disclaimer: i don't own any part of naruto
The Chain of Change
Chapter Six
Himiko was one of just three civilian nurses assigned to the wing devoted to caring for recuperating ninja. She was also the only one there from personal choice; not many of the hospital staff were keen on looking after patients who, in addition to being uncooperative at best and willfully disobedient at worst, were also as a rule insane and well-versed in ways of causing lasting harm to others.
Fortunately, Himiko had been born with a saintly amount of patience and understanding. Therefore, she had been the only one willing to tend to the infamous Copy-nin, a man obviously not used to being confined in a hospital and therefore very eager to be un-bed-ridden. He had only just woken up, and she had already caught him trying to escape twice – the first time, she had discovered a log in place of a body in his bed and, five minutes later, an exhausted ninja collapsed half-way down the stairs; on the second occasion she had walked in at the inopportune moment of him trying to get out via the window. After she got him back into bed, Himiko had issued a warning that, upon any subsequent attempts, he would be immobilized by liberal application of rope and have his food delivered through a tube shoved up his nose.
In reality, the patient's condition had been rapidly improving throughout the day, and it wouldn't have surprised Himiko if he were okay to be released by the next morning. This is why it came as such a shock to her when he died.
She was just passing by his room when she heard the heart monitor alarm go off. Upon dashing inside, she found that the patient had flat-lined and was lying motionless in his bed. Some part of her thought, detachedly, that it was very strange – he had seemed well enough when the other Konoha-nin stopped by for a visit, twenty minutes ago. The rest of her, however, had no time to think.
"Takashi, Naoko, I need help in here! Someone get Dr Souji!" She quickly checked the patient's pulse, then scrambled for the defibrillator when she found none.
Another nurse and a grizzled medic-nin ran into the room just as she was spreading conductive gel over the Copy-nin's chest. Swiftly, Takashi grabbed the paddles and applied them to the patient, one below his right collarbone and the other just at the end of his ribcage on his left side.
"Clear!"
The current sent a spasm through the patient's body, but the monitor showed no change.
"Clear!" Again, nothing. Himiko felt her anxiety begin to build.
"Dammit," Takashi was saying, his hands moving automatically through the procedure. "We can't lose him! He's from the Konoha team… Kazekage-sama will –"
They never found out what the Kazekage was going to do, because Dr Souji arrived at that moment and swiftly took charge of the situation. However, even with his direction, each attempt at defibrillation yielded nothing.
Takashi tried several more times, but as the minutes wore on, it soon became clear that their patient was not going to revive. The ceaseless alarm of the heart monitor began to feel like a physical force crushing into Himiko's skull.
Finally Takashi stood back and expelled a loud sigh. The paddles hung loosely in his hands. "I don't think he's coming back."
Somberly, Dr Souji noted the time of death. Himiko watched as workers arrived to cover the body and take it down to the morgue. She felt distraught. Perhaps if she had just practiced greater vigilance, had forbidden the visitation – but she had no time to dwell on it. There were many others to attend to, and a nurse's work was never done.
Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief as he removed the sheet from over his head. He sat up, accepted the change of clothes Naruto handed him. The blond turned around as he quickly dressed.
"You come up with the sickest ideas," the jounin said when he was finished. "And why is it that I always end up around corpses when I'm with you?"
"Quiet!" Naruto hissed. "If anyone walks in here, they'll have a shitfit and we'll be fucked."
Kakashi wanted to point out that he hadn't been speaking loudly at all, and that there was no one around besides, but something about hospitals seemed to rile up his student more than usual. Since the jounin could relate to this last sentiment, he kept his thoughts to himself.
When the coast was clear, the pair exited the morgue and made a beeline for the civilian wing. Security, not surprisingly, was a whole lot more lax there. Naruto had also been prudent enough to bring Kakashi a hat whose brim he pulled down firmly in order to obscure the scars on his face. The nurse at the front desk didn't even spare them a second glance as they walked past her and left the building.
As the hospital grew further in the distance, Kakashi began to feel the shakiness return as adrenalin faded away. The electrodes that picked up the rhythm of his heart muscles and the action potentials they generated were sensitive to minute electrical changes. Thus, it had only taken a tiny of lightning chakra to fool the electrodes to assume his lack of a heartbeat. The genjutsu he'd placed upon the nurse to mask his pulse had taken an equally small amount of chakra, but pathetically enough, both tricks had knocked his reserves back down to practically nothing.
Naruto, noticing the jounin's growing exhaustion, managed to get an arm out to support the man before his legs gave out.
"Oof!" the blond said as his sensei's full weight bore down on him, "I'm not sure if this was the best idea anymore. If Sakura finds out about our little stunt, she'll skin us alive."
"Probably," Kakashi agreed bleakly, trying his best not to imagine how the kunoichi would react if she discovered that he'd snuck out of the hospital. Images of extreme violence coupled with rigorously enforced bed rest sprang into mind.
His stomach took the opportunity to rumble loudly.
"Maybe food will do some good," Naruto mused. "If you feel up to it."
Kakashi had safely deposited the slop they'd given him for lunch underneath his bed earlier that day. Bit of a nasty surprise for whatever poor guy they had cleaning the place. "Sounds great. Lead the way."
"Sakura's had me on rice porridge and natto for the past few days. I think it could do you some good."
The meager bits of Kakashi's face that were actually visible turned slightly green. "Naruto, I'd rather—"
"Relax," the blond laughed. "There's a ramen-ya just down the street from here. Nothing like noodles and cold beer to get you back on your feet."
It would figure that Naruto had taken care to scope out the ramen joints in Suna, but Kakashi didn't argue. The thought of the fatty, salty broth was starting to make his mouth water. Together, like a dilapidated chimera, the two hobbled away.
Somewhere between his third and fourth beer, Kakashi came to two realizations: first, that he really had to pee, and second, that his blond student was being suspiciously proactive about keeping his glass full. Unfortunately, by this point he was buzzed enough to not really care. Besides, the noodles were good, the beer was refreshing, and life outside of the hospital was a glorious and beautiful experience.
He got up, awkwardly, and hobbled to the bathroom, somewhat relieved that he could make it there on his own. It would have been horrifying to have to ask for Naruto's assistance.
"Ojisan! Another bowl please!" The blond was saying when he came back to the bar. Naruto had more or less consumed twice the number of bowls as him and was still going strong. The kid was a black hole when it came to his favorite meal, which was saying something, as most of the time it seemed like he didn't have much of an appetite at all – for food, at least.
"Hai hai," the ramen chef replied, picking up a fresh bowl. "Tonkatsu, right?"
While he was waiting, Naruto turned to face the jounin, wearing a grin that made him feel very, very uncomfortable. "Kakashi-sensei, I've held up my end, it's your turn now."
Kakashi frowned, trying to figure out why Naruto could possibly want this information, and failing. Some small thought prickled the back of his brain, something about the brief glimpse he'd had of the blond's fight with Shukaku, but it was difficult to concentrate, and in a moment he'd forgotten about it anyway.
"Alright," he said finally, "But I don't know why you want to hear it from me. Plus, I wasn't even there when your father defeated the Kyuubi – no one was."
"Just humor me," Naruto said, his tone all too blithe.
"Well," the jounin said, and took another sip of his beer.
When the Kyuubi appeared, the air around Konoha become thick with its heat. Life withered beneath the beast, and wherever it went, it left behind long swatches of blackened earth. Soon it became apparent that the Kyuubi was making a beeline for the village, and the Konoha-nin responded accordingly, setting up barricades and organizing evacuation routes for civilians. Though the shinobi prepared to fight, it was painfully clear that they had no hope of defeating the massive creature, which was more of a force of nature than an enemy combatant.
Still, there was some hope. The bijuu could not be killed, but they could be sealed. So the hokage, Jiraya, and Sarutobi locked themselves in the library for the few precious hours they were given to prepare for the Kyuubi's arrival. That left the task of securing the defenses to Kakashi and his fellow ANBU captains.
The work was bitter and morale was low. And all the while, Kakashi wondered just what his sensei was planning to do. He knew that the Kyuubi was too powerful to be held by any ordinary seal. He also knew that, as with jutsu, the price of a seal rose with its power, and in the case of bijuu, said price usually involved human life.
About two hours later, word came that the Yondaime, his predecessor, and his sensei had devised a plan. It was heartening news to most, but Kakashi wondered who would actually be the one to do the deed. Although the thought sickened him, he hoped that Minato would not take the burden upon himself. Kushina was due any day now, and the timing could not have been worse.
Half an hour later, the hokage called together the clan heads and the ANBU captains outside of the tower. He looked completely exhausted, as if he had already fought a battle and had only won by the smallest of margins.
"We've come up with something," he said. "We're going to seal the Kyuubi." As soon as the words left his mouth, the clan heads erupted. Kakashi inwardly shook his head at their inane questions – Could he actually do that? Wasn't there a better way? If it failed, then what?
The Yondaime cut loudly through their voices. "In Suna, the Ichibi Shukaku was sealed into a teakettle, so we're going to use a similar object. I will need volunteers to hold the Kyuubi off long enough for me to complete the sealing. We should be able to intercept it before it even reaches the village, but we need to leave now."
Silence followed his words. Then, most of the ANBU stepped forward; most of the clan heads did not. If Minato was disappointed, he didn't show it. Instead, he thanked them all, then excused himself in order to make further preparations with Jiraya. As the Yondaime returned to the tower, the Sandaime took his place to give the volunteers instructions.
Kakashi had never seen Sarutobi look so old and troubled. He could count every line age had pressed upon the man's features, brought into stark contrast by the early morning half-light. Sarutobi took out his pipe, filled it carefully, and lit it, slowly puffing away as he regarded the lot of them.
"Listen carefully, because I only have time to go over this once. Once he gets within range, it will take the hokage five minutes to complete the sealing ritual. During this time, you have to keep the Kyuubi's attention. You will have Jiraya's assistance in this, but it will not be easy."
Kakashi inwardly frowned at these words and asked, "You won't be going with us, Sarutobi-sama?"
"No, I must assist the hokage in the ritual," the Sandaime replied. Though his expression was neutral, something in his dark eyes glittered sharply. "I will tell the hokage that we are ready. Meet at the gate in ten minutes." With that, he vanished into a cloud of smoke.
Ten minutes, Kakashi thought. Ten minutes before everything changes again. He was seized with a sudden, selfish desire to speak to his sensei, perhaps for the last time.
The old Kakashi would have crushed such a feeling under the heavy weight of rules and regulations, but it only took the present Kakashi a few seconds to reach the hokage's window. Once there he hesistated slightly, unsure if interrupting the Yondaime right now was really the smartest thing to do – and then stopped altogether, when he heard muffled voices.
Shamelessly, the jounin peered through the window. His sensei and Sarutobi were in the office, but they weren't alone. The Elders – Homura, Utatane, and Danzo – were with them. They were clearly arguing about something, but they spoke too quietly for him to hear. None of this really surprised Kakashi, who knew that, since day one of him taking office, the Elders had made several strong suggestions to his sensei about his role as hokage, all of which the Yondaime had blatantly ignored. The strange thing was that the hokage stayed mostly silent throughout this exchange, and Sarutobi seemed to be the one doing the arguing. The Sandaime had always kept his old teammates' advice in consideration during his tenure in office, and often urged his successor to do the same; now his stance had inexplicably reversed itself.
Kakashi had no idea what they were arguing about, only that it was probably pointless and a shameful waste of the precious time they had before the Kyuubi came within distance of Konoha. The Yondaime seemed to think so too, because within the next minute, he had kicked out all four of them, before relocating to his desk. The blond sighed raggedly and ran both hands through his shaggy hair.
Finally, he turned to the window and said, "You can come in now."
Not having the decency to look at all guilty, Kakashi swung deftly into the office. "Yo."
"Come to say your goodbyes?"
The jounin looked away. "I wish I didn't have to. You won't reconsider, I guess?"
Minato replied flatly, "You know it's my responsibility to protect this village. Konoha's well-being has always come before my own."
"And before that of Kushina's and Naruto's?" It was a cheap shot, but somehow Kakashi felt obligated to bring it up.
The Yondaime smiled without humor. "Jiraya and Sarutobi have already taken that approach, so I'm afraid that it's not going to work. I'm determined to go through with this." Then his expression softened a bit, and he began to say, "Can I ask you to –"
"Of course I'll look after them, sensei!" Kakashi said, surprising himself with his own vehemence.
"Thank you Kakashi," Minato said. A breeze picked up from the open window, sweeping fine particulates of ash into the office. The hokage frowned as he looked out to the horizon – the sunrise was blood-red against the sky.
"I think we'd better get going."
The battle with Kyuubi passed by in one long, chaotic blur. No jutsu could stop the great beast, which had razed the earth and burned the forest barely a mile away from Konoha itself. But somehow, the Konoha-nin had managed to keep it from their village, though they paid for it with their lives.
Afterwards, Kakashi could only think of finding his sensei. Sarutobi and the Yondaime had separated from the main force early on, and Kakashi had lost sight of them ever since. Even when the Kyuubi's corporeal form had been sucked away by some unseen force, he had not been able to locate the source of the sealing.
Although he was half-dead with exhaustion, Kakashi pushed himself to stagger around in search of a goat-masked ANBU. Fortunately, Goat was still alive and mostly intact – he had been luckier than most – and was helping ferry the injured onto stretchers to be taken back to the village.
He turned when Kakashi approached and pushed his mask to the side, uncovering pale eyes surrounded by bulging veins. "Way ahead of you, senpai," he said, and began to scan the battlefield with his activated Byakugan.
After a few minutes, he deactivated his bloodline limit and looked back at Kakashi.
Trying hard to smother his anxiety and failing, the jounin asked, "Did you find him?"
Hyuuga Daiki – AKA "Goat" – held up a hand. "Hear me out entirely first, okay senpai? Yes, the hokage is alive, but he's not moving – probably unconscious. He's about a hundred meters that way, by the small outcropping. Sarutobi-sama is lying approximately three hundred meters west of him. Uzumaki Kushina is with him."
Another ANBU, overhearing this exchange, blurted out, "That red-haired bitch is dead? At least one good thing came of the Kyuubi."
Immediately Kakashi rounded upon him, furious, but Daiki stepped between them. "Senpai," he said quietly, "There's no time for this."
"I'll have your rank for that," the Copy-nin snarled before allowing Daiki to lead him away.
They searched for the Yondaime first. This decision left Kakashi with some feeling of guilt, especially in light of the promise he'd recently made, but ANBU was ANBU, and his first duty was to look after the hokage. They found Minato out cold and lying spread-eagled on the ground. Kakashi quickly knelt down to check his pulse.
"He's alive," he confirmed a moment later to Daiki.
The Hyuuga couldn't help but smile in relief. "I'll call for backup. We'll get him back to Konoha in no time."
Kakashi nodded and placed his hand on the ground in order to stand up. But instead of grass, he touched something cool and rough and looked down in surprise. Lying by the hokage's left hand was a small fox statue, carved from rough gray stone.
Daiki breathed sharply. "Is that what I think it is?"
Cautiously, Kakashi closed his fingers around the statue, lifted it up to eye level. It seemed harmless – ordinary stone. There was no chakra presence, nothing unusual about it. For a moment, the jounin found himself wondering if his sensei had actually succeeded in sealing the Kyuubi. Then, without thinking, he sent a pulse of his own chakra into the stone.
A horrifyingly sinister wave of chakra seeped out of the stone, sending waves of cold through both Konoha-nin. Kakashi dropped the statue as it was suddenly engulfed in blood-red flame. The grass around it caught on fire; Daiki quickly stamped it out before it could reach the Yondaime's prone form. Then, as quickly as it appeared, the chakra presence withdrew, and the thing at their feet was an ordinary statue once more.
"Well," Daiki said, after a rather pregnant pause, "I think that answers my question. What should we do with it, senpai?"
"I'll take it," Kakashi said grimly. "This is not something we can leave lying around." Gingerly, he picked up the statue once more and stuck it into his vest.
By then, other ANBU had arrived to take the hokage back to the village. Though he was loath to let Minato out of his sight, Kakashi turned back to the Hyuuga and said, "Let's go find the Sandaime and Uzumaki-san."
"Way ahead of you, senpai." With a quick display of hand seals, Daiki once again activated his Byakugan, scanning the area to their left. "What the fuck?" he exclaimed suddenly. "Who the fuck are they?"
"What is it?" Kakashi demanded, but Daiki was already on the move. "Dammit," the jounin said to himself, having no choice but to follow suit.
But whoever it was that Daiki saw, they were long gone by the time the two arrived on the scene. And so was the life from both of the crumpled forms lying before them.
"Oh no," Daiki breathed, covering his mouth as they approached. For an ANBU, the young Hyuuga was surprisingly sensitive, but Kakashi hardly had the heart to censure him over it. He could only think of Minato now, and of how thoroughly he'd failed him.
Kakashi bent down to check Sarutobi over. He was indeed dead, but the jounin was taken aback by the old man's expression – one of calm tranquility, even as his lips and chin were wet with blood. The body was still warm. If only they'd gotten here sooner… three lives had been lost by his hands, today.
"Senpai! Over here!" Daiki's shouting broke him out of his thoughts. The Hyuuga was kneeling next to Uzumaki Kushina. There was something in his arms.
"Wow," Naruto said flatly. "Lucky you found me."
Kakashi didn't respond, only drained the rest of his beer and thought about ordering another.
"So the Kyuubi was sealed in that statue."
"It's hard to confirm something like that. But I've never seen chakra of that color – or potency – before, or since."
Naruto frowned. "Didn't you see the end of my fight with the Shukaku?"
"No, I was out cold by then. Was its chakra like that too?"
"Uh, not exactly. Did you ever catch the guys that Hyuuga saw?"
The abrupt change in subject did not escape Kakashi's attention, but he decided to let it pass. "Daiki couldn't tell who they were, and we never found any traces of them at the scene. Sometimes he wonders if he even saw them. According to the medic-nin who looked her over, your mother died in childbirth."
"And the Sandaime?"
A shrug. "No one really knows what happened. Officially, the cause was illness. You know that."
"But that's not the truth."
Again, the jounin said nothing. Naruto looked away in disgust and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.
"What did I tell you about smoking?" Kakashi said, making a grab for them, but his strength was gone, and his student was too quick. "Fuck," the jounin swore in an uncharacteristic loss of his composure. "If you suspect something, then stop pussying around and spit it out!"
Naruto's eyes narrowed into blue slits. "Don't tell me you haven't thought the same thing. The argument with the elders. Those people Daiki saw. The Sandaime sealed the Kyuubi, and Danzo got there first, erased all evidence of it. And now he holds that over my goddamn father's head whenever the bastard finally decides to act like he's got a spine!"
"Do not insult the Yondaime in front of me!" Kakashi roared, completely losing it and making the other patrons at the ramen-ya stare at him in surprise. Suddenly the jounin felt overwhelmed and increasingly light-headed, to the point where he thought he might faint…
"Naruto," he said, realizing too late, "What did you put in my food?"
"Your beer, actually," his student said, pulling out his wallet and setting a few bills on the counter. "While you were in the bathroom. Sakura will be here any second now, so I'm booking. I don't know if she'll take you back to the hospital or not, but hey, at least the meal's on me. Later, Kakashi-sensei." The jounin, his vision already darkening, didn't even manage to see his student leave before he passed out.
Temari swore as she dropped her keys. Shifting the paper bag cradled in her left arm up a bit, she bent down and groped around for them, unable to see the ground thanks to the groceries she was carrying.
By the time she had found them and somehow managed to get the right one into the lock, a steady stream of curses was flowing fluidly from her mouth. She was just in the middle of a particularly offensive series of portmanteaus ("shittits, assfucker, etc") when the door opened and she stumbled inside to see Uchiha Sasuke and her little brother sitting across from each other at the kitchen table and staring at her. They had the same stare – it was like Gaara Times Two, which almost made her drop the groceries.
Then she remembered that she was Temari and scowled. "What the hell are you guys looking at?"
Gaara turned back to their guest and shrugged, as if in apology. "My sister."
"Hn."
"Are all Uchihas this eloquent?" Temari said, rolling her eyes as she put the groceries away. "You guys want anything to drink?"
"Made a pot of coffee already," Gaara said. "You can have some if you want."
To no one's surprise, Sasuke ignored her entirely. Instead, he asked Gaara, "Why did you call me here?"
"The man who attacked me… you recognized something about him. Who is he?"
Sasuke's lips thinned into a flat line. His eyes were hard as coals. "And why should I tell you?"
Well, this is awkward, Temari thought as she watched the scene. The coffeemaker give a little click to indicate that it was done brewing, so she took two mugs out of the cupboards and filled them, all the while keeping an eye on Sasuke. If the Uchiha made even the slightest motion of hostility toward Gaara, he would immediately find himself with a kunai up the ass, compliments of his oneechan.
"I apologize if I'm imposing," Gaara replied placidly, "But it's proving difficult to recover my attacker's body. There was a slight setback when your jounin-sensei had to send it to an alternate dimension in order to prevent you from using Amaterasu on my village."
Sasuke's expression darkened. "Are you implying that it's my fault that –"
"Yes," Gaara said, "I am implying that your lack of self-control has cost both of our villages important information. Now, we can either settle this diplomatically, or I can beat the answer out of you. Sharingan or no, I think you'll find it difficult to set sand on fire."
The Uchiha made no response, so Temari took the opportunity to ask, "Milk, Gaara?"
"Yes, please. Thank you," her little brother said as she set the mug before him.
"His said that his name was Deidara. He's a part of an organization called Akatsuki," Sasuke said suddenly. Temari snorted to herself – maybe the boy didn't like to be ignored. "They're a group made up of S-class missing-nin from all over the elemental countries. They mostly act as mercenaries, but lately there's been the rumor that they're on the lookout for the bijuu."
Putting two and two together, Gaara said, "Your brother's one of them."
Sasuke nodded. "I swore to kill that man, and I won't let anyone get in my way."
"You said that they're looking for bijuu? Do you know what their intentions are?" Temari asked.
"No. Like I said, it's just a rumor. Most of this information is from one of the Sannin. As far as I know, Deidara could have been acting on another village's orders."
"And attack Gaara, who just happens to be the jinchuuriki of the Ichibi? That's too convenient to be a coincidence."
"How many people are in this Akatsuki?" Gaara asked.
"I don't know. But it seems like everyone in it has a partner."
"Does that mean there's another one of them still in Suna?" Temari said, alarmed.
Gaara turned to the window. Outside, the streets bustled with activity as the villagers made repairs to the homes Shukaku had destroyed.
"If he's out there," the Kazekage said, surprising the others with his vehemence, "then I'll find him."
Author's Note: Sorry guys, my life is kind of brutal right now. I seem to have gotten back on a writing streak though, but there's no guarantee on how long it will last. Hopefully I don't blow myself up in lab before finishing the next chapter.