Chapter LXXII

Bound to Each Other

Sakura held back tears as the morbid tale of that nightmarish night was revealed to her. She had barely gotten out of bed when she was urgently summoned to the Konoha Hospital. It was only once there that Shikamaru explained the situation to her under the supervision of the Hokage. This organization had tried to kidnap her comrade again, and her sensei was still between life and death. The dark news twisted her heart.

However, the strange mark on Kakashi's body had not been disclosed; it was confidential information now, even to one of Tsunade's trustworthy student, although she would be made aware in due time.

Sakura looked out the small glass window. She saw Kakashi connected to the machines and Naruto who was at his bedside, plunged into a disturbing stillness.

"Naruto worries me," Shikamaru said darkly. "He hasn't moved from this posture for three hours even though he's supposed to be sleeping…"

The kunoichi turned her attention to the teenager.

"It's not just that. Because of him, no nurse can enter," he added.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"Naruto doesn't allow any stranger near Kakashi," Tsunade dryly explained. "One of them was seriously injured. Naruto broke her arm and electrocuted her."

Hearing these words, Sakura's heart skipped a beat.

"Shizune and I are the only ones who could administer care and check on him," she continued. "Naruto glares at us, raising all his hair like a true wild beast and uttering hisses that send shivers down the spines… I've never felt waves as murderous as his. Obviously, seeing Kakashi in this state awakened something terribly dark within him." Tsunade looked inside the room. "If we could provide care to Kakashi, you can too. Naruto shouldn't be too aggressive with you, since he's not with Shikamaru."

"I see," replied Sakura in a trembling voice. "And Kakashi-Sensei. How is he?"

"Thanks to the venom, he's already started to feel better. As long as Naruto can poison him, he should be fine… However, I'm worried. Since Kakashi's body relies on the poison, and Naruto refuses to rest or eat, I fear he'll stop producing it. Without it, Kakashi won't survive."

"What do you mean?"

"He's not at all interested in any chakra," Shikamaru explained with a sigh, slipping a hand behind his head. "I tried to offer him mine. He ignores me as if I wasn't there… Even Shizune offered him hers, and I'll tell you that she got a nasty tail slap…"

Sakura understood that the situation was serious, precarious, and that was only an understatement. For the moment, things were stable, although they were hanging by a thread, like a tightrope walker capsizing on the rope, at the bottom of which there was only death.

Naruto and Kakashi were now dangerously bound to each other. The blond suffered from an attachment disorder towards Kakashi, in addition to feeding on his chakra. The Copy Ninja was dependent on the venom that his body needed in order to sleep. It was a vicious circle. If Naruto could no longer inject his poison, Kakashi would no longer be able to sleep and therefore, provide his chakra to the latter. As a result, both would end up slowly dying from this toxic codependency they were unwillingly maintaining.

Although he was feeling a bit better, Kakashi was not out of the woods yet. His future remained uncertain…

"Sakura, your task is to take care of Kakashi," Tsunade ordered. "I can't spend all my days here, neither can Shizune. Given the situation, you'll have no choice. We'll keep our fingers crossed that Kakashi recovers before Naruto runs out. Otherwise, we'll lose them both."

"Understood! Sakura agreed."

Godaime smiled, satisfied. Before leaving, she gave Sakura Kakashi's medical report, in which all the details were written down. Sakura hurried to read it. Her pout immediately darkened; anxieties took hold of her. Kakashi had developed a worrying resistance to medication and drugs. Even the medications he took every day no longer had the slightest effect on him. A section of the report was reserved for the results of the analyzes done on Naruto's venom.

His venom was a poison and as a result, Kakashi's body had created antibodies to resist it … without much success. The new white cells attacked with ferocity the foreign substances injected into his body. Also, his body had completely stopped producing the hormones essential for sleep. He simply could not fall asleep without the venom.

The results worried her; she understood Tsunade's fears. Obviously, this daily poison pumped into his bloodstream was too powerful for his immune system. His body had fought it tirelessly … and had finally given up. It had become addicted to it, had resigned itself to this deadly cohabitation. She wondered if it was possible to free Kakashi from this substance… Despite the unparalleled benefits for sleep and chakra recovery, the devastating repercussions were not worth the cost, especially since it threatened his life now.

After reading, Sakura looked at Shikamaru, who was fully aware of Kakashi's condition. Without exchanging a word, they entered the room. Immediately, Naruto turned his head. His once bright blue eyes were dulled with darkness. He pierced Sakura with their coldness.

Since Naruto returned to the village, it was the first time he glared at her like this. His sharp, dangerous eyes sowed irrational fear in Sakura. She did not recognize this amnesiac, fearful and curious Naruto; another unknown side had engulfed his entire being. As Tsunade said, a dark … terribly dark thing had awakened. It had devoured every bit of the boy she knew.

"Sakura, are you okay?" Shikamaru worried.

The kunoichi suppressed a start. Unlike her, Shikamaru was not at all uncomfortable or scared. She was the only one to feel the harmful and icy waves that hurt her heart, forcing her to hold her breath…

When Naruto focused his sapphire eyes on Kakashi, all those emotions that had shaken her dissipated, and she could breathe again. Had she imagined things? Had she really been so afraid of her friend all of a sudden? She shook her head to pull herself together… However, she was incapable of forgetting the emotions that had overwhelmed her for a breath.

"It's nothing," she laughed nervously, spreading a false smile on her face.

Shikamaru nudged Sakura and raised a finger to his lips to signal her to remain silent. He shoved his hand into his back pouch, from which he discreetly took out Naruto's shinobi headband. It had recently been found at the scene of the incident and entrusted to Shikamaru.

Immediately, Sakura guessed what he was implying. He wanted her to give it back to Naruto; a hope of gaining his trust once and for all. Since Shikamaru had returned his necklace, Naruto had quickly become attached to him. He was the second person he felt safe and sought comfort with. The two had hugged more than once; Shikamaru was a shoulder he had cried on this morning.

Sakura nodded and grabbed the forehead protector; she hid it in her briefcase. With Shikamaru, she cautiously approached her sensei's bed. Her emerald irises quickly adapted to the soft darkness of the room.

Lying down and asleep, Kakashi was kept alive thanks to the respiratory system he was connected to. He was hydrated and supplied with fluids from the IVs in his elbow. His left arm was not under the covers. Almost healed bite marks were there; someone had already provided him with care. His hand was preciously held by Naruto's. Although he did not turn his head, the blond eyed the kunoichi with a glare and a few hairs on the tip of his tail stood up.

Sakura examined the medical equipment and took Kakashi's life systems. She grabbed the stethoscope hanging around her neck to listen to him. When she touched him, hisses tore the silence. Sakura felt that murderous glare and heard those warning noises that gave her goosebumps. However, she remained rational. Her comrade lost his temper this way because she touched Kakashi. He must have believed that she meant harm to him. It was the only explanation why Naruto's behaviour was of aggressiveness never seen in him. Shikamaru would probably get the same reaction if he touched Kakashi.

When she distanced herself from Kakashi, Naruto became silent again. Her theory was plausible. "He's gradually stabilizing," she said, relieved. "He's gonna be okay, Naruto."

The blond ignored her. He carefully watched over the precious human in the apple of his eyes.

Cautiously, Sakura walked around the bed and came to meet the feral boy, who was watching her from the corner of his eye. She showed him his shinobi headband—something that captured his full attention.

"I found your forehead protector," she lied, handing it to him, smiling.

His facial features had softened, but Naruto expressed no emotion. His eyes stared at the headband for long, painful seconds, forcing the young girl to be patient.

Without taking his eyes off it, Naruto roughly grabbed the headband; the tips of his nails grazed the delicate skin. Still clinging to Kakashi's inert hand, he placed the forehead protector on his thighs and focused again on Kakashi, ignoring the unwanted guests. Instead of his suspicious look, sadness was veiled on his face.

An ache constantly pinched Sakura's chest at the sight of her comrade releasing silent tears; she could feel the distress that raged in his bruised, torn, tortured heart.

Shikamaru sighed. It was as if the world around Naruto did not exist. In his broken universe, there were only him and Kakashi. Besides his sorrow that he had shared with him at dawn, the blond remained indifferent to his presence. Shikamaru could always touch his shoulder to pull him out of the abyss, in which he was letting himself die of grief, but nothing seemed to be able to help him. His psyche was weakening and was on the verge of a breakdown. Of course, Shikamaru had not approached the Copy Ninja, for fear of unleashing the wrath of a dangerously unstable Naruto.

Since there was nothing to do, Shikamaru gestured to Sakura, who nodded silently. He took one last look at Kakashi. The darkness of the room made him think about the worrying behaviours that Kakashi was developing, the strange mark discovered on the back of his neck… These intrusive thoughts were enslaving him. He was struck by an awful feeling.

"Sakura," he whispered. "Let's find a corner out of sight. I have to talk with you, and if we find out that I talked to you about this, I'm gonna be in big trouble."

Sakura had cold sweat. Without further ado, they isolated themselves in a very uncrowded corner of the hospital, in which the walls had no ears. The tension was palpable. Shikamaru hesitated and remained silent.

"It's about Kakashi-Sensei, right?" she guessed.

He nodded. "A black mark was discovered on the back of his neck."

This revelation made Sakura gasp in surprise. "A… A mark...?"

"Kakashi-Sensei wasn't even aware of its existence. That thing worries everyone, especially since according to Iruka-Sensei, it can glow in blue like Naruto's marks."

Sakura turned livid. "Do you think he's becoming…" She swallowed. "...a chakra devourer...?"

A silence.

"I don't know. His blood was carefully analyzed and compared with Naruto's. Found nothing. He would still be human, but if I take into account his weight loss, his sudden sensibility to light, his weird behaviours like when he let out growls, that mark… I mean. Is it even possible?"

Another silence settled in.

Despite the results indicating that Kakashi was normal, they could not shake the possibility that he was turning into a chakra devourer. The more time passed, the more Kakashi's personality changed. Sure, having to take care of Naruto had to affect him in some way, but to this extent? Especially knowing Kakashi? It intensified their fear of finding themselves with another chakra devourer on their hands. Managing just one was hell. Konohagakure did not have the luxury of having a second one this hungry, especially if it became as feral as the first one.

"Maybe it'd be better to say what we know, Shikamaru," Sakura said.

"For now, we'd better not tell anyone," he retorted. "We don't know what's gonna happen if we open our mouth. As I already explained it, they'd be separated. It's Naruto who will suffer, and he'll become really unstable. With everything going on right now, the month that he's been held captive… He doesn't need to lose his only source of comfort."

Sakura's throat tightened. She remembered why she had not told anyone. To protect Naruto, the discoveries and distressing speculations regarding Kakashi remained a secret. Unfortunately, the blond had become a threat despite himself. Konohagakure could not risk having another chakra hungry creature that could endanger the lives of the village's shinobi and kunoichi…

Ending Kakashi's life was a possibility considered by the village…

Shikamaru had heard rumours about this…

"There's something else that bothers me about the whole story," Shikamaru blurted. "Their plan was carefully crafted to kidnap Naruto. It's only thanks to Kakashi-Sensei that he's safe. But he had no way of knowing he was in danger. He was busy, by the way. Yet he knew it. We were both closer to the alley, and he was the only one who intervened. If it wasn't for his Raikiri, Gai-Sensei's team wouldn't have come to help them."

"Do you think that...?"

Shikamaru nodded. "I'm sure the mark has something to do with it. It's the only explanation I can find in all this mess. There's just no way he knew by chance that Naruto needed help. He was waiting for me to give him back at the end of the evening."

Guilt ate away at him like poison. He clenched his fists and his knuckles turned white. "Kakashi-Sensei trusted me with Naruto… That mark … whatever it is, must bind him intimately to Naruto. And from what I've been told, it didn't appear on its own. It's Naruto who marked him…"

Their hearts beat in a similar pace, and cold sweat slipped down their temples. This black mark sparked mysteries even greater than the chakra devourers. It could glow like azure-blue braziers could influence or control Kakashi. No one had the slightest idea of what it could mean, the effects it could cause, the future it reserved for Kakashi… Were they right to be worried about this mark, or was it harmless? One thing was certain, the macabre probability that the Copy Ninja would lose his humanity persisted in people's minds…

Having Hatake Kakashi become one of these demons was a waking nightmare.