Chapter 7
Hopes and Promises
Kakashi rose to awareness very slowly – and once there, he wished he hadn't. A steady pulse could be felt traveling throughout his body, and there was a low-pitched mechanical hum that hovered at the edge of his hearing. The result was one of the worst headaches he'd had in decades – worse even than he could remember when he first received his sharingan eye.
He tried to determine if there was anyone else nearby – but without use of his chakra, and with his hearing overwhelmed by that constant hum, he just couldn't tell. Which meant, of course, he'd have to find the strength and courage to pry open his eyes and take a look around...something that was inevitably going to increase the gargantuan headache that was threatening to make him scream as it was.
Steeling himself for more pain, Kakashi slowly lifted his eyelids. But there was no increase to his headache, as the lighting was surprisingly dim where he was being kept. In fact – it was barely enough to see by. He blinked a few times to clear his vision until, at last, the room came fully into focus – or at least what he could see of the room.
There was a strong, almost antiseptic odor to the air – and for a moment Kakashi feared he was in some sort of hospital or lab. But the aroma wasn't quite that of the sterile environment he so often ended up in after a particularly violent mission. No – this smell, although still medical in nature, reminded him instead of the times he'd pulled guard duty in the morgue in the lower levels of Konoha's Hospital.
He frowned. Why was he smelling the chemicals used for embalming? Where the hell did the Akatsuki bring him? And more importantly – what the hell did they plan to do to him?
Kakashi tried to move his limbs and found them unresponsive. Fortunately he was still able to shift his head from side to side – so he used that limited mobility to try to get a better idea of where he was being kept. He could see the table he was being kept on – and again his only comparison was to the embalming stations back in the Hospital morgue. It was cold stainless steel and slanted ever so slightly toward his feet – likely to allow for ease of draining bodily fluids away. Kakashi felt a shiver run the course of his spine. He definitely didn't like the vibe of this place.
With his head turned to the left he could see the windowless steel door set into white-washed stone walls. He was perhaps eight feet away from that portal – with absolutely nothing between himself and the door...if only he could walk, that is.
With a bit of effort he twisted his head to the right to see what else was there. He felt his heart clench a bit in his chest. Beside him were more of the steel tables laid out in a long row. From his vantage point he could clearly see the body next to his – and make out the vague shapes of at least three more beyond that – although in the dim light it was difficult to tell much about those farther bodies. But the body next to his captured his full attention almost at once...it was Pein!
Or at least it certainly looked like the young red-headed boy. The only thing he was missing was the Akatsuki's trademark overcoat. There were tubes and wires connecting the still body to machines lining the wall behind him...which were likely the source to that annoying hum that was making it so difficult for him to concentrate at the moment. Kakashi watched carefully for nearly two minutes before coming to the conclusion that the body on the table was indeed not breathing.
He lifted his head off the table as far as he could – which wasn't actually all that far – and saw that at least the next table over had a similar setup of wires and tubes connecting it to the machinery. Returning his head to the table's surface, Kakashi took a moment to breathe deeply – partially to calm his growing fears – partially to convince himself that he was still alive. Only then did he tip his head backward until the expected row of machinery behind him came into view. The same type of tubes and wires connected to the others were present, but thankfully they were hanging loosely from the machinery – none appeared to be connected to him at all.
Kakashi closed his eyes and tried to reason through what he'd seen. He was being kept in some sort of storage room, with at least a half dozen presumably dead bodies. At least one of those bodies – and likely more – were of someone he had very recently been speaking to face to face. He opened his eyes again and turned to look at Pein. There was no denying it – this was most definitely the man who'd taken great pleasure in piercing his body with a series of black rods...the same type of rods that seemed to be riddling the pale body next to him.
His eyes narrowed. There were many more of those rods in the lifeless body than there were in him – at least for the moment. Kakashi knew better than to think that they'd leave it that way for too long. Which led his mind down another path...he knew the rods siphoned chakra – hell, he'd felt it from the moment the first one was forced into his shoulder. But would it do something similar to a dead body?
There was a firm belief in the Shinobi world that a person's chakra network remained intact long after death. No one had ever done any solid research as to how long after – but it was part of the reason that, when a ninja died in battle – particularly a strong ninja – their body was required to be destroyed as soon as humanly possible. But from what he had seen in this room it seemed someone out there had actually performed the research needed to tap into that chakra resource after all.
He felt his heart rate increase slightly. If that was true, then the next question was why...why would anyone deem it practical – let alone viable – to harvest the chakra in such a way? What's more – why did they then seem to create a form in the deceased person's actual likeness? There had to be a purpose behind it...but there were too many unknown factors in this puzzle for Kakashi to fully grasp what was going on.
He closed his eyes again. The Pein he'd met out at the site of his attack seemed to act like using these rods was a normal means for him to subdue his enemy. But he'd also seemed somewhat surprised by something about Kakashi's chakra...enough so that his purpose went from being used as bait to something more. The problem was – he still had no clue just what that might be.
Kakashi sighed – the only sound of life within the room – and realized he wasn't going to find any answers as long as he was flat on his back within this place. His only hope was that the others might find some way to track him down – without being caught be the Akatsuki – and free him.
Kakashi laughed without humor. He may as well hope for his favorite scenes from Come, Come Paradise to be brought to life. He'd have about the same chance of that happening, after all.
-- --
Obito stormed through the halls of the Akatsuki's hideout with no true destination in mind. He'd been so close to his goal. So close to finally ridding the world of the last Hatake. So close to completing his contract with Madara that it frustrated the Uchiha to no end. Why the hell didn't he just ignore Pein and slice that bastard's throat after all? Why?!?
"I've been wondering that myself, boy!"
Obito stopped walking and stretched one hand out to lean against the wall. Every muscle in his body tensed at the words which resonated within his mind. He spoke softly into the empty hall.
"You were there too. Why didn't you force the issue?"
"Watch your step you insolent fool! You had the man in your hands – I was not the one who let him go!"
Obito closed his eyes and wondered – not for the first time – if he would have been better off dying under those rocks after all. Instead – ever since the day Madara entered the picture – all he'd done was train and plot to kill someone that had helped him more than harmed him.
"Oh – so now you aren't counting him abandoning Rin as harm?"
"He came back for her."
"I see. So you no longer have the desire to blaze past him? Or perhaps you truly are the spineless crybaby of the Uchiha."
Obito cringed at having his own words thrown back at him. "It's not like that."
"Isn't it? What happened to your vow to crush all the so-called shinobi, hmmm?"
Obito balled his fists against his temples in frustration. "Argh...stop twisting my words!"
Madara chuckled within his mind. "Then stop pretending that Hatake brat gives a damn about anyone but himself!"
Obito squatted close to the ground and groaned. "This isn't what I signed up for."
"This is exactly what you signed up for you idiot! I give you a second chance at life...and you...you give me what I need to fulfill a promise made nearly three decades ago."
Obito shook his head – trying to clear his mind and failing miserably. "Dammit – dammit – dammit! What the hell was I thinking?"
"Heh...you were thinking that, with your new lease on life, you'd ride into Konoha and whisk the lovely Rin away to live happily ever after. Isn't that right, Obito?"
"Stop it!" His voice grew louder now...full of anger. "Just stop it!"
"But you can't do that – can you? Because Kakashi Hatake couldn't even keep your dying wish for you, could he? He didn't even try to protect the woman you loved."
Obito felt his anger twist inside his gut – shifting from the presence in his mind to the silver-haired bastard that lay in the bowels of the lair. To the son of a bitch who left him behind – promising to protect Rin – promising!
"Argh!! He promised! And she's gone! I didn't even get to see her again!"
"No...you didn't...just like I never got to see my lover again thanks to that brat's father. You see, Obito...you and I are not so different after all, are we? So get your ass off the floor and start thinking of a way to get past Pein's ambitious plans so we can both move on with our lives."
Obito took one long, calming breath – then he slowly regained his feet and smoothed his Akatsuki coat out. He slid his whirlpool mask back in place over his face, and walked back the way he came. He needed to find his cousin and enlist the younger man's help in destroying Kakashi Hatake once and for all.
