A ninja must see underneath the underneath

Chapter 21 - Kashi Release : Nine-Tails Negotiation Jutsu!

Kakashi had ran all night with Naruto resting on his shoulders. At 4:30 in the morning, he decided it was time for a short break. He found a sheltered place behind a steep hill, surrounded by some small bushes. He put Naruto down gently and removed the backpacks from the young man's back. He put them down so Naruto could rest his head against them. Kakashi quickly did a chakra sweep of the environment to make sure they were safe. When he was certain there were no immediate threats, he retreated into some bushes to relieve himself.

Naruto was still asleep when he returned. He drank some water from their canteen and reached for the first aid kit again. Naruto's wounds were not healing as quickly as usual, which wasn't all that surprising seeing how much chakra Kyuubi had used during their critical situation. Kakashi got to work on changing the young man's bandages.

He started by removing the bandages from Naruto's hands. Now that he had a bit more time, he wanted to disinfect the wounds before re-wrapping them again. The blond's hands seemed to have endured the worst damage. Kakashi cursed as he knew the mutilations might very well have a negative effect Naruto's future hand signs. He could tell that Kurama had done a little bit of healing on the damage, but in all honesty, his palms still looked like they had been pierced with a wide object multiple times. Kakashi weighed out his options and decided to take a gamble.

He lifted Naruto's blood-soaked training jacket and T-shirt and put his hand on the seal marking around the blond's navel. He focussed on his subconscious and tried to call out to the Nine-Tails demon. He was startled as he suddenly entered a dark room with a wet floor.

"Kyuubi?" Kakashi asked uncertainly, feeling as if he was intruding in a very private area.

"Hatake." The fox replied with a low growl.

"I came to request your help." Kakashi tried carefully.

"What makes you think I would help you Hatake, Ninja of the Leaf?" The Nine-Tails replied rudely.

"I have an idea to aid Naruto." The silver-haired shinobi said patiently.

"Talk."

"I know you are running low on chakra, and I know you're focussing part of that chakra on healing Naruto's several wounds. I want to ask you to focus solely on the damage that has been done to his hands. If his injuries leave mutilations in the tendons, nerves, bones, joints, or muscles, he will permanently have difficulties forming proper jutsu hand signs.

"And what of his other wounds?"

"I will tend to them myself, without your help. At least until you've regenerated your chakra."

The fox remained quiet for a while, growling silently.

"Very well then. Now leave."

"Thank you, Kurama," Kakashi added before breaking contact.

Kakashi was relieved that his precarious negotiations with the demon fox had worked out. He re-wrapped Naruto's hands with clean bandages and put them down on the blond's abdomen. Next, he took out a kunai and cut off Naruto's pants leg at the young man's knee. Kakashi removed the blood-stained bandages from the young man's calf. He was pleased to see that the wound had stopped bleeding. He disinfected it, put some clean bandages around it, and put it upward on his own backpack. Next, he moved on to opening the young man's training jacket. As he was working the zipper, he saw Naruto open his eyes.

"K-Kashi?" The young man spoke weakly.

"I'm here Naruto. You have been injured, but you're not in danger. Try to keep still please."

"Kakashi..." The young shinobi said while tears welled up in his eyes. "I-I'm sorry."

"Sssh, it's okay Naruto, don't speak. You've weakened significantly.

"I'm s-sorry for leaving, a-and getting hurt."

"Stop apologizing Naruto," Kakashi said sternly. "This is not the time for that"

Naruto winced as he tried to move his hands. "M-my hands. They hurt."

"I know. Kurama will take care of it Naruto but listen to me. You have been injured on your shoulder as well, and I need to take a look at it."

Naruto murmured something about pain as Kakashi started working on removing the young man's clothing. His orange t-shirt was soaked with blood, as Kakashi previously only had the time to wrap the shoulder up quickly. Too quickly.

Naruto screamed when Kakashi picked up his arms to remove them from the sleeves. The sound made him feel as if he was being stabbed in the heart. He quickly put them down again, being extra careful with the injured hands. He grabbed his kunai and started working on cutting open the rest of the clothing. If it were any other shinobi, Kakashi would have put up a sound barrier and just pulled the arms through the sleeves to save time, but not with Naruto. It was hard enough seeing his lover in pain, he didn't need to hear the screams as well.

He groaned as he saw blood seeping out of the nasty hole in Naruto's shoulder. Seeing how he told Kyuubi that he would take care of it, he knew he had to stitch it up. He cursed as he started rummaging around the first aid kit for a needle and thread.

"Kashi, what's wrong... why aren't you covering up the wound?" Naruto asked while slightly lifting his head to see what his lover was doing.

"You need stitches," Kakashi replied while putting up a sound barrier. He heard Naruto curse.

Kakashi started by cleaning the skin around the wound with disinfectant. Next, he ripped open the packages with the sterilized needle, thread, and gauzes. After disinfecting his own hands, he got to work. As he pushed the needle through Naruto's skin, he couldn't help it feel as if he was torturing the young man even further, but he knew he had to be persistent. After each double stitch, he had to pull on the thread to close up the wound. Each time he did, he heard whimpers coming from his lover's mouth. He swallowed a lump in his throat, as he shut out all sounds and focussed on his work. When he was done, he thoroughly wrapped bandages around the blond's shoulder.

"It's over Naruto. I'll find you a clean T-shirt and let you rest again, okay?" Kakashi said softly. The blond nodded slowly without saying a word. As Naruto's head was resting on his orange backpack, Kakashi decided to look for a T-shirt of his own. He didn't want to disturb the blond once more.

Having found one in his own backpack, he helped Naruto to sit up straight and put it on. Effectively making the boy moan in pain once more. He compelled Naruto to drink some water, after which he started packing up their stuff again. Eventually, he lifted the blond back onto his shoulders, despite the young man's wails, and moved on towards The Hidden Waterfall Village. He couldn't help but smile a little as he felt Naruto pressing a small kiss behind his ear. Soon, the boy fell asleep again.