Author's Note: Sorry that I took so long to update. I had to prepare the things I needed for enrollment and since I haven't had any sleep for the past two weeks, I decided to catch up on it. Anyway, I hope you guys would still continue reading my story even if I do take long to update. Here's chapter five.
Disclaimer. I only own Ayume, Zaku, Natsu, Akuya and Ryu.
Title: Precious
Chapter Five
Edited by: Black Fox
The beeping sounds resounded all through the room.
Sasuke looked at the silent figure on the bed. Wires were in various places; on the boy's arms, heart and skull. Machines surrounded the bed, making him look smaller than he already seemed to be.
Sasuke hated hospitals. He hated them before and he still did even now. He always had a lot of bad memories in this place. The place where his mother died. His hold on the chair tightened as the sickening thought that this would be the place where Naruto would die.
'NO! Naru-chan will not die! He's strong! He'll survive' Sasuke yelled inside his head. But he couldn't help, but feel that just maybe he was wrong; the evidence already in front of him.
A few weeks ago, Itachi, Kakashi and Jiraiya appeared, faces contorted into fright as they showed the bruised and battered, not to mention half-dead, Naruto to Tsunade. She didn't waste anytime, barking orders left and right. Sasuke just sat there, his eyes not looking away from the sight of his baby brother's abused body. Sasuke was too scared to go near, desperately wishing that all of what was happening was just a dream and that Itachi would come any second now to wake him up in time for school.
But minutes passed and Sasuke could still see Naruto's body. Scratches everywhere, his right hands burnt, dried tears on his cheeks. Even Naruto's clothing took a beating. Even until now, even with Naruto all cleaned up, bandaged and changed, Sasuke could still see his wounds.
He could feel them.
"Naru-chan….you can't leave me. Didn't you promise me that you would stay strong? Didn't you promise me that you'd never leave me?" Sasuke whispered, hoping that Naruto would just open his baby blue eyes and smile. But it never did happened. Naruto didn't even stir.
The movement of his chest was the only thing indicating that Naruto is alive.
"Sasuke….Hokage-sama wants to talk to us," Kakashi softly told the boy, appearing beside him. Kakashi heard everything. In fact, he has been watching the two boys since Sasuke came in. he saw the despair in Sasuke's eyes and couldn't help feeling like he caused all this. If only they came a minute early, if only they didn't bother to take precaution, then maybe….then maybe Naruto wouldn't be in this coma.
"Sasuke…" Kakashi called again, "Hokage-sama wants to talk to us."
Sasuke dully looked at Kakashi, never letting go of Naruto's hand. Kakashi flinched visibly as he stared into Sasuke's jet black eyes. So lonely…so sad…so haunting. Kakashi could never, in a million years, imagine that this would affect Sasuke so hard. Then again, Kakashi had yet to see any other sibling feel so possessive and protective over their younger siblings like Sasuke was to Naruto.
"Can't I stay with Naru-chan?" Sasuke whispered low, so low that Kakashi had to strain his ears to hear.
"I'm sorry Sasuke, but the Hokage's order was that all of us must be present." Kakashi never felt so bad before. He felt as if he was breaking the boy's heart twice in a row.
It was no secret to anyone that Sasuke blamed himself for Naruto's kidnapping. He kept on screaming after the shock of seeing Naruto's bruised body. It took Itachi and two other ANBU to hold him still while Tsunade shot him with a tranquilizer needle. He slept for two days, and once he awoke; Sasuke immediately went to see Naruto. He hadn't left his side since then. Nobody could make him leave Naruto's side, not even Itachi.
Speaking of Itachi, the man wasn't doing so well either. He hardly ate or slept. Iruka had to force him to lie down and spoon-feed him. He himself was even forced to knock the man unconscious just to get him to sleep. Itachi would visit Naruto but he wouldn't stay long, seeing his son in this kind of state, barely alive. He said that he couldn't take it.
Truth to be told, this is probably the first time in two weeks will Kakashi see Itachi. Quite frankly, he's afraid of what he would see.
"Sasuke, let's go. Everyone is waiting for us."
"You look worse for wear," Jiraiya commented from shadows.
"You don't look any better either," Tsunade retorted back, too tired to look towards Jiraiya.
"Couldn't sleep," Jiraiya called back, as if defending himself.
"Blaming yourself won't do anything, Jiraiya." Tsunade stood up and walked towards the windows, looking at the fading sun as night approached.
"I have every right to blame myself. If only I hadn't wasted time playing with those trash, maybe I could have saved Naruto from all this. I could have saved Itachi and Sasuke from all the pain they are suffering right now."
Flashback:
"This should even the odds," Zaku told the two.
"Hump! Don't underestimate me," Jiraiya snorted, getting into a fighting stance.
"He already did," Itachi commented.
"I'm tired of this talk. I'll kill you two and then we'll be on our way!" Zaku exclaimed, throwing three kunai at Jiraiya.
"That makes two of us!" The frog-sennin smirked at the white-haired man, taking hold of the kunai and throwing it back at Zaku. He disappeared from sight and reappeared behind Zaku, earning a punch straight in his face.
"That won't work old man. You maybe fast, but I'm faster," Zaku whispered into Jiraiya's ear, his punch touching air. Jiraiya smirk grew as his other arm snake behind him to grab hold of Zaku's collar.
"Nan-"
Zaku's sentence cut off, Jiraiya slammed him straight into a tree.
"I told you once and I tell you again, don't underestimate me, boy." The sennin sneered at Zaku, punching him in the face. A poof sound is heard and the clone disappeared.
"What's wrong old man? Tired of playing?"
Jiraiya looked up to see the real Zaku smiling down on him.
The three leaf shinobi continued to fight the intruders, none of them actually losing, but none of them are winning either. It seemed that they were equally level and the only way to win was to wait until someone lost their concentration.
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"
"AKUYA/NARUTO!" Both Zaku and Itachi yelled, seeing the abandon cottage burst into flames. Zaku's clones disappeared and so did the real Zaku, heading towards the now burning cottage. Itachi and Jiraiya went after him to rescue Naruto while Kakashi was still fighting Natsu, who was bend on killing Kakashi.
"Akuya!" Zaku called out, reaching over to where Akuya stood, shaking with fear. "Akuya! What's the matter?" Zaku was quick to ask.
'Something bad must have happened to make the usual stoic man act like this.' Akuya couldn't open his mouth from fear, so he used his fingers to point at his source of terror. Zaku followed his fingers and gasp out loud from the sight.
"Holy shit…"
Not far away from them was Naruto; one hand on his eye and the other was burning, burning with angry flames. He was breathing heavily, forcing himself to stand up, his visible eye wide with terror. From time to time, they could hear him mumble, but Zaku didn't plan to stay any longer to find out. 'Akuya must have been disturbed while he was doing the seal. The burnt wound from his chest must be from that kid. The boss never told us that the Kyubi was this powerful,' Zaku thought to himself. He helped Akuya up and backed away from the raging boy, afraid that he would charge at any minute now.
"We have no choice Akuya. We'll have to abandon the mission. I don't care what the boss would do to us, it'll be better than being dead," Zaku informed his shaking companion. As Itachi and Jiraiya entered the burning cottage, Zaku and Akuya burst out from the roof. Zaku paused for a while to yell at Natsu. Once he got the idiotic monkey's attention, he signals the big guy to leave the fight and escape. Natsu wasn't very happy, but he had no choice in the matter. The three went away, jumping from tree to tree, Kakashi hot on their trail. The cottage started to fall apart, putting more pressure on the two shinobis.
"Naruto!" Itachi yelled out, having a hard time looking around with all the fumes. Finally, he spotted a figure near the walls and called Jiraiya to join him. But the two stumbled back when a burning arm lashed out to them, Naruto walking towards them. "Naruto…." Itachi looked at his son, or what looked to be his son. Gone were the innocent, sky blue eyes and in their place were red, blood-thirsty eyes. His whole right arm is burning up in flames, red chakra following out of his body like wild fire.
"Kill… I'll kill anyone who hurts me…" Naruto's voice came out low and raspy as if he was screaming for a while now.
Itachi couldn't move; he kept on staring at Naruto both awed and terrified of the power that he is showing. Things couldn't be said the same for Jiraiya. One look at Naruto and he started to do a sealing technique to bring Naruto back.
"Jiraiya, they are here," Tsunade called out to him, breaking the man from his walk down memory lane. He grunted and stood up, coming out of the shadows to face the guest.
Itachi, Iruka, Kakashi and Sasuke entered the room with silence. They all looked grim and tired. Most especially Itachi and Sasuke. Everyone settled down and waited for the Fifth Hokage to speak.
For a fortnight and a half, Naruto was in a coma. The Godaime had done everything in her power to stabilize him and hoped the boy wouldn't die while in his sleep. But she couldn't wake Naruto. They all wanted to know what is wrong with him, but Tsunade told them that they would have to wait for a while before she could say. She said that she had to research first. It made them uneasy knowing that the great Tsunade had to do that before knowing what kind of condition Naruto was in.
"After much research, I only came up with one thing. Mind-messing Jutsu," Tsunade calmly told them, sitting back to wait for their response. All four men blink at Tsunade while Sasuke glared at the Hokage, getting angrier at her for making the meeting longer than necessary. He wanted to go back to Naruto's room and be with him.
"Mind-messing? What the- Tsunade, have you gone mad or something? For all the years I have traveled, I never ever have heard such a Jutsu," Jiraiya said, coming closer to the blonde to see if she is running a fever or something. Tsunade slapped his hands away and with an irritated "hump!" stood up and went back to window to gaze outside.
"Neither have I. But I came upon a very old book, and every symptoms I saw Naruto have points at that Jutsu. The book said that that Jutsu is a forbidden one and can only be taught to a selected few. It has no information on where it originated or from whom it originated. The mind-messing Jutsu is used to make people crazy and as the name implies to mess with their minds. Problem is that the ninja has to focus all his concentration on the person he is to mess with, leaving him powerless over other dangers. He is also to have one hand place besides the victims temple and release a continues chakra to penetrating his mind. It's some sort of hypnotic trick or a genjutsu really. The ninja would then say things to mess up the victims mind making him either go crazy or commit suicide."
"So they want Naruto dead, is that it?" Kakashi questioned out. Tsunade turned to look at them, shaking her head.
"No, they don't. I found a circular with rough edge wound on Naruto's chest. I know that wound. It's not ordinary and not just any one could make it. That wound was made from a chakra sealing technique, an unfinished one. I believe that whoever is after Naruto was only after the Kyubi's power," Tsunade explained to them, feeling a headache coming. She hadn't been sleeping or eating right since the day Naruto was brought in. then again, none of them have anyway.
"So you're saying that instead of making Naruto crazy or commit suicide, the jutsu only caused Naruto to let the Kyubi take over his body," Itachi said, staring at Tsunade. Things are slowly going into place.
"I guess that that explains why we saw the Kyubi instead of Naruto," Jiraiya mused out loud.
"I don't get it, Hokage-sama. Why would they use a chakra sealing technique?" Iruka questioned out, his face contorted into confusion.
"I'm not really sure. Actually, I have no idea why. I would have expected them to use something else."
"They want the Kyubi, right? They were planning to seal Naruto so that the Kyubi will have control over the body," Jiraiya answered. "It makes sense, really. Naruto hasn't learned how to use the Fox's chakra, so he is very useless. By making the Kyubi as the master of the body, they can achieve their goal. The only thing that bothers me is-what the hell were they thinking? No mere human can control the Kyubi unless it is its will."
"I don't know, but enough of that. I have more pressing matters to tell you guys." All eyes were on Tsunade.
" We have now stabilized Naruto's condition. But his mind is now a gooey mess. He did wake up one time, but he kept on screaming at the sight of people. He won't let me get close and he kept on saying sorry."
"Why didn't you tell us about it!" Sasuke exploded with anger; glaring at the Hokage and not really caring if he is disrespectful. Itachi held his down, though it is also obvious that he to is angered at the knowledge. Tsunade looked down on the wooden floor, her eyes glazing over as tears slowly dropped. Everyone was taken aback by her sudden show of emotion.
"You should have seen him. He kept on crying and crying and screaming and screaming. I didn't know what to do. I wanted so much to ask what was wrong, but he just kept on. When I tried to get close to him, he whimpered and moved away from me. It's as if he is afraid that I would hurt him. I'm not really sure what that bastard said to Naruto, but I have an idea what." Tsunade took out a semi-burnt bundle of papers and threw them at Itachi.
"That paper is full of information on Naruto and every one around him. It has everyone's info. They seem to have a spy here at Konoha and from what the "sacrifice" had confess, there is one, but he refused to tell us who. That bastard Akuya, as you guys have supplied, probably use us against him. You all know that the Kyubi has caused many damaged around here, to us. He made Naruto believe that he is the Kyubi."
"Arixu-sama is ready to see you three," an unimportant lady announced to the three nervous looking men. Well, two of three are visibly scared, while the last one was just keeping it inside.
"Hump! This is your entire fault Idiotic Monkey," Zaku growled out, repressing the urge to knock the man beside him unconscious.
"Look you smart-ass! It's this freak's fault. If he just sealed the damn demon then the Arixu-san won't have to get angry with us." Zaku clenched his hands, glaring darkly at the white-haired man.
"Bakeru! If you didn't make us lost so much time, he would have successfully sealed the boy!" Zaku sneered at him, giving in to his urges and punched the larger man in the face. Unfortunately, a hand stopped it in its course.
"Now, now Zaku-kun. You shouldn't go and punch your own companion," a blue-haired, violet-eyed, smiling man said. Zaku quickly pulled his hand out of his grip and exclaimed,
"Boss! I didn't know you were there."
The man Zaku called "boss" flinch slightly at his self-proclaimed nickname "Boss". Ohhh…how he hated that name.
"Zaku-kun, I've told you before, and I'll tell you again, call me Ryu." Zaku flinched, getting uncomfortable. For some reason that he didn't know, Zaku was the only one, the man allowed to call him Ryu. The rest was always either Arixu-sama or Arixu-san, never just Ryu; and Zaku was really uncomfortable calling him just Ryu or Arixu-sama, so he invented the nickname "Boss", which made him more comfortable.
Oh, Zaku heard the rumors around the institute about their boss being gay and all. Zaku wasn't homophobic, heck, he wasn't sure himself what gender he preferred considering he never has time to think about it. But hearing those rumors made Zaku nervous every time he is alone with Ryu, and that happens most of the time; especially every time Ryu would "accidentally" call him "Zaku-chan".
"Natsu-san, I heard about what you did in the recent mission. I also heard that you three didn't manage to accomplish the mission," Ryu stated, looking at Natsu and Akuya while eyeing the visibly nervous Zaku.
"Arixu-san! It wasn't my fault! This freak here didn't sealed the boy!" Natsu protested. Akuya silently looked at Natsu and then at Ryu, not saying anything for his defense.
"It's doesn't matter. The plan has not been destroyed completely. In fact, I think you three had made it more…stabilized. So for now, I'll forgive you Natsu-san and Akuya-san. Zaku-kun, I'll meet you at my office in about five hours to discuss some important matters. I know how tired you must be after traveling for such a long time, so I'm allowing all of you rest. Good day then."
Zaku didn't know whether he should feel happy or miserable.
Naruto slowly awoke, his baby blue eyes hazy at first, but slowly cleared. He blinked for a while and then slowly sat up, looking around him, to see if there is something to look at. Everything was dark; all around him, darkness greets him. He tried to rack his brain to see if he knows where he is, but nada, his thoughts came up blank.
"Hello? Anyone there?" Naruto called out curiously. Instantly, a corridor appeared in front of him.
Naruto blinked a few times to see if his was imagining things, but the corridor was still there; curiosity got the best of Naruto. He stood up and slowly walked towards the hallway. Seeing as to the corridor wasn't some sort of trap, Naruto walked onwards, not knowing where it would lead him. After walking a few minutes, he entered a room and in the center is a big, golden gate (the part in the anime where Naruto goes inside his head and told the Kyubi to lend him some chakra). Naruto's eyes widen with wonder. He never had seen such beautiful gate and it was so big. He walked forward, coming close for a better look.
Naruto touched the cold metal, marveling at its beauty.
" Boy…" a voice hissed.
Naruto looked up with curiosity to see the Kyubi in its entire splendor. But instead of becoming afraid, the four-year old reached out to trying to get a hold of the fiery fur of the Kyubi. The Demon Fox looked amused at the boy, letting him touch his coat.
"It's not hot," Naruto commented in his childish voice. The Kyubi choose not to answer; instead, he lay down, coming closer to the boy.
'Such an interesting child. He maybe worthy to be my host. Maybe…'
"Anou sa, anou sa, who are you? I'm called Naruto. What are you called?" Naruto smiled at the Kyubi with happiness and innocence. The Demon was shocked for a moment, but then chooses to enlighten the boy.
"I'm called Kyubi, the demon fox."
'That name… Kyubi…it sounds so familiar. I heard that name before,' Naruto thought to himself, bringing a finger to his lips as he continues to look at the Kyubi with curiosity.
'They all hate you…'
Naruto's eyes widen a fraction and he scanned the area, looking for the voice that said that.
'They all want to kill you. You are after all a demon…'
His eyes widen even more and fear started to consume Naruto. He holds his head, feeling pain all of a sudden.
'Hatake Kakashi, the copycat ninja? All his comrades died in the fight between Konoha and the Kyubi- to kill you…to have reverend-Iruka…he hates you just like the rest, maybe even mo-they didn't want to take care of you-you made them lose their freedom….'
"I remember now… he said that I'm a demon. Everyone hates me…I-I-I caused pain to Konoha. To Otou-san and Onii-chan..." Naruto trailed out, tears descending his cheeks. "I remember…"
Flashback:
"Otou-san! Otou-san and Onii-chan loves me! They would never hate me! Onii-chan said that he'll protect me forever!" Naruto screamed, looking at Akuya's blue eyes as if trying to reassure himself.
"They lied. They never loved you. They hate you. More than the rest. You killed Ayume. You killed your own mother. Itachi would rather have his wife back than you. But he has no choice. He loves her so much as much as he hates you. You took away his precious person from him, his most precious. Sasuke hates you. He only said that he'd protect you because he had no choice. If it were up to him, he would have killed you long time ago. He feels fear, fear every time he is with you. But he tries to not show it to you. He's afraid that if he does, you'll take advantage of him and kill him, just like you did all those people, Kyubi. (Akuya is now calling Naruto Kyubi instead of Chibi Kyubi to make him believe that he himself is Kyubi.) Oh, and didn't you know, you killed Itachi's whole clan. Every last one of them. Itachi's the last surviving Uchiha. He lost all his love ones in a split second. Nobody loves you, you bring pain and suffering to all. Why would they love you?"
"But I never meant to! I-I…" Naruto sinks down to his knees, not wanting to look at Akuya. Even his voice carries doubt now. He is shaking violently. ' I feel so cold… why can't I feel warm? Why wouldn't anyone come and rescue me… Nandeste…'
"Come with us, Kyubi. If you're with us, you'll never get hurt anymore. You won't have to see all those hatred glares anymore. You don't have to be afraid anymore," Akuya told him, his voice becoming a hypnotic sound for Naruto.
"It's not true! IT'S NOT TRUE!"
"YAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!"
End of Flashback.
Naruto remember that pain erupted throughout his body. He felt as if he is a pincushion being pinned with thousands of needles of pain. Burning…hot… he felt so hot then and an urge, an urge that he doesn't understand. He doesn't remember what he did, but he felt as if he done something wrong.
By now, Naruto's cries have gotten louder and louder.
"Boy….." the Kyubi hissed, standing on his four paws. Naruto slowly looked at the Kyubi with fright but then it suddenly changes.
"IT'S YOUR ENTIRE FAULT! IF ONLY YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO BE SEALED INSIDE ME!" Naruto yelled at the Demon, more tears falling down. The Kyubi growled, lowering his face down to face Naruto.
"Do you think I want this? I never wanted to be sealed, especially to a weak and puny boy such as you."
Naruto looked straight at the eyes of the Kyubi. His eyes suddenly narrowed, stating bravely, "I'm not weak!"
The Kyubi snorted and narrowed his eyes as well.
"Prove it boy. Wake up and prove it to me."
And so, Naruto woke up.
End of Chapter Five.
Author's Note: Ryu is the person that would be replacing Itachi in his obsession with the Kyubi's power. Anyway, Ryu, Zaku, Natsu and Akuya are all of my characters in my other fics. The four would be making an appearance again later in this fic. I hope you guys like this chapter. I'm sorry that it somehow turns out to be more dramatic. I'll try to make it more umm…lively. I'll introduce Neji in this fic soon, but Gaara might not make a late appearance. I don't know, I'm still deciding. By the way, what's the name of the group of people who are interested with the Kyubi? Akatsuki? Since I', not sure, I just kept on calling it "Institute". . Please Review everyone.
Arixu Ryu- Long, silky, blue hair that the man usually ties in a high ponytail. His eyes are a rich color of violet, sometimes it almost seems black. He is six foot one inch and is twenty-five years old. Perfect nose, slightly squared chin, almond shaped eyes; all in all, he has a perfect faced. He is not demented, okay, he is slightly demented. Obsessed with power, especially with the Kyubi's and also obsessed in making Zaku just call him Ryu or maybe Ryu-chan if possible. Strong in taijutsu and has a wide knowledge in many types of Jutsu. His way of the ninja is "Kill or be killed."
Nobio Zaku- short, non-spiky, white hair that usually gets in the way of his black eyes. Never bothered to have it cut. Five foot nine inches, twenty-two, and hates being called pretty boy even if he is one. Not too talkative, not too silent, just somewhere in between. Has an IQ over 200, short-tempered and can get nasty when needed. He isn't much of a fighting ninja, but his speed and brains make up for it. Despise talking to idiotic people like Natsu and gets very uncomfortable when a person becomes too close to him for comfort. Likes to converse with Akuya from time to time and is very loyal to Ryu as well as to his group which unfortunately for him, includes Natsu. His way of the ninja is " Think before taking action."
Ibuki Natsu - spiky, unruly, black hair (anti-gravity hair) and matching black eyes. He is six foot two, twenty-three years old. He is a hot-tempered, loudmouth, idiotic monkey that doesn't like to think much. Always wants to fight and can to, if he doesn't fall for traps or something too intelligent for him to notice. Has a disliked over Zaku because he is a smart-ass, thinks that Akuya is a freak and only fears and respects one person, Arixu Ryu. His way of the ninja is " The strong will live and the weak will die."
Akamatsu Akuya- long, brown hair that he keeps in a braid. His eyes are blue and are emotionless. He's quiet unless spoken to and the only person he ever willingly talks to is with Zaku. Twenty-two years old, six foot one and looks like any other ordinary people. A former medic-nin, gets easily irritated though he doesn't show it and has absolutely no loyalty for Ryu. One would say that he is more loyal to Zaku since he doesn't get much irritated with the guy. He was only forced to work for the institute since they hold his parents hostage. Once they did any harm at all on his parents, Akuya would probably be gone but not before killing every last one that belongs to the Institute, even Zaku. Of course, nobody knows that. His way of the ninja is "Don't irritate me, I won't harm you."