Love Through Negotiation «COMPLETED»

Chapter 16

If there was anything Naruto was sure of, it was that he didn't dream. He usually didn't, but he could always recall a sort of time passing. Usually, he knew when he slept for a couple hours. He felt rested when he woke up.

Not this time.

When the scarlet-black chakra covered his eyes, it was only there for a moment. Eyes closed.

Then his eyes opened. And they were full of slime. There was a weight on his entire body that kept him from moving. He couldn't breathe. His mouth was set open and he couldn't close it. Panic set in and he did his best to buck the unknown thing off his body, but he was stuck in his place.

And, like it had never been there in the first place, it was gone. He shot up, chest heaving, eyes searching, confused as all hell, and feeling like he'd been run over by a herd of buffalo. He couldn't see because the room was full of smoke, but all was quiet except for the sound of wheels moving through sand lethargically.

As the smoke thinned out, he got a better picture of the world around him. Time had passed.

In front of him were two slabs of white-blue slug. They were Tsunade's summons. They helped with healing. Above him was the familiar ceiling of a moving caravan cart, normally shielding him from the beating sun. Sakura was at the foot of the cart, legs crossed, and a look of consternation on her brow. Her eyes were shut concentrating. At the opposite end was a purple cocoon-looking thing about the size of the slugs.

The way he was laid out next to the other two slugs made it look like he was the third of an array. He was still blinking when the flap of the back of the cart pulled open with a grave-looking Yugito staring at him. Before he could open his mouth, her arm whipped forward and he was hit in the head with clothing. "Dress, then come out," she ordered.

The flap fluttered close.

Naruto gulped and did his best to get his appendages through the clothing in the near pitch black. His mind was swirling with questions, none that he liked to think up the answers to. He got as close as he could with clothing himself and fell out the back of the cart onto cold, silky sand. It was almost as dark outside the cart as it was in. above him was a swirling array of stars so bright they made slight shadows in the dunes and tracks behind them. The moon was almost full and looked too big to be real.

"Do you need help?"

Naruto looked up to the robed figure above him. Yugito had pulled her cowl over her face since she threw the clothing at him. It was a little bit unsettling how the robes settled over her body. It made her look like a specter with the light wind fluttering her robes slightly. He shook his head and stood up. The silky sand was uncomfortably cold, but not unbearable to his feet.

"What happened?" Naruto asked. His voice was that of an old, 70-year old chainsmoker.

Yugito patted him on the back and started walking forward after the cart that was making progress away from them. "Things went to hell… but things could be worse."

Naruto started padding after her. "I don't like the sound of that."

"Well," she started. Her voice was low and silent "Neither do I."

"What happened?" Naruto pressed. "Fu… she-"

"She's fine," Yugito said quickly. "In fact, out of all us, she's probably the most fine, ironically. Jinchuuriki have better healing, but the seven-tails is something else. She can grow back entire limbs, apparently. I don't know how that relates to bugs, but I guess it does."

Naruto let out a sigh of relief. "What about Kurotsuchi?"

When Yugito didn't answer immediately, his heart sunk. "She's… not good."