Six Years Too Long

Chapter 28

Weeeee woooooo weeeeee woooooo

Third person pov

Physically, Naruto is fine. 

They get to the hospital in record time, as journeys have been known to be when Minato Namikaze is involved. Naruto's breathing deepens by the time a nurse is able to take his vitals and his heartbeat is strong, already recovering from the blood loss. Minato hovers anxiously by as they gently wipe the mess of remaining red from his son only to reveal smooth, unblemished skin beneath. Not even a scar.

So, he's okay in that regard. Any arteries that may or may not have been nicked have already closed. There will be no lasting internal trauma from the poison, which has somehow been expunged from his body. All his biological facilities are functioning at their very best-- maybe even better than before. His previously high blood pressure, taken a few weeks after Minato came back to life, has levelled out into the normal and target range.

It should be good news. And it is, really, it is. The only issue is that despite being perfectly fine, with brain activity recorded as regular, with lungs expanding and contracting, with his heart thumping to a steady rhythm... he won't wake up. 

They try everything. They give him a medication that triggers a burst of adrenaline, one that would have anyone else's eyes shooting open with alertness. They try to gently call out to him, and Minato's throat goes tight when his brain activity doesn't fluctuate in response, proving he's not hearing them. They even have Minato jolt a little chakra into his system to see if that'll get him up, but the blonde boy doesn't so much as twitch.

Chakra is what it really all comes down to. It's the problem here. Minato knows that, he just doesn't know why. He has no idea what they did to his son. It feels like his chakra gets further and further away the more time that passes, like it's sinking further beneath the surface.

Dread fills him. Minato can't sit still, pacing through his exhaustion, through his anxiety and his fear. Attempts to draw Naruto's chakra back forward are all to no avail. It's stuck, held in place behind what feels like an impenetrable wall. If Minato didn't know any better, he'd almost say... he'd almost say that Naruto, somehow, was sealed inside himself.

"Do you think he's what touched the seal?" Kushina asked, looking entirely stressed over the idea. She was covered in soot, her hair a wild scarlet curtain that frizzed out behind her. "What if I swapped places with him accidentally? Wh-What if I did this to him, Minato?" 

Having Kushina back made this whole thing feel a whole lot like a fever dream. Minato looks at her and nothing feels real. He wants to laugh and cry and hug her and never let go. He never thought he'd get the chance to scoop her up into his arms again, yet her she is. Present, tangible, and... just as afraid as he is.

Minato cannot fathom the thought of focusing his full attention into anything aside from his son right now, and he knows Kushina feels the same. Later, when this all ends and Naruto can smile at them again, he knows he'll break down. He knows he will feel a drowning sense of elation and relief, and he knows he'll cry.

That will come later, though. Right now Naruto is what's most important. Getting him out of-- whatever this is... they have to find a way. And to do that, they have to find what caused this.

"He shouldn't be able to access the seal at all, even if his body did go into crisis mode. The Kyuubi is asleep-- he should stay that way for at least a couple more years." Minato gnawed at the inside of his cheek. Even saying it, he knew how uncertain he sounded. 

"That was before I fucked up and sealed by entire body in him like he was some sort of scroll, Minato." Kushina tugged at her hair, throwing it into further disarray. "Is the-- I mean, is the seal still even intact? What if the Kyuubi woke up, or- or Naruto is stuck in there trying to get out and... and can't?"