Chapter 14 Part 1
I really don't like pain.
I can take it. I get why it exists.
But I don't like it.
That's exactly what I was thinking, running a glowing palm over my chest.
"Tch-tch-tch! That hurts." My face twisted up — but soon the damn aching itch started fading under the medical technique.
Done. I sighed in relief. Next to me, Naruko stirred — trying to find a comfy position. On impulse, I gently stroked her head. She settled instantly, slipping back into peaceful sleep.
Smiling made my face twitch with stabbing pain again. Had to reactivate the technique.
I really, really don't like pain!
***
The day had been way too packed. When Naruko ran — I didn't get what was happening. Not right away. When I did — I was scared and furious at the same time. Not even sure who I was angrier at: myself and my stupid, careless mouth — or Naruko, with her too-sharp hearing and simple-minded brain. The fear, though? All of it aimed straight at Uzumaki.
I tore after her, following the acrid trail of Tailed Beast chakra. In her state — completely lost control — the demonic chakra was literally fountaining out of her.
Sprinting. Terrified the Fox would grab this moment of weakness and try to destroy her. Thank every kami and spirit — it didn't happen right away. Still had hope.
I caught up with her at the shore. Following the chakra, I'd barely gotten into a thin strip of woods when I heard it — soft sobbing. Tracked the sound. Found her: pressed against a tree, curled up, face buried in her knees, desperately choking back sobs. But what really scared me — the physical aura. Red chakra swirling around her.
"Naruko..."
"G-go away!" She screamed it into her knees, curling tighter.
"Naruko — listen!" I started toward her — and got physically shoved back by her scream:
"NO!!!" A searing blast of chakra-wind hit my face. I staggered. Stepped back. This is really, really bad. "Leave me alone!"
"Naruko! LISTEN!" I tried to reach her. "I didn't mean it like that! Those words — they've got nothing to do with—"
"LIES!! Lies-lies-lies — it's all lies!" She was spiraling — her voice cracking into something between a snarl and a scream. Full-blown hysterics. Incredibly dangerous. "Lies! All lies! You're ALL the same! ALL of you! Everyone calls me a monster! A freak! A DEMON! No! NOT TRUE! Not-true-not-true-not-true! I'M NOT A MONSTER! Stop it! ENOUGH! SHUT UP!!! DON'T CALL ME A DEMON!!!"
Kami-sama — she can't even hear me! She's completely delirious. Gods — what do I do?! The pressure of that hostile chakra — it's getting hard to breathe. The demon. Definitely — right now, this moment — the Fox is clawing at her mind, dragging her deeper into the pit. She's about to lose the last of her control — and then... catastrophe.
"Gotta stop this. NOW!" The thought lashed through my brain — blasted out every useless doubt. No time to think. Stop Naruko. Calm her. SAVE her!
One step forward. Heavy. The air in front of me felt thick as a wall of sand. Naruko kept screaming — at something invisible — thrashing wildly, completely gone.
Muttering a mantra, I started pushing my spiritual force outward — wrapping myself in it like armor. Like a spacesuit. Moving got easier — the crushing pressure backed off. But three meters still felt like a hundred.
"Everything's gonna be okay, Naruko. Just don't worry..." I kept my voice soft. Soothing. Leaned toward her — put my hand on her shoulder—
"NO!!!" She screamed — and swung.
"Gghaaah!"
Pain. Devilishly painful. My shirt went instantly wet — blood seeping from four deep gashes.
Naruko froze.
Those saturated-red eyes — vertical pupils — went wide as she stared at her hand in mute shock. Fresh blood dripped from black claws onto the ground. She looked at her own hand like she couldn't believe what just happened.
"No... no-no-no!.." Disjointed muttering — pure horror. She lunged toward me — then stopped dead, jerking her bloody hand back. "N-no! I... F-forgive me. I... I... I didn't... this... this isn't!.. I-I didn't mean to!.. I!... I... it wasn't me!!"
She collapsed — curled up on the ground — screaming — sobbing — chakra howling around her in a mad tempest.
I forced myself forward. Reached for her again. Standing up? Out of the question — even on all fours I could barely keep from getting thrown.
"It's... it's okay. Please — calm down, Naruko." Quiet. Leaning over her — almost pressing my face into her hair. Holding her. Soothing words. Slowly wrapping her in my spiritual force. "Everything's fine. I'm okay. See? Just a scratch. I'm not angry — so don't cry, Naruko..."
And it was WORKING. No techniques. No spells. Just words — right voice, pure heart. Slowly — the hurricane died down. The demonic changes faded. Until all that was left was a terrified girl, tearfully begging:
"Forgive me!.. Forgive — sniff — m-me.. Plea — sniff-sniff — forgiive..."
Almost physically painful — seeing her like this. But all I can do is keep calming her.
"Everything's fine. It's all gonna be okay now..." Murmuring it, I laid my palm on the back of her head — and gently eased her into a sleeping genjutsu. Another medic technique. Nice feature: once it fades, the target just drops into normal, deep sleep.
"Kami-sama — that was dangerous." I got to my feet. Sort of. "In every possible way. Oh... head's spinning. Blood loss, probably... Ow-ow-ow!.. That HURTS! Gotta treat this..."
***
Obviously — after all that — continuing the journey was out of the question.
Naruko slept under a tree, motionless. I carefully patched up the "scratches" on my chest. Fascinating occupation, let me tell you! Would've been pretty awkward — especially the bandaging — but luckily I wasn't alone. Hora and Horo happily helped out, wrapping bandages tight around my chest. What'd I do without these guys?..
Once that was done — I set up a small camp. Naruko'd be out for at least a couple hours anyway, and waking her now was the absolute last thing to do. Plus I was wrecked. Physically. Mentally. Everything that happened felt like some absurd farce that almost turned into a tragedy. Naruko worked herself up past the breaking point — and one word, dropped without any malice, sparked a wildfire. Putting it out took blood. Not that high a price, honestly. Better me wounded than let Naruko destroy herself. The shock of hurting me — it snapped her out of it just long enough for me to pull her back. And the injuries? Healable. Small price.
That's what I told myself.
***
Took a while to get rid of that damn itching in my chest. Fum-fum — gotta study harder. Get some better healing techniques. The Mystical Palm and that nerve-block anesthetic? Not nearly enough for my lifestyle. Man — if I could get my hands on that emergency regeneration Kabuki uses... but that's pure fantasy. Can't get within a mile of that White Snake spy. And drooling over Tsundere Senju's exclusive? That's just begging the gods to smite you for arrogance. Haaah... medics really do have a thin arsenal. Especially for techniques you can use on yourself.
"Gotta do something about this. Definitely..." I drifted, thoughts scattering. After that stress, my body was screaming for a break to process everything. I didn't have the strength — or the desire — to fight it.
***
"...kh... mfh-fh..."
Dunno how long I slept. Some noise pulled me awake.
Mm — what's that? Took a second — brain still booting up. Then it clicked.
Naruko.
"You keep crying like that — you're gonna run out of water. Turn into a shriveled-up little grandma." I kept it light — joking — hand on her head.
"K-Koru... chan?.." Naruko mumbled, dazed. Then she attacked her face with her sleeve — trying to hide the tears. Didn't work. They kept coming. "N-no! It's just!.. A gnat!.. Yeah — s-something in my eye.. mffhh!.. i-it's.. m..."
"Now, now... you're as bad at lying as ever." I couldn't help smiling at those flimsy excuses. She lifted her head — looked at me. Eyes puffy from crying. "There — all swollen up. That's its own kind of pretty, I guess — but it's not your style, Naruko."
"You..." She trailed off — then dove right back in, sobbing: "FORGIVE ME!! I... I didn't mean to!.. Please — forgive me!!!.."
"Tch." This is honestly exhausting! I couldn't help myself — grabbed her cheeks and gave them a good tug.
"Ow..." Haa... what a face. Genuine bewilderment and shock — mixed together. She belatedly pressed her hands to her reddened cheeks — staring past me with HUUUGE eyes.
"There — calmed down?" Softest tone I could manage. "Everything's fine. Already said that, didn't I? What's done is done — I'm not mad at all. I'm the one who should be apologizing. My stupid, careless words. Even if I didn't mean anything bad — this was mostly my fault. So just forget it. Calm down. Okay?"
"U... Uuu..." She trembled — quiet little sob. Eyes filling up again. And then it got really painful. "KORU-CHAAAN!!!"
"Eeeww!!!" Oi! My wounds — my WOUNDS!.. Kami-sama — this is impossible. I have absolutely no idea what to do!
"Well... guess Naruko's feeling better," I thought, stroking her blonde head while she devotedly soaked the bandages on my chest. Different tears this time, though. Not bitterness. Relief."Thank the kami!"
".... Well... um... sorry, sniff?.." Naruko mumbled, sheepish, rubbing under her nose. Tears done — she finally noticed what she'd been clinging to so desperately. "I... I really didn't mean to..."
"It's fine. Sometimes you've gotta let your feelings out." I shook my head — waved away the apologies. "Main thing is — you feel better. But still... Naruko."
"Umf... sniff... Um?.." She blinked.
"If you don't mind — I'd like to talk." I kept it gentle. Gotta use this moment. Right now — she's completely open. Mind and soul bare. Time to talk about everything that's been eating at her.
"Talk?.."
"Yeah. I want to talk... about you."
"About ME?!.. Well... I..."
"Shh. Don't worry." Reassuring hand on her shoulder. "If there's stuff you don't want to talk about — we won't go there. I'm just asking you to tell me what's bothering you so much."
"..." She looked down. Silent. I didn't push. After a while — I thought she wasn't gonna say anything. Then she raised those blue eyes to me. Shaken.
***
I always knew. But now I was sure.
Naruko — she's not really that carefree. That happy. It's the opposite: she hides everything behind that ditzy act. That eternal optimism. She's not stupid — she saw perfectly well that people didn't like her. But before — she never understood WHY. Then Mizuki told her the truth... and she got it. Understood why the adults treated her that way. Iruka comforted her — encouraged her — but it wasn't enough. The hatred didn't go anywhere. Maybe it even got worse — now that she knew the reason. And it seemed so terribly unfair.
She's not dumb. No. She can think just fine. But she's still young. Inexperienced. Living under constant pressure. Sure — the Hokage's people did their jobs. Nobody dared actually raise a hand against the jinchuriki. But the silent resentment? The quiet hostility? The way everyone ignored her? It made her act. Desperate for approval. Desperate for attention. She found a way to get noticed — but everything she did just pissed people off more. Only now they had specific reasons. Did she stop? No. She doubled down — started causing trouble on purpose. "They think I'm a troublemaker? Fine — I'll MAKE trouble!" Spite. Pure spite.
Then came Akashi's team. Haughty Sasuko. Stern Sakurai. Careless Akashi. And... me. People — besides the Hokage and the ramen shop staff — who actually acknowledged she existed. Sure — she and Uchiha were rivals, constantly at each other's throats. Sure — Haruno was always lecturing her. Sure — Akashi never stopped teasing. But for Naruko? Just being together — that mattered.
This mission changed everything. The villagers weren't exactly warm — but they were counting on us. They didn't hate Naruko for the Fox inside her — because they didn't know. They treated her like anyone else. That alone was good. More than good — they asked us to protect them. They trusted the Leaf shinobi. Trusted HER. Then the bridge happened. She lost herself. And now everyone's terrified of her. She doesn't really remember what she did — but she saw the result. People fleeing. Fear in their eyes when they looked at her. Worse than hatred. Worse than anger. Unbearable. Poisoning her.
Watching her spill all this — I felt my heart twist. This is wrong. It's awful — living like that. Poisoned by everyone around you — eaten alive by your own pain. It shouldn't be like this. Nobody should have to live like that.
But I can't look at her with pity. Can't. She doesn't need pity. She needs someone to understand. To feel with her. Support.
That — I can give.