Chapter 78: Healing

The young Hawk and I sat on the rocks, silent, as we both turned our focus inwards.

Still thinking about the way Cameia's gaze made my heart flutter, I blushed again, wondering why this woman was terrorizing me so.

However, as I thought about how much I loved that gaze of hers, as well as how great I felt when Anko and Kurenai stared at me with such blatant, love, desire, and lust, I bit my lip, wondering when I had grown so... vain.

Shaking my head, I scolded myself again.

I wasn't vain.

Just because I enjoyed the attention of three incredibly beautiful women, all three of which wanted to have children with me and grow old together...

And made love to me quite often...

Who had promised to be by my side forever...

Twirling the ring on my finger, I smiled gently as I looked down at it, before sighing again.

Whatever.

They loved me, I loved them, and we all wanted to live together, eventually raising a large family.

No problem with that...

Looking over at the shy Hawk, I smiled at her as I caught her staring at me, chuckling as Meigetsu instantly turned away.

"Meigetsu, what were you doing here?"

"O-Oh... I was... I was looking over the v-valley..."

Turning her small head towards the lush forest below us, Meigetsu stared down at the valley with mixed emotions.

She seemed both happy and envious...

"Do you come here to think?"

Meigetsu nodded, lowering her wing and keeping her gaze on the quiet moonlit forest.

"Y-Yes... it's so... calm, and p-peaceful. However..."

Sighing, she lowered her head as she saw a Hawk soaring over the tall trees, jealousy burning in her blue eyes.

"Ah, you want to go down there as well, huh?"

"W-What?! N-No, I-I'm f-fine here!"

Hearing her quick refusal, I just raised a brow at her, making the Hawk flinch.

"R-Really..."

"Really?"

Meigetsu hesitantly nodded, before shaking her head a few moments later.

"N-No... I w-want to see it all! T-The world, I mean. Mom and Dad always t-tell tales about the world, but they refuse to let me experience it! It's no fair!"

Chuckling, I gently placed a hand on her head, secretly marveling at her soft plumage as she turned to stare at me.

"Well, I can't say I blame them. The world isn't as picturesque as it looks. It's a cold, brutal place, where many things kill others for one reason or another. And if you want to explore the Human World... well, it's even worse. We've had giant wars all because some people were jealous that others had more power and prestige..."

"But not all of the world is like that!"

Nodding, I said "You're right, it's not. However, a majority of it is sadly just that; death and destruction, extortion, kidnapping, slavery... of course there are bright spots, be it the rare act of kindness, the beautiful landscapes and sceneries like this, or even just the small joys things like the first snowfall can bring, or the nice feeling of the sun on your skin as a gentle breeze blows by."

Meigetsu stared at the ground, her eyes conflicted before turning to stare at me as I continued.

"That's why Asa and Shiba don't want to let you go out yet; you're too young to explore on your own, so they want you to stay here."

"Even still-!"

"Kokoro's right, Mei-Mei."

We both turned to see the green body of Shiba, the Hawk Patriarch staring gently at his daughter.

"D-Dad..?"

"Asa and I want you to stay here and grow before letting you out into the world."

"You let Red go out earlier! Why not me?!"

"Red proved himself, completing the trials we laid out for him. However, even then we still wanted to keep him here..."

Sighing, Shiba looked down at the forest, continuing.

"That's besides the point. You will not be leaving the Mountain unsupervised, and as of current the lands around us are unsafe. So, you need to remain here."

Meigetsu grumbled to herself, hopping away from Shiba and I without another word.

Sighing again, he looked over at me, saying "Anyways, Asa and I found something to help expedite the healing of your arm. It's risky, but..."

Pausing, Shiba stared at my numb right arm, and upon seeing me nod he nodded towards the peak, saying "Well, come on."

Climbing up towards the peak, we eventually found ourselves back in the clearing, Asa sitting on the dead trunk and staring up towards the moon, her golden feathers shining slightly under the light.

"Ah, Kokoro! Did Shiba tell you about the healing method yet?"

"No, not yet. Just that it's slightly risky."

"It is. I was thinking it over, and came to the conclusion that we could speed up the process by pushing natural energy into your arm, stimulating both the body and soul to try and mend itself. However, like I said before, if we use too much..."

I nodded, before sitting down in front of her.

"How long would it take me naturally to heal?"

"It could be a year, a decade, or... never."

Asa looked away, making me chuckle.

"Yeah, I thought so. Well, as much as I'd like to retire, I'd want to do so with a fully functioning body..."

Asa chuckled at that, before saying "Well, you need to feel the energy again, and when you can feel it you need to allow it into your soul..."

I shuddered slightly at that, and Asa noticed.

"Yes, we are trying to... replace the damaged parts of your soul with nature energy, which, if done correctly, will allow you to sense it easier. If done incorrectly..."

"I become a Hawk."

Asa nodded, sighing as she said "This is a large decision, so if you need-"

"I'll do it."

If I'm given a chance to think it over I'll never take it; I'll weigh risk to benefits, constantly second guessing everything.

So, I need to just jump at it and pray that I'm able to survive this process.

"Are you sure?"

I nodded, and Asa could only chuckle wryly at me.

"Very well. Close your eyes and clear your mind."

Gently closing my eyes, I drew in a deep breath, letting out a strained sigh before...

Stopping my thought process, I waited to feel that familiar warmth of nature energy.

My right arm screamed in pain, but I had been through worse, so I tuned it out.

The cold, prickling feeling in my arm was slowly washed away under a wave of warmth, however...

That comfortable warmth slowly grew unbearable, and I grit my teeth in agony as it turned to a scorching heat, reminiscent of the Scorch User I fought just a week or so prior...

I could feel something sprouting out of my arm, however I screwed my eyes shut, trying to focus on the energy.

Feeling a very, very loose grasp of it, I tried my best to push some out, trying to mitigate the amount inside my body as much as possible.

"Whatever you're doing Kokoro, it's working!"

Hearing Asa's excited voice, I redoubled my efforts, molding the energy into my arm and pushing away the excess.

Of course, my control over it wasn't the greatest, but it wasn't really me controlling it; that was Asa and Shiba.

The boiling sensation surrounding my arm slowly dissipated, replaced yet again by that comforting warmth of a sun soaked blanket.

Time slowly passed, and a thin sheen of sweat coated my skin as we continuously tried to control the nature energy in my arm, the warmth spreading throughout as my soul gradually healed.

However, my head started to spin, and I could hear Asa and Shiba panted hard beside me.

"K... K-Kokoro... w-we nee... need to st..."

"Y-Yes... p-please..."

They stopped funneling energy into my arm, the warmth rapidly receding.

Opening my eyes, I groaned as the world spun, swiftly clenching my eyes shut before collapsing backwards.

Laying on the ground, I drew in shaky breaths, Asa and Shiba doing the same.

"That... should be... a good amount of your soul... healed..."

"Yeah... maybe one more... session... hah..."

"Th-Thank you... both..."

We all lay there, panting.

Turning my focus towards my arm, I noticed it was still numb and prickly, but it wasn't as cold as before, and it was much easier to move.

"I... am going back home... to sleep for a long, long time..."

"Us too..."

We all chuckled, before I said my goodbyes.

Returning to the Human World, I stumbled inside, Cameia instantly appearing by my side to catch me.

"What happened?"

"The Hawks... found a way to heal me... I'm tired..."

Leaning against her, I closed my eyes, trusting her to take me to bed.

Feeling my body be enveloped in the cloud like softness of a mattress, I ignored my dirty body for now, deciding rest was more import.

Drifting off into unconsciousness, I murmured "Goodnight..."

"-night... ove..."

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Does nature energy work like this?

Dunno, don't care, soul was never really explored in Naruto besides with the Reaper Death Seal, where we learned a little about it, as well as Edo Tensei, where someone pulls the souls from Pure Land to reanimate their corpses.

That's really it, unless one of the million some odd filler episodes I never watched expanded on the subject.

Anyways, that's going to be my building block of how Kokoro EVENTUALLY gets Sage Mode; some of her soul is now tuned to nature energy.

Seems reasonable enough to me~

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