A/N: So sorry this is late! All I wanted to do was play games… *sweatdrop*
Thanks for reading though! Hope you like it!
"Sensei!"
The door to his apartment slams open, and Kakashi can't help but think, as Naruto pants in the entrance, since when do those brats know where I live?
It's the panic in Naruto's eyes that has Kakashi slipping his book away and striding forward, and when his blond student grabs at his hand Kakashi realizes he's talking to a clone.
"Sensei you gotta come there's this guy and he didsomethingtomyseal and Natsu's hurt and he said something weird about Sasuke I don't know you gotta help! You-"
"Calm down Naruto! Tell me where." Kakashi barks, staring at his genin's clone until it stops shaking.
"W-we went to the Kusa-assigned training field, we were gonna goad one of the failing exam teams into a fight, b-but I don't think that guy's a real genin, h-his killing intent was so sharp it knocked Natsu unconscious and he said something about wanting Sasuke…"
A pit drops in Kakashi's stomach.
"Hokage-sama should still be in his office, go there immediately and let him know - I'll go to the fields, which number is Kusa's?"
"Eighty-three!" Naruto's clone snaps out, and Kakashi rushes off without hesitation, trusting the clone to do as he said.
He hits the edges of the village, where the Exam participant assigned training fields lie, not even slowing down as he rockets towards ground eighty-three.
An explosion of fire and heat hits so fast and hard it shakes him from his perch, and he leaps from the tree down to solid earth, mind scrambling through every shinobi he's heard of skilled enough to unleash such a powerful fire technique as he closes in.
It's only when he breaks through a wall of fire that doesn't so much as singe a hair on his head that he realizes-
"If I don't want my fire to kill someone it's not going to. I'm the one who controls it after all!"
Sasuke is curled up on the ground, clutching his shoulder. Naruto hunches over a little ways away, arms wrapped around his stomach. Natsu cradles his right hand against his chest, kneeling on the ground in front of Sasuke, eyes practically glowing from the fire.
Between Kakashi and his students, a woman in Kusa uniform radiates a bloodlust he's only felt a handful of times in his life, and Kakashi's heart stutters in his chest.
He yanks his headband up and thanks whatever Kami-sama are listening for the fact that his idiot students are still alive.
A bare moment later, his raikiri rips through Orochimaru's heart.
Something burns in Natsu's hand, in Sakura-chan's chakra, maybe even in his magic, and he's pretty sure he's hearing voices.
He can't focus, the world blurry at the edges, but there's someone here who wants to hurt his team so he plants his good hand into the ground and focuses on fire, because if everything burns enough he can at least keep the enemy away-
He feels someone cross through his flames -friendly, teammate, willnotburn- but can't get his eyes to focus to find out who.
A cacophony of chirping birds cuts through the sound of crackling flame, followed quickly by a wet squelch, and Natsu's eyes finally focus to see a hand sticking through the chest of the enemy.
The hand retracts in a splurt of blood, and Natsu thinks for a moment that that's it - right before fingers stick themselves out of the Kusa-nin's mouth and pull.
Natsu's pretty sure he's never seen anything as horrifying as watching someone pull themselves out of their own mouth before, the enemy shinobi slipping out of their own skin and blocking a follow up attack in one smooth motion.
"Well! I suppose the backup has arrived," the foreign shinobi says casually, as they dance out of the way of an attack.
Natsu distantly recognizes Kakashi as he struggles to keep his eyes focused.
"I'm afraid I already got what I came for, though, so I won't stick around." Blades of wind lance out, extinguishing some of Natsu's fire and whipping the rest into a frenzy, and then the shinobi disappears from all Natsu's senses as though they were never there to start with.
"He's gone…" someone breathes in relief, as Kakashi races towards them, Sharingan eye already looking for injuries.
Natsu closes his eyes, exhausted, hand pulsing in agony, and isn't quite sure when he falls asleep.
"It's not unlike Anko's curse seal," Jiji muses, "though it seems to be much-improved. It would be best to have Jiraiya-san take a look at it."
Sasuke and Natsu are both asleep, though Natsu wakes up a little every time someone touches him.
Normally, Naruto thinks it might be weird to see his teammates curled up in the same bed together, Natsu's hand resting on Sasuke, but right now all he can do is worry about the little black markings that decorate the Uchiha's shoulder and Natsu's hand. There's not even blood or a wound from the bite, just the markings, and maybe it's whatever that Oro-guy did to his seal, but Naruto feels sick to his stomach. Sasuke hasn't woke up once after all, and Natsu talks to the air in a strange language no one understands in his brief moments of awareness.
"What's that curse-thingy s'posed to do anyway?" Naruto asks after a moment, when it seems like no one's gonna say anything.
Jiji turns to look at him, eyes shadowed by his hat. "We know that it's difficult to survive. Most people afflicted with it die, with only perhaps one in ten ever waking back up. But with the seal's parts split up, divided between them… It's hard to say what might be different."
"That's it?" Naruto scrunches his nose, looking back at his teammates.
"If it's not properly suppressed it can lead to things like increased aggression or recklessness," Kakashi-sensei offers with his lecture-voice. "Though that's only in Anko-chan. And Hokage-sama is right, for all that it's a little broken up, this seems like a much stabler version than hers."
"So what do we do? We can fix it, right? R-right?"
Jiji's face turns serious. "I'm afraid even Jiraiya wasn't capable of removing Anko's curse seal. I've sent an emergency hawk to fetch him, but it will be at least a week, possibly two before he can even try. We will simply have to hope both of them wake with no issue, and go from there."
Naruto scoots a little closer to the edge of his bed, staring at Sasuke. Natsu's been waking up a bunch, so Naruto's pretty sure he's just tired from all the chakra he used up, but Sasuke doesn't move at all except to pant, breaths coming short and fast.
He tells himself the jerk is just fine, nothing to worry about, 'ttebayo!
But Natsu blinks awake again.
And Sasuke still isn't moving.
Naruto worries.
"We're awake again!"
Natsu groans and tries to cover his ears. His arm doesn't move, and it takes a moment to place the sensation of warm fingers wrapping around his wrist.
Huh?
He slowly blinks, trying to make the world come back in focus, and catches sight of Kakashi's half-gloved hand.
There's still blood crusting on the leather and Natsu grimaces.
"Gross!"
He flinches and tries to cover his ears again, and this time Kakashi-sensei lets go.
"Awake again, Natsu-kun? Do you remember what happened?" Kakashi asks softly.
Natsu doesn't remember waking up before.
He's not really sure why he was asleep either.
Uh…
"I'd like to know what happened too, one moment I was on my bed and the next Kakashi-sensei was ripping that guy's heart out, and then he…"
Natsu shudders in agreement, and distantly thinks Sasuke's lucky to have been unconscious.
That is not something Natsu imagines his teammate would want permanently burned into his memory with the Sharingan.
Wait! I'm not supposed to agree with voices in my head!
Natsu rolls over, groaning into… Sasuke's shoulder?
"Oh! We're in bed with Sasuke-kun!"
The voice lets out an excited squeal, and Natsu struggles to find a pillow he can put over his head.
Someone's hand stops him midway, and then Kakashi's cheery voice reaches him. "Maa, Natsu-kun. Something wrong?"
"V'ces 're too loud." Natsu mutters, trying to pull the pillow down.
Kakashi's hand doesn't budge.
"What voices? No one's been speaking at all."
Huh?
"Oh! Wait, you can hear me? Natsu?!"
"Wha- sh'ddup, too loud, 'c'se I c'n hear you…" Natsu groans, letting go of the pillow to cover his ears again.
It doesn't do any good.
"No way! And I can see stuff too! Well, not right now, since our eyes are closed- It's me! Sakura!"
"...Sak'ra-chan?"
"SAKURA-CHAN'S TALKING TO YOU?"
There's a whoof of air as the pillow falls onto Natsu's head, and he's pretty sure Naruto tried to jump on him and got caught by Kakashi. Blearily, he rolls over to squint up at his other teammate.
"Y'kay?" he mutters, and Naruto nods rapidly, practically a blur to Natsu's unfocused gaze.
"Mostly! That Oro guy messed with my seal a bit and apparently all my chakra is suuuuuuper messed up, but I'm not hurt or anything! Is Sakura-chan okay too? Are you okay? You've never been able to talk to her b'fore like this right?"
Natsu tries to keep up with the questions to answer them, but he's so tired…
"Wait don't fall asleep! We need to make sure Sasuke-kun's oka-"
Natsu isn't even sure when he passes out.
"I'm seeing far too much of you these days, Inoichi-san~!" Hatake's lone eye curls in amusement. To his side, the Uzumaki child bounces, peering nervously at the hospital bed every few moments.
"Ah, Yamanaka-san." The Hokage speaks, glancing up at him from under the brim of his hat.
"Hokage-sama." Inoichi bows, then turns to stride closer to the bed. "May I ask what exactly happened?"
"Hmm…" The Hokage pauses for a moment, then speaks. "Duragneel-kun spoke of hearing voices, then proceeded to identify one of them as Haruno-chan - he has been in and out of consciousness ever since receiving a partial curse-mark not unlike Mitarashi-san's, so it is likely related."
"I see. I suppose you'd like me to see if there have been any changes?"
"If you feel it is safe."
Inoichi frowns. "If he's been in and out of consciousness, it might not be - it would be better to wait either until he wakes up again, or remains asleep for at least an hour."
"Natsu-kun has woken up nearly every time we've had to touch or move him, so it shouldn't be hard to just shake him awake if we don't want to sit around~" Kakashi smiles, and Inoichi sighs.
"If that is what you'd prefer, Hokage-sama?"
The Hokage nods, so Inoichi reaches out, shaking Natsu's shoulder carefully. It takes a few moments before the pinkette groans, rolling slightly to look up at Inoichi.
"Apologies, Natsu-san. It's easier to do this if you're awake - are you feeling well enough for me to dive?" he asks with a smile, and Natsu winces.
"'S'fine…" he mumbles, one hand coming up to cradle his head, and his eyes don't quite focus on anything. Inoichi pushes away his concern with the ease of long practice, smoothly forming the handsigns necessary to slip into Sakura-chan's mindscape.
He steps into a battlefield.
Fire licks over the grassy field, like a thousand flowers of red and gold. There's no smoke or sense of burning, and Inoichi wonders if it means something, or if Sakura-chan's mindscape just doesn't mimic scents well outside of the omnipresent cherry blossoms.
He turns his feet towards the cabin, studying the flames as he walks.
Their glow reflects off the bottoms of the sakura petals, making the canopy look nearly like a bloody sunset.
On the ground, the fiery flowers bend away from him he walks, the fire nearly refusing to touch him as he crosses through the mindscape.
And then he steps through a curtain of smoke, a misty grey that shouldn't be dark enough to hide anything beyond, and can't help but to stumble to a halt in shock.
The cabin presses against the shores of the lake, engawa suddenly supported by stilts partway into the water, and Sakura-chan leans half-way out her window, one hand braced against the sill as the other shakes at Natsu's shoulder.
Even in the mindscape, the boy is nearly unconscious, eyes fluttering open every time Sakura-chan shakes him, but closing again just as quickly.
"Is he alright?" Inoichi asks as he carefully skirts around the lake, stepping up to the engawa and walking over.
Sakura turns her head to offer him an exhausted smile. "He's been like this a lot. He's always asleep in here, but then he disappears and we're awake, but then he comes back and sleeps again… I don't know exactly what happened to cause it though."
Inoichi nods, kneeling to examine Natsu.
"He seems fine," Inoichi offers after a moment. "And physically, as well, from what little I saw before. Can you think of anything that happened in here to cause this? The fires, or the lake expanding?"
Sakura-chan purses her lips. "Sakun- Inner," she corrects, mock-scowling at Natsu as he snores, "disappeared a little before all that happened. She ran back through the door she said connects to the… Bridge? I guess where my mind connects to Natsu's. I haven't heard anything, but it was a little after that where all of this started changing."
Inoichi nods slowly. "I see. If it's something potentially happening in Natsu-san's mindscape, that would explain this. I suppose you aren't able to leave the cabin still?"
Sakura shakes her head. "The window shrinks on me if I try. But the lake water splashes up onto the engawa, and I can see through my eyes when I look at it. I'm not really sure how I hear things, I figured it was just the wind, but I can't reach any of my other senses… Natsu can hear me though when I talk! Do you think it'll stay like this? I don't really want to go back to that, even if it hasn't been this way long…"
She trails off with a nervous smile, and Inoichi offers her a reassuring one in return. "I can't say what caused it to change. Too little is known of Orochimaru's curse-mark, or any of his custom seals if I'm honest. But it's unlikely to change back without something to make it, so I think you'll be able to stay like this. If Natsu-san wakes back up."
"He will!" Sakura looks back down at the outsider. "He's strong, so he'll wake up again. We probably just need rest, even I feel a little tired, and sometimes it's like all I do is sleep anyway. Did you want to try anything first though?"
Inoichi shakes his head. "No thank you, Sakura-chan. I'll leave and make my report to Hokage-sama and your sensei. Please have Natsu-san let one of us know immediately once your Inner returns - it seems she may be the only one to know what's happening here."
Sakura nods with determination. "Of course! Thank you for checking on us, Inoichi-san!"
"You could stand to be a little more helpful, shannaro!" Inner growls as she glares across the Bridge. The fire climbs a little hire in response - she curses under her breath and takes a large step backwards, firming her stance at the edge of the sakura-lined path.
The intruder grins, gold eyes flashing.
.
.
A/N II: So basically how this chapter happened:
Me: I'm gonna end chapter 36 vaguely, so readers don't know who got bit!
Me: (because I haven't decided for myself yet aaaaaaah-!)
All but one reader: OMG NATSU GOT BIT?!
Me: …
Me: …
Me: Shit. Uh. Crap. I- (*had totally decided on Sasuke*)
Me: Will they be, uh… disappointed?
Me: *that one reaction picture of the guy nervous sweating*
Me, middle of the night: EUREKA! WHAT IF THEY BOTH GOT BIT?!
Me: That's a cop-out.
Me, considering: Or… maybe, considering the original summary/projected outline for this fic had that one scene… that we were thinking of scrapping since I couldn't find a way to make it work… If they both got bit though, then, perhaps…?
Me: You know what? I think that just might work! *proceeds to spend five minutes biting myself at odd angles just to see if it would be theoretically possible*
Me: DONE AND DONE!
Me: *remembers that Orochimaru has snake characteristics and can probably unhinge his jaw so I spent five minutes biting myself for no reason*
Me: …why couldn't I remember that BEFORE I hurt myself experimenting? (fun fact, I broke my jaw as a kid so it sometimes gets wonky especially if I open it too wide – it tries to get stuck)
So yeah, I'd say you guys have only yourselves to blame but honestly this works SO WELL with something that I'd originally planned later on that I kinda wish it was my idea from the start!
As for why I finally decided on Sasuke (originally) before my attempts to be vague and mysterious backfired on me, there's sort of a couple reasons. I can't list all of them because I don't wanna spoil a later chapter, but it was partially cause I felt that one later scene had more impact if Sasuke had the curse-seal, partially because while all my short-term ideas for Oro's seal on Natsu are great and I love them, I didn't have any real long-term ones.
So yeah.
Anyway, hope you enjoy what I have planned and how I've decided to use this going forward!