Chapter LXXXI

At the Crossroads

After my meal, even though I'm no longer hungry, I take one of Naruto's "stolen" tangerines to peel it carefully. I don't know why, but the feeling of scraping the skin under my nails is nice. I had barely started when they return with Naruto, who hurries to come to my bedside. Of course, I greet him with a caress in his hair and congratulate him. It surprises me that Kiba is there … until I immediately conclude that he's the one who volunteered to feed my student.

They explain the results of their tests to me. His new elemental powers impress me in every aspect. I also learn that Naruto is the reason why the entire hospital vibrated like an earthquake. I remember almost dropping my chopsticks, the contents of my lunch tray nearly spilling over… Aside from Naruto being excruciatingly heavy, earth is much more tolerable than lightning. I don't miss him being a ball of static electricity at all.

"This nature of chakra is truly versatile. However, it won't be long before he becomes a lightning entity again," I say, stripping my fruit of its protective layer.

They nod. Meanwhile, Kiba stares at me out of the corner of his eye. When I look at him, he looks away immediately. Perplexed, I frown.

"Do you think Naruto still has his blockage?" Shikamaru asks me.

"I don't believe it, that's the case," I retort nonchalantly, contemplating the sky which is gradually darkening.

"How can you be so sure?"

"I can't tell you how, but I know." I pause. "Besides, the full moon is tomorrow."

Concern spreads over Sakura and Shikamaru, who take a look outside. I almost heard their hearts sinking into their chests. The moon is very close to its lunar bloom. In one day, it will reach its full potential. At the slightest contact with its devastating rays, Naruto will be swallowed up by his instincts; this nightmarish side that lies dormant within him will awaken. I'm in no condition to chase him or stop him if he runs away like last time.

"Maa, we don't have to worry. As long as the windows are boarded up and the rays can't reach him, he will sleep like a log all night, including me," I reassure them, returning my attention to my tangerine.

"Is this about that night when he caused panic in the village?" Kiba asks.

"Yeah. The full moon acts on Naruto and strips him of his humanity," Shikamaru replies before looking at Sakura. "We must barricade the windows before tomorrow evening. We can't risk Naruto causing another mass panic. Otherwise, he'll be locked up for good."

The girl nods. Shikamaru retrieves the incident report from the bedside table.

I already know what he's about to ask me. So, I beat him to it. "I'd love to give you my report, but that's not possible, I'm afraid."

Shikamaru arches an eyebrow, perplexed; he waits for me to explain.

"I have almost no memory of that night. The only things I remember are heavily blurred. I've fought enemies, but I've forgotten their faces, down to their silhouettes and their genders. I used a Raikiri and my Mangekyō Sharingan, but I don't know for what purposes, just as I don't know why I ran to rescue Naruto."

A silence settles in.

The tension suddenly becomes heavy. I notice that Shikamaru and Sakura exchange a furtive glance.

"When does your memory go haywire...?" he asks me.

"A few moments before I left the bistro."

They hold their breath, even though they try to hide it from me. My answer concerns them. That said, my memory loss can easily be explained. I came too close to death; I felt its skeletal fingers slide along my waist. At least, I convince myself it's that.

"Kiba, are you the one who volunteered?" I ask to change the subject, inspecting my dismembered tangerine more closely to make sure there's no peel left.

"Unfortunately…" he sighs painfully. "Kakashi-Sensei. With what you said, will he accept it at least?"

"No, but he has no choice," I say, locking my gaze on the blond, who immediately stiffens.

He knows very well what I'm about to tell him. I'm bracing myself for another difficult emotional and mental battle with him. Once again, he must devour this chakra offering that isn't mine. I just hope it goes better than with Shikamaru…

"Naruto. Kiba is here to give you his chakra. I'm not yet ready to give you anything. In order for me to survive and recover, you have no choice but to accept it. Again, you can't choose Naruto."

Reluctantly, Kiba rolls up his sleeve and extends his arm towards Naruto. Unsurprisingly, despair veils his face when he sees the offered arm. Immediately, clear tears escape like waterfalls from his dull eyes, on which he places his hands as he curls up.

Naruto is crying. His cries become louder and louder laments.

"Stop whining! I'm the one who should be crying!" Kiba shouts as the crying tears through the silence of my room, in which oxygen is scarce.

- XxX -

In an examination room, Sakura was providing treatment to Kiba's bitten and brutalized forearm. His burning arm had violent spasms and was badly damaged with large, bleeding cuts; Naruto's claws had dug deep into the flesh. His chakra vein had suffered significant trauma. He was now unable to mould his chakra into his arm. He could only groan in response to the unbearable abuse; at that, he also had a fever.

"Stop whining," Shikamaru sighed. "You had it easier than me."

"Shut up!" Kiba shouted, grinding his teeth. "Your situation, my situation. He cracked my wrist and my arm."

"At least he didn't break your arm."

"That's enough! It's not a contest of who is in the most pain," Sakura grumbled dryly. "You knew what you were getting into by agreeing to feed Naruto."

A silence … quickly broken by another groan from Kiba.

"I didn't think it was … that much hell," he retorted, hissing in pain. "I don't know what's worse: the horrible feeling of having your chakra siphoned off, that of being bitten and scratched, or the fact that he's been hesitating forever to bite me. I was eventually as tense as a plank of wood…"

Shikamaru nodded painfully. "Kakashi-Sensei experiences it every day, you know."

"Does he have nerves of steel or something?! Fuck! How does he not lose his mind?! Never again will I give my chakra to Naruto. Especially since I thought it was useless because he threw up afterwards…"

"It happened with me too," Shikamaru added. "Naruto doesn't seem to be able to return what he eats. Our chakra disgusts him, to the point that it makes him sick."

"Yeah, I noticed that… You saw it too, right?"

"Naruto held back from vomiting several times," Sakura confirmed. "I don't know why it puts him off so much to devour a chakra different from that of Kakashi-Sensei, but he prefers to starve rather than vary his diet. As Kakashi-Sensei told us, Naruto still has his blockage… I've never seen Naruto have a meltdown of this magnitude in my entire life."

A silence.

They remembered this scene with an orchestra of tears and despair that was heard throughout the entire Konoha hospital; Naruto's grief manifested itself in screams, which still resonated in a distant echo. Kakashi had to emotionally manipulate him so he would devour Kiba's chakra. As with Shikamaru, Naruto then began to scream high-pitched and painful sounds, as if the eardrums would burst; he tore out his hair before regurgitating the contents of his empty stomach. He fiercely clung to Kakashi's arm and hid his face in the sheets drowned by his tears. The Copy Ninja could only comfort him with sweet words and caresses.

These forced meals plunged Naruto into an impossible distress, that was understood.

"We'll have to keep you under observation until you no longer have a fever," indicated Sakura, who finished bandaging the teenager's wounds.

Kiba nodded, and his face immediately darkened. "Hey… I know that you can't smell it, but his smell has changed."

Perplexed, Sakura and Shikamaru exchanged a look.

"What do you mean? Naruto's scent changed with our chakra being eaten?" Shikamaru asked.

"I'm not talking about Naruto," he corrected dryly. "I'm talking about Kakashi-Sensei."

They felt their hearts stop as they listened to these words; a shiver of dread slid down their spines. They felt as if the air was stifling, even poisonous. Sakura's hands shook; her worst fears were becoming a reality. However, like Shikamaru, she remained rational. Her Sensei was in constant proximity with a Naruto who reeked of death. With the disgusting and rotten smell in the room, Kakashi must have soaked up this disgusting scent from exposure to it. No one said it to his face, but the nursing staff continually complained about the sickening smell, which gradually spread into the neighbouring rooms.

All in all, it was the only possible explanation she could find.

"It's been more than a week since Kakashi-Sensei was hospitalized," Sakura stammered, laughing bitterly. "He hasn't had a chance to take a shower yet and with the stench in the room, he must—"

"It has nothing to do with the fact that he's dirty and the room stinks of carrion," Kiba cut in coldly. "Every person, every living being has their own smell, and it persists no matter what. My nose is capable of telling the difference in any circumstance. To be honest, for a moment I thought it wasn't him."

- XxX -

"If what Kiba said is true, we need to talk about it, Shikamaru," Sakura insisted, a hand on her too small and suffering chest.

Shikamaru remained silent; his eyes avoided those of the young girl. He tried in vain to convince himself that Kiba had imagined everything, that he was wrong… Unfortunately, Kiba wasn't the type to lie; each of his words conveyed was frank.

"I know you want to stay silent to protect Naruto," she continued. "I too want to protect him just like you. But it's Kakashi-Sensei we're talking about. What are we gonna do if he becomes a chakra devourer like Naruto? We can't let this happen."

"He's human, Sakura," Shikamaru replied, although he was incredulous at his own words. "We're not the only ones who think so. This is why his blood is analyzed daily. As long as the tests don't show anything abnormal, there's no point in fretting."

"Naruto's venom can't be detected with medical ninjutsu. We still don't know a lot of things. It's possible that the change isn't happening in the blood, and that it's happening right before our eyes."

Shikamaru sighed. "Even if it's really the case, nothing tells us that the process would stop once separated from Naruto. That mark on the back of his neck won't magically disappear. Until we know how this group transformed Naruto, we can't know if Kakashi-Sensei is going through the same process, or if something else is the key to all this mess."

Sakura wanted to say something, but her narrow windpipe prevented her. She could only agree with him. She felt so helpless in this unreal situation straight out of a horror tale. "What do we do, then...?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "Keeping silent is the best thing to do at the moment. Godaime will do examinations on Kakashi-Sensei tomorrow, and everything suggests that this mark is the source of all the problems."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you remember the memory gap that Kakashi-Sensei told us?"

Sakura nodded.

"His memories began to fail the moment that mark began to glow blue. According to Kakashi-Sensei's reports, if Naruto is possessed by his instincts, he's no longer aware of his actions and can even forget what happened."

"Do you think Kakashi-Sensei could also have feral instincts like … like Naruto...?"

"Maybe. It can't be ruled out, but I could be wrong. Either that … or Naruto can impose his will on Kakashi-Sensei and control him in some way. In both cases, I hope that I'm wrong all along."

Shikamaru was bombarded with a thousand and one questions that overheated his brain. As for Sakura, she hesitated to reveal to him the moment when she had caught Naruto … licking Kakashi for dubious reasons; a hope that this could explain the change in his body odour. However, she could not convince herself that this was the answer. Kakashi was so embarrassed that he turned red with shame, almost scarlet. According to the mortified face of the Copy Ninja who was about to curl up into a ball and disappear forever, he did not want this to be known. Obviously, it was not the first time either.

A phantom memory crossed her fingers infatuated with the angelic softness of Kakashi's silver hair. Unnecessarily, she was jealous. She wanted to have hair as silky and shiny as her Sensei's.

"If he's not becoming a chakra devourer, I don't know what he's turning into, but he's changing, and I'm afraid he's not even aware of it." Shikamaru took one last look at Sakura before leaving.

The kunoichi tried to hold him back. However, her voice refused to speak. What more could she say anyway? Everything had been said. She felt like her heart was being crushed in a vice; her stomach was completely upset. She remembered the discussions on picky topics she had with Kakashi when he was recuperating at home. Each time, he feigned ignorance by shrugging and changing the subject; he always found an excuse. Out of politeness, she did not comment, but she was not fooled. She wondered if he realized it, or if he was in complete denial…

All in all, one thing was certain: he did not say everything.

For once, her fears and anxieties were too great. Each disturbing discovery came in hundreds. With her head down, Sakura finished her tasks so she could go home. She was so exhausted that she would fall asleep as soon as she lay down in bed. Since she was Kakashi's assigned nurse, she had had no rest and had gone through two sleepless nights. Fortunately, she could finally breathe. Another could take her place, and Tsunade had given her her leave.

Although Sakura had finished what she had to do, she was unable to leave, as if an invisible force was holding her against her will. She started wandering the corridors. The dire probability that Kakashi would become a demon like Naruto played over and over in her head, to the point of dizziness. If he was not already becoming one, he was becoming something else, something that made her blood run cold in her veins. The olfactory imprint of her Sensei tormented her just as much. She needed answers. Therefore, she grabbed a stethoscope and headed towards the Copy Ninja's room.

She looked out the window in the door. Obviously, Kakashi was sound asleep. The rather clear night illuminated his motionless body. At his bedside, her amnesiac comrade was sitting on the floor, and his head was on the sheets, very close to the arm to which he was clinging with his own; one of his hands held Kakashi's. Naruto was resting with one eye open, as he turned his head just as Sakura gently opened the door.

Naruto watched her with his little puffy eyes. His cheeks were still damp; he had dried his tears only recently. Sakura inhaled calmly, inhaling the foul air that made her heart sick. She memorized the smell before taking another breath of air, giving herself a dose of courage that she badly needed.

On Kakashi's other arm, she noticed a fresh bite. He had been poisoned shortly before her arrival. He had stayed awake to calm Naruto, who was in unimaginable distress.

"I'm here to take his vitals for the night, Naruto," Sakura lied in a whisper.

The blond just stared at her. He was too exhausted to react more than that.

The young girl took her stethoscope and pretended to examine Kakashi under the suspicious gaze focused on her. Slowly, she leaned towards Kakashi. Focused on her sense of smell, she sniffed him discreetly. Immediately, she painfully restrained herself from grimacing as the vile odour mercilessly attacked her nostrils. She got up and fought to cough with all her strength. The feeling in her throat was the same as if she had just taken a sip of chemical perfume. She froze in place, horrified.

While Naruto tried to understand her sudden strange reaction, Sakura hung her stethoscope around her neck with difficulty despite her trembling hands. Oddly, Kakashi's scent was excruciatingly strong yet subtle; it could go unnoticed if one did not pay attention to it. It was not a bad smell caused by sweat or lack of hygiene. The scent of a wet dog mixed with that of a wild animal covered in dirty fur made him smelly; at that, he briefly reeked of rotten meat. She noticed with horror that it was similar to Naruto's scent … although she had the feeling that it was stronger than her comrade…

A silent tear escaped from her emerald iris. She was now convinced that Kakashi was losing his humanity. She observed him for long minutes; she came to forget Naruto, who was becoming more and more anxious. He carefully inspected Kakashi, placing his ear on his chest to listen to the normal beating of his heart.

Reluctantly, Sakura had to accept reality. It wouldn't be long before she lost her last comrades, her Sensei in charge of Team 7.

Sasuke had joined Orochimaru, trapped in their deadly clutches.

Naruto had amnesia; a feral beast hungry for chakra.

Kakashi was becoming one of these demons, soon lost forever.

She was in so much pain suddenly. She felt like she was being stabbed multiple times; the blade of a kunai was pleasant and gentle unlike the suffering that rocked her in the flames of hell. In a way, she was looking at Hatake Kakashi one last time before the night made him its child, inflicting the same horrible fate it had done to Naruto.