6 Not What I Expected

Lasting Scars of Failure

Taiki had lost track of the time that he had spent in his arduous journey. It was a matter of luck that he'd found the road so soon, even luckier that he remembered which way would lead him back toward friendly civilization. Now he stumbled along the path with what shreds of energy he had left, crawling when his legs failed him and then finally collapsing into a senseless daze, all the while leaving a trail of blood behind him to mark his passage.

Night had fallen a second time when he heard the purposeful rustle of muted footsteps near his shelter. With swimming vision he made out the form of Kabuto, twilight reflecting in his spectacles as he knelt to confirm this latest development. "So you aren't dead after all," he muttered, reaching into a pack for bandages and other equipment with which to treat Taiki's wounds. "How interesting."

As mistrustful as he was of Kabuto, Taiki was not about to turn down medical help in his current condition. "But – you don't get it. She killed me. I – I was dead – "

"And you're hallucinating as well. She must have worked a number on you, didn't she? Now be quiet and save your energy." After stabilizing the worst of the injuries, Kabuto turned his attention to the other wounds left on Taiki. "Multiple lacerations… and what are these?" He peered down at the bruises on Taiki's neck, squinting puzzledly as he tried to figure out their source. "Strangulation, but with what?"

"Prayer beads," Taiki muttered, raising a hand to his throat and wincing at the throbbing pain he felt there. "You wouldn't believe me, of course."

"I'd believe anything short of a miraculous resurrection," Kabuto replied, "seeing as neither you nor Kotori are familiar with the techniques necessary either to reverse death or to fake it." Satisfied that he'd prevented the worst from occurring, the medic-nin began to stow his gear. "It's most interesting that you're alive, though, after she'd sworn that she'd killed you and no doubt has delivered the same news to her new master. Wouldn't it be unfortunate if he found out otherwise?" A wide smirk as panic registered on Taiki's face, then, "Oh, don't be stupid. It's to everyone's advantage – at least on my side of the table – if you stay dead. I've done what I can to patch you up, but you'll have to take care of the rest yourself. It's time for me to head back and have a talk with our resident hellcat."

Then, before Taiki could protest, Kabuto had gone as suddenly as he'd appeared. With a defeated sigh, Taiki heaved himself back upright and continued lurching down the path, praying that further assistance would arrive before his strength ebbed once more.

-------

"What do you mean, we have to look for another place to camp?" Naeko complained, shooting a dark look at Jiraiya. "I'm still hurting from last night's little nap on the rocks. There has to be someplace nearby where we can stay."

"Spoiled," Jiraiya muttered under his breath, then added in a louder tone, "I thought a self-sufficient girl like you would be used to roughing it. Don't tell me a little bit of sleeping under the stars will ruin your delicate physique."

"Forgive me if I'm a bit rusty on my survival techniques." She kicked at the soil and grumbled something nasty when she stubbed her toe on a rock. "And I'm hardly delicate!"

"I'll believe that any day…"

This sort of bickering had been going on for the past three hours and, tired of listening to it, Naruto had wandered a few paces ahead to see what lay before them. An odd darkened patch on the ground now caught his eye, so he stopped to take a closer look. A similar spot was found not far away, another beyond that, and he decided to follow this trail to its end. That did not take long, and when he parted the foliage to see what had left the trail his eyes widened in surprise. He turned back towards the other two – walking in silence, having expended their rancor for one moment – and yelled, "Hey guys, take a look at this! I think he's dead!"

This announcement diverted the attention of the squabbling pair, Naeko dashing from the path to join Naruto in staring down at the body. "He looks kinda familiar," she mused, kneeling to get a closer look at the claw-scarred face. A second later, she was scrambling away backwards in fright, the others staring at her in puzzlement. "That's Taiki! My god, what happened to him?"

Hearing the voices so close by, Taiki forced himself to be alert and opened his eyes. "Kotori happened," he rasped, struggling to sit up and failing. "How far are we from the village?"

"About two days' walk," supplied Jiraiya, who had likewise broken from following the road to see what the commotion was. If Taiki's degree of injury startled him, he did little to show it other than with a slight frown. "But I think I can get you back quicker than that."

"We'll get you fixed up, Tai-kun." Naeko ventured to stroke his forehead comfortingly but retracted her hand when she saw the extent of the damage that had been done. "Don't worry, okay? You're safe now."

-------

Good god, I hurt all over… Kotori opened her eyes, surprised to be back in control of her own body so soon and half-dreading finding out just what had happened while she had been unconscious. Her chest throbbed like she'd been sliced open, and something else that she couldn't quite place ached as well – not a physical pain, but something more ethereal that was beyond her ken at the moment. Well, guess it's time to assess the damage, she grumbled and raised her head to verify her surroundings.

"What the hell?" Unlike many of the other times she'd lent her body to the demon, it appeared to have passed unmolested on this occasion – all of her garments were still in place, and the only marks on her skin came from the rejected curse seal that had been placed on the flat of her chest a hand's width below her neck. "What's going on?"

"A medical anomaly," remarked a chillingly familiar voice from next to the bed. Kotori sat up in startlement only to see Kabuto seated calmly in a chair, not even glancing up from the magazine he read as he answered her inquiries. "By all rights, you should be dead."

Evil Minion Monthly? Kotori wondered, spotting the title of the magazine just before Kabuto closed it with a snap and moved it beyond her view. "But I'm not. Do you have a problem with that?"

"No, no problem at all. Just be glad Orochimaru-sama likes you and that I still have uses for you, or you would be strapped to a table being prepared for dissection."

The word uses made Kotori flinch, and she narrowed her eyes at the impassive medic. "Just what do you mean, 'uses'? I didn't swear allegiance to you."

"True," Kabuto said, smiling in the manner that Kotori found especially unnerving, "but I just happen to know something that would get you into deep trouble." He leaned forward, lowering his voice so that only she could hear, and whispered, "Your friend isn't dead."

This news shocked Kotori more than anything else in the recent past had, causing tears to spring unbidden to her eyes. "You're kidding me, right? I killed him myself, and I made sure he was gone before I left."

Kabuto shrugged. "I don't lie in matters like this, especially when I stand to benefit. You may have thought you killed your friend, but somehow he didn't stay dead. I'll leave that for you to figure out." That said, he rose from his seat and turned to leave. "I would suggest you find someplace else to be before he gets back. One can never guess his moods."

"No arguments here," Kotori muttered, forcing herself to move even though her limbs felt like lead weights. Nothing good had come to her in this room, and she was not about to tempt fate again by staying.