Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Jyuuken ❯ The Last Mission ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any characters therein. They are all owned by Kishimoto Masashi.

 

Kimimaro opened his eyes with a vague sensation that he was spinning. He had heard a noise, the type of noise that suggested footsteps. His heart sank slightly when he realised who it was likely to be.

Really, he was clinging to life in the hope that in his final hours, Orochimaru would find him. But that wasn't going to happen, he knew. The last mission he had been sent on was no less than “if you're going to die; do something useful as you're doing it.” Orochimaru, having learned of Kimimaro's imminent demise, had ordered him to kill as many Konoha shinobi as possible. There was no expectation that Kimimaro would escape death, by disease at least. Effectively, Orochimaru had washed his hands of Kimimaro.

And the most damning thing of all, the girl that had found him was from Konoha. Her constant comings and goings were a fair indication that Konoha had not, in fact, been destroyed as per Orochimaru-sama's wishes. During the invasion, he had killed every shinobi that laid eyes on him, without fail, but that hadn't been enough to fulfil his master's desire.

He had failed totally, and completely. Even the anger that managed to bubble to the surface, at himself or Konoha, was almost unnoticeable to him. Such was the depth of his sorrow.

`U-umm…?' Oh yes, he had forgotten about her. Somehow, she had managed to find him, and had taken it upon herself to try and nurse as much life into him as was currently possible. She had treated his wounds, but he wasn't very interested in them so he wasn't sure if they were healing well or not.

`A…are you feeling better?' Kimimaro closed his eyes and tried to pinpoint the sudden blow of pain. He had a headache, but the girl spoke fairly quietly, so she didn't make it worse. He made a noise with his throat. Not really a sound, just a more audible version of breathing. It could have meant anything.

The girl hesitated for a moment, not sure if she should be concerned or not. Possibly catching his deadpan expression, she decided to ask something else.

`Umm, I brought some food… Would you, err, are you hungry?'

So far, Kimimaro had passively resisted all attempts on her part to move or otherwise try and make him comfortable. But he certainly was hungry. And dehydrated, most likely… But what did it matter, anyway? He was going to die. And Orochimaru-sama had no need of him anymore… Then again, there was no need to starve to death.

At time like these the stomach has amazing power over the brain, and can convince it of almost anything. Kimimaro made the smallest of nods, and some carefully made onigiri were duly produced.

 

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He worked his way through the onigiri slowly. Not in a way that suggested he expected poison, or that he was enjoying or loathing the taste- just like he wasn't sure his stomach would accept it for too long. Hinata, who had been almost holding her breath and nearly watching him carefully for any sign of enjoyment or disgust, only managed to catch fleeting glances of his face portraying concentration, thoughtfulness, or the expression he wore like clothes in the absence of any other expression.

When he had almost finished the second onigiri, he put down the last third of it, sat back, and began coughing. It started out as that quiet sort of throat-clearing type of cough, but continued on through a wide repertoire, including (but not limited to) phlegmy, the type that sounds like you think you'll throw up in a second and cover your mouth, the sort that has a funny sound after it suggesting that you're about to turn into a werewolf and finally, the type that comes with a free sample of blood. When the coughing had gone on for a good few minutes Hinata had started panicking, and by the end of it she was almost in tears. It wasn't too often she saw something so disturbing.

Once the boy had caught his breath, he leaned back against the tree, wiped the blood away from his mouth as though it concern him no more than sweat might, and returned to the onigiri. He knew he was dying. It couldn't have been more obvious to Hinata if he had actually spoken and told her, in no uncertain terms, that he was dying. Healthy people did not cough like that, and someone who thought he was fine didn't ignore a large amount of blood being coughed up.

Hinata sat back -having tried to jump to the boy's aid- and attempted to make herself un-tense. It didn't work quite so well as she could have hoped.

He needed serious help. There was a limit to how much she could do -the fact that they were deep in the forest didn't help- and she was rapidly approaching that limit. She needed to taken him back to the village so that a medic-nin could look at him. But, she couldn't do that if he really was from a hostile village. True, he didn't have a forehead protector, but she doubted that someone who wasn't a shinobi could have sustained the injuries she found him with, let alone be able to keep a straight face when there was obviously something terrible wrong with his lungs.

She was going to have to ask him.

`Umm…' The boy's eyes swivelled towards her. It was then that Hinata's social inhibitions kicked in. `A…umm…' What was a good solid place to anchor a conversation about someone's identity? `I…I haven't introduced myself yet…m-my name is Hyuuga Hinata!' she squeaked as quickly as she could while still being coherent.

The boy watched her for a few seconds, finally blinking. Then he carefully cleared his throat. For a moment, Hinata was afraid he was about to have another coughing fit, but he chose to speak instead.

`Kimimaro Kaguya' he said conclusively. Hinata noticed the way he said his first and family names around the other way. That was how people in some other countries said their names, wasn't it?

`Umm, what village are you f-from?' As soon as she said it, she wished she hadn't. At the question, Kimiamro had made a face like she had punched the wound on his chest. It was the most troubled, intense expression she had seen him make so far, not that that was saying much.

`I have no village…'

 

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It took quite some time for Hinata to convince Kimimaro that it would be a good idea to go to the Konoha hospital. A few days, in fact. He had stubbornly refused to go, but gave up eventually. Possibly because he thought it was the only way of shutting her up.

At the moment, they were en-route, and it was slow going. Moving around seemed to aggravate whatever was causing him to cough up blood. They were, maybe, half-way there, and this was the sixth time he had needed to stop and cough violently. Hinata couldn't bear to watch anymore. No matter how many times she saw it, she never got used to it.

Kimimaro wiped the blood from his mouth and stood up unsteadily. Hinata thought he probably should have stayed to catch his breath a little longer- but he wasn't coughing anymore, so he started walking again.

`Are you okay?'

`Yes.'

`D-do you want to sit down a little…'

`No.'

`Mm…'

Conversation taken care of, Kimimaro focussed once more on the ordeal before him; walking in a straight line and avoiding such unforgiving obstacles as trees and uneven ground. He didn't feel moved to speak for the rest of the trip- Hinata probably did from time to time, but decided to keep quiet. To his mild surprise, he only had one more coughing fit between there and the hospital.

Initially, the staff were slightly suspicious, but the name Hyuuga was enough to grant the “No Questions Asked” policy, and he was summarily checked-in.