Naruto: The Seraph Project

Chapter 15: The Chakra Devourers (Updated)

Shikamaru and I went to the Hokage office. I am anxious and nervous; my hands are shaking and I have heart palpitations. What if they don't believe me? What if I was wrong from the start? What if I was making yet another mistake? Possible, but I can't go back now. I let myself be convinced by my own madness. It's the answer. I can't explain it, but I feel it; I'm on the right track.

Along the way, I devoted myself to refining my ideas, preparing my speech... But since anxiety is a destructive demon, swallowing everything in its insatiable hunger, it's complete emptiness in my head when I knock on her door. In silence, I inhale calmly and deeply, hoping that Shikamaru doesn't notice; a habit of not showing any weakness or trouble to anyone.

I open the door after a loud voice invites us to enter. We're greeted by the Hokage and her assistant, Shizune. Surprised, but not surprised, Lady Tsunade's face is excruciatingly stern. Joining her hands, she looks at me coldly. I stiffen, aware that I am about to receive a sermon worthy of a tidal wave. She's not at all happy regarding my getaway this morning, that is understood.

"You finally found him, Shikamaru," she snaps, not taking her eyes off me. "Kakashi, have you forgotten your obligations regarding this case?! That I didn't allow you to take time off from your convalescence?! Should I also remind you what happened yesterday with Naruto?! That it was far too early to rush things about his memory?! Can I know what was more important than your duty?!"

Shikamaru and I exchange an ephemeral glance, neither I nor him regret our decision to return the forehead protector to Naruto. Moreover, he's impatient to hear the discoveries and information that I am about to reveal in any seconds now.

"Please forgive my insolence, Lord Hokage, but I haven't wasted my day twiddling my thumbs," I retort. "I may have found what's going on with Naruto."

Silence settles as the atmosphere grows heavy, so heavy that the air is suffocating. I am pierced by their eyes bitten with curiosity, to the point of feeling vulnerable and exposed. I don't like to get all the attention and it always makes me feel uncomfortable...

"What do you mean?" asks Godaime, frowning.

"Have you ever heard of 'chakra devourers'?"

"Chakra ... devourer...?" Shizune mechanically repeats.

"When I was a kid, my father used to tell me stories of all kinds and one of them was about these creatures," I begin calmly. "From the information I was able to glean from the library, they were known to feed on chakra and they excelled in elemental ninjutsu and genjutsu. These beings are described as demons creating nightmares and working in the night. If we relate Naruto's symptoms to this theory, it makes sense. His sudden talent for Katon, his refusal to eat, his sensitivity to light..."

"How did you come to this idea?" asks Lady Tsunade.

"When Naruto pounced on me, he cast a genjutsu on me ... and I've never seen a spell like his. It was delayed and it activated during my sleep, in the form of a lucid dream. Everything felt so ... real... I couldn't tell right from wrong. That's the reason why I'm sure it was an illusion. And this illusion... I was unable to break it..."

I pause. I think back to this nightmare in which I drowned in this ocean of darkness... Just to imagine myself reliving the scene, this feeling of dying and falling asleep forever... A shiver of dread slides down my spine.

"In that dream, Naruto was absorbing my chakra. I'm ready to put my hand to the fire that this was his way of communicating his need for chakra to me. He used his eyes to bewitch me and in doing so, they glowed in the dark. It was simply impossible for me to break eye contact. Then, a great fatigue took hold of me and forced me to go to bed, to immediately fall asleep. This fatigue, this dream ... the two are intimately linked."