Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Shinobi and The Miko ❯ Pain ( Chapter 10 )

Kaguya's breathing was ragged, she gulped in great gasps of air as she tried to keep her stomach from betraying her. For once, she was glad of her blindness; it meant she didn't have to see the carnage that Tsunade was witnessing through the numerous small-slug-creatures-that-felt-human. But she could still hear it. And smell it. Oh could she smell it. The metallic odor of so much blood filled her nose, causing her to dry-retch several times. She was lucky she'd had no time for breakfast that morning.

 

She pushed through it, however, and continued to pour chakra into Tsunade, who then transferred it to the broken bodies of the various injured or dying Leaf Shinobi. She had started with plant energy; since there were no useable animals in the midst of the battlefield, the energy from plants was the easiest to convert. She had to focus her mind entirely on the process to avoid killing the trees and grasses from which she drew. This took all the discipline gathered from years of training. Still, she had miscalculated a few times, and felt an almost-sentient pain from a few shrubs and one cherry tree as they had expired.

 

She had drained almost everything she could from plants, she would have to start working on inorganic matter next, a daunting concept at the best of times. The more something had been shaped my human hands, the less energy could be harvested, and the greater the price.

 

She was seated in a battle tent on level with the street, behind Tsunade, both of her hands placed on the Hokage's shoulders. Because of the direct contact, she could tell what was happening outside, to an extent. More importantly, she could tell that Tsunade was rapidly losing focus. It took more and more chakra for her to continue to keep everyone alive. Healing them wasn't really an option anymore. The way Kaguya saw it, they had a fixed amount of time to work with, and then there would be no more chances. Naruto had fought the lead Pain incarnation just a short while ago; he had charged off to find the original one shortly afterward. If he couldn't reach him soon… Kaguya shuddered.

 

***

 

Tsunade lost focus for a moment; and one of her patients stopped breathing. She tried frantically to revive him, but to no avail. Determined not to let it happen again, she gritted her teeth. Chakra was still flooding in from Kaguya, but Tsunade knew it wouldn't be endless. She was finding it harder and harder to heal, and even those she was sustaining risked losing their lives if she faltered for even an instant. Naruto… you must hurry.

 

Don't worry, Lady Tsunade. I'm sure he will succeed. We must believe in him. Kaguya's voice echoed in her mind.

 

It was unnerving, this direct connection between chakra systems. She could actually feel the girl drawing in some kind of raw energy, more like a life force, and converting it to chakra. There was something wild about that energy, as though it were more primal than anything ninja could use. It probably was. She understood Kaguya's reluctance to draw it from people unless she was putting it right back; it would have been nearly impossible to control if she wasn't able to force it to change form.

 

A dangerous ability.

 

Yes, came the simple reply.

 

Tsunade almost lost another connection, snapping her back to the matter at hand. There would be time enough for this discussion later. If they made it to later.

 

***

 

Anko lifted a small handful of soil to her nose. It sure smelled like the fish-man, but she couldn't for the life of her make out which direction he'd gone.

 

“I think we've been compromised,” she said to the others, who had come up behind her. “He's come this way, but…”

 

Kakashi surveyed the area. “Hmm… Sasuke, can you see anything with your Sharingan?”

 

Sasuke just shook his head.

 

“Well, I guess we'll just have to sniff him out.” Kakashi took a kunai from his belt and pricked his right thumb, using the blood to summon his hounds. With a small pop, four dogs of various sizes and breeds materialized in front of him.

 

“What d'ya need, Kakashi?” asked the one in font, a small, puglike one.

 

“Anko, if you would?” he asked, indicating the lump of dirt still in her hand.

 

“Oh. Yeah, sure.” She held out her hand and allowed the hounds to sniff the clods.

 

“I'd like you to follow that trail for me.” Kakashi said.

 

“On it, boss!” The dogs sniffed the air for a minute, and then set of as one to the north.

 

***

 

Sakura hoped that Naruto knew what he was doing. He'd run off to find the real Pain, leaving her to care for the injured Hinata, among others. From the looks of things, the worst of the attack was over, but the biggest challenge was yet to come.

 

As she surveyed the immediate area, she was struck by the sheer number of injured. Bodies seemed to cover the area like some grotesque landscape feature. How can we possibly save them all? Determined to at least do what she could, Sakura started moving between them. She didn't have enough chakra left for any major healing, so she settled for putting the conscious to sleep, and staunching bleeding for any deep wounds. Lady Tsunade was still funneling chakra into the living, and she was able to use some of that to help. But for the most part, it was just a constant trickle, enough to keep vital organs functioning until Naruto could kill Pain and restore the shinobi's lives for good.

 

Or at least, that's how it should work. Theoretically. Better not to think about what happened if theory should be proven false.

 

***

 

Kaguya struggled to keep her focus. She'd nearly lost it when she felt Hinata fall. It had taken Tsunade's intervention, in the form of very loud mindspeech, to get her back on track. Now she was struggling to convert more energy, as the only things left to take from were the buildings themselves. If she wasn't careful, she could destroy what little of the village remained, since stone, wood, and other building materials, fully drained, would turn to dust.

 

With this in mind, she went for wreckage first, since those places had already collapsed. There were a few hundred ninja on their artificial life support at this point. With Tsunade so unfocused, the amount of energy required for each heartbeat, each breath, was staggering.

 

It was then she felt Tsunade's consciousness slipping.

 

No, no, NO! she yelled into their connection. Wake up, Lady Tsunade, wake up! Your village needs you! You can't go to sleep yet! The last was infused with a note of hysteria.

 

But all her pleading was to no avail. The fifth Hokage blacked out, leaving Kaguya in a darkness of a different kind.

 

Connect to me. Hurry! The voice was the same one she had heard that morning, next to the unconscious man she had found. Without stopping to think, she extended her mind as far as it would go, and latched onto the foreign presence.

 

Good girl. Now, keep the chakra flowing.

 

Kaguya obeyed, reaching for the vitality within stones, wood, the plants, anything she could find. She had to save them! She lowered the Hokage gently to the floor, and laid down herself, getting as comfortable as possible. You've got five minutes, Naruto, she thought.