As Uzumaki Naruto has just returned from a mission, he is targeted by a mysterious organization with unknown motives. Despite the endeavour of Hatake Kakashi, Naruto is abducted without leaving the slightest trace. After a month of absence, he reapp...
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The Seraph Project - Darkness
"Kakashi won't wake up for many days," Tsunade darkly said to Shizune and Shikamaru.
Their eyes locked on Kakashi, not far from them. He was lying on a hospital bed, on his back. A blanket hid him up to his neck. Electrodes were on his temples and chest. IVs were stuck in the crook of his elbows. An oxygen mask covered his face; he was on life support since he could not breathe on his own.
Despite his critical condition that was now stable, his mask, the one that never left his face, was in its place. Unless it interfered with his breathing, his mask had to be pulled up over his nose; it was even indicated in his medical file. Since Kakashi was probably the most hospitalized shinobi in Konohagakure, the staff were aware of the importance the mask, and no one asked the question anymore.
On the next bed, Naruto was there, also plunged into unconsciousness. The strange burns on his skin had been treated and bandaged. Unlike Kakashi, his life was out of danger. The sapphire-eyed boy was exhausted; his chakra reserves were dry. Emotionally, he was drained.
Of course, they feared Naruto waking up in this haunting place, which terrified him, to the point that the Copy Ninja had to carry him on his back the other day. They did not know when he would wake up; if he was still human, in at least two or three days. Since Kakashi was not "there" to calm the blond's impending terrors, Naruto was a time bomb whose eventuality could not be predicted.
"Until he regains consciousness, with Sakura's help, you have the task of keeping an eye on Naruto," Tsunade continued to Shikamaru. "We have no idea how he'll react when he wakes up."
A silence.
Guilty and ashamed, Shikamaru had his head down, unable to face the Hokage. He was rotten with guilt and more guilt. He was the reason why Kakashi's life was hanging by a thread. If Kakashi had not intervened in time, Naruto would have been kidnapped again, in complete silence. All these misfortunes, all this because of his negligence. He had been distracted by a lost traveller who asked him for directions. Somehow, it was not random...
This group had made sure Shikamaru was busy so he could not interfere.
"It's all my fault," Shikamaru said in a trembling voice, clenching his fists. "If I hadn't let him go alone... None of this would have happened..."
"...It's not your fault, Shikamaru... They knew exactly how he was gonna react..."
The trio jumped when they heard Kakashi's faint voice answering them. His right eye was half open. He had regained consciousness. Dumbfounded, they fluttered their eyelashes a few times. The medical-nin did not understand why he woke up just three hours after his brush with death. Moreover, he was in no condition to be; it was simply impossible.
With hasty steps, they went to his bedside.
"... They knew about our plans," Kakashi murmured painfully, his gaze blank. "An ... old hag erased my scent so that Naruto couldn't ... find me... Everything was carefully calculated so that their mission would be ... a success..."
