Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Legacy of Fire ❯ Healing ( Chapter 6 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Author’s Note: I very much appreciate your input for those that have PM’ed or reviewed me. I know it can be difficult to read but it’s most likely because of the formatting. This was written for MM.org and the format for FF.net changes things around and erases the breaks between paragraphs. So I’m adding a new dashed format, please let me know if this works! I apologize but I hope you still enjoy nonetheless!

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Truth


& #8220;Mommy! Mommy! What’s this picture of?!” cried a little girl with pink pick-tails and crystal blue eyes as she picked up a small wooden frame from a box beside her. Carefully, she examined it and looked at the four people standing together. She was intrigued and immediately recognized three of the figures. Once more she called out for her mother and soon a woman in medic-nin uniform appeared from around the corner. With identical pink hair but sparkling emerald eyes, she bent down to the little girl who was studying the picture frame in her tiny hands. “Aiko, it’s just a picture of my ninja team when we were young” the woman said with a smile, bringing her daughter into a tight hug. The Aiko’s eyes sparkled and her face lit up with wonder as she looked at the picture, tightly gripping it as she concentrated on what her mother had just told her. “Mommy, you were a pretty ninja!” little Aiko said in delight as she turned to her mother. “Why thank you Aiko”

“And we even have the same forehead!”

Sakura sweat dropped while maintaining a sweat smile. Yep, she was indeed his daughter.

As Aiko scanned the picture further, Sakura began to point out certain things.

“Look here Aiko, this is your father.”

“Yeah I see! Daddy and me have the same eyes!”

“Yes you do. And look there, recognize him?”

“Yeah mommy! That’s perverted old man Kakashi!”

Sakura sweat dropped again. She sighed, she was a miniature Naruto…in girl form, of course.

“Um… yes it is Kakashi. He was your fathers’ and my teacher. We learned so much from him. Someday you-“

“Um Mommy”

“Yes”

“Who’s this boy here? He doesn’t look very happy…”


“His name is Sasuke, Sasuke Uchiha. He was my best friend and biggest rival. And your mother had the biggest crush on him.” Naruto said as he peeked his head around the corner. Aiko looked to him and immediately jumped into his arms. “DADDY! YOU’RE HOME!” she said as she hugged him with all her strength and a smile from ear to ear. “Yes I’m home. Where did you find that picture Sakura?” Naruto inquired, surprised that the old team 7 photo had been discovered. “I didn’t find it dear, Aiko did.” Sakura announced. Naruto looked at the little girl he was holding in his arms.

“Daddy! Daddy!” the little girl said excitedly.

“Hm Aiko?”

“Who’s Sasuke Uchiha?”

As soon as little Aiko questioned her father, her mothers eyes fell downwards onto the floor, shadowed by sadness. Naruto, a little taken back by her question, pondered how he could tell her who he really was. “Well Aiko…he was a member of our ninja team, Team 7. He was the strongest in our academy class and the best at everything he did. He was the number one rookie of the year when I graduated.”Aiko looked a bit puzzled before she asked, “If he was a ninja, why don’t I seem him with the other Jounin? If he was the best, he should be a big top ninja like you and mommy right?”

Both Sakura’s and Naruto’s brows furrowed at her questions. One of them had to answer, so, sparing Sakura’s grief, Naruto decided to answer.

“Well…when we were undergoing the second part of the Chuunin exams, Sasuke had an accident. He was…hurt and the injury he had kept causing him pain.”

“What else happened?”Aiko prodded further.

“He was hurting a lot then in his heart” Naruto motioned to her chest with his finger “and he decided, after the main tournament, to leave Konoha.”

“REALLY DADDY?!” she said, her eyes sparkling with intrigue.

“Yes…and he never came back. I tried to bring him back once for many years but he…said no and then I never saw him again.”

“That’s sad daddy…he should’ve come back and made everyone happy again, especially if he was your best friend…” little Aiko said as her head hung low. Naruto, for Sakura’s sake, changed the subject. “Anyways, didn’t you say earlier you wanted to go out and play. Aiko nodded her head and gave pleading eyes to her father. Placing her down Aiko gave him one last hug and then went to Sakura before attempting to run out the door. “AIKO! What are the rules about strangers?” Her mother said sternly. Aiko placed her hands behind her back and said non amused “No talking to strangers. If anyone tries to bribe me I say no and run the opposite way. Run away and tell you if I see any mean ninja’s who have a black cape with red clouds on it, or look funny, or have red eyes”

Red eyes…

Red eyes…

Red eyes…


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Aiko bolted up in her bed, frantically surveying her surroundings. Her chest was heaving and she was drenched in a cold sweat. “Where am I-“ “Aiko honey! Your okay! I was s-so w-worried about” her mom barely said as she began to sob, holding her daughter close to her. Nuzzling deeper to her, she cried more tears of joy, happy that she was alive. Naruto joined in his wife’s happiness and hugged them both. He was so worried that he had lost his only daughter, the daughter he cherished so dearly and wanted the world for.  Aiko looked fine, although a little pale and bruised, but Naruto decided it best for her to have some space after what had previously occurred. Slowly reaching forward, he lovingly embraced Sakura, whispering small words of comfort to stop her sobbing. Naruto looked over to a dazed Aiko and gave a small sigh of relief. She was back and unharmed, or at least, that’s how she appeared.


Disoriented and confused, Aiko sat comfortably on the bed and stared out below…”Wait…SINCE WHEN DO I LIVE THREE STORIES UP?!?!” Aiko bounded up out of her bed, tossing the covers haphazardly, and  went to the window then looked back at the room. It was sickeningly white and sterile meaning there is only one place she could be. She was in a hospital. “I’m…in a hospital…what happened to me?! Broken out of her thoughts she quickly raced over to her parents. Her heart was racing and she felt her chest tighten. “MOM, DAD! WHERE ARE MY TEAMATES?! WHERE ARE HIROSHI AND KENSHIROU?! WHERE ARE THEY?!” She yelled, her hands firmly placed on her fathers’ shoulders while her eyes flickered back and forth from him to her mother. Then she remembered.


“Oh my God…Hiroshi…Kenshirou…they can’t be…” Immediately her words turned into tears as she began to recall the previous nights events. Every memory and replay of what had happened caused her eyes to prickle and sting more, tears rushing out quicker with each fleeting thought. “H-he can’t be…they c-can’t be…” Aiko grabbed onto her fathers cloak as her body collapsed to the floor. She could feel her heart being torn to shreds, every piece in itself being crushed. After all they had been through, they were gone. ‘D-dad…they-they’re not a-are they?” Aiko said, her body was still trembling. Naruto kneeled down slowly to her with a sad smile and motioned for her to follow him. She did.


As they walked down the sickeningly white halls, Aiko barely managed to walk. Her mind was preoccupied with the outcome of the mission and her body felt sore, her heart was another matter. It was empty. She had never felt like this, ever. It felt as though her heart had been gouged out with a kunai and in its place was an empty hole. All she saw was door after door, nurse after nurse who happily greeted her. She wanted nothing of it. In her mind she kept asking herself the same question- Why?


Why couldn’t I have been stronger?

Why couldn’t I have protected them?

Why did this have to happen?

Why did I fail?

Why wasn’t I ready?

Why am I so weak?

Why can’t I be the best anymore?

Why does this have to be the result?


However, something was tearing at her mind, weaseling its way through her memories and her experiences. Placing a hand on her head she began to feel woozy but she ignored it. It was probably from all the bawling she had done earlier. Finally Naruto stopped walking and looked to her before slowly opening the door. Aiko felt her heart stop as the door swung wearily open. What she saw made tears come to her eyes.


Her teammates were alive.


“Hiroshi…Kenshirou…they’re okay…” she said. She spoke softly, her hoarse voice strained as she tried to maintain composure. Both their sets of parents were there and looked on as Aiko raced in and stared over the both of them before collapsing once more into a heap of tears. Sakura had caught up with Naruto and looked on to Aiko as she bawled, happy that her friends were alive. Crying, she rubbed away each tear as it fell, desperately trying to hold them back but it was not use. However when she felt someone tap on the back of her shoulder, she stopped. Slowly she turned her head. When she saw his eyes, she felt her heart stop.

“KENSHIROU!” she yelled as she jumped into his arms and buried her face into his chest. He could feel her tears soaking into the white hospital gown he was wearing. Laying his head atop hers he gently rubbed her back and spoke soothing words of comfort to her. Naruto blinked at the sight and looked at Sakura, who shook her head and said quietly “Naruto, does this look familiar to you?” He smiled and brought Sakura into a tight embrace. It was just like when Naruto had seen Sakura for the first time after an A-ranked mission in which she had come so close to dying. As he watched them together, he immediately saw himself and Sakura many years ago.

After a short while, Aiko had managed to stop the tears flowing down her cheeks. Wiping the salty trails away, she walked over to Hiroshi’s bedside. He was still in a coma and hooked up to machines of all kinds. As she examined the various types of equipment, all the cords and tubes coming from his body, she could only wonder how bad he really was. She had no idea what had happened to him but she carefully put her hand onto his cheek. He was so pale, a stark contrast to his normally vibrant self. What happened to you? She thought, looking away for a brief moment so that she wouldn’t cry again. He had to wake up. Just as she had finished her thought, an alarm on his heart rate went off.

His heart was slowing down.

Just then several medic-nin rushed in and cleared the room, telling a concerned Hinata and Kiba to wait outside and this was nothing to be afraid of. Aiko saw Kiba holding a distraught Hinata back, her eyes filled with tears and her normally soft voice was strained and frantic as she called out for her son. In the chaos, Aiko heard the medic-nin frantically calling out for assistance and then she heard two words that made her heart sink.

Die of heart failure.

She quickly called out for her other teammate, “Kenshirou!…can you use your Byakuugan yet?!” he looked confused but nodded back. “Then can you…look inside of him to see if his chakra flow is normal?!” she said, her normally bright blue eyes were a mix of fear and worry. She was not about to let her teammate and friend die. His situation was critical, the 2 medic-nin in the room were busy trying to stabilize his vitals however, they just seemed to dip lower and lower as each second passed. Quickly, Kenshirou formed the hand seals and said ‘Byakuugan’ and immediately he saw the problem. He could only manage a few seconds of examining his kin’s body; a medic was trying to remove the two from the room. “Aiko, his chakra…it’s almost gone! He has signs of negative chakra erosion inside his body. Many of his tenketsu in his chest are completely sealed off. If he stays like this any longer he could die!”


 As they were finally removed from the room, Aiko stood with a serious look on her face and closed her eyes. He was not dying today. With great force she shoved the sliding doors open and marched assertively over to Hiroshi’s bedside, pushing the medic-nin’s working on him out of the way. Slowly drawing chakra to her hand, she placed it over his chest. She had never healed this many tenketsu before but she had to try. Her mother had taught her so much about healing and medical jutsu, things far beyond her years and she was not going to let it go to waste. I won’t give up until he’s awake…even if I have to use up majority of my chakra to do it. This time…I won’t fail”. She motioned for Kenshirou and had him guide her to the exact points of distress. “Guide my hand to tenketsu on that are closed” she said with great determination. Kenshirou placed his hand over hers and guided it to the first. As soon as he gave the signal, Aiko let loose a streamlined pulse of chakra straight into the tenketsu with Kenshirou telling her how much she could put in. Hiroshi’s body jerked as the chakra forcefully entered his body, rejuvenating dying cells. “You can move on Aiko, this one’s open” he said, moving her hand to the next. They were so calm despite one of the medic-nin yelling to them that they are in the way. Aiko merely shot him a wicked glance, ensuring he knew that they would take care Hiroshi and not to interfere.


As they healed their teammate together, Sakura watched on with the others outside the doorway. A sense of pride filled her knowing her daughter was able to do a medical justu so advanced as resuscitation. She had taught her well. Naruto, on the other hand, was surprised at the whole affair. First he finds out his daughter has a boyfriend then she, with the help of her boyfriend, begins to heal an injured teammate after promptly yanking the experts away, with an expertise he’d only ever seen in his wife or Tsunade. He needed a drink. However, he wasn’t the only one in a state of shock as they watched the scene unfold. Kiba and Hinata were quite surprised but they were more worried about their son waking up. Tenten was happy Kenshirou could do such a thing. Neji, however, was just as in shock as Naruto about the whole boyfriend-girlfriend thing between their offspring.


After about forty-five minutes of silence, Aiko walked over to a chair in the corner and sat down exhausted. Her face was tired as she hung her head low. With worried eyes Kiba and Hinata looked on before receiving a joyous smile from Aiko, who looked up despite her head feeling like it would rather be down. However, everyone’s time was soon interrupted by a loud ‘ahem’. “I see we’re all having a reunion and why didn’t I get an invite?” announced Tsunade as she came walking in, young as ever. “Well, well, well. Granny decided to show up. A little late though, someone just did all the work.” Naruto said, crossing his arms as he reclined against the wall. Tsunade quirked an eyebrow at his statement and looked over to an exhausted Aiko then to the medic-nin who had run to go get her.


‘I see…She possesses amazing skill like her mother…and the determination of her father.’


Tsunade decided to see if Aiko had actually managed to reopen his tenketsu. Gliding a hand over his chest, she felt for signs of distress and found that his entire chakra system was normal and starting to recover on its own. Without any experience of healing others, Aiko had managed to divert and restore the chakra flowing in his system. “Naruto, she’s going to be a great ninja one day. And just maybe…she’ll surpass you.” Tsunade moved her hands to her side before saying “He should be fine. No missions for the next few days and he’ll be good as new. Just tell him no over exerting himself in training or he might wind up in this situation again.”


“What do you mean I’ll wind up like this again?” Aiko said.


Hiroshi sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes before quirking an eyebrow at everyone in the room. “Gah…my head is killing me. What is everyone doing here?” Aiko rolled her eyes and Kenshirou shook his head before they told him in unison ‘welcome back’. Kiba and Hinata were overjoyed and Hinata began to cry again as she went over and collapsed on his bedside. Hiroshi was a bit confused at the whole situation. “Um…Can I ask what’s going on?” Kenshirou went over to him and told him “Well, you’ve been out for three days like the rest of us and Aiko here just saved your rear.” Hiroshi blinked and looked at Aiko then to his cousin before saying “Um…thank you?”


Aiko was proud to have her boys back. She didn’t know what she’d do without them. She was sure that they would be fine in the next few weeks but she didn’t know about herself. She had a massive headache and she had the intense feeling something was inside of her head.


Did I…forget something? In my dream…those eyes…I have to ask why was I supposed to run away when I saw those eyes…his eyes…I need the truth…

The Truth…