Thank you.
Chapter Eleven
The Fate of the Jinchuuriki
Word spread through the school about Naruto's condition, but not the true cause of it. Sasuke was forced to leave his bedside to trail morosely behind Harry. Neither liked the situation. Sasuke did not want to leave Naruto and Harry – along with every other student – found Sasuke's sullen silence and biting attitude frightening. Especially after what they had seen during the rather lopsided battle fought on the front grounds.
Tsunade had stayed for as long as she could but had to return to the Village. She left Sakura behind to monitor Naruto. Jiraiya stuck around to reinforce and monitor Naruto's seal.
The current shinobi population of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: four. Twice what it was only days before.
When Jiraiya was certain that Naruto's seal would hold he returned to Konoha – ordered to do so by Tsunade on pain of castration of he failed to comply immediately. No empty threat there.
Naruto woke three days later, his recovery slowed to just above normal rather than his normal right-before-your-eyes speed. When he opened his clear blue eyes he was confused. Where was he?
"Naruto!" a girl exclaimed, scurrying closer.
He turned his head to see who it was. Pink hair. Sakura-chan.
"Hey Sakura-chan," he croaked. Frowning he lifted a hand to touch his throat. "What happened?"
"You were hit with a deadly curse and it weakened the seal. Kyuubi's chakra exploded, probably to counteract the curse. Tsunade and I were brought by one of Sasuke's clones and it's been three days since you had surgery," she explained succinctly. Naruto's frown deepened.
"Surgery? I was that bad off?"
Sakura nodded grimly. Naruto muttered an amazed curse. He tried to push himself upright but found, to his embarrassment and dismay, that his arms would not hold his weight. With Sakura's help he was able to sit up.
"Where's Sasuke?" he asked, looking around the Hospital Wing.
"With Harry-san,"
Naruto nodded, wincing at the fact that he was still in pain. "This sucks," he complained, "I hope I killed whoever got me with that curse,"
"According to Sasuke," Sakura smiled, "the chakra outburst killed the army to a man,"
"Good. Because this sucks,"
"Well, stay in bed. I want you to get better as soon as you can and that won't happen if you strain yourself," his former teammate and old friend commanded. Naruto mock saluted her.
"Yes Ma'am," he said with a smile. Sakura rapped his skull lightly – very lightly – with her knuckles and smiled back.
"Never change, Naruto,"
"Make me some ramen and it's a deal," he begged. She sighed.
"Sure thing,"
It was another two days before Sakura would allow Naruto out of bed and only because he was getting on her nerves, begging her to let him train. He had to hobble around with a pair of crutches since he had sustained some nasty injuries to his legs that Tsunade and Sakura had not gotten around to setting until after working hours on his vitals. Sakura chaperoned his adventures out of the Hospital Wing with fierce disapproval.
Kyuubi's chakra was slow in returning but by the morning of the next day it had grown enough that Naruto was mostly healed. Sakura permitted him to return to most of his normal training routines but warned him away from anything overly strenuous. She offered to cover his guard shifts until he was fully recovered, an offer which he somewhat hesitantly accepted. He hated having to hand over duty because he was too weak, it made him feel like the dobe that Sasuke always called him. He hated that.
Thankfully by the end of the week Sakura was forced to admit that he was in near perfect health.
"I'll stay for a couple more days," she declared after giving Naruto a checkup. Sasuke was sitting on a chair a couple feet from his teammates, wanting to sit in on the prognosis. He'd dragged Harry along, who was trying to write an essay.
"Why?" Sasuke asked. Sakura flashed him a smile.
"Why Sasuke-kun, because I'm still trying to win your heart," she said innocently.
Sasuke edged away. Naruto laughed at the stony Uchiha, heartlessly taking pleasure in his discomfort. Harry looked up from his essay, snickering as well.
"So I'm all better? I can go back to kicking Sasuke's worthless butt around the castle?" Naruto asked mischievously. Sakura smacked him upside the head. The cheeky blond was tossed back to the floor.
"Yes. You're better. Leave Sasuke alone,"
Harry blinked.
"What in the world?" he muttered.
"Sakura inherited Tsunade's monstrous strength," Sasuke explained. Harry was still lost. "It's a byproduct of her medical training,"
"Oh," he was still lost. What did physical strength have to do with medical training?
"I always did have better control at things like that," Sakura boasted.
"Yeah," Naruto said, sitting up and rubbing his jaw, "You did the finicky things, Sasuke did the quiet things and I took them out with as much noise and mess as was inhumanly possible," he joked. Team seven grinned, all agreeing that that was a fair assessment.
"At least the Dobe admits he's a human disaster," Sasuke taunted. Naruto shook his fist at him.
"Alright, alright," Sakura said, throwing up her hands, "Get out of here. I don't want to have to treat either of you for a long time. After this I'm starting to see why Tsunade-sama gets sick at the sight of blood. Now get out," she chased the three boys out of the Hospital Wing.
Sakura left Hogwarts a week later. Both Naruto and Sasuke – and by default, Harry – were there when she teleported home with a backpack filled with potions given to her by Madam Pomfrey to take apart for analysis. Neither of the boys could understand how Sakura could coop herself up in a lab for days on end just to figure out the chemical composition of a potion but they said nothing because they knew she loved her work.
"That's going to keep her happy for a while," Naruto commented as the cloud of smoke cleared.
Sasuke agreed, "I'm glad she's figured out what she wants to do. It keeps her off my back,"
"Aw," Naruto mocked, "You poor boy,"
Sasuke scowled at him, "Shut your mouth, Dobe,"
"Make me, Jerk," Naruto stuck his tongue out. Sasuke swiped at him but missed narrowly. They jogged back into the castle.
"Voldemort's dead," Harry said flatly.
"Are you sure, Harry?" Hermione asked, concerned for her friend.
Harry nodded, "I'm sure. I can't feel him anywhere. He's dead,"
"But I thought that you were the only person who could kill him," Ron protested.
"Obvisously not," Hermione murmured thoughtfully. "Then again if he was caught in that, I'm not surprised,"
"What are you talking about 'Mione?" Ron asked with no little exasperation. Hermione glanced over to the ANBU, making sure they were out of earshot.
"You know that Kyuubi person they're always talking about?"
"What about him?" Harry asked.
"Look at this," she pulled a book out of her bag and flipped it to a marked page. There was a picture of a giant Demon Fox with nine swirling tails, glaring balefully at them.
"What's that?" Ron breathed.
"That's Kyuubi," Hermione said, "a Demon Fox that supposedly was killed almost twenty years ago in a remote province in Japan,"
"Are you sure that they weren't talking about a different Kyuubi?" Harry asked, hesitant.
"It's possible but unlikely," she admitted, "Didn't you notice that they're always referencing an 'old fox?'"
"I think Hermione might be right," Ron swallowed hard.
"But what does it have to do with Naruto?" Harry asked, still not convinced.
"I'm not sure," Hermione deflated.
Across the room Naruto was having a silent panic attack. His sharp hearing had caught their conversation even through the din of the common room. Sasuke was watching him curiously.
"What's wrong, Usuratonkachi?" he asked. Naruto looked at him with stricken eyes.
"They know," he whispered.
Sasuke frowned, "Who knows what?"
"Harry's friends know about Kyuubi,"
Sasuke swore. "It'll be alright. They can't know everything,"
"They don't know that he's inside me. They just know that I know him very well," Naruto clenched his hands into fists fighting down his irrational fear.
"So where's the problem?" Sasuke asked. Naruto worried his lower lip.
"What if they find out he's in me?"
"Well, we have given them enough hints," Sasuke said with brutal honesty. Naruto's stomach clenched. He turned a little green. Standing quick enough to send his chair skittering back he raced from the room, heading straight for the bathroom. Sasuke blinked, not expecting that. "Dobe?" he said even though Naruto could not hear. A glance at Harry, Ron and Hermione told him that they had noticed the blond's swift retreat. Ron looked scared and wary. Hermione looked a little worried. Harry looked confused. Sasuke shook his head to himself.
This was not good.
It took Naruto a while to gather the courage to come back down after emptying his stomach of all contents and then some. When he did he stuck to Sasuke's side as if the expressionless Uchiha was a lifeline. Then again he probably was. Kyuubi was the one subject that Naruto was so sensitive to that is was a genuine weakness. His entire childhood he had been ostracized because of the fox and that kind of torment left indelible scars on a person's soul. While he had gotten used to the fact that he was host to a powerful fox demon he feared people's reactions to the knowledge. It had taken him years to tell his friends the truth to his insane amount of chakra. When he had worked up the courage with the support of Sasuke – who knew because Orochimaru had mentioned it upon more than one occasion – as well as Tsunade and Iruka, he had been so scared that he had been shaking uncontrollably. Every movement was interpreted as offensive, and he winced away from even the slightest twitch.
Now was not much better. Naruto liked these kids. It would kill him inside if they started fearing and hating him like the villagers.
"Calm down, Dobe," Sasuke advised, "They only have half-baked suspicions. Hermione is like Sakura: smart enough to know when she doesn't have all the facts. That will hold them back from making any accusations,"
"But Ron's like me when it comes to being a loudmouth," Naruto murmured, "If he feels threatened he's probably going to blurt it out,"
"Then talk to them before that happens,"
Naruto bit his lip and nodded slowly. He could see the wisdom in the advice even if he desperately did not want to listen.
"Explain it to Hermione. She's the rational one. If you convince her you'll get all three. I'll stay will Harry,"
Naruto thanked Sasuke and made his way across the room.
"Hermione? Can I speak with you privately?" he asked with patently false confidence. Hermione looked surprised and nodded. She was certain there was no way he could have overheard their conversation so she was curious as to what he wanted to talk to her about. Ron watched him suspiciously as he led Hermione out of the common room and into an empty classroom.
"What is it?" Hermione asked.
Naruto braced himself. "You know about Kyuubi?"
Hermione stilled. Slowly, she answered, "Yes,"
"You don't know everything," he looked into her eyes. The British witch was surprised at the emotion in the cobalt depths.
"No, I don't. Are you going to tell me?" she asked with a steady voice, mentally patting herself on the back at her confidence.
He nodded slowly. "I don't want you to be working off half-baked theories," he said, "You're too smart to settle for anything less than the entire story, and half truths are dangerous things,"
With that said Naruto settled himself down to sit on top a table. Hermione arranged herself across from him, ready to listen.
"Eighteen years ago, give or take a couple months, Kyuubi attacked Konoha, my home Village. He wreaked havoc for quite some time. Lots of shinobi died trying to fight him but nothing would kill him. He was a Great Fox after all, and they, like most of the Greater Demons, are exceptionally hard to kill. At that time the Village was under the leadership of the youngest Hokage in our history, the Yondaime, my father," he took a deep fortifying breath. Hermione watched him patiently. "Yondaime-sama devised a way to take care of the Kyuubi so that he could not harm anyone else. He sacrificed his own life in order to seal the fox, since he could not be killed by any means known at the time,"
"Seal?" Hermione asked. Naruto nodded.
"Unfortunately the only thing that could possibly withstand the sealing process was a newborn human child. A jinchuuriki,"
Hermione gasped, hands flying to cover her mouth as she connected the dots. Naruto nodded.
"I didn't even know about it myself until I was twelve. Kyuubi is sealed inside my body. It certainly explained why the adults in the Village hated me, but honestly he has no control or influence over me but I have access to his power,"
"Is that why foxes like you so much?" Hermione asked after a minute of tense silence.
Naruto nodded, "It's something of a bleed through trait. Having the soul of a fox sealed inside me since the day I was born seems to have made me just a little, well, foxy,"
"What's a ..jinchu..?"
"Jinchuuriki?" he asked. Hermione nodded. "Jinchuuriki means human sacrifice,"
"That's terrible!" she gasped, outraged on his behalf. Naruto tossed her a lopsided grin.
"Don't worry about me. I turned out pretty good, all things considered. A friend of mine, also a jinchuuriki, took the ostracizing so bad he was a hair away from loosing his mind to the demon inside him and becoming a soulless killer when I first met him," he smiled, "But Gaara's gotten better since then. He's actually smiling, and he's living to protect his Village as the Kazekage rather than destroy humanity,"
"But why would someone do that?"
"Save the many by sacrificing one. It's a time honoured practice all over the world,"
Hermione digested that. "It was hard, wasn't it?" she asked softly. Naruto shrugged.
"I managed. I mean, sure it sucked and still does but I like to think that I've made a difference in how people think of me. Tsunade's even gonna make me the next Hokage, so that way I'll be able to protect everyone of the Leaf," he nodded decisively. Hermione smiled.
"Thanks for telling me all of this. It sure answers a lot of questions," she smiled, taking his hand in hers and squeezing reassuringly, "I'll tell Ron and Harry that Kyuubi is sealed. I won't mention that he's sealed in you if you don't want,"
Naruto closed his eyes and smiled slightly, "That would be appreciated, Hermione. Thank you for understanding,"
She smiled again and left to go back to the Gryffindor tower. Naruto was glad he was sitting since he was sure that if he had been standing he would have collapsed as the adrenaline fled from his body.
Naruto wandered back into the common room a good half hour after Hermione. It had taken him most of that time to compose himself and erect his mask of sunshine and roses. Sasuke was waiting for him.
"How'd it go?" he asked. Naruto smiled.
"She's a lot more understanding than most," he said, sitting down heavily and sighing with just as much weight. "She's going to tell Ron and Harry that Kyuubi's safely sealed but not that he's sealed in me,"
"Smart," Sasuke nodded approvingly.
"How much longer do we have here?" Naruto whined, pulling his knees up under his chin and pouting.
"A while,"
"Wonderful,"