DISCLAIMER: No matter how much I want it, I do not own Naruto. I am still only borrowing the characters and only killing off a few…I promise to return them in good condition – well, maybe slightly battered!

Again - huge shout out to my beta, COOKIEMONSTER77!

Chapter Eleven:

A New Day

All our times have come

Here but now they're gone

Seasons don't fear the reaper

~Blue Oyster Cult~

During the twelve hour journey, Naruto never regained consciousness. The destructive toxicity of the tailed beast shroud wreaked havoc upon the boy's frail human body. He maintained a tenuous grasp on life while his body desperately tried to heal itself. The only sign of life was the slight rise and fall of his chest. Jiraiya had never felt so helpless in his whole life. He was deeply concerned about the other boys as well, but couldn't do anything about it yet.

It was still hours from dawn when they arrived at the village gate. Jiraiya didn't pause but for a second; enough for the guards to recognize him, but not enough to talk. He rushed towards the hospital with them in hot pursuit.

He shoved the boy into the first medic's arms that he found then shakily breathed a sigh of relief. Anbu arrived not long after. They found the Sannin sitting calmly in a chair in the lobby waiting for them.

Knowing what was coming, he said, "Can we please wait until I hear some news of the boy before you take me in? I'm not going anywhere until then."

~~O~~

A white walled room.

A narrow bed.

Night at the windows.

He drifted in and out of bad dreams, each one of Waterfall. Every time he regained consciousness, which was never longer than a minute or two, he saw the same beloved man hovering over him, Jiraiya. He needed to talk to him, but couldn't even open his mouth before the gut-wrenching pain became too much and he slipped back into the numbing darkness.

Sometimes the Pervy Sage would be talking to him, but he wasn't able to get his blurry mind to focus enough to hear or understand the words. He lifted Naruto's head off the pillow and encouraged him to drink cool water through a straw. Even though it made him feel like a baby, Naruto did not protest.

Besides, he had neither the voice nor the strength to argue. His throat felt as if he had swallowed a gallon of sake and a match. He did not even have the energy to lift his hand off the sheets. Inside, he was screaming from the pain. His lips moved, but no sound came out. Where's Sasuke? Where's Sai?

"Just rest," said his godfather kindly.

As soon as Naruto drifted off again, Jiraiya went out into the hallway where a jonin waited. He regretted having to leave, but he had to. He needed to retrieve the other two boys; not only for their sakes, but Naruto's as well. He needed to see them when he awoke again to ease his mind.

"I won't be long," he instructed, "Don't let anyone in until I return."

At the man's nod, Jiraiya quickly left the hospital. He summoned a toad to take him to their home where Sai and Sasuke waited.

~~Mount Myōboku~~

When the toad's mouth opened, it revealed a world so different from the battle-torn one they had just left. Slow and unsure, they walked out. A vast, green ocean of grass greeted them. After all that cacophony of destruction, the silence was so profound, they felt as though they went deaf. The air no longer reeked of smoke and ash. It was clean and pure.

…and so wrong…

Tears of shame began to flow from Sasuke's face, scorching and heavy. Sai howled in misery. "Naruto!" they cried out.

In a move of rare tenderness, Sasuke hugged Sai to him and promised them both. "He's our brother, we'll get him back where he belongs…with us."

"Fū is dead, isn't she?" Sai asked brokenly.

They both thought at the same time, "And it's all my fault…"

"It looked like it," replied Sasuke with a hitch. "We can't do anything about it right now." He pulled Sai's shirt off and tried to staunch the flowing blood with gauze from his pack. There was so much, it worried him. He couldn't lose this brother too. "Can you stop it? Do you have the strength?"

"I'll try," replied Sai as his hand glowed green. It sputtered out several times before the boy gave up. He was too drained of chakra to do any good. His face grew paler and his arm fell down, too weak to hold it up any more. Seconds later, Sai passed out.

Sasuke worriedly scratched at the dried blood that marked a path from his eyes to his chin. He didn't know what to do. In desperation, he dipped Sai's fingers in the wound, made the summoning seals, and slammed the other boy's hand on the ground.

Kajiarashi was not was he was praying for. "Not you!" he cried out distraughtly, "I need Sai's summons. I need the slugs!" He looked down at Sai. His face was nearly white and his lips were blue. Not good at all.

"Help…! Somebody…! Anybody…!"

Sasuke shook Sai roughly and shouted, "You said today was not your day to die dammit… don't you dare start lying to me Aho!"

Kajiarashi let out a piercing shriek that echoed in Sasuke's ears. The sound was so loud his vision doubled, then tripled. He tried to cover his ears as everything became black…

~~O~~

Blue sky…

Sasuke blinked and struggled to understand why he was moving. He looked down and saw he was floating above the ground. He blinked again. Something held him around the waist. He turned his head and tried not to scream as an enormous green, alien face stared back at him.

He blinked again.

Everything came rushing back.

"Sai!"

"It's alright boy. Calm yourself. He is right here," said a wizened old toad hopping alongside the larger one. "My wife is taking care of him as we speak."

Sasuke looked back to where he pointed and saw that the old geezer was right. Sai was lying on top of another toad while an equally ancient female amphibian was attending to him. "Is…is he really going to be alright?" he asked doubtfully.

"Humph, I told you he was, didn't I," he grumbled.

Sasuke squirmed and then demanded, "Put me down. I need to see him."

As soon as he was released, he leapt up on the toad and crouched down next to the pale boy. Sai's eyes were open. He turned his head and stared at the Uchiha. He said with a pained grimace, "I would never lie to you."

Sasuke squeezed his hand. "Maybe not, but you seem to enjoy making me worry."

"You were worried about me?"

"Well, you owe me a hundred ryo. I can't get that back if you're gone."

"You were worried about me."

"Get your rest, Aho. We need to get back and find Naruto and Jiraiya."

Sai gazed at Sasuke for a moment before he gave a miniscule nod and closed his eyes. A slight smile was on his lips. "Hey Sasuke?" he murmured.

"Hn?"

"Did you forget to wear deodorant today?"

Sasuke stared in shock for all of three seconds before he burst into laughter. It felt so wrong to be laughing at such a time, after all that happened and all those who died, but it was such a relief to hear Sai be so…so Sai. Still chuckling, he said, "Aho, you smell as bad as I do."

~~O~~

The next morning there was still no Jiraiya and definitely no laughter. The full impact of what happened hit them hard. They knew that they had caused the village's destruction by letting Suien go. He showed enemy shinobi the secret location of Waterfall lead them through the barrier. It wouldn't have happened if they had ensured Suien's demise. None of it would have happened…

Sasuke couldn't look at Sai. Every time he did, he saw Sai nearly dying. Shame tore at his insides like a jagged knife. It wouldn't have happened if he had done was he was supposed to do. He was a shinobi now. He didn't do his duty and what's worse; he wasn't strong enough to defeat Orochimaru.

Where was Naruto? Where was that damn Sannin?

Sai couldn't look at Sasuke either. Guilt consumed every thought…the blood running down from Sasuke's eyes, the death of Fū…all caused by him. It was all because he allowed Suien to escape. He knew better and yet he did nothing. "Was Naruto dead because of me? Was Jiraiya?" He wished he knew.

That night, Jiraiya appeared in MountMyōboku to retrieve them. The boys were silent after having asked only one thing – Is Naruto still alive. The Sannin noticed the haunted looks right away – the same look Naruto now held - and felt saddened by it. It was always such a tragedy to see the loss of innocence in a child. That was the true life of a shinobi. He knew that they would never be the same again. They truly were adults now.

~~O~~

Light at the windows. A new day…

His arms and legs felt leaden and sore…

His body felt worse than ever. Swollen…

"Sai…Sasuke…," he said in a coarse and whispery voice that didn't sound like his own.

"Right here," said Jiraiya, moving his body back so that Naruto could see the bed next to his where the two boys lay sleeping. "They're fine," he quickly reassured when the boy's face lost what little color it had gained. "They aren't hurt now; they're just tired. They refused to leave you when I brought them here last night. The brats stayed up all night waiting for you to wake."

"Naruto?" Sasuke murmured sleepily.

When Naruto twitched, Sasuke jolted awake, nearly knocking Sai off the bed.

"Is he awake now? Is he going to be alright?" Sasuke demanded as he lunged to the other bed and practically shoved Jiraiya out of the way to get to his best friend. The sight of Naruto's bleary blue eyes peeking out beneath the bandages covering his entire head, all but made the Uchiha crumple with relief. "I'm glad to see you baka," he said quietly.

"Still…a…Teme..."

Sai eased over to his other side and touched his face gently. "I too am relieved to see that you have survived."

"Still…an…Aho..."

Naruto struggled to keep his eyes open as he drank in the sight of his best friends alive and well. Each time he blinked, it took longer and longer for the lids to open again. A small smile graced his lips as he drifted out of consciousness again.

~~O~~

A small lamp burning…

The slight sound of movement beside him…

Twilight at the windows...

Naruto was still weary when he awoke; his previous prolonged slumber having done nothing to abate it. He felt enormously heavy; he could lift a foot or move a limb only with effort, and even keeping his head up was a strain on his neck. It was very unsettling to him. It was almost as if Jiraiya had put the strongest resistance seal ever on him. Where was his usual stamina? Virtually every joint in his body ached dully, even his elbow, wrist and finger joints, but especially his knees, hips, and shoulders. He felt feverish, not exactly ill, but as if his strength had been steadily drained to nothing.

"Raya?" he slurred, "What happened to me? Why do I hurt so badly?" He shifted his body the slightest bit then hissed in pain as a bright red blossom spread across his bandaged covered torso.

"Don't move Naruto. The medics have spent a lot of time healing you. You still have quite a bit of skin to regrow."

"I'll try, but it hurts. What happened to me?"

Jiraiya had plenty of time to formulate an answer to that eventual question. He had decided to be honest. He told Naruto about the transformation his body had undergone. "If not for your body's rapid healing abilities, you would be dead," he concluded.

Weariness had not dulled his senses; on the contrary, it sharpened them. After he heard the details of the events at Waterfall, one question remained, "Will this happen to me again?"

The Sannin patted Naruto gently and said, "In truth, I don't know. It seems that the Kyuubi has awakened. Don't worry," he quickly said as fear crossed the boy's face. "I will find a way to help you control it. The seal is still as powerful as ever. Soon you will have to confront the demon. It's about time the nine-tails worked for you."

Naruto shivered. "It has so much hate, Raya." He repeated to himself, "…so much hate." Naruto raised his eyes and tried to repress the fear that coursed through him. "More than anything I've ever seen or felt before."

"…and it hates me."

Jiraiya took the boy's hand in his and gently squeezed it reassuringly. "Don't think about it right now. We will find a way. Don't worry. I'm here for you."

~~O~~

By the early evening, nearly forty-eight hours after Jiraiya brought the injured boy into the hospital, Naruto was sitting up, wide awake and alert. Jiraiya had left to talk with the village leader, leaving the three boys alone.

His muscles were no longer spasming; his chest did not ache when he drew a big breath. Pain still flared over his body periodically. When he spoke, he did so without moving his facial muscles more than was absolutely necessary because the cracks in his lips and corners of his mouth reopened easily. That was fine by him.

Naruto didn't want to talk. He didn't want to think. He didn't want to feel. Every time he looked at Sai and Sasuke all he could think of was his failure. Jiraiya made them write letters home. He said it would help. It didn't.

~~O~~

The next day, Naruto could sit up on his own and move about with only minimal help which Sasuke and Sai were eager to provide. Still, something was wrong. He felt it in his gut. An anxious feeling came over him which he couldn't explain. It was more than his feelings of disappointment in himself and failure. It was similar to the feeling he first got when he met Fū. Another deep pang of regret hit him like a sledgehammer. Fū…

He wanted to tell the others, but they were all avoiding each other's eyes. They probably blamed him because of the villagers dying, because it was his fault, because he urged them to forget about Suien, because he made a stupid joke, because he…

That feeling again.

Stronger.

Dangerous.

He wanted to warn them, but of what…?

Sai tried to finish helping him eat, but he was no longer hungry. His heart was pounding for some reason. Sasuke told him they were going to the cafeteria to get their own food, which he barely heard. Minutes after they left, his mouth went dry.

Coming this way.

Coming fast.

The door slowly opened and someone entered his room; someone he had never seen before, but he somehow knew. The curtain beside his bed was drawn back, the scrape of the rods loud and shrill in his ears…

"Who are you?"

"What are you?"

AN:

I know this chapter is a bit smaller than the others, but I felt that what happens next deserves its own chapter. Big thanks to everyone that has favorited/followed/reviewed - your the peanut butter to my jelly! LOL

Wanted to send a shout out to the guest reviewers since this story started. Sorry I can't PM you - so thanks to:

stephanie, Lazuli, Gamma89, Chi-Chan, Tom Davis, and unnamed guests.