Chapter XXXIII
Sleeping Beauty
The end of my road was much simpler and faster with the sapphire-eyed boy clinging to my back; I wasn't slowed down by his fear of others which still refuses to leave him. It seems that covering his eyes was a wise choice. Naruto stayed calm and didn't strangle me in any way. Nevertheless, his sensitive nose recognized the place once inside since he started to shake a bit, but nothing alarming. I ignored the looks directed on us because of our atypical look which wouldn't be if the blond didn't wear his forehead protector over his eyelids.
After informing myself at the reception to find out where I was expected, I continued my way to the place acting as an examination room. The trio turn their heads when I open the door.
Before they can comment anything, I beat them to it. "I am so sorry for being late. Naruto didn't make it easy for me," I apologize, chuckling flatly before bending over to lower Naruto.
He doesn't want to leave my back, but the teenager does it anyway, all slowly… However, he keeps physical contact with me since he tries to grab my hand and manages to do so, snatching a sigh of exasperation from me.
"He had a meltdown because he recognized the place, didn't he?" guess Lady Tsunade sternly.
"Indeed," I sigh, roughly lifting the headband from the blond's blue eyes, who must readjust it after.
"Let's not waste any more time. Sit down," Godaime orders me. "We'll start with a blood test."
I nod, glancing at Naruto to inquire about his condition. He seems to be doing better. The presence of the others makes him nervous, but he tolerates them much more easily than before; to believe that his barriers have dropped by a significant level. I won't complain about it. I can only be happy to see him get out of his wild temper which he's enslaved to.
As ordered, I sit on the edge of the bed as Naruto stands, staring suspiciously at each one, making Shizune and Sakura uncomfortable. Apparently, it's Sakura who is responsible for me since she sets to prepare everything on the metal cart by sitting on the stool.
"Naruto, you have to let go of my hand," I curtly order him.
Reluctantly, the teenager hesitates for a breath before complying, allowing me to roll up the sleeve of my sweater to reveal the crook of my elbow and therefore, my veins.
"I don't know if keeping Naruto here is a good idea," Sakura suddenly says, stopping what she was doing. "If you remember, Naruto is terrified of needles."
A brief silence rocks the entire room since this is true. I have no idea how Naruto will react when he sees it; amnesia can dispel phobias, but it's relatively rare… However, getting him out of the room is not a possibility either if I don't stay with him.
"We'll have to deal with it," Godaime sighs. "They can't be separated…"
"Kakashi-sensei, if you cover his eyes like you just did..?" my student cautiously suggests.
Immediately, the blond arches his back and brings his hands to his forehead protector before growling. He glares at her with his feral eyes as his tail twitches and his hairs begin to ruffle.
"Easy, Naruto," I whisper, raising my palms in front of him.
"He knows what we're about to do," Shizune says, horrified.
The tension becomes palpable. As she has just said, Naruto suspects and knows what is happening and therefore categorically refuses to be deprived of his sense of sight. In addition to his behaviours or his thoughts closer to those of a beast, Naruto remains very intelligent and that, Shikamaru and I confirmed it when we tested him many times. Fortunately, I am able to calm him down if the situation escalates.
Showcasing the impending drama, I roll up my two sleeves further, keeping an eye on the teen on high alert.
"Calm down, Naruto. No one is going to hurt us."
Besides an ephemeral look at me, his expression doesn't flinch, just like his poisonous tail slapping against the tiles.
"You can go, Sakura," I say, holding out my closest arm.
When the syringe falls into his field of vision, the effect is immediate. I see all his dark and light hairs stand on end as his face takes on the features of an angry beast. He's ready to pounce, palms open and ready to scratch everything in their path. Naruto has time to take a step forward before I grab both of his arms to subdue him. His thin wrists trapped in the vice of my hands, he doesn't try to struggle or get out of my grip. His irises lighting up, he doesn't take his eyes off Sakura.
"That's enough, Naruto! They want to help us! You have to let her do it!"
With a quick gesture, his ebony tail violently slaps Sakura's hand to force her to let go of her instrument which smashes against the ground, thereby even snatching a cry of surprise from her. He bares his fangs with a growl, soon to be unleashed in order to "protect" me with fierce determination.
I have no choice but to get up and pin him against the bed. I release one of his arms to grab his tail to neutralize it while pinning the other arm against his chest, near his neck. To immobilize him further, I place one knee against his pelvis, crushing him with all my weight. As our panicking hearts synchronize as well as our breaths, I plunge my dark iris into Naruto's puzzled and restless eyes; my gaze is so piercing that he must feel it stab him right through.
"You calm down, Naruto! Did you already stop trusting me?!"
Naruto gasps before freezing to his breath. My words awaken something in him that pushes him to subconsciously calm down; this is confirmed when his deep blue irises stop shining like fireflies in the night. As for me, I release his tail and his arm and separate myself from him. Naruto is visibly unsettled since he doesn't move and just stares at me. I grab his arms to force him to sit down.
"If it's too hard for you, don't look. They are friends, Naruto. Just like Shikamaru, they are there to help us."
"Kakashi-sensei…" Sakura whispers.
"If you trust me, then you have to let them do what they must do, Naruto," I say while laying a gentle hand on his spiky mane that had returned to normal.
Once sure there is no longer any trace of hostility in him, I resume my place on the bed, letting out a sigh. Naruto crosses his legs before avoiding looking in our direction; at that, his black tail wraps one turn around my abdomen, but doesn't hug me more than that.
"Amazing, he calmed down," Shizune awes in a low voice.
"Kakashi is the only one who can keep him under control," Lady Tsunade adds. "More reason to make sure he keeps being able to. Sakura."
Sakura nods before preparing another syringe. As for me, I analyze the feral boy; his hands clutching the fabric of his pants betray his anxiety. I can feel his heartbeat pulsing through all of his limbs, including his tail.
I offer my arm again, and Sakura applies a tourniquet to bring out my veins before penetrating the needle. Next to the sharp points of Naruto's canines, I hardly react and the pain is absent although I stiffen for a breath. Moreover, since the blond is attentive to my moods, I have to keep absolute composure so as not to agitate him more than he already is.
Once the sample is complete, she offers me a piece of cotton to press against the tiny wound, until the bleeding stops. It's from this moment that anxieties take hold of me, aware of the next step. This creates a tension that gets on our nerves; in addition to video images, they will soon be witnesses to this ritual of suffering that I have to submit to every night.
The insignificant wound stops bleeding quickly, allowing me to hide it with my sleeve, though that's futile if I take into account my student's keen sense of smell.
"Naruto."
He slowly turns his head.
"I'm offering you my chakra," I say, reaching out my other arm next to him.
The teenager shows a surprised pout, almost jumps. To encourage him to accept since he hesitates, I sketch a jovial expression while smiling.
"I know you're hungry, Naruto. You don't have to hesitate."
Deep inside me, I'm afraid that Naruto will not eat or worse, that he won't spill his venom since we're not at my home and we're not alone… I hope that what I'm about to live will not be useless … besides silencing his appetite, things said.
In painful patience, we wait for the boy with sapphire eyes to accept my essence of lightning.
Naruto's bluish irises light up before grabbing my arm with a sincere smile; his tail wags playfully. I stiffen in spite of myself and we hold our breath when the teenager sinks his fangs full length into my flesh to reach my chakra vein, making me flinch. I am unable to adapt although it has become commonplace in my daily life. The pain caused by my progressively devoured chakra is barely tolerable, but I have to focus on each of these throbbing pains to know if I feel this sensation of inferno licking my flesh, my muscles and my veins…
This familiar heat burns my arm and gradually spreads throughout my limb. I am sure; it's the said sensation that the unknown substance must generate… Moreover, fatigue sets in, even pushing me to yawn when the blond pulls out his teeth, carrying in their wake a few scarlet pearls. A few drops of sweat sliding down my forehead, I painfully breathe to calm the pain. The desire to sleep comes to obsess my mind.
There can be no doubt.
Naruto's venom runs through my body now enslaved to it.
"Are you all right, sensei?" Sakura asks worriedly.
I nod before giving her my incessant shaking limb. She inspects my skin with her touch and notices the state of my arm soon marked with bruises; she's concerned and alarmed, it's obvious if I translate the features of her face. She must guess the pain that strikes me every time I feed the blond with my chakra. The marks on my forearm aren't lying.
After this visual and sensory analysis, she uses her medical ninjutsu to auscultate it deeply, snatching loud hisses from Naruto. She quickly frowns, puzzled.
"I can't detect any trace of venom. However, your burning skin demonstrates the opposite," Sakura shares darkly, thus arousing the curiosity of Godaime who examines my arm too.
"Indeed," Lady Tsunade confirms, arching an eyebrow. "Strange… This substance completely escapes our medical ninjutsu, impossible to detect it. That would explain why it slipped away from us when you were first bitten. At first glance, it's designed not to be discovered…"
As I let out another yawn, my eyelid heavy, a cold sweat beads on my temple. The fact that this venom is invisible is a very bad omen… Did Naruto deliberately hide it from me...? Or is it simply designed like that?
My arm is released and without wasting time, Sakura sets about preparing the second sample, putting Naruto on edge.
"Don't look," I order him, pushing his head away with my hand to force him to look elsewhere.
He frowns, emits a loud complaint, but nothing more; as requested, he avoids observing us.
Without further ado, my student places a tourniquet and thrusts the needle into my vein … but strangely, the blood barely flows, if at all, causing her to frown, Lady Tsunade and Shizune alike. Tightening the elastic, she stings me elsewhere … the same phenomenon occurs. It forces Godaime to step in and inspect my arm.
"I'm definitely in his vein, though," Sakura points out.
"I see that," she grumbles, puzzled. "Try the one with a bigger gauge."
Naruto's ebony tail festers and he lets out low growls, betraying his impatience. However, since he does nothing else, we ignore him.
When I see the young girl armed with this horribly large needle that makes me bead a drop of sweat, I become excruciatingly tense. Although I am anxious, strangely my heart doesn't accelerate. She stings me again in one of my veins; I flinch and grimace in discomfort…
My blood takes forever to flow, even stops after a while forcing her to poke me in another vein. It really begins to piss me off that my skin is pierced with pain; especially with this demonic needle although it's far from competing with Naruto's canines… Nevertheless, Sakura manages to collect the samples she needs. Obviously, there is indeed something that disturbs the proper functioning of my body and to see the meagre flow, that is understood.
"Stay here, Kakashi," Fifth Hokage instructs me. "We'll soon be back once we have the results."
"Understood," I agree with a nod. "I'm going to lie down in the meanwhile…"
She nods before she leaves with her two disciples, taking the cart and the precious hemoglobin samples. Both alone, Naruto resumes his usual behaviour and seems to inquire about my condition by observing me with an appalling intensity. As for me, I struggle to keep my eye open and my body goes numb at a dangerously rapid rate.
I ask the teenager to get off the bed so that I can rest there until they come back…
Without realizing it, the darkness takes me with them into unconsciousness.
In the analytic department, the trio worked together to solve the mysteries that were putting Kakashi into a deeper and deeper slumber. When they had seen the blood which was struggling to flow unlike the first blood test, Naruto was indeed spilling some substance during his bites; it was irrefutable. By combining the different symptoms they had been able to observe, it would seem that this engenders a form of lethargy or hibernation by slowing down the pace of the body. While this might prove useful in reducing blood loss from hemorrhage, the likelihood of other adverse effects being involved could not be ruled out, greatly worrying the kunoichis.
With the two blood samples, they could make comparisons. Unsurprisingly, in the second sample, they detected an unknown toxin; the amount Naruto had injected also alarmed them.
After many tests, Naruto's venom was like a powerful sedative with a mixture of coagulants and benzodiazepines that triggers forced sleep in its victim. Not only that, but they found in its composition beneficial properties for physical recovery, especially chakra recovery.
Ever since the blond was devouring Kakashi's essence, he was spilling this substance with every bite. Seeing the Copy Ninja's condition getting worse and worse to the point of no longer being able to wake up according to his words, Naruto could dose it as he pleased and was perpetually increasing his dosages. Godaime had a small idea as to why he was increasing the amount of his toxin. Going by Kakashi's reports, the hunger still lingered after his chakra offering and with that information in the equation, Naruto's intentions were very clear.
The analyzes finished, they returned to see Kakashi so to tell him about their discovery.
Upon entering the room, they saw Naruto crouched by Kakashi's bedside, watching him with great intensity. The teenager suddenly turned his head towards them and looked fierce, ruffling his hair; his tail began to swing from right to left to show his displeasure. Kakashi didn't react; he was content to remain in a disturbing stillness, escaping what would appear to be snores.
"Hatake Kakashi!" Godaime yelled as she approached until Naruto intervened, forcing her to keep her distance.
She got no reaction from the man with heterochromic irises.
"HATAKE KAKASHI!" Tsunade yelled louder, making Naruto arch his back, now on his guard.
She shouted his name again, but nothing changed. The Copy Ninja was fast asleep. Naruto got angrier, emitting more and more aggressive grunts; according to his posture, he was protecting him and forbidding anyone to approach.
"It's worse than what he told us," Shizune observed.
"Fuck," Tsunade swore, clenching her fist in irritation.
Kakashi slept so soundly that the slightest sound couldn't reach him … but the real obstacle was the feral boy who refused to let them come near to try to wake him up. Not at all patient, Tsunade approached Naruto under her dismayed and worried gaze two disciples. As for the beast, he eyed her with his deep, luminous blue irises. Only a metre away, they looked into each other's eyes. Godaime frowned to the point of showing a face similar to the one in front of her.
"You get out of the way, Naruto!" she ordered in her stern voice which further accentuated the violence of the growls emitted.
The two kunoichis held their breath and asked Tsunade to stop annoying him since Kakashi wasn't able to calm him down… However, determined not to let the blond dominate her, she told them to shut up.
"You put him in this state, so I'm going to give you two choices, my little guy! You wake him up for me or you get the hell out of my way!"
Naruto growled, enraged. Although Kakashi trusted them and Kakashi had told him to do the same, he couldn't bring himself to trust this stern-looking human… But since Kakashi had forbidden him to attack them, he held back from jumping. However, he couldn't allow her to get close to Kakashi who was in no condition to react and defend himself because of his venom. Besides, Kakashi had to recover and Kakashi had to be left alone.
As a warning, Naruto electrified his tail before delivering a blow with it… Without even looking at it, the obnoxious human grabbed his sensitive tail, stopping the momentum of his powerful blow. This made him gasp in surprise. Despite the oozing flashes of his prehensile limb supposed to numb the muscles, she squeezed his tail so hard that Naruto hissed a moan of pain that forced him to his knees, then on all four.
Seeing him bend over backwards, Tsunade released the limb, ignoring the numbness caused by the lightning which did not make her react. Naruto, trembling, gently stroked the sore skin of his ebony tail, gritting his teeth. Despite the trauma that haunted the sapphire-eyed boy, Godaime refused to let him step on her toes.
"Lady Tsunade," Sakura blurted out, covering her mouth with her hand.
Without wasting another second, the Hokage walked around the blond to grab Kakashi by the jacket to shake him, shouting his name once again. It took a few jolts, but eventually he painfully opened his eyes. Blinking his eyelids, his heterochromic irises contemplated the void in front of them before landing on Tsunade.
"Pull yourself together, will you!?"
She noticed how confused he was since he wasn't reacting. Naruto's venom knocked him out completely. After a breath, Kakashi closed his eyelids before loudly snoring.
At the end of her tether, Tsunade grabbed him by the jacket to lift him before shaking him more aggressively.
"HATAKE KAKASHI! WAKE UP!" she bellowed.
Despite the sharp pain that throbbed him, Naruto got up, nearly stumbling; because of the fleeting injury that made his tail less agile, he suffered a loss of balance. Wobbling and close to falling, his light and dark fur ruffled as he let out murderous hisses, lightning seeped from his entire body … but neither his hair nor his tail turned into electricity. Much to Shizune and Sakura's relief, he kept his positions although he seemed hesitant to attack.
Fortunately, Naruto's aggression subsided when Kakashi opened his eyes again, letting out a moan, dazed. Tsunade thus stopped shaking him like a vulgar rag doll.
"I see," Kakashi sighed wearily, nodding endlessly.
Kakashi had a lot of trouble assimilating everything Godaime told him, but Naruto was indeed responsible for his condition. Ever since the Copy Ninja had been forcibly dragged from the land of dreams that once again demanded his presence, Naruto had crouched down in front of the bed staring at the medical-nin while holding Kakashi's weary hand. The teenager had not recovered from the exchange with Tsunade who had broken his tail.
"To satisfy his hunger, he started increasing his amount of venom," Godaime explained. "It allows you to better recover your chakra … in return, he devours more of it too."
"… Now that you mention it… His bites are longer than before…"
"The sleep pattern he imposes on your body is bad and could lead to other problems. Also, there is a chance that your body will become addicted to it."
The grey put his eye on Naruto with difficulty while escaping a sigh.
"...I see…"
"You'll have to get him to stop one way or another."
"...I don't enjoy this situation, you know," he replied, looking at the void. "I'm the only one … the only one who…"
In the middle of his sentence, Kakashi fell back before snoring again. He was unable to stay awake any longer, and the train of dreams swept him back on its dreamless tracks.
Seeing that it was useless to insist further, the kunoichis decided to let him sleep… However, a more unstable problem tormented them.
"What do we do with him now?" Sakura asked, referring to Naruto watching over Kakashi.
Tsunade let out a sigh before crossing her arms. "With that much in his blood, Kakashi won't wake up that night and maybe the next morning. We have no choice but to leave them here. Shizune, make sure you spread the word so no one comes in until he wakes up."
Her faithful assistant nodded.
"As for him, the matter will soon be settled."
Godaime took a few steps forward from Naruto who arched in response and she pointed at him.
"You! If you leave the room to go I don't know where, I'll make sure to have Kakashi moved to where you won't find him!"
Her words took Shizune and Sakura by surprise, as well as the blond who answered with a rotten growl of animosity while baring his fangs quite obviously. Sketching a satisfied smile, she indicated to her disciples that it was time to go out. Outside the room, they asked her if Tsunade was serious about her threat; she shook her head.
"I doubt he'll walk away from him, but you can never be too careful. Especially with an element as unpredictable and unstable as this amnesiac and feral Naruto."