No One Stands Alone

Chapter 33

Chapter 33:
His body was on fire. Waves of agony washed over each limb and erupted in his chest. He tried to move his arms, his fingers, anything, but it only made everything worse. All he could do was stay as still as possible.

It took him a moment to recall why he was lying on the ground, why everything hurt. He had been climbing up until he lost his focus. To compensate for his slip, he concentrated too much chakra to his hand. Just like Sasuke back in the Land of Waves, Tsukki was propelled backwards as the rock he clung to broke apart.

A spike of pain shot through his body again, throwing his thoughts into chaos. All he could think of now was how hard it was becoming to breathe.

"—ruto? Haruto?" A man's hazy voice cut through the pain.

  Who was it? He seemed familiar.

"What did you do to him, Yuudai?!" There was a second voice, feminine this time.

Yuudai... Who was that again? Someone important...? No. Someone who used to be important.

"Nothing! He fell from up there."

"From that height? Are you insane? What were you thinking, letting him climb that high without any safety measures? He's lucky to be alive!"

The voices were growing louder with each passing second. They were helping him orient himself, and his brain started connecting more pieces together: it was dark all around him because his eyes must be closed; the first voice who spoke was his father—the man who abandoned his son, who came back too late.

"I had measures—"

"Like what?" The woman interrupted him.

"My summoning was waiting at the bottom to help cushion his fall, but couldn't catch him—"

"And that prevented him from dying—"

Yuudai cut her off this time, sounding panicked. "Look, Kaori. You can yell at me all you want later. Just... heal him. Please."

Something cold touched his neck. It was a gentle touch, feather-like. It helped him puzzle together who the second person was—Kaori, one of the best healers in the world. She has healed him so many times before, but he has never been able to thank her.

"His pulse is weak. I think he's bleeding internally too."

"That's nothing you can't heal...Right?"

There was silence. Then, "I have to concentrate."

Her gentle touch returned, landing on his forehead. A cooling sensation washed over his body. It extinguished the fire for only a moment before the pain came roaring back, exploding with a renewed intensity.

"W-What are you doing? Why did you stop?"

"Quiet," she commanded. "Summoning Jutsu!"

There was silence again. In those few seconds, the pain became unbearable. He couldn't endure anymore of this. He didn't want to.

"Are those slugs from the Shikkotsu Forest?" Yuudai's voice served as an anchoring point, something to grasp on, focus on. "Like the personal summoning of the Slug Princess?"

The waves of relief finally returned, completely dousing the fire. No matter how many times the pain tried to flicker back to life, the cooling sensation persisted. He could imagine that his shattered bones were repairing themselves, that his organs were being knit back together.

"No. The slugs I made a contract with are similar to Tsunade's Katsuyu, like cousins. They aren't as useful offensively, but they excel at healing..." There was a brief pause. "Just so you know, I've had to use this technique three times on him already."