Chapter Twenty-Three
Kushina lay pale and deathly on the operating table in front of Minato. After the disaster twelve years ago, he prayed vainly they'd never be here again. I'm so sorry I've failed you, my love! If I'd only insisted on greater security that night! If I had moved faster and gotten us further away before the explosion! On and on it went in his head, a hellish loop of self-recrimination going all the way back to the day he let Rin, Kakashi, and Obito go on the mission without him. Had he been there, they'd all be alive! Had you been there, tens of thousands of our numbers would have died on the battlefield. Stop acting like you could have done any better! We were at war and people die and get scarred for life because of war! That is why you've spent the past decade making sure your son doesn't face what you had to!
Tsunade and Jiraiya entered the room, scrubbed in and wearing green surgical smocks like the one he was wearing. Next to Kushina, Akemi sat in a chair, preparing herself to act as a conduit between herself and Hinata. Hinata lay on a gurney next to Akemi, and next to Hinata, Naruto lay on an adjacent gurney. Having Naruto here was another gamble. He was suffering an intractable fever and should be in a critical care unit, but if Hinata and Kushina were going to try negotiating with Kurama, they might need Naruto present as well.
"You ready for this, son?" Jiraiya asked as he tied on a surgical mask.
"No," Minato replied, "but I don't know any way of being ready for something like this."
"Just stay focused on the seal, and I'll focus on getting Kurama transferred," Akemi said.
"Minato," Tsunade's heart was heavy he could tell, "I-I can't guarantee…"
"You can't, no one can," he cut her off. Nobody had to remind him that the odds were not in their favor for doing this and Kushina surviving. Having a tailed-beast extracted usually was an instant death sentence in ideal circumstances. The only thing they had going for them was Kushina had survived something like this before. Once Kurama was out, assuming the shock didn't kill Kushina instantly, Tsunade would be doing emergency surgery to repair Kushina's damaged chakra network – using a technique not used in over a hundred year. Minato looked down at his wife, remembering all they had been through since they were only children. Who cares how badly the odds are stacked? Kushina is a fighter! She wouldn't want to give up nor have you give up on her. If you wuss out now, you might as well cut her throat!
Minato steeled his resolve. If anyone was strong enough to survive this, it was her. Placing his hands on Kushina's stomach, he felt the seal, paper thin, barely holding back Kurama and about to rip at the one spot it was holding Kushina together. He reaffirmed his grip on the seal, giving it strength. "Ready, work fast, please!"
Naruto found himself in a dimly lit, dreary passage. His entire body quaked from feeling cold and damp. He looked down at himself, dressed in his mission gear. Nothing made sense. How did I get here? Where is here? Naruto dug into his foggy mind, trying to remember. There were flash images of him coughing violently, Hinata trying to warm him by a fire, Dad teleporting them both to a hospital, and Mom fainting in the exam room, blood streaming from her nose! My god, am I dead?! Is Mom dead, too!
He cried out, "Mom! Dad!" Strangely, there was not echo despite the claustrophobic nature of the hallway. This is something out of one of those scary movies Mom won't let you watch! If he got out of this, he'd never try watching one again!
"Naruto!" Mom's voice came from everywhere at once, shaking him to his core. Naruto stood surprised there wasn't a stream of hot urine running down his leg as a result. Her voice was deeper than a whimper, like the sound she'd make when having an episode of her stomach pains. "Mom!" he shouted down the passage.
"Naruto! Hurry!" Hinata's fluty voice beckoned him. Without hesitation, he raced into the shadowy corridor. And now Hinata is here? Despite his confusion, he sprinted onward until the hallway ended in a flight of stairs that spilled into a massive cavern. Even before he turned, he could feel Kyuubi's presence to his right.
He had felt Nine-Tails countless times, endlessly tormenting Naruto as he struggled with dyslexia during the early months at the Academy. However, this was the first time Naruto had actually stood face to face with the beast. Kyuubi stood at least twelve stories tall, and his tails fanned out behind him for at least a city block. He was kept behind what looked like bars of stalagmites and stalactites fused together.
The terrifying image kept Naruto transfixed until he saw two familiar figures at the base of the stony prison cell: Hinata and Mom! "Mom! Hinata!" he yelled as a sprinted toward them. Hinata knelt on the near side of the bars, also dressed in her mission gear. Mom wore the dark green dress she usually wore around the house. Naruto could see blood dripping down her mouth and nose. "MOM!"
He slid to a stop on his knees, noticing they didn't hurt despite the rough surface. "Mom, where are we! Are you okay!" Naruto screeched. He noticed chains extending from Mom's back, linking into the stone bars. "Mom, we have to get you out of here!"
"Son, it's okay," she wheezed, "the bars and chains are part of me, part of what is holding Kyuubi." She smiled a bloody smile, having little calming effect on him.
"Kushina, touching as this may be, we have business to discuss," Nine-Tails' voice thundered through the cavern.
Seething anger consumed Naruto, "WHY NINE-TAILS! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO MY MOM!"
"Naruto," Hinata whimpered, "please, don't." Her eyes darted nervously. "We've made major progress, but if you lose your cool in here all three of us could die!"
His eyes shot from Hinata, to Kyuubi, to Mom. "It's true," she said. "If you lose control here, the seal will fail. I'll die almost instantly" she gasped, and the ripple effect of this part of Kyuubi dying my kill you in your weakened state!"
Anger replaced itself with fear. Mom! NO! "Mom…" Naruto choked, "what can we do?" Tears began streaming down his face. Mom had always told him how close she'd come to dying the night she'd given him life, but it always was something horribly abstract – something that was there because someone said it was. His mom was here now, and she was dying right in front of him. Naruto gave no thought to Hinata and him joining her.
"Naruto… there is a chance," she gasped breathlessly, "but I want you to know right now how much I love you!" She took him by the hand. "And you, too, Hinata," Mom took Hinata's hand. All three of them were crying. "The seal on me is collapsing, if it does so, I'll die and so will this part of Kurama. We… we have to release the seal, all three of us." She heaved, clearly in pain.
"Won't that let him free?" Naruto cried.
"In his current state, there is a good chance he can't survive without a host," Hinata explained. "Unlike the half in you and the quarter in me, this part of Kyuubi was bound to the sealed part of Mom's chakra; it's had its chakra blocked for twelve years! It needs to be reunited to its other part or it will die, too!"
Naruto caught the slip of Hinata's tongue when she referred to Mom as her mom. This girl loved his Mom as much as he did. He knew how risky this was for Hinata as well as mom. "It could kill you both if we do that!" Naruto cried.
"If you have another suggestion, I'm all ears," Kyuubi rumbled.
"What's in it for you?" Naruto asked accusingly. "Certainly, you're not doing this because you love my mom!"
"I find it amusing the lengths a mother's cubs would go to save her life," he replied. "But I have no idea if the part of me that would die if she dies with me would be resurrected after being so thoroughly weakened."
"He made us a deal, Naruto," Hinata explained, "If we earn his respect by the time you and I are seventeen, he'll stop fighting us."
"And if we don't?" Naruto asked, not truly wanting to know.
"Then we let him free."
"I'm sorry…" Mom heaved, "to place such a burden on you two!" Mom let go of Hinata and reached for one of the stone pillars, the seal holding it becoming visible. "It might already be too late for me…"
"Mom, stop talking," Naruto ordered, "and save your strength! You're gonna pull through! You have to, ya know!" Despite the conviction in his heart, Naruto felt truly helpless, like holding Mom's hand now would be the last time ever.
Mom merely nodded, taking Naruto's hand and placing it over her hand on the seal. "Now you, Hinata."
Hinata stared up at Kyuubi, "You'll keep your word?"
"What choice have I?" Nine-Tails replied. "Even I fear death."
Hinata placed her hand on the seal, and the bars turned to dust. Mom , now unsupported, fell to the ground. "Mom!" Naruto shouted. She pointed a finger to Hinata, "Steady her… you're in for a rough ride."
Naruto ran to Hinata as the image of the cavern faded to black, Mom disappearing with it. Kyuubi became a bright orange mass of chakra, engulfing Hinata. "Naruto…" she said weakly.
Naruto caught her as she fell into his arms, holding her steady as her body absorbed the gargantuan mass of flaming chakra. Naruto held her, guiding the chakra to her core. She writhed and winced, but surprisingly, she didn't scream out. As the last flicker of orange chakra was absorbed by her, she fell limp in his arms. "Hinata! Hinata!" he shook her, hoping to wake her. His knees gave out from sheer exhaustion. "N-Naruto…" she whimpered. "I feel so strange right now." She began fading out of existence the same way Mom and the cave had
"Hinata!" Naruto felt himself quaking. "Hinata!"
A bright flash of light blinded Naruto, and he heard gurgling in his head. All at once, his body heaved, and Naruto shot bolt upright in a hospital bed. His attempts to breathe in were met with stiff resistance; he coughed violently, expelling runny phlegm and snot into a metal tray someone was holding in front of him. "It's okay, lean forward and try and get it out!"
Another sickening gurgle greeted air trying to enter his lungs, and Naruto had no choice as the next wave hit. He didn't know it was possible to expel so much crap from his lungs and survive. The sickening taste almost made him add vomit to the mix, but he kept what little was in his guts down. "It's okay, Naruto, let it out if there is any more!"
The voice was familiar, "Kakashi!" Naruto's eyes focused to see his instructor standing next to him, holding the metal tray covered in nastiness.
"Hey, welcome back!" Kakashi sounded upbeat for someone who had almost died not long ago.
"Wa-was it all a dream?" Naruto felt his head swimming as he fell back onto a pillow. Every inch of him felt like it had been smashed with a sledgehammer and crudely glued back together by a child with questionable artistic ability. Only after the wave subsided did Naruto notice the nasal canula up his nose and an IV line in his right hand. Damn, must be in pretty bad shape to need supplemental air and fluids. A quick glace at the window confirmed it was already getting dark outside.
"I can't give an exact answer to that, but the short version is, probably not," Kakashi sat in a chair next to him. "Hinata now is the proud owner of a full half of Nine-Tails."
"How… How is she?!" Naruto sighed deeply, struggling against the searing pain of broken ribs and the tickling urge to cough struggling for supremacy.
"Her usual self, asking about you. I told her you were still too sick to have visitors just yet." Kakashi shrugged both arms.
"Her leg?"
"Making a miraculous recovery, already on crutches and moving about." Kakashi chuckled, "Too bad for Dr. Nakamura; she can't write this up for any medical journal! Neither can Tsunade!"
The mention of Granny Tsunade made Naruto's heart go into overdrive, "MOM?!" he once again bolted upright.
"Why don't you me, yourself?" a weak, but amused voice called from behind the curtain separating his bed from the next bed over. The curtain pulled to the side to reveal Mom, Dad, Jiraiya, and Tsunade. Mom was in a wheelchair. Here normally carefree face was sunken with exhaustion, but she seemed to glow brighter than Naruto could ever remember her – like a cloud covering her since the first day he saw her had lifted.
"MOM!" he croaked, "You're alive!" Tears of joy flowed freely; Naruto stopped caring about the pain his ribs as he swung his legs over the side of the bed, about to run over to Mom to hug her.
"Easy there!" Tsunade said, forcing him back down on the bed, "You're not out of the woods yet, young man! You gave us all the shit-scare of the century down in the OR!"
Dad wheeled Mom closer to him, her cold hand gripping around his arm weakly. "Thank god you're all right!"
"Mom… what are you talking about?" Naruto asked, wrinkling his forehead in confusion. "You were the one in real danger!"
"You really don't remember, son?" Minato asked. Naruto shook his head. "You crashed in the operating room, just after Kurama got transferred to Hinata." Dad sighed, the dark circles under his eyes accenting how much of a toll that past several days had taken on him.
Just seeing Dad like this made Naruto feel guilty about what he was about to ask, "Mom, Dad, when can we go home?"
"You and I have to stay until we're sure we'll both be okay, sweetheart," Mom squeezed him arm to reassure him.
"Dad," he locked eyes with his father's eyes, the same eyes he'd given Naruto, "When will I be able to go on missions again?"
A pained look came across Dad's face. Father exchanged looks with Tsunade and Jiraiya. Both gave him a shrug and grin. "Son, I…" Dad stumbled, "I want to train you a bit more before we send you outside the village again."
"But Dad, Obito is out there! We can't let him get away!"
Dad shook his head, "He disappeared after the last attack. We'll find him son, you and me together. But for now, I want you to rest and get better. If Tsunade clears you and your team, I'll let you go on a few simple missions in a few weeks."
Naruto opened his mouth to protest, but another sharp wave of pain in his side followed a severe coughing fit. Kakashi again held out the tray to catch the worst of it. Once finished, Naruto plopped his head back onto pillow, defeated. "Why isn't Kyuubi's chakra working?" he whined.
"I'm afraid it is, Naruto," Jiraiya explained, "From what Hinata told us, you drowned after taking the fall. Take your pick: hypothermia, broken bones, a dislocated shoulder…"
"And you have a full-blown case of pneumonia, now," Tsunade quipped. "There is only so much you can survive Naruto, even with your own accelerated healing factor and massive chakra reserves. Normally, I'd be getting ready to write a letter to your parents explaining why their son was dead."
The words cut deep as the ache in his chest. Naruto knew he'd been damn close to dead when he woke up in the woods with Hinata breathing air into his mouth and pressing down on his already injured chest. Even after, when he was freezing despite being close to their campfire, he knew he wasn't well. He still wasn't well now, he could tell. Useless.
The thought of laying here, helpless, began forcing tears from Naruto's eyes. He'd failed his first mission, had probably cost the teams their first mission. "Naruto, honey, what's wrong," Mom asked.
"I-I" Naruto choked on tears and phlegm, "I failed the mission!" he heaved.
"Naruto?" Dad voice sounded concerned, "Who told you that?" One of Dad's golden eyebrows cocked upward as his eyes moved side to side in confusion.
Jiraiya snorted mischievously, and Kakashi let out a suppressed chuckle. Both men tried straightening up but continued to shake with suppressed laughter like two boys caught pulling a bad prank. "Am I missing something here, gentlemen?"
"No!" Jiraiya's voice cracked. He and Kakashi finally began giggling aloud.
Mom and Tsunade both exchanged a look between scorn and confusion. "Perhaps you two morons would care to include the rest of us in the joke? It sounds oh, so funny!" Tsunade's eyes burned like coals from a campfire.
"We just…" Kakashi paused in a fit of laughter, "can't believe he'd think we'd truly fail him after everything he went through for the mission!"
Now it was Naruto's turn to be confused, "But the mission requirement said we had to be in the field for five days for the mission to be deemed successful!"
Dad turned pink with embarrassment, "Son, I think your dyslexia may be to blame, here. The mission requirements said it was recommended, not required, to stay in the field five days!" Minato let out a shallow laugh, "Son, you and everybody on the mission just logged an A-ranked mission. And there probably are going to be a few commendations thrown around once everyone's mission reports are completed."
"I passed," Naruto sighed in elation, but he was too exhausted to cheer. Bone-weariness radiated throughout him, and his eyelids became lead weights too heavy to keep open
"I told you, you did fine, hon," Mom said, placing a hand of his forehead. "Now you rest and get better, son." Mom's eyes were damp as she smiled at him. "And I'll see you in morning."
Try as he might, Naruto could no longer keep his eyes open as he leaned back into his pillow. He had wasted so much energy worrying; he was almost numb from it now. Hell of a first mission! One to remember!
Hinata limped slightly on her left leg, careful to use the metal cane in her right hand to support herself in the off chance the knee decided to give out as she walked down the hospital corridor toward Naruto's room. Despite the severity of her injury, the leg had already begun healing even before the extra boost given by absorbing another quarter of Kyuubi's chakra. She had been discharged from the hospital almost three days ago.
Under normal circumstances, the grade two sprain of her knee and ankle could have been career-ending for any shinobi. Just the thought of never going on missions again, never dancing, or doing ninjutsu again sent a cold shiver to her lower back. In just over forty-eight hours, most of the swelling was gone, and she could bear weight while wearing a hinged knee brace and semi-rigid ankle brace.
Hinata looked down at the roses she'd brought for Naruto. She didn't know if he'd even like them, but it was all she could think of. His pneumonia had been bad enough to the point where Tsunade banned all visitors for the past five days – even worse no outside food. Five days with no friends, no sleeping in his own bed, and no ramen. He must be terribly lonely and scared. Every morning since she'd left the hospital three days earlier, Hinata called Aunt Kushina, asking if Naruto could have visitors yet.
Hinata felt her heart flutter in her chest when the answer was finally, "Yes," this morning. Hinata wasted no time, frantically hobbled to the Yamanaka Flower Shop, checking on Ino in the process – the girl was expected to make a full recovery.
Despite the simple and clear nature of what she wanted to do, deliver flowers to a sick friend, Hinata's heart was in her throat after arriving at the Hospital and asking what room Naruto was in. Get a grip girl! He's just a friend! A friend who is a boy – the first boy to hold you through the night! Hinata banished the thought as she turned red as the roses she carried. Hinata knew they had shared the sleeping bag as a matter of survival, not something personal. And yet, something in the back of Hinata's mind longed to be back in that sleeping bag, holding him with a warm campfire nearby, and no one else for miles around.
Hinata almost walked past the door she had been so entranced by the strange fantasy. Her heart pounded violently as she reached for the door handle. A large curtain divided the room, offering privacy for a potential second patient on the left side of the room, but Naruto laid in bed on the open right side of the room. It was her first time seeing him since they had been separated at the hospital five days earlier.
Hinata nearly fainted as she approached, getting a good look at him. While the angry welts and bruises were gone, his sleeping face betrayed a level of exhaustion the normally energetic, bordering hyperactive, boy suffered from. He looked like a baby that had exhausted himself after too much activity – he looked cute like one, too. I could let off an explosive tag next to him, and he wouldn't flinch!
"N-Naruto-Kun?" she asked, gently caressing his forehead. He didn't so much as twitch. At first, Hinata panicked, but she saw his chest rise and fall – he was still breathing. Despite her relief, her heart continued to thunder away in her chest. Setting the roses down on the table, Hinata knelt next to Naruto's left ear. With her softest voice, she whispered like a puff of smoke, "I'm sorry you're here because of me." A sudden surge of daring and she leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. He still felt warm, but not feverish as her lips pressed against him.
CLICK!
Hinata pulled back suddenly at the expected sound of a camera snapping a picture. For a long second, the room froze still enough to hear a pin drop. All of the sudden, there was giggling. Hinata slowly turned to see Kurenai and Aunt Kushina seated at a table beside the curtain the divided the room. She'd been so distracted by Naruto that she hadn't even sensed them there the whole time. They heard everything and saw everything! Kurenai grinned as she started down at the camera, trying to keep her laughter down. Kushina laughed a bit more openly, her cheeks reddening to mimic her hair. OH NO!
"Hinata, join us," Kurenai beckoned to a chair at the table the two elder kunoichi occupied. Hinata strongly considered running for the door but thought better of it. She nervously made her way to the chair, heart beating in her throat.
"I see Naruto is a very lucky boy, getting such a gift to make him feel better," Kushina smiled.
"I… I…" Hinata stammered at a loss for words.
Kurenai inspected the camera, "I'm sure this one will turn out great." She winked at Hinata, "Don't worry I won't put it in the mission log. I'll keep it for your wedding day!"
Wedding day! Hinata's breathing raced, almost to the point of fainting. She had dreamed about it, and now Kurenai was teasing her about it. "Kurenai, you're embarrassing the poor girl!" Kushina scolded playfully. "Now, Hinata, this will be our little secret," she smiled impossibly brighter than Hinata had ever seen.
Despite all the smiles. Hinata felt a major pang of guilt in her stomach, "Aunt Kushina… how is he?"
"Naruto? He's fine!" she replied with a nod.
Alarms went off in her head, "How can you say that! You saw how unresponsive he is!"
"Hinata," Kushina laughed slightly, "they gave him a strong cough suppressant last night so he could sleep. We're waiting on his final test results to see if he can go home today."
Hinata was awash in emotions, relief that he might finally be out of the hospital, but she mostly felt guilt. "It's my fault," she bowed her head, "that he's here to begin with!"
"Hinata, what kind of talk is that?" Kurenai asked.
"If…" she stammered, "…if I hadn't gotten thrown off the cliff…"
"Hinata," Kushina jumped in, "stop kicking yourself over it! Had you not been there we'd be attending his funeral right now! So, I want this sad talk about how it's your fault to stop, right now!"
Hinata had seen Kushina worked up, but she couldn't make sense of it – Kushina should be upset with her for putting Naruto in danger. "But… I'm the reason he got hurt!"
"Hinata!" Kurenai exclaimed, "what would have happened had Obito thrown him over the cliff without you? What would have happened had you not spotted the explosive tags?" Kurenai blinked and shook her head. "He wouldn't have survived the fall or drowning afterwards." Kurenai shrugged, "Hell, we're lucky we all survived!"
"Even if he had somehow survived the fall," Kushina said, "do you think he would have survived long enough himself? According to Tsunade, he probably would have died of exposure during the night."
Hinata flashed back to waking up to Naruto shivering – the pure look of agony on his face that terrible morning. Just thinking about him out there, alone, and freezing to death slowly made the breakfast in her stomach curdle. "Feeling better about yourself, yet?" Kurenai asked.
"Not really, no." Hinata shrugged
"Well, something for us to work on over this winter," Kushina said. She gave a half-sigh, half-laugh as she leaned over to rest her chin in her hand, "I guess we have a lot to work on this winter." Kushina smiled warmly, as if thinking about something long ago or far away. Personally, Hinata was amazed Kushina looked so good after going through so much.
"Nuhhhh…" Naruto stirred in bed, wiping his eyes with his sleeve.
"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," Kurenai teased.
"Ugh," Naruto flopped his head back on his pillow, "What time is it?"
"Probably time to wake up, dear," Kushina giggled. "Hinata brought you some flowers!"
"Hinata?" Naruto sat up again, clearing his eyes and blinking twice, "Hey! How's the leg?"
"Better, Naruto-kun," she opted to remain honorific. "How are you feeling?"
"Bored, tired, and hungry!" Naruto laughed, wincing mildly at the act.
"How are your ribs?" she asked.
"Better, a lot better, Hinata." Naruto smiled thinly, "I never did say thank you."
"F-for what?"
"Saving my life after I drowned, keeping me warm until we were rescued, need I go on?" he grinned. "And thank you for helping to save Mom, too!"
Hinata turned to Kushina, who blushed and nodded. "Thank you, Hinata."
The sound of the door opening changed everyone's attention. "Good morning, sunshine, sleep well?" Lady Tsunade asked as she burst through the door.
"Granny Tsunade, can I go home yet, please!" Naruto pleaded.
"Hmmm…" Tsunade grinned mischieviously, "Can you go home… I suppose you can." Hinata recognized the play on grammar.
"May I," Naruto accented the correct wording, "go home?"
Tsunade chuckled, "Yes, you big dummy!" Naruto's eyes beamed but were soon dampened, "But, on one condition!"
"Name it, anything!" Naruto looked ready to jump out of bed and leave instantly.
"You are going home to rest!" Tsunade's emphasis was clear. "No training, no missions, and no athletics until I see you for follow up in a week!"
"Believe it!" Naruto gave a thumbs up.
"I'm serious, Naruto!" Tsunade simmered, "If I catch one hint of you up to something you shouldn't be, I'll give you the next round of your pneumonia vaccine in your rear end instead of your arm!" Tsunade waved a finger, letting him know she was damn serious. Hinata felt herself clench at the suggestion. "I'll see you and your mom at the registration desk, now get dressed!" Tsunade said as she turned and left.
"Well, son," Kushina spoke, "I guess you'd better get dressed, and we can leave."
"I guess, I'll be on my way," Hinata said as she got to her feet.
"Hinata, being that I can't do anything," Naruto started, "would you like to come over and read or play a board game today?"
"I'd love to!" Hinata felt her cheeks flush. "That is," she turned to Kushina, "if it's okay with you… I…"
"Its okay, Hinata," Kushina said as she stood up. "Why don't you meet us at Ichiraku's in a few minutes, first; I'm sure wonder-boy here is starving for a real meal!"
Author's note: hey everyone, hope you're enjoying. This chapter got a bit rushed because of my work schedule and I'm running a half marathon the day after publication. I may have to go back and touch it up while working on the next one.