Within These Empty Walls
Well, here's chapter 4! Please enjoyyyy!
Chapter 4: A Talk with a Demon
When Sasuke finally woke up and groggily lifted his heavy eyelids, the first thing he realized was that he had a pounding headache and that he felt like absolute crap. His whole body was sore, and his stomach felt extremely sick, as if any movement would make him vomit. He flopped a hand limply over his eyes, groaning as the light was sensitive to him.
"Kakashi…" he moaned, hating the sound of his voice so weak and useless.
"I'm here Sasuke. Are you alright?" He was relieved to hear his sensei's voice answer back to him.
"I… I don't feel so good…" he admitted, his voice a mere whisper.
"I know you spiked a pretty high fever during the night. Do you want some medicine and a cold rag?" He felt the bed shift and a hand on his forehead. He turned his head and found Kakashi on the bed beside him, leaned up against the wall and a Make Out Paradise book closed, the page marked by his finger. Sasuke nodded, but was a little surprised when Kakashi pulled his hand back.
"Oh my god, Sasuke. Your fever's so high…" he whispered. Sasuke again felt the weight shift on the bed as Kakashi got off. "Let me go get your medicine… please don't move again until I'm back…" He quickly dashed out of the room, grabbing a wet cloth, some very strong painkillers, and a glass of water. When he returned, he found Sasuke sprawled out on the floor, a pool of vomit beside him. He was trembling weakly and his eyes were squeezed shut tight in pain.
"Oh Sasuke…" He whispered woefully, setting everything on the side table and lifting Sasuke back onto the bed, pulling the covers on him. "This is beginning to get too much for you, isn't it?" He put the cold cloth over his forehead, holding it in place as he weakly lolled his head from side to side.
"St'p it… cold…" he murmured, shifting uncomfortably.
"I know Sasuke, I know. I'm sorry, but it'll make your head feel better." He whispered. He took out three pills and an injection. "Now open your mouth. There are three pills I need you to swallow. I have some water for you." He dropped the pills in his student's mouth followed by some water, which Sasuke gulped down, grateful for something to soothe his dry throat. Kakashi then gave him the injection through his neck, which made Sasuke whimper uncomfortably.
"Those will take away some of the pain and hopefully make you feel better faster. Water and sleep are what you really need though." He sighed, wishing he could do more for his student.
"Kashi… gonna… be sick…" He groaned weakly. Kakashi fetched a bowl just in time before Sasuke threw up into it. Kakashi turned around to give Sasuke some privacy until he finally settled, and he fell back into the covers, panting.
"Are you okay?" Kakashi asked him, turning around again.
"Water…" he managed.
Kakashi put the glass to his student's lips, and he gratefully drank all of it. Kakashi set the glass down and patted his head gently so he wouldn't upset Sasuke's head or stomach more.
"I'm going to go refill the glass. No moving, alright? Just close your eyes and try your best to fall asleep." He ordered. Sasuke just nodded, too ill to understand half of what his sensei was saying. He muttered something Kakashi couldn't understand, so he just quickly went back to the kitchen to get more water. When he came back, he was pleased to find that Sasuke had finally fallen asleep.
"Good. Finally resting." He whispered to himself, sighing in relief.
The day passed slowly. Sasuke mostly slept through the rest of the night and a good portion of the day. When he was awake, however, it was even if he wasn't Sasuke anymore. He was so delusional, he forgot who he was, and he wondered if Kakashi was his dad. Naruto and Sakura had stopped over, and he couldn't even recognize that they were his teammates. He thought they were burglars, and he couldn't even register that Kakashi was in the room with him, telling him that they were his teammates. It took a good half an hour of Kakashi holding him down whispering words of comfort to him to get him to stop struggling and panicking about Naruto and Sakura being there. Eventually, his fever spiked so high that he couldn't see any of the three, and when Kakashi touched him, he screamed and thought it was a ghost. None of them could believe how delusional Sasuke was, and how bad his condition had gotten.
Eventually, it had gotten too much for Kakashi to handle, and he ended up sending a surge of chakra through his forehead to send him to sleep. Kakashi tucked him in securely, and sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed just below Sasuke's head. He brushed through his bangs softly, watching as he sighed softly in his sleep.
"He needs a hospital, sensei." Sakura whispered quietly.
"I know Sakura, but he'd never forgive me if I brought him there. I know I sound completely unreasonable, since nobody really likes hospitals, but there are things that I can't tell you, because only I know. As his sensei, even though I need to watch out for his safety, I also need to look out for what he wants. I'm not just a sensei to him, I'm his only adult figure in his life, and I have the basic medical knowledge and many medic friends that I can get in touch with quickly. I'm not going to send him to the hospital unless his life is in danger..." He sighed.
Sakura lowered his gaze. "I understand sensei." She whispered.
Naruto walked over to Sasuke and put a hand over his warm teammates. His eyes widened a little, then lowered as his expression turned sad.
"Even Kyuubi can feel something wrong with him. He can feel Sasuke's chakra right now, and he's very restless." He murmured quietly.
"Really?" Kakashi looked surprised. "Can he tell you anything about what's going on?"
"He'll need more than a touch of a hand. He says he needs… a sample of the blood, and an exchange of chakra that I'll need to deliver to him." Naruto explained.
Kakashi nodded and took out a kunai. "Where should I get the blood from?"
"…The stomach."
Kakashi gently pressed the edge of the kunai, barely making a cut, but enough to draw blood. Naruto swiped it onto his thumb and licked it off, swallowing it. He then put a hand on Sasuke's, sucking out some of the chakra. He heard Sasuke whimper uncomfortably, but continued until he heard the fox's voice inside of him.
That's enough, kit.
He stopped immediately, and waited as Kyuubi examined the results. After a minute, he felt the fox demon call him into the inner depths of his mind. He immediately sent his soul there.
Kit, it's worse than you could imagine. Allow me to come out and speak to Hatake Kakashi.
"No! Are you kidding me? You'll turn loose and attack the village! I'm no idiot!" He yelled.
The fox snickered. Wrong. You are an idiot. And I'm not going to turn loose and attack your pathetic little village. I'm not even leaving your body. I will simply take over, and your consciousness will be under my control for awhile while I speak to your teacher. You will be able to hear everything I'm saying, and you'll be able to communicate with me. He told him.
"You promise?" Naruto asked.
Kyuubi laughed. HAHAHAHAHAHA! Kit, you expect me to ever hold a promise to a mere child you? I never make promises to ANYONE, ESPECIALLY not a blonde idiot like you. I won't do anything else. Even if I took over your mind, I still wouldn't be able to release the seal to free me anyway.
Naruto sighed. "Alright…" he whispered.
He felt a tug on his mind, and an overwhelming feeling take over him.
Outside, Kakashi and Sakura backed away as red chakra began coating around Naruto's body in the form of a fox. Kakashi, not understanding what was going on, stepped in front of Sasuke's body defensively.
When Naruto opened his eyes, they were piercing red, and his smile revealed bright white fangs.
"Greetings, Kakashi Hatake." He said.
That voice..! Kakashi thought. "Kyuubi?" He asked.
"Don't worry. I'm not doing anything to anyone. I'm here to talk to you about the boy." He looked at Sasuke, and walked beside him and sniffed his body carefully. He licked some of the extra blood, confirming what he thought.
"It's worse than you think. You may want her out." He pointed to Sakura, who was gestured by Kakashi to leave the room.
"Has this boy by any chance encountered a man that goes by Orochimaru? Or gotten a curse mark jutsu placed on him?" Kyuubi asked.
Kakashi's eyes widened. "Wait, what? This is Orochimaru's doing?"
The fox nodded. "Unfortunately, yes. That snake did something to that mark, setting it off. This is how he'll be for the rest of his life, which, unless cured, will be at the most, two weeks. It's run on too long now, which is why his condition is so bad. The only problem is, the cure, which is a liquid injection, is only found in the Hidden Sound Village. You'll need to hurry if you want to save him in time. I've been watching everything that's happened through Naruto's eyes ever since he was born, so just judging by what I know, and what he knows, I think the best bet is to bring him to the hospital, and keep him there with the medics. The medics can do what they do. Sedatives and painkillers might be the best way to go for him, and send out a large group of Anbu to go retrieve the cure. The cure they're looking for is called 'the Rapid Mark of the Curse Liquid Injection Cure'" He explained.
"Got it… thank you very much, Kyuubi." He whispered. Kyuubi nodded, and returned back to Naruto, who stood shocked at what the demon had said.
"W-what do we do?" He asked in a whisper, not trusting his voice. Kakashi sighed sadly and removed the covers, gently lifting Sasuke into his arms, trying hard to ignore Sasuke's cry of pain.
"You heard him Naruto… let's get him to the hospital and send out Anbu. He's only got two weeks left to end this fight for survival."
End! Thanks for reading! And also, thanks for all of the reviews! I got so many reviews, this chapter came out a lot earlier than what it normally would've taken to write and send out to all of you faithful readers, so keep reviewing please! :) It makes my day to hear what you thought about the chapter and it makes my week to hear that you want more.
I love you all!
~SasukeUchihasGuardian