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ᗰOᑎᔕTEᖇ	By : Sessakag Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female > Naruto/Hinata Views: 44706 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 47
- 48
- 49
Chapter Forty-Eight
The Fodder

May 17, 2010

Seated in a plush chair inside Ino’s hospital room, Naruto sank deeper into the recesses of his psyche. Darkness surrounded his subconscious self a beat before brightness, a yellow haze, spreads within the confines that is his mind. He lands softly, the ground rippling beneath his feet. Stood before the enormous mass that was of his friend, Naruto studied the beast, his eyes moving rapidly over his tense form.
Kurama was still agitated.
Seething with it.
The Jinchuuriki could see it in the bristling fur and bared fangs, the erratic swishing of all nine tails. erratically. Kurama’s distress weighed heavily on his shoulders, beating at him with the force of a thousand suns. And yet, even that blazing energy couldn’t disguise it.
His brow furrowed.
Something else was humming underneath it; an oppressive sensation, a slight suffocation that wasn’t emitting solely from the kyuubi.
Faint thought it was, he recognized the rot beneath Kurama’s blistering emotions.
Residue from that tree that wasn’t a tree.
Like a hot room that had once housed a decaying body, it’s nauseating stench lingered. He grimaced, stomach turning as the unseen muck settled over his skin, invading and seeping through his pores. It was one of the most nauseating sensations he’d ever experienced, giving rise to a feeling he’d never had within this space they shared.
A urgent need to leave.
Breathing was laborious effort, the very air so heavy his lungs couldn’t draw it in. He knew it was the after effects of entity 504. That the strange frequency was to blame for the discomfort in the place he shared with Kurama. That it was not only driving the pain in his body, that it was also fucking with his head. Teeth gritted, he tuned out the noise around him, channeling that calmness he’d gained during his senjutsu training, taking a few moments to collect himself.
When he settled, when he draw an unhindered breath, he turned his mind and eyes back to his friend.
‘Kurama, you’ve gotta tell me what’s going on. What’s the matter? What happened?’
It was as if he hadn’t spoken. Kurama’s red slitted eyes fixed on one point to another, the wall to his left, the ceiling, the floor, the ceiling and behind him. His rumbling growl echoed, his teeth grinding as he looked everywhere but at the blonde man before him.
What…was he looking at?
Worried, more than a little creeped out by his behavior, Naruto waved his arms at the shifty kitsune.
‘Kurama!’ he called again, ‘hey! Look at me!’
Slitted eyes snapped to him. There was a slowly clearing glaze within their depths.
‘What’s wrong Kurama? Tell me!’
It was like Kurama was having trouble comprehending what he was saying. He looked spacey. They stared at each other for several moments. The jonin waiting, feeling a bit on edge as those red eyes gazed without a single blink. after what felt like an eternity passed before he spoke.
“They were communicating with me.”
Though he’d been waiting for a response, the deep raspy voice startled him. His cerulean orbs blinked as him mind struggled to make sense of the words.
They…
Chilled, Naruto asked the question he dreaded, ‘What do you mean, they?’
“The fodder.”
He opened his mouth to ask what in the fuck that meant when the bijuu continued.
“They are fodder left behind. They are aware that their presence is dwindling and yet they continue to cling to this realm, searching for a way to sate their hunger,” his eyes moved around the room again, “They’ve retained the ability to sing but lack the means to consume. They are starving and fading from this plane.”
He was confused. So damn bewildered with all of this, every sentence that left the kyuubi’s mouth made so little sense his head ached anew, but he focused on pumping out information. They’d put the pieces together later with the assistance of the best minds within Konoha’s intel department. Right now, raw data was what he needed.
‘How were they communicating with you?’
“The images within their voice, the song showed me.”
His brows knitted but his oceanic orbs remained sharp.
‘Images of what?’
“Their presence within the host.”
‘The host?’
“Entity 504,” the fox grimaced, as though pained.
Naruto wasn’t sure if it was coincidence or not, but he felt an echoing throb in his own body, and he found himself mirroring the expression. Before he could give voice to the questions about the throb, and Kurama’s expression, his life long partner began speaking.
“There is no longer sentience within it, however, its impression remain. Living fodder, shed skin left behind. They are naught but hunger and madness, a collections of suffering and malice. Poison to those that can hear their song.”
He rubbed the ache in his forehead as he put the pieces together.
“Like us,” Naruto mused, “and because of us, Ino too.”
“Yes,” came the rumbling reply, “what created their toxicity was a process that has been repeated over and over, spanning countless millennia. They existence has been…recycled, torn apart and reassembled, morphing into a collective sentience, growing more grotesque with each rebirth,” Kurama growled, “they have been trapped inside a endless cycle of butchery and agonizing stitchery, a vivisection that knew no end. It tore pieces from their essence with each cycle and fused it with an intangible force they can no longer put name to.”
Pounding bloomed behind his eyes, mixing with the ill ease settling like a rock in the pit of his stomach.
“They are withering, but the hunger only grows. They are angry and insatiable. With sentience gone, they are feeding on each other. Ripping themselves apart in a desperate need to fill the void. The emptiness only widens each time they devour themselves,” his eyes flickered to and fro once again before moving back to the confused human, “It is why they latched onto us.”
The hair at his nape stood on end.
“They wish to consume us.”
Naruto could feel something just outside his senses, a drumbeat he could swear was thrumming beneath his flesh. Unbidden, he glanced down at his hands, looking over anterior and posterior.
He swallowed as he met slitted red eyes once more.
There was something in them that twisted his insides. A primal awareness that sent his racing heart into a full blown sprint.
‘Us?’
“You and I,” Kurama confirmed, “the others connected to us.”
The other bijuu he’d heard wailing inside his head.
“They will extinguish soon. They are not of the main body, they unable to harvest, unable to feast upon blood, chakra and essence. If they are to sustain themselves, to prolong their existence in this reality, they need to feed and in doing so, they will drag us into the continuum alongside them, where they can feast upon our essence, absorb it and add our being into their hellish existence.”
‘Essence? What do you mean by that?’
“What you humans call a soul.”
His mouth moved, but nothing came out.
What the hell could he say to that anyway?
“The agony we experienced, they attempted to consume us, but we are…inedible to them. They are unable to consume us, within the chaos of their mind, they too know they cannot, but madness, starvation compels them to try.”
‘Why?’ he asked, “why are we inedible?”
The question felt surreal as it passed his lips
“We are of ‘them’. They were not speaking of entity 504 as ‘them’, they were referring to something or someone they had come in contract with at some point in their existence and yet I could not see the ‘them’ they indicated. Their sounds were…chaotic. There were distortions bleeding through the connection and the more obscure details, the information that requires rationality left the images too obscure to make sense of.”
Naruto rubbed his head. He didn’t know if it was the headache or the ongoing struggle to understand all this.
“Our brushes with them, when we make contact with the fodder, their agony seeps into our own essence and spreads through every plane of our being; physical, mental, spiritual, it permeates through any and everything that we are made up of,” his teeth clenched, his upper lip lifting to bare their sharpness, “Even now, their agony lingers. Their will, their desire to eat remains inside us.”
The darkness cleared and something more terrifying took it’s place. Roots, pulsating and writhing were dug into the space around them. Weaved into the confines that represented their psychological space, burrowing within the wall, the floor, the ceiling above. Some were tiny, resembling veins, others so fat and swollen they appeared ready to burst. They beat to different rhythms, fast and hard, sedate and staccato. A few, very few had not burrowed. They listed back and forth, like a gnarled branch waving at him.
“They bring torment to every fiber of our being.”
He knew without being told…
This was the source of the lingering headache vibrating in his temples, the brittleness he felt in his bones when he moved, the searing sensitivity of his skin.
His horrified eye traced the blacked roots, eyes widening when he realized-
‘Kurama!’
There were roots connected to the bijuu…wiggling grotesquely beneath his furred flesh, slipping and sliding like clusters of writhing serpents. The spots oozed sluggishly, glistening onyx staining the red of his fur. Another grimace, a baring of teeth and gum crossed the foxes face as a few gave powerful pulsations beneath his skin.
“I’ve already started clearing them from our psyche, but the process is slow. Even without my assistance, they will vanish over time on their own, as I said, they are unable to consume us as they are.”
Us…
That word again…
Us…
He looked down at himself, his wide eyes widening another fraction. Disgust twisted his inside, bile rose in his throat as he raised shaking hands to his befuddled gaze. They were inside his flesh too, curling beneath the skin on the back of his hands. Twining up his forearms and higher.
His stomach heaved.
Slithering over his wrists…
Filling the length of his fingers.
It wasn’t just his hands…
He could feel their freezing slither inside his chest, along his calves, wrapping around his neck from the inside…
Panic
Terror.
Revulsion.
Abject fear exploded within the confines of his mind.
He could feel their bite.
The sting of their teeth.
They were eating him. Chewing and gnawing with a desperation denoting a hunger he could scarcely wrap his mind around. He could feel…them. Their torturous hunger. Their very core, an agonizing, unfathomable abyss pulsating with the excruciating need to feed. A need they could not ignore, despite the knowledge that this destructive, maddening hunt for nutrients was far beyond attainable.
And yet, the nightmarish mastication beneath his flesh was pushed from the forefront of his brain.
They weren’t just attached physically…
They were burrowing deeper than muscle.
Deeper than nerves and bones.
To the very core of his being- his soul.
Clawing and tugging with each pulsation, searing that intangible part of him in blistering agony, tightening their grip with each beating pulse.
Terror, self preservation, more primal and intense than he’d ever experienced erupted. A dogged awareness of danger, of impending death consumed his mind.
Just as his body tensed, just as he prepared himself to rip the wormy intrusions from beneath his flesh, they vanished, leaving shaken in their wake. Chest heaving, weakness unfurling within his spectral form, Naruto bent, gripping his knee as he reached for calm…for composure…for sanity.
He’d never undergone such…mindless disturbance.
But then again, he’d never faced something so horrendous.
He shuddered.
Trembled as he righted himself. He raised his shaking hands to his horrified eyes, twisting them forward and back, searching for the roots he no longer felt.
They were there.
He knew they were.
Kurama had taken the sensation from him as he’d done when they first encountered the tree, but the knowledge of what was driving his lingering headache, of seeing first hand what monstrosity was creating the terrible ache in his bones…
The brief encounter was traumatizing…
He swung stricken eyes to the kyuubi.
‘Kurama-’
“Save you concern for the human female that shared our mental space. She does not have a bijuu to remove the after effects.”
Heavy dread landed with a thud in his gut.
Ino…
“The uniqueness of our shared chakra was their primary target. She was touched but not as we were.”
It didn’t ease the worry in his chest but, but it gave him a shallow hope that she hadn’t experienced anything close to what they had.
“Her contact was fleeting but I cannot tell you to what extent she will suffer.”
Will…
Not might…
“Their taint infects everything it touches.” Kurama confirmed, “she has been tainted, the sounds that left her mouth, they were words, but I am unable to understand their message. Perhaps your Intel Department can match them to the decoded language of the Otsutsuki they have so far. Take the human to her people. The Yamanaka may be able to aid in the process of removing their presence faster. For theses leeches, her purging will not be sufficent, she may not be mentally stable enough to even attempt such a process, judging from the state she left our psyche.”
Reeling, but resolute, Naruto nodded.
His eyes opened.
“What’d he say Naruto?” Choji questioned anxiously, “will Ino be alright?”
Sucking in a stabilizing breath, Naruto met his friend’s gaze. He could only imagine what the other man could see in his eyes, in his face. The Jinchuuriki didn’t have it in him to put up a front.
Not when he could still feel that slither beneath his skin, their gnawing at his insides.
Not when the throb in his head mimicked the pulsation in those roots.
He swallowed the sick in his throat as he pushed the sensations to the back of his mind. He needed to focus. Kurama was bearing the brunt of this heinous infestation, the least he could do was get his shit together and guide his team.
“We need to get back to the village,” the blonde told him quietly, “it’d be best if we keep her under until we get there.”
He agreed with Kurama. He didn’t think purging would be enough to help her this time. Mucking around in the minds of jubokko had left her in a terrible state, coming into contact with what was presumed to be apart of their source…Ino needed the care and expertise only the Yamanaka could provide.
“Why? What happened to her?”
“I can’t speak on it, Choji, not right now, dattebayo.”
“Why not?” the chubby shinobi questioned, a touch of belligerence in his voice.
“Choji-”
“Give me something, Naruto. She’s not just my friend, she’s my sister. I need to know what happened in there,” his jaw tightened, “whatever happened with that…tree, its not normal. What happened to you, what happened to her…I’ve watched Ino transfer her mind hundreds of times, I’ve held her so many times that I know when she returns to her body. Naruto, I could feel her moving before she left your mind…”
Even though Choji had delivered this information following their speedy exit of Site 9, as the Village Hidden in Darkness was now labeled, hearing it again brought icy fingers of unease sliding over his skin.
“She wasn’t in there when her body started moving,” he looked more than distressed as he spoke, he looked disturbed, as creeped out as Naruto felt.
Their eyes met, mirroring the trepidation both shinobi felt.
The fear…
“This…what happened down there…it isn’t normal,” the Akimichi repeated, “ and the Otsutsuki are involved in this. You can’t expect me to just-”
“Fuck Choji, if I could talk about it I would,” the blonde told him, rubbing his temples, “you know I would but you said it yourself, the Otsutsuki are involved in this, whatever the hell this is. And whatever this is, is so far from normal I can barely wrap my own head around it. Because of who it involves, what it involves, I can’t divulge sensitive information, despite how I feel…or who it involves. Just…we need to get her back to village. Right now, getting her help is priority. ”
Choji inhaled, his rounded jaw hardening.
“I know you’re worried about her, and even though I am too, I won’t pretend that our feeling are on par. She’s like a sister you, I get it, of all people, you know I understand that Choji. I’m team lead for this mission, I have to work within the perimeters assigned to me, but I’m also her friend. I’ve never turned my back on a friend and I’m not gonna start now. I can’t talk about this with you, nor will I, but I am asking you to trust me.”
“I do you trust you, Naruto, but-”
“Then listen to what I’m telling you,” the Jinchuuriki iterated amicably, but firmly, “we’re taking her back to the village, and we’re shelving this conversation for now.”
A knock followed his plea/order before the door to Ino’s hospital room opened. A woman garbed in the tan robes of the Sand citizens stood in the doorway.
“Sir, the Kazekage would like to speak to you now.”
“I’ll be right there,” the blonde said, rising from his chair.
His muscles protested, his head pounded and despite himself, cold anxiety skated his spine. Kurama had taken away his ability to experience those growths feasting on his insides, and yet unbidden, his mind relived the horror each time he felt the twinges in his body.
His jaw tightened.
Now was not the time to break down.
Compartmentalizing the sensation and his knowledge of its source, Naruto turned focused blue orbs to his childhood friend.
“Choji, we don’t have time to argue about this. Once I wrap up this meeting with Gaara, we’re heading out. Please, just focus on getting Ino back to the village for now. Even if I told you what I know, it wouldn’t change the fact that she needs help, help only the Yamanaka can give her, dattebayo,” he told the worried man, “I’m using the information I got from Kurama, I’m not making this call ignorant of what actually took place down there. It’s because of what I know that I’m telling you what we need to do now.”
Frowning and unhappy, the Akimichi looked down upon his sleeping friend with troubled eyes. Naruto placed a consoling hand to the shinobi’s shoulder as he passed.
Once out in the hall, the Uzumaki gave his escort a nod.
He was led into a wide room, dominated with a circular table at its center. Seven men sat at the wooden surface, their eyes swinging to him as he cleared the doorway. He knew who each and every one of them were, but he’d never actually met five of the important people seated. Under less chaotic, disturbing circumstances, he might have been nervous about this meeting. These were very important people, people he’d be doing business with when he became Hokage one day. First impressions were everything as they said, however, with the ache in his body and the traumatizing images in his brain, the jonin felt neither hesitancy nor anxiety.
Ino needed help.
He needed his fiancée.
As much as he was keeping it together, he needed the comfort of her embrace.
He took a seat in the lone chair left and fixed his gaze to the man across from him. Contemplative and deeply concerned, the Kazekage threaded his fingers together atop the tan wooden table. Surrounded by councilmen, his siblings among them, Gaara began the meeting.
“Thank you for joining us, Uzumaki-san, Kurama,” his redhead friend greeted.
Observing the formality, Naruto gave a small incline of his head, “Thank you for having us, Kazekage-sama.”
“I understand you’ve some urgency to return to Konoha.”
“Yes, a member of my team is in need of care only her clan can provide.”
“Then I will make this as brief as possible. What can you tell us about the events that took place at site 9 withing entity 504’s chamber. Were you able to gain insight before you were separated from it?”
Naruto took a breath.
He hadn’t exaggerated with Choji. His parameters for sharing information was limited, regardless if he was discussing it with a dear friend or the Kazekage himself. At this point, the jonin wasn’t sure who’s guideline he was following, the daimyo’s adviser’s or Kakashi-sensei’s. Guess it didn’t matter, at least in this situation. The Hokage had made clear how much he could share with their allies or rather, how little.
“I can’t divulge everything per the Hokage’s orders.”
Several men gave him perturbed looks, some even outright scowled. One man in particular appeared extremely displeased. Seated to the right of the Kazekage and the left of the Kazekage’s older brother, the pale skinned man’s glare was downright hostile.
Gaara nodded.
“I’m aware of that, the guidelines of the daimyo must be observed and as such, we will accept what explanation you are able to provide.”
Grateful he didn’t have another fight on his hands, Naruto began his tale, “I wasn’t able to sense entity 504’s presence as quickly or as great a distance as last time, dattebayo. Not even close. Despite being in the room and utilizing the full extent of my sensory abilities, I could only sense a thin current of what I felt previously. In order for Kurama to hear the frequency, physical contact between myself and entity 504 was necessary. With Ino present for this exchange, upon hearing the frequency, we all experienced side effects, physically and mentally. Until we have a better grasp of what happened to me, and what’s happened to her, that’s the extent of what I can speak of.”
“That report is woefully insufficient, Uzumaki-san.”
It was him again, the man the Jinchuuriki had read about but had never met. The adviser of Kaze no Kuni’s daimyo.
“Unfortunately,” the blonde replied, “its all that I can offer at this time. More information will be shared as it’s processed in Konoha.”
He turned to Gaara, aiming his question directly to the man.
“I’d like to request a copy of today’s incident.”
Hushed grumbles rounded the table, Naruto ignore them all. Kurama had confirmed that the sounds Ino spoke were words, words the fox didn’t understand. They’d need, at the very least, the audio for decryption. He had to bring a recording back to the village.
“You expect us to hand over sensitive information to the Leaf at your behest?” this once again from the belligerent man between the Sand brothers, “the daimyo presented guidelines among the Elemental Nations, however, as I’m sure you are aware, each Nation has fine tuned and customized these dictates to fit the needs of their country, their Hidden Village. You implement Konoha’s mandates but fail to observe Suna’s. That is intolerable. Your Hokage’s authority does not supersede that of the Kazekage.”
Cerulean orbs shifted over the pale man sitting between Kankuro and Gaara, unabashed annoyance gleaming. Naruto wondered how his friend could put up with the man’s obnoxious presence.
Fukuda Danuja.
A nasty man, with a nasty attitude that reminded him way too much of Myoku Yagutsu, the daimyo’s assistant that had yet to remove his unpleasant presence from the gates of Konoha. Their pasty white skin were more than similar, their drab garments, though this adviser included the tan fabric indicative of a Suna resident, were comparable. Same obstinate demeanor and belligerent demand that the new regulations shared among the Elemental Nations be followed without question.
Even more disturbing…
Those flat, inky oculus, those hollow, unnerving depths were as icy and empty as Myoku’s.
Naruto was tempted to ask if the two were related.
“The Village Hidden in Darkness held ties to the Otsutsuki, and under the circumstance and the opinion of our own experts, the sounds she emitted during the incident may have been more than mere sounds. Currently, Konoha is the only nation with the means of deciphering the…language Ino spoke,” Gaara reasoned, “further more, Konoha is an alley of the Sand. We share information and exchange knowledge. There is neither harm, nor reasoning to withhold the recordings from them. Least I remind you, Danuja-san, it was Naruto himself that discovered the village and the Hokage that informed us of it. Returning that gesture of faith with suspicions is not only unwarranted, it is intolerable. We have just as much to gain from this as Konoha. We are dealing with the Otsutsuki, multiple Otsutsuki. They are with a purpose, a goal we are currently unaware of. If we are to uncover their ambition and discover a means of thwarting it, we must use every tool at our disposal. We cannot afford to be at odds with each other with such an enemy at large. The war should have taught everyone, including the daimyo, of that lesson.”
Naruto resisted the urge to cheer from his place at the round table.
Such behavior was highly unprofessional, and his throbbing head would kick his ass if he made any sudden movements.
Muscle jumping in his cheek, Fukuda gave the former Jinchuuriki a particularity antagonistic glower.
A glower the redhead seemed aware of but pointedly ignored.
Kakashi-sensei wasn’t the only Kage at odds with these uptight, unpleasant, overly aggressive, representatives of the political heads of the Elemental countries.
“We will have a copy of the tape prepared before you depart, in exchange, we ask that any information recovered from it be presented to us as soon as possible,” Gaara decided, “we still require assistance with the frequency. Once you are able, please return to continue our investigatory endeavors.”
He nodded, though the task he’d agreed to made his stomach hurt.
“Understood.”
And he did, full heartedly, Naruto understood the critical role he played in this but…
He was more than apprehensive about delving deeper into this never ending nightmare.
The meeting was over shortly after. Naruto was up and out of the room immediately, gritting his teeth against the strain in his muscles. He’d just left room and moved into the hall when he was stopped by a voice.
“I hear congratulations are in order, Uzumaki-san,” though the words benign, the tone was less than flattering.
Disgusted even…
His head hurt…
“Congratulations for what?” the blonde questioned, resisting the urge to rub his throbbing eyes.
“Your impending marriage to Hinata Hyuuga.”
His tone, when he formed his fiancée’s name, it gave him pause. There was familiarity there. A warmth that felt was more than inappropriate.
He didn’t like it.
At all.
“She’s an amazing woman; kind and beautiful, elegant and intelligent. I envy you. Tell me, how is Hinata-sama? Is she-”
“I’m sorry, how do you know my fiancée?”
Annoyance was swift, those inappropriate emotions rapidly leaving his black eyes. Silence crackled between them, dislike a mutual bullhorn present in the tense posture and frowning mouths of both men. Naruto was less than a second from ending the entire conversation and walking away, rudeness and diplomacy be damned. He didn’t like this asshole asking about his Princess at all, let alone with the tone and tenor in his voice, and he honestly, truly didn’t have time for this shit, something this adviser was fully aware of. Ino needed treatment and he needed to rest his aching body and purge his own mind of his skin-crawling experiences.
He’d always been short tempered, and while he’d mellowed in the last few years, he could only be pushed so far before he erupted.
“I believe it was at a dinner hosted by a prominent clan that invited the Hyuuga a year ago.”
Suspicion flared.
Hinata didn’t really speak about the goings on of the Hyuuga clan, her day to day responsibilities as the heir, it was boring to both of them, but she did talk about significant or important events. Noteworthy people she crossed paths with. Had she met the adviser to the Suna daimyo, she’d have told him that.
“I haven’t had the pleasure of speaking to her since then. How is she? How is Hinata-sama?”
His mistrust deepened. There was a gleam in his eyes he didn’t like, a vibe he didn’t like. And this was the second time he’d asked after her welfare. From anyone less confrontational and obnoxious, he’d have taken it as a kind gesture, but with belligerence and bullheadedness encompassing those two character flaws along with a slew of others, his persistence in asking about her rubbed him completely the wrong way.
Naruto had been done with this conversation the moment it started, so it was only fair to let the other man know that before showed him just how done he was.
“She’s fine,” he deadpanned, “sorry, but I really have to go.”
Coldness entered his black eyes as his lips thinned. Naruto was no more intimidated by the venom than he had been in the meeting.
“Of course. Please give Hinata-sama my regards.”
The overtaxed blonde was moving mid-sentence, stalking down the hall at clipped pace away from the irritating man.
Give Hinata-sama my regards.
‘When hell freezes over, sure.’
xxxxxx
May 19, 2010

“Shino-kun,” Hinata murmured, sliding a hand over his forehead, “what happened to you?”
The door opened.
Hinata turned tear stained eyes to the entrance. A nurse from Shino’s newly appointed care team walked in, closing the door behind her.
She glanced at the clock on the wall.
3 pm.
It was time for another chakra infusion. Knowing the routine, Hinata moved to the chair by the window and took a seat. An older woman with severe face, snowy white hair pulled into a bun, Shino’s nurse would have been more than a little intimidating had the Hyuuga not been worried sick about her comatose brother. Until Sakura was able to create a more efficient way to transfer and maintain a baseline of chakra for the former shinobi, round the clock infusions would have to suffice. Already the Akimichi and pinkette were in the works developing a suitable long term treatment. Food pills and the power of medicine held the answer to Shino’s dangerous condition.
She believed that.
She desperately hoped it would be
Those deep groves in his throat had long since been treated, but those terrible injuries paled in comparison to the one his chakra network had endured. As she feared, those tears in his pathways were irreparable by any means of healing known. Short of reconstructing his network, a feat more than impossible, Shino’s days as a shinobi were…over.
Gone.
He’d never be able mold chakra again.
Never be able to house his insects withing his body.
Never fight at her side again.
He was alive.
He was breathing.
But he’d never be whole again.
He’d gone out on a routine mission and in the process, lost everything.
The chakra infusion finished, the nurse left quietly.
Hinata stood and made her way back to his bedside. As she gazed at him, his face grew blurry as the harsh reality flayed her mind. It wasn’t the first time it had that day, that hour, that minute, and she knew, it’d tear her apart for years to come. So much pain, it burned in her chest, tightened her throat and threatened to rip the strength from her legs. She couldn’t imagine what her dear brother would feel once he woke from his comma, when he heard about his new, horrific disability. She was going to have to collect herself, to be strong and support him through this tragedy, but until that time came, until he’d absorbed the full grasp of his situation, she’d give in to the crippling grief gripping her. While he slept, while he slumbered unaware of the wasteland he’d awake to, she’d weep and mourn the future he’d lost.
She wiped her eyes of moisture, then froze.
Dark eyes stared back at her.
He was staring at her!
Shino was awake!
“Shino-kun,” she breathed, elation and devastation waring in her heart, “you’re awake. I’m so happy that…”
Time slowed, a soft buzzing filled her ears.
The door opened.
Hinata turned tear stained eyes to the entrance. A nurse from Shino’s newly appointed care team walked in, closing the door behind her.
She glanced at the clock on the wall.
4 pm.
Confusion furrowed her brows.
She blinked.
This was a routine procedure that happened every hour on the hour but…
A vague sense of deja vu bloomed. It felt like she was reliving this transfusion exactly as she had at some point before.
Like…the nurse had been here just seconds ago.
A little unsettled, Hinata moved to the chair by the window, watching as the nurse fed chakra into her comatose brother.
She was awoken with a gentle shake of her shoulder. Eyes tired, she look at the person beside her.
Kiba.
Her brows crinkled.
When had she dosed off?
“You’re tired, and its getting late,” the feral man said, “you should go home and rest, Hinata.”
She didn’t want to.
She wanted to be here when he woke up.
Reading her reluctance, he shook his head.
“Come on, you’ve been at the hospital all morning and afternoon, you need to get cleaned up and rest a bit.”
She shaking her head before he finished.
“I’m fine, I just need-”
“To go home for a while,” her teammate finished for her, “if anything changes, Sakura said we’d be the first to know. Shino’s gonna need us at our best when…wakes up.”
His voice was low and choked as he finished that sentence. She gripped his hand, giving it a squeeze, comforting them both.
“Right,” she agreed quietly.
Standing, Hinata wipe her eyes for what felt the millionth time. As she gazed up at his emotion laden face, her pale eyes took in the bruising in his face.
“Walk me home please, Kiba-kun?”
“Yeah.”
They were quiet as they traversed the familiar path to their apartment complex, Akamaru trotting listlessly next to his master. The air was heavy and dejected. Ten minutes from home, Hinata spoke.
“Kiba-kun.”
“Yeah?”
“What happened to your face?”
Silence.
“You got into a fight, a really bad one it seems,” she asked quietly, worry threading her voice, “Who did you fight with? What happened?”
His sigh was audible and a touch exasperated, but he walked on, unwilling to answer. Hinata was far from put off by the reluctance. This was one of her more stubborn brothers and she knew letting up would only reinforce his rebuff.
“I saw you the day before, you were fine. When you all drink, you do silly things like climb trees and fall out of them but this,” she gestured to his messed up visage, “this isn’t that. I’ve never seen any of you come back with more than a bump to the back of the head. Unless you had a fight after you finished drinking with the guy’s at Choji’s house, then I don’t understand how this could have happened. Someone hit you-”
“Can we not talk about it?” the feral shinobi fairly snapped, “I was drunk and being dumb and got my face smashed for it. It’s not a big deal and its not worth talking about.”
“Not worth talking about?” she repeated, incredulous, “but your face. It looks awful. I haven’t seen you this banged up in years.”
Kiba was past the days of talking with his fists. He either walked away from confrontations or didn’t allow them to become confrontations at all. She reached for his arm, halting them in the secluded alley perpendicular to the main road. She turned pleading eyes to him, only to find his dark ones turned from hers. Annoyance furrowed his brows, and a dull red coated his cheeks.
He was skating the edge of full blown irritation but he was also…embarrassed.
Her own brows crinkled at the conflicting emotions.
“None of the guys would have let you walk home alone if you were drunk enough to do something worth fighting about. Did you leave the house and end up in the fight? Is that what happened?”
His purpled jaw flexed.
“Please tell me what happened,” she entreated, “who hit you? Why did they hit you?”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Kiba exhaled sharply. A beat passed before he spoke.
“Hinata, we just got back, and after hearing about Shino’s injuries, I just don’t have it in me to have this conversation. I’m tired, I’m sad, I’m angry and I just want to get you home and take a walk to clear my head. It was a stupid fight and I’ve had worse bruises than these. Please, just let it go for now.”
Akamaru whined.
He started walking again, and following a beat of hesitation, she followed.
She wasn’t, however, going to let it go.
xxxxxx
May 19, 2010

“The Intel Department will notify me the they finish compiling the information from your debriefs and reviewed the tapes. I commend you all for your hard work and discretion on this mission. While we expected this endeavor to be challenging, the extraordinary circumstances you all encountered are disturbing to say the least,” the Hokage admitted, a sharp gleam to his charcoal eyes, “however, you all handled this situation with the expertise and professionalism befitting the rank jonin and chunin. Naruto, you in particular have demonstrated competence and wise decision making as team lead, even more so given the depth with which you and Kurama were effected.”
Normally, he’d be glowing and preening beneath such praise, right now, all he wanted to do was find his woman, check on his friends, and spend the rest of the evening cosseted within the safe walls of his apartment.
He was tired in a way that had nothing to do with stamina.
He was covered in grit on the outside and inside.
He needed a chance to recover.
Time to right his mind and process everything that had happened around him, to Kurama, to him.
“You have a few weeks before you need to return to Suna to complete your original task, however, we’ll wait until Ino’s recovered enough to tell us what she experienced. I know you’re all tired and worried, so we’ll end the debrief here. Please submit a more detailed, written report sans confidential information, within the next twenty-four hours. Dismissed.”
Choji was gone the moment those words formed. The Yamanaka had taken the sedate female to a undisclosed location within the intel department and had already begun the process of entering her subconscious mind. Very few people were cleared to enter that work space, but the blonde had no doubt Choji would be permitted.
They’d spent most of the morning in the Intel department. Split into three different rooms, Naruto, Lee and Choji recounted what they knew and experienced during their mission, with Naruto holding nothing back and sparing no detail. He’d been met with grave stares, barely disguised repulsion and more than a little unease. Due to the psychological impact following his interaction with entity 504’s, he’d been order to submit to a thorough scan of his brain in an effort to ensure it was indeed free from the roots. He’d declined the order, explaining Kurama wouldn’t allow it. Kurama hadn’t even needed to articulate that he’d repel any invading presence be it friend or foe, the Jinchuuriki felt the dangerous intent to expel any invading force…violently. The kyuubi didn’t want anyone or anything else in their mental space any time soon if ever. Being completely honest, neither did Naruto.
After leaving, they’d reported to the Hokage.
“And Shino?” Naruto questioned.
The moment he was in range, he’d searched for his fiancée’s and her teammates chakra signatures. Feeling her butterfly energy had eased the stress for her safety he’d stored in the back of his mind, but Shino’s. Shino’s was strange. It felt weak and threadbare. Strong enough to sense but low enough to concern him.
“He’s currently in a comma, but they’re expecting him to rouse within the next week or so. His injuries are extensive, more so, his chakra network,” Kakashi answered, “Sakura can explain it to you better than I can but as it stands, his days as a shinobi are over.”
Stunned, the two men could only stare at their leader, sure there’d been some sort of mistake.
Cold hard truth gazed back.
Shit…
“What happened?”
“We’re not sure. He’s been unconscious since their return. Once he wakes, we’ll be able to figure that out. As it stands, we know no more than you.”
Running a hand through his blonde locks, the disheartened Uzumaki was speechless. Just when he thought things couldn’t get much worse than what happened while in Suna, he returned to his home only to learn that one of his closet friends had to hang up his Hitai-ate for good…
He couldn’t put to words what was blooming in his chest after hearing this devastating news.
Without a shadow of a doubt, he knew the former insect shinobi would have friends and family to lean on, to help him through this crushing, life altering blow, but fuck was this one of the worse things to happen to a ninja. He himself didn’t know what he would do had he been told the same.
Lee was quiet as they left the office, his thick brows drawn. Though he was itching to find his lover, certain she was extremely upset over the news, Naruto lingered, sensing his friend wanted to voice his worry.
As they walked down the steps, the other man finally broke his silence.
“I didn’t get a chance to ask while we traveled but are you alright now, Naruto-kun?”
“I’m feeling a hell of a lot better than I did when I left Suna.”
Kurama’s words had rung true. Following their first day of travel, he’d felt the erasure of that presence inside of him, and a quick exchange with the fox had confirmed that, short of some lingering tenderness, they were free of that creature’s taint. One problem solved, another worry presented itself. Kurama had lapsed into quiet afterwards. Naruto had felt his exhaustion like a punch to the face, and he’d been unsurprised when the kyuubi fell into a deep slumber moments later.
“That at least is good news. I don’t know exactly what happened to you and Kurama-san, but I can tell it must have been horrible,” he murmured as the descended the steps, “you seemed like you were in a lot of pain, more so than the last time.”
He had been.
It’d been more than pain.
“It was pretty bad this time around,” the whisker cheeked jonin admitted, “Kurama took the brunt though. Had it not been for him, I don’t know what would have happened, ‘ttebayo. I’m more concerned about Ino.”
Lee’s frown deepened, his brows knitting.
“I too am concerned. Very much so. I thought that she would be alright since Choji didn’t have to use that seal to pull her out, but…maybe he should have used it the moment her body started…moving.”
Goosebumps pebbled his skin.
Naruto really didn’t want to talk about this…
He didn’t want the strange behavior he and Ino exhibited painted in his mind.
The festering growths that had burrowed inside his mind, inside Kurama, were more than enough to deal with. Already he knew, tonight and probably many more to follow, he was in for sleepless nights and heart pounding nightmares.
He didn’t need to know that he’d slowly been moving closer to entity 504, that he’d pressed his face to its wilting trunk…
That he’d dug his blunted nails into its rubbery shell as he growled like a ravenous predator hunting for prey…
Naruto shook his head, forcing back the encroaching thoughts as Lee continued.
“I know Ino’s in far worse condition right now, but if you need my help for anything, I’m here to help,” his bushy browed friend told him, “you seem fine now, but…I truly fear that the consequences of this mission will last longer than we wish.”
Naruto was of the same mind.
What had happened, what they’d learned, he had no doubt it’d exceed longer than Lee realized.
“Thanks Lee,” he replied, a small but warm smile gracing his lips, “if I need help, I won’t hesitate.”
Lee nodded, his dark eyes shinning with that determination that had carried him through so many trials and tribulations.
“That’s what friends are for,” Guy’s favorite pupil, declared, “They support one another, through anything…through everything…”
He trailed off as they entered the main road into the village, his face morphing into one of acute distress.
“I can’t believe that Shino…”
“Yeah,” Naruto sighed, heartsick all over again, “I can’t even begin to wrap my head around it.”
“Our own mission brought terrible news but to return to this on along side it,” he shook his head, “things have gone down hill in the short span of a few days. Shino’s injuries appear to be lifelong judging by the way the Hokage looked. I’m afraid very dark days are ahead.”
Naruto slid his hands in his pockets, his own expression despondent.
Ino’s condition…
The implications of entity 504…
Shino’s struggle…
Dark days weren’t ahead, they’d already arrived.
Chest aching, the upset Uzumaki turned his gaze in the direction of the hospital. There wasn’t a waiting room in the place they’d taken Ino, but Shino’s room would be fitted for visitors. He couldn’t be there physically for one friend, however, he could for the other. Not only could he offer support, he needed it for himself. His wife-to-be was there and he knew she needed him just as much as he needed her.
“Its dark right now,” he agreed, “but we already know how to be back that darkness. Turning to the people that give us strength, the bonds that give us comfort and support, that’s how. We be there for each other, and become the light in the darkness. That what I’m gonna do right now. I’m gonna go find the brightest light in my dark sky.”
“Hinata-san,” Lee supplied.
He nodded, his lips curling upward.
“As long as I have her, I don’t think I’ll ever be lost in darkness,” he told him, contentment laced in his voice, “and with you guys in my life too, I know I can face anything. We can all face anything as long as we have each other. It’s going to be hard, its going to be painful, even scary, but, I know we can endure any hardships and find our way back to happier times, dattebayo…even if this ‘happier time’ is different than the way it used to be. We can do this. We have to do this.”
Lee nodded.
“Hinata is at the hospital visiting with Shino, I’m gonna head there.”
“I’ll join you,” Lee murmured, “I’ve been where he was…I know the devastation of hearing those words, feeling like your life is over because the one thing you’ve trained your whole life for has been snatched from you. He’s not awake yet, but I want to start helping him through his struggle now. Positive energy is just as important as medicine, having someone that believes in you at your side can be the difference between pushing forward or throwing in the towel.”
“You’re right about that.”
The two walked to the large windowed building of healing, conversation scarce, but the mutual understanding that they were determined to be the light in their friends night sky radiating from their solemn but determined forms.
It was calm and orderly inside as they stepped through the sliding doors.
Though he headed straight for the front desk, Naruto glanced around for his pink haired teammate. Unable to locate her, he spoke to the male behind the desk, inquired about the room housing Shino Aburame then followed the directions to the indicated room.
Naruto opened the door and paused; taking in the scene with no small measure of displeasure.
Lee shifted at his side, visibly uncomfortable as the man and woman standing at the foot of Shino’s bed turned to see who’d entered.
Surprised black eyes met narrowed blue.
They were teammates.
They shared a bond.
Their friend was hurt and Kiba had been giving his tender hearted fiancée comfort.
He knew that.
He understood that.
It did nothing to ease the tension in his stomach, but in light of why he was here, why they were all here, it was more than ignorable.
Now was not the time.
Tear filled lilac snared his focus and just that quickly, his gears were shifted from slightly agitated to soothing support. Hinata detangled herself from Kiba, crossed the room in hurried steps and wrapped her arms around his middle, sniffling as she sought the comfort only found in his embrace. He wrapped his arms around her, sliding a bandaged hand over her long dark hair. With his chin atop her crown, he held her as tightly as she held him, soaking in the comfort he found only in her embrace. The beacon in his arms funneled warmth into his body, permeating deeper than those gnawing roots could ever reach. He felt his tilted world begin to right, the worry for her safety that he’d shoved down dissipating completely.
Movement brought him briefly from his place of peace.
His eyes snapped to man left standing alone in the room. Kiba was still wearing the bruises from that drunken night, along with the discontent that took form in the frown on his face. His dark orbs were enigmatic as they moved over the soon to be Uzumaki’s. His gaze grew solemn, a touch pained before they turned away.
Naruto turned his own gaze to the woman in his arms, leaning back to wipe the tears from her eyes.
“Kakashi-sensei told us about Shino’s condition,” he told her quietly, tracing her flushed cheeks with calloused thumbs, “I don’t know what happened to him, how it happened, but we’ll be here for him in anyway we can. He has his clan, he has his friends, he has you. Things might never be the same but it’s going to be alright. He has too many people that he can lean on for it not to be, ‘ttebayo.”
She nodded, her lower lip trembling.
He took her hand, and they walked over to the sleeping man.
Shino looked a bit worn, a few bruises fading from his throat, other than that, he appeared to be resting peacefully, though it was a bit strange to see him without his big coat and trademark sunglasses. Blonde brows furrowed, wrapping an arm around her waist, he asked about it. His frown deepened as Hinata gave them an overview of what she’d been told by doctors and Sakura, about what her Byakugan had revealed to her about what was missing from his body, and the damage his chakra network sustained.
xxxxxx
Sleep is still jacked up, but its starting to level out. How was the chapter? Did you like it? Perfect for Friday the 13th huh? I know you all are probably worried, anxious and concerned about everybody, and I just wanna say, you should be.
Laters
Sessakag~
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