Naruto: The Seraph Project

Chapter 56: Rupture

Naruto is completely unresponsive to anything, although his body weak to wind shivers as I carry him in my mad dash. The fatigue left me and disappeared, like the pain in all my martyred being. My mind is focused on Naruto who is in shock, to the point of losing his hair; the fall of his hairs worries me and this kind of thing will accelerate the premature bleaching of the latter, the tail included. For once, I don't care about the dirty looks directed at me or what the others may think of me.

My priority is my upset student.

I arrive at my apartment in record time. Without further ado, I go to my bathroom, in which Naruto can take a shower and therefore, wash up his accident. Unfortunately, no matter how much I talk to him, my words don't reach his deaf ears. I gently place him on the ground, in a seated position, in front of the wall with which he has difficulty holding on; he threatens to collapse at any moment.

His whole body is relaxed; his tail, usually full of life, is motionless and doesn't even flinch when I brush it with my fingertips; if I take his face to make eye contact, his excruciatingly dark and extinguished eyes only contemplate the void in front of them; drool continually escapes from his lips unable to touch their twin; by placing my palm on his forehead, his fever got worse; his puffs of air are insufficient wheezing; by putting an ear to his chest, his organ of love is slow and irregular.

Naruto appears to be struggling for survival—rather, his spirit has vanished. All that remains is his body on autopilot, content with the bare minimum.

Seeing him like this... I'm heartbroken.

A bitter darkness poisons me.

I feel terribly helpless.

I can touch him, whisper sweet words to him, nothing helps. I feel like his mind has been shattered again, but only worse. There's neither sorrow, nor suffering, nor fear... An absolute impassivity with which he disassociated himself from the whole world, to take refuge in another imaginary, engulfing him to leave behind only an empty carcass devoid of any will. It wasn't just words that generated this extreme reaction from him. The presence of this man was enough to plunge him into terrible evils. How could his mere presence destroy him so much?

'What did you perceive or feel that made you choose to disappear, so fiercely that you forgot me, Naruto? What does that mean, Naruto? How should I interpret the pain that shook you, Naruto?' I ask in vain, caressing his impassive face.

Unconsciously, I clench my fist until my fingernails dig into my skin.

'What I would give for you to be able to talk to me, right now, right away. What I would give to hear your thoughts and your voice trapped in silence... Is it possible that he is ... an actor in this fateful and mischievously cruel theatrical play...?'

I let out a sigh, then another... I breathe in calmly, for a long time, so to get rid of this bubbling anger that enrages me, blinds me and makes me lose my temper. The possibility that Naruto recognized him for the wrong reasons torments me... Danzō being involved is a deadly and unlikely scenario. However, his unhealthy smile pushes me to believe viciously in this wandering thought, generated by the obscure pessimist and from which I'm unable to escape.

I make stuff up, I know it only too well. I realize that I'm emotionally involved in this whole story and that these emotions are impairing my judgment; at that, I'm exhausted, at my wits' end, about to explode... If I don't take a break, I will sink into impulsiveness by acting before thinking. This anxiety ball that presses my stomach takes up all the space in my tortured and too small rib cage...

I shake my head to pull myself together and focus on my student who needs me right now.

Upon closer inspection, his clothes are stained with blood and vomit, not to mention his accident. Since the blond is unable to cooperate, I resolve to undress him completely and unsurprisingly, the latter has become an inanimate rag doll. Once Naruto is naked, I run the water. The shower at the ideal temperature, I gently take Naruto in my arms to sit him inside. I have to wash him... He won't do it on his own, that's understood.