smile appeared on its lips. "Don't worry about us, child," it said, "Worry about yourself."
Sabaku swallowed again and nudged Hinata. "There's nothing you could do to help them anyways, Hinata." Hinata didn't listen to him, walking away from him and towards the different bijū, much to the surprise of everyone present. Hinata stared up at the cat with different-color eyes, her own lavender eyes swarmed with emotion. "Hinata? What could you do?" Her body became rigid, much to Kurama's enjoyment. He would tell the ex-jinchūriki to stop, but why do that when Hinata was getting angry? The heiress clenched her fists, her anger beginning to boil in the pit of her stomach. She didn't want to hear it. She didn't want to hear that she couldn't help any of them when something burning within her was telling her she most definitely could. She didn't know what, but she just knew she could. "Hinata…"
"Stop calling my name!" she finally hissed, whipping around and glaring at Sabaku. Both his and Naruto's eyes widened, startled by the sudden personality change that was taking place in Hinata. "I'm not a moron! I'm a fully capable kunoichi of Konoha! If I want to waste my chakra trying to free these beings, then dammit; I will do it! Call my name again and I will break your all of your fingers! For the love of Christ." Sabaku held up his hands, unsure of how to respond.
Naruto kept staring at her, his mind swirling. Memories were bombarding him, amusing memories. Memories involving Sasuke getting his ass handed to him. Memories of this girl doing the actual ass handing… and suddenly, everything was back. Every single thing he had seen or read or heard or tasted or sniffed or thought in his life was back.
His mouth gaped and pointed. "Hinata!"
She growled under her breath and turned. "What did I just say about—!" she began before the Uzumaki pounced, wrapping her in his arms, squeezing the breath out of her. Naruto couldn't believe he could've forgotten someone like her. She was like his sister, and she was definitely one of his closest friends. He picked her up, laughing and crying simultaneously.
"Shit, Hinata, I'm sorry!" he said, unwittingly squeezing the life out of her. "I can't believe I just forgot you! Fuck, how can someone just forget you? How could I forget that every memory of you I have is a happy one? You're one of my best friends! I should've remembered you before now!" Hinata coughed, drawing his attention. He blushed when he realized her face was turning blue. He apologized again as he placed her down on her feet and released her. She immediately began to suck in air, pale eyes wide like a fish.
Sabaku walked over to her, placing a hand around Hinata's shoulders in concern. He frowned, unsure of anything he could say. Truthfully, he wanted to laugh—Naruto's reaction had been utterly hilarious—but he knew that now was not the time for that, no matter how hard the Kyūbi was currently laughing. He had to remain serious… and never admit that he had snorted when he saw how big Hinata's eyes had gotten, because that wouldn't be very serious of him.
"I assume you know each other," said Sabaku dryly as Hinata's breathing regulated.
"Fuck, yeah!" responded Naruto, grinning like a moron. "I've known her for years! I went to the Academy with her! She's one of my friends, and I teach her sister!" His chest swelled with pride for a minute before it deflated just as quickly, a solemn look replacing his features. "It's also my fault she's in this position."
Hinata frowned as her breath returned to her. "W-What's y-your fault?" she asked, returning to her former stutter, which was Naruto's indication that none of her happy memories had returned, whereas his had.
Naruto's frown increased, and he looked at the Kyūbi. "She doesn't remember anything," he noted dumbly to the fox, which was still laughing, and therefore unable to explain anything to the blond-haired boy. Thankfully, there were other fully capable bijū who could explain the situation to him, which Shukaku set out to do.
"It's different for the runt rather than for you. You're Kurama's container. Therefore, seeing any indicator of previous happiness can trigger your memories, regardless of amount of incompatible beasts that surround you. The runt's got no bijū of her own, and even if you could trigger her memories, the influence of our chakra on her would automatically shut it down on her." Naruto's frown increased, and his eyes glazed over. Shukaku sighed, irritated. Of course the boy was too much of an idiot to be able to understand a damned thing.
Sabaku stared at Naruto. "Look. You've got the Kyūbi inside you, right?" Naruto looked over at him and nodded. "Your body is already naturally adjusted to having him inside of you. It knows how to deal with him. Understand me so far?" Naruto nodded again. "You were temporarily thrown off balance by the other beasts. They made you feel lonely. They made you forget things, like they did to Hinata. Hinata's being here triggered your body into readjusting to having bijū, and you adjusted to containing so many at one time. That's why you can remember everything again.
"However, Hinata doesn't have that advantage. She's not a container, unlike you. She can't adjust to a feeling she's never had, whereas you have it constantly—you've just gotten over it. Since she can't naturally adjust, the feeling just continues to overpower her," finished Sabaku smoothly, watching Naruto's face contort with anger. He understood it all, finally. He was almost afraid he'd have to explain again.
"That's not right!" yelled Naruto, fully pissed off. "First, I get her into this sort of situation, then I find out I can't even get her out of it! Sonovabitch!" Naruto wanted to punch something, but he knew enough to know that would not fix anything. So instead he crossed his arms over his chest, his mind racing. Why'd I have to be a jinchūriki? Naruto mentally groaned. If it weren't for me, Hinata wouldn't have been targeted for something like this. If it weren't for me, Hinata wouldn't be in this type of situation…
Sabaku sighed, stuffing his hands into his pockets and staring at Hinata, who went back to shyness and stuttering. For a moment there, he'd had a glance of a more confident girl… definitely a more violent girl. This girl was definitely strong, but this feeling was completely taking away the person she had apparently grown into being through happiness. He frowned, eyes narrowing. "Kid," he began, turning to Naruto, "What type of situation is this, anyways?"
He looked at Hinata, whose pale eyes were like saucers, and she bit down on her bottom lip. "Hinata," he said softly, garnering her attention, "Do you trust this guy?"
"Sabaku," the man in question growled softly, stepping closer to Hinata. Despite his supposed closeness with Hinata, she was nerve-shot. Sabaku was beginning to think of himself as a type of bodyguard for her, with her shyness and natural introversion.
"Y-Yes," responded Hinata, not making eye contact with Naruto.
Naruto nodded. "Okay. So then I guess I'll trust you." He smiled weakly. "Hinata's a good judge of character, after all. She knows better than to trust someone obviously unworthy of trust." He rubbed the back of his head. "I, um… I'm being used. My body I mean. My head… why can't I explain this at all?" he growled, looking over at Kurama, who was just calming down from his bout of laughing. "He's contained in me, and Hinata can control him. So they put me in this statue-thingy—I put up a fight, believe you me—but they kind of won in the end. I was tired, and one of them had a fist like a fucking brick. Only made sense. So, using the statue-thingy and my head, Hinata's controlling me. Did I miss something…? AH! The other bijū are contained in the statue-thingy, too!" Naruto frowned. "But what are you doing here?" he asked Sabaku, pointing.
Sabaku gave him a blank gaze. How the hell was he supposed to answer this guy when he didn't even know? He flicked a glance at Shukaku, where he hung on the wall. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the being he used to contain. "Why am I here?" he asked Shukaku pointedly, quieting the entire area within seconds. "You said you would answer when Kurama arrived, so…"
The room was too silent for a second, as the bijū looked amongst themselves. Sabaku knew that they were telepathically speaking with each other, and it was annoying him—it felt like they were ignoring the question.
"You're here," said Shukaku with some amount of hesitation after a few minutes, "Because we've decided that I'm going to die." Sabaku's jaw went slack, too stunned to think of anything. This allowed Shukaku to go on with his explanation: "As long as one of us is alive, we can be united again and again to create the Jūbi. So one of us has to die—and, as you're not fully alive, it only makes sense that it is you."
"But…" said Sabaku, swallowing, "Why would you…?"
"Because the others don't have you," he responded, emotionless, "Upon your death, your chakra immediately surrounded mines, acting as a constant buffer so that no one could fully access even half of the abilities as you could. All your chakra exists in me. If I release it, your chakra will create its own tangible body in order for survival. This will last only for a few minutes before it implodes upon itself."
Naruto sucked in a breath. "Chakra does that?"
Kurama nodded, completely serious now. "A jinchūriki has a higher and more unstable chakra level than others," he explained to him, "The human body is the one thing that keeps that chakra from destroying everything around it. Chakra can't create bodies; it can only put off its eventual destruction. It's like lighting up a liquor cabinet. It'll create an explosion."
"B-But…!" said Naruto, "Why would Sabaku do it for him?! It's Shukaku, after all! I mean… look at what Shukaku did to Gaara!"
Kurama sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. "He doesn't have a choice," he admitted, pissed he had to explain. "Gaara was never a compatible container for Shukaku, Naruto. He did the job, but he wasn't the right fit. If we were to get release—and we will—Shukaku won't just go and find Gaara to go back into, as he's alive. The way the Sage made us is to search for the nearest compatible container within the kilometer, and that compatible container isn't Gaara; it's Kankurō—the very child Sabaku died protecting." Sabaku's eyes widened. His nephew had been named after him? Karura… he thought sadly. "His options are to allow Kankurō to absorb Shukaku and get Kankurō killed, or to take Shukaku himself and be erased."
Sabaku bit his lip, staring down at the floor. He heard commotion, but none of it made it through to him. He wasn't sure what he was feeling—regret? Confusion? Fear? Possibly a mixture, but he didn't know. He didn't know what to do.
He looked up and saw Hinata staring at him, her eyes soft. She didn't look afraid. What was she thinking? Sabaku wondered. He couldn't tell by looking in her eyes. The word she spoke next described it all for him. "You're his uncle." Simple words, but it said enough. She loved his nephew. She was his nephew's. That was why he cared for her: they were in love. And as the influence pushed her memories away and this Hinata once again disappeared, Sabaku made his simple, easy decision.
"I'll do it," he said.