Questionable Loyalty

A/N: Well, this is the last chapter of Questionable Loyalty. So far, writing it has been an incredible experience, despite some setbacks related to RL. I loved every second of writing it - even when I did so in the middle of the night and was half-asleep throughout the process - I have learned that I am at my most creative in that state, as strange as that may sound. :D Once again, I want to thank you all for the kind reviews - every author craves them. It is not a matter of ego-stroking, but rather it is a need to know that someone reads what you're writing, that your're capable of making other people feel good and entertain them. So I am extremely glad that I was able, at least on some level, to entertain you with my fic. Thank you.



EPILOGUE





Five days later Nagato stood in a civilian doctor’s office in a small town outside of Konoha’s border and watched the children that played outside in the nearby garden. He could also see his own faint reflection in the glass – all the piercings removed, his vibrant hair dyed to a delicate and natural-looking chestnut hue. It was one of the first things he had done after he fled from Konoha – changing his appearance. Despite the mayhem he had caused in the village, he couldn’t know how soon they’d dispatch Hunter Nins, nor could he know where Konoha had spies. Despite Kakashi’s plight, they had to have a headstart if they wanted to survive.



Behind him, the doctor and his nurse examined their sedated patient – after Nagato had gotten him out of that terrible place the former Jounin barely said a word, even if he didn’t struggle at all when he lifted him. However, when they arrived finally at the doctor’s he was in too much pain to able to bear all the poking and prodding and they were forced to drug him, despite the risks to his already weakened system.



Finally, Nagato heard the doctor’s steps behind him and turned away from the window to face him. The doctor was a small, balding, elderly man named Fujiwara. He was a civilian, barely trained in the medic nin arts and chakra manipulation – Nagato couldn’t risk going to a doctor with ties to that society – but he had vast experience.



“Fujiwara-sensei.” Nagato said. “How is he?”



“What do you want to hear first, the good news or the bad news, Fuuma-san?” the old man said in a gravelly voice.



Nagato took a deep breath.



“The good news.”



“Alright. The good news is that whoever did all of this to him” the doctor’s wrinkly face scrunched up in disgust “also pumped him full of antibiotics and closed the biggest injuries before infection could set in. If he went into septic shock in his condition not even a medic nin could save him.”



Nagato nodded, swallowing his rage. They had treated him in order to keep him alive for more torture.



“The bad news is” the doctor continued “that there are numerous fractured bones which have been left untreated for far too long for me to be able to set them completely properly now, and some of the bones are so delicate that even if I set them shortly after they were broken they wouldn’t heal as if nothing happened. And multiple surgeries in his condition are out of the question, at the moment.” He looked at Nagato knowingly “I gather you can’t stay here long enough for me to begin to operate on him, once he heals enough?” Nagato nodded. The doctor paused, his face darkening “Also… whoever treated the tearing in his rectum, which, from what I concluded after the examination, was extensive, didn’t do a very good job. He’ll be in pain even after he heals. And finally, there will be extensive scarring from the whipmarks…”



“So you’re telling me” Nagato said sharply, his voice cold and angry “That he will be scarred and crippled.”



“To put it bluntly, Fuuma-san, yes.” The doctor answered.



Nagato turned away again, wanting to hide his expression from the doctor. It wasn’t anger, it was guilt – overwhelming, brutal guilt. This was his fault. All his fault. He pressed his face to the cold glass of the window in an attempt to stifle the urge to cry. Behind him, the doctor continued softly.



“And these are only the physical consequences. I cannot tell how deep the emotional trauma will run, once he begins to recuperate physically. He won’t be the same person you once knew – neither physically, nor emotionally… nor mentally, as well.”



Nagato nodded, but didn’t turn around to face him again. That meant seeing Kakashi lying on that table, looking so small and fragile and helpless and he couldn’t bear to see like that.



“Do all that you can for him. I’ll pay.”







Deep in the forests around Konoha a man slowly regained consciousness. When he opened his eyes all he saw was the blue sky and the canopy of green forest leaves, gently whispering in the wind above him. He was lying on a soft bed of moss and old leaves, a tree branch digging unpleasantly in the small of his back.



Slowly, very slowly, the man crawled on all fours before getting up on his feet, a little unstable at first. This place looked terribly familiar. How had he gotten here? Faint memories of a battle emerged in his mind, facing a terrible monster and later, much later, watching through someone else’s eyes as that someone else battled a great enemy. In between the two battles, there had only been darkness and deep, dreamless sleep.



Finally he noticed that he was naked as if he had been just born, his body free of blemishes and scars, pale skin smoother than the day when the he had fought the monster and the darkness came.



Slowly, he made his way through the forest, grateful for the warm summer weather, eating berries along the way to fill his empty stomach. Finally, the man reached a tiny pond fed by a small creek and kneeled down to drink.



The face that stared back in the water was familiar – unruly blonde hair, sky-blye eyes, generous mouth and a strong nose. It was that face, above everything else, than finally made him remember everything – his identity, Kyuubi, his son. Namikaze Minato, also known as the Fourth Hokage, was free of the prison that he had built for himself, once again alive and free to roam the world.





END OF PART 1



A/N: Don’t panic, I already have ideas for the sequel. :D