Chapter XVIII

Trusting Each Other

I woke up late; it was almost noon when I opened my eyes. The medication helped me get through the night and numb the pain. In the meantime, the sensations gradually returned to my sore arm; I still have twinges if I move it, of course, but I'm no longer in agony. Besides hunger, I feel much better.

At first glance, the fever left me. I'm always tired due to my depleted chakra reserves. Depending on how much I recovered, I'd be able to use just one Raikiri to its full destructive potential, and even that would prove difficult. In this state, the Sharingan would keep me bedridden for a good week.

I hope Naruto doesn't need to feed every day. Since he seems to be doing well despite his forced and prolonged fast, perhaps I don't have to offer him my chakra each night. Otherwise, I will soon have one foot in the grave…

Only being able to rest, I slept for a good part of the afternoon. Apart from a few visits from the nurses to examine me or provide me with a meal, I'm not bothered more than that. Good. I need peace.

When I wake up, I dive into my favourite book. However, my reading is short-lived. Lady Tsunade doesn't take long to enter my room. This time, she's alone; She seems very worried…

"How are you, Kakashi?"

"Much better than yesterday."

I make a few weary movements with my arm to show her that the paralysis has left it.

"I can move it normally, but I'm still in pain."

The Hokage uses her medical ninjutsu to examine my arm.

"And your chakra?" she asks.

"Let's say I'd be completely useless on a battlefield."

She frowns before taking a look at my medical file.

"You no longer have a fever and your vital signs are normal. Have you been anxious lately?"

Her question catches me off guard and seals my throat. I can't deny it. This whole story worries me like never before; I'm constantly gnawing at my blood. Unable to contradict her, I avoid her gaze and that's a sufficient answer.

"Your body under prolonged anxiety can react drastically to a major factor of stress," she explains. "This is the reason for your fever."

"I see." It reassures me. It's not Naruto's bite that is to blame; a sincere fear of falling ill because of him tormented me.

"I'd like to let you rest longer, but that won't be possible."

Her face darkened. I immediately sink into pessimism, and my heart is in a vice that is gradually tightening.

"Shikamaru relayed to me the situation about Naruto's wounds and that they were slow to heal," she continues. "I compared with the results of the blood samples. We were waiting for an occasion to draw his blood again and push the research since we were uncertain… But if what you saw is true, Naruto's cells take too long to renew themselves."

"What do you mean?"

"His body is simply incapable of regenerating and therefore, healing."

A shiver of dread slides down my spine, and my back is sweaty. If I was so peaceful earlier, this is no longer the case; I just went into panic. My breath quickens like my organ of love; at that, my hands are shaking.

"It's possible that the healing process was compromised by the forced fast he was subjected to," she reassures me. "That's why you need to inspect his wounds right away."

I calm down listening to her words, which are perfectly logical. Despite his strange appetite for chakra, Naruto still needs water; this is irrefutable given that his condition improved greatly thereafter. He's under the malnutrition line, flesh and bones. To achieve this result, these guys starved Naruto the whole time of his abduction… Fatally, his body no longer had the energy necessary to heal. Nevertheless, it's likely that the machinery will restart after such a feast.

All in all, this doesn't explain the inaction of Kyūbi's power on his body. The red chakra grants Naruto an extraordinary healing speed, and this is such that superficial wounds heal in the blink of an eye. Since a host can't survive if their tailed beast is extracted from them, the Nine-Tails is obligatorily and still locked in the body of my student. Perhaps his new condition as a chakra devourer conflicts with his title of Jinchūriki?

Meanwhile, I notice the pout of Godaime which is veiled in darkness and concern. It's not good, not good at all…

"Kakashi, are you able to get up now?"

I nod.

"Since yesterday, Naruto hasn't come out from under the bed. His growls are much, much more aggressive than before when you walk into the room. We didn't dare set foot in the jail…"

This is a bad omen, to put it mildly. It's not normal for his aggression to increase so suddenly, especially considering the old Naruto's gentle nature. Is Shikamaru's intervention involved? Is it related to my chakra that he devoured to the last drop? A mixture of the two? Something else?

I sincerely fear that the blond has been swallowed up by his feral instincts, to the point that it will be impossible for me to reach him; at that, I'm afraid he won't recognize me anymore, and that this fragile bond that we've barely woven will be broken. Have my efforts so far come to naught…?

I shake my head and clench my fists. All these questions are unnecessary. It won't change the situation. I have to repair the damage, whatever it is. The longer I wait, the worse they will get and the harder they will be to repair. I refuse to believe that Naruto forgot me a second time.

In a paradox of haste and slowness, I jump out of bed. I'd have liked to take advantage of this day of rest, but that will have to wait. My priority is Naruto and his needs take precedence over mine. I ignore the fatigue that tugs at my body as I skillfully do. With Lady Tsunade, we go underground.

- XxX -

I enter the lair of the beast.

I'm immediately greeted by hisses from beyond the grave. The closer I get to the jail, the more a strange smell of putrefaction fills the air and the more the hisses turn into growls. This wild song, which acts as a warning, sends shivers down my spine and sows fear in me; I have goosebumps and all my hair, including the hair on my neck, is standing on end.

However, something is wrong. In these aggressive complaints that compose this bestial melody, I detect tremors that make me think of lamentations. Truth be told, I can't figure out what emotions are driving them. Naruto hasn't left the shadows of his bed, where he feels most secure.

Anguish devours my insides, sabotages my cognitive abilities. This smell of death from nowhere that I'm choking on worries me and isn't at all normal. Yet I hear the sound of his voice, the scratching of his claws on the stone and his tail pounding loudly around. Naruto is alive and if he had been dead, his corpse wouldn't have had time to rot enough to give off that infamous scent, even under perfect conditions for the decomposition process.

Am I experiencing an olfactory hallucination?

I clench my fist and inhale deeply. Has the teenager really forgotten me? Have I really lost this fragile bond with him? Despite my fears, I gather my courage and add the sound of my voice to the middle of this sinister song.

"Naruto! It's me! Kakashi!"

The effect is immediate.

The growls stop.

The putrid smell fades away.

In this deadly silence, Naruto crawls out of hiding. Seeing me, he froze on the spot; his wide-open sapphire eyes stare intently at me. He looks shocked, as if he's wondering if he's dreaming or not. As for me, I accompany him in his immobility by examining him with my gaze.

The blond still wears his shinobi headband on his forehead. I notice pronounced dark circles that make his eyes uglier and darker than usual. Obviously, he hasn't gotten any sleep since my last visit. However, these dark circles imply that he hasn't slept for days or even weeks.

This detail is added to my big list of worries.

At that, that weird olfactory phenomenon disappeared…

Is my nose playing tricks on me…?

At first glance, my student doesn't seem to be aggressive or dangerous. I remain vigilant and venture inside the cell. In doing so, the odious screeching of the door tears a start from Naruto. I maintain a safe distance between him and me and wait for him to make the first move.

I note that it's a little less hot and that the surrounding smells have briefly changed. The scent of sulphur has faded and given way to a familiar burnt aroma. Despite my exceptional sense of smell, I can't identify it. Of course, the body odour stinks the air more and more every day. No need to say that an upcoming shower is essential…

After an infinite time, Naruto gets up and comes to meet me. However, his shoulders are so low that they slide on the floor. Instead of his curious expression, his face is saddened—rather, he wears a veil of concern.

Slowly and nervously, he brings his hand dangerously close to my face. As a cold sweat breaks out on my temple, I dread what he's trying to do as I hold my breath. In response, Naruto stops. He observes me, analyzes me for a blink of an eye. Then, shaking and hesitating, he gently puts his hand on my forehead, under my silver locks. His innocuous gesture plunges me into astonishment.

What is he trying to do? Does he ask about my physical condition by taking my temperature?

Naruto withdraws his much too hot palm. He grabs my bandaged forearm on which his chagrined eyes stare deeply. His pout darkened further.

I widen my eye, thus struck by a flash in the night.

Naruto feels guilty for hurting me. Worry like anger gnawed at him. All he saw was me collapsing as a potential threat dragged me into the unknown. Maybe he thought I would never come back? That Shikamaru "abducted" me against my will? Perhaps he demonstrated his seething anger with fierce animosity, enraged that the only reassuring person in his eyes had been attacked? It can only be this, but it also means something else:

I managed to bond with Naruto.

To be sure, I'm taking a risky bet. I swallow and nervously, while he's focused on my arm, I place a gentle hand on his shoulder. The feral boy jumps up and dives his eyes into mine.

"I'm fine, Naruto. It's nothing. You don't have to worry about me," I whisper with a sincere smile.

To my relief, Naruto didn't push me away—instead, he smiled back. The cockroaches that were hovering over his head flew away. A part of this darkness in me, which is responsible for my daily torments, has left me.

I regain hope.

"Give me your arm so I can inspect your wound. Will you?"

True to his silence, he doesn't answer me and without the slightest hesitation, he offers it to me. Gently, I grab it as if it were a fragile thing before unrolling the bandage. I'm amazed as I contemplate the cut and the stitches.

The wound, however deep, has become a superficial scratch with red and blue bruises. Until recently, his condition implied that it would take several days to completely heal.

Judging by the lightning speed of its recovery, I wouldn't be surprised if it finished healing by tomorrow or the day after and if so, I will have to remove the stitches, although they're melting ones. Besides, I won't need to bandage his arm again.

Are these the powers of Kyūbi or those of the chakra devourers? I can't say… Nevertheless, I heave a sigh of relief. Lady Tsunade was right. Hungry, his wounds just wouldn't heal.

Lost in my thoughts, I don't notice that Naruto is panting or forcing himself to keep his eyelids open, struggling fiercely to close. I reconnect with the world around me when his legs begin to wobble. His eyes roll in their sockets as he falls back.

I manage to catch him in his fall last second.

"Naruto!"

He doesn't react. His body is shivering, many drops of sweat are beading on his temples and his jerky breath is irregular. Carefully, I remove his forehead protector and take his temperature.

'Fever,' I whisper to myself when I notice that he's really hot … well, more than usual, that said.

Without wasting a second, I lift Naruto whom I carry in my arms; I nearly stumble on the way when I narrowly avoid stepping on his tail. I reach the bed in which I lay my student carefully. This is too sudden for it to be normal, especially given the progress of his recovery…

I barely have time to cover him with the blanket when I hear the metal door open. Heel noises resonate against the stone, accentuate with the echo. On the other side of the bars, Lady Tsunade is there, a large bag in her hands.

"Lord Hokage."

"Is he unconscious?"

I nod. She was watching what was happening with the surveillance camera to come so quickly, that's obvious.

Godaime steps into the jail as I push aside to concede my place to her. Naruto is impassive about this intrusion, confirming to me beyond any doubt that he has indeed passed out.

Lady Tsunade glances at his arm before focusing on the most serious of his wounds. She lifts his shirt to just below his pecs and cuts the bandage with her chakra. This gash is in worse shape than I remember. The surrounding skin is bright red and purplish; at that, there are transparent, even yellowish discharges. I rant at myself for being negligent. Because of the darkness in which the place is bathed, this wound that I thought was healthy is greatly infected.

The Hokage examines the injury thoroughly with her medical ninjutsu. Despite Naruto's worrying immunity to the latter, it's still possible to use it to examine his wounds.

"You don't have to worry about that. He'll be fine," she reassures me, giving him care that doesn't require chakra. "The infection got worse because his body was unresponsive. That he has a fever shows that his body has finally gotten to work."

"Why so suddenly?" I ask, puzzled.

"I watched what happened. The theory I believe in is that he released the pressure all at once. Animals have a tendency to hide all symptoms of illness and all signs of weakness. I guess Naruto trusts you enough to show you that part of vulnerability in him."

I listen to her and watch her work in silence. After cleaning and draining the infection, she applies an ointment before bandaging the whole thing. Then she puts her hand on his forehead. She frowns. Something is wrong…

"Strange… His body temperature is lower," she worries in a whisper.

"What do you mean?"

"We noted that his 'normal' temperature was around forty-four degrees Celsius. If I take into account his fever, it must be around forty-two…"

I frown. According to his uncanny ability to ignite his hair and fur by becoming a living fire, capable of giving birth to destructive fires of great intensity that he controls at will, Naruto is an entity of fire and therefore, this justifies his abnormal body temperature. If he had a fever, his temperature should go up, not the other way around. Curious.

Lady Tsunade takes advantage of Naruto's unconsciousness to draw his blood. She equips herself with a syringe and takes a few sterile tubes out of her bag. She applies a tourniquet to his biceps before finding a vein.

I'm excruciatingly anxious; a fear that my student would wake up without warning and set the whole room ablaze… Fortunately, apart from a muscle spasm, nothing happened when she pushed the needle into his flesh. It doesn't take long to fill all the containers with scarlet liquid.

"We can only wait for him to recover on his own," Godaime says, putting away her gear. "If his wound heals as quickly as the one on his arm, he should regain consciousness by tomorrow."

"I see."

"You should rest, Kakashi. There's nothing more you can do."

Of course… However, that Naruto trusts me and values me enough to show this part of vulnerability to me… I want to stay with him for now. Continue to maintain this bond to see it bloom and mature, contemplate its splendour when it's ready to hatch and reveal its colours…

I'm sure Naruto has known nothing but loneliness since the day he was abducted … the same loneliness I had sunk into, in order to erase the pain that bonding with others eventually cause. It was by choice … unlike my student who could never choose.

If we swapped roles, I'd like to wake up next to a familiar face and not alone, in solitude. Naruto must be thinking the same thing as me.

"I prefer to stay by his bedside," I retort. "Being greeted by a familiar face when he wakes up will benefit him."

Lady Tsunade glares at me with wide eyes. Needless to say, she disagrees with my decision. Whether she forbids me or not, I'm determined to stand my ground and disobey her authority.

"Very well," she agrees, giving in to my whim. "Be careful. Even if he trusts you, he's still an unpredictable beast."

"Understood," I nod.

I let out a sigh of relief when the Hokage finally leaves the place. Naruto's steady breathing breaks the peaceful silence. This quiet place is soothing; the gentle darkness is relaxing. I slip a hand into the teenager's blond mane, tangling my fingers between his locks. His hair is dirty, greasy, and I don't care.

"You don't have to worry anymore, Naruto. I'm here, very close to you, and I'll watch over you. I know that you're still there, under this shell that you've created for yourself. I'll help you remember who you really are."