If I owned Naruto I wouldn't be sewing my own costumes together, and living off of dollar store food.
So, in simple terms, I do not own Naruto now, and I doubt I ever will. .
Dying Inside
Chapter Five: I'm Sorry
Kakashi looked between Sasuke, Sakura, and the still unconscious Naruto. His conditioned had begun to worsen overnight as his skin took a horrible shade of yellow. The skin that had once been a healthy, happy tan was now the color of stringy egg yolks, and the silver haired jounin feared that, if he didn't get the blonde back to Konohagakure within the day, he wouldn't make it.
He sighed, and hung his head. His only choice was clear.
"I need you two to stay here," Kakashi explained, "While I get Naruto back to Konoha. No heroic efforts, no following after me. Just stay at camp for a few days."
"Yes sensei," Sakura whispered, tears shining in her eyes.
"Sasuke, are you so immature that you can't even receive and obey simple orders!?" Kakashi snapped when the Uchiha boy refused to answer.
"What's wrong with him?" Sasuke finally spoke up, "You seem to know! What's so terribly wrong with him that you'll drag him out into the field, and then desert the rest of us for his sake!?"
Kakashi snapped, and slapped the boy across the face, hard, sending him to the ground, his eyes wide.
"Don't you EVER speak about me or your teammates that way again, do you hear me!? What's wrong with Naruto does not concern you, only the orders I give. You are to stay at this camp until I return!" The jounin snarled, glaring down at the prodigy and collecting the suffering blonde into his arms.
"I'll make sure he obeys, sensei," Sakura spoke up, glancing between the two angry ninjas as Kakashi sped off down the path, Naruto swathed in his arms.
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Two days later-Konohagakure
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"When did he pass out?" Tsunade snapped as an exhausted Kakashi handed a nearly dead boy over to the hospital staff.
"Three days ago," Kakashi panted, trying to catch his breath. He had run the entire way, "His skin started to yellow later that evening."
"Is he going to live?" Iruka asked nervously, handing his lover a cup of water, looking up at the Hokage.
She shook her head, hiding her tears skillfully. Truthfully, she was surprised he had lasted as long as he had out in the wilderness. Anyone else would undoubtedly be dead by now.
"I don't know yet, Iruka. But he's a strong boy, I doubt he'll let a silly virus defeat him now, eh?"
Iruka smiled, and nodded, tears streaming down his face. Tsunade had never been a very skillful liar compared to his other students.
"Hokage-sama, he's crashing!" a nurse shouted, hurrying by the threesome, wheeling a crash cart in front of her.
Tsunade nodded curtly, following quickly behind, throwing off her billowing coat to free herself up in the emergency room, leaving Iruka to sob openly into Kakashi's arms. They both knew that it was probably useless to hold up hope now, if even Tsunade was lying about it.
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Naruto yawned, snuggling closer to the Kyuubi as the cave began to crack around him, the damp darkness at the far end fading into nothing. The demon growled as it wrapped its tails even closer around the little boy, trying desperately to stay off the fate that would destroy them both.
"Don't worry Kyuubi, it'll be over in an instant," the blonde smiled, petting the soft red fur of the demon.
"I don't want it to be over! How can you give up on life so easily when it has barely even begun!" the Kyuubi roared, shaking the boy.
"Because I hate my life as it is now," Naruto sighed, looking up into the demon's eyes, "Besides, there's nothing that can save us now. It's hopeless to fight this."
"I will fight until my dying breath!" the demon howled, his voice echoing through the collapsing chambers of the blonde's mind.
"Why?" Naruto asked curiously.
"Because the moon will rise tomorrow, and the butterflies will flap their new wings, and the spiders will spin their webs anew, and life will go on! I refuse to trade in my life so easily, to surrender to some virus! I have not lived for nine thousand years just to give up here and now! I will not go easily into that dark place!"
"I like butterflies. They're happy, and spiders too. And the moon on midwinter's night, and the sunset in August," Naruto daydreamed, unconsciously handing control over to the Kyuubi, and allowing him to fight this last battle for him.
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"How is he!?" Iruka pleaded as Tsunade emerged from the room many hours later.
Shadows lay thick under her eyes, and she looked to have run ten marathons instead of just attending to a little boy. But she looked a little more cheerful coming out than she had coming in, and that held up hope for both Kakashi and Iruka.
"He's alive, for now. We had to put him on a dialysis machine, his liver has failed entirely. If he doesn't get a transplant soon, I doubt he'll make it."
"There aren't any donors, are there?" Kakashi asked with a sigh, slumping back in his chair. He had rescued the boy from a quick death in the forest to deliver him into a worse torture in the hospital.
"What do you mean? I'm sure someone in Konoha is a match! You can't give up hope so easily, he will survive!" Iruka sobbed, wiping away his tears furiously.
"Iruka, the demon blood in him would refuse any human donor," Tsunade explained, "That's why we could never go through a transplant before, when he was healthier."
"But what about Gaara? We didn't know about him before, but he could be a match, couldn't he?" Iruka asked, his eyes begging her to say yes.
She shook her head, looking away from the frantic chuunin.
"Gaara's sand would never allow the operation. And, even if we were to find a way, Shukaku would undoubtedly emerge when we put him under," Tsunade whispered, settling a hand gently on his shoulder, "I'm sorry Iruka, but there's nothing left to do now but make him comfortable in what little time he has left."
"No! I refuse to believe it! I refuse to believe that he has to die!" Iruka wailed, his voice echoing through the corridors as Kakashi pinched a vital nerve in his neck, catching him easily as he slipped into unconsciousness.
"I'll send another team to go out and fetch Sasuke and Sakura," Tsunade whispered, brushing a few loose bangs from her face.
"No, it's my responsibility, and I'll get them. I should be the one to explain to them about Naruto anyway," Kakashi whispered, bowing somberly and walking slowly toward his home, Iruka whimpering in his arms.
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Authoerss' Note:
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;-; I nearly sobbed when I wrote Iruka's part in this chapter. To have to listen as it's explained that your loved one has no chance to survive is horrible, especially for him. I ended up giving in, and letting him quote Fritz the dolphin (Toho edition of the Little Mermaid). It seemed so right.
I want to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter, there were quite a few of you! -.- I was surprised about the sheer force of the anti SasuNaru! O.o (Let it be stated now that I am a HUGE SasuNaru fan, and an even bigger NejiNaru, but this story will NOT be SasuNaru! Naruto will be Sasuke's best friend, however. But, as that's in the manga, I see no problem with it.)
I would have updated sooner, but my cat ended up chewing up the skirt of my Temari costume, my Gaara plushie's costume (Yes, my Gaara plushie had his own little kimono), and she ate my Cthulhu plushie's kimono. Which means, with only two days left until I leave for Kumori Con, I have to re sew my plushie's costumes, and find a way to replace my Temari fans. I was able to make a new skirt, thankfully. -.-
