Awakening

Ling felt himself sinking for a long time through a viscous darkness. There was no light, no sound, only endless exhaustion and the dull ache of a soul that had been torn apart and barely pieced back together. Every so often, fragments of chaos flashed through his mind—the glaring Rinnegan, deafening explosions, Naruto's heart-wrenching cries, and the Nine-Tails' roar, thick with hatred.

He struggled to escape the mire, but his body felt as heavy as lead, and his consciousness flickered like a candle in the wind.

After who knew how long, a faint glimmer of light pierced the heavy darkness like a needlepoint. Then came snatches of sound, indistinct, as if heard through a thick layer of water.

"Big brother... ramen..."

It was Naruto. His voice was choked with tears, yet held a stubborn note of hope.

The light seemed to grow stronger. Another voice joined in, more mature and carrying an undeniable forcefulness.

"Come on, brat. Pull yourself together!"

Tsunade?

Pain began to sharpen, radiating from every limb and bone, reminding him how broken his body was. His throat was so dry it felt like it was about to catch fire.

He tried to move a finger, only to find even that simple action impossibly difficult. It felt as if every bone in his body had been taken apart and haphazardly put back together. Every inch of muscle protested.

More sounds and fragments of sensation flooded in—the smell of disinfectant, the steady beeping of a monitor, faint birdsong outside the window, and... a trace of warmth against his palm, as if... Naruto were holding his hand.

He gathered his scattered will, as if trying to move a mountain, and attempted to pry open his heavy eyelids.

Once, twice...

The glaring light made him squeeze his eyes shut again, and tears spilled out uncontrollably. After some time to adjust, he tried again, slowly and painfully opening his eyelids to a narrow slit.

A blurry white ceiling, shifting patches of light...

"B-Big brother?" Naruto, slumped beside the bed, seemed to sense something. He jerked his head up, instantly wide awake. His blue eyes widened as he stared fixedly at Ling's face, his voice trembling uncontrollably. "Y-You're awake? Big brother? Can you see me?"

Ling's vision slowly came into focus. At last, he could make out Naruto's small face, brimming with joy and disbelief. The boy had grown a little thinner, and his eyes were still red and swollen, but now they seemed to have stars shining in them.

He tried to speak, but all that came from his throat was a hoarse, unpleasant rasp, like the wheeze of a broken bellows.

"Water! Pervy Sage! Grandma Tsunade! Big brother's awake! He's awake!" Naruto sprang up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, shouting incoherently as he fumbled for the cup on the table and nearly knocked it over.

The hospital room door burst open, and Tsunade and Jiraiya rushed in almost at the same time. When they saw that Ling had truly opened his eyes, both froze for a moment, then their faces softened with relief.

"Don't get excited. Drink slowly." Tsunade stepped forward, expertly propped Ling's head up, and brought a straw to his lips. The cool water trickled down his parched throat, stinging as it went, but it also cleared his muddled mind.

Jiraiya stood to one side, looking at Ling's eyes—weak, but focused again—and let out a long breath. "You little brat. You finally decided to wake up."

Ling took small sips of water, his gaze moving from the excited Naruto to the troubled Jiraiya and then to Tsunade, whose face was stern but whose eyes held concern. Memories slowly flowed back like a tide: the border of the Land of Rain, Pain, the explosion...

"How long... was I asleep?" His voice was still so hoarse it was almost inaudible.

"One month and three days." Tsunade set down the cup, her tone returning to its usual composure. But if one listened closely, they could still detect a hint of relief. "You're lucky to be alive."

A month... Ling lowered his eyes, feeling the weakness inside him, as if he had been hollowed out and then hastily stuffed with cotton. His chakra was nearly depleted, and his chakra pathways were so fragile they might tear again at the slightest strain. This time, he had nearly paid with his life.

"Those... people in the Akatsuki cloaks..." He looked at Jiraiya.

"They got away." Jiraiya's expression darkened. "You took one of them out. The rest withdrew with the body of their orange-haired leader. Sage Fukasaku and I went back to investigate afterward. They'd cleaned up the battlefield thoroughly and left no clues. That organization is called Akatsuki."

Ling fell silent. They had escaped... Of course it wouldn't be that easy. The power of the Rinnegan was too strange and formidable.

"How are you feeling?" Tsunade interrupted his thoughts, placing her fingers on his wrist as her chakra probed him again. "Your body has recovered somewhat, but your chakra pathways are still very fragile and will need a long time to heal. The biggest problem is your mental strength and chakra core. They've been pushed far too hard, and the Nine-Tails' chakra backlash has also taken a toll on you. You can't use any large-scale ninjutsu for a while, especially Flying Thunder God or Tailed Beast Chakra—unless you want to end up completely crippled."

Her diagnosis was direct, without a trace of sugarcoating.

Ling nodded to show he understood. Surviving at all was already a stroke of luck.

"Big brother, you scared me to death..." Naruto moved close again, eyes red-rimmed as he clutched Ling's hand tightly, as if Ling would disappear the moment he let go.

Ling looked at Naruto. The warmth coming from that small hand seemed to melt a corner of the icy battlefield ruins in his heart. He lifted his other hand, which he could barely move, and gently ruffled Naruto's blond hair.

"It's all right now," he said softly. His voice was still hoarse, but it carried a reassuring strength.

Naruto nodded hard. Tears finally spilled down his cheeks, but he quickly wiped them away with his sleeve and forced a smile more painful than crying. "Yeah! As long as you're awake, big brother!"

Ling looked past Naruto to Tsunade and Jiraiya. "How's the village?"

Tsunade folded her arms. "I'm the Fifth Hokage now. The village is being rebuilt, and there's a mountain of trouble to deal with. As for your 'Dawn Wind'..." She paused and glanced at Jiraiya. "Danzo found an excuse to put them under close guard. They're safe for now, but don't expect them to be allowed out freely."

Ling's expression turned cold in an instant. Danzo... He really had made his move while Ling was unconscious.

He tried to move, but a burst of pain made him groan. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

"Don't move!" Tsunade frowned. "What you need now is rest! Jiraiya and I will keep an eye on things outside."

Ling didn't press the issue. He knew what condition he was in: he couldn't even get out of bed, much less deal with Danzo. He lay back down, closed his eyes, and silently focused on sensing and guiding the pitifully weak chakra inside him, slowly nourishing his damaged chakra pathways in the instinctive manner of his Sage Body.

Waking up was only the first step. There was still a long road ahead, and plenty more trouble to deal with.

Danzo, the Akatsuki, and Obito, lurking even deeper in the shadows...

He needed power. He needed to recover as soon as possible. Naruto was still waiting for him, and so were his comrades in Dawn Wind.

He couldn't stay down for long.