Chapter 13: Lingering Reminiscence

The Academy, Konohagakure no Sato (1234 hours April 1, 8 AK)

She couldn't understand why she took so much pleasure from Meichi's corporal punishment.

She clearly remembered Meichi. She had to; the feeling of thrusting her thumb into his right eye was elating. It was virtually impossible for her to forget something so joyous.

He didn't seem to forget either. Suzu knew immediately that he had a personal vendetta against her. She could careless, though. To her, he was weak. She was strong. There was nothing he could possibly do to hurt her in any way or form.

Except hurt Naruto.

In which she would probably remove the other eye.

Maybe he would change his name to Reime if that were the case.

She remained apathetic when Meichi was harassing her. She could care less about the words of hate or spite anyone offered her. That was the person she was, and she enjoyed things like that.

But when Eine-sensei began pulverizing the boy in front of the entire class (sadistically, Suzu could tell that Eine-sensei enjoyed every ounce of pain she inflicted. Her eyes gave her away.) Suzu just could not stop staring. She could not help herself when her curiosity became genuine interest, which further evolved into righteous pleasure. At the end of the demonstration, Suzu found herself grinning maliciously, yearning more pain from the boy who had the audacity to wrong her.

When she realized that she was enjoying this too excessively, she found herself unnerved by her own sadism. She knew it was not normal. If anybody saw her take delight in the suffering of somebody else, what would they think of her?

They would shun her. Ostracize her. Leave her to her own demented pleasures. They would deny her the right to have a friend.

Oh wait. They already did that.

She sat under the shade of a large juniper tree, watching the kids enjoy time with their friends. She watched them laugh, play, smile. She also saw some of them eye her with looks of disgust and pity. Glares reminiscent of her time at Komatsuzaki Homes. It was utterly detestable.

She wanted to be with Naruto. He would save her from this demoralizing loneliness she was dealing with. But she did not know where Naruto was at. She was uncertain of his class schedule, and Eine-sensei had told her that the Academy does not allow students of different grade levels to interact in the same class. She wasn't sure if they had different lunch periods, or if they ate at different locations. But her loneliness was starting to affect her seriously.

She grew envious of the other children's fun. She wanted, more than anything to just frolic in delight among people that she could call friends. She did not want to e at the backend of overwhelming stigma. She was tired of it all. Why was she the one who had to deal with this suffocating isolation? She's been alone for so long. Dog isn't here. Weasel isn't here. Naruto isn't here.

Just as she lamented her status, a peculiar scent drifted across her nose. Suzu knew this scent well. Subconsciously, she began to salivate. It…it couldn't be…could it?

It was the scent of sugar heated and baked into sweetened perfection.

The scent of confectioneries.

She just had to locate the scent. Immediately. It was imperative that she found the sweets, take it from whatever person or place held them, and savour its wondrous flavor. It was Suzu's priority.

After twitching her head in various positions like a bloodhound for several seconds, she came across a young girl, covered in a beige jacket. It was odd why she was wearing a jacket during this time of year; the weather was beginning to warm up, and the heat, while not as stifling as the summertime, was still high enough to discourage such outfits. Suzu couldn't understand the girl's ;logic.

The most intriguing aspect of the girl were her pure white irises. Suzu had never seen anything like them. They were…breathtaking.

Suzu was not the one for compliments, but she could judge a person's character based on the emotions of their eyes. She could tell Naruto was an amazing person from the way he looked at her with his cerulean orbs. His genuine interest really was the primary reason the friendship was sealed, and she saw all of that from meeting his eyes.

This girl…The one with ivory eyes…

Suzu could see nothing but overwhelming sorrow.

Suzu was taken aback. No, no one could possibly be more melancholy than she was, could they? She had to deal with the worst humanity had to offer, she and Naruto both. What could this girl's story be?

…Her interest waned instantaneously the moment she saw the cinnamon roll in the girl's hand.

Immediately, her mind was racking up ideas on her to loot the girl for her valuable treasure. All the while her unrestrained saliva steadily dripped down to her clothing. The cinnamon roll was no longer warm, but she could still smell it, and its pleasurable scent was gratifying for Suzu. A familiar scent was also carried by the breeze to Suzu. She also had mochi?

Suzu MUST capture the goods. At all costs.

Lost in her own lust, she failed to notice the killing intent she indirectly leaked towards the girl. The girl became terrified for her life and desperately sought the source of her dread, hoping to make it stop. In that moment, she locked eyes with Suzu.

'Oh, dang it!' Suzu thought as she took to the ground in embarrassment. 'Oh no….oh no oh no oh no!' Suzu was frantic. She never thought she would actually make eye contact with that girl. She found herself deeply regretting all of her previous thoughts on the cinnamon roll and the mochi. She was too ashamed of herself to look up from the ground. What if the girl was still looking at her?

Suzu did not know what to do in this situation. So she continued to look towards the ground, hoping that the girl would eventually ignore her. Loathing to admit it, but she had to postpone her plans for that succulent cinnamon roll and mochi for a later time (or never, considering the possibility of its digestion).

She heard the sound of familiar chirping. In that moment, sparrows began to flock around Suzu, merrily tweeting and playing around. The sight of the small birds made Suzu feel extremely nostalgic. In the months that she was stuck inside the cabin, Suzu did not catch the glimpse of even a single sparrow. She saw blue jays and mockingbirds, canaries and even falcons. But she did not see a single sparrow. The nostalgia was enough to take Suzu's mind off the pains she was going through.

In spite of the time spent away from her beloved sparrows, Suzu still found comfort and joy in their presence. Their songs opened her heart, and their minuteness brought forth a smile from the depths of Suzu's sorrows. She counted herself very fortunate to live with such creatures.

Stretching her hand out, she silently pleaded with the sparrows to enter her embrace. Like usual, the smallest sparrow graciously accepted the offer, hopping onto her hand and comfortably perching within the warm grasp. Suzu petted the tiny bird, trying to make its stay as content as could.

She did not enjoy thinking back to the past. Not with memories of Komatsuzaki and of the Sandaime's betrayal. But she reminisced jubilantly of her time in Tobirama Park. Her home away from home. The place she could go to where she could forget everything. Cope with the situations at hand without the stress overcoming her. Maybe she could go visit the place after school, to see if it has change much over the past few months.

Sensing some figures approaching, the sparrows took off to the safety of distance. Suzu was down to see her little friends depart, but she knew that any minor disturbance frightened the creatures. She returned to staring downcast at the ground, unconcerned with the silhouettes that stood right in front of her. They probably wanted to mock her or ridicule her. She did not care.

"Hey, your name is Fujibayashi Suzu, is that right?" Asked one of the enigmas.

"…U-un…" Suzu replied without much thought. "…What's it to you?"

Well, Suzu certainly wasn't expecting that. She had thought they were going to laugh at her face, or call her an insult or something horrible along those lines. Then again, not everyone knew who she was or what she had done. It didn't help that Meichi had blurted out her most horrendous crime to the entire class. She did not respond to the insult, though. So maybe her classmates paid no mind to that fact. It did not hurt to be wary though, so she continued to avoid eye contact with whoever was speaking to her.

"Ah, really? Well, me and my friend over here kinda wanted to get to know you a little better!" The girl had spoken with optimism. "I'm Yamanaka Ino, and this is my best friend, Haruno Sakura!"

"Nice to meet you…" The girl, Sakura, mumbled shyly.

"She's kinda shy 'round new people, but not me. Tou-chan said that you were a pretty cool person, so I wanted to go check you out for myself."

"…Y-your father…he said that?" Suzu stuttered. Someone said something nice about her? Who was that person? And why did the name Yamanaka sound so familiar…

"Yeah! I was looking really forward to meeting you! I'm sure Sakura-chan feels the same way."

"U…uh-huh…" Sakura said shyly. From the way Sakura stuttered, Suzu could tell that she was not open to meeting new people. Maybe this "Ino" person roped her into this farce. Yeah, that seemed like the most reasonable explanation.

"Yeah! So I kinda wanted to know. Do you wanna be friends with us? We'd totally love to be friends with you!"

What?

"…Wha…" Suzu muttered in astonishment. "…What did you just say…?"

"I'd just asked if you wanna be friends or something. You don't have to if you don't want to. It's totally fine."

"…Onee-chan, I don't think she wants to be friends…" Sakura said.

"Sakura-chan, what did I say? You don't have to call me Onee-chan! Ino's totally fine!"

"…But you will always be my Nee-chan!"

"Silly Sakura!" Ino shoved Sakura gently in a friendly gesture. Although Suzu had yet to look up from the ground, these playful actions seemed genuine. It did not look like a ploy to hurt Suzu or make her feel bad. Could they…could they actually want to be friends? Suzu just had to know. Ino's eyes. They would tell Suzu the true answers.

Suzu finally looked up from the ground.

Her eyes widened in terror.

She was absolutely disinterested in the pink haired girl with the large forehead. The blonde one with the blue eyes however…

Something within Suzu screamed death as loud as it could.

She was eerily acquainted with the blonde hair and the blue eyes. Overflowing, long blond hair with striking blue eyes.

Her entire body began to tremble uncontrollably. Her mouth, agape widely, shivered in fear at the imposing sight beholding her. She had never felt such fear before in her life.

"IYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" She screamed in horror. She crawled feebly away from Ino, who grew worried at Suzu's response.

"Suzu-chan, are you alright?" Ino asked, reaching her hand out.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Suzu screamed, jerking her hand reflexively to protect her. "LEAVE ME ALONE! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" She stumbled from her back-crawl and landed on the grass. Her eyes continued to stare into Ino's eyes with dread and ominous premonition.

Ino's eyes held such cold malice. Suzu knew. Ino wanted to kill her. Ino wanted to smear her existence in a pile of feces and laugh at her corpse with malevolent joy. Dhaos was taking pride in humiliating Suzu to the point of pitiful disgrace.

Dhaos wanted to savor Suzu's suffering for as long as he could. Suzu saw Dhaos' smile widened to unimaginable proportions. She could feel the elation he was exuding, and she trembled even further.

Dhaos was…

Dhaos…

Who…was Dhaos?

Dhaos inched closer and closer to Suzu, who, in order to protect herself, curled into fetal position. She clenched her eyes tightly whispering to herself pleas of tolerance.

Who…was Dhaos?

Maybe Dhaos would be merciful. Maybe he wouldn't kill Suzu.

Who…was…Dhaos?!

Dhaos was saying something, but Suzu couldn't hear him. She subconsciously closed off her sense of hearing. She did not want to deal with his agonizing words.

Who was Dhaos!

Soon, Umino-sensei and Eine-sensei rushed into the scene, shocked at the miserable state Suzu was in. There were people staring at her. She could tell. She was certain Dhaos was behind the formation of the group that was currently mocking her. She was absolutely positive that, in the center of the group, leading the twisted children in their demented pleasure was a callously grinning Dhaos.

WHO WAS DHAOS!

"Please…just please…leave me alone…please don't hurt me…I'll do anything, just don't hurt me please…!" Suzu pleaded with all of her heart. She couldn't control the tears that flowed from her eyes. She vowed that she would never cry again. That was a shinobi. She was told that shinobi do not cry. She knew that crying would make her weak.

But she was going to die anyways, right? She might as well cry all of her sorrows away. Dhaos was going to kill her, despite her appeals. He would kill her, and then he would kill Dog. Weasel. Naruto. Everyone that she had ever loved. He would erase their existence.

She could feel her body being lifted off the ground. It was time. She accepted her finality. Slipping into unconsciousness, she felt her hot, moist tears dripping down from her face. This was who she really was. A defenseless little child. What she really was. She had lied to herself all this time. She wasn't strong.

She was weak.

And Dhaos would kill her for that.

…Who…was…

"…Dhaos…"

Konoha General Hospital, Konohagakure no Sato (0945 hours April 3, 8 AK)

"I want a detailed report pertaining to this incident presented to me post-haste!" Inoichi commanded to the nearest Chūnin, who complied quickly. Inoichi was slightly frustrated at the time it took for him to learn of this predicament. According to the case files, Fujibayashi had fallen unconscious two days ago, and she had not woken up since. Original diagnosis concluded that she was undergoing a stress-induced coma, but the case became the primary concern of Inoichi when the topic of "Dhaos" came into question.

Before falling unconscious, eyewitness accounts agreed that Suzu had muttered the word when "pleading for her life." It took two days for this news to reach Inoichi, who held his frustrations in check considering the…lackluster organization of the Academy.

He could not blame them. The Academy had primarily been a self-sufficient government organization that never needed to deal with issues of this caliber. In fact, the Grandmaster and other staff where kept uninformed of Suzu's crime and punishment, and for good reason. How many teachers would be enthusiastic about instructing a mentally unstable murderer? And what about the severe backlash Suzu would feel if her classmates were to discover that fact? The results would be counterproductive to Suzu's growth as a social person. In the worst case scenario, she could revert back to her antisocial behavior, and she really would need to be put down for good.

He heard of the blackout from her daughter, who complained passionately about Suzu's apparent disinterest in befriending her. Rising concern led to him personally investigating the matter, which led to the crisis that was currently being dealt with.

'If Suzu was heard uttering the words "Dhaos," that must mean that she had somehow regained her memories…' Inoichi thought perplexed. 'That should be impossible. I made sure to close off all pathways that led to residual memories, and I eliminating the potential for any memory leakage. There should not be any viable methods for Suzu to regain her memories…unless she had outside assistance. That would be a logical explanation. But who would reveal such information to the young girl? Who would open up her mind to those self-destructive thoughts?'

He thought about any potential candidates. He was confident that no one from the Yamanaka clan had any prior knowledge of this case. The Sandaime had tagged all involved parties with a secrecy tag, so there was no way that information could leak to the public. That could only mean that someone within the group had exposed her past to her. But who could it be?

The Hokage could not be the perpetrator. He was genuinely concerned with the girl's well-being, so there was no way he could do something so damaging to the girl's psyche.

Ibiki? No, Ibiki does not have a vested interest in the girl. Most likely the scarred interrogation expert was no longer involved in the case as soon as the case was resolved.

Danzō? Danzō as the suspect seemed to be the best explanation. Yet, he was uncertain of him either. Danzō was hyper-nationalistic. He would never do anything that could undermine the relative peace that blessed Konoha.

The Chūnin that accompanied Inoichi provided Inoichi with the report that he asked for. Inoichi thanked the man and walked into the room that held Suzu's unconscious body. Imagine his surprise when he met eyes with the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, holding tightly to Suzu's palm with a look of concern painted on his face.

"Oh!" Naruto shouted when he noticed Inoichi's presence. "You the doctor that gonna help Suzu-chan? Please you gotta help her! She…she…"

"Hey!" Inoichi screamed to no one in particular. "Who gave permission for the brat to be here?" Inoichi did not want any further interruptions to distract him from the task at hand. For the jinchuuriki to be here...It took everything Inoichi had to maintain his composure.

Inoichi was not stupid. Inoichi knew that there was a huge difference between the jailor and the jail. He knew that the jinchuuriki was not the Kyuubi. He knew that. Yet, he could not help feel extreme anger at the boy every time he looked at him.

A lot of his closest friends were killed during the Kyuubi Attack 7 years ago. He lost quite a few members of his clan in the defense of Konoha. These were people he would never see again, and he was especially glad that the Kyuubi was no longer a threat.

But…but…there was still resentment lingering in his heart. For a practiced psychologist with heavy insight in the inner workings of the human brain, Inoichi thought that he could have his emotions under control. But he was also well aware that he, too, was human. He was easily as susceptible to his sentiments as any other human. If anything were to happen to his little petals…

Which is why he told her that she should not make contact with Naruto. There was no way to confirm whether or not he had control over his tenant. For all he knew, the Kyuubi could take complete control of the young boy at any moment. And considering the circumstances of his childhood, he could not understand how that has not happen yet.

But here he was…with Suzu of all people.

What kind of relationship did he share with Suzu?

"Sir, he was here since the beginning." A medic-nin explained. "We managed to successfully rid him from the premise, but he returned a day later with a signed document of approval from the Hokage himself. There was nothing we can do. He has permission from the Hokage himself to stay by Suzu's side."

He got closer to Inoichi's ear. "Quite frankly, I'm more baffled how he could possible get permission by this method. I did not believe the demon could understand this process in such a manner." He whispered.

"Not now. Besides, you know of the Sandaime's law. Know your place before you speak of the topic." Inoichi said. Talking negatively about Naruto would get them nowhere. He needed to help Suzu as soon as he could.

"Ahem. The boy has been by Suzu's bedside since then. He has not left her side, even staying past visiting hours."

Seriously. What kind of relationship did these two kids share? Why would he go through so much just to be with her?

"Jii-san, she's gonna be okay, is she?" Naruto asked worriedly. "She's gonna wake up…isn't she?"

Inoichi grumbled under his breath, before sighing in resignation. It was unavoidable: he wasn't going to leave, and Inoichi had to dive into Suzu's subconscious immediately.

"She'll be just fine. Now please move out of the way, I need to work with her." Inoichi said.

"What do you mean 'work with her?'" Naruto asked Inoichi. "You just said she'll be just fine. Make up ya mind 'ttebayo!"

How did anyone deal with the ball of energy?

"Look, something's wrong with her mind-"

"Nothing is wrong with her mind!" Naruto screamed. He looked at Suzu with concerned eyes before turning to Inoichi. "She's…she's…please you gotta help her! She's so helpless, there's nothing she could do! She…she always thinking that she could take on my burdens but…please, Jii-san…"

Naruto definitely was close to Suzu. Or maybe he was the kind of boy that empathized easily with any living person. Regardless, Inoichi found his opinion of the jinchuuriki slowly shifting to a stance of tolerant coexistence. From his behavior so far, he doesn't seem to be spiteful or vengeful, despite the village's treatment of him. And he's earnestly concerned for Suzu's well-being. Inoichi could not sense any false emotions coming from the boy.

Inoichi smiled. "Relax. I was planning on helping her from the get go."

"But I saw how you and the other nurse guy looked at me." Naruto said.

"Oh?" Inoichi muttered. 'Darn it…I should be more careful around the boy.'

"Let me just say one thing, Jii-san." Naruto spoke in a serious tone. "I don't care what you or anybody else thinks of me. You could call me all the names in the world, and I wouldn't give a flying damn! But…" He looked at Suzu with sorrow in his eyes. "Please…leave Suzu-chan out of it…she deserves happiness 'ttebayo."

"I would not allow anything to happen to my goddaughter." Inoichi reaffirmed. "Trust me on this one."

"She's your goddaughter?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"She is." Inoichi lied. While friends with Shiina and Mumei, they were not close enough for Suzu to become Inoichi's goddaughter. He just wanted to satisfy Naruto's curiosity so that he could operate on Suzu. They were wasting time with this idle banter and it was beginning to get on Inoichi's nerves.

"YA BASTARD!" Naruto sharply screamed, surprising Inoichi. "Why didn't you take her in then? Why did you leave her in that…that awful orphanage when you could have taken care of her?! You know what, don't tell me. I know we are wasting time." Naruto clenched his fist tightly in concealed frustration. He wasn't going to let his anger jeopardize Suzu's safety.

"Kid, I—"

"Don't." Naruto walked away from Suzu, giving Inoichi enough space to work. "Just…please, help her. I'm sure you had your reasons 'ttebayo."

Inoichi walked forward. He couldn't help but feel deep remorse from Naruto's blameless ire. He was right. Even if he did not know Suzu well enough, and even if he wasn't close enough to her parents, he could have still done something for the girl. Suzu paled in importance to the growth of his own daughter. It may seem selfish, but he was preoccupied with the needs of Ino over everything else.

No. Inoichi shook his head heavily. Now was not the time to regret past actions. He was wasting time. Placing his hand over her forehead he concentrated intensely, feeling everything go black during his dive into Suzu's subconscious mind.

Suzu's Subconscious (1010 hours April 3, 8 AK)

Inoichi opened his eyes, growing gradually accustomed to his successful dive into Suzu's mind.

Though, from his point of view, things have gotten more skewed now than the last time he visited.

The abundant fragmentation that was widespread before grew even more chaotic. While there was once ground that he could walk on, there was no longer any land that he could comfortably transverse. All of the earth was shattered and drifted idly by in a mundane fashion.

Because he did not have walking grounds to safely concentrate his center of gravity on, he was more afflicted by the zero gravity. It took him several minutes of floating around in space before he familiarized himself with the movement in this distortion.

There were wild winds brushing violently passed Inoichi, hindering his progress slightly. But this was nothing Inoichi had not handled before, so he braved the "elements" and pressed onward.

The desolation of this distortion world was more pronounced, with asteroid remains containing hints of dead flora. The sky was a dark orange, and visibility was stunted by aggressive sandstorms. Inoichi thought that maybe the state of Suzu's mind was a byproduct of his tampering. Then again, there were multiple different factors that played into Suzu's growing isolation.

Just like before, images began to highlight Inoichi's path. Except, instead of precious memories, these were the sights and sounds that surrounded Suzu's unconscious body. Suzu seemed to have some awareness of what was going outside of her. The images and sounds were primarily focused on Naruto, however, and Inoichi could feel radiating warmth being emitted from within her subconscious with each appearance of Naruto. Suzu was very fond of the blond rascal, and Inoichi found himself wondering once again why he had a negative outlook on the jinchuuriki.

The journey to the palace took quite a bit more time than last, considering that the "route" had all but vanished from this plain of existence. He was not surprised to see that it remained intact in spite of the misery orbiting it. From his initial encounter, Dhaos proved to be grossly arrogant, belittling everyone and everything while placing himself in the highest bracket of the pedestal he placed for himself.

Dhaos should not be much of an issue, however. If he had indeed broken out of the mental constrictions that Inoichi placed in Suzu's mind, then he would simply redo the seal. Dhaos maybe all powerful inside Suzu's mind, but Inoichi was an expert in mind techniques. He can subdue Dhaos once again without much fault.

The palace looked to be in a similar state of disrepair from when Inoichi was last here. This could be a sign of inactivity from Dhaos' end, which would be welcome news.

"I will be back, and you will pay for your insolence…" Dhaos' parting words before his sealing managed to creep into Inoichi's thoughts. Although Inoichi had little doubt that his seal was effective and most likely is still active, he couldn't help but feel apprehensive. He was travelling through a mindscape that was almost broken beyond repair, terrain that Dhaos had complete knowledge over. If he indeed freed himself, he could preemptively strike at Inoichi. He did not want to risk dying here; his daughter still had a wonderful future ahead of herself.

He climbed up the long series of stairs leading to the central throne room. The higher ascended, the more he noticed a thick gaseous like substance originating from Dhaos' mausoleum.

'Is this…miasma?' Inoichi thought to himself. He quickly formed a mental gas mask as a precaution for the fog rolling down the palace. 'It's all stemming from the mausoleum.'

Inoichi inspected his workmanship. The mausoleum did not look to have been disturbed considerably. Indeed, miasma was leaking from an opening of the casket, but this situation could be remedied very easily. Inoichi breathed a sigh of relief.

The miasma was the primary cause for Suzu's mental breakdown. It embodied Dhaos' will, attempting to manipulate the girl with suggestions and visions. These visions must have been caused by post-traumatic stimuli. He couldn't understand why it appeared that Ino was the impetus for Suzu's mental breakdown.

Inoichi concluded that the seal formed a leak after months of social isolation further damaged her mindscape. The easiest solution to this problem would be for her to find some new friends, such as Naruto and potentially his little girl. Still, the damage looks like it could be irreversible. Inoichi was optimistic about that not being the case, but unless Suzu was further analyzed, he could not be absolutely sure.

Inoichi decided on the next course of action. He used his "Hijutsu: Shinten Tōbatsu" technique to fortify the mausoleum, preventing Dhaos from having an influence in the girl's private life. Tightening the casket closed, all of the miasma that was plaguing Suzu's mind gradually returned to the mausoleum, where it joined Dhaos in his seal. Once all the miasma had safely returned to the point of origin, Inoichi removed his gas mask. He hated working with masks like those; they were completely stuff and absolutely uncomfortable to work with. He wondered how the ANBU could wear their porcelain masks for hours on end.

With the immediate problem out of the way, Inoichi worked to suppress Suzu's most recent memories. He hated doing this again to the poor girl, but if she had a sudden recollection of the "Dhaos" entity, all of the work he put into subduing Dhaos' influence could be made null. He deemed the best point of erasure would be the first day of classes at the Academy. In a sense, it was fortunate that Suzu was unconscious for the past couple of days. She would not be losing any vital lessons from Academy lectures.

Inoichi rapidly went through all of the memories of the last couple of days, erasing the most unessential of the group with special emphasis on Dhaos or any emotional triggers and breakdowns she underwent. Satisfied with his work, Inoichi closed his eyes, allowing the world before his to collapse into darkness.

Konoha General Hospital, Konohagakure no Sato (1102 hours April 3, 8 AK)

Naruto had stared worriedly at the still Inoichi for the entire duration that he sat in front of Suzu. Naruto was completely confused as to why he would just put his hands on Suzu's forehead. How was that gonna help her get any better? Then he just stopped moving! The nerve!

Naruto was growing impatient with the lack of progress from Jii-san's end. He felt his creative juices going into overdrive as he thought of numerous hilarity-inducing pranks to play on the blond man when he decided to snap out of it. Naruto couldn't help but snicker mischievously. When he was this bored, he could not control his desire for mishap and mayhem.

Naruto did not bring his toolkit, but he still had a feather from one of the sparrows that flew by. It just landed on Suzu's forehead and perched itself for several minutes. Naruto was not the type of man to disturb animals, so he let the sparrow be. When it finished whatever business it had, it flew off into the yonder. Fortunately, the sparrow did not leave any…waste products, but a nice, long feather.

Tickling was a simple prank. Not like some of his more grand pranks, but a prank nonetheless. Just as he was about to maliciously tickle the back of Jii-san's neck, the old man unexpectedly regained his composure, causing Naruto to fall back on his seat in fright.

"Hmm?" Inoichi wondered.

"Dammit." Naruto muttered, rubbing the top of his head. "Jii-san, next time don't startle me like that 'ttebayo!" He shook his fist around in protest for a bit before becoming serious.

"…She'll be just fine." Inoichi said with a smile.

"How do you know, old man?" Naruto asked in irritation. "All you did was just sit there for like 30 minutes! You didn't do anything!"

"That was a clan technique Naruto." Inoichi explained. "To put it simply, I was just fixing stuff around her head."

"…huh?" Naruto mumbled in slight bewilderment. Everything Inoichi just said flew right passed him.

"…Just give her a bit of rest, and she should be awake within the next couple of hours." Inoichi decided to avoid the topic. Clearly Naruto could not understand the meekest of explanations.

"UN!" Naruto agreed enthusiastically! "Thank you very much, Jii-san!"

"It was a pleasure." Inoichi said. It truly was. He was very happy that Suzu will be safe for the time being. But he needed to let the Grandmaster know that he should be made aware of the situation immediately should it occur again.

"Well, I should be returning to my shop now." Inoichi said, getting up and walking towards the exit. "…Oh, before I go…" Inoichi turned to look at Naruto, teal eyes meeting cerulean. "Suzu thinks the world of you. She's still thinking of you right now. You should be grateful to have a friend that is concerned about your well-being, even in a coma. Likewise, I'm…proud that she could have a friend as caring and compassionate as you are."

Naruto gave him the biggest grin he could make, along with a thumb-up gesture. "I know, 'ttebayo!"

Inoichi looked down on the ground with a solemn expression. "…I'm…I'm sorry…" He said, avoiding contact with Naruto. Before Naruto could understand what had just happened, Inoichi left the room.

Could he have…Is it true that he really…

Shortly after Inoichi left the room, another person walked in. He was not in a particular rush, but he had a troubled undertone with each step he took.

The man was wearing standard ANBU garb, similar to Dog. Except his mask was in the shape of a weasel. Aware of the blonde's presence, the ANBU broke the silence first.

"Hello Naruto-kun. It has been quite some time."

Hey y'all!

Chapter 13 completed. I didn't edit this; I didn't have time to edit it, as The Walking Dead Season 2: Episode 3 came out yesterday. I watched it and fell in so much love with the story so far. It's just too good man (I personally think its a better story than the television series, I haven't read the comics so I can't judge off that).

Still feeling undermotivated, don't know when that is going to change. I'll keep you posted if it does. For now, I am heavily vested in beating my Tales of Symphonia speed run record of 8 hours, 3 minutes and 45 seconds.

Update on story stats: 42 Reviews, 38 Favorites, 49 Followers, 1 Communities, and 5,420 Hits. Thanks a lot for the rise in reviews and special thanks to .73 for rating my fan fiction 3.5/5. I want feedback on my work so that I can better improve it for your amusement, so don't be afraid to offer criticism and/or praise.

Here's hoping I get back into the swing of things.

-Blackrazgriz 5/14/2014 2:05AM EST