Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 8: State of Delirium

Flashback

"Kushina-sama," Tomoha watched the woman pace the room, not unlike a caged animal. Tomoha's dark eyes darted to the white sheets dangling from the rafters of the ceiling. Her eyes landed on the grave expression on the midwife's face.

Tomoha cleared her throat. "Kushina-sama, it is getting close to time."

"Is Minato here yet?" Kushina snapped in response. Her forehead glistened with sweat. Her breathing was labored.

Tomoha looked at the young servant girl by the door. She shook her head. Her blue eyes were fixed on the ground.

"No, Kushina-sama. Namikaze-sama is not here." Tomoha said heavily.

"Then it's not time," Kushina said through clenched teeth. She braced against the frame of the four-poster bed. Her fingernails dug into the dark walnut wood.

"You need to start pushing, My Lady." The midwife spoke for the first time.

"No!" Kushina looked at her with wild eyes. "I am going to wait. This baby is going to wait. We are all going to wait until Minato is here. Minato said he would be here so he's going to be here, damn it!"

The midwife flinched at both the language and the volume.

"Agh!" Kushina groaned. She leaned heavily against the post. Her white gown swept the ground. "I'm going to kill him!" She roared as another contraction hit her.

"Kushina-sama," Tomoha looked at her with a mix of pity and urgency. "Please think of the baby."

"Minato promised he'd be here, he will be here," Kushina said between pants. Tears joined the sweat on her face. Sweat dripped from her brows and into her eyes. She closed them. "Even if it's just to stand on the other side of the door." She said brokenly. "I need him to be here. Why isn't he here?"

"Kushina-sama, there is a war going on outside. He could have been delayed. Maybe he could not step away. The baby is coming." She rested her hands on the woman's shaking shoulders.

"No," Kushina shook her head adamantly. "He's on his way here. He's on his way to me. I can feel it. I just need to hold on a little longer." Her violet eyes glared at the braided sheets. "I can do it."

"Kushina-sama," Tomoha began weakly.

"I don't care if you think I'm crazy," Kushina looked at the woman. "I can feel it."

"You can be as angry as you want with Master when he is here but right now the baby is coming." Tomoha tightened her grip on Kushina. She led her to the mat on the floor.

Kushina did not fight being lowered onto the mat. She wove the sheets around her arms. She gripped them firmly with her hands.

"Lift up your knees, My Lady." The midwife instructed.

Kushina's dry lips let out a whimper as she complied. She looked over at Tomoha. "You'll let me know when he gets here?" She asked her in a voice she rarely ever used.

"I will, the second he steps into the compound," Tomoha assured her.

"Okay." Kushina looked around the room. She saw the solemn faces of all her attendants. There was incense burning somewhere. It was making her nauseous. There was chanting behind a separator. She heard small clay disks being broken.

"I'm ready." She lied. She opened her mouth. A small braided rope made out of silk was offered to her. She bit down.

"Push."

Kushina let out a muffled scream, as she grabbed the sheets with all her might.

Tomoha looked on with wringing hands.

End of Flashback

Everything was hazy. His vision was blurring. Someone was screaming. His hearing was coming in and out. He heard his name being called, being shouted. He heard it over the sound of metal meeting metal. Over metal cutting through flesh. Over the sound of blood hitting the ground.

His yellow hair, once as bright as the sun, was painted with crimson. His helmet was long lost amongst the chaos. He staggered. He used his katana as a cane. His hand was pressed firmly to his abdomen. He could feel the blood seeping through his hands.

'I'm going to bleed out.' He thought grimly with a startling sense of clarity.

He ducked down avoiding a clumsy strike of a blade. He lifted his own. He slashed a head clean off a man's shoulders. It landed on the ground with a thunk. He kept moving. He could see a light.

Minato narrowed his eyes to focus his vision. He saw a waterfall of red. The most beautiful shade of red he had ever seen in his life.

'Kushina?'

He pushed himself forward, hacking away anyone that stood in his path.

'I'm coming.'

He broke out into a run, the fastest he could manage.

'Wait for me!'

He pulled his hand from his side. He raised the blood-soaked palm towards her face. She was smiling at him. She was calling to him. Both of her arms were held out open, ready to embrace him.

'I'm so close.'

She slipped through his fingers.

"Minato!"

His whole world went black.

Sakura smiled at Rin in passing. The girl had her hands full wrangling the three little boys ranging between the ages of seven and nine. The brunette barely had time to wave before she had to pivot and use her hands to keep the hellraisers from ripping each other apart.

Sakura shook her head and chuckled to herself. Rin was in the midst of a trial by fire.

'I suppose I am as well. At least Rin-chan is handling it better than me.'

She, despite not having seen the blond boy with the brown hat for over two weeks now, was determined to put on a front of a good mood. The coins in her coin pouch rattled. It was significantly lighter than the prior two weeks, she had to wipe out her meager emergency stash just to be able to send something back home. But at least her family had something.

'Just pretend you didn't see it.'

Sakura groaned.

'How can I do that?'

She looked from the corner of her eye as Kai - the dark-haired, dark-eyed - husband of Juna struggled to get a sack of potatoes onto his back. Sakura bit the corner of her lip.

'You're an idiot.'

She walked over to him. Kai tossed his ponytail over his shoulders when he noticed her approach.

"Sakura-san," he dipped his head.

"Kai-san," Sakura rubbed the back of her neck. Her fingers curled around the knot that held her bandana in place. "Can I help you with that?"

Kai looked at her dubiously. "I think I can manage, Sakura-san." He looped his left arm around the center of the sack. He tried to haul it up from the ground and turn it all in one motion. The potatoes poured out of the burlap.

Sakura wordlessly began to gather them. Kai let out a sound of pure frustration.

"If only I still had my right arm," he muttered in a low tone. But Sakura's sharp ears caught every word.

"Kai-san," she looked at him from her squatted position. "If you don't mind me suggesting something?"

He looked at her with ample apprehension. His silence told her to proceed.

"I like being outside. It really makes me feel at home. I grew up on my father's farm, you see. I've been feeling a little homesick lately. Would it be okay if for a little while we switched some chores? I could manage the stables and carry the groceries into the store room. And you could take sweeping and milking off my plate. How does that sound?" She offered up brightly. "As an added bonus you could keep a closer eye on Juna-san."

The man looked every bit as taken aback as he felt. He glanced down at the potato he was holding in his hand.

"You don't have to answer right away, Kai-san." She gathered the rest of the potatoes and put them back in the sack.

"Won't Ambe-san be even harder on you?" Kai asked her with a no-nonsense tone.

'I don't think that's possible.'

"It will be fine, Kai-san." She lowered her gaze to the ground. She saw a potato come into her line of sight. She lifted her head in surprise.

"Deal," he handed it to her.

Sakura took the vegetable and added it to the rest.

"Great," she looked over her shoulder at the stables. "Are they always empty?"

Kai rubbed the back of his head. "When the Master - sorry if the Master - visits that is where his horse goes. Same with any soldiers he may have with him. In the two years I've been here I can count on one hand the number of times we have had horses in them." He wiggled the fingers of his left hand to illustrate his statement.

Sakura frowned. "Then I should take back one of the tasks like sweeping."

"A deal's a deal. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday. We can do the switch tomorrow." He lifted the sack up and used his knee to balance it before he hauled it to his hip.

"See you," Sakura turned her head. She looked at the gate. Her eyes hardened. She stepped over the entrance.

'The letter has been dropped off. Now out of the clearing for restocking my inventory.'

Her body moved of its own volition. Her brain filtered out the sounds of the world around her. Sakura lifted her head, her eyes focused on the structure across the street. She stared at the family crest she had only heard descriptions of. The Vajras lined the white stone walls surrounding the compound every ten feet it seemed. It was intimidating and imposing. She found herself standing up straighter.

Twenty feet. That was all that separated her and the complex.

'This is as close as you're ever gonna get.'

Sakura curled her fingers around the canvas bag in her hands. She peeled her feet from the spot they had become rooted in front of. She continued to move down the street. She left the imposing, white gate of the impenetrable white complex in her wake.

Her dark eyes scanned her surroundings. Tomoha moved with frantic footsteps down the hall. She looked at the guard at the gate. She willed her breath to return to a normal rate.

"Have you seen Young Master?" She searched his dark eyes. The man in the metal armor shook his head.

Tomoha's stomach dropped to her toes. "Have you seen the girl leave?"

"Which girl?" The guard asked her without looking her in the eye.

"The one with the bandana covering her hair. Green eyes." Tomoha was one step removed from shaking him by his shoulders.

His brows knitted together. She could see them under the openings of his helmet. "She left through the doors over an hour ago."

"Did you see the boy, did you see the Young Master?" She felt bile rise to the back of her throat.

"No. She was alone." He answered nonplussed by her growing agitation.

Tomoha pressed her fingers against her temple. Over an hour. That corresponded with the time that the tutor had last seen his pupil.

Tomoha looked up at the sky in anger.

'Kushina-sama, he's too much like you for my own good.'

She turned on her heel. She walked into her room and pulled on her coat. She would bring the boy back herself.

"That girl is done. She's gone." Tomoha vowed her intentions to the open air as she tied her plum-colored haori over her green kimono. She stepped into the cold December afternoon.

Sakura lowered her diary down on the boulder next to her. The pen she had been using was keeping her spot in place. The clasp was stretched to its limit. She played with the hangnail on her thumb. She barely registered the pain when she stretched it to its limits. Sakura inhaled deeply.

"I miss you," she said in a soft voice. Her words were carried off by the wind. "I've been thinking about you a lot lately."

Her eyes and throat were both dry. She stared out at the cliffside wondering what awaited beyond the unforgiving facade.

Her ears picked up on a snapping of a branch. She quickly tucked the small portrait back into the folds of her kimono. Sakura turned her head. Her eyes were wide. The first thing to recede was fear, it was replaced by panic when she saw the little figure coming towards her. Her heart stopped in her chest.

"Uzumaki-kun!" She brought her hands to her hip. "Did you follow me?" She asked the rhetorical question. The answer was right before her eyes.

The boy froze in his tracks at her words. He pulled her hands towards his chest almost as if recoiling. She saw the smile fade from his eyes first before it left his lips.

"Wait!" She called out, picking up on all the subtle signs that he was going to run away again. Sakura lowered onto her knees, she sat back on her heels. The grass and weeds pricked at her shins.

The boy looked like a deer caught in the freeze response. His eyes were bigger than his head it seemed. Sakura took a breath to regain her composure. She pushed down the anger.

"Uzumaki-kun, are you alright? You could have gotten hurt following me out here." She began again in a gentle tone.

"Don't pretend you care!" He shouted out to her at the full capacity of his lungs.

'What?'

Sakura looked at him, shocked. "Uzumaki-kun?"

"You ignored me! You've been ignoring me! Just like everyone else. You don't care about me. You don't care if I get hurt. Or if I'm sad. You don't care!" He screamed at her. His fists balled up in front of him.

The wind hollowed. It took Sakura's breath away and her ability to be objective. It took everything away.

"Uzumaki-kun," her voice broke due to the pain in her heart. "I do care. I'm sorry if I made it seem like I don't." She kept her hands in her lap, in front of her so as to not startle the boy. It was starting to get darker. His hair looked almost orange in the waning daylight.

"I was just worried, you caught me off guard. Just like that day with the cows. You could have been really hurt, Uzumaki-kun. Animals have feelings too. It's important to respect them." She looked at his face, his oh-so-angry face. "I'm sorry I forgot to take your feelings into account as well." She swallowed audibly. "It must have felt so awful to be ignored. I'm sorry I did that to you. Please forgive me."

'She says sorry a lot for a grown-up.'

Naruto lowered his hands slowly. His red-rimmed eyes stared back at her. His blond brow furrowed and his mouth hung slightly agape.

"I'm sorry I spilled the milk. Wasting food is bad." He looked down at the weeds growing underfoot.

Sakura laughed. "I don't care about the milk. I'm just so glad that you're okay. You scared me. Promise you won't do anything like that again, okay?" She looked at him earnestly.

Naruto raised his head. "Will you ignore me again?"

"I really don't want to, Uzumaki-kun," she said tightly through her too wide of a smile.

"I won't do that again." He said before running at her in a full sprint.

"Oof!" She grunted as his little frame collided with hers.

She stiffened as his arms wrapped around her neck. He was so warm and fragile against her.

'Don't do it.'

She found herself wrapping an arm around him. "Don't run off like this again okay?" She felt him nod his head. "Okay," she patted him on the back. "Okay." She drew in a deep breath.

"I missed you too." He looked embarrassed to have admitted it.

Sakura kept the surprise off her face.

"You were talking to me right?" Naruto looked at her with soulful eyes that held wisdom beyond his years. They looked right into her core.

Sakura smiled softly. She rested a hand on his shoulder.

"I was talking to a very special little boy. Someone really important to me." She answered truthfully.

Naruto bolstered. He puffed out his chest at the implications of her words, at his interpretation of what they meant.

"Let's go back to the compound alright? Before it gets too dark." Her hand fell to her side.

Naruto nodded his head. He looked down at the ground, suddenly very shy and unsure of himself. Sakura ruffled his hair. He was missing his hat.

"Come on, kiddo." She held out her hand for him.

"Wait!" He took two steps away from her. "I want to get you a present."

"A present?" She asked him with mild disbelief. "I don't need a present, Uzumaki-kun. We should really head back."

He shook his head. "You gave me a present last time. I want to get you one too!" He squatted by a patch of green that had five yellow dandelions. He reached for one.

The smile slid off her face. Sakura saw movement in the corner of her eye. The fine hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She involuntarily inhaled sharply right before she pushed him out of the way, roughly.

"Uzumaki-kun!" She screamed as a pair of fangs dug into the flesh of her forearm. Sakura looked at the yellow eyes of the purplish snake. She pried its fangs from her and flung it as far as she could. She gripped her forearm. She stared at the two red domes of blood sitting on the surface of her skin.

'A snake in December?'

The voice in her head was just as stunned as she was. She blinked. She turned around. She saw the boy, lying on his backside staring up at her with fearful eyes.

"Uzumaki-kun," she hurried to him, on her hands and knees. "Are you okay?" She searched his person with her eyes. Her hands found a cut on his knee. "Oh, you must have landed on something when I pushed you." She looked at him with guild-ridden eyes. "I'm so sorry, are you alright? Can you walk?"

The boy looked like he had seen a ghost. He pointed to her arm. She looked down confused.

"You're bleeding." He said right before he broke into a fit of sobs.

"Oh honey," she pulled him into her arms. "I'm okay. It's just a little bite. I'm okay." She tried to comfort the boy. She rubbed his back. "You're okay." She said with more calm than she felt.

"You saved me." He said through the tears. He hiccuped.

Sakura smiled sadly. "It's what adults do, Uzumaki-kun." All traces of remaining light were now gone just as the sun dipped below the horizon. "We should go," she stood up. Naruto pressed his cheek against her shoulder. His arm hung loosely around her neck. Sakura patted him on the back. The last of his tears dried against her brown garbs. "I'll take a look at your knee when we get back." She promised him. Sakura left the clearing with the sniffling boy in her arms.

She nodded to the guard that was at the gate who let her through. Her palm was protectively over the back of the sleeping boy's head. She staggered a little bit as she carried him into her room. Sakura lowered him to the futon bed. She blinked back the double vision as she held the lit lantern to the rows of jars. She grabbed the one at the end.

'Thank Kami, I made extra in case Juna-san needed more.'

The woman never did. But it was to her advantage now. Sakura moved to her desk, she grabbed a strip of fabric she had. She filled a cup from the small pot of water she kept in her room in case she got thirsty at night. She dipped the fabric into it. With sure hands she began to diligently clean the boy's cut on his knee.

Naruto blinked his eyes open. He looked up at her serious expression as she worked.

"Sakura?" The boy called out to her.

"Hey there, Sleep Head." She smiled at him briefly. "How are you feeling?" She blinked her eyelids rapidly.

"Okay," he pushed up to his elbows. He watched her apply the salve to his cut. "What's that?"

"It will help your cut heal faster. It will also make sure it doesn't get infected." She explained patiently.

"What's infected?" His blue eyes scanned all the areas of the room that were touched by the light.

"Infected means not good. It means you get little germs in your body. And then you get sick fighting them." She felt the fabric of her bandana cling to her forehead. She was sweating. Sakura finished tying the bandage on his knee. She fanned herself.

"Is that why I have to wash my hands after using the toilet?" He asked with a scowl.

"It is," she looked up at the ceiling. She could feel the sweat beads migrating down her back.

"Sakura?" Naruto frowned. "Are you okay?"

Sakura looked at him with hazy eyes. Her gaze was unfocused. "Everything is fine, Haruma-chan." She cleared her parched throat. She looked at the boy with green eyes and strawberry-blond hair. "I need you to find Okaasan." She brought a hand to her temple. "And tell her I need a Sensei."

"Sakura?" Naruto sat up fully. Confusion and a little fear dominated his features.

"Go, Haruma-chan!" Sakura looked at him. "It will be fine. Go find Okaasan!" She said with an intensity that he was not used to.

Naruto hastily got up to his feet. He ran from the room.

Sakura staggered and fell face-first into the bed.

Tomoha pulled her haori around her. She rubbed her arms. She could see her breath. She looked at the last unchecked storefront that was still open. She set her face in a firm line. The pit in her stomach threatened to swallow her whole. She pulled the door towards her. She slipped inside.

The warm-lit room welcomed her. She saw the rows and rows of glass containers of various shapes and sizes. She saw anything from dried plants to animal bones to preserved animal embryos suspended in a gelatinous substance. Her eye was drawn to a bunch of brown owl feathers held together.

She fought back the sense of unease. She tapped the counter. The sound bounced off the walls. She waited with her heart in her throat. She saw him emerge from behind a dark purple curtain. A gray-haired man with round glasses came to her line of view. He pushed up the black-rimmed spectacles to the bridge of his nose with his middle finger.

"Ambe-san," he dipped his head. "How can I help you?"

"Sorry for bothering you so late, Yakushi-sensei," she ignored the shiver that went down her spine. "Have you seen Young Master?"

Kabuto tapped his chin and looked upward as he contemplated the question as if he had all the time in the world.

Tomoha resisted the urge to grind her teeth.

"I can't say that I have. I am sorry." He smiled softly. "Is Naruto-sama alright?"

Tomoha dipped her head. "Thank you for your help, Yakushi-sensei." She turned on her heel. She kept her eyes fixated on the door. She was about to push it open when she saw the armor of a guard in the street. She hurried to join him.

"Ambe-san," he looked at her. "We need you back at the compound," his dark eyes darted behind her slightly to the left. "Sensei you better come too."

Tomoha's heart stopped in her chest. She did not even notice that Kabuto was ready to go with his medic bag in hand.

"Ambe-san," he jolted her out of her state with a touch to the shoulder. "Lead the way."

She nodded her head. She moved her sixty-plus-year-old body as fast as it allowed.

'Naruto-sama,' she let out a prayer to the heavens hoping that she made it in time.

Lots happening in this chapter. New character intro. Will this new character be important? Hmm...

Please review! Thank you. :)