Slumber and Undercurrents

As the days passed, time seemed to stand still in the hospital room at Konoha Hospital. Ling still lay quietly, like a lifeless statue. Only the lines dancing across the nearby monitors proved he was still alive. Naruto became a regular visitor. Aside from when Kakashi or Jiraiya dragged him away for necessary Taijutsu training and theory lessons, he spent nearly all his time there. He would chatter to the unconscious Ling, telling him what new things he had learned that day, how the Pervy Sage had been caught peeping into the women's bathhouse and beaten by Granny Tsunade, and which shop in the village had come out with a new flavor of ramen... By the end, his voice always grew soft, turning into a nasal plea.

"Big brother, when are you going to wake up...?"

Sometimes he would fall asleep with his head against the bedside. His dreams were always of Ling training him in the woods or bringing him three-colored dango. When he woke and saw his brother still lying there, the little boy's eyes would redden for a long while.

Tsunade came to examine him herself every day or two. As her chakra entered Ling's body, she could feel his severed meridians slowly repairing themselves under the Sage Body's tenacious vitality, like shoots struggling to push through drought-stricken earth. But the "frozen ground" of his mind remained dormant. She had tried several times to communicate with him more deeply, plunging like a diver into a pitch-black sea. Apart from sensing an endless exhaustion and some kind of cold, locked-away darkness, she had found nothing.

"His will... has sealed itself away too deeply," Tsunade told Jiraiya, with a hint of helplessness in her voice. "He may also have overexerted himself resisting the backlash from the Nine-Tails Chakra. For now, all we can do is rely on him."

Jiraiya looked at his friend's child on the hospital bed, his heart heavy. Sometimes he wondered how much it would hurt Minato and Kushina to see Ling like this, if they were still alive.

Beneath this surface calm, the undercurrents in Konoha never stopped churning.

Danzo had, as expected, not been idle.

Under the pretext of "assisting with reconstruction and strengthening internal security," he had extended Root's reach even further. Several supply depots and intelligence relay stations previously overseen by the Anbu had quietly been placed under Root's supervision. The moves were small, but they nibbled away at power with precision.

More troubling to Jiraiya and Tsunade was that Danzo had begun targeting Dawn Wind, now temporarily without a leader.

That day, Uchiha Izumi and Zabuza were "invited" to the Hokage's office. Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura were there as well, while Danzo sat to one side like a lurking shadow.

"Given Uchiha Ling's current condition, as well as the special nature and potential risks of the Dawn Wind organization," Danzo said, his voice quiet but oppressive, "we believe it is necessary to place its members under more orderly 'management.'"

He proposed that all members of Dawn Wind, including the surviving Uchiha, be made to live together in a designated area, undergo regular "inspections" and "psychological evaluations," and obtain Root's approval and registration for all missions outside the village.

It was tantamount to house arrest and surveillance.

"On what grounds!" Izumi's face turned pale with anger, her chest heaving. "We're shinobi of Konoha, not prisoners! Lord Ling nearly lost his life for the village, and now you want to treat us like this?"

Zabuza held the Kubikiribōchō and gave a cold laugh, his eyes ferocious. "You want to put us under house arrest? Fine, try it. Let's see whether your cage is stronger or my blade is faster."

The atmosphere turned tense at once.

"Danzo!" Tsunade slammed her palm on the desk, splitting the solid wood in several places. "I told you, stability and fighting Akatsuki come first right now! We'll deal with Dawn Wind after Ling wakes up!"

"Lord Hokage, rules are rules." Danzo refused to yield, his single eye sweeping over Izumi and Zabuza. "Allowing an uncontrolled armed force to roam free, especially with its leader unconscious, would be the height of irresponsibility toward the village. If Lord Hokage insists on shielding them, you may find it difficult to win the people's support."

He was forcing Tsunade to choose: stand by her decision and earn a reputation for favoritism, or yield to him in the name of the so-called "greater good" and "public support."

Tsunade clenched her fists, her nails almost digging into her palms. She hated being constrained like this.

"Having them live together can be allowed." Mitokado Homura, who had remained silent, spoke up to defuse the situation. "But the inspections and mission approvals can be handled jointly by the Anbu and Root, with the final decision resting with the Hokage. That would both follow the rules and uphold the Hokage's authority. What do you two think?"

He looked at Izumi and Zabuza.

Izumi bit her lip and looked at Tsunade. She knew this might be the best outcome they could hope for right now. At least Danzo wouldn't have them entirely in his grasp.

"We accept," she finally said in a low voice, humiliation and resentment in her tone.

Zabuza snorted but said nothing more.

Tsunade waved a hand wearily. "Then that's settled. Go back for now and keep the others calm."

Izumi and Zabuza bowed and left, their backs rigid.

After they were gone, the office fell briefly silent.

"Danzo, I hope you remember what I said." Tsunade stared at him, speaking one word at a time. "Don't challenge my limits again."

Danzo slowly rose. "Everything I do is for Konoha."

Leaning on his cane, he turned and left. There was no sign of compromise in his single eye.

The atmosphere at the Tanzaku Town base was so oppressive it was hard to breathe.

When Izumi and Zabuza brought back the results of the meeting between the village leaders, everyone fell silent. Haku looked at Kimimaro with concern. Kimimaro merely clenched his fists. His pale face showed no expression, but his eyes were cold as ice.

"Damn it!" A young Uchiha couldn't hold back a curse. "We should just fight our way out! Why should we put up with this humiliation?"

"Quiet!" Izumi barked. She looked around at every clan member, their faces marked with anger and resentment. "Dawn Wind members, acting rashly now would give Danzo leverage and betray everything Ling fought to win for us! Hold it in, all of you!"

She took a deep breath, forcing down the ache in her heart. "Pack your things. We're... moving."

Everyone began to pack in silence. Each of them held a fire inside, but there was nothing they could do. For the first time, they clearly understood just how vulnerable and helpless Dawn Wind was without Ling in Konoha's deep waters.

Kimimaro walked over to a corner of the courtyard, where a stone sat that Ling sometimes used. He reached out and gently brushed the dust from it. The faintest flicker of emotion passed through his green eyes.

"Lord Ling... You have to wake up."

That night, at Konoha Hospital.

Naruto had already fallen asleep beside the bed, his breathing even. Moonlight streamed through the window and fell across Ling's face.

Suddenly, the fingers of his hand outside the blanket moved ever so slightly.

Just once.

So quickly it seemed like an illusion.

In the hospital room, only the monitors' steady beeping could be heard.