CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
"All the vibrant colors I see,
And the shades that fill the gray."
The battle had raged on, even without her, Naruto would later learn.
Her comeback into consciousness was a day and some hours late. Unlike usual it wasn't a quick snap and she was back into the land of living.
No, not at all. It started with hearing sobs, cries that broke through the dark she was trapped in. Somewhere, Naruto was lost, a place she could not name or explain.
Maddening, she could call it. The black blurred the edges of her own form, like fog clinging to her body. It wanted to consume her and she was half-tempted to let it. Her eyes ached, her head throbbed, and her tenketsu felt charred.
She couldn't make heads or tails of a damn thing, not until she heard that sob. Something animalistic and broken, it howled over her, like a sister lost a brother, or a mother a child. A twin, her other half. It was desperate and pleading and there was nothing that Naruto could attach it to.
She couldn't remember.
Remember what? She couldn't tell you. Something was missing and it was all she knew. Something was missing, and she was here- whereishere- and someone was crying.
The cries had created a rip in the fog. As the hours passed, she began to hear more sounds. The fog started clearing. She started to see.. Pipes? In the dim light, they could be pipes or tunnels or tubes, she couldn't differentiate.
She felt water on her calves. Cold and slimy.
She started to hear murmurs.
Murmurs became broken sentences and dim light became brighter.
Eventually, she was more than a form. More than a ghost floating in near-black.
Her fingers, she remembered, and moved them in accordance.
Oh, and weren't they taking the chuunin exams? Yeah, that sounded right, didn't it?
"It's all our fault!"
"We came to help you!"
Chinese buns. Bun hair. Playing cowboys and training. Weapons and iron and birds.
Tenten! That was Tenten, and suddenly she could feel and see and breathe -
What happened? What was their fault?
"Please. Please wake up, Naruto. Me and Lee- We'll never forgive ourselves. Please."
Wake up?
She was sleeping?
Naruto never wanted to keep Tenten waiting.
She sat up, and there were screams.
Loud, loud, loudscreams.
She clutched her head, as foreign as it felt, doubling over.
The screams stopped, and the mother-hen tendencies jumped out.
She took a moment to look around. Tenten, she named first. Sasuke, unconscious. Lee, where was Lee?
Sakura was tending to Sasuke, staring at Naruto with big green eyes, suddenly more haunted than Naruto thought possible for her.
There was a cast on her leg. Her teammate, the other dark-haired boy, was looking at Naruto with only mild curiosity.
They were inside a tree.
Huh. Interesting location.
"Are you feeling okay? Does it hurt anywhere?"
Naruto stretched her arms, letting Sakura's question hang. Tenten was sobbing into her chest.
"M fine. What happened?" Naruto asked slowly, blinking away the blur in her eyes.
Sakura breathed shakily, fighting away a sob. "You passed out, and- And for some reason, your clones stayed, and- Sasuke got marked by that freak-"
"He just batted us around until he marked Sasuke. Only you and he were harmed grievously. Sakura was injured, to a lesser extent. I, Tenten-san, and Lee-san were just battered."
Ah. There came those missing memories.
Naruto couldn't feel much, for some reason. She went into Team Captain mode, something she'd learned from Wave.
"You-" Naruto pointed, a bit of a stagger in her posture. "Sai," Sakura replied with a sniff. "His name's Sai."
"Right. Sai. List all injuries." Naruto asked him, being as official as she could be. Something in this boy's face told her that he was exactly the type to be receptive to this.
"Starting with yourself, you were strangled unconscious. Brain damage is possible." Naruto didn't react. "Sakura obtained a bite wound when running to free me from the coil of a snake. We believe there to be some weak venom in the wound; though it is not infected." Naruto nodded, signaling him to continue.
"Lee-san has light friction burns and sprained fingers on primarily his right hand. I have an estimated three fractured ribs. Tenten-san has friction burns and a few scrapes and nicks from avoiding the enemy's projectiles. Senbon, specifically." He paused, this time, out of pure uncertainty.
"Sasuke's condition is unknown. It is not good, though, as is quite obvious."
Naruto cataloged them all in her head, "Opponent's goal?"
Sai was cool and controlled again. "It is my own estimation that the opponent wanted to leave that seal on Sasuke, and decided to play with us only as a means of entertainment. Or even, as a test."
Sakura mumbled something, and all attention was on the pinkette. The girl flushed red.
"What? Anything to add?" Naruto questioned, cringing at her own tone after.
"Um. Well, he said that… We weren't teammates befitting the last Uchiha."
Naruto stared ahead blankly. "Sounds like he's a bit too invested in Sasuke. He thinks you're holding him back, I think."
Sakura looked surprised at her deduction. It was hard to feel insulted, honestly. In the situation they were in, nothing merited much insult more than the ass-beating they'd just gotten.
Naruto cracked her neck. "I think we should be headed towards the tower. We can pack Sasuke. None of the rules said your teammates had to be conscious to pass."
Everyone looked surprised, even the slowly calming Tenten, who pulled away to look at her.
"What?"
Tenten seemed lost. "You- You just woke up! You want to head out already?"
Naruto shrugged. Why wait? They all needed medical attention, this wasn't exactly prime real estate for resting and licking their wounds.
When she said that, there was less outrage. No backtalk.
Tenten sniffed, a look of determination settling into her features. "I'll get Lee, he's on watch. Be right back."
Naruto stood in the hollowed tree she'd woken up in, impressed by the size of it. Even if they were packed in like sardines, at least she didn't have to crouch.
Reaching into her pouch, she withdrew her snack seal. Flushing it with chakra, Naruto brought forth her handy basket of food. Rummaging in it, she dug out a ration bar for Sai and Sakura first. Both of whom immediately tore the wrappers off and started scarfing down the dry, foul-tasting things.
"Eat then pack up, we're outta here."
Next, she threw them both a pack of dried bananas to share, and left to feed her own teammates.
Stooping to fit through the faux-entrance into their little tree hideout, she walked out, seeing her two teammates having a conversation a few paces ahead. Lee, teary-eyed and red-faced, saw her first.
In seconds, she was wrapped in strong arms, squeezed half to death.
"I am so happy your flames continue to burn!
'I'm glad you're alive,' Naruto translated mentally.
"I'm happy yours do too, Lee. Want a ration bar?" She asked, patting his back with her free hand. He released her, wiping a lone tear. "I would be honored!"
Passing one to him, and then another to Tenten, she grabbed a bag of dried strawberries. She ate her own ration bar first, wishing to savor the dried fruit. It was her last pack, after all.
There was a grateful silence as they finished up, all of them only desiring to make it out of this alive.
In another world, unbeknownst to any of them, they'd have been attacked by a team from Oto just then. In this one…
They were juiced by an enraged Gaara, who was furious by the fact he'd yet to encounter a certain blonde.
Naruto licked her teeth. "Fetch the other three." She demanded seconds after summoning a clone, knowing it would be the one to carry Sasuke. She wasn't burdening her other comrades with it.
There weren't any final words, or any conversations had before that. They set off, most of them with aching bodies and distress clouding their brains. Naruto took the lead, it was what they needed of her.
She led them to the tower, through thick trees and foliage. They ran on tree limbs at first, up until they could see the mile-high tower in the distance.
Their pace collectively slowed then, something like relief weighing them down. They didn't say words, but their steps were far from silent. None of them cared. Whatever threat came after Orochimaru, they were sure they could face it.
Everything paled next to him.
Their only fear was that he'd reappear to finish them off. No one had the audacity to speak, let alone say that aloud. It would be tantamount to jinxing them.
"Someone's near." Naruto's voice was like glass-breaking, pulling all of their attention, horror appearing on all of their faces.
"It's.. A genin. And she feels? Familiar?" Naruto thought aloud, brows furrowed as she thought. "Hello!" The voice called, from somewhere in the woods.
"Who goes?!" Lee screamed defensively, but Naruto gave them no signal to run or prepare, so they all waited.
Bursting from a thorn bush, a tiny girl huffed and clutched her chest. "Sakura, Sai- Take my clone and go ahead. Tenten must've given you a scroll?"
Both girls nodded.
"Great. Go, I'll handle this."
The two Team Seven shinobi retook to the trees, darting ahead. Naruto's clone carried their third teammate a few steps behind.
Tenten and Lee looked ready for a fight, despite the shape of the girl before them. She was a few inches shorter than Naruto, and skinny as all hell.
"Careful, Naruto.. It might be a trick…" Tenten warned. "Nah." Was all she replied.
"Hey, what happened to you?" The blonde asked the redhead, noting the peculiar bite scars all over the girl's exposed flesh. Naruto finally felt something- More nausea.
The girl looked so pained, it broke Tenten's heart. "I.. My teammates, they sent me after a scroll- They didn't want to look with me."
Naruto's face settled into something vaguely resembling anger. "This forest is no place for a lone genin. I'm sorry."
The redhead's eyes bubbled with tears. "I-I'm not a combat shinobi! I've been nearly killed by a dozen animals- And- And! I didn't know what to do, your chakra just felt so warm and comforting and familiar-" The girl broke down, breathing in raggedly, tears flowing freely.
Tenten joined Naruto's side, face twisted with sympathy. "Shh, shh it's okay. Kusa, huh?" They all had to suppress a shudder, the name bringing back memories of their last savior attempt.
"Yeah…" The redhead answered softly. "What's your name?" Was Tenten's second question, but the answer made all of their jaws drop.
"Uzumaki Karin." The girl wiped her eyes, putting her glasses back on to see their twinning expressions. "H-hey! What's with the faces?!"
Naruto grabbed her shoulders, making the girl flinch. "I'm an Uzumaki. Uzumaki Naruto."
Now, Karin was making faces, too. "No way!" The redhead challenged.
"Yes way!" Naruto grinned vibrantly, lighting up her entire face. It was enough to make the rest of them smile, too. "Shit! You can totally join the village, we're a founding clan! Fuck your teammates!" Naruto told her, totally giddy.
Karin gaped, her face trapped between a glowing smile and absolute shock. Her mouth opened, and then closed, repeating the cycle.
"But- The exams!" Karin pushed back, seeming suddenly downtrodden.
"We have extra scrolls! Wait here for your team, and once this is up, Naruto can petition the Hokage!" Tenten solved the issue immediately, slightly wishing Ino was there to break down the legal specifics of that.
"R-Really?!" The shorter Uzumaki asked with wide eyes, getting affirmative nods. "IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL TO SEE THE SUN AFTER A STORM!" Lee cheered, wiping tears of joy.
The rest of Team Nine laughed it off nervously. "That's Lee…" Naruto revealed, and Karin nodded dumbly.
"I mean it though! I'll do it! Gosh, I've always wanted a family!" Naruto squealed, giddy like she hadn't been in ages. Karin seemed to consider it.
"Are.. Are you sure? Your Hokage would allow it?! What about Kusa?!" Karin was too jaded to just accept such good news. Far too jaded.
Naruto nodded yet again, "Yes! I found out when I researched our clan ages ago. Uzumaki helped create this village, we'll always have a home here. You can even live with me."
The blonde Uzumaki was making big promises, but she never broke them, as everyone she knew would acknowledge.
"I mean it, Karin. Pinky promise. Take me up on this and you'll never regret it." Naruto swore, a hand on her heart and another with its pinky out.
Karin hesitated no longer. "You better mean it, blondie."
Naruto gave her a 1000 watt smile. "I do. Never doubt me. C'mon, Towers just ahead. You need carried?"
Karin shook her head in the negative, getting a shrug from Naruto in response.
Reaching the tower was like finding a lake in the desert, or a working tv on a deserted island.
It was an oasis.
Tenten didn't hesitate to dump all their extra scrolls on Karin, who looked positively awestruck. "Your teammates will be impressed,'' the brunette joked. Karin sniggered, it would never happen, but she knew their faces would be absolutely comical.
"Find my chakra once you're inside, Karin. You can do this." Naruto assured her. "Your flames are only going to grow from here, Karin-san!" Lee tried to encourage, not picking up the blank look he received as a response.
"Alright.. Bye, Karin.." Naruto hesitantly said goodbye, giving her only a wave as they stepped through the first door to the tower.
The doors slammed behind them, making Tenten jump slightly. The room was cement all over, cement floors, cement walls. There were scrolls hanging on the walls, and giant iron doors with no knobs. No knobs, or levers, or visible seals. Giving the wall scrolls a quick once-over, she shrugged.
Naruto, without even asking her teammates, opened the scrolls. She was in a rush, and it was her only conclusion.
A large cloud of smoke filled the room, making the three teens cough viciously. They fanned their arms, trying to clear up some of it.
"Congratulations, Team Nine!" Said the voice of a familiar chuunin.
Naruto blinked, and not because the smoke stung her eyes. "IRUKA?!" She yelled.
He laughed heartily, "That's me! Hey there, Naruto. It's nice to see you made it out of there."
Her expression was suddenly more disgruntled than shocked, and Iruka squirmed slightly. "Yeah, well, we need beds and medical attention. Lead the way?"
"Naruto!" Tenten's silent urge for the blonde to be nice went unnoticed.
"Absolutely, I can." Turning his back to them, he placed his hand against the center of the metal. Naruto hummed, it was an invisible seal. He'd just used a flush of his own chakra to open the next set of iron doors.
Seals, Naruto thought as Iruka led them upstairs, were the coolest.
Chakra locks were definitely something she needed. He walked them around, giving a polite tour of the building. First she showed the cafeteria, and then the medical bay, and finally their rooms. Konoha had their own section.
God bless favoritism, because their sector looked much nicer.
The three stepped inside, noting the furnishing of the room. Three moderately sized western beds, a mirror, a writing desk and bathroom. There were nightstands between the beds and a lone closet they could share. Naruto wished they had a laundry room here, because they all needed fresh clothes.
She'd just have a clone hand-wash them.
Just as Iruka walked out the door, saying his oh-so-polite goodbyes, Naruto decided then was the time to reveal some facts. "Oh, also, Orochimaru attacked us and Team Seven. And there's an Uzumaki girl waiting for her team outside the Tower. Be sure to let the Hokage know I'm taking her in." Naruto told him suddenly, watching the man turn pale.
She smiled. "Thanks!"
