"Heard you got your sorry little asses kicked."
Kiba's head snapped to the doorway, vision swimming for a second or two with the quick movement before his eyes came into focus, finding his sister standing at the doorway, wolfish, teasing grin on her face.
His face twisted in displeasure, and an angry retort soon found its way to his lips. "We were fighting Orochimaru's guards you-"
"Excuses excuses!" Hana proclaimed, airily waving off his statement with a hand gesture before she stepped into the room. Looking him up and down, she hid the frown of worry as she looked over the bandages wrapped tightly around his torso.
Kiba grumbled something indiscernible but certainly not at all flattering of his older sister as she took a seat beside him.
"So!" She said, rather loudly. "Give me everything. Tell me all the juicy details. I wanna know everything there is to know about my little brothers first 'Epic Failure' of a mission.
Kiba's eyes narrowed, disbelief crossing his features before he shook his head, glaring at Hana as she put her feet up on the bed. "Fuck you! We didn't fail! Me, Lazy Bones, Fa-Chouji," He amended hastily before he let the dreaded 'F' word slip. "White eyes and Naruto managed to kill Orochimaru's private bodyguards."
Though outwardly showing no surprise the Inuzuka woman felt her heart skip a beat or two at the mention of the legendary criminal.
Not seeing the desired reaction of shock on his sisters face, merely the same, expectant boredom that had decorated it since she sat down, he flatly continued. "You know who that is right? S-class criminal. They explained it in the books. Little leather bound things with paper inside of em Open from left to right. Sometimes from right to left. With little words that you can use to do something called readi-Ow!!!"
Cutting off his sarcasm with a rather hard flick to the boys sensitive nose she leaned back in her chair. "You may continue on with the story." She drawled.
Kiba vaguely wondered what his chances of success were at strangling his sister if he lunged from the bed right now without warning.
"And try not to move too much You'll open the stitches and get blood all over my new sandals.
"Gee...Didn't know you cared sis!" He hissed as he rubbed his nose.
"Oh but I do care Kiba. My sandals mean so very very much to me." She paused then opened her mouth in a quiet O of realization. "Oh you mean about you...nope...you and your continued health are of little consequence."
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Tsunade stared down onto the mission report, gaze hard and facial muscles tight as she struggled not to let her lips curl back in a snarl as every gruesome detail was passed through her mind
Her anger was a seething, palpable thing as she then turned her eyes onto the two medical files on the side of her desk. One belonging to Hatake Kakashi, the other belonging to none other than Uzumaki Naruto.
Kakashi she could deal with. Little more than second rate concussion due to blunt force trauma to the back of the head, a cracked rib or two along with a broken Ulna, Radius and sprained wrist.
In short. He'll live.
Naruto however was in a much more delicate state. He hadn't woken up since Kakashi managed to limp through the village gates with the blond slung over his back. How the copy ninja was able to get him into that position in his state and with only one functioning arm she would never know but that was a discussion for a later time.
Uchiha Itachi...Apparently the vindictive little genocidal sociopath hadn't been at all merciful in his encounter with Naruto.
She could imagine that the technique he used on Naruto was none other than his infamous Tsukiyomi genjutsu of the Mangekyo Sharingan.
She had been able to heal the damage done to Kakashi and Sasuke when they had suffered the horrors of the twisted plane of that illusion, however Naruto was proving to be much more difficult to extract from his dream world.
She didn't know if it was because of the Kyuubi, the fact that he was apparently unconscious when Itachi used the technique on him, or perhaps that because both Kakashi and Sasuke had the Sharingan they merely had the means to recover easier from the after effects but whatever the hell it was it was royally pissing her off.
She'd even called Inoichi in to try his luck in traversing the boys mind scape.
She was still waiting to hear back from him.
And so that's what she was doing now...the waiting game...
And what a horrifying game it fucking was...
She sighed tiredly, letting the mission report fall from her hands and land on the desk where she rested her forehead on her fists. She wasnt reading or paying attention to it anyway. It was probably a stupid one too.
She sighed tiredly. "Naruto..."
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"Would you perhaps mind explaining to me your reasons as to why we didn't take the brat back at the valley..." Kisame bit out before his expression shifted to one of curiosity, his next words coming out more towards himself than towards Itachi "Even though I don't really know why they call it a valley...its more like a canyon."
"Because-" Itachi began only to be interrupted by the shark man as he continued to think aloud.
"I mean think about it. A valley is a wide flat plane between a formation of mountains. The so called "Valley of the end" place is just a gorge between two sheer cliff faces. That's practically the definition of a canyon. In that case it should be called "Canyon of the end" don't you think? And if that doesn't appeal to you maybe something to do with that waterfall there. Hmm...Waterfall of the end. Waterfall of eternity. Waterfall with the two big statues. Canyon of doom. Waterfall-"
"Kisame!" Itachi snapped.
"What? Oh right. Yea why didn't we grab the kid back at the va-Canyon!!!" He corrected himself with a harsh shake of his head that name was grammatically incorrect. He should have it amended somewhere.
"Because..." The Uchiha began again with something akin to a sigh of exasperation. "He needed medical attention. How do you think arriving on base with his corpse would have turned out."
"Messy." The Kiri nuke nin answered after a brief moment of contemplation.
"To say the least." Itachi finished.
They looked onto the village beyond the trees, the sounds of life amidst the flourishing spring sun an almost idyllic, stark contrast in comparison to their darkened ensemble.
"Sooooo." Kisame began slowly. "When do we go in to get him?"
Itachi didn't answer before slowly sitting down on the tree branch, single leg dangling beneath him while he cropped up his other leg to rest his outstretched arm on his knee
Kisame watched him sit raising a non existent eyebrow, lips pursing with something akin to an impatient snarl before he spoke. "Yes Kisame. Let me answer you, not ignore you as if you're stuck to the freakin-"
"We're not going in. He's coming out." Itachi answered as though he were speaking to a petulant child.
Kisame blinked, eyes rolling skyward as though considering the Uchiha's answer.
Finally he shrugged. "Works for me. I'm gonna go get something to eat. Good luck waiting until Konoha rolls us the red carpet for his capture. And invites Kakuzu to be the head of treasury and myself to be head of the diplomacy committee."
Sarcastic line delivered the Kiri nin vanished in a swirl of smoke, leaving behind an exasperated Itachi behind.
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The walls were murky and dank. The boys mind scape was a cesspool of decay. It was somewhat disturbing. Inoichi had seen various types of landscapes within different minds, and certainly there were those that were darker, and fowler than the rotting shell he could see laid out before him.
But those had been men, aged and calloused by the scars of time. Not a child whom had just become a teenager. He wondered if this was the Kyuubi's influence. If the fox had somehow tainted, on some unconscious or base level, the boys mind. Despite the popular belief that he was allowed to walk free of scrutiny the child was tested yearly upon his birthday as he slept.
These of course were carefully planned procedures with both himself, members of the Hyuuga clan, and the Uchiha when they had been available. Always was he kept asleep, by both illusion and the added insurance of sleeping drugs within the ramen Sarutobi would buy him during the evening. Only within this last, recent year had they not done it. With Tsunade arguing vehemently against the practice.
Though some opposed of course, he himself saw no hint before, and after twelve years well...he was fairly certain it was safe to believe the fox would be under firm control.
Of course, he had never delved this deeply. Mere surface thoughts and memories, never to the base foundations of himself. Delving this deep was dangerous, to both the one using the technique, and the recipient. The wielder could end up lost if he was not careful, wandering farther than he should and thus, leaving imprints of himself behind, or perhaps even taking a piece of the subjects own personality with himself. And of course the recipient could suffer several ill effects to the mind itself, one which may and usually did lead to death.
But Inoichi was confident in his skill, and had used this ability many times on captured enemy ninja, ones who's mental defenses and mazes were much more complex than this, often these complex structures being the results of seals to protect the mind. Or more specifically the information within it.
If the seals were tampered with externally or any of the "traps" set off, the information, and perhaps even the invading mind would be destroyed alltogether.
As such, one boys mind, one, undefended, was not something he did not have confidence in mastering.
But still all the same...while there was no physical or conscious taint on the boy, but this...development within his deep psyche was not normal. And if he could, Inoichi would request to the Hokage and Naruto himself that the boy come for weekly visits for a psychological evaluation.
Pushing those future plans away from his mind however Inoichi trudged on, through the sloshing, black water and fungal infested walls. There were many passageways within this maze of pipes and shattered, twisted metal, old memories. He ignored them however, so as not to intrude and merely sought out the strongest resonance of the child locked within his own mind. That was the cognition. If he reached it, and could coax it out of the child then he could awaken him, hopefully with few long term repercussions.
The water level seemed to rise steadily as he drew closer, having reached his ankles before, the black, sickly liquid was now reaching the cusp of his knees, sloshing with every struggled step.
The darkness creped in around him, slowly, as if seeking to latch onto him and anchor him within this place.
Pushing through the dimly lit tunnel Inoichi soon found what he was looking for, and he could not fight away the horror that came forth at the sight.
He was hung from the wall...crucified, black trails of blood flowing down from the wall and into the water below, weeping from the incisions that nailed him high above the ground.
A sickening thought came to Inoichi suddenly and he looked down to the dark water beneath him, slowly raising one foot, he saw the glistening reflection of the dim light through his lower leg, dark...and red.
"Oh...God!!!" He yelled, horrified and suddenly feeling far too sick as he realized what he was standing in.
"Horrible....isn't it?"
Inoichi's eyes snapped upwards, feeling his breath hitch as he found none other than the infamous Uchiha Itachi standing within the dark liquid, cloak shielding his body from sight.
Inoichi's first instinct was to flee, or at the very least take up a fighting stance, but realizing that this image was merely a mental construct, utterly harmless to him, and he to it, he allowed himself to breathe again.
Then he began thinking. The cog's in his mind turning slowly as he realized this construct could only be one of two things. The first, being some sort of mental projection or tormentor Naruto's psyche itself made. Or...Something Itachi left behind...
There was a simple question that could answer this.
"Who are you?"
"Ahh Inoichi-sempai. You know who I am. We worked well together in that Iwa incursion."
His stance tightened with unease. So....it was something Itachi left behind. A subconscious construct wouldn't know Itachi's mannerisms so well. What's more. Itachi wanted him to know that this creature was of his make. He was making it obvious.
"What do you want here Itachi?"
The Uchiha raised an eyebrow... "Want, sempai? Oh no. I've already fulfilled my purpose here. Rest assured that you may take the boy unacosted. For now at least."
As if waiting for the nuke-nin's unspoken command the blades that held the Jinchuriki onto the wall shattered into a million tiny pieces. Naruto fell forward, limp and unmoving.
Inoichi rushed forward, catching the child before he fell into the dark blood at their feet, gasping at the glazed, sightless blue orbs that stared up at the ceiling
Itachi marched over to the older man's side, almost amicably before he spoke. "You know what you must do."
Inoichi looked behind him, towards the source of the voice, only to find the Uchiha nowhere in sight, the unmoving body still limp in his arms as he sat within the sea of blood.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
There was silence in the hospital room, thick, almost oppressive with nothing but the low thrum of the building's air conditioning system to fill the void of sounds.
Finally, a low, appreciative whistle came from the brunette as she looked to her brother on the bed, who carefully took measure of her reaction through squinted eyes.
"So you guys managed to kill those Oto-nin huh?" Hana questioned with a scratch of her cheek.
Kiba smirked, the familiar, cocky grin of his spread from ear to ear. "Not bad for a bunch of gennin huh!"
Hana nodded slowly, lips pursed in a contemplative manner before she raised her hands, emphasizing her next words with hand gestures. "Epic-Failure!!!"
Despite the palpable anger and murderous intent she felt suddenly rolling off of her brother Hana couldn't help but laugh at his purely outraged expression!
"We-"
"Beat a couple of enemy nins" She interrupted with a wave of her hand. "But your prime objective still got away didn't it? Therefore-" Here, she repeated the hand gesture. "Epic-Failure"
She had never seen someone physically have a conniption. But the way Kiba was looking at her now made her wonder if she'd finally be able to bear witness to one.
Alas, she didn't want to be responsible for him rupturing a blood vessel or something; so before he could attempt to physically reenact the, no doubt, homicidal thoughts running through his mind she decided to stand up, walking to the closet where the hospital staff kept the wheelchairs, chuckling as she did.
Opening the seat infront of his bed she smirked at his still sputtering visage. "Come on little bro. Your mission may have been a total failure but I'm guessing you wanna go see some of your friends instead of sitting here all day."
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"Tsunade-sama" Shizune hesitantly spoke, entering the office with an uncertain countenance. Watching as her long time friend and mentor opened a single eye to glare at her between the cage of fingers that was currently holding her face.
Swallowing thickly the brunette continued. "Inoichi-san is back from the hospital."
The response spilled from the blond womans lips before Shizune had even finished her sentence. "Send him in."
Shizune gave a quick, single nod before she turned and strode out of the room, leaving Tsunade glaring at the red oak door as it closed behind her, daring Inoichi to take even a second longer than she deemed necessary to pass from the reception hallway to her office.
Finally, the door opened again, and the Yamanaka clan head stepped in slowly, as if checking to see if it was safe for him to do so, and his head wouldn't be blown off by some strange fireball or something.
"Well?" She questioned.
The Yamanaka cleared his throat with a cough, nervously entering the office as he debated wether or not he should sit or remain standing. He choose standing, seeing ad how it would allow for a quick escape. "Tsunade-sama, in my assignment to enter the mental plane of-"
"Speak plainly." She groused, nearly snarling in her impatience.
Inoichi sighed. If she wanted him to be blunt he would be. "Itachi left an imprint of himself within Naruto's psyche."
Tsunade's fists clenched as she clasped them together infront of her mouth, narrowed eyes offering the only indication to the rage that boiled beneath the surface of her guarded expression. "You mean to tell me...That Itachi could have been torturing Naruto's mind...for nearly two days?!"
Inoichi quickly shook his head, knowing that she was no doubt under the belief that these two days might translate into the Tsukiyomi time scape, in which case Naruto would have been under physical torture for...years, in which case his mind would have been completely broken beyond even the greatest of healers or ninja to mend, which was not the case.
"No, I do not believe Itachi's imprint would have any power to cause nearly as much pain or control as his legendary illusion. But while physical pain may have been absent, psychological is not out of the question."
Tsunade breathed out a heavy breath of frustration and anger, rubbing at her temples and no doubt promising retribution onto the raven haired nuke-nin.
Inoichi paused for a long moment, waiting for the woman's permission to continue, but, seeing her lost in her own thoughts he decided to continue regardless.
"It appears, that...with the absence of Itachi's imprint, which is now gone, I have made certain, Naruto's psyche is beginning to recover on its own. From my estimations it will be a day or so more before he wakes. At which time I would suggest, an immediate psychological evaluation. I myself am willing to do this Tsunade-sama."
"What do you think the test will show?" She questioned, weariness lacing her tone.
"To be frank. After these events Naruto may not be, psychologically fit for service, either through terror of being captured by an enemy, or even fear of combat in and of itself. And that would be in the best case scenario."
"And the worse case scenario???" She ventured, though it was with wariness.
Inoichi debated whether or not he should attempt to soften his next words but, in the end figured that the woman needed to hear it so that she may prepare herself for the possible outcome.
"Severe paranoia, thoughts of suicide, night terrors, crippling physical or emotional responses to memory triggers, dementia...the list goes on."
The woman closed her eyes, letting his words wash over her like ice water. She gave no outward response, but inwardly, she cringed at each of these suggestions and possibilities she herself knew all to well in her own mind.
Finally, she breathed a slow sigh and stood leaning on her desk as she looked at the blond infront of her.. "I suppose all we can do is hope for the best then. Thank you Inoichi...you may leave."
The Yamanaka patriarch nodded once, solemnly standing before bowing and marching out of the office leaving the sannin behind, wallowing within her own thoughts.
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Well...I've been missing from the scenes for a rather long time.
Reason for that is because several months ago, a virus wiped out virtually all of my text files. And thus, by proxy, deleting every half finished update I had in my text files. Which included this story, the massive update of nearly fourty something pages I had for Lost soul, the equally Massive update for God from the machine, and a fifteen page half completed update for Pecado.
So understandably after that event, I was not eager to jump right back in and rewrite the nearly hundred and twenty page total that I had lost (this is not including unpublished works and school projects.) So, only recently have I picked up the proverbial pen once again and mannaged to write up this piece. Not sure how many of you are still reading but her. I intend to finish one way or the other. Cant promise how long it'll be before I get out another update but hopefully I'm back in my proverbial chair so I can work on it steadilly.