Previously on 'The Great Medic':
Kakashi's eyes slowly opened to a discolored ceiling, yellowed from age with water spots here or there. Everything was too quiet, too... peaceful. It was nice to relax after his mind struggled through his memories.
He slowly sat up in the rickety bed, looking around with narrowed eyes. It was dark out if it was anything to tell by the lack of light coming in from the window. Medical equipment was spread evenly across the room, looking well-kept but used. It made his stomach churn a little bit with apprehension, tension settling into his back.
Kakashi took a deep breath, simply taking the time to appreciate his life and Naruto's life-saving healing abilities – if he was assuming that the medic was the one to fix him up. He knew there was little he could do now that he was incapacitated – with injuries like these, yeah, he's not going to be doing anything extracurricular for a while – and that left for a fog of boredom to settle over him.
The creak of the stairs was sudden, the door opening to a sight he just hadn't been expecting then.
Wide dark eyes stared at him, blinking rapidly in shock. "Well, would you look at that, the boy was right." A chuckle came from the man, running a hand through his hair before fully entering the room, "Naruto said you'd wake up around this time." Tazuna gave the injured man a wide smile, shutting the door behind him. Kakashi was quiet, watching as the bridge builder pulled up a stool to his bedside. "How're you feeling?" Tazuna questioned, taking a seat.
"Tired." He admitted quietly, voice a little hoarse from disuse, "Hungry as well."
"Well, my daughter is making some lunch right now, so..." The man lets his voice trail off with a hand wave. They sat in silence, an awkward tension settling between the two. "I'm going to say this now," Kakashi eyed the older man in question, "I'm not entirely sure how to approach your injury stuff – like, what to give you for pain and if you should go back to sleep or something."
"I see."
"So, I'm just going to leave all that to Naruto when he comes back." He shrugged, shifting on the old stool uncomfortably.
Kakashi furrowed his eyebrows, a twinge of a headache somewhere, "When he comes back?"
"Huh?
"Is he not here now?" He gave the man another odd look, head still in a whirlwind from earlier. What had been going on while he was out of it?
"Nope." Tazuna stated with emphasis on the 'p'. He shifted again, looking a little tense, "I had an old friend of mine in need of aid, so he and Sakura went out to help. They should be back soon, so you don't have to worry about that."
Well, that answered his next question of Sakura's whereabouts but that still left one. He tilted his head to the side, "And Sasuke?"
"Downstairs helping Tsunami with lunch." The older man lets an easy smile find itself on his face, "Would you like to see him? I could go get him if you can't get up."
Kakashi thinks for a moment, eyes raking the room. Off in the corner nearest to him was a pair of crutches. "No, that won't be necessary." He shifts over to the side of the bed, ribcage flaring with pain. The silver-haired man takes a deep breath, head swimming a bit – he needs to take everything slow.
"You sure you can make it downstairs?" Tazuna questions cautiously, hands out in front of him as if the teacher would fall over.
"I assure you that I'll be fine." He tries, taking another breath – in and out – as he allows his legs to slip off the edge of the creaky bed. Kakashi takes it slowly getting his aching legs on the ground, letting the injured one hover just above it. He hobbles towards the crutches, using the bed as a means of maneuvering him to it without fear of falling over. After about a minute, the man is successful in his adventure, the crutches secured underneath his shoulders.
A bead of sweat trails down his neck, breathing a little strained.
"You don't look so good." Tazuna comments, having already gotten up from the stool and opened the door for the two of them.
Kakashi rolled his eyes – his headache pounded suddenly, something he would come to regret – as he started moving towards the other side of the room, "Thanks." The hint of sarcasm was almost lost on the older man.
"Least you still retained that supposed humor you have." He shook his head, amused.
"You wound me." The silver-haired man gave the other a tired eye-smile as they exited the room, heading towards the stairs. Kakashi gave it was weary stare, watching as Tazuna walked down them without him. He took his time, listening to the conversation on the bottom floor.
"How's Kakashi?" A feminine voice questioned – it must be their client's daughter, the Jonnin mused to himself.
"He'll be okay." Was all that Tazuna said, the sliding of a chair being heard.
"What about his vitals or all the other stuff Naruto told us to look out for?" Kakashi's heart swelled upon hearing Sasuke's voice – he was okay! Naruto did he job removing the poison.
"They're okay."
There was an annoyed noise in the air, one that he had heard from the Uchiha on multiple occasions. It made him smile – he hadn't seen his kids in what felt like years. He reached the last few steps, poking his head around the corner. "Tazuna-san is right." Sasuke's head swiveled to stare at him, eyes wide with shock, "I'm okay."
Sasuke was wrapping his arms around his waist within seconds, the sudden movement nearly knocking him off his crutches.
"Hey there, kiddo." Kakashi chuckled, more to himself than the others, "It's good to see you up and running."
"Speak for yourself, sensei." The boy's voice was muffled from being buried in his teacher's sweaty t-shirt.
He rubbed his kid's back with a bruised hand, taking a deep breath – inevitably hurting his lungs but he pushes it to the back of his head, he doesn't exactly want to worry his kid. "I love all this attention I'm getting but I'd love to sit down now," Kakashi announces with an awkward eye-smile.
Sasuke scoffs and pulls back but there was still a glimmer of worry washing over him as he leads his teacher over to the kitchen table. "Are you sure that you're okay to be up?" He whispers out, only the silver-haired Jonnin hearing him.
Kakashi feels his heart warm, "It's alright, Sasuke."
"Okay." The boy didn't look convinced.
A dark-haired woman comes over to him, a bowl of soup in her hands. She sets it in front of him, smiling to herself. "It's great to um, formally meet you." She held her hand out in front of her, "I'm Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter."
He reached for it, noticing that his own hand is quivering, "Kakashi." The man shakes her hand once before hiding his quaking fingers around a spoon.
"Please try to eat something." Tsunami gives him another smile before ushering Sasuke to get a bowl for himself.
"Thank you." The man mutters out, spooning a bit of the vegetable soup into his mouth. His stomach does a flip or two. He grits his teeth, no one noticing the change. Kakashi takes another deep breath, holding the inhale in for a moment before exhaling quietly. He continues to eat, pushing away the light-headedness filling him. "Sasuke."
The boy is at attention in an instant, walking over to his teacher quickly with a bowl in his hand, "What is it? Are you okay?"
Kakashi sighs out a chuckle, waving slightly, "Calm down, will you?"
"Sorry."
"It's okay, alright? I just have a question, that's all." He tried, stomach flipping again.
Sasuke nods slightly, taking a seat in front of his teacher, "Yeah?"
"What happened while I was out? At least from what you know." The man starts, "I do recall that we were separated and that there was a fight."
"Well, from what Naruto and Sakura tell me, Sakura summoned Naruto's clone to help you three," He motioned towards his teacher and their client, "since you had passed out and you all were injured in some way."
"And I was brought here?" Kakashi raised his eyebrow, looking over to Tazuna who simply nodded.
"Yeah, we were all messed up. I'm going to get some cool scars on my arms. Sakura's wrist was broken, and you were out-of-commission for a while." The older man rubbed his chin in thought, not looking all that disturbed by his words.
Kakashi could not say the same. The shinobi took a moment to think to himself, spooning another bit of vegetable soup into his mouth, "How long is 'a while'? A couple days?"
"Uh..." Tazuna gave Sasuke a look, the boy shrugging a bit, "It was more like three or four days, I think."
Kakashi's face was unreadable to the outside world as he continued to eat. He thought over the number for a bit. He wonders if his kids had been taking care of themselves – and each other, he adds as an afterthought. The man internally sighs, knowing that the answer to that question lies with Naruto who would know everything about the health of others more so than Sasuke who sits patiently in front of him.
However, Sasuke might still have some information.
"How are you three?" He asks after a minute, tilting his head slightly.
The Uchiha looks down at his hands, flexing them a bit, "Well, for me, I don't feel any of the effects of the poison anymore."
"That's good."
"Sakura's wrist has pretty much healed completely, but she doesn't sleep very well anymore." He admits quietly.
"With everything that's happened on this mission, I wouldn't be surprised." Kakashi says sympathetically, "Are you sleeping alright?"
"Yeah."
"And what about Naruto?"
The room fills with tension, apprehension.
"What's wrong with Naruto?" He utters out carefully, eyeing the other three in the room.
"To put it rather bluntly, he's overworked himself – he's practically on his last legs." Tsunami finally speaks, eyes trained on the ground, fingers fiddling with her dress, "The poor kid just works and works and works. I haven't seen him take a break or take a moment to relax, he's always bustling around."
"He hasn't slept in over four days." Sasuke says then, looking uncomfortable with this information, "The last time he slept was the day we left Konoha."
Kakashi's eyes widen, "What? Why?"
"At first," The teenager says slowly, "he stayed up because I was injured, and he had to keep a constant watch for any bandits that might have been in the area." Kakashi hangs onto every word he says. "But then he continued to stay awake because you," Sasuke motions to his teacher for emphasis, "were injured and so was Sakura and Tazuna-san, so he couldn't go to sleep." He said these final words quickly as if saying these things faster would allow his teacher to fix the problem quicker, "And then this guy – Hoshimaru – comes around and begs us for help so Naruto goes with him."
"I don't doubt for a second that that boy hasn't exhausted his energy – or chakra, whatever it's called." Tazuna states, eyes locking with the Jonnin across the room, "He's been using that green aura shit since he got here."
Worry plagued Kakashi's heart, jaw locking up. "Then was it a promising idea to send him away?" He asks after a moment, the room quickly silencing at his words, "He's a kid, so why was it a good idea?"
Sasuke looked at his clenched hands, voice quiet, "It... It wasn't a good idea."
Kakashi took a second to take a deep breath, in and out, before carefully looking at everyone's faces. Tsunami's eyes continued to train themselves on the ground, fingers fiddling with her dress again, eyebrows pulled in taut. Her father's face was scrunched up in thought, Tazuna simply keeping to himself through this. Out of the three in front of the Jonnin, Sasuke held the most guilt, the most regret. "Am I missing something here?" Kakashi asked quietly. He didn't sound angry, just confused.
"Yes." Tsunami states, taking a seat in front of him at the table, "A friend of mine – who used to work for my father on the bridge – left the job to work for Gatō."
"Gatō...?" Kakashi furrowed his eyebrows, wracking his brain for a moment before a sudden clarity filled his mind, "That guy who's after Tazuna-san?" A nod of confirmation from the three of them was all he got.
"Hoshimaru – the man I speak about – was approached by Gatō, who threatened the lives of himself and his family if he didn't fix one of the man's prized bandits." She continued slowly, hands laid out in front of her on the table, "Hoshi doesn't have experience in anything medical so, in a sense, there was nothing he could do for this bandit. Under certain circumstances, Hoshi found that we were housing a medic and begged for help."
"And Naruto stepped up to the plate?" Kakashi finishes, leaning back in his chair. His knee was starting to ache again as well as his chest.
"Sadly, yes." She looks away, shame filling her features, "Sakura went as well, a bit of a bodyguard of sorts."
"I see." He swallowed thickly, mulling over what to say next, "May I have a glass of water?" Tazuna, who was the closest to the sink, was already getting up from his seat to go get it. Kakashi utters a quiet 'thank you' when he receives the water only a minute later.
"Kakashi-sensei?" Sasuke's voice is a hushed whisper, eyes scouring the room as if something might be hiding in the walls, "I feel like it's wrong to not tell you this."
He gave the boy a skeptical look, taking a small sip of water, "What is it?"
The Uchiha shifted in his seat, "Naruto thinks that Zabuza is still alive."
Kakashi's eyes widened quite a bit, willing his body not to shoot up out of his chair, "Are... Are you serious?"
"Yeah."
"What do you mean he's still alive?" He asks quickly, worries of all kinds clouding his mind once more. The room spins slightly, distracting him from the conversation at hand. He grits his teeth, holding back the pained gasp that desperately wants to leave his mouth. No one notices, thankfully, but Kakashi doesn't think that can stay up for much longer.
Sasuke shook his head, mouth pulled in a line, "I don't know but Naruto... he said that his clone got to see the guy's body before he was taken away by this hunter-nin-"
"There's a hunter-nin now?"
"-and Naruto was kind of thinking back to it a little while ago and said that he's still alive."
"And that reason is?" Kakashi tried.
Sasuke sighed quietly, looking into his teacher's eyes, "I... I don't know."
He takes a deep breath, hands clasped in front of him on the table, "Then I guess I better suit up soon." He really doesn't want to – his body aches and it hurts when he breathes, he doesn't exactly think he's ready for another battle.
"What- Kakashi-sensei, you can't!" The Uchiha intervened quickly, hands waving out in front of him, "You can't do anything until Naruto says you can. I don't even think you should be up right now."
"I don't really have a choice, do I?" The silver-haired Jonnin states quietly, a wave of exhaustion falling over him.
"You do, I promise that you do." Sasuke says frantically, standing up from the table, "You just have to wait for Naruto to come back."
Promise.
The young medic with a bright smile and always tried to do his best, who couldn't promise anything because he wanted recognition from the village.
Naruto.
"Fine." He grumbled out.
"Fine?" There was disbelief in Sasuke's voice like he hadn't expected his teacher to agree to that so quickly.
"You're right." Kakashi finally says, "I should wait for him before we do anything. And, if I must be honest, I'm not ready to fight again."
"Then you should probably head back to bed until the boy comes back," Tazuna says suddenly, having been quiet for so long.
The Jonnin eyes the man for a moment before nodding, "That sounds doable."
Sasuke moved to his teacher's side, "Do you need help getting upstairs?"
He wants to say no, wants to push the kid away because he shouldn't have to see him like this – in pain and weak. However, this is one of his kids and he should be allowed to do this for him. "Yeah," Kakashi says and, with the help of his student, they start heading towards the stairs. He eyes them, dread filling his stomach.
"I'll make sure you don't fall down," Sasuke says with a small smile.
"Thanks, kid." He returns it with an eye-smile of his own, the two making their way upstairs.
:::^^^^^:::
There's this sound, something consistent and terribly annoying.
Naruto can't pinpoint it – is it close to him or is it off in the distance? It sounds close enough to touch but too far away that it can't physically bother him. However, it makes him cringe, the steady noise of a... well, of something – he hasn't exactly figured out what it is.
He can't remember what happened to get him stuck with this noise, can't think past its consistent pattern. He feels drained beyond belief and Naruto desperately wants to fall back to sleep, but that fucking sound is torture to his ears. The medic knows he should get up and find a way to get rid of whatever was plaguing him. It was almost as if it was a...
Drip.
The steady drip drop is so deafening in his ears after the recognition fills his head – Naruto can barely hear his own thoughts. It's hitting a puddle of water where the drip drop has consistently fallen, muting the sound if only a little bit. It splashes quietly, dinging off other water droplets and sending a wave of torture Naruto's way. He grits his teeth in anguish, wishing for his pillow at home to dull the pain if only by a little bit. He wishes to cover his ears and scream if only to get rid of the sound.
"Someone get me out of-" A drip silences the thoughts, "If I have to – drip – someone please stop this, I don't think – drip – I'm actually going to go insane. Please – drip drop." Naruto screams out loud, head screeching at the same volume of the drip, the noise never ceasing. His screams never pierce the world, bubbling underneath the surface of his head but never expressing themselves out loud.
"Are you done or are you going to sit there and whine forever?" A deep voice silenced the noise, zapped away any other sound in this weird place.
Naruto's eyes opened slowly, staring up at a non-existent ceiling that disappeared into a deep black darkness. "What...?" His voice was a hushed whisper, eyebrows furrowing together in slight confusion. He found that his body was abnormally cold and wet. He sat up silently, eyes peering around him, checking out this strange new world.
In ankle-deep water, he laid on concrete surrounded by aged bricks that went miles high, disappearing into the strange ceiling. Water fell from above him, but, thankfully, Naruto could no longer hear its insistent drip drop. He stood from the chilled water, turning around to get a better view of everything. The blond-haired gennin was standing in the middle of where four corridors connected, everything seemingly blending into each other.
"Where am I?" He asks aloud, hoping for some noise now that there was none. What a hypocrite he was.
Hypocrite.
It feels like something just stabbed him, making the medic double over. Naruto grits his teeth, visibly in pain. Something was coiling around his heart, strangling it to death as another thing tore through his head. Tears pooled in his eyes, shuddering out a pained breath. There was a low grumbling off in the distance, the wound deep within him healing without a moment's notice. It was gone with a single, gasping breath. Naruto exhaled deeply, eyes blinking rapidly as he stood to his full height.
"What the hell was that?" Naruto asks himself, mouth gaped open a bit. He swallowed thickly, searching the walls for anything. The gennin wracks his brain for anything to give him some sort of reference but nothing jars any sort of similarity. The only thing he has is a tugging on his gut, pulling him down the southbound corridor.
He's not even sure why he walks, there is nothing here – it's just him, the walls, and this non-existent ceiling.
Naruto takes a deep breath as he walks, running a hand down his face. He feels exhausted beyond belief – why he does, he can't remember. It's worrisome how he can't think of anything beyond this place and the thundering in the distance... wait a second.
There's thunder now?
The medic scrubs his face in irritation, finding the urge to smack himself in hopes of remembrance but squashes the idea down – he doesn't need to be walking around making a fool of himself. He rubs the back on his neck, finding some comfort in the odd movement, fingers tangling in his hair.
Shouldn't it be wet? He had been laying in water for who-knows-how-long. Naruto couldn't find it in his heart to care.
How long had he been walking? It felt like years since he'd gotten up but that's not possible as years would mean aging and if the image that's being reflected in this dirty water was anything to go by, it had definitely not been years. Naruto sighed, hands behind his head as he walked sluggishly. "Hello?" He called out after a moment of boredom.
Any noise that had been going on – his feet splashing against the water, the thundering in the background, and the sound of his breathing – all stopped at his voice.
"Well, that's weird," Naruto whispered to himself, eyes scouring the area again.
"It's not when you realize what's in here." The same voice from before called out, noise continuing from where it left off.
He stopped for a moment, eyebrows furrowed together, "Where are you?"
Silence.
"Hello?"
"Keep walking, medic."
Naruto thought for a moment, crossing his arms, "What if I don't want to?"
The thunder was loud in his ears, deafening anything beyond that. "You do that, and you will never leave this place." It growled at him, deep and menacing in his ears, "And I want you out."
"Why?" He took a step forward. There was something about that voice that just screamed terror, something evil hidden behind the words spoken to him. However, Naruto couldn't find it in himself to be scared. Was there something wrong with him? "Why should I leave?" He asked again.
"Because you don't belong here, medic." Whatever was beyond the darkness in front of him responded in a slow, monotone voice as if Naruto was too incompetent to understand the words if spoken in a regular tone of voice.
He had the decency to look offended.
The blond-haired gennin continued to march through the ankle-deep water, racking his brain for anything. His legs were starting to ache. "How much farther?" Naruto asked after a moment.
"How much more will it take for you to be quiet?" The thing countered.
He kept to himself, using the silence to think of something, "Where are you?"
It was as if something was dragging him by his middle, abdomen flaring up. It felt like something inside of him was on fire, burning symbols into his innards. The odd thing was that it didn't hurt, just a strange pressure building up within him. Naruto watched in fascination as the world passed him by, walls lightening in color and building back up to its original form – the cracks and moss were disappearing as he went. The black ceiling got a hue of navy blue, deepening with little spics of light somewhere. The water sliding around his feet in a hurry lost its dirty color, picking up the pigment of the floor.
The tugging at his abdomen suddenly stopping. If he hadn't already been on the ground, he might've fallen on his face. Naruto looked up, eyes staring in awe, "Woah."
Before him was humongous golden gates, some of the bars having lost its pigment with age. It extended to the height of the non-existent ceiling, reaching for the navy in the sky. The bars were thick and wide, large than Naruto tenfold – he could easily slip between them with room to spar. Between the gates was a flimsy piece of paper with kanji on it – a seal.
Naruto stopped, eyes staring at the seal. "Where are you?" His voice was quiet, hushed.
Two large eyes appeared behind the blackness of the gates, crimson red piercing the boy's soul. The creature had dark slits for pupils, the black slashes in its eyes flexing dangerously. A cruel smile appeared next, sharp white teeth grinning down at him. There was a flash of red in the background, flicking behind the creature's large body. It watched him – it was dangerous, Naruto could tell.
But he was not afraid.
"Here I am." It called to him, voice still carrying the same frequency it had before, "Are you happy now?"
Naruto kept quiet, watching it with a keen eye. His mind tingled with remembrance, his life's story playing before him with such clarity. The academy, the gennin exam, his team, their mission, the injuries, the exhaustion, the pain – it came back in a flash of knowledge. "I know you." He responded slowly.
It's wide mouth grinned, "I would have hoped you'd know of me. I am quite famous in that little village of yours."
"You're the Kyuubi no Kitsune – the nine-tailed fox." He stated.
The fox stepped up into the light, showing off its red body and tall stature. Nine large tails flexed around its body. "If you keep referring to me as 'it' in that little head of yours, I'll kill you right here, right now." The threat carried some weight.
"You can read my thoughts?" The blond-haired gennin questioned, curiosity blooming within him.
"I know everything you know and more, medic." He twisted his head, flashing a cruel smile, "That's better. You'd do best to follow my instructions if you ever hope to get out of here."
"Speaking of here, where is here?" Naruto looked the fox in the eye, never breaking the contact once.
He growled lowly, tails flickering in annoyance, "Full of questions, young medic. I hate questions."
The blond took a moment to mull over his next words, "This place is like a dungeon."
"Close." The nine-tailed fox mocked, "Mindscape."
"It's all in my head?" He whispered out, the question aimed more towards himself than the creature before him, "I'm guessing that a mindscape is just a physical manifestation of... you?"
He hummed, laying his head down on his large paws, "At least you're smarter than my last container."
"How many... containers have there been?" Naruto asks.
"If you keep asking questions, I might just lose my temper." Crimson eyes pierced his soul.
"Then how am I supposed to get out of here if you won't give me a bone to pick at?" Irritation flooded his words, eyes almost daring the beast to do something.
The fox laughed aloud, the noise bellowing and loudly nauseating. "A bone to pick at?!" He no longer was laughing, teeth barred for all to see. Naruto stood his ground, defiant and defensive. "You are the reason that you're here, you and your idiotic decision, medic." This time, the title was said with venom and hatred unlike how it was voiced with indifference from beforehand.
He hissed, taking a step forward, "What do you want from me?!"
"No more questions!" The Kyuubi no Kitsune shouted out, the noise sending Naruto to his knees, "You don't get that privilege. You will sit and listen." When the boy didn't say anything, the fox continued. "You are here because you have overworked yourself to the point of shock." He explained loosely.
"What?"
"What did I just say, medic?!" Sharp claws flashed in the limelight, sending a message, "You've exhausted all your chakra reserves to the point that I'm having to supply your very being with my own so that you won't die. You've fallen unconscious and you will stay here until you get your chakra back."
Naruto sat motionlessly, eyes trained on the water.
"I've been busting my ass making sure that my container does not die." He hissed, "You'd do best to thank me for my efforts."
"Why would it matter to you if I died?" He asked.
His abdomen was tugged forward, placing his body in between two of the golden bars. A large claw sat at his throat, making Naruto's head level with one of the Kyuubi no Kitsune's large crimson eyes. "You die, I die. Simply as that. If I could live without you, without this cage – I would kill you without a moment's notice." The large creature voiced quietly, every word pierced with a poisonous tick, "We are not friends, this is just mutual surviving." The tugging left him, pushing him to the ground again as the claw disappeared in the darkness.
Naruto's jaw locked up from a moment, "How bad is the damage?"
The large red fox eyed the boy for a minute. "You have chakra poisoning, but I can heal that within five hours. Your body is physically drained, and you've lost some oxygen to your brain. I'm feeding your oxygen reserves with chakra, forcing your body to take large breaths." His voice was monotone, like a prerecorded message, "You have a low-grade fever from exertion that I can't do anything for as I already have so much on my plate."
"I see." Naruto made eye-contact with the beast, "Thank you."
The nine-tailed fox scoffed, "Whatever, medic. Don't think I'll be willing to do this for you again."
"So, you'll just let us die when another time comes around where I fall under like this again?" He titled his head.
"I don't like you.
Naruto rolled his eyes, "You don't have to. Isn't this just mutual surviving?"
"If I could kick you out right now, I would do it in a heartbeat." The Kyuubi hissed out, slamming his tails against the walls.
"So, what do I do in the meantime?" He asked, leaning back in the ankle-deep water.
"I couldn't care less about what you do, just don't bother me. I've already wasted too much energy speaking to you." The nine-tailed fox turned around, disappearing into the darkness behind the golden gates, "Wander, get lost, just leave me be."
"Fine." Naruto rolled his eyes, turning back to the corridor behind him.
Despite everything that's happened to him, this probably isn't the most painful thing he's gone through mentally. Out of everything, speaking with the Kyuubi no Kitsune is definitely not the most painful.
He continues to walk, the golden gates no longer in view.
"I'm sorry." Naruto utters to the fox, the thundering filling the background, his only response.
:::^^^^^:::
It had only been a little over an hour after Kakashi had gone back to bed that there was a knock on the door. Tsunami, being the only one in the room at the time, hurried over to it. Just as she was about to place her hand on the doorknob, the woman stopped herself – one of Gatō's men might be behind the door. She quietly turned towards the window, peeking out behind old blinds.
A flash of pink had her opening the door with a haste. She smiled, ushering the teenager in, "Sakura, it's so good to see you back."
She gave the mother of one a small smile, "It's good to be back, I guess." Tsunami furrowed her eyebrows, watching the kunoichi head over to the kitchen for some coffee. Sakura turned to her, "Would you like some?"
"Yes, please." The dark-haired woman responded, moving over to her, "Are you alright, Sakura?" She grits her teeth, eyes downcast. Tsunami glanced between her and the door, "Where's Naruto?"
"I..."
The woman's eyes widened, placing her hands on the teenager's shoulders, spinning the pink-haired girl to face her. Sakura's eyes were wide and close to tears. Tsunami assumed the worse, "Sakura, where's Naruto?!"
"I left him."
"You what?!" A voice from the stairs interrupted them. Sasuke marched down the stairs, pulling his teammate away from their client's daughter. "You left Naruto?!" He shouted out, shaking her a bit, "Why would you do that?!"
Tears slid down her cheeks, "It was Z-Zabuza."
"What?" Both Sasuke and Tsunami voiced, concern lacing the word.
"The b-bandit he had to heal was Zabuza." She sobbed out, "A-And Naruto just- I couldn't believe him..." Sakura scrubbed her face angrily, desperately trying to stop her cries. "Even after he f-found out that this random guy was Z-Zabuza, Naruto continued to t-treat him because it's 'his job'." She aggressively used her fingers in a quotation motion, "He should have just k-killed him but now Zabuza is going to get better and slaughter us."
Sasuke reeled back from the information, pushing the kunoichi away, "So you decided that the best course of action was to leave our exhausted teammate by himself in enemy territory because you were offended?"
Her bottom lip quivered, shame filling her eyes, "I... I was angry and-"
"Even if you were angry, you two are friends, are you not?" Tsunami said quickly, "After everything he's done for you, this team, and my family, you leave him because you were angry?"
Sakura nodded slowly, jaw tense, "I wasn't right in my head. I know that I messed up and... and I need to apologize when I see him again."
"Is he on his way back now?" The Uchiha asked.
"I... I think."
"What do you mean you think?" He took a step forward, aggression in his eyes, "Is he coming back or not?"
Sakura dropped her head, "I told him that... t-that I didn't want to see him... ever."
"Great, fantastic." Sasuke hissed, "Good work being a bodyguard, Sakura. The whole point of you going with Naruto was to – I don't know – protect him. Instead, you abandon him. Fantastic work."
"Sasuke, please, I was just-"
"Why is everyone yelling?" An exhausted voice called from the top of the stairs. Heads swiveled to stare at Kakashi who leaned heavily on the wall and his crutches.
Sakura's eyes welled with tears again, "I'm sorry, Kakashi-sensei."
He stopped, "Sakura, what did you do?"
Kakashi had always been a light sleeper.
When he was little, he used to hate waking up in the middle of the night because something sounded off within the house – it was usually something mundane like the creak of the old wood floors in the living room or his father finally getting home after a long mission, creeping back into the house at an unearthly hour. The silver-haired man remembers not being able to go to sleep during the war, instead keeping an eye on his slumbering teammates – whether it was out of caution or anxious worrying, he hadn't been able to differentiate it.
He used to hate it but now he's found it to be valuable – it was his double-edged sword, cutting up his wrists and keeping him awake.
Growing up without a proper sleep schedule and waking up at random intervals, he's built up something akin to a homing device of sorts. Unlike the traditional homing expedient, his can pick out sounds. Someone washing dishes, shuffling of feet, loud voices, metallic shifting, quiet whispering – almost anything could be heard by him.
Even if Kakashi had been sleeping beforehand, at the drop of a hat – figuratively and literally – he'd be awake in less than five minutes. This detection of any kind of disturbances in his general vicinity was trained as he grew to become a ninja, Kakashi allowing it to happen to him. It helped to harden his growing path towards tracking; his hearing was top-notch among other high-ranking ninjas in his field.
So, it was no wonder he could hear the blatant arguing downstairs.
At first, Kakashi was willing to let it pass, exhaustion having taken him an hour or so ago. His body was still healing – slowly, but surely – and he needed rest; that's what most doctors recommended him when he landed himself in the hospital – it's what Naruto would have recommended, he mused to himself. However, he couldn't let the shouts pass him by – he was hearing the conversation so clearly now... well, sort of, Kakashi was still a bit drowsy from sleep.
The silver-haired man peeked his eyes open, leaning his head towards the door, eardrums catching on something. "Is he on his way back now?" Kakashi could determine quite accurately that this was Sasuke's voice but there was an undertone of anger boiling underneath his words. The silver-haired Jonnin furrowed his eyebrows, already sitting up – he had to admit, he was a bit curious.
"I... I think?"
"What do you mean you think?" The Uchiha's voice was rising, a bit of moving being heard downstairs, "Is he coming back or not?"
Kakashi had moved towards the door, creaking it open without much difficulty. He headed for the stairs in a bit of a rush, rubbing his eyes of sleep. "I told him that..." He heard, "t-that I didn't want to see him... ever."
"Great, fantastic." There was a hiss of malice.
The older man took his time going down the stairs, feeling exhaustion tugging on the back of his mind. His knee – from only a bit of maneuverability – was already starting to kill him, flaring up in a flame of pain. He takes a shuddering breath, noises drowning out around him. Kakashi's head starts to swim – maybe it was a bad idea to get up, he hasn't exactly been resting.
"-protect him. Instead, you abandon him. Fantastic work." A headache is blooming in his temples, throbbing painfully. Kakashi has to agree with himself, it was a bad idea to go investigate because now he's feeling worse than when he first woke up.
"Sasuke, please, I was just-"
He couldn't take the pain anymore, leaning against the wall with his body aching beyond belief. His head felt like it was splitting open. "Why is everyone yelling?" He called out from the stairs, watching as three heads turned towards him. Tsunami's cheeks and neck were red with anger, a fire in her eyes – he nearly reeled back from the look, remembering the kindness and soft features she portrayed only an hour earlier. Sasuke looked ready to kill someone, his hands balled into fists beside his thigh.
And Sakura?
Regret.
Shame.
Fury.
Her eyes welled with tears, taking a step towards him, "I'm sorry, Kakashi-sensei."
He stopped, not sure what to do. There's a tightness in his chest and a foreboding feeling in the air. He can't wrap his head around this, can't even figure out what the hell is going on. Kakashi takes a deep breath first, swallowing back the anxiety pooling in his mouth before looking into his student's sorrowful eyes, "Sakura, what did you do?" She can't look at him, shame filling her eyes – her fists are pale white, balled together. He steps completely off the stairs, standing to his full height. "What happened?" He tried again but still, his student refused to give him peace of mind.
Sasuke walks around his teammate, sending her a hateful stare – she shrinks away from him. Anger fuels the fire in his eyes. "She left him." He hisses out, pointing at her reproachfully.
"What?"
"Sakura left him because she was mad." He sputters out hastily as if saying it faster would allow Kakashi to fix their problems – fix Sakura, Kakashi's mind mumbled out. "She abandoned Naruto," Sasuke states, staring her down.
His breath comes out like ice.
"People who abandon their friends are worse than trash."
All eyes are on him as he stands there, frozen in place, mind drawing blanks. His knees are starting to grow weak – either from the pain or the revelation. The injured man takes his time reaching the table, sitting down at the table – his hands shake uncontrollably. Kakashi took a deep breath, in and out, take a moment and breathe, he told himself. His jaw tensed, an unfamiliar feeling settling in his stomach.
"Kakashi..." Sakura started out, tears drying but face still puffy and red, "Say something, anything."
"Even if I had something to say, I'm not entirely sure I want to speak to you right now... or ever." Kakashi's eyes leveled hers, a startled gasp leaving her.
"Leave me alone, Naruto. I don't want to see you right now or ever."
"However, as I am a kind person who doesn't get mad without reason, I'll let you make your case." Kakashi stated out slowly, like his student couldn't possibly understand it if spoken any other way, "But know this Sakura, as of right now, you are worse than trash."
She gulped, nodding her head slowly. "Um... what do you know about me and N-Naruto leaving?"
"That he was offered a job from a man who needed the help and you came as a backup of sorts." He stated quietly. Sasuke was standing to his right, arms crossed in an angry, defensive way.
"Well... I stayed outside of the room because we had this awkward conversation and Naruto said that patients get weird about other people – like ninjas." She fiddled with her shirt, trying to ignore the dirty looks Tsunami and her teammate were sending her – her eyes would meet no one, "I told him that, if he was in danger at all, to just like, flare up his chakra to let me know that something was going on and I'd go into the room."
"I'm assuming that he did just that?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow, hanging onto every word just in case.
The kunoichi shook her head, looking at her hands, "It wasn't him – it was Zabuza. He... He was the one Naruto was supposed to heal."
Kakashi thought for a moment. He could, despite not wanting to, can already see where this is going – she reacted based on her past experience with Zabuza and how they hurt her and himself. Combine that with her suppressed anger issues that he thought he'd completely addressed when they first became a team – obviously, she hides it better – Sakura would be a complete mess in that situation.
"I go into the room and Zabuza is on the bed and he's got Naruto's wrist in a vice grip – I thought he was going to snap his arm!" Her voice sounded higher pitched at the end, as if she was reliving it again, "I was ready to fight again but... Naruto stopped me and just continued to work on Zabuza as if he hadn't done horrible things."
He shook his head, "But, Sakura, that was his job – he went to heal someone for a man's family. If-"
"I know!" Sakura cut him off, eyes staring exasperatedly at him with her arms out in an open stance, "I... I really messed up and... and I let my anger get the best of me. I shouldn't have said anything about it to Naruto but I... I wasn't able to control my temper."
"Yeah, and because of that, Naruto's missing." Sasuke spat out.
"He... He's not missing..." Sakura tried, shrinking a bit, "He just needs time away from me. He'll come back." Her words sounded less sure as she continued.
Kakashi sat quietly through this, though, unsure himself of what to do. Should they send someone to go look for Naruto – he was in no shape to do anything physical for quite some time, so he was out of the question. He doesn't want to send one of his remaining two students out by themselves to search for the medic – who knows what someone might try to an unattended teenager. The Jonnin also couldn't send Sakura and Sasuke out together because someone needed to protect Tazuna and his family and, as mentioned earlier, Kakashi isn't exactly read for intensive combat in close-quarters.
Too stuck in his thoughts, Kakashi missed most of the conversation – or rather argument – going on between his students. "All right, that's enough!" His voice was raised just a bit but not too much, his throat still felt pretty raw. Sasuke and Sakura looked to him – Tsunami's disappeared; she probably walked off. "Listen, both of you..." The silver-haired Jonin sighed, thinking over the situation a bit more, "Naruto is a smart kid and tougher than most give him credit for. If he's injured, he can help himself. If he just needs time, then we'll give him that. But, the truth is, we don't know exactly what's going on with him."
"So, what are you suggesting we do?" Sasuke asked, lip curling in a snarl.
"We wait." He states, staring directly into his students' eyes.
"Kakashi-sensei, I don't..." Sakura glanced at her crush, jaw tensing, "I don't think that's a good idea. I think we should find him."
The older man shook his head, standing up from the table – if he leaned heavily on his crutches with a pained pinch in his brows, no one said anything, "Trust me on this. I don't want either of you to go out alone to search for him and you both know that I can't protect this house. What I'm trying to say is that we can't burn this torch at both ends, we only end up hurting ourselves."
"What if he's bleeding out right now and your solution is to just wait?" The Uchiha mocked aggressively.
Kakashi leveled his eyes on his student, starling the boy at how cold they were, "My word is final, Sasuke. You'd do best to listen to it."
He ground his teeth together, fists clenching and unclenching, "Fine."
"And Sakura?"
"Y-Yes, sir?"
"Next time you decide to abandon your teammate, I'm kicking you off this team," Kakashi states harshly.
Tears rose up in her eyes, bobbing her head up and down quickly, "Yes... Y-Yes, sir."
"Good." He heads for the stairs again, already feeling the headache pooling in his temples and the exhaustion tugging him towards the bed. This whole healing process is starting to get annoying.
He just needs to wait it out and then Kakashi will be okay.
Naruto's going to be okay.
He has to.
:::^^^^^:::
Many knew Naruto as a medical encyclopedia – the kid who knew everything and anything that might help the human body. He'd often been called this, but he never found it insulting. If anything, it was a great descriptor of his medical prowess.
However, it kind of makes Naruto sad that no one really knew the extent of his mental thesaurus – it's different, but it's still a part of him. All kinds of words stacked on top of each other in a neat pile off in the estranged corners of his brain, hidden in the nooks and crannies of his mental prowess. This intellectual thesaurus came in hand when the only word he could come up with to describe the mindscape was...
Weird.
And so the book opens, peeling back the pages to search for a synonym of some sort to describe the odd and rather bizarre creation. In this thesaurus, some have written it to be awful – Naruto could hardly call the mindscape awful, just a bit strange. Others laced their definitions of such a thing as creepy, curious-invoking; this went more along with his thought process. He definitely found it freaky – more so than weird – ghastly even. It was mysterious, a peculiar thing – belonging to something supernatural; unearthly, his mind muses to itself.
He can hear the thunder in the background, can feel the annoyance wafting of the Kyuubi no Kitsune – the fox must get tired of his constant mind ramblings. Naruto snickers as the low rumble, an almost confirming noise.
That's another thing - the way sound travels in the mind is... does he even have to say it anymore? It's plain old weird, invoking thought in the strangest way. Even if the gennin walked for hours – trying to make some distance between himself and the Kyuubi no Kitsune – he still could not escape the sounds the fox makes from its cage.
A peal of thunder rolls through the ceiling.
"Sorry." He mutters underneath his breath, "Forgot." The fox is not an it, it's a him. The ceiling hums in acceptance, layering over his mind like a fog cloud – a warm, comforting fog cloud, not the cold and creepy ones that go over forests with the intent to hurt.
For some – he's getting tired of using this word – weird way, Naruto finds that he can't stray too far from what he assumed to be the middle of his mindscape – or maybe it the end of it... the start of where everything begins? The blond isn't entirely sure how to describe the feeling besides an extreme exhaustion washing over him, sending him to his knees. He's back at the gates in the blink of an eye, looking into the Kyuubi's crimson eyes that stare at him without a trace of emotion.
Sometimes Naruto feels as though he's floating, feeling the cool water pooling around his body, hugging him. There's usually a tugging feeling at his abdomen, pulling him back to the Kyuubi no Kitsune's cage – it was almost as if it was intentional.
Thunder. A spark of lightning dances in the darkness of the ceiling, streaks of light glistening behind a hue of a navy color as it disappears just as fast as it had come.
"Intentional, huh?" Naruto's eyebrow quirks, eyes still searching the darkness above him for more signs of life as his back slid down against the grimy walls. He must be far pretty far away from the golden gates as the area he's in is quite hideous, full of moldy substances on the walls and dirtied water. However, the boy doesn't exactly get dirty in this place, so he doesn't necessarily care.
On a previous note, Naruto still finds it – his thesaurus brain works again, whirring behind a muddy mind – peculiar that the Kyuubi no Kitsune communicates differently from other beings of talking nature; granted, Naruto's never talked with anything quite like the fox hidden deep with the seal on his stomach. The thunder – and now lightning – as well as the telepathic ways of the demon, playing melodic words through his head without so much as a warning. It was just a little...
Weird.
"I'm going to start hating that word after this is done." He murmurs to himself, tapping an absent tune against his thigh, "I bet you hate it right about now." Naruto searches the darkness above him once more, not getting that confirming sound as he had before. He tilted his head, feeling strange after the lack of noise.
Drip.
"No." He nearly pleads, "Please don't let me hear that again." The bothersome sound of water tapdancing with puddles off in the distance playing broken melodies in his ears. Naruto grits his teeth in anguish, curling up around himself and – drip drop – sighs out, annoyed. "C'mon..." He murmured out, peeking up at the ceiling.
Nothing.
"Of course." The blond huffed, rubbing his eyes as a sudden bout of exhaustion coursed through him. It's tugging at the back of his mind, face heavy with an effort to stay awake. Naruto fought it with every ounce of fight left within him – he didn't want to fall asleep anything, he's been in and out of consciousness for... however long he's been in the mindscape.
Drip. His eyes startle to life, the sound nauseatingly loud in his ears. Drop.
Naruto groans in frustration, looking up at the ceiling again. He takes several deep breaths, seemingly not getting enough oxygen in his system. He furiously rubs his face in hopes of erasing the tiredness coursing through him – as well as trying to distract himself from the insistent noise still going through his head.
He smacks his dried lips together – drip drop – and yawns silently. "I'm tired." The medic says aloud, looking to the ceiling for anything, "Are you making me tired?"
Silence.
His mind whirled with a fog, remembering the time before, "I'm tired and you're making me tired." His words are said with an exhausted reassurance as if he knew he was right.
A streak of lightning, a boom of thunder. The water dropping dissipates instantly.
Naruto smiles to himself in a bout of success, watching as the ceiling turns back to black, leaving no trace of the white glow of lightning. "You're having to use a lot of my energy – and I'm guessing your's too – to help heal me." His tone stays steady, knowing that a question will get him nowhere. From being taught to ask questions at any given moment due to his status as a medic, the fox leads him to speak without an inquiry of some sort – it was strange.
Lightning.
Still, he's worried.
"How sick am I?" His voice is quiet then, arms wrapped around his knees, head laid on top of that. A yawn is pulled from his throat, eyes heavy. Naruto's not sure if the Kyuubi no Kitsune will answer to him, remembering how aggressive he got when presented with too many questions at one time. However, as a medic, he needs this answer, needs to know that he'll be okay – his team needs him to be okay.
Dozens of lights flare up in the sky, lightning strikes the ground right in front of him. As he scoots his feet closer to his body, Naruto's eyes widen at the deafening of thunder pounding in his ears without restraint. Noises rang in and out of his head, pulling a startled screech from his mouth. Everything hurt, burned deep within his brain.
This was so much worse than the water.
Lightning struck the ground again – this time more powerful – it splinters the concrete with ease and sends water flying everywhere. Naruto covered his ears, trying to keep himself contained up against the wall as to limit the space between himself and the lightning still pouring out in front of him. Thunder still hammered against his eardrums, sending vibrations to shake up his brain. He couldn't take it anymore. "Stop!" He cried out, tears springing in his eyes, "Please stop!"
"Medic."
The silence was earsplitting, all sounds eliminated at the voice. He turned over to the side, taking deep breaths as his arms quivered like a leaf. A sudden bout of nausea rose up in his throat, face hot and the room suddenly stifling. His jaw shook as Naruto used a bit of his energy to peek up at the sky, seeing lightning streak across the sky without the thunder to back it up – it was terrifying yet beautiful.
"Heal and leave me be." The fox stated without a single trace of emotion to it, "Stop worrying about anyone but yourself."
His team needed him to be okay.
The words replayed in his head – more out of awe than a mantra. The fox tells him to stop worrying about his team, but it's been ingrained into Naruto's head to worry about them, rather than himself. They need him.
"No, they don't." The Kyuubi no Kitsune speaks slowly, as if the words weren't properly reaching the blond, "You think they do because you don't believe that they care about you."
"What are you talking about?" Naruto could feel a fire burning in his soul, jaw clenched together as he rose from the wall. His knees wavered, "You're not making any sense."
"Medic." He says to the boy, "You think they only play nice because of your status. You give to the team what was not there in the first place – a hand to heal. Without you, they are nothing – am I wrong in my assumptions?"
"Yes."
"Wrong, medic."
He felt dizzy, a fire burning in his cheeks – was he exerting himself too much right now? He was fine just a minute ago – well, not really. Instead of trying to find the answer, Naruto could feel himself glance at the ceiling, blue eyes fueled with an angry uncanny to him, "They do care about me because they're my friends."
Thunder rolls in the distance, "You don't believe that. You think you do, medic, but you're wrong."
"They care." Naruto whispers out, stamping his foot against the water, sending water flying, "They do."
"Stop fighting the truth, you hurt yourself twice when you do that." The nine-tailed beast states, ceiling lighting up with crimson – it was as if his eyes were there, glaring at him from the darkness, "They hurt you in ways your human mind does not fully understand. Not only are you physically exhausted from straining yourself to be their lapdog – healing everything you deemed to be your fault – but you've mentally exhausted your reserves. You cannot begin to wrap your tiny brain around this fact"
"Stop it."
"However, medic," The fox spoke slowly again, navy and red lighting up the ceiling, "I am inside of you all day, every day. I feel what you feel, see what you see, and know more than you could ever hope for."
"I said stop."
"They care but you can't find it in yourself to believe that." The water around his ankles ripple in unison to his words, "You believe that they are using you, that all gratitude directed towards you is because of your status, medic. So why do you continue to believe that they need you?"
"Because I care about them." At the silence, Naruto continued, his heart racing, "They are the only family I've ever had and... and I know that I think they don't care but that's only my... my t-thoughts. I know they care, even if I can't find it in myself to believe them."
"Medic."
"Yes?"
"They don't need you right now so stop dwelling on it." The Kyuubi no Kitsune shifted in the back of the mindscape, the sound reaching his ears despite the distance, "What you need is to rest."
Light seemed to die in Naruto's eyes, body tipping back into the water. The liquid curled around him, warm and inviting. Exhaustion tugged at his heartstrings, wiping any thoughts prolonging their lifespan in his brain. The ankle-deep water caressed his body in a comforting manner, drifting back to – supposedly – the middle of the mindscape when the Kyuubi no Kitsune waited for him.
"When will I wake up?" He finds himself thinking to himself, not completely asleep – it was more of a gray area, his body shutting down but his mind still active. No answer follows so he changes his words, "I guess I'll wake up soon... an hour, maybe."
"No."
"Two?"
"You need four days of healing here." The fox explained quietly, voice muted by the mud in his head.
If Naruto had any control over his dead body, he might have nodded in acceptance at the Kyuubi's words but he was simply too exhausted to do anything besides think.
It was pretty weird.
"You're no thesaurus, medic." He couldn't tell whether the fox's tone was that of annoyance or of amusement – he probably won't ever find out but that's okay.
Naruto sighed into the water, warm with a light feeling in his heart.
Naruto's always wondered what it would be like to be set on fire.
Okay, weird, but just wait for his explanation, it gets worse.
As a medic, he's encountered more than enough burn patients before at the hospital. A good number of those who fall claim to the heat of the burn and the flames that licked their skin with urgency for death end up dying without anyone ever knowing who they were. Their skin is charred beyond belief, no one ever truly being able to identify their bodies. The families of those claimed by the fires that burned them so cry and hold each other, a pain unlike anything else taking over them. Naruto had seen these people, huddling in corners just gasping for breath as tears streamed down their faces. Their howls still pierced his ears, screams of pure agony over losing a loved one.
It was horrible. He remembered the first time he ever heard these calls, begging any doctor or nurse to bring them back or tell them it's not true that their loved one's not dead to tell them it was all some joke. Their voices haunted Naruto in his dreams, creating horrid nightmares for months, all without anyone ever noticing or caring. He held a stoic face and made sure no one could see underneath the façade. It was fine when others died; no one knew that he struggled with their deaths too. It was fine.
Naruto's mind cleared, allowing others to fill his mind. Others being the survivors of these fires. Those that do make it out of whatever fire had held them captive are allowed to continue on with their lives. And even though there are scares of their past still littering their bodies, they still go on, never taking their lives for granted and living the best life they can. It was all humbling and breathtaking to see an injured patient finally have the strength to make it back to their own beds, but Naruto never knew of their struggle.
He had never had the chance to experience what a cripple from a fire might have to do in order to recover. The process is almost as tormenting and torturous as the actual incident and, the sad thing is, most people never completely recuperate. Their skin – scarred and rippled with stretched skin from being pulled taut with stitch and healing skin from other parts of their body that hadn't been touch by the flames – it's more sensitive to the touch and it can't be in the sun too long or that too will hurt them.
Naruto bet that incidents like that changed most of those injured patients. He bet that they were more aware of fires and flames, wary of things that emit heat. But, he's never been in a situation like that to know so, why does it matter? Why should it matter that he's never been burned like that before?
It's all because of one small thing – Naruto can't begin to imagine what it's like to be burned. No, he's not talking about the accident 'oh-no-I-touched-my-hand-to-the-burner' kind-of accident; he's talking about the one that turns you into a completely different person with a phantom pain to unlike anything anyone could ever experience.
He can't imagine what it would be like to be burned. He can't imagine what it would feel like to be caught on fire, panic lighting up in his heart as he desperately tried to roll around in hopes of getting the fire off him as patients described to him before their untimely death. While Naruto's been close to this more than a few times, it's never gotten too close to him before being taken out by some trusty water.
The more ninja-aspect of him wonders if it a fire like that – one that could melt of his skin and leave his bones shaking – would trigger a fight or flight response in him or if he'd have some way to combat it, as in, would he still be calm enough to put the fire out before it did too much damage? The medic-aspect of himself, however, makes Naruto wonder about what the fire would do to him. Would it hurt him more since he knows the ins and outs of the body as he tries to heal himself? Would it damage his nerve-endings and, if that's the case, would he still even be able to feel himself burning alive?
And, above all things, Naruto thought long and hard about whether it would hurt.
Pain has no value over him anymore. Sure, things hurt, and life can get in the way of true happiness or bliss, but he can't imagine being burned alive. The pain from such a thing is on an indescribable level – no hospital patient has ever been able to put it into words, so Naruto can only wonder.
Out loud, this might sound like he's ready to set himself on fire, test out a theory or two, but that's not the case. He just finds that it is easier to empathize with those who have been on fire at one point in their lives when he had something to share himself. Naruto has always had fond memories of fire, always associated the flames with warmth from a home or something akin to it.
Fire is associated with Sasuke's abilities – the way it fuels his attacks to better a team fight. Fire is associated with Sakura's personality – the way it fueled her anger towards unnecessary. Fire is associated with Kakashi's leadership – the way it allowed for the youth to grow under his tutelage and strength. Fire is associated with Hiruzen's love – the way he could never allow Naruto's will of fire to die out.
To him, fire dances and breathes. It lives off oxygen just like himself, both he and it breathing together in a warm hue of orange beauty and grace. Although those flames could reach higher than the tallest building in Konoha, terrorizing citizen with its scary and painful existence, Naruto finds that it's simply a wonderment. It was like a beating heart, pounding and thriving, living in a world that only wants to put it out. But to Naruto, it was painless.
Until it wasn't.
Naruto doesn't exactly remember much before this time or what was happening to him – it doesn't matter anymore. Even if he can almost recall discussing something – something very important – with the Kyuubi no Kitsune earlier that day – was it day now... how would he even know if it was? – but his mind was slipping from him. He was almost positive that it was about his health again, the conversation like pulling teeth when trying to get anything out of that fox. Naruto couldn't ever remember passing out again, the exhaustion plaguing his body continuing to battle his wakefulness during his stay in the mindscape. It often led to some rather annoying bouts of semi-unconsciousness.
While in this weird sleep-wake state, Naruto could feel that he was resting on top of the water again. There was a warm tingling feeling in his chest, one that he got when he was standing in front of the demon's gates. He let the water hold him, shifting him bit by bit with its warm embrace. The medic had long since gotten used to the odd sensation of it groping his sides, seeping into his pores. Naruto's not even sure how long he's been unconscious this time around.
There was another throng of something deep within him, moving through his bloodstream without haste. His eyebrows pushed together slowly, the odd sensation continuing to thrive within him. He could feel it centralizing around his eyes. Naruto had the odd thought of doing something to stop it, pushing back against the Kyuubi no Kitsune's chakra a bit. He pried his eyes open a bit, taking a deep breath. There was another throng, this one bordering something more painful. It wormed its way through his insides, warming his body up, face hot with a fever.
Naruto grit his teeth, squinting up at the ceiling. Everything was suddenly way too saturated, too bright for his eyes at that moment. "Kyuubi." The medic found himself croaking out, voice hoarse with disuse. The fox made no movements from behind his gates nor did he say anything to the desperate teen.
He cried out suddenly, eyes slamming shut at the sudden onslaught of warmth spreading through his chest. His neck heated up, squashing down on his throat. Oxygen was receding from his lungs, escaping through breathy gasps. Naruto coughed roughly, curling in on himself. The throng was painful, as the heat from a fire right up against his skin. He took a wheezy breath in, "Kyuubi."
Why wasn't he answering anymore? Why couldn't he give Naruto a bit of lightning? Or maybe the fox would prefer the thunder to answer him? The one time that he needs the Kyuubi no Kitsune to say anything, the fox is off doing who-knows-what!
Naruto shuddered against the water, a fire building up deep within his chest. It attacked his heart and lungs, forcing each and every breath he takes to shake and quiver with pain lacing his tongue. It felt like he was burning from the inside-out. It was excruciatingly painful, slowly torching his insides as it curled around his organs, the throng finding comfort in his misery. Every pump of his heart sent flares of this heart through his body, the fire traveling through his bloodstream. It lit it on fire like his blood was made of gasoline, lining the walls of it. It all traveled back to his heart, sending it ablaze.
Naruto's eyes filled with tears, pouring in from behind closed eyelids. He clawed at his head, a nonexistent scream leaving his mouth. How much could he handle being burned alive? "KYUUBI!" The boy found himself screaming. His voice was much higher in pitch, fueled by desperation and pain. "KYUUBI!" He tried again, the words cracking at the end, breaking off into a sob.
A tear leaked out of his eyes, the liquid filled only with gasoline instead of the salty water it'd been before. It trailed down his face, burning tracks into his skin and searing his mouth when it touched him. His cheeks were hot to the touch and he was running a fever, practically steaming with heat. His skin was on fire, sensitive and burning. Naruto could feel the water around him start to heat up, boiling underneath his body and darkened with from disgust.
It was just the fire and the burning, the flames that hurt him, burned him alive. "Kyuubi..." Naruto desperately whispered out, crawling at his chest weakly, "...please..."
There was a sudden bout of lightning shooting across the sky, fueling it with an unholy reddish color that forced out the black darkness. Naruto missed the show of color behind closed eyelids, but he could hear it, hear the thunder that closely followed the fox's lightning. The Kyuubi's deep crimson eyes appeared from behind the gates, his sharp teeth set in a deep frown. "Calm down, my medic." His voice was a blessing to Naruto's ears, desperate tears of gasoline still running down his face, "This will only hurt for another moment."
The world was tilting, swirling down a spiral of flames that he couldn't get away from. Even with his eyes closed, lights and colors of red and orange fueled the pain plaguing his sternum. "C-Can't..." His throat felt swollen, choked up by what's eating him up from the inside-out. Naruto's head swam with colors once more, "I can't..."
"Forgive me, medic, you're not completely healed." The Kyuubi continued without acknowledging his jailer, "The pain you feel now is what I've tried to prevent for the last two days." The blond-haired boy found it hard to hear the demon, overcome with emotion and pain that he could only half-listen. "You should know that I have exhausted almost all my chakra keeping you alive, healthy, fixing your broken pieces as best I can." The Kyuubi no Kitsune informed quietly, "Though, it is finally time for you to find a real bed to sleep in, eat on your own terms as I can't keep supplying you with the energy to keep going. You need tangible health – no more chakra, medic."
"W-What...?" Naruto grit his teeth, stars dancing behind his eyes. His voice was hoarse and straining to say anything at this point.
"I'm kicking you out of the mindscape." The fox simply stated, eyes disappearing back behind the gates, "I wish you luck, medic. You are going to need every bit of it if you hope to recover from this. Do not forget the lengths to which I helped you this day. If you do, you shall regret the repercussions. See you soon, medic."
And just like that, the fire was gone, replaced by the bitter chill of night.
Naruto's eyes opened slowly, dulled by the falling snow covering some of his face. The cold bitterness looked to have only just started its descent from the sky. It was dark out, dark luminous clouds blocking out the stars he unconsciously hoped he would see. The darkness plagued the forest he found himself lying in. The grass underneath him was warm as if he'd been laying there for too long – he probably had.
His brain was still foggy, face burning with fever. He needed help, that much was true. The medic wiped away any gunk surrounding his eyes, glancing around at his surroundings as he slowly sat up. His back popped unpleasantly, chest constricting and stomach practically on empty. Naruto grits his teeth in anguish, laying up against a tree behind him. He felt like he'd gone one-on-one against Hiruzen – which meant that he promptly got his ass kicked and now had to wallow in pain.
He took a slow breath, a deep exhaustion curling around his bones. Naruto could feel his eyes slowly opening and closing – he needs to get up, move around a bit to get his blood running. It's getting to be way too cold around him, the snow still coming down on him. Although it was slow, any amount of snow was enough to deter Naruto from sitting on the ground for long.
The medic rubbed at his eyes again, hoping to prevent the black dots from swamping the corners of his peripheral vision. Everything was different, and he wasn't even sure where exactly he was – a bad start to any wake-up, really. He knows that he couldn't have been too far from the any of the main dirt roads, but Naruto can't find the right memories to look back on in order to find the best possible route back to the base of operations.
Kami, he was tired – no, scratch that – he was exhausted.
Naruto used the tree he'd been slumbering under to help him stand. His knees quivered in protest, hips popping from the sudden movement. The teenager allows a groan of discomfort to pass through his lips, so completely tired from just moving. "I need to get back to Tazuna-san's house or I might pass out again..." He murmured out, starting to walk ahead.
"Medic." His vision was swimming again, the world tilting.
"Kyuubi...?" The boy thought to himself, stopping to regain his balance whilst leaning against another tree. His heart was racing, the fire keeping his face burning continuing to ail him.
"Who else could it be?" The fox huffed out. The blond-haired boy did not respond, knowing there was more the demon wanted to say. "You're going the wrong way." The Kyuubi no Kitsune stated lowly, "You're facing the ocean, not the residential area."
"Oh." Naruto's mouth felt dry. His best guess was dehydration, probably a small bout of starvation as well if his stomach's constant gnaws at his insides were anything to go by.
"Turn fifty degrees to your left and just keep walking." The demon fox informed his tenant. He did as he was told, mentally measuring the angle the fox gave him before starting to walk again with shakier legs. Dulled forest colors morphed together, pitting greens, browns, and whites all together in some fucked up gray coloring.
"Hey, Kyuubi..." His thoughts died off while trying to find a way to rephrase his question, "You kicked me out of the mindscape." Naruto stopped for a moment, breath suddenly way to fast. The dirt road in front of him swirled nauseatingly.
He was quiet for some time, shifting in the mindscape like he was uncomfortable. "Yes, I kicked you out." The fox responded.
"You must have had a good reason to do something like that," Naruto stated. He stumbled over a log, head swimming as he fell to his knees. "Shit..." He hissed, laying there on the ground for a moment. The medic huffed out quickly as if his lungs couldn't take much oxygen. It was quite some time of laying in the snow before Naruto found the energy to get up. Fixing his balance, the boy moved slowly onwards, making his way through the wilderness.
"I need to replenish my chakra." The Kyuubi no Kitsune explained loosely, "While you finally have enough chakra in your system to support yourself, you haven't exactly gotten off the hook yet." Despite himself, Naruto found himself nodding. After the notion, he wished he hadn't moved his head at all. Colors of different spectrums poured into his vision, blinding him temporarily. "The chakra poisoning will continue to affect you for a week or less – it really depends on whether or not you'll actually take a break and heal." The fox stated.
Naruto leaned against a tree, his stomach twisting in his lower abdomen. He placed a hand to it, groaning quietly. "You said that you could heal the chakra poisoning in five hours." The blond-haired gennin tilted his head, stopping for a moment. The darkness in his eyes was getting progressively worse and so was he. He needed to get to the house soon or else.
He could hear the demon's nine tails swishing around somewhere in the depths of his mindscape. Thundering filled his ears, the fox unhappy with the statement, "If you hadn't noticed, I've had a lot on my plate these last two days."
"So, I've only been under for two days..."The boy stated, more for himself than the demon. His hands were shaking at his side, body swaying from side-to-side without much control. He felt like a puppet on strings, all at the mercy of fate and his own personal destiny.
"Yes. I wasn't able to give you the full four-days in the mindscape as I had planned." The Kyuubi no Kitsune sighed heavily, a twinge of guilt underlying in his voice, "As for why you're still poisoned, I split my chakra too much between other things – like keeping a good supply of oxygen to your brain and providing the entirety of your body with recycled chakra from yours truly." Naruto nodded along, stumbling forward before catching himself. "Not only that but before you passed out, my chakra was the only thing keeping you awake and coherent. The only reason you were able to last that long on lack of sleep, food, water, and chakra was because of me."
"Thanks." He fell again, staying down for longer this time. Naruto curled in on himself, an agony, unlike anything he'd ever experienced before this plaguing his body.
"You have to get up, medic, you need help." The red fox encouraged, falling silent while his tenant forced himself back onto his feet. "And you're welcome, but if you do this again, medic, I won't be as friendly as I was before."
He nodded again, mind starting to muddy up. The boy rubbed his face in order to keep himself awake. "What about my fever? Is it still there?" Naruto asked, having not thought of any other way to phrase the question as a statement. It was a dumb question, he already had an inclination of the answer, so why the need to ask?
Maybe it's because the fire within him was everywhere and nowhere all at the same time, burning holes into everything and anything it could get its hands on.
Despite the change, the Kyuubi didn't seem as aggressive with it this time around. "You're fever it still there. It's 102.1 degrees Fahrenheit. Once you get to somewhere safe, you'll need medicine, fluids, and fuel."
"Fuel?"
"Food."
"Right..." It was like the mention of eating something started to gnawing grumbling in his stomach. Naruto curled in on himself again, gritting his teeth in anguish. The world was tilting, body swaying too much to the right and falling right over into the now two inches of snow. The cold felt nice of his face, but his medic side of his brain told him that frostbite wouldn't feel too good later on.
"You have to keep going. You're almost there." The Kyuubi no Kitsune tried again, the little bout of encouragement giving the medic just enough energy to drag himself into a crawl. He didn't trust his legs anymore nor did he trust his eyes.
"I can't..." Naruto whispered out, hands slipping out from underneath him. He was pitiful, dragging a dying body towards a world of ice and white. Tears ran down his face, body giving up on ever getting anywhere. It hurt to move, to breath any more than a huff here or there. It was painful. His skin was fire, lighting up with gasoline.
"Medic, please, I know you can do it." He tried once more, "I know it hurts now, but if you don't get in that house right now then it is going to hurt so much more. You want this pain to stop, right?"
"Y-Yeah..." Naruto sobbed out, eyes prying open – when had they closed?
"Then, you need to push yourself just a little bit farther if you want that pain to stop." The Kyuubi no Kitsune's voice sounded desperate, "C'mon kid, I know you have that fire in you. You're almost there."
He stared ahead, the world pulling taut against his vision. Naruto grit his teeth and pulled his body up a bit, using his hands and tugging at the cold ground. The bitterness pulled at his fingers, sinking its chill deep into his bones, but he couldn't feel it over the fire tugging at his heart and fueling his bloodstream. Hand over hand he pulled himself home. It hurt and hurt and hurt, but he kept going.
Because all he wanted was for it to stop.
He didn't feel the change of cold snow to hardwood, didn't feel the front door underneath his fingertips or feel his fingernails grating against the wood of the door. All Naruto felt was the sinking exhaustion leaking into his bones that hurt him so much. He felt himself burning alive despite the snow biting at his body. He felt the warmth coming from an opened door, shinobi sandals greeting him.
And with a hoarse voice, broken with only pain and desperation, Naruto whispered out, "Help... me..." He's not sure if he passed out or if he'd died that night. Everything is blurred around the edges, but he did it.
Naruto finally got the pain to stop and that was okay with him.
