Chapter XXXVII

Embraced by Pain

TW: Blood

The still stubborn pain pulls me out of my slumber. The pangs of agony get worse and cause me to grab and hold my numb arm. Half asleep, I grit my teeth and wait for the pain to fade away with silent complaints. I take deep breaths as the crisis passes. Fortunately, the infernal sensations quickly become bearable.

It's only then that I open my eye and a loud sound is pounding in my head as if I've had a little too much alcohol. The glow of the sun blinds my retina for a breath. Sitting down with difficulty, holding my shaking arm, I realize that I'm free from all usual restraints before finally discovering the source of this din which is starting to make my hair stand on end.

For the first time, Naruto isn't glued to me—rather, he isn't touching or brushing against me. On his stomach, half of his limbs hanging in the air, including his black tail resting on the ground, the teenager snores like a forge … and these snores are excruciating. I wonder if it was him who woke me up since sleeping in such conditions without earplugs is impossible for me. It's also likely that I was able to because of his toxin in my blood.

Besides the sharp pain, I feel well and rested.

Looking at my dial, I'm relieved to see that it's only seven in the morning. I managed to stop Naruto in time … well, I think since we went to bed relatively early. However, I won't complain.

The blond is sleeping like a log. I don't know if he fell asleep or not that night, but I plan to wake him up to get him to follow my daytime rhythm. In the worst of worlds, his amorphous state will make him obedient; a blessing in disguise, as they say.

I pull myself up to the end of the bed to get up. I walk around him, being careful not to step on his tail and thus cause him a brutal awakening. In front of Naruto, I remove the blanket; the sapphire-eyed boy is unresponsive and is sound asleep. I see that he's still wearing his forehead protector around his neck and that his wounds are almost healed and will be completely healed by tomorrow, although the redness remains as much. I put a hand on his shoulder to shake him a few times, calling out to him in a loud voice. After a few jerks, my student frowns and stops his loud racket.

"Naruto, get up!" I curtly order him.

He moans with a grumble, then turns to show me his back, twirling his tail uselessly. He's awake, but he's letting me know his desire to continue his activity.

"Naruto!"

Naruto lets out a muffled grunt before taking the pillow to forcefully slam it on his head; at that, I hear a lightning and then a second. The blond got out of bed on the wrong side, no need to specify it. Knowing the old Naruto, he has a tendency to oversleep, especially in the morning; the fact that his internal clock tracks that of a nocturnal creature doesn't help either. As for me, I'm not impressed and frown in turn.

"I'll give you until I get back from the shower," I tell him sternly, squeezing a rotten, angry lament out of the grumpy boy.

I leave the teenager to shower and get rid of this damn veil of static electricity. In addition, it will allow Naruto to calm down … if, in the meantime, he doesn't go back to sleep. In the bathroom, I take the opportunity to examine the condition of my still trembling arm. If I touch it, the pain causes excruciating twinges and extracts muffled squeaks from me as I unroll the bandage.

The redness didn't leave it and gave way to a bluish and purplish hematoma, underlining that I had cut a relatively large vein by forcefully removing his killer canines away from me. Also, the skin is slightly swollen and burning, but the wounds are healthy. However, I note with concern that the stitches are giving way and are releasing some scarlet pearls… Did I rush my work last night? I doubt; I've sutured far more serious wounds than this in the past.

Obviously, it's not just my chakra network that has suffered significant trauma. If I mould my chakra into my limb, the pain makes me bend over, quickly in four, and force me to stop immediately. My chakra vein is seriously damaged… With such sensations that snatch dull complaints from me, my arm is useless.

While waiting for the water to be at an ideal temperature, I notice that I've lost weight and my cheeks have sunk in slightly. Fortunately, this isn't visible at first glance, especially with my mask. However, my bird appetite is beginning to have a negative impact on my body. I have to be careful not to make my condition worse.

My time under water turns into hell. I avoid putting my arm in the artificial rain, but the few drops reaching it plunge me into mortal agony. My breath hitches to gasp. As a result, the now bleeding wounds reopened; the stitches threaten to break at any moment and hang by a thread. Why am I suffering martyrdom? I've experienced much more serious injuries than this one, and this one should leave me indifferent. What causes this throbbing pain? I don't have the slightest explanation in mind; nothing makes sense. Groaning, I hurry to turn off the water.

I cannot stand it anymore…

And I ignore the pain…

Hardly…

I breathe in loudly for a long time, while analyzing my arm in poor condition. One of the stitches has burst and the crimson discharge is alarming; without Naruto's venom in my veins, I'm slowly bleeding out. Despite the cold scourging my naked body, I hasten to take out my first aid box to suture the wounds that require urgent care. I'm in so much pain that I'm hurting my teeth from grinding them on top of each other.

I don't understand. Why did the points give way? I'm one hundred percent confident in my abilities, though. By analyzing the threads still anchored in my flesh, I have the impression that they have melted by I don't know what… I have no idea what is happening with my arm and to say that I am worried would be a euphemism. If the stitches continue to rupture so mysteriously, I will have no choice but to go to the infirmary to seek treatment…

After recovering from my emotions, I get dressed and bandage my arm. I clean the blood that soils the shower, the sink and the counter. I take another painkiller. I quickly nibble on something and walk back to the bedroom. Surprised, but not surprised, Naruto remained in a similar position, although he replaced the pillow to rest his head on it and he hid himself with the blanket covering half his face. When I approach, I see his eyebrows furrow.

The teenager knows that I am there and that I am about to pull him out of bed.

Without warning, I abruptly remove the blanket off with a quick gesture; in response, Naruto jumps. Impatient, I grab his ankles and force him out—something that makes me flinch for a breath thanks to the searing pain. The sapphire-eyed boy clings tightly to the sheets, growling aggressively. Unfortunately, because of my fragile arm, I can't manage to get the upper hand, not to mention that I have to avoid his tail which is wagging in all directions; a fear that he might inadvertently strike me with a thunderbolt.

"Naruto! You get out of bed!" I order him, raising my voice.

Stubborn as a mule, the teenager clings even more ferociously, muttering incomprehensible sounds. Quickly, I have to stop, aware that brute force in my current state won't be able to win unlike last time. His legs free, Naruto hurries to roll into a ball, but he remains vigilant as his hands are pinned down fiercely; he frowns his overly frowning eyebrows even more as he slams his tail against the floor.

I refuse to give up and I'm determined to get him out of it, willingly or not. If raw attempts are useless, I have to try a softer approach.

Knowing him to be particularly ticklish, I tickle him under his arms and ribs. Naruto doesn't take long to sketch a smile from ear to ear; he lets out taciturn chuckles before starting to fidget. His still silent laughter intensifies as I increase the pace. When he lets go of the sheets to cover his sensitive areas for protection, I quickly grab his shins to pull him out once and for all. The blond lets out a cry of surprise as his face hits the floor.

To make sure he doesn't lie down again, I hoist him out of my room. His claws dug in the wood try to resist me, but only manage to lacerate the floor by marking it for more than a metre in their wake. To this, Naruto expresses himself with primary sounds by way of lamentations which reflect his anger.

As usual, Naruto forgives me … although his black tail betrays his bad mood. To calm him down, I promised to take him out today; a place he should enjoy and away from the din of the village. He cracked a smile, but his sleepiness is too strong to be fully excited by the idea. Nevertheless, this idea was enough for him to stay with me in the kitchen, even though he was lying with his arms and his head on the table. As long as his eyelids are open, I allow him to do what he wants. I offered the teenager a drink, yet he barely touched it; I guess he wasn't really thirsty.

As his mind slowly unravels with reluctance, Naruto lets out long sighs as he swings his black tail from right to left. If it's not emptiness, I feel him staring at me; over time, his piercing gaze is no longer so uncomfortable and disturbing to me. Yesterday's book that I lent him is still on the table, but it hardly attracts the slightest glance.

As for me, I just ignored him while filling out my report. Luckily, it's my left arm that is embraced by pain. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to write. So as not to worry my student, I try somehow to endure the pain and suffer in silence, but the spasms continue. At least Naruto doesn't seem to have noticed.

Before I take Naruto out, I'm waiting for Shikamaru's visit. Logically, he should come around ten o'clock; that gives me plenty of time to finish the report that I will have to give to him.

I end up poking my nose into my favourite book once my task is done. Several pages later, I finally hear a knock on my door, startling the sapphire-eyed boy. He arches his back, lets out a weak grunt and ruffles all his hair, putting on feral features. His sudden unusual reaction worries me; his sensitive nostrils allow him to know the identity of the person, and the fact that he reacts thus implies that it's not Shikamaru since he's comfortable with him.

"Stay there, Naruto," I tell him, raising an eyebrow, as concerned as curious.

To my surprise, it wasn't Shikamaru who came, but Sakura when I open the door to her.

"Good morning, Kakashi-sensei," she says, smiling, glancing behind me.

She must have noticed my astonishment to see her since she quickly answers me. "Shikamaru is busy. I offered to drop by to take your report and give you the medicine."

"I see," I say, accepting the medication she hands me before I do the same with my document. "Has it had any news on the case?"

I hear Naruto approach me cautiously. He clings to me by remaining hidden behind my person. He stares at his comrade before his tail comes to form a barrier by wrapping around our legs. While I don't care much about the blond, his mistrust hurts the young girl; judging by our last conversation, this gesture must hurt her.

"Sakura!" I yell to get her out of her thoughts, which I guess were dark.

She jumps before turning her attention back to me.

"Yes! Excuse me! Master Tsunade affected Shikamaru again on the question of where he could have been held captive. With the new data we've collected, she wanted the team to get back to work."

I see that she painstakingly avoids saying Naruto's name. She must do this so as not to awaken potential traumas anchored in him since he understands very well what we're saying.

"Let's hope this leads to something to finally get things forward," I sigh. "If we find this place, we could glean valuable Intel…"

My face darkens.

"If they haven't set foot there already," I finish grimly.

Sakura lowers her head and dodges my ebony eye. If Naruto is a valuable subject, an important weapon for their plans, whatever they may be. I suspect that these guys have already returned to the scene to remove all traces of their activity… Not to mention that they will want to get their hands on Naruto at the first opportunity, this is irrefutable and inevitable. I don't know if my student is the only chakra devourer they created; it cannot be excluded that he's not the only one and this simple thought sends shivers down my spine, freezes my blood in my veins.

I'm pulled from my thoughts when my arm ablaze with throbbing pain throws me back into an impending hell, making me wince. It would seem that a crisis similar to my awakening is preparing to torture me without mercy. Unfortunately, this doesn't go unnoticed since my two students look at me with anguish. I wanted to hide it from Naruto at all costs, but he knows it now; I'm afraid he'll start to mope again … or worse, that he won't eat afterwards for fear of hurting me.

"Are you all right, sensei?" asks the emerald-eyed teenager.

Stuffing the medication into my pocket, I roll up my sleeve before slowly unrolling the bandage around my arm. I frown and cringe as just touching it causes severe pain.

"Could you … take a look and heal it, please?" I ask, holding out my arm, all shaking and in poor condition.

Horrified, Sakura puts a hand to her mouth. Immediately, she rushes to use her medical ninjutsu to heal my wounds. From then on, the agonizing sensations diminish little by little, although this is far from being enough. Luckily, the lingering numbness that was plaguing it disappears. Meanwhile, she notices that Naruto is injured in the neck despite his headband in front of the scratches.

As for Naruto, in shame, he lowers his head to camouflage his face.

He still blames himself, to the point where he didn't try to stop Sakura.

"Your chakra vein has suffered serious damage such as your lymph vessels and veins. What happened?"

"Let's say that I've underestimated Naruto's voracious appetite," I sigh out painfully. "I had to force him to let me go so I wouldn't be poisoned to the point of never waking up. In doing so, his fangs tore my arm and sliced through the flesh."

"What about Naruto? Did you—"

"I'm not to blame," I cut her off sharply. "He did this to himself…"

Sakura raises her head to stare at me, in shock. Mechanically, I place a gentle hand in the blond hair of an excruciatingly motionless Naruto.

"This month of sequestration that he lived haunts him and still makes him suffer a lot. Usually I stop him before he hurts himself, but he was alone when it happened."

This revelation pushes the young girl into silence, thus eaten away by worry and a touch of sadness. She mustn't have been aware of the catastrophic state of her close friend's fragile psyche.

"Sakura, you don't have to worry. His injuries aren't dramatic. In addition, I watch over him," I reassure her with a smile. "It'll take him some time, sure, but eventually he'll get better and remember who he really is."

"You may be right," she nods, unconvinced by her own words.

Returning my attention to my forearm, the hematoma gave way to a simple bruise and the deep wounds to meagre cuts. As for the pain, it became tolerable, almost non-existent if I have to compare. I am relieved that I no longer feel as if I had my arm burned by a blazing inferno, constantly licking my skin with their devastating flame. At the same time, Sakura ceases her technique.

"I can't do more, Kakashi-sensei. I mostly healed the deep damage that required immediate care. You should have gone to the infirmary without any delay…"

"Maybe, but with Naruto, it's tricky and drained of my chakra, I go to bed afterwards," I retort, wiggling my arm to stretch it. "I'm happy to be able to move it without bending over backwards, thank you."

The kunoichi smiles at me, and I imitate her before turning my attention to the upset boy.

"Naruto, look."

Timidly, he raises his head shamefully. I show him the state of my forearm, and the effect is immediate. The veil of sadness dissipates as his eyes widen in shock. Gently, he cautiously takes my arm to examine it with his touch, as if to make sure it's real. The delicacy he shows prevents me from being scratched by his sharp fingernails.

"See? You don't have to worry, Naruto. Sakura fixed all your naughty sores."

Cuddling my forearm carefully, Naruto turns to Sakura to observe her for an impossible time to define. Then, he sketches a shy and sincere smile while locking his gaze on the ground; at that, his ebony tail slowly pulls out before he closes his eyelids. He puts my arm against his radiant face, soothed by his destructive regrets.

His reaction draws a smile from me and Sakura.

Naruto finally lowered his barriers towards her.

Naruto is ready to open up albeit a little to Sakura.