A/N: Hello readers. I must apologize for not updating since last February. Unfortunately my computer kicked the bucket. But I'm back and plan to update as much as possible without losing the quality of my stories.
Hinata awoke to the feeling of Naruto shaking violently. She quickly shook him and he awoke silently and hid under the covers. Gaara rushed in.
"What happened Hinata?" Gaara asked in a panic.
"He seems to have had a nightmare. But he is fine now…or at least as fine as his current state allows…" Hinata replied.
"I see. If you need any assistance call for me, Temari, or Kankuro." Gaara replied.
"Thank you Gaara." Hinata bowed.
"No need for formalities. Just treat me like one of your friends." Gaara stated.
"As you wish, Gaara." Hinata replied. "I'm going out to get some stuff. Can you watch over him for me?" Hinata asked.
"Yes. Do take as much time as you need." Gaara replied.
"Thank you." Hinata left to head home, wash up and go to the market.
Three Hours Later…
Hinata arrived at the hospital and walked into the room to find Naruto still hiding under the sheets. She sighed and walked up to him.
"Naruto…You have to come out sometime." She said in a motherly type voice.
Naruto just stayed under the sheets silent. Hinata sighed. Suddenly a holographic image of Kabuto appeared.
"Tisk tisk tisk…" Kabuto greeted.
"I'll kill you Kabuto." Hinata said with her Byakugan flaring.
"I just came to remind you that my actual body, not a hologram, will appear if he starts to get any better. And he won't be the only one hurt either…" After stating this, the hologram dissipated.
"That is half of the monster responsible, yes?" Gaara responded from the doorway.
"Yes. That is Kabuto…" Hinata responded coldly.
"I see. We will get the both of them. Don't worry." Gaara responded calmly.
"They're here…"Naruto cried out. "They've come back. They are mad."
"What do you mean?" Hinata asked but before she could respond Kabuto and Orochimaru appeared.
"Hi brat…I have a new experiment to try on you." Orochimaru yelled. He bit Naruto in the neck and went through ten hand seals. "I hope you enjoy my little present." With that, the two disappeared.
"What did he do?" Gaara asked.
"I don't know." Hinata replied. Suddenly Naruto started screaming in pain uncontrollably. He fell out of the bed and grabbed his neck which was glowing purple.
"Gaara! Get Tsunade! I'm going to figure out what is wrong" Hinata ordered. Gaara nodded and disappeared in sand. Hinata ran over to Naruto and as she started the examination she found a note addressed to her.
Dear Hyuga Girl,
We left Naruto a little present. It won't kill him. But whenever he infuses chakra, he will be in the most unbearable pain imaginable. After the mark is placed it will force him to infuse chakra and it will cause him immense pain while it adjusts to his chakra. Have fun
Orochimaru
Hinata scrunched the paper. "Why won't they leave you alone…" She threw the paper away and waited until Tsunade and Gaara arrived. Once they were in the room she disappeared in a blur, eager to find a certain white haired, perverted Sanin.
Near a hot spring…
"Oh this is Great! Absolutely gorgeous! The absolute best research I've had since I met that yellow haired brat!" Everyone's favorite, white haired pervert exclaimed to no one in particular, all while paying no mind to the completely pissed off chakra signature in the area. It wasn't Tsunade so he didn't think he had a problem. Suddenly he felt the chakra signature right behind him. He turned around to see Hinata behind him, all calm and collected. "And why are you here, Ms. Hyuga?"
"I need to talk to you, if you aren't too busy." Hinata replied.
"Your chakra signature shows you are livid, but it doesn't appear to be directed towards me." Jiraiya stated.
"It's Naruto's job to keep you in line, not mine." She replied.
"So why are you pissed?" He asked, with a grin on his face.
"I think you know why…" she replied. She clenched her fists at the thought, and her nails caused blood to drip down her hand, yet she seemed to be unbothered.
"That's what I thought. Let me guess, you want to train with me to get strong enough to stop Orochimaru and Kabuto?' Jiraiya asked, although he was sure he knew the answer.
"Yes. They keep attacking Naruto, even within the confines of the village. If we don't stop them, they'll kill him. He won't fight back." She replied.
"Come with me. I've been meaning to visit Naruto. I need to do some tests." Jiraiya said.
"What do you mean?" Hinata asked in a confused way.
"Do you know of Naruto's special situation?" Jiraiya asked trying not to break the law.
"Everyone that was in the briefing knows Naruto is the nine-tailed fox's Jinchuriki. Orochimaru made that all clear." She said sympathetically.
"Ok. Well I need to run some tests on his seal and see if Orochimaru did anything to it." Jiraiya answered. The two left towards Naruto's hospital room, all while Hinata explained to Jiraiya everything they knew about what Orochimaru and kabuto did to Naruto, as well as what they had done to him within the village walls.
In Naruto's Room…
Naruto has been flailing and screaming since the new seal was placed on him. Tsunade and the other doctors have been trying to help him since they arrived. Hinata and Jiraiya burst through the doors and Jiraiya runs up to Naruto.
"Jiraiya, what are you doing?" Tsunade yelled.
"I know you are trying to help him but we are dealing with seals Tsunade. We both know that he needs my help with this." Jiraiya replied. Tsunade reluctantly backed away and Jiraiya put Naruto under a seal that would keep him asleep and suppress his pain while he performed the examination. Jiraiya ripped off Naruto's shirt and applied chakra to his stomach. This caused the infamous seal to appear, as well as 5 other seals across his body. "It's just as I feared. Orochimaru has been testing his seals on Naruto. You said kabuto made a hand sign and a mark appeared across his body, right Hinata?" Jiraiya asked as he kept applying chakra to the seal area.
"Yes." Hinata replied.
"That mark on his forehead is similar to the caged bird seal. It responds to the chakra of Kabuto and Orochimaru when they make the seal of confrontation. However, by studying its design, I have determined that there are two differences between this and the caged bird seal." Jiraiya stated.
"What are they?" Tsunade asked, knowing by Jiraiya's face that she was going to hate this.
"This seal will never cause any physical damage to Naruto. No matter how much chakra is applied nor how long he suffers the effects of the seal, he will only suffer mental pain. The same pain you experienced when your loved ones died Tsunade." Tsunade looked down with tears in her eyes. "This also means it will never kill him. The other thing is that unlike the caged bird seal, there is no reversal jutsu…I don't know how long it will take to create a reversal…if it is even possible." Hinata had tears falling down her face at this point. "The seal on his neck is similar to the one on Sasuke's neck in that it reacts when the victim infuses chakra. However, Sasuke's is meant to brainwash him so it will be easier to take over his body when the time comes, whereas Naruto's is meant to cause immense physical pain. However, this seal won't kill him. In fact, I don't think Orochimaru wants him to die. Orochimaru wants him to suffer as long as possible." At this, Hinata used a gentle fist strike on the wall, destroying it. Jiraiya looked at her with fear in his eyes before returning to the examination. "The seal beside the seal on his stomach was designed to block communication between Naruto and the Nine Tails. It also prevents their chakra from mixing together which eliminates Naruto's insane healing ability. The one on his back…" Jiraiya rolled Naruto over so everyone could see, "is to alert Orochimaru and Kabuto when Naruto disobeys any of the rules they imposed upon him. And the one on top of his head is a tracker. Orochimaru and Kabuto can teleport to his location whenever they feel the need. Normally, I could remove these four with ease. However, Orochimaru modified them slightly. If I we to use the normal technique to undo them, Naruto would die. I'm going to need time to work on reversing all of these…" Jiraiya concluded as Orochimaru and Kabuto appeared. Just as the rest of the rookie twelve and their Jōnin sensei arrived, Orochimaru applauded. The killing intent coming off of everyone in the room minus Kabuto, Orochimaru, and Naruto, was unreal.
"Very good Jiraiya. I see your skills have not waned over the years. You got almost everything right." Orochimaru exclaimed.
"What do you mean by almost, pedophile!" Tsunade yelled in anger.
"Once again Orochimaru, you are wrong. That was a test to see if my hunch was right." Jiraiya stated angrily with gritted teeth. "You applied a seal to his brain that allows you to see what he sees and hear what he hears." Jiraiya said, almost more pained than angered…almost.
"Excellent work Jiraiya! Once again, your knowledge in seals almost surpasses Naruto's…" Orochimaru wasn't allowed to finish that sentence as both Tsunade and Jiraiya slammed him in the face, sending him on a collision course with the wall.
"Nobody is allowed to know about that until the truth reveals itself. Only you, me, the old man, and Tsunade know. Don't you make me behead you in front of these kids." Jiraiya said with malice and venom. Orochimaru and Kabuto disappeared, knowing they stood no chance against his many angry shinobi. Jiraiya put a new shirt on Naruto and returned him to his normal state.
"What was he going to say Jiraiya?" Hinata asked.
"No one but those who already know are allowed to know until it reveals itself and one of the four that know is dead. That was old man Sarutobi. He made the decree to me, Tsunade, and Orochimaru and that is all I'm allowed to divulge." Jiraiya replied. "I'm going to start working on the reversals. And Orochimaru, just so you know, I'm working on them here in his room so you can't hurt him just because I'm working on the reversals." Jiraiya stated.
"I'll be staying here as well. I know you aren't dumb enough to attack him with two Sannin in the room. Not to mention Gaara, Hinata, Kankuro, and Temari. I want everyone else to leave except for the stated names." Tsunade ordered. Everyone else left and Tsunade continued. "Only one of us will leave the room at a time. I want everyone to take these. If one of us is out of the room or we get separated and Orochimaru attacks, use these to communicate." Tsunade passed out the communicators and they began their duty.
Inside Naruto's Mindscape…
It was cold and foggy. The water was half frozen and toxic purple. There was ice on the walls and pipes. The walls were cracked and chipped everywhere with a few holes, which indicated the horrible state of Naruto's mind. Naruto was laying asleep in the large chamber at the end of the labyrinth of hallways. He was half submerged in the polluted, freezing water. Towards the largest wall was a large, iron gate, surrounded by a purple barrier. Behind it was the Nine Tails, who was bashing and clawing at the barrier, trying to break it.
"If I don't break this barrier, then I can't speak to or help the brat. And from the looks of it, he needs me now more than ever…"
A/N: Thank you for reading the new, long awaited chapter of Shattered Mind. I hope everyone enjoys it. I'll work on the next one when I feel ready to. I have to work on my other stories as well. As always, comment any criticisms you have and I hope you're looking forward to the next chapter.