CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Battle Fatigue!

XXX

62 Days Since Sasuke

Naruto was awoken the next morning by a knock on his door. His eyes creaked open. He'd forgotten to close his blinds, so the sun's rays staggered him, forcing him to roll over onto his side. He let out a sharp groan. He still couldn't feel his legs. He paused for a few seconds to stare at his arm. It wasn't just his legs. His hands were bony and his arms skinny, with veins visibly running down his forearm. When he ran his hand along his side, he could feel his ribs trying to peek out from below the skin. Everything hurt.

"Naruto… are you decent?" Hinata's voice echoed through the wooden door.

Naruto took his time to answer. He looked down at himself. He was still wearing the hospital gown from yesterday. He let out another groan, "Yeah. Come in. It's not locked."

The door swung open. He could hear two pairs of footsteps moving around the room, from the hallway to the living room, and then into his bedroom. It was Hinata and Shizune. "Oink." And Tonton.

The older woman dropped the well-dressed pig on the floor before walking over to the Uzumaki. "Good morning, Naruto. I don't think we got time to get to know each other yesterday, but my name's Shizune. I'll be in charge of your rehabilitation," she explained.

Naruto rolled back onto his back. Shizune standing over him blotted out the light of the sun. "Hi… I'm Naruto Uzumaki," he said. A little less optimistic than whenever last he gave his name out.

"I know," she smiled. She ran her hands over Naruto's lower body. A green aura radiated from her hands as she moved them across him. She scanned his legs, then his hips, then went up all the way to his chest. "You're recovering pretty well," she said pulling out a clipboard and pen. "I expected nothing less from the jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tails."

"So, how long until I start walking again?"

"I'd say… give it two weeks… maybe an extra two weeks before you start training again, but you'll need to help the recovery process," she explained before instructing him to roll over and sit up. Naruto did as was told to him. He sat with his legs hanging over the side of the bed. She spawned a tiny rubber hammer from out of nowhere. "Close your eyes and tell me when you feel something."

.

.

.

He held like that for a few seconds waiting for the hit. "Okay, you can open your eyes," Shizune said.

"You're not going to hit me?"

"Oh, I did," she said, tucking her hammer into her pocket.

"Wait, what?" Naruto didn't realise that his legs were that far gone. He looked up at Shizune one last time. She didn't look like she was lying. Did he really not feel that?

She gripped his heel with one hand, and then his knee with the other, before extending and curling his leg repeatedly. She did 20 on one leg, then 20 on the other. Naruto didn't feel anything. He could see her holding different parts of his body, and in turn, see them moving, but he didn't feel anything.

Shizune finally stood up after a few more exercises to write a few more notes on her board. "Okay, I'll be back in a week. In the meantime, you need to eat, and I mean eat. You also need to drink a lot of liquids to replenish your muscles. Lastly, I need you to move around. I've assigned Hinata here to keep an eye on you, so just go on walks with her around the village."

"Go on walks with her?" Naruto asked, pointing to his legs.

"I've got you a walker, of course," Shizune said, reaching into her pocket to pull a scroll out. She unfurled it and slapped the seal in the centre to summon a metallic walker. "I'll need you to go on a walk at least three times a day. Make sure to eat something while you're out. Something heavy, like a big bowl of ramen or some gyudon," she informed him. "Do you understand?"

"Yeah," Naruto replied.

"Great, if any emergencies arise, tell Hinata, she'll tell me," she explained before wishing both jinchuuriki goodbye and leaving through the door.

Naruto sat there in silence. Hinata stood in front of him, shielding the slightly older Uzumaki from the sun's rays coming through the window. "Would you like me to close the blinds?" she asked.

"… I'd like you to take me to Sasuke," Naruto said.

Hinata had never been so close to cussing her crush out. She held it in, before releasing it as a soft sigh, "I can't take you to Sasuke, but I can take you out on a walk," she suggested.

"I haven't bathed yet," Naruto scratched the bit of stubble forming around his whiskers.

"I can give you one," Hinata offered. Wait, what did she just say?

"Nah, it's cool. As weak as I am, I still think I can bathe myself," Naruto tried to make light of his situation, "Give me twenty minutes. I'll scream if I need you to come rushing in."

XXX

"Tell me if you feel like you're gonna fall," Hinata said as Naruto limped out onto the streets of the Kumo Shinobi Military Base with his walker. He hated it. It made him feel like an old man. The Uzumaki had never felt so helpless. Having to ask Hinata to help him over bumps, lift him upstairs when there were no ramps, and help fix his walker when one of the wheels got stuck. It felt like a piece of him left with every request. But at least it was only temporary.

"I'll be okay," he responded before taking a moment to take everything in. He took a deep breath in. The air felt a lot more humid than yesterday. It was warmer too. Naruto could see clouds rolling in over the mountain range. The wind was beginning to pick up. At best, they had about another two hours of calmness before the rain rolled in. A storm was about to hit the village, and yet, it remained lively, nonetheless. The Military Base reminded the Uzumaki of Uzushio. It was a mixing pot of cultures with shinobi from all five major nations coming together to train, live, and eat together. The only difference was that while Uzushio was made to be an escape for those who didn't want to fight, the Base was a home for those who chose to die for their countries.

"Han was thinking of organising a meeting for us tonight," Hinata said.

"A meeting? A meeting for what?"

"To discuss what we want to put on the blank cheque," she replied.

"We still haven't agreed to anything after two whole months?"

"Well, we were waiting for you, of course. We're not going to discuss the terms without involving the person who put us in this situation."

"I guess, but I would've just gone with whatever you chose," Naruto shrugged.

"True, but we wanted you awake for this monumental moment. You've done a lot to put Uzushio in the position it's in right now, Naruto, and you deserve to celebrate that," Hinata explained, "I mean, there literally wouldn't be an Uzushio without you, since you were the only one who could get us onto the island."

"You give me way too much credit."

"Not at all, personally, I don't think I give you enough credit. You've rebuilt Uzushio, nearly restored it to its former glory, and you've saved the Fourth Great Shinobi War from ending within two weeks," she listed his achievements.

"Yeah… let's hold on to the plaudits until the war is over and Sasuke is dead."

There was that name again. She was going to punch him. That's it! The next time Naruto mentioned that man in her presence, she promised herself to deck him across the face.

"What's wrong with her?" Naruto interrupted her train of thought to walk over to a field hospital. Field hospitals were little tents that were littered across the city. Since the main hospitals would fill up so quickly, this gave shinobi a place to get their wounds treated before they were taken to the main hospital.

Naruto had come to a stop in front of a field hospital that was filled with about twenty patients, some lying down, some groaning in agony, others sitting up waiting for their turn to go to the hospital. Naruto's eyes had locked onto someone whose eyes weren't locked onto Naruto's. The young kunoichi had this long, glazed-over stare about her. Like she was dead while fully breathing. Naruto walked up to her, swiping away the flies that had landed on her. "Are you okay?" he wondered.

"She's battle fatigued," a nurse yelled while attending to a man in the back.

"Battle fatigued?" Naruto had never heard the term before. It made no sense, how could someone be tired of battle, especially a shinobi? It was literally their job.

"Yeah, some people aren't quite as built to last on the field as others. Akiko there was in Suna Company 30. She left for Yugakure about two months ago, came back this morning covered in the blood of her comrades, she was the only survivor."

The only survivor? Each company had about 200-500 shinobi in them, how could she be the only survivor? Akiko looked a little younger than both Naruto and Hinata. She was covered in bandages, not for injuries but for modesty. She wore nothing on her person but the coverings some of the nurses had given her. Her dusty black hair covered much of her dirtied face, and her blue eyes stared off into nothingness.

Naruto leaned on his walker to try and get down to her level. To be fair to the woman, she had no severe physical injuries, some bruises here, some scrapes there, but the mental gashes seemed to cut deeper than any physical wound could, "Hey, Akiko." She twitched. "Would you like to join us for some food?" he offered.

"Huh?" Hinata was about to protest, but Naruto had that look about him. That look of reassurance that made her realise no matter what she said, Naruto was not going to change his mind. She just let out a soft sigh. "Uh… yeah… sure, come join us."

Akiko said nothing.

"Hello?"

After staring into the distance for a while, Akiko finally returned to the now, and accepted the Uzumaki's offer.

XXX

Akiko was broke so Naruto offered to pay, but since he didn't really have any money either, he offered for Hinata to offer to pay. Akiko didn't mind, she was getting her first proper meal in months. And she was going to devour it like it was her last. Akiko was surrounded by the Legendary Ramen Queen of Konoha and the man who survived on Ichiraku Ramen for thirteen years of his life, yet she was managing to out-eat both.

"How long were you out there?" Naruto wondered.

"In the field? About two months. It took us about two weeks to get to the Land of Frost, and another two to get to Yugakure, then it took me another month to make my way back to Kumo."

"Why did you come back here, were there no field bases in the area to return to?" Naruto wondered.

"I was fearing for my life. All I could think about was returning here and getting away from whatever I saw out there," she explained.

"So, you ran for a month straight?" that sounded like hell. What could drive a woman to do that?

"You're not really one to judge," Hinata tried to reason. After all, this was the same Naruto that ran for seven days straight with no sleep, just to see Sasuke.

"I was scared," was Akiko's response.

"… What happened out there?" Naruto finally asked, "to cause your… battle fatigue?"

2 000 shinobi and kunoichi had come to a stop in the dead of night a few hundred metres from the outskirts of Yugakure. They were made up of four groups, 500 shinobi each company. One from Konoha. One from Suna. One from Iwa. One from Kumo.

They had all spent the last month breaking bread together. Living together. They'd shared stories about what they planned to do when the fighting was over, and what they did before the fighting began. As they'd come down through the mountain trail before their last checkpoint, they'd sang songs with each other. Each company singing a village-specific song, giving their allies time to learn the lyrics, learn the beat, and then sing along with them.

Men and woman who'd participated in the Konoha Crush against each other, those who fought against each other during the Hyuuga Affair, those who once waged war on each other in the Third Shinobi World War had locked their arms together to be merry around a campfire and sing into the night sky with cups of beer in hand.

Little did they know that 1 999 of them would be dead that night.

It was an ambush.

As they sat in the dead of night, they devised ways to break down the Akatsuki defence. The defence around Yugakure wasn't that strong. The Land of Lightning knew where every major player for the Akatsuki was. They had confirmed multiple times. There was no Akatsuki member in the region, nor any one of Orochimaru's goons. It was just 2 000 Zetsu clones, 100 Iron Samurai, and 4 kunai launchers. They were instructed to take the village at night and raise the Shinobi Allied Force flag on the town hall as the sun rose over the Land of Hot Water.

"This is perfect for us, they've got no chakra cannons in the village, just a few kunai launchers, some Zetsu manning the walls and some samurai near the centre of the village. If we send some of the Iwa shinobi in to dig tunnels under the walls, we can use them to undermine their defences. We'll place a couple of bomb tags under the walls and blow a hole clean through them," a Konoha general explained.

Akiko nodded along. She was sitting around one of the many campfires in the clearing, warming her petite body with the heat of the blaze and the warmth radiating off her comrades. Especially the Kumo shinobi sitting next to her with one arm wrapped around her shoulders. She'd made a lot of bonds during this outing. Perhaps when this war was over, she could leave knowing she'd made dozens, if not hundreds, of friends from villages around the world.

"Good point," the Iwa general grinned, "We'll have the Suna company come in from the west to start the attack, when the Suna company starts, we'll rush in from the other directions and overwhelm them."

More nodding in agreement. The Kumo shinobi, L, pulled her in closer as the wind began to pick up. A flurry of dying leaves landed around them providing for more kindling. She'd grown fond of L. He'd been a carpenter before the war, but quit his job in order to fight on behalf of his childhood hero, Killer B. He idolised the jinchuuriki. He'd dyed his hair platinum blonde, grew his goatee in a similar manner, and wore a replica of the jinchuuriki's signature white scarf around his neck. Maybe after this campaign was over, he'd get to meet his idol.

"Okay, we'll put the fires out in ten minutes. Finish your drinks and get battle ready," the Suna general demanded. People stood up and started to move. They picked up their kunai pouches, sharpened their signature weapons, and performed pre-battle rituals.

The whistling in the wind began to pick up.

"Hey… why am I bleeding?" L asked. The blue-eyed kunoichi looked down at herself and then at the Kumo nin next to her. His white flak jacket had been stained crimson, and the red blotch was growing bigger and bigger. He'd been hit by a kunai. A lot of kunai. He collapsed.

"AH!" Akiko let out a hellacious shriek. She grabbed his hand and felt L's grip on her hands grow weaker. He stared up at the stars above trying to speak, but his mouth exploded like a fountain of blood.

"Get down!" someone yelled.

The Iron Samurai had carried the kunai launchers up the mountains surrounding Yu and turned them to the forest. Sharp steel came whizzing by. Akiko threw herself to the ground. Others joined her down there. Some voluntarily. Some riddled with holes. She looked back at L's body. He shook violently as more kunai dug into him.

"B…" were his last words.

Akiko tried crawling towards him.

The thunderous hum of thousands of White Zetsu clones scaling the hill they were camping on filled her eardrums. She tried to crawl away.

"Stand up! Stand up and fight, you maggots!" one of the generals yelled. Akiko kept her face down as she heard him gag on his own blood. He hit the ground. Someone tried to pick Akiko up but she was rooted to the ground by fear.

Fire, wind, lightning and earth jutsu rang out from all around her as people tried their best to locate the kunai launchers from this far away whilst stopping the horde of Zetsu baring down on them.

"Earth Style: Mud Wall!" a group of Iwa shinobi tried to stop the fire by erecting a barrier between themselves and the kunai.

Akiko finally got up when she knew it was safe. She grabbed a kunai from her pouch and gripped it as White Zetsu clones ran past her. She slashed at a few, but they seemed unaffected.

She swung again. The clone grabbed her fist and grinned. She tried to kick him away but Zetsu towered over her.

"Lightning Style: Thunder Spear!" a rod of lightning tore through the clone and nailed it to a tree. Akiko looked down at an L on the verge of death. He'd rolled over onto his metal-ridden stomach to save her life, even though his death was inevitable.

"Retreat! Get to higher ground!" someone yelled.

"No! Stay behind the mud wall!" another recommended.

"Is that rain?" another asked.

Akiko looked up.

They were bomb tags.

They were attached to the White Zetsu clones too.

It was a suicide attack.

Once again, she threw herself to the ground.

The earth shook around her.

How she survived was a miracle.

Everything felt so hot. She was blinded. Her eardrums ruptured. It felt like hell on earth. She was thrown through the air. She rolled around a few times before coming to a stop, eyes fixated on the heavens. Dirt, blood and bodies rained down on her as she crawled over her comrades. As a last resort, she hid.

She hid under a pile of her own comrades' bodies and pretended to play dead.

Anyone who got up and was brave, or rather stupid, enough to still fight was caught by a flying kunai or hugged by a White Zetsu, who lit themselves up. Those who got up and tried to run were too injured to outrun the White Zetsu or the flying kunai knives. No one made it farther than 30 metres down the hill. Akiko didn't want either. She wanted to live. So, she just lay there, covered in blood, and did as Gaara did. Played possum. The flames of the first explosion took most of her clothing. What remained burned with her as she lay there. She was too scared to even put the fires out. A few burns were better than whatever fate awaited her if she dared to move.

She held the position, for hours.

Until she disassociated.

When she came back it was the next day. The fires were still burning, but the sounds of death had ceased. No more White Zetsu clones running. No more kunai whizzing by. It was all silent. Except for the ringing in her ear.

She got up and started running home. The only one who escaped the ring of death was her. Near naked and covered in blood, dirt, and burns, she was alive.

"I'm alive. I'm alive. I'm alive," she assured herself as she limped home.

"Wow…" was all Hinata could say in response to that.

1 999 shinobi and kunoichi. Gone. They were told to take Yugakure by the time the sun came up, but none of them ever saw another sunrise again.

Akiko covered her face with her hands, "I ran away. I'm sorry I ran away. I know I should've gotten up and fought, but… I didn't have it in me," she admitted, "I'm not a real shinobi. I never was. I don't have it in me like you guys do, I just don't."

Naruto reared, "You're not a shinobi? What do you mean?"

"I was a middle schooler before this war started."

"A middle schooler? As in regular school? Not in a shinobi academy? Akiko, how old are you?" Hinata asked.

"… Thirteen."

"Thirteen?"

"Thirteen," Hinata's eyes widened, "Why are you here?"

"I'm here to help my grandparents. Last I saw them, they were extremely sick, and I heard those who serve in the war get crazy post-war benefits. I need to do this for them."

"Do you think they're okay?" Naruto asked.

"Of course, they're safe behind the walls of Sunagakure. I just need to do my part and fight with them in mind."

Oh, damn. She didn't know. How could she? She'd been out on the field for the past two months. How would she have known that the Akatsuki had captured Suna and no one knew what they'd done to its people? Akiko might have been the last of her family and she didn't even know it.

"I'm 99% sure that if I had to ask your grandparents right now, whether they'd prefer to have you alive or have your war benefits, they'd definitely choose you," Hinata said. "Where are your parents?"

"They're dead."

An awkward silence fell upon the booth.

"Sorry."

"It's okay."

"Either way, you've done enough fighting to earn those benefits," Naruto said, "You don't need to head out into battle anymore."

"I have to go back out there," Akiko said.

"I'm sorry?" Naruto sat back.

"When the going got tough, I chose to cover myself in my dead comrades' bodies rather than fight. I arrived in this city with their blood on my hands. Not my own, nor the blood of my enemies, but the blood of the people I fought alongside. I can't go out like that. I have two options: go out there and avenge them or go out there and die like I should have a month ago."

"And why the fuck would those be your only two options?" Naruto asked.

"Because I can't live with myself otherwise. Every minute, every hour, every day, every night. I see their faces. I hear their screams. I can't live with that moment eating me away forever. You just wouldn't understand."

.

.

.

"Except I would," Naruto said… "Your words… they cut deep. You remind me of someone," he turned to Hinata. She didn't say anything, but Naruto could read her mind as if they were in the Creation Point. "Do you see what I've been dealing with all day?" Naruto repeated a piece of advice that he should've meditated on last night. "Don't go down this path. This path of convincing yourself that you're at fault for whatever happened out there. Those who died that day are never coming back. You got to live. That's worth more than any benefits or loyalty or village system, dattebayo."

XXX

They finally finished their meal and walked out to clouds looming over them. The storm was upon them. "Where are you headed now?" Hinata asked.

"I'll probably just head to the Suna barracks and I'll work out where I sleep from there," Akiko said.

"Come to our place. You can sleep in Hinata's room for now," Naruto offered.

"My room?"

"I'm not inviting a thirteen-year-old girl to sleep in my room," the Uzumaki shrugged.

"Do you really mean that?" Akiko asked.

Hinata sighed, "Of course, come along."

The three of them traversed through the streets of the Base, the first droplets of rain hitting the cobblestone pathway as they approached their hotel. "What happened to you? Is that also because of the war?" Akiko asked, looking at Naruto's walker.

"Uh… yeah. I fought in the Battle For Konoha."

"The Battle For Konoha? Damn, the Akatsuki really tried to invade Konoha. Did they win?"

"Of course not, not while I was around," Naruto tried to flex his bicep, but the muscle was weak and exhausted.

"Really? That's amazing. Then what happened? Did they seal away your legs or something?"

"No. I just… I gave it my all and I paid for it with chakra deprivation. Give me a few more weeks and I'll be up and walking again."

"You must be a pretty strong shinobi," she analysed both Naruto and Hinata for a brief second, "Where are you guys from by the way?"

"We're from a beautiful village known as Uzushiogakure," Hinata replied.

"Oh, are you fleeing from the war?" Akiko asked.

"No, we're here to end the war."