Naruto has always thought it was Kurama's chakra inside his system the one that advanced his healing, and in a way it's true. It does improve his own healing. But just recently he's realized that without Kurama to guide his chakra and actually heal his wounds, his healing is not that much better than a normal ninja. Less painful, yes. Faster? Not so much.
How many days has it been with only the blazing sun as his ceiling? He's not that bad, though. He doesn't feel that constant pain anymore and he can finally move his head, believe it!
"Though I'm still so hungry," he croaks and that sound is enough to elicit more groans around him.
That brings him to another dilemma. It seems that whatever world he's fallen into, there are Edo Tensei wannabes around. The difference is that these ones look deader and are far less intelligent. Oh, and they're hungrier, too. The only thing probably keeping them from eating him is the small, and slightly destroyed room he may be on.
Still. Those grunts and moans remind him of that zombie movie Kiba tried to make him watch and since he managed to catch glimpse of the zombies surrounding him, he can't quite sleep. It's not as if they scared him, it's just that Ino pointed out once the movie ended the possible ghosts that must be around searching for their bodies.
He just wants to heal faster so he can move, search for a place to sleep without zombies, then look for Kurama and Sasuke so they can get out of this place.
.
.
There are a lot of things Naruto doesn't like and few, really few, he actually hates. Like stuck-up bastards and arrogant assholes who don't care about others or the consequences of their actions. Goddesses hell-bent on destroying the world and losing friends are currently on top of the list. Also, being unable to move for long periods of time is another one, apparently.
It's been days, a week or more with him just lying on his back, with the sun above him scorching whatever skin there is to show. He's managed to turn around but it doesn't help much. The night is worse lately, too. It's colder than the first days and it has rained at least one time. His jumpsuit is made for ninjas so it's for all kinds of weather and good at maintaining the heat of one. Even so, trying to sleep with soaked clothes is never fun.
It's currently raining. It's light, not as strong as it had been before but… Well, he's getting better and that's a good thing. He never learned medicine or completely understood the lectures Sakura tried to impart about it, so he really doesn't know if infusing Kurama's chakra through his muscles, bones and everything that hurt is wise. It doesn't hurt as it did the first time he woke up so he isn't going to think really deeply about it.
Something tells him Kurama is going to get pissed once he takes a look at his health.
"And my stomach is eating itself. I'm sure if the seal wasn't there to restore my stomach, I wouldn't have one now." There are grunts around him that make him acknowledge the presence of the Edo Tensei wannabe. "At least I'm not alone in my hunger, right guys?"
He's going crazy. Probably. But he needs to keep talking or he's going to forget how to and his throat will hurt worse whenever he tries. Or that's what he keeps telling himself whenever he catches himself talking alone. It was easier to ignore how much he talks to himself when there's an actual, solid copy of himself to talk to.
"Ugh! I just want to move and leave this place!" he screams, as loud as he can. The monster's sounds are louder as they seem to regain whatever energy left they have to move again. Naruto wants to mock them at their ineptitude as it's the only hobby he's had these last weeks but there's a weird, loud sound coming from above. He turns his eyes from the ugly dead beings to the sky and sees a black dot with a trail of what seems to be smoke coming from it. He squints his eyes and sees as it grows closer and the thing becomes clearer. A flash of the winged devices that he saw in the land of Sky crosses his mind and he's left with mouth agape and widened eyes because the thing he's seeing is larger and more complicated than the one from Sky Country. It certainly has more metal.
Naruto looks at it for a long time, appreciating the shiny black exterior. Someone must be piloting that thing and that surprises him. He thought this world was only filled with monsters. Zombie apocalypse and all. He frowns at it, trying to see if there's someone inside. It's not until he realizes it's coming toward him, that he starts panicking.
"Crap!"
Trying to stand up comes as a slow and erratic action. He should have tried it more but his muscles don't answer as they're supposed to. He tries anyway to go towards the corner far away from those ugly ass zombies. More because of the panic than the belief it will actually work. It's no surprise that it doesn't work. His crawling is not fast enough and before he can advance more than a few feet, the machine is already crashing toward the other side of wherever he is. Everything trembles for a couple of seconds and maybe he is lucky it's raining. He doesn't want to think what that fire would have done otherwise.
When he extends his head to have a better sight of the machine, Naruto realizes that he's probably above more than one floor as the thing stays hovering on the side as if it wants to fall.
"That was close," he mumbles and sees how the other zombies move from where they were close to him towards the shiny flying thingy. Obviously attracted to the sounds it keeps giving off. He doesn't know what exactly they can do but Naruto gets an off feeling from them that tells him to avoid approaching. They move slowly and so does he, but what better opportunity to escape from them than now?
The zombies are already close to the burning metal when Naruto reaches the end of the roof he currently is. He can see the height of the walls and the door under him. Considering how small the room he is on, the door probably leads to stairs.
Trying to ignore the pins and needles that make his body ache uncomfortably, Naruto nods to himself and readies to use the safest and less hurtful way to fall.
"No! Away—go away!"
Naruto's head turns towards the sound. The fight didn't help him before to distinguish anything but now... It's faint but he can see someone strapped on one chair inside the machine wearing a suit similar to the ones some of the zombies wear. He screams again and there's blood on his arms as he tries to move away from one that's trying to move closer.
Naruto doesn't care about the pain anymore, he wills his body to move. His legs feel like jelly as he stands up and his hands tremble as he tries to grab one kunai from the five he has left inside his pouch. He jumps to the ground and falls awkwardly, shoulder meeting cold stone, before he grunts in pain.
He takes a sharp intake of breath, one step forwards, and looks up. The man has noticed him. His eyes are wide open and Naruto doesn't know if he's realized he's not a zombie. Not that he cares because apparently, his fall has caused him to distract enough for a zombie to take advantage of it and bite him on the chest.
A sense of foreboding fills him and he can't think anymore. He calls whatever chakra he has. It's Kurama's, he faintly notices. It's not enough to form his cloak but enough to make his skin glows a slight gold. His legs bend to jump but it's too late. Other zombies take a hold of his arms and keep biting him, not caring about the fire licking on their skin.
Even if the chakra surrounding his body is not enough for a cloak, his slight connection to Kurama still makes him gain the ability to feel others' emotions. It's not as profound as the time he touched Sasuke's hand but he still can sense the terror and panic. The worse is the resignation as if it doesn't surprise him to be in that situation. Deep hopelessness is inside him.
How many more, he thinks. How many more are as scared as this man?
It was stupid to think that the only things in this world were those zombies. It was stupid to ignore—Fuck, how many more? How many men, women… Are there kids outside as afraid?
Naruto knows he can't save him and even if he feels so powerless, he doesn't move. He's rooted to the ground, not moving his eyes away from the man. In the same way, the man's eyes don't leave his. He's scared and Naruto doesn't want to leave him alone.
Tears fall from his eyes but he smiles, trying to pour all the reassurance he can into that one gesture and convey how sorry he feels while his eyes flare with determination, promising help. Not to him; he's already late, but he can still help. The man opens his mouth but one bites him on the neck and gurgles are the only thing that comes from him, blood escaping from his mouth.
He waits until the man's eyes are blank before he falls to his knees. Tears keep falling and he doesn't stop them. Because they're for the man whose name he didn't know but would have liked to know. Maybe he was good, maybe he was an asshole. It doesn't matter; no one deserves to die hopeless.
He needs to find Kurama and Sasuke. He needs to return to his world. And he will, but until they meet, until they find a way to go back, he'll try to help.
.
- Kurama -
.
"I hate humans. I really, really do," Kurama grumbles lowly enough for no one to notice as he sees the discussion unfold in front of him. Sophia is still sleeping in one of the rooms and the male teenager is on the upper floor, near the stairs, listening to the conversation going on at the table. Never growing in volume, even as the intensity increases.
Perhaps it has something to do with the ability he has, he thinks. Being able to detect emotions and changes of mood can be advantageous when one needs to deal with other sentient beings because, in spite of one learning how to erase their physical responses to lie better, Kurama still knows what one truly feels.
The downside is that they can be quite overwhelming.
He has forgotten how extremely emotional human beings are even if they try to hide it—especially if they try to hide it. That's one of the primordial reasons he avoided humans when the biju were recently created and his father introduced them to others so they could create bonds. He was a good child, the kind to do whatever his father told him to do and even more. However, it wasn't the same at that time. Kurama always kept his distance even when those first years his Father's idea of union worked. It just was too overwhelming being around humans. He wanted to, tried to, but... Father never mentioned it and there wasn't either disappointment in his eyes, or negative emotions coming from him; his father understood and loved him.
And then he died and everything went downhill.
The distance he maintained helped him when everything got worse and humans became more afraid of them as time passed and their height increased. They became demons in their eyes and treated them that way, giving them titles that fitted their pictures of them. Their names went forgotten until… They started coming for them.
The name of the man responsible for his capture makes the hatred dwelling inside him raise.
He can detect emotions, create them anew and induce others into feeling what he wants. He can make others feel hatred towards their kind, it could create wars with ease—his ability is the most dangerous of his brethren and was given to him because of that. However, that never stops his ability from affecting him, because, in the same way, his ability influences him, too.
It's because of his Father's trust in him to be responsible enough with this power he's never tried to do anything. And now because of Naruto, too, it seems.