Love: Healing or Breaking

## Participants

Nakara Haruno, Hayate Namikaze, Solstice Senju, Lilius Haruno

## Healing or Breaking? 9-27-15

Kaiiaki: - "These flowers are so beautiful...just like the break of twilight..." Nakara stroked the red rose's petals ever so gently. Her fingers trailing over the petals, memorizing the soft texture. Almost as if she were trying to take it with her. Somewhere where she wouldn't take others. A dark and empty place. Full of rain, the tears of the innocent in crying in pain down from the heavens. Their sorrow filling the empty void with screams. Such screams of agony. It was beginning to pull her under. She felt the pain rising in her stomach. The contractions starting way too early. "NO! NO! NO!!!!!!" Nakara released a scream, deep within her lungs. She had been standing on the balcony of the Haruno Clan Mansion. The one where she used to live with her mother, father, and younger brother. This visit had brought back both good, and painful memories. And now, etched within this balcony, would be the most painful memory the Haruno were to endure for years to come. Nakara's body collapsed beneath her. She fell to her knees, the muscles in her body giving out on her due to the pain that she was in. She had never felt so much pain in her body before. It was like the life was being sucked out of her. Or rather, the life that she was carrying was being sucked out of her. Within seconds, Nakara also lost the strength in her knees as well. Her body fell to the side, creating a loud thud as her body hit the balcony carved out of cherrywood. Nakara's thoughts inside her mind raced. As she wondered if she was dying, or giving birth way too early, or both. Her heartbeat accelerated to the point to where she thought her heart just might beat out of her chest. She flopped upon the wood. The pain overtook her vocal cords. Causing her to scream at the top of her lungs. She couldn't stop it. She didn't understand what was happening to her. Was she losing her baby? -

LiliusChan: -Lilius looked down at the package wrapped in brown paper and tied with a twine string. A small piece of paper attached read as such: “A baby shower present for the expecting mother! -From your aunt & uncle.” She looked back up at the stars in the night sky. She was almost to her relatives’ home which was partially isolated from the village. Lilius’s aunt had inherited it from the clan, while her parents enjoy their own home in the forest. She saw a few lights peeking through the canopies when she heard a blood-curdling scream. She gritted her teeth and tucked the package under her arm before sprinting forward. She grabbed a couple of senbons and tucked them between her clenched fingers so they stuck out like claws. Dashing forward, she glanced left to right in a daze as the adrenaline pumped through her veins. She came upon the manor and hurried to set the package by the doorstep as she sprinted back a couple a meters.- “HELLO!? IS ANYONE THERE? ARE YOU ALRIGHT??” -If it was an enemy, she didn’t care if she was already spotted by now. If someone was dying,then she wanted to catch the convict in action.-

Hobaninho: -The night had just begun and yet Hayate hadn’t been home since the break of dawn. Instead, he had been working with his new team that he was given shortly after returning from the trip of his life. It aroused various old feelings in Hayate to be the leader of a squad once again. It filled him with mixed emotions and yet he was still optimistic about the lot he had been given to mentor for the next coming months. He was strolling down an idle alley way in the village; its people had already abandoned the day and sought shelter from the night within their own homes. It was strange and very eery to see the usually populated streets of Konoha reduced to something so empty. It filled Hayate with a strange sensation. He walked down the street with his two hands stuffed halfway into his front pockets. His bangs dangled from side to side with each step which wavered over his ocean blue eyes that pierced through the darkness with ease. A large building towered over Hayate directly infront of him. It was wide and had a nice polish on the outsides with a house symboled etched into the material that signified the home of the Haruno clan. Hayate came to a halt just infront of the building as thoughts of Lady Sixth swirled through his head. Hayate knew her by Nakara for most of his life. They graduated in the same academy and genin class until their paths eventually split off when Hayate left the village. Out of all the people that Hayate had met through his career, Nakara had always managed to survive along with him and remain true to herself. His past greivances still a burden; Hayate looked onward to his new squad for new beginnings. Although Nakara would always be a reminder of what life was like as an innocent child. He smiled very softly—until suddenly a loud and rocky scream erupted right from her mansion. He winced at the sound as his smile zipped away and a stroke of fear came across his face.- “Nakara.” –He gasped before leaping right from where he was and in two strokes found himself standing on Nakara’s balcony with the sight of his Lady Sixth sprawled out on the floor continuing to shriek in torment. Hayate feared it was her health after seeing her alone on the balcony.- “Nakara!” –Cried Hayate as he raced over and slid down over to her on his knees. He instantly placed a hand on the back of her head and the other hovering over her as he contemplated what to do next. Hayate wasn’t known for his medical ninjutsu; that had always been Nakara’s speciality.- “What happened?!” –He yelled as he looked for any sign of wounds on her body. His eyes shuffled all over her body for any sign of damage. Knocking could be heard but Hayate remained fixated.-

Yuno: Solstice was at her cousin’s garden, she was crouched down and watering trees with her clean water bottles. And then above she heard just above, a scream. She almost dropped the bottles but took a deep breath, and calmed herself within a millisecond. She knew Lady Hokage would give birth soon and she would become an aunt soon and it could be either…that, or an assault but she sensed no foreign chakra signatures except those she was familiar with seeing- but just to be safe- chakra went to the soles of her feet as Solstice leapt onto the balcony. Crouched upon it she watched her Lady Hokage in pain and her face went white and her fingertips went cold before she forced herself into a relaxed state of mind again. Her eyes went towards the man holding her cousin protectively-in-panic and back towards her cousin and she looked at the bottles in her hands and approached. “Calm down, dear! You’re safe!” But truly she didn’t know any medical ninjutsu either and she placed the cool water close upon the woman’s lips to let her sip. She did not know what else she could do but her eyes went towards her cousin’s pregnancy and she gulped and then suddenly she wished her blood-related cousin were here, he was a capable man to trust. She would refuse to leave her side just yet until everything was secure.

Kaiiaki: - All she could see was the sky. The sky was spiraling downwards, spinning around. Black spots flickered in her eyesight. The black spots that threatened to take her under. She fought. She fought like hell to keep them at bay. "NOOOO!!!!!!" Nakara kept screaming. Through the breaks in the screaming, she thought she could hear voices. It sounded like it was Hayate...Hayate...who was that again? She struggled to push through the never ending blackness to think who he was. "The...the red ribbon..." Nakara choked out through her vocal cords. Her voice sounding crackly and rough thanks to the screaming. "Hayate...where...where have you been..." Nakara reached out blindly with her hands. Trying to reach for him. To tough him and hold his face within her hands. And then a new voice called out, one that resembled hers in tone and volume. "Lily..?" Nakara weakly called out. She felt the prescence of two people there. But Nakara's mind was elsewhere. She was struggling to stay awake. To just hear their voices, feel their warm embraces. But it was becoming harder, and harder to stay awake. She felt the trickle of blood coming out between her legs. A small amount, at first. The warm liquid traveled down her thighs, seeping and staining into the cherrywood balcony. She didn't believe what was happening. It was coming all too fast. One minute she was feeling the soft texture of roses, and now she was losing her child. "HAYATE!!!!! LILY!!!!" Her bright aquamarine eyes flashed, the plea of a woman dying from blood loss. With her last bit of strength, she thrust her right arm outwards, showing both Hayate and Lilius her right thumb. The one where she had made her pact with the Great Slug Nana. Nakara wouldn't survive this if the slug wasn't there. And neither would the baby. "LEND ME YOUR CHAKRA!'' Nakara swiped her right thumb across the blood seeping out between her legs. The blood that seemed to increase every second that nothing was done. At the last second, she noticed that another of her cousins was running through the door and thrusting a bottle of water to her lips. This would help re-build her chakra, but the blood was pouring out at an alarming rate. She needed Solstice's chakra to assist her too. "I need" She coughed between gulps of water. "Your chakra Solstice." With the fresh blood on her thumb, she knew each of them would understand what she was trying to do. All three of the people here now had been with her most of her young life. She trusted these three. She knew she could put the life of her unborn baby in the palms of their hands.-

Liliuschan: -The minute she heard someone call her name, she knew it was her cousin. It was so frightened and strangled that Lilius bashed through the front door with one thrust of her shoulder and she combed the house as fast as her legs could carry her, combing through every room with one quick glance. She burst through a door on one of the top floors and felt two chakras, one quickly dimming. She hurried through the windows onto a balcony where her cousin lay drenched in her own blood. A second after hearing her request, she grabbed Nakara’s hand that was unmarked by blood and grimaced as she forced her own chakra to leave her body and flow into her cousin’s instead. Tears slipped down Lilius’s cheeks out of fright for her life, and blood soaked into her pants where she kneeled down next to Nakara.- “Hold on! I need to to focus on us and focus on the baby. Can you feel it’s life? Is it still there?”

Hobaninho: -Hayate shuffled around Nakara’s body to no avail as he found no possible wounds on her. The knocks on the door continuously became more sparatic and loud. Although through all the commotion, Hayate slowly turned over to Nakara after hearing her soft but broken voice call out to him. He looked he right in the eyes as her hand clapsed onto his cheek. She was a remarkable woman and for her to ask where he had been ever since he returned hit home. He had only seen her once when he introduced her to Nao; that day happened to be the very same day Hayate arrived back from his mission. Ever since, for some reason, Hayate had strayed away from seeing her. Perhaps he was busy… or perhaps it had been for another reason. She begged him to lend her some of his chakra. That’s all Hayate heard. Those around them were shut out. Hayate nodded and remained composed even at the sight of blood starting to pool in between her legs. It brought up the memories of his friends and loved ones that he had lost; all had lain in a pool of blood with Hayate holding them as he held Nakara. It was happening all over again. Despite all that, Hayate proceeded to lend her all the chakra that he could as he caressed the back of her head.- “You’re going to be alright.” –He said in his very gentle and soft tone of voice. A slim smile came across his face as he looked down at the one friend that had, until now, been very stable in Hayate’s life.-

Yuno: Solstice put her hand onto her cousin and allowed her to take every bit of chakra she could give. She felt the drain on her body and felt her reserves dwindle and felt more exhausted than ever before. As if she’d just gotten out barely alive from a battle to the death with a hundred shinobi. She panted hard, breathing hard. She had fallen on her knees and her weight was on her cousin and the floor more than her own self and she had suddenly felt an enormous amount of guilt and depression and anger and fury and unhappiness and loneliness. It was the sedating chakra which had kept her calm throughout her life and without that, the cork over her emotions was removed. She could feel tears flowing out her eyes which she shut… If Nakara died here… Tsuneo would....Tsuneo would....... Solstice let out a sob and a cry and felt her shoulders tremble and her hands shivered, her fingertips cold despite the hot chakra flowing out like blood into her cousin. She felt her chakra go down to 0.00001 and she finally released it- it had to be enough to save the life of her cousin and her soon- niece/nephew. Her body collapsed onto the ground panting hard. Solstice had gone overboard, love and desperation had her overdo it. She could hardly move. All her nerves were drained, every cell in her body hurt. But if it could save the life of her precious cousin, she would give it all without a doubt. She breathed in… “I’m sorry. This is it for me.” She turned her head aside, her voice wasn't really a voice but the movement of her lips and a bit of breathing. "I need a little time to rest.” This would never happen again, it was too stimulating, she decided morbidly.

Kaiiaki: -Nakara's body was failing, she knew it. All the blood draining out of her was going to be the end if she didn't do this quick. She had no choice. If she was going to save the life of her baby, and herself, Nana had to be summoned. Only Nana's precision in medical ninjutsu could top Nakara's in the village of Konoha. With her comrades by her side, she felt their chakra seeping into her. The large and vital chakra of Hayate, and the chakra of Solstice and Lilius. "I...I can feel.....her. Her. Heartbeat." She said in weak response. With their combined efforts, Nakara now had enough chakra to summon the great slug Nana. Nakara felt the tug of her right hand, being thrust upon the ground as she called out with what was left of her voice. "SUMMONING JUTSU!" With this, a seal forged upon the ground, and instantly, Nana appeared at Nakara's side. Nana easily assessed the situation, seeing the limp body of Nakara in the arms of Hayate. The love of the people gathered there. Both cousins piled upon Nakara's limp body, having exhausted their chakra in order to save their beloved cousin and Hokage. Nana split into 4 parts. One slug for Hayate, another for Solstice, another for Lilius, and the last for poor Nakara's dying body. The biggest slug at once attached herself to Nakara, pouring her chakra into the body, repairing the tissue of the dying child. Healing in twice the time that Nakara could. While this went on, the other slugs focused on pouring their chakra into the ones that had just spent most of their chakra upon funneling it into Nakara's body. Refilling their chakra to a point at where they at least wouldn't be exhausted of chakra. Once they were in the safe zone, the slugs merged back into one. Pouring all the chakra they had into healing Nakara and the life struggling to live inside Nakara. The...girl. The girl that had the same fighting spirit just as Nakara did, was fighting for her life.

Hobaninho: -Hayate watched as Nakara summoned the strength to call for her most trusted ally; Nana. She was a slug that was heavily involved with the progression of Nakara’s sage training. At least that was all that Hayate knew. Being a student of Mount Myoboku you tend to learn of the other mystical places that offer similar teachings. The toads and slugs fratanize on occasion with one another. Despite giving a large portion of his chakra reserves Hayate seemed as alert as ever. He traditionally had a large chakra pool. Nana was quick to act and continued to heal not only Nakara but those around her, including Hayate. A piece of Nana slid up Hayate’s back and rested on the red Uzumaki swirl on the center of his back. He felt a surge of adrenaline after Nana began pouring chakra back into his body; replenishing Hayate’s reserves. He looked Nakara up and down to see if there could be any possible changes from her that he could make out as positive. His face was stoic but calm as he glanced over to the others in the room.- “Thank you, Nana.” –Hayate exclaimed softly as he looked over to the slug while she formed back into a single being. Seeing that Nakara was patched up for now he slowly lowered her head down as he free hand managed to scrape up a loose pillow off the ground. He placed the pillow right below her head and gently let her rest against it. It was a little touch of comfort in a horrific scene. Although Nakara seemed safe for now, Hayate’s experience with death led him to continue on with an unsettling vibe.-

Liliuschan: -She didn’t know that she’d passed out, but when she began to reawaken, Lilius searched hazily for her cousin and locked eyes on her as she resting near a large slug. Lilius looked down to see she had her own, though smaller as it clung to the same hand she clutched onto Nakara with and felt warmth seeping into her body. The slug was restoring her chakra. She thanked it, not sure if the words left her lips or not. She sat up, trying not to move against her cousin. She watched a man place her head atop a pillow and Lilius decided it was time to check the child. She grabbed a ribbon and drew her hair up into a ponytail before hovering close to her abdomen.- “Cousin, or...whoever you are,” -She glanced at the unknown man.- “I need to check the child and also check the area where the child is birthed from. Mom taught me everything I know, so there’s nothing to worry about if you doubt my skills. If you start to feel drained again or pains as bad as before, we need to get you onto a bed and find a legitimate medic.” -She lowered a hand gently onto Nakara’s stomach and closed her eyes as she focused on the child, searching for any mis-functioning vitals that could be detected without seeing the physical fetus

Yuno: Solstice crawled over to her cousin after waking up. "You have your own fate in your hands, yours to control; because anything beyond your reach, you have your comrades. That's where your power comes from...family...This is why you are Hokage...never forget that..." And then Solstice faded into thin air, vanishing.

Kaiiaki:-A haze...a dark, dark haze...Emptiness... That was all that was around Nakara as her eyes fluttered, then shut. She could see nothing around her anymore. Her body was shutting down. And now all she could feel was the emptiness of imminent end. The baby's strong heartbeat within her just kept pounding, pounding. The sound echoed throughout her entire system. Loud and strong, continuously beating within her womb. Why was her heart still beating when Nakara's heartbeat was coming to an end? She didn't understand what was going on. She felt her body being moved, but there was nothing she could do about it. Hayate's voice came through, bouncing off into the empty void in front of her.  “Thank you, Nana.”  Was what he was saying. But to Nakara, it was a garbled, far away noise. Seconds passed as fast as hours would in Nakara's head. Every precious second, she was losing her life. The pain... she didn't even really feel it anymore. It felt like a distant memory. The thing that lead her straight into this world of emptiness. She didn't see a light, or an angel, she didn't see anything at all. All she could hear was the voices of her loved ones around her, and the heartbeat of her unborn.  “I need to check the child---" Nakara thought she heard the words of her cousin Lilius speak out. The seconds dragged by. Or maybe hours by now. Nakara couldn't tell anymore. All time was lost in this place of darkness. "My Lady Nakara...my deepest apologies. We were not able to save the child..." Nana's soft voice echoed throughout the dark. Her words bringing the chill of a frozen winter along with it. The cold reached forth, its cold arms outstretching towards Nakara. Threatening to take hold of her and her heart. ~"She's right here! She's alive!~ Nakara begged to speak out. But she couldn't speak. It was if her mouth had been sewn shut. She struggled against the pitch black darkness around her. ~" NO! I'M ALIVE TOO! I WON'T END HERE!"~ Nakara struggled against the darkness. Putting all of her strength into trying to move a single limb, at least. ~"UrrrrRRRRRR!!!''~ Nakara's core began to heat up. Her fire chakra flowed within her. Filling her up with the heat of life. A strength as harsh as the sun's rays. Giving her a burst of vitality. These flames scorched up around her body, taking hold of the ice stretching forth. Burning the ice and melting it on contact. It was even strong enough so that she was able to burst from the imaginary chains of death that held her within their restraints. And with that final burst of strength, her body thrust up in bed. The visions of Hayate, Lilius, Solstice, Nana, and imminent death all disappearing. Nakara immediately checked her swollen stomach. Feeling her body all over to see if there was any blood. Her right hand moved to in between her legs, feeling if she had any vaginal bleeding. The area underneath it was wet. Nakara jumped out of bed, turning the beside lamp on while flipping the covers back. Her heart leapt out of her chest. Her palms sweat profusely as her first thoughts were that it wasn't a dream after all. That in fact she had lost the unborn baby and miscarried in her sleep. A quick scan of the sheet and blanket revealed that Nakara, in fact, had only sweat so much in her nightmare, the bed was soaked in various areas. Upon seeing that, Nakara breathed a sigh of relief. Her body collapsed upon the bed, as tears crept from her eyes. The young Hokage wept in extrication. The baby was indeed alive and well within her womb. "My darling child Koshiko...I will always love and care for you. You are the one that has given me strength to continue. I love you. You are my light." Nakara's expression turned to that of a sad smile. Her right hand moved to stroke her pregnant stomach gently. And as if in response, Nakara felt a small flutter within her stomach. As if confirmation that the baby loved her too. Nakara smiled softly down at her stomach before looking out of her bedroom window of the now rebuilt Hokage mansion. "Tsuneo..." Nakara bit her lip, trying to force herself from crying bitter tears. "I pray that you find your back to us. We love you." The weather outside matched her internal emotions. A thunderstorm poured down outside. Merciless to any that were unlucky enough to be outside in a mess such as this. Lightning crashed, crackling against the wind. Thunder boomed across the village of Konoha. The noise drowned out any signs of life. Nakara glanced at her clock on the bedside table. 3:33 am. It was too early for anyone to be up at this time, including her. But she decided she probably wouldn't get any sleep for the rest of the night. Not after a nightmare like that. Nakara proceeded to go make herself a cup of hot tea. Hopefully it would drown out the cold feeling of Tsuneo's absence. As if the unborn baby Koshiko sensed her mother's feelings, she fluttered around inside of her tummy, kicking at her stomach. At that moment, Nakara was reminded of the words her cousin Solstice had echoed within her nightmare.   "You have your own fate in your hands, yours to control; because anything beyond your reach, you have your comrades. That's where your power comes from...family...This is why you are Hokage...never forget that..." The young Haruno stopped a moment outside of her kitchen, just a few steps from reaching it. "My own fate..." Nakara spoke out loud, her mind now deep in thought.  "Perhaps so..." -