Hello everyone,
Follow me on instagram at wtmcdonaldauthor! If you are feeling generous, and wish to donate to my writing career, you can find me at (P) (A) (T) (R) (E) (O) (N) under Twubs for early access to chapters of The Ladder, Defiant, and Tsunami of the South!
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Hiruzen POV:
Inside of the Land of Fire. You had him right underneath our noses the entire time…
I hadn't expected Jiraiya's report to actually bear any fruit. Naruto's trail had gone cold once it hit the ocean, but we all knew that they were headed back to the mainland. However, how does one pick it back up, if they could have sailed to so many locations.
Was it Kumogakure? That would have been their safest spot to dock, and then head back south to Oto.
Was it the HotSprings or Frost? Or did they take the long route through Wind Country?
All of these questions I had pondered for days once Shikamaru returned to the village. I'm not sure why I had leveraged my political position so hard. He was my student, yes. But he was so much more than that. It was hard to explain it to myself, much less someone else.
Either way, I was the one to force our hand. I was the one that slapped my hand on the table and stopped the arguing. I was the one to don my battle armor. And there wasn't a single person in the village prepared to stop me.
We had broken countless treaties looking for Naruto. Not that those countries would ever call us out on it. Nor would they ever dare to renegotiate. My anger and wrath had been made known immediately. It was with my own hand that the Daimyo family of Rice no longer drew breath.
I am still the God of Shinobi, even if there are others that might think themselves worthy.
The Otogakure ninja Orochimaru had sent to guard them weren't even worthy of the title jonin. Enma hadn't had to witness my atrocities that day. They were so weak, it didn't warrant his presence. I was lucky that the ANBU I took that day was unable to speak of what happened.
I am sure to pay for my sins in the next life.
"Orochimaru isn't here." Jiraiya told me, from his position on my right.
I had just been introduced to this new form he could boast. I knew he had dabbled into senjutsu in the past, but the last I heard he was unable to achieve anything resembling the Shodai's form. He was a shinobi at heart, holding his trump cards close to his chest. I did wonder why he didn't bother to activate this form while we fought Orochimaru and the two Senju Brothers.
Jiraiya's eyes were closed and he sat in a meditative pose on the ground. The two toad sages were glued onto each of his shoulders. Sensei always said that his sage mode allowed him to sense for miles and miles around him with such intense accuracy. I did not doubt Jiraiya's claim that Orochimaru wasn't here.
"Is Naruto?" The question was immediate, and the only one worth asking.
"Yes but it's…" Jiraiya paused for a moment. "…it's so weak sensei."
The rage that I thought I had rid myself of so long ago sparked inside of my chest.
"Why don't you all sit this one out?" It was not a question, and the other inhabitants of the area knew better than to disobey me. Had Kakashi not been on the other side of the continent chasing a different lead, I would have allowed him to join me. Deep inside, I was happy that I was the one who would get to retrieve him.
My chakra twisted before I jumped high into the air. I manipulated the wind around my form before turning in the air back towards the ground. I was close to one hundred feet into the air when I began falling back towards the earth.
This was one of my personal jutsu's developed to bust the underground bases of Iwagakure during the first few shinobi world wars. I hadn't had to use it in so long.
The ground parted like a river parts around a rock, once I finally dove into the ground beneath me.
Naruto POV:
The world around me refused to focus.
I blinked countless times trying to get my eyes to clarify. Where was I? It was hard to tell but I knew it was underground. The cold air, and the carved walls around me told me that.
My mouth was so dry. Cotton mouth didn't even begin to describe it. My stomach rumbled at me. A hunger so deep and primal gripped my stomach.
Have you ever been so hungry that you felt nauseous?
I tried to sit up, only for nothing to happen. I felt my muscles try to contract, but something held me down.
I tried to look down at my body, only to find that something was on my forehead, pinning me to the bed, or whatever it was that I laid on.
My body ached, but deeper than that my chakra ached.
At least I can feel it. Why is it so weak?
In short, I felt weaker than I had ever felt. I was hungry as shit. I couldn't move. And my chakra refused to obey me.
Can it get any worse?
"Oh, you're awake."
A face leaned over me, allowing me to see who it was that was holding me captive. Grayish-white hair, glasses, and a shit eating grin. Kabuto had taken me prisoner.
A flood of memories flashed across my mind's eye. A battle with the Sound Four, including Kimimaro. I had killed them with the help of Shikamaru. Everything seemed fine until Kabuto showed up and incapacitated me. It was a catastrophe after that. Shikamaru's jutsu being turned around against him, and then…
Lee's lifeless face landing next to mine was the next thing I saw.
"You bastard!" I snarled at the man above me. I tried to get out of my restraints, yet no matter how hard I struggled, nothing happened. I couldn't even augment myself with chakra. It was the most frustrating thing I had ever experienced. It felt like I was a civilian.
I tried to ignore the pain and panic in my chest at the thought of Lee.
It wasn't hard, because a wave of exhaustion poured over my body. My heart thudded inside of my chest way too fast for it to be natural.
"Careful, you've been out of it for quite a long time. I'm surprised you woke up this fast, actually." Kabuto told me as he pushed his glasses back on his face.
My eyes narrowed at him.
"How long?" I managed to ask, despite the exhaustion.
The walls shook, and dust fell from the ceiling. Kabuto stared at it with fascination before turning back towards me.
"It seems our time is up, Naruto. It has been a pleasure working with you. I must say, your fuinjutsu is top notch. I couldn't crack your lock, so I sealed everything away in here. Make sure you don't forget that when you leave."
Kabuto held up a small but ornate sealing scroll in front of my eyes before he placed it ever so gently onto my chest. Before I could respond to tell him how I felt about him, he disappeared from my vision.
My breathing intensified. Was the scroll a trap? Was it rigged to blow as soon as I moved?
Is this how I died?
I was left with my anxiety and thoughts for what felt like an eternity. All I could do was lay there as the earth around me rumbled and shook. It was almost as if the earth was angry at this place. I could only imagine what happened here. Surely I was not the only patient.
'Creak'
"Oh Naruto…"
I recognized the voice as soon as I heard it. Relief, so deep and pure, surged through my body. It was so intense I couldn't help the way my eyes watered. I bit back the tears however.
"The scroll might be rigged!" I croaked, despite the ache in my throat and heart.
The Sandaime's face came into view. He had a somber look on his face. It was so sad that I couldn't help but worry. What was he so sad for? He should be happy, right?
What did they do to me?
"Don't worry Naruto. I've got you. When you wake up, we'll be back in Konoha." He told me, as tears welled up on his eyelids.
Why is he so sad?
His two fingers touched my temple.
"No no no no, Naruto!"
"I can't do it, Lady Tsunade. I just can't."
"He's going to need you when he wakes up."
"Just look at him! I can't stand to see him like this! Not after Lee! I just can't."
"Hello Naruto. They tell me that you can hear me in this state. They tell me to talk to you."
"I'm sorry, I truly am. But you have to know that Lee wasn't… *agh* He wasn't your fault ok? He was mine!"
"I've dealt with that already. I will never allow it to happen again!"
"Oh god how I've failed…"
"I won't fail you Naruto. We've just got to work harder, that's what he would have wanted!"
"It took me a long time to realize that."
"Don't worry about a thing alright? I've got you."
"I'm ashamed of the things I did to find you, little brother. But it hurts my heart to say that I am ashamed of the things I didn't do to find you as well."
"I want to say that Sensei would be disappointed in me but I can practically feel Kushina's hand slapping the back of my head, every time I think about it."
"I see Lee's name on the Stone every morning. I do it in hopes that you won't waste away in front of it like I did for so long."
"Take your time, heal. I will handle the rest. Orochimaru will die by my hand, of that I can promise you. I'll save Sasuke for you."
"Everyone is happy now that you are back, kid."
"Sorry I won't be here when you wake up. Sorry for…"
"…everything really."
"God damn him. God damn him."
"I'm not sure he really understands what he did. If he does, he's more powerful and dangerous than we thought."
"But I vowed to be the best at this a long time ago. I'll get you fixed up, I promise. Then you can wake up."
"Enough of that though. I had to physically remove Sakura from the hospital again. At first, she didn't think she could be here, by your side."
"Now she never leaves it."
"I'm happy she didn't lose you too. She has the potential to surpass me. It was only the possibility of getting you back that kept her going. She's not broken like me… not yet."
"Thank her when you wake up, if you can remember this."
"I'm sorry I was too weak, Naruto."
"I think about it all the time. I can picture him forming out of the ground behind you still. I wasn't fast enough to stop him from breathing that gas behind you. To be honest, I thought you would have prepared for that…"
"As I look back though, I probably wouldn't have."
"He taught me a lot that day and I've been training as hard as Lee. It's something I vowed the moment I saw him fall."
"As I stood there stuck inside of my own shadow, watching him leave with your body, I vowed that if I survived, I would train as hard as you and Lee did."
"It's the hardest thing I've ever done, so compliments to you. Guy has been extremely helpful, now that he… well there is no reason to bring up the past."
"I thought the shadows were mine then, but he showed me that wasn't true. Now I can confidently say, nobody will ever do that to me again. I'm not sure if he realized just what he showed me was possible. Even my father didn't realize the things you could do with our family jutsu."
"It's been shorter than the normal enlistment period, but I'm thinking of promoting to Jonin and getting out of ANBU. I think I want to walk the path you would have…"
"Your jutsu taught me that day, and I can't help but keep thinking about it."
"There is no shadow, without light, is there?"
"You have to wake up soon. It's been so long since I've heard your voice."
"I know I never told you this but you've been my motivator since we left the academy."
"Remember our first day with Guy? He told us to make our decision and come back the next day. You grabbed my arm, and I remember wondering why you thought it was ok to touch me."
"And then you told me that it was our first test. We needed to make the decision at that moment. How did you see that, way back then? I ask myself all the time. Even when it was so obvious."
"And then your recommendation for me to study medical ninjutsu. It's been perfect for me, and you knew that. You guided me, when I was at my angriest and most confrontational towards you. You never held anything against me."
"And I resented you for it."
"I'm so sorry. I would give anything for you to wake up. And when you do, we won't accept what Lady Tsunade is going to tell you."
"I know you'll want to go after Sasuke. I'll help you get back to… well I'll be there with you Naruto. Just as I should have been that day."
'Beep'
'Beep'
'Beep'
I've woken up in a hospital too many times in my life.
As I got my bearings, I did realize that I didn't have a breathing tube stuck down my throat this time. I reminded myself to count every blessing.
It was dark in my room, with only a light towards the door being the one that was on. Even then, it was fairly dim. I turned my head, to where the bright pink hair laid on the couch in the room.
She should be at home.
Behind her, the night sky greeted me. Why couldn't I have woken up during the daytime? Sakura was sure to be tired if I woke her up right now. I shuffled, and decided that I would just try and go back to sleep until the sun rose. I was fine here anyway. There was no safer place than Konoha's hospital for me.
"Naruto?"
I opened my eyes to find Sakura sitting up on the couch. She was staring at me with a shocked look. It was almost as if she thought I was an illusion.
I sent her a smile.
"Hello Sakura." I told her. My voice was raspy, and despite how much I licked around my mouth, it still felt dry. "That can't be comfortable."
She frowned as she heard my voice, and then she stood up quickly. She looked like she wanted to move forward and embrace me, but her hands leapt to her mouth as a choking sound escaped them.
Tears fell from the corners of her eyes immediately.
I took that moment to look at her. Her pink hair was in a ponytail that fell to her shoulder blades. Her jaw lacked the baby fat that normally clung to it, and she stood at least four inches taller than I last saw her. Her cheekbones had widened, and it had filled out her face pleasantly.
"You look beautiful." I couldn't help the comment, as I looked over her. She didn't have very much of a bosom, but they were starting to grow. Her hips had widened, though, and I could see her thick toned thighs.
How long have I been asleep?
Only then did she rush towards me. Despite the speed with which she moved, she was very gentle with how she hugged me. Smothered me, would be the correct term.
I was surprised and elated to find that when I lifted my arms to hug her back, they obeyed. One of my biggest fears since I had inhaled Kabuto's poison, was that I was paralyzed forever. It would have been a cruel fate, I think.
That started a chain reaction from me.
As Sakura cried into my shoulder, I peered over her to where my feet were underneath the sheets. I wiggled them, and saw the sheets move ever so slightly. I was elated, and worried, when it happened. I had to put a lot of effort into doing that. Then I shifted my leg, and it barely moved as well.
The elation turned into something else. It wasn't panic, but it was definitely worry.
I reached to my chakra that I could feel inside of me. It reacted to my will, and more relief surged through me. But when I tried to send it into my body it faded from my grasp. It was frustrating and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get it to obey me.
"Sakura." I asked the girl in my arms, as my hand rubbed down her back. "How long have I been in the hospital?"
If anything, her uncontrollable sobbing became even more pronounced. It took her a moment to gain her bearings, but when she did, she lifted her head up off of my chest and looked me in the eye.
"We're…"
Whatever courage she had gained from gathering herself disappeared once she started to speak. Tears continued to fall as she got choked up again.
"Today is your 15th birthday, Naruto."
I blinked and in that moment, I am positive that I did not truly understand what she meant. 15 was the age when Canon Naruto returned to the village. My last mission with Sasuke and Lee was nearly a month before my 13th birthday. I remember because I already had a plan on taking some time off to myself and enjoying it once we returned.
It wasn't hard to do the math after that.
"It's been over 2 years since Lee died?"
Sakura flinched when I said that, but she nodded before burying her head into my chest once again. Her sobs were the only comfort I had as I sat there and tried to process the fact that I had lost over 2 years of my life. At this point in the game, Sasuke was already massively more powerful than he was.
The Akatsuki would have already gone after a couple of the Tailed Beasts and succeeded. If today was my birthday, that meant I only had around 3 months to prepare for the start of Shippuden.
"Oh God…" I muttered as the implications started to hit me.
My hands grabbed Sakura by the shoulders, and I did my best to push her up and to face me. I did not succeed but she could tell what I was trying to do and sat up on her own. Her face was wet, and she tried to wipe all of it away before I could see.
"Tell me everything." I told her seriously.
She stood up and backed away from me. She took some time to compose herself. She even went in the bathroom to wipe her streaking makeup off of her face and blow her nose.
"I'm sorry. They said you might never wake up." Sakura commented as she walked back inside.
"How long was I Kabuto's captive?" I asked, getting straight to the point. "And what did he do to me?"
Sakura looked out of the window of the room with her hand on her forehead. Then without warning she turned to me. Her face was harsh, and set into a frown.
"We don't know the full extent of everything, because we can only see the damage it caused. But to answer your question, your central nervous system was so wrecked that we had to piece it back together inch by inch. Not only that, but your chakra coils had been… tampered with. That too we had to build back from scratch. Luckily, chakra is resilient and that was the easiest thing to fix. We removed foreign DNA from your skeletal structure that we are sure was meant to try and replicate the Shikotsumyaku of the Kaguya Clan." Sakura began to explain, looking towards the ceiling as if to remember everything that she could.
"Not only that, but we found your bone marrow had been harvested prior to that. That was tricky to fix as well, but by this point has completely recovered and healed." She added, remembering that.
Holy shit.
The entire time, my frown deepened. Kabuto had literally just used my body as his little plaything. And I was none the wiser the entire time. What else had he done to me, without me knowing? Things that Tsunade and Sakura couldn't fix because it didn't result in any permanent damage? My mind pushed those thoughts away, as it would only lead to anxiety.
"Why?" I asked. It seemed like a natural question. Why did Kabuto do those things?
"Tsunade claims it is because you are an Uzumaki, and a strong one. She says your chakra is denser than most others. Your body heals faster, just like you told me that day." She answered. "But the way they harvested your DNA, and bone marrow, makes her think that they put it to use as well."
Wait, Kabuto was trying to replicate the benefits of an Uzumaki? Why when he had Karin the entire time?
"That's not the worst part of it all." Sakura told me, as she looked away towards the window again.
"Tsunade claims your… this is impossible to explain." Sakura scoffed as she walked back over to my bed and sat down on it. "The residual yin chakra that we found in your nervous system was… We think they tried to take your body for Orochimaru. At least in the meantime until Sasuke was trained up to his liking."
I frowned as I thought about that theory. "Do I have the curse mark?" I asked, already drawing the conclusion that I would need it for Orochimaru. It was one of the vital aspects of his immortality jutsu.
"No. You were probably in the first stages of an experiment to see if they could improve on his immortality jutsu." Sakura answered quickly.
But then why the Shikotsumyaku? Or did that come after the experiment?
I shook the questions away. There was no way of knowing everything that they did to me. Nor was there any way of knowing why they did it. All I needed to know now was what all of this meant for me.
"Ok, what are the side effects of all this?" I asked, moving past what had happened to me. I didn't really want to ponder it any longer. I just wanted to move past it. Maybe I was running away from it, but I didn't care right then.
"We aren't sure. We've fixed what we can. Already you've proven that your nervous system is working, which was our greatest fear. That is the one part of the body that does NOT like to be fucked with." Sakura answered quickly.
"Potty mouth." I commented just before she started talking again.
She sent me the bird before continuing. "Will you be able to walk? Will you be able to run? Will you be able to fight again? Tsunade doesn't think so."
"I'm so sorry. I would give anything for you to wake up. And when you do, we won't accept what Lady Tsunade is going to tell you."
Her words came to me like a dream that I had a long time ago. But for some reason I could remember that part of the dream.
"Want to find out?" I asked, as I grabbed the sheet covering my body. It was slow and my grip was only barely enough to hold onto it. I instinctively tried to send chakra to my arms to help, but once again it faded from my grasp.
Fuck it, I don't need chakra to walk.
Sakura moved forward, and I sent her a look that was easy to interpret as 'don't you dare help me'. She obeyed, but she stayed very close and I knew she was prepared to intervene.
"Wait." She said, causing me to look up at her. "We haven't talked about the effects of not moving for such a long time…"
"Muscular atrophy." I answered for her. I had already thought about that part, but it had seemed so… insignificant compared to everything else. Plus I knew that in my past life, one could recover from it completely if they were dedicated enough. This was a world of chakra, I would be fine.
"...yes." Sakura whispered with a nod.
I hadn't thought of it, but that was why they had me in a long sleeve shirt, so that I didn't see myself. My left hand moved to my right arm, and now that I was looking at it, I could tell it was bad before I even truly saw it. I peeled the sleeve back, and despite my best efforts I was shocked at how frail I looked.
My arms were little more than loose skin and bone.
"It should be worse, but like you told me those years ago. You're an Uzumaki…"
I wasn't sure if that was encouraging, or not to be honest. But even still, I steeled myself and continued what I was doing. I wasn't quite prepared to look at myself in the mirror, but I had to try and walk. For some reason, that meant a lot to me at the moment.
I ignored how fucking tiny and pitiful I looked once I threw the sheets off of me. It took me some effort, and a lot of shimmying to even get my legs to the edge of the bed. My poor boney and thin legs. I looked like a walking skeleton. I already knew that it wasn't looking good that I would be able to just stand up and begin walking immediately.
Even still, I put one foot on the cold ground of the hospital, and then another. I didn't even hesitate and I practically jumped off of the bed with my full weight.
Once again, I summoned my chakra instinctively, just as I used to.
My legs buckled immediately.
I face planted into the growing chest of Sakura. She had moved so fast to catch me. Her arms were wrapped around my upper back. I struggled to get my feet underneath me once she did that.
Shame flowed through my veins.
Then she placed her knees in front of my knees and lifted me slightly before letting my weight fall on my legs again. Her arms went to my waist and she pulled my waist up so that I was standing straight.
My eyes raised to rest on the top of her head.
I'm taller than her?
"There you go." She said as she kept her hands around my waist and back to support me.
I wiggled in the air and had her knees not been stopping mine from giving out, I would have fallen to the ground. More shame cut into my veins.
What have they done to me?
I put my hands on Sakura's shoulder and did my best to support myself. I knew that my discomfort and shame was plastered all over my face. I knew that Sakura could tell I was discouraged.
"Hey hey." Sakura said, causing my eyes to look up at her. She was smiling wide and had an encouraging look on her face. "The fact that you can do this, means we can get you to walk again. You just lack the strength to do so right now. But your limbs are moving at your command!" She exclaimed. "This is great, Naruto!"
I knew she was just trying to keep my spirits up. I turned my face from her and reached backwards to grab the bed. She knew what I was doing, and allowed me to sit back down.
"Why can't I use my chakra?" I asked her, fearing the answer that she would give me.
"Well, for one what muscles would you enhance?" Sakura asked rhetorically. "But deeper than that, you must remember your lessons. Chakra is a mixture of spiritual and physical energy. At the moment, your spiritual energy is far outstripping your physical energy. I'd be surprised if you could move your chakra at all."
It was like the lightbulb clicked in my head. But for some reason, it seemed to make me even sadder. My chakra was outside of my reach for now. It was horribly sad, and I could feel the depression settling on my shoulders.
"I hate that you're seeing me like this." I told her as I bit down on the sadness and frustration that leapt into my throat right then, causing me to choke up slightly.
"Oh really?" Sakura said with a teasing voice. I looked up to her to see that she had the same mischievous look that she always had when she was about to fuck with me. At least that part of her hadn't changed.
"Who do you think has been bathing and changing you this whole time?"
My eyes widened, and the sadness inside of me was instantly replaced with embarrassment. My face and ears heated up, and I knew that I was blushing so hard that I looked like a tomato.
Sakura winked at me. "Don't be so embarrassed. I would be bragging right now…"
"Pffff ha…" I couldn't help the laugh that started and then began to take over everything. "...hahahahahaha." I laughed as I buried my face in my hands in embarrassment. I couldn't help it though, it was so embarrassing that it was hilarious.
Sakura joined in as she laughed along with me. We fell into an entire fit of laughing so hard that we were shaking. It was one of those that you couldn't control, for both of us.
Eventually we stopped and I just sat there on the edge of the bed swaying. Sakura had her hands on my shoulders supporting me. After the laughing session, I came back down to earth and realized that I had a long and painful journey ahead of me.
Because despite everything that had happened to me there was still one fact that I would have to face in the near future. The Akatsuki would begin to move, and my opponents would come for my home. Sasuke was still out there with Orochimaru and Kabuto. I stared into Sakura's green eyes and embraced the hatred I felt for the snake Sannin and his pet.
"I'm going after them, Sakura." I told her as I found the motivation within me. "They took Lee from me. I'm going to burn down their entire world."
Sakura frowned as I brought our dead teammate up. But I could see the resolve in her eyes once I made my declaration known. I could see the fire spark inside her eyes. Anger that she had been either hiding, or harboring for the past few years sparked.
"We'll do it together."
A/N: Boom!
I considered stopping the chapter when Sakura revealed that it was Naruto's 15th birthday, but I thought it would have been too much. I'm going to take this time to explain a bit more in depth the events that happened over the past few years. Mainly just Naruto's experience.
Naruto was kept asleep or in a coma for the duration of the time he was with Kabuto. He wasn't tortured, or anything like that. He was a lab rat, simply put. I'll leave it at that. The damage to him is as described above.
Is it a surprise that the Sandaime went on a rampage to find Naruto? Was it out of character? What about Kakashi and his reactions?
I know I'll catch a lot of heat for doing this, but I didn't want Naruto to have the time skip like everyone else. He was advancing too rapidly to be honest. With another 2 years of time to prep for every scenario he knew was coming… This Naruto would steamroll Shippuden if that was the case. The fuinjutsu would be nuts, the chakra capacity would be off the charts, hell he probably would have found a way to achieve senjutsu as well. I didn't see that as very interesting.
So we'll see if Naruto can recover in time. After that, we'll see if he can even keep up!
Let's talk in the reviews!