Obligatory Disclaimer: The series Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto; I only own my OCs, picture, and this story.
Chapter 41: Of Building Aftermaths
The feeling of something wiggling beneath my skin woke me.
It was gone before I could register it and almost immediately my body was overcome with shivers. I was freezing despite the heavy blanket covering my body and the furry mass pressed tightly against my side. Though more worrying was the numbness of my extremities and the spikes of pain that came with every breath. Signs of chakra exhaustion.
But at least I was alive.
And back in Kusa. Thank God.
I let out a strained breath as I opened my eyes to a dark room- or at least tried to. There was something wrapped around my face. Bandages more than likely. And other than my numb fingers and toes, the rest of my body was achy but accounted for, which I was also grateful for. Sensing my movement, Riku shifted beside me and I was immediately covered in kisses and saliva. Somehow, I managed to lift a hand to his muzzle and gave him a few scratches before letting the appendage fall to the futon below. A simple gesture that took the little strength I had.
I pressed closer to the canine's body, taking as much comfort as I could though I couldn't feel his warmth. And in the dimness, I searched within myself and found nothing. Just like before. My brows furrowed as I tried to search through my tenketsu as I always had and found them empty. Except for something deep, deep down.
Behind the plugged tenketsu and empty pathways, something within me had changed. I tentatively reached into my core and there was something burning. Hotter and brighter than anything I had ever felt. Just underneath the surface. It burned and I was quick to pull away, back into an unfortunately familiar darkness.
Just what is going on?
Trying my luck, I dragged my hands below me to push myself up, only managing it with the help of Riku's sturdy body braced against my back. My whole body twinged in pain as I moved my arms to my lap. I could feel the tug of bandages wrapped semi-tightly around them, all the way to my fingertips. As I flexed my hands, spikes of pain ran through them and as weird as it seemed, I was grateful to feel anything at this point.
How long had I been out?
I remembered Miki mentioning that my body was… reacclimating to my chakra. What did that even mean? I couldn't feel her chakra nearby, though that didn't mean she wasn't around. But it would make sense if she wasn't; if our connection was based on our combined chakra, mine being out of commission, for lack of a better phrase, probably meant that she had returned to her realm. Which wasn't ideal, but understandable.
And my senses being all out of whack, nobody could fault me when I nearly jumped out of my skin when the door burst open, interrupting my thoughts.
"You're awake!" Anko exclaimed, her feet stomping over to where I laid.
Her voice was muted to my ears like before but more distinguishable than when we were in the cave. She didn't or rather couldn't get too close however, a rumbling growl starting as soon as I felt her come near. Riku's head plopped over my shoulder and I could only imagine him staring down the kunoichi.
Oh Riku...
"What happened back at the cave? Has sensei been notified?" I croaked softly, leaning against Riku who continued to growl, even as I headbutted him lightly.
I heard her purposefully shuffle to her own futon and flop onto it. The room fell silent and she could have left the room and I wouldn't have known, if not for the tension in Riku's body. She finally started after a moment.
"Oh sensei knows, alright; he's in talks with the Kusa leaders right now."
There was bitterness in her voice, though her words caused a weight to settle at the bottom of my stomach. It would just be my luck to get tangled in some intra-village conflict. And be the cause. She must've seen my lips curl because she was quick to speak up.
"From what I overheard, the Kusa heads want to reach a quiet resolution about the whole thing. It wouldn't sit well with Konoha if our alliance started with our princess being injured by our new allies."
"I do hope Ryūzetsu-san and Muku-san aren't in trouble," I mumbled, mostly to myself. "It's not like they meant for this to happen."
At the very least it didn't seem that way; if it was a trap, it was a very poorly sprung one.
"Shi-chan and I gave our reports and Ryu-chan and Mu-kun also gave their side of the story so it shouldn't be too long before we hear back from sensei," she continued.
"I suppose we just have to wait and see then," I sighed, burying my face into Riku's fur who seemed to relax the more I spoke.
He must've been stressed, the poor thing. I would've tried to calm him more but there wasn't much I could do. Especially since I still couldn't feel my chakra or move my body without pain.
I had almost forgotten that Anko was in the room, the other girl uncharacteristically quiet until she spoke again.
"I know I've been a pain in the ass, well to everyone, but especially you," she started, before falling into silence. I lifted my head from where it had dipped down in exhaustion. "If it wasn't for you…we would've died. Shichirou would've died."
I blinked owlishly under the bandages, startled by her confession.
"It's a toss-up really," I said, burying myself deeper into Riku's body to feel his warmth. Still nothing. "I didn't know it would work completely; we could've easily died in that cave."
It was silent for a beat before she shouted. "Really!? But you didn't even hesitate!"
I shrugged, feeling my consciousness start to fade, the void calling for me.
"Well, there is no point in panicking when death is inevitable. Though I'm more of a 'fight my fate' sort of girl; being levelheaded helps," I mumbled.
Or more like I was really good at hiding it. A theory straight into practice, no time for testing. I'm just glad it worked at all.
Anko fell silent for once more before speaking, her voice steeped in something regretful and bitter.
"I called us rivals, but I don't even compare," she grumbled into the air.
I tilted my head towards her. Even in my haggard and blinded state, I could read between the lines. The concession of her ego, maybe even an apology mixed in for her actions that almost caused the death of her teammates. Her words seemed misplaced however, most likely mixed with her deeply hidden insecurities.
"Orochimaru-sensei wouldn't have kept you on the team if he didn't see potential in you," I replied after another stretch of silence. I could feel her eyes on me. "You are skilled in your own right. But you have to listen Anko. Missions require cohesion and that means listening to your leader, despite how you feel about them."
And I had to deal with that daily.
"I know, I know," she sighed. When she didn't speak again, I decided a bit of teasing was necessary. It would do to lighten the air after the near-death experience we had faced. Those were supposed to bring people closer, right?
Even despite the worrying emptiness of my pathways.
"That defeatist attitude doesn't suit the Anko to come to know. Pretty lame if you ask me."
She sputtered comically and I chuckled weakly. I snuggled deeper into Riku, allowing sleep to claim me before her laugh interrupted, shaky as it was.
"You'd better get better soon 'cause I'm gonna kick your ass once we get home."
I hummed lightly before letting the reassuring presence of my teammates guide me back to unconsciousness.
The next day wasn't any better but only marginally worst which I took as a blessing. Feeling had returned to my extremities, but it was accompanied by an internal ache that spread out from my core. It was a low burn through my pathways, both familiar and unfamiliar.
Miki's last words returned to my mind. Reacclimating? Seal? I wish I could summon her back but I couldn't manipulate my chakra and didn't want to try, in case it made everything worst. Sitting up was only a little bit easier than it was yesterday- at least I hope that it was just yesterday- and Riku was close by as always, helping further. I took slow deep breaths, wincing with every movement but managed to get to my feet. Wiggling my toes, I couldn't help releasing a groan of pain as I took a step, leaning heavily against Riku as I moved.
"Take me to the restroom please."
He let out a little huff and led me out of the room. There was no growling or talking that I could hear so I assumed no one was in the main room, though I couldn't, wouldn't, check the boys' room. It was a godsend that Anko wasn't around, but on the other hand, it was irksome that my teammates would leave me all alone, being injured as I was. In someone else's hidden ninja village.
But it was fine. I would be fine. I just needed time to collect myself.
I grabbed blindly for the handle, missing every time until it opened in front of me. And the growling returned.
"Junko-san, you're awake!" Shichirou's voice stuttered in front of me.
"Hello Shichirou-san," I nodded. "I'm glad to hear you are alright."
Like Anko, he sputtered at my nonchalant tone.
"You should be resting! Sensei said that your chakra is still really low; you shouldn't even be moving!"
He would know, wouldn't he. Shivering internally at the thought he had examined me while I was unconscious, and fighting the urge to vomit, I shrugged.
"Nature calls," I said blandly. "I will be back shortly, please excuse me."
Riku didn't let the boy get another word in, moving forward and causing the genin to stumble and fall back into the door as we began to move down the hallway. It was a short trip and I left Riku to guard the door while I slipped inside. I felt my way over to the sink, allowing myself a pained sigh into the air.
This sucks.
I reached up, tracing over the bandages around my face until I found where it had been tied and loosened it. The cloth fell easily, over my eyelashes and down my nose and I blinked at the blurriness that greeted me. I rubbed at them tenderly, still sore from overuse. But it didn't get any better. I let out another hiss of pain as I pressed a little too hard, causing stars to shine behind my eyelids.
Please…
I blinked rapidly as my eyes tried, in vain, to focus on the mirror in front of me, my vision twitching as it focused and unfocused, again and again but remained blurry, causing my stomach to churn.
A groan escaped me as I fell to my knees as the nausea hit. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly, taking slow, shaky breaths. There was a whine at the door, followed by the sound of claws scratching at the wood.
"I'm fine!" I gasped, restraining another groan. "Just give me a minute!"
I gathered a painful breath as I tried to center myself.
Everything would be fine.
It was just eyestrain. It also probably had something to do with this 'chakra reacclimating' and the stress from the battle; plus, I was sure the intensity of all that chakra from the Moonflower had burned my eyes in my augmented sight. My tenketsu were all out of whack too so that could also be a factor, since they were more prominent behind my eyes, because of the byakugan. Surely, I would be fine with some more rest. Plus, the clan physicians were specialized in injuries of this variety and could heal me once we got home. I would be fine.
I want to go home.
The thought punched me in the gut and another shuddering breath escaped me. I wanted Mother and Father- I wanted to see Aunt Mei and Kenta, and Neji and Hizashi. I wanted to play pranks on Kakashi with Obito. I wanted to train with Kushina and Minato, and hang out with Shisui and Akane and Noburu, and Itachi.
I want to go home!
I had never felt so small, so helpless. Worse than my first mission as a ninja. Hundreds or maybe even thousands of miles away from everything familiar. Chakra gone. Sight gone. In another's hidden village that was seemingly on the edge of a civil war. With a dangerous man that could abduct me for all sorts of experiments if given the opportunity. And there would be no way for me to stop him, even if I had all my strength-
A bark cut through my hyperventilating and I lifted my head from my knees. Riku was here. I wasn't alone. He was here, he was always here. I wiped involuntary tears from my unseeing eyes and used the counter sink to pull myself up unto unsteady feet.
Focus, focus!
I just had to get back to Konoha- then everything would be fine. It had to be.
Splashing some water on my face, I focused on the cold water, pressing my damp fingers against my eyelids. Focus. Another whine at the door pushed me forward and I cleaned my face off sloppily with the abandoned bandages before grappling for the doorknob.
The large dark blob of Riku's face immediately invaded my personal space. I didn't fight the worried kisses and affectionate nuzzles that threatened to send me back onto the floor. My fingers tightened around his fur, arms wrapped almost too tightly around his neck. I could feel his chakra against my skin, its warm and bubbly nature more familiar than my own.
Everything would be okay.
After my panic attack in the bathroom, the exhaustion hit me with a vengeance, accompanied with a headache that caused my eyes to throb. I found myself leaning heavily against my canine companion as he led the way back. Just as before, the door opened before I could try and reach for it, a purple blob looking down at me with an expression I couldn't decipher.
"Took you long enough," Anko exclaimed, her voice not giving away what she thought about my most likely sad appearance. She moved out the way as a disgruntled Riku pushed past her with me in tow. "Shichi-chan thought you'd fallen in or something."
"I-I would never say something like that," the Abe boy sputtered from where his fuzzy figure sat at the low table in the middle of the room.
Banter. I could do banter.
"As you can see, I have not fallen into Kusa's sewer system," I said plainly, wincing as Riku helped me lower myself next to the table. The smell of something warm and sweet hit my nose, souring my stomach. How had I not smelt it before? How many of my senses had been screwed over by this?
"I got us breakfast," Anko pipped up, sitting close enough that it didn't trigger Riku's protectiveness, though his tail thudded agitatedly against my leg. What was with him? "Sensei said we could head out as soon as you are ready."
Thank God and every other entity.
"You should've started with that," I sighed before returning to my feet, a struggle that almost had my knees buckling until Anko grabbed my arm, her and Shichirou shouting my name in surprise.
"We can stay a bit longer if you need to-"
"No." I want to go home. "Give me a moment to change and gather my things."
Riku took over clutch duty, with a low growl at Anko for her help and we made our way back to our room, my broken eyes and ears not catching a word or glance from them as the door slid closed behind me.
It took an embarrassing amount of time to change into my travel gear and attach my weapon pouches, but my exhausted body wouldn't stop me.
Home.
I dug around my storage pouch for my eye drops. I didn't have hope that it would solve the problem completely; dōjutsu-induced eye strain took time to recover and my chakra was still worryingly weird, but maybe it would help the pain. It was difficult, and the solution burned a bit as it made contact with my pupils. As I feared, it didn't clear up my vision but at least the nauseating twitching slowed down.
I'd be fine. Just have to get home.
I stepped into the main room once more, another ill-fitted surprise waiting for me.
"It's good to see you walking around Junko-chan," came Orochimaru's slithery voice and if I hadn't felt awful before, his presence made it ten times worst. "You gave us quite the scare."
My eyes hovered over his blurry figure, flanked by the others.
"My apologies sensei. I did not mean to delay our departure."
He hummed lightly before moving towards me. I fought against every instinct I had left to move away, placing an anchoring hand on Riku's chest before he could start growling. Orochimaru stopped in front of me, lifting a hand to grab my chin. I couldn't make eye contact even if they were working correctly, but he turned my head side to side, looking for something.
His chakra sat underneath his skin, lethal and scathing, threatening against my own. As though he could crush my jaw under his hand without a second thought.
Stay calm. You are fine.
"Are you mission capable?" he asked.
It had to be a rhetorical question; he had to have known that I was still low on chakra and just overall not well. Then the real question was if I told the truth or not. Not that it really mattered. I didn't want to stay in Kusagakure for a moment longer.
"I am suffering from eye strain that has compromised my vision, but I can travel." I lied.
He simply hummed again, neither confirming nor deny my claim before turning to the others.
"Then we can depart."
He probably wanted to see the extent of what I could handle before I finally collapsed for good. Because I should, in all seriousness, be catatonic right now or even worst. There was no reason for it. Maybe, other than the seal that Miki was talking about.
But I wasn't going to share that information.
Though, it was possible that he already knew something about that. Even before I did.
We reached the gates of Kusa with me perched on Riku's back. It was tense as I thought it would be, stares coming in heavier than before and I couldn't be more glad that we were leaving. However, there were two white haired fuzzy people standing by the gates, alongside a dark-haired person. Ryūnosuke, Ryūzetsu, and Muku, waiting to send us off.
"Junko-san!" The Kusa genin came close as they could with Riku still being twitchy. "Please forgive us."
They bowed in unison, and I stared at the blurry tops of their head in confusion.
"I do not believe there is anything for you to apologize for but I am glad you are both alright regardless."
They both straightened, both still undecipherable with my broken vision, but Ryūzetsu shook her head.
"We would've died in the cave if you hadn't destroyed the flower, but as a result you almost died instead."
"You did die," Muku continued. "You had no chakra and your heart even stopped beating for a minute before Ryūzetsu was able to bring you back."
Well, wasn't that just great to hear. I really had no words for them. And to be honest I didn't care to assuage their guilty consciousnesses. Things happened, accident or otherwise. Life went on. But on the other hand, we were ambassadors on this trip and had to keep up appearance. And I had come to enjoy my time with the Kusa-nin as crazy as it had been, even with my current state.
Plus, I had to stick to my role after all.
"Then I think your words should be 'thank you'," I said, enjoying the sounds of confusion from them. "We are allies now; of course I would do my best to make sure everyone got out safely. I will recover."
They didn't have a response to that, but Ryūnosuke stepped forward also bowing which was startling.
"I would like to extend my own thanks as well Hyūga-hime," he started. Princess? "Thank you for saving both Muku and Ryūzetsu. We were also able to recover the bodies of missing persons from over a decade."
It wouldn't do to say that it was nothing; I was in a bad way- my chakra was doing something weird, I couldn't see, and my body ached with every movement. But I smiled, hopefully masking it all.
"You are welcome, Ryūnosuke-san." I nodded. "Hopefully, that will bring comfort to their loved ones."
He nodded once more. "Let us not keep you much longer. May our alliance blossom into something fruitful."
I couldn't help but wonder if that was a local colloquialism as we gave our goodbyes, leaving Kusagakure long behind us.
I never thought I would prefer the great outdoors than a bed but without the unsubtle internal turmoil of Kusa hanging over my head, it was much easier to focus on my own troubles. Traveling on Riku's back…was an experience. I was surprised at how smooth it was as he leapt from branch to branch, and my added weight didn't seem to bother him at all which I was thankful for. It was easy to stay on as well even with my weakened body, though that may have been on account of the canine's own careful movements.
I had to remember to spoil him once I got home.
I was sure to ignore Anko and Shichirou's anxious stares as I fell into a semi meditation state as we moved. My chakra was still weird, and I hadn't felt a significant increase in my chakra production since waking up last night, which was the root of all my problems. It wasn't physical pain I felt for the most part, since I hadn't gotten too banged up in our encounter with the parasitic Moonflower. But chakra was both physical and spiritual.
Then the real question was: what actually happened?
The last thing I remember before I had lost consciousness was making contact with the Moonflower. Its chakra had been intrusive, as though it had meant to suck me dry from the inside out. I remembered as it had burned inside my tenketsu.
Then the explosion.
The explosion had to be a result of me breaking the feedback loop. And all that built up chakra had to go somewhere. The collected amount that I had seen with my byakugan was massive. I could only tell by the density and brightness of it, nothing quantifiable, but it had been so condensed within the flower, there probably had been no other result than outward.
We probably shouldn't have survived that.
There was no way we should have survived that.
Unless, of course, the seal had taken the brunt of it, and as a result, was destroyed. The seal that I didn't know I had. A seal whose function I had not even a hint at. Because I had never had any problems with my chakra before. I had graduated from the academy, gone through many missions, without any chakra-based hiccups. And it had to be something strong enough to have taken the brunt of all that chakra.
So what had it even been doing on me?
This was giving me a headache.
I continued to think about it even as we set up camp for the night, getting no closer than I was before. The others went off to catch dinner and I stayed at camp which I did not argue against. I didn't realize how exhausted I was until I had climbed off Riku and almost instantly fell to my knees.
I let myself rest, sitting on my bed roll by the fire pit as Riku went to place the seals around the camp. There was usable kindling nearby, so Orochimaru sent my teammates off to collect dinner, leaving him and I alone. Which wasn't ideal. My only comfort was that Riku was just a call away, though the pooch wouldn't be able to do much against a sannin of all things.
Orochimaru eyed me from across the campsite before making his way over to me.
"Has your status improved Junko-chan?"
I didn't think I would get away with lying twice, especially since I no longer had any witnesses to anything he might try to pull. My eyes tried to focus on him but they were still very blurry, but at least they weren't twitching. My body was still uncooperative and the dull pain remained constant, which I didn't know if that was better or worst than being numb.
"I am still unable to manipulate my chakra and although my vision has not worsened, it hasn't gotten better," I admitted reluctantly.
He let out another irritating hum in thought.
"It's quite the phenomenon that you can move, let alone talk, considering how low your chakra is," he elaborated, coming to kneel in front of me. "Give me your report of what transpired."
I wanted to argue- hadn't Anko and Shichirou, alongside the Kusa pair, already run through the whole traumatic experience already- but held my tongue. It was normal procedure I had to remind myself and I took a deep, painful breath as I recounted the events. From us traveling to the meadow where we had been dragged below into the moonflower's lair, to me waking up and finding the others, not touching on Anko's disobedience. About the zombies and parasitic vines. How my Gentle Fist had been the only thing able to destroy them.
How I had come into contact with the flower.
"The chakra was so intense," I murmured, at this point talking more to myself than the sannin, who continued to watch me. "I can only assume it overloaded my tenketsu. When Ryūzetsu tried healing me, after the fact, it was so painful…I ended up passing out after."
Maybe I should ask him about the seal; despite his many deadly flaws, Orochimaru was a genius. He would be able to parse out what happened to my chakra. Though that would inevitably lead into him trying to fix it himself and that was something I wanted to avoid at all cost. Especially if he wanted to place one of his seals on me, and I knew a whole plot-line that demonstrated how much that was a bad idea.
"It would appear that way," he agreed. Despite my blurry vision, the gold of his eyes was visible and far too close for comfort. "If you would allow me, I'd like to examine you."
No.
Nope.
Absolutely not.
Though surprised as I was that he had asked permission, the mere thought of his chakra invading me made my stomach churn. Chakra was something so personal, at least the way I saw it. Yes, it was manipulated and used to cast all sorts of jutsu. But I could also tell the nature of a person, or animal, by the way their chakra felt. And Orochimaru's was rotten to me. Poisonous. I wasn't ready for another attack like I had when Ryūzetsu tried to heal me.
I don't think I'd be able to come back from something like that a second time.
Plus, what if he sensed something I wasn't aware of? What if there was some remnant of the seal left within me and he could manipulate it in some way?
But did I really have any choice?
I was in a bad way and had not recovered even an ounce of my chakra or my strength. What if it was something in my chakra pathways that was slowly deteriorating my body? It could even be the seal itself doing something adverse because of the mixture of the stolen Moonflower chakra. And since I didn't know the function of the seal, who could say I would make it back to Konoha in the first place, other than my hopeful, desperate, thinking.
I found myself nodding despite my racing thoughts and he motioned for me to lie down on my bedroll, which I did reluctantly. My body tensed involuntarily as he neared, the light green of the diagnostic jutsu emanating from his palms. It was an odd feeling but he was careful, unexpectedly so as his hands hovered over me, starting at my head. He hovered over my head, pausing near my eyes briefly before continuing on to the rest of me.
It was when he was over my stomach that I felt the change. If I hadn't been paying attention, I would've thought it was just the general discomfort of being around Orochimaru but there was something there, like an invisible weight in my abdomen.
"S-sensei-?" I croaked, worried.
He paused over the area, and I couldn't tell his expression though his chakra drew back, though only a little. In surprise, I couldn't say for sure.
"Hmm, there seems to be something around your 5th gate," he said.
Fifth gate? I racked my foggy brain- that was the Limit gate. One of the major tenketsu. Was it the remnants of the seal? Or something else?
Orochimaru moved away, the light of his chakra disappearing but the uncomfortable weight remained, as though awakened by being known. My body felt heavier than before and so I didn't try to sit up, an ache beginning to pulse behind my eyelids. I squinted up at him, which didn't help any.
"It would be best if you rested for now, Junko-chan," he said. "You wouldn't want to worsen your condition. You will have a deeper examination once we are back in Konoha."
That was an understatement. And way more unhelpful than I thought it would be. Unless he was keeping something from me, which was the usual case with most of the people in my life. He had to know something I didn't.
"Y-yes sensei."
Author's Notes
Posted: February 26th, 2022
I was going to post this earlier but my December and January were awful. And this month started day one with me injuring my left hand so we're off to a great start to the year. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Though I probably said this last year (or the year before, I don't know- time is an illusion) but the plan is to have the child arc done this year since we've been stuck here for a little too long. So I'm going to try my best to post regularly.
Until next time.