The Great Exchange

Chapter Nine: Knights in Shining Armor


"Bye, guys!" Naruto called, waving to the prison guards before yawning loudly. "Geez, is it that late, dattebayo? Oh, well. See you tomorrow!"

The guards nodded curtly, keeping their eyes on the boy until he vanished around a corner of the gravelly path that led to the prison's entrance. Neither of them really trusted that kid. As good a shinobi as he was, he already had two strikes against him. First off, he was a container for that thing. And second, he seemed to value his friendship with the traitor they were guarding over his obligations to the village.

"Go check on him," one guard said to the other. The second nodded, understanding instinctively which prisoner his partner was referring to. Several hallways, passwords, and double-locks later, he opened the thick, metal door of the Uchiha's cell. At first glance, nothing seemed wrong. The girl…er, boy…was asleep, strapped tightly onto the restraint table, as per orders. The door leading to the cell's bathroom was ajar, and not wanting to invite any protocol breaches, the guard sighed and went to close it.

The door clicked shut, and a soft noise came from the prisoner.

"Who's there?" demanded the high, female voice, as the restraints prevented any movements of the head to turn and see who caused the sound.

"Go back to sleep," he muttered, knowing the prisoner recognized the voices of most of the guards. "Your friend already left."

There was silence, during which the guard gave the girl/boy a quick check from where he stood. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and it certainly didn't hurt that, despite the murderous, traitor intent inside, the form was still that of a cute teenage girl.

"Guard…"

"What is it?"

There was silence, before the prisoner murmured with obvious discomfort, "…Let me off."

"No, your friend left and I'm not authorized" he answered gruffly.

"But…" another hesitate, "I have to get off."

"What for?"

"Look, you piece of crap," the girlish tone suddenly turned acidic, "If this table gets covered in urine, I'll make sure it's you who cleans it up."

Sighing, he conceded, "All right, but make it quick."

The girl…boy…nodded, and stayed perfectly still while the guard fiddled with the metal locks of the table's straps. Careful to leave the arms and legs for last, he stepped back and allowed the teen to sit up, stretching and cracking bones, before the kid slipped off the table and bolted to the toilet. Soon enough, tinkling sounds were heard from behind the closed door, and the guard exhaled, having been in one too many situations where a bathroom escape was attempted.

Good thing for all those seals and locks, he thought, or else they'd have dangerous criminals running all over the place. The research department always spared no expenses to create the most impenetrable, unbreakable cells known to man. Though they weren't perfect, it hadn't been for nothing that most of Konoha's criminals stayed firmly behind bars.

"Hey in there!" the guard ordered sternly, rapping on the bathroom door after a minute of silence. "No tricks, I said! Come out."

"G-gimme a sec!"

Without hesitation, the guard pulled out a needle laced with sedative and smashed in the door with his other hand. The voice that had replied hadn't been that of the prisoner. And sure enough, as soon as the thin door crumbled, there stood a copy of that stupid blonde kid. It squeaked as the needle he'd thrown pierced it, and vanished in a poof of smoke.

A disguised shadow clone!

"This is Osamu!" the guard shouted into his headpiece, "Come in, control! Code red! Prisoner one-three-four-four, Uchiha Sasuke, has escaped. Backup search needed, repeat, backup search needed!"

The prison dissolved into a chaos of flashing lights, blaring alarms, and dispatched squads of shinobi, but by now the two they were searching for were already halfway to the border.


"Hoo…" Naruto panted, halting his continuous jumps through the enormous trees surrounding Konoha's border through unlit darkness, as the overhead leaves blocked out any traces of moon or starlight. "Hah…Hah…All right, teme…Get out here, dattebayo."

A small squeak emanated from his pocket, and out crawled a tiny brown mouse. This quickly sped down his leg and onto the branch he stood on, before vanishing in a cloud of smoke, to reveal a very disgruntled Sasuke, still in Sakura's form.

"Admit it teme, I'm a genius," Naruto laughed hoarsely, still panting from having sprinted those last few miles through unlit foliage.

"Hn," grunted Sasuke, though it sounded unusual for Sakura's high voice. Like he'd ever admit the dobe coming up with a plan that made use of Sakura's superior genjutsu skills was clever.

"So…where were we going again, dattebayo?"

Sasuke shot him an annoyed glare, half of it his being upset that having spent so much time on the restraint table, Sakura's limbs had grown unsteady. "The old Sound village."

"And…why was that?"

The Uchiha only glared in response, not wanting to have to repeat that the sole reason they were doing something illegal was because of a silly, yet convincing dream of his.

"Just shut up and tell me which way we're going," he snapped, enjoying the feel of power rushing into his clenched fists. Lack of Sharingan or no, Sakura's body certainly made up for his own in the illusions and strength departments. But he'd die before ever telling her that.

"Fine, fine, teme," Naruto rolled his eyes, pulling out a crinkled old map and turning it around in his hands a few times before deciding which was correct to hold it. "Lessee…If we're over here, then the border is over there…Then we just keep heading north from here, dattebayo…"

"Right. Let's go."

The blond nodded, and followed suite as his partner in crime leapt off into the trees before them, aided only by the swoosh of wind and nighttime sounds of the forest to keep from crashing into any trees.

Clunk.

"Oww! Teme, wait up, dattebayo!"

Sasuke only rolled his eyes and continued on.


"Geez…this place is a wreck, dattebayo."

Sasuke nodded his silent assent, as the two now stood before the ruined remains of the old Sound village. The main compound was still underground, but the sparse scattering of shelter buildings and small structures had obviously been abandoned for some time. Roofs had collapsed, ivy and mold had taken over walls, and everywhere, small animals and insects could be sensed, marking the longtime absence of humans.

"There's the old entrance," Naruto observed, his gaze on the pile of rocks he and the team had used as a sneak-in doorway. The hole Yamato had made all that time ago remained, only now covered over with gauzy spiderwebs.

"They're here…" Sasuke mumbled, his eyes picking up numerous minuscule clues that people had been through this area. "Down in the ground…They've retaken the old base."

"Well then," Naruto said cheerily, "We'll have no problems, 'cuz you know your way around, and I remember where they hid most of the booby traps, dattebayo!"

"It won't be the same, dobe. They'll have installed newer traps, maybe even built new tunnels. No doubt they'll have taken precautions against intruders."

"Yeah…" The blond scratched his head in thought. "Then what do we do, dattebayo?"

Sasuke's head swiveled as he squinted in the post-midnight moonlight. This old entrance had no doubt been discovered, but then again, who would think they'd use it again? But then again, they probably thought they'd think that way and…Oh, forget it.

"There's another way in," he murmured, eyes glancing to another spot. "It leads down a different sector. The halls you found were the residential area…"

Naruto's eyes lit up. "Then, we can-"

"…And the torture chambers."

The blond immediately went silent, the blood draining from his face.

"But then, if they've got Sakura…" Sasuke turned back to the web-covered hole. "Then they'd use one of the old, bugged-up cells to keep her in. Those contained all measures to keep the occupant helpless."

"Then we've gotta save her, dattebayo!" Naruto exclaimed. "We can't just-Mff!"

"Shh," Sasuke hissed, one hand clamped over Naruto's mouth. "If they catch us, we're done for and we'll never get her out."

The wide-eyed boy nodded, and Sasuke removed his hand before quickly wiping it on a nearby tree trunk, wincing in disgust.

"We'll try entering the other way," he muttered, "Then split up and check each prison. We'll cover more ground that way."

"Whatever you say, teme."

The two silently sped off over to the second hidden entrance, Naruto following Sasuke's lead. Strangely, the boy-as-a-girl made several mistakes, and was forced to backtrack a few times from whichever path they had taken. The fact that this entrance of his was somewhere in another depression in the ground filled with identical rocks didn't help either.

"Shut up," he muttered, noticing Naruto's look of confusion. "I used my Sharingan to find the way in last time."

The blond boy shut his mouth, his question already answered. After a few more tries, the Uchiha sighed in relief, grabbing a handful of a fern growing on a random-seeming rock with a, "Here we go…" and giving it a sharp tug.

Naruto only gaped as an entire section of a nearby boulder collapsed inward, the cloud of gritty dust soon clearing to reveal an unlit tunnel.

"Wow, dattebayo," Naruto breathed. "I'm impressed, teme. How did you know which one this time?"

A small, hidden slip of paper was pointed out to be stuck to part of the fern Sasuke had yanked, painted the same color as the dark green leaves.

"There's a little of my chakra infused there," he explained. "I could see it…and know which one it was. C'mon."

Naruto nodded, telling himself to shake off the shivers he got as he followed his old teammate through the entrance, and into the damp, light-less tunnel. It was hard to keep from continuously glancing over his shoulder, gulping in uneasiness as the little circle of light from the outside grew smaller and smaller…and after a twisting turn, vanished altogether.

"Teme," he whispered to the shuffling darkness in front of him, "Can't we have a light here, dattebayo?"

"Shut up." The tone in Sakura's voice was familiar, short-tempered and snappy. "We're almost there."

"Okay, but—Oof!" Naruto exclaimed, accidentally walking right into a warm, moving mass standing in front of him. His instinctive panic calmed itself only when he recognized his female teammate's voice carrying Sasuke's words shushing him.

"Quiet!" the Uchiha hissed tensely. "I'm going to get this door open."

"Got it," Naruto answered, smiling through the darkness. The words reminded him of their Genin days, all the infiltration missions he and Sasuke had performed together. They had hardly ever needed directions from each other, always able to tell who was going to do what. Like right now, he could tell his role was to slip in the moment the door opened, and be able to check for any silent alarms or tripped wires once it closed again.

Heh…just like the good ol' days, eh, teme?

Another second, and light spilled into the blackness of the tunnel, but the two shinobi were already through. A quick swivel of the head, and Naruto realized there were, in fact, no alarms of any sort around the edges of the wall panel they'd just slid out of.

"They didn't expect us there, dattebayo," he observed smugly as Sasuke shoved the panel door back into place. After it re-rotated back to its resting position, the hidden escape became all but invisible, camouflaged into the surrounding walls. "But where…are we?"

"…The army barracks," Sasuke muttered after a check of the deserted underground hallway they were standing in. "But since the Sound army was scattered after the abandonment, it's deserted."

Naruto winced, remembering the sheer numbers of ninja that had attacked the village during the Chunin Exams all those years ago…

"The cells should be that way," Sasuke told him, breaking that line of thought. "But it's more likely to be covered in traps. Watch your step."

A nod, and the sound of footsteps, muffled by layers of dust coating the floor, echoed emptily as the pair raced down a series of eerily empty hallways, Sasuke leading. Naruto felt as if he might have recognized some of the places from their impromptu "invasion," but they were gone in a flash as another corner was skidded around, and the quiet running continued.

"Here?" Naruto asked between paced breaths.

"Not yet…There!" The two skidded to a halt, Sasuke pointing out another hall that diverged from a dead end. "That's the cell wing."

Naruto nodded, not sensing any immediate traps or chakra signatures. "Sakura-chan's in one of those, huh? So we'll check 'em all, dattebayo."

Without prompting, each took a side of the hall, and began turning knobs and opening one creaky, dust-covered door after another. All were dark inside, and some smelled of mold while others contained the faint, scuttling noises of cockroaches and other invading vermin. Chains lay unused on the stony floors, and some even contained roped-up skeletons. But every single one was devoid of recent human presence.

"Sasuke-teme!" Naruto exclaimed, having reached the end of all his designated doorways. "They're empty, dattebayo!"

"One more," he replied, pulling shut his final room and striding to the dead end of the cell. Naruto watched interestedly as the Uchiha crouched down and smacked a hand against one of the square floor tiles, pushing at it until it shifted, squeaked, and flipped up on a hinge to reveal a metal handle. This was grabbed and pulled, and an entire, circular section of the floor lifted away to reveal a tiny set of stairs leading down in a spiraling pattern. As opposed to the darkness of the tunnel they'd used before, there were lighted torches placed in the holders here, casting an orange glow onto the steps below. That meant somebody had been there recently.

"The Hibernation cell," Sasuke muttered. "Where the most dangerous defectors stayed until they died…The only one more secured than this was in the northern base…where they kept the subjects for the curse-mark experiments."

Naruto nodded, shivering as he followed Sasuke down the tiny, torch-lighted staircase. The musty air grew colder the farther down they went, and Naruto soon found himself shivering and likening the damper air to a castle dungeon…If it wasn't a more horrific version of one already.

And finally, the stairs abruptly ended with an enormous iron door. This, unlike the rest of the base, was fresh and new, without a hint of rust and sporting a large series of locks running down the left side.

"Argh!" Naruto muttered in frustration. "We don't have any keys, dattebayo!"

"It's not having the right key," Sasuke told him, squinting at the locks, "It's finding which one won't trap and kill you."

"Ohhh." Naruto joined him in examining the myriad locks, though he had no idea what to be looking for.

Both flinched when, with no movement from either of them, one of the locks clicked open by itself. A moment of silence went by, and then-

Crash!

The door burst open from the inside, causing Naruto and Sasuke to jump back, instinctively drawing their concealed weapons until both realized the cell's occupants were just standing there. Naruto only stared at the giant sword one of them was pointing at them, before realizing his teammate gaped at the two as if he recognized them.

"Stay back!" the one holding the sword ordered angrily. "Take us to the Uchiha, or I'll chop you up in little bits!"

"Whoa," Naruto tried telling him, "Calm down, dattebayo. We're not with the kidnappers. We're here to find Sak—I mean, Sasuke—too!"

The silver-haired guy with the sword looked unconvinced. "Whaddya think, Juugo?" he asked the tall guy next to him.

"Suigetsu!" Sasuke said, before remembering whose body he was in. "I mean…that's your name, right?"

The sword guy grinned with his pointed teeth. "That's right, honey. Good thing a nice little lady like yourself has heard of me, babe."

Sasuke fumed while Naruto attempted diplomacy. "You guys are here looking for Sak-, er, Sasuke too, right? We thought she, um, he was down here."

Both shook their heads. "Nah, this cell's empty. But we're his team, so who are you guys?"

The two glanced at each other. "Friends," Naruto said, "Really, we are. But how'd you all find this place anyway?"

"See this big guy here?" the sword guy pointed to his companion, "He gets animals to tell him what's going on and all that. Followed a trail here, 'cuz this annoying chick in the team ran off with him, so we thought hey, why not get him out before she-"

"First Sound ninjas, now this!" Sasuke growled, gritting his teeth. "That accursed Karin…"

"Yeah, baby, how'd you know about her? You Leaf nins got data on all of us?"

A withering glare silenced the attempted sweet-talk, but Naruto's mind was racing.

"But wait, I thought it was just Kabuto that was doing this, dattebayo! You're saying he has friends helping him too?!"

He turned to see his teammate's face drained of all color.

"Wait…Kabuto's here?" he demanded, looking absolutely shocked.

"Well…he's the only one who would use the base, dattebayo."

The whisper of his teammate's lips sent a chilling shiver down Naruto's spine.

"Then they can only be…in the reincarnation chamber."

Naruto understood what he meant all too well.


Oh joy, the 2 groups meet. Almost 3,000 words in this one, appreciate it!