Recommended Story: 'Do I Have A Purpose Anymore?' by Kingkakashi
Chapter Nineteen
In a private sector of a hospital several physicians were looking over Tayuya as she laid on a table. Tsunade and Shizune were among them, but the other three were natives of Alfheim. As a show of courtesy all the doctors here were female, especially since it was heard that the patient was Kushina's sister.
"Can you make me walk again?" Tayuya immediately asked.
"We should, but first we must see the extent of the damage so we know what to prepare." The head doctor said. She was a brown-haired succubus that looked like she was in her early twenties, though her glasses did make her look a little older. She was dressed in a professional white overcoat and a visible orange blouse under it, but what was weird about her were the black leather boots she wore under her black skirt. Her name tag read 'Iyoi.'
Her two assistants flipped her over on her stomach so they could check her back directly. One was a succubus with wavy long blonde hair wearing a red nurse uniform and a name tag saying 'Meo'. The other was a green-haired elf woman who looked younger than she probably was because she was so short, wearing a blue nurse uniform and a name tag saying 'Kiha'.
Iyoi placed her hand over Tayuya's back and closed her eyes. "Tubues ya zu y'je omkitoud ag y'jod qutdam." Her palms glowed a greenish white and it glow extended to Tayuya's body and spread over it. "Hmm... the damage is mostly internal." Iyoi said with her eyes still closed.
"I could have fucking told ya that." Tayuya declared.
"Hush, I'm not finished. Something feels like it's fighting me so let me concentrate." Iyoi insisted, eyes still closed. "Several of the vertebrae are fractured and damage has been done to the spinal cord itself. The bones in the hips and legs are filled with compound fractures as well and signs of muscle tears are abundant. There also appears to be a lot of damage to some of the abdominal organs though nothing looks like it isn't still working. I do see that the appendix has burst but no traces of poisoning can be found so I'm assuming something filtered that out."
Tsunade wanted to ask for further examination on that since she knew a burst appendix was very bad, but she didn't want to interrupt the doctor and let her continue.
The glow stopped and Iyoi opened her eyes, looking to Kushina and Tsunade. "As you can tell the damage was quite extensive. The spine wasn't actually severed but the adjoining nerves are a mess, numbed if you will. She can still move her legs and feet, but the nerves are barely sending the signals to her muscles at all. Not only that, her leg bones can't support her weight right now. Right now a puppet with only one string has an easier time standing up than she does."
"Can it be fixed?" Kushina asked.
"I don't want to promise anything, but fortunately I can try. Though that strange sensation of resistance does have me worried." Iyoi said. Meo turned away and grabbing a book off a shelf then brought it to her. "I'll just have to look in here."
"Can't you just chant for the damage to be healed?" Tsunade asked.
Kiha shook her head. "It's not that easy. Ambiguity in medical spells is never a good idea. Besides, I'm not sure a cure-all spell ever existed."
"We should start simple and work our way up." Meo added.
The rest of the group from Konoha, including Isaribi, were trying to have some fun in the pool of the hotel. Ino had to buy a swimsuit in the gift shop and found a teal one piece that reminded her of the one she had back home. The others already had ones thanks to their time in Sea Country, though Isaribi decided to just swim in her normal clothes like she always did.
Everyone changed separately so Sakura and Ino were surprised by two things they saw by the pool. The first they noticed was Naruto without a shirt on.
'Wow, he looks better than I thought he did.' Sakura thought, appreciating the view. 'And to think I once thought all that time training would do him no good. If those abs aren't good nothing is.'
'Whoa, not bad.' Ino thought, not expecting the physique he had. 'I mean he's not ripped or buff or anything like that, but still he's the closest thing to a hunk I've ever seen in real life.'
The second surprise they got was seeing Hinata in her swimsuit, a dark purple one piece.
'No far, the shy quiet girl gets the better chest?' Ino grumbled mentally, sneaking a peek at her own bosom and feeling cheated. 'I've done every exercise and remedy I've heard of and I'm still only a large A-cup. What's her secret?'
Sakura was also disappointed in herself in comparison to the more gifted girl. 'Naruto's never going to think of me as pretty again, not when she's so much better looking than me.'
The others were oblivious to the thoughts of those two. Hinata was openly appreciating the whiskered blonde's appearance even though she was still shy about showing him exactly what she hid under her baggy clothes, despite the fact she was still covered.
She walked up to Naruto who was sitting at the edge of the pool with only his legs in the water. Isaribi and Moegi were already in the water while Ayame was floating on it instead on an inflatable mat acting as chaperone and working on her tan. Ino and Sakura were at the other side of the pool, just watching them.
"They sure look happy together don't they?" Ino whispered to her friend, a bit more interested in watching than swimming at the moment.
Sakura nodded, trying to smile. "Yeah, I'm happy for them both. Hinata's wanted this for as long as I've known her, and Naruto deserves a girl like her."
"You're jealous, aren't you?" Ino asked, not trying to tease the pinkette.
"What?" Sakura asked, surprised to hear that.
"Admit it, you wish Naruto was looking at you the way he's looking at Hinata. I've seen the way you've been looking at him these past few days. You've finally warmed up to him." The platinum blonde stated. "Too bad it didn't happen sooner."
"I just told you I'm happy for them so why would you say that?" Sakura asked, trying to keep her voice down so no one would hear them.
"I'm not hearing a 'no'." Ino pointed out.
"You coming in?" Naruto called out to them. They saw he and Hinata were now in the pool playing a form of volleyball against Isaribi and Moegi with a beach ball and Ayame serving as a psuedo-net.
"Yeah, we'll be right in." Ino called back, then leaned towards Sakura. "I'll let you be on his team." And before her friend could respond Ino jumped in the pool.
'Why is she messing with me?' Sakura asked herself. 'I mean, yeah I do wish I hadn't been so myopic before and Naruto still...' She paused as realization kicked in, making her feel a bit ashamed of herself. 'Who am I kidding? She's right, I am jealous. But I'm not going to ruin it for them.'
"Excuse me." Someone called out from behind Sakura. She turned to see a short-haired brunette girl about her own age, only much more developed than even Hinata and with succubus features apparent, dressed in a red two-piece swimsuit that Sakura wouldn't exactly call a bikini. More of a one-piece with the mid-section cut away.
"Yes?" Sakura replied.
"Hi, my name is Rika. I'm sorry for intruding but I couldn't help but notice that when it came to your group one of your auras felt different from the others." she then pointed to Naruto, who was playing with the others. "Him, his unusual aura caught my eye for a second. Could you please tell me what he is exactly?"
"He's my friend." She answered, merely to test this girl's reaction.
"Oh I didn't mean like that. I mean what's his species? It almost looks human but not entirely." Rika clarified.
"For the most part he is human. But I'm told he's awakening as an incubus." Sakura answered.
Rika jerked. "Did you say... incubus?"
"Yeah." Now Sakura was cautious. "Why? Is that a problem?"
Rika's eyes seemed glazed over a bit as she kept her focus on Naruto. There was even a bit of a smile on her. "Oh the others have got to hear this." She then darted off back into the hotel.
'That was weird.' Sakura thought before she entered the water and joined in on the game.
Not one minute later the pool was surrounded by a dozen girls much like Rika, staring intently at Naruto.
"Hey incubus, can we see your traits?" A redhead succubus asked.
"Umm... okay." Naruto said nervously, but he revealed his tail and wings.
"It's true! A real incubus is here!" One of the girls shouted, but she sounded please instead of shocked.
"This has to be a sign from the gods. Why else would there be an incubus when we're here?" The redhead asked, to which all the others nodded.
"Umm... am I missing something here?" Naruto asked.
"Please come with us. We promise you'll have a great time." Rika offered.
Hinata glared at them all. "Stay away! He's MY boyfriend!"
"You really think a single human girl like yourself can please an incubus better than we succubi can?" A brunette with a ponytail asked.
"She's no threat. There's twelve of us and one of her, and incubi can't help but be drawn to succubi like us. He won't stick with just her for long, especially once the Frenzy starts."
"Why would I leave her for complete strangers?" Naruto asked.
"It's in your nature to want a succubus, like it's in our nature to want an incubus." Rika told him. "Now please, we've come all this way for our Frenzy. Please be a part of it. It would be very appreciated."
Ayame, having enough of this, jumped from her mat and landed in front of Rika since she was the last to speak. "We're not exactly from around these parts so we're a little uninformed on what it is you're talking about. Now what exactly do you want with my little brother?" Her words were kind but her tone and expression were firm and ready to fight if needed.
"It's almost time of our Frenzy, the time we succubi become mature adult women and experience a brief time of strong nymphomania that will kill us if the urge is not sated. Nothing satisfies a succubus more than an incubus so we're very hopeful he would be kind enough to help us in our hard time."
"So you're all about to become really horny and you want him to be the one to get you all off?" Ayame asked. Behind her Hinata and Sakura were by Naruto as if to keep the other girls from approaching him.
"We'll be glad to return the favor when it's his Frenzy." The succubus to Rika's left said.
"His Frenzy?" Ayame repeated.
"Yeah, the same thing happens to incubi too. You didn't know that?"
"I'm still learning. So you're saying he's going to experience this uncontrolled rush of nymphomania that will kill him if he doesn't get with someone intimately?" They all nodded. "And at his age?"
"Our kind finish puberty at age twelve or thirteen. We're all close to finishing too and that's when the Frenzy hits. We're here from out of town to find men to help us when it hits and we were surprised to see an incubus here. Please, he would help us greatly." Rika told her.
"Does it have to be him?" Ayame stressed.
"No, but it would be better for us if it were him."
"Why?" Ayame asked.
"Enough talking. Boy come with us. You won't regret it." The redhead succubus interjected.
"I really don't want to." Naruto said.
The redhead smirked. "Then I guess we're just going to have to make you want to."
The medics had been at it for hours, trying various spells to repair bone fractures, reveres muscle atrophy, and strengthen the nerves. But unfortunately something kept interfering with their progress, effectively reversing their effects.
"Dammit, what the hell is this?" Iyoi said, gripping the side of the table.
"Whatever it is, this rune on her collarbone reacts with it." Meo pointed out.
"Rune?" Tsunade asked.
"This mark that looks like a trinity symbol of some sort." The red nurse said before moving Tayuya's shirt aside to reveal Orochimaru's curse seal.
"I'm afraid that's no mere mark. It's called a curse seal, and it's a very nasty thing."
"How so?" Iyoi asked.
"All I can say for certain is that it gives the one bearing it a secondary source of energy and even the ability to shapeshift into a gruelsome secondary form. But it's also meant so the one who placed it on her can keep tabs on her and punish her if she displeases him. Like an enslavement seal."
"That's it in a nutshell." Tayuya commented. "I'm actually surprised the motherfucker himself hasn't done anything to me over the past few days."
"Maybe it's not that he won't but rather he can't." Shizune theorized.
"Either way, whatever kind of secondary energy this mark is giving off, it's countering our spells. I'm afraid that as long as it's there we can't heal her." Iyoi said.
"Unfortunately we haven't yet figured out how to remove it." Shizune said.
"Wait a minute." Tsunade interjected. "If the mark counteracts your medical spells, then why was Kushina able to heal her to some degree before now?"
Iyoi shrugged. "I understand this mark even less than you do so I cannot possibly answer that. For all I know the mark doesn't waste it's time on small-scale spells but for big ones it fights."
"So what if you did a series of small scale spells to heal her little by little?" Kushina asked.
"Any smaller a scale than we have been doing and we'd have to repair each and every crack on the bone or tear in the muscle one by one. No doctor in the world would have the patience to do such a treatment. And even if one did, the effort it would take to ensure all damage was done and no sequel injuries occurred would take... I'm guessing no less than several weeks even if they worked twelve hours a day."
"I sure as hell don't have the patience for that." Tayuya declared.
"Anyway, my recommendation is to remove this mark. Do either of you know how?"
Tsunade shook her head. "I have no clue."
Kushina looked at her sister worried. "I'm a little out of practice with this sort of thing, but I've been trying to figure it out since I saw it. Unfortunately I still haven't figured out how to remove it either. But I get the feeling it could possibly be overpowered."
"Overpowered you say?" Iyoi thought. "Meo, Kiha, we should look at the book again. Maybe we can overpower this thing."
The three medics started to diligently look thru the book, trying to find anything that could help them.
"What about that turn into a succubus thing you mentioned?" Shizune asked Kushina.
The medics immediately looked at Kushina. "What?"
"It was the only possibility that came to mind. I'm not sure it would work, but from what I heard of that spell I did have reason to believe it was an option." Kushina explained. "Am I wrong?"
Iyoi tried to recall it. "I'm not positive, but you may been onto something. Let me check then compare." She and her assistants went back to the book.
With so many girls surrounding the pool, Naruto didn't see a way to escape. Until he remembered he didn't have to take the direct route.
A quick substitution with a poolside chair and some quick dashing and Naruto was nowhere to be found.
"What the heck?"
"He's hiding from us. Find him!"
The succubi crowd scattered, intent on finding their lone male counterpart.
Sakura turned to Hinata. "Hinata can you-?"
"Byakugan." She said, activating her doujutsu and scanning the area for her loved one. "I found him, but we have to move fast."
The girls nodded and rushed away from the pool following Hinata, apparently back into the hotel.
'Apparently there's still more Kushina-sama hasn't told us yet.' Ayame thought as they moved. 'We need to sit her down and get it all out in the open rather than wait until the subject comes up again.'
Everyone noticed that Hinata led them back to their room but instead of opening the door she knocked. "Naruto-kun, it's me, Hinata. And those girls aren't here. Please unlock the door."
There was no answer.
"What's he doing?" Moegi asked.
"He's got the door locked and the curtains shut. He's crouched on the bed curled up like a frightened hedgehog." Hinata explained, scaring the girls. She knocked again, a little louder this time. "Naruto-kun, please let me in."
"Go away Hinata-chan. I don't want to hurt you." He could be heard saying.
"You could never hurt me Naruto-kun." She told him.
"Yes I can. You heard what those girls said about me. I'm a monster."
Sakura looked confused. "Where's he getting that from?"
"Only one way to find out." Ayame said, then leaned down to whisper. "Girls, I need all of you to wait out here and anyone unknown from getting in. Hinata and I will go inside and try to comfort him."
"Why only you two?" Sakura asked.
"Because the two of us have a way with Naruto that the rest of you don't. And if he's worried about what I think he is, then we're the best ones to cover the subject. Moegi's too young, Isaribi doesn't know him well enough, and you two from what I'm told are a bit biased on the subject."
"What subject?" Sakura added.
"We'll discuss this later. Naruto needs our help first." Ayame said before she pulled out a needle and started to pick at the lock. At a few clicks were heard, the door opened. Ayame gave everyone a brief look before she and Hinata went inside and relocked it.
Once inside Hinata immediately hugged Naruto from behind despite his still revealed wings. "How many times do I have to tell you you're not a monster before you believe it?"
"It doesn't matter anymore." He replied, sounding so hopeless.
Ayame sat in front of him. "Why do you say that?"
"You heard those girls. I'm about to become a pervert whether I like it or not."
"How does that make you a monster?" Ayame asked, not following his logic.
"How does it not?" The whiskered blonde asked back. "My whole life people have been saying perverts are the worst kind of people and there's absolutely nothing good about one. No one likes a pervert and no one would want one as Hokage, so my dream is destroyed and any chance I had at being liked is gone forever. At this point I might as well be Kyuubi."
Both girls were wide-eyed to hear this. "Naruto-kun, you don't really believe that do you?"
He slowly turned to face the pale-eyed girl, his own eyes brimming with fear and self-loathing. "Hinata-chan, what reason do I have to believe otherwise?"
"Naruto-kun, do you trust me?" She asked him.
He didn't answer right away. "Yes, but-"
"No buts Naruto-kun." She told him. "Naruto-kun, if you truly trust me, then listen to what I'm going to tell you."
"If I were you Naruto, I would listen. All she wants is to help you." Ayame suggested.
When he didn't say anything, Hinata made her argument. "Naruto-kun, while it is true there are things about perversion that are not good, there are things about it that are good. No don't argue with me here, just listen." She said when it looked like he was going to object. "Perversion done the right way can be an expression of love. Boyfriends and girlfriends, and husbands and wives, they can do things that to others would be perverted, but to them are how they show the other they love them and find them attractive."
"But... but how can something so hated possibly be okay?" Naruto asked, still not seeing a possibility there.
Hinata placed her hand on his cheek. "You were hated a lot, but you are a good person with many things about you that others can appreciate, right?" He nodded. "Perversion is the same. There are many things about you that are enjoyable, but some people just focus on the unsavory parts. Don't be like those fools who only saw what not to like. Try and see what there is to like. I know you can do it, all you have to do is try."
"Umm... okay? But Hinata-chan, what could be good about it?" He asked.
"For one thing, we can't ever have a family without it." She answered, blushing lightly.
He looked confused. "Wait, what do you mean?"
Now Ayame looked confused. "Naruto, weren't you ever given the talk?"
"What talk?"
Ayame sighed. "Oh boy, they hurt you worst than even I expected. Fortunately we can correct this." She then sat down next to him. "Naruto, there's a few things every adult must know. This might bother you, but you need to know them before it's too late."
From there, Ayame gave Naruto the knowledge so many in Konoha didn't want him to have.
"Boss will be alright, right?" Moegi asked while they waited.
"I'm sure he will." Sakura told the girl.
"Out of curiosity, why do you call Naruto Boss?" Ino asked.
"At first it was because my friend Konohamaru called him that and it kind of rubbed off on me. But then I got kidnapped by an enemy nin just before the chuunin exams and he saved me and brought me home. From that moment on I swore I'd follow him anywhere." The orange-haired girl explained.
"The fact that you're here is proof of that." Isaribi mentioned.
"And why does your friend call him Boss?" Ino added.
"Because Boss inspired him like no one else ever did. You may think of him as an idiot, but at least he knows what he wants out of life and how to get it. Can you three say the same?"
"I just want to go back to my old life." Isaribi answered.
"I thought I knew what I wanted but now I'm not so sure." Sakura admitted.
Ino didn't respond right away. "To be honest, I just figured it would come to me as I got older. So far I've just been trying to enjoy the present."
Moegi nodded. "See? Boss has a dream and he's always working towards it. That makes him stronger than you since you're just coasting, waiting for things to come to you. So don't talk about him like I shouldn't respect him."
"I wasn't-" Ino stated, but was cut off by the door opening. All four girls looked to see Ayame at the doorway. "Is he okay?"
"He's better, but we really need to see his mother. There are a few things he needs to know now that only she can explain."