Author Note: Awesome! Thanks for the reviews! This chapter is a rather short, but as the story progresses each chapter should get longer. Now, without any more babbling, here is chapter ten. We're in the double digits now, whoooo!
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Darkside
Jinchuuriki
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Kakashi pulled himself awake. Judging by the light that bled into his room, it had to be well into the day, most likely noon. His missions lately lasted days, or, if he was lucky, only twenty four hours with no rest whatsoever. It was tiring, but Kakashi managed well.
Throwing his thick blankets to the side, Kakashi sat up in one fluid motion. He blinked lazily, adjusting his mask that had loosened during his sleep. Today was going to be quite an interesting day so the tired ninja decided that he'd at least make an attempt to be on time.
He got up, pushed his door open silently and hunted down whatever food in his home that wasn't past its expiry date or dried out. His new favorite book, the one Naruto brought back when returning to Konohagakure, was quickly snatched up before he left.
Outside, the village was abuzz with shoppers, people visiting from other lands, and everyone else that Kakashi had mentally remember from previous days. It was rather cloudy out, the smell of rain present. Sunshine became a luxury Konohagakure would have to miss out on for the moment.
Kakashi leisurely strolled through crowd after crowd of people, one hand shoved into a pocket attached to his pants. He was heading straight for the hospital today. He finally had a day off but he didn't have a chance to visit the outgoing blond when the incident happened.
Naruto had been in the hospital for a week now. He showed no signs of improvement and it was beginning to bother many others. Tsunade devoted most of her rare free time checking in on Naruto's progress, trying to create new medicines in hope that Naruto would recover. However, the blond remained motionless, never giving anyone a clue that he was getting better... or worse.
A few days ago, according to Sakura, Naruto began to show signs of a fever. It wasn't long before his condition became unstable, leaving every doctor and nurse completely dumbfounded.
"Sensei," Sakura had whispered, looking worried. " I went in Naruto's hospital room last night and saw this awful thing!"
Kakashi was about a block away now. The windows of his destination stood like crystal barriers, preventing the patients inside from getting out.
"There was this chakra forming around him like a vortex. It had an awful feel to it and it was so powerful!"
Kakashi knew then that the demon sealed inside Naruto was at fault. He hoped Sakura told Tsunade what she witnessed, it would be very helpful to Naruto's health. They needed all the information they could get.
By the time Kakashi strolled through a set of well maintained doors, Tsunade long finished another quick check-up on the unconscious blond. She limply held a wooden clipboard in her hands and was about to leave when she spotted the copy ninja in the main hallway.
"How is Naruto?" He asked, studying his surroundings and assuming that the blond was stuck in his usual hospital bed. "Is he in the same room as before... and the time before that?"
"We've isolated him in a different ward. This wasn't necessarily my idea, but until we know what's going on, he can't be near any other patients."
Kakashi put on a thoughtful expression. "Hmmm. And where exactly is this ward?"
"Top floor. It's the one we use for special cases..."
"I see..."
With a flash of smoke, Kakashi disappeared. Tsunade tossed her clipboard to a receptionist occupied with paperwork and neared the front doors as the busy woman behind her fumbled to put Naruto's report away.
"H-Hokage-sama!"
Tsunade turned around, halfway through the glass doors. She faced the receptionist, who was glancing over the chart that had been thrown her way.
"Yes?"
"This is Uzumaki Naruto's file, right?"
Tsunade became interested. "Yes..."
"Well," the receptionist stumbled slightly. "Some of the nurses on that floor reported an eerie red glow coming from his room, they were quite scared."
"A red glow?" She remembered Sakura telling her about that exact same glow, the scary feeling chakra that surrounded Naruto. "Anything else?"
"N-no, I'm sorry."
"I want any signs of that light reported to me as soon as they happen, understood?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama!"
With a small nod, Tsunade left the hospital. She had to get back to the tower and, of course, her 'lovely' paperwork.
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Gaara stood outside the tall gates of Konoha. With his arms crossed over his chest (like usual) he stood at stared at the wooden structure. They would need to inform any ninja on guard duty of their visit, but Gaara wanted to avoid being seen.
He could set up a meeting with Tsunade and claim that he was here strictly for business purposes, but it wouldn't work forever. He was the Kazekage now so his intentions for arriving out of the blue might be questioned. He didn't want to go through all that hassle.
As an ex-demon holder, he knew of the problems and the pain that came from being a vessel. He wanted to help with this and repay Naruto for saving him not only once, but twice. He was the only one that could truly understand the situation.
"Gaara," Temari spoke up. She was leaning against a thick tree trunk, her fan as well. "We should really get inside. With all those side trips we made, I'm exhausted."
"I know."
"Come on then!"
Gaara made his way to the opened gate with Temari walking at an identical pace beside him. The guards stationed there -Kotetsu and Izumo- were greatly surprised at the sight of the young Kazekage and his older and much more vocal sibling.
"We need to get to the hospital quickly," Temari ordered before either the guards of Gaara could speak.
"And tell the Hokage that we've arrived," Gaara added quietly before walking past the two leaf-nin.
Gaara knew his way to the hospital. His trip to pay Lee a visit lead him there two and a half years ago during the time Shukaku was nearly uncontrollable. Now, as the two sand siblings trekked onwards, Gaara recalled several things that him inwardly cringe.
"Looks like we're almost there."
Several people cleared the way for Gaara and Temari, some confused as to who they were and some recognizing them instantly. This allowed better use of the roads and the two siblings wasted no time making progress towards Konoha hospital.
The main doors came into view and, as Gaara could tell, the hospital was dead empty. Temari nodded towards a few ninja she remembered from being on the Chuunin exam committee as her younger brother entered the hospital silently.
Nobody was at the main desk when they entered. It was total deja vu for Gaara as he walked up to the desk, immediately catching a glimpse of Naruto's chart. How careless the receptionist had been to leave it here for the whole world to see.
Uzumaki Naruto, he read to himself. Illness: Unknown. Stationed: Top floor, room 502– Special Cases Ward. Take extreme caution when approaching.
Gaara tossed the chart back, caring not about the 'extreme caution' he had to take. He turned to his older sibling, who was reading a small bulletin board. "Temari, let's go."
Finding Naruto's room proved to be no problem at all. The hospital was completely empty and silent, except for the quiet beeping that came from expensive medical machinery. It gave the building an odd feeling, one of unease. The siblings, however, ignored it and within no time they were standing in front of room 502.
Gaara opened the closed and secure hospital door, half expecting to find someone in there with Naruto. Apparently, visiting hours were over but that didn't matter to the red head. He stepped inside silently, followed by a cautious Temari.
The curtains were blocking out any form of sunlight (if there even was any on a day like this) and Gaara quietly asked his sister to open them. When light flooded the room, both siblings caught sight of Naruto and the thought of closing the curtains seemed like a good idea. He looked too lifeless to be Naruto.
"So," came a voice from a corner that the light hadn't touched. "It looks like Gaara arrived after all..."
Continued in chapter 11!