A/N: I was originally planning to release this chapter with the next "No More" release but the timing did not cooperate as I'd hoped. In the hope of not stalling this story more than necessary, I give you Chapter 6 a few days later than planned with the hope that Chapter 7 will be released on schedule.
Enjoy as you will.
~Siva'a
Chapter 6: A Mile in My Bandages
~I I I~
In the weeks that followed, medic nins fixed every broken and fractured bone in the child's body. Many would need, and would get, convalescent time away from the trauma ward. Some would never return to active service and Doctor Yamakishi would mourn the loss of those good souls.
It is understandable that those true professionals in their field would rebel at the horror perpetrated on a child. That level of violence and trauma surely must be the product of a deranged killer, some psychopath totally divorced from the norms and customs of polite society. Surely this was not the byproduct of normal, everyday citizens of Konoha. Surely not the same people that walk the streets and greet you with a smile and nod or discuss the latest speculations over tea on whether an heir will emerge from among the talented Jounin successors to the Hokage?
It was almost too much to bear.
Those that returned did so under a stronger conviction to help the small blond child clearly left adrift in the large village. Someone needed to keep an eye out for him, didn't they?
Uzumaki Naruto's guardian club grew by seven.
It had been eight days since the last surgery. Doctor Yamakishi personally conducted the physical evaluation to verify functionality and range of motion in the child's atrophied limbs. Mild electrical pulses would be applied later to his limbs to prevent a total wasting away of muscle fibers and subsequent loss or inhibition of the motor neuron collective.
Besides, there was a betting pool going to see if he would wake before the new year, one played between the trusted group caring for the child and the obnoxious horde clamoring for his death. Naruto's small medical fanbase had staked their faith (and a large pool of Ryu) on the boy to prove the latter wrong.
For now, the small cadre of trusted staff made their rounds of the upper medical floors and interspersed their normal routine with periodic checks on the unconscious miracle child. It had to be a miracle to survive what he had. Sure, it was touch-and-go with a few flatliners in the early stages but, with each correction to his broken body, he got stronger. Despite the unbelievable trauma, he would live.
The question remaining was would he thrive or be a broken shell of a human? That was a question for mental health practitioners.
This staff knew their job.
They were good at their job.
This battered boy would live because they did their job extremely well.
Once Naruto was out of harm's way, Yamakishi-san had him moved to a room on the upper floors, one with a large window overlooking the park. Every morning one of the nurses would check his vitals - once routinely cleared and searched by very observant ANBU guards, see if the few flowers needed to be replaced (no one had identified the mysterious donor yet), and gently throw open the curtains so the boy could get daily rations of sunlight.
Vitamin D. Every good boy needs sunshine in their life. It was a well-known fact among mothers and Nurse Tamako had raised three strong boys, so she should know best.
~I I I~
Naruto sat on the now dry floor of his dungeon mindscape. As he no longer felt the bitter tears of his hopelessness, the water had simply receded from his mind. He was no longer lonely. He knew enough to still know he was destitute and barely above the poverty line in Konoha, but he was no longer alone and that could make a huge difference in and of itself.
The rest would come in time.
"Naruto. You are about to return to the waking world. I know we will speak many more times, but do you have… anything you want to ask me before you return?"
Naruto shook his head somberly. He knew the upcoming years would be hard. Kyuubi shared with him a few days prior – was it really days since time was screwy in the mindscape? - that the Hokage had made plans for him to attend another school, a special school that would help him achieve his dream of becoming the Hokage (who hadn't heard the small boy running through the streets screaming like a banshee that Hokage was his future job title?). It would require a lot of focus and dedication for him to achieve that goal and he knew that Konoha would fight him bitterly to prevent that from happening. Her ripping the blinders from his mind was both a blessing and a curse.
Naruto only sighed in response.
It's not like he was afraid of the hard work required. He had a vague idea what it would take for effort on his part, however, without the support of the populace he knew he'd never obtain the vaunted hat no matter how powerful he was.
Kage-level Genin? It wouldn't matter since Hokage wasn't a hereditary position in Konoha.
One of the scrolls he read explained the bureaucratic structure and political interplay of the Konoha administration and he knew Hokages had to be approved by and through the Council. That fact struck a sour note since Hokage-jiji explained how the prosecution of his attackers went during one of his daily update sessions with the white-haired Jiraiya; Kyuubi kindly replayed that one memory for him in disgusting high-resolution detail.
He would need Kage-level strength just to make Chuunin in this town. If you followed that scale of escalation then he'd need to be an SS-ranked shinobi to be even considered for the seat. The Council, in all their wisdom, would never willingly elect him regardless of how powerful he was. Hell, they pretty much rewarded five jerk wads for trying to outright kill him.
The more he thought about it, the more he wasn't so sure he wanted the job anymore.
Oh, he wanted to make Jiji, Teuchi, and Ayame-nee-chan proud. They had been his foundation in this crumbling cesspool, but he just wasn't sure he cared enough about a bunch of villagers that wanted him dead. He thought long and hard on those same villagers that had tried multiple times since he was two years of age and living in an orphanage that would later evict a helpless four-year-old onto the street.
Did they deserve his protection?
Should he even care?
He understood the principles of right and wrong, turning the other cheek, and being the bigger man. On paper, they all looked rather high-brow and prevented him, in theory, from "stooping down to their level." The problem was that each concept rang a discordant note in the back of his mind.
The cynic in his head couldn't help but read those legendary missives as something said after someone has wronged you to prevent being persecuted themselves. Yes, I stabbed your dog and raped your wife but... you don't want revenge, do you? Shouldn't you be the better man and show me, through your good deeds, how I should live a better life and emulate your actions?
It sounded like something a pacifist would say hoping that criminals of the world would throw down their knives and "see the light." Wasn't he planning to be a ruthless killer? He was to be a shinobi for ramen's sake! His future career path said "Assassin" in big, bold letters and he was pretty sure that would alter his perception of high morals and homicidal tendencies.
Only time would truly tell. In the meantime, he had much more training he needed to complete before his new semester started. More importantly, Kyuubi-nee-chan promised she would provide help for him on the "outside," as she called it, once he was free of the hospital.
All that was moot at this point. Together they had done all they could in the time allotted to correct his severe lack of education short of social interaction, something he self-admittedly lacked in spades. Some things you just can't fix talking to yourself.
Yelling at the top of your lungs in someone's ear didn't help much either so he planned to work on that stupid mask of his, among other glaring deficiencies.
With a firm nod of his head, Naruto indicated he was ready to leave and, with a mischievous wink to the auburn-haired vixen, he felt himself pushed out of the mental dungeon.
He completely missed the raging blush that took Kyuubi's face two shades darker.
Back in Naruto's Hospital Room…
Idly, she pushed a strand of golden hair from over his eyes – it was growing so long perhaps she would trim it today – and checked his pulse. Soo strong this one. With a gentle pat on his left cheek, she smiled warmly and prepared to finish her rounds, her hand just turning the door handle.
With the frantic press to fix the boy's critical injuries behind them and on a bright December day, Nurse Tamkako (once again on duty) heard the squeaky croak of a very dry throat and, for the second time, had her pulse race inside the room of her blonde patient. This time when she ran from the room, it was with happy shouts of "He's awake!" and Doctor Yamakishi's name echoing off the walls.
She did not see the human-sized shadow in the corner of Naruto's room flicker away behind a camouflage jutsu.
~I I I~
Inu, Neko and the Sandaime entered Naruto's new room amid a flurry of activity. Naruto had been pushed forward with three to four stethoscopes pressed to each side of his body. He flinched every time a new one was plastered to his bare back. Those metal disks were cold! The three nin swore they saw one pressed to the sole of his left foot at one point. At their entry, a very weary Uzumaki Naruto, one side of his head still wrapped like a mummy, looked with a pleading puppy dog eye to his Jiji for help - any sort of help - to make the crazy stop.
It took the Hokage clearing his throat very loudly … twice… to get Yamakishi-san to notice him and explain the medical frenzy.
"I take it by your smile, Doctor, your betting pool ended satisfactorily?" Doctor Yamakishi's resultant grin threatened to swallow his ears.
"Hai! Hai! It would appear our 'esteemed' colleagues are 'thoroughly' verifying our claim." The arguing between med nins and nursing staff trying to find some sort of puppet jutsu in order to disprove the claim was winding down.
It all came to an abrupt halt when the boy's stomach growled loud enough to rattle the flower jar on his nightstand. Without a request, Nurse Tamako dashed from the room with promises of a good meal for her very strong patient.
As disgruntled medical staff were shuffled away from the boy's bed and out the door by protective med nins, by way of depositing bands of Ryu notes into a mysterious bowl held by another very happy nurse, Nurse Tamako returned with a cart steaming with a large bowl of miso soup, a half dozen hard-boiled boiled eggs, four rice balls, pickles, some mild green tea, and a pitcher of water. Her eyes melted as the boy dug in as best he could, hands shaking due to weakness and gratitude. Eyes brimming with tears, the sniffling nurse helped him as best she could.
It wasn't long before his body began to resume normal functions and the weakened boy needed to be helped to the private bathroom for release. Yamakishi-san turned to the Hokage while the boy was indisposed.
"We will need to discuss the eye issue before too long. At the rate he is recovering, this will need to be done before the end of the week."
The Sandaime nodded sagely, fingers stroking his wispy beard while his eyes focused on some distant point beyond the horizon.
"Tomorrow doctor. Let the boy have one day of peace before we torment him anew." The two nodded with grim expressions. This would not be a pleasant discussion.
Normal ablutions and feeding out of the way, Naruto returned to his bed, pausing just long enough to hug Nurse Tamako as hard as his weakened arms could muster, he all but collapsed back into bed. At least now he could focus on the next round of information without his bladder screaming at him or his stomach shaking the furniture.
Doctor Yamakishi informed him that he would be his physician from now on. As an added bonus, he introduced the hospital staffers that fought so hard to save the boy's life. Even the retired ones made a brief return to welcome him back from Shinigami's lair. It was a very emotional reunion and Naruto hugged each and every one of them.
It was also very, very pointless. A traditional effort in futility.
It's not that Naruto was ungrateful. On the contrary, he was sublimely aware of the toil that went into saving his life. His gratitude was heartfelt, and their kindness was well-received. It's just that he was cognizant of the trauma the retirees suffered because of, not just his, but of a cumulative career of death and trauma.
His pain was just the icing on the proverbial cake. The fly in the fruit basket so to speak.
Simple fact of the matter was that a handful of loving people in a hateful village of thousands can wear on you. It can begin to sap away at your soul, wearing away at the foundation of whatever sick mantra you can erect to bulwark your existence versus the never-ending stream of hate. At some point, you must wonder when enough becomes enough?
At six years of age, Naruto was growing tired of the charade. He was growing tired of the on-going lie. It was getting harder to keep the happy-go-lucky persona up, especially with his mental blockage removed, and being told earlier that the majority of the folks that had attacked him would virtually walk free once clan justice was finished with them, just enraged him all the more.
The only clan member that would have to face any repercussions came from a lesser clan with no bloodlines run by a highly upstanding clan lead employed by the Torture and Investigations Unit in Konohagakure no Sato. It would be tough to avoid that. The rest just did not care so Naruto was tired of being the only one that did.
Jiji was strong but he couldn't do everything.
That tidbit of information was tough to digest. Even the news that he would officially attend the ninja academy when he left the civilian school did little to raise his spirits.
It would give him the means to defend himself and he looked forward to that with vengeful glee. This meant no more running and hiding.
As the last well-wisher departed, none of them noticed the bright, cheery smile fade into frustration and anger, his eye turning away from the fresh trays of food (he had moved up to a bowl gyudon with steamed rice and pickled ginger garnish and a broth-filled egg soup) and stared out the cheery window with bitterness and revenge creeping into the edges of his heart.
No humans noticed… but Kyuubi did and she smiled from deep within her dark prison.
~I I I~
Konoha was peaceful. Konoha was resting. All throughout the village still recovering from the destruction of a recent monster invasion, concerned families lulled their children to sleep with stories of the Yondaime Hokage and how he defeated the Nine-Tailed Demon. From house to house, street to street, the village breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Slumbering in the relative safety of his hospital room, his ANBU detail not more than seven meters away, Naruto snored quietly in the deep sleep of the unencumbered. Curtains drawn, the steady beeping of the heart monitor and the flickering lights of medical equipment provided the only background noise.
The hospital slept, a behemoth of alabaster stucco and armor-like sheets of glass on every side.
Into this peace crept unseen hands, dark figures about dark business. Toru rose from the darkened shadows of the child's room, his eyes flickering frantically from what he knew now to be the sleeping jinchuuriki and the statuesque female standing next to him. He gulped quietly, his body hunched and his voice a ragged whisper as he awaited her next command.
The tall woman emerging from the dark recesses next to him stood taller than most of the humans scurrying about the village, her shoulders clearing his near one hundred seventy-eight-centimeter frame. Where he was lean, she was lithe, slim of build and supple like a ballerina. Her Long silver hair matched her flowing robes even with the very human blue highlights she added this time around to match the fragile weave. He knew better than to affix his eyes on the open neckline that hovered before his vision even if her slim build offered nothing beyond a bony chest. She was just into her third tail, also silver trimmed as they swayed gracefully behind her, but that didn't matter as his station as a lowly male kept her firmly above him as the Matron's eldest daughter.
Her sharp golden eyes flickered down to the bowing and scraping male with clear disgust and impatience.
With a quick bob of his head and shoulders, Toru padded silently to the door and released just enough chakra to engage the privacy seal, doing so that it built up slowly over thirty seconds. He sighed quietly once the shell activated soundproofing the room without alerting the sentries. When he turned to nod that it was done, the silver-crowned head turned from him to the sleeping boy, her ears laying back as she bared her canines and stepped to the bed's edge.
She was clearly displeased with the boy's current condition. As it was, he looked mostly dead.
"There can be no error here, Toru-kun." Her voice was a whisper, but he flinched as if about to be struck. As her voice was without inflection, a person unfamiliar would never have perceived her irritation. It was disturbing how she had gleaned that particular habit from her mother. You never really knew where you stood with her until it was too late.
"Hai, Himedoro-sama." Toru's head never fully raised above the level of her navel. "I have heard from my position within the Leaf that their leaders discuss the boy, most with disdain. They long to slay the child and destroy the demon within… as they call her."
The regal Kitsune hissed and the placating male raised his palms to ward off impending pain.
"Hai, Himedoro-sama! I merely repeat was is said to enlighten our clan as to his life within the village walls." His head indicated the sleeping boy.
She flashed him another disgusting look before her right hand flicked open with the sound of several blades clicking into place. Toru paled immediately.
"My… Lady, if I may?" He paused as she looked down on him dangerously. Since she did not readily slice open his throat, he pressed on.
"I do not believe that killing this one achieves our desired end." She paused to glower at his interruption.
"Explain."
Toru glanced nervously at the talon tips on her right hand. He had felt their pain before and was in no hurry to do so again.
"Two reasons M'Lady. First, the Death Reaper seal used to seal Hikari-dono into the boy ties her spirit to the vessel's." Her golden eyes narrowed in disbelief. "While I have not had time to fully study the complete matrix," he lifted the boy's shirt and whispered, "Reveal!" while passing his hand a finger's breadth over Naruto's stomach making the outline pulse briefly into view, "…I have devoted time to confirming that this child's death will take Hikari-dono to the Shinigami as well."
Inside the seal, Kyuubi shivered and felt something… familiar.
Himedoro leaned over and placed her face mere centimeters from the truly magnificent creation. She never had the same facility as her mother with fūin, but she knew enough and could appreciate something that was clearly beyond her ken.
"Second reason Mistress, I have found supporting documentation in the hall of records to positively conclude that this child is the son of the Gōruden Ryokō-sha." The female Kitsune's sharp intake of breath brought goosebumps to the boy's stomach while her eyes grew very round and her head swiveled to stare at the clearly insane male.
"Does Matron know?"
Toru only shook his head negatively, his now frightened eyes fixed on something beyond her increasingly confused face.
"Find something you like, Hi-chan?"
'Ah, that would explain it.'
The voice coming from the boy was feminine and enhanced by chakra. It did not sound remotely human. The Matron's second swiveled her head one-hundred eighty degrees and stared into the lone red eye that met her own. The red chakra rising smoke like from the orb told her that the boy was not in control.
"Hika-chan." The second oldest straightened and brushed her robes smooth though there were no wrinkles to be found. "I see it's true. You managed to get yourself trapped into a human."
"There is considerably more to it than that, but the question now is to what do I owe this pleasure?"
Himedoro feigned pain even as she straightened her spine. "You wound me, sister. Can I not visit my beloved?"
"We were never close. Now leave please and forget that you found me."
"Oh, but we cannot do that dear sister. While I lack the skills to remove you safely, I am sure Mother can. The bride price has been paid after all. We wouldn't want the Raitoninguhāsu clan to feel cheated, now would we?"
Deep inside the seal, Kyuubi shuddered. That lone eye narrowed, the heated chakra beginning to rise to the ceiling.
"Never fear… sister. We will return once Mother has found a way to extract you at this wretch's expense." The elegant Kitsune brushed the back of her hand against Naruto's cheek as she leaned in full of malice. "Never fear."
The silver daughter backed away from the bed and faded into the shadows at the edge of the room followed a half step behind by a clearly frightened Toru, him bowing and scraping to the bed-ridden figure as he shadow-stepped after his mistress.
Kyuubi frowned at this development. She would need to activate one of her contingency plans.
~I I I~
The next day brought another round of frantic discovery. Laying on the surgery table, Naruto was trying to make sense of the excited voices, heated arguments, and warm bodies pressed against his tiny form. More importantly, he was trying to suck in as much oxygen as he could with Nurse Miko's breasts smothering his mouth and nose while he was helplessly strapped to the table (to prevent movement during surgery).
Surgery wasn't supposed to be like this. He was told it was a serious, sedate affair with shiny objects, sponges, sutures, and sometimes forceps. Isn't that what they always asked for in those television shows the grocery store wives watched? All he knew was that he was awake, he was cold, and people were talking about cutting off parts of his body he was very much attached to and wanted to keep.
The morning started with a brief discussion involving Naruto, the Third Hokage, Doctor Yamakishi, the Anesthesiologist, Nurse Tamako (who had a tray filled with little eyes of different colors all sitting in tiny, clear, liquid-filled bowls), and Nurse Miko – a younger nurse very much smitten with his one extremely blue eye and whisker marks; she kept stroking his cheeks and, while pleasant, kept sending shivers down his spine making him feel funny and purr… which made her squeal every time. Naruto was sorely disappointed to discover in this meeting of the minds that they couldn't match his natural eye color and was hesitant to choose another.
Bitterness did not begin to accurately describe it. From this day forward, every time he looked in a mirror he would be reminded of the jerk that took his eye and got away with it. It figures that the Hyuuga in the bunch would make it personal about the eyes. The jackass hadn't even tried to pierce his brain – he'd stabbed him through the eyelid just enough to destroy the eye itself. Naruto vaguely remembered the sensation of the kunai twisting in the socket and shivered. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he thought he heard growling.
Shrugging it off, Naruto plastered his best fakest grin on his face and picked a pair of sickly yellow orbs. Adding injury to insult, he wanted a matching pair. If he was going to be reminded of the attack every day, then so would everyone else.
Besides… they kind of looked like wolf eyes. Wolves were cool.
The Hokage looked pained.
Both nurses were gently rubbing his back as they laid him down to prep for the surgery. All of the support staff came in and took their places. He remembered being asked to count backwards from one hundred while a pair of hands touched him at the base of his skull and covered his eyes. At about what would be seventy-three, he felt the familiar tug at the back of his head and things started to fade to black. Just as he appeared in the familiar square pool of murky sewer water, he felt a strange buzzing sensation that vibrated his head. Then things got weird.
The tunnel faded out before he took two steps away from the pool ramp. He awoke and blinked both eyes in confusion, the right eye feeling like it had been run under a tap or something. It hadn't quite registered that his head was now unwrapped, his eye having been thoroughly rinsed with saline to clear away caked blood and detritus. The intent was to inspect the socket and begin preparing the eyes for transplants.
What Doctor Yamakishi found was a fully functional eye identical to the undamaged one. Apparently, human eyes didn't just grow back on their own. Who knew?
By the time Naruto began to register more than his damaged eye being undamaged, the doctor's penlight began blinding him as they pried his now undamaged eyelid open. Before he knew it, more and more of those annoying hateful medical people had begun to show up and were suggesting questionable science experiments. The clear majority of them were advocating chopping off more body parts to see what would grow back and what would not.
One wanted to see if he could survive neutering. They were so curious about it they mentioned it twice.
It was the demon brat after all. Wasn't he the expendable property of Konoha? Surely the Hokage would allow experimentation if it could save the lives of other shinobi.
Cue Nurse Miko's bosom being smushed into young Naruto's face while she and Nurse Tamako tried desperately to protect the prone boy with their bodies. Tamako-chan had flopped herself across his midsection while Miko-chan was desperately shaking her head back and forth while pulling Naruto's head into her cleavage. The back and forth motion of her body brought a healthy red to Naruto's cheeks just as another doctor wanted to test the survivability of the boy's reproductive organs yet again. The muffled shriek from our blonde jinchuuriki caught Miko-chan's attention and, with a healthy burst of shame, she shifted her tightly-clad bosom from his face (so he could breathe) to the side of his neck and shoulder.
Not understanding the true nature of his blush, she was hoping to defend the rest of his body parts while oxygen returned his natural skin tone. She successfully managed one of her two objectives, but we'll give her an "A" for effort.
Naruto was almost disappointed that he wasn't going to get a pair of wolf eyes. The rest of the encounter petered out as Yamakishi-san chased the annoying doctors away.
With the initial excitement of the "magically-growing eyeball" out of the way, Naruto quickly settled back into normal recovery mode. This included boring mornings eating hospital food, which he loved as it was better than he could get on his own, and afternoon walks with Miko-chan, which made him nervous due to the caustic looks from other hospital staffers and villagers.
No one tried anything with Miko-chan nearby and he needed the exercise on bright sunny days, even bundled up as he was in the cool weather. The exercise was therapeutic. Stretching dormant muscles felt good. It was disturbing how much a body could hurt after lying still for so long. He just needed to move.
As an added bonus, whenever he walked and stayed outside for longer than thirty minutes, Miko-chan would squeal and hug him smashing his face into her chest. She was very warm plus her chest was very soft. He found that he liked the sensation of close physical contact. As a bonus, no one had ever shown excitement or given him praise for making any sort of progress and he found this refreshing. It made him want to work harder and stay out as long as Nurse Miko could spare time for. Plus, those hugs from Miko-chan were extra nice and she seemed to enjoy giving them an awful lot, so he happily obliged her.
He was beginning to enjoy the warmth, the closeness, and the flowery smell. When he asked her what that nice smell was, she blushed and muttered something about daylilies. That became Naruto's favorite flower once she explained what they were to him.
Oddly enough, he began to wonder if this was what it was like to have a mother or a big sister. Was this how families treated one another?
~I I I~
"We have no choice now. News of the boy's recovery has already spread."
Monkey turned to the taciturn Rooster. "It will be difficult to do what you ask over such a prolonged period."
"We have no choice. They are already planning to finish the job before he can be enrolled."
Dragon looked up from their vantage point inside the head of the Yondaime Hokage, the stone eye sockets providing an excellent outlook to gaze over the village. Only the seals warding the obvious passageways kept the vagrant out.
Different seals entirely were used to keep shinobi out.
Below the quiet village pulsed with the life of its citizens. Thousands of people meandered about their day blissfully unaware of the struggle going on under their very noses. Mothers walked hand-in-hand with small children as they went about their daily errands. Hawkers pawned their wares upon the passerby. Shops opened up to the daily rhythm that was Konohagakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
It made him nauseous to think that this undercurrent of poison existed in the hearts of the vast majority of its citizens, each willing to lash out if they had the opportunity to lay hands upon the young jinchuuriki.
"He is not as alone as he once was."
Tiger was incredulous. "You cannot believe that the demon will keep its word?"
"I am told that it will. The beast wants to live and, if the host dies, so does the bijuu. It is in the creature's best interest to keep the game afoot, for lack of a better term." Tiger was not so convinced.
"Until it finds a way to escape," he muttered.
"We will have to see. Not much to be done until it tries something regardless," Dragon countered.
"Phase Two then?" Monkey apparently wanted to move on to other things. He kept glancing out the right eye socket almost casually despite the urgency in his body posture.
"Phase Two." Dragon nodded then body flickered away. One by one, they all flickered away.
~I I I~