FicWad

Chapter Two: A Not So Happy Birthday

October 10th, ten years after the day of the Kyuubi

Naruto woke up gradually, the sun shining in through the window. That fact alone meant that either his mom was on a mission (and she wasn't) or it was his birthday (which it was.) He sighed. It wasn't that he hated his birthday; it was just that there really wasn't much to do. Anko never trained him on his birthday, and he wasn't allowed to leave the house without her. They would probably go over to either the Naras or the Aburames for a birthday lunch, hang out there for a couple of hours and then go home, where he would go to his room and play with his presents or read until bed. Rolling out of bed he took off his sleep clothes and left them on the floor, something he would never dare to do on a normal day, but there was very little that Anko would get on him for on October tenth, and he used that to his advantage.

Exiting the shower fifteen minutes later after a luxuriantly long soak, where he turned the water up to as hot as he could bear, he dried off and dressed in a loose blue shirt and white pants, bracers, greaves and weights a familiar drag on his limbs. Padding downstairs he found Anko sitting at the breakfast table with a scroll unrolled before her. That was something he had always wondered about. Whenever she had spare time, she would go to the family room and read a scroll from the shelving unit behind the couch. Whenever he asked her about what she was reading, she would always put him off by saying that he would learn what was on the scrolls when he was old enough.

Turning around she smiled at him, a real smile, not a mask smile, like the ones she used during training, or dealing with surly shop owners. “Happy birthday Naruto.”

“Thanks Mom. Where are we going for my party today? The Naras or the Aburames?”

“The Naras offered to have us over this year.”

Naruto smiled at the thought of spending the day at his lazy friend's house. The complex itself was actually pretty small for one of the shinobi clans, but the surrounding forest more than made up for it. “When are we going to go over?”

Anko looked at a clock. “In about an hour or so. The Nara’s said they would be ready by noon, so I figure we should give them an extra forty-five minutes.” Naruto grinned again at that. Shikamaru definitely favored his father more than his mother. Knowing Shikaku and Shikamaru they would try to avoid helping preparing the house until Yoshino hunted them down and drafted them to help. So Naruto spent the next hour doing practically nothing. Anko read one of her scrolls, and Naruto went back to his room.

He got out his ninja tools and laid them out on his spread before him. Forty kunai, sixty shuriken, a roll of ninja wire, his bracers, greaves, and ninja mesh shirt. Drawing his weapon pouches to him he reached under his bed and fished out his maintenance kit. Scrupulously going over each kunai and shuriken, he tested each edge, sharpening where needed and oiling each one. After his throwing weapons were done, he inspected his bracers and greaves for signs of rust and damage. Noting one or two negligible nicks, he put those aside before picking up his ninja mesh. Inspecting the shirt for rings that were starting to wear, he was jolted from his reverie by his mother's voice.

“Hey brat, get down here. It's time to go. Wouldn't wanna be late to your own damn party would ya?”

“Alright Mom, be down in a minute.” Abandoning his inspection, making a mental note to complete it later, he dressed, strapping his armor and tools on before flying down the stairs. His mother had told him that there was no such thing as being too prepared. It was not a question about whether or not one was being paranoid but if one was being paranoid enough. Noting her son was properly armed and armored, she told him to drop a transformation on himself. Dutifully going through the appropriate hand seals, they left the house a minute later.

Outside was organized chaos. There were banners everywhere of the Yondaime standing over a fox, music was blaring, people were shouting and laughing at the top of their lungs, spilling drinks over themselves and anyone immediately adjacent to them. Anko and Naruto ascended to the rooftops a moment later, avoiding the crush of humanity below them.

Naruto had once asked why they never joined in the celebration, and Anko had told him that he would not enjoy it. He saw plenty of children out there running around and having fun, but there was something in her eye and her voice that made him hold his tongue. It wasn't anger, or sadness precisely, but some amalgamation of anger not aimed at him, regret and sorrow. It was a look and tone that Naruto had never seen her use before, and never use since.

The pair arrived at the Nara complex ten minutes later. After Anko knocked on the door, they were let inside where Naruto was subjected to a barrage of “Happy Birthdays” and hugs and kisses and pinched cheeks by the female Naras and Aburames. It seemed that the Aburame reputation of stolid aloofness only applied in public, at least for the women. Shikamaru and Shino found him in short order, handing him their presents and enjoying the uncomfortable air surrounding Naruto. Naruto was no stranger to human contact, but he had comparatively little of if that when he was assaulted by a continuous stream of hugs, shaken hands and squeezed shoulders it was enough to unsettle him slightly.

Soon enough everyone was ushered into the back yard where several trestle tables had been set up to accommodate everyone, as there was no way that the dining room could hold the combined numbers of the Nara and Aburame clans combined. After blowing the candles out on a cake of truly epic proportions, it was sliced and passed around, along with a dozen flavors of ramen, courtesy of Ichiraku's, nimono, tempura and half a dozen other dishes.

After the meal, was the opening of presents. There wasn't a present from every single person there, but rather each individual family of each clan got something together for him. It was a tradition established on Naruto's second birthday, when Anko wasn't able to keep all the presents, and had been forced to sell a few off, much to her chagrin.

So now Naruto sat at the center most table and ripped the wrapping from boxes of varying shapes and sizes. The vast majority of the presents were ninja-related, like another set of maintenance supplies which Naruto was grateful for as he had been running low on machine oil. There was the obligatory set of engraved kunai, as well as collapsible target dummy. He also received a scroll of elemental ninjutsu, with a wind release and a fire release jutsu on it that Anko confiscated immediately, saying that he could have it back when he was ready to learn them. After all, a ten year old Naruto being able to shoot fire from his mouth was probably not a genius idea. Shikamaru predictably got him a cloud watching guide. However his favorite present was from Shino. He had purchased a book on ninja animals, ranging from summons like toads, snakes and foxes, to ninja companions like the dogs of the Inuzukas and the kikaichu of the Aburames.

When the sun started to sink towards the horizon, Anko and Naruto took their leave. The partying in the streets was still going strong, so they took to the roofs again. They arrived at the house without incident and carried all the presents in. After packing everything away, turned to his mother.

“Hey Mom, I think I am gonna go soak in the tub for a while. I'm kinda tired so I think that I just want to relax for a bit.”

“Alright. Let me know when you are out then. I need to shower tonight also.” Closing the door to his room, he turned on the faucet to the bathtub in his bathroom. Letting it run for a few minutes, he shut it off. Double checking himself to make sure he wasn't forgetting anything, he opened the window and leaped out into the evening. Arriving at the main party area he wandered about, keeping to the fringes, observing the celebration. There were hundreds of stalls set up, some for food, some for games and prizes, others for telling the future, the list went on and on. He went to one stall and bought himself a large cup of orange juice from a slightly inebriated stall worker. He downed the juice in a few minutes, and stepped into a nearby alley to relieve himself.

Before he was able to even unzip his pants, he noticed three figures stumbling towards him. He disregarded them, figuring that they were just some guys like him, looking for a place to relieve themselves. However, he knew something was wrong when his danger sense went off, something that all shinobi developed at some point in their lives.

Unfortunately, he wasn't quick enough to react, and was thinking 'oh crap,' when a bottle smashed into the back of his head, shards of glass cutting his scalp and bashing his forehead into the brick wall. Stunned, Naruto collapsed to his knees, one hand pressing against the warm brick to try to steady his whirling head.

“Look what we found here,” a coarse voice said.

“Looks like we found ourselves some demon garbage,” replied another in a similar tone.

“I think the demon was attending the celebration,” the first voice said again.

“And we certainly can't have the fucking monster showing its face today,” inserted a third man.

“Well, why don't we fix the problem now?” the second voice said. Naruto realized that he was in danger, and started to push himself up off the ground to flee when one of his legs was yanked from under him, depositing him on his back. Before he could react, a booted foot slammed into his left ribs, hard. He started to roll to the left to shield he torso, but another foot buried itself in his gut, causing him to curl into a ball. A fist grabbed the back of his shirt and lifted him up. He raised his head just in time to see a fist heading his way before his vision exploded into stars. Distantly he felt his nose break. Fists continued to hit him, until he felt a something sharp and cold cut into his thigh. The sharp thing pulled out and cut into his other leg and his arms several times. After a bit, the pain started to blur, with each new pain quickly fading into the background of agony. Eventually, the darkness claimed him and he knew no more.

Something was wrong. Anko couldn't say exactly what, something just felt wrong. Marking her place on the seal scroll she was reading, she put it to the side and went to check on Naruto. Listening at the door to his room for a moment, she heard nothing. Of course, in and of itself the silence meant nothing. She knocked on the door, and said “Naruto, how are you doing? Are you out of the bath yet?” She waited another moment, but when no reply came she knocked again. “Naruto, did you hear me? Are you still in the bath?” Still nothing. Slightly agitated now she talked to the door a third time. “I'm coming in Naruto.” Anko turned the knob and stepped into the room. Her heart stopped instantly. She could see from where she was that the tub was unoccupied from the open door, and the bed was empty. Then she noticed the open window, and her heart jumped into her mouth. She body flickered to her room, snatching up her kunai and shuriken pouches before returning to Naruto's room. She leaped out the window hoping against hope that Naruto just decided to sit on the roof outside. When he was not there, she started roof hopping looking for her missing son.

He had obviously sneaked out to see the festival and she prayed that he was still wandering through the crowds. However, she knew that her worst fears were probably about to come true as she scented blood, her nose enhanced by channeling chakra to it. She followed the smell three blocks where she found a group of half a dozen men huddled around something. One of the men shifted to the side a bit and she was able to make out a bit of yellow.

“Get the fuck away from my son!” she screamed, kunai in either fist. The men looked up to see what appeared to be a possessed woman flying out of the sky at them. They immediately scattered, but Anko loosed her two kunai at two random men, the sharp steel lodging in their thighs. She hurried over to the fallen men and severed their hamstrings, crippling them so that they would be unable to flee. Quickly memorizing the faces she practically fell onto Naruto in her haste.

Naruto was a mess. Half his hair was missing, and both eyes were swollen closed. His face was swollen to an almost comical degree, the skin a patchwork of purpling bruises and still bleeding cuts and scrapes, all of them mercifully shallow. There was a thick layer of blood covering his chin and pooling on his neck, probably from biting his tongue. His chest was obviously deformed, and she counted four broken ribs at first glance. Lifting his shirt, she saw that his chest was covered in blood, most of it seeming to have come from the two holes that his broken ribs had made where they were poking through his skin. She saw at least half a dozen cuts across his chest, and a frighteningly deep one across his stomach, as if someone had tried to eviscerate him. By the way he was breathing she knew that his broken ribs had put pressure on his lungs and heart, more likely puncturing one or both. His left arm was broken in three places, bending at angles and places where it obviously shouldn't. His right arm was marginally better, only having three long cuts down the upper arm, from shoulder to elbow. She didn't see any obvious breaks, but did notice what appeared to be several large cigarette burns on his hand.

She tore what remained of his pants off, distantly noting the slashes all across his legs, sizable patches of his skin missing, the muscle underneath looking more like ground beef than human flesh. Gently feeing the underside of his legs she noted in the same clinical way that his Achilles tendons had been severed as well as the hamstrings and calves, most likely so he could not flee.

Overall, there was more blood on him than skin, most of it coming from the lacerations on his scalp, the broken ribs, and the legs. Making a pair of shadow clones quickly she directed them to find something to serve as a stretcher. They vanished down the alley and returned a minute later, carrying what appeared to be a section of a Dumpster, judging from the large white “DU” painted on one side. Not caring how the clones had obtained the length of steel, she lifted her son onto the metal, jostling him as little as possible. Directing her clones to take the makeshift stretcher up, she ran beside them, heading for the Hokage Tower, praying to whatever deity that might be listening to save her son. As the conical structure came into view Anko started to pray that Sarutobi was in his office, and not down at the party, giving a speech or something. Throwing a kunai at one of the windows as she neared, she leaped through the shattered glass with her clones on her heels. The Sandaime Hokage was on his feet in a fighting stance ready to face whatever came in through the window.

Hiruzen froze when he saw three Ankos jump through the now-open window, one carrying a section of steel with a person on it.

“Go get a medic NOW! Naruto is hurt!”

Not saying a word after flicking his gaze to the stretcher and seeing the thick streams of blood dripping off, he slammed his hands together into the seal for the Body Flicker Technique. He materialized a half second later in the office of the head doctor, a man by the name of Yakushi Sano. The Hokage's hands crashed together again in the cross seal and there were six copies behind him. All six clones practically flew out the door.

“Uh, Hokage-sama, may I-”

“There is someone that needs urgent medical attention in my office NOW!”

Yakushi was stuck speechless. He had never heard the Hokage speak to him in such a manner, and found his hands performing the seal for the Body Flicker Technique of their own volition, teleporting to the Hokage's office. The Hokage materialized behind the doctor a quarter second later. The doctor approached the supine figure on the slab of steel in front of the desk. At first he did not recognize the person, but then he made out a whisker mark on a blood-caked cheek. The doctor's eyes narrowed and he turned to the Hokage, mouth open to speak. The Hokage preempted the man though saying “I am ordering you to treat Uzumaki Naruto right now. If you don't I will have you arrested and executed for treason tomorrow morning. The same applies if you don't put forth your fullest effort and he dies.”

The Hokage swept his diamond-hard eyes across the six newly arrived doctors that his shadow clones had fetched.

“What are you waiting for? Get to it NOW!” That seemed to jerk the doctors from whatever state of mental paralysis that had come over them. Anko moved out of the way as the seven doctors formed a ring around the unconscious boy, green glowing hands moving over his body.

“Anko,” Sarutobi said, putting a hand on a shoulder from behind.

Anko whirled on her heel and glared at him. “I'm gonna kill them. I'm gonna fucking kill those murderous bastards. I'm gonna rip their god damned hearts out and feed it back to them.”

“Anko...”

“They fucking tried to murder my SON! They fucking tried to take the life of my son Sarutobi. I swear to every deity known and unknown to man that they are going to fucking pay, and pay by my hand.”

“Anko...” The look in Anko's eyes was the wrath of some kind of demon. The killing intent that the woman was radiating was nearly almost suffocating, the look in her eyes well beyond rage. Sarutobi noted the doctors grabbing hold of the metal slab Naruto was laying on and teleport away.

“I know who did this too. I crippled two of them. They are lying in an alley fourteen blocks that way,” Anko growled, pointing out the shattered window.

“I will have ANBU make the arrests Anko.”

“I want to be at the interrogations.”

“Only as an observer though.” Sarutobi knew better than to refuse her outright. He figured that letting her watch Ibiki mindfuck the would-be murderers would do her some good.

“And I will be the one to execute them when they are convicted.”

At this the Hokage finally shook his head. “That will be left to the proper person Anko, not you.”

“Just try and stop me, old man,” she snarled.

“Anko,” the Sandaime said, steeling his voice. “You will do no such thing. If you do try to I will be forced to arrest you. Right now that is beyond the last thing that your son needs. You should go to the hospital and wait there. I will take care of the criminals.”

“You fucking better. Because if you don't there isn't anyone or anything on this planet that will save them,” she replied coldly. With that she teleported to the hospital, the rage lingering for a few seconds. A minute later, a possessed Anko pressed though the doors clearly marked “Employees Only” stalking down the hall to the ICU.

When a surprised nurse tried to tell her that she was not allowed in that area, Anko rounded on the poor woman, pressing her against the wall by her throat. “Try and stop me.” Holding the woman there a second longer she released her and continued following the widely spaced blood spatters that decorated the floor. Finding the room, she stood at the door, looking in through the window. She couldn't see her son at all, the backs of the doctors blocking him. She could see half a dozen machines with all kinds of numbers and lines arrayed at one wall. Satisfied for the moment, she stepped back and sat down on the floor against the wall opposite the door. A few minutes later, several people gathered at one end of the hallway, clearly security types. After a minute of hushed conferencing, they all left no one willing to face an enraged Anko at the moment. Honestly, Anko would have tried to eviscerate anyone who tried to tell her to leave. Fortunately, the medical staff sensed the aura of death restrained by a thread hanging around Anko and left her alone.

Thirty minutes later, the Hokage came through the doors down the hall. Anko flicked her gaze at him before returning to her study of the swinging doors in front of her. “Naruto's assailants have been arrested. Ibiki is working on interrogating them as we speak.” Her only response was to form the cross seal, and the shadow clone leaped out the nearest window, heading towards the shinobi prison where Ibiki operated out of.

“Have any of the doctors been out yet?” Anko silent shook her head in a negative. Sighing, Hiruzen slowly bent down and sat next to her, saying nothing. So passed an hour in that manner. Anko was up on her feet the instant the door to the operating room twitched. The head doctor looked up from a clipboard in surprise at seeing Anko right outside the door rather than in the waiting room. After a moment he supposed that it really wasn't that shocking. He wouldn't have tried to remove the woman for anything in the world if he was security he supposed.

“How is he?” Anko asked the velvet softness that usually masked the steel in her voice completely abandoned.

“He is alive. Although, given the extent of his injuries, how long is a question. Frankly, the only way he is still alive is a combination of the Kyuubi's influence and divine intervention. He has a medium-severe concussion, as well as bruising in the brain, and two broken blood vessels. He had five fractures in his skull and over a dozen lacerations on his scalp. His nose, cheekbones and jaw were all broken, as well as missing fourteen teeth. His throat was partially crushed. Naruto had eight broken ribs, two of which punctured the skin; another two punctured his right lung, collapsing it, and the left atrium of his heart. There were twelve lacerations across his ribs and one across his stomach that punctured the abdominal wall. He had fourteen fractures in his spine. His left arm was broken three times, once in the humerus and twice in the radius and ulna. His right arm had three lacerations along the humerus from the shoulder to elbow, and multiple second degree burns to his hand. Both thighs were lacerated over a dozen times, and his hamstrings and Achilles tendons were severed. He lost two and a half liters of blood. I can't say how close he was to bleeding out. He has severe bruising to multiple major organs. The only good thing right now is that none of his wounds have turned septic. Right now, I put his survival at less than thirty percent. If he does survive, there is going to be scarring, whatever we do.”

“I-is he conscious?” Anko's voice hitched from repressed emotion.

“Right now he is in a coma. As such, we have no clue when, or if he will awaken. If he does, he may be deaf, dumb, or crippled. His career as a ninja is most likely over.”

“Can I see him?” The doctor looked to the Hokage before nodding. “Just don't touch him right now. His injuries have been repaired, but he is as fragile as glass at the moment. His regenerative capabilities have gone into overdrive and are still working.”

Anko nodded and brushed past the doctor. Immediately, her eyes fell on her son. He was lying on a table with a dozen electrodes attached at various points on his body, two IVs in his arms, a catheter snaking out from under the sheets, and an oxygen line running into his nose. The room stank to high heaven, a combination of urine, feces, and blood. The sheets under Naruto had obviously been changed after the operation, as they only showed a small smattering of blood. The floor was also remarkably clean. She didn't recall moving to his side, just that one moment she was at the door and the next she was kneeling beside his bed, arms hovering above him torn between hugging him into oblivion and heeding the doctors instructions to not touch him. She wanted to stroke his short blond hair, but it had been shaved off, presumably so that the doctors could heal the cuts on his head. His chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm, eyes closed, face relaxed. Anko let her head sink into her arms, and began crying for the first time in over twenty years. She ignored the nurses that were softly moving around the perimeter of the room, monitoring the monitors closely. Anko stayed there for the next four hours, until she collapsed into insensate blackness. She was moved into the adjoining room on the Hokage's instruction. Who knew what would happen if she were to find herself more than the twenty feet that separated them already?

The next morning Anko lurched into consciousness and fell off her bed, flailing while trying to disentangle herself from the sheets. Looking around hurriedly, she realized that she was in a hospital room. Jumping up she dashed out the door, looking both ways in the hallway outside, trying to get her bearings. Recognizing the hallways as the ICU, she went one door over and entered, releasing a breath when she saw her son still there. Stepping outside she shouted for a nurse. A minute later a woman in white appeared from around the corner and scurried towards the glowering tokubetsu jounin.

“How is my son doing?”

“One moment, let me check his chart.” She walked to the foot of the bed and lifted a clipboard with some papers out of a pocket there. She was silent for several minutes as she flipped through several pages before turning to the distraught mother. “Well Mitarashi-san, your son is doing as well as can be expected given the trauma he has suffered, and quite a bit better than hoped it seems.” She paused and turned back to the clipboard. “His bones seem to be setting nicely, and he is reacting well to the blood pills and antibiotics he was given to fight the multiple infections he got.” She paused again. “He was brought in on a piece of a Dumpster?”

“Yeah, well, I didn't have many options at the time, seeing as he was fucking dying in front of me,” Anko snarled.

“Err... I wasn't criticizing you, ma'am. I was just commenting on the method of delivery. It's not every day that you see something like that.”

“Oh...” Anko replied, anger subsiding as quickly as it rose. “Err... sorry then, I guess.”

“Not a problem ma'am. I can't understand where you are coming from here, so some anger is to be expected. You might want to see the psychiatrist on staff here at some point. I know it sounds cliché, but talking about it does help. Plus it’s free.”

“Maybe later. Keep talking,” Anko said waving an arm in Naruto's direction.

“Oh, right. Um... Well, he is reacting well with the blood pills, like I said, and he is mending quite well physically, though that probably has more to do with the Kyuubi in him than anything we have done.”

Anko gave the nurse a threatening glare, daring the young woman to insult Naruto in the least way. “Don't worry; I am not one who hates him for his burden. The way I see it, he is the best thing to happen to us ever. All this crap about him being the demon is ridiculous. Would a demon stand by and get itself beaten to death? I think not. But anyways, unfortunately, the lacerations aren't completely gone, although the muscle tissue is almost completely healed. With as much trauma he has been subjected to, and how much repair has already been done, we don't dare use any more chakra on him for a while, for fear of chakra poisoning. He will have some scars on his right arm, his chest and stomach, but they won't be much of a problem. There will also be some pretty heavy scarring on his scalp, but we expect that his hair should grow back fully and over them. Assuming he survives, he will have a hell of a story to tell about them.” She gave a dry smile at that, which was completely ignored.

“His brain is a different story however. There was some significant bruising and some hemorrhaging with two broken vessels there. Frankly it is a certified miracle that only two were damaged. His skull is repairing as well as the rest of the bones. The bad news is that there is not much increase in brain activity over the night. There is some activity in the frontal lobe which is associated with thinking, but the rest is running on what you could call emergency power.

“His internal organs are across the board. His heart is fluctuating, which is why we have him hooked up to a battery there,” the nurse stated, pointing to a pair of wires that ran to a black box. “His lungs also keep filling up with necrotic blood and we have to purge them every two hours or so. Naruto-san's stomach was ruptured by the cut across it and some of the gastric juices got out and damaged the liver, spleen, and right kidney. There was also a good bit of internal bleeding, from both the punctured lung and heart. We got that all patched up, but he is still very touch and go. Honestly the earliest I could imagine him waking up is probably not for another week, at least.”

Anko nodded numbly, staring at her child with empty eyes. Anko started when she felt pressure on her arm. She instinctively dropped her hand for a shuriken, before remembering that she was unarmed.

“Sorry,” the nurse apologized. “You should go get something to eat. It will help. Naruto-san won't be waking up in the next couple of hours, so you might want to take the chance to go home and get a shower too. We have a dozen messenger hawks on standby and have your address in the event that something does happen.” Anko nodded again. As the nurse was leaving, she turned around.

“What is your name? I never got it.”

“Inoue Orihime,” the busty orange haired nurse replied.

“Thank you... for everything.”

“Not a problem at all. I'm just doing my job.” With a smile she exited the room. Anko dragged a chair over to Naruto's bed and sat down, resting her elbows on the mattress.

“Please come back to me Naruto. You are all I have left,” Anko whispered to the comatose child, tears softly dripping onto the white sheets.

Anko woke up several hours later, mid afternoon judging from the angle of sun. Rubbing her eyes to clear them of sleepies, she yawned and stretched, joints popping noisily. Looking around she noticed that Naruto was still asleep, that nothing had changed. “Damn, there went my hope that all that shit was a majorly fucked up nightmare.” Sighing she walked out the door as her stomach growled loudly. Standing outside Naruto's room, she debated what to do. She could go down to the cafeteria and get something there, but she was still in the clothes that she had rescued Naruto in, and was starting to stink, Naruto's blood on her coat and skirt. Deciding that an hour or two away from her son wasn't going to change anything, she left the hospital and walked back home. As soon as she exited the building, all her hate and rage at those six men returned, as if the sight of the dirt road reminded her of the alley where she had nearly lost her most precious person. Soon she was stalking, radiating an intense killer intent, giving her a decent sized bubble in the crowded streets, no one wanting to get any closer than absolutely necessary to her.

Anko didn't mind at all. She got home about fifteen minutes after she left the hospital. After locking the door behind her, she tore off her clothes, bundling them up and incinerating them with a minor fire release jutsu. She spent thirty minutes in the shower, cranking up the hot water to the point where it reddened her skin, scrubbing her skin raw where Naruto's blood had dried on her skin. Normally she had no problem with blood, she actually kinda liked it, but there was some psychological thing about it being her son's blood that made her feel filthy. When the water began to run cold, she exited the shower and dried off. Dressing in a spare set of clothes, she headed out for food, hunger pangs striking hard. She hadn't had anything to eat since the party the previous day. She wasn't surprised when her feet led her to Naruto's favorite ramen bar. She ducked in under the strips of cloth that provided some privacy to the patrons and sat down on the stool. There were two other customers there, but she ignored them.

“Hello Anko-san, how are you doing today?”

Anko paused to consider that question for a minute. Normally she would put on her snake grin and say everything was fine, but she was the complete and utter polar opposite of fine. “You would not believe me if I told you.”

“Well, tell me about it. It helps to just talk with another person sometimes.”

Anko looked up at Teuchi with a fusion of a dozen emotions in her eyes. “Naruto almost died yesterday. He might die today. And it's all my fault.” Saying that she launched into a synopsis of the last thirty-six hours or so, glossing over the extent of his injuries slightly. Teuchi she noticed had fallen on the counter to support himself and his daughter Ayame was on her knees a few feet behind her.

“Where are the thugs that did this?” an unfamiliar growl sounded to her right. She looked over and realized that Shikamaru and Shino were sitting there. Shikamaru had the most expression on his face that she had ever seen, and Anko could almost see Shino's eye flashing from behind his shades. There was also a very noticeable buzz emanating from the ten-year-old Aburame.

“The Hokage himself led a squad of ANBU to arrest the six...” she trailed off, trying to find an appropriate epithet for the six men “people,” she continued, investing a whole world of hate, rage, and disgust into that one word, “and handed them over to Ibiki. I had a shadow clone watch, and it was extremely satisfying. I am sure I can get a copy of the tape if you want to see it.”

“Perhaps,” Shino said voice still thick with anger.

“We have to do something about this,” Shikamaru finally said. “This was monstrous in the extreme. Even if Naruto makes a full recovery, those men have to be made an example of.”

“Trust me,” Anko said, a truly demented smile twisting her lips, “I'm kinda hoping that they get off. That way I can take them out myself. They tried to murder my son,” the mind-numbing rage rising up again at the thought, “and they will pay, no matter what.”

A bowl of ramen was set down hard in front of her slopping a bit of the broth. “On the house,” Teuchi muttered, turning back to the kitchen. A lot of loud banging was heard a moment later. Anko slowly ate her meal not tasting a thing. As she turned to leave the stand, Teuchi called out to her. “Wait a moment and we will be out.”

Anko looked surprised. “What about the stand? Don't you need to keep it open?”

“Anko, your son and our favorite customer is lying in the hospital in a coma. We won't lose the stand if we close a few hours early to visit him.” Teuchi and Ayame emerged from the side of the building, locking the door behind them. Coming out front, Teuchi pulled down the security gate and locked that as well. Anko then led the two Ichirakus, Shikamaru and Shino to the hospital. Anko stopped at the main desk.

“What room is Uzumaki Naruto in?”

The nurse behind the desk turned to a thick book and flipped to the back. “Third floor, Room 25. Please be aware that visiting hours end at seven o'clock,” the attendant recited mechanically. Anko led the group again, taking the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator to burn off some of the nervous energy that had been building up for the past day and a half. When the group reached the third floor, they counted the room numbers until they got to twenty five. Outside Room 25 were four masked ANBU. Anko ignored the guards and entered the room. It was a large room for a hospital, about fifteen feet across and twenty five long. There was a figure in red and white robes standing at the middle of Naruto's bed.

The Hokage looked over his shoulder briefly to see who had entered the room before he returned his gaze to Naruto. “Hello Anko-san,” he said softly.

“Afternoon Hokage-sama.”

“I am sorry that this happened. This is all my fault. I should have done more to ensure the boy's safety, and now, because I was so arrogant, believing in the good will of this village, he stands on the threshold of death.”

“Hokage-sama, that is untrue. I left him alone after I had told him not to go out and join the celebration with no reason. He is a ten year old child. I should have known that he would sneak out to experience the festival eventually.”

“You are both being idiots,” Shino's calm monotone said. “Realistically, the only ones who are at fault here are the men that tried to kill him, and Naruto himself for breaking your rules Mitarashi-san.”

Both adults turned to face the nearly emotionless bug-user, and offered weak smiles. “So what is going to happen to the men that did this to Naruto?” Shikamaru ask with almost as little emotion as Shino.

“Well, that is a bit of a problem. As civilians they should properly be tried in a civilian court, but if that were to happen, they would get off scot free, as there is almost no chance that the case would be tried before a judge that does not hate Naruto, if they could even find someone to prosecute. I could probably get it into the military court, as Naruto is a shinobi-in-training, but we run into the same problem as in the civilian courts. The only jounin that I can think of that wouldn't free them based on who it was that they attack come from your two clans,” the Hokage said, nodding at the two ten-year-olds. “Even if a miracle were to happen and we did get three jounin that would try the case impartially, I can guarantee that the Konoha Council would interfere in some manner.”

“What if you try them as traitors Hokage-sama? They did attack a Konoha shinobi-in-training, and that could be construed as trying to weaken the military, and the Hokage has the right to preside over cases of treason.”

The Hokage looked at the Nara with a new respect. “I hadn't thought of that. Of course I still have to make it past the council, who will try to interfere whether or not they have the jurisdiction to do so. That is a very shrewd plan there, Nara-san.”

“Meh, I read a lot of books when I get bored,” which was most of every day, he didn't add.

“Also, I would suggest investigating whether or not this was an independent attack, or if it was orchestrated by someone.” Shino calmly adjusted his shades as the Hokage looked at him.

“What makes you think that this was not a spontaneous attack?”

“There is nothing that leads me to conclude that this was preplanned, I am just saying that it is a possibility.”

“Ibiki found no evidence to support a conspiracy against Naruto, or anything that points anywhere other than this being an isolated incident. Nonetheless, I will tell Ibiki about your theory and have him look again. There could be something he missed the first time around because he wasn't looking for it.”

“Thank you for considering my theory Hokage-sama.”

Hiruzen turned away from Naruto and the ninjas to address the other two people in the room. “Sorry for excluding you from the conversation.”

“No, not at all Hokage-sama. Working on punishing the monsters that did this is far more important than being polite to us.” The elder Ichiraku told the Hokage, waving him off.

“What I can't understand is how anyone could do this to Naruto. Anyone who knows him the least bit would know that he is one of the kindest people in this village. How anyone could mistake him for any kind of monster is beyond belief.”

“As true as that is Ayame-san, most people don’t think, they feel, and they let the feeling, not the thinking guide them. Emotion is simultaneously our greatest strength and our greatest weakness. But I hear that you make the best ramen in the village. Is that true?”

“I wouldn't say the best, but we are good.”

“Well, to hear Naruto tell it, you serve nectar and ambrosia.”

“Well, Naruto is not entirely unbiased you know,” Teuchi responded with a wry smile.

“Regardless, I will have to stop by and try your beef ramen soon.”

“It would be an honor to serve you Hokage-sama. Not to mention the customers we would get,” he laughed.

“We would be absolutely swamped,” Ayame added.

“Well, there is no such thing as too much business I suppose.”

“As long as it doesn't come with paperwork.”

“That would be true I suppose.” Teuchi rubbed his jaw thoughtfully.

“Well as much as I wish to stay, I must get back to the Tower.”

“Thank you for coming by Hokage-sama,” Anko said somberly.

“My pleasure. I will talk to the nurse at the front desk and extend the visiting hours for you and get another bed in here. I doubt you want to go home right now.”

“Thank you very much Hokage-sama.”

“Nothing to thank me for. I am just doing the right thing. I will leave the ANBU out here. Just as a precaution. Right now we cannot be too safe. Anyways, good evening.” The Hokage stepped out the door, closing it softly behind him.

After the Hokage left, no one talked, everybody absorbed in their own thoughts. Anko drew up a chair beside Naruto's bed, and took one of his hands in his, stroking the back of his palms, absently noting the faint rough spots where he had been burned. Teuchi and Ayame left first, about an hour after the Hokage departed. Shino and Shikamaru stayed until shortly after seven, saying that they needed to tell their clans about what had happened. After that Anko was alone again. She just sat there, looking at his face, memorizing it over and over again.

Eventually her stomach rumbled again and she went down to the cafeteria, but she forgot what she ate as soon as she put away her tray. She went back to her son's hospital room to find that another bed had been moved into it. She pushed the bed over to Naruto and lowered the bars. She climbed into the bed and pulled the sheets over her, fully dressed and reached out a hand to stroke Naruto's cheek. Unnoticed, tears fell from her eyes as she fell asleep.

Four days after the attack, Naruto got a visitor. Hinata had heard about his near-murder through the school grapevine the day after it had happened. It had taken her three days to work up the nerve to visit him though. Hinata entered the Yamanaka Flower Shop after school. Ino was at the counter reading a magazine.

“Welcome to Yamanaka Flowers. We have every flower in every shade for your every need,” Ino announced mechanically. Hinata ducked down an aisle before Ino could look up. Looking at all the possibilities, Hinata wondered what she should get. She was well versed in the language of the flowers, and knew all the flowers in the store. She browsed for half an hour, before settling in her choices. Hinata advanced to the checkout counter.

“Hello Ino-san. I would like to buy these flowers,” Hinata addressed the blond.

Ino looked up from her magazine, flipping her long ponytail over her shoulder. “Hey Hinata-san. How have you been doing?”

“Alright I suppose.” She offered the bouquet to Ino.

Ino took the flowers and examined them. “Acacias and anemones. Acacia are for hidden love, and anemones are for sickness. Is there someone you care for in the hospital?”

Hinata diverted her gaze slightly and responded. “Yes there is. I thought that I would bring some flowers to him. I read somewhere that flowers can sometimes help people heal faster.”

Ino held the flowers for a few seconds before a sly smile curved her lips. “These wouldn't have to do with Naruto would they?” Hinata blushed and ducked her eyes entirely. “That’s what I thought.”

“Um... Ino-san, could I pay for the flowers please?” Ino smirked and rang the dozen flowers up. When Hinata paid for them she fled the shop, head bowed to hide her flaming cheeks.

By the time she arrived at the hospital, she had gained control of her blushing, a faint rosy tinge was all that remained. She approached the help desk and demurely asked which room Naruto was in. The nurse jerked her head up and repressed a scowl at the mention of Naruto's name when she saw who was talking. Looking his name up in the directory, she muttered the room number to Hinata. Hinata thanked her and took the elevator to the third floor. When she got to his room, she activated her Byakugan and looked to see if the room was occupied, ignoring the four ANBU that flanked the portal. Thankfully it wasn't so she let herself in and closed the door. Hinata slowly approached the prone Naruto. She placed the bouquet in a vase and filled it with water from the sink.

Finally she sat in the seat provided, next to his bed. Hinata sat silently for a few minutes just looking at him. Someone had shaved his head at one point, presumably to heal the cuts on his scalp. She could see the white lines that crisscrossed his cranium in a helter skelter pattern. Hinata's gaze wandered down to his face, brows in a relaxed line, eyes closed, nostrils flaring with each breath, lips puckering slightly; chin thrust forward ever so slightly. Shyly, she raised a hand and placed it on the top of his head, her fingers delicately tracing the fine white scars. Next she felt the smooth skin of his forehead and lightly pressed the hair of his eyebrows into line. Daintily, she skimmed his eyelids, and caressed his cheeks with her palm. Using one finger she grazed the outline of his lips. Naruto's lips parted and he exhaled a warm, wet breath, pressing his lips to her finger. She went from normal to sunset red in zero point one second flat, retracting her hand so hard she hit herself in the chest. To make things worse she heard the doorknob rattle.

The nurse's lips twisted in distaste as she saw the Kyuubi container's name on her rounds again. She entered nonetheless, as she would get in trouble if she skipped him, regardless of who he was. She looked up from the chart she was studying, noting the bouquet of flowers on the bed stand, and the curtains blowing in the breeze. She frowned and slid the window closed. She was sure that the window had been closed earlier this morning, and he had not had any visitors that she knew since last night. Shrugging, she forgot about it. After all, he was only the demon brat. No one would care if someone tried to finish the deed the civilians had started.

On the wall below the window, Hinata clung to the sill by her fingertips. Spying a gutter one window over, she hopped the space separating the two windows and shimmied down the spout. At the bottom, she leaned against the wall, trying to catch her breath. Hinata had no idea why she had jumped out the window. It wasn't like she was sneaking in when he wasn't allowed to have visitors.

Then there was the kiss. Logically, she knew that he was most likely just responding to physical stimulus, but she could still feel his warm lips pressing against her fingers. Leaning against the wall, she closed her eyes and cradled her hand against her chest. Someday she wanted him to do that when he was awake. Smiling faintly, she resolved that he would indeed do that one day. Her heart lighter than it had been in almost a week, she went home.