It was a cold night, although not entirely dark. There was a full moon high in the heavens, shinning with brilliance on the scene below. Only a few lights light up the surrounding buildings and lined the street. Between the natural and unnatural light it seemed to be evening rather than 11pm. Only the silence betrayed the lateness of the night.
Silent except for the sound of three pair's of footsteps.
A girl with hair tightly pulled up on her head into two distinct buns crouched lower to the rooftop. Tenten watched the three men approaching the building as her breath escaped into the air slowly like white smoke. "Eye's on target" she said quietly. The microphone harnessed around her neck picked up the sound and sent the message to her teammates. The speaker that sat in her ear received a sound of affirmation from her team.
She crawled along the top of the building, kunai held ready in her right hand.
"Wait for them to reach the door." A male voice said. It was Neji. He stood on the other side of the street, behind a barrel and ready to rush out when the time was right.
Her other teammate was behind the door. He would have first contact this way. As long as he kept them from entering, they could corner them on the porch.
She waited for the sound of a handle turning. There. The door squeaked as it opened. A surprised sound, quickly swallowed by a gasping chocked sound. That was it. A dog barked and the door slammed shut as she dropped down from her spot landing just behind the target's left side. Neji flanked them from behind, to the right. Just as planned. She caught sight of her third teammate, no marks, and no scratches. Yes, just as planned.
The men were yelling now, their ring leader was downed, a kunai to the neck. He was still alive; still gasping and sputtering as blood gushed from the deep wound. He wouldn't be alive very long. Kiba always cut deep.
She took the man on the left by surprise. He turned around with a sharp breath, straight into her left fist. Better than planned. She came up with the other hand and caught the back of his neck with her kunai. It wasn't good enough; he dropped to the ground onto his hands and swung his foot up catching her in the gut. She was sent flying upward. She leaned backwards in mid air, landing on her hands, her body falling naturally behind so that she was back on all fours, ready to pounce. She pushed forward and rushed at the man throwing more four more kunai as she did so. Two hit: one on the left shoulder, the other on his thigh. She lunged, grabbing him by the stomach and slamming him to the ground with her body weight. Taking advantage of her position, she wasted no time in slicing his neck.
Neji was just finishing. He was less messy, breaking the man's neck with a final sweep of his fist.
"This was too easy." Neji said, still speaking quietly.
"Agreed," Tenten said, nodding slightly. She looked around, eyes narrowed, expecting an attack.
"They were sick." Kiba observed. "Akamaru could smell it. You could see it in their eyes- they were yellowed and teary."
Tenten remembered when she sat atop the man, looking into his face. The skin on his neck was irritated and red; his face was flushed, his eyes yellow. "I guess we had our work cut out for us."
Neji still looked cautious. "How long have they been sick?" He asked Kiba.
"Akamaru just smelled it today."
"Would he have smelled it in there scent on the way here?"
"Yes." Kiba said, "Especially one this strong. They smelled like they were dying." He wrinkled his nose.
Neji narrowed his eyes, "So they became sick today. That's a fast disease."
They had been tracking these men for three days, waiting for them to reach the Sound base that Konoha had yet to find. The base was only a mile from this place, and since they had led them to it, there was no need to leave them alive. But from the time they left the base until now, these men had developed a disease- a deadly one, evidently.
"Konoha is only a half a day's journey from here, traveling at their pace. Do you think they were headed-" Tenten speculated.
"I do." Neji cut her off. "We need to connect with the other team." He turned around, scanning the area. "If these men were headed to Konoha…there has to be more information. It would be at the base. Let's go back."
"Or should we go back to Konoha and protect it? Or scout the area around the village?" Kiba suggested. "The other team was supposed to infiltrate-"
"They don't know what their looking for" Neji cut him off.
"I'm sure they would find it. These men wasted no time. That base's only function probably has to do with this disease" Tenten argued. She agreed with Kiba, they needed to check the perimeter of Konoha and prohibit any intruders from admittance.
"Konoha has guards" Neji reminded them. "We would be doing a disservice to our village to not go back and gather information. We have to get ahead of the Sound, stop them before whatever their planning can reach its full potential."
Kiba locked his jaw. Neji was right. "Let's go then" He said.
The three of them turned on heel and took off for the hidden Sound base. It only took a few minuets to relocate. The base was disguised in the forest floor, underground. They only knew of one not easily recognized entrance. If it wasn't for Akumaru, they would have wasted much time looking. The forest was dense- full of shrubbery and rock. There rose a high wall of stone, shrouded in vines and moss, marking the edge of the valley they traveled. Rock, both large and small, flooded the ground at the base of the wall. Amidst this field was a small opening framed conveniently by the fallen rock. It was roughly a foot in diameter. Once someone was to climb through the opening, they would find solid ground beneath their feet and a long, dark tunnel.
"Akamaru and I first" Kiba said as Akamaru forced his way in. Kiba sat down, putting his legs through first, and pushed himself through.
Tenten exchanged a glance with Neji. He motioned for her to go next. She was ready to make her descent when she heard Akamaru's low growl. She pushed through quickly, the rock tearing at her skin before she dropped to the dirt. Standing quickly, she rushed to Kiba's side.
"We need to hurry" He said quietly. "Something is definitely not right here."
Neji quickly joined them and they took off running down the dark tunnel to the heart of the base.
Akamaru was whining and scratching at the wall. They had reached the end of the tunnel. A switch was attached to the wall on the left side- it was the way in. Neji pulled the switch down and the wall rose, revealing a large lit up corridor.
All was silent. Even Akamaru. His tail was still. He looked at his master long and hard.
Tenten watched as Kiba breathed out slowly, his chest compressing. "Everyone here is sick." He said in a low voice. "The place reeks of death." He shared a glance with his companion, "and danger"
"Then lets do this fast." Neji said, taking lead. He didn't know his way around, in fact, they had only been as far as the tunnel to see the Sound nin enter, before the turned back.
Tenten gave pause, "What about the other team? Shouldn't they be here?"
Neji turned his face toward her, "Not if they were already in and out."
"But it was their job to gather the information on this place." Tenten said
Neji ignored her and continued through the corridor. "We split up. Tenten you take north. I'll take east. Kiba you go southwest. Search every room. We meet here in 15 minuets."
Tenten took to her hall. Torches lined the walls. There was an office room directly to the left, it shared a window with the corridor. She fiddled with the handle. Locked. Of course. She took a poisoned needle from her bun and, crouching down, inserted the needle into the lock. She took a bobby-pin from her hair and swiveled the lock until she heard the click. Bingo. She turned the handle and went inside. The desks were flooded with folders and papers. She let out a deep breath, not wishing to pour over all of them. She scanned over them, looking for key words. There was nothing all too significant. They were mostly admission files, details tracking who came in and out of the base. She came across one picture that sparked a flame in her heart. Sasuke. She felt her face go red, part out of anger, partly for excitement. Naruto and Sakura would be thrilled. She grabbed the file, folded it and stuffed it down her shirt. The other papers were filled with inventory. How many and what kinds of weapons, medicines, and books. Unless she knew what any of these medicines were, she wouldn't understand them. So she left the room and proceeded down the hallway quickly and with stealth.
There were many rooms, but all of them were completely abandoned. She was tempted to let down her guard when she heard the faint sound of footsteps. Her hallway had drawn to a close, turning instead to a T juncture. She calmed her breath and slowly pushed herself to the right wall- the footsteps were drawing close. She reached for her kunai and held it steadily in her left hand. The steps stopped, then quickened. As they got louder, Tenten braced herself and turned her body toward the intercepting hallway. A flash of darkness crashed into her. She felt her wrist being grabbed and thrust upward as she slammed to the ground, the full weight of stranger bearing down on her. His hair tickled her cheeks and suddenly she recognized his smell. Neji.
He grabbed her and rolled to the side, placing them up against the wall. He put a finger to her lips, and in the dim light she could just see his bright eyes piercing hers, telling her to be silent and listen. More footsteps, heavier than Neji's had been. But there was more, a soft, regular patter.
"It's Kiba." She said.
His eyes gave away his shock and annoyance that she would speak in such a dangerous moment when he had told her not to. The steps stopped directly at their hallway.
"This is hardly the time." It was Kiba's voice.
Neji rolled off and got to his feet. "We'll proceed down this hall." He pointed to the left and started walking.
Kiba lingered, mouth stuck in a stupid smile and eyes teasing and he looked to Tenten for answers. He raised an eyebrow.
Tenten shook her head, letting out a small laugh and walked past him.
"What did I just see?" Kiba asked.
She looked at him, "Nothing. You saw nothing." It was irrefutable, she was embarrassed. Her face was hot and a smile was plastered to her lips. There was nothing she could do about it. The situation was both hilarious and embarrassing. Neji with feelings? Let alone sexual feelings? And Neji, embarrassed. That was, in itself, something to smile about. She tried to focus more on how it was embarrassing for him, rather than for her.
Kiba looked at her out of the corner of his eye, a cunning smile on his lips.
"Really" She said. When he was still not convinced she felt the need to explain herself to him. "He ran into me, we collapsed onto the ground. There wasn't time to move so we hid in the corner. That's what happened. You had us threatened."
"Okay" Kiba said, a hint of disbelief in his voice, just to tease. Then he turned serious, "I know it seems deserted, but you were right to keep your guards up. We are not alone here, Akamaru can sense it. The smell of death is in the air, and that same sickness. It's getting stronger as go further down this hall."
They caught up to Neji. "What did you find?" He asked them
Kiba answered, "Bedrooms, restrooms, closets. Nothing of interest, not even a sign of anyone ever having stayed there."
Neji responded, "I found the same. Tenten? What did you see in the office?"
"Documents listing people's comings and goings- who they are, everything about them, and how long they stayed. Also there was inventory on weapons and medication, some books. There were a lot of medications, almost more than there were weapons, it seemed. Other than the office, it was all empty bedrooms. One thing in particular that I found was a file on Sasuke. He was listed to have been here only a few days ago. I took the file."
Neji and Kiba were surprised. "Good, keep that. We'll go over it when we leave here."
"We need to make this fast. Konoha could be in danger. It's empty here for a reason. They could be launching an attack now, and this would have all been for nothing." Tenten said.
"She right" Kiba agreed, searching Neji's face. He was put in charge, they wouldn't disobey.
"I've been thinking. You guys were right, the other team should be here. They should have gotten here shortly after we left. That was probably only 45 minuets ago." Neji stated, his voice held concern. He added silently, "What is going on here?"
They reached the end of the hall, one door on either side. They opened the door on the left first. Florescent lights hung from the ceiling. It was much brighter than they had expected, causing them to squint. A man stood off to one side, he was hunched over and bleeding. Ragged breathing escaped his lips. He turned slowly, his yellow drooping eyes catching sight of them as a low satisfied growl erupted from his vocal cords and he lunged for them.
Tenten wasted no time in flinging the kunai. A dead hit; the kunai sunk straight through his right eye, lodged up to the handle into his skull. She walked over and yanked it out. "He looks like the others, only ten times worse. His skin is all grey, eyes more yellow…and he has black irises" She said as she examined his remaining eye.
"This man's body was acting like he had been dead before he died…" Kiba said, confused, as he kicked the man's leg.
"I can smell the rotting flesh you've been talking about" Tenten agreed, wrinkling her nose.
"This is their doctor's office." Neji said, looking through cabinets.
There was a groan. The three nin turned to face a table on which lay a body covered by a sheet. Tenten walked over, the groaning got louder and the body started moving. She reached for the sheet. The body convulsed and shrieked.
Tenten jumped back and held out her kunai. Noticing the body seemed unable to move, she advanced again. Still holding the kunai in her left hand, she yanked on the sheet with her right, letting it fall to the ground.
It was a disgusting sight. His overweight body was bloated, his skin obviously rotting. It was grey and seemed to be coming off of his body in some places. His bulging eyes were yellow and black. All his nails seemed to have rotted off, and sat in piles next to his hands, which were latched down with chakra-laden chains. There were chains over his legs, his waste, and his neck. He had obviously been fighting them, for his body was laden with lacerations underneath the chains.
It was then that Neji and Kiba noticed the dismembered and mutilated body parts strewn across the room. It had only blended in with the mess of overturned tables and chairs and other miscellaneous objects that had been carelessly thrown all over.
"There was one hell of a fight in here." Kiba said.
"And the loser got eaten." Neji remarked. He was examining what used to be an arm. The flesh was torn from it in most places. He looked up to their recent victim. "What the hell happened here…?"
"Well if he wanted to eat this guy, why didn't he eat that guy?" Kiba asked, motioning to the man on the table.
"Maybe these records will say something." Neji walked over to the file cabinet and started going through them.
The man on the table was glaring at Tenten and convulsing as he tried his best to lift his arms toward her. She moved her kunai above the man's head, ready to thrust it down when she noticed he was raising his head toward it. His mouth was open, his body more active, his growl louder than ever.
"Shut him up, dammit" Neji hissed.
"No, guys look at this." She said
They turned. Neji's annoyance turned to curiosity when he saw how eager the man had become when a kunai was pointed at his face.
"This is far from normal…." Kiba said.
"He's trying to eat my kunai" Tenten marveled.
"No, wait a minuet." The wheels were turning in Neji's mind. "take that away."
Tenten lowered her hand back to her side as Neji moved his own empty hand above the man's face. The same reaction occurred.
"He's trying to eat us." Neji spoke. "Whatever this disease is, it turns people cannibalistic. Finnish him, and help me go through these records." He dropped his hand to his side and returned to the cabinet.
Kiba started scavenging through the papers strewn across the floor as Tenten shoved her kunai deep into the man's skull.
"His skull is abnormally soft" Tenten remarked. Curious, she walked back to the counter and pulled out a box of gloves. Putting on a pair, she returned to the man.
"What, are you a doctor in your spare time?" Kiba teased.
Tenten shot him a look, "I'm curious" she said. She picked up a probe from the ground and poked the man's head with it. She took a scalpel and made a small cut to his forehead. "It's much easier to cut…." She muttered. "And his bone is so much less dense..." she pulled the skin back from around his eyes with her thumb and forefinger, "How can he even see? His eyes are so clouded over. And his lips are eroding…" She knocked at his teeth with the metal probe, expecting them to come loose. The teeth stayed in tack. Confused, she examined the mans gums and pushed on the teeth with the probe. "His mouth is in tack, it looks healthy even. Well…compared to the rest of him. His teeth are strong. They're stronger than the rest of his bones. Tell me that make's no sense." Tenten said concern and confusion written all over her face.
"These files only tell me about random patients. Zedji got the flue. Kamika has a tapeworm. Nothing significant. Nothing leading back to this." He jammed the file to the direction of the body on the table. Exasperated, he slammed the file back into the drawer.
"These papers say all sorts of things. And they obviously are talking about this disease. The only problem is unless you know what the hell CSF, erythrocytes, and the alveolar margins are you won't understand any of it. Every document looks like this. It's making my mind numb." Kiba said. He had collected them all up from the floor and countertops and put them together in one stack less than an inch thick.
Tenten shook her head, "We're going to need to find the others. Sakura would understand what these say."
"Take them with you" Neji commanded Kiba. "We can't waste any more time."
"I did understand one thing I read, it says the disease is fast acting. Of course, we already knew that… But" He searched through the stack and pulled out a notebook, "Here. These are some notes, like the doctor's journal, and it says that patient bit one of his nurses and later she developed the disease. He said it seems to have something to do with bites- like a snake's venom"
Tenten quickly dropped the probe and removed her gloves. She went over to the sink at the counter and washed her hands thoroughly. "I am not catching this disease"
"Why would you touch it?" Kiba asked, disgusted.
"I wanted to learn more about it" She said, "See what we're up against."
Kiba raised the stack of papers and shook them at her, eyebrows raised.
"Why would I read that when I could observe the same information right here?" She said.
"There's more to it than what we've seen. Come on, we have another room to check." Neji spoke, leaving the room and walking to the next door.
"Brace yourselves" Kiba said. He took the handle and turned it. Hesitating, he pushed the door open forcibly.
Dragging sounds and groans. The occasional crash of something tipping over. These sounds traveled to their ears from someplace unknown. Walking forward the could see that they were on a balcony, below was a mess of infected peoples. They dragged themselves along, bumping into anything in their paths, including each other.
"So, they can't see." Tenten remarked. "Don't need to read that in any scientific journal." She said slyly.
"Or they're too dumb to change direction." Kiba countered.
The balcony stuck to the sides of the room, leaving a large square gap for viewing the floor below. There were three rooms. One door on each wall. On the far side a large sign read 'Weaponry'. To the right was a large glass window stretching almost the length of the wall that revealed a library, complete with tables. The door on the left was less revealing.
"I'll take the weaponry" Tenten offered.
"I'll go left. Kiba, take right." Neji said.
Kiba sighed as he turned to the library.
The weaponry was probably the largest she had ever been in. There were a whole mess of weapons she hadn't ever even seen before. Her excitement rose as she examined the ensemble of exotic devices. Each section had a sign. "Weapons specially designed to combat certain enemies…" She whispered to herself as she read the sign above weapons seemingly for more close range attacks. She turned the corner to find one peculiar sign. "Infected" She read aloud, "Infected with what?" The weapons where mostly blunt, with the exception of some long range throwing spears and knives. She ran her hand cautiously along a thick, jagged metallic mallet. "Wouldn't want to get hit with this…this could smash anything…it's like it's for preparing a steak" Tenten quietly thought aloud. She lifted it expecting a heavy weight, but finding it pleasantly light enough. She twirled it around, feeling it out, when she heard ragged breathing advancing from behind her. She spun around, raising the mallet before her.
A nasty, brawny sick looking man limped toward her. His mouth was gapping as he let out a hungry rumble. His eyes seemed to lock onto hers, and in that moment he suddenly leapt forward, hands out stretched, and a loud howl escaping his lungs.
Tenten didn't think, only drew her mallet back and swung it hard just in time to collide with his head. He collided with the wall, causing multiple weapons to fall in calamity around them. After the last cling of metal dissipated into the air, silence rang like a cymbal. That's when she realized she had stopped breathing, and so had the hungry male. She exhaled fully and bent to examine her damage.
A mess of weapons lay atop the body, soaking in the bloodbath surrounding his head. His head had gone concave in contact with her mallet.
The sight was more than she needed to see. Standing up with one last glance at the 'Infected' section of weapons, she realized what they had meant by the sign. These were weapons designed to take out the infected. She grabbed a few throwing more throwing knives, a machete, a metallic bat, and a powerful bow with many arrows. Then she took a knapsack, a large backpack, and a handy strap for carrying her new favorite weapon. She turned and took her leave.
As she exited the Weaponry her eyes caught Kiba sitting at a desk behind the glass wall of the Library pouring over books. Figuring he could use some help and Neji probably had a handle on whatever was in his room, Tenten followed her gaze. She smiled as she walked in, noting the look of concentration on his face. He didn't look up as she approached him. "Interesting book?" She asked, pulling up a chair.
Kiba flinched, his head snapping up, "I didn't even know you were there" He said.
"Really, I thought you were just ignoring me." Tenten laughed, although she didn't quite see it as a laughing matter. Images of the man from the Weaponry flashed before her. "What's so important that you let your guard down?" Tenten asked, gazing intently at her teammate.
"There was no need to have my guard up, this place is empty." Kiba retorted. He slammed his hand down on the table and stood up, knocking down his chair. His arms crossed as he strode over to the window to glare at the sick wanderers down below.
"It's not empty. You can see that for yourself. And I was just attacked in the weaponry." Tenten said hotly.
Kiba made no movement.
Tenten thought better than to ask him what was wrong or what he had been reading. She figured he would say now or she could ask him later. She reached across the table and pulled the book toward her. Turning it around, she picked it up to look at the cover. 'A History of Destruction' was the title, and the back listed a number of wars. She flipped backed to the page Kiba had been reading. She scanned the page, one word popped out 'Inuzuka'. Reading the paragraph she realized Inuzuka Isamu had been a leading figure in the attempt to subdue the Kyuubi during the Third Shinobi World War.
"He was my father. He died that day. No one ever told me what had happen, only that he died a hero. No one ever told me I had an older brother who died that day as well." Kiba still had his arms crossed, but his head had turned toward her to see her reading his book. He shifted to face her.
Tenten hadn't read about his brother, but she couldn't look away from Kiba's teary eyes. The unexpected turn of events caught her off guard. This had nothing to do with the mission.
"Isamu was the leader of a team of shinobi working to subdue the Kyuubi. His was the only plan that worked well enough for them to even get close. His plan is outlined there." He pointed at the book. "He was genius. He was a hero. And it was all for nothing, because the plan didn't even work." His voice cracked and his face betrayed the struggle he was having against his tears. "And my brother… he was ten. And he thought he could help. Instead he got my father and himself killed. For nothing, Tenten. Maybe they could have succeeded… or at least he could have gotten away… And I never met either of them." He sighed, getting over his slew of emotions.
Tenten was struck. She really had no idea how to deal with the situation. Both of her teammates back home were so emotionless, no. One only had exciting emotion, and the other was emotionless. But she now understood why he didn't notice her approach. He was caught up in his family's past.
"Sorry." He muttered, walking toward her. He took the book from her hands and walked it back to its isle. On his return he said, "I found a section of journals." Sitting down he pushed one toward her. "Some depict areas where the Akatski have hideouts, or did have hideouts. Some talk deal completely with the tailed demons. This one," he tapped his finger on one of the journals to his right, "Is a map of all of these hideouts- Oroshimaru's secret labs of sickness- and a brief description what each of their functions are. This one happens to be the one of the only base that would store this kind of information, because obviously they don't want a book like this to be found. So there's only three bases like this, and they're all in the fire country. This one was the only research facility. One was for injections. The other…"
Tenten stared at him, waiting for an answer.
Kiba swallowed. "Well, I'm not sure you can call it a base. It was more of a… pooling point. He built tunnels from the two bases, and they lead into the third. That third base happens to be centered in Konoha."
Tenten caught her breath. Her heart started racing. "We need to get there." She let her head fall into her hands as she thought to herself, 'calm down. Think.' "Were there any other details? Like plans on when this all would go down?"
"I think it's safe to say it already has gone down." Kiba said. He got up and looked out the window again. "Here comes Neji." He said, seeing Neji slam the door shut across the balcony and stride his way toward them.
"So this is it? This is all you found here." Tenten said, wanting to make sure they were done before Neji entered.
"That's the only document that matters for the mission." Kiba replied.
Neji entered with a stack of papers in his hand. He slammed them on the table behind Tenten and laid them out. They were diagrams of the human body, both anatomical and of chakra pathways. "This is research on the human body." Neji said, anger and disgust were evident in his tone. He met Tenten's eyes. "Now, look here. This," He pointed to one diagram, "This is a normal, healthy male body" He said with condescension and frustration, although Tenten could tell his condescending town was not meant for her, but whoever had made these diagrams. "This," His hand slammed down on the next diagram. "Is what happens when you inject the body with harmful toxins produced by synthetic contagions with no known antibody. And this" He pointed to the third diagram, "Is what happens when the antigen grows inside the human body. Notice how the entire thing is degrading. The disease is literally eating away at body and altering the chemical makeup of the brain more and more. Compare these diagrams of the brain. Notice the chemical makeup and the parts that are highlighted. This part of the brain highlights when a person is hungry."
"It grows in each one." Kiba noticed.
"Exactly, and it's not because the person is experiencing other outside stimuli that are highlighting other unrelated parts. No, the brain is becoming altered so that other functions are being shut off and reprogrammed. Notice that the frontal lobe is completely inactive. The infected person can not think and no longer has their personality. In fact, you can see where the disease has actually started decomposing that portion of the brain.
They synthesize this contagion so intelligently that they figured out how to dehumanize people. These things are no longer people."
"Just because they can't think doesn't make them not people!" Tenten exclaimed, "Sakura's grandmother is a vegetable, she can't think or move or do anything but she's still alive and she's still a person!"
Neji closed his eyes and let out a exhasported breath, "This is different, Tenten." He said slowly. "These are reprogrammed brains, and they can't be programmed back. The frontal lobe is gone. The Wernicki's Area and the Broca's Area, here" He pointed to two small sections of the brain, "No longer functions, he doesn't understand speech and he can't use it. The only thing this brain can do is fuel the need to eat; it feels hunger and it satisfy's hunger. He can see, but he can't understand what he sees. He can only smell blood and pinpoint where that blood comes from. He can't taste. He can't feel pain or emotion. There's no recognition inside them. There's nothing in there" He pointed to Tenten's head, "that connects them to who they were before. And since this thing was synthesized by these people who are no longer alive but were attacked by their own creation, there's no cure."
Tenten gave up, "How does it spread."
"Blood, apparently," Neji answered. "Or bites. I'm assuming it's in the blood. Each person who has been bitten has died and come back as one of these invalids. I can't imagine it has anything to do with venom in the teeth. The diagrams of teeth don't show anything of the sort."
"Maybe the disease hibernates there or something, that's where it has it's disease babies." Kiba offered.
"It's possible." Neji said. "The only thing that seems to stay sturdy in them is their teeth and their jaws. Everything else softens because the body really can't survive only on human flesh."
"So all they crave is people?" Kiba said. "Or is it meat in general?"
"They made them to desire people, but the study hasn't tested on animals."
"Ah. At least they had some ethics there." Kiba said dryly.
Tenten smiled slightly and gave Kiba a look. It was so refreshing to have him there instead of her teammate Lee. His comic relief was so much less annoying.
While Kiba shared with Neji the journal he had found, Tenten explored the library. Coming around the bookcases she came to the far left corner of the room. One book caught her eye, it was black with silver writing that read 'Open'. Reaching she pulled on it, only to have the entire shelf shift to her left. "Classic" She whispered.
"Oh thank God!" A voice called from the darkness beyond.
Startled, Tenten jumped back, kunai out and ready before her. A millisecond later she realized that she recognized the voice, but on not seeing a familiar figure, she kept her stance.
Emerging from the darkness was Sakura. "They can't climb stairs" She said in an exhausted but relieved sigh. "Where are the others?" She asked, her eyes searching.
The bookcase rolled back into place on its own.
Tenten relaxed her kunai, but kept her eyes fixed on Sakura. "I was going to ask you the same question. Where are Shikamaru and Naruto?"
Sakura's lips parted, she blinked and closed her mouth, locking her jaw. "You haven't seen them?"
"Tenten, let's go!" Neji called.
"I found Sakura." She yelled back, still gazing at her friend. "Why where you locked in the bookcase?" Something just wasn't right. Naruto would never leave Sakura, or anyone for that matter.
Sakura looked around. "A library? We never even saw this… This must be a whole different side of the base…" She shook her head, "I didn't know this was a book case. I found a secret passage behind a curtain."
Neji and Kiba arrived to listen to Sakura's tale.
"It's all dark down there, I couldn't see anything. Well, I was afraid, so I didn't exactly try to explore, I took a left and kept running until I ran into these stairs. I climbed them and stayed here. It's the strangest thing, stairs leading to nowhere, but I didn't really dwell on it until now. I've probably only been there an hour. I guess it makes sense that you guys haven't run into us. We were on different sides that must only connect through here. You can't imagine how glad I am to see you. Are there any….infected…up here?"
"Not any more." Tenten said.
Sakura's eyebrows narrowed in slight confusion.
"There weren't that many of them. Most of them seem to be below us." Neji pointed his thumb over his shoulder toward the balcony.
"Wait, maybe that's were I came from. Maybe we can see Naruto and Shika from there." Sakura rushed to the window and the others followed. She found the door and ran to the balcony edge, her eyes searching.
Tenten walked up to her to see her friends face fall.
Sakura shook her head. "I never saw this part. We have to go back. We have to find them."
"How overrun was this place you came from?" Neji wondered. "Because we have all the information we need, and it's enough to warrant immediate action."
Sakura's face was set; her eye's radiated her unyielding determination.
"Sakura, our village is under attack by these monsters." Neji explained.
Her face fell yet again and her mouth opened. She swallowed. "Then two of you go, but please, someone come with me. We can't leave them. Naruto would never leave me, or you."
"For the sake of the village, Naruto would leave us, but maybe not you. I don't know, but what I do know is that because I have this knowledge I have a responsibility to act on it. If the village hasn't been attacked, then we need to warn it. If it has, then we should be there helping them fight."
"Our greatest strategist and most zealous fighter are down there fighting for there lives and they don't stand a chance without us. The village does, because we're only 4 people. And 6 people is better than 4 anyway. Yes, we could make a big difference there, but you can't ignore the fact that those two are great assets and we need them." Sakura argued. "neither one of them would leave you. Don't you remember the search for Saskue? How torn up Shik-"
"Fine." Neji said. "We look for them. We have a half hour. Let's go." He turned on his heel and threw the door to the library open, making a b line for the back of the room.
Sakura smiled brightly as she watched him go, and followed hotly on his trail, the others close behind.
Upon reaching the bookcase, Tenten stretched out her hand and pulled on the black book. The case slid open. "There's no way back" She said. "Sakura, you can get us out of here, right?"
"We'll figure it out." Kiba said, as the case shut behind them.
"Sure hope so." Tenten muttered as they descended the stairway.
"Don't speak, they're attracted to sound." Sakura whispered.
Sakura did not exaggerate the darkness, or her fear. Growls and moans echoed throughout the hall. Scratching, pounding, and dragging sounds permeated through the air like smoke. Tenten kept her hand on the wall, making sure they didn't miss any hallways. Her other hand was on Sakura's backpack- the same one she had actually taken from the weaponry. She had given Sakura the bat, as well. The mallet she had decided to give to Neji, considering his gentle fist would be useless. The machete went to Kiba. That left her with the bow that she carried on her back with a sling. She figured she'd be the best with it anyway. The throwing knives and the knapsack were kept in the backpack Sakura wore.
There was a soft thump and a grunt as Sakura ran into a wall. "I guess that's all there was to this place" She whispered. "To the right" She directed. Feeling around on the wall she found crack in the wall. Following it down with her fingers she landed on a small indent. She pushed it to the side, a section of the wall followed, leaving a small hole. Light flooded into their cavern and they could see they were behind a large tapestry.