Chapter 23: The Waiting Game

"Terrible truths are a thorn in the side, but the unknown is an especially exquisite torture."

~Me

A woman lay prone on the bed, completely still save for the rise and fall of her chest in sync with the wheezing gush of the life support machine. Her eyes were closed. Clear plastic tubes were everywhere, protruding from her mouth, throat, abdomen and arms.

Naruto stepped closer, curling his fingers around the cool metal of the bedside rail. The term "redhead" must have been coined specifically for her. Her scarlet hair wreathed around her pale face in long tendrils, strands straying over the pillow.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Naruto in a hushed voice.

"The results of…too much electrical exposure." replied his father.

"Electric shock therapy." He added in answer to the teen's questioning look.

Naruto raised a hand to cover up his sharp inhalation of breath.

"By the time the corps rescued us, she was already gone. Perhaps not in body, but in mind."

"I couldn't go to you. If the Akatsuki found her, if they found a way to get her, it could expose you. The same goes for me. If the Akatsuki found out that either of us were alive they would stop at nothing to find the cure."

"We…wanted you to have the chance at a normal life, not to be barred up with us inside these walls."

He gestured to the plain white of the room.

A normal life, thought Naruto bitterly. The irony.

"Why didn't you cure her?"

"What do you mean?"

"With the 'kyuubi' solution." He said, "If the electric shocks messed up her brain, did something to her neural pathways, why didn't you try it?"

"I couldn't reproduce it, Naruto. Believe me, I've tried." His father replied. He took his wife's hand in his own and caressed it gently. "It took an entire team of us to create it. My colleagues were killed, and I destroyed every shred of the records when we found out the Akatsuki were after it. All that was left was…" he trailed off.

"Me." said Naruto, finishing for him.

He frowned. "You could have asked for my blood. I would have given it to you."

His father shook his head. "Your mother and I both agreed. No matter what, your safety would be the most important thing." He gave a bitter laugh. "Then we failed at that too."

He placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and squeezed it gently.

"I'm sorry, Naruto. I'm so sorry for all that happened to you. We didn't know until-…well, until it was too late."

Naruto felt the heat rise in his cheeks, and his eyes pricked with tears.

He pulled away from his father's touch and walked over to the window, feigning interest as he looked out. All the while deep, heated shame crept up, burning his face. His dad knew about Orochimaru, about everything. Of course he knew. It had been all over the news. The tragic story of Naruto Uzumaki, son of the traitors.

He bit his lip, focusing on the mild pain. He gripped the sill of the window.

"If we had known," began his father, but Naruto interrupted.

"I'm here now." He said in a tight voice, and turned back around, staring down at the prone figure of his mother. "We can give her my blood. We can help her."

He didn't look up to meet his father's eyes.

"Very well." The man said in a gentle voice. "We can try."

"I'll get the doctor. We can make preparations immediately." He walked to the doorway, and paused looking back. "Just, don't get your hopes up too much, okay, son? We don't know if this will work."

Naruto gave a curt nod, not moving his gaze from his mother's face.

His father left, and Naruto closed his eyes, letting out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

He knew he'd have to talk about what had happened with Ororchimaru someday, but it didn't have to be today. Today he just wanted his mother back.

"Are you ready?" asked the doctor. She was a short, blond woman with an enormous bust and a weary, lined face that had clearly seen too much over the years. However, her expression was soft and kind as she held the syringe above Naruto's arm, awaiting his permission.

Naruto nodded, glancing at his father who shot him a tight smile of reassurance. The man was tapping the metal bed frame with the tips of his fingers, the only outward sign of his nervousness.

Naruto held his breath as the needle was put in his arm. The doctor attached a tube in a few deft strokes, and the blood flowed out of the teen's arm, quickly filling up the plastic bag.

With practiced ease, the doctor pulled out the syringe and put a cotton swab on Naruto's arm. "Hold that, please."

Naruto pressed two fingers onto the cotton swab, holding it in place as the doctor applied some tape.

"All done." said the woman. She gave Naruto a quick pat on the shoulder before standing up, and fixing the blood bag to an IV. She switched out the tubes fastened to the silent Mrs. Uzumaki's arm.

The doctor turned to his father. "I can't say if it will have any effect, Minato, but it certainly shouldn't do any harm." she said, and gave him a soft smile. "Good luck."

"Thank you, Tsunade." said Naruto's father as the doctor left the room.

"We have worked together for a long time." said Mr. Uzumaki in response to Naruto's questioning look. "Tsunade was the resident doctor of the Konoha Corps. I guess you could say this facility has become a home for many ex-corps members as well as those who enter the witness protection programs. Of course," He smiled, "Now that the Akatsuki have been disbanded, there won't be much need for this old place anymore."

Minato walked up to Naruto and put an arm on his shoulder.

"What do you say to getting something to eat? The cafeteria food here isn't the best, but it's not bad. I'm guessing you must be starving."

Naruto's stomach growled its answer and they laughed. Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Actually, I'd rather stay here if that's okay with you. Mind if we eat here?"

His father considered it for a moment. "Okay, but you will have to go back to your own room eventually, you know. I don't know if or when anything might happen, and you're still in recovery yourself."

He walked to the doorway.

"Got it." said Naruto. "And uh…Dad?"

His father turned. "Yes?"

"Could I uh, make a phone call, do you think? There are some people who are probably wondering where I am."

"Sasuke and Iruka have been notified that you're safe, Naruto." said his father with a knowing glint in his eye. Naruto stared in surprise.

"But," continued the man, "There could still be some Akatsuki unaccounted for. Until we know more about their plans, they've been questioned, and their facility thoroughly searched, it would be safer for you here without anyone knowing the details. Do you think you can wait a few days?"

Naruto sighed. "I guess."

"Just a few more days." His father shot him a sympathetic smile. "That's all."

Naruto nodded and turned to lean on the window sill. There were bars on it, but he could still see the outside, a dull, gray parking lot dotted with a few green conifers.

It's not that he was complaining. He couldn't be more glad that not only his father, but also his mother was alive, well, in a sense. But having it all so close, to have happiness hanging on so many tiny details - well, the waiting game had never seemed so intensely long.