48 Bound by Blood

Hana said nothing. She offered no retort. Whatever was in that folder was most likely right. She hated the hospital with a passion. One could not fathom the amount of angst running through her body when she took that test.

Her whole life had been diagnosis after diagnosis, professionals attempting to explain whatever...disease her mother claimed she had. With this recent development, it all seemed to be making sense to her and that made her angrier. This betrayal stung worse than any needle the doctors gave her.

Naruto didn't need to look at her to understand what she was feeling. Her body was telling him. "Here. Perhaps you need this more than I do," Naruto said. He slid the folder across the table until it fell into her lap. Her eyes, though rather hazy, stared at the folder with uncertainty.

Don't mistake her. Hana wanted to look inside that folder. In there might have been the answers which she needed, but she was still a kunoichi. She could tell when something was too good to be true. She glanced at the blonde.

"You're not doing this out of the goodness of your heart. What do you want from me? A bedtime story?" Hana asked. Yes, she was aware of how childish the jab was, but...she would take what she could get.

Naruto wasn't phased. " Oh trust me, Hana-san. I've come to garner quite a lot of knowledge of...bedtime stories and tales, more than even you know. As for what I want, well...that is much too broad a question to answer," Naruto answered.

A chill ran down Hana's spine, but she chose to ignore it for the moment. She then slowly picked up the folder, but she didn't open it.

"How did you even get this folder? A boy like you can't even get into the shinobi section of the library. Yet you're giving away highly classified documents! What happened to you?" Hana asked. Naruto knew what she was doing, but he decided to play along anyway.

"Hmm, what happened to me? I suppose I've just decided to live up to expectations. You could call it an epiphany that I had as I was close to death on my birthday. Don't you think it's thrilling? Living up to the expectations of others?

If I become what they want, then there shouldn't be anything to complain about now should there? I've decided to give Konoha what her people have always wanted," he responded.

Hana had a feeling she wasn't going to like the answer, but she asked anyway. "And what is that?" she asked, a bead of sweat fell down her face. She saw his eyes shine with the color of pure dread.

"A monster. One that makes children scared to sleep at night, one that will make these streets run red with the blood of thousands. A decimation of all life, values, and morals that reside within this structured society and culture we call a village.

Finally, I will be...a destroyer of hope in a brighter tomorrow. There is no brighter tomorrow. There is only the slow descent into despair and oblivion for Konoha and anyone else who stirs my ire dattebayo," Naruto finished.

Hana felt a sense of dread when she heard him say that. It seemed that the Konoha populace had definitely pushed the young boy too hard.

There was not enough good in the village to counteract the possible evils done to him, and now...they had truly created that which they feared the most. Perhaps, Hana was the same way. "You would kill children?" Hana asked.

"If it furthers my goals, yes I would. There are actually a couple of parents paying this organization medical fundings for their children. Their lives are...quite literally in my hands," the Kyuubi jinchuuriki replied.

Hana leaned forward, the drowsiness slowly working itself out of her system. "Why are you telling me this? I could go to the Hokage with this information," she retorted.

However, she was not expecting Naruto to outright laugh at her. It started out as a snicker before it turned into an uproar. It did not make Hana happy.

"Oh please, we're both above idle threats, Hana-neechan. The worst thing that could happen to me is that I most likely would be chained down in some dark corner of the village.

You see, call it a hunch of mine, but I'm beginning to think that it's no coincidence that I was chosen to hold the Kyuubi no Yoko," Naruto explained. Hana did not want to know what he meant by that.

The adolescent Inuzuka folded her arms. "And, what does this have to do with me? The video, the riddles, the folder, why are you doing this?" She asked.

Naruto proceeded to lean forward. "It's quite simple. Business terms would refer to it as 'Give and Take.' I'll give you what you want: purpose, meaning, understanding...and justice! In return, you will give yourself to me," Naruto demanded. Before Hana could even register that comment, the blonde held out his hand.

"Who you are, who you will become, who you will hate, who you will love, where you eat, where you sleep, and even what drives you will be mine. Mind, body, soul, spirit, I will possess all four from you. Like so many others in here you are but an extension of my will.

Ask questions, trying to find reason in my desires, I don't care, but you will follow them through no matter what they are," Naruto claimed. His eyes seemed rather hypnotic. Their red hue had returned and they drove her wild with emotion.

Surprised herself, Hana did not turn down the invitation instantly. "So I'm your slave? That's what you're telling me to become?" she asked. Her young captor shrugged his shoulders.

"Slave, servant, agent, worker, call it what you feel suits you the best, it's the same ideology. Just follow my instructions and I don't think we'll have a hard time," he replied.

He could feel her heart beating. Though her face was neutral, her body could not betray the tense atmosphere she felt. While he didn't quite have her trapped, he had her rather intrigued. She knew he had outwitted her which was why she was in this situation.

She had seen just a sample of the forces which had bent to him. Like a dog, she was sniffing him out. Could he truly promise her what he was saying?

"And how do you know those are things I want? Maybe I'm fine being the first generation of dog soldiers. Maybe I'm fine with…,"

"DO. NOT. TOUCH ME!"

Hana stilled as the Tv behind Naruto came to life. She was back in the hospital and she had just screamed at the doctor. The footage played out as seamlessly as she remembered from yesterday. With the press of a remote, Naruto paused the image when Hana had just finished her rampage.

....

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