Replica
By TwinEnigma
Warnings for chapter: AU, technobabble
Chapter Three
"Stand down," Shikamaru ordered calmly, making a gesture. "Neji, Chouji, Lee – on guard. Shino, spread a net. I want to know how big this room is. Kiba, keep looking for that guy's trail. Sakura... you're on."
The four copies – really, Naruto thought there wasn't a better word to describe them, since they couldn't be shadow clones – flinched a little as the platoon members moved, clearly nervous. He noted that they, like the other Sasuke and Karin they'd found, were barefoot and the cut of the clothing they were wearing was identical, but clean of blood.
"Hi, my name is Sakura," Sakura said, again adopting a calm, kind voice. She moved forward slowly, deliberately posturing herself as non-threatening. "What are your names?"
Naruto blinked and shot a look at a thoughtful Shikamaru, who just indicated that he should watch.
The copies stared at each other, clearly confused and then looked back at Sakura.
"I don't know," said the Sasuke on the right.
"Are we supposed to have names?" the girl on the left – Karin... that was her name – asked.
"We're twins, though," the other Sasuke said, pointing at his copy. "Him and me. We're twins. And the girls, they're twins, too."
Sakura smiled sweetly, looking at them. "Can you all do me a big favor and show me your right wrists?"
"Oh!" the Karin on the right said, excitedly. "You want to see the numbers."
All four of them shove their arms forward, numbers exposed.
"Mine's higher," the Sasuke on the right said. "Maybe I'm older."
"No way," the other Sasuke scoffed, elbowing him in the ribs. "We're the same age."
Sakura gave them an exceedingly patient look. "Do any of you know what happened?"
The boys shook their heads in the negative.
"Someone came," the Karin on the right said.
"He felt funny," the other Karin added as her copy nodded in agreement. "And then we couldn't feel anyone."
"Just us," added the Karin on the right, "And the sleepers. Everyone else went dark."
Naruto frowned – he didn't like the sound of it and, from the looks of things, neither did Kakashi or Shikamaru.
The Sasuke on the right nodded. "All the doors were open, so we left our rooms and ended up meeting up. We knew we were twins right away."
"We're sorry about the crates," said the other Sasuke, blushing a little. "We were hungry. Usually, they bring us food, but we couldn't find anyone."
Sakura nodded, "You must be really hungry. Hinata, do you have any spare rations?"
The Hyuuga heiress squeaked a little, not having expected to be called on, but started digging into her bag as she walked forward. "H-here," she stammered, pulling out some wrapped field rations and a canteen.
"This is Hinata," Sakura said. "She's a good friend of mine. She's going to get you set up with some food, but first can you tell me a little more about the sleepers?"
The copies exchanged glances and, finally, the Sasuke on the right piped up, "It's hard to explain."
"We could show you!" the other Sasuke said. He turned, pointing back into the darkness. "They're back there."
Hinata looked back towards Shikamaru. "It's approximately where the chakra signatures were."
Kiba closed his eyes, concentrating, and then spoke, "That's where Juugo's scent trail leads, too. He doubled back at one point, but it's there."
"It's creepy, though," the Karin on the left said. She and her copy shivered a little. "We don't like it."
Sakura gave her a patient smile. "Well, we're here now. We'll protect you, okay?"
The four copies exchanged glances and slowly nodded.
"Please show us the way," Sakura said, holding out her hand.
The rightmost Karin copy quietly took her hand in one hand, reaching for the Sasuke copy she'd been standing near with the other. She nodded once.
"It's this way," the other Sasuke said, starting ahead, hand in hand with the other Karin.
Shikamaru signaled the team to advance.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," Naruto muttered as they passed an overturned crate of medical supplies.
"So do I," Shikamaru replied, "But stay frosty."
Ahead of them, Kiba sneezed and looked back over his shoulder. "I smell antiseptic."
"Sterile environment," Shikamaru murmured, frowning.
Naruto resisted the urge to shudder and instead focused on Sakura's back, noting the nervous set of her shoulders.
The copies led them to a doorway, the metal door shredded as if something large had torn through it at high velocity, and down into another hallway. The antiseptic smell was stronger and a dim light in the distance cast an eerie glow over everything. Streaks of blood coated the walls where it looked like something that had once been human had been smashed and dragged.
"This way," the Sasuke copy at the front said, he and the copied girl standing on top of another ruined door for a moment before hopping down on the other side.
Sakura gasped in surprise ahead of them and Naruto and Shikamaru exchanged a worried glance.
On the other side of the door was a room full of monitors and consoles, many of which had technology that Naruto had only seen in passing on his journey with Jiraiya. Most of the monitors were smashed in, bloody smears painting the wall and floor, and debris was littered everywhere. A liquid-filled cylinder, running from the floor to the ceiling, stood solidly against the far wall, bathing the room in a pale, eerie glow and Naruto stopped dead in his tracks.
Inside it, the forms of Sasuke and Karin floated, still wearing the dark cloaks he'd seen them in when they'd fled the summit with the rest of their team. He could see the edge of a ragged, grievous wound in Sasuke's side.
"Sasuke," Naruto whispered. If that was really him, then...
One of the Sasuke copies ran over to a console near the cylinder, flicking a switch and opening a hydraulic door in the wall. He pointed inside. "The rest of everyone's sleeping in there."
Naruto willed himself to look away from the cylinder as he joined the rest of the team and approached the open door. They had all sort of stopped, staring wide-eyed into the next room as if the world had dropped out from under them. He looked inside, his jaw slowly dropping, and then stepped forward, eyes wide in a strange sort of horrified awe.
Two long rows of transparent horizontal cylinders were placed along either side of the next room, stacked two cylinders high on either side. Like the cylinder in the other room, these too were filled with liquid and were lit with an eerie light. On one side, they were filled with copies of Sasuke and on the other with copies of the girl, Karin.
"What is this?" he asked, staring. "Are they alive?"
Hinata made a hand seal. "Yes," she said, quietly.
"How many?" asked Kakashi, his face pale.
Hinata looked at him, wide eyed and scared. "All of them."
"What do you think?" Shikamaru asked.
Kakashi shifted uncomfortably and Yamato looked a little ill. Naruto, more than a little disturbed by their expressions, let his gaze drift to the copies. Hinata and Tenten were with them, showing them how to prepare their field rations and keeping them occupied by asking them what kind of names they wanted.
"I'm not sure," Sakura sighed. "I need a minute to sort it all out in my head."
"What about the ones in this tank?" Kakashi asked, indicating the large tank with the cloaked and wounded figures.
"Nearest I can figure is that the liquid's saturated with oxygen," Sakura said, tapping the side of the tank. "We've discussed it as a means of therapy in the hospital, but it's very theoretical. Only civilian cities are interested in the extra expense. It's really cold, so chances are that it's being used to keep them sedated without risking doping them up. Unfortunately, it also means their wounds are healing slower and getting them out could put their lives in danger."
Kakashi nodded absently.
"As to the rest, medically speaking, this is impossible," Sakura said, rubbing the bridge of her nose with her fingers. "Everything about it's impossible. People have tried to do this before and failed – Orochimaru was chased out of Konoha for attempting it and his experiment ended up killing fifty-nine infants."
Naruto didn't need to look to know that Yamato was even more uncomfortable than before.
"Regardless," Sakura continued, straightening up, "The results of his experiment still enforced data from other, legitimate resources – they weren't identical to their originals, except at the genetic level. The abilities, personality and even physical looks were often different, not to mention that they developed and learned at normal rates."
She paused, waving her hand in the direction of the copies, and sighed. "These... I don't know. This doesn't make sense. I don't doubt they're all genetic matches for the originals, but their ages and vocabulary... It doesn't make sense."
Shikamaru frowned, looking at her. "But if you had to guess?"
"If I had to guess," Sakura said, inclining her head a little, "Sasuke and Karin were separated from their team and wounded to the point where it was easy to capture and transport them. Our mysterious third party here used samples from them to cultivate a small army of copies in a freakishly short time and found some way to cram enough information and vocabulary in their heads that they can communicate and reason at least with a child's efficiency."
"Could they have had samples beforehand?" Naruto asked, scratching his head.
"Doubtful," Kakashi replied. "They'd have had no way of knowing about Sasuke's potential, much less the girl's, and who knows where or when Sasuke found her. There'd also have been no guarantee that Sasuke would activate his Sharingan regardless of a successful copy."
"So they had to be familiar with both of their abilities and how they work," Naruto sighed, rubbing his head. His brain hurt.
Sakura nodded, "Which is part of why it makes no sense. The timeline's all wrong. You weren't very far behind Sasuke's team when we joined up with you guys and we only lost track of their trail twice in the whole time we've been chasing them. Assuming our mysterious third party already had everything here ready to go, that means that all these copies were made in a matter of hours, a day at most, and at least six of them are already up, talking and walking, one of them with an active Sharingan."
"Yeah, I get it, it's weird," Naruto sighed, frustrated. "What bugs me is why. What the hell would anyone want with a bunch of copies of them?"
The last body slumped to the side on the makeshift arena floor, a spray of hot blood hitting the wall. Above, the spectators cheered wildly and turned to collect their winnings. A door slid open in the wall, revealing a portly businessman with oily hair and a too-wide grin. "This way," he said.
His only answer was a grunt and the sound a weapon being sheathed.
"You are a very talented fighter," the portly man said, wringing his hands as they moved down the passageway. "I know many people who would be interested in your... talents. Where did you say you were from?"
"I didn't," came the reply. "Where's my prize?"
"The Sharingan, yes, this way," the portly businessman said, fumbling with his keychain as he unlocked a door. As soon as they were inside, he shut the door again and hobbled quickly to the other side of the room, where a dark-haired boy in a heavy black cloak was chained to a vertically tilted gurney. On the other side of the room, a red-headed girl in a black cloak was slumped in a corner, tied tightly, her glasses hanging askew. Both were gagged.
"What's the deal with the girl?"
The portly businessman wrung his hands, spluttering, "Oh her! She is a silly thing – keeps him sedate. You can do what you like with her when you're done with the procedure. Think of it as a bonus for putting on such a delightful show."
The fighter grunted and the girl choked back a sob.
"We can get started right away," the portly businessman said, indicating a chair. "I don't have much in the way of sedatives and I am not so good as a medical nin but I know enough."
"I want to see it – the Sharingan."
"Of course, of course!" The portly businessman sputtered, rushing across the room. He wrenched the girl up roughly, and the boy on the gurney attempted to launch forward, eyes instantly going from dark grey to eerie crimson. He dragged her closer by the hair and the boy tried to shout beneath the gag, his gaze murderous.
"See?" the portly businessman said, his hand tearing at the girl's scalp. "It's the real deal."
"Where did you find them?"
The portly businessman waved his free hand. "They were stumbling around, wounded. I noticed he had the Sharingan. It'd be such a waste to just leave it to die in some stupid child."
The fighter shot a glance down at the girl - she looked like she was about to be ill. He drew his sword, bringing the massive blade around to the portly businessman's throat in a movement that the man hardly had time to see, and gave him a grin that revealed sharpened teeth. "You're lying. Now, you're going to tell me the truth, or I might decide you need some surgery. Where did you find them?"
The businessman trembled, blubbering rapidly, "Outside the town, t-two days ago! A man sold them to me – said he found them wounded on his land!"
"Which way?" the fighter asked.
"North!" the businessman wailed.
The fighter's eyes narrowed and he flicked his arm, the businessman's head sailing off. He flicked his eyes back to the boy and girl, sheathing his sword on his back. "Man, you two are so troublesome," he sighed, walking forward and pulling the gag off of the boy. "I go to get my sword fixed and you guys go and get yourselves caught by common scum like that."
The boy stared at him with dark, wide eyes. "Who are you?"
"That's not funny, Sasuke," the fighter said, frowning as he leaned down to remove the girl's gag. She flinched away, curling in on herself, as if afraid he was going to hurt her. He shot a glance back at the boy, eyes widening at the genuinely bewildered expression. "You're not kidding, are you?"
The boy shook his head in a clear 'no.'
Suigetsu cursed.
AN: Naruto's unused line for this chapter is "Wow, I knew Sasuke wanted to restore his clan by himself, but this is ridiculous!"
The plot gets more insidious. Clones, also, really aren't identical. And Sakura is right to harp on how wrong it all is - logically, these kids should just balls of cells, not teens with a childish but good vocabulary. How many of you have crack theories now as to who's behind it and what the scheme is?